Grace's 9 Month Check-Up

Today Grace had her 9 month well check. She weighs a healthy twenty pounds and is twenty-seven inches long. She's a big girl! Once again Grace thoroughly enjoyed the paper on the exam table. In fact, I took a short video of her playing with it. You can find it on our YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/amberfogarty2005

I also took a few adorable pictures of her today. One day maybe I'll take the time to count how many pictures have been taken of Grace so far. It's an obnoxious number. And now that I have a new camera, I'm even more out of control :-) Hehe.

Back to her MD appointment this morning -- the pediatrician says Grace is a healthy little girl. However, she thinks she has allergies and told us to try an over-the-counter allergy medicine once a day to see if that helps with her congestion. This morning Grace started to tug at her right ear, and the doctor confirmed that an ear infection is just beginning. Poor baby! That's all I have to report :-) Bye for now!

9 Months Have Gone By...

Today marks Grace's ninth month of life! WOW! Grace has now been in the world longer than she was in my tummy (remember that she made her grand entrance after just eight months!).

But I'm missing her tonight as I type this blog from a hotel room in Houston. I'm on the road for work, wishing I was home. I got to spend a couple of hours with Grace this morning before I got on the road, and we had a lot of fun playing peek-a-boo and giggling together. The hardest thing about my job is having to spend time away from Grace and Martin. It's something I really struggle with since I'm typically away at least one or two nights a month for work. I realize, however, that I'm blessed to have a job I love and to work for an organization that is so supportive of me and my family.

A message to my sweet baby girl before I call it a night...It's indescribable how much joy you bring to my life. Being your Mom is simply the best! I love you through and through!

Grace loves mug of scald!

Anyone who has spent any time at our house knows how much Martin loves his "mug of scald," a.k.a. hot tea :-) It seems that Grace shares his love for mug of scald. Enjoy!

Grace starts home care

Grace's day care days are over for now. We've had a lot of ups and downs with Grace's day care and have been looking for other options for over a month. We had a great experience with the day care the first three months, but things have gone downhill since the beginning of the year. So we decided not to send Grace back to that day care center. I have mixed emotions about it because I really will miss the other kids and their parents. These adorable kiddos are Grace's very first friends, and I've gotten to be friends with many of the parents. I hope to stay in touch and am giving serious thought to starting a play group. But I digress...today Grace spent her first day with a wonderful stay-at-home Mom who lives close to us. She has a sweet 2-year old girl, and we're excited about this new arrangement. Grace will have a short commute now and will get one-on-one attention and lots of love. We're thrilled!

I will definitely miss visiting Grace at lunchtime, which I was able to do almost everyday when she was at the day care center. But at least now my mind will be more at ease, and I won't worry quite as much. I must say that I'll always worry. In my almost nine months as a Mom, I find that there are two constant emotions --- unconditional love and worry! I just want to do what's best for Grace, and I want to know that she's safe and happy everyday while I'm at work. I'm hopeful that this new situation will be a positive change for all of us.