Happy 1 Month Birthday:o)
(belated again, of course!!!)

Gracie is 1 month old as of Monday!!

Sorry there has not been an update for the past 2 weeks. I have realized 2 things.

1) Grace is little enough that not very much actually occurs in a one week time span

2) If I want to accomplish anything else, I can't stop and record every little bitty cute thing that Gracie does- as much as I want to. Also, I needed to reduce the amount of pictures I was taking, because I would want to just sit and stare and shoot (the camera, that is), and, well, lets just face it...its just NOT practical!!

SOOO... I decided that from this point on, I am just going to write a monthly update (unless something warrants an additional post;oP)

So some highlights over the past 2 weeks:

- Nana came to visit for a week. She and Grace are very sweet on each other:o) I really enjoyed my time with my mom- we had many great conversations, I got to learn more about her and experience fellowship with her:o) We've enjoyed some walks and shopping (Grace has even more clothes now!! and her first fat, pink, piggy bank!!).

-Grace had really bad diaper rash for about 2 weeks. Well, it was bad for about 3 days (which provided for some rough nights:o(), but persisted for another 2. What cleared up the rash? GDiapers (reusable all in one diapers)/ Huggies Pure and Natural diapers, homemade wipes (thanks Lisa and Sandi!), and Arbonne's diaper rash cream.

- We are beginning to settle into a routine. Awake at 7, usually asleep between 7 and 8. Late night feeding at 10. Most nights, Gracie will wake up around 2, although the past 2 nights, she has woken up at 1 and 3:30 to eat. We are wondering if she is having a growth spurt?? Speaking of eating, Grace has been doing something very cute. When she is hungry, she smacks her lips together. LOL. I haven't been able to capture it in a picture, and I feel bad taking time video tape it when she is actually hungry.

- Grace likes kisses!! She smiles after we give her one (and/or a bunny kiss!!). I will be attaching some pics of this lovely little phenomenon. They will show daddy giving her a kiss, and couple of the subsequent looks. She also smiles when we beep her nose.

- Not only does Grace still have the darling little mullet, she is now sporting an Alfalfa sprout. As in the Little Rascals...?? Yup. I won't cut it all- though I want to:o)

- Swaddling....Grace loves it, however, she also thinks it is fun to play Houdini. She will be tightly wrapped one minute (which also causes her to smile- its almost as though she is laughing at us and thinking "Yea right people, like this is going to hold me!" I am also attaching pics of this funny phenomenon. Oh! And she cracks us up because when she gets mad while she is swaddled, she thumps her feet up and down together.

- We decided to wait a few more weeks to try the bottle again, and Sunday was the (2nd) big day. She did great again with it, but also nursed well later. Yay!

Well, that's about all I have time for!!

Enjoy the pics:o)

P.S. The bees are still around. I was stung twice as I was getting ready to nurse Grace, and we called Erlich again. They came and re-dusted, and while we have gone from finding 4 dead bees per day, to 1 every other day- we are still finding them. Brian thinks we just need to stop living in fear of them. I think we should move;oP Hopefully they will start to die off soon!!
Broke loose from the swaddle...ok at first, but after about 10 minutes of wiggling around...life became wretched for poor Gracie!!

and yet...by morning, this is often what we will find, after hour 4-6 hours of peaceful sleeping:o)


The Valentines: Before and After.... At first, Aaron protested..Mommy was holding the wrong baby!!!

X




Gracie likes to grab the liner ties of her changing tables (particularly when she is mad- although she is calm in this picture!!) She doesn't have the control of her hands though to let go, so she is stuck until I realize and loosen her grip:o)

Kisses from daddy....and proof that she smiles spontaneously....I only took one of him kissing her, but the rest (and many more) are of her reaction afterwards. Gas would not have the same consistent results!!!

This last one is of my cousin, Amy's, kids. There is actually a good one of them holding her, but this one made me smile, because as we were getting ready to take the pic, Grace started crying (it was bedtime), and the look of concern on all their faces was so sweet!!





One last picture! This is actually from this week (Today, as a matter of fact)....but just one more example of the swaddling woes we have...although I have to admit, she is very content, and I even checked to make sure it wasn't strangling her, and while she squirmed, she did not wake up- I guess this is comfy for her!!! LOL. On a more sobering note though, I am planning to stop swaddling her starting next week, because we want to start putting her in her crib in her room, and I am concerned she might manage to suffocate or strangle herself. Sigh. Wish me luck...she really likes to be swaddled (although the picture evidence would argue that!!)


p.s. she also scooted herself down somehow!!!