We Four Kings: Happy Birthday, Dave!

Today is Dave's 28th birthday! We'll be celebrating at the family birthday party on Saturday, but I couldn't let the day pass without expressing my gratitude for the wonderful man, husband, and father that Dave is. Thanks for working so hard and for always treating Gracie and me (and Katie too!) like queens. We love you!

Here's a picture of Dave's birthday "cake" I made this morning. He's not a huge fan of cake, but he loves chocolate-peanut butter Rice Krispie treats, so I made a pan of those, split them in half, and then decorated it to look like a laptop. (Dave is a computer genius, by the way.) The letters/numbers were a little crooked, but he loved it anyway, so I am satisfied! :)

Gracie-isms (i.e. funny things she says)

September 29, 2010
I put on a BYU shirt (with a picture of a cougar on it), and Gracie asked if it was a tiger. I said, "No, it's a cougar." She seemed satisfied, but a while later she pointed to it and said, "That looks like a puma!" What the...? You know what a puma is but not a cougar? I didn't know what a puma was until, like, high school! I think someone's been watching too much "Go, Diego, Go!"

August 5, 2010
While I was nursing Katie, Gracie said, "Mom, can I bisit [visit] with you?" I said, "Sure!" so she lay down on the couch on her tummy, with her head on her hands. Then she said, "I'll tell you a story. One day I was running and I had my running hair, in a ponytail, and I runned. This is a story about me running with my running hair. The end."

August 2, 2010
We were playing pretend, and Gracie was Cinderella, Dave was Prince Charming, and I was "Bobbity-Boo" (the fairy godmother). After play had been stagnant for a while (but apparently we should've still been in character), Dave gave me a kiss as he walked out of the room. Gracie became very concerned and said, "Bobbitty-Boo, why are you kissing Prince Charming?!" Oops! :S

July 27, 2010
I was trying to carry too many things, and I spilled some of the Cheerios I was bringing to Grace for breakfast. I got a taste of my own medicine when I apologized to Gracie and she said, "That's ok, Momma. But don't do it again, alright?"

July 23, 2010
We had to order a replacement "Aurora" top from Gracie princess dress-up box. The day that it came in the mail, Gracie was thrilled and said, "This is the best day I never had today!"

July 19, 2010
One day she was dressed up as Cinderella and kept asking for more and more and MORE accessories, which was driving me crazy (because I couldn't get anything done). Finally, I said, "You're cruisin' for a bruisin'!" In a very offended voice, she said, "No, I'm 'Cinderella'!"

July 2010 Note: Gracie is getting good at putting her own lyrics into familiar nursery rhymes and primary songs. Favorite tunes to use are "I Know My Father Lives" and "Mary Had a Little Lamb."

July 18, 2010
She started singing, to the tune of "I Hope They Call Me on a Mission," "We went to the Farmer's Market!"

July 16, 2010
I told Gracie to put on her underwear when we got back from swimming. I heard her struggling, and then, "Mom, something's wrong with my panties!" I could see that she had both legs through one pant-leg, and as I went over to help, she pointed to the empty one and said, "That leg is missing!"

July 14, 2010
While dressed up like Tinkerbell: "I have fixing dust [i.e. pixie dust]. Do you like fixing dust?"

July 2010 Note: Grace loves to pretend to be different people/characters, and she gets very into it. In fact, when she changes back to herself, she "wipes" her face and body and says, "I'm not _____. Now I'm Gracie."

July 6, 2010
She was pretending to be "Mommy" and said, "I want Mommy clothes." When I asked her what that was, she said, "Um, it's a big shirt wit 'BYU' on it and big blue jeans." Guess I really should dress nice from time to time, huh? :)

July 5, 2010
Dave took her on a daddy-daughter date on her birthday, and after they went a couple places, Dave said, "So, where do you wanna go next?" Gracie said, "No Daddy, we need to just go home. Please stop asking to go other places." Uh, okaaay...!

July 3, 2010
During my mom's visit, I was using the restroom one day and Gracie asked my mom where I was. My mom said I was in the restroom, and Gracie said, "I'm gonna go see if she's up to" (instead of "'what' she's up to"). :)

June 30, 2010
I overheard her talking in the bath one day (saying this to one of her toys), "I fink [think] you're a man, Twinkle Toes!" followed by maniacal laughter. And we don't even have TV! :)

June 27, 2010
I opened the car door to get her out one day, and she said, "Ahhh, the sun is in my eyes. I think I am getting a sunburn on my eyes!"

June 18, 2010
Dave hit her with a toy hammer, and it seemed kinda hard so I said, "Careful, Daddy!" He rolled his eyes at me for being overprotective. Then Gracie said to me, very seriously, "Mommy, it's just a toy!"

