8 weeks!

I can't believe my baby is already 8 weeks old! Daddy weighed her on the scale and with clothes she is showing around 10 1/2 lbs! Of course we will go to the doctor this week for her 2 month appointment and get the official weight. =) She is one healthy little girl!Each week we get together with Grace's best friend Caleb and his Mommy Eleanor! It is so fun watching Caleb and Grace interact (of course Caleb does most of the interacting at this point, but Grace will soon catch up!)
Grace is sleeping in her crib at night and beginning to take naps in there as well. Now that she is 8 weeks old we will start setting a routine of feeding - awake time - and then a nap. Wish us good luck!
My little helper. She loves to watch me work - this is a picture of her watching me fold her laundry. I'm hoping if I make it really exciting she will want to help me with it soon! hehe
Grace loves bath time, but only when the water is on the hot side! We tried using luke warm water like the books suggest, but she makes it clear that is NOT a favorite. However, when the water is hot, she kicks and smiles and plays. I guess its all those steaming showers I took while pregnant!
The Ohio University Bobcats played this week for the MAC Championship. The game was a failure, but Grace's outfit was a SUCCESS! Goooooo BOBCATS!
To me, this is what love looks like. =)
Grandma and Grandpa Mac came this weekend to visit, and so did Uncle Zach! They could not believe how much Grace has grown in just 2 weeks! She is getting to be such a big girl.
We went to a Christmas Craft Fair at Cary Academy, one of the private high schools in the area. They had a lot of great stuff, it was fun just looking around. Of course everyone just loved coming over and telling us what a beautiful baby we had - as if we didn't already know!


Later that night we headed to downtown Cary for the Christmas Tree Lighting. It was a really cold night, so we got Grace all bundled up! She was our little snow bunny!




The tree is all lit up! Notice how Grace is slowly sliding down into her snow bunny outfit!
Looking up at Uncle Zach! It is so neat to watch how alert Grace is getting. She is doing lots of tracking with her eyes and really studying people's faces. Sometimes she focuses so hard she goes CROSS EYED! Daddy tells us that used to happen to him when he was younger (of course he was wearing glasses by the 2nd grade) So we will keep an eye on her vision. =) Right now I just say "Grace you need to close your eyes and refocus! hehe"
Uncle Zach got Grace a REALLY cool Froggy Piggy Bank. It's never to early to start saving!
Uncle Taylor came over last night and introduced Grace to her first true technology. He downloaded an app on his smart phone where you touch the screen and fire works go off - Grace could not stop staring at the fire works! It's a good think Uncle Taylor can show her what smart phones are since Mommy and Daddy don't have any!

We love our sweet angel. It was a wonderful first 8 weeks! We love you so much Grace, you are everything we ever wished for and more. I love you forever, I'll like you for always, forever and always, my Gracie you'll be.

7 weeks!

Can't believe 7 weeks has gone by! And yet at the same time so many things have changed. I know that technically you are a newborn for the first three months, but Grace just seems to have outgrown the newborn phase! She is officially in size 0-3 clothes! All the newborn things (with an exception of a few pants which she still fits) have been put away for good! She looks a little small in some of the clothes, but the newborn outfits were starting to look stretched! Here we are, notice how attentive she is!

Grace has also fallen in love with yawning. She always loved to stretch but now she gives good yawns while she is doing it! I wonder what developmentally makes you learn to yawn? I tried a couple times to see if yawns really were contagious - I would yawn right near her and loudly - but she didn't seem to pick up on what I wanted her to do! lol. She is still smiling often, but we are waiting to see the first real responsive smile. I want her to recognize us! But I know she will in time. =) She sure does recognize Dad's chest as a safe place to sleep! hehe

I had to take another picture with her and her pink bear. I can't believe how big she looks next to it now. In her one week pictures she was the same size as the bear! How is that possible???

Thought this was so funny! Of course she sleeps in her crib - but we were getting ready for our nightly story book! Bean is still a little confused by someone else being in the bed! She is used to being the only thing under 15 lbs in the bed! haha

She is so beautiful. Of course we would love her no matter what, but every time we look at her we are amazed. How could the two of us create something so perfect. Obviously there is a God involved! Who could argue? Look at her. =)

Grace is getting in her tummy time with Daddy's close eye. She has a "rain ball" that makes noise when you turn it like a rain stick. Daddy puts the ball close by Grace's arm and she hits it away, not sure if she even knew what she was doing, but it sure did tickle Daddy and Mommy!

