36 Weeks Old

Sorry for the delay in the post, but understand with the holidays and family time that we've been spending.  Merry Christmas to you ALL and happy birthday to Jesus!!!  I hope that each and everyone of you reading this had a very blessed and wonderful Christmas!!  We certainly did... Grace Lynn doesn't even know how blessed she is!

This week was completely filled with love, joy, and more love!!  We got to celebrate Christmas first with our Gospel Community and had a wonderful time.  We also got to go see Aunt Goober's Christmas dance show, which was a lot of fun.  Have we mentioned how much Grace likes to sing and dance?!  Oh, she does!!  Then we celebrated with my extended family on Christmas eve and then Christmas day was all about our sweet family!  Grace got to experience her very first Christmas and all the joys that come along with it.  She had a wonderful time opening presents, playing with her new toys, and spending time with family and friends.  She is truly such a JOY!  Beware... picture overload!  These are some of the pictures from this last week.

Grace and Rylin, one of the other babies from Church

Love my girl!

4 Generations!!  Grandma, Mama, Me, and Grace!!

Cookies for Santa and the reindeer... <3 Grace!

Santa was very generous!

I think she LOVES her new toy box that Papi and Great Papi made!

She is doing so great at the basketball!!  Must get that one from me :)

and, what did mommy and daddy get, you ask?

Sorry for the many many pictures, but it is so hard to cut them down... and would you believe it; I still have more!!  I will spare you of more pictures though :)  If you've made it this far, you're probably mom; Love you mama!!  Thank you for everything this last year.  This has been one of the best years EVER!!  And if you aren't my mom, thank you for reading and following our exciting first Christmas with Grace Lynn.  It really was a BLAST!!!

35 Weeks Old

I cannot believe this little girl is already 8 months old!

Let me explain this picture:
To end our week, Grace and I got into a minor fender bender on the way home from work and daycare.  Then come to find out, Garrett had made it home from work to a colicky horse; oh what a night. Many thanks to our friends Sommer and Roddy for a surprise visit and wonderful goodies; it really was the highlight of our evening!!  I am so very blessed to have good friends, family, and a patient husband, lol :) We are all safe and I'm just glad that baby girl was on the opposite side of the car.  She was happy through the whole thing like her normal self.  That is of course until we got home because she was very hungry and tired after the long drive and wait with the trooper.  Harry is also a little better today and not so colicky thanks to Garrett's patience and efforts.  So in short, this is a picture from that exciting and eventful evening.  This is Grace so very TIRED!

Okay, now onto the wonderful start we did have to this 35 weeks! :)  This weekend Grace Lynn got to see Santa Claus and sit on his lap (remember she had already met him at the mall a couple weeks back, but didn't get to "tell" him what she wanted or sit on his lap).  My  mom met Garrett and I at downtown Disney to have her very first Christmas picture done with Santa there.  He was so sweet with her and they had a nice conversation.  She was absolutely mesmerized by him!  This may have to become an annual tradition (sorry Garrett!).

After seeing Santa, we got lunch and did a little final Christmas shopping and then sent Grace on her way with Nana.  Garrett and I then had a nice date day at Disney's Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf Course.  Because we had the time to kill and were having such a great time, we decided to do both courses, the Fairways and Gardens.  If you've never been, we both highly recommend the Fairways especially!  It is essentially a miniature fairways course with sand traps and all!  It was really a lot of fun!!  This day was a very much needed break from all the hustle and bustle lately... it reminded us both of our dating days and just how much we really love one-another's company and love each other.  Now, Garrett did beat me in both rounds, BUT I did get two hole-in-ones to just his one!!  As he would tell you, It is all or nothing with me.  If it wasn't a hole-in-one, it was a 6.

After our lovely date-day, we drove out to Sleuth's Mystery Dinner Show for my company's Christmas Party.  We had such a wonderful time enjoying the show and food.  All in all, it was a wonderful day!!  Thank you mama for taking care of our sweet baby girl so we could have this day!!

Sunday, Garrett and I did Christmas with Garrett's family since they will be out of town for the holidays.  It was a great time with Chuck, Sandy, Colton, Sam, and Nicole.  Thank you all so much for the delicious meal, wonderful gifts for Grace, and more importantly great company!  We love you all very much!!  Now on to another great week... really looking forward to Grace's very first Christmas and a start to our very own Christmas traditions as a family.  <3 SO BLESSED!!  May you and yours be blessed this Christmas as well!!