June 16, 2010
She said to me, "You're my favorite mommy, Mommy!" :)

June 15, 2010
After I got dressed, she came in to critique my outfit (which was a tank top with an unbuttoned shirt over it). She said, "Oh, I love this shirt [the tank top] under this [button shirt]! You look like a spider!" Not the look I was going for, but whatever! :)

June 14, 2010
We were watching a slide show of Aunt Kristine's Grand Canyon pictures, and one picture was of a mule deer. She said, "What's that?" and I said, "A mule deer." Then she said, "Oh, I love deer! They always give me slurpy kisses!" ???

June 9, 2010
I got a magazine in the mail. I told her she could read it and she said, "Oh, I can't read that mazazine! I can read this one!" pointing to The Friend.

June 9, 2010
Katie had a runny nose, and it made noise every time she breathed. Gracie said, "Katie's nose sounds like snoring!"

June 3, 2010
We went to a surprise party for a friend's birthday at the end of May, and when everybody yelled "Surprise!", it scared Gracie. She was talking about her upcoming birthday and told me, "Everyone will yell 'Surprise!' and it will probably scare me."

June 2, 2010
While on a walk with Dave, they saw a man walking on the other side of the street. Gracie asked Dave what the man's name was and he said he didn't know. Remembering her lessons about not lying, she said, "Daddy, what's his name? Tell the truth!"

May 2010 Gracie Note: She loves Mommy/Baby things. If she ever sees a big and little version of something, she says there's a mommy and a baby. She has done this with brushes, dolls, poop (ew!), crayons, drawings, etc.

May 25, 2010
She showed Dave the paper chain we had made to count down the days until he would be "all better." She instructed him, "When this is all gone, Daddy, it's time for you to get better, okay?"

May 20, 2010
I gave her a container of baby food peaches to eat with dinner. (Weird, I know. But it's not much different than eating applesauce, right?) As she took her first bite she said, "Mmmm...sounds like apricots!"

May 20, 2010
As she went to bed, she passed a crocodile "piano" toy she loves to play with. She said to him, "Good night, Crocodile! I'll music you very soon, after I wake up!"

May 19, 2010
I love this girl. On this particular day, while she was going potty she said, "You're a good mommy. And David's a good daddy." :)

May 12, 2010
She was staring at the cowlick on the back of Katie's head and said, "Look, she has a lollipop on her head!" (because of the swirling :) )

April 25, 2010
I said, "Do you want pancakes for breakfast?" (which would require me to be in the kitchen cooking while she ate) and she said, "No, just Cheerios, milk, and [pointing to me] YOU!" I love that she wants to spend quality time with me!

April 23, 2010
We told her we were going to get a surprise at the store, and on the way she said, "I don't [instead of can't] wait!"

April 20, 2010
While eating pancakes she said, "Look, just like a ball is smashed." In other words, she said the pancake was like a ball that had been smashed--I was pretty impressed!

April 19, 2010
I started singing along to a Veggie Tales song, which she doesn't like me doing. She started to say, "Don't sing that!" but then corrected herself by using "nice words": "Please may you can't sing that?" :)

April 19, 2010
Dora is creeping into her vocabulary. Today as she was reaching for an (out-of-reach) apple, she said, "Ayudame!" ("Help me!" in Spanish)

April 15, 2010
Dave was playing the "take your nose" game with her (the one where you pinch their nose between your fingers and pretend that your thumb jis the kid's nose). Gracie was slightly concerned, but had a solution. She used her fingers to pinch off Dave's nose, which she used to replace her missing nose. :)

April 14, 2010
Grace learned "Never give up!" from Dora a while back, but on this day was saying, "Never give down!" Dave and I tried to explain the right way, but she insisted on saying "down." Dave said, "What's the deal?" and she said, "I don't know what's the deal!"

April 6, 2010
She did something funny (can't remember what), and I said, "Gracie, you're a crack-up!" and she said, "No, I not cracked up!" When I laughed at that, she said, "No, I'm not sure I am!" (?)

March 6, 2010
During their date, Daddy and Grace walked through a hardware store and Gracie kept saying, "Oh wow! Look at all the fings [things] I've never seen before!" and "Thank you Daddy, for showing me all the fings I've never seen before!" :)

March 6, 2010
While on a date with Daddy, Gracie's nearly-full bottle of water spilled all over the car. When she told me about it later, she laughed and said, "Silly! Now we haffa get a new car!" Well, whatever it takes! ;)

March 4, 2010
While drinking water: "I like water. It makes me delicious!"

