Christmas Season is here.....

I can't believe Christmas is almost here. I have a feeling that Gracie is going to be all about this holiday. She has been busy pretending to wrap gifts from Santa. She wraps them up with her favorite holiday paper and sneaks them under the tree. Then she pretends to fall asleep and wake up on Christmas morning and runs to open her gifts. It's pretty cute to watch her imagination go wild. We have been busy baking and decorating cookies for our neighbors this weekend. She loves cooking and loves to decide which neighbor gets which holiday cookie. This drives her mommy and daddy a little crazy! But she has a great time so we just let her do it. Your only 3 once right?

We also took the girls to see Santa at the IBM Christmas affair last week. Needless to say, Madison sat on Santa's lap and Gracie hid behind her daddy the whole time. We decided not to make a big deal about it. I can see how the big guy in the big red suit can be kind of creepy! Maybe next year she will be brave enough. She did write Santa a letter which listed everything she would want for Christmas on it (pretty much everything she saw out of a toy catalog) and told her we would mail it to the North Pole.

Here are a few pics from our Christmas photo shoot and Madison with Santa. Enjoy!







I Love Santa!
Madison is about to be 6 months next week. She has been such a joy to have. She is what we like to call a "chill" baby and is good with anything. Yay! Our favorite time of the day is when we go to get her out of bed in the morning and she has the biggest smile on her face. It's the sweetest thing you have ever seen. She makes us smile everyday!

We have recently been introducing some baby food to her. So far it's been rice cereal, carrots and peas. Peas being her least favorite. Here is a video below that daddy took when he was alone with the girls and he decided to feed her peas for the first time. It's pretty entertaining to watch and listen to. You got to wait for the gagging part, it makes us cry everytime we watch it!

Sleeping Beauty and our lil Pink Princess!

Gracie has wanted to be Sleeping Beauty since her birthday. It's her favorite princess. She also wanted Madison to match her, but we could not find a matching costume in her size. So we decided she could be a matching pink princess! Gracie loves to pick out matching clothes for Madison and herself. It's really cute! Mommy loves it!

Sorry we are a little late posting, but here are a few pics from Halloween night. We attended Auntie Jessica's party then made our way around the neighborhood for some candy. Gracie had a great time trick-or-treating! She walked by herself for 2 straight hours. What a fun night!

Montessori School Update!

Gracie really loves her new school! It has been a great experience so far. We are so happy we made the decision to put her there. Gracie has learned so much already. We had our first parent/teacher conference at school today. Her teacher had nothing but compliments to say about Gracie. Yay! She said Gracie is a polite little girl and is very happy to have her in class! She is doing great so far and has transitioned really well into the classroom. She also said she is doing super in all her subjects, but Art happens to be her favorite one at the moment. Hopefully she's a little more creative than her daddy and I. :) She has mastered her first round of letters, is learning about magnetism, and working on her Math skills . Next week she will be learning about vertebrates. I mean who learns this kind of stuff at 3 years old??? We are so proud of her! Go Gracie!!

The School Halloween Party.
Gracie had her first school party at the end of October. It was a fun time for parents and kids alike. It was cute to see 27 3/4 year olds running around in their classroom. She made a spider from crackers & pretzels (all the legs were eaten before the poor guy was completely together), had face painting, built a haunted house, painted a pumpkin, and put on a mini-show for all the parents. I hope they find that poor Jack-o-lantern eventually (you'll have to ask Gracie about the song :). It was concluded with a pizza party. Gracie had a fun time and it was nice to be able to meet some of her classmates. I give extra credit to her teachers for keeping some level of control while all the parents were in attendance. Here are some fun pics from the party!

Somebody liked the camera!

I can't believe it. Our baby Madison loved taking her 3 and 1/2 mo pictures this past weekend. She smiled and had an entire baby conversation with the photographer. It was really cute! The photographer said she was the happiest baby she had ever photographed. We were like "What, are you talking about our baby?" We were shocked. I don't think we ever had a happy baby shoot with Gracie. So it was a nice surprise and we got some really cute pics of the girls. So enjoy!

By the way, thanks Hank and Marie for Madison's lovely accessory! We put it to great use!

Pumpkin Patch Visit

This past weekend we had our annual visit to the pumpkin patch in Marble Falls. This time with our newest addition Madison. It was such a fun day! The weather could not have been more perfect. And it was a great way to get into the Halloween and Thanksgiving spirit. We look forward to this day every year.

Gracie had a fun time getting her face painted, painting a pumpkin, riding a barrel train, making sand art, feeding the animals, enjoying a hay ride, and picking out pumpkins to take home with us. Madison had a great time just relaxing and watching her sister run around. I'm sure she will be on her Big sister's heels next year! Here are a few of the pictures we managed to take. Enjoy!

What great memories!

Guess who is going to Montessori School?

That's right miss Gracie! She is starting this week. :) We have been talking about it sending her for several months now, but wanted to give her some time to adjust to Madison being here. We didn't want too many changes in her life all at once. It's hard enough sharing mommy and daddy with a new little one in the house. Much less transitioning to a new BIG girl school. But since Gracie has done so well with Madison being here, we feel like she is ready for Montessori school. Gordon and I love the Montessori philosophy and their approach to learning. They really work one on one with each child and instill in them a sense of love for learning. The results have been amazing from these types of schools. What a great opportunity for Gracie!

We met her new teachers today. Their names are Mrs. Angelica and Mrs. Babitha. They both seem super sweet and have several years of experience. The class is full of girls her age which I know Gracie will love. Gracie seemed excited to be there today. Please pray that her transition goes well. I know it can be hard being in a new place making new friends.

Gracie's 1st day of BIG girl school!

She is growing up too fast!

Finding her classroom for the first time.

On a different note, Madison is smiling now ! Yay! Daddy just took her to her 2 month appointment this past week and the doctor said she is doing great. She weighed 9 pounds and 13 ounces. She is in the 25% percentile.

What a happy baby!

Bear Hug!

Video of Madison smiling!


Madison takes a bath!
Gracie playing with her baby sister!
A typical day in the Bockus house:)
Favorite uncle gets to visit!
Cousin Amy and Alex get to meet Madison!
Peek a Who???
Sweet baby:)

All the Bockus ladies.

Sooooooo Sleepy!
Daddy's girl? You tell me. :)