David & Red

Just like Daddy

2012-02-09T20:43:00.001-05:00

This little outfit was one David wore when he was a baby for his formal portraits. Timothy had an AWFUL case of 1 month acne (it comes in the 1st month and is gone by the second...lets hope he is as lucky in his teenage years!) but I couldn't wait for fear he would be too big for it. Here are a few pictures of our sweet boy dressed up just like Daddy.

Papa didn't let many moments go by without snuggling his boy!

Timothy's 2nd Month

2012-02-09T03:18:00.012-05:00

So, miracles of all miracles! I got all the pictures from the last 5 months uploaded, sorted, and loaded onto blogger - woohoo! I even took advantage of all the walgreens sales recently and printed them too...will such wonders never cease?!? That means I can get on my 2012 "resolution" of updating my blog more often. I'm gonna do a series of catching you up posts, then HOPEFULLY I'll be able to keep up with this bad boy on a more regular basis.

Taking you all the way back to September 2011, here is a recap of Timothy's 2nd-ish month.

Let me remind you I had a c-section and we had assumed that would be the case so we had lined up help for the first 6 weeks. There is good and bad to having company for that long, but it was ultimately a blessing and we are grateful for family who could come and help me recover fully. Deborah, Erin & Grady flew in to meet Tim an stayed with us for a few days. I'll be honest, I was a little overwhelmed at the thought of adding 2 more kids to the mix, but as a veteran mom of 2, Deborah assured me it would be easier and it was! Grace had an absolutely BLAST with her cousins and Aunt Deborah got in lots and lots of new baby cuddles, as any Aunt should. :) While they were here, my stepdad came for a few days and took my Mom home and David's folks arrived for the start of their visit. After they left, we had one day solo before my Dad & stepmom arrived. On a whim, we decided to head back to WV with Dad & Linda when they went home so we could introduce Tim to his Great Grandma and the rest of our family in WV. Here are a few highlights from those few weeks of visits.

Grandad & Mimi with the kids

Erin, Grady & Grace

Snuggle time with Aunt Deborah

Not so sure about those kisses from Aunt Deborah

Grace & Erin coloring in the big book.

The kids with their Mama & Papa

My 2 miracles

Snuggles from Nanny!

Papa and his little Mountaineer. We get all my cousins' hand me downs so there is NO shortage of WVU gear. :)

Papa time

Snuggling with Papa is the best!

Mommy snuggle time, my favorite!

Papa's kisses, LOVE that face!

My dad with his 3 babies (including Casper, his cat)

Tim's Great Grandmother holding him for the first time!

Many a babe has slept in those capable, comfortable arms - snuggling with my dear Aunt Reta

Grace & Tim with their cousins Maggie & Truman and their Great Grandma

I Love You

2012-01-11T15:21:00.000-05:00

Within the last month Grace has started saying "I Love You". I mean, saying it loud and clear, unprompted and with intention. The first time she said "I Love You Momma" it just melted my heart. This morning she said it and then climbed into my lap to give me a big hug. I am sure blessed to be able to stay home with my little miracles and this new phase (while it brings with it even more discipline challenges) sure is sweet.

I owe lots of pictures and lots of updates, I may never catch up...but I'll try! David just about has our computer back up and running, so hopefully I can work on it soon. Until then, here are some pics of the kids on Christmas day.

Timothy's 1st Bath

2011-11-11T09:47:00.001-05:00

First let me say, happy 11/11/11!

My boy did NOT like baths for his first 2 months or so...Here are some pictures for you, they speak for themselves.

Our 1st Zoo Adventure

2011-11-10T15:26:00.001-05:00

I still owe lots of catch-up posts, but I had to share these photos from last weekend. Mama & Papa gave Gracie a membership to the zoo for her birthday/Christmas gift this year. We went for the first time on Nov 6, and we had a blast! It was a cool sunny day, perfect for an outdoor family adventure. Seeing Grace experience animals like that up close and personal was so much fun and Tim enjoyed the great outdoors, sleeping the entire time. Grace absolutely adores monkeys and elephants and I think she could have watched at the elephants all day. We explored about 1/3 of the zoo which was just about perfect for her and leaves more new animals to see for the next time. Here are a few pictures from our day...enjoy!

First stop - the Flamingos!

Timon in the flesh!

My little cub

Taking in the Silverbacks

Grace was scared of all the statues

Looking at the elephants (or "Ellas" as Grace calls them)

There's lots of room to run at the zoo.

My obsession with Bamboo continues, I love how it photographs.

This has to be one of my favorite pictures...

She had a wonderful time and we can't wait to go back!!

200th Post!

2011-11-10T10:31:00.002-05:00

I can't believe I have written 200 posts on this blog. It's been an adventure and I'm thrilled to have 2 little kiddos to be writing about in addition to David & I.

Anyway, here are a few photos from Timothy's first 3 weeks, he such a photogenic little guy!

Tiny Feet!

Baby's 1st Mohawk

Tiny Tim

Mimi, Grandad, Gracie & Timothy

Timothy's Birth

2011-11-09T15:30:00.000-05:00

The day Timothy arrived was wonderful. I was a anxious and terribly nervous about the IV and the Spinal, but I made it through and hearing Tim cry for the first time was amazing.

It was strange going in for scheduled c-section over an emergency one, I had no idea the operating table was SO small and how many people were actually in the room. Plus, since everything was so much slower, I got to "experience" Tim's birth more than Grace's which was amazing. When she pulled Tim out and Dr Hudson said he could call it, David said "It's a Boy!" with such gusto...he was so thrilled it was a boy. I was too, we were so excited that Grace was going to have a little brother.

When I held him for the first time, I was overwhelmed with joy, happiness and peace. He was such a stocky little guy and he was a natural nurser...my arms felt full having him in my embrace. It felt so right. Here are a few photos from our first few days together.

Daddy's all Ready!!

He's finally here!

Meeting for the first time, one of the most precious moments of my life!

Finally in Mommy's Arms

Mimi is so thrilled with her precious boy

Snuggling with MaMa

Uncle Chris & Aunt Carol stopped by for a few squeezes too.

Talking with my little man

Pastor Jim & Elizabeth came buy to meet Tim, to pray for him & our family.

Snuggling with Auntie Bethany

Dr Hudson with Timothy

I'm catching up on my blogging and will have more photos soon!!

I'm back! - with Family Portraits

2011-10-29T11:14:00.000-04:00

So, since Tim arrived I have simply not taken the time to even download the pictures we've taken off the cameras. Life with 2 kids has been wonderful, but busy for sure. Just keeping up with the countless loads of laundry, trying to get Grace to the playground and making time to just enjoy both of them has left little time for blogging. We are finally settling into a routine and Tim is consistently sleeping around a 5ish hour stretch each night so I'm feeling more normal.

Anyway, yesterday we had Grace's 2 year, Tim's 3 month, and our first family portraits taken by our favorite photographer - Key at Picture People Perimeter. Everyone wanted to see them so up they go! I even got all the pictures downloaded off the camera, so I'll try to get caught up in the next few weeks...no promises though. :) Family if you want any of these, let me know which numbers and which sizes. I'm going to try to place my order next weekend. Enjoy!

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First Family Portrait

Look for more pictures from Tim's first 3 months soon!

Big Sister Treat

2011-08-31T20:07:00.000-04:00

Now that Grace is a big sister, one of the special privileges she has is to watch a little TV. The show she is allowed to watch is the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. My mom introduced her to it while we were in the hospital and she LOVES it. One of her favorite things to do is to call Toodles. Every time she does it we all laugh hysterically, it is probably one of the cutest things I've ever seen. I finally got her doing it on video the other night...I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

It's a Boy!

2011-08-11T14:45:00.000-04:00

Our beautiful son, Timothy Edward Bilbo is here! He is perfect and we are already so head over heals in love with him. He arrived on August 2, 2011 at 8:52am via c-section. He was 9lbs, 9ozs and 20 1/2 inches long. We are so excited to have a little boy and Grace is a natural Big Sister. Thank you all for your prayers, he arrived exactly as the Lord planned and we are all doing well. I'll post more later, but for now here is a picture of our Timothy. I'll upload more when I get the photos downloaded off the camera.

38 Week Update

2011-07-22T15:30:00.000-04:00

We are full term! Woohoo! I can't believe how quickly time is flying. My mom arrives tomorrow and with her here 24/7 to be with Grace, we are really, really ready for this little bean to make his/her grand entrance. I am definitely feeling the end of this pregnancy, lots and lots of pressure, a little swelling (which is abnormal for me, but given the 100+ temps is normal) and my hips and back are slaughtered. That said, I'm still doing great and so is baby so overall we are happy here and ready to all be together!

My Doctor had a VBAC go bad 2 weeks ago so at my appointment last week she told me she wasn't going to let me go past my due date. I was pretty bummed, but I have to remember that all of this is in the hands of our Father and He has a perfect plan for our family and the birth of this baby. We are still REALLY hoping for our VBAC, but if not a c/section is planned for August 2 at 4pm. That means we are t-minus 11 days (or less) from finding out if we have a new son or daughter, a Phoebe or Phoebo (for all you Friends fans out there! :) and having him/her in our arms! That is exciting no matter how I spin it so I'm just focusing on that. I know the recovery from the c/s will be hard with Grace being so young, but we are grateful to have family that will surround us and help for the 8 week recovery period until I'm back to 100%.

So, that's the latest and greatest! We have been swamped this week so I haven't got my 38 week belly shots done yet, hopefully this weekend. We'll be keeping you all posted...thanks in advance for your prayers for a safe delivery for baby & I.

Family Pictures

2011-07-05T20:40:00.000-04:00

We went to the Picture People today and had a really nice family photo session - our first ever. Grace was a champ and did a really great job. She is really photogenic and LOVES having her picture taken...she did many of these poses all on her own! I loved almost all the pictures they took (a first for me) and we got an awesome deal on the disc so I can share them with you. Family, if you want me to order you pictures, just email me the name of the photo and the size(s) you want and I'll place an order this weekend.

Hope you enjoy all these sweet pictures of our girl!

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Grace's Nana & Papa are visiting and they graciously agreed to come along and help us corral her while we navigated through what could have been a very long shoot. We thought it would be cute to get a picture of the 3 of them - it turned out great!

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We also had them take a few maternity shots since the heat is going to prevent us from doing the big session outside like we had originally planned. I think these turned out cute. :)

Family photo - belly in view. :)

Grace kissing the baby

I made David do this one for me...I love the "kissy belly" shots. :)

I can hardly believe the next time we have our photos taken we'll be a family of 4!