February 27, 2010
We always talk about things she can do when she's bigger and bigger. One day, she was pretending to be "mommy" and I was "Gracie." As I buckled her in her carseat, she said, "Now this is Mommy's seat. Now this [pointing to the driver's seat] is Gracie's seat. Now when you are littler and littler, you can sit here!"

February 27, 2010
We were eating blueberry waffles, but Gracie picked all the blueberries out and ate them first. She explained to us, "They don't want to stay in there. I haffa take them out."

February 19, 2010
Gracie knows that we love when Katie does what we call "raspberries" (i.e. blowing bubbles/spitting), so the other morning she was sitting on the couch and said, "Now I'm a baby!" and then she blew bubbles and said, "Now I'm doing blueberries!"

February 15, 2010
I was watching a video online, and Gracie ran over to sit on my lap and watch with me. Some people in the audience were saying, "Oooh" and "Whoa!", and Gracie really got into it. Soon she piped up, "Whoa indeed!" So cute!

February 8, 2010
Ever since we moved in, the door to our bedroom has creaked when you open or close it. We finally remembered to get some WD-40, so Dave oiled it up and it stopped creaking. The first time Gracie closed it afterward, she tried it a couple times and said, "It doesn't work!"

February 1, 2010
While waiting to go into surgery, Dave felt (and looked) pretty nervous. Gracie could sense this, so she went up to him and said, "It's okay, Daddy! Grandpa will take care of you!" (Dave's grandpa had come along with us to help out.)

Later that day, we returned to the doctor's office after hours to pick Dave up, so the doctor came and unlocked the door. Gracie said, "Thanks for opening the door for us!", like she was as big as anybody! Then, when we left for the day, she said to the doctor, "Thanks for helping her [pointing at me] husband!"

October 28, 2009
Gracie loves to see Katie smile, but we don't get to see smiles very often yet. In her prayer at lunch time, she prayed, "Bless Katie, make a smile!" It was so cute!

October 27, 2009
I went to get Gracie out of her crib after naptime, and my hair was down (rare these days). She put her hands in my hair and said, "Beau-fi-ful hair, Mommy! Can be a horse!" So nice to know my hair is pretty enough for me to be a horse...

October 17, 2009
Dave and Gracie were at his parents' house playing, and Gracie wandered off somewhere. Dave looked everywhere, all the while calling, "Gracie! Where are you?" She didn't make a sound or answer, so he kept searching (and worrying, at this point). After a few minutes, he sneezed and she said, "Bless you, Daddy!" Little Stinker heard him the whole time, but just wouldn't answer!

October 8, 2009
(Background: A while back, Gracie learned that to say "penguin" in Spanish, you say "pinguino." We would say, "How do you say 'penguin' in Spanish?" and she would say, "Pinguino!")
Grace found a penguin toy at Dave's parents' house, and Dave said, "How do you say 'penguin' in Spanish?"
Grace: "Penguin in Spanish."
Dave: "No, how does Dora say 'penguin'?"
Grace: "In Spanish." Hmmm...touche!

September 7, 2009
We rented a motorboat to go out on the lake, and Gracie absolutely LOVED it! At one point she said, "Isn't it fun?" and I said, "It is! I like riding the boat!" and she said, "I like it too. Is my favorite part!"

September 3, 2009
She had been wrapping her piggy doll in a "blanket" (cloth diaper/burp rag) over and over, and then I felt her put it on my side around (1/3 of) my tummy. Then she said, "Wanna hold you." Touched, I said, "Awww, you wanna hold me?" and she said, "Yeah, wanna hold big mama." Hmmm...good feeling's gone. ;)

September 3, 2009
After I put a video in for her, she exclaimed, "I'm exciting!" (meaning, "I'm excited!")

September 2, 2009
We were on a walk as it was getting dark outside. Gracie said, "Look at the sky!" and I said, "Yeah, the clouds are so pretty!" She said, "And the star!" I looked up and saw one star shining through, so we said the "Starlight, star bright" poem together. Then she said "Great kings of da past!" I realized she was quoting The Lion King, where Mufasa tells Simba that the great kings of the past look down on us from the stars--I was impressed! (Maybe instead I should just be embarrassed that she's seen it so many times...)

August 31, 2009
When I open the windows, Gracie says, "Hello, world!", so windows are, of course, "the world." Nana (Dave's mom) came over to help clean, and when Gracie saw her washing the windows in her room, she said, "Nana's cleaning the world!" Good job, Nana!

August 28, 2009
We were watching the Modesto Nuts baseball game. It had just started, and the first time that Gracie saw a player hit the ball, she said, "Good job, man! You a big girl!" (The highest of compliments in her book, but I'm not sure what he would've thought if he heard her....)

