WOO HOO!!!

Don't you love my new look!!! My good friend Lindsay made it so cute and snazy! She can make your blog look just as good too... just check out info here!

THANKS LINDSAY! I LOVE IT!

Merry Christmas!

We would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. We pray that you and your family have a wonderful Holiday and travel safely.

Since Adam, Grace and I will be out of town for the next week I will not be posting until after the New Year. So check back then for lots of updates!!

Why do I need a walker??

We got this walker for a Christmas gift but decided to get it out earlier because she will walk around the coffee table and pull up on anything. But I don't think she gets it. She will take a few steps pushing it and then goes to her knees as you can see in the video. Oh well maybe she will get it soon!

The Wave

This is Grace waving and VERY excited about it! She has been waving for a little while now, but this is the first we have caught in on tape!

We're hungry.

Grace (right) and her friend Sophie (left) were having so much fun trying to get into the fridge. This seriously entertained them for half an hour. Until we had to close the fridge b/c Grace was trying to climb up the shelves!

Double Ear Infection!

Poor little Gracie! I brought Grace to the pediatrician last week b/c she was having a few issues with constipation and her skin... anyway, when we were there he checked her ears and said they had a little fluid on them but he thought it may clear on its own. Well since then Grace has just not been herself... fussy, low grade fever, cough, runny nose, not sleeping well, etc. So I took her back today and she has a double ear infection, yup both ears are raging!! He also said since this was ear infection #4 that we may need to start thinking about tubes. He wants to give it a little more time (at least till her first birthday) and see if she gets anymore. Hopefully this is it.

Anyway, her other issues with constipation and eczema are much better. We have her "going" more regularly now and her skin is doing soooo much better!

Please add Grace to your prayers tonight that she starts feeling better. I would hate for her to feel bad over Christmas, especially since we will be away from home visiting family!

A Christmas tradition...sort of

When I was little my mom would buy me and my brothers Christmas PJ's. We have tons of pictures of us growing up each year in our PJ's! So I picked one of my favorites with my big brother, Bryan. (My little brother, Todd, wasn't born at this time.) I think I was around 3 and Bry was 7. So my mom decided to continue that tradition with Gracie. She got her some cute jammies! I couldn't get a great pic, but you know how it is with a mobile baby! I will take what I can get :)

10 months!

She is now in the double digits!! Like I say every month... time flies!

Grace's had to go to the doctor earlier this week (issues with consitpation and her eczema) so we got to weigh her and she was 19lbs 5ozs. (Last month she 18lbs14ozs...slowing down!)

Here is what Grace is up to these days:

*Becoming a pro crawler... if they had baby crawling contests Grace would definitly win!

*Still pulling up on everything and getting into everything. (See pic below)

*She stood on her own (holding onto nothing) for like .5 seconds today.

*Will take a few steps pushing a walker. (still trying to get a good video to upload)

*Says "DADA" for everything and I think she said "MAMA" yesterday...we are working on that one!

*Claps and waves "bye bye", but at the completely wrong times.

*Dances all the time... even when there is no music!

*LOVES books and tring to open the Christmas presents and hates Santa (see post below).

Here is a pic of Grace getting into the drawer under the oven. She opened the drawer, crawled in, but couldn't get out. Forgive her poor little red face, that is her eczema, and her hair is everywhere since she had just gotten up!

Visiting Santa... oh the drama!

So I totally thought this year would be a peice of cake. Yeah right!

Over Thanksgiving Adam and I brought Grace to a mall near my parents and got this pic. I wasn't totally happy with it because it looks like her eyes are closed. She just wouldn't take her eyes off Santa! I am sure she was thinking of tugging that beard or tearing off his glasses. But nope she just starred.

So today my friend Melanie and I drove down to the city to try to get a better pic. No such luck. In fact it was worse! She wanted NOTHING to do with Santa as you can see in the picture below. Oh well maybe next year. Actually I bet next year I get a pic simular to this one! :) Which do you like better??

