We Went to the Wiggles!

Last Sunday, we took the girls to see the Wiggles. Grace was too little to go when we went last summer, so this was her year, especially since this tour is the last one for Greg, Murray, and Jeff because they are retiring.

Here are the girls posing at home with the bone they decorated for Wags the Dog. If you look closely, you can see on the right where Ella wrote her name--pretty good for a 3.5 year old!

 Here is the other side . . .

 On the road . . . we had to drive to San Jose.

Here is the stage before the show with Kurt and Ella there on the lower right.

Mommy waited in a "line" for what seemed like forever to get these shirts.

 I like the genuine smile in this one . . . Ella won't give me posed genuine smiles much anymore.

 Dancing in the aisle . . .

 Ella gave Greg, the yellow Wiggle, the rose for Dorothy the Dinosaur.

Mommy and her girls . . .



 As Aunt Toni Wilder pointed out on facebook, "Grace takes after our side of the family."



Walter Arrived . . . Two Months Ago!

Walter Allen Christopher Grahl arrived at 3:38 am on May 18th. He was 8.4 pounds and 19 inches long. I only had to endure about three hours of labor and about five minutes of pushing, but when you do it naturally, it feels like FOREVER. Ladies, don't feel pressured to go all natural because it really really really really hurts if you do. Even though I had Grace only two years ago, I forgot how much it hurts. I'm forgetting even now what the pain felt like with Walter, but I know it was excruciating.

But I digress . . .

The important fact is that we have an absolute angel. Walter is so mellow and happy and healthy, praise the Lord.

Here he is at about 20 minutes old :)

Resting comfortably after his first bath . . .

 Dad looks pretty good for three hours of sleep . . . he went to bed around 11 pm and I woke him up at 2 am to go to the hospital.

 Grandma Grahl was in town to help out, so after getting the girls breakfast, they all came over to the hospital to see Walter.

 Wow! I'm a mother of three!

 When I first held him and looked into his eyes, I saw my mother's father (Grandpa Ernie) in him. My mother also had the same "almond eyes" when she was born.

 Here's my chauffeur and ride out of the hospital . . . I think the guy posing in the background was just out for a smoke.

 Walter at home--so tiny--so precious!

 Aunt Tracey came down for the weekend to meet Walter.

He's yawning, not crying. Tracey is a very experienced aunt.

 The blessing of those first few weeks is how much they sleep!

 Ella still asks if she can hold him everyday.

 Aunt Sandra often had her hands full :)

 Ella tells me all the time, "I love my baby brudder."

 Walter and Kurt share one of their first father/son moments :)

 Grace loves to get down on the floor and lie next to him.



Happy Easter!

Mommy was pretty excited this Easter because she spent a total of $15 on each Easter basket--doll, book, candy, basket--everything!

Here are the girls at 6:30 this morning checking out their baskets . . .

I knew the dolls would be a hit!

And the books too . . . they are the "look and find" kind that the girls love.

Grace didn't get as many eggs as Ella because she found out early on that some of the eggs contained jelly beans . . . and Grace loves jelly beans, but Ella does not.

Ella showed off an egg she decorated . . .

Animal Crackers

We have been getting Ella into various activities lately, and one of them is tap dancing. This video shows her practicing the "Animal Crackers" routine. Because no one else in the class showed up on this day, little sister got to get in on the fun. The two of them had been practicing at home.

This is the same little routine, but Grace gives it a cute twist.

The Christmas Season Catch-All

Of course it has been a while since my last post, so here's a large one that covers our pre and post Christmas activities.

Here are the girls at the Christmas tree lot . . .

Ella put on the first decorations . . . two teddy bears, a flashlight, and a swiffer duster :) Notice Harry under the tree--the cats drank more of the water than the tree did!

Ella and Grace received their first Nativity from Grandma and Aunt Sandra. Here Grace is showing Ella one of the wise men . . . they mixed in some of their other figurines, so you might notice some unusual characters by the manger such as a toucan and a basketball player :)

Ella and Grandma made Christmas cookies again this year, so now Ella is a pro!

Especially at licking the beaters :)

To Ella, sprinkles are not meant to be sprinkled but to be poured on!

Breakfast with Barney streaming on the computer is becoming a habit . . . here Ella grabs Grace's hand to sing the "I love you. You love me" song at the end of the show.

In Monterey, no Christmas is complete without a visit to Candy Cane Lane . . . in the central park area they have lots of plywood characters and this sleigh.

Thomas and Sir. Topham Hatt were in someone's yard, so we couldn't resist the photo opportunity . . .

Ella "helping" rake leaves in Nonna's backyard . . .

Ella and Grace performing a duet at the piano at Nonna's house . . .

Some sisterly love in front of Nonna's tree . . .

Kurt and I got to run off to the Lions' game in Oakland . . . and we won!!!

Here are "the boys" enjoying their beers and the warm-ups . . . notice all the blue! We ended up in a little Lions section, so we had a blast celebrating with our new friends.

Ella got her first haircut just before Christmas at EJ's Little People--where Mommy got her first haircut too! Ella was too involved in the crate of toys to care about the haircut :)

A view of the back . . .

Her curls are almost gone, but her hair does flip up on its own . . .

Christmas Eve at Aunt Nancy's . . .

Grace is still doing her "cheeeeeeeese" face!

Christmas Eve dinner . . . we had a Tuscan fritatta and bay shrimp caesar salad . . .

Aunt Tracey and Heath in front of the tree . . .

Christmas morning and still the "cheeeeeese" face!

Opening gifts . . .

Ella checks out her new doctor's kit . . .

Grace entertained Aunt Erin while Daddy and Uncle Greg entertained themselves playing "Outlaw" on our new Atari Flashback . . .

Ella with her new Caillou tree house . . .

Aunt Tracey went back to bed after presents and breakfast, and Grace joined her :)

Christmas Day we went to the Garrett's for soup and fun . . . Grace and Sierra are buddies!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!