Grace is 4 Months Old Today!

Today is Grace's 4-month birthday! We celebrated her birthday with a visit to the doctor for her well-check and immunizations. What a birthday gift!

She now weighs 14 pounds, 6 ounces and is 25 inches long! Grace sure is growing :-) She got four immunizations today - one administered orally and the other three were shots. Boo!! My Mom and I accompanied Grace, and both made it through without too many tears. Grace, on the other hand, screamed at the top of her lungs during her shots and had real tears. Talk about heartbreaking :-(

It's been a busy week with some long days at work. It's been absolutely wonderful having my Mom here the last two weeks to watch Grace. I know Grace has enjoyed every second with her Nana. We've had some really special times, the three girls, and I'll always remember these days.

On Monday, Grace will begin day care, and we're certainly not looking forward to it. We've delayed the inevitable as long as we could, and the time is almost here. I know that dropping her off that first day will be the hardest thing I've done so far in my four months as a parent. I get teary just thinking about it.

Grace's New View

I've mentioned many times before how much Grace loves "tummy time." She has so much fun kicking her legs and moving her arms around, making the early motions of crawling. In the last week, she's really started to push herself up so she can look around. She digs this new view...her eyes open wide and she looks back and forth, taking it all in. The pic to the right is from earlier today, when we were having a staring contest :-)

Grace and I spent Thursday and Friday nights in Waco at her Nana and Pop-Pop's house. I had to be in Waco for work yesterday, and Grace wanted to come along to have a sleepover at her grandparents' house. She, of course, had a blast! Now we're back home, and Grace has had a fun evening of playing with our friends who came over for a BBQ. It's been a good weekend so far :-)

Grace's Full Body Smiles!

Over the last few weeks, we have become fascinated by Grace's "full body smiles." These smiles happen most often in the morning, but can come at any time. Grace doesn't just smile with her mouth; literally, she smiles with her whole body! Her entire face lights up; she waves her arms; she kicks her legs! Sometimes she even lets out a happy squeal :-) If you're holding her when she smiles, she'll almost jump out of your arms!

Grace lights up our life so much! There's nothing quite like her beautiful smile :-)

Grace said MOM!!!

Tonight my Mom and I were hanging out with Grace. Martin was out for the evening, and the three girls were having an evening at home. I was holding Grace in her favorite position, supporting her so she could stand up. All evening Grace had been in a great mood -- smiling a lot, making all kinds of noises, and moving around non-stop. Then Grace looked away and suddenly said a very clear, "Mom." My Mom and I couldn't believe our ears! We were beside ourselves with excitement. We proceeded to call Martin, my Dad, and my brother, Billy, right away to tell them the news! What a night :-)

Three, Three, Three

Today Grace is all threes (or as Martin says, "trees")...Three months, three weeks, and three days old! My sister-in-law pointed that out to me, and I thought it was fun :-)

Grace had a good day with her Nana yesterday, and last night I tried to catch up on lost time with her. Remember, I didn't see her from Sunday at 6 PM until Monday morning at 12:30 AM. Then yesterday I was at work all day, so I was anxious for quality time with her by the time I arrived home. We had lots of play time and took a long walk. Grace is very close to rolling over from her back to her tummy. She's getting about half way over and seems content to lay on her side. She's not as interested in rolling over from her tummy to her back because she loves her "tummy time" so much. On her tummy, she kicks her legs and moves her arms around like crazy and seems to be dreaming of the day when she will crawl. Grace is so cool!

A Night Without Our Girl

Last night Grace stayed with her Nana and Pop-Pop, her first night away from her Mommy and Daddy. It was very strange in our house last night; the most important person in our lives wasn't home, and we missed her terribly. Grace was born less than four months ago, yet it's already hard to remember what our lives were like before she arrived.

Nana will be bringing Grace home tonight, and she'll be watching her for the next two weeks at our house. I'm back to work full-time now, and I am hating being away from my sweet girl. It's even harder than I expected it to be. I'll be counting down the hours everyday 'til I can be home with Grace and Martin. Let today's countdown begin...I'm off to work.

Happy Birthday, Pop-Pop!

Today is Grace's Pop-Pop's birthday, and she has something to say:

eoathohnaetne

That was from Grace! It means "Happy Birthday, Pop-Pop! I can't wait to see you tomorrow to celebrate your birthday :-) You are so great, and you really do have the magic touch*. I can't wait to show you all my new tricks tomorrow. I will give you lots of smiles and some giggles to make your day!"

*The magic touch has become a well known phenomenon in our house. My Dad, Grace's Pop-Pop, definitely has a way with Grace. He can always get her to calm down if she's fussy, and she is always happy to show him her beautiful smile. Just like I've always been a Daddy's girl, Grace is already a Pop-Pop's girl!

