Almost Christmas!

Here's our little Prancer!

A.K.A. "Destructor"!

Ahhh... life with a toddler!

Playing with Grandma Margaret.

Thank Goodness for Chef Boyardee!!

The Winter Ball

White's High School held a Winter Formal last night and Tim took me as his date!

We had a good time dancing and watching the students have a good time.

Look what Grace can do!

(Ok, put the last one on the top!!)

15 Months

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone and Grace continues to keep us busy! At 15 months old now she is quite the climber as well as talking and signing more. We've started time-outs as she likes to do what she wants! Here are some pictures of what we were up to last month!

Playing with Great Grandpa Gene and his cool toys.

Aunt Monica surprised us all by flying home for Thanksgiving!

Learning to sew with Grandma Patty.
(She will learn before I will!)

Grace is quite the helper around the house. She helped Dad put the backs on our new book cases and then helped us put the books on them!

She likes to stand in the front window and watch Dad do yard work.

And she is very good at getting up and down by herself!

Grace often falls asleep on the way home from morning errands, and I can bring her in, take off her coat and shoes, take a picture, and she still stays asleep!

Busy October

Introducing Mini-Too Drake!

Our ultrasound on the 25th was AMAZING!

This baby is healthy, BUSY, and due on March 9th.

Already we think this one looks more like me.. so maybe a boy?

Who knows!? We're just very excited!

Our trip to Texas to visit Monica was a success. The plane rides were a bit exhausting, but other than that we had a great time! And it seems just in time, as she is moving to Phoenix, AZ soon! Congrats Aunt Monica!

Grace at the Alamo.

Feeding the goats at the San Antonio Zoo.

Our first trip to the pumpkin patch.
(Grace thought they were all balls!)

Outdoor fun.

Trick Or Treat!

Halloween week was a busy one for us as we tried to see as many people as we could in costume! She ended up wearing that outfit four days in a row! We were all ready to retire the chicken by the end of the week!

Red Neck Joe (In the back), Hunter David, Chicken Grace, and Cowboy Joseph at the Somerset Community Halloween Party.

The Chicken Dance!

Silly Chicken with "Pa" at LCHS.


We love Dr. Daddy Drake!

Cousin Dinosaur Casey.

Coke Zoe, Chicken Grace, and Popcorn August!

Fall Fun

Life with a one year old is keeping me busy! I'm sure that being pregnant adds to the tiredness, but man is it fun!

It finally feels like fall, so Grace adorned some of her Halloween attire and we headed for the park today. My little Sasquatch baby barely can wear a 12-18 months t-shirt! We didn't make it to any of the equipment as the rocks were far too much fun! And we eventually learned that we don't EAT them!

Just some fun pictures of our "baby"...

Grace and I are off to Texas on Sunday for the week. We're excited to see where Monica has been living and take in some Austin sun! We're looking forward to fall break on the 25th and 26th as we have Mini-Too's ultrasound and are planning a trip to the pumpkin patch with Grace. Also the end of volleyball season is fast approaching! I know we'll still be busy, but Grace is a Daddy's girl and will love to have Tim home earlier each night and Saturdays. So will I. :)

Birthday Girl!

Gracie-Bug is one year old!!

(She can tell you, too - one little finger!)

The cake was soft and mushy, so we had to experiment with it and really did not care for it on our hands!

We had much more fun destoying the piece of cake than eating it!

We love to read!

We are especially excited about our new John Denver book from Grandma and Grandpa Cooper.

Country Roads... Take me home...

We love to play with our Busy Ball Popper that Grandma Margaret got us!

We're also sporting our new Wabash County Sheriff's Department, pink and brown bib from Grandma and Grandpa Cooper!

The Last of Summer Fun?

Our little farm girl with Otis.

We love rocks!

We love our new big girl suit!

The pool is still open, but a bit cold!

Maybe this weekend it will be warm enough!

We have learned to open and close the sliding screen door...

but sometimes we just play!

This is our canopy we put up on the deck to shade us when we play. Grace LOVES to sit between the legs when we bring it in! She is getting better at not getting stuck there as well. :)

Here it is! New red walls and new flooring from dining room to pantry!

We love it!!!!

More Summer Fun

Well, blogging has been put on the back burner lately as I pretty much just lie around and watch other people take care of Grace! If you haven't already heard, Grace is going to be a big sister! I once again am having a rough first trimester, but have had lots of help from family and friends! Thanks to all! Mini-Too is due the middle of March and we are very excited! Also looking forward to me feeling better soon!!!! I've asked Tim to change our blog address to the4drakes, but we haven't gotten to that yet. I'll let you know when that happens.

Here are some summer pics we took before I started feeling so bad!

When Monica was home we took Grace to the city park where she endured us showing her all the cool equipment - she would have been much happier if we would have just let her eat the woodchips!

Grace is learning to sign very well! She can sign more, eat, please, thank you, and finished. Here she is signing more to Grandma Margaret.

I finally let her eat chicken and pasta with her Dad. It was off to the shower immediately after, but she loved it!

Tim and Grace went to a pond party last weekend and had a great time! Tim said she loved the sea weeds that floated by! (Notice the red kitchen walls? I love them and I just got my kitchen floor! So close to being finished with remodeling!)