19 Weeks Old

Our baby girl is now 19 weeks old.

She had her 4 month checkup last Wednesday and it went great (well aside from the shots of course; she never likes those, but always handles them like the little rockstar she is).  She is now 14lbs 7ozs, which puts her in the 75% for weight, 25" long, which is in the 90% for height, and her head circumference is 37cm, which puts her at about the 50% for that.  Doctor said all looks great and she is perfect!  He says she looks just like a little porcelain doll and gets prettier every time he sees her; he is so complimentary of her!  She was all smiles and talked to him the whole time he examined her.  If this is any indication as to how she will be when she is older, we are going to have us quite the little talker on our hands.

This weekend, Garrett, Grace, and I drove down south to Sunrise, Florida to visit Andre and Lauren.  We had not seen them since my baby shower that they made it down for, which means this was also their first time meeting Grace.  To say that she loved them is an understatement :)  She adored both Andre and Lauren and I think it is safe to say they liked her too.  I only wish these visits could be longer!!

Lauren, Andre, Garrett, Grace, and I

We were supposed to go to either the aquarium or the zoo, but with Tropical Storm Isaac looming in the waters, that kind of put a damper on those plans.  However, we still managed to have a great time of course!  We ended up going to the Museum of Discovery and Science, which turned into a nice fun indoor activity.  Grace loved it (and not going to lie, I enjoyed it as well!).  I think her favorite things were the aquarium creatures (lobsters, fish, etc) and the plasma globe.  She definitely got big eyes when she saw those and they took all her attention.  I cannot wait to take her to other places like this because I believe I get the most joy out of watching how much joy she gets when seeing some of this new stuff and interacting with everything.

Smiling at some of the fish we got to see

Very intrigued by the Plasma Globe

Other than that, we just enjoyed the weekend catching up with Lauren and Andre and spending time with them.  We had a wonderful time out to dinner one night at Olive Garden and hanging in the other night. They are always so hospitable when we visit and we cannot wait to have them next time they are down and hopefully give them just as great of treatment!  Thank you Andre and Lauren for everything!!  Here is a quick collage of just a few more of my favorite pictures from the weekend:

1. Lauren feeding Grace 2. In the wind tunnel with Daddy
3. Eyeing a bright colored donut 4. All ready for bed (with Lauren)
5. Intrigued by Andre's magnet masterpiece 6. Supergirl! (with Andre)

Monday evening, Garrett surprised me by bringing home flowers after work.  He really is the best!!  And I could not ask for a better husband and father for our little girl.  Then, Garrett, Grace, and I took Joel, Erin, and their girls a meal since they recently just welcomed home their two week old son Jack.  It was so great to finally meet him in person and be able to help them out a little like they were able to do for us when we had just welcomed Grace.  Jack is too cute!  It's hard to believe that Grace was as little as him at one point... they don't lie when they say "they grow up fast!"

All in all it's been a great week!  Grace is now rolling from belly to back like a pro!  She is also handling her pacifier so much better.  She is able to put it in her mouth all by herself majority of the time if it is in hands reach.  Heck, she will grab ANYTHING within her reach; she is even starting to pull her feet to her mouth.  She is very intuitive and is constantly trying to figure out what is going on around her and trying to grasp whatever she can.  She is almost able to hold her big bottle all by herself.  She definitely tries to help us hold it.  She is also giggling a lot more!!  I love her belly laughs and big smiles!  Oh and did I mention she inherited one of my pet-peeves of Garrett's?!  Yep, don't ask me how, but she's learned his tongue chewing habit, lol.  She has just started to chew on her tongue a lot more and it's cute now, but i know it drives me crazy if I catch Garrett doing it and I can only imagine having both of them doing it now... oh boy.  She's still cute as can be, even when chewing on that tongue of hers... she even manages to smile while doing it!

