Fun in the VERY hot sun

Our July 4th weekend was very eventful. My family, Marquita's family, Shawn's family and Justin's family drove to St. George to celebrate together AND to see our Grandpa Murdoch who is living there with my Uncle Cam. The weekend was packed full of eating out, pool, 4th of July festival, Tuacahn play and visiting grandpa. The kids had a blast getting reacquainted after not seeing eachother for 2 years (since my wedding - my anniversary is tomorrow...YAY!!). I am going to attach a bunch of pictures (we missed you Morgan, Steph and Keira!!) Love you mom & dad!



Marquita, Lilia and the little boys enjoying the sun.


My brother Shawn with his youngest son Xavier.

Hannah and Lauren.

Gracie enjoying the view from her floatie.
Mitchell, Shawn's oldest, posed just long enough for me to snap one shot of him! Thanks Mitch!

As you can tell by Grace's flushed cheeks it was 100 degree weather. Thank goodness Aunt Lilia was there to keep her cool.



Grace is at the age where she just wants to be held by mom and dad. During this trip she allowed people to hold her for a short time. If you weren't holding her then she was probably smiling, laughing or waving at you though! She is our little sweetheart.
Gracie and Natalia.


Jeff, Taylor, Justin and Carlee at the festival.







Justin and Eridee

Dallin is such a good cousin.

Here is our beloved Grandpa Murdoch. Isn't this a nice photo of him mom?? This is the only living grandparent that Mike and I have so this is a trip we will cherish.

It was so special to be able to introduce Grace to her great grandpa. I hope she never forgets that moment.

Grandpa surrounded by family - just what he loves!








Mike with his new best buddy, Xavier.

Natalia and Lauren at Tuacahn. We saw Footloose and it was incredible!! It is a "must see" show if you will be in St. George this summer.

Xavier would not allow a picture of his face so the back of his head must do.

As you can tell, it was 11pm at night and I was still sweating like a pig.

Dad, you remember this highchair??? Yep, this is the one you sat in 55 years ago...hee hee


PHEWW!! I told you there would be a bunch of pictures. Happy 4th of July and Happy Birthday Mom!

Redington Family Reunion in Idaho

Every June Mike and I attend the family reunion where we don't know 95% of the family who attend. I must say Gracie is sure an ice breaker. I think this year I met more people then ever and we had such a nice time.

One of our recent family pictures. This is for you Joni...who complains that I never post pictures of myself. Waving is another thing Grace has learned but everytime we try to video it or capture it on camera she won't perform...that stinker!

Grace is so close to crawling. She moves herself backwards and rolls herself where she needs to go. She just hasn't figured out how to move her knees forward.

Elleisha (Mike's sister who is expecting her 2nd little girl in November), Clark and adorable 16 month old Crystal

Shannon and Kaelynn (Mike's sister and niece). I ACTUALLY got Kaelynn to "let" me take a picture of her. :)

And here is Grace trying to eat everything in sight. P.S. an update to an earlier post:
Grace LOVES her food, it only took 4 weeks of force feeding my child daily. UGH!!

I love my family.

Kaelynn, Crystal and Grace are such sweet cousins. It will be so fun to watch them grow up together.

Mommy and Gracie


And here is the last picture of the day. After a long drive Grace and grandma chose to relax on the bed with their favorite pasttime....books!!

Our happy girl

Mike, Grace and I attended the 10th Annual Memorial Day BBQ. Grace was able to play on the grass with her best friend McKenna. Well, I guess they didn't "play" but they exchanged a few love taps and baby gibberish. This picture is too cute for words.

Pool Day

Grace spent her first day in the pool and LOVED it! This is her 0-3 month bathing suit she is wearing (thanks Jen!!). I feel like my 7 month old baby is getting so big but when I dress her up in her 3 month clothing I realize how petite she really is. If I could only get her to eat her baby food I think she would fill out....anyone have any ideas?? Grace will not allow me to feed her with a spoon, so we tried the fresh food binky feeder (she hates that now). She will only eat things that she can hold onto...so we have now ventured to the gerber graduate crackers and such. It is very frustrating! I hope she doesn't become a picky eater.

