First Day of Preschool!

Busy, Busy, Busy...

Grace is such a funny little character... I just have to get out some of what she's up to these days. First of all, she's the most thoughtful 2 1/2 year old I've ever witnessed. Every time we go to meet up with friends, or go over to someone's house, she has to bring them a little something as a gift that she thinks they might like. Sometimes it's a flower that she's picked, other times it's one of her stuffed animals or toys, but those who spend time with her know that she always shows up with fistfuls of little things that she wants to pass out. She's also very specific about who gets what. For instance the other day we were going over to a friend's house with three girls in the family. Grace carefully searched through all of her necklaces to pick out three necklaces that she thought represented each girl. Before we leave she always has to know exactly who we are going to go see so she can choose gifts appropriately.

She's also very caring. When either Jacob or I get home from work, or hanging out with a friend, typically the first kinds of questions out of her mouth are, "How was your meeting, Mommy?" or "How are your students, Daddy?" or "How was your day today?" And I believe she genuinely cares! Today I had to go run some errands before dinner. After we sat down at the table to eat dinner her first question to me was, "How was your time at the store, Mommy?" I replied "It was okay, but I didn't find everything I was looking for." She replied "Ohhh, you didn't find everything you were looking for? Sorry mommy."

Grace is a very genuinely grateful and complimentary child. She's always quick to say thank you. Even for little things like when I tell her I love her, she'll often reply with something like, "Thank you mommy! That was nice of you to say that!" Or when I braid her hair how she like it she'll say, "Thank you mommy for doing my braid so pretty!" She thanks us for just about everything-- I'm soaking it in since I know there might come a day soon when she's not so grateful! A couple of months ago, we were driving in the car and she looked like she was starting to doze off until all of the sudden she popped her head up and said to me "You're such a good driver, Mommy. Thank you." She makes us all feel special. And NOTHING goes unnoticed!... a new shirt, new earrings, new hairdo, new makeup... nothing!

Last little highlight, she's also a little negotiator. If I say 2 she says 3. Then when I say 3 she says 4. We're starting to catch onto her though! Like before bed she'll say, "I just want to watch 2 minutes of the Ariel movie. Just 2 minutes." Sounds convincing. But, once the 2 minutes are over, of course her first response is, "Just 2 more minutes, okay? Just 2 more minutes and then I'll go right to bed." Our friends are always amazed at how fast she begins the negotiating process. Nothing ever gets by Grace and it doesn't help that she's pretty quick with basic math.

I feel like even these mentions are just scratching the surface of her busy little mind, but I wanted to share a few of the fun facts about her! We're obviously very proud of our little girl.

Here are a few recent pics of her and various b-days with family members that everyone might like to see!~

Big Girl Bed!

Grace just got her first "big girl bed" yesterday since we had to have her crib open for our forthcoming foster/adopted child! We had picked out the bed a few weeks ago, so she'd been anticipating it. We told her she could let us know what kind of sheets she wanted and she landed on Tinkerbell. So, before we got the bed we had gone around to several different stores in search of the best Tinkerbell sheets. She was filled with exhilaration when I went to go pick the bed up and when I got home she started running around the house shrieking, "I'm so excited for my new bed! I'm so excited for my new bed!" We couldn't have put it together fast enough for her. She diligently handed us the screws, keeping a close eye on the assembly. After giddily flailing around on it for a several minutes, the first thing she wanted to do (of course) was to get a stack of books and read them in her new bed... She appeared so grown up. I had this flash of her as a teenager. By now, all of her favorite babies and animals have also found a home on her new bed. Here area few pics of her new setup...

A couple of cute stories if you're interested:
A couple of weeks ago we were walking around the store and Grace was sitting in the shopping cart when out of the blue she struck up a little conversation...
Grace: "Mommy, I want Jesus to bring me my baby sister now."
Me: "You do?"
Grace: "Yes, I do. I really do."
-Long Pause-
Grace: "When I get home, I'm going to call Jesus."
Me: "What are you going to call Jesus about?"
Grace: "I'm going to call Jesus and ask him if he can bring me my baby sister now."
Me: "I think you should do that."
As soon as we get home, Grace walks straight into the house and grabs one of her phones without hesitation (I had since forgotten about it)-
Grace: "Hello, Jesus, it's me Grace. Will you bring my baby sister to my house now? Okay? Okay!" Grace hangs up the phone and looks at me, "He said yes, Jesus said yes."
Maybe she's onto something!

