Baby Maddox

After months of anticipation (nine months + a couple weeks, to be exact), Maddox Reid Sage made his big debut on August 25, 2009!

During the last few months of Megan's pregnancy, we took the opportunity to explain to Gracie that when she was a tiny baby, she grew in her Mama Ashley's belly just like Meggie's baby was growing in hers. Now that Maddox is finally here, Gracie really seems to understand! In fact, she regularly tells us about how she was in Mama Ashee's tummy. I love it!

Anyway, when we got the call that Maddox had arrived, we could not wait to meet him! Here is a beautiful shot of the proud/exhausted mamas, and Gracie welcoming her new little friend:



Here's Jilly showing off her sweet baby boy:



... and his adorable monkey-bottom outfit:



BTW: Benji is conspicuously absent from these photos because, for a short while after Maddox was born, he just wasn't quite sure about him. He came around pretty quickly thereafter, though, and now he loves to show off his baby brother.

Gracie, on the other hand, can't get enough of him!





Here are some pics we took a week or so later. I'm pretty sure I was thinking, Wow, it was just yesterday that Gracie was this tiny...






Gracie is completely enamored with Baby Maddox. She loves it when he comes over and sleeps in her bed. She takes every opportunity to hold him and kiss him. I think someone will be a fantastic big sister someday!

Splash Fountain and Beach Trip

Oh wow, this is as behind as I've ever been with the blog. I feel like I need to list all the monumental things G has said and done since I last updated this site (which was, um, over two months ago. But who's counting?) and worry about posting pictures another time. Or vice versa. Or maybe I'll just do a little of each. Where to start, where to start...

Sweet Gracieisms:

• "Where did [insert name of whoever she last saw, talked to, or thought about] go?" (She repeats the question at least 158 times in a row, regardless of the answer/explanation. :-)
• "Whakack?" (What's that?)
• "Cuz why?" (Because why?)
• "Ashee Teigen!!!" (This is what Gracie excitedly says anytime we ask what her whole name is. She leaves off the Grace Evelyn part every time. So cute!)
• "I wanna see moon." (Sometime in late summer/early fall, Gracie discovered the moon and has been asking to see it every night since.)
• And my personal favorite: "I wanna see God."
  One day last week, I showed Gracie the most amazing sunrise and explained that it's one of God's gifts to us each morning. The next day, she woke up and immediately wanted me to open her blinds so she could see God. I almost cried.

Potty training was going really well until a couple weeks ago when Gracie decided to exert her control by refusing to use the potty. We know it can be a normal part of the process for toddlers to pull back for awhile, so we continue to encourage and reward her as much as possible. She's really excited about wearing panties and chewing gum when she's a "big kid" so hopefully she'll come around again soon.

I know it's not polite to gloat about one's child, but why stop now after 2.5 years of professing my pride on this site? At the ripe, young age of 2.5, Gracie can count to 10! Isn't she awesome? She also loves to sing her version of the ABCs (with a lot of emphasis on LMNOP and S throughout the song), and just this evening she busted out with the Clean Up song all on her own!

Colors, though? That's a different story. We're working on 'em. For a long while, everything was pink. Now, everything is yellow. Everything. Although she may not remember the names of all the colors, she sure can match colors like nobody's business! We'll be at the breakfast table, and Gracie will announce that her blue spoon matches Daddy's blue shirt. Or, when she's brushing her teeth she'll tell me that her purple toothbrush matches her purple hair clippy. The girl's got an eye, what can I say?

Last, but not least, I must report on Grace's fascination with all things Pocahontas. A couple months ago, Chad let Gracie pick out a Disney movie to watch on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Without a moment's hesitation, she reached for Pocahontas (on VHS, no less) and has since asked to watch it at least once per day. When I ask her each morning what she dreamt about the night before, her answer is invariably "Pocahontas!" If you ask Gracie who her favorite princess is... can you guess the answer? Yep! How the heck does she even know that Pocahontas was a princess?! Needless to say, Santa is on a mission to find Pocahontas-related Christmas presents this year. You would be amazed how hard it is to find anything!

OK, now for some pictures. My mom and her friend, Sue, came to visit one warm August day and took Grace to this fun splash fountain. Although G liked to play in the water, she wasn't so sure about the 'splash' part at first:

... but then she warmed up to the idea:



... and we couldn't get her out of there! She saw other kids filling plastic baggies with water, so she asked my mom for a snack just so she could have the empty bag to play with!





Behind the fountain was a big duck pond. Here's GG chasing a duck into the water:



The next weekend, we took a trip to the beach to stay with Nina and Chris. It was such a gorgeous weekend! One of the days, we visited my Grandma in Newport where Gracie had such fun playing catch with my mom:



... and being chased by Aunt Nina:



I love this photo of Gracie with her Great Grandma Z:

We spent the whole next day at the beach. Gracie was in hog-heaven!





Here she is, just taking it all in:



After a day of fun in the sun, we went back to Nina and Chris's so G could rest before we had to leave. Here she is with my mom:



... and here she is with Bogey after waking up from a quick nap:



Bye bye, Uncle Chris! Can't wait to see you again soon!