time is flying!

 Its going by so fast, that I can't seem to keep up! Grace flew by 8 months and is now 9 1/2 months. So, we basically bypassed 8 months here- sorry!!  I kept thinking "I have to write something!" and then it was 9 months.

Ok, so I am wondering if I should give up on this particular post, because my 3rd attempt has again gone caput!

so, I will leave you with just one pic (pending actual working!!)

 

our sweet girly-girl

I will do my best to get more pics up after next Mon (when I will be done with school and have more time to deal with Blogger!)

 

Spring Is In the Air!

we got our camera back, so I can finally do some pics! The blog seems pointless to me without them!



I have more pictures that I want to post, but for now, here are some darling pictures of Grace playing outside yesterday- it was such a beautiful springtime day!!!

Hyperventilating in excitement- she LOVES being outside

Still loves her ducky!

contemplating the great outdoors

Feeling the wind blow on her face

 Baby Feet   :o)

sickness

Grace has been experiencing her first rounds of sickness.  She had a stomach virus, along with daddy last month, and then for the past two weeks has been dealing with a cold.  She also got an ear infection. We have figured out a few things:

1) Grace does not like to get her nose aspirated or wiped.
2) She DOES like sucking on any mucus that comes pouring out at a moments notice (usually after sneezing and surprisingly, while nursing)
3) She is finally starting to tolerate nasal sprays...she holds her nose upward and crosses her eyes..very cute.


No camera, btw (so all the pics are about 2-3 weeks old, sorry!!).  Left it in Williamsport on Monday while we were there for a funeral.  Gracie's great-grandfather died. He really was great:o( wish she was older to get to know him!  Thankfully, she will get to be reminded on him every year at the train expo started and now named for him.

Here is a cute pic that is for him, and those that loved him (maybe she will grow up to love trains too!!)

One last thing....an adventure that Gracie experienced at her young age.

We were grocery shopping together on Thursday, went out to the car to put the groceries away and go pick up daddy, when mommy noticed 2 little spiders by the door handle.  stepping back to swing her leg up to crush them, mommy realized that the car was covered in spiders.  A million baby spiders. Yucko! But, God gave mommy the grace to not panic in front of Grace, who did very well waiting for daddy to come to the rescue.

Look for pics soon- Brian is going to help me upload pics and delete from the camera card that has all of her newborn pics so I can take new ones.

Thanks for checking in:o)

7

looking quite pensive:o)

Well, Gracie is now 7 1/2 months. Although I am late writing this, it is not because I have been too busy or just distracted. Its because as I roll the words, "7 months" around my mouth, it just sounds old. It is so much closer to 12 months than 6 months is, and I know that if I blink twice, Grace will be 7 years then 17. Sigh. Unfortunately, I can't find my camera, so I don't have any more pics than this, for now. (more sighing!)

She is such a big girl.  I decided the easiest way to write up all that she has been doing is to write "7 things about Gracie."  So, here goes:

1) The past 7 months have been wonderful. Like my friend Janet said when her Lucy was 7 months, it has been 7 months of Heaven.  Gracie has been a very easy baby..happy, content, a good eater/sleeper/pooper, etc. Of course, here on Earth, nothing can be perfect, but even with the trials we have experienced, overall, I am sooooo thankful for this little girl (whom some might know I was initially terrified at the idea of having, a girl that is), who makes me smile so I want to cry and makes me realize how much I truly need the Lord!!

2) Things Gracie loves:
Her blankie, real food (with lots of texture and spice!)- even things like buffalo chicken and lemons. She also like chocolate (I gave her one bite once- her eyes LIT up!!), emptying out all of her toys from the bin, and then chewing on them one by one, other children- especially babies, dancing to worship music at church, baths, being outside, sitting up like a big girl, tags, and her toes and her water and her monkey. She loves a lot of stuff. oh, and her mommy and daddy:o)

3) Things Gracie hates: taking more than a 30 minute nap during the day, getting undressed or dressed, pureed baby food, crinkly sounding noises (think aluminum foil or a plastic grocery bag), being on her belly, being on her back, and sometimes, carrots.

4) She gives the best kisses...bunny, butterfly, wet slobber kisses...she loves to give and recieve!!

