In her own bed

So tonight is a little bittersweet for Momma Weaver. Gracie is in her own bed for the first time. She's been sleeping soundly in there since 8:00 and Momma has mixed emotions. I'm sad because it feels like the end of an era. Daddy said 2 months is hardly and era, but I disagree. She'll never sleep in our room again. But again, Daddy disagrees. He said she will. Not that I want her in our bed very often, but I secretly hope he's right! I won't be listening to her infant grunts and moans as I drift off to sleep anymore. I won't be able to reach over to her cradle to feel her chest rise and fall. I won't be able to watch her innocently sleep every time I wake up at night. I won't be able to lean in and smell her newly washed baby-smell. There are so many things that will change once she's in her own bed. But I've decided that I can do all those things... I'll just have to get my tushy out of bed and walk across the hall to do them! Right?!

There are a few things to look forward to now that she'll be in her own bed. Right now, for example. She's in bed and we're awake. Daddy is snuggling with Tysie and I can blog again! Turning the ceiling fan on... I always thought it'd make her stuffy. Not stubbing my toe on the cradle when I get out of bed. Turning on the light when I wake before Gracie in the morning. Just a few little things I'm using to 'look on the bright side.'

I've always said life is all about choosing your attitude. I could be super sad that she's growing up so fast or I could choose to roll with the changes and be happy where we're at. I'm somewhere in the middle right now, but I'm trying to obey 1 Thessalonians 5:18. It says, "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." I'm trying to give thanks and rejoice for all the happiness God has given to me, rather than dwelling on the sadness that comes when time moves too quickly.

I'll update soon on her first night in her crib. Maybe she'll sleep till 4 or 5 am like usual. Maybe she'll get up several times tonight and need her Momma. Maybe I'm not sure which I'm hoping for?

A growing girl...

Gracie is 7 weeks now and just growing like a weed! She's getting so big and learning so many new things. She's still wearing newborn clothes because she's so skinny. It appears, however, that she got Mommy's long torso because she seems so long to me! When she's awake, Gracie smiles and coos. She's got such a pretty smile... really gummy and wide! She can also kick, kick on her playmat. I've tried several times to upload video of her in action, but blogger just isn't cooperating. I'll keep trying!


She's beginning to get into a routine of sleeping. She's still in a cradle in our bedroom at night, but during the day she takes 2 - 3 naps in her crib. She didn't enjoy her crib much at first, but after stealing tips from The No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley, she sleeps in it really well! I kind of spoil her right now by pre-heating her bed with a heating pad before I lay her down... even Grandma thinks I'm crazy, but it works. No worries, I don't plan to pre-heat her bed forever, just until she'll go to sleep in her crib without it. I've also been trying to lay her down before she's totally asleep (per the book's recommendation) but I'll be honest and say that I still rock her to sleep for half of her sleep times each day. We need our snuggle time!



Because it's been so blasted hot lately, we haven't taken too many walks, but Gracie is a great shopping partner! Mommy's working to build a new wardrobe to fit my body right now. I'm not one of the lucky ladies who loses her pregnancy weight in the first 6 weeks (like several of my friends). So instead, I've decided to dress my larger and smushier body in cuter clothes. The athletic shorts and t-shirts just aren't cutting it any longer. I've been researching wardrobe basics that allow you to build multiple outfits with fewer pieces, so I'm able to get more outfits with less money. This is a new way of thinking for me, which is challenging, yet fun. I never spent much on clothes before, but I've also never considered myself well-dressed. Not that I'll ever be a chic fashionista, but I'm learning and making the best of my post-pregnancy body. My goal is to stay this size (or smaller -- just not larger) until I'm done breastfeeding - which hopefully will be next June. At that point, I can join Weight Watchers without fear of my milk supply dropping. It's all a small sacrifice to pay for such a sweet little girl.



Speaking of a sweet little girl, here's my favorite picture of Gracie and I at the moment!





Alright, before my little darling awakes, I'm off to make my grocery list and find my price-match items in the weekly ads. I need to blog about that sometime... price-matching. Thanks to Tracy, I'm saving TONS of money at Walmart. I know many of you hate that place.... ahem, Shari and Brandi. But as with the pre-heating of the bed, it works! And we all know I'm all about saving money. I'll shop with the toothless, greasy-haired, aisle-hogging people anyday to save a buck or two. But really, I save about $20-$30 each week.

First Family Camping Trip

On Gracie's one month birthday weekend, we had our first family camping trip! It turned out to be so relaxing for Mommy and Daddy Weaver. Both of us love the lake (Pomme de Terre for those who don't know). We usually fish and swim and take naps and watch movies. We've got a big camper with air conditioning, so taking Gracie down wasn't too difficult. Our car was loaded to the top with stuff... less than I thought we'd bring, actually. She'd been having several blowouts at the time, so I packed 15 onesies for weekend trip. I didn't use 12 of them, but better to be safe than sorry.

It was such a hot weekend that we spent most of our time inside. We were okay with that because we bought a new flat screen TV for our camper. Ryan and I installed that on Friday night, so we had the rest of the weekend to enjoy it!

