Baby Steps

Today has been a great day! Grace and I went out to spend a gift card at Gymboree and I had so much fun shopping for my girl! We got alot of great deals in their 60% + off clearance section and had fun just being out of the house. Since we slept great last night, I decided to try to switch things up today for her naps in my continuing effort to get her into the cradle. Since she is finally back on her schedule and is consistently eating 3 hours apart (as opposed to 2 to 2 1/2 hours apart) I felt I could try to rock the boat a bit. Today she has taken 2 naps in her swing without the motion - woohoo! If she does this again successfully tomorrow then Wednesday I'll try the cradle again. Wish me luck!

Grace's 1st Christmas

Grace's 1st Christmas was wonderful, but bittersweet. This was the first Christmas in my lifetime that I didn't spend it at my grandparents with my mom's side of the family. Our time together is rooted in tradition and not having that this year was difficult. Plus, it was a constant reminder that my Grandfather is no longer with us and that was hard too. That said, Grace is with us and what an amazing gift she is. My dad & stepmom are with us too and it was really special to have our first Christmas with her here at home. Plus, David has been off since the 19th and doesn't have to go back to work until the 3rd which is awesome...I love having him home with us. We also chose not to go to Atmore to celebrate with David's side of the family so I'm sure that will be strange too, but we know it's the right choice to keep Grace healthy. At least Deborah, Blayne & Grady will be driving up to meet us 1/2 way so they can meet her and we'll get to visit.

Anyway, I'll keep the post short and sweet and include lots of pictures which is what you really want anyway. :)

Nana & Grandpa arrived on the 16th and had barely taken off their coats when they started snuggling with their Gracie girl.
She has spent lots of time sleeping on Grandpa I love pictures like this that capture emotion. You can just see the love on David's face for his precious girl.So Angelic...I just love her!!Chilling with DaddyI just LOVE her big blue eyes!I finally got a picture of Bethany and Grace together.Kisses from MommaThe boys and the Christmas Tree - the white cat is my dad's cat, Casper. He and our boys have so much fun playing together. I know it's strange for cats to get along, but they do. :)Gracie's loot!With Daddy in front of the Christmas TreeKisses!A pretty good Family Portrait