Yesterday I was putting together our bassinet getting ready for our home inspection from Dept. of Social Services. I was having some trouble and getting frustrated since it was in a million pieces and I didn't have instructions...
Me: "What am I going to do Grace? I don't know if I'm going to be able to get this together."
Grace: "Maybe you ask Jesus and he will help you."
Me: "That's a good idea... He probably will."
-Long Pause-
Grace: "Jesus is coming soon."
Me: "He is?"
Grace: "Yes, Jesus is coming soon and he's going to help you."
Within a couple of minutes (after several minutes of struggling) I figured it out and had it all together!

Grace Serves at the Union Rescue Mission

Recently, Grace and Abigail accompanied me on one of my annual field trips with my 8th graders to serve lunch at the Union Rescue Mission in LA. I've been taking students for the past 6 years and this year was the first time the girls got to tag along. As you will see below, Grace jumped in like she was already a part of daddy's class and got right to work. She made friends with my students and also with some of the homeless men, women, and children that the URM serves each day. She took her job of passing out silverware very seriously and seemed to fully understand that she was giving food to people that didn't have any. She loved every moment of the trip from the train ride to LA to the 5 hours we served to the train ride back. No complaints. No whines. Lots of smiles. It filled our hearts with joy to watch our daughter already involved in the work of the Kingdom of God! She reminds me of her mother in so many ways!

Valentine's Day!

She insisted on wearing a pretty dress to the Valentine's Day party at our church. In her words, "I want to wear a pretty dress just like mommy." After I put her in the dress, she requested to take a look at herself in the mirror. Her first response was, "I'm an angel!"

She got some special princess shoes for Valentine's Day in the mail from Nana. She wouldn't even let me put them on her until she was wearing one of her dresses! Once in full garb, she requested I take a picture of her. Grace was overjoyed to get a Hannah Montana sleeping bag from Grandma and Grandpa for Valentine's Day. She even let all of her babies have a turn in it.Giving Jacob a medal of honor for being such a great husband!
Some little girls up the street gave this dress to Grace and if she had it her way she would wear it everyday. As soon as she puts it on, she asks me to play music so she can "dance pretty."

Someday Grace will pet Chinchillas

Grace was just telling me about what she did with daddy while I was at work. She said she went to the pet store and pet the bunny rabbits. I asked her if the chinchillas were there and if she pet them too. Her exact response to me, completely out of her own 2-yr old brain, was "I'm still a little girl... Too little to pet chinchillas. When I turn 3 years old I will pet chinchillas... Not yet... Someday... When I'm 3 years old." She was very serious about it with me. She comes up with the funniest things!

Hello New Year and Bye Bye Diapers!

Grace is officially sporting her princess and Dora "Big Girl" panties (yes, she picked them out)! We ventured out last week to potty train her and she caught on immediately, only having about 3 accidents total in the first few days. We've been accident free now for over a week! She even woke up in the middle of the night last night in tears because she had to go so bad and wouldn't go in the diaper we had put on her. Our little girl is growing up... Sad!!

Sunday Evening Chat with Grace

Grace was in her usual talkative mood before bed tonight. In the video below she covers names, her address, and perhaps what's most dear to her heart right now, her babies (Millie, Charlie, and yes, Baby Jesus). Enjoy about a 4 minute chat with Grace!

Christmas 2008

Christmas has come and gone, but not without tremendous blessing for the Gaines family as we spent time with loved ones creating new memories. Abigail and I were talking about a week before that this was our most memorable Advent ever. Below are some snapshots and a video of some of the highlights. Grace became captivated with "Baby Jesus" with no prompting from her parents (heck, I was really into elves and talking snowmen) and her curiosity and joy captured the season most poignantly for all of us. In the video below note her keen interest in Baby Jesus so much so that a bit later, young Joseph was forced to fend her off! Take a look...


The Christmas Eve dress!


Grace scored a role as a young sheep in the Christmas Eve drama. Check out her performance in the video below!




We got Grace what she most loves to play with these days...a doll


Grace and her friend Jocelyn getting ready to "feed hungry friends" as Grace said


Grace making new friends in LA and helping as only she can

Gettin' Into the Word

Tonight, after dinner we were doing our traditional advent reading from the Bible. Grace always insists on having her little pink Bible at the table as well. We finished our reading for the night and yet Grace wasn't done. As you'll see in this video, she began to read Scripture on her own, and if nothing else, she sure got the message of the book right!

The Cutest Cowgirl Ever!

