We're here!

This past week has flown by and I've been so tired. I think mainly it has just been tough to get into a new routine. Last week I worked half days and it was not working. I wasn't able to eat lunch till around 1:45 (after I picked up Grace) so I was starving and I wasn't 100% comfortable where I was leaving her on Tuesday and Thursday. So this week we made a couple changes and it already feels better. I'm just going to work 8 hours on Mon and Wed and 4 hours on Friday (with a lunch break on the long days). So hopefully that will go well.

Grace seems to really like daycare. She gets excited when she sees all the other kids her class, but she is also excited when I'm there to pick her up at the end of the day. Her teacher said she is sleeping on a mat on the floor like a champ. She just gives Grace her lovey and she lays down.

Anyway, I really feel like I have the best of both worlds. I'm able to get out, work and socialize and talk grown up talk for a few hours a week and then the rest I get to spend with my precious baby girl. Hopefully I will still be saying this in a couple months :)

--------------------------------------------

Here is a pic of Grace playing with her Little People dollhouse that we got her for her birthday. Isn't she so cute.

Here are some pics of Molly and Grace. They are officiallly toddlers. They fought over toys all afternoon as you can see from the pictures. But they also gave each other lots of hugs and kisses!

They both wanted to sit in the chair...

and the rocking chair...

and the car... so
we took turns pushing... Molly pushed Grace first...
then Grace pushed Molly.
Too cute!

Day 2

Work went well for me. Still a little weird working, but getting back into the groove of things.

Leaving Grace today was a little harder. I got teary eyed when I was leaving her, but managed to keep it together. When I picked her up she was happy to see me and her teacher Ms. Susan said she did really good. They said she did cry a bit at naptime, but fell asleep after 5 minutes. She even slept on a mat on the floor! I'm shocked, but happy that she is flexible enough to sleep places other than her own crib or pack n play. She didn't eat every well at lunch, but I think its because they had things that she hasn't had before. Hopefully she will get use to that soon. Anyway, it well well.

Gotta run. I have Molly this afternoon too so I think we are headed to the park since snack time is over. I'll try to post a couple pics of the girls later.

Back in the Saddle Again

My first day of working after one year went well. It was weird to be back at the bank where I worked before I had Grace. It was nice to see all my old co-workers and catch up and I was able to do a little work. My job is really going to be clean up... just working on things that have fallen through the cracks. Which is perfectly fine with me. I definitly don't want a stressful job like I use to have, so this is perfect. I can go to work for a few hours a day and leave and not worry about it.

Today was also Grace's first day of daycare. Well actually she was with just one lady. I could only get Grace into the best daycare in town on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, so on Tuesaday and Thursday she will be going to a lady that use to run a daycare where she use to live and is thinking about doing it again. Her husband also works with Adam so that is how we found her. She did great! She played, ate lunch and napped for 2 hours! I got there right when she was waking up. And what a great feeling when she saw me and was so happy! I don't get that very often since she has been with me majority of the time. I was also proud of myself that I didn't get emotional when I left this morning... in fact I was excited for her to be able to have some time out of the house. So tomorrow Grace will have another first day at daycare. I think she will love it though. Both times we have gone in to visit the daycare she just wanted to get on the ground and play with the kids.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. I couldn't have asked for the day to go any better. Well gotta run and try to get a couple things done around the house while Miss Priss is sleeping.

Another odd sleeping position

I've posted in the past weird ways that my daughter has fallen asleep. Well here is another. It was so cute I just had to take a picture of it. So for those of you that think you can't sleep sitting up...call Grace...she will tell you how it is done :)

Thermometers

Before Grace was born, we registered for a great little ear thermometer. Then after she was born I realized it wasn't so great. In fact, every time I used it I got a different reading. I would try to get an accurate reading by doing putting it in her ear several times in a row and then take the average. But that system wasn't quite effective.

We then started using the rectal (yup... in her little bobo) thermometer that we got from the hospital. We could always get an accurate reading. Anyway, that has worked until recently.

Now that Grace is a bit more *active* on the changing table it has become hell, oh I mean difficult to get her stay still.

I needed something that worked to take my babies temp. An underarm thermometer was out because I just don't think they are accurate and again getting her to sit still to take it was simply out of the question. It's not like you can reason with a one year old.

So I talked to a couple moms in a my moms group and they all raved about their forehead thermomter. I headed to Walmart and picked one up and I LOVE it. I can take her temp in less than 5 seconds. It was worth every penny of the $34.95 I paid for it!

Moral of this story... If you have kids this is a must have. I don't know what I have done without it all this time.

One year update

Well my little baby is official ONE.

Today we headed to the doctor for her one year check up and for some not so fun shots. She did well though.

Here are her stats:
20 lbs. 7 ozs (50th percentile)
30.5 inches (95th percentile)

This is what she is up to these days...
*Will stand not holding onto to anything for about 30 seconds right now (see pic below), but as soon as it comes time to move a foot, she goes down to her knees and crawls. I guess she is a big chicken :)
*Eats pretty much anything...and especially loves any type of meat (even fish!).
*Tried her first taste of whole milk today and drank about an ounce! Maybe she will drink more later...
*She waves, claps, feeds the dog, and flirts with everyone while we are out. :)

*She says Mama, Dada, No, and I think she says Duck and Dog (but those still aren't crystal clear.

