A letter for Gracie

Yes, I do realize her birthday was almost exactly a month ago.  Better late than never.

Gracie,
Another year has passed us by and now you are a four year old little girl looking back at me.  This past year is one for the books!  It has not been like any other.  It's going to be a year your daddy and I never forget.  Here's what your year looked like and what you did/accomplished:

June 2012: You turned three, big girl!  You had both sets of grandmas out to Hawaii to visit. We got to check off a couple things from our bucket list like doing a catamaran ride and going to a luau  You also helped Mommy and Daddy learn the ropes with you new baby brother, Griffin.  You are such an amazing big sister.  So loving and kind.

July: We traveled to Omaha for a visit and to baptize Griffin.  You made some more friends back in Hawaii with the Mom's Club. And finally out of diapers!!!!!  It was a super long process, but you had a lot on your mind with preparing for brother and finally having him here.  We are so proud of you for the accomplishment and the hard work you put into it.

August: You started swim lessons with Auntie Alyssa, checked some things off our bucket list (Sea Life Park, Discovery Center) and had playdates with some of our new friends.  We also tried to enjoy the beach and Kroc Center as much as possible.

September:  We watched the Huskers play on TV, played with brother, saw the pirate ship from the movie, The Pirates of the Caribbean, and checked a couple more things off the bucket list (blueberry/macadamia nut pancakes from the famous Boots and Kimo's Homestyle Kitchen, Kahuku Macadamia Nut Farm, Turtle Bay, picnic and sunset at Ko' Olina Lagoons, professional family pictures on the beach).  It was one of the busiest months and one of the most exciting!

October: Our favorite family staycation at Aulani was in October.  You had so much swimming and playing.  You even went down the waterslide with Daddy.  You are getting so big and brave!  We also celebrated Halloween again with the Adams', Schonebergs' and an old friend of mom and dad's.  You were Minnie Mouse and Peanut Big Top.  We also got to see some really high surf at Waimea Bay.  It was beautiful and very impressive.  The other cool thing we did was hike our very first trail together with some other moms and their kids.  You got to see your very first waterfall!

November:  Our time in Hawaii was coming to an end this month so we tried to do as much as possible and see our friends as much as possible.  We did pineapple ice cream and fed the fish at Dole Plantation with the Schoneberg girls, beach day with the Adams girls, the Byodo-In Temple with the Schoneberg girls, made leis, and one final beach day/playdate with our aunties and all the girls.  We said good-bye to our Hawaiian O'hana.  It was really hard leaving our friends there but the great thing is that we can go back to visit them!  We went home to Omaha to visit before our big move to Texas. After Thanksgiving, we flew to Dallas/Fort Worth to start making our mark there.

December: We moved in to our new house in Keller, TX.  You loved visiting the Fort Worth Zoo which is as cool as Omaha's!  We spent the month unpacking, preparing for Christmas, and our first visitors.  Grandma Pam and AJ came to visit us right before Christmas.  We saw the FW Stockyards, Legoland, made Christmas cookies and went to the Texas Motor Speedway to see Christmas lights.  December was also your very first class at ASI Gymnastics.  You loved wearing your leotards and were always excited about going to do your jumps!  Christmas was a ton of fun opening presents.  We were also lucky enough to have a white Christmas in Texas.  You had fun running around in the yard with the snow falling.

January:  Happy New Year!  You dozed off at 11:59 p.m. but woke up enough to celebrate for a moment.  We continued going to gymnastics, and you really started enjoying it and wanting to go all the time.  We also celebrated Daddy's 29th birthday.  You even helped Griffin learn to crawl!

February: We had a Valentine's Day celebration at home, you showed Griffin how great of a big sister you are, and you had a playdate at Ms. Amber's house while Mommy had an orientation to go to.  You are becoming more and more independant by helping me clean up toys and helping in the kitchen when I need it.

