A Nice Weekend

We had a nice weekend. The weather was cool and for the most part we just relaxed around the house. Grace wore her Louisiana Tech gear because I didn't realize that Tech was not going to play until Wednesday. I guess she will just have to wear it again for the game! Daddy took some pictures of her while I was at the store. They are too cute!

Proud to be a Tech fan!



Wearin' Daddy's Tech hat!


I just have to mention that Grace is so fortunate to have such a great Daddy, and I am so fortunate to have such a great husband. He has really gone above and beyond with this whole parenthood thing. We are so blessed to both be able to spend so much time with our little girl both separately and together.



All ready for church in a new fall outfit!


I got to hear the sermon today! Grace did great through Sunday School as usual, and I decided to try to prevent the fit throwing by feeding her myself in between S.S. and church. It worked! She did not cry at all while I was in there. When I picked her up at the end of the sermon I could tell that she had been crying some, but they did not call me so I guess it was not too bad. Hopefully this new routine will work out and I will be able to catch most of the worship service from now on.

So happy to be at home playing with Mommy


Momma and her girl before church.

Paralympic Photos - Round 1

Here are a few photos that MA and Stephanie, another Alabama Paralympian, took. Most of them are Steph's pictures. Once MA uploads hers I will try to make a slide show or something so you can see those too!

Paralymic logo

Olympic Village where the athletes stayed

Steph and MA before the opening ceremonies

MA and Steph during the opening ceremonies

All of these kids performed together

There were LOTS of them

I forgot what this guy represented, but he was pretty neat flying through the air

Talk about buff. This guy hoisted himself all the way from the ground in his wheelchair to light the torch. I was not sure if he was going to make it.

Banners like these were all around town on the buildings.

Dad and MA at the Bird's nest.

Funny sign... but true I'm sure.

The three gold medalists from the University of Alabama

Falling leaves at closing ceremonies

More from the big production

It's Friday Folks!

We made it through another week! Yeah!!! One thing good about working is how much we enjoy our weekends now. We always look forward to our Friday family fun days. We always go out to eat for lunch and then find something fun to do as a family after. Today we got Chicago deep dish pizza and then we went to Sam's. I know, Sam's may not sound like a great time to y'all, but we always have a good time walking around looking at all the the bulk items. Today we needed dog food, so we decided to make our errand our family activity. Sometimes we go to the park or the mall. I can't wait till Grace is old enough to enjoy some of the fun things there are to do around here like the Huber farm, children's museum, and zoo!

Well, this week was much less eventful than last (thank goodness). We had electricity the whole time, and nothing out of the ordinary happened! I think fall is about here too. I am so looking forward to Grace's first fall. There are many evening walks in the park ahead of us. I have been waiting to take the girl on regular walks in the park since we first moved to Louisville :)

That is about all the updating I have for you, so I will just leave you with a few pics of the sweet girl...

Swinging in a new fall outfit!



Grace is now infatuated with her hands. She can put them (along with whatever they are holding) in her mouth in a split second, and she loves sucking on her fingers.


BIG SMILE :)



I am always tempted to take a picture of the way I find Grace in the morning. This morning I just couldn't resist. She had wiggled one arm out of her swaddler! Her poor little fingers were chilly.



Grace's new favorite activity is "standing." Look at how tall she is getting! She will be standing on her own before we know it!

Sunday School

Well, we didn't make it through church for the second Sunday in a row. Grace seems to do well all the way through Sunday school and through about half of the music, but I am getting used to seeing our number flashed across the screen. I am still not used to the feeling I get when I see it. Talk about a bad feeling. I am beginning to think this nursery thing may not be so easy for us after all.


It's not that Grace is a bad kid as much as I think she may just be a mamma's girl. Maybe we haven't left her with strangers enough and she freaks out when Jonathan or I am not there when she wakes up. Maybe she is just picky about who feeds her. I don't know, but I do know that she hardly ever cries when she is at home with us. And she must be crying pretty hard for them to call me back to the nursery. Today her eyes were so red and she was still sniffing hard to try and get her breath. The thing is, whenever I get back there she calms right down and takes her bottle for me. I end up staying and helping out in the nursery just to keep an eye on her.

The thing that is really scary about this is that she is only 3 months old. I thought kids this age were not supposed to care when there mammas left them. I thought that happened when they were like a year old and they went through an attachment phase or something like that. I really don't want Grace to dislike going to the nursery or have a hard time when I am not there with her. And I really don't want her to be the child that the nursery workers talk about after the service... I can hear it now "Oh yeah, Grace, she always cries and is hard to handle."

Well, maybe next week will go better. At least Jonathan and I are getting to go to Sunday school again! I just may not get to hear a sermon for a while!

Home Sweet Air-Conditioned Home

Not only did we take hot showers in our own bathroom tonight but I washed clothes and we are sleeping in our own air-conditioned bedrooms with clean sheets for everyone! Thank you LG&E! I am so grateful for my cozy little house tonight!

No, I Do Not Like Ike.

Well, this is the end of day #3 with no electricity. Ike made his way all the way up here to Kentucky and got us good. No rain, just the worst wind storm in the history of the state. Some of our good friends finally got electricity, so we packed up and are at Mark and Alyson's tonight. I can not tell you how wonderful it felt to have a long hot shower! Miss Grace has not made it through the night the past two nights and that has made for one tired mamma who has to be at work at 7:30 am. Hopefully tonight will be a nice change and we will all get some good rest in the air conditioning. And maybe our power will be restored soon.


Now something that is even better than my hot shower...

