Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain...

I absolutely LOVE this time of year! Yes, even the rain. For the past few nights I have woken up to the sound of pouring rain - it is so peaceful and clean sounding to me. The air has been fresh and crisp, and though I refuse to close the window in our room, we have had to add another blanket to our bed.

After our late night at the Gibson's house we laid low on Sunday. We didn't get home until after 1 a.m. and both Merrick and I forgot to set alarms for church. I hate missing church on Sundays, but yesterday the three of us needed that extra bit of sleep. It feels like we have all been going on high speed for the past few weeks, and we needed a down day. After waking up late, we ate breakfast in front of the fire while watching football. After Gracie had a nap we bundled up and went for a walk. It didn't rain, but it was COLD! I should have taken a picture... she had warm pj's, her pumpkin hat, socks for mittens, and two blankets... needless to say, she was warm, cozy and slept the whole time. We stopped at Freddy's to pick up a few veggies for the soup I made (recipe to follow) and then headed home.

Since we still had about an hour before Gracie needed to eat, so we packed her up - still bundled, but no longer sound asleep - and headed to the new Hillsboro library. Shannon had told me that it was pretty nice and new, so we thought we'd check it out. I got a card, and we borrowed a few DVD's that we had been wanting to see. We didn't spend much time exploring, but I did pick up a calendar of events. On Fridays the library has a "book babies" time that we might be checking out soon.

We got home, fed Gracie, got the soup started, bathed the baby, turned on Sunday night football, and continued our relaxation trend. Merrick did work on and off, but for the most part we just vegged... which is exactly what we all needed.

Here are a few pictures of Gracie from the past weeks that I have been meaning to post. She is changing every day, and I try to take pictures, but don't always get around to posting them for everyone else to see.

This pumpkin hat was hand made by Shannon for Sydney - Gracie now has it as a hand-me-down, and Shannon is making a matching one for Sophia. The girls will wear them when we head to the pumpkin patch next week!

Gracie had fun hanging out with Mandy last week. We both wish she lived closer. Perhaps we'll have to plan a trip to Telluride to visit her... wishful thinking.

Every day she is getting more and more smiley. I still don't have a great picture, but this at least captured the expression.

More smiles

This little baby is exhausted, and this was before we went to have Soren take her three month pictures last week.

Gracie: "Hmmm, am I looking in a mirror?"