March:  We took our very first road trip!  We road tripped to Omaha for a visit because we had some things to do there.  You did lots of playing with friends and cousins, and we made a trip to the zoo.  You started making friends with the neighbors in Texas, and when we got back, you joined them in the Spring Break party.  You really loved dressing up like a princess this month.  Not sure how that came about but it was super cute!  You also started going on the big toilet!  No more little potty!  We are so proud of you and how much you try to do to be a big girl.  At the end of the month, to prepare for Easter, some of our new friends from gymnastics invited us to the church celebration.  There you got to pet a bunny and goat, ride your very first pony, and do an egg hunt.  That night we colored eggs for Easter too.

April: Easter!  You and brother had fun going through your Easter baskets that the Easter Bunny left you.  We also went to Family Day at Kiewit.  There you got to operate an excavator, do a wax hand mold, bounce and slide on the bounce houses, and eat your very first cotton candy.  Towards the end of April, you got to see your Grandpa Adolfo!  It had been almost 2 years since we last saw him!  You had fun playing and coloring with Grandpa before he went back to Mexico.  After he left, we went to a dairy farm where you got to try raw milk for the first time.  You loved it!  Mostly because it was chocolate.  You, Griffin and I got to feed a calf too!

May:  You celebrated Griffin's first birthday with a Griffin-de-mayo bash.  You had fun bouncing in the bounce house and eating cupcakes.  You also helped give Mommy a great Mother's Day this month.  We talked about our Omaha trip all month long.  We finally left on the 24th to visit home again.  While we were there we had the Van Winkle wedding, yours and Griffin's birthday parties with the Hernandez's and Feldman's, and we went to visit our old house to get it ready for the next round of renters.  While we were home, we got to see all of our friends and family which is always the best part of the trip!

June:  We stayed longer in Omaha to settle somethings with the house while Daddy went back to Texas to work.  On June 3rd, Emily and Tenley and Aunt Tina came over to celebrate your 4th birthday.  That night we went out for pizza and you got more birthday presents!  You are such a lucky girl!

See, like I said, it was a busy year full of adventure!  We traveled, we staycationed, we moved again, we made new friends, we saw old friends, we did a lot of celebrating, and we survived!!  And you, you just rolled with the punches and presents.  You never let it really phase you.  You amaze us every day with you sense of humor, your ability to go with the flow at times, and the way you are growing up.  

Our wish for you this next year is simple. We want you to be happy and enjoy the life we are trying to provide you.  We want you to learn that no matter what life throws at you or where you end up, you will always make it out on top.  You will succeed!  This next year, you will start pre-school!  It's hard to believe schooling is upon us.  But we know that you are so ready to be out of this house and in a learning environment where you can learn new things and grow each day.  We are really looking forward to this new chapter in your life.  It's going to be amazing.

We love you from the bottom of our hearts always and forever G.  We are so excited to see what this next year brings for you!  Love you so very much!

Mommy and Daddy

Little bit of this and a little bit of that...

Let's get right down to business.  In the month of April I started watching a little boy, we went to Kiewit's Family Day, we had two visitors and prepared for Griffin's first birthday.  We were pretty busy this month. The weekends fly by, and I absolutely hate it.  I thought I wouldn't hate any day out of the week being that I stayed home and never had to worrry about work, but man, was I wrong.  I still hate Mondays, and I still love Fridays.  Mondays mean that Justin has to go back to work, and it's back to being just me and the kids during the day and waiting all day for Daddy to come home.  Fridays mean we get to spend the next two days with Daddy and I get to have my helper back!

I started watching a little boy during the month of April.  His nanny was sick and had surgery so I filled in.  He was such a sweet boy and totally rocked it with our schedule.  I was worried about watching another child only because the kids are on such a good schedule that I wasn't sure if I could get another one to be on the same sleep/eat/play schedule.  But I was blessed to have this little man in our home.  He fit right in with us.  He took great naps, ate well, played nice and my babies loved having him around.  Gracie was such a good helper and Griffin liked giving him toys to play with.

