Look who's ONE!

My dear Gracelyn turned ONE this week!

Word cannot express how very happy I am that she is in my life. I am so lucky to have her as my daughter. I love you Gracelyn!

Gracie turns 11 months

Gracie is already 11 months old...turning 1 in a few short days... She is growing so fast. She is so close to walking...She can take a few steps by herself but then gets scared and sits down. She climbs the stairs any chance she gets. She can say mama and dada....and repeat sounds.

Main highlights of this month include her first Easter, her first really bad injury, and her first tumble down the stairs.....yeah the bad injury is not the tumble down the stairs! Her right index finger was crushed and split open. Big sister accidentally slammed the door on her finger and it was horrible. Blood everywhere! I debated on whether I should take her to urgent care and decided at the time that it was ok....but looking back now.....I think I should have taken her. It looks like it could have needed stitches. I have worried about it for over 2 weeks and I think if I had taken her to the doctor that day....I would have saved myself from all that worrying.....instead I saved 100 dollars from not going to the urgent care.....now that I look back...I would gladly pay! Her finger does look better but is still black and blue and swollen. Her nail looks like it could fall off. Yeah I know! Horrible!

While I was busy dying Easter eggs with the older kids, Gracie crawled to the stairs, climbed the stairs, and then fell down the stairs. I heard a boom, boom pow.....AAAHHHH! boom boom..AAAAH! I ran to her rescue...she was scared mostly....thank God she was not hurt! I swear, this child will be lucky to survive her first year! During her first year she has also fallen off the changing table and the bed! Poor thing...I hope she can add and subtract when she gets older! Thank goodness all areas were carpeted.

loving her bottle....

looking outside watching Jacob and Allie play...

playing with her friend Michael

Easter dress

climbing stairs...

just watchin a little cinderella

my two little princesses

Grace turns 10 months old!

My baby is growing up too fast.

She has two bottom teeth and two top teeth coming in...

She loves to feed herself.

She nurses sporadically.

She still hates her crib.

She loves to do what Maddie does.

She laughs at her older siblings.

She loves to play. She loves to play with pens and pencils. Obviously I dont let her play with them. She gets really mad when I take them away!

She has had an ear infection for over a month.

She has learned how to arch her back and head butt you. Really nice.

She loves to roam around the house. and pick things up and chew on them. I caught her chewing one of my flip flops the other day! ewww!

She likes to press buttons on this computer.

She's still not sleeping through the night.

She loves to hold my hand...

and I love to hold hers...

Don't grow up too fast okay, Grace?

Love,

Mommy

Gracie turns 9 months old

Oh my Gracie, what can I say about my baby? Hmmmm.....that I LOOOOVE her so much it hurts? That she is the cutest baby on the planet? That her smile melts my heart...

She is 9 months old and crawling, pulling herself up, standing and cruising along furniture. She is 16 pounds 10 oz now...making her only 14th percentile in weight. She is a petite little thing. Her smile is contagious.

She hates her crib.....HATES it.

She loves her bottle....maybe even more than Mommy....: (

We are still nursing maybe twice a day....but she gets frustrated easily because I have such a short supply of milk.....I am drying up....partly because I work all the time and I had the flu a few weeks ago. The flu did me in. And dried my milk up. I don't pump anymore, which I have to say I am relieved about. I hated pumping. So yeah, my baby does get formula. That stuff is expensive! I have decided that I am buying the Sams club brand from now on. Only $20 for 3 lbs. It makes 89 bottles of milk....and she doesn't seem to mind it.



She is not really a laid back kind of gal.....she is more high maintenance than the others were... the girl knows how to get pissed.....

She does not sleep through the night yet....I mentioned it to the pedi and she recommended reading "Solving your Child's Sleep Problems" by Dr. Richard Ferber. I don't know...right now
I just give her the boob and we are both happy...


She finally decided that she would start eating baby food and solids. She hates rice cereal...

She is on her second ear infection of the year. Poor baby doesn't feel too well. Her body hates the antibiotics. It gives her major diarrhea and then in turn a major diaper rash. I mean her butt looks pretty yeasty right now.....the poor thing.

Happy 9 months baby girl!

Week 2 (an almost disappointment)

So, I weighed myself on Monday and the scale said I didn't lose any weight. I was BUMMED. I had a pretty good week. I definitely had challenges. I attended two parties. For me party = food. I planned my strategy all week. I was going to save all of my extra points and I was going to increase my exercise time, and I was going to fill up on veggies and fruit at the party. I actually followed the plan pretty well. I might have gone over points at the party. I did have few glasses of wine. The next day we went to my nieces birthday party. I had a low point breakfast and lunch. But, there just wasn't enough points. I didn't even eat cake or ice cream. The scale said I actually gained a half of a pound. I was soooo totally upset. I had a great 5 days. Then I started that downward spiral in my head. I felt defeated. I felt like a failure and what is the point in all this anyway! I hate dieting!

