Knotty Baby

One of my new favorite things for Gracie - Knotty Legs. They are made by Knotty Baby and they come in every color and pattern. These are the 3 I just bought for Gracie. I keep finding excuses to put them on her because they are just so darn cute on my sweet baby's chunky legs! I have about 10 more styles in mind to buy. Oh how little self control I have when it comes to buying things for Gracie.

Hands On

Gracie has officially discovered her hands! They are her favorite things to look at, play with, and suck on. She just stares at her hands in amazement and then ends up slobbering all over them. The amazement with her hands has led to her sucking her thumb. According to my mom, I never was a thumb-sucker, Johnny on the other hand was. Oh how wonderful it is to see my precious husband in our daughter!

Dear Baby

Gracie,

I am so excited to be able to live this life with my husband and best friend, and with you, my sweet baby girl. You are a special little girl Gracie. You are special because you are God's "very good" creation. He said so Himself! We are blessed to have you in our family and can't wait to show you the world. There is so much I want us to do together some day. I want us to live an adventurous passion-filled life traveling the world telling others about our Savior. I want us to laugh every day and ride roller coasters and eat snow cones together. I want to have nights where all we do is sing praise songs to God and dance around in our pjs. I want you to grow up soaking in the new experiences of life. Don't be afraid! There is so much joy in just truly living the life Jesus wants us to live, so thats what I hope you do. Trust Jesus and live.

Gracie "singing"

More Summer Fun Photos

Here are some more summer fun photos from last week.

Summer Fun!

I am so thankful to my parents for letting Gracie and I spend the week with them! We've had such a great time swimming, relaxing, and learning some new tricks. Gracie figured out how to roll over. It is so cute! I have to watch her really close though because one minute she is on her back and the next she is face-planted in the blanket. She's growing up so fast! She has also been taking the bottle so good! She sucked down 3 bottles the first day, 4 the second, and 3 the third! And she did it with no complaints. I am so proud of my baby girl! We also spent some time in the pool splashing and getting some sun. She loves being outside! Check out some pictures of Gracie in her new swimsuit, sunglasses, and bucket hat. Surfer girl in the making!

She's so excited to get in! Look at those blue eyes! (Just letting you know I did nothing to her eyes in photoshop)

Gracie Vs. The Bottle

As some of you know, we have been trying to get Gracie to take a bottle. She is not a fan. We are leaving for Colorado at the end of July for four days and we need her to be able to take a bottle. We also would like to do something for our anniversary in early July, which gives us until the end of this month. We’ve tried pretty much every nipple out there, but nothing seems to work. We are out of ideas, so I did some research and found a doula’s blog outlining a way to get a reluctant (or in my case, adamant) baby to take a bottle. It is called “the Stand off”, so we gave it a try. The gist: no nursing, only bottles, with some suggestions thrown in. This is how yesterday went down. Thank you to all who prayed for us.

6:30AM - last time to nurse

8:00AM – slept in her swing

10:15 AM - gave her the bottle in her swing, only took 1 ounce, but took it great (seemed to be pleasantly distracted by momma and daddy singing to her and praising her for taking the bottle)

Score: Bottle – 1 Gracie - 0

10:32 AM – changed her diaper, did some good “talking” on her changing table; dressed her in her uniform for the Stand-Off today (headband, wristband, tall socks - tell me she's not ready for battle!)

10:45AM – tried the bottle again; didn’t scream, but didn’t take it either, just chewed on it awhile (we’ll give this round to Gracie)

Score: Bottle – 1 Gracie - 1

11:00AM – got her down, slept until 12:15

12:20PM – tried the bottle again, she sucked down 3 ounces with no complaints! Way to go Gracie (but too bad about the score)

Score: Bottle - 2 Gracie – 1

1:20PM – went down for another nap

3:20PM – woke up ready to play. Played with momma and daddy for awhile, got bored, played with white bear and sleep sheep for awhile, got bored, played on activity mat for awhile, got bored, then got fussy (probably from hunger considering she only took 4 ounces since this morning)

4:00PM – got really fussy, tried the bottle several more times, cried harder, cried even harder, passed the point of no return. Passed out from exhaustion in daddy’s arms, momma shed some tears, prayed a lot.