How much is that baby in the window??

I'm sure my neighbors must be wondering this. (I saw a post simular to this on my friends blog... Lindsay!). Grace LOVES windows and our lab Sammie always tries to be right in there with her. The window in our guest bedroom is nice and low to the ground, so Sammie normally sits at this window most the day guarding the house, plus she can see if anyone is coming to the front door through this window. Of course if someone were to come to the door she would initially bark, then when the person enters the house she would lick and beg that person to lick her! :)

Anyway, back to the baby in the window. Looking out the window just must be something amazing for Grace (well all little Toddlers for that matter). Plus I think she likes that she can stand up all by herself relatively easy. Speaking of standing up... I don't think she is far from that first step. She will pull up on anything, and hold on with one hand. Sometimes a toy isn't far and she will reach for the toy, think for a minute and then get down and crawl to it! She will however walk along the coffee table and couch (crusing), but no independent steps yet. Maybe soon!

Oh Christmas Tree...

Oh Christmas tree... you're making my life so busy!

We finally finished decorating the tree and the house this past weekend. We decided NOT to pull out the big 6 foot Christmas tree and instead bought 2 new little table top trees. The main reason is because Grace is into everything. I dediced on the small trees after she was driving my nuts with a small house plant that was on the floor. It was her favorite. She already tried eating the moss/ivy off that little plant twice so I didn't want to deal with broken ornaments. But on the other hand I couldn't possibly imagine not having a Christmas tree! So we will just have to wait until next year, when Grace (hopefully) will know the meaning of "No" and not just turn around and laugh at me when I say it. Yes she does laugh when I say no. So I'm pretty sure that word isn't very effective with a 9 month old baby. So anyhoo.... here is a picture of little trees that sit on top of my grandmothers buffet. We did have to put a couple gifts on the floor because of overflow and Grace LOVES those. She already unwrapped one gift (well just partly), but I caught her in the act so it was still salvagable!

The stockings were hung by the ...um, the front door...with care. No chimney for us! (I thought that was cute... I borrowed it from my friend, Megan). My mom made each of our stockings. She made Adam and I's a couple years ago (that is why it doesn't say "mom" and "dad") and she just finished Grace's stocking last month. They each took her months to finish as each beed is hand sewn! I'm sure she is hoping that we don't have another baby for awhile.

Tooth #3 & 4 have arrived!

All I have to say is FINALLY! I am so happy to see those pearly whites make their debut. Grace already seems much happier.

My MOHAWK!

Grace is a complete wild woman in the bathtub! She crawls around playing and splashing the entire time. We try to clean her the best we can, but those of you that have tried to bathe a mobile baby you know how hard that can be! Sometimes I really think its just a joke... its not like I say "Grace sit on bottom so mom can clean you up", RIGHT! If it were only that easy. At least she does love the bath. Here is a picture of a mohawk I gave her.

Here is another pic of her ready to get into the tub. Love that cute butt!!

Playdate!

My friend Margaret and her two kiddos, Karina and Cade come over for the afternoon. Grace LOVES Karina!! She spent the afternoon crawling after Karina, kissing her and hugging her. I can only pray that one day when I have another baby (no time soon), that Grace and her brother/sister will play as nice and be as loving towards one another. Here is a pic of all 3 of the kids. Karina is nearly 3 and Cade is 6 months old. I'm sure Cade will be crawling after the girls in no time!

Holiday survey...

Welcome to the 2006 Holiday Edition of Getting to Know Your Friends! Post your answers on your own blog or in my comment section! Everyone has time for a few moments of fun! Don't be a scrooge!!!

