Fall Update

So as it turns out, I'm not great at updating a blog. Life is so crazy with school, football, and of course an almost 1 year old. We're busy planning a ladybug birthday party and preparing for high school football playoffs all at the same time! Here are some pictures from our recent trip to Carroll's Pumpkin Farm.

Family photo

Grady loving the orange swings.

Driving a Chevy

"I think this is a good one!"


Our newest milestone is Grady learning how to walk! She took her first steps a couple of weeks ago but had really but the whole walking issue on the back burner lately. She took off tonight! She is a little fussy because I had the video camera out. It makes her so mad that she can't play with it.

I'm going to really try to get better about posting more often! We'll see...

Summer Update

Our family has had a busy summer already! Here are some things that we have done so far!

Happy Father's Day! We went to Zack's parents house for a Father's Day dinner. Grady used to cry whenever Grandpa Woody held her, but not anymore!
Grady and Mommy before going to Chris and Michelle Knoll's wedding in Winterset.

Grady and Mommy spent the weekend in Winterset with family. On Saturday we went to Sam Tunell's bridal shower in the morning. In the afternoon Great Grandpa Wayne, Great Grandma Ruby, Aunt Karen, Uncle Jim, Uncle Brent, Taylor, and Tara all came over to the house. Grady was nakey and happy!

Playing on the floor with Great Grandpa Wayne

On Friday night, Uncle Jayson came over. Grady and him played with toys all night. Grady enjoyed hitting him the face with her toys.

Grady is starting to pull herself up! Here she is using Jackson's car seat to get closer to him!

Enjoying the sun!

I took Grady with me to school so I could work. She army crawled over to the blocks, then tried to pull herself up to get to them. I brought some over to her blanket for her to play with, or eat.

Grady and I went to the Jacolyn Park Splash Pad. She was not a big fan of the cold water "raining" on her, but she loved sitting on our towel, playing with her toys, and watching all of the kids run around!

We gave Grady half of a banana to eat the other day. She was confused on what she was supposed to do with it, but eventually got the hang of it. She makes such a mess though!

Grady and I went to the Niabi Zoo with Meredith and Jackson Henry. The babies stayed awake for the 1 1/2 hour drive to Coal Valley, Illinois. They were excited! Meredith found a double stroller on Craig's List for only $10 so we used that on the trip. Both Jackson and Grady took a short nap while we were looking at the animals, but woke up to ride the train around the zoo.

Picture by the dinosaur!

Big girl riding the train

Jack and Meredith on the train

Mommy and Grady

On Memorial Day weekend, Monica Hamilton took our family pictures.

Grady: 6 1/2 months

Sad Day

A week ago today was one of the worst days of our life. Our amazing dog, Winston, got hit by a car and didn't make it. Winston was not just a dog to us. Zack and I picked him out after we had been dating for only one month. Every weekend when I was still in school, Zack and Winston would come and visit me. When I moved to Eastern Iowa, I not only moved to be closer to Zack, but Winston also. He loved to be next to us, all the time, regardless of where we were. He was with us before all of our other animals, before we lived in our current house, before we were married, and before Grady. He was there by my side in the middle of the night when Zack was asleep and I was having contractions. He was there the night we brought Grady home from the hospital. He didn't really think anything was going on that night, he was just so excited to see us after two days. Then I took this little thing out of a carrier that was making noises, and he went crazy trying to figure out what this new thing in our house was. He was so great with Grady from the very beginning. A picture of the two of them was a weekly thing. He would lay with her on the floor and let her pull on his feet or poke him in the eye. I think the thing that I'm most sad about is that Grady will not remember him when she gets bigger and she won't be able to grow up with him. Zack and I always imagined Winston eventually sleeping with Grady someday or playing with her outside.
Each day I start to realize that I need to think about Winston being the best dog, rather than think about all of the things I miss about him. Each day gets a little bit better, but our lives will never be the same. RIP Winston W. Woods. We love you.

First Mother's Day

Last week was Mother's Day! We all went on a walk together in the morning. Then Grady and Mommy spent the day together around the house. Grady was being such a cuddler all day. I loved it :)Luckily Papa Tim and Grandma Steph were on their way back from Chicago so Grady and I were able to meet up with them in Williamsburg.

We all went to Grandpa Woody and Grandma Gayle's for dinner to celebrate Uncle Mason's birthday! We had a great day and an even better weekend! The next week an even bigger event happened...Grady hit her half year mark! Our baby is six months old!! It's unbelieveable how fast the time has gone. Every day she gets closer to sitting up on her own and is in the beginning stages of crawling. We have her 6 month doctor's appointment tomorrow so we will see how much weight she has put on in the last 2 months. To us, she has really been filling out and getting chubby. All those fruits and vegetables are helping to make her a big girl.

A Chilly Saturday in May

Today Grady and I went to the Farmer's Market with my friend Meredith and her 4 1/2 month old son Jackson! We went to get some fresh produce to make baby food for the babies, but didn't consider it being too soon :( We ended up going to Fareway and making some sweet potatoes and carrots. Grady once again proved how much she loved carrots!

Jackson was born on December 21st and is just 6 weeks younger than Grady! It has been so fun to see them start to interact and "talk" to each other! Here is a picture of them all bundled up and ready to go to the Farmer's Market.

Pictures of our Peanut

1 1/2 months

There was a snow storm and we were snowed in for 3 days! Grady had been smiling for awhile, but mainly when she was tooting. This was one of her first REAL smiles and we were lucky to snap a picture!

2 months

Our little Colts fan!

3 months

Valentine's Day

3 months

Grady's first time eating rice cereal. She did so well!

4 months

The Easter Bunny visited the Rec Center right before Easter!

Grady laughing at Bruce and Winston :)

Welcome!

Welcome to the blog of Zack, Jessica, and Grady Woods! Here is a little bit of background of how we got to where we are today!

We were married on August 17th, 2007.

A little over 2 years later, we were blessed with our beautiful baby girl. Grady Wayne was born on November 11th, 2009.

Grady is almost 6 months old and doing new things every day! Just today she started to hold her own bottle! :) We are learning so much being first time parents. From umbilical hernias to mysterious diaper rashes, Grady is presenting us with new challenges daily.

Our household now consists of the three of us, two dogs (Winston and Bruce), two cats (Jerry and Anna), and four guinea pigs (Karot, Karl, Trig, and Barney). Zack is working at Pride of Iowa and coaching high school football. Jessica is a kindergarten teacher. Life is busy, but great!