KangaZoom

2011-07-01T21:19:00.009-04:00

A few weeks ago, we took Grace to KangaZoom - an inflatable jump place here in ATL. I had taken her with my mom a few months ago but I didn't feel comfortable climbing the tall slides preggo and carrying Grace, so we had to go back with Daddy to get to "do it all". We got a pass for her on groupon so it's dirt cheap and alot of fun, both Daddy & Daughter were worn out when we left!
Taking pictures in there was a nightmare, but I did get some good shots and others that I'll keep to preserve the memories despite the low photo quality. Grace really had a wonderful time with her Daddy and over the course of the morning she really started to enjoy the big slides. There's lots of pictures here, but I had to capture all the fun - enjoy!

First time down the big slides - not so sure about it...

Grace loves to run on the inflatables, then crash down

Going again, 2nd time's a charm right?

Still not sure...

Starting to get the hang of it

Racing Daddy down the little slides

Grace wins!

...but Daddy kept on going, too funny!

Head first, why not?!?

Now we're getting it!

Finally loving the big slides!

We can't wait to go back!

WV Trip & Family Reunion

2011-06-19T09:34:00.000-04:00

Memorial Day weekend we headed up to West Virginia for what will sadly be our only visit this year. Grace did fantastic in the car both ways and even took a nap on the way home during the day which never happens! We were grateful to see alot of my Grandma's side of the family for our family reunion while we were there and of course get to see more of my immediate family. We were thrilled to be out of the 95 degree heat of Atlanta and enjoying the mid 70s in WV and took advantage of it by going out for walks and to the playground every day! We stayed with my mom and Grace loved having all the attention of Grandma & Grandpa lavished on her 24/7. We spent some quality time with my Grandmother too which was wonderful. She'll be 90 next month and I treasure any and all time we get together. Grace loves her (and her cat Roxy!) and she had a great time with Great Grandma. It was really a wonderful visit.

Since it was such a short trip, Nana & Grandpa (who Grace currently calls Papa) were able to come up an join us for lunch and time playing at the playground. Grace had a blast and actually got to see all 3 sets of Grandparents in 3 days, a first since they were all here for her baptism a year ago. This playground is new and we spent well over an hour playing, which is alot for any little girl, especially when she has 4 adults to spoil her while she plays. She is really getting adventurous and is big enough now to climb up the stairs and go down the slides by herself, which she loves. She even did the see-saw with Daddy, a first as last time we put her on one she freaked out. It's so fun to see her grow up and become more confident and mature. I can't believe she's so big already! Here are a bunch of pictures I took at the playground, I couldn't decide which ones to post so I posted all my favorites...it's my blog deal with it. :)

In the tunnel - Grace LOVES tunnels!

On the See-Saw and loving it

She loves to go "Wee" and really enjoyed swinging with Daddy, Nana & Papa at various times throughout the day while Mommy took pictures.

Trying to climb UP the slide. We have been trying for months to deter this, but everyone else does it...we figure we should just let her and teach her how to get out of the way, lol

We spent Saturday out at Rock Lake at my Aunt & Uncle's cabin for the family reunion. It was a wonderful relaxing time with family and we had a great time. Grace, and her cousins Maggie & Truman, had alot of fun playing together on the playground and enjoying chasing the bubbles David made with Grace's new bubble wand. She loves her cousins and had a great time with them.

While we were there Grace got to go on her first boat ride - which she LOVED. She also got to swim in the lake with Daddy and she had a blast! The shallow water near shore was just her speed and she was splashing away having a wonderful time. It prompted us to find her a kiddie pool that we have bought but not yet had time to put up. We're hoping she'll learn to put her face in the water if it's shallow enough...the only task she hasn't mastered yet from her swimming lessons. I was so busy enjoying family that I didn't have my camera out much to capture the moments. I did get a few good ones though...

Grace & Truman

Grace & Grandad

Truman is too cute!

Grace loved Maggie's sunglasses

It was a really great trip. It's surreal to think the next time we head up there we will be a family of 4.

Sillyness

2011-06-18T11:17:00.003-04:00

This is Grace's new favorite face, it cracks me up every time she does it!

Mother's Day 2011

2011-06-17T09:15:00.001-04:00

I owe quite a few posts from May since the entire month went by in a blur. I'm gonna try to catch up now that I've loaded all the pictures onto the computer.
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For Mother's Day David surprised my by buying me climbing roses to go the trellises beside our garage. I've wanted them for a while, but we haven't had the money to buy them or the time to plant them so it just hasn't happened. I was thrilled when I found out his plans and this is the first cut of one of the 3 different rose bushes he picked out for me.

I can't wait until the shock from the transplant wears off and they start really climbing and blooming.

A Cat's Dilemma

2011-06-16T10:05:00.010-04:00

The other night we had roast for dinner. David got up to go do something and Scotty jumped in his chair. I could tell by his look that he was going to go for it so I grabbed the camera and while making a tripod out of my arms to make sure the camera stayed steady while I laughed hysterically I caught these pictures. I've posted what I can only assume is this progression of thought...

"I know I'm not supposed to eat people food and I know I'm not supposed to get on the table. Mom's watching me, do you think she'll notice if I just have a little?"

"I mean that looks REALLY tasty...surely she wouldn't notice if I just had a little nibble..."

"Ah to hell with it, I'm going in!"

"Oh man, this is going to be tasty!"

"Crap, she saw me and yelled. If I keep trying I know she'll pull out that blasted water bottle and squirt me. It's not worth all that. Oh well, no roast for me tonight..."

32 Weeks

2011-06-15T20:34:00.000-04:00

We'll actually be 33 weeks tomorrow, but it has been a CRAZY week and I'm just now getting these pictures loaded onto the computer. Things are going great with the baby and we couldn't be more thrilled. We had our ultrasound on Monday and the specialist gave us the all clear to stop having ultrasounds unless something else comes up - woohoo! We still may have to have one at 38/39 weeks to determine position, but this baby is placenta back instead of placenta front and I can often times feel the baby's position myself so I'm sure the Doctor could tell. He also said that he didn't see any reason to change my due date even though the baby is measuring big. Another blessing! He said all the organs looked beautiful, especially the heart which was also great to hear. We took Grace with us to the appointment and she cried most of the time. We couldn't really figure out why, but at least the next time she gets to see her little brother or sister it will be in person, without someone putting a scary wand over my belly.

Before I dive into baby pictures, I have to post a picture of my big girl. I found this super cute smocked dress at a consignment sale this spring and I couldn't wait to get her in it. She LOVED wearing it and didn't want to take it off all day. She was playing with Scotty after lunch (you can see the animal crackers in her hands) and she just looked so pretty I had to snap a few shots. I wish it hadn't been 95 degrees, I would have loved to do a mini shoot outside, perhaps another day. Anyway, here's my favorite...isn't she stunning? :)

Now onto the baby pictures. We didn't have a very long ultrasound this time since they were mainly taking measurements, but we did get a few good pictures of our little bean...

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Face & hands

Finally, here are some belly shots. When I look in the mirror, every single time, I say "whoa - that's a big belly." I don't remember thinking that with Grace, but I FEEL huge with this kid. I posted a picture of me at 32 weeks with Grace (in the red shirt below) for comparison, I am much, much bigger this time around. It's fine with me except that I've had to buy a few more pieces of clothing since I was probably this size when I delivered and I still have quite a few weeks to go. Oh well, it's all worth it and I can't wait to have the payoff of having my beautiful child in my arms!

5x7 Folded Card

2011-06-09T14:28:00.001-04:00

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29 Weeks

2011-06-02T12:31:00.000-04:00

Somehow I didn't publish this post 2 weeks ago, and we forgot to take 28 week belly shots. SO, I'll post 32 week belly shots with the photos from our next ultrasound in another week or so.

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Holy cow, and just like that we've finished our 1st week in our 3rd trimester! We can hardly believe that we are less than 3 months away from meeting this precious child. I am feeling the baby all the time with kicks so strong that it often takes my breath away...I LOVE it! Grace often comes up to me and pulls my shirt, looks at me and says "baby" and then hugs, kisses & tickles my tummy, it's really sweet. I think she can feel the baby kicking her when we I am giving her a bottle before nap & bedtime as the baby is always moving when big sister is laying beside him/her. I am really enjoying these last few weeks where the 3 of is are together in this way. It's almost surreal to think about having them both in my arms and to be able to hold them at the same time...I can't wait!

I finally feel "nested" now that we have the new dresser put together and all the gender neutral layette washed, folded and put away. The dresser is technically going to be Grace's when we move her into her big girl room around Christmas, but for now it has all the baby things in it and I am so excited. The dresser was a gift from Nana and my friend Bethany helped me put it together. Not that David wasn't willing to help, it just worked out that way. :) It was fun having Bethany help since I helped do her nursery when baby Tyler came early. I do have quite a bit of shopping we need to do for things we still need, but thankfully the list isn't too long since we did everything gender neutral with Grace. Ironically, most of what we need is for Grace, not the baby - I guess that's just the beginning of being baby #2, poor kid. :) We did get a new double stroller from Grandma and Grandpa is going to buy Grace's big girl bed so most of the really big stuff is taken care of.

We had our monthly ultrasound May 16 with the specialists we saw with Grace and we felt MUCH better after our appointment. The Doctors there actually come into the ultrasound room and look at the baby with us, they are very thorough which we appreciate. The baby is still measuring ahead, for which we are grateful. Here's hoping I get the chance to try for that VBAC. :) The baby was putting on quite a show for us, grabbing his/her feet and smiling at us. Everything looks great and we get to go back again at 32 weeks for another peek at our sweet one.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of our little bean at 28 1/2 weeks!

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Baby's Face, smiling!

Feet

Hands grabbing feet

Spoiled by Great Nana

2011-05-11T17:08:00.000-04:00

One of the advantages of having divorced parents is that Gracie has LOTS of grandparents and many of them are still living. My stepdad's mom is a beautiful quilt maker and she made Grace the most beautiful quilt in her bedroom colors (green, cream and purple). I can't wait to see it in her big girl room later this year. Grace was in love with it instantly and has really enjoyed playing on it. In addition, Great Nana also sent her a handmade Raggedy Ann doll and a little quilt for the doll. Grace loves, loves, loves them both. She often times wants me to lay out the little quilt so she can lay on it. We are really blessed to have such talented quilters in our family (my mom also makes beautiful stuff). I know Grace will treasure these things for years to come.

Family Time & Easter

2011-05-10T21:46:00.001-04:00

Grace's Nana & Grandpa came to visit on the April 14th and Nana stayed with us while Grandpa went on a golf trip the next week. We had a wonderful visit, as always, and even got to take in some of the sites with Nana. We headed to the World of Coke and had a great time. Nana got to explore a little more than we did, but we ALL enjoyed the tasting room. Afterwards, we headed over to Centennial Olympic Park to let Grace play on the playground. I was completely worn out from all the walking and having braxton hicks contractions, so I rested in the shade while Grace gave Nana a run for her money on the playground. It was a really fun day.

