Grant Family

Disney Magic

2011-03-03T14:31:00.000-08:00

For now, enjoy the pics, more and the stories to follow!

Fall Fun!

2010-11-11T10:46:00.000-08:00

Fall is a whole new experience for the girls. In Arizona there are about two seasons, summer and almost summer. My girls have never had all the fun that comes with jumping in a huge pile of leaves, so imagine the joy on their face when they saw that Papa had blown every leaf in the yard into a pile just for them! It is so much fun to see them experience these things for the first time and I think that maybe they get a little more enjoyment out of it being a little bit older.

In Loving Memory

2010-10-04T16:13:00.000-07:00

Recently we had to say good bye to our beloved Gigi. We were so lucky to have so much time with her, especially the last 4 years that we were living in Arizona. Every October when Gigi came down our lives got to be a lot more fun. The girls went trick or treating at her house, we shared Thanksgiving and Easter together, but the best for all of us were the breakfast outings and dinners we shared weekly. We almost never missed a Saturday breakfast, many weekends making it on Sunday too and Wednesday nights were our favorite when we would bring dinner to Gigi's house. I am sure this last year Gigi got sick of eating pot roast, but it was Josie's favorite thing to help me make and bring along. Gigi always has things to keep the girls busy, they had their toy drawer in the kitchen with dolls and books, when that got old they would cook with her pots and pans and if all else failed there was the VHS of Snow white that was sure to keep them entertained (and quite) for at least an hour.

Over the last four years it was so much fun to get to know Gigi in a different way, in a different environment. Because now when we saw Gigi we weren't with family but we were always surrounded by all of her friends. (We were very popular in the 55+ crowd.) Gigi had the greatest friends, the holidays were shared with them and they became our Arizona family.

We knew this winter would be different, we had moved away from Arizona this summer to be closer to our family. In that way were were lucky, we got to spend one last summer with Gigi at her Minnesota house (as my girls call it) and the girls had a whole new experience and the one that Brian and I had loved for years before going to Arizona. Lazy summer days spent swimming at the lake, taking golf cart rides, and BBQ's at Linwood. We all miss our Gigi more than words can say, but are so thankful for the precious memories that we have from our special time with her. We love you Gigi!

Maggie is here!!

2010-09-23T13:41:00.000-07:00

Margaret Dawn Grant was born on August 16th! She weighed in at 8lbs. 6oz. and measured 21.5 inches long! She is absolutely perfect and beautiful, just like her big sisters, who are totally in love with her. As you know Josie is the best big sister ever and Ellie must have been taking notes because she is so great with her. Still, almost 6 weeks later Ellie loves to hold her, hug her and kiss her, she even will sit and sing her songs and read her books. Maggie's favorites so far are Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and Blue Hat, Green Hat. Josie is also happy to have another sister in the house and as always is mom's big helper. Our family is very happy and all living in the same house a gain. A few of weeks after Maggie arrived the girls and I headed to North Dakota to be with Dad and finally try and get settled into our new house.

Hugs and love from the Grants!

Our crazy life

2010-08-07T23:37:00.001-07:00

Well, again it has been quite some time since I have posted anything, but this time I think I have a fairly good reason. Our lives are completely crazy! About a month ago everything was going along just fine. Then one day Brian called from work and told me that he had the opportunity to move us closer to home. The catch, we need to go RIGHT NOW! Mortenson has a project in Jamestown, ND rebuilding a hospital and they want another guy out there, but they need him yesterday. The bonus, going to this project transfers us to the Minneapolis office with Mortenson, meaning that when this project is done (June/July 2011) we will get assigned to a new project with the Minneapolis office and that means being home in Minnesota!

So we jumped at the chance. Never mind that I was 35 weeks pregnant. Never mind that we packed up everything and left in 2 weeks time. Never mind that we had no where to go or live once we got there.

So we made a plan. Brian would go to North Dakota, find us a place to live and go to work. The girls and I would go to Minnesota, live with Allan and Diane and wait for the baby to come. This was easy, I would go back to the Dr. that delivered Josie and then after the baby when we were all settled, we would all go to North Dakota.

So here we are, I am now almost 39 weeks pregnant. The baby is scheduled to come on August 16th. (One of the perks to having a scheduled C-section) The girls and I are hanging out at Grandma and Papa's house and loving getting to spend so much time with their cousins! Brian is in North Dakota and comes to see us on the weekends and everything is falling into place.

Life has been crazy for the last month, but we are so excited to be home. I have a ton of pictures but can't seem to get them on the computer here, so they will have to wait until we can get them up in North Dakota or Brian figures out why I am having trouble.

Ellie is 2!!

2010-05-24T09:04:00.001-07:00

On April 28th our little Ellie turned 2! She was so excited to have a birthday party with her friends! Since Elmo is about the coolest thing in Ellie's world we decided on an Elmo birthday. I made her Elmo cake and we had her party at a local park with a bounce house for her and all of her friends.
Most of Ellie's friends are Josie's preschool friends and their younger siblings along with our usual Mortenson family. We are very lucky that we have become close with several families from Josie's preschool and often get together outside of school days. Also many of Josie's firends have younger siblings right around Ellie's age, except that they ALL have younger brothers! Ellie is the only girl!
All of the kids had a blast and the parents got to sit back and relax while the kids bounced and played at the park. of coarse it was one of the hottest days of the year so far so everyone was sweaty and hot by the end of the party. Good times were had by all and both the girls were asleep before the end of the 10 minute car ride home!

April 2010

2010-05-02T21:44:00.000-07:00

April brought us lots of fun! First was a trip home to Minnesota. The girls and I planned an extended trip because we that the end of Brian's project was near and that always means lot of extra hours and night without Daddy. Which is very difficult for two Daddy's girls. So at the end of march we packed ourselves up and headed to Grandma and Papa's house for two weeks with Brian joining us for Easter weekend. The girls had so much fun hanging out with their cousins. Another highlight was a girls day out with Grandma Alice. I have never seen my girls have so much fun shopping! Ellie looked like a teenager digging through racks of clothes and pulling out things she liked. She was also the first to say if she didn't like something. With a large portion of their summer wardrobe in hand we went to lunch at Josie and Grandma's favorite place, Applebee's, with one last stop before heading home, Build a Bear Workshop where both the girls made very cute monkeys which they cuddled with on the way how and promptly fell asleep after a bust day at the mall.