*Don’t cave! Don’t cave!

(Gracie wins this one by a mile!)

Score: Bottle – 2 Gracie – 2 (all tied up, this is a close one!)

5:00PM – in a better mood; tried the bottle again; chewed on it awhile; continued to try it; finally took it, ate 4 ounces great and then, in apparent frustration over the bottle’s success, pooped the biggest poopy diaper ever!

Score: Bottle - 3 Gracie – 2 (the bottle is leading, but I will say, Gracie let him have it with the monstrous poo!)

6:00PM – Really fussy; got her down, slept on me; I watched an episode of Friends (needed to laugh); woke up after Friends, she got CRAZY, screamed and cried for the next 1 ½ hours, I cried too, didn’t know what to do; texted Jonathan at game night “Im going to cave”, stuck it out; went outside, we both calmed down

7:45PM – Put her in her swing; tried the bottle; she took 1 ½ ounces great; dad came home; melt down again; she went to sleep exhausted on Daddy, guilt set in (am I a horrible mother for doing this?), reminded myself she will not remember this, not comforted

Score: Bottle – 3 Gracie – 3

8:00PM – I ate dinner (8 hours since eating anything)

10:00PM – She woke up, I caved, I nursed her, decided nighttime doesn’t count in the “stand off”, happy again

Winner: Gracie

Baby Talk

For all of you who didn't see this on facebook, here is the video of Gracie "talking". She's 2 months old and trying so hard to tell me a story!

Little Feet

One thing Gracie has a lot of (besides hair) is shoes. She probably has 10 pairs of shoes (and that's just 0-3 months)! The problem? Her feet are so tiny! She is already 2 months old and even her newborn shoes are too big! We've compared her feet to babies a month younger than her and her feet are considerably smaller than theirs. So, until her tiny little feet catch up to her "healthy" legs the shoes will have to remain in her dresser and she'll be rockin' the bare feet.

Bath Hair

The last bath had me laughing hysterically. Gracie's hair was cracking me up. She seemed to think it was really funny too!

We would like to dedicate this hairstyle to her Uncle Joey who rocks the slicked-down-hair-with-a-middle-part the best!

Cute Close-Ups

The little details that make life so sweet.

sweet feet

bright eyes

precious ears

chunky thigh rolls

The Swing

We received Jackson's swing from Nicole and Joey a couple of days ago and Jonathan has said "it has revolutionized our lives." This particular swing can swing side to side which has been awesome for trying to get Gracie to sleep. I know I just posted how I LOVE to snuggle my baby to sleep, but when she takes like 5 naps a day and I have piles of laundry waiting it is quite nice to be able to use the swing. Thanks Nicole and Joey for loaning us this swing!

2 Seconds After Being in the Swing

2 Minutes After Being in the Swing

Snuggle Bug

I love my snugglebug so much! I know I shouldn't hold her as much as I do because I could be "fostering bad habits", but I just don't care. It is too precious of a time and it is too short of a time to worry about those things. If my baby loves to be held and snuggled to go to sleep, you better believe I will be loving her in that way. There will come a time when she will need to go to sleep on her own, when mom will have to lay her down and walk away. When that time comes, I will tough it out and help her from a distance, but until then I'll be snuggling away!

Such a Fun Weekend

This memorial day weekend was awesome! We went to Lewisville to hang out with family. We were able to see Nicole and Joey's new house, which is amazing! We stayed with David and Donna Kay Sunday night where we talked, played with Gracie, watched a movie and ate a delicious spaghetti dinner. Monday we went over to my parents house with Nicole, Joey, and Jackson and grilled out by the pool. We laid out, swam, and got Gracie in the pool for the first time. The weekend was wonderful!!! It was relaxing, fun, and full of great time with family. I am so thankful we have such love and support in our lives!

Here are a few fun pictures of Gracie in the pool and one with Mr. Lamb.