09 Captain Time!

We had a very exciting Memorial Day Weekend!  It started off with my amazing husband being promoted to Captain in the Air Force!  I am so proud of him and everything he does.  He genuinely loves serving our country and works hard to be an outstanding Air Force Officer.

 

The Promotion Ceremony was wonderful.  This is soon-to-be Captain Ferrel sitting on the stage with his Commander.

 

 

Our family after we pinned on his new rank and he took the oath of office.

 

Our family at the celebratory lunch after the ceremony, with his unit.  It was a little hot outside, as you can tell from the Baby's face.

 

I am so proud of my husband and so lucky to be married to such a wonderful man!

Come to Arizona!

I am so behind in blogging.  Every time I think about it I start to stress out!  So, I am not going to catch up.  I am going to jump into last week.

 

Last week, my parents came for a visit!

 

The baby loved all the adoring attention she got from her Grandparents (even if she did not let them hold her).  Also, she got a lot of yummy treats.

 

In the same day, she got her first piece of

Oreo (given to her by my Dad, of course)...

and Ice Cream! 

Ice Cream is a staple at our house, so it is a good thing she enjoyed it.

 

 

We took the Grandparents to this lovely little open air mission...

It was really bright outside.

 

 

 

It was beyond amazing having my parents here!  By the end of the week, the baby even let the Grandparents hold her a little bit.  It was wonderful! 

 

 Look at the this baby looking at her Grandmother!  Pure baby love!

 

 Come back Mom and Dad!  We miss you already!

Rice Cereal

The baby started eating solid foods! Well, really she started off with rice cereal goop. You can't really call that stuff 'solid' food.

The first time we gave it to her we put her in her bumbo on the table and she got so excited!

(Wow, being on the table is great!)

The first couple bites went ok.

(Keeping an open mind about the goop.)

Then, she decided we were torturing her by shoving goop in her mouth.

(What is this goop?)

Since then, she has really liked eating. She loves sweet potatoes and bananas. She is ok with squash and carrots. She hates peas. HATES PEAS.

I cannot believe she is big enough to be eating food!

Winter Wedding

At the end of December, the last of the Ferrel boys went off the market.  A beautiful wedding gave me another wonderful Sister-In-Law. 

Aren't they a cute couple?  Look how tight they are holding hands...

 

The bride and groom with a grumpy Grace...

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the reception...

Seriously, how beautiful is my new Sister-In-Law?  I think she is stunning.

 

 

 Gotta love these two...

 

Weddings are SO MUCH FUN!  Now, with Grace, the girls out number the boys in the Ferrel clan!  Ha!

Baby's First Christmas

I know, I know... it's the end of January and I am just getting to Christmas.  But Christmas was so fun I can't skip it.

We spent Christmas in Texas, so before we left we let the baby open her gifts from my side of the family.  She is definitely too young to know what Christmas or presents are, but she loved getting new toys.

 

 

Our trip to Texas was so fun.  Christmas and a beautiful wedding kept us busy so my picture taking was sporadic, but here are a few of my favorite pictures from Christmas Day...

(Grace's great new toy from Nana and Grandpa.  She loves it!)

 

The best part about Christmas is spending time with family.  Grace loved spending time with her Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles (Luke and I liked that best too).

 

Christmas was so fun!  We love family filled holidays!

Baby, it's Slightly Chilly Outside

A few weeks ago, we joined the Young Women in our ward on a trip up to Mesa to visit the temple and look at the Christmas lights.  I was really impressed with the light display.  The Christmas lights and the slight chill in the air (it was in the 60's) made it finally feel like Christmas time.  Which is good, since we live in the desert and the landscape never really changes.  It is hard to know which season it is by looking outside.

 

 

Looking at lights made the baby very sleepy and she fell asleep like this...

We didn't notice her hat was covering up her eyes until after she was out, and then I was afraid moving it would wake her up, so we left her like that.  Ha ha.  Poor baby.

Meeting Family

 

Taking Baby Grace to Utah to meet my family has been something I have been giddy about since the day she was born.  I had to wait until Thanksgiving to do it, but it was worth the wait.

 

We named Grace after my Grandmother.  Grandma Grace is one of my favorite people in this world.  Her life is amazing!  She has lived through it all and come out the most kind and gentle person.  I was lucky enough to grow up near her and while I was working, to save money to pay for my mission, I got to eat lunch with her everyday.  I have learned so much from my Grandma.  I love my Grandma Grace and couldn't wait for my Baby Grace to meet her.

This was a very happy day for me... 

 

Great Grandma Grace and Baby Grace

 

Grace also got to meet my aunts, uncles and cousins (and their kids).  Unfortunately, I was so caught up in catching up with them I did not get any pictures.

 

Grace got to spend a lot of time with her Grandma...

 

And GrandG...

 

It was such a wonderful trip!  I already cannot wait to go back. 

Oh yeah, Thanksgiving was somewhere in there.  It was yummy... turkey, etc.   

Little Bat

I love Halloween! I think it comes from having a late October Birthday. When I was a kid my birthday parties were often Halloween themed.

I would pick out what I wanted to be for Halloween early and my talented Mother would sew it for me. Watching her work on my costume everyday for a couple weeks increased the suspense and excitement of dressing up and Trick-or-Treating on Halloween.

Since I love Halloween and it was our first major holiday with the baby I couldn't wait for October 31st. I agonized about what to dress her in for far too long, and when we decided to make her a bat I got a little ambitious with her costume. Once I dialed it back a bit I had a really good time making her first costume (I did not make the cute bib). I am not as talented as my Mom, but Grace looked pretty cute.

 

Happy Halloween!

Happy Birthday to Me

 

I woke up on my Birthday in a great mood!  Part of the reason I was so happy was because the Baby slept in until 7:30!  Amazing for our early riser. 

I spent the rest of the day with my sweet little family.  Luke took the day off so we went shopping and got lunch.  I loved spending time with him and the baby. 

To top it all off, Grace giggled for the first time that night while we were getting her ready for bed (and yes, it was the cutest thing EVER)! 

 

 

It was the perfect day!

Baby Blessing

Our baby girl was given a name and a blessing by her Father about a month ago.  It was a wonderful day!  By the time I took these pictures our friends and neighbors had left and Grace was tired and had kicked off her little booties.

 

Grace and her Daddy

Tired Baby

 



 

Grace and her Grandmother

 

 

Grace wore the same dress I wore when I was blessed, by my Father.  It was so fun to see her in it!

 

It was so wonderful having family at the blessing.  Grace is one lucky little girl to have so many people love and care about her.

 



Who Knew?

Every single time I have tried to take Grace to the store (any store)  things have started off well.  Baby sleeping in her car seat. 

After a little while,  this is what happens...

 

 

Baby is upset, but can be calmed down.

I get a few minutes of this stage, but inevitably it goes from bad to this...

Full out, red in the face, inconsolable screaming.

Every. Single. Time.

It doesn't bother me so much.  She is a baby.  She is just tired or hungry.  But I do worry about bothering the people around us. 

 (let it be known I'm not a horrible mother, as soon as she starts to get upset I try to get her home and taken care of, but sometimes it takes a few minutes) 

Every single time this has happened, I have been completely amazed at people's kindness and understanding. 

 Instead of glares I always get smiles. 

People want to see the screaming baby and then tell me how cute she is (she is pretty cute)! 

 If I apologize to those around me, they wave it off and make a joke about their own children or ask me which aisle I found her in so they can go get one. 

It's so... fun!  

Who knew people were so great?!

1 Week Pictures

When Grace was one week old my friend Janny came over and took pictures of her.  These are some of my favorites...