Auntie Stacy took on the task of coloring Easter eggs with the girls, since Noah and Taylor were on spring break. The girls had so much fun hanging out with their cousins and doing their eggs and I even got a couple of hours to myself with no kids!!! (That almost never happens.)

On Easter morning the girls came down to discover that the Easter bunny had hidden all the eggs they had decorated and even left them very full Easter baskets. This was Ellie first year of really being able to find eggs on her own and she loved it.

After all the eggs were found and the baskets all pulled apart we got ready and went to church. Then it was off to Grandma Alice's for brunch and another Easter egg hunt.

Them back to Grandma and Papa's for quick naps, dinner and you guessed it ANOTHER Easter egg hunt!

This was the best we could do with the attempt of a group picture.

Now after all that running around you can see why I never have really considered my trips home a vacation!

Also in April Ellie turns 2!! (on the 28th) We are still in shock that out little Ellie Bellie is already 2, time flies! ( Her party isn't until this weekend so I will update with birthday pictures after that) We also finally moved Ellie into Josie's room and into her big girl bed the week before her birthday. This was a huge change for us because Ellie was always the easy one to put to bed. A little rocking in her chair and a few songs then we could lay her down and walk away and not hear a peep until the morning. Now Josie is always the first one to sleep and Ellie needs a little more attention. She is getting there though, it has only been a little over a week and she is getting better at falling asleep without someone laying next to her, but she does think it's really cool that she can get out of bed on her own. Just tonight I had to pull her down out of Josie's bed twice before she finally went to sleep. I was sitting here writing this blog ans I hear Josie's little voice, "Mom, we have a problem." and there she was as happy as could be on the top bunk! All I can say is, that's my Ellie, we wouldn't expect anything less.

March 2010

2010-05-01T22:07:00.000-07:00

The biggest news we go in March came from our ultrasound appointment on March 19th. We found out that we are having another GIRL!!!

We couldn't be more excited!! Josie had wanted a baby brother all along and I kept reminding her that we don't get to pick, we just get a fun surprise. I was a little worried when I saw a VERY familiar picture on the screen that she would be bummed out that she was getting another sister. When the ultrasound tech said "It's a girl!" I saw Josie's face drop just for a second and then a HUGE smile and cheer for a baby sister. I have to say that my reaction was almost identical. My biggest concern is coming up with a name for this little girl. Josie was easy, Ellie was much harder and this one is proving to be the hardest one yet. I know that we will find something, I just hope it's before August. Got any suggestions? Send them my way!!

February 2010

2010-05-01T12:15:00.001-07:00

February brought a couple of new milestones to the Grant house. The first one was that we bought bunk beds for the girls since we need the crib and Ellie's bedroom for the new baby coming in August. Josie was so excited about getting bunk beds and getting to sleep on the top bunk. She has slept in bunk beds before, but we weren't really sure how it was going to go when it was the real deal. She loved it and it even keeps her in her own room a lot more often.
About the same time we got the bunk beds I kicked Josie out of our bed. Knowing the my belly was just going to get bigger and there would be less and less room for her. The problem was that she had gotten so good and sneaking into our bed a lot of the time we didn't know she was there. She knew that climbing over Daddy was the way to go, he doesn't wake up for anything and she just snuggled right in and I wouldn't know she was there until I was falling out of the bed. So we set her up a place on our floor to sleep if she wanted to come in during the night, but with the bunk beds it is rare that we find her there in the morning. Part of it is probably because it is too much work to crawl down in the middle of the night.
The other big Grant family milestone in February was that Daddy turned 30!!! I waited for this day for 4 months, so he would stop giving me crap about being "old" since I turned 30 in October. We had a fun day celebrating Daddy"s big day. I think that it has been hardest on Brian's family who can't believe that "Baby Brian" is 30 years old!

February also brought us some more visitors, Anya and Krey! (Their parents came too) We had lots of fun visiting with them for a long weekend. We took them to the zoo ( I did say that's one of our favorite things to do.) and the Daddy's got some golfing in. Unfortunately Ellie got sick during their stay with pneumonia, but that let Josie have a special day to spend with her Aunt Michelle and cousins at Enchanted Island, a small amusement park, where the girls got to go on rides and even got a treat at the end of they day. It was so much fun to hear all about the fun day they had. (I'll have to get some pictures from Michelle and update later.)

That ended the fun in February. After Ellie got sick it was all down hill, Josie got pneumonia too and we ended up in urgent care and the doctor's office several times the last couple of weeks in February. After about two weeks of sick kids we were all healthy again and back on track. Thankfully all our visitors got were a couple of runny noses!

January 2010

2010-04-30T21:33:00.001-07:00

In January we had visitors! With nobody knowing that we were coming home for Christmas our parents thought that they would come visit soon after the holidays. We tried hard to get them to postpone their plans with out making it obvious as to why we wanted them to wait. This actually lead to us telling my mom we were going to be home for Christmas because she just wouldn't give up. We didn't want to ruin our surprise so when Allan and Diane made plans to visit in January we decided to let it go seeing as we were going to be in Minnesota for such a short time anyway. While they were here we got to spend some quality time with Grandma and Papa and share some of our favorite things to do in Arizona. The girls favorite place to spend the day is the Phoenix Zoo, so we had to take Grandma and Papa there.

One of Josie's favorite things to do at the zoo is feed the giraffes. She taught Papa how to feed the giraffes.

We also took them up to Sedona to spend a day.

While they were here we also planned to have Josie's birthday party. She turned 4 back on December 22nd, and we usually have a party at home with family, but since we had so few days in Minnesota we decided to have our first Arizona birthday for Josie. Which was a lot of fun because she got to invite all of her preschool and Arizona friends to her party. She really wanted to have her party at Bounce U, so that's what we planned. We had so much fun jumping and playing! After an hour or so of literally bouncing off the walls, we had pizza and cake. Good times were had by all and mom didn't even have to clean up the mess, until she got home.
The only mess to clean up was the disaster in my kitchen from making Josie's birthday cake. Diane has always made her grand kids birthday cakes and does such a wonderful job. When I had Ellie I figured I was going to have to start to learn how to make cakes for myself since I never saw us being home in April for Ellie's birthdays and I didn't think it was fair that her cakes would never be as cool as Josie's. Well when Josie requested a princess castle cake I knew I had my work cut out for me. I spent a lot of time looking at other home made castle cakes online. Trying to figure out how they made them and what was the best design. and this is what I came up with. I have to say that I really had fun making this cake and I have to thank Brian for all his work too. He made the door and all the windows and even stayed back to repair one of the towers I broke in the car before we even left for the party. I thought I was going to cry! Diane did the adorable little princess dress cake and that was Josie's special cake!

