0 Grace meets Santa

3 Grace's First Vegetable

We started Grace on solids this week!  First up....sweet potatoes.
As you can see, she was very excited about being in her high chair!
She finally is big enough to sit up in it!

I plan on making her babyfood, so I started by pureeing the potatoes and
adding a little milk to smooth it out some.

This is how the next 10 minutes went. I took the pleasure of adding what I think was going thru Grace's mind.

{Yum. This has FLAVOR!}

{Oh my....I'm not sure I like FLAVOR!}

{Oh no....not a fan of FLAVOR. AT. ALL.}

Not wanting to traumatize her, I stopped shortly after the above face. Baby steps.
I thought it might be fun to let her play with it and feel the texture and maybe put a little in her mouth herself.
Nope.
She didn't want anything to do with touching it. Can't really complain about that now can I?

She ended up eating about 1/4 of a tablespoon the first night.
We have slowly worked our way up and last night she had almost a whole tablespoon!
My big girl is eating vegetable and she is tolerating it!!!

1 Six Months

Grace Mae - you are SIX months old!!! 

You weigh 13lbs and 8oz and are 25 inches long

You are wearing almost all 3 months clothes but started wearing your 6 month sleepers.

You wear a size 2 diaper.  

You started eating cereal last month and you love it! 
You eat it twice a day and haven't ever spit it out!
You even grabbed hold of your spoon a few times and managed to get it in your mouth. 

You can finally touch your tiptoes to the ground and love spending time in your jumper. 
You have started pulling yourself up when you are in your bouncer, 
so we have to keep an eye on you in there and make sure you don't tumble forward. 

You are a rolling machine! You go from front to back to front and repeat. 
You don't stay on your tummy enough to realize yet that crawling is possible.
But I'm sure you'll get it before too long. 
You do sometimes push your little butt up in the air. Its adorable!

We started to put up the Christmas decorations this week. And you loved watching me string all the lights up. 
I dressed you in your first Christmas attire to celebrate the occasion! 
I can't wait for your Christmas cards to come....you were outgrowing your Christmas dress, 
so we got your pictures taken in it. You are just ridiculously adorable!!!

You are such a happy girl. You really are. 

I would venture to say you smile about 90% of the time.

I know we are so lucky to have not only a healthy but a happy baby. 

You have started talking more and even better squelching. Yes its funny to us. (for now) 

I can't wait to hear what your voice sounds like when you start saying Mama and Dada! 

We love you Gracie!

0 Grace's First Cereal

We started Grace on cereal when she was 5 months old.
We attempted to feed her in her highchair...but she was still not big enough for it.
But she liked sitting in it for a few minutes.

We ended up moving her to the bumbo and she did a lot better with that...while she faced forward.
She is a little wiggle worm!

That worked out pretty good, but every now and then it was easier to feed her in the bouncer.

She will start to fuss and scream if you take too long in between bites.

We started her out with one tablespoon in the evenings vis spoon, and then moved it up to 2 days and she has some at lunch too.

I can't wait until she gets to try something with flavor!

1 Grace's First Thanksgiving

Happy Turkey Day!

It's Miss Gracie's first Thanksgiving. 

She had to get an outfit to celebrate the day. 

And of course a matching hairbow!

The bib says it all.

She is so thankful for her wonderful daddy. 

She loves staying home with him while Mommy is at work. 

He gives good hugs and kisses and makes her giggle!

We spent the morning watching some of the Macy's parade while nursing and getting sweet potato casserole 

ready to take to Uncle Tom & Aunt Cheryl's for dinner that night. 

I made the mashed potatoes the night before and put them in the crock-pot so all I had to do was heat them up 

and throw a little more butter on top before heading to my in-laws for lunch.

I am so thankful for my healthy and happy daughter who gave me the gift of motherhood.
I am blessed to have a wonderful husband who loves us both so much!
I am thankful to have a good job that is close to home and allows me
the flexibility to be there for my family when I need to be.
I am blessed to have a wonderful and crazy family that lives close and stays in touch.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

2 Let's Meet some Friends

While we were on Thanksgiving Break, my friend Natalie and her adorable daughter McKinley were going to be in Ohio visiting her family. We picked a spot that was halfway for both of us and decided to meet for lunch the day before Thanksgiving! Yay! I love meeting long-distance friends! Since we only have one car right now, it was best to have all of us take the roadtrip up to meet her. Plus I was happy that she would be able to meet my husband too.

You know how you are before you meet someone that you have talked with for a long time, I'm talking over a year. You are kinda nervous. You know, wondering will we get along as well as we do on FB/Twitter/Blogs etc. Am I as funny/witty/adorable as my writing and status updates are? LOL.

