Milestones

I just cannot believe how quickly Gracelynn is growing and changing. It is as if every morning I walk into her room and look into her crib and I think to myself "wow...did she grow some more over night???" She is getting so big and I can already see the independent side of her. We already knew she didn't have much patience...now we are seeing the stubborn, "I can do it myself" side :)

The other night I had her in her baby papasan on the bed while I was folding laundry (our typical set up) and she was fussing and kicking like crazy in her papasan. So I took her out and put her down on the floor on a blanket to let her get the "kicks" out of her. She immediately grabbed at her blanket (see picture in previous post) and began wiggling around while chewing on it. Now she has been moving around alot more, but nothing like this. Before I knew it she rolled onto her side and made it about 3/4 of the way (her left arm was under her). If she had been able to figure out how to get that arm out from under her she would have rolled from her back to her tummy!!! I couldn't believe it. She then rolled back onto her back and to the OTHER side. She was just having a grand old time chewing on her blanket and rolling around.

She also has started "talking" a lot more. She will sit and coo and babble like it's her job. Is it any wonder though...look at who her momma is ;) Yesterday she "sang" for the first time. I had Air1 on the computer and was listening to some music while I made dinner and folded laundry. I was singing along to the music and she was staring at me when suddenly she broke out into a smile and started singing along with me (read: cooing). It was so incredibly cute and I know she was mimicing what I was doing.

Gracelynn has also discovered her fingers. She had already figured out what her hands were for...chewing and sucking on of course, but now she has found each individual finger and will clasp her hands together, suck on one finger at a time and even grab at things. Last night while I was loading her into the car the diaper bag handle fell over on her carseat. She looked at it and immediately moved her hand over to it, wrapped her little fingers around the handle and held on for dear life. I have seen her bat at things, but this was the first time I had seen her intentionally grab an item, get it and then hold on. It was very exciting!!!

Last but certainly not least is her sleeping habits. She is consistently sleeping through then night (Praise the Lord!). She goes down some time between 8:30 and 9 pm and I typically have to wake her at 6 am (on the weekdays) to eat and get ready to go to Miss Andrea's for daycare. 9-10 hours of sleep is a beautiful thing :)

Well I had planned to wait until Saturday to share these milestones as that is her 3 month "birthday", but who knows what she will be doing by then! I had to share these now in case she is walking by then ;)

Here are a few pictures from daycare for you.



She looks like she got caught doing something she wasn't supposed to :P
It is so sad...this little hat is now too little for her. It was very hard to go through all of her things and put her little stuff away.


Such a big girl!

These jeans are another thing that she has outgrown.

We have started to use bibs to catch the huge amount of drool she has started to produce. This one of course is Daddy's favorite!

Another shot of her in her cowgirl outfit...eating her hand of course :)

Another hand-eating shot. She is too busy chewing on her digits to smile for the camera!

Our gorgeous little girl...if we do say so ourselves :)

Later!

Reality

Sorry for the lack of posts the last week or so. I had been on a roll with getting posts and pictures up, but then I lost my momentum.

I wanted to post about something that has been brought to my attention lately. So often when I post I post about the beautiful, wonderful, lovely things about being a mommy. Trust me, there are plenty of those. The little smiles that I get or the way my daughter will completely relax the moment she gets into my arms. Those things truly are beautiful, wonderful AND lovely.

However, people so often talk about those things and they gloss over what I like to call "the dark side of mommy-hood".

I have gotten tons of comments about how well I am doing and how people are so proud of the way I am handleing it all, however thre are times when it isn't so easy. Here is the nitty-gritty truth

Sleep:

No matter how "good" of a baby you have, you will have more sleepless nights than restful. My little girl is a very good sleeper and I have no big complaints, but I STILL do not sleep well. I wake easily and often. The only way I can really explain it is that the sense of responsiblity you have for this little life does not just go away when it is bed time. I wake up in a start more often than not with a sudden dread that my little baby has been crying and I somehow haven't heard her (especially now that she is in her own room) or that worse, something is terribly wrong with her. Not to sound morbid, but the fear of infant suffocation and SIDS is VERY present in EVERY mothers mind. The baby's life seems so fragile and your sleep reflects that.

Then there are the nights they don't sleep. That horrible feeling when you look a the clock and know you have to be up in 2 hours ready for the day...and you have only had about an hour of straight sleep so far, is the worst feeling in the world. You look down at the little baby in your arms or lying next to you and while you love him or her so much, you find yourself wishing for the days when you were able to go to sleep whenever you felt tired and sleep as long as you wanted.

Feedings:

I like to term this as "ruled by the boob", but really you are ruled by the feeding times whether you are breastfeeding or not. If you are breastfeeding, you have to time EVERYTHING around feeding times and where you will be when those feeding times occur. I have gotten stuck many times and ended up feeding Gracelynn in the car. Or I will be in the middle of the grocery store with a cart full of things and she will begin screaming.

It isn't much better if you feeding by bottle. You have to think ahead about how many bottles you will need (how long will I be gone), then you have to think about getting the bottle warmed up BEFORE she is screaming! It is NOT fun to attempt to get that bottle ready when she is already in starvation mode.