1st time having soda - Sprite and it was glorious! :)

Going down the slide and loving it!

We did our Easter celebration a little differently and I loved it. Next year we'll refine it even more to have ALL the non-Jesus related Easter stuff happening on Saturday so Sunday can just be about our Risen Lord. We also want to plan on doing Easter baskets after nap so the kids aren't hopped up on sugar all day. :) Grandpa didn't get home until Saturday night so we did wait this year until Sunday after nap to do Grace's Easter basket and the mini-Easter egg hunt. She didn't care about even opening the eggs, so we may not fill them and just do candy in their baskets, we'll have to see how it goes as they get older. Anyway, our friends the Dreher's joined us for dinner Saturday night and it was lovely. Here are a few pictures from our celebration:

All dressed up for church!

Family photo

With Nana & Grandpa - this was the only decent shot as she was more interested in Nana's bead bracelets than looking at the camera.

At this point, our little princess was PAST being done with the photos, the tears commenced shortly thereafter

Opening the easter basket - she loved the big eyed bunny & duck she from Nana

Bunny ears!

Hunting for Eggs - found one!

Just Refreshing

2011-04-28T15:58:00.014-04:00

On April 7 we went up to Pinehurst NC to visit my BFF Lacey and her family for a few days. It had been a year since we got up there, but with gas prices so high and it being a 6+ hour trip, it's just not an easy one to do no matter how much you want to do it. It is so refreshing to get to just be with someone you miss so much. I think the hubbys had a good time too and I know the kids did. Grace had so much fun enjoying the bigger kids, though compared to Jane Dare who is 10 weeks older, she is a little wimpy. I guess that's the difference between being the first baby and being the fourth, lol. Since we've been home though she has been much more adventurous. She has gone down a big twisty slide without hesitation and climbed up a "rock wall" type ladder up to a slide at my friend's place. She still isn't drinking milk out of a sippy despite watching Jane Dare do it all weekend, but it will come in time I guess, lol.

Ryan & Lacey have the PERFECT kid backyard. Swings and a slide, a huge sandpit and Grace's personal favorite - a HUGE trampoline. She loved, loved, loved the trampoline. She even did ok when the bigger kids were out with her. I was impressed. :)

She woke up with a fever Friday & Saturday nights and ended up sleeping with us for the first time since she was just weeks old. I couldn't believe it. I wasn't sure what was wrong as she was completely fine during the day, but when we got home she cut 2 molars so I'm guessing that was it. She has always had a fever when she is ready to cut teeth and these were by far the biggest.

I never make enough time to take pictures because we're having so much fun, but here's a few pictures from our together...

This was our first morning there and all 3 girls just randomly happened to be in pink monkey pjs, too cute!

Ainsley enjoying the fire place and Reid, being ALL boy, was climbing all over everything.

The girls had a blast watching David launch rockets

I think David enjoyed "jumping off" the big kids as much as the kids did - here he is with Jake in the background.

Look at those beautiful blue eyes! I can't believe how big my Jane Dare is!

At dinner one night Jane Dare and Grace were sharing with each other, it was very sweet.

It was a wonderful visit, I sure wish they lived closer! In the mean time I'm just grateful for the opportunity to just have a refreshing visit with 6 of my favorite people.

Major Mommy Fail

2011-04-26T09:41:00.000-04:00

So today was the BIG day. Grace has been talking about going pee pee and using the potty for a few weeks - she has even been saying "pee pee" and grabbing her diaper when she's wet. She is no where near being ready at night, but if she wants to try to give up the diapers during the day, I'm on board.

So, we got the potty in, Dad & Linda left yesterday, and we pulled up all the rugs in the basement last night and today was going to be our first official potty training day. I got her up and we went downstairs and I was prepared to spend our day with a naked 17 month old. Except I forgot her books, her cereal and her juice. I ran upstairs for less than 2 minutes to grab those 3 things and in that amount of time she peed twice and pooped once on the floor. The real kicker - I didn't find the poop until I moved the desk chair and rolled over it. Oh Joy. 20 minutes later I FINALLY got her, me, the floor and the wheels on the chair clean. I took her back upstairs, put her in a diaper and we are going to wait a day or 2 for mommy's sanity to return before we try again.

Hope you're day started off a little more dry than ours. I have Easter pictures including a recap of our time with Dad & Linda and our trip to NC from earlier this month coming soon, promise.

25 Weeks!

2011-04-23T08:55:00.001-04:00

I can hardly believe we are already 25 weeks into this pregnancy. I said to David the other day we have 15 more weeks to go and it kinda woke us both up. He has said it's funny that with Grace there was SO much to do before the baby came...classes, reading, painting, shopping, etc and this baby is just gonna come. I said we still had some prep work to do, but since we did everything gender neutral and we already have most of what we need there isn't much to do. Most of what we need to buy and what we need to do is more for Grace than for the baby, go figure. :)

It did encourage me to get moving though. When we cleaned out the attic a few months ago I had sorted out all the gender neutral newborn layette, bottles, burp cloths, etc. and put everything in a big bin in the closet. My stepmom generously offered to buy the dresser we need (which will eventually become Grace's but for now it will house all the baby's stuff) so we went to IKEA yesterday and bought it. Last night I pulled out that bin and started washing the clothes. Wow, it was so surreal to have this big belly and look at those tiny, tiny clothes that my sweet big girl used to fit in. It's getting exciting! Oh and speaking of big bellies...here I am at 25 weeks.

On Monday we had our follow up appointment with the perinatal specialists. They said everything looks great and even though the baby had rotated positions and was forward facing, we still didn't get any great pictures. I blame the tech this time, lol. We did get this cute profile picture of our precious bean...

Baby Bilbo 24 1/2 weeks

The Doctor said they did want to continue to monitor us monthly which we are more than fine with. It will be nice to get to see the baby a few more times in utero before he/she joins us in person. We have decided to switch practices and go back to the Specialists we saw with Grace. Their office is over by David's work so we can make midday appointments which should make it easier to get child care for Grace and David won't have to miss as much work. Plus we were generally in and out in less than an hour with them and these last 2 appointments have taken forever. We'll see if they agree we should continue to be seen monthly when we go in 3 weeks. We'll keep you posted!

Just Plain Cute

2011-04-05T13:08:00.000-04:00

Grace got this precious outfit from my friend Troy. Troy has the BEST taste in everything and I have loved Grace in this outfit for the last few months. We're coming to an end of our time in the 6-12 month footed apparel, so I had to get a few pictures of her in this one before she grows another inch and it won't fit anymore. With the AC broken, and it being almost 80 degrees in our house, Grace has slept in this super cool, short sleeve outfit the last 2 nights and today we're having an all day PJ day.

You may be wondering about the "You're Special" balloon in the pictures. Grace LOVES "boons" as she calls them. Her Nana bought her the coolest big Happy Birthday balloon for her birthday and it lasted for almost 4 months! Since it deflated she has been talking nonstop about balloons so when we went to Kroger the other day and they had this one non-occasion, likely to last balloon (with a slogan that just happens to apply to our sweet girl) I had to pick it up. I saved more than $2 using my coupons so I was ok with it, lol. Anyway, hope you enjoy these pictures I took this morning...

In Baby Bilbo news, we got to hear the heartbeat again last week and everything seems to be going great - Praise God! We will have another ultrasound on the 18th and hopefully by then our little bean will be turned upward or forward so they can get all the pictures they need and hopefully get us some good ones too!

20 Weeks!

2011-03-21T15:02:00.000-04:00

We were 20 weeks on St. Patrick's Day. David & I were both sick that night and Friday, so it was Sunday before we finally got some pictures. I can't believe it's been 20 weeks already and we are half way to meeting our new addition. I am feeling him/her move all the time and I love it...especially when I am holding Grace and I feel the baby move. Something about feeling Grace & this new precious life at the same time that just blows me away. The baby particularly moves when I'm giving Grace her bottle at night. I didn't feel too connected to the baby early in the pregnancy, but those days are over. I think I just needed the baby's movements to make the pregnancy "feel" real. :) Yesterday David was able to feel the baby move for the first time. As much as I love to feel the baby move, I equally LOVE to see Daddy's face as he rests his hand on my belly and feels his precious child for the first time...

Anyway, here are some belly shots we took yesterday.

For comparison purposes, here I am at 20 weeks with Grace.

Here is the baby at 20 weeks too! These are the pictures from the ultrasound last week. We didn't get a ton of great pictures because the baby still wasn't facing sideways or forward, but the tech got us a two really cute ones.

Baby smiled at us! :)

Oh and Happy St. Patrick's Day! Here's a flashback to last year and one of my favorite pictures of Grace & I.

All Is Well - Praise God!

2011-03-16T16:18:00.000-04:00

We had our appointment today and the baby is PERFECT! They like to see the fluid levels at a 2 or more and we were at a 4.6, the kidneys looked great, as did all the other organs. As soon as the tech told me the levels were fine I immediately relaxed. David joked that she could take my blood pressure again now and it would be lower. :) We got to see our precious bean and she got all the information she needed.

When we met with the Doctor he said he didn't see anything abnormal in any way or any reason for concern. They want us to come back in 4 weeks just to follow up, but he said everything looked great. We are still measuring a week ahead, and he confirmed that he didn't see any reason we couldn't try for our vbac, so we'll see how it goes!

Thank you all SO much for your thoughts and prayers. I am grateful for a Lord who loves me even when I worry and takes care of all He has made, including our precious baby. I am grateful for conservative doctors who would rather cause unnecessary alarm than assume everything is ok and it not be. While extremely difficult going through it, it's worth it. I am also grateful for my amazing, wonderful, adoring husband who loved me so well in the last 2 days (and always). I love you David, thank you for being my supporter, my best friend and my forever love.

Update

2011-03-15T14:50:00.000-04:00

I didn't sleep well last night so first thing this morning I called the perinatal specialists' office to see if they had any cancellations and could get us in any earlier. The nurse I talked to was WONDERFUL and totally understood that we would want to be seen ASAP, so she called around to a few other offices and found us an appointment for 1pm tomorrow (Wednesday) at their downtown location. I am thrilled to know we only have less than 24 more hours until we'll find out what's going on.

Today has been filled with distraction which is much needed and appreciated. Grace slept until 9:30 and I slept off and on all night with her...I was grateful for the few extra chunks of sleep. Then, since it was raining, we played inside for a bit and headed off to lunch with Daddy. It was great to get a few errands run, visit with Daddy, enjoy lunch together and have Grace run around and see everyone at his office. :) We got home a little late for naptime, but my girl is a trooper and she went right down. I only have to make it another 2 hours until David will be home. Having him with me makes me feel so much better. I am beyond grateful to have such a loving and supportive husband.