December 2009

2010-04-30T20:56:00.001-07:00

I am so behind in my blogging that I decided that I would do quick monthly updates to catch up and try to be better about finding time to update more frequently! So, here goes nothing!

December 2009 was an exciting month for our little Grant family. At the beginning of the month Brian and I got away for our first night ever away from our kids! Crazy to think that we have never done that, but living far away from your family (and babysitters) makes it difficult. (A big thanks to Mike and Gina for taking excellent care of the girls for us!) Anyway our first night without kids was in Las Vegas! We went to see Garth Brooks in concert and had a blast with our friends Lexi and Bill Jack. Right before we left, trying to be very responsible I found out that my very first trip to Vegas would not include any late night partying because I am pregnant!!! It was a great trip and concert.

This year we had said since the summer that we wouldn't be home for Christmas this year. It was just too much money and we also took into account that Josie has not has a healthy Christmas since the year she was born. With her asthma the winter is hard and traveling and crazy schedules have always lead to pneumonia and illness at Christmas time. The idea of not being home was sad for us. It was something that we said we would never miss, but we thought it was best for us this year. Well, that last all of maybe a month before we decided that we couldn't do it and starting planning our road trip home. The catch was we were not going to tell anyone that we were coming home. We would drive up and arrive on Christmas eve and stay a few days and head home. This meant that we would be on the road about the same amount of time that we were actually home, but we thought it was worth it. Of course the day we planned to leave there was supposed to be big storms our whole route home, so we left early only to encounter this:

This was the worst of the weather we saw. We were still in Arizona, about 2 hours from home and stuck on the mountain for about 3 hours before they turned us around and headed us back to town. We found out from friends who were watching weather and road conditions for us that all roads out of the state were closed but one and you had to have tire chains for 4 wheel drive for the state troopers to even let you through, but Grants never turn back. ( That's a family motto handed down from Brian's Grandfather) So we called and put some tire chains on hold at Checker auto and headed down the mountain, got our tire chains and headed on to Minnesota. We drove to Kansas City and stayed the night there and left very early the next morning to beat the weather coming our way. I think we were in the hotel for less than 12 hours, but we got some good sleep at least. On Christmas eve we arrived in Minnesota, to a very surprised family!
None of our plans to surprise our family turned out quite the way we planned, but everything turned out great. We were going to just show up at church, but because of the weather we arrived early and just decided to go to the Grant's house and get ready. Allan was shocked when we pulled in the driveway and Diane was surprised by two little girls when she got out of the shower to get ready for church. As we were sitting visiting with Grandma and Grandpa the girls were checking out their tree. They have a ornament for every Christmas with all the grand kids on it and Allan said to Josie that we needed another baby before next year so they could add another name on next years ornament. To which Josie replied, "Well, you know my mom has a baby in her belly!" There went our Christmas morning surprise!
The girls had so much fun with their cousins in Minnesota, we are so glad we made the trip home! Josie even had her first healthy Christmas in Minnesota, which lead to her first time really getting to play in the snow! She loved every minute of it. She shares a love of snowmobiling with her dad. She could have had him drive that thing around the yard for hours, and she did!!
Ellie on the other hand wanted nothing to do with the snowmobile, but loved the snow and playing outside just the same and we all had a great Christmas.

More Family Traditions!

2009-12-16T19:29:00.001-08:00

The day after Thanksgiving while all the other people are out shopping our family tradition is to break out all the Christmas decorations. We put up the tree (we have to have artificial because Brian is allergic to the real ones.) and put of the Dept. 56 village and hang the stockings and Gigi's Santas. The girls are both old enough to help decorate the tree this year and they both loved hanging the ornaments on the tree. At first Ellie wanted to take them off and put them back on over and over, but eventually she got the idea. Josie is a pro at this by now and she likes to see all the ornaments and likes to find special places for the ones that are hers. Here's Josie showing Ellie the ropes:
The other traditon that we started last year was letting Josie put the star on the top of the tree. She loves that this is her special job, but once Daddy lifts her up over his head she has a hard time getting the giggles under control to actually get the star on the top of the tree. I suspect that by next year there will have to be a conversation about who gets to put the star up, but we will either take turns every year or maybe the star will have to go up twice!
After a long mornings work the tree was beautiful and the girls were very proud of their masterpiece. The tree is my favorite thing at Christmas time. I love to turn on the lights and turn off every other light in the house and just sit in the room with the tree. Josie and Ellie love this becasue we have a button to push to light the tree instead of having to plug it in. They both learned very quickly how to turn the tree on and off and they love to turn it on every morning.

Thanksgiving and family traditions

2009-12-16T19:06:00.001-08:00

Ever since we moved to Arizona we have always had Thanksgiving here. Last year was the first time that we decided to host Thanksgiving and things went so great that we had an even bigger gathering of our Arizona family this year. The total guest list topped out around 20! We are lucky to get to share this special time with Gigi (Great-Grandma Grant) since she lives here 6 months of the year. We also have Grandma's good friend Dorothy who is like an adopted grandma to my girls, I am a firm believer that you can't have too many grandparents! We also had 3 families of the Mortenson family join us and it was a wonderful day. The kids played outside, the boys fried about everything they could think of in the turkey fryer: funnel cakes, snickers, reeses peanut butter cups, and donuts (AKA tubby toast). All the girls shared their favorite Thanksgiving recipes and nobody went home hungry!

One of our family traditions at holidays is to make bread from scratch. My mom learned from her mom, my mom taught me and now Josie has become quite a good helper.
She helps knead the bread and she has become very good at it. So much so that I don't really have to take over when she's done. She is building up her muscles and she doesn't ever seem to get tired! She pulls and pushes and pulls and pushes until I tell her to stop.
Ellie is thinking that maybe next year she will have to get in on this action too. Lucky for me, we have always had to make 2 batches so there can be a bowl for each of them next year and we won't have to fight.
One of Josie's favorite parts of making bread is to watch it rise. Here she is with her bowl over flowing! She asks about every 10 minutes to check on the bread to see if it is getting bigger. I keep trying to tell her that if she waits a little longer she may be able to actually tell the difference in size! Josie loves helping in the kitchen no matter what I am doing. I am so glad that she has really taken to making bread because it was one of my favorite things to do with my mom at the holidays and now it becoming one of her favorite things too. Hopefully one day she can share this tradition with her kids.