18 Weeks Old

This little girl has officially made it to the 4 month old mark (as of last Friday)!  And go figure...
Grace is the name on the family name game today and since I can't seem to ever get through onto the Z88.3, Orlando, FL, I figured I'd brag even more than normal on here about our little Grace :) Our 4 month old is the absolute best thing that has happened to Garrett and I and has been nothing but a blessing to us!! She is beautiful, wonderful, and amazing beyond words! We thank God each and every day that we have her and for blessing us with such a sweet, happy, little angel!! I love you Grace Lynn Myers and am so thankful to be your mommy!! ♥

And guess what?!  It just so happens that right after posting my last blog, later that evening Grace decided to roll for the first time!!  YAY!!  And, my intuitions were right... she went from belly to back first.  Since then, we have only seen her go from back to belly once.  She's rolled from belly to back a few times.  We are so proud of Grace Lynn... she is constantly amazing us and putting smiles on our faces.

Saturday, our friends Monica and Justin spent the morning and early afternoon with us, and Grace and Kendall got to have another play-date.  This time they got to enjoy some quality pool time!  To make it more enjoyable for both of them (and us mommies, lol), we decided to let them float in the hot tub; we just set the temperature to a nice warm bathtub temp and relaxed a while. They loved it and it is so cool to see them be able to interact much more now since their last play-date.  I can't believe how much they both have grown and how quickly they are developing.  They love to smile at one another and just stare at each other mainly, but it is too cute!

Later that evening, we went out to eat with my family to Longhorn Steakhouse for Daddy (Papi's) birthday.  It was so yummy and definitely brought back fond memories from when Garrett proposed to me there, just 2 and a half years ago.  Happy Birthday Daddy!!

Grace and her Papi on his birthday
She loved being up so high...
Not used to looking over people's heads, lol

Sunday, Garrett and I visited another local church that sponsored Amanda's missions trip that she went on.  Their group performed a very powerful piece and it made quite the impact.  It was so wonderful to see the students up there testifying, in such a creative and wonderful way, the glory and love God has for us.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and was glad that we were able to make it over to watch and support them.

Later that afternoon, Garrett, Grace, and I got to spend some time with Kellie and Wicks (friends of our from Cowboys).  It was nice to have them over and just hang out on a wonderful relaxing afternoon.  All in all, it's been a wonderful week.  For those curious, Grace is doing much better.  She is almost through all her antibiotic medicine and is still in the process of getting better, but she sounds better and is sleeping a little bit better at night.  She is also making strides in her development.  Aside from the rolling, she is also getting her depth perception down very well!  She loves to reach out and grab toys, necklaces, hair, hands, and whatever else we put within her little arms reach :)  She is also interacting with us a lot more, in her talking and eye contact.  She will follow us as we move about a room or while we are doing something (cooking, cleaning, etc); she watches our every move and is quite the curious one.

Love this little peanut!  Here is what I got the pleasure of walking into when I stepped out for just a couple minutes to brush my teeth last night, lol.  Love them both to pieces!!

Daddy and his girl watching tv; Yep, she stole my spot, lol

17 Weeks Old

Can you  believe this little girl is 17 weeks old today and will be 4 months old later this week?!  Where has the time gone?!

This was yet another crazy busy week, but full of all kinds of goodness :)  Thursday evening we had our good friends Alyssa and Kyle over while they were in town, along with their 3 beautiful children.  It was so wonderful to get to catch up with them and to meet Gavin for the 1st time.  He is absolutely precious, which is no surprise because both Jeremy and Jemma are also adorable children!  They all also got to meet Grace for the first time.  We had a fun evening of pig riding, chicken holding, horse feeding, dinner, and just plain hanging out.  To put it simply, it was a wonderful evening!

Mommies with their babies
Alyssa, Gavin, Grace, and I

Some snap shots of all the children from their visit

Then Friday, I had to go get my license renewed while Garrett got to take Grace to the doctor... yep, to the doctor's again.  This was just a follow-up because she's been taking antibiotics for about a week and they wanted to see how she was progressing.  We are happy to say that she is doing much better.  I just cannot wait until all this medication is gone because I really don't like giving it to her.  I also hope this bacteria stuff does not come back once it is all out of her system.  Finally, after Garrett and I both made it home it was time to head off to Climax to see Aunt Sherry and Uncle Sonny for a long weekend.  I absolutely love all of our visits with them!!