Anyway, say a prayer for more sleep tonight and for everything tomorrow. I'll update when we know more.

"Potential Abnormalities"

2011-03-14T20:54:00.000-04:00

Those are NOT words you want to hear when you get a call from your OB about your nearly 20 week old baby. Well I got that call from my OB's office this afternoon. They said there were some "potential abnormalities" in the ultrasound we had last week. Since the baby was rear facing the tech couldn't get any pictures of the front organs (heart, kidneys, etc) so we knew we would have to go back in a few weeks when hopefully the baby would be forward facing and they could see and measure everything. She also noted in her report that the amniotic fluid was low so apparently since I was borderline preeclampsia at the end of my pregnancy with Grace this red flag was enough to warrant a visit to the perinatal specialist. As you can imagine I'm a bit anxious so we got the first available appointment for 8:15 Thursday morning. The great thing about the specialists (we saw them exclusively with Grace) is that the Doctor comes in and does the ultrasound while explaining everything. Plus their equipment is far superior, so Lord willing we'll be able to see everything and rule out the low fluid. A quick trip to see "Dr Google" told me that if the fluid was really low they would have called last week and I'd already be in the hospital on bedrest.

Our wonderful pastor Jim is going to watch Gracie for us so David can be present with me. Please pray for the baby, for the Dr to be able to see everything, for the fluid level to be fine and for me to rest in the Lord and not worry.

We appreciate and covet your prayers and will let you know when we know what's going on.

It's a...

2011-03-08T11:27:00.000-05:00

...healthy baby! LOL, we had our big ultrasound yesterday, but of course we didn't find out the sex. :) Good thing we didn't want to know because this little one was being difficult and the tech couldn't even see. The baby was transverse and rear facing, so we'll have to go back in a month or so for them to check the heart and all that other good stuff. I'm measuring a week ahead, which is nothing but good news as far as I'm concerned. They won't change my due date for just a week, and any extra time I have between when this baby could potentially come and when they will schedule a c-section is a gift in my eyes. We really want to try a VBAC, but since most babies come at 41.5 weeks and they will schedule a c-section at 40.5 weeks, the extra week could make a difference. Of course, it could also just mean I need to stop buying newborn sized diapers, lol. Our little one was just a moving and a shaking and had the hiccups 3 times during our ultrasound and the tech said everything looked fabulous.

We did finally get a few pictures of this precious one. None of them are really great, but it is nice to have some pictures of our sweet little bean. Hopefully next time he/she will be more cooperative and we can get some great photos. :) Until then, please meet our sweet Baby Bilbo!

This one kinda creeps me out a bit, but the eyes are to the left and the mouth is to the right. I'm sure he/she will be cuter in color. :)

Spoiled...not Rotten

2011-03-07T21:27:00.000-05:00

While Grandpa was here he spoiled Grace with all kinds of fun things. I kept saying you are spoiling her rotten and he said she's just spoiled, not rotten. I like that. :) Her favorite treat of this latest visit was for sure her new bike. She has loved getting outside to ride her bike everyday and I love it because I'll be able to push her on it all summer even as my belly gets larger and larger. We even ride inside on rainy/cold days... so many options!

Inaugural Ride!

We had alot of other fun while Grandpa & Nana were in town, here are a few more photos from our time together.

Grace loves to get into her toy chest

She hopped in her chair half way through changing her clothes to read a book - she was trying to avoid having to put her PJs on and go to bed...little stinker. :)

Swinging with Mommy

Grandpa is fun!

She loves this big ball!

Lately

2011-02-22T15:58:00.000-05:00

Grace has FINALLY mastered climbing up on top of the subwoffer. She has been trying for weeks to get up there, particularly to play with her buddy Scotty, and last week she did it! She was so proud of herself and luckily I had the camera handy to capture her huge grin...priceless.

Gracie's Nana & Grandpa here visiting and she is in heaven. She loves it when any of her grandparents are here to spoil her and last Saturday she had her Mama & Papa here too - what a lucky girl! Grandpa has had so much fun with his girl and they take a turn on the swing daily. I just LOVE this picture, I think it captures her adoration just perfectly. :)

Grace & Truman's Birthday Party

2011-02-17T14:57:00.000-05:00

Grace's cousin Truman's birthday is Jan 19, so we decided to have a joint family party for the 2 of them over Christmas. I had been sick and even had a fever the day before so I didn't have much energy to prep, but I got the cupcakes made and they had their super cute Birthday shirts on and much of the family was together. What I didn't know was that my Aunt Reta had planned to have Scooby Doo make an appearance to wish the kids a happy birthday! I actually jumped when Scooby walked in. At first the kids weren't so sure, but then they warmed up a little. Grace even let Scooby hold her.

Jenn & I with the kids and Scooby. Maggie & Truman still weren't 100% sure about him...

The Bilbos & Scooby - I LOVE Grace's face!

My Mom & Uncle Wally with Scooby

Grandma wasn't too sure about Scooby...she doesn't like having dogs in her house, especially big dogs.

David & Scooby being silly

After Scooby gave farewell hugs, we plopped the kids down in their chairs and let them go to town on their cupcakes. Grace was on her 3rd cupcake (as we celebrated her birthday for over a month with multiple mini-gatherings trying to include all the family) so she was quite the pro. It was so fun to watch she & Truman interact, it was like they were having their own private conversations - I wonder what they were saying!

Happy Birthday Grace & Truman! What a special day! :)

Random Cuteness

2011-02-11T14:53:00.001-05:00

Grace has "new to me" shoes from her cousin Maggie and they are black dress shoes. She LOVES them. This morning when we came downstairs she found them and brought them to me and wanted to put them on over her frog footed PJs. I did and she walked the lap on our main floor 8 times grinning the entire time. Here she is during a lap:

A little while later I walked around the corner and saw that she put her kitty in the cat bed and brought the cat bed over to the living room (so one can only assume she could "keep an eye on her".) LOL - she is the funniest little girl on the planet...she always keeps me on my toes!

My Big Girl Chair

2011-02-10T12:15:00.000-05:00

Ok, so these posts are going to be out of order, but they are all late so who cares, right? :)

Ever since we got home from Christmas, Grace has been trying to sit on anything she can find that is the "right height". She gets on all 4's and crawls backwards until her bottom hits whatever she is currently using as her chair and she sits up, it is hysterical! Well David & I figured we should find the girl a chair, easy right? Um no, we went to 7, yes 7, stores looking for a freaking chair for a toddler and nothing. We did find one $13 plastic chair that would have fallen over at the slightest pressure and we found alot of chairs over $50 (seriously?!?) but nothing that would work. A friend suggested we hit Ikea and we hit the jackpot. I was a little nervous about this chair since it was so big, but it was only $30 and she'll be able to use it for years. She LOVES it! It took a few days for her to learn how to climb back out, but now she takes a few toys or books, climbs up and relaxes. It's really quite precious.

First time in my new chair - I love it!!

I love to relax and play in my chair. :)

This face just cracks me up!

Mommy's Little Helper

2011-02-09T13:28:00.004-05:00

I am finally starting to feel better - Praise God! I think 14 weeks was my magic number as I've been feeling progressively better over the last week (I'll be 15 weeks tomorrow). We saw the baby again last week and heard the heartbeat - our little peanut is doing just great. I was so excited to get to see the baby again, even if just for a few seconds.

Anyway, what's the nicest thing about feeling better, besides actually getting to enjoy my husband and sweet girl? Being able to clean! I have completely sorted through the entire contents of our attic and cut it down by half. There will be a huge yard sale in our near future. While I did that David ran electrical in the attic and installed lighting, what a difference. Now that everything is organized up there it looks really nice! It always feels so good to de-clutter. :)

Once I got that project done, it was time to deep clean the upstairs. I am embarrassed to say the upstairs bathrooms hadn't been cleaned since before we left for Christmas. They were disgusting! Sure, we'd done minor touch ups as needed, but an all out clean...hadn't happened. David was so busy keeping up with the day to day (toys, dishes, laundry, trash, playing with Grace) and keeping the living spaces clean while I was laid up so it just wasn't a priority. I think in the last 2 days I've walked into my bathroom at least 10 times just to see those sparkling counter tops...I'm such a nerd.

I've also done every morsel of laundry, even the things that don't need washed often just to have everything clean. This is Grace's favorite chore (next to vacuuming, she LOVES to help vacuum :) She can not only push the buttons to start the machine, but she can help load too. The other day we were doing laundry and I had to run in the kitchen to answer the phone. When I came back into the living room, here is what I found...

Somehow she had gotten completely into David's undershirt - it was so cute! She couldn't really walk since it's so long, but she sure looked sweet and had a blast in Daddy's shirt. She obviously wasn't feeling well in these pictures - her rosy cheeks are a dead giveaway that she is sick. She's still super cute though!

I finally got all the pictures and videos loaded off the memory cards last night, so next step is to sort and catch up this blog. I'll be working on that over the next few weeks. :)

...And Baby Makes 4!

2011-01-19T22:00:00.001-05:00

I have a secret!

We are beyond thrilled to share the news that we are having a baby! We're due August 4 and I'm just starting the second trimester. After the long road we travelled to conceive Grace we are so excited that this little miracle is already on the way - God is good! :) The baby bump pops out SUPER FAST with #2, wow...I don't think I was this big until closer to 20 weeks last time around - here's a photo we took tonight, 12 weeks.

We saw our sweet one's heartbeat on Wednesday Jan 5th and he/she is doing great. It was just a sneak peak, so we can't wait until our official ultrasound in another 8 weeks or so. And for those of you who want to know, we will NOT be finding out if Grace will be having a little brother or a little sister until his or her birthday. Judge if you must. :) David & Grace came with me to the appointment and we finally got a picture of our Doctor (who delivered Grace) with Grace for the scrapbook!

We found out we were expecting on Grace's due date - I guess November 23 will always be a special day for us. We thoroughly enjoyed having Grace spill the beans to all the family with the super cute shirt she's wearing in the first 2 pictures. Needless to say everyone is thrilled and we are too. And now we're so excited to share our news with you!

I've been really sick with this pregnancy, so we would appreciate prayers for the baby to be healthy and for me to feel better. Also, I would love the opportunity to have a VBAC and would greatly appreciate your prayers for that as well. It would mean the baby has to come on or around his/her due date and with no help (from progesterone). A c-section will be scheduled for shortly after my due date, so it's all about timing. We are preparing for the c-section, but I'd love to try to have this baby without the surgery. Either way we know the Lord is in control and we ultimately want us both to make it through whatever kind of delivery, safe and sound. We'll keep you posted as we go along and look forward to introducing you all to our new addition this summer!