I decided to get on the scale again this morning....and....I lost a pound. I think I must have been carrying around some extra water weight. Maybe from all the sodium from the last two days. Needless to say, I am counting that pound as my loss for this week and it made me realize that I am not going to give up. I know the scale is not going to make me happy every week, and I need to remember that. I also need to remember that this is not going to happen overnight. Life does happen.

This week is even going to be more challenging. Three parties this weekend! Eating, eating, drinking, and more eating is what is scheduled. A pj party with the girls involving chocolate and cheese fondue, a 40th birthday bash with a party van involved, and a welcome baby party is what is in store for me this weekend. I have already started planning. I have been exercising and saving points. Planning is key! I don't know if I will be able to count points on Friday and Saturday nights, but I will get right back into it. I will not give up!

Here is a pretty pic of my baby girl! She is going to be 8 months old in a few short days. I love you Gracie!

play time

I love how Gracie is watching Maddie ..... and how just minutes before Maddie placed all these toys out for Gracie to play with....just melts my heart.

four, five, and six

Where do I begin? I have so much to catch up on! Gracie has been growing like a weed and I am trying to keep up. Here she is at around 4 months old! Rocking the Buckeye wear.

Gracie at 5 months old...

Baptismal day with big sister and cousin Ryan

All three of my girls have worn this gown for Baptism...I hope some day, one of their girls can wear it.

Here she is sitting up like a big girl!

We went to the doctor today for her 6 month well baby check up. She is weighing in at 15 pounds and 9 oz. which puts her at the 43rd percentile and she is 26 inches long which places her in the 61st percentile.

Gracelyn is a bundle of joy! But she can be quite the drama queen at times....only happy when she is held by someone who is standing up....YES you have to stand up or else she will cry. Spoiled.. She does not sleep through the night yet....maybe one day....I can only hope! She refuses to eat solids! FLAT OUT REFUSES! She closes her mouth tight and swats at the spoon and makes a big mess everywhere. She just started sitting up on her own for a couple of weeks now...getting ready to make that move to start crawling. Not sure if I am ready for that yet. We are still nursing which we are both loving. Her nickname is Gracie Poo.

These past few months have been uneventful....except maybe for the day she fell off the changing table! That was a little scary.....but she was fine...just cried it out for a few minutes....no brain damage!

Life around here has been pretty hectic....cant seem to catch up with housework and organization which is making me grouchy. As long as I can keep up with pictures, I think I might be able to survive this time in my life with 2 kids in diapers and 2 kids in grade school...

we shall see.

Happy half year Gracie Poo!

Gracie @ 2 months

My Gracie Jade is 2 months old already. I love her beautiful smile....the dimple is just gorgeous!

It is crazy to me that she can already sit in this bumbo seat. Not long ago Maddie was just sitting in it. Her 2 month check up at the doctor went great. She is now 11 pounds 10 oz! She has gained 5 pounds since I brought her home from the hospital.....it's no wonder because she nurses ALL THE TIME! but I don't mind.....these moments will not last forever......and I know that I just need to let things go......like the dishes and the laundry....I can do those things later....

Gracelyn Jade

2 months old

11 pounds 10 oz. 73rd percentile

22 1/2 in. long 59th percentile

and here is a cute pic of the girls...I couldn't resist putting this one up......

Allie, Gracie, and Maddie

Smile

Gracie is starting to smile on a regular basis! She just melts my heart.

1 month

My Gracie Jade is 1 month old already. That means I only have 2 more weeks of maternity leave and then I am back to working full time night shift at the hospital. This time has flown by. I can't believe I will be going back to work so soon. I wonder how the laundry will ever get done.

I had been calling my gorgeous baby Amazing Grace......and now many times I call her Grouchy Grace. She won't let me do much around the house. She wants to be held! all. the. time. She is quite happy and content when someone holds her....put her down and in 10 minutes flat she is wailing. At least I can empty the dishwasher and go to the bathroom in 10 minutes!

Today I haven't even brushed my teeth yet...and it is 6pm.....I figure I might as well wait until bedtime now! Life in this household is still pretty busy. I am trying to pump in my "spare time" so that I will have a stash of breast milk to give her while I am gone. I am still not getting into a groove with that. It is such a hassle. So far I have a whopping 14 oz frozen....and like I said in a previous post....if she would breast feed every 1-2 hours maybe I would have more milk to pump!

