2 Grace's first wedding

My extended cousin Chelsie got married over the weekend to her high school sweetheart Wes.
They are such a cute couple. They have been together for like 7 or 8 years I think.
I am so happy they are finally married! I wish them the best!

The reception was at a local golf course, and the decorations were so cute.  Simple yet tasteful.
I thought their cake was beautiful!

 And they had a Sweets Table.....as you can tell the candy lemon wedges in the E were a hit!

Grace was fabulous at the wedding, she only got fussy a bit towards the end when she was getting tired.
Everyone thought she looked adorable and was impressed with how good she was!

She spent most of the time looking around at the giant yellow balloons. They were huge!

I love this picture.Can you tell I'm smitten?

*linking up with Miss Elaine-ous Monday. Go check it out!

0 Daily Dose of Cute

Grace spent some time in her Bumbo this week...
can you tell she was thrilled about it?

She was much more interested...
in chewing on her fingers.








This daily dose of cute was brought to you by the number 15.
Grace is 15 weeks old!

P.S. her hair is getting so thick don't ya think?

3 Grace's first trip to the apple orchard

We have an annual tradition of going to the local orchard and picking apples.
Not just any kind of apples. HONEYCRISP APPLES!
If you have never tried a honeycrisp, go to the store now and buy one. You will thank me.

This was Grace's first apple picking expedition.
I wore her in my front pack carrier and even though she wasn't quite tall enough to look around,
she did pretty good in it for about 20 minutes until she got hungry and was over it.
See the look on her face...she is less than thrilled.
Next year she will be walking around with us...wow I can't even imagine how fun that will be!

It was a cooler morning and it seemed like it was going to rain, but it didn't while we were there.

We walked thru the isles of trees looking for just the right apples.
The ones that are both red and green taste the best I think.
We got a 20 lb bag and picked up a 10 lb bag for my Grandma. She loves them too!
Of course you have to eat a few apples while you are picking them, that is part of the fun!

She started to get a little more fussy, so I went back to the car and nursed her for a little while.

It was my first experience nursing in a public place.
I felt good about it, kinda at one with nature and mother nature all at the same time.
It was very relaxing. Afterwards Grace was much happier as you can see.

So afterwards, we stepped back outside while the boys were finishing up and

took the chance to get a few more pictures to remember this special day.
I love my beautiful little family.

I love starting traditions with her! She makes them so special!

*Photos taken by our friend Chad, edited by me.

4 Childhood Memories

As I sit up in bed feeding my daughter for the third time since I first laid her down, hoping that she would drift off to sleepytown, I begin to think back to random moments in my childhood. I was an only child and me and my mom grew up living with my Grandparents. I had some good times back then....

I remember playing outside until it was too dark to see or until I heard something rustling in the woods and got scared. I'd spend hours sitting on the sliding board, my skin kind of matte from the dirt, often talking with my imaginary friends. Their names were Suzie and Doobie. (Yes I now know what a doobie is...no clue where I came up with that name. Even weirder....they were blue.)

I often played store with the JC Penny catalog and used an old square telephone as my cash register. You remember those kind...with the curly cord? Sometimes it was the yellow pushbutton one, sometimes it was the black rotary one. Oh and I always ordered bridesmaid dresses and bras. (Ironic cause those are some of the things I hate to order now.)

I remember getting up to watch cartoons on Saturday mornings with my bowl of fruity pebbles. Real cartoons. Like the Smurfs and Gummy Bears and Shirt Tales on network TV. (We only got 4,6, & 10 growing up...or NBC, ABC and CBS there was no Sesame Street in my world).


I remember I had a cardboard playhouse that grandma put thin sheets up in the windows and door. And when I would put my face up against them to look outside my lips would vibrate whenever I talked. (I remember I used to think Grandma couldn't hear me because of the curtain....until she came up on the other side and answered me when I asked her a question.)