She is as sweet and down to earth in person as I thought she would be! She is such a pretty lady and we had a nice visit talking and catching up.

Isn't her mini-me even more adorable! Look at those eyelashes! It was crazy to see this little baby (who I had seen growing and learning thru her momma's pictures ) pick up french fries like a toddler. She is such a good girl!

It was so nice to meet her and I'm so glad we set something up while she was in the state. Grace was a little fussy after the longer car ride, and wanted to be held most of the time we were eating, so me and my husband took turns holding her. Hopefully if we do it again in the future, she and McKinley can play and color on some place mats or something.

Thank you Natalie for all the friendship and advice you have given me throughout my pregnancy and the last few months of learning to live and understand my baby girl.  It has meant so much to me and I am thankful for you!

1 Christmas Pictures

We took Gracie to get her first Christmas pictures today...I can't believe its almost Christmas!
We picked out the perfect pose for our Christmas cards...I'm thinking we are going to order more than last year...she's just that adorable!

Tiny Prints has a special offer going on right now, if you order $100 worth of holiday cards and a gift certficiate for $25 or more, you will receive 30% off your order! Hurry offer ends tonight. Get more info here!

1 Holiday Cards

I really need to start thinking about what picture we are going to be using on our Christmas cards this year.
It is Grace's holiday card debut! She was in last years card, but was about the size of an apple so this year she will be much more visable! So what do I want people to see when they open our envelope? Something that will make them smile and want to keep it on their fridge all year long!

TinyPrints has an amazing line of cards to chose from this year. I am really liking the square and round cards..something a little different then all the rest. My favorites include these:

But I also want the option of going with mutliple pictures, like in these cards:

Either way its a win win situation, because the quality of Tinyprints speaks for itself. I've gotten birth announcements before and they were top notch! Such vivid color...I think it will be a tough choice! Next is to find the perfect outfits!

*I blogged about TinyPrints to receive 50 free holiday cards. Its a great way to try out new products...go check them out and get some for yourself!

4 Five Months

Grace Mae - you are FIVE months old!!! 

You weigh 12 lbs and are 24 1/2 inches long

You are wearing mostly 3 months clothes.

You wear a size 2 diaper.  

You had a few nights this last month when you woke up in the middle of the night, but I just changed and fed you and you were back to sleep in no time! You sometimes will wake up right before my alarm goes off but don't open your eyes just wiggle around and let out a few whimpers and then you are back to sleep. It amazes me how sound of a sleeper you are....you get that from Mommy and Daddy...we like our sleeptime!

You have been spending some time each day in your jumper...you are almost touching the ground! Your favorite part is the spinner ball and the yellow sunshine. You have pushed the music buttons a few times but don't do it often, maybe next month you'll start trying it more.

You love being on your back on the floormat! You tend to roll to one side more than actually rolling over. Its cute when Ellie is laying beside you and you look at her. You guys will be good friends one day. Doing better with tummytime, but often push yourself back over after a few minutes.

We waited until you reached 5 months old to offer you anything besides mommy's milk. On the 8th of November (5 months old to the day) we started feeding you cereal for dinner! You are so curious about the spoon and try to reach for it yourself already! You have been more interested in watching Mommy and Daddy eat and drink, so its time to expand your choices.  Next month we'll start vegetables and fruits...oh I can't wait to see your reaction to flavor!

I can't believe that you are almost six months old...its amazing that you have been growing up so fast! You are getting stronger and more interactive. You smile at everybody and rarely get upset around strangers. I hope that continues, I like you are more curious then a lot of babies. Always looking around and investigating sounds when you hear them behind you or in another room.

I am so excited to start decorating for the holidays this month...I hope you love all the twinkle lights and pretties that we will have all around the house. You aren't crawling yet so we don't have to worry about you getting into too much mischief! 

Daddy can get you to giggle now so thats adorable to see, Mommy doesn't get as many laughs but that's ok, I have to work on it! You brighten our days with your beautiful bright blue eyes and little nose that scrunches up when you smile.We love you Gracie!

1 30 Days of Thanks-Day 4

What favorite snack are you thankful for?

 I am a huge fan of caramel corn. 

Not the bagged hard stuff, but freshly made popcorn with melted caramel on top.

I have been eating that stuff since I was a teenager, and probably went thru 2 or 3 bags a week back then.

Now that I am older {cough cough....now that my metabolism resembles that of a snail} I only splurge once a month or so.

But it takes me back to a time when I had no worries, when I lived at home with my Grandparents 

and everything in life was slower. 

I didn't have a schedule to keep to or a bank account I needed to worry about.

But now that I do have those things, and I wouldn't change it for the world, 

I still like to enjoy that melty gooey snack from time to time.

