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.