Ellie is a super swimmer too!!

2009-12-16T18:42:00.001-08:00

Ellie has had to tag along to Josie's swimming lessons all of her life and she is always wanting to get in the pool too. So we decided it was time Ellie finally got to get into the pool and learn to swim like her big sister.

If you know Ellie you know that she is a little on the shy side. It takes her a while to warm up to people and some people, try as they may just can't win her over. Her Daddy is her favorite guy and no other guy has quite measured up yet. (This makes Daddy VERY happy and he hopes it continues well into her teenage years!) So when I found out her teacher was a guy, I was a little skeptical about how well this could possibly go.

It turns out that being in the pool far out weighed the fact that her teacher is a guy. And eventually she really grew to like Jon and now refuses to swim for any other teacher! I guess this is an obstacle that will be tackled later!! Ellie is doing excellent in her swimming lessons and I think we might have another little swimmer on our hands. She has to take a break from swimming because she has accomplished all of the requirement for her level 2 class, but level 3 is not a parent/child class so until she can wait her turn and not jump off the step randomly, she is sidelined from going any farther. Here are some pictures of Ellie's favorite things at swimming:

The Popcorn song!

Hey, There's Jojo!! I want to swim with the big kids!!

Monkey walks

Happy Halloween!!

2009-11-02T19:48:00.001-08:00

Well Halloween has come and gone and we sure had a lot of fun! I would love to fill in all the things that we have done since our trip to San Diego, but sadly now that I have some time my hard drive is in Minnesota trying to salvage my pictures! So any way we will start from here and I will vow to be better about backing up my photos and updating my blog!!

One of our favorite family activites has always been carving pumpkins. When Brian and I were in college we would get the fancy carving kits and carve elaborate designs. Well now with two kids we and they don't have as much time or patience and so we settled for 3 funny (not scary, per Josie's request.) pumpkins and one cute little monster.

Josie dug right in a helped clean out her pumpkin. She has become such a little scientist asking all kinds of questions about the insides, making lots of observations that the guts were squishy, wet and slimy. She asked about the seeds, and then proceeded to tell us about how farmers plant seeds and they need water and sun and time to grow into pumpkins. She even designed her own pumpkin face which I gladly carved out for her.
Ellie wasn't quite as gung-ho about digging right into a slimy pumpkin so we put in all out on the table for her to explore at her own pace. She touched it a little but was much more into checking out the pumpkins all lit up and ready to go. The monster was her favorite.
This is the first Halloween that Ellie has gone trick-or-treating. Last year if I remember correctly she slept through most of Halloween and barely got to wear her costume. This year she was a very funny little clown. She loved her costume and even though she is not a fan of strangers who want to talk to her in the store and there aren't many people that she would just walk up to and talk to the idea of getting candy pushed all fears aside and she was a very happy little clown running from one door to the next.
Josie has been deciding her own costumes for the past couple of years. This year she wanted to be a princess and she wanted her dress to be pink. So a couple of months ago we started looking for patterns for Grandma Grant. We like to get our requests in early since they have to go the farthest. Josie picked this dress because it has 3 skirts and she is 3! Well she was by far the prettiest princess that I saw all night! The picture almost doesn't do it justice. This is the princess dress girls dream about. The one you just have to spin and twirl in all night long. She got so many compliments on her dress people could not believe that her Grandma made it. Her preschool teacher told Josie to start talking to Grandma about her wedding dress!

Here are the girls all ready to hit the streets!

Our neighborhood is the place to be for trick or treating. We easily had over 100 trick-or-treaters, I ran out of candy by 7:30 and I had bought 10 bags. I had to break into the snack drawer in the pantry and Ellie's loot just to make it until 8:00! I knew we had a lot of kids in our neighborhood, but I had no idea. It was also nice to meet some of our neighbors because nobody ever is outside in the summer, but on Halloween people sit on the porch waiting for the kids and the cul-de-sac at the end out or street had the road blocked the BBQ set up and a regular old party going on! I am already excited for next year.

More of San Diego

2009-08-09T20:32:00.000-07:00

After a long day at SeaWorld we went back to the convention center to pick up Papa and have dinner before heading back to the hotel.

Here is Josie filling Papa in on all the things that she saw that day at SeaWorld. The highlights she made sure to tell Papa included: she fed a sea lion, she wants to swim with Shamu when she grows up, and the long list of all the other animals that she saw that day!
For dinner we went down to Seaport Village. It is a beautiful spot by the water that has all kinds of shops and restaurants. We walked for a while and the girls were happy to be out of the stroller and running around. They must of looked like they were having a lot of fun running and climbing on the sculptures in the park because Papa joined right in. Mom and Dad were tired from a long day of pushing around the huge double stroller, so we enjoyed watching the kids have fun.

Papa and two of his best girls.

After we had a great dinner at the Edgewater Grille, Papa had a special surprise for Josie. There was a carousel in the park. Josie loves to ride the carousel, she rides just about everyone she sees. So Josie and Ellie picked out a couple of horses and took a spin! This carousel was hand carved in 1895 and had been moved a handful of times before ending up in it's current home in Seaport Village.

Because of Josie's love of riding carousel's Ellie has, at a young age, become a pro and loves to ride along with her sister. When Josie was Ellie's age she had no interest all in riding, but because of mom and dad's persistence she quickly changed her mind and has been in love with them since just before her second birthday when the local mall got a 2 story carousel. Ellie being our little adventurer has loved them since day one. It also probably helps that she wants to do EVERYTHING that big sister does!

San Diego! - Day 1

2009-08-04T12:57:00.000-07:00

This fourth of July weekend we were very lucky to be able to go to San Diego. Brian's dad, Allan, was attending a conference in San Diego and invited us to meet him there. It was impossible to turn down since it was only about a 5 hour drive and we had a place to stay for free! So we headed out on Thursday and got there in time for dinner. As soon as I opened the car door the first words out of Josie's mouth were "Mom, it's cold here." She is an Arizona girl that is for sure. Needless to say even though it was 75 degrees, I was glad I packed the girls sweatshirts and pants. I was very happy that just across the street from out hotel was a Bennigan's! They are hard to find these days. So I insisted that we were going to eat there before we left town, and lucky for me I got to eat there first thing! I miss the Bennigan's food that I lived on for two years while working there so I tried to get in the things I missed most, potato soup and a turkey O'Toole. They were both as good as I remember and it was a fun throw back for us.

