10 Weeks Old

Seriously, where is the time going?!  Our baby girl is 10 weeks old and now going to KinderCare.  She is maturing and developing so quickly... she loves to talk and smile with you more than ever now.

Her first day was yesterday and I thought that it was going to be really tough, but just knowing how happy and smiley she was and that it was all in God's hands, made the transition so much easier.  Because it now takes more time to get ready in the morning, it is still hard to get a decent amount of sleep.  I also have more to do in the evening to prepare for the following morning which takes away some time, but I am trying to make the best of it and just get used to it because it is what it is.  We have Grace Lynn in bed between 9 and 9:30 and then we hit the hay and I am up by 4:30 at the absolute latest to get myself and Grace ready for the day.  She is sleeping much longer between feedings now and even slept until I woke her up this morning; yay!!  But, she does still make noises at night which will wake me up; however, I do not have to get up to feed her at those times if she just falls right back asleep.  So, my sleep may be sporadic, but not terrible; it could be so much worse.  It is all more than worth it to see that beautiful baby girl when we pick her up after a long day at work!

plenty of diaper changes the first two days and she ate all her food :)
oh and she napped well... i say she gets and A+!

The teachers all love her and say she is definitely going to be a spoiled one.  She did very well her first two days.  According to them, she wasn't fussy, she slept good, she ate well, and was her fun loving, talkative, smiley self.  She has two other girls in her class which is great because she will be able to grow up with them and interact more as they all age together.  We even got to meet one of their mother's and she was very sweet!  All in all, the whole process/transition has been great!!

Can you smile for the camera?
Nope, I'd rather play shy :)

Goofy face!

You can tell we were BOTH tired after our first long day apart!
Love my girl!!

Also this week, we had several wonderful visitors!  Favorite (Sarah) got to come into town and spend the day with us and play with Grace, Kristina came by one evening to hangout, catch up, and see sweet Grace, and my mom, sister, and Adam got to come over Saturday to spend the day with us.  It was all wonderful and so awesome to see everyone, catch up with those I haven't seen in a while and to have some help (MANY THANKS!) so I could get some more work done from home before heading back to the office full-time as of yesterday.

Favorite with Jr :)

Another exciting evening was yesterday evening because myself and two girlfriends of mine from Church started our DNA small group together.  It is so nice to study God's story with two wonderful woman and to also just get to know each other on a deeper level.  I am excited to see how God works in our lives through this new study that we are doing.


Other news worthy of being shared to show how great God is!!...

• Courtney and John are expecting baby #1!!  This definitely comes after several years of prayers and a strong faith.  God definitely works in mysterious, yet wonderful, ways; the timing couldn't be better!  This baby will be within a year old of Grace, Jackson, Judah, and Jack!  All five of these babies will get to grow up in the same Church and three in the same Gospel Community.  Congrats you two!  We will continue the prayers :)
• Jonathan and Tawnya just welcomed their beautiful baby boy Jackson!!  I know they were definitely ready for him to be here and he has finally made his arrival.  I cannot wait to meet this little guy and see the new proud parents again.  Garrett and I are so very happy for you both!!

9 Weeks Old

This has been one hectic or better yet busy week for us.  Little girl is now 2 months old and still growing nicely and is very healthy.

She had her two month checkup and is now 12lb 4ozs (~75%), 23in long (~90%), and has a 38cm head circumference (~25%).  So, she is definitely eating well and growing strong.  At her appointment, she got her first set of shots (aside from the one at the hospital that I didn't have to see).  She had to get poked in both legs!  I went into the appointment knowing that it would be tough for her and probably even tougher for me to watch, but she did absolutely wonderful overall.  I have to say that being the good guy and hugging her real tight afterwards was the most rewarding feeling!  I went immediately from a saddened feeling to the best feeling ever.  I just really felt like mommy in that moment because I was able to calm her down in an instant.  Once we got home, she did great... that is until the stiffness/soreness came in.  She was not too happy and wouldn't do anything but scream.  After getting some baby Tylenol in her and soothing her a little, she was a much happier camper (especially come bath time... she loves her baths!).  So, I am happy to say that not only did she survive and trooper through those first shots, but so did I! :)

