During Quiet Time

Nothing like a snuggily kitty in your lap to make quiet time extra cozy! Grace said that as soon as she sat down Gretchen came over and made herself right at home in her lap. She was so deeply asleep that she didn't even know I had taken a few pictures! I am so glad that I was able to capture this sweet moment. xo

{This Moment} Quiet Time

{This Moment} - A Soule Mama Friday ritual. A single  photo - no words- capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you are inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments section for all to find and see. We wish you a wonderful weekend! xo

Wordless Wednesday::Quiet Time

Baking With Grace

"Can we bake cookies, mama?" 
"Sure, baby."
And no sooner did I finish my sentence than she took off for the kitchen!

This was easily the best batch of Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies we had ever baked!  We've made some really incredible batches but there was something about this one that was just....better.  It was lovely to get to bake with my fabulous first born daughter.  She continues to amaze me each and everyday.  It won't be long before she's baking on her own.  Sigh. 

A Quiet Time Project

Grace spent quite a bit of time today creating.  She started out drawing and then asked for some glue and things to cut, and before long had created her first collage all on her own!  

Great job, Grace!  We are so proud of you!

Good Bye Nap Time, Hello Quiet Time

Well dear friends, it's a sad, albeit not totally unexpected, day here at our house.  Grace has officially given up her nap.  She has been working on eliminating it for a few months now.  Some days she would play upstairs for a good chunk of time and then come down when she was bored. Some days she would end up falling asleep while playing, and then some days she would nap the entire time.

For the pst two weeks she has mostly been playing in her room and then coming down when she had lost interest in whatever she was playing with.  While we knew her days of napping were numbered, I was not prepared for yesterday to be the day that her naps officially ended.  Yesterday she arrived downstairs 30 minutes after going up there.  To go from having virtually three hours to myself in the middle of the day to only 30 minutes threw me for a loop yesterday. I had basically no kid free time. No time to just enjoy the peace that is two sleeping/resting babes.

By the time David got home I was pretty much totally frazzled. It was not a pretty sight.  The one thing I knew was that we had to come up with a solution pronto!

Mary, the girls godmother and my bestest friend in the whole wide world insisted that I meet up with her last night.  Wednesday night is usually the night we head to Weight Watchers (and have cheat night after) but given my current mental state there was no way I could handle getting on the scale last night. Instead we met up for dinner and headed to Toys R Us and Target afterward to see if we could come up with some kind of super cool idea for Grace to use at quiet time. Within minutes we knew what she needed:

A Leapster!

It's perfect for quiet time!  Once she got comfortable using it she was off and running and independent. Only occasionally did she need help. She really loves The Princess and the Frog game, as well as the Creativity Castle.  We are super excited that our friends whose easel we adopted have some Leapster games to send our way too!  What a treat!

Grace had a great time exploring her Leapster, and I enjoyed getting to have a moment to myself. Now, if only I could have managed to get things done on my to do list. Instead I chose to play on Facebook while watching Ugly Betty.  It might not have been what I should be doing but was wonderful to even have the option today!  

Enjoy the rest of the day friends. 

We'll see you tomorrow.