PJ's and Caleb

This week was a busy one! Grace is growing up a storm! She is spending more and more time in a seated position. She still needs help to support herself. If you let go she just falls over... not that I've done that. hehe. She still spends lots of time on her belly and on her back looking and grasping things above her.

Lucky for Grace she got to hang out with her best friend (and future husband) Caleb this week! They got to see each other many times and it is fun to watch them start to recognize each other. My favorite is when they smile at each other! It is just so cute!

We also went to a huge kids consignment sale in the area called Kids Exchange. We were looking for big items for Grace's 1st birthday and Christmas, yes I know. I still have 9 months before that happens, but its good to be prepared! Here Daddy is sitting inside an awesome teepee that we got to put in Grace's room. Don't you think it will make a perfect reading nook?? Don't tell Grace - we want it to be a surprise! =)
Uncle Taylor got Grace a really cool chalk board for the playroom! It is a window and the panes are painted with chalk board paint. It fits perfect and its for a good cause! The girls who made it were selling different crafts to help pay for their mission trip to Kenya this summer! Not only does it look great, but its supporting missions. Thanks Uncle T!
Oh Hemangiomas. I wanted to get a good shot of the one on her nose. You can see it here on the left side (her right side) It is the tiny redness that looks like she has scratched herself or has a runny nose. The hemangioma itself is pretty small, but after reviewing the pictures the doctors at Duke want to take a look themselves. We have an appointment at Duke Children's tomorrow morning where we will meet with their pediatric dermatologist. I believe she wants to take some scans of Grace's upper nose and throat. The concern is that the hemangioma might have a tendril that is attached to a larger hemangioma inside her nose/throat. If it were to get larger, as they do, then she would have trouble breathing. Obviously this is something we want to find out about as soon as possible. Next week I will share what the doctors decided on for treatment after reviewing the scans.

The next few shots show her little neck! We always knew there was a neck in there, but now we are actually starting to see it on a more regular basis! Isn't it cute!?!

Above you can see the back of Grace's head. She is really starting to roll and move! Consequently this means she has rubbed the hair right off the back of her head! We think she makes an adorable Friar Tuck!

Below are our series of pajama shots. I realized that I almost never take picture of Grace in her PJ's and she has so many cute ones. I tried taking a picture each night of Grace ready for bed. Remembering to do this 5/7 nights is pretty good for me.

Good night room, good night pillow, good night pajamas and good night Grace.




We love you sunshine. Keep growing sweet girl and we will keep trying to do the best we can raising you. We are so lucky to have you.

xoxo

Mommy & Daddy

1-17-12 Mimi's Here for a Visit

My smiling sweetheart! Lots of exciting changes are going on this week! We weighed Grace using our "at home" method. This means Daddy steps on scale holding Grace, then steps on scale alone and we subtract the 2 weights to get what we think Grace weighs by herself! This week she came in at 11 lbs 6 oz! This still puts her somewhere between the 10% and 25% which is where she has been since she was born! She is growing beautifully!Grace is really starting to show recognition of certain faces. She loves when people talk to her and look her straight in the eye. She is sure to give a big smile if she likes what she sees! =) She is also just as likely to look at you like you are slightly crazy. hehe
This week we went to our new Penn Station located less then 2 miles from our house. This pictures is for you J-Pa. J-Pa told us 3 years ago that Cary had almost everything he needed to move here (the kids and Panara Bread) and that if we got a Penn Station he was packing up that day... well its open now J-Pa! =)
Grace is really starting to experiment with her hands. She loves to grasp hold of things and then let go of them. She can also pass them back and forth between her two hands. She still does not seem to intentionally grab hold of something, but once she has it she knows what to do!
We also got to try out our exersaucer this week! Grace is starting to do a lot of sitting with the assistance of pillows or Mommy. Notice that we have to put the boopy and some blankets under the floor of her exersaucer so that it is high enough she can reach it with her toes! That is right, she is still in the bottom 10% for height. We just love her, every tiny bit!
I downloaded some new photo editing tools and I had a lot of fun playing around with them this week. Here are a few examples of how much fun different shading can be!

Love her eyes in this top one. They are breath taking!

Mimi and Grace hanging out - the top picture is the original. Underneath I changed it over to sketching. I love both! =) It is so wonderful to have the time to watch Grace and her Mimi! It only takes Grace a few minutes to remember Mimi's face! I always tell her, when you were only a week old you spent hours sleeping on your Mimi! =)


MMMM I love this girl! It makes me want to go wake her up from her nap and kiss her! But of course, I will resist! hehe =) Speaking of napping we love Grace's new schedule. It looks like this:

6:00 - 6:45 - Grace is up feeds, diaper change, short play in her room singing songs and looking at books

6:45-9:00 - SLEEP! (Really finishing up her night time sleep)

9:00-10:30 - feed, diaper change, usually running errands with Mommy, we go to Kroger, the library, over to see her best friend Caleb, other lunch dates!

10:30-12:00 - Usually we are still running errands but by this time Grace is back asleep.

12:00-1:30 - feed, diaper change, playing in the playroom

1:30-3:00 - nap!

3:00-4:30 - feed, diaper change, playing with Daddy!

4:30-6:00 - nap!

6:00-8:15 - feed, diaper change, playing in playroom, bath, reading books, praying, feeding again

8:15-6:00am - SLEEPING ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT! YAY GRACE!
Lots of playing with Uncle Taylor and Mimi! Grace is one lucky girl to get so much love.
Here we were playing around before heading to church on Sunday. I just love this little outfit and shoes! Of course the shoes didn't make it to church, she kept kicking them off, but she is so cute!