Oh - and I know I owe lots of updates from the holidays and more of Grace's month long birthday celebration extravaganza, but being sick I haven't even downloaded the pictures and video yet. I promise as soon as I'm feeling better you'll see a slew of updates!

Baby Gear

2010-12-14T20:31:00.001-05:00

I edited this to include a few new thoughts at the bottom that I had forgotten about in the hustle & bustle of the holidays. :)

I have alot of friends who are currently pregnant with their first children and they have asked for a few recommendations on things they "must-have" and things they can most likely return. Let me first say all of this is my humble opinion and to take it with a grain of salt. Everyone has their own opinions on this stuff, but this is what I'd recommend. :)

With nearly everything we bought we looked for hand me downs and shopped consignment and got some great deals on things we weren't given in showers. A few things to avoid from strangers though, car seats and cribs. You don't know how they've been treated and/or if they've been recalled. Though if your older sister or cousin has a car seat or crib to hand down, take it! Especially the infant car seats, they only use them for such a short time and you can wash the inserts to look like new. If they are Graco, you can even buy a new cover on their site to more match your style for half of what the car seat would cost to buy new. And clothes, definitely borrow, buy a year ahead on clearance or shop consignment. You'll be amazed how few times your baby will wear something before they outgrow it. And skip "outfits" in newborn size all together. You will be changing them so much you'll want them in a sleeper or sleep and play pretty much exclusively.

So anyway, in my humble opinion here's the top 11 things I wouldn't have a baby without...

Boppy - I used my Boppy to feed and prop Grace, and when she got older I used it to help her learn how to sit. The velor covers are great as they wipe off easier than the cotton and don't need to be washed as often.
Cradle & Swing - There are multiple designs of this swing, but the concept is what I'm looking at here. Grace slept in this pretty exclusively for the first 2-3 months. It's the same shape as the car seat so the pediatrician was fine with it.
Britax Car seat - They are costly, but they have one of the highest safety ratings and they last through multiple children.
Space Saver High Chair - This chair has 3 reclining positions and can then be used as a booster. They come in some great gender neutral patterns for use with multiple kids too - I love ours!
Backpack Diaper Bag - I love this Columbia bag and know at least 6 other mommies who have the same one in different colors. It's great b/c it's gender neutral so Dad won't mind carrying it around, you need a backpack when you are carting around a baby in their car seat and it's got separate compartments for everything you need. Much more practical than the "traditional" diaper bag.
Medela Breast Pump - any style. They are expensive, but fantastic! If you plan on pumping with any regularity, you'll need a good pump and this is the series to buy from.
Prop n' shopper - This is fantastic! It has pillows on each end so that you can put a baby who can't sit up on their own in the cart without the car seat. This is good for 2 reasons: (1) Grace loved to be out of her car seat and (2) you can save space in the cart by not having the car seat in it.
Snuzzler - infant car seat insert - loved this, Grace's head was never flopping all over the place while she was learning head control over her first few months.
Ergo Baby Backpack - I loved the Ergo baby and it was a necessity for us since the Baby Bjorn wasn't tall enough for David. That said the BB is also great and as long as you have one of these you'll do just fine.
Crib Rail Cover - This, or one similar, will save your crib when your little ones start teething
Angel Care Monitor - This is a SIDS monitor that gave me much needed peace of mind. My baby would NOT sleep on her back. So, the first time I put her on her tummy to sleep I watched the movements of her breathing until my prayers were answered and I fell asleep. I slept soundly knowing that a blaring alarm would go off if my precious girl stopped breathing. They use this until they can roll around in their bed or about 6 months.

A few other thoughts:

Skip the Bumbo - Your kid will learn how to sit up on their own, promise. And you can use the boppy for support when they are learning and save yourself the dough. Don't stock up on one kind of bottle or passy - every kid is different. See if you can borrow or just buy one of several kinds of bottles and passys until you find one your baby will like.

Pack & Play - Get the simple one. We splurged (read: wasted) money on the top of the line p&p a few years ago when we needed one for our nephew in a pinch. I thought bigger is better, right? Wrong. A pack in play is something that gets lugged around and I can honestly say I've NEVER used the mobile, organizer, or changing pad that came with out p&p. Get the cheap Costco one. They work perfectly and are a fraction of the price. If you choose to use your p&p as your cradle/bassinet then go ahead and get one a little pricier, but save yourself the dough and get a low end version of this product.

If you're planning to breastfeed, there are 2 must have items you must buy. The first is Lansinoh - they have this everywhere for around $10 a tube and you should be able to use a tube for more than one kid, lol. Then go to CVS or Rite Aid and get some Soothies and put them in your hospital bag. The first 2 weeks of breastfeeding are really HARD and the soothies in conjunction with the Lansinoh will be your life savers. Soothies are $13 for just one pair, but they are worth EVERY PENNY!

Pampers are by far my favorite diapers, but Huggies have great coupons and when paired with sales, they are up to $.15 cheaper per diaper! When I can get the good deal, I buy pampers, but I am no longer married to a brand. Also, Huggies Little Snugglers Newborn & Pampers Sensitive Newborn diapers both have a blue indicator line which tells you when your little one is wet or dirty. This is an awesome feature, so make sure when you buy diapers you look for that little blue line on the diaper.

If you're an experienced Mommy and you have something to add or delete from this list - leave a comment. There are lots of new babies coming in 2011 and I'm sure any advise (as it was when we were expecting Grace) will be greatly appreciated!

Baby Alice

2010-12-13T21:10:00.000-05:00

This post is WAY overdue....

Alice Ruth joined our family on October 1, 2010 and is the 5th child (yes, that's right, I said 5th child!) to David's oldest sister Carol. Grace & I were in WV at the time, so we went to TN to meet her on October 10. She is such a sweet little baby. Grace loved her and just wanted to touch her hands and feet. I snapped a few photos, of course, while we were there and here's a few of my favorites.

To me she looked SO much like Anne...such a beauty.

Grace touching Alice's tiny toes

Snuggling with Mommy

Snuggling with Uncle David

Christmas Dress

2010-12-08T20:40:00.000-05:00

In my ever overachieving way, I attempted to make Grace a hand smocked bishop dress from scratch for Christmas. I think I pulled it off, just don't look too closely! I promise to take and post more pictures of our sweet girl in her new dress, but for now I'll just post the one picture we had made at the Picture People today. She is still not feeling well (praying it's those molars and they are coming quick!) so a more elaborate photo shoot will have to wait. Here she is holding Daddy's hands, I actually think this is a pretty sweet picture.

1st Birthday Photo Shoot

2010-12-04T16:43:00.001-05:00

We bought this super cute dress for Grace last year not long after we bought her home from the hospital. I just loved the balloon-ish hem. We snapped a few shots of her a few days before her birthday and she had SO much fun! I think she looks so big in these pictures, but I guess she is a big girl now. :)

So for family, I'm going to number these, (the number will be below the picture as the new blogger tool lets you caption which is super easy to use but the opposite of how I used to label pictures). If you want one, let me know which number(s) and what size(s) and I'll bring them with me when we come for Christmas.

Photo 3

Photo 4

Picture 5

Picture 6

Picture 7

Picture 10

Picture 11

Picture 12

Picture 13

Picture 14

My baby is 1!

2010-12-03T16:32:00.000-05:00

I simply cannot believe a year has gone by already. I cannot believe that a year ago, November 24, I was holding my precious Grace in her first moments on this earth and now she is almost walking, talking up a storm and gives the BEST hugs and kisses. She is so happy and loving and caring...our lives are so much richer because of her. My heart overflows with joy every time I walk into her room to get her out of her bed and she gives me that million dollar smile...when she gets the rings on the ring tower in the correct order and she says "ga, ga!" (we think she is saying "Good Girl!") Even when she throws herself on the floor in protest of me saying "no" or taking something away from her or when she is screaming and won't sleep even thought I know she is exhausted, I still love her more than words. She is my dream come true and I am so blessed to be her mother.

On her actual birthday we celebrated on the small side with just my dad & stepmom and the Drehers coming over for lunch and cupcakes. David took the day off and it was the perfect, quiet day to celebrate our long awaited miracle and her first 365 days. Here's a few highlights from the day.

Opening a present for the first time - what fun!

She actually wanted to read the card, such a sweet girl. :)

I had so much fun decorating for her birthday! She LOVED all the balloons and decor when she came downstairs for her birthday - what a special moment. :)

I loved that she started with the cake, not the icing!

Of course, you have to capture the good, bad and the ugly - which included getting wiped down.

We got Grace this doll that laughs, jumps and talks - she actually sounds and looks a little like her. She saw it in the store when Mark & Kayla were here and she was SO excited when she opened it. This picture is a little blurry, but I love her face.

It's December already?!?

2010-12-02T14:49:00.000-05:00

Where do I start? I can't believe it's been almost a month since I had a personal blog post. I did post about the shutterfly cards, but that was for selfish gain, and I know you all come to this blog for pictures of our beautiful girl and to find out what we've been up to. That said, I'm going to recap with a TON of pictures, so get ready!

First up, our dear friends Paul and Bethany welcomed their sweet baby boy 2 weeks early on Nov. 2. They named him Tyler David and he is such a cutie! I enjoyed lots of time at the hospital with them, and while not as much since they got home, I'm sure that will change soon now that all their family has come and gone. :) Here's a few pictures of Tyler in his first days.

On November 9, we had Grace's 1st birthday party with our playgroup from church. How in the world she is already 1 is beyond me! Anyway, there is another little boy who is just 11 days older so we celebrated with a joint party for Grace and Joshua. It was quaint and fun and the kids had a BLAST getting filthy in chocolate icing...

On November 11, My brother Mark and his wife Kayla came to ATL for the first time for a visit. We were SO excited to see them. I think looking at the pics on the fridge has helped, because Grace went right to Uncle Mark when they came up from the train at the airport. We did alot of tourist-y stuff including introducing Aunt Kayla to Chick Fil A (she liked it, of course. :) Thursday night we went to Big Pie in the Sky, a place they saw on Man vs Food. It was good pizza, and even better company. Friday we just hung out, ran a few errands and did a little Christmas shopping. That night we met David at the Cheesecake Factory, a restaurant we all love, for dinner and it didn't disappoint either. Saturday, we headed downtown to the Varsity and Centennial Olympic Park and walked around. Then Mark, Kayla and David went to the World of Coke while Grace and I came home so they could nap. We spent a "quiet" evening at home playing rock band (which Mark and Kayla LOVED and bought when they got home, lol) before I had to take them to the airport for their red eye flight home. It was a wonderful visit! Here are a few photos from our time together.

You have to visit the Varsity if you come to ATL...and you MUST wear the hats for a photo op. :)

Fun in the fountains with Daddy!