That bright red face says it all :(

This weekend, Garrett, Grace, and I attended the Shooting Stars recital.  Amanda-Kay did wonderful as usual and looked absolutely beautiful on stage.  I love watching her dance any chance I get.  It was also great and such a small world to run into my first UCF KnightMoves dance coach, Courtney, there.  Yep, her little girl is now dancing at the studio and it was so wonderful to catch up with her.  I also got to meet a very wonderful lady, Melissa, and her family for the first time.  They have had such a positive influence on my sister's life (while she was in NYC and still today).  They have since moved from there, but were able to come visit the family for the weekend.  Then earlier this week, some of Garrett's family were in town and took the time out of their busy vacation to come visit us for an evening.  It was so great to see Curtis, Mayi, Laura, and their newest addition James.  While they were here Garrett's mom took the time to drive over and spend some time with us also.  It was a wonderful evening.  Also, a really great family friend of my family's, Nancy, came into town and came over with  my mom today to help watch Grace while I went into the office for a couple hours and then I got to spend a little time with them when I came back home.

Grace and GG (Grandma Gardner)

Sunday, Garrett got to celebrate his first Father's Day!  He got a sweet card from Grace, as well as cute little gift, and a card from myself.  It was so wonderful to be able to celebrate him as a daddy on his day.  We didn't do too much, but we did go out to lunch after church and just had a nice relaxing afternoon.

Daddy with his little girl on Father's Day

Also, thank you so much little Grace for finally letting mommy and daddy sleep more than 3 hours at night!! :)  We started her on rice cereal last week and finally on Father's Day she slept more than 3 hours and kept the same up last night.  Last night, we actually got 5 and a half hours!!  That is the most sleep we've seen in a LONG TIME!  We have had her on a nightly routine for a while now: strip her down and clean her diaper (which she now knows means bath is next and she gets so HAPPY), then she gets her bath, next she gets fed for the last time before bed, and finally she gets put in her crib.  She's been on this routine for several weeks, but it is finally kicking in and hopefully she knows that it is bed time which means sleep time.  It's perfect timing too because last week and this week I have been working part time from home (thanks to having my mama or sister come over and babysit while I work some days... they are the BEST!!!   Thanks Mama and Amanda-Kay!).  Starting next Monday though, I am back to work full-time.  I am looking forward to it, but not looking forward to leaving my little girl for the first time.  On the plus side, it will be so exciting when I get to pick her up from KinderCare and see her smiley beautiful face after work.  But, until then, I am going to enjoy every minute I can with her this week!!  Below are some more cute pictures of Grace from the week... she is so excited and happy from her bath (definitely the picture of the week!), wide awake in her crib in the wee hours of the morning, and getting ready to go to bed one evening... she's adorable!! LOVE HER!

8 Weeks Old

This week our little Grace is 8 weeks old and has her two month appointment next Monday.  I cannot wait to see just how much she has grown.  She is growing so fast that I can even see the growth and I see her everyday!  She is adorable though!

This week, Grace had her first dip in the pool.  Needless to say, with all the rain we've had (which was much needed) the water was slightly cooler than she probably would've liked, but she did great!  I can't wait until she gets just a little bit older and has full control of her head and can go in the pool even more.  We are determined to have her swimming as quickly as possible!

And we introduced Grace to the pig and dog, more so than we had originally introduced them.  Maggie is fine with her and is used to babies.  She just kind of takes it and has a "whatever" attitude about it.  She is going to be great with Grace.  Cambrie on the other hand is used to being the baby and is not too keen on no longer being our only baby.  She is fine with her and actually is very protective of her when it comes to other people in the house.  But, she is still very hesitant to get near Grace.  I think she is more scared of Grace than Grace could ever be of her.  I believe this will change over time, especially as Grace gets older and we are all able to give Cambrie more attention and Grace plays with her.