August 26, 2009
I told Gracie that it was almost time for bed, and she started pretend crying.
Me: What's wrong?
Grace: I'm crying!
Me: Why are you crying?
Grace: I'm sad.
Me: Why are you sad?
Grace: I'm crying!
It's a vicious cycle, I guess! ;)

August 23, 2009
Dave was eating his breakfast in the family room (where Gracie was playing), and she noticed the half grapefruit I had given him to eat. He had tasted it and it was quite sour, so he put sugar on to try and improve the taste. Grace really wanted to try it, so he gave her a bite. She made a funny face and just kinda chewed on it for a minute, being very polite. Dave them took a bite (hoping the sugar had helped), but had a hard time getting it down. He and I were laughing at his reaction, and then Gracie announced, "It's sick!"

August 19, 2009
We had 2 grapefruits sitting on the counter (a fruit that Gracie had never tried before), and she kept pointing to them and saying, "Oinges!" (i.e. oranges). I told her several times that they are called grapefruit, but that didn't satisfy her. One time as we finished washing our hands and she saw them, she said, "Grapefruit. Name is 'orange'."

August 15th-ish, 2009
Gracie loves to call Grandma Nelson on the phone, and she thinks that whenever my phone rings, it's Grandma calling. I've also been trying to explain that Grandma is my mom, just like I'm Gracie's mom. One day the phone rang and Gracie said, "Is Grandma Nelson! Name is 'my mom'!"

August 7, 2009
After going to the fair, Gracie kept asking to go back over and over. We told her that it cost too much money to go back, and that we would go back next year. Later, we were at lunch with Grammy and Gramps, and Gramps found a dime on the ground that he gave to Grace. She immediately grabbed it and said, "Money! Let's go to da fair!"

August 3, 2009
I had a hymns CD playing, and during one of the songs only the men were singing. Gracie heard it and said, "Daddy church song!" (i.e. only the daddies are singing). A few seconds later, the women joined in, and she said, "Momma church song!" :)

July 18, 2009
Ever since her awful experience with getting stitches, Gracie reminds us of what happened by saying, "Was so brave! Was a scary fing [thing]!" We have to agree!

July 15, 2009
I brought Gracie her lunch on this day, and after looking it over she said, "Mmmm...looks like good!" Made my day!

July 8, 2009
Grace's latest movie obsession has been the Toy Story movies, and she has started quoting them quite a bit. On this day, she kept saying something that we couldn't figure out. We finally got that she was saying, "Look, Buzz, I found a spaceship!" except that she was saying, "Look, Buzz, I found a bishop!" Our bishop gives out candy after church and he has a heated pool in his backyard, so I can see why she thinks he's as cool as a spaceship! :)

July 2, 2009
We gave her a punching balloon (a balloon with a rubberband on it), but we have to keep warning her not to sit on it or push on it too hard, so we say, "Don't pop it!". The other day she was hugging Katie (i.e. my tummy) and laid her head on it. After a couple of seconds, she sat up and said (quite frantically) "Don't pop it!" I guess there's no denying that I look pregnant, huh?

June 23, 2009
We were out shopping in the afternoon, so when we got in the car, it was pretty hot. As I was buckling her in her carseat, she said, "It smells like hot!" Very perceptive, no?

June 23, 2009
I gave Gracie a shirt to wear, and it happened to be the one that she wore in Arizona for our family pictures (which included her cousin Kaybree). She said, "Go to Kaybree's house!" (she remembered that she wore the shirt for pictures--amazing little memory, that kid!) I told her that Kaybree lives a long way away, so we couldn't go to her house. Then she said, "Let's go find them [cousins]!" I was definitely tempted!

June 9, 2009
Katie was moving around a lot, so I had Gracie come sit by me on the couch and I held her hand on my tummy. She didn't wait too long, but I think she might have felt a little move. After she pulled her hand away, she leaned to my tummy and said (loudly), "I seein' you move! I seein' you move!" to Katie.

June 8, 2009
At the park, she was running up and down the ramp that leads to the swings. On one of her trips up the ramp, I praised her for being so fast, and she said, "Good upping!"

June 3, 2009
While Gracie was eating her breakfast, I opened the blinds right next to her chair. She said, "Hello world!" and then, showing them(?) her spoon full of Cheerios, said, "Look, all by suh-self [myself]!" to tell them that she can eat all by herself. I laughed and said, "You're so cute!" so she then announced to the world, "I so cute!"

Ever since she learned to sing "I love to see the Temple," when we get to the line that says, "I'll prepare myself while I am young," she says, "I'll prepare myself while I am yum!" It's so cute!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Happy Birthday, Dave!

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