My favorite Gracie Sayings

We are getting to a point with Grace where she is learning so many new phrases and words that I can hardly keep up! I definately have mommy ears and can understand her words better than others (and so can Josh) but with new words It takes me a while of repetetivness from her to catch up and figure out what she is saying. It is really fun though, it's neat to watch her learn something that we practice all the time, and it's really cool when she picks up on things that I didn't even try to teach her!

These are some of my favorite words or sayings of hers at the moment. (and their translations!)

I wub you too too (I love you too)

bayeeg (big)

cawur me (carry me)

pee pee (means both pee pee, as well as peanut butter and pannebaker!)

she is also learning songs like row row your boat, twinkle little star and my favorite, Happy Birthday! We taught her to sing it for my birthday so she sings it to Mommy every day!

Josh and I have been going through the grueling and mostly stressful process of trying to buy a house this summer. We started the process in June and are now just finishing up! We have long dreamt of our own house, a place where we can paint the walls and settle down enough to keep the same address for more than a year. Adding to our anticipation for our "own" place is the fact that we haven't unpacked our bags since we left McMinnville in March! It will be such a dream to put clothes in a closet, sleep in our own bed, and to give Grace her own special space again! I have learned a lot from the process of buying a house.
1. Don't throw away important papers
2. If you need something from someone at a loan company, and you're on the phone trying to get it, be nice and be persistent, and call every single day until you get what you need or they'll forget you even have a loan with them :)
3. Work with people you trust
4. Focus on loving your spouse extra during the process because it's hard to be loving under so much stress!
5. Know that God knows better than you, and that having your own house is not what life is about!
About a week before we found out our loan info had been approved, I realized that although having a house would be absolutely wonderful, it would not change anything about my marriage, my relationship with my daughter, or keep me from living the life that God wants me to live.
Friends and family, thanks for all your prayers and advice; we can't wait to have you over!!
Here are some pics of our new place!

From a Veteran Two Year Old...

Today, I hijacked Leslie's blog (don't worry I got permission to help her with something)!

I can't believe Gracie is going to be two soon! Where does time go, seriously?

Maisie is about to turn three in two weeks and I'm a little sappy about it. Last year, she obviously was turning two and I thought she was SO big. I think it had to do with me being really pregnant and wanting her to act older than she actually was. But she was just a baby!

So, moral of the story, Leslie, is that even tho Grace is almost two, and she is your first, so all new age developments are exciting...PLEASE don't grow her up too fast and SAVOR every day.

We love you Pannebakers!!