Build-a-Bear-for-Babies

About 5 years ago I was watching t.v. and the couple on t.v. were expecting a baby and recorded the heartbeat and then put it in a stuffed bear for their newborn baby. It was sweet. Of course, I forgot about it and didn't do that for Lily. When I was pregnant with Gracie, a friend of mine did it for her baby and I made sure that this time I wouldn't forget! 

Here's Lily making Grace a bunny at Build-a-Bear when she was 21 months old. 

Deciding which bunny to buy.

Watching the stuffing go around and around in the machine.

Marty had to stuff the bunny since Lily was kinda afraid.

Marty, Lily and Baby Jamie

ummm... how do I "fluff" the bunny?

Picking out an outfit for the bunny.

Making the birth certificate. I pretty sure we chose the name "Specka" for Grace's bunny since her nickname in me was "Little Speck" and when we were trying to come up with a name for Grace we always joked that it would be "Specka" if we didn't pick a name soon!

Lily walking out with Grace's bunny. She then brought it to the hospital with her the first time she met Grace.

Grace still LOVES her bunny and sleeps with it every night. I love being able to hear her heartbeat from when she was inside me by pushing the paw. 

Last month, we took the girls to Build-a-Bear to build a bear (or any stuffed animal they wanted for Newbie) and put his/her heartbeat sound inside the bear. Lily was super interested in everything this time while Grace just really wanted to run around the store. Lily did everything- picked out the bear, stuffed the bear, combed the bear, picked out the clothes for the bear and then named the bear- Dan. Marty wanted another name for the bear, but since it was a gift from Lily (and Gracie) to their new sibling Lily's name choice of "Dan" won. Now we have Newbie's heartbeat recorded in a stuffed animal too!

Choosing a heart to put in the bear.

Newbie's bear has two hearts in it since both girls put one in.

Lily put her heart in... Grace keeps going back for more hearts!

Grace putting her heart in.

 Grace was scared of the stuffing machine and clung to my leg. She's not liking loud sounds right now.

Pressing the pedal to put stuffing in the bear. She wasn't afraid of it this time.

Hugging the bear!

Giving the bear a "bath" and fluffing it up.

Lots of clothing choices.

We chose the Indians outfit!

Getting him dressed.

All finished!

Now a name.... Dan!

Grace was probably wondering why we went to Build-a-bear and why she couldn't run around anymore.

Lily carrying out Dan. I hope Newbie likes his/her bear!

 It's actually pretty sad though since we've only been to our local Build-a-Bear twice and both times Lily has made her siblings a Build-a-Bear and she has never got one herself. (Grace even has a Build-a-Bear sheep that she got from her Godparents 2 years ago, so she is very lucky!) Heck, even Marty and I have our own Build-a-Bears from the good ole' days of dating. I promised Lily that on her 4th Birthday we would take her to Build-a-Bear and she could pick out her very own Build-a-Bear. We even have the gift card for the store so we are set! Now the question is... Should we record Lily's heartbeat from when she was in the womb to put in her Build-a-Bear too???? (I have it recorded on video from her 3D ultrasound)

Finally Flying Kites

These pictures were from last week when we finally flew our Dora kite this year. It was too rainy to fly kites at the kite picnic this year and I promised Lily that Dora would have her chance to fly in the sky. Pacesetter Park was perfect for kite flying (and then playground playing afterwards). Lily loved flying kites so much that when it was Grace's turn she had the biggest.meltdown.ever. I was in shock by how much she cried over Grace having a turn. She did end up sharing her kite though and now whenever she sees the Dora kite she will say "We have to take turns flying the kite. I'm sorry I didn't share." Glad she got the message.

Spongeball Painting

Last week we painted with sponge balls. I saw the sponge balls in the Family Fun magazine a few months ago and since I couldn't find Koosh balls (that's what I originally wanted to use to paint with) I decided I would make the sponge balls instead. They were super easy to make (I made 5 of them in under 5 minutes) and the girls HAD SO MUCH FUN painting with them. Although, my neighbor was in shock and terrified that I was letting the girls paint and make a mess! She was doing yard work outside and almost screamed when she saw the girls having fun and throwing sponge balls soaked in paint onto a piece of paper. She must have told me 100 times that I was really brave (we were outside and the paint comes right off. Heck, I'd even let them do this in their Matilda Jane clothes if it wasn't such a hot day outside!) and "Your dog has paint on her nose!" Me: "Okay". Neighbor: "But your dog has paint on her nose!" Me: "I'll clean it off when we get inside". Neighbor: "Oh look at your dogs nose!" I wish I had a video camera rolling at this scene: 2 crazy little girls, giggling and throwing paint-soaked sponges on a piece of paper, crazy mom (me) trying to get some pictures, crazy dog (Maisy) running around the paintings and getting paint on her and crazy neighbor (name will not be mentioned) standing there in horror!