Grace got to meet her Great-Grandmommy Knapp! (J-Pa's Mom) The love just poured between the two of them! Grace is so lucky to have so many people love her so dearly!

Of course Mimi gets all the pictures where Grace is just smiling up a storm. She just LOVES her Mimi! I just love this picture!

Another one just admiring her Mimi - is there anything better then this??? =) Plus I think Mimi was wearing really cool shiny earrings which really caught her attention!

J-Pa "resting his eyes" yup, he has adjusted to the grandfather role perfectly! haha

Our beautiful boy. Don't worry we remember that we loved you first!

4 generations of girls!

J-pa admiring his first born's first born. =) Tongue twister!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We also went out for a little photo shoot in the fall leaves. We needed some family pictures for our Christmas cards this year. We got so many good shots thanks to Uncle Taylor's eye and J-Pa's fancy camera! =) Here are just a few of our favorites!

Of course had to get at least one of the WHOLE family!

Well that wraps up the week! She is growing so fast it is hard keeping up with all the changes. We feel so blessed each day to call her ours. We love you little girl. =)

6 weeks and dedication!

So many things to tell about this week! Grace got to meet her Grandma and Grandpa Mac. They thought she was perfect! Which of course we already knew!

We were so glad that Grandma and Grandpa Mac could come down for Grace's baby dedication! We know it is a long drive from Ohio, where they live, but it means so much to us that they made the trip. The baby dedication was wonderful. We got to the church at 4:40pm. We had pictures taken, listened to a talk on parenting, and got to share our hopes and dreams for Grace as she grows and matures. We invited both sets of grandparents, uncle Taylor, and our dear friend Jen and her boyfriend Seth. After the dedication we came back to the house for football and subs! Here are some pictures from the night. Of course to start off we have Uncle Taylor loving on his favorite niece!
Daddy and J-Pa after the dedication waiting to go home for dinner! =)
Mommy and her Grace before the dedication started.
The centerpiece on the table when we got there. Love how they used real pictures of Grace to fill the pot. =)
The big screen as they introduced the different families.
A shot of the room. About 13 families participated in the dedication. Each family had a table.
All the grandparents: Mimi, J-pa, Grandma Mac, Grandpa Mac
Grace and her Caleb. =) Best friends before Grace was even born. (We used to tell Caleb that I was cooking him a girlfriend and she'd be here soon!) hehe Caleb was also being dedicated.

Jen, Seth, Gabe, and Me. Grace is so lucky to have so many people in her life who love her and want the best for her. Auntie Jen has seen Grace every week since she was born! We love you Jen!

Our family.
Other exciting things that happened this week. Grace is starting to look at smaller details. At first only large bright strips interested her. This week she spent some time looking at the details in the book Hand, Hand, Finger, Thumb. It is fun to watch her eyes really study the pages. =)
She still loves a good stretch after a nap. She always seems to lift up her right arm/hand way high in the air. Also note her adorable scrunched up face which seems to say, I think I may have to poop! hehe
Here are some of those big strips I mentioned earlier. She could stare forever at those lines! The other side of this toy has a mirror on it, but the lines are way more interesting at this point. =)
Mommy loves her baby girl! We spend lots of time on the boppy like this. Grace loves snuggling right between Mommy's tummy and the boppy. Must be warm in there.
Of course Daddy doesn't need a boppy to help produce heat - Grace and Daddy make all the heat they need! It is like a heater blanket in there. Often when Mommy takes Grace off Daddy there are sweat marks left! These two are like peas in a pod.
We went to the doctors this week and got another weight/height check. Grace is now weighing in at 9lb 3oz with clothes on! Can you believe our little 5lb 14oz tiny is now over 9 lbs! She also measured 21 inches long! This means she has grown an inch and a quarter in just a week and a half! Just imagine if you were growing at that rate! It is unbelievable. We love you Grace Jacklyn. Can't wait to see how you grow in the next 6 weeks!