Bath Time Fun

Grace experienced her first bath in the kitchen sink today! She had such a wonderful time! She has,as Brad Paisley would say, "...a love affair with water!" The kitchen sink was a great spot, as new exploration could be achieved there...everything from the kitchen faucet to the kitchen utensils. It was a bit slippery in the sink at times, due to a little extra bubble liquid that mommy added for fun. It also made me think about what bath time was like for me when I was a kid. My mother told me that she used to give me baths in the kitchen sink. I even remember seeing a few old pictures commemorating the events. Sometimes more fun comes from the simpler things in life...baths in sinks instead of baby bathtubs. Grace sure enjoyed this special time!

Grandma Lovings

We were blessed with a visit from Grandma Gretencord this weekend! She came to visit and give Grace some much needed Grandma lovings, and Grace loved every minute of it! We had a blast this weekend: the events included a much needed mall outing, lots of good food, church, and Beatles Rock Band 2. What a blast! We love her soo much, and miss her loads already. She left to return to Austin to help take care of the other Gretencord grandchildren. We were sad to see her go, but we know that we will see her again soon in November when we travel to Austin for Cecilia's baptism. So it made parting from her easier to take. We pray for her save travels back to Austin, and back home to Indiana next week.

Cecilia Rose

We are proud to announce the arrival of our beautiful niece, Cecilia Rose! Cecilia was born Sunday, September 20th at 6:20 pm in Austin, Texas. What a blessing! We continue to pray each day for her health and growth as she begins her journey! We love you sweet baby girl! We can't wait to hold you in November! Your cousin, Grace says, "Hello!" We also pray for the health of all the Gretencord family in Austin as they adjust to a new addition, managing sleep, and battling the recent flu bugs. We love you all so very much!

Family Fun in Austin

We all really enjoyed our time in Austin this labor day weekend! We always enjoy spending time with our family. Grace really loves her cousins! She rarely gets to see anyone else other than her mommy and daddy. I went to a baby shower that was given for Sharon, and it was lovely. We are so excited for the arrival of the new baby G! Marc went with Adam for a guys night out. Later that evening, I enjoyed nice conversation with Sharon and her friend Julie. Sharon prepared the best of meals, as always. We had to say goodbye on Monday, but we look forward to visiting again in November. We love you all so much! Thank you for having us!

Grace's New Friend

Grace has a new buddy! His name is Gary the Gecko! He lives inside our fireplace, and today he came out to play with Grace. Well, Marc says that Gary keeps the little creepy spiders at bay. Gary is a great pal! He sure is funny to watch when he comes out. He is fast as lightening! We sure can't catch him, and even if we did his tail would come off and he would run away. That happened the last time that we tried to catch one of Gary's relatives. Thanks Gary for befriending our Spagoogle and keeping the spiders away from her. You are a true pal!

The Window of Love

I watched my baby girl looking out the window yesterday and the image melted my heart. Such joy it is watching her grow in curiosity day by day. She is so beautiful and I thought to myself, God wants all of us to be children in our hearts...to grow day by day, living, laughing, and loving each discovery along the way back home to Him. The love from God is pure and perfect, just like the love of a child, so pure and innocent. Grace is fearless, every tear is followed by another smile, and every cry is followed by a sweet little giggle. If I could play like my daughter does, if I could live life more simply, how I would be closer to our Lord. What happened to life being simple? Along the way, things of the world just got too complicated! I would like to live my life like I was a child again. God would be there to lift me up when I would fall. Our Blessed Mother would wipe my tears. And I could live my life as if I were a child, and I guess that I am. I am living it through my own child. She has taught me more in these eight months than I have learned in the last 28 years of my life. Thank you my dear precious daughter, for showing me another meaning of love, and for bringing me closer to God as I go along my own journey. I pray that you will stay sweet and innocent,as you are now, for all the years of your life, as you prepare to meet your creator. I love you Grace!

Marc is Back

I just wanted to let everyone know that my dear husband is back to his normal self again. He has resumed his workout routine and has not had any problems. Thanks be to God! I love him so much, and Grace and I are so happy to see him smile again.

Trampoline Fun

And they say that you can't have fun in the city of Abilene. Well, we will show you different. Take a look at these pictures!

Many Adventures

Grace has been exploring more and more areas of the house. We have no doubt that she will be walking soon. She is just approaching 8 months within the next week. Although she is still a young little thing, she is fearless!