5) Grace has such a great sense of humor.  She thinks animal sounds are funny. She thinks if you imitate her it is funny (even when she is upset!). She thinks being scared (BOOO!) is funny. She thinks friends who clap plastic toys together are funny!  She laughs a lot, and about random things.

6) We don't have another Dr. visit until April, but Grace is growing so much. Last week, she was comfortably wearing 6 month and 6-9 month clothes. Today, I put on an outfit that she always wears, and they were like capris on her!!! She is practically done with the 6-9 month clothes too, and looking quite cute in her 9 month stuff. At her last home weigh-in, she ways 16.8 lbs!

7) Developmentally:

She still refuses to roll from her back to her belly. I really suspect she could, she just won't. She always look like she is about to, but then changes her mind. She is sitting up completely by herself, although I will often still put a boppy a foot or so behind her. Gracie is eating table food, that is just chopped.  she knows how to much and chew, but she won;t put anything other than her water or teething biscuits in her mouth. she usually just throws it overboard. She recognizes when the back door open that it is probably daddy and gets very excited and starts looking for him.  she has great cognitive skills.  For example, when she her duck or ball get too far away from her in her tub, Grace will kick her feet really hard to make waves so it will return!! Lots of sounds come out of her, ranging from screaming to lower grunt kind of noises. She can sign "all done" and also, sort of, "more" (these look similar, you have to know her to know which is which, and even then its hard!!) She can drink from a sippy cup with a spout AND a straw-topped one!! She likes "spitting" which is mostly blowing raspberries...she does this whether she is happy or mad, but mostly mad.She has been starting to have fits, especially when she is very tired. On the other hand, she is also getting more cuddly, especially when she is tired. And finally, for now, there are still no teeth out yet!!

Tags!

Grace loves tags; not sure why.  she loves to look at them, twirl them in her fingers, and to chew on them. She finds them wherever she is, even under her butt on her carseat!

 Here are some pics of Gracie in her favorite past time.

Publish Post

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

from our little monkey lovebug!

Yay Valentine's Day!

 We got Gracie a Valentine's Monkey, because she seems to love them (or at least their "sound")!!!

 with her best friend....they were fighting over the monkey, so I made them put it in the middle:o)

Playing with Aletheia- she like to pull her hair, but Lethi does not seem to mind!!

Big girl and funnies

Gracie is a big girl who can sit up all by herself now and for quite a while. She is most adept at balancing when she has some toys to play with, but does well otherwise. Gracie also surprises us more and more each day with her emerging personality! She is persistent, humorous and joyful, strong-willed and opinionated already!!

For example:

When she sits up, she will throw a toy almost out of reach, and then leans over and try to grab it without toppling. When she gets it, she chews on it for a few minutes, then throws it again. Gracie also does this in the tun with her ducky (except in there, she will also splash her feet in irritation is she can't reach, but surprisingly, it will usually help waves carry the duck back to her!)

She is also very cute and silly:




Grace is a loves to laugh! She thinks many things are hysterical, including us pretending to hiccup or sneeze (although real and LOUD sneezes tend to scare her), animal sounds, and other babies. Often, when we laugh, she will stare very seriously at us, and then erupt into her own bout of laughter! I have a couple videos that I will try to upload tomorrow, as they tend to not be very cooperative (check us out on facebook, if I can't get them up- comment or email and I will try to send you the external link for those of you who are non-facebookers.

Finally, some other fun (or challenging- I think they can be one in the same) aspects of Grace....She loves blow raspberries, whether in joy or complaint. Dinner is especially funny AND annoying at the same time (funny, because she exaggeratedly sticks her tongue out and then blows hard; annoying, because I either can not get the food in her mouth or she blows it ALL over). Screaming has also been a new way to communicate- both in joy or sorrow. Seems like since her mouth won't form words, she practices screaming in varying pitches and tones.

Gracie bundled up (just today!), since our heat and electric were out due to the storm...watching a dvd so mommy could pack stuff to crash our friend's house for the day.

Anyway, just thought you would enjoy the update on Gracie's growing:O)

p.s. we are done with 3-6 month clothes and found out (too late unfortuantely), that between her rapidly elongating legs and already long torso that certain types of overalls and dresses in size 6-9 no longer fit her- they are 2 short! We are still scratching our heads on that one!