We arrived Friday early evening and stayed until early Sunday morning.  Of course while there, there were several games of Sequence (no visit is complete without this, lol), we got to go visit my Uncle Bill who my sister, mom, and I have not seen since '96 (It was so great to see him!  Garrett and Grace also got to meet him for the first time.), and we just enjoyed each others company over several delicious meals and front/back porch sittin'. :)  On a side note, Grace absolutely loves Uncle Sonny.  It is too funny how she reacts with him... she is constantly watching him and smiles every time he comes into a room.  He could hold her all day and I'm sure she'd be happy as a clam.  He even gave her one of his hand-crafted piggy banks that he made.  When I was a child he made me a bunny bank and made Amanda a cat bank when she was young; now Grace has her very own whale bank that Uncle Sonny made; what an awesome gift?! :)  Oh and did I mention this was Grace's first time out of state?!  She did so well on the long car ride!!  We can't wait to get back up there and are already planning to hopefully make it up for Swine Time this fall (unfortunately, minus Cambrie this time).  Thank you Uncle Sonny and Aunt Sherry for the wonderful stay and for all the wonderful "toys" that you gave to Garrett.  He is a happy boy with all those new (to him) wood-working and miscellaneous tools.

An intense game of Sequence, lol
Love the intensity on Aunt Sherry and Amanda's face

So great getting to see Uncle Bill after 16 years!
L to R: Uncle Sonny, Aunt Sherry, Uncle Bill, Grace and I,
Amanda-Kay, Mama, and Garrett

Grace loves her Uncle Sonny and her new Whale bank

Other things this week:

1. Grace is still teething which means she is a drooling machine and is fighting sleep more than ever
2. She used her big girl duck bath-tub for the first time while at Aunt Sherry and Uncle Sonny's
3. She is grabbing everything in sight; her depth perception is definitely getting better
4. She has a new "squeal" that she loves to do... went from sounding like T-Rex to sounding like a dolphin, lol (see video below)
5. She is even closer to rolling... I believe she will role to her back from her stomach before the vice versa, just because she loves so much to lay on her back and kick (see video below)

16 Weeks Old

Grace Lynn is 16 weeks old and got to experience her first wedding dress shopping already, lol.

Friday after work my best friend and best husband a girl could ask for surprised me with a dinner date!  On the way home from work, he took a detour and took me out to dinner with our sweet baby girl.  Thankfully, she was good and slept through dinner for us.  We went to Olive Garden, which he knew I'd be super excited about because I have not had their wonderful bread sticks and alfredo sauce in way too long!!  We then went home and enjoyed our time together watching the Olympics with a nice glass of wine.  Thank you handsome for a wonderful evening!

All tuckered out while we enjoyed our Dinner Date :)

Saturday, Grace and I woke up and spent the morning with some of my favorite ladies, especially the one and only "Favorite", Sarah!  My mom, Aunt Kathy, Grace, and I got to be there for Sarah's first wedding dress shopping day and had such a wonderful time together.  Sarah looked absolutely beautiful in every dress she tried on and I know without a doubt she will be one beautiful bride on her big day!!  Grace even agrees!!  Here is our sweet Grace expressing her approval of a dress.  I'd post dress pictures, but we all know that is reserved for the big day; No sneak peaks Mike ;)  Thank you Favorite for including us on this special day.  Man, now to only think that one day, I will be doing this very same thing with Grace Lynn... ahhh, time can stop now, lol.  That is definitely going to be one bitter-sweet day.  Love this little girl!

Later that evening, we had family over and just enjoyed time with one another.  Thank you mama for coming over and letting me nap while you watched Grace... I definitely needed that nap after Grace had been keeping us up ALL night, literally.

Napping in Nana's arms

Yes, she has been waking up every 2-3 hours the last few nights, but fortunately last night she went 4 hours!! :)  I hope that she can keep this up and get back on a decent schedule because my body needs to get some rest between these long work weeks.  We have put her back in our room in the swing until her congestion gets a little bit better and she isn't waking up as frequently.  It just makes it easier for us and she tends to sleep better.  She certainly loves her swing!

Still manages to get those arms open wide while she sleeps, lol

However, even when she wakes me up at all hours, I can't help but love this happy beautiful girl!