Grace and her buddy Nathanial. It was overcast outside but still warm out so we took advantage of the day.

Don't you love the hat?!!

Grace is holding her arms out because she wants Nathanial to hold her. LOL

Lots to catch up on.

A lot has happened the past month for the Redington/Vance family.

Yesterday my niece, Chelsie, got married to Lyndon Garrett. They are the sweetest couple and we couldn't be happier for them. Congrats Chels! We love you.

Mike and I took Grace to her six month appt and much to our surprise the doctor told us she has an ear infection....how can you tell your baby is sick or hurting when they are always so happy???!!! She is now on an antiobiotic and close to feeling 100%. We also got the doctors blessing to start her on some cereal. Here are some pictures. We laughed so hard. You would think we were trying to feed her liver and onions or something. We have realized that our baby is VERY expressive (those were Marquita's words and I couldn't agree more with her).

Grace with her daddy. She has no idea whats comin'.

Still as happy as a clam....

What did you do to me???

I like this spoon, can I hold it?

Do I have to swallow???

I just don't trust you guys anymore.

My mom and dad were in town during the Easter holiday. Their being in town was the perfect opportunity for Gracie to be blessed. It was a very special day. Grace was surrounded by family who loves her very much. I was honored to have my dad here to administer the blessing. My parents are now serving an 18 month mission for the LDS church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. We miss them so much but are so proud of them.

Here are some random six month pictures.

Correction

I wrote down the website for Bella Blu Photography wrong and I can't figure out how to edit my post....LOL

www.bellabluphotographyblog.blogspot.com

Our beauty at 5 months old

Gracie got her pictures done by the incredible Bell Blu Photography (check out Denise's blog http://www.bellbluphotographyblog.blogspot.com/). The pictures turned out amazing and I am having a very hard time choosing my favorites. Grace looks like such a little lady and I love these pictures because it truly shows her cute personality.

UPDATE!!

Grace is rolling all by herself! Mike placed her on her tummy Saturday evening to get some dreaded "tummy time" in for the day and to his surprise she got some gusto and rolled onto her back. He got all excited and yelled for me to come and see. We placed her on her tummy again and then she showed mommy what a big girl she is!! And then we did it again....yep she did it!! The really cute thing is that after she rolls, she gets the biggest smile on her face cause she knows how excited mom and dad are.

I guess leaving the baby on the bed alone isn't such a good idea anymore....

Like I promised....

"Dare me?? I'll do it!"

Sooo close!!

"Mom, could ya put the camera down and help me out??"

TA-DAH!!

Ok ok ok I know..it has been a long time. I am back to work so the days and weeks just seem to fly by. I am a little mad at myself because I haven't been photographing Grace like I should. The world needs to see her adorable face at least once a week, right??? So you say, "come on Sue!! Blog more!" I am going to try very hard to update you more often! I have pictures that I will upload tonight.

Being back to work brings mixed emotions. Generally, I am so busy that I don't have much time to get emotional but there are those moments when I sigh a little. Everyday I get out of here by 4:30pm so I can rush to kiss some little baby cheeks. I truly never knew motherhood could bring so much. I mean I thought a puppy brought me joy but being Grace's mom doesn't even compare to being Ace's mom. Ya I know, Ace and Grace, its funny blah blah blah. LOL

Grace is still a very happy baby. She laughs and smiles constantly. She is so close to rolling over but not quite there yet. Her daddy loves to be with her all morning, he has finally gotten the chance to really bond with her and its so cute to see that she is starting to become a little daddy's girl. There is nothing sweeter than hearing your husband talk "baby talk".

I hope you enjoyed this update....stay tuned for pictures to follow.

I'm a big girl!

Grace finally fits in her jumper and she is loving it. I don't feel like she is my infant anymore. Right now she laughs, blows bubbles and is constantly babbling about anything and everything. She loves to talk.

And to answer the question I get asked THE MOST. Yes, Grace's hair pretty much does that by itself. When she gets out of the bath I just comb it up and then it stays completely in place. :) There is no baby product in her hair!!

She wore herself out!