Well we pretty much thing Grace is perfect! Clothing update: She is still wearing all her 0-3 month clothing. The only thing we have really switched over is her PJ's - she in now in her 3-6 month PJ's but they still look a little big. =) Keep on growing sweet girl. We love you so much!

xoxo

Mommy and Daddy

3 months!

Can't believe it has been 3 months with the sweetest gift one could receive. We thank God everyday for our little miracle. She is growing so fast! The official 3 month mark is tomorrow 1-11-12, but we wanted to post her 3 month photo shots today.

She was moving and shaking almost the entire time we were trying to take pictures! We were thrilled to get a few where she is almost still! We think this one is a great representation of how much she MOVES now! She is always rocking and rolling! Look how big she is compared to her pink teddy bear? In her one week photo she looks only slightly bigger then the bear. Now she is three times the size at least! Such an angel.
Our sweet baby G!
Look at those cute toes! We love how she curls up those toes. SOOO impressive! =)
She is really starting to grab at everything! Here she caught hold of my camera cord and would not let go. hehe
reaching, reaching, reaching!

HEMANGIOMA: An abnormal buildup of blood vessels int he skin or internal organs. Grace was born with two hemangiomas. One on her upper back near the shoulder blade and one on the bottom of her nose. Hemangiomas are supposed to go away on their own sometime in the first 5 years of life. We were told that it would look worse before it got better, but with the recent deepening in color (almost purple in the center and around the edges) we decided to take her to a dermatologist just so get a plan in place! Apparently the fact that the color is turning darker is a good sign. It means it may be getting through the worst part. Mommy and Daddy felt very good because they took measurements and pictures of both hemangiomas so that they could compare when we go back in four months. Here is a picture of the one on her back. AND as a bonus you get to see her cute bottom as well! hehe (sorry Grace... I couldn't resist)

Bath Time!! Look at that curl!

We love taking pictures of our girl giving her smiles! 1, 2, 3, SMILE!
SMILE!
and more SMILES!
All in all it was a wonderful week! We enjoyed relaxing and getting back into our normal routine. We also started going from 8pm-6am with no feedings during the night time! YAY Grace! She does wake up once a night but usually falls back asleep within 20 minutes. We are hoping soon that she will go all night without waking up at all!

We also finally got Grace rolling over! She has been doing it for a week or two, but finally we got it on film! Next step... winning the winter Olympic ice skating competition! =)

We love you Grace. Happy 3 months. We are so lucky to call ourselves your parents.

XOXO

Mommy & Daddy

12 weeks! 1-03-12

So I realize its the last time I can post how many weeks old she is! After 12 weeks you track your babies age by months... until 18 months and then they are just years. I suppose that makes sense. It't not like I tell people my age in weeks so I knew it would come to an end... but wow I can't believe she is already there. I remember telling people she was 12 DAYS old and it seems like just yesterday! Have I mentioned that I love this little girl? Not sure if I was clear. =) This week started out still at the cabin on Christmas vacation.Grace got to see her first snow. Okay in all honesty I don't think she actually saw it. In fact I'm pretty sure all she is thinking is "why did they stick me in this window?" haha - but she was just still too little to bundle her and stick her in the snow!
The family. Glad to finally have a show with all the members on my side! Grace was so patient during the photo shoot.
So while Grace slept during our trip we read a lot of books and played a lot of games. It is always such a relaxing time where we can really regroup and get ready for another great year! Notice all the planning taking place in Mom's new game "Pandemic"
Still giving her best smiles to her daddy!
I love this pictures. Do you think Grace knows that her Uncle Taylor loves her? I think she does! You can almost hear her saying "I love you Uncle T!" Those eyes get me every time.
Mimi and Grace! She can't wait for Mimi to move close to Cary so she can see her all the time! PS - take time to notice those hands. She has been curling up her hands close to her face since the first time I knew she was my Grace! (Yes, that was on her 20 week ultrasound!)
Beautiful view!
The boys got to get out and go on a great hike! I think it was over 6 miles... when we met up with them we stopped at one of the over looks so they could eat lunch, it was late. Grace and I walked around the parking lot 11 times! For her birthday on 10-11 of course! hehe Do you think we burned as many calories?
A friend of ours told me and Gabe this week, "It's really a shame that you guys aren't enjoying being parents." haha I guess it's kind of obvious how our world is revolving around the sweetest girl created. My angel.
Another family shot. =) I love this group! Each year it gets better. I can't wait to see how it continues to change over the next few years.
Oh Athens. Our protector.
On our way home from Blowing Rock we stopped to take a picture of Grace on the Blue Ridge Parkway. This view went on for miles!
At home we started trying on some 3-6 month PJ's. Our 0-3 month ones are getting a little tight. The 3-6 months are a little long for Grace, but wow is she ADORABLE in them! mmmm I want to kiss that face!
Grace's new playroom. We transformed our dining room into a playroom. Complete with gates and soft tile flooring. It is so nice to know she can go anywhere once she starts really rolling and crawling. AND we will not be concerned about her hitting that precious head on the concrete! The soft tiles are so squishy! =)
Grace really seeing herself for the first time. She thinks "Wow that is one good looking babe!" hehe
Uncle Taylor over on New Years Eve. He wanted to see his niece one last time in 2011!
This was how we spent the rest of 2011 and I couldn't think of a better way to do it. No party or bash would have been more meaningful then sitting in our playroom with the people I love the most. It was an amazing 2011, the best year yet.
Love.
Okay so Daddy thought this picture needed to be included. Grace gets the most awesome buggies. So almost every day we have to nasal aspirate them out. She is patient with it most of the time. It is so obvious how much better it is to breath once they are gone! We are hoping that in month 3 we really learn how to breath out our mouth so that Mommy and Daddy don't have to worry so much about those buggies! hehe
Love you sweet thing. Happy 12 weeks and happy 2012!