No big deal for this picture

They both crack me up in this picture

Also this week, I got new glasses; Finally!!  I had not been to the eye doctor in a while, but knew my eyes were changing because my previous glasses were starting to give me headaches and I really didn't like wearing them.  On the positive side, my eyes have changed for the better.  My left eye is actually very close to 20/20.  My right eye still isn't great, but it is better.  It is so nice to actually have glasses now that I am comfortable wearing.  I got to debut them Sunday at church and we got to dress up Grace in a new dress that she finally fits into.  She looked beautiful!

Here are some things that I have had a little time to think about and put into perspective during my time at home being a new mommy:

• I really miss sleeping through the night, but love waking up to feed Grace and then watching her smile back up at me just before she goes back to sleep.
• I miss Garrett and I's regular date nights, but appreciate them so much more when we do get them and look even more forward to seeing Grace when we get back home.
• I miss my pre-pregnancy body, but love being able to work for it one way by walking with friends from church while carrying our sweet Grace in her carrier.
• I miss referring to my mama and daddy as "Mama" and "Daddy", but love calling them "Nana" and "Papi" and having Garrett and I be "Mommy" and "Daddy"!
• Garrett and I both missed River Run this year, but loved even more being here with Grace and getting to be with her as she got to wear her first bathing suit.
• I miss getting to sleep in even just a little bit, but love waking up early to dress our baby girl in her cute and fun outfits.

I'm sure there are so many more; those are just some things that really show me and remind me that the little negative things I may think of on occasion don't even come close to all the positive that Grace has brought into our lives.  She really is the best thing ever that has happened to us.  I couldn't thank God enough for this beautiful blessing (with so much personality)!!!

7 Weeks Old

Today Grace is 7 weeks old.  I cannot believe how fast the time has been going.  She is doing really well and still growing quite fast.  These pictures are not the best because she did not feel very well today and that is explained a little later.  Here is the best I could do... one halfway decent one and one of her not having it.

She has actually just about outgrown almost all of her newborn onesies and a couple of her sleepers.  So, we got her two new sleepers in a slightly larger size.  They are adorable on her!  This is just one of those sleepers.  I thought I had a picture of the other, but guess not.  I'm getting really anxious for her two month appt. so we can see just how much she has really grown.

This weekend Garrett and I decided to have another date night and used some of our gift cards that we've had forever and just have been unable to use.  We went to the movies for the first time in probably over a year.  It was so nice!!  After the movies, we met our good friends Jenny and Aaron for a double date at Logan's (my favorite place!).  It was so wonderful to see them and catch up.  Jenny, you look wonderful!!  She is expecting and we cannot wait for their little one to arrive later this year.  While we spent the day out, Nana babysat and Grace got to go for a couple walks and also got introduced to a new formula.  She is doing very well adjusting to the different kinds.  We are trying to slowly introduce her to the different samples that we have received; so if we need to buy any in the future, we will know what she likes best.  She took to it well, but unfortunately we had to use it all within 48 hours before it went bad, if we were going to use.  Because of that, I think she drank too much of it and probably a little too fast (she tends to drink very fast)... So, she has been quite fussy today (as I mentioned earlier), way more than normal.  I think she's got a tummy ache and is a little gassy.  She is only content when sleeping or with mommy holding her.  Hopefully by tomorrow she will be back to her normal self.  By the end of the day, she was already smiling a little more, but still not as much as normal.  She just wants to cry and I feel so bad for her.

love this angel

Also this week, on the positive side, Grace got to meet her first little friend!  Monica and Kendall came over for the day and we had a wonderful time together.  It was great to catch up with her and to introduce the little ones.  It's amazing to think that Grace was that small, let alone even smaller at one point.  Kendall is 3 weeks younger than Grace and little cutie.  And both Monica and Kendall look great!  We cannot wait to keep getting the girls together and for the time when they can really interact with one-another.

Two babes asleep in their car seats after a quick ride out to lunch

This picture makes me LOL 

Sweet girls