NAME: Lisa
1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate (does anyone really drink egg nog!)
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? In my family, Santa left an unwrapped present, but mom and dad wrapped the ones from them and put them under the tree. They wanted some credit! I think we'll do the same!
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? white
4. Do you hang mistletoe? Not this year... we use to get some at Adam's parents house, but they moved!
5. When do you put your decorations up? A few days after Thanksgiving. One Holiday at a time please!
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Mashed potatoes with lots of Gravy!
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: I have so many.... I loved Christmas day. All our extended family lived in Dallas so we would open presents and get dressed and go to my dad's side of the family and then go to my mom's side later that day... I loved the busyness of the day!
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I think 3rd grade.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Never!
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? White lights and ornaments we have collected since being married. This year we have just a little table top one since Grace is on the move!
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it, but glad I don't live where it snows often. The once or twice a year is just perfect. :)
12. Can you ice skate? Of course!
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Hmmm... probably anything Strawberry Shortcake or Cabbage Patch!
14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Being with family and friends.
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? I love my grandmas pies... she is a great baker!
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? I love going to look at Christmas lights. And I love the shopping... even though the crouds are tough!
17. What tops your tree? Just a bow I made.
18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? Well, it's always nice to receive, but I really like giving the best.
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? All the ones on my Mariah Carey CD.
20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? I like the flavored ones.
21. Do you re-gift? Not this year!
22. Worst gift given to you. I got some socks one year from a relative... I was like 12 so it was terrible!
23. What is your favorite holiday movie? Christmas Vacation
24. Who will you be spending Christmas with this year? We will be driving to Austin to see my husbands family! We can't wait!

I love spaghetti!

I think more of the spaghetti ended up on her face and on her highchair then in her mouth, but she sure does love it!

SNOW!!!!

Grace saw her first snow today. Well actually only for a couple minutes... I brought her outside long enough to snap a picture in our backyard. It was sooooo cold, that I didn't want to risk getting her sick, so it was just one quick pic. Maybe next time I will let her play in it. She sure did look cute in her little scarf, hat and mittens! I didn't even know they made mittens that small. :)

THANKSGIVING 2006

Thanksgiving....

COMING SOON... lots of pictures!! We have been in Dallas all week (still are!) and just enjoying spending time with my big brother and his wife and of course all the rest of the family. We have done a LOT of shopping this week, in fact I am almost done with my Christmas shopping! Adam and I also brought Grace to see Santa today. We will upload pics of Thanksgiving and pics with Santa as soon as we can!

I was tagged!!

I was tagged by Lindsay!

5 Things about ME...

1. I have always hated Chocolate, but since having my daughter I like a few chocolate things... Milky Ways, hot cocco, pudding, & oreos.

2. I actually like cleaning my house (with the exception of mopping!)

3. I love watching tv in bed.

4. I use to be a pretty good snow skiier. I was ranked when I was 8 & 11 years old for a top 10 skiier for the state of Texas.

5. I wear 1 contact lense... my right eye has perfect vision!

Grace clapping!

How cute is this! Grace has learned to clap. She is also tired in this video as it was almost bed time.

Teething stinks!

For the last week Grace has been little Miss fuss! I could tell that her top teeth weren't far from coming so I gave her a bit of Tylenol or Motrin when it was really bad. Well Monday she got a fever of 102. Then yesterday her fever persisted all day and got up to 103.5... and the meds were not helping. The doc looked her over yesterday morning at her 9 month appointment and said he really thought it was just her teeth or possibly a weird virus, but wouldn't know if it was that for a day or two.

Well last night was terrible. I think it was the worst night we have had since bringing Grace home from the hospital or close to it. She was up before we even went to bed at 9:30! Adam rocked her back to sleep, but she was up again at 10:30... well this is pretty much how the nigth went. Around 12 I decided to go to sleep in the guest bedroom and bring Grace into bed with me. That helped for a bit, but she was up around 3 and 5... I finally fed her at 5 and she was out till 6:30... so needless to say I'm so tired. But for some reason Grace is bright eyed and bushytailed! Oh and she finally broke her fever at 6:30... I got her out of her crib and she was drinched in sweat! Poor baby. But she seems to be feeling better today, but no new teeth yet. Hopefully soon because I need some sleep!

