Blessing Day

We blessed Grace today. It was a beautiful day. We had a whole slew of family and friends join us and somehow managed to stuff everyone in our house for a wonderful lunch afterwards. I was overwhelmed with how grateful I am for all the loving wonderful people in my life. Grants parents were able to come to town as well as his sister Brook and her family from Oklahoma. Grace was the star of the show and looked absolutely beautiful. I think all the people around were a lot for her to handle so we took a 3 hour nap together today. She rarely sleeps that long and it was heavenly. I feel so happy tonight. One of those nights where you sit down and feel absolutely fulfilled. We had a fun, family packed day that was surprisingly relaxing. We "christened" our house with our first big get together and I've now realized I love having a full, loud, people filled house even if its messy and crazy (I guess that means we need to fill it up with lots of kids). We fed around 40 people, and now the house is clean, the baby is sleeping, and Grant and I are sitting down watching a movie. Ah, it's the little things in life. Another moment I don't want to forget, a moment where I feel perfectly content and so blessed with the life I get to live.

I love my little family. 

2 Month Dance Party

A few weeks ago this little lady hit 2 months. Wow. Fast. Where did my newborn go? She is getting a personality on her. A social butterfly mixed with a little sass a little sweet and a lot of spunk and you get Grace.

Loves:
Mom and dad
Being talked to
Watching mom get ready
Baths
Food
The monkey on her bouncy chair
Music
Ceiling Fans (still)
Her cousins
Her hands and feet
Chewing on her hands
Chewing on her tongue
Mom's hair
Walks
Being held facing out
People
Cuddling
Bouncing
Skyping

Hates:
Not being able to see people so...
The car... ugh the car. Cue the screaming baby.
The first few minutes of being put to sleep for naps
Getting out of the bath
Loud noises
Spitting up. Hopefully she outgrows the reflux soon.
Shots. Duh.


She is so fun these days. Just last night she slept from 8:30-5:30 with one little wake up at 2:30 that a little binky loving was all she needed. She's starting to nap on her own for around 30 min to an hour, and to top it all of she's put herself on a schedule to eat her total daily amount during the daytime hours because she wants to sleep at night. Really though she started taking 4-5 oz every 3 hours and since then has slept SO much better at night. Thanks baby. She's still spitting up a ton and the medicine the dr. prescribed didn't do much so we took her off it. She's starting to make different sounds than just her normal ooh's and ahh's and we LOVE it. Babies rock.

Some most days you just need a dance party. 

Her stats:

Weight- 10lbs 2 oz (50%)

Height-22 1/4 (50%)

Head- 16 (90%) ya that's right my baby has a big brain :) 

PYT

Here is our pretty young thing...

Starting to reach for mom.

Sunday

 Double chin

She really is so fun these days. The minute she sees Grant or my face she gives us a grin. She LOVES the bouncy chair the Sherrils gave us... and so do I! She's starting to become a water baby! She kicks the water in the bath and smiles so big. She just moved up to size 1 diapers and is almost too big for her newborn clothes. The other night Grant was so happy that she isn't so fragile! Keep on growing Gracie Lou!!

Smiles

Needless to say we had a good night. 

Graces Faces

Clever eh?

Our little one makes the cutest faces, I'm sure all moms say that. One day I carried the camera around with me just trying to capture them. I also attempted some newborn pictures. I picked her squirmiest time so I didn't get a lot.

My absolute favorite face. Her sleeping smiles.

So bright eyed.

Don't mess with her sleep.

Baby feet are the best.

3 Weeks

I honestly can't believe we've had Grace for 3 weeks. She is almost a month! It has truly been the fastest 3 weeks of my life. I guess I'm starting to understand when parents say enjoy every moment because time flies and before you know it your kids are all grown up.

Grace is the best, biggest, most wonderful blessing in our lives. She has brought so much happiness. Even the late night feedings bring a smile to my face. She has the biggest, most alert, inquisitive baby blue eyes.

She loves:

Ceiling fans

Windows

Our headboard

Grant and I's faces

Sleeping on your chest

Cuddling in anyway

Getting her hair washed

Bouncing

She hates:

Her cherry medicine we have to give her for her thrush.

When she can't get milk out

Wet wipes

Baths (except the hair washing part)

Baby:

Overall she really is so happy. She hardly ever cries, sometimes she doesn't even cry when I have to give her her nasty medicine. She grunts a lot. In the middle of the night when she's hungry she doesn't even wake up crying, she just grunts a little. She usually gives me one 4 hour stretch at night from one feeding to her next feeding. She burps like a champ, sometimes while she's eating. Her neck is ticklish. She has A LOT of extra skin to grow into, rolls of skin actually. She is REALLY hard to wake up when I need to feed her, however when I want to go to bed she wakes up the minute I put her in her bed. Funny how that works. I don't mind I just cuddle her on my chest and she sleeps just fine.

Mommy:

Overall I'm really so happy. I probably cry more then baby, but I'm crying less and less. Those first couple days after she was born were a real tear jerker. I'm constantly amazed how good I feel everyday after only 3 or 4 hours of sleep a night. I seriously struggle putting her down, I LOVE holding her. The first few weeks I had no appetite, but this week it's come back in full force. I feel mostly healed. Currently I'm working on finding the balance between constantly feeding (or milking), still working in the office, taking care of myself, and giving time and attention to Grant. Notice I didn't mention keeping up with house stuff. I figured that priority had to go for a little while.

Daddy:

Loves giving Grace kisses. Loves tickling Grace. Is probably ready for Mom to stop crying all the time. Is taking on a lot of extra work in the office and still selling every night. Has our yard looking tip top. Can sleep through me pumping, feeding, and changing Grace at night with the light on (the Romney's and their amazing heavy sleeping skills). Does any thing Mom asks of him. Is grossed out by Baby's spit up. Is a champ at burping baby.

2 Weeks

I officially have over 50 photos of Grace on my phone, 10 videos, and probably another 50 on my camera. I now understand the obsession and how every coo, face, and grunt are the most amazing, adorable little thing in the world! We've had some ups and downs with our little Gracie. She lost weight in the hospital and wasn't latching on right, but then we thought we figured it out. She hadn't lost anymore weight at her 2 day appt so we thought we were home free. Then at her 2 week appt she lost another 5 oz. The doctor seemed pretty worried so she had us start supplementing with formula. It turns out I've been nursing her too long because she's not getting the milk out fast enough so by the time she's finished she's born more calories then she's consumed. The drill now is only nurse for 15 min max on each side and then give her 2 oz of formula and have her drink as much as possible. When we first started on Friday she was taking almost all 2 oz each time, but today she only took .5 oz. I'm hoping that means we're slowly learning how to nurse. I'll be honest I didn't expect nursing to be so difficult. Its not painful, it's just a constant stress. At first I felt so guilty about the formula, but Grace has been so happy since we started. She's more alert, sleeps better, and cries less. All I want for her is to be healthy and strong and I will do whatever I need to make sure of that! Here are some pictures of our little cutie.

Obsessing over our Gracie.

A regular occurrence after a nursing session, sleeping right through her diaper change.

She loves getting her hair washed just like her mom.

Another regular occurrence. This kid gets so many kisses it's crazy.