It's official

I'm going back to work!

Yes, you read that right. I start on Tuesday back at the bank in Human Resources (where I use to work before Grace, but I will be doing something different). I'm only going to be working 20 hours a week and for now the job is just temporary. I've been thinking about working again for months really and just had not be decided 100% either way. To be honest, I'm still not 100% sure. I had talked with my old boss last week telling her that I would love to work part-time. So Tuesday of this week, she called and said she had something for me. Since the job is just temporary, I figured this would be a good trial run to see how Grace and I like it. Grace will be going to a local daycare. It's a little older, but really clean and the people that work there seem so sweet. Plus I got some great recommendations and its only 1/2 mile from where I will be working. So wish me luck. I will update how my first day back goes and how Grace does sometime next week.

Gracie's first year

Happy Birthday Grace! Here a video I made to remember her first year. ENJOY!

Warning... it is 5 minutes long. :)

Baptism & Birthday weekend in rewind...

It's over. My little baby has officially had her first birthday party and become a child of God.

I was so excited all last week and this weekend leading up to the baptism and party that after everyone left and all the cupcakes had been eaten I was a bit sad. My BABY is ONE (well almost)! Where has the time gone??

Anyway, enough of my sob story... lets get to the details! :)

It all started Sunday morning at 9am where my family and few close friends joined us at our church to have Grace baptized. About 1 minute before the service started Grace konked her head on the pew and started crying. I was thinking great... I don't know how she is going to do?! But she did great. She just stared at Pastor Tolle and looked around. All eyes were on our precious baby girl in a beautiful white dress (see pics below). We couldn't have asked for it to go any better. Plus it was great to have our parents, grandparents and brothers and sisters and their kids in town at our little church. (
Her beautiful dress was bought by her Great Grandpa - Big Pop (Adam's grandpa) and her little hat was handmade by my mom... it even turns into a hanky for when she gets married.)

Then we headed to the house to get the birthday party started. While Grace took a little nap, we hurried around the house to get the burgers started and get everything ready for all of our friends came over around noon. It was so wonderful. We had friends that came from Lufkin, TX (about 5 hours away) and lots of folks from Dallas and of course some of our family from the Austin area. The party went great. There were about 10 kids (6 of which are under the age of 2) , and lots of adults, so our little house was packed! We ate, had little birthday cupcakes, watch a little video I made of Grace's first year (I am going to post on her birthday!), and just enjoyed each others company. I actually lost my camera early on during the party, so most of the pictures are ones that my sister-in-law Christee took. She is a great photographer and I LOVE her camera. Unfortunatly I don't have any posed shots or a family photo :(.... oh well we will just have to get one on her real birthday on Wednesday.

All said, I think the party went well. Thank you everyone for all the wonderful gifts and all the time you spent in the car traveling to celebrate with us for Gracie's first birthday!

Here are some pictures of baptism and her in her dress.

Here are pictures of her party. ENJOY!

Watch out Martha Stewart...

Here comes Lisa Dugan!

My parents gave me a new sewing machine for Christmas (which I had been wanting). Anyway, I LOVE it. I just had to hem to pair of jeans, but since it was the first time I had used I had to read the manual. Sooooooo, 3 hours later I have 2 jeans that are hemed. YEA! So maybe not exactly Martha Stewart, but maybe her long lost daughter. :)

I'm just so excited. I have so many projects to do and a couple gifts that I have needed a sewing machine to get it done. Now I can! Thanks mom and dad! love you.

The carseat

We recently got Grace a new carseat (we got an awesome Britax carseat... from Albee Baby). So I took her old carseat out and we put it in the family room b/c we don't have any room in the garage. I sold it on Craigslist Dallas, so my parents are going to help get it to the person who bought it. ANYWAY, Grace thinks it is so fun to climb in and out. So last night when we were eating dinner (Grace ate a bit early) we turned on Baby Einstein and she climbed in the carseat. We gave her her sippy cup and she was having a blast! It would have been even more funny if she had a bag of popcorn or something. Just thought this was a cute picture. Enjoy.

Wordless Wednesday

Another ear infection...

Yup you read that right... poor little Grace has another ear infection. Bad news is that she has been feeling rotten and has had a fever for about 48 hours. Good news is that the pediatrician said that by the way her ear infection looked he thinks she may be out growing them. Although she has had the most ear infections in the last couple months, he really thinks it is just related to teething. Darn teeth!

To be honest though, I was sort of happy that something was wrong b/c you know I took her last week and it was just teething! I thought if it wasn't anything, then maybe I really don't know my own baby. At least maybe we caught it early and it will heal quickly! Especially since she is having her bday party this weekend and she is getting baptized! :)

These are a few of our favorite things...