Grandma taking my picture, Hanging out (literally) with Aunt Sam,
Opening my presents, Playing with Miss. Nicole

34 Weeks Old

34 weeks old today and daddy thought it'd be cool to give our beautiful girl a mohawk, lol.  Like he says, you gotta have some fun and spontaneous pictures in the batch :)  Here's our ROCKIN' girl!

This week hasn't been all that eventful because well, this weekend I was out of commission   Yep, I was sick with a stomach bug and mama tried to come over to help so Garrett could still get some work done outside and she also ended up getting sick... :(  Fortunately, we are both doing much better now and I am so thankful for my sweet Garrett to take care of us girls.  He is the absolute best!

One day this week, we did manage to finally buy a tree and Garrett got some lights hung on it.  We still have to get the ornaments and star up though (i know we are a little slacking... my fault entirely).  Our sweet Grace did try to help daddy though and what a cute little helper she was!

Also, guess who is not only standing, but doing it with ease and will actually take little baby steps (pun intended) when you help by having her hold your hands?... Grace Lynn is!  We are starting to believe that she may be walking before she gets any teeth in (we call her Toothless; cutest toothless thing around!).

She also has some other funny quirks that cannot go without mentioning... some genetic and some just our sweet Grace, lol.

3am and she is standing up chewing on her crib (after religiously spitting
her pacifier overboard), Playing with her tongue (gets that from daddy),
sleeping with her eyes open (gets that from her Aunt Goober),Holding her
bottle with her forearm (this has become quite common for her
and is so cute... she's actually gotten really good at it!)

Oh also this week, Garrett and I finally got ourselves a new entertainment center and coffee table.  Grace no longer has access to all the television equipment and their many wires... so happy to have that done!  Unfortunately, I do not have pictures yet.  When we get our tree done, maybe I'll throw a picture of those in there with it :)  We do love them though and they fit our home style perfect!

33 Weeks Old

Happy 33 Weeks to Grace!  Here she is happy in her shirt straight from Germany from her Grandma and Grandpa.   Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for the cool shirt that nobody else we know has or probably will have!

"Ich bin Oma's & Opa's Prinzessin"
"I am Grandma & Grandpa's Princess"

Friday Grace's daycare called and I had to come get her from work because she started running a fever.  I took her straight to the doctor to go ahead and see what was going on and to also find out about her cough that has yet to go away... well, she must take after her daddy because she had an ear infection and we would've never known had we not taken her to the doctor or had they not noticed her fever.  She must have a pretty good tolerance for pain.  She is doing much better now... appetite is still trying to come back, but she is definitely eating more than she did Friday.  Later Friday evening Grandma and Grandpa (Chuck and Sandy) came over to babysit while Garrett and I went out... Thank you so much!!  I'm just sorry that Grace didn't feel better for you.

Saturday, with Grace's fever back down and her being in her typical happy mood, we were able to go out to Disney.  This was Grace's first visit and she did so great!!  And, not to any surprise she LOVED it!  I believe her favorite part of the whole day/evening were the Christmas lights at the studios.  We thought she'd like them and sure enough we could not get her to look at the camera for anything.  She just stared at the lights and bounced to the music.  I have to say, of all the times going to Disney, this will probably be one of the most memorable for me (even though I'm sure she won't remember it; that is what pictures are for, right?).  Just seeing her eyes light up and that beautiful smile of hers made my day!  This little girl is definitely going to have one blessed life with Garrett and I, and we will definitely make sure she doesn't take it for granted because I sure as heck know that I appreciate every little (and big) thing that my family has provided my sister and I, and I know Garrett feels the same with his family.  We only hope to provide her with the same wonderful memories/experiences that we were so very blessed with!

1st visit!, 1st tram ride, playing on the bongo drum, hanging out with
Aunt Goober, 1st amusement ride, meeting some parade entertainers,
loving the lights with Nana, our bright and shining girl, and
all tuckered out after her fun/busy day

It's nice to have a Papi so tall to see over everyone and
get a close-up view of the lights... she loved it!
oh and yes, she loved my hair almost as much as the lights :)

32 Weeks Old

Today Grace Lynn is 32 weeks old.  She is definitely developing much faster than I thought she would; granted I thought we have had a smart baby, but didn't think she'd be doing as much as she is doing in such a short amount of time!  I love it, but at the same time wish that I could just slow down time.

Grace Lynn is not only crawling, but has also learned to pull herself up and is starting to STAND!!  Yep, you read that right, not even two full weeks of crawling and she is already trying to stand up.  She has also learned how to play peak-a-boo.  We put her blanket over her head and say "wherrrre's Grace?" and then she pulls it off with a big 'ol smile and we say "there she is!"  Now, she is starting to pull her own blanket up and then when we say "where's Grace?" she pulls it down real fast with her cute smile and often times a giggle.  She is too cute!!

