Happy Six Month Birthday Sweetie!

It seems like I was just posting that it was Grace's four month birthday...now she's already six months old!!  I can't even imagine that six months from now will be her first birthday - AGH!  She sure looks different that her one month picture - this was the first time she was actually taller than the stuffed animal.  She's also a lot happier in the six month picture than the one month :)  She sure was a cranky baby those first few months.  There were times when I didn't think either of us would make it to six months.  Thankfully things have gotten (relatively) easier.  She still is a hothead but finally seems to be calming down and realizing that her needs don't need to be met instantly.  I do still feel sorry for any future boys she decides to date - weak men need not apply!!

Speaking of boys, we've had our fair share of baby boys being born these last two weeks.  Grace's godparents welcomed a little boy on 11/3, and Jeff's cousin just had her second boy on the 5th.  Some friends of ours just had twins on Tuesday, so it seems to be baby season around here.  I wonder what was going on nine months ago? :) 

Grace still continues to change almost daily.  She does a lot better at sitting by herself when she's propped up against something - she tips over pretty fast when she sits up alone.  We've also broken her of needing to be swaddled, at least at night.  We still have to swaddle her during the day if we want her to take more than a half hour nap.  It was a pretty painful process at first - the first night she woke up 25 times, at least.  The next night she went to sleep right away, but I think that was because she was so exhausted from the night before.  Since then she usually cries for 10 minutes or so before falling asleep, but I can live with that!  The interesting thing is that she likes to sleep on her stomach a lot or her left side.  She spent most of her time in the womb on her left side, so I guess that makes sense.  It's still hard not to freak out when I see her sleeping that way!

She's started eating more solids - so far she's had sweet potatoes, peas, and carrots.  She's not a big fan of the peas!!  We bought a high chair for her and she enjoys sitting in it, but I think she enjoys eating the straps more than the food.  Pretty much everything goes in her mouth these days.  She thinks we're pretty mean parents because we don't let her eat paper!!

On Thursday we traveled to Bay City for a cross country coaches clinic - we were supposed to stay both Thursday and Friday night, but Thursday night did not go well so we came home on Friday afternoon.  Thanks to some rude people at the hotel, Grace woke up at 11:30 wailing and we had a hard time getting her back to sleep that night.  I think I ended up sleeping about 3 hours and don't remember much of the clinic!!  We did stop at Frankenmuth on our way home and got Grace her first stocking and her first ornament. 

Well, that's about all the news from here.  I just realized that after next weekend we have something booked for every weekend thru the end of the year.  I guess we'll have to enjoy our last free weekend!!

Happy Halloween!!

Well, my plan of posting a blog every week sure isn't happening!  Oh well, at least I have a good excuse :) 

Grace celebrated her first Halloween, and boy, was she a cutie!!  I don't think she got much out of it, but it was still fun to see her dressed up.  We went thru Manchester on the 31st with some friends, and it was so neat watching the other kids and realizing that in the next year or two that will be Grace running around saying, "Trick or treat!!"  It's amazing how the holidays take on new meaning when you can see them through

your kids' eyes.  It makes me very excited for the future!

The cross country season is winding down.  Last Saturday we had our regional meet, and Christy (Jeff's sister) qualified for state as an individual, so we'll be going to MIS this Saturday.  Hopefully she will be able to break the current sophomore record at Manchester - she's only 13 seconds away with her most recent PR.  I can't believe the season is already over - it feels like it was just a few weeks ago that we were running in our first meet. 

Well, I don't really have much else to say for this post.  Grace rolls regularly from her front to her back and is starting to tolerate tummy-time a little more.  She is also getting pretty good at sitting by herself for a few seconds at a time.  As long as she doesn't try to move she can sit pretty well.  She still LOVES to stand all the time.  We got out her Johnny Jump-Up tonight, but our trim is too fancy so the only place she can use it is on the doorframe of her closet.  She seemed to like it, but was more interesting in biting the fabric than jumping in it.  I think until these teeth come in we are going to have a hard time getting her to do much else besides bite everything she can get her mouth on! 

Oh, please pray for me and Jeff - we are going to try to not swaddle her tonight at bedtime.  It should be interesting....!!

Five Months of Joy

Well, maybe not five whole months of joy, since the first two months were pretty rough, but close enough!!  Grace celebrated her five month birthday on Wednesday; it's still hard to believe.  At first I didn't think she had really changed that much in the last month besides learning to roll from her back to her front but as I think about it she really has changed a lot.  Not any huge milestones, but important ones.  She is so aware and interested in the world around her, and NOTHING is safe from those little hands!!  She especially loves hair - even when I pull it up she manages to find any loose strands and PULL!  Plus, she wants to put everything in her mouth.  The other day she started sucking on my chin - I guess she puts new meaning to the phrase "sucking face" :)  She also likes to grab your nose.  Neither Jeff nor I wear glasses, but she's fascinated when we meet other people who wear them.  I think we might see our first tooth soon - she's really drooling and biting on everything too. 

