Half a Year in Review

Last night I went through Gracie's closet and packed up all her newborn and 0-3 month clothes. I wasn't crazy sad about it, but I was a little nostalgic when I held the tiny onesies that wouldn't even fit over her belly now. As 2011 comes to a close and I look back on the year, so much has changed. Last Christmas break, I spent most of my downtime getting a nursery ready. I used to lay awake at night, feeling this baby move in my belly, planning its nursery, wondering what it would feel like to hold my baby in my arms. This Christmas, my life feels more full than it ever has, which makes me very happy. But to see my sweet baby girl sitting up and getting up on all-fours trying to crawl, I'm just amazed at how fast life moves. I'm so thankful for my sweet daughter and all the joy that she brings.

In the hospital - 1 day old

At home - 1 week old

2 weeks old




At the lake - 1 month old

2.5 months old

3.5 months old

4.5 months old

5 months old

6.5 months old

God is good!

Gracie's First Christmas Season

Stocking Caps
(although she hasn't worn it every day because it's been unseasonably warm lately)

Wearing Cousin Kyle's angelic headpiece after Kyle's Preschool Christmas Program

Helping Momma wrap Christmas presents and playing with her first baby doll from Barb



Baking Cinnamon Bread with Momma

Unwrapping her first Christmas present at the Sevedge Family Christmas

(I can't get enough of Gracie wearing footie pajamas!)

First time in a high chair at a restaurant on Mommy and Daddy's week of work!

Yay for time off work!

Rock Chalk!

I must have forgotten to get this on the blog, but here's Gracie in her oh-so-adorable KU outfit! My friend Sharon made it for her, even though she's a Husker fan. Gracie certainly knows how to win over Daddy!

Even a Tiger's fan couldn't say no to this sweet face!

6 months

Gracie is 6 and half months old now and growing and changing every day. She had her 6 month doctor's appointment on Dec. 6 (my apologies for just now blogging about it... busy Momma!). She is absolutely perfect according to the doctor. Weighing in at 14 lbs. 10 oz put her in the 25th percentile still. She's been on that growth curve since birth. She was 26 and 3/4 inches long, which puts her in the 75-90 percentile still. Again, she's been there since birth. She definitely meets the 'long and lean' criteria. Dr. Bays says she's as long as a 7 and half month old. She's wearing 3-6 month bottoms and 6 month outfits, but her jammies and other one piece items have to be 6-9 months. God blessed her with a long torso, just like her Momma.

She is doing so many new and fun things lately. Every other day she shows us something new. Let's see... yesterday and today it's been her tongue. She has really discovered her tongue today... more accurately, she has discovered that it doesn't have to stay in her mouth all the time. She looks like a cross between a lizard and KISS groupie. Either way, it's fun to watch her explore!

Last week while Gracie and I were jammin' to some Bon Jovi, she revealed her love of dancing! As we pranced around the living room singing, "Ohhhhhhh we're halfway there! Oh-oh! Livin' on a prayer..." she threw her arms up and starting singing along. She does this fist waving-thing now all the time, but it's her version of dancing and singing. See the short video below. Getting video of her is difficult because my ADD daughter gets distracted everytime I pull out my phone or camera. This is the best I could do. I believe we were jamming to Tarzan's "Trash the Camp" at the time.

She's also totally ticklish now. Her neck, tummy, and chunky thighs are the best places to make her giggle. She definitely has that infectious baby laugh now! Momma loves the Gracie laugh! I could listen to her all day. Here's a glimpse at her giggle, although this video is over a month old. It's even better now that she's bigger!

What a sweet baby girl we have! It's not hard to see why we fall deeper in love every day!

Rolling Over

Our Little Gracie has finally mastered rolling from her tummy to her back! She's been able to do it sometimes for several weeks, but now she can make it happen every time! Check it out in the video below. My apologies for Tysie ringing the bells in the background. She had to go potty in the middle of Gracie's "performance."

Halloween

Even though Halloween was over a week ago, I couldn't miss the chance to blog about my little strawberry! Gracies' first Halloween was a success!

We began the evening at the Willis' house - long time family friends. My mom and Debbie were roommates when they first moved to Kansas City right after high school. They met and married best friends - my dad and Ron. Ron and Debbie were married the same summer as my parents. They had 2 daughters and so did my parents. The 4 of us girls grew up together... having so many traditions that we still keep to this day. It's so crazy when we get together because we girls used to be the kids, but now we're among the grown-ups. Trisha, Tara, and Steph have 2 kids each and I have just Gracie. But that makes for 7 little ones running around. Ron and Debbie still participate, as does my mom, so it's a blast when we can all get together!

After dinner and treats at the Willis', we headed to see Aunt Brandi, Grandma and Grandpa Weaver, and Great-Grandma Courter. Gracie was such a trooper. She'd fall asleep in the car on the way, but would wake up bright-eyed and ready to visit when we arrived. Since she couldn't wear her costume in her carseat, she was constantly getting dressed and undressed. But like I said, she didn't mind at all.

We got back home about an hour and a half past her usual bedtime. I snuck in a quick bath and put her to bed. She slept soundly until 4 am, just like always. I think she took a longer nap at the babysitter's the next day, but all in all, Halloween didn't wear her out too much!

Our Little Strawberry!

Here's the whole costume. I ordered it from Children's Place.

And in case you were wondering, she will be wearing the tights with a jean skirt in the future!

Pumpkin Patch

Or shall I say... Punkin Patch?!

Over the weekend we made our first family visit to the Pumpkin Patch. We went to Red Barn Farm up in Weston. Super fun, although the pumpkins in the patch were rotten. We had a great time anyway!

Here are few pictures from our day! It was an unseasonably warm October day, but beautiful nonetheless.

Waiting for the hayride -- what a cute bunch!

Gracie and Daddy on the hayride

All the cute kids with all the pretty orange!



After we took several 'cousin shots' they all fell over, so we got a few more!

My sister and her clan!

Aren't my neice and nephew so cute!

The Weaver Clan and Grandma, too!
We were all enjoying our apple cider slushes. Yum!