Back to Reality

First and foremost...sorry for the long time between posts. As crazy as it sounds, being at home all day does NOT allow me much time to myself and this blog :( I would love to give you more up to date information, but for such a small little girl, she certainly keeps me on my toes. Especially this past week. She has started having more "quiet alert" time, and I try to use those times to stimulate her and talk to her. With this she is also having more "fussy alert" time too. Not too much, but she is starting to figure out what makes her happy and what DOESN'T. I just love seeing her little personality develop and shine through.

This past week we have started Gracelynn in her crib in her room for nap times. She has been doing GREAT with that. It was hard the first time I put her down for a nap. I had been taking naps "with" her. She would fall alseep with me and then I would put her down in her basinette by the bed or in her baby papasan and she would be right there with me. However, I read that spending a lot of time rocking your baby to sleep or nursing him/her to sleep can cause problems in the future, and it is best if your baby can learn to self-soothe and go to sleep on their own. Well, I thought I would give it a try. It wasn't the easiest, but she is learning and so am I. I can now put her down for a nap and she may coo and grunt a little, but she typically goes to sleep after a few minutes without any fussing. I know this may not be the case forever, but it is nice. It has also helped her learn how to do that at night. She is still in the basinette at night, however after she eats at night I can put her back in her bed and she will go back to sleep without much rocking or walking. VERY nice at 2 in the morning! We are hoping that maybe in the next week or so we will start her sleeping in her crib at night. I believe SHE will do fine...it's just if MOMMY can handle it :)

Speaking of sleeping, she is really doing very well. Most nights (and I say most because she definitely doesn't do it EVERY night) she will go down between 10 and 11 at night. She then will sleep until 3 o'clock-ish, get up to eat, and then go back down for another 3 or 4 hours. All in all, it isn't too bad. If she can keep that schedule up, I can cope :)

We will see how well I cope though, since tomorrow marks the first day of my return to work. I am actually excited. I hope that doesn't make me sound like a bad mom...but I am excited for a couple of reasons. 1. Adult interaction. The days can get a little lonely when the only human you have to talk to is a baby...and that baby sleeps most of the day. I could talk to the animals, but I am just not ready to be THAT crazy yet. And 2. Ben gets the chance to be with Gracelynn. I would love to be home with them, but I am so excited that he has the opportunity to spend time with his little girl! It will also really help him see what all goes into taking care of a baby. He has an idea, but it will be a real eye opener for him too. I think he is excited and anxious about the whole thing. Fortunately for him, the four weeks he is home with her I am working part time :)

I also begin this next week seeing clients again. I think I am truly more excited about this than I am about returning to work. Of course work will give me a paycheck...while internship does not :( I have a couple of new clients that have been assigned to me at the MNU clinic, and I am anxious to get back into the swing of things. This whole transition is of course made easier knowing that my baby girl is at home with her daddy. The first day she has to go to the daycare (not until October 8th), will be a rough one. I know she will be in good hands, but it will be hard to drop her off and then leave! Whew...I just won't think about that right now.

On the school front, things are interesting. I think this will be my hardest class, grade-wise. Not because it is hard, but because I had to miss a class. In a program where each class is only 9 weeks long, missing just one can be very detrimental to your progress in the class. An A is achieveable...just a little harder to get. Not to mention, I have been just slightly distracted this module. I am just trying to keep in mind that the worst grade I have gotten soLife on the school front is interesting. This module is no doubt going to be my hardest, far is one B+, and if I have to get another or even a B...it's not the end of the world. I am sure there are those of you out there that are saying "HEY! A B isn't that bad", but it is very hard to tell yourself that. I just want to be the best I can be. But if getting a not-so-perfect grade is what happens when you have the opportunity to have such a beautiful little girl...then I will take it.

Well on to the pictures. We haven't taken any new ones in a couple of days because our camera batteries died...but here are a few from the past week.



Gracelynn napping in her crib. She looks so little in this HUGE bed! I absolutely love the way she sleeps with her arms out to the side of her head. She likes to be swaddled on her bottom half, but if her arms are tucked, she has a fit. Just a little piece to the puzzle.


Taking a nap with mommy. Grandma and Grandpa Weyrauch came to visit Gracelynn on Labor Day. We had a lot of fun, but as you can see, we were both tuckered out by the end of the day.


Gracelynn in her Sunday dress. She did have socks on, but those only last a few minutes. She has big enough feet for her socks, but her little ankles don't hold them on very well.


Gracelynn's first bath at home. Her cord finally fell off and healed, so we were able to do her first bath in water! She really likes bath time.


After the bath. She also really likes being naked. Too bad mom doesn't let her just hang out in her diaper much :)


Here she is in the closest thing she has to a K-State outfit. All we had were little K-State socks...the rest is just purple. (the best color on the planet). We do have a little K-State cheerleaders outfit, but it is 18 months. She will have to be a little bit bigger to be able to wear that. :)

That's all for now. I'll get more batteries this week and there will be more pictures to come.

Amber