I am worried about when the "terrible twos" start - she already tries to have temper tantrums.  Sometimes I think that if she could throw herself on the floor and pound her fists she would.  When she's sweet, she's very sweet, but when she's mad - look out!!  Right now when she gets mad she screams really hard and deep and her face turns bright red.  I don't know what a five month old has to be so angry about - I tell her she needs to enjoy life now 'cause it doesn't get any easier than this!

We've also been working at introducing her to rice cereal.  The first time she had it she really didn't care too much, but when I gave it to her again a few days later she ate it like a professional, but since then she's been pretty wishy-washy about it.  I don't know if I should start trying to give it to her twice a day or just sticking with once a day, and I'm not sure how long I should wait to give her anything else.  At least breastfeeding is simple!!

The last two weeks have been pretty busy - lots of cross country meets and places to go.  Last Friday I took Grace to work (Jeff and I both work at the ACH plant in Saline) because my department always has a tailgate lunch the Friday before the Michigan/Michigan State game and Grace was a hit.  It was nice to see everyone I work with, although my boss did ask me if I've decided if I'm going back in January.  I told him I'm still not sure.  I keep agonizing over the decision.  In September we kept track of everything we spent, and I put it into the computer yesterday and we are right on the bubble.  I think we were about $75 in the black with just Jeff's salary and what I make working at church and coaching cross country.  It just seems a little close for comfort, but I can't imagine leaving Grace at a daycare every day.  Ugh!!

So, that about sums up the last two weeks.  We have our conference meet on Wednesday for cross country, and then we actually have next weekend off.  It's hard to believe there's only two more meets left of the regular season!!

A Time to Remember

I can't believe it is October already.  Less than 3 months until Christmas - AGH!  Of course, Christmas will be a new adventure this year with Grace.  Even though she won't really understand a lot of it I am so excited to see Christmas through her eyes.
This week has been pretty good, although a little bittersweet.  Friday marked the three year anniversary since we lost our first baby.  On one hand it feels like it was just yesterday that it happened and on the other hand it feels like a different lifetime ago.  I still remember the doctor telling us it was ectopic and that I had to have surgery right away - it all happened so fast it was hard to process everything (for more details, visit my first posting).  This year has been the first year where the pain has dulled somewhat now that we finally have our little miracle with us. 
On Thursday Grace decided to start rolling from her back to her front.  We had gone on a walk that night and I mentioned to Jeff that it didn't seem like Grace had really had any major milestones this month, and she must have heard me, because as soon as we got back from the walk she did it!  I guess she wanted to prove Mom wrong :)  The funny thing is that she is bound and determined to roll over, but as soon as she does she gets really mad because she hates being on her stomach.  I guess she still needs to learn cause and effect!!

Yesterday the three of us participated in the Big House Big Heart Run.  Jeff ran the 5K and Grace and I walked.  It was a little chilly but overall a nice day.  Grace fell asleep after the first 1/2 mile and slept until the very end.  It is a really cool race - you get to run down the tunnel of the U of M stadium and finish on the 50 yard line of the field.  Hopefully next year we'll be able to do it again.  A friend of mine had triplets three years ago that were born at 27 weeks and they spent almost 6 months in the NICU at Mott's so I have a special reason to support the race, since it benefits Mott's. 
On Saturday we had a cross country meet at Hudson Mills - the kids all did really well even though it was a pretty miserable day - about 50 degrees and rainy/windy.  We have another meet on Tuesday and then again on Saturday.  On Friday all the kids are coming to our house for a spaghetti dinner - at least this forces me to clean the house :)

So, another busy week, but it's hard to believe there's only about a month left of cross country.  I still have to decide if I'm going to back to work in January - any advice?

First Cold

So, I'm a little late with the post this time - last week was not a good week!  Grace started getting a cold last Saturday and woke up almost every hour that night.  That was not a fun night!  The next day we were scheduled to go to the Toledo Zoo with Jeff's mom and his brother and their family.  We debated whether to go or not, but Grace seemed in a decent mood and it was a nice day so we still went.  Grace didn't seem too impressed with the animals, but she did really well in the stroller.  So, she may not remember it, but it was her first trip to the zoo!  Jeff's brother has three kids - 2 girls that are 9 and 8 and a little boy who just turned 1 in June, so it was fun watching them at the zoo.  Hopefully we will be able to go again next year and Grace will enjoy it a lot more. 

Last Monday night I started feeling pretty crappy and it turned out that I had caught Grace's cold.  We had a meet on Tuesday and I dragged my way through it, but I did not feel good.  Unfortunately, there really wasn't any cold medicine that I could take since I am nursing Grace, but I was able to take Claritin.  I'm not sure if it really helped, but I was able to sleep pretty good on Tuesday night and started feeling better by Thursday.  Hopefully I can stay healthy this winter - taking care of a baby when you're sick (especially if the baby's sick too) is not easy! 
We had another cross country meet on Saturday, and we have a home meet today so we spent Sunday getting the course ready.  I can't believe that there is only a few days of September left - I still look around and wonder why the leaves are changing on the trees! 