Mary Allison is now the owner of an official GOLD MEDAL!!!! The US Woman's team won the gold medal yesterday in Beijing!!!! Congratulations MA!!!! We are so proud of you!!!! Now enjoy all that sight-seeing!!!!

Random Happenings

Well, Mom and Dad have joined MA in China! I got to talk to them for about 45 minutes last night, and they sounded like they are having a great time. Before she left Mom was really worried about the food. When I talked to them they had eaten McDonald's, Subway, and Chinese buffet (with the dish names printed in both Chinese and English). They have HBO and CNN at the hotel, so I think she is faring better than expected. They seem to be really impressed with Beijing so far. There is a lot of concrete, a lot of people and a lot of walking, and apparently the city smells a bit like tuna fish and the public restroom situation leaves a lot to be desired (holes in the floor are the going standard). But all in all I think they are having a blast! I mean how could you not!


One of the things that is most impressive is how everybody in the country is totally into the Paralympics. All of the Olympic logos have been replaced with Paralympic logos all over town, and the games are covered 24/7 on 3 TV stations. I haven't even heard anyone in America mention that the games even exist. I am still waiting for pictures to prove it, but apparently there are even topiaries of wheelchair athletes!?! All of the events are sold out and people are even counter fitting tickets to try and attend the games. The crowds are totally into the events, and the athletes are treated like celebrities... people crowd around them and want autographs etc... Talk about different from America. You can't give tickets away to wheelchair sporting events here in the states, and even if you could half the folks in attendance would probably think they were at the Special Olympics anyway. I think MA is so fortunate to have gotten to compete in the games when they were in Beijing!



*******
Now for the Grace updates...

Sweet Grace before Church last Sunday. She is trying out the nursery this week. Say a little prayer for her mamma.



Grace had a great time with Granny and Pappa. We can't wait to see them again in November!



All clean after bath time. She has been "talking" up a storm lately and she is getting so much better at "sitting" and "standing" and grabbing things.



This is how I found her this morning. I don't know how she manages to move around at night (especially since we still swaddle her), but she does! Sometimes she has her feet through the crib slats (Daddy won't let me use the bumper pad because of the risk of SIDS) and sometimes she is completely backwards in her crib. This morning she was sideways and her head was pressed up against the crib. But she was still snoozing away!



I absolutely love that Grace is such a talkative little thing. She is so expressive with her face when she coos... wonder who she gets that from :) Her eyebrows raise up, her eyes get huge, and she nods her head up and down. It is like she is really telling me something!



Grace and Ben had a lot of hanging out time last weekend. We went out to eat on Friday night, and then they came over again on Saturday for dinner and football!



You can watch the Paralympic games at universalsports.com. We watched the opening ceremonies live last Saturday. Grace watched some too!



I just like this picture, so I thought I would share it. She really does know how to turn on the charm... my sweet little buckaroo.



Daddy finally got to watch a Tech game with his girl. Too bad it was the Tech Kansas game. I agree Grace, I agree.



This was a pre-game shot. Things were a little happier then :) That was Saturday. Sunday Daddy and Grace and Pappa wached the Saints... they won!!! Yipee!!!

One More Very important Thing...

How could I forget... 

GRACE IS 3 MONTHS OLD!!!

What A Week!

This picture is for my mom... Grace in a white church sweater... if only it were Copperkey :)

What a week we had last week! Jonathan went to the Tech game weekend before last, so it was just me and the Grace girl for the first time ever for a couple of days. We missed Daddy so so much! I have a new respect for single parents! 

Granny and Grace

Jonathan's parents came back with him and stayed all last week. We had a great time. It was so good for them to get to really spend some quality time with their grand girl. 

Pappa reading to Grace for the first time. I know there will be so many more story times to come!!!

Last week was also my first week back to work, and boy was I ever ready for Friday. I am starting to realize just how hard this whole working and being a mother thing is going to be. I feel like I spend every waking moment working nonstop weather it be on true work stuff or dinner or taking care of the baby... and then I just collapse at night. I am so thankful that the girl takes good naps and sleeps well at night. Needless to say, my blogging may not be as frequent as it used to be. 

Eating the red bird toy.

Grace is growing up so much! She loves to "stand" up now and is grabbing things very easily. She is even starting to grab things held in front of her (not just to the side), hold on with both hands, and put things in her mouth.  I am pretty sure she is going to suck her thumb... oh well, we will cross that bridge when we get there I suppose. 

"HUH?!?"

I am getting myself psyched up to leave her in the nursery on Sunday. I don't know why I am having such a hard time leaving her. I really did not expect to, but I am just so nervous that she is going to cry the whole time and be the "bad" baby in the nursery even though she is pretty easy going most of the time. 

Sporting the Paralympic outfit aunt MA sent. I think she will have to grow into it.

Grace and I just finished iChatting with my parents one more time before they leave for China tomorrow morning. I will be the only member of my immediate family still in the country. Good thing we have email! I know they are all going to have a great time.

Sweet smiling girl :)

Whelp, I'm heading to bed! Tomorrow is only Tuesday, so I had better get some rest! Agghhh!!!

Are you still craving a little Olympics....

Then I know of a wonderful event you don't need to miss out on. Saturday morning @ 8:00 (eastern) you can watch the Paralympic Opening ceremonies live on universalsport.com. You can also view a lot of the paralympic events on the website over the next couple of weeks. "Why would you want to do a thing like that" you may ask. Well, let me tell you... Not only will the athletes and competition captivate you... not only will that American patriotism that only comes during the Olympics reemerge... not only will you get a little break from politics and football... but you will also get to see Mary Allison Milford (my little sis) compete in the games!!! Just thought I would let you know. Enjoy!!!