Several of our lake friends were down for the weekend, too. All of them fell in love with Gracie from the start. Carol and Sharon argued over who Gracie liked better. And Bob offered to take her out in the boat to teach her how to spit and cuss! Mama said we'd save that for another time!

Below are a few pictures of our camping trip! We have 2 others planned for this summer, so I'm sure there'll be more!

Daddy and Gracie "in" the lake!

Mommy and Gracie "in" the lake!
Gracie sporting one of her adorable sun hats!


Swimmin' Dog Tysie in the lake... she was so hot, too!

Because of the heat, we spent only about 45 minutes each day outside.

Gracie said it was too hot for clothes!

We all spent a lot of time sleeping.
Gracie particularly enjoyed the co-sleeping thing.

Here she is passing the day away.

Lately her bouncer is one of her faves! Thanks Aunt Giermann!

Passed out on the way home
I was all ready with a pumped bottle and everything, but this kid was worn out.
She slept the whole drive home!

Happy One Month Birthday, Gracie!

My goodness time flies! I can't believe Gracie's been with us for a whole month already! I'm trying not to get sad thinking about going back to work in August. I'm also trying not to get sad about how she no longer looks like a newborn and is starting to look like a baby. We're having so much fun together!

We spend our days taking walks, which Gracie loves to stay awake for. She just watches as the world goes by. We read books, too... she happens to be a big Dr. Seuss fan! We sing songs and dance together, which gets us really worn out for our afternoon nap! I spend my time trying to get her to smile (super cute!) or kissing her feet. We've also had several (and I mean more than a few) unplanned baths. She's really good at blowing out her diaper all over herself and Mama... usually just after I've showered and changed clothes. It's rather disappointing when it happens, not because I don't like giving her baths... that's my favorite, but because getting a shower and clean clothes (of the 2 outfits I own that fit me) is really hard to pull off.

Here are a few pictures taken this week!

Smiling Girl!
She likes to kick, kick, kick on her activity mat.

G-Mack and T-Lou or 'G and T' if you prefer
Almost asleep snuggling together.
(For those of you germophobes, they weren't that close for long,
but Tysie is very gentle with Grace)

Alright, back to laundry. For those who remember my post a few months back that I enjoy folding baby clothes. Well... alas, the fun has faded. Laundry is a chore once again.

A few of my favorite things...

After 2 (almost 3 weeks) with Gracie, I feel more confident as a mommy and am enjoying myself much more. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy being a mommy before, but things weren't as blissful as I thought they were supposed to be at first. My hormones seem to be more in check now, although I still find myself crying at things that never used to bother me.

Grace is such a good girl. She's a good eater... eating 3 ounces at each feeding (lactation measured) and gaining weight like a champ! She's definitely Ryan's and my daughter! She's also a good sleeper... she sleeps in her own bed (until the sun comes up, then mommy likes to snuggle in bed) and goes for at least 3, sometimes 4 hours between feedings at night. We're getting into a bit of a rhythm of feedings, naps, and playtime. When she's awake, she's really alert. We're enjoying our summer together!

Here are few pictures to show you some of my new favorite things... in chronological order (notice how she's changed in these few short weeks - makes mama sad!)

Family Walks

This is Gracie's first walk outside mommy's tummy!
It's much easier to make it up the hills with her in the stroller than my belly.
Tysie enjoys the family-time, too... although she doesn't trust that
her parents won't run her over with the stroller.

Playtime with Grace

Even though she's not a big girl yet and can't really see
much, I still like to get out her toys and books.
She seems to enjoy the bright colors and sounds!

Gracie's smile!

I know it's not her real smile yet, but she grins at us sometimes, which is just too cute!
Her smile is all gums right now... I think she'll have a nice teethy-smile when she's bigger!
She'll even laugh and snort sometimes - still trying to get that on video!

Gracie's Feet!

I'm not sure what it is about her feet, but I just love them!
She likes to have them rubbed... I have no idea where she gets that from!

Daddy with his daughter

I could watch Ryan snuggle with her all day!
He's a really good daddy... even if he's exhausted!
He's a great husband, too! He's doing so much around the house to help me keep up!

Our new little family

We went to a wedding in Omaha this weekend!
Our first family trip! It was a really good time and Grace did so well!

All things girly!

Gracie is getting big enough to fit into some of her really cute girly-clothes!
I've found some hair bows that fit her tiny head, too... super cute!
Little Gracie is one pretty girl.
I think she's destined to follow in her mommy and daddy's athletic footsteps,
but there's no reason why Gracie Mack can't be pretty, too!

Grace Mackenzie Weaver

She's finally here! I am filled with joy to be blogging out our little baby girl, Gracie Weaver! She arrived in a flurry at 4:38 pm on Wednesday, June 8th - one day past her due date. She weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces and was 20 and 3/4 inches long. A healthy little lady who so far has been absolutely perfect! She even has red hair, which I adore!

Here are the highlights of the labor and delivery. Things didn't go how I had thought they would, but it all worked out how it was supposed to.

