New House!

We are finally moved into our new house. Over the Thanksgiving holiday, Gloria spent the night at Grammy's house while Rob, Randall, and I packed up, loaded and unloaded. We did a quick job of initially trying to get things organized enough for Gloria to live here. The first two nights were difficult for Gloria sleep-wise. The first night she cried and when Rob went in to comfort her, she told him she was scared. The second night there was still a bit of crying, but by the third night she was fine.

She loves playing downstairs, which is pretty much the playroom. Most of her toys are down there, including her crayons and mini-kitchen. (I say mini, because she's getting a big one for her birthday!) She gets around the house just fine, and has since the first day. I think it helped that we've been coming here since June, so she knew the layout well.

Gloria has been a great help for us getting settled.

She helps in the kitchen, whether it's browning hamburger, helping Mommy make a pizza, or making cookies with Randall.

She helps us unpack and play with what we find!

She even helps us clean!

Santa Claus

We were eating lunch at the mall in Grand Rapids (one last hurrah before moving), not planning on seeing Santa, when out he came from wherever they let him get dressed. She saw him and immediately started talking about seeing him. "Santa lap, sit. Hug, kiss. Sit lap. Santa." So I figured I would run with this opportunity, though she wasn't in her Christmas dress and Rob wasn't with us. After she finished eating we went over to see Santa. Since it was like 2pm, no one was in line. We went right up and Gloria wouldn't let go of my hand. So, first she sat on my lap on Santa's lap. He was holding her hand and talking to her. Then he asked her if she would like to sit on his other leg. I asked if she would sit on his lap so I could take a picture. No problem. I scooted off and took two pictures. (They let you take 2-3 of your own or buy them.) By this time another family had approached the line so Santa gave Gloria a hat and a coloring book. We walked to the other side and she kept saying, "Hug, kiss. Santa hug, kiss." I told her we would have to wait for the other kids to be done and then we could sneak back up to him. Well as soon as those kids were done, Gloria busted a move up to Santa. I followed her to make sure Santa knew what the purpose of this 2nd visit was. She gave him the biggest hug and a sweet kiss on the cheek and waved bye.


We will probably go see Santa again this weekend with Gloria in her Christmas dress so Rob can come along too.

"love you"

I just walked out of Gloria's room, after reading her a book, singing some songs, and rocking/snuggling her for a few minutes. I laid her down in her bed, told her good-night and that I'd see her in the morning. I said, "Love you. Night-night" and as I was opening up her bedroom door to leave, she said, "Love you. Bye."

That's the first time she's said "love you" to anyone, on her own without prompting.

My heart just melted.

Trick or Treat

"Pocahontas and her Pumpkin Bear!"

"Our little Indian Princess"

"So this is what it's like to have long hair...I think I like it!"

Gloria had so much fun handing out the candy to trick-or-treaters. She was rarely scared by a costume, except for when they had scary masks on. The first one she saw was when she was getting her coat on and she saw it through the door. She ran as fast as she could and jumped in Grandpa Chuck's arms and buried her face. When she was outside and saw them, she just turned towards Rob and wouldn't give them candy. She did great putting one piece of candy into each person's bag and kept saying "more people come."


It was quite chilly out which is why we have on our coats, hats, and mittens. Gloria and I were troopers though, staying out until the very end of the allotted time.

Carving pumpkins

"Let's start carving!"

"Scooping out the seeds with a spoon. I did NOT want to touch it with my hands!"

"I told Mommy I wanted two square teeth, a square nose, and circle eyes."

"I love Halloween time!"