9 Months!

Grace's 9 month stats:

28.5 inches long - 75th percentile

18 pounds 14 ounces - 50th percentile

Here is what Grace is up to:

*Still crawling everywhere

*Pulling up on anything... including moms pants!

* She will take a few steps when pushing a walker (haven't gotten it on video yet!)

*Says "Dada" all the time, but no "mama" yet :(

*Loves to feed herself any table food, but no baby food for her.

*Can wave "bye bye" (so cute!)

*She is starting to clap... or at least trying really hard.

*Is a little Indian... you know when you put your hand over your mouth!

*Will pull toys now...she has a little telephone with a string on it.

*Loves to pose for the camera!... my little model

*Mama and Dada think she is starting to dance... she rocks back and forth when music is going.

Other stuff the doc told us:

*She has eczema. You can sort of see the redness on her face in the picture above. She definitly has daddy's skin.

*He thinks she is going to be at least 5 feet 6 inches as an adult! Sort of interesting and he did say it is an ESTIMATE, but I'm so happy for her. Since I'm only 5'4" anything taller than that is awesome!

I think that is about it for now. Check back for more updates :)

Happy Birthday to me...

Thanks everyone for the sweet emails and cards.

We aren't doing anything exciting... just dinner at home. We did get a babysitter last Friday night and went to eat at a yummy steak place on Lake Texoma - The Point. It was a nice evening with no kiddos! I guess getting older isn't as exciting as it use to be. Oh well... 27 here I come!!

Katey's 1st birthday party

Yesterday was Katey's first birthday party (Lacy's daughter)!

Just wanted to share a few pics of party!

Click HERE to check out a cute video they made of Katey's first year!

Here is the birthday girl in her cute hat and Lacy!

Here is Grace riding on Katey's birthday present... she LOVED it! Guess I know what to get her for her birthday :)

In the bounce house... here is the back of Katey (you can see her little bonbon hair!) but there is Grace and Travis and all the mamas! They loved the bounce house... didn't know what to do, but they loved it none the less.

Feed me!

I'm hungry mama!

Wild woman

Is she going to be a reader?

When I change Grace I always give her a book (mainly to keep her busy and still), but she really seems to love it! Maybe she will be a reader??? Probably a bit too young to tell :)

My busy bee

Grace is very busy these days. (Also the reason why I haven't been able to post so much.) She is crawling much faster now and seems to find/touch/eat anything she can get her hands on. We have just finished baby proofing the house, which mainly consisted of plug covers and cabinet stoppers to keep her out of all the cleaning products. Let me tell you though, those cabinet stoppers (whatever they are really called...) are practically adult proof too! Adam and I can't seem to remember the cabinets are baby proofed and we go to try to open the cabinet like normal and it doesn't open... doh! Well I guess this is probably a good thing since kids seem to figure everything out.

Anyway, here are few pics of her exploring the house.

She tried to eat the fake ivy (don't worry I didnt let her!),

tried to pull the lamp and phone off the end table (thankfully she was unsuccessful, so she just tried to eat the cords!), put her little fingers into the Sammie's water bowl (we already had to move the bowls from the kitchen into the laundry room, so we can close the door, but anytime it is open she goes straight for them!), and she likes to go behind the couch (thankfully there is enough room between the couch and wall that I can vacuum so it isn't grose back there or anything!). She is a complete mess, but we wouldn't have it any other way. It is definitly fun, exciting and each day brings some new adventure. Growing up sure is a blast!

Happy Halloween!

Isn't our little pumpkin adorable! Gotta love it. We put the costume on her this past weekend when we went to a Halloween Party. She didn't mind the costume, just wasn't sure she wanted the hat on.

She will also get to sport her costume again tonight when we head to downtown for a Halloween thing our little town puts on for the kids. Hopefully it wont be too cold!