Car Rides:

As if simply getting out of the door isn't hard enough, the actual car ride can be brutal! Imagine getting to the highway and about that time you little one lets out a blood-curdling scream. And about that time all you want to do is scream yourself. By the time you are at the stoplight one street from your house, you are angry at the darn drivers that don't KNOW you have a screaming baby in your car and the lights that are all conspiring against you.

S*x Life:

I am not trying to make anyone blush, and actually I am more refering to the romantic side of the husband and wife relationship. Not only are you both so utterly exhausted by the days events, but you are both living in fear that the moment you start to CUDDLE the baby will awake. And then you get over that fear...and then she DOES wake up!!!

It completely changes the relationship between you and your husband. While it is so wonderful to share that with your spouse, it is also so hard to know that your date life and romantic side has to be put on hold a lot. It takes a lot more effort to keep those fires burning.

I am in no way offering this information to deter someone from having a child. IT IS COMPLETELY WORTH IT ALL!!! I cannot say that enough. I love my daughter and I would gladly go without sleep for a year just to have her with me. However, I feel it is important to share these things with others. How many women have sat in their homes, in tears, feeling like they are the ONLY ones feeling this way? It isn't right to put on the front that everything is ok...when really it feels like it could all fall apart at any moment. When we share these things, and we open up about what is REALLY going on, we offer to others the opportunity to be less perfect.

I hope this makes sense. I just wanted to share with others my experience. I am sure some of you can relate...and for those of you that aren't quite there, someday I hope you look back on this post and realize that what you are feeling is normal and you are not alone!

Ok...on to the pictures :)


Gracelynn and her blanket. She loves this thing! It is super soft and she likes to chew on it. Of course, she likes to chew on EVERYTHING these days, but this more than others.

The loves of my life. Gracelynn and her daddy :)


The other loves of my life :) Moose (he is so big!) and Miss Olivia.


Our little family at Trunk or Treat for Halloween. Ben had to come straight from work (or maybe that was his costume).

Ok...that is all for now. My camera has had dead batteries for the past couple of days, so we don't have a ton of new pictures. There will be more to come though, as Gracelynn is going through a growth spurt!

Much love...

Trunk or Treat

There isn't too much to update on...but here are some pictures from our Trunk or Treat at our church tonight. Gracelynn got to enjoy her first costume...and now daddy gets to enjoy the candy!


Trying to eat the pom-poms. I am not sure that is what a cheerleader should do with those!


I would rather be eating my hand! Why did it take me so long to find these???


Go STATE!


K-State's youngest fan!


Staying warm at Trunk or Treat. So cute!!!

Happy Halloween.

This and That

Well, there isn't a whole lot to write about right now...just figured I should get some pictures up of Gracelynn. She seems to change every day and if I go too long between posts, you won't recognize her.

She has reached a few "milestones" though:

She has started going to bed at about 8:30 or 9 and then sleeping until at least 3! It is great...hope she keeps it up now :(

She is working to roll from her side to her tummy and from her side to her back. She still can't quite roll from tummy to back, but she is working on it.

She is working on grabbing her toys and reaching for them. Sometimes she will just stare at things as if willing them closer to her. I know it won't be long before she is crawling to get to them.

She laughed for the first time this past Saturday. My little sister was talking to her and she laughed out loud. It was so precious...and yes, I cried :)

We are on our fourth week of daycare, and so far she is doing really well. It has definitely helped with getting into a routine.

Ok...on to the pictures!

A little glassy eyed in the morning...

Sitting in my new Bumbo...showing off my chins.

Sleepy girl...

Having "kick" time...and yawning.

Cute picture from daycare...Daddy loved this one :)

Daddy was taking the picture...but Gracelynn only had eyes for mommy :)

Almost a laugh!

Aren't you going to feed me ;)

More kick time. "I wish mommy wouldn't keep putting these toys out of my reach!"

Carseat sleeper.

For Aunt Jacqui...my cowgirl outfit!

She even sleeps like a diva :)

More to come...

Smiles Galore!

Is there anything more heartwarming and wonderful than a baby's smile? I dare say there isn't. And I have found, it is even more so when it is your own baby!

As Gracelynn grows, she is becoming more and more responsive to people and their voices. She coos when she is happy and smiles at us in hopes of getting a smile back...and she always does. I can be in the worst mood, completely exhausted, and all I need is one little smile from my little one and all my troubles just melt away, at least for the moment.

As I write this she is laying in my lap and every once in a while she coos to get me to look down at her and will give me a little smile. It is as if that little piece of affirmation from her momma helps her know that all is well with the world. OH! If only we as adults could find such peace and calm in a simple smile from someone we love! If only we could know that the world and our lives were all going to be ok, just from a smile.

Because I have this opportunity to spend some alert time with my baby girl, I am not going to write long on here. I must take advantage of the time I have with her. I am all too aware that with each day she grows and changes, and tomorrow may be too late to enjoy this particular milestone.

I will leave you with a couple of pictures of her smiles...perhaps they will melt your heart too and help you know that all is right with the world...even for a moment. :)


Gracelynn early in the morning, getting ready to leave for Miss Andrea's house. She is an early bird, so she is usually very happy in the mornings. It is a great way for me to start my day!