Friday morning we had big plans to conquer SeaWorld. We got there bright and early after a quick breakfast at Denny's.

I don't' think that Josie was quite sure what to expect when we told her we were going to SeaWorld. Her friend Tayia that has been playing with us this summer went last summer and was telling Josie all about it in the days leading up to the trip, but I am not sure she had any idea what she would see or do when we got there. Our first stop of the day was to see Shamu. We first stopped to see the Orcas in their tank swimming. Josie and Ellie were both amazed by their size.

We then decided to go get seats for the show. They tell you when you get there to try to arrive at the show 30 mins. prior to the start of the show to get good seats. I don't know how they expect to all of us parents to get our kids to sit and wait for 30 mins., but we survived. We sat in the splash zone thinking that Josie would love it, but when she figured out that she would get wet she wasn't very happy. We got lucky and some how Shamu missed us. Josie loved the show and thought it was so cool when one of the trainers jumped in the tank with Shamu and got to swim with him and do tricks. Josie quickly decided that was what she wanted to do when she grew up. Luckily for her they said to work at SeaWorld you have to love animals and be an excellent swimmer and she has both of those things down. Ellie was also very entertained and gave us lots of oooooh and aaahhhs!
After the Shamu show we hit up the Sesame Street Bay of play. They had rides that both of the girls went on and loved. Here is Josie and Ellie on Elmo's flying fish. They were in a catfish!

One of Josie's favorite experiences was feeding a sea lion! Josie and Daddy bought a tray of fish, which they had to protect from the seagulls. The sea lions barked and waited for the fish to fly. Josie wasn't a fan of the birds so she fed the sea lion through a feeding tube, which she thought was very exciting, she was very proud of herself!

After a long day Ellie conked out in the stroller. We did happen to catch a few more exciting things like watching the dolphins, seeing penguins and polar bears and watching a sea lion show.

Summer time

2009-06-18T14:03:00.001-07:00

We are having a busy summer at the Grant house. I am still lucky enough to be staying home with the girls and I got us a little bump in our income by watching my friends Chuck and Julie's two girls, Tayia (6) and Holly (20 months). So, with 4 girls under 7 in the house I have kept busy! The girls are so great together. Josie and Tayia play together really well and have spent lots of time outside, playing with Barbies and Littlest Pet Shop. Last Friday we had a dance party with our Disney sing-a-longs. As you can see everyone really got into it!

Josie and Tayia love to help me in the kitchen this day we made some banana bread and a whole loaf was gone by the time the girls went home, but in all fairness Brian was also home and he loves banana bread.

Other than having the girls with us Monday through Friday we have been spending lots of time at the pool and taking trips to the zoo or the mall to buy clothes for my girls that are both growing like weeds! Ellie is already growing into 24 month clothes that Josie wasn't wearing until after she was 2! My poor sister-in-law Michelle can send Anya's clothes fast enough. If she doesn't slow down we will be in trouble because Anya and Ellie will be wearing the same size at the same time! We used to think Anya might catch Josie, but I think Ellie has a much better shot at catching or passing Anya. There is now only about 6 inches and 7 pounds between Josie and Ellie! That being said we marked another milestone for Josie. She grew into size 4, which for those of you who don't shop for little girls means that she is no longer in the toddler section, but can buy clothes from the big girls sections and stores. I can't believe how big she has gotten!

Ellie is finally off her bottles and formula, that should save us a fortune. She enjoys being a big girl and trying new things. This is her first attempt at corn on the cob and one of Josie too, just for good measure!

Ellie is ONE!!

2009-05-04T15:10:00.001-07:00

On April 28th Ellie turned one! It was amazing how fast the time has gone and even more amazing how much she has grown and learned in that year. Rolling, sitting, crawling, walking and now talking. Ellie is walking well now and starting to run, she is doing the best that she can to keep up with big sister. She has a few words that she does well. Mama, Dada, up-up, and woof are the most commonly heard along with an occasional "done" at the dinner table. Josie wants so badly for her to say Jojo, but I am afraid that may be a ways off.

On Saturday May 2nd we had a birthday party for Ellie. Mom made her first effort at a birthday cake, and was pretty happy with the outcome. I was glad that Diane was here to give me a few tips along the way. The guest list was short and I was feeling a little guilty that Josie gets to spend her birthday with her whole family and Ellie doesn't. I guess that is one of the few perks to having a Christmas birthday when you live away from home. Allan and Diane were able to be here, they were also in town for a wedding, lucky for us. Cousins Johnny and Heather and Gigi (Great-grandma Grant) and our AZ family all joined us for Ellie's special day.

Ellie wasn't sure about the frosting end of the cupcake, but once she found the cake she dug right in, this is her Mama in her!

Ellie and her big sister pause for a pic with the decorations.

After a long, busy day every one was ready for bed. After a few Curious George bedtime stories we all had sweet dreams!! Happy Birthday Ellie Bellie!

FIrst Steps

2009-03-05T07:36:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday March 3rd, Ellie took her first steps! The first time she made it about 5 or 6 steps before falling down. By the time we got the video set she was pooped from all that walking and only made is a couple of steps, but you get the idea. I can't believe that she is starting to walk already, I am not ready. Josie was so proud of her little sister, we will see what she thinks when she starts chasing her around the house!

Camelback Ranch

2009-03-04T09:11:00.000-08:00

On Saturday February 28th we had the opportunity to go and check out what has been keeping Brian so busy for the past few months. he has been working out in Glendale on the new spring training facility for the Chicago White Sox and LA Dodgers, Camelback Ranch. On Saturday they invited the families of the people who had worked so hard to make this project happen to check it out and help them do a mock opening. It was a lot of fun and a chance to get out and enjoy the beautiful day, as it was 80 and sunny.

While we were there they were putting on the finishing touches. painting the foul lines, and checking to make sure everything was ready for the big opening game on Sunday. The park looked great and we got enjoy free food and check out thing that the public will probably never see like the Chicago White Sox suite at the park.

Josie enjoyed being able to run around and be outside since she had been so sick for the past couple of weeks that she had been in the house for a long time. The fresh air did us all good.

Ellie found a fun place to play on top of a portable beer stand. She hung on to those taps and danced and danced. She was so cute that someone from the Dodgers who was taking video for the website stopped and got her on camera. She can now bee seen on Dodgers.com!