All of us at the Christmas Tree in Centennial Olympic Park

Grace wasn't too sure about Dance, Dance Revolution...apparently Aunt Kayla wasn't either!

Aunt Kayla teaching Grace how to play Rock Band

Well that's all the time I have for now...at least I made it half way through November. I'll try to get the rest of the photos up in the next few days!

Shutterfly Cards

2010-11-23T22:05:00.002-05:00

Shutterfly has some of the most precious cards! I have used them all year to send cards with our sweet Gracie girl’s picture to her grandparents, friends, and even to her Daddy. They are loving getting all these personalized cards and of course never tire of seeing Gracie’s beautiful smile. Their cards are so easy to make and so

Well they have a bunch of original designs for all occasions, birthdays, Mothers & Fathers day, and of course Christmas & New Years. Their new Christmas cards & holiday photo cards are the perfect way to send holiday greetings to your loved ones. Many of the cards have a timeline feature inside where you can share what’s new – it’s so cool! We made our own Christmas cards with a letter inside years ago, but their program is so user friendly and you can even put a picture for each family member and say what they’ve been up to.

Check out their line of Christmas Cards, and you can see for yourself! I hope you enjoy creating your cards & gifts as much as I have. I know you’re friends and family will love receiving them. J

Christmas cards: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards

Holiday photo cards: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery

Halloween Festivities

2010-11-04T13:52:00.000-04:00

Our Halloween festivities started a week before Halloween, so here are some picture of all the fun! She was generally too distracted for a good picture as we were always around other kids, so there isn't a fantastic picture of her from Halloween. I may try to dress her up again later and try to get a good one. :)

I have alot more pictures from our trip to Jacksonville, AL to visit Marleah, Randy & Avi, but here are the Halloween related ones. All of us, adults included, took a nap Saturday afternoon so we were all up and ready to go to the fall festival at their church that night. We were thinking that after Avi's birthday party that morning we wouldn't go so I didn't pack Tigger for her to wear. Thankfully, Avi has a fall birthday too so Grace wore her 1st Halloween costume - this adorable flower! She went trunk or treating (which she wasn't too sure about - she kept trying to give the people who wanted to give her candy her treat bag, lol) and enjoyed watching all the other kids play games and stuff. Daddy was thrilled with the free yummy cotton candy they handed out, so all in all we had a great time! :)

Here she is with Avi - obviously at the end of our time at the carnival...

We had a costume party at our place with our small group the Sunday before Halloween and it was alot of fun too. Grace had a blast with her friend Joshua who is 11 days her senior (the dinosaur below) and Anya who was the GA Tech Bee. We tried to get a good picture of the 3 of them, but this was the best we could do...

The common costumes were rednecks and ninjas. Grace had a blast playing with all the plastic ninja toys. Someone even left a sword here that she LOVES. So if you were a ninja at our place and are missing a sword - we have it! :P

The day before Halloween we went to a free fall carnival near our house. I was determined to get Grace on a hayride and they had one there. After an hour wait, we got on the 2nd to last ride of the night and she seemed to enjoy herself, though not as much as me! She spent the majority of the time on Daddy's shoulders watching all the kids walk around and play the games and stuff. It was a fun evening.

We opted out of taking her trick or treating this year, but she did enjoy watching the kids come to the door and she helped Daddy pass out candy for a little while. :)

North Georgia Fun

2010-10-26T19:39:00.002-04:00

I'm a bit behind, as usual, on the posting here but I'll try to catch up this week since we don't have much planned and I can breathe a little. :)

On Oct 15th, we had a wonderful time up in the North GA Mountains. It was a gorgeous fall day and we hit Bert's Pumpkin Patch and R and A Orchards.

Grace had a blast and enjoyed playing with all the pumpkins, HUGE and tiny alike, at Bert's. The Dreher's met us up there and we had a good time goofing off, as usual, and took a usual load of pictures. The last time we went (in 2008) there was hardly anyone there...this year it was PACKED out. It was hard to get good pictures because of the sheer volume of people. Anyway, we did end up with a few decent shots and we're planning to hit another farm, (hopefully a smaller one where the line for a hayride isn't over an hour!) and we'll get more pictures and our pumpkin there. I couldn't decide which pictures to post, so I decided since this is my blog I'll post all the pictures I want and not think twice about it. Enjoy!

Love, Love, LOVE this one! That grin is just too precious!

There was this beautiful tree and wildflowers by our car so I wanted to take a picture of Daddy & his girl. She kept trying to show him the leaves so until he looked up, we didn't get a good picture. She is so funny. :)

I just love this picture.

Our next stop was R and A Orchards. We've been there before and they have the BEST caramel apples. It's not like you think. They actually let you pick an apple, they slice it, put it in a bowl, then POUR caramel over the top until the bowl is half full. It's dreamy. I don't even want to think about the calorie count, but once a year, it's all good. :)

We opted not to pick apples this year since the options for picking weren't apples we were interested in, so we just bought a bushel of Fuji apples (yummo!) and then headed into the orchard for some photos. Bethany actually got a pretty good shot of all of us looking at the camera...a near miracle with an almost one year old. :)

Grace was very excited about the tractors at Bert's, but there were lines to do everything there. This tractor outside the store at R and A was the perfect size for her. She loved getting up on the seat and then standing up to reach the wheel.

With Baby Dreher due in just over a month, we took the opportunity to take a few maternity pictures. We got a few good ones...

Ally wanted to get in on the action, so she stuffed a pumpkin under her shirt and we took a few silly shots. :)

Love this one...

A pretty good picture of all of us

We are certainly blessed to have such good friends!

Girl's Best Friend

2010-10-19T10:29:00.001-04:00

Grace and Scotty love each other. Scott has been her "protector" since before I knew I was pregnant. He always wanted to lay on my tummy or right beside it while I was pregnant and since she has arrived, he always wants to be near her. Now, he is still a cat and he has claws and he does get annoyed when she is too rough with him, but he is very tolerant and allows way more rough housing than I would have anticipated. Overall he is very gentle and loves his Gracie girl.

Well, while we were in WV, Grace found one of my Mom's cat toys - a long stick with feathers on the end - and it became her favorite thing. Neither of Mom's cats would play with her, but she was playing with it for her amusement, not theirs. :) When we got home, I got a coupon for a free toy with the purchase of food from petsmart so I chose the same kind of toy, mainly for Grace. She LOVES it. She plays with it all the time and much to her amusement, Scotty plays with her. She flings it all around and Scotty chases it, jumps up in the air and tries to catch it...she thinks it's hysterical. It took her a day or 2 to figure out he wanted to play, not take it from her, but now they play with it daily. The other day I snapped a few photos of them together, they are so cute!

Hooray for Fall!

2010-10-13T16:10:00.004-04:00

We're heading up to North GA this weekend to go apple picking and just in time I think. David had an apple the other day and Grace started chowing down on his tasty treat.

I just LOVE this face!!

She really likes apples and I think she'll have a blast up in the orchards with all the apples this weekend. Pictures to come! :)

WV Trip

2010-10-06T08:19:00.001-04:00

On Sept 25, Grace & I headed to WV and we've been here since. We have had such a wonderful time, but will be very excited to get into Daddy's arms this afternoon. Grace did great on the flight up and I hope today's flight will be just as uneventful.

We came to help my mom recover from knee replacement surgery and she's going great. Grace had so much fun playing with all of our family here. We even got to spend these last 3 days in Elkins with my Dad & Step mom. Grace is certainly going to go through withdraw when we get home and it's just Mama all day. :) Anyway, here are a few of the photos from our time here.

Cuddling with Dudley (the bear)and Grandma4 Generations. I've been meaning to get this shot every visit, but we have it now.Playing with Great GrandmaWalkingThis toy played music and cheered every time you pushed the hoop down. Grace loved it!Kisses - Grace loves this game.Just some cute pictures of my sweet girl

On Sunday Morning, before we headed down to Elkins, we got Grace and my cousin Jenn's 2 kids, Truman & Maggie, over to my Grandma's house to play. Truman is 8 weeks younger than Grace but is the same height and has about 6lbs on her. They really enjoy each other. They played great together and laughed and touched each others faces, it was very sweet. Grandma hasn't been feeling well lately so it really brightened her spirits to see her 3 babies playing together at her house. Grace fell asleep in the car not 3 minutes after we left she was so wiped out! Here are a few pictures of the fun.

Great Grandma and her babies. This was the only shot we got...Maggie didn't want to have her photo made. Great Grandma with the 2 little onesCousins!My cousin Jenn with her 2 kiddos and Grace - with all 3 babies smiling!PlayingSweet Truman Chasing the laser light Maggie posing for the camera. I love her attitude!Jenn & MaggieAunt Reta is so much fun

What a fun and enjoyable visit!

Whistling

2010-10-05T19:58:00.000-04:00

My dad whistles alot and after he was down visiting in September, Grace started whistling. I guess she just watched him enough because I heard this little whistle and looked over to see Grace just playing and whistling. It was hysterical! It has been impossible to get on camera since she only does it when she isn't aware of it (or so it seems) but I did get this tiny video. Turn up the speakers!

I love Ellen

2010-08-22T15:40:00.004-04:00

I may already have a post by this title in my archives, but hey...it's still true. In case you don't watch Fox's So You Think You Can Dance (which I recommend if you enjoy watching dancing...it's only on in the summer when nothing else is on anyway! :) Ellen was on the finale doing a hip hop performance with one of my all time favorite SYTYCD dancers - Twitch. It was AMAZING! I was bouncing up and down and cheering the whole performance, she was awesome and it was the highlight of the show. She has posted on her site the "Road to SYTYCD" and here it is along with with the live performance at the end. Enjoy!

Oh and in the "oldies but goodies" category - here's a flash back, in case you missed her season premier last year...

Catching Up

2010-08-18T09:42:00.010-04:00

Wow, apart from our anniversary post, I haven't posted in over a month - sorry all! We have a good excuse, we've been with family and friends and busy having so much fun. Here's a brief recap of our last month...

On July 21, Grace & I headed up to WV to visit with my side of the family. This time I left at 2am so she would sleep the first half of the trip and it made it much more manageable. It's still 10+ hours in the car no matter how you shake it, but it definitely helps for her to sleep through half of it. The preschool prep videos worked a little, so that was good. She was VERY ready to get out of the car when we arrived and she scooted all over the house for an hour before she conked out. All in all I would call it a success.

First up was a few days with my dad & step mom. Grace just loves all her grandparents and I think she is just even more blessed to have 3 sets instead of just 2. She sure is spoiled by love and attention when we are all together and I love it. While we were with them she had a blast with their cat Caspur. She would chase him and play with him in his tube, I have a video but it keeps publishing to youtube choppy and I can't figure out why. Here it is anyway as it's just too cute not to share.

Here are a few pictures from our time in Elkins...