Grace is getting cuter every day - she is handling tummy time a little better and is still rolling occasionally.  She still LOVES to stand when you hold her hands - I'm getting ready for her to try to start walking any day :)  Sometimes I think she gets mad because she can't walk - I secretly think she's a 30 year old trapped in a 4 month old's body and that's why she gets so cranky sometimes!!

Our Little Four Month Old

Yesterday Grace celebrated her four month birthday.  It is still unbelievable to me how fast time has gone.  When she was a few weeks old we decided to buy a stuffed animal to pose her next to at each month to track how she is growing.  Here is the latest one.




She looks so different from that first picture!  Yesterday was the first time where she was able to sit up pretty well without having to worry about her toppling over.  She was also reaching for the stuffed dog and trying to put it in her mouth :) 

We had a pretty good week, although Grace kept going back and forth between sleeping well at night and not sleeping very well.  Thankfully the last few nights have been pretty good. 

We broke out the exersaucer the other day to see how she would do - let's just say it would have been better if her feet actually touched the bottom!  She wasn't too impressed with it.  Hopefully she'll be able to reach the ground soon. 
Today she went in for her four month checkup.  She weighed 13 lbs, 5 ozs (41st percentile), she was 23 3/4" long (30th percentile) and her head was 41 cm (49th percentile).  So her head is the biggest part and she's still short!  I hope she's not destined to be really short.  She had to get her shots, and that is the worst part of going to the doctor.  I feel like the worst person in the world when they give her the shots and she starts screaming.  I made Jeff go with me this time so he could hold her down and I wouldn't always be the bad guy!  I also always get nervous when she gets shots because of all the media about vaccines being unsafe.  I know it's the right thing to do but it always worries me. 

I'm still not sure when I want to start her on solids.  I think she's getting close to being ready, but I'm not sure if I want to start this early.  The doctor said anytime to start is fine and made it sound like it would be a good idea, but breastfeeding is free, and minimal mess!  So, we'll see. 

This week is another crazy week - tonight we have volleyball at 9 pm (yuck), tomorrow is another cross country meet, and Thursday we're meeting with our financial planner.  No rest for the weary!!

Sixteen Weeks Old Already!

I cannot believe that Grace is 16 weeks old already - where has the time gone?  I used to think that having a baby in the spring was the best because then we could have all summer enjoying the weather but now I'm not so sure....I don't really remember this summer because it's been such a blur :)  I think we'll have to try to have our next baby in Jan or Feb so the yucky winter months fly by! 

So, what have we been up to?  Well, in the last few weeks Grace has started rolling a little.  It's still pretty random.  She hates being on her stomach so it's hard to give her enough time to practice.  I've been trying to put her on her tummy a little bit each time I change her diaper.  She first "officially" rolled on August 25th.  She also started laughing a little bit - her first real laugh was on August 31st.  She's still a pretty serious baby - I'm hoping the belly laughs start for real soon.  I think it's one of the best sounds in the world!
I think Grace has changed the most in the last 3 weeks so far since she's been born.  It's amazing how much more alert she is and how much more she pays attention to everything around her.  I love watching her change almost daily.  It's also been great that she's in a good sleeping pattern right now - she usually sleeps for 7-8 hours at a stretch at night.  It has definitely helped me to feel more human again!

She is also freakishly strong.  We put her in a SwaddleMe each night and somehow she is able to get at least one body part out, and somehow she can move herself from one end of the crib to the other and usually also turns herself sidways (as you can see in this picture).  This morning she had found a way to work one of her feet out of the sleeper she was in by forcing it through two of the buttons at the the ankle.  She might be small but she sure is mighty!!
Cross country has started up for good now - last Wednesday we had our first real meet.  It was my first time away from Grace for more than about 4 hours.  I think I had a harder time than she did!  Our friend Jill watched her from 2-5pm and then Jeff's mom, Sharon, watched her from 5-7:30 pm.  Jill had a bunch of kids at her house and Grace loved it.  She is fascinated by kids.  I was really glad she did so well while I was at the meet.  I was a little nervous because we had never given her two bottles in a row before but she took them like a pro!
Today we went to Jeff's mom's for a Labor Day party.  It was nice for Grace to see her cousins.  It was the coldest it has been since before Grace was born - I could hardly remember what it was like to be cold!  Grace tried out the swing at Grandma's and loved it - she fell asleep in it.  I think we need to get one of these!

We have a busy week ahead of us - tomorrow I have to take my stuff to enter in the Saline Fair (hopefully Grace's picture wins the Baby Beauty contest!) and we're also going to my friend's son's first birthday party.  Tuesday we start playing indoor volleyball, and on Wednesday we have another cross country meet.  I also have to get the house ready for a diaper party for a friend of ours who is expecting twins.  If only Grace could help clean :)