Pray for my Husband

Please pray for my husband, that he may recover soon. After exercising on Thursday night Marc experienced chest tightness with difficulty breathing. He had a lot of trouble sleeping that night. The next day, we went to an emergency clinic to find out what could be causing his symptoms. They sent us to the emergency room where they ruled out possible heart attack and blood clot. They are thinking it may be due to exertion from the exercise, exercise induced asthma. They prescribed him an inhaler and he has been using it as directed. His symptoms haven't improved much. If he is not better by Monday, we are going to call to see if our primary care doctor can see him. I know that our Blessed Mother is praying for us. When we sat there in the emergency clinic, I put my miraculous medal on my husband's neck. Grace and I started praying for her daddy. I am sure that Mary put her arms around him and assured him that he would be alright. The doctor came in after looking at some of the tests results and said that he was sure that he was going to be okay, but that we should go ahead and go to the emergency room to make sure that nothing was missed. My Marcus is sleeping now on the couch on this Sunday afternoon. I am listening to him breath each breath that he takes. I love him dearly and I am so grateful to have him in my life. I know that our Blessed Mother and Jesus will comfort him as he improves. I pray that his health be restored soon.

Remember,
O most gracious Virgin Mary,
that never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection,
implored thy help or sought thy intercession,
was left unaided.
Inspired with this confidence,
I fly unto thee,
O Virgin of virgins my Mother;
to thee do I come,
before thee I stand,
sinful and sorrowful;
O Mother of thy Word Incarnate,
despise not my petitions,
but in thy clemency hear and answer me.
Amen.

O Mary, please Pray for the health of my husband.

Dolphin Talk

Grace has yet another talent, communicating with Dolphins!

Carseat Discovery

Cute Crawl

Pirate Spagoog

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

4th of July

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Swimming

This is Grace and her pool on June 13th. She loves the water!

Precious Moments with Daddy

I Love My Daddy!

Daddy and Grace

God Bless Fathers

Thank you God..for my wonderful husband and father of our child! He is truly a blessing to both Grace and I! May all fathers (especially Bryan, and Harold) know that they are loved and appreciated! Today in church we received the following prayer: Dear Father in Heaven, May we remember that children need: time and attention, love and patience, discipline and guidance, caring and affection, trusting and security, laughter and play. Like Joseph, Father of Jesus, May we also be a good role model and set the best example for our children. Amen. God Bless You This Father's Day! We love you all very much and miss you dearly! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX4QVGykIA4

My Husband's Birthday!

God Bless you Marcus! I love you very much! I hope that you enjoyed your 30th birthday! Marc, Spagoogle, and I went to Red Lobster for dinner on Wednesday to celebrate. It was very good, but as we sat there taking it all in we thought...this just doesn't seem to be what it used to be. Are we just getting older? All week Marc and I looked forward to going out to eat, so much anticipation...and then it was over faster than you could believe it. We still had a great time. I did think that it was funny how they seemed to seat us in a large room where there was only one other table of people eating. However, they decided to place us right next to them. I thought of all of the room available in this room, to sit us right next to someone else. They happened to be a family of four (one of which was a baby boy a little older than Grace). They didn't seem to be that personable either. We managed to enjoy our dinner as much as we could. Spagoogle was very well behaved. We were so proud of her! Unfortunately Marc has yet to receive his birthday gift that I ordered. Before we left for the restaurant...I had called the company that I had ordered his gift from to check the status of the order. Much to my surprise, the gift was still there. It had not even been shipped yet. I was told that it was shipped out on Saturday...no wait...it was out of stock....we just got it in either yesterday or today....what color of gift wrap would you like? Is silver OK because we are out of gold? I was so frustrated. The gift was supposed to have arrived for his birthday! I even paid for expedited shipping! So I asked if the fee for expedited shipping could be waived since I did not receive the gift in time. The lady asked, "So you don't want expedited shipping anymore?" I said, I wanted it but I wanted my money back since I haven't received the package in the time that was stated for expedited shipping. She seemed to be not budging in the refund...and kept asking me what type of gift wrap that I desired. I wanted to tell her to forget the gift wrap....the gift wrap doesn't matter now since I won't be receiving it on his special day! I asked why I wasn't notified that it was out of stock and I was told that they don't have to notify you for out of stock items unless it has been about 3 weeks. I was thinking, what is the point of the expedited shipping. I wasn't getting anywhere with this lady. She assured me that I would receive the gift by Saturday (yesterday)! All yesterday I kept thinking about the gift arriving, and it never did. I kept apologizing to my husband...I am sorry...I don't know what is happening! Marc says that waiting just makes the anticipation that much more exciting! I think that when I get that gift that I am never doing business with them again! Regardless, I made Marc an Oreo dirt cake, which he says is his favorite dessert now! So at least, I can do something right for him! I love you Babes!