You can check Ellie out here:

http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200902283963761

She doesn't appear until about the 3 min. mark and then again at the very end, but if you watch the whole thing you can get a good view of the park!

7 Falls and Gopher Hockey - Colorado Springs Part 2

2009-03-04T08:35:00.001-08:00

On Saturday before the game we needed to find something to do. Since this is our first family vacation we wanted to get in as much as possible. (by vacation I mean trip somewhere other than to Minnesota) We debated to go Pike's Peak since the Grant family has something weird about going to the top of tall things. Mom vetoed that idea after we found out it was another 2+ hours in the car with girls who did not need more time in the car. So it sticking with the idea of tall things we went to 7 Falls.

This is a view of the water fall from an observation deck about 1/2 as tall as the falls. We got to the top by riding in an elevator that is inside of the mountain and Josie thought that was so cool, until we got to the top. Josie is not a big fan of being at the top of tall things, I guess she gets that from me. I am not afraid of heights, I just don't have the desire to go to the top of tall things. Josie on the other had is afraid of heights. She wanted nothing to do with going near the rail of the observation deck and was not really a fan of being held close to the edge either.

Once we got back down to the bottom of the falls Josie enjoyed the snow and ice and really got a kick out of seeing the fish under the ice.

Later that evening it was time for hockey! This was Ellie's first gopher hockey game, and Josie first game in enemy territory. Being as we had children with us we were saved from the ridicule I am sure we have endured had we been on our own. The only questionable comments I received was from some guy in a UND jersey. I know what you are thinking, a UND jersey at a CC/Gopher game?!?! What can I say he was a UND fan, he was probably so drunk he was lost and didn't know where he was!

Ellie loved the hockey game. She cheered and clapped along with the crowd. Now we just have to teach her who the good guys are! Josie much prefers being at the game to watching it on TV as well. (I guess maybe she is my kid after all!) We were not lucky enough to see our team win a game, but we did see some good hockey so all in all it was worth the trip.

Our little hockey fans!!

Garden of the Gods

2009-03-01T11:03:00.000-08:00

This February we made a trip to Colorado Springs to catch some gopher hockey before the end of the season. We bravely packed up the girls and climbed into the mini-van for a mini-vacation. Which as most of you know was well deserved for everyone after the hours that Brian had been putting in at work for the last two months! The car ride went surprisingly well, Mom was very nervous to have two little girls in the car for 12+ hours in a day. So we loaded up the car and got on the road about 2am so we could get as much of the driving under our belt while the kids slept as we could. We stopped to eat and a couple of extras including a emergency breathing treatment for Josie after a little too much running around at the rest stop. We got to Colorado around 6pm and settled in for a fun weekend. While we were in Colorado we got to take in a few sights and had lots of family fun!

Our first stop was at The Garden of the Gods, beautiful, natural red rock formations.

Josie is very adventurous and was having so much fun jumping off any rock that she could climb. We had a couple of minor bumps and bruises when we were done, but nothing we couldn't handle.

Josie was very impressed by her Daddy climbing a big rock, but was a little nervous watching him try to get down, we all were a little nervous I should say!

Even Ellie got in on the rock climbing fun. It was a little chilly for her liking but she was a trooper and had a lot of fun.

Our day at the park

2009-02-05T10:43:00.001-08:00

We found a new park by our house this week that has baby swings for Ellie. I was very excited because this at least give Ellie a chance to get out of the stroller and do something when we go to the park! Ellie loved swinging and playing in the grass. She tired her best to keep up with her big sister, but Josie still ran circles around her, literally. Josie loved the new playground too, it was more her size and she could use all of the equipment by herself without any help from Mom. I think that was her favorite part. Ellie got her first taste of sand a grass, it was going to happen eventually, right?!?! I got a feel for crawling in the grass and rolling down hills. Good times were had by all!

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Catching up

2009-01-23T08:08:00.000-08:00

I feel like I am always playing catch up these days. Keeping up with the girls, sending out thank you notes for Josie's birthday (I know it's sad) and keeping the house clean. I feel like I am always at least one step behind where I would like to be so why should my blog be any different? I have been meaning to post and update about Ellie for a while so here we go. One more thing off my long to-do list.

Ellie is going to be 9 months old next week! Wow, where does the time go? She now has two teeth and the third will make an appearance any day now, one little corner is poking through. She has become quite a trouble maker, more so than Josie was especially at this age. I am not sure if it is because of my not being on top of things or because now I have Josie around who leaves more little things around, but Ellie finds every scrap of paper or anything else she shouldn't have and sticks it directly in her mouth! I know very typical behavior, but I constantly have my finger in her mouth trying to dig something out!

Ellie loves to get into the movies...

The cupboard used to have a child lock on it, but that broke and Brian hasn't had 10 seconds to himself let alone to fix the lock since we got back from Christmas break. He is working all the time. He has however found some time to teach Ellie another trick..

Yep, that's right she's a cruiser! She got this shopping cart for Christmas and shortly after decided that life on two legs was much better than crawling. It's rare to see her not standing up anymore. She finds her way around very well. She does think she's bigger and better balanced than she is. Sometimes she lets go and is shocked when she falls to the floor. This new fun has also landed the kitchen on top of her at least 3 times to date. Luckily it is very light weight and she is a tough little girl, she doesn't mind much as long as you get there quickly!!

Ellie knows who her Dada is and gets very excited when he gets home in the evening and will even say his name. She can get Mama out but not as often as Dada. We started working on Papa and Jojo. Papa will be glad that she will have that one down any day, now we just have to put the face to the name. Jojo is a little harder, but Josie swears she hears it. Hopefully soon it will come out for real!

Josie and Ellie are very excited that very soon they will have a new little cousin. Josie insists that Daddy's birthday is first, I am sure that's not at all what her Auntie 'Chelle wants to hear at all!

Josie has been brain washed!

2009-01-16T20:00:00.000-08:00

A quick funny story about Josie and her dad.

Josie often tells her dad that he is stinky, lots of times when he comes home from work or hockey and it turned into a joke that we used quite often. Well, last night when we were at Target Josie and I were walking out to the car and Josie "we have have to wait for Daddy!" I said no, we don't have to wait for him, Daddy is stinky. To which Josie quickly replied "No him is not, him is just perfect!"

Josie is 3 !!

2009-01-01T08:37:00.000-08:00

It has been three years since my little girl was born. In some ways it seems like yesterday and in others it feels like a lifetime has passed. I still remember all the excitement and happiness of her arrival like it was yesterday, but when I think of all the amazing things that she has accomplished it seems like that was all so long ago.

