Greta Brielle ~ Ten Months Old

Baby's 1st Christmas!  What an absolute joy to have our baby Greta here this Christmas!  The boys have loved sharing this special time of year with their new baby sister - we all have, of course.  

Greta is growing and blossoming each day - such a dear baby.  The other morning, she woke up before dawn and was sitting in bed with Gary and me when out of nowhere, she said, "What."  With the tone of "what are you looking at?"  She enjoyed our reaction, and joined in our laughter.  She has also started taking delight in making loud noises.  We were in Barnes & Noble just before Christmas and (as my Dad watched the kids in the play center while I finished up some Christmas shopping), I mistook the coffee grinder for Greta's squawking/growling sounds.  She wants to be heard.  ☺  She is a happy little soul.  She adores her lovable big brothers and still loves to kick and play like a little kangaroo.  Her crawling skills are coming along nicely.  She can cover ground quickly, which keeps us all on our toes.  She loves to eat all kinds of foods, and unfortunately mistook puppy poop for a tasty treat just yesterday.  As embarrassed as I am to admit it, it's true.  Our new pup had an undiscovered accident in the house, and Greta was the first to find it.  Ugh.  The combination of her speedy crawling, along with her willingness to try new foods, was a bad mix in this situation.  But there seems to be no harm done.  After eating dog poop, she can never claim any vegetable as "gross," so we have some leverage now in getting her to eat her greens.  Greta has also started clicking her tongue and loves to clap her hands, which she does often - after responding to "How big is Greta?  ....So....BIG!"  She'll keep doing her new trick, as long as she keeps getting the resounding applause we're all prone to give her.  We are having such fun!

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!

Greta Meets Our New Puppy, Lucy

Introducing....

 LUCY!  Our new black lab puppy!

 We've been missing our yellow lab, Abi - who passed away in September at the age of 12.  We thought it would take us awhile to feel ready for a new dog, but on December 4th, we brought home this six-week old pup.  Our newest baby.

 I love this photo above.  Greta is clearly not used to me using the flash on my cell/camera, but I had to use it so Lucy would show up.

Greta was thoroughly amused when she met Lucy, face-to-face.

I'll try to post a video clip of this moment next....

Lucy is a sweet girl.

She appears to be right at home here.

These photos are of when we introduced Lucy to the little boy I watch on weekday mornings.

Gordon had listed "a dog" on all of letters to Santa.

Lucy was an early Christmas present...for us all.

We love our little Lucy.

Greta Brielle ~ Nine Months Old

Greta is such a darling baby!  She is able to get around quickly on her own now, scooting from here to there with her caterpillar crawl.  She favors her left hand, as she has some eczema that gets tender from time to time.  This is why she has a sock on her hand in these photos.  Doc said to put hydro cortisone and Triple Cream on her eczema at night.  Greta loves peas!  She also delights in enjoying finger foods - she's an independent little lady.  Cheese, Cheeri-Os, shucked peas, fruit bites, etc are among her favorites.  She is a little chatterbox - loves to verbalize her thoughts and make fun noises.  "Dat" is a common word in her vocabulary.  She continues to adore books, music, and going on adventures - anywhere outside of our normal routine.  Greta enjoyed portions of her 1st movie in a theater with our family.  We took in the matinee of "Cars 2" at the nearby discount theater.  Greta got so excited by the size of the screen, the lights, and booming volume, she stood on my lap squealing with joy.  For this reason, I felt compelled to exit the theater for awhile to allow other viewers a less interrupted movie experience, but we popped in and out and she enjoyed both the inside of the theater and the lobby equally.  Daddy and the boys saw the whole movie - I caught the beginning and end of it, and Greta was enthralled by the whole outing.

We absolutely adore our little darling!

Greta Brielle ~ Eight Months Old

 These months are flying by so quickly!  It's hard to believe we're 2/3 through Greta's first year already.