Playing with her new toy from Miss. Cindy

This week we celebrated Thanksgiving at my Grandpa Vercamen's home.  It was so great to visit with family and enjoy a very delicious home-cooked Thanksgiving meal together.  While my cousin and her fiancé Mike were in town, we also took the opportunity to meet them in downtown Mt. Dora for a delicious German dinner, followed by some yummy home-made frozen custard.  Then this weekend, I spent a day with some wonderful ladies (Mama, Amanda-Kay, Cindy, Marla, and of course Grace) and went to breakfast, followed by the Winter Garden's farmer's market and Art show, shopping for Grace's first few pairs of shoes, visited Miss. Melissa, and ended the evening back home cuddled next to a nice warm fire with my handsome husband and sweet baby girl.  Talk about a wonderful day!  Also this weekend, I got to go to my home church and see our church family there and then afterward my dear friend Allie came over, as well as Chuck and Sandy.  Oh and while shopping this weekend Grace got to meet Santa Claus for the first time, but we didn't do pictures yet... saving that for the near future when we have a little more time, she isn't as tired, and she is dressed a little more Christmassy (yes, I sometimes make up words).  She did give him a nice smile though and let him hold her hand and talk to her.

This is what happens when she bumps her head on the table;
"Nana, please save me!"

Grace with her Great Grandpa, she was a little
tired from her busy day to say the least

Having a good time riding a Cambrie-look-alike pig in DT Winter Garden

Tuckered out after a fun and busy day

And so now we begin a new week and onto more wonderful things I'm sure.  God has surely blessed us.  I have so very much to be thankful for!!  No matter how stressed I may get from a lack of sleep, being a full-time mommy with a full-time job, and everything else we decide to tackle, it is all very much worth it... too blessed to be stressed!

31 Weeks Old

31 weeks old today and growing like a weed.

Notice the red knees from crawling and
the yellow is from finger painting at daycare :)

Fingerpainting fun :)

Friday, I got to enjoy Thanksgiving lunch with the best lunch-date ever!!  This is what I was welcomed to for my little date.

Notice she is waving now too!!  She is a cutie-patootie!

I am absolutely loving this slightly cooler weather!!  Garrett had another small bonfire this weekend just for the heck of it.  So my mom and sis came over to hangout with us girls (Grace and I) inside next to the cozy fireplace, while Garrett and a friend of his went four-wheeling and burning.  I just absolutely love this weather because I love being able to just snuggle up next to a warm fire and catch up on shows, movies, or relax with family and friends.

Nana and Grace

This weekend, we also went down south for DJ and Kim's beautiful wedding!  It was absolutely perfect weather for a late afternoon outdoors wedding with the perfect amount of Southern Flair.  The entire event was beautiful, especially the bride!  Grace also got to enjoy her first time line-dancing!  Garrett took his daughter out dancing some and then she got to dance with me a little.  To say she loved it would be an understatement.  She had a big smile on her face the entire time, was kicking her legs, and singing away :)

Line-dancing with Daddy; oh yes he is facing backwards, but those that
know Garrett know that he knows these dances forwards and backwards;
Grace liked it because she could also interact with others dancing

Sunday after church we got together with our friends Monica and Justin.  It was nice to spend time with them and their beautiful baby girl Kendall.  She and Grace are growing up way too fast!!  It is neat that the two of them are now able to interact more.  If you remember Kendall from previous posts (7 weeks old and 18 weeks old), she was much smaller than Grace and Grace was just starting to interact some... Kendall is 3 weeks younger than Grace.  Now that both are older, they can really interact and soon be able to really play together.  It is awesome that Grace will have a little girlfriend close to her age and with parents that Garrett and I both love!  We do think it is important for children to interact socially and the fact that her parents are God-fearing and just all-around great people makes it that much better.  I know these two will be friends for a while (at least if us parents have anything to do with it, lol).

I think it is safe to say they like each other :)

All in all it was a busy weekend, but you know we wouldn't have it any other way... we are always go-go-go.  Now with Thanksgiving on the horizon, it is hard to believe that the year is already almost over and that our little girl is already 7 months old.  I know I take tons of pictures, but looking back, I am so happy that I do because she is changing right before our eyes, every single day.  It is nice to go back now and then to look at how much she has changed and notice how she is turning into this sweet little girl of a person.