Here are pics of Adam and I, with our good friends, Joey and Hailey,... aka... The Flinstones and The Rubbels! :) Cute huh. We made the costumes ourselves. We are quite crafty! (Oh and Adam and I look a little tired b/c we were!)

Germany

Well we are back!! The trip went really well and went by super fast which was probably good since anytime there was a slow moment I was thinking of Grace and what she was doing and if she was missing me. :) We had some great German food, struggled with the language since only like 10 people in Germany speak English, and stayed up really late and drank a little bit too. But it was really fun. The only down side was on our way home our flight from England to Chicago ran a little late and we missed our flight home to Dallas. We got stuck in Chicago for 8 hours and finally got to Dallas after 26 hours of traveling so we were exhausted to say the least!

Here are a couple pics of Dusseldorf, Germany.

Behind us is City Hall

Most of the cars are this size or smaller! Lots of Sausage

Our Hotel

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Oh and Grace did great while we gone. It was good for her to get some quality time with grandma and grandpa! She did surprise us by saying her first word while we were gone... "Dada"!!... of course... I'm home with her all day and the thanks I get is "Dada"... oh well! :)

The first day we were gone Grace stayed with our friend Linsday for several hours. Here is a video she made of Grace and her little boy, Travis, who is 2 weeks younger than Grace. I'm sure it was like having twins!!! Thanks Linz!

Out of town...

Adam and I leave tomorrow morning for Germany for the week... so yes that means that we will be leaving Grace behind. :( I am sure she will be just fine with grandma (and her babysitters... THANKS Lindsay!), but me on the other hand, well I'm already missing her. Shoot I can hardly leave her for an afternoon let alone 5 days and 4 nights. But we couldn't pass up this trip. The way I figure is that at some point I'm going to have to leave her, so I guess I need to try it out now. The only bummer is that I will have to pump since I am still breastfeeding, but well worth the trouble.

We will post pics when we get back and let you know how Grace does (and me too!).

Have a great week!

A daddy and his daughter

How to leave a comment...

I have many of you that come to visit my blog to see the wonderful and fabulous life of a stay at home mommy and her precious little daughter... well you visit then you email me! Which is totally fine, but to save you time at the bottom of each post you can just leave a comment there if you so choose. You don't have to have a blogger account or anything... just click on other and type your name or don't! No pressure, but everyone loves to hear what others have to say about the topic.

So leave a comment after the message... beep. :)

For all the Stay-at-home Moms!

A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard.

The door of his wife's car was & open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog. Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring on a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.

In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.

He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened. He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside, he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls.

As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went.

He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened here today?" She again smiled and answered, "You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me "what in the world did I do all day"??

"Yes," was his incredulous reply. She answered, "Well, today I didn't do it."

Priceless.

Playing at Mema and Pop Pop's house

Grace found the pumpkins in the house and couldn't figure out the thing on top! If you notice in this picture she is holding onto both pumpkins! They are bigger than her!

She is trying to get Sammie in this picture. I guess she can't figure out there is glass in between her and the puppy.

8 Months

Can you believe it?? Grace is growing so fast.

Here is what she is up to this month:
*Crawling everywhere... as you have seen in previous posts.
*Pulling up to standing all the time in her crib and a few times playing.
*Her best friend is the puppy, Sammie! They are becoming good buds.
*She says bababa and lalala... no mama or dada yet! :(
*She weighed 18 pounds 5 ounces earlier this week...which puts her at the 50% for weight.
*She eats anything she can feed herself. She still hates baby food. Her favorite food seem to be Mexican... loves black beans, rice and avacados!

*Her favorite thing to do it to play airplane with dad... he flies her around the room like an airplane.

*Her favorite toy is probably anything she knows she isn't suppose to have... she finds everything now.

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I've just updated our family picture website. FINALLY! Click HERE to check it out!

More crawling videos...

This one is of Grace crawling to get Sammie. She is getting pretty good now!




