The BIG SECRET is finally out!

Can you guess what it is?

This cute pic says it all!

That's right, Gracie will soon be a Big sister! Woo Hoo! We have decided we have waited long enough and are ready for our world to be turned upside down one more time. lol.

We are excited to announce baby #2 is on his/her way! Doris is 12 weeks (3months) pregnant. So come this July, we will welcome a brand new baby to our family. Gracie is already pumped about being a BIG sister. She is already telling us she is going to feed it, put it in the carrier, and take her/him to the park. What a sweet girl! Gracie is constantly patting mommy's tummy and asking when the baby is coming out? She even told her daddy to be careful and not jump on mommy's tummy because there is a baby in there! What a smart cookie. She will definitely be mommy's little helper!

The BIG day is July 12, but there is a fairly good chance this baby will come a couple of weeks early if mommy has blood pressure problems at the end of the pregnancy again. The doctor says there is absolutely nothing we can do to prevent this from happening. The body is going to react to the baby how it wants to. And since Doris's mom had blood pressure issues with all 3 of her pregnancies, her chances are much higher. Boo! So we are keeping our fingers crossed that he/she does not come too early so they can be as healthy as possible! Please keep us in your prayers. We will keep everyone posted.

We feel extremely blessed and can't wait to meet this new little person!

Gracie has breakfast with Santa!

We got up early this Saturday morning to head down for our 2nd annual chicken and Santa at Chick-fil-a, and chickens there were a plenty (a.k.a Gracie, Isaac, and Emma)! All three toddlers screamed and held on to their mommies for dear life. Gracie wouldn't even look over the booth at Santa because there was a big cow. So we decided to warm them up by eating breakfast close to Santa so they could watch the other kids sit on Santa's lap. Finally after eating breakfast, getting a balloon, and playing on the awesome playscape together, they decided to give Santa a try. Two out of three toddlers decided the big guy in the red suit was not too scary as long as their mommies stayed close by. They pretty much have a love-hate relationship with Santa at this point. Oh well! Maybe next year they will love this jolly ol St. Nick.

I'm sitting here for my mommy, but I don't like it!

Get me out of here!

San Diego Vacation

Recently, we attended Andy and Caroline's wedding in San Diego. It was absolutely beautiful. Congrats to the happy couple! We are happy for you both. Gracie decided to make friends with the band and then danced the night away with the entire Bockus family at the reception. I think she danced for 2 hours straight. Her Uncle Henry and Uncle Bruce even showed her a few awesome moves on the dance floor. What a hoot! I'm sure someone caught it on camera, just not mommy or daddy. Stay tuned for some wedding pics!

We had so much fun visiting all the sites San Diego had to offer. We decided to take Gracie to the aquarium, world famous zoo, and La Jolla beach. What a wonderful vacation! Gracie had a ton of fun and keeps asking to go back.

A cute story from the zoo. We were taking the bus tour and as we were passing the wolf den there were some new baby wolves howling. Gracie decided to join in the singing and let out a wout - wu -wooooooo. The whole bus cracked up and she turned into shy girl.

Here are a few pics to enjoy.

Beautiful San Diego at sunset

Mommy and Gracie enjoying the beach

Gracie playing in the ocean!

Shark Bite at the aquarium?

Huge Star Fish

Now that's a scary snake!

One cool panda bear

Gracie loved this elephant!

Look daddy, a zebra!

Cheese!

Giraffe

Loved petting the goat!

I want to ride the baby elephant, daddy!

Tuckered out after a fun filled day at the zoo!

Happy Halloween!

We had one awesome Halloween weekend! Gracie was all about celebrating it. She had a party at school, daddy's work, and then one at her Aunt Jessica's house! She even went trick or treating around our neighborhood. She would walk up to the door and say trick or treat , get her candy, and then say thank you as she was leaving. What a sweet girl! Daddy and I were very impressed with her manners. I guess she really does learn a few things from watching Dora on television. She definitely looked like a PRO!

Can you guess who Gracie was this year?

She made one CUTE Minnie Mouse!

You want me to do what??

This pic says it all.:)
Samantha (ladybug), Emma (Abby Cadabby), Isaac (football), Taylor (fairy), Gracie (minnie)
Party at Aunt Jessica's House

Busting through the streamers!

Daddy and his lil Minnie Mouse

Happy Halloween!