We celebrated Josie's birthday at home, in Minnesota. Now that she's three it is more fun she is more involved in picking things out, like the biggest Abby Cadabby balloon I have ever seen! I wish I had a picture.

This is Josie's Abby cake, if you are not familiar with Abby she is a fairy-in-training, her mom is Cinderella's fairy godmother, and they live on Sesame Street. Josie loves Abby, she is all pink and purple and very cute.

Josie did a great job blowing out her candle, with countdown help from Grandma Nini, I think if we would have waited for her to blow it out on her own we could have been there all day!

Josie loved all of her gifts, and had lots of fun with all of her friends who came to celebrate with her. Above is (L to R) Anya, Josie, Taylor, Daddy and Wyatt.

Josie was a little shy getting her picture taken after her nap, but Daddy finally got her out of her shell, now the problem is getting her back in!! This is Josie's beautiful party dress that she picked out for her special day.

Josie has had a lot of fun this year. She has become a big sister, started swimming lessons, and learned so many things I couldn't even begin to list them all. I am so proud of my beautiful little girl I can't wait to see what this next year brings!!

A few pictures I had to share!

2008-12-17T10:06:00.001-08:00

As I said before, my camera had a tragic accident (or two) and we were camera-less for about a week, but thanks to a very generous and early arriving Santa (my mom) we are back in the photography business! I have had lots of fun learning and playing with my new toy and here are a few pictures I had to share!

Here is our sparkle house! Josie is very into lights this year and was so happy when Daddy made her house sparkle. We are very excited to show her Papa's house! The plans are in the works for it to bigger and better next year in true Grant family style!

Here's Daddy and his girls all ready to watch the gophers take on Colorado College last weekend!

Josie snuggling with her Daddy.

Christmas Craziness!

2008-12-13T07:50:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again where everything gets busy and Christmas is here before you know it. We have had so much going on that I haven't updated this in way too long, so bear with me this is going to be a long one! Some of the most exciting news in our house is that Ellie got her first tooth last week! After a couple of hard weeks working on pushing that little bugger through, we finally have a tooth! Josie is getting very excited for her trip to Minnesota, and thanks to a advent calendar sent by Grandma and Papa Grant she has a visual reminder of how many days until we leave. Josie can't wait and Mom and Dad are planning how they are going to get all their Christmas shopping done after they get to Minnesota.

Earlier this month Mortenson had their annual Christmas party. We went to Brunzwick Zone and had dinner and bowling. Even though many of the Mortenson crew thought that this may be a step down from our fancy party last year, I think is is safe to say good times were had by all. The picture to the left is at the party. There's Brian in all his Movember glory(I'll get to that later). The guy to the right of Brian, not paying any attention to me is Lee, a co-worker of Brian's and part of our Arizona family. The goofy guy between the two is RV, Brian's boss. I should take a minute to stop and thank the two reasons we were able to go out for a fun-filled night, our excellent baby-sitters, Johnny and Heather! They were so sweet to come down and hang out with the girls for the night. Josie had lots of fun with them and re-capped the whole evening for us the next day. I think we may have to have them come more often, my kids (Josie, really) went to bed well and on-time for the first time in weeks! Johnny and Heather got some parenting practice, which will come in handy in the near future!

We are attempting to get in the Christmas spirit, even with the lack of snow and any kind of visual reminders that it is indeed December. It's difficult to remember sometime when it's 75 degrees outside that all of our family is being dumped on with the white stuff we long for and they dread! It do find it interesting that as much as we would love to be back in Minnesota with our families a large number of them would rather be here in the desert. I guess the grass is always greener, or the snow is always whiter, whatever you prefer. Josie has some specific requests this holiday season. She had to put the star on the top of the tree, which as you can see she did an excellent job! Her other request was that Daddy make her house sparkle. I have to say given the obstacles that we encountered ( It's hard to hang lights on stucco) he did and excellent job that would make the Grant family proud. We are by far the best decorated house in our neighborhood. I will try to get a picture, but currently we are camera-less due to a unfortunate accident. Hopefully Santa comes early with a present for Mom!

And finally, Movember! Some of you may have heard of this crazy fundraiser because evidently it has been done since 2004. It is a Australian based charity that raises money and awareness for men's health, in particular prostate cancer. Mortenson Phoenix participated this year with the goal of raising $1,000 for it first year, which they crushed and raised more than double the goal. Part of the fundraiser includes the guys to grow moustaches for the month of November with prizes given out at the end of the month for the best Mo's. Some of the categories included, manliest Mo, Trashiest Mo, and best all around Mo and the A for effort Mo. This year Brian did not walk away a winner, but after seeing what we are up against, next year I think we have it in the bag! Josie insisted that I point out that you can still see Daddy's owie, from when he got hit in the face with a puck a couple of months ago. She keeps a very close eye on his owie!

I am happy to report that my husband has returned from Movember and I am glad. Although after living with that horrible thing for over a month I do have to say that he looked weird when he shaved it off and it took a couple of days for both of us to get used to his old face. Josie never even noticed that he shaved it off!
We are all looking forward to our trip home, one week from today! We are excited to see everyone and have some fun in the snow!

Trick-or-Treat

2008-11-07T06:18:00.000-08:00

This year was Josie's first "real" trick-or-treating experience. In the past we have always gone to see family and friends, but never gone door to door around the neighborhood. Josie was so excited she talked about it for about a week. She was so excited that all she has to do was ring a doorbell, say trick or treat and they would give her CANDY!!! She decided months ago that she wawnted to be a cowboy for Halloween, we tried to tell her that girls are cowgirls but she wasn't having any of it. Grandma Grant made her the most adorable skirt and vest and a quick trip to the local western wear store completed her costume, what cowgirl is complete woithout pink boots that light up? Mom chalked it up to safety, you could see her feet a mile away even in the dark. Josie made it around the block and then was ready to come home and show mom all her goodies, she was so proud!

Best Birthday Gift EVER!

2008-10-14T10:19:00.000-07:00

For my birthday this year I bought myself tickets to see New Kids on the Block. I was a die hard fan years ago and when I heard that they were coming back I knew that I had to go. My very first concert ever was New Kids and this was a great way to relive the good old days. Thank you so much to Julie who went with me, I am sure she thinks I am a little crazier now than she did before last night. I want to go again anybody up for a show in Cali. in November?

Josie's first skate!