This video is of Grace trying to get Sammie's dog bowls! :)

Cuddling

I think this is what every parent loves most... cuddling. Although Gracie is normally go, go, go all day long, she will cuddle in the morning and at night. I love it. I just hope she is never to old to cuddle with her mama.

Five for Five

1) Five Minutes to yourself. How would you spend them ideally?
I normally end up on the internet... I love thenest.com. Although knowing me I would probably clean up or throw a load of laundry in the wash. I know exciting huh!

2) Five Dollars to spend right now. How or where would you spend it?
Anything from Taco Bueno.... maybe Mexi Dips and Chips! YUM!

3) Five Items in your house you could part with right now?
Sammie's hair... labs shed so much. Now that Grace is crawling I have to vaccum pratically everyday!
The kid stuff. I've been taken over by large plastic toys. :)
Cords, wires, etc. Although we do have wireless internet there are just so many in the house.
Dirty bottles and pump parts... I HATE cleaning bottles and all the parts for my breastpump.
Not sure this is apart of my house... but Grace being sick. I could do without that!

4) Five Items in your house you absolutely, positively could never part with?
Well of course my husband, daughter, and our puppy Sammie.
All my china. Even though I haven't used it (its under the guest bed!).
My computer... it has all our pictures of Grace on it!
My jewlry. I have every peice of jewlry I have ever gotten including a braclet with my name on that my granny gave me when I was maybe 10.
My granny Bev's buffet table... I love it!

5) Five Words you love?
Grace's babbles... she says "lala" and "baba"... no mama or dada yet :(
Hmm... not sure there are words I love. I guess I just love words period, but not any particular ones :)

She is EVERYWHERE now!!

Busy busy... I can't leave the room for a second now. She is crawling perfect now and pulling up on everything. Here are some pics! Thankfully she hasn't figured out how to climb, but I'm sure that isn't far behind.

Still sick...

Went back to the pediatrician and Grace's ear infection is pretty bad... had to change her meds to see if it works better. She is also still battling this cold and cough. Poor baby.... she just looks and sounds aweful. Hopefully she will better soon!

Sick baby...

The last 2 days have been no fun. Grace has been so fussy. At first I thought it was just teething... her top gums looked a little swollen. Well it was just getting worse... she was not sleeping well at all (woke up several times the last couple nights), had yellow/greenish snot!, and her fever spiked up to 101.5. So this morning I brought her to see the pediatrian just to make sure it wasn't something. Well she has an ear infection! She also has a cold which is causing the snotty nose. Today hasn't been much better. I sure hope those meds start kicking in soon... I need some sleep. Adam picked a perfect time to be gone!! :(

Come Home Daddy!

We miss our daddy! Adam was in Washington state for 16 days... came home for 2 days and 3 nights and went back! :(

Thankfully he will be back again on Saturday night for good. We really miss having him here, especially on long days like today. I guess Grace was hungry when I was trying to take the pic! :)

Crawling = Busy Mommy

Why did no one tell me? Crawling is no fun for mommy. Shoot I can hardly go to the bathroom now when she is awake! She is into everything.

Today so far she has discovered DVD's, dog food, toliet paper, flip flops... plus I'm sure some dirt on the floor. I am trying to keep the house clean, but I can't look away from her for a minute.

Should I set up her pack 'n play (portable crib) and use it like a play pen when I have to leave the room?? I'm a prisoner to my living room!! :)

And I know its only going to get worse as she starts to crawl faster and walks and then runs! Can't wait!!!

Grace can pull up now...

well in her crib she can! She tries to pull up on other things, but can't quite do it yet. We lowered her crib again this weekend after we saw this! She just is so proud of herself!

Molly turns 1!!!

Molly had her 1st birthday party this past weekend! Here are a few pics from the party. Happy 1st Birthday Molly!

Eating her cake! YUMMY!

Molly giving Grace a kiss! Notice Gracie's mouth is open!!! Grace riding on Molly's ice cream truck.