Gymnastics day...can you tell by Gracie's outfit.  We bought her a new leotard just like it but black.  She now has two she likes to wear :)

Lovin' on her baby bro

Kiewit had a Family Day on April 6th.  They had a bounce house, bounce slide, mini train ride, face painting, hand wax molding, carnival games, food, equipment for the kids to try out and so much more.  The best part was the mariachi band.  Thanks Kiewit, you always know how to hit the soft spot in my heart.  Gracie had an absolute blast!  Griffin enjoyed it also but really wished he was a full on walker so he could've joined in on more things.

Shuttle ride to Family Day

Hanging out with Dad

All the kids got their own vests and hard hats

Griffin was not a fan

First cotton candy!  She had no idea how to eat it.  It was pretty hilarious.

Using the excavator (I think that's what it is :/ )

Daddy teaching Gracie some construction skills

This is more her size

Gracie makes some crazy faces when we try to take pictures.  And she never looks at the camera until the 20th picture.

Getting a wax mold made of her hand

We love getting packages!

This is her very first "big girl" shirt from the kids departments at Target.  Growing up too fast.

Relaxing just like Dad

He is loving this rocking chair these days.

I love how he is sitting here.

Gracie also got her very first haircut!!  It was getting super long and any time I asked her if she wanted to get it cut she would say, "No thank you."  We figured out that she thought it would hurt because we said "cut".  So I asked her this day if we could trim up her hair a little bit.  She said "ok".  I was in shock; I totally expected her to say no.  So I jumped at the chance to trim it up a bit.  Cutting curly hair is quite difficult.  Any tips?

On April 18th, my dad flew to Dallas from Omaha to stop and visit us.  His sister and a couple of her kids live about a hour away from us so he would be able to see them also.  We were so excited to see my dad for a couple of reasons, 1. I hadn't seen him in nearly two years!  That's a long time.  Gracie was about 20 months old or so.  2. We wanted him to see the Gracie and meet Griffin.  The hardest part of my dad living in Mexico is not being able to see him as often as we'd like.  But it really makes the time we do have with him that much more special.

Gracie wanted to take a picture while we were waiting for my dad at the store.

Waiting for Grandpa at the store

While my dad was visiting, we also had another visitor come to see us the next day.  Our friend from Hawaii, Jodi, who now lives in Houston, came Friday to spend the night with us.  She used to work with Justin on the rail in HI.  My dad went out with my uncles and stayed with them in Denison that night because he was going to be helping them make/sell food for an Earth Day celebration that the town of Denison was putting on on Sunday.  We were able then to take Jodi and another HI coworker of Justin's to the Stockyards in Fort Worth.  We thought we find something fun to do, but we were surprised to see how empty it was!!  We then realized that the majority of people were in the rodeo.  Note to self: Go to the rodeo next time.  We assumed people would be out walking the streets or things would be going on outside like a band or at least someone demonstrating some kind of talent for money, but we got nothing.  For those of you who don't know what the stockyards are here, it's kind of like the Old Market.  They have shops, restaurants, a train that comes through, museums, and a rodeo.  The day we came in January with Pam and AJ, they had bull riding and pony rides.  But none of this was going on.  We were a bit disappointed.

Gracie putting on her own rodeo show

Griffin was the clown at Gracie's rodeo :)

On Saturday, I got to have a little time away from the kids while Jodi and I got pedicures.  It was really nice to get out and have some girl friend time.  I miss that about home.  Jodi is so sweet, and we were so glad she came to see us. We dropped her off at the Love Airport, and then headed to DFW Airport to get my tia Luisa's daughter (my cousin) Titi.  After picking her up, we all headed up to Denison to see my dad, my aunts and uncles, and cousins.  I love my dad's side of the family, but I do not get to see them often enough.  Everyone is busy, everyone lives in different places and everyone has so many things to tend to in their own lives.  My cousin, Titi, and I were talking about maybe doing a "cousin" reunion in California.  I have some cousins that I have never met, or maybe just don't remember, and some cousins that I've met but have not seen in over 10 years or longer.  I think it would be a great idea to get us all together.  We spent that Saturday night at my aunt and uncle's restaurant listening to them tell stories, tease each other and laugh.  We really enjoyed the time with my dad and our family.

