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.
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'sDavid going down the slide at the lakeSplashing in the lake with DaddyCrazy 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!
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. :)
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 SprinkledI 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.