She LOVES her Nana!Cuddling with GrandpaI love this face, cracks me up!Playing with Caspur - so fun!

On Friday afternoon we headed up to my mom's place where we would spend the next week. We had a wonderful time hanging out with all our family in Fairmont. Unfortunately Grace's cousin was sick so we couldn't play together until the end of the next week, but we got to spend lots of time with her Great Grandma and she LOVED having us as company. David flew up Wednesday night and my dad was gracious enough to go to Pittsburgh to play golf and bring him home for us. I certainly appreciated not having to spend another 4 hours in the car. :) Grace was so excited to see her Daddy, she woke up at 2am hungry and just about leaped into him when she saw him in the bed. It was so sweet.

We went to see my Great Grandmother (my Dad's Grandmother) and introduced her to Grace. For a 95 year old lady she held on to our little squirmer with ease and just loved playing with her.

Here they are togetherHere's a group shot with my brother & Kayla as well

We had a great week in Fairmont capped off by our family Reunion at Rock Lake on the 31st. We always enjoy seeing all the extended family and David had a blast playing hard at the lake with all our cousins. Grace had her Aunt Kayla wrapped around her little finger I think, she definitely has bonded with her (and Uncle Mark too!) We'll have to get up to MI to visit them or have them down so she can spend more time with them. Here are a few pictures from our trip, I stole some of these from my dad and my cousins...I definitely need to learn how to take more photos while toting around and caring for Grace.

Playing with Daddy & Great Grandma's David going down the slide at the lakeSplashing in the lake with Daddy Crazy cousin John giving Grace a new 'doMy old NKOTB towel...found it when looking for a few beach towels to use - made me laugh out loud!!

We returned home again leaving at 2am only this time the trip wasn't as uneventful. I think the country roads didn't sit well with our sweet girl as she threw up about an hour into our trip. I was so tired I was standing in the Go Mart parking lot holding her tight just crying. David got us all settled down and I rode the rest of the way in the backseat with Grace...made me long for the day when we'll have a minivan! :) I hope once she'd forward facing she won't get carsick, but her Daddy does so it's definitely possible.

We had a week at home just the 3 of us before my friend Jennifer arrived for a week long visit. We met in college and have been best friends ever since. She is such a hoot and we had a wonderful, relaxing, silly time. I miss her dearly and I am so glad she was able to fly down for a visit. I'm even more grateful for her husband, parents and in-laws who kept her 2 girls so she could come down. I am realizing more and more than you need silly, crazy, girl time as a mom to keep your sanity. :) Here she is with Grace one afternoon before we headed to the pool. (Jen put the scrunchie in her hair and she didn't pull it out!)

Disclaimer on the silly video below...Jen & I LOVE The Jerk. We made David watch it for the first time with us while she was here. I often sing the Thermos song to David in our every day life. So, Jen decided to be super silly one morning and this is the result. It's a little dark, but still funny none the less. Hope you enjoy the silliness!

Before Jen arrived, I let Grace watch a Baby Einstein video for the first time ever. She was so cranky and not feeling the best, so I caved and let her watch 30 minutes of TV. I tried to get her attention to take her picture and this was the result - they sure do learn early!!
So that's been our month - we hope you all have had as much love and fun in your lives as we've had in ours. We are blessed, truly!

8 Amazing Years

2010-08-10T10:40:00.001-04:00

Every year I grow more and more grateful for the life I have with my beloved. He is an amazing husband and I am blessed beyond all measure. In our 7th year of marriage we became parents to our beautiful Gracie girl. Seeing David as a Dad has been remarkable. He is so good and sweet with her and she adores him completely. I also realized that I can love my husband more. I didn't think it was possible, but when he handed me our baby girl for the first time with tears streaming, I fell in love all over again. My heart has grown in it's capacity to love my family more in the last year than I ever thought possible.

All that said, I thought it was a wonderful way to celebrate our anniversary when David left these flowers for me on our mantle.
Including Grace (and any other children) in our anniversary celebration will be something we do for years to come. So with that said, Happy Anniversary David, I love you more than words.

150!

2010-07-16T15:58:00.001-04:00

This is my 150th post, wow! I am enjoying posting when I have time and certainly I enjoy being able to share our Gracie girl with friends & family far away. I've got lots of photos and a few videos for you from the last week, enjoy!

Grace loves her Jumperoo!I have no legs!! (Bonus if you know what movie that's from!) She figured out that she can tuck her feet up under the tray and kind of swing, it's hysterical!Here's video of her going to town...

She just learned how to pull up from a seated position. I can't believe it. Last night she even tried to climb up onto the fireplace. I'm not ready for that kind of mobility! She often can just sit back down, but sometimes she gets nervous and cries for help. Here's a few pictures from her first time pulling up, the video was taken a day later.

We had a wonderful summer rain the other night and it was finally cooling off outside. So, we took Grace out to enjoying the rain on the porch swing. Here she is with her Daddy She saw cousin Grady use his passy so she knows it goes in the mouth, but still doesn't get what it's for.
Here she is doing her almost crawl...she has done several "correct" moves when crawling, but never more than 1 or 2 steps at a time. She's getting it though!

This was just cute, so I had to share.

We are finally starting to feel better here. I haven't had an allergy issue that bad in quite sometime, but since I couldn't take any meds due to my low milk supply, I wasn't getting any better. The doctor told me (after a week and a half of awfulness) to start taking benadryl and mucinex and just to drink plenty of water, but despite me doubling my water intake my milk dried up after a week. Sunday was my last morning nursing my sweet girl and I'm certainly missing it. I put in alot of work and I was really hoping to make it a full year, but the Lord had other plans and I'm making my peace with it. Thankfully, she's having a much easier go of it since we've always supplemented with bottles of either formula or pumped milk. The good news about not nursing anymore is I have been able to take much stronger meds this week and my migraine has been bumped back down to my normal low grade headache, I can breathe and I am feeling better. Hopefully by Monday I'll be as good as new. I have to sing at church on Sunday, so just pray my voice holds out!

And just a random "yeah me!" thing...I had 2 of my best coupon days ever recently. At Target, I saved 62% (really, really hard to do at Target!) and at Kroger, I saved 71%! 50% is my target at the grocery store, so 71% is something to cheer about. Now, I can do better at Publix with BOGO items and my coupons, but I only buy BOGO items with coupons at Publix, all my other groceries come from Kroger. Since if I did all my shopping at Publix my percentage would go way down, I don't consider the occasional BOGO trip as regular shopping. :)

Bilbo Wedding

2010-07-16T11:33:00.010-04:00

While we were in Fairhope, AL on Vacation, David's cousin Jonathan got married (June 12). We just love Erin too and were honored to take their photos. Here's a few favorites and a sneak peak for the new Mr & Mrs Bilbo!

The girls got ready in a nursery/office and they found this toy clock and set it to 2:30 - the time of the wedding...too funny!J&E decided to see each other before the ceremony, but they wanted to have a moment to themselves, here they are just before seeing each other...The guys busting at the seem to get in on the action while J&E had their moment together.Erin and her girlsJonathan was a good sport in letting us take lots of silly pictures...Jonathan was so handsome in his suitErin looked stunning in her gown, a beautiful bride!The Ceremony was beautifulFirst Kiss!Just Married! - I always love these first pictures after the ceremony, so fun! A few shots of the new Mr & Mrs!First dance!This has to be one of my favorite pictures ever - totally matches her personality too! :) The cake was gorgeous (and super yummy!)This picture just cracks me up!David took the guys out on the golf course at the reception site and got some great photos.Love this one!And they're off!

Around the House

2010-07-07T21:25:00.010-04:00

My summer allergies are in full swing, so Grace and I have been staying in lately. We have fun playing together and she's getting more and more mobile every day. Here's a few pics from yesterday.

Sweet girlI love this face she makes - it cracks me up!Whatcha got there Mom?Playing with Scotty He's done playing but too lazy to get up and move. Silly cat.

In 2 weeks Grace & I are going to attempt the trip to WV solo again and we'll fly David up later so I can spend some QT with my Grandma (and the rest of my family of course!). I have all kinds of plans to make the 650 miles go by...we'll see if any of them really pan out. One I'm now sure of is the DVD player. We have David's folks DVD player and I'm going to take advantage of it. Deborah recommended the Preschool Prep DVDs she used with Erin, so we invested in a used set on Amazon and I'm gonna let Grace watch TV for the first time. To make sure this little trick would work, I put in the meet the colors DVD on Sunday to see if she would "glue" to the TV...

I'm not surprised. She is ALWAYS trying to get a view of the magic box that always goes black when she finds it. LOL. I just hope 8 hours into our drive it's as interesting as it was this time. And I'll be sure to have earphones in one ear so I can listen to something other than the color names repeated over and over for 3 1/2 minutes each and not go crazy.

Anyway, I hope ya'll had a wonderful 4th. We so enjoyed having David home. It's so nice to have so much QT as a family and of course we enjoyed hanging out with our Dreher family, (even Alli who's back from STL). Paul & Bethany are expecting their first, a boy, a week before Grace's birthday...here's the first belly pictures I've taken.

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-04T15:39:00.004-04:00

Grace looks so cute in her "All American Cutie" outfit today in honor of the 4th...we had to snap a few pictures.

Good Clean Fun

2010-07-03T09:07:00.000-04:00

So I will pay for this at some point in the future and the quality isn't that great...BUT this is a typical night with the Drehers. Paul **may** have had a beer, but just one. :) Turn up your speakers and enjoy!

Milestones with Video

2010-07-02T13:12:00.004-04:00

Grace has been changing so much over the last 6 weeks! I can hardly believe she is over 7 months old already. Here's a quick summary of some of her most recent milestones:

She has her bottom 2 front teeth (they both came in within a week of each other at the first of June)
She has moved into her big girl car seat (more for Mommy than for her!)
She was sitting up on her own (if we put her down sitting up) and on Sunday she sat up on her own
Immediately thereafter she got her first bump on the back of her head when she fell backwards.
She is scooting/army crawling around
She spent time in the beach for the first time and LOVED it (not a surprise since she loves the pool so much, but still exciting. :)
She has been going to the nursery at church
She had a babysitter for the first time with her cousins while on Vacation
She has moved into size 3 diapers
She is LOVING her solids and is even feeding herself cheerios, puffs and yogurt melts.
She loves fresh fruit, so far her favorite is watermelon (just like her mommy!)
She isn't a huge veggie fan, but as Grandma figured out, if you mix anything with peaches she'll eat it.
She loves to jump in her jumperoo
She loves to play with her toys, on her own or with mommy or daddy.
She give the best open mouth kisses!

I know there is more, but that's the major stuff anyway. I've been shooting lots of video, so here's a few of the best ones.

