Grace spends the day with Aunt Vicki

Some of you have noticed that Grace wasn't in any of the Thanksgiving day photos that I posted earlier this week.....well, that's because there weren't any on our camera (cue bad parent music here)......Oops! Alison's were more 11-month birthday photos than Thanksgiving pictures, so really, it's probably coincidence that she got photos on Thursday....should I put the shovel down now? Excuses are lame?

Anyway, here are some photos from Aunt Vicki's camera of Grace when she spent Saturday with her. They went to lunch, the movies, and then hung out at AV's house. I actually ended up getting the flu Friday night during T'giving Weekend (which has now morphed into a sinus infection and a slight ear infection (what am I 5 years old? one "friend" asked me if I was getting tubes....which I didn't think was funny since his wife just got her tonsils out a few weeks ago.....Love ya, David and Cheri!)), and Vicki was kind enough to entertain Grace for the greater part of the day. She took these photos -


As part of Aunt Vicki boot camp, Grace starts out with a small hike on the treadmill

Grace and Savannah play Lady and the Tramp (which one is which?)

My sister is infamous for feeding dogs off of forks......that's a waste of good pumpkin pie if you ask me....Airdale's are good for eating the end of the crust though
Grace does some coloring.....
Mommy and Alison showed up to play Yoga Ball
Bottom's Up!!!

Alison practices some walking

Hey, it's been a while since I have posted any videos.......and I've heard the grumblings on the street....and your demands have been heard......here's a little video of Alison playing with some toys and doing a little (I stress, little) walking. She's been getting bolder and braver about walking from point to point without holding on to anything. She's done some 10-stepper's, but with the camera on, she was a little more shy. Of course, while I was setting this video up on the blog, I was told she took 4 or 5 steps, pivoted, turned, took 4 or 5 more steps, then finished with a cartwheel. Ok, the cartwheel part is untrue, but the rest is.

Big Weekend for Alison!

Alison had quite the Thanksgiving weekend! A list of her accomplishments -

• She turned 11 months old on Thanksgiving Day!
• Her third tooth finally broke the surface (Top left front - Pop Pop knows the correct term). Number 4 is not far behind
• And, last night after we got home she must have really wanted to stretch her legs. Lately, she's been taking a couple steps without holding anything about once a week. Last night, she did several series of multiple steps. She started by walking four steps from the tv to me while I was laying on the floor. Later, she left the coffee table and headed for the kitchen taking about 10 steps. She's never done that before; walked when she didn't have something close by to reach at the end of a few steps. Then she did several series of steps in the front living room. Big night!

Here's a few photos from the weekend -

The turkey on Turkey Day.....
This looks like a posed photo for her senior year.....time needs to slow waaaaaaaay down

A "toothy" grin (hey, beggars can't be choosers when you only have 2 people can see)

Very excited to be steppin' out....
How big is Alison???? So Big! (I now owe Elmo 15 cents in royalties)

Alison and Aunti Vicki smiling the day away....

"Seriously, I need some space......"
It was coooooold and snowy in MI this weekend....Ali bundled up....
Posing with Papa and ready to head outside.....
Waving hello to the snow that was still left on the ground.....

An Alison series

Ok, I lied, you don't have to wait until next week (and you probably don't know what I'm talking about, since you haven't seen the first post I did this morning (scroll down for the field trip pictures)). Here are a few pictures of Alison from earlier this month.



Alison wore a headband for church on this particular morning.

She loves her jumper and her lotion.....
Who woke up in a good mood this morning?
This one is a little fuzzy, but I like the big smile in this one.......and you can see how long her hair is getting....

Field Trip

Grace recently went on a field trip with her class to a Great Harvest Bread Co. store. The class got to see how they make the bread and they also made a little teddy bear out of bread dough that the store baked for them. Another one of the moms sent some pictures along.

A class photo; Grace would be the one in the front row on the left....the one not looking at the camera.
THAT's better....now she's looking along with everyone else
One of the workers explains some of the equipment to the kids.....
During another lecture point of the trip......Grace is right in the middle of the shot there.
Everybody's excited about making some teddy bear bread! Grace is on the far left end of the table.
The posts have been sparse in November, but when we get back from Thanksgiving, we'll have plenty of pictures to posts of the holiday, and also some 11-month photos of Alison.

A fall Saturday

Ashley and the girls headed up to Chicago yesterday to visit Uncle Brian and see his new place......I stayed home to watch the thrilling UM victory over the lowly Spartans. Here a few of the pictures that Ashley took yesterday.

Alison is dressed for success.....and a road trip!
Brian and Grace spent some time making goofy pictures on his computer...... You can see right them on this one.....
Two Grace's????? I don't know if the world is ready for that kind of drama......
Grace calls the "squishy face" picture.....
Alison poses on the sidewalk for a few photos.....

Ashley wants to crop this one a little and turn it b&w......
"what's black and white???"
All aboard the happy train.......
I think the afternoon wore her out......