On This Day

To My Dear Daughter,

You will grow up reading in your history books about the tragedy that took place on September 11, 2001. When I was growing up, I read about the bombing of Pearl Harbor, which my grandparents remember, and about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which my parents remember (even though they were kids when it happened). All of these events had a lasting impact and altered the course of history.

I remember vividly the events of 9/11/01, a day that changed so much in the United States and around the world, a day when we witnessed unspeakable grief, a day I, and millions of others, will never forget. I lived in Austin at the time, was working for a software company, and was 22 years old. I was home sick from work that day, and I was glued to my TV all day as the horror unfolded. It was one of the most terrifying days I've ever experienced.

So I say to you today that we live in a broken world. There is much pain. There are events and tragedies we will never be able to understand. There are people who do horrible things and who carry hate with them wherever they go. But I never want you to live in fear or focus on any of this. Rather, I want you to see the world as your Dad and I see it - a world of hope, a world of possibilities, a world where love truly does prevail. We want you to always look for the best in people, to be optimistic, and to choose to be happy. Most importantly, we want you to have faith that God will provide for your needs and that He will walk with you throughout your life.

Your Daddy and I love you, Grace, and we always will. We are here for you - to help you learn about the world and to teach you right from wrong. We will try our best to never let you down, using the example our parents have set for us as a guide. No matter what happens or where your life takes you, our love will follow.

With All My Love,
Mommy

You'll Never Guess...

...how much Grace weighs now! Martin took her to the doctor today. She has a cold, and we wanted to get her checked out to make sure it was nothing more serious. It wasn't, just a cold that needs to run its course. Grace was weighed at the doctor's office, as she is every time she visits. Remember that she weighed 11 pounds, 2 ounces at her 2 month visit. Now she is 3.5 months old and weighs just over 14 pounds. Our little girl isn't so little! She is growing up so fast :-)

Martin got to spend the last two days with Grace. He had the days off before starting his new job tomorrow, and it was wonderful for him to have that time with Grace. I am back at work now and am slowly getting into the swing of things as a working Mom. It's a challenge, but I'm doing the best I can to juggle it all. The best thing in the world is having an awesome husband and sweet little girl to come home to every night!

The Appropriate Response

Today was the first Sunday of the pro football season, and Grace experienced her first regular season Philadelphia Eagles game. They played the Green Bay Packers. Grace was dressed in her Eagles cheerleading uniform, which was passed down from her cousin Maddie who lives in Pennsylvania. She looked absolutely adorable! We took tons of pictures of her, which you can check out on our photo page.

The game didn't go too well for the Eagles, and we lost. Not a good way to start our season, but such is life. We, of course, were disappointed about the loss, but not as much as our sweet Grace. She responded by pooping through her diaper and onto her Eagles onesie and cheerleading uniform. It seems Grace will take after her Uncle Billy and take the Eagles' losses particularly hard. I thought the poop was the appropriate response after the Eagles performance today, and apparently so did Grace. You go girl!

Grace's Impressive Streak

For the last week, Grace has quite a streak going. If you don't have kids, brace yourself. I'm about to talk poop. If you do have kids, I'm sure you can relate to the fact that poop is now a daily discussion in our life, even at the dinner table. Grace has pooped through at least one outfit a day for the last week; some days it's two outfits! This is some serious poop! Needless to say, I'm doing a lot of baby laundry!

One of the many cool things about Grace is that poop really doesn't faze her. In fact, she's usually pretty darn proud of herself when she does a "doozie of a twosie." She flashes us some of her best smiles when we're changing her nastiness :-) And years from now, Grace will read this blog in horror, realizing that everyone knew about her bowel movements! Maybe I'll share this particular blog with her first boyfriend ;-)

YAY - It's Morning!

Grace absolutely LOVES the mornings! She begins every morning with a big smile, an adorable little squeal, and kicking her arms and legs like crazy, as if to say, "YAY - It's Morning!" Waking up to her sweet smile makes every morning wonderful and puts me in the right frame of mind to face the day.

Grace reminds me daily that my life couldn't be better -- I have the most fantastic family, complete with an awesome husband and an amazing daughter, good friends, and a job I love. Our family is blessed with the greatest extended family we could ever hope for and friends who have been with us through good times and bad.

So I share Grace's morning contentment all day long...life is good!

Delicious Hand

Grace has recently started to eat her hand. No thumb sucking for Grace so far...she likes to get as much of her hand in her little mouth as possible. She's still not a huge fun of the pacifier. Her hand is her favorite thing to munch on these days. So my job is to keep those little hands clean. I'm in awe of how dirty they can get, and I can already imagine how much dirtier they'll be when she's crawling and walking!