Greta is such a joy in our lives.  She is a chatterbox and she loves to roll around and explore her surroundings.  Though I'd still say she qualifies as a good sleeper, she's been a little bit more wakeful in recent weeks.  It could be teething, or just that she's practicing (or maybe obsessing over) her rolling and crawling skills in her sleep.  She has said "Dada" and can often be heard chanting "Ga-gen, ga-gen, ga-gen...," which we think sounds a bit like Gordon.  We're pleased that the hard /g/ sound is among her first sounds.  Very fitting in our family.  Greta enjoys her growing list of baby foods that are being introduced to her, and rarely does she not like them.  The only one I can recall from this past week that made her pucker and wince was an odd combination of spinach, pears, and rutabagas.  I can't say that I'd want to eat that either.  She loves pears!  Gordon and Grayson absolutely adore their baby sister, and she thinks they are the cat's meow as well.  She's a busy little lady, and likes to be outside - either going for walks in her stroller, swinging at the park, or just resting in the backyard in her high chair, watching her big brothers play.  She also loves rides in the car, especially if we're heading to the mountains.  While there, she loves to go for hikes and enjoy the fresh mountain air.  Her very first Halloween is coming up in three days and I will post pictures of her and her brothers in their costumes, so stay tuned.  ☺

I have so much catching up to do on this blog.  Life has really taken a busy turn in recent months, but it's on my list to get up to date in documenting some of the special moments in our family from the past few months here on this little blog - my online memory book.

Bedtime Stories

Greta ~ Seven Months Old

 I found it difficult to choose just one representation of Greta at 7 months...so here are a bunch of photos.

Taking a little break to ponder her next happy pose.

 For some reason, Greta just had a ball with this photo session, more so than ever!

 So HAPPY!  She can hardly contain her joy!  ♥

 "Hey, who turned out the lights?!"  (Bet you haven't heard that one-liner in awhile?!)

Who doesn't have an occasional wardrobe malfunction?

Oh, how we are enjoying this precious baby girl!  Greta is rolling all over the place, and showing interest in pulling her knees up beneath her - likely to be taking off crawling in the near future.  She is a vocal baby and loves to sing little melodies and chatter frequently.  She still loves to kick and dance!  So far, she's tried sweet potatoes, peas, green beans, peaches, applesauce, and pears.  Pears are her favorite, so far.  Sleeping through the night is still a much appreciated gift that she gives us most nights, though daytime naps are short and sweet, and not always guaranteed -- so Mommy finds herself behind on chores lately.

These months are soaring by too quickly!  We are loving every moment.

Kicking Donkey

Though she seems to clam up a little for the camera, here's a glimpse of the very frequent kicking activity that Greta so loves!

Grayson Loves Chocolate!

 At the cabins for Labor Day weekend, Uncle Joey brought up a variety pack of doughnuts to share.  Gary went to get himself a creme-filled pastry with chocolate frosting....  Hmmm?!

 Someone had found himself alone with the doughnuts and licked the chocolate frosting off the tops of several of them.

 He wasn't in trouble -- we were quite amused.  Little Grayson was sheepish as he admitted his role in the vanishing chocolate topping. 

We adore our little chocolate bandit.

Beautiful Sweater from Great Aunt Karen Schueler

 Greta received this beautiful sweater from her great aunt Karen Schueler, along with a gorgeous hat and knit booties.  So precious!

Grayson's First Day of Preschool (2nd Year)

Western Idaho Fair 2011

We got busted...having some family fun at the Fair.

Grayson's mean face is hilarious (and a little creepy!)

Mrs. G's blue ribbon pie!

Greta's 1st Fair experience -- here, she appears to have caught on to the exceptional people-watching opportunities all around us -- uff da!

Roller coaster for the little ones

Look who won themselves some goldfish!  (And guess who gets to clean the aquarium?!)

This is the game where the boys won their new pets -- and the gracious gentleman who fixed the game so he could unload some goldfish on us.  ☺