All that actually made me not get many pictures since I had to keep telling my neighbor that my dog's nose was just fine.

All About Grace- 2 Years Old!

All about Grace at 2 Years Old:

Nicknames: Gracie, Annabelle (her middle name), and Gracie Girl 
Loves: Listening to The Wiggles cd in the car, Dressing up and dancing to music, playing with Fisher Price Little People, Strolling Baby Jessie around in the doll stroller, doing puzzles and then jumping and shouting "I did it!", "I did it!" when the puzzle is complete, twirling batons, playing with toy cars, swinging on swings, reading "Good Night Moon" and telling the little bunny in bed "Go to bed!" on each page, making a mess while eating (super messy eater!), watching Barney, Dora, and Sesame Street, loves following Lily around and doing everything she does, making up words to giggle and laugh at, saying "No!", coloring and painting, and bubbles in the bath.

Height: 32.5 inches

Weight: 23.5 pounds

She's a sweet and stubborn child. Has tantrums easily since she wants to do EVERYTHING by herself. She HAS to buckle herself into her car seat, climb in and out of her booster seat before and after meals. She wants to dress herself (shirt, shorts, shoes and even diaper!). She likes drinking out of big kid cups and helping out in our house by feeding Maisy, throwing her dirty clothes in the hamper and putting dirty dishes in the sink. She's a pretty good talker and can tell you what she needs/wants easily. Her favorite sentences to say are :"I do it myself!" and "I'm first!". I'm still in shock that she gets the whole "I'm first" thing. She likes being first to line up to the door to go to the van or first to go downstairs after waking up in the morning/and from nap. She's adventurous and risky and nothing like Lily at all (Lily is very cautious and sees the danger in everything). Grace likes swimming on her own with her life jacket and will even swim over the rope to go in the deep end by herself. She's a natural swimmer for sure. She is a daddy's girl but loves cuddling with me and tells me "I love you" many times a day (without me telling her first!). She's always giggling, laughing, smiling and getting into trouble- whether it be climbing on the table or putting her feet into the dog's water bowl. She has trouble with cleaning up her toys and once you announce it is "clean-up time" she will lay on the floor and say another favorite phrase "I'm tired!". The other day when she said "I'm tired" when it was time to clean up I put her to bed AND she actually fell asleep at 10:30 in the morning. Thankfully Lily is a great clean up helper and cleans up 80% of the toys... the other 20% are left to Grace who is realizing that she is not going to go outside/get snack/eat meals until she has done her share cleaning. Hopefully I can make that number more 50-50 in the next year. Lily and Grace are the best of friends and that also means they fight like it too. Grace is also starting to get familiar with our time-out bench. Hitting our sister is not okay and so is throwing food on the floor and making messes. She understands there is a baby in my belly and will run up and hug and kiss my belly. If she sees any baby toys or equipment she will be the first to say "Awwwwww baby!" I'm hoping she adjusts to her role as big sister easily and without too much trouble. Grace may be silly and crazy at times, but she has the biggest heart ever. She is the first to say "Are you okay?" if you fall down/get hurt/ or even cough and sneeze! She also has very good manners and usually says "please", "thank you" and "you're welcome" without us asking her to say it. We love her so much and our family wouldn't be as it is without our Gracie Girl! 

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Adventurous- climbing on rocks and playing in a stream

Always running around non-stop

She loves her puggle and big sister

Getting messy (with only one shoe on) is fun! She loved rolling the car in paint and then pushing it down the slide.

Ugh a new favorite thing for her to do- get out every board game and game piece we have and watch Lily and I clean them up.

Always trying to drink water from the sprinkler.

Dressing up and rocking out! 

Playing with play dough.

Loves her Popsicle!

Swimming at Olander lake.

Swinging like a big girl!

Yep, standing on the table!

Laughing with Lily.

I love this picture of her.

She loves these masks at the zoo, even though she isn't tall enough to see through them.

Always getting water poured on her from Lily. 

Hoping I get caught up on the blog soon- We've been really busy lately but I still have a ton to write about and lots more pictures to share!