Something I did made her absolutely crack up. I LOVE this picture!


Sunday morning before church. She was REALLY hamming it up for the camera.


Pretty girl! We are trying to use our "summer" clothes before it gets too cold. This is actually a halter dress, but since it is a little too cool for that, we put a sweater over it.


And if the pictures of her smiling didn't make your heart melt, perhaps this picture will.

Until next time...

Happy 2 months Baby G!

I can't believe I missed posting this yesterday. Chalk it up to the busy life we lead! Gracelynn was two months yesterday. I can hardly believe it. She is growing so much.

We had her two month well-baby check and immunizations yesterday. She came weighed in at 12 lbs 6.4 oz. and has grown to 23.5 inches! She is in the 95% for weight and 90% for height. The doctor said she looked very healthy and that he was impressed with her skin. He said typically, a baby that is 2 months old has problems with rashes and dry skin, but her skin looks great. He also was impressed with how well she was holding her head up and how social she is. I would like to think part of that is due to her being in daycare. She is learning at an early age to adapt to her surroundings and to make eye contact with people other than her mommy and daddy. I tell myself that so I can see a benefit in daycare :) The check-up went very well.

Then came the dreaded immunizations. She had one oral immunization that they gave her first. She drank it right down. Then she had 3 shots. One in her left leg and two in her right leg. The poor baby screamed like a banshee and turned shades of purple I have never seen before (and I'm a K-Stater). This was VERY hard for me to take...but fortunately it was short-lived and over quickly. Once she was bundled up in my arms again, she settled down quickly.

Last night was rough, but we made it through. I am glad we have two more months before we have to do that again. Now for some pictures. Most of these were taken at daycare by Miss Andrea. She is good about posting pictures during the day for parents that miss their little ones.

Gracelynn resting after her ordeal yesterday morning. You can see the little bandaids on her legs. My poor little baby.

She is getting so good at using her hands! At daycare she works on grabbing and holding her toys. What a big girl!

This is Gracelynn with her friend Zoe at daycare. Zoe is Miss Andrea's little girl and she is about 5 months old. I am sure Zoe will teach lots of things to Gracelynn some day.

Another picture of Gracelynn and Zoe. You can see the size difference better in this picture.

Gracelynn and Zoe have boppy time together every day. They enjoy being able to look around and play with each other.

Gracelynn "chillin'" on her boppy. Look at her big belly. She obviously likes to eat :)

Ok, that is all I have for now, as I am at work. I have a ton more pictures though, and will add them soon.

Amber

Flu Bug and Baby Baptism

Wow...what a weekend!

It all started on Friday afternoon. As I was leaving my training session to go pickup Gracelynn from daycare, I started feeling really strange. Kind of sick, but not horrible. I honestly thought it was just hunger pains, but then as I started to think about eating something, I couldn't even imagine eating something. I left Gracelynn with my mom so I could go see my clients for the night. I made it through my first client for the night and as the session progressed I began feeling worse and worse. When they left, I barely made it to the bathroom before I got sick. It was really bad...but I had another client arriving in 10 minutes. I made it through that session without getting sick and then headed out to pickup Gracelynn to go home. At this point I was thinking food poisioning since I started feeling crummy a couple of hours after lunch. However, on my way home I had the heat in the car cranked all the way up and was still shaking from how cold I was. When I got home I had a 101 degree temp!

Great....the flu!

So I head to bed and Ben took care of Gracelynn and brought her in for feedings. I continued to get sick all night long. It was totally miserable. The next morning, it just got worse. Ben got up and was sick too! We laid in bed burning up with fever and taking turns taking care of Gracelynn.

Fortunately, it was the flu of the 24 hour variety. Come Sunday morning, both of us were feeling much better. This was of course a good thing since we both had family coming in town for Gracelynn's infant baptism. It went great, and we had a chance to spend time with our families before the work week began again.

Then this morning, I was about to load Gracelynn and we thought she felt a little warm. She also had spit up quite a bit, so we took her temp and it was at 99.7. I called her daycare and Miss Andrea said that as long as it was under 100 we could bring her and she would monitor her throughout the day. We decided to go ahead and load her up and see how she did. As I was hanging up the phone, Ben was buckeling her into her seat and she threw up all over herself and him. That pretty much sealed the deal that she was staying home. She slept most of the morning and seems to be doing pretty well now. Her temp is slowly coming down and she is eating more this afternoon.

Hopefully it will be a while before we are sick again.

Here are some pictures from Sunday...the rest of the weekend, you wouldn't want to see.


Our little family :)


Pastor John peforming the sacrament of baptism


Grandpa Weyrauch praying over Gracelynn


Our family with Gran and Grandpa Long


Four Generations! Grandpa Pat and Grandma Judy, our family, and Great-Grandma and Grandpa Weyrauch.

More pictures from the weekend...
She only had eyes for Papa :)


Naked Baby!!!


Who could resist that smile ?


Gracelynn's "serious" face


Gracelynn eating her towel after bath Sunday morning.

Until next time...