Since Grace's first birthday is right around the corner, I thought we would share with you the things that got us through the first year!

1. Boppy Pillow - I seriously have used this everyday! It made breastfeeding so much easier and it was a nice little pillow to prop Grace on when she was tiny. I've heard from some moms that they don't like it, but I can't understand that one bit. It is a key essential in my book! Here is a pic of Gracie learning to sit with a little help from the boppy.

2. Pampasan Swing - This swing is really more like a craddle rocking Grace. We used this everyday until it got retired around 8 months when Grace learned how to get out.
3. The Bumbo Seat - What a cool invention!!! Seriously whoever invented this is so clever. I first put Grace in the seat when she was around 2.5 months (when she had good head control) and we put it everywhere. She would sit on the sink and watch me get ready, she would sit on the kitchen counter and watch me cook, and she would watch Adam and I eat dinner at the table. It was great... she could be right at our level. This was perfect for feeding too before we had a highchair. This is probably one thing I would tell any mom you HAVE to have.
4. Tidy Diner - This is one of our latest finds. My friend, Hailey, found it and uses it with her daughter. Grace is that age where she wants to feed herself... so that means finger foods, which is totally fine at home, but when we are out it is sort of a problem.

5. Highchair/Shopping Cart cover (There are tons out there, but we have Buggy Bagg)- Another cool recent invention. You know how nasty the carts are at Walmart and how often to they really clean the highchairs at resturants... well now we don't have to worry! We just keep it in the car so its with us wherever we go. If you know me then you know that I'm sort of a nut about germs so this gives me peice of mind knowing that my little baby isn't touching some of them.

6. Germ X - Speaking of germs... I love Germ X... not Purell! I acutally buy the Germ X with Aloe... its purple and you can normally only find it in the baby section at my Walmart. Anyway its wonderful. We have a couple bottles of it around the house, including one at her changing table, and of course we have a couple small ones for the diaper bag!

7. Baby Einstein Play Mat - This was Grace's first toy! She loved to stare at all the fun toys handing from it for hours on end. We used it for a good 6 months.

8. Fisher Price little highchair - This is great when you have another baby over (several of my good friends have babies around Grace's age), when you go someplace that doesn't have a highchair or just to put in the bathroom as some place to keep her still while I try to get ready :)

9. Baby carriers - We have 2, a Baby Bjorn and a Hot Sling. The first one I got was a Baby Bjorn and I love it. It has been especially wonderful for when we were out and she didn't want to be in her stroller or for grocery shopping when she was really little. I didn't the Hot Sling until Grace was nearly 6 months, but it came just in time. This is just one simple peice of fabric to throw her in it when she wants to be held and I need to get something done. I've cooked many meals carrying her around in it. Plus she loves being about to see everything that is going on.

10. Oxi Clean - Who knew that stuff existed... it gets ANYTHING out of clothing! As many of you know we have had a few (HA!) diaper explosions and this works wonders on... just presoak for about 10 minutes and presto... not more stain. It has also been great more recently on food stains.

11. Baby Bath with a sling - There are so many baby baths I had no clue which one to get. I ended up getting this one as a gift and it was great. The sling was especially nice b/c it kept Grace from sliding around the baby tub, but she was still in the water to stay warm.

12. Mesh Feeder - This is great for first foods that are soft but maybe a bit large to just hand to her. We have also used it many times for just ice when she was teething!

13. Portable DVD player - Okay so not a necessity, but definitly a wonderul luxury. Grace loves watching a little Baby Einstein when we travel. We are always heading to Dallas and it makes the ride a bit more plesant.

14. Wipes Warmer - Again, not a totally necessity, but great to have early on. I actually registered for one, got it at a shower, and I returned it thinking Grace didn't really need it. Then she was born and my world changed! How could I possibly put an ice cold wipe (remember it was Februrary) on her tiny little bottom... so after maybe a few hours we had a wipes warmer! :)

15. Diaper Champ - There are several diaper pails out there, but this one is great. We only have to take it out about once a week and we can use our kitchen trash bags, so we don't have to worry about having special bags like a lot of the other ones out there. Oh and I don't think you can really smell dirty diapers!!

16. Miracle Blanket - We swaddled Grace for the first 3 months and let me tell you that it was the only way we got any sleep! She managed to get out of recieving blankets, but this blanket really is a miracle. I don't have a pic of her in the miracle blanket, but here is one of her swaddled in a recieving blanket when she was just a couple weeks old.

17. Outdoor Swing - This is a favorite and hopefully it will last for a lot longer. It is great to have on those days that we can't make it to the park. The best thing is I found this swing brand new at a garage sale for $8 bucks!

18. A walker - this is our latest toy that we have gotten a lot of use out of. Grace will tear through the entire house now pushing this toy! She is so happy to be walking... if we can only get to her to take her first independent step!

19. Kangaroo Climber - She loves this thing... plus its been fun to have in the house. Once the weather is a bit warmer we will be moving outside!

20. Hylands Teething Tablets - These are non-medicated and Grace eats them like they are candy! When in doubt... teeting tablets! :)