Grace had a great Halloween! She loved getting dressed up and going trick-or-treating. She was very selective which houses she would go to though. If the house was too creepy or dark, she would say, "Not this one, mommy. No one home." The house had to be friendly looking and well illuminated. Then she would say, "Go here. This house." After the candy was dropped in her bucket (actually she insisted on taking the candy from the people's hands and putting it in her bucket herself), she would immediately say, "More houses!"

A moment worth documenting...

So, tonight I did my usual ritual with Grace before bed (Jacob was gone). Jammies, brush teeth, change diaper, a handful of books, a small bottle, and then I rock her for a little bit before putting her in her bed. As I began to rock her tonight and give her the bottle, she looked up at me (I could just see her eyes by the light of the nightlight), spit the bottle out of her mouth, and said, "Mommy sing songs." I said, "Okay, what song do you want me to sing." Without thinking she replied, "About Jesus." In an instant I felt that little lump in the back of my throat, kissed her head, and said, of course I'll sing you songs about Jesus. I have to mention that I can't remember a time I have said to her that I'm going to sing her songs specifically about "Jesus." I've just sung to her whatever worship songs come to mind and many of them probably don't even mention the name of Jesus. Well, after not even making it through Jesus Loves Me one time through, she had fallen fast asleep (she rarely falls to sleep this fast). The Scripture, "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:7) immediately came to mind and I had an overwhelming since that Jesus was very near to Grace and that in turn she felt near to Him. It was an awesome moment that I had to share.

A Perfect Day for a Birthday Party!!

Saturday in Glendora was an absolutely spectacular cool, fall day to celebrate such a beautiful life as Grace's! Friends and family gathered at Finkbiner Park for tasty Mexican food (Grace requested bean and cheese burritos), the Big pink cake and little green cake (again Grace's request), and lots of fun hanging out. When Jacob gets some free time, maybe he'll put up some footage from the party (he's the pro at that). We all had such a great time! Today, Grace slept in later than usual and has been a little tired all day. I think she has a b-day hangover! At dinner tonight she was recalling her friends that were there. She was so blessed! Here's a few snapshots (I'm also including a pic of her in her new pink car and her reading her baby book to Nana and Papa on the eve of her birthday). I also wanted to note for those of you who haven't seen her in a while that at her 2 year pediatrician appointment we were told that she's in the 3 1/2 year old range for height.

One week away...

One week from today, Grace will be 2! She's been talking about her party for about a month now. She's specifically requested a BIG pink cake and a little green cake. It's going to be so fun to see the look on her face when she sees the cakes. She even sings the Happy Birthday song from beginning to end to herself (and then of course she likes to go through the whole family- Mommy, Daddy, Harley, etc.).

Her latest interests have been counting and singing. Every night Grace asks for Jacob and I to sing her songs while she falls asleep. The other night I started to sing to her the song, Lord Prepare Me. I got a couple of words into it and all of the sudden she started singing it along with me. She actually got a lot of the words right! It was one of those precious, tender moments when you realize that they're absorbing all that you're pouring out. I remember singing her that song while bouncing on the exercise ball to get her to sleep in her first few weeks of life. It's amazing how things come full circle.

Summer Happenings!

It was so nice to have a whole summer of relaxing and hanging out with the fam. With both Jacob and I off work for the summer, we were able to spend the weeks taking Grace to the beach, gardening, going on lots of walks to the park, and taking a trip to see Nana, Papa, and friends in Michigan. It was wonderful!... Back to work! We visited a few different lakes in Michigan and Grace loved every one! As always, Nana and Papa spoiled Grace with constant fun activities and outings. She was definitely the princess,... or shall we say Queen. Grace loves animals, so of course she was very excited about trips to the petting zoo.
We spent a few days in Port Huron with close family friends. We also met up with Uncle Wes, Aunt Sarah, and Cousin Cash. Grace is the only girl in the Gaines/Lampi clan, and she was lovin' it!
Having a good wrestle with Cousin Cash.
Putting sunblock on mom.
She loved the kayak.She's already got such a servant's heart! Completely on her own, she asked to wash Nana's, Papa's, Mine, and Jacob's feet!
We also were able to spend time with our very close friends, Ben and Mary and their kids.Grace on her first horse back ride! She's such a big girl!
One of the neighbor girls gave Grace this pink princess dress and a pair of tap shoes that she grew out of. Grace was in Heaven! She regularly asks me for her "Princess dress and black, dancing, tap shoes." She always has to wear them together!