Trick or Treat

Can't get any cuter than this!

Gracie loves to sing her ABC's!

Gracie has been singing her ABC's lately. So I have been trying to catch her in action. Easier said than done with a 2 year old who gets distracted all the time. Here are a couple of cute videos of her singing. We have a great family laugh every time we watch them. Enjoy!


Someone wrote on the door. Oh yeah, it was me! :) Priceless!



Darn Cocoa likes cupcakes too!


Enough ABC's for me!

On a different note, Nana came for a visit recently which Gracie loved! They always have a great time together.









Gracie thinks she has one awesome Nana. Especially when she got to paint her fingernails shocking pink! Nana was a great sport about it. She even told Gracie she did a great job and acted like her nails were beautiful. :) So sweet!

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, we love Pumpkins......

Austin is having some great Fall weather this week. So we decided to have some family fun at a nearby pumpkin patch. It was a beautiful day and we are so glad we went. Gracie had the best time!

Family Time

Pretty girl

Feeding a goat

Picked mommy a flower

Loved getting her face painted! We had to go back twice. She picked out a cupcake and a kitten.

Big pumpkins

Our Lil Pumpkin!

Farmer Gracie

Hop on back daddy!

Mommy's Lil Pumpkin

This will definitely be a fun tradition for our family! We can't wait to go back next year!

Gordon gets a new job!

Well I started my new job at Initiate Systems on Monday. I'm really excited about the products they're developing and the technology being used (Java, Spring, Dojo, Flex, ...) . The people there are really good at what they do and I'm going to learn a ton about end to end software development. I'm also really pumped about their focus on Agile software development. I think it will result in a really fast paced, productive, and happy environment.

What we do:
Basically they develop a suite of products that help businesses better manage their data. The most common example is a hospital. The products developed are used to help the hospital gather all of their patient data, clean it up, and check it for incoming errors. Basically it helps to ensure that patient data is correctly recorded so that they are treated correctly when necessary ( the right blood type, allergies, etc). They current have around 200 customers in included many you've heard of ( Microsoft, IBM, FedEx, etc etc).

The commute is a little longer in the morning and I've been getting there earlier (gotta make a good impression :). The location is really an upgrade. Initiate is located just west of the Bridge on 360, it's nice getting a great view of Lake Austin on my way into the office:

I will miss all my friends at IBM. I am grateful to IBM for all of the professional growth that I was able to amass over the 6 years I worked there as well as all of the great people that I worked with over the years. I'm glad to be out of the IT business and into a role where software engineering is the primary focus.

Gracie is proud of her daddy!


Gracie update:
She is doing a great job with the potty training so far. She has officially started going #2 in the potty. Woo Hoo! A little M & M was all the inspiration she needed. :) I wouldn't say she is completely potty trained, but we are well on our way.

She also has graduated from the toddler room to the pre-k room. She even came home singing her ABC's a couple of weeks ago. Mommy was happily surprised! She also sleeps on a BIG girl mat at school instead of a crib now which is a huge accomplishment. She even refers to herself as a BIG girl now instead of a baby.

Little does she know, she will always be our little baby!

We have a new cook in the house.

Yes, that's right. Gracie loves to help mommy and daddy in the kitchen . She has been helping her mommy cook and her daddy make coffee everyday. Some of her favorite things to make are casseroles, brownies and biscuits. It's gets a little messy at times, but it's pretty darn cute to watch. Especially when she has to taste it every 2 seconds. :) Here is our cutie pie in action.

Baby had to help with the casserole.:)

Cute Poser!

Pat the Biscuits

Mommy and Gracie baking cupcakes

She tasted the Brownies:)

By the way, we have officially started the potty training this past weekend. It's going good so far. Lots of pee pee success,but still working on #2. It's a little more scary for her. We have read that it's harder for kids to learn to go #2 because it feels like a piece of their body has fallen off. Strange, we know. The best way to describe it, is just imagine a body part such as your arm suddenly falling off in the potty. You would be freaked out too!

Anyways, she has been doing a great job and we are very proud of her! Wish us luck!

1st post - Little girls do the cutest things:)

Gracie absolutely loves playing with her baby dolls. She will play little mommy from the time she wakes up until bedtime. It's so cute to watch how nurturing she can be with them. It will melt your heart.

She gives them hugs!

Shhh, baby is sleeping.....

Baby needed to be in the picture too.