2008-10-13T10:43:00.000-07:00

If there is an ice arena in the desert, the Grant's will find it! Lucky for us they opened a brand new arena about 2 miles from our house about a month ago. On my trip to Minnesota I brought Josie her favorite gift of all, her first pair of hockey skates. No daughter of Brian's would be caught dead on figure skates! She was so excited that she had to try them on the minute that we got home from the airport.

So now that the skates had been burning a whole in our closet for a whole week we decided that it was time to take Josie for her first skate. I was a little nervous as any mother would be, but Josie was confident and so excited. We got Josie all bundled up and tied up her skates and off she went. I was figuring that we might get 20 - 30 mins before She told us she was too cold or her feet hurt and she was ready to go home. Honestly, I thought that might be optimistic. Brian took her around and around the rink and after 10-15 mins they stopped to say Hi and let me get a few good pictures but all Josie would say is "I'm not done yet!" Anytime Brian would stop or slow down she would say again, I am not done yet! After an hour Brian's back was so sore from bending over to help her that he had to stop. I never thought Josie would last longer than Brian! Josie had so much fun that all she has talked about this morning is going back skating. Brian is going to have to teach her quickly to stand on her own or work on his back muscles!

Enjoy the pictures!

Ellie is eating!

2008-10-13T10:38:00.001-07:00

Ellie has started easting solid food. She has liked everything we have given her! Joise loves to help feed her!

4 years ago today...

2008-09-18T13:37:00.001-07:00

The Art of Marriage

The little things are the big things.
It is never being too old to hold hands.
It is remembering to say “I love you” at least once a day.
It is never going to sleep angry.
It is at no time taking the other for granted; the courtship should not end with the honeymoon, it should continue all through the years.
It is having a sense of mutual values and common objectives.
It is standing together facing the world.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.
It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy.
It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is not expecting your husband to wear a halo or your wife to have wings of an angel.
It is not looking for perfection in each other.
It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding, and a sense of humor.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.
It is finding room for the things of the spirit.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.
It is establishing a relationship in which independence is equal, dependence is mutual, and obligation is reciprocal.
It is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.

Four years ago today I married my best friend. Over the last four years we have seen a lot of changes. Our family has grown, our location changed, we have lost loved ones, and welcomed new loves into our lives. And while I can't say that I have always abided by the wisdom in the words so lovingly read by Aunt Donna at our wedding 4 years ago, I can say that I am still married to my best friend, there have been more good days than bad (a lot more good days), and I wouldn't change a minute of it for anything in the world. I am so lucky to have an amazing husband, two beautiful, smart, and fun little girls, and while we are by no means rich (according to our bank account) we are not starving either. The last four years have been a journey and one that I have been glad to take. I am excited to see where our journey will continue (hopefully back to MN soon!). So thank you to all of you who gathered with us four years ago to begin this amazing adventure and thank you even more for sticking by us, supporting us, and sculpting us into the people we are today.

Ellie is 4 months old!

2008-08-26T20:55:00.000-07:00

Ellie a few days old

Ellie 4 months old

Ellie is growing fast and getting to be such a big girl. It's hard to believe that she joined our family only four months ago, and at the same time it's hard to remember our family without her. She is such a great baby, she's almost always happy, unless she's hungry! Her personality is shining through more every day. Ellie made some big accomplishments this month, she started rolling over a few weeks ago and now is trying to go places. We put her down in one place and turn around she's gone! You know when she has hit a dead end because she will start to whimper for us to come and save her!

Another thing that has been very exciting is that we have all gotten a few nights of uninterrupted sleep! I am not too excited though because I think another growth spurt is on it's way so this may be short lived! Ellie goes to the Dr. on the 2nd and I am very interested to see how big she has gotten. As many of you know Ellie is a much bigger girl than Josie was, so it is different to have a big girl. At 2 months Ellie was the same size that Josie was at 4 months, so we will see how they compare at Ellie's 4 month appointment.

Josie starts swimming lessons

2008-08-26T12:13:00.001-07:00

Josie had her first swimming lesson this past Saturday. She goes to a swim school called Aqua-tots. She is in a level 2 class, which is a parent/child toddler class. Daddy took her in the water her first class and Mommy and Ellie watched, OK Mommy watched and Ellie napped. Josie learned how to "monkey walk", walk along the side of the pool with her hands...

She has also learned to climb out of the pool all by herself...

Josie had a blast and can't wait to go back for her lesson this week. She is very happy in the pool, but needs to be a little more relaxed when she is on her back so that she can learn to float. Brian did say that is was difficult to make Josie let him hold her. She is so used to her water wings and being independent that she forgets that she won't stay above water on her own, luckily Daddy has quick reflexes!

The Nuky Fairy came!!

2008-08-24T10:05:00.000-07:00

Josie woke up very excited to see what the nuky fairy had brought her, this is what she found...

My little girl is growing up!

2008-08-17T21:57:00.000-07:00

Tonight was a big night at the Grant house, the nuky fairy came and took all of Josie's nukys to the babies that need them. I have been talking to Josie about the nuky fairy at bed time and telling her that soon the nuky fairy would come to our house and take all Josie's nukys to give to other babies that didn't have any. The first few times I mentioned this she quickly decided that she was not a big girl and that she still needed her nukys. Then tonight as I was putting her to bed we were done reading her bedtime story and Josie turned to me and said "Mommy, I ready for the nuky fairy to come today." I was shocked, if you know Josie you know she loves her nukys. She has only had them at nap time and bedtime for a while now, but as soon as it's time to go to bed it is the first thing that she asks for. I was hoping to wait until the weekend because I was expecting tears and sleepless nights, but she insisted that she was ready tonight. So we gathered up all of Josie's nukys, there were a lot of them, put them in a box and left them in the kitchen for the nuky fairy to come and take them away.

She did get out of bed twice, once I put her back to bed and reminded her about the nuky fairy leaving her a present after she fell asleep and she asked a lot of questions and when she was satisfied I left her with her hockey Goldy and said goodnight. The next time she got out of bed she went to Daddy, she knows he's the softy! He took her back to bed and she told him "I just need one nuky." Daddy was tough and told her that she has to give them all to the nuky fairy. I was almost as proud of Brian as I was of Josie at this point. That was the last that we heard from Josie tonight. I went to check on her at 9:3o and she was fast asleep laying across her pillows.

I was very proud of Josie for deciding on her own that she was ready to give up her nukys, but at the same time I am a little sad to see my little girl grow up.