Checked in Tuesday night for cervical ripening via cytotec, which everyone said would most likely take a few days.

Woke up with intense contractions at 4:30 am.Began pitocin at 5:00 am - which only intensified the contractions.

Checked by doctor at 7:30 am - during which he stripped my membranes and explained that we would probably be doing this labor-thing again tomorrow. I cried.

Labored intensely while Ryan and my mom tried desperately to help.

9:45 am - doctor said I'd made enough progress to break my water and get my epidural - Thank you, Lord Jesus! Seriously...

10:15 - Got my epidural. Best decision of my life!

All afternoon we fiddled with contraction monitors, fluctuating blood pressure, heart rate drops, etc. My body finally kicked in with regular contractions so no more pitocin (who cared at this point since I couldn't feel them anyway, but good to know my body finally decided to show up!)

3:30 pm - checked by doctor, probably dilated to a 7 or so.

3:35 pm - I tell the nurse that I'm pretty sure there's a cantaloupe between my legs. The pressure below my pelvis was so intense.

3:36 pm - Nurse checks me and says I'm a 10.

For the next 30 minutes I labored-down - meaning breathed through the cantaloupe-pains between by legs until my body pushed the baby out further. Less chance of tearing and fewer pushes.

4:00 pm or so - Go time! After 3 clear directions from the doctor - harder, softer, or stop - we began pushing. My final prediction was Little Weaver girl. Ryan's was Little Weaver boy. But neither of us a had a clue!

4:38 pm - I watched as Grace Weaver arrived into the world. Her first cry was on my chest... mommy cried, too! A wonderful moment for our family.

Tired, relieved, amazed!

A quick pic of Daddy falling in love with his daughter

Happy girl!

When we left the hospital everything was great! Gracie was eating well and thriving. All the nurses were telling us how great of an eater she was. We were breasfeeding and Gracie would chow down for 45 minutes to an hour and still want to suck everything she could get her hands on.

Our first night home from the hospital was a sleepless one. Gracie seemed to be consipated. She would tighten her belly and thrash and cry for minutes at a time. Neither one of us knew how to help her. She'd nurse and it still didn't help her go to the bathroom. We were 22 hours from her last dirty diaper and I was panicked. I called the maternity floor at the hospital and the pediatricians nurse help line. Neither could offer any advice that worked.

Finally at 6:45 Saturday morning, my mother's instincts kicked in and I gave her a formula bottle... which went against everything I had hoped for in the early days home. I was hoping for no formula, but definitely no bottles. Well... out the window with that. Daddy got to give her a bottle and she DOWNED it. Ten minutes and 55 mL later, she pooped. A short while later, she pooped again.

That morning we began supplementing breastfeeding with formula via a tube during nursing. This helped a lot. I also spoke to the lactaction nurses from NKCH (loved all the nurses there!) and they had me start pumping right away after every feeding to bring in my milk supply.

Thankfully, it worked! 24 hours later, my milk is in and Gracie can chow down as much as she needs to. She is much happier and so are we.

First bottle

What an unbelievable week. Ryan and I are working together to figure out our new normal. He is doing an amazing job juggling husband and Daddy duties. It's true that you fall in love with your husband all over again. My hormones are bit out of control and my body is sore, just like they said. I am in love with Gracie-girl. I can stare at her feet for hours. When she's alert, I love to look into her big blue eyes and tell her all the great things we have to look forward to. She has the cutest red hair and sweetest long fingers. Her skin is the softest and I kiss her every time I get the chance. She is such a blessing to us. Hence the name, Grace. Both Daddy and I are so thankful that God gave us this precious baby girl.

39 weeks

I'm just 2 days from the due date and I'm hoping Little Weaver decides to make an appearance on time.

This past week has been a bit of a rollercoaster of doctor's appointments and tests. The short story is that my blood pressure was elevated (130/90) when I went in for my Tuesday appointment. They went ahead and drew some blood and sent me home as long as I promised to put my feet up. After another appointment on Thursday (BP still up) they sent me to labor and delivery to have a non-stress test. The baby and I passed 'the test' and my blood pressure looked great. Then my assignment for Friday was to collect my urine for 24 hours (that was a lovely experience) and bring it to labor and delivery while I got another non-stress test on Saturday. Again, we passed the test and my urine came out fine, too.

At this point, we're just hoping my body kicks into gear and begins to thin/dilate on its own. The doctor called my cervix 'unfavorable' for an induction because I'm not thinning or dilating yet. She also explained that if they were to induce me (and they might) it could take 48 hours or more to get the prize. Eeek... that seems like a long time, to me. When I asked the labor and delivery nurse about it, she said not to worry because some women thin and dilate in a few hours. I'm hoping I'm one of those girls! So... if Ican keep my blood pressure under control at my appointment on Monday, then we can avoid an induction on Monday night. With my due date being Tuesday, I'd rather just wait till later in the week to see if my body figures things out. But if my blood pressure doesn't cooperate, then they'll most likely begin an induction on Monday evening.

I'll keep you all posted. Pray that I'm okay with whatever God's plan for the delivery is. His plans are always better than my own anyway!