I often would use my baton like a cane when I hurt myself. Hobbling around and wincing in pain. All from a papercut. On my finger. (Although one time I did sneak my aunts razor and cut myself while shaved my foot. Yeah got in trouble for that one.)

I remember the horrible smell of shrinkie-dinks and how awesome they were when they turned shiny when the hot lava plastic finally cooled down. Even more than that is how amazed I was that Grandpa let Grandma stick them in the oven in the first place. (I don't think I need to mention how unsafe those toxic fumes were inside a house do I? Way to go 80's toy companies)

As I look down at my little girl, while I want her to stay my little baby forever, I can't wait to start making wonderful memories with her. Even if they are ones she makes by herself sitting in the middle of the living room with an old inactive cell phone talking to her imaginary friends in England, I pray she has the free spirit to imagine a whole world of fun and to not be afraid to ask me to help her make become a reality.


*this post was brought out of my brain and to life by........

9 Three Months

Grace Mae - you are THREE months old!!! 

You weigh 10 lbs and 6 oz lbs and are 23 inches long

You are wearing mostly 3 months clothes, some newborn outfits still fit, but not many.
(look at that adorable tutu Miss Natalie got you-wasn't that sweet of her!)

You wear a size 1 diaper. 

You have been doing so good at sleeping thru the night the last month! You go to bed between 10-11 at night and stir a little about 4am, but then put yourself back to sleep. I wake you at 6 to feed you before I leave for work. You have no problems falling right back asleep afterwards. Daddy says you normally sleep until about 9:30 on most days. Daddy says that you are starting to nap less than you did last month, on most days you will take maybe a half hour before lunch and another small one in late afternoon. I think you have been catnapping more after I get home from work and feed you your dinner. Maybe its just being nursed again, but you drift off pretty easy about 6ish. You are such a happy baby. You wake up with a smile and your face lights up when you see me or your daddy! It warms my heart!
 
You are eating about every 2 and a half hours. Some days you will want another ounce or two from your bottle. But you get plenty from me in the evenings. That is when you like to camp out on momma. I don't mind, I miss you tons during the day! You have started trying to pull yourself up when you are in your bouncer chair, when we have it elevated to have you sit up more we have to buckle you in! You are working those abs girl!  You have started to lean more towards the side sometimes when you play on your playmat, but haven't rolled over yet. I am thinking you might do that in the next month or so.

I thought that you mumbled a few words over the last few weeks, but it was probably me wanting to hear something then you actually saying it because I haven't heard it since then. First, it sounded like you said "EM" one day, which is what we call Emma sometimes. Then sometimes I think you say "HEY", which is funny because when you start to fuss I am always saying "Hey there little girl what's the fuss about?". Then another time I swore I heard you say "MOM" when I was doing dishes and you were watching from your bouncer. I freaked out and kinda started getting teary, then you looked at me like I was crazy. I hope you say it again soon!

Mommy went back to work this month, which was really hard to do. The first few days I cried when I left. The next few days, I cried when I went back after lunch. Then I cried when I was listening to some music that we listened to while I was home. I'm doing better now, I don't cry when I leave. You and Daddy greet me at the door when I come home for lunch. You have a big smile most days for me, unless you just woke up then you are kinda groggy but breakout the smile soon after.  You meet me when I come home too. It really makes me feel good to see the smile on your face, like you somehow know that I feel guilty about leaving you all day long. But I know that you are having a good time with daddy and slowly getting him wrapped tight around your little finger. He adores you and is amazed at how much you are changing these days.

You are starting to grow and your features are starting to change. 

You are not a newborn anymore, you are now officially an infant.

Hold me. That kinda makes me wanna cry. But keep on growing little one! 

You are beautiful and light up our lives!

We love you!

*It's Monday and I'm being "Miss Elaine-ous" over at The Miss Elaine-ous Life!
Go check out who else linked up!

5 Wednesday already?

It's Wednesday already? Grace is shocked!

 I can get used to these short weeks.

Its nice to have a long weekend with my little girl.