At one month old:

She has a touch of baby acne or newborn rash...
and Ervin has said she doesn't look like an alien anymore...
and she is starting to really fit into her 0-3 month clothes...
and her eyes are open more...

2 weeks

Gracie has been here for 2 whole weeks now. Life has changed in so many ways....and I am so thankful for my baby.....

3 hours and 20 mins...

Yup, 3 hours and 20 mins....that is how long my labor was! Can you even believe that?

If you guessed...here is the birth story for my little Gracie Jade.

It was 3 am.....and Allie had just crawled in the bed with us. She woke up in the middle of the night...in usual fashion...to get her cuddle on. But...as soon as she woke me up I started having contractions. These contractions were not painful at all....but they were regular. I then started to have to go to the bathroom like every 10 minutes.....and then the contractions did get a little stronger. By 4 am I wake Ervin to let him know that I might be in labor. I tell him to start writing down every time I have a contraction.

The contractions were about 4-9 minutes apart and Ervin is urging me to go to the hospital.

I am not ready for that yet! The contractions are still far apart! My water did not break. No bloody show. I am still in early labor. I am not going to show up at the hospital and then be sent home! How embarrassing would that be! I am a labor and delivery nurse!

An hour goes by...the contractions are 4-5 minutes a part and stronger. I decide to call work and see what they are up to. My friend Sarah answers the phone.....are you guys busy I ask.....not too busy she says.....are you in labor? I don't know? Maybe!!! I think! I tell her I may or may not be in... I call my doctor 20 minutes later because my contractions are getting worse. I am ok in between them...but when one comes I am really breathing through them. I tell my doctor I am having contractions and he advises me to go to the hospital. He is already awake but at another hospital with another patient.

By the time we get all our stuff together and the kids ready and in the van my contractions have doubled in intensity. Ervin starts the van and says.......uh oh.......we are out of gas....." are you f-ing kidding me!" Why oh why I didn't have gas in the van is beyond me! That was stupid!

We had to stop for gas! I did not want to be stranded on the side of the road, out of gas...in labor...and deliver on the highway! He puts just enough in to get us back on the road.

The van ride was HORRIBLE! Each contraction was pure hell! I made Ervin run all the red lights....and speed like crazy.

By the time we get to the hospital, the contractions are 2 minutes apart....and even more intense. I had 8 contractions from the garage to the labor room. By the time I get into the labor bed I am completely dilated. 10 cm! Thank God! My water breaks and I push the baby out. Ervin announces that it's a girl!

My doctor didn't make it. The on call doctor delivered her. I arrived at the hospital at 6:10 am and delivered her at 6:20 am.

The cool part about this delivery was that Jacob and Allie and Maddie were there. I wasn't planning on them being there...it just happened so fast...we didn't have time to drop them off anywhere. I had prepared them in advance that I was going to be in pain and that it was normal....and that I might be loud. Allie really really wanted to be there....and so I am happy that they both got to experience this birth.

AND.....the irony!

The on-call doctor that delivered me has made it clear that she is totally against VBACs.....and she happened to be on call....and deliver....a VBAC....

surviving week 1 post partum

Life has been just a little interesting the past few days. Exhaustion in addition to hormones makes mommy just a little emotional! I took Gracie to the doctor the other day and for no good reason I started crying....I mean bawling in front of the doctor! and then all the way home....and then again when I got home!

I am in much better spirits now. Breastfeeding has been going great this time around. Gracie is a champion breast feeder! I finally have a baby that knows exactly how it is supposed to be done! It is great! This time around I have no stress about how many dirty and wet diapers she has had, how long it has been since the last feeding, if she is getting enough....if she is gaining weight.... When we left the hospital Gracie weighed 6 pounds 10 oz. down from her birth weight of 7 lb 6oz. and when we went to the doctor she had already gained 4 oz back. She eats every 2 hours...which is fine with me....I mostly breastfeed her in the side lying position so we can both get some rest. The only thing with Gracie is that she does not like to be alone....she does not like the bassinet.....she likes to be right next to me......ALWAYS! But I am not complaining...I guess I should just enjoy it while it lasts! Before I know it she will be all grown up!

Maddie has been outstanding with Gracie! She LOVES her! I am so so so so happy about that! She loves to kiss her and is very concerned when she cries. She wants to hold the baby and take care of her. Jacob and Allie also love the new baby. They have been great with her as well. They both fight over who gets to hold her first.

I will have to post the delivery details soon..... in the meantime.....here is some love...

She's Here!

Gracelyn Jade was born @ 6:20 am today! We are doing great!