{and you better believe that I stock up when its on sale...got that bank account to worry about now!}

0 30 Days of Thanks-Day 3

What cozy place in your home are you thankful for?

When we first bought our house, we made one of the extra rooms a guest/hubby's closet room
and the other a guest/computer room.
When we found out we were having a baby, the hubby's closet had to get moved and made into the nursery.
It was amazing to get it all done and see it transform from a dark room
that we hardly ever spent time in to a light airy room full of hopes and dreams.
We spent more time in that room during my pregnancy than we had the previous 4 years that we lived there.
You could often find us, meaning all of us....dogs included....sitting in there practicing my breathing for labor
or talking about what we wanted to hang on the walls.
It was a nice place to end the day and just enjoy being together.

It has easily turned into my favorite room in the house.
It is warm, cozy and comforting.
I hope Grace loves it as much as I do!

2 30 Days of Thanks-Day 2

What animal are you thankful for?

 

 I am thankful for our little first "baby"...Emma. She turned 8 years old this summer. 

We have had her since she was 7 weeks old. 

She is the sweetest and most loving dog I have ever met. 

Really she has such a big heart and understands so much of what we do and say, its amazing sometimes. 

She has had a rough year, first with the new edition of Ellie, our black lab we adopted last fall. 

And then with the birth of Grace, her world was spinning for a bit. 

She has been so good and patient and is finally starting to give Grace some attention instead of just ignoring her. 

She used to sit beside me when I was nursing, and now she now will come up 

and sniff her head and give her a little lick on the arm. 

She is so loving. I am so proud of her for accepting our growing family so well.

0 30 Days of Thanks-Day 1

It's November already! 

While the month ends with Thanksgiving, the whole month has become a time to reflect on things you are thankful. 

I've seen people posting on Facebook and Twitter about things they are thankful for, and today I came upon this link up. 

I thought it was a wonderful way to take a few minutes and give thanks for all the amazing things that I have in my life.

Thanks Jaime for posting about this and Lindsay for hosting it...don't mind if I tag along! 

I'm playing catch-up now, but hope to be able to get on track with posting something everyday. 

They might not all have photos but the words will be there!

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What person are you thankful for?

I am most thankful for my happy healthy baby girl. 

I waited a long time to start a family, I wanted to have all my ducks in a row as they say. 

While I'm sure it would have been less tiring when I was younger, 

I wouldn't change a thing about when our little girl came into our lives.

Now is the prefect time to be her mommy. 

I look at her in amazement of how perfect she is. 

10 tiny fingers and 10 tiny toes that curl up when she is sleepy. 

2 beautiful blue eyes that look at me like I hold the moon. 

A smile that would melt your heart and bring tears to your eyes.

I thank God everyday for blessing me with this precious gift.

I am thankful for my Grace.

5 Grace's First Halloween

It's Grace's first Halloween!

We had trick or treat in our neighborhood the Thursday before, 

so we got Grace all dressed up and took her over to see some of the neighbors. 

It was chilly outside, so the warm costume was great and we had a hat that matched perfect! 

I think she was supposed to be some kind of dragon or something but we called her our slobber monster. 

Cutest monster I've ever seen!

 

On Saturday, my aunt and uncle had their annual Halloween party so we all got dressed up and went there.

Enter costume #2....my little ladybug! 

When I saw this costume on Carters for 50% off I had to get it, even though I had already bought the fuzzy monster. 

The whole time I was pregnant, she was my little Junebug. 

And everyone knows I love ladybugs...so I think this costume is really what she was meant to wear!

Isn't she an adorable ladybug? A happy ladybug to boot!

I rarely dress up, but since this was our first  Halloween as a family, I knew I had to. 

We were making memories!

Daddy was a personal alarm, which he pulled from Kentucky Fried Movie. 

His light spun around, Grace liked looking at it. 

Mommy dressed up as Sue Sylvester from Glee. 

I haven't watched the show, but knew who she was. 

I thought maybe Grace would be afraid of me in a wig, but she was fine with it.

My little family. Eeek-I love it!

We spent most of the night inside since it was chilly and rainy, 

and the Ohio State game was on so it was good. 

{We ended up winning and beating Wisconsin! Woohoo!}

Grace spent some time on Daddy's lap and was as content as could be. 

Just chillin and sucking her thumb watching everybody come in and out.

Wait...did I say sucking her thumb??? Oh yes I did!

Our little girl has mastered that over the last few weeks! 

No longer is she sucking her whole hand, which she still does occasionally.

But its not long until she moves her thumb up in there.

Love it!

 

It was so fun having a little one to dress up and I can't wait {but I can} until we can take her trick or treating next year!