Gracie and her grandpa

Part of the Hernandez family (not even close to 1/3 of us!)  We are a big family!

Griffin and Grandpa 

Gracie and her prima Mya

During the week, we like to go to the park to get out of the house.  We love that we are within walking distance to one.  Plus, it has a toddler pool that we will for sure be using this summer.  It's already gotten as hot as 90 and I'm already dying from the heat.  The worst has yet to come; I'm scared!  Man, do I miss Hawaii's weather...predictable and beautiful.

One morning, Gracie and I put together two leis for her (a head piece and a neck one).  We had gotten a very sweet care package from a woman I met a few times.  A friend of hers was dying from cancer and she wanted to send him a picture of her daughter in UNC gear.  I happened to have a shirt of Justin's wish she used for the picture.  As a thank you, she mailed Gracie a little package with stickers, a Hello Kitty shirt, a lei making kit and a Hello Kitty bag (all Hawaiian items).  It was so sweet and so thoughtful.  Anyways, Gracie wanted to make a lei and we ended up making the two.  She then put on a little hula show for us.

Seriously looking so much older!  :(

Showing us her moves

Picking the flower and smelling it

Yay!  She finally wore a different leotard than the pink one!  I learned why she didn't like the other black, long-sleeved one..."It didn't have a skirt, mom!"  Duh!  Lesson learned.

Griffin learned to say "Cheese".  Proof is in the picture.  Look at that face!

Showing Daddy his new trick

Cheese! And there's his two bottom teeth.  No more gummy pictures :(

Our neighbor is in to natural foods and after talking with her one day about raw milk, the kids and I joined her and her friends for a tour at a nearby dairy farm.  Circle n Dairy is in Gainsville, TX which is about a hour north of us.  For those you wondering what raw milk is, it is basically milk straight from the cow.  It is not homogenized, and it is unpasteurized to keep all the nutrients from the cow.  The cows at Circle n Dairy are grass-fed and then supplemented with their home-grown feed (hay and silage) to provide the best quality of milk.  Raw milk also contains the cream that is naturally in milk.  I know what some of you are thinking...disgusting.  Raw milk is actually the best quality of milk you can get if it comes from the right source.  Anyways, Justin, as some of you know, is into eating right and eating healthy.  We had committed to eating "Paleo" before moving to Hawaii.  It had been months since we had any kind of bread in our house.  Then we moved and did the hotel living for weeks.  Now, it seems to be an uphill battle for us to get back to the way things were.  Diet wise and exercise wise.  Justin has always talked about getting raw milk but the people we purchased our grass-fed beef and range-free eggs from could not sell raw milk to us because it is illegal to sell it in the state of Iowa.  (Note: It is illegal to sell because in Iowa and other states, all milk that is sold HAS to be pasteurized.  The FDA believes that pasteurization kills off bacteria, but what they don't understand is that if done in the right way, with the right equipment, raw milk is good for you.  In Nebraska, the law states that it can be sold to consumers but only by going directly to the farm.  That is the way it is here in Texas.)  So, now that we are attempting to jump back on the "Paleo" wagon and eat right, we are looking into raw milk again.  The kids and I drove north and really enjoyed the tour.  Gracie was not to fond of the smells but she got over it as we walked around.  She even got to feed a baby calf!  It was fun and very informative.  We were given chocolate raw milk to try and for my first time of trying, I had to go with chocolate because I was nervous.  It was actually really good and next time, I'll be trying plain old white milk.

Hanging out in the back of the car

Trying raw milk for the first time.

Yea, she liked it.

Griffin even got a sip

haha I love her.

At the end of April, we realized how close Griffin's birthday was!  We decided we'd throw him a Griffin-de-mayo party.  I cut, glued, taped, cut, printed, ironed, etc. all week in preparation.  I was pretty proud of the outcome.  Can't wait to share Griffin's 1st birthday party pictures in the next post!

We love fake mustaches in this house.

Oh, and still no job.  whomp, whomp, whomp.  haha No but seriously, the search continues.