Fake Cough - May 9th

Playing while sitting up & Glowworm CPR - June 20th

Just Playing - June 29th

Teeth, Toes & the Hiccups - June 30th

Sitting up & Scooting - July 1st

Bilbo Vacation

2010-07-01T20:59:00.000-04:00

On June 5 Grace & I headed down to Atmore, AL to David's folks house with Deborah, Erin & Grady who flew in the night before. It was great to finally get to take Gracie to Mama & Papa's church and introduce her to everyone (many of whom have known David since he was a little boy).

The next day we headed to Fairhope, AL for vacation with the Bilbos. David's cousin Jonathan was getting married on the 12th and David's folks rented a house in Fairhope (where the wedding was held). We had a great week enjoying the Mobile Bay (which was still oil free when we were there) the local beach and the AC as it was almost 110 degrees with the heat index every day. David drove down on Wednesday night and Friday we got to meet up with our friends Judd & Shell in Mobile. Man we don't get enough time with them! And somehow I let our too brief time together pass without even a picture! I did get a few pics during our family time together, but Mom is now about 80% responsible for our photos (especially when David's not around) so I'll have to get more from her.

We had several beautiful sunsets...Playing with a "big kid" toy for the first timePlaying with Cousin GradyPlaying with Cousin ErinMovie Time! Deborah & Erin's room became movie central on her 13" mac screen, which was the same size as the TV in the living room. The kids would gather and watch movies in there most afternoons. I love Bath time!
Ooooh Water! Splish, Splash! Grace LOVES to splash and it doesn't matter if she's in the tub, sink or the pool...it's always fun. (Especially if you soak mommy in the process) Bath time funSweet GradyErin being crazySilly Anne David & I did the photography for Jonathan & Erin's wedding and while I'm still in full time editing mode, I thought I'd share this formal portrait of the newest Mr. & Mrs. Bilbo! (more to come soon, hopefully!)

Just like Mommy

2010-06-28T16:23:00.005-04:00

People are always saying that Grace looks just like me. She does. She's not quite the mini-me she was when she was a newborn, but she still has her mommy's eyes and lots of my features with a little Daddy mixed in.

Well, this was my dress. My mom had saved a few things from when I was a little girl and gave me 2 dresses when we were in WV over Easter. This dress one of her favorites for me and it was so fun to have Gracie wear it and get to tell folks that it was my dress (it's over 30 years old!). I will save it for her and if she has a little girl, we'll get pictures of the 3 of us together in this dress.

Grace's Portraits

2010-06-25T10:07:00.008-04:00

I do still owe several posts, but I was excited about these photos and couldn't wait for family to see them. We went to the Picture People yesterday to "research" how the "professionals" do a sitting. Our sittings are lasting too long and the kiddos are getting tired. It was a good learning experience and she got some pretty good shots. Since this was the first time we'd ever had anyone else take her pics (and more importantly since we were writing this off for Grasp as a training experience), we bought the DVD and I spent some time editing the photos to what you see below. Family, I'm gonna hit you up to see what sizes of what photos you want so I can order them for you. :)

Photo 2Photo3Photo 7Photo 12Photo 13Photo 14Photo 15-2Photo 17Photo 18Photo 20-2Photo 22Photo 23Photo 24Photo 26Photo 29Photo 31

Just a note - If you decide to go to the PP to get your kids portraits done (which I'm sure you'd do only if you don't live in ATL!) make sure you ask them to edit out all the dirt and scuff marks on their backdrops. I can't see an "heirloom print" with lint all over the black or scuff marks all over the white backdrops.

Awww...

2010-06-21T09:16:00.004-04:00

Here are a few random pictures that I've wanted to post from the last few weeks.

Whenever we put out a blanket for Grace to play on, one or both of the cats immediately hops on. Martin sometimes slinks to the side and waits for her to get off (cautious not to get too close to her, lol) but still they LOVE it when we put a blanket on the floor. Grace started rolling over to her tummy in mid April and hasn't looked back!My Dad and stepmom were here for a few weeks back in April/May and Grandpa thoroughly enjoyed his Gracie. Here are just a few pictures of Grandpa and Grace that we took the night before they left.Reading with NanaA few days later David was holding Grace and I snapped a few pictures of her enjoying her Daddy. I love her profile!Just a sweet picture of Grace

Father's Day

2010-06-20T22:10:00.007-04:00

I once again owe lots of blogs, pictures and videos but I couldn't let today go by without a note about David in honor of his very first Father's Day.

David is a wonderful father, a natural really. He just adores Grace and seems to know exactly what to do to care for her at any time. I've heard tale of a few mommies scared to leave their newborns with their daddies solo, but I have certainly never felt that way. I am so blessed to have this amazing man as my beloved and Grace is also blessed to have him as her Daddy. David, thank you for loving us so well. We are grateful to have you in our lives and we look forward to many more father's days with you. We love you!!

Sweet kisses from a sweet Daddy to a sweet girl...This one just makes me smile.Daddy admiring his beautiful girlDaddy giving Gracie kisses on the belly - she LOVES this!Smiles!And even though I've been a slacker, I had to include this picture of our big girl - Sitting Up!!
And, just 'cause it's cute, here's a picture of Gracie & her mommy. :)

Our little Fish

2010-06-02T09:25:00.003-04:00

Grace LOVES going to the pool. She is such a natural I am surprised by how much more comfortable she gets each time we go. Last night we went with her Daddy, Nana & Grandpa and had a blast. Grandpa brought along his camera so we snapped a few shots and got a little video of her in action. Now under normal circumstances I would never even consider putting a video of me in a swim suit online, but this is just too cute not to share. I hope you enjoy watching our little fish!

Lotsa Videos

2010-05-31T19:59:00.001-04:00

I finally loaded up all the videos off the camera and am making time to upload videos from Grace's first 6th months. It has been so much fun looking back at her when we first brought her home...she was so tiny! I can't believe how much she's grown and I look forward to how much she'll change in the next 6 months. There's lots here, so feel free to skip most of them, but you'll want to check out the last video - Vocal in the Exersaucer...it is so cute and was just taken a few weeks ago.

Just hanging out at home - December 4, 2010

Enjoying my play mat - January 10, 2010

Smiles, a sneeze and a yawn - January 21, 2009

Morning Happiness - January 26, 2010

Learning to love her Kick & Play...and talking! - February 28, 2010

First Solids - March 26, 2010

Cousin Truman's Baptism - April 4, 2010

Rolling Over for the first time - April 14, 2010

Drying off after bath time - April 29, 2010

Playing with Daddy - May 9, 2010

Vocal in the Exersaucer - May 10, 2010

Grace's Baptism

2010-05-30T21:10:00.004-04:00

We celebrated Grace's Baptism into the Covenant today. My mom made her a beautiful gown, she looked so lovely I almost cried putting her in it...it was so special to have her in something handmade by her Grandma. Wow, it was so much more emotional than I thought it would be. Seeing God's grace for us literally poured out on our daughter was just amazing. I was doing fine with the vows and the charge until Jim said Grace was our long awaited miracle. I lost it then and cried through the baptism. After the service, I told Jim he got me with that and he said that it was ok to cry happy tears. :)

We had all our parents as well as David's oldest sister Carol and her family with us to celebrate. In addition our friends the Drehers & Crabbs joined us to celebrate. Afterwards we rented a pavilion at a park for a celebration picnic. There was a field on one side and a playground on the other, it worked out wonderful as the kids were able to play hard and enjoy themselves which was great.

We are certainly blessed to have such an amazing group of friends and a wonderful family. Grace is surrounded by so many people who love her so much, she is a blessed little girl. Here are a few of the pictures from her big day.

Our familyThe whole groupAll Grace's Grandparents3 GenerationsWith our Dreher FamilyGrace loves her Uncle PaulieGetting Sprinkled I love this picture of Grace & Jim. She is looking at him like he's crazy, too funny. :)
We had alot of family who couldn't be with us today, so Carol took a video for you so you can enjoy her baptism from afar.

6 months already?!?

2010-05-25T20:46:00.005-04:00

Grace turned 6 months old yesterday, I can hardly believe it! There are times when I look at her and she seems so grown up, and other times that she is still my precious little baby. She is growing and changing every day and it is my pleasure to get to watch her mature. That said she still falls asleep in my arms and cuddles with me and I realized even today that those days are numbered. Before I know it she will be an independent toddler and too busy for cuddling with mommy.

I teared up a little today as she laid in my arms asleep before her nap. I wish I could freeze time, but realizing that's not possible I try instead not to rush on. I let her lay asleep in my arms a few minutes longer before I put her in her cradle. I let her play with my necklace a little longer than usual when she woke up today even though her pulling was irritating the back of my neck...she loves it so much it's worth it. I love how she looks up at me when she's playing and how she grabs my face, pulls me close and gives me a huge mouth open wide kiss on the lips. As we played today I laid down with her on the floor and kissed her all over as she giggled and cackled so loud it hurt my ears, but overwhelmed my heart with joy. I love making her laugh.

I know the common thread of this blog is my gratitude for this precious girl, but it really is the common thread in my heart. I have always been thankful for my family. I love my husband more than words, and now having Grace in our lives I am overwhelmed by God's blessings. I truly am more grateful than any words can express.

Whew, before I start bawling here or stop writing to run upstairs and check on her despite the fact that the monitor beside me assures me she's sound asleep...let me stop and tell you about our girl. We had her 6 month check up today and and that meant more shots, yuck. I can't tell you how proud I was of Grace. She didn't flinch with the first prick, just stuck her lower lip out with the second and started to cry with the 3rd for just moments until I had her in my arms. She is so brave and because she did so well, I didn't cry! Once again Dr. Matthews assures me that she is perfect. She is 14lbs, 14ozs and 25 inches tall which is the 25% for height and weight. The only concern she has is for her super fair skin tone. She is ghost white, just like her mommy. Unfortunately that means she'll be white or red her whole life, but I'm going to do my best to keep her from getting sunburned as long as possible. Pray for us!

So that's it for now. I'll post more pictures soon.

Swagga Wagon

2010-05-22T21:38:00.001-04:00

We all know that I love minivans. It's not a secret. As a matter of fact if my husband hadn't made up a rule about needing at least 1 kid to have a minivan, we'd already have one. While I'm an Odyssey lover at heart, this is just hysterical.

Exersaucer Fun!

2010-05-19T09:43:00.003-04:00

About a month ago Grace was finally big enough to get into her exersaucer. She loves it, particularly the noise maker thing. It plays animal noises, says their names and plays classic compositions. She hits it and hits it over and over again as hard as she can. I love watching her play in it. Just in the last 2 weeks she has grown tall enough to reach the bottom without a blanket and now she scoots all around it, playing and cackling. I need to upload the videos, but for now here are a few pictures of her having fun.