A New Year and A New Do

We have had a very busy week! I am now another year older... #27. I also got a major haircut. I had been growing my hair out for a while simply because I had not found a place here to get a haircut... and also because I just had not made to time to get one. So my hair had gotten really really long. Since it was so long I decided to go ahead and let it grow long enough to donate it to locks of love. They require at least 10 inches! Well, I finally had enough of it and made an appointment to get it cut off. Today was the big day! Here are the before and after pics...

It was soooo long.

The New Do!


Back view


The little pumpkin and I sat on the front porch and greeted trick-or-treaters for a while. We did not have as many as I figured we would. But the little girl did not take her last nap of the day, so bedtime got pushed up from 8:00 to 7:00 tonight. She was so sleepy all I had to do was lay her down in her crib. The minute I turned off the light she was asleep! So sweet :) Oh, and do you like my new rocking chair? It was my b-day gift from Grace and Jonathan! I took Grace to the park on my birthday, and when I got back Jonathan had it out on the front porch with a big bow on it! Grace loves to be outside and now I will have a place to sit and rock her!


Here is a picture of the little girl in her new pink corduroy overalls! She's saying "Thanks Paw Paw and Grandma!"

Fun Times Around the House

We have been having a great time enjoying the fall weather lately. Grace and I have been going on walks every day, sometimes twice a day! She is loving rice cereal now and is learning to do all sorts of fun things with her tongue. She can now make "pooting" noises and blow bubbles with the best of them. She is also exploring her vocal range by screeching both softly and very very loudly! She really likes to talk while on our walks. She babbles and blows bubbles while we walk around the park and really seems to enjoy it! Here are a few pictures...


Here are some pics of Grace babbling away while riding her pony.






Wearing Daddy's Tech hat... again.



All bundled up and ready for an afternoon walk!



I finally got pictures of Grace rolling from her back to her tummy! Here they are!
Happy baby on her back...


Rolling...


Over....



On her tummy!!!



Yeah Grace!!!




Grace did her first art project last week. I brought home a scrap sheet of paper and let her play on it. She was very interested in the different feeling and the noise that it made when she moved around on the paper. I crumpled it and she enjoyed watching it and hearing it. Then I put her on her tummy and she watched me draw. How neat to watch the colors appear! She kept on reaching for the bright colored dots and things that I drew. We didn't have markers, so I had to use highlighters (yes my husband is a masters student, so we have plenty), but I bought our first pack of crayolas at the store this weekend. Hopefully I will have another scrap sheet of paper this week so we can try it again with the new markers!



"Hi Mommy!"

Happy Fall Y'all!

We went to the Huber Farm today!!! Here are some of the pictures from our great day!


We were some of the first folks to arrive.




An attempt at a family photo.




Sitting in the pumpkins




She got her britches dirty!




Pic with the red tractor.




Apple picking time!




Grace and daddy




Grace and the scarecrow




In the pumpkin patch. So many to choose from!




Our pumpkin!

Rice Cereal... Take One

Grace had her 4 month well baby doctor's appointment today! She is doing very well! She received 5 vaccines in the form of 2 shots and one oral. She did great again and was just a little tired and cranky for the rest of the day. Here are her stats...

Length 24 1/4" Percentile 45th
Weight 13 lb 12.2 oz Percentile 45th
Head 16 1/2" Percentile 75th


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I got Grace a new toy. She really seemed to like it. It is really easy for her to grab onto, and I can even put it into the freezer so it will be cold on her gums when she starts to teeth. There is also a rattle in the center cube. Here are a couple of pics of her and the neat little toy.


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By accident I figured our how to take little videos on my camera today! There is no sound, but I thought that y'all would like to see her anyway. She has been rolling over from her back to her tummy during nap time and bedtime! She is doing all of this while swaddled, so the doctor told us it is probably time to try and wean her from the swaddler in case she wants or needs to get back onto her back from her tummy. So I decided to try her out in just a sleep sack during naps for the next few days before we try nigh time sleep. Here is a video of the kiddo not going to sleep. I put her down and about 5 minutes later (when she would normally be asleep already) heard her "talking". I went into her room and found her on her side touching her bumper pad over and over and cooing. She just looked at me and smiled as if to say, "Mommy! You're here to play with me! Look at this bumper pad! It is soooo neat!" So I put her back on her back gave her the paci again and waited. That's when I decided to take a little video!

She did eventually go to sleep. It just took a little longer than usual.

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Now for our big afternoon activity... RICE CEREAL!


Here is Grace's first "meal."



She was not so sure about the funny tasting/feeling stuff. She never cried, but she wasn't exactly happy either. I am really not sure if she even ate any of it.


This is the only half-smile picture that we got.

Here is a video of her first bites! The picture really is worth a thousand words even if ther is no sound, so I will let it do the explaining.

Fun Times With Aunt MA

Aunt Mary Allison is here for a visit! Despite the fact that we all seem to have a bit of a cold, we are having a blast! Here's a little summary of what we have been doing so far. Aunt MA got in Thursday night and we all had home made (thank you Jonathan) spaghetti and meatballs... yum! Friday we all went and got some Original Impelizzari's Pizza... yum again! Then we went and found Grace a costume. She is going to be the absolute cutest pumpkin on the block this year. Last night after Grace went to bed we watched a movie. Today we got brunch at MiMi's and then went to every kids store in the Oxmore Mall. We saw a super cute bumble bee costume at Pottery Barn Kids and regretted the pumpkin costume purchase until we saw the price tag on the bumble bee... 50 + dollars. I am now completely happy with having a little pumpkin this year. After some hangin' out time at home and a little nap we went to the Home made Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen and Lotsa Pasta.. dessert before dinner :) Grace has been such a good girl this weekend. She has loved being out and about and has been smiling at everybody she sees! What a sweet kiddo!


Grace LOVES Maggie now... well, when she notices her. I see them being pretty good friends in the near future.



It's been a while since I have posted a bath picture... so here you go! She's all clean and ready for bed time!



Sitting up in the big chair.



Sweet girl.



What did I say... The cutest pumpkin on the block? I think so.



The little pumpkin with her Aunt.


Lovin some Aunt MA!



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Mary Allison went to Washington on Monday/Tuesday for an awards ceremony for all the Olympic and Paralympic athletes to be honored. I thought you all (mostly my mom and dad) would want to see a few!


The view from her hotel room. It would have been pretty cool if there had been a game going on.



They all went to a banquet Mon night. I thought the dessert was definitely blog worthy.



Here she is... the Paralympian at the White House!



I just thought this was a neat picture... good job MA.


Do these girls look familiar? It's Nastia and Shawn up close and in person. Apparently they were super short as were all the male gymnasts. Michael Phelps was really tall, but the tallest folks there were the rowers.



Mr. President himself gave a speech!

Looks like it was a pretty fun 48 hours.

Happy 4 Months Grace!

Grace turned 4 months old today! I can't believe that only four months ago she was born! The Lord has truly blessed us with this precious little girl. Look at how much she has changed...


The first time Grace smiled at the camera... it was just a fluke.


Now look at my smiling girl!


Grace has become very very interested in her feet over the past couple of days. I am thinking that it is going to be hard to keep socks on her feet this winter.


She loves to look at and play with her toys. Now she can grab them with both hands and put them into her mouth.


Grace is so blessed to have such a wonderful Daddy! She loves him so so much!


Grace really does seem to have a sweet disposition. She loves to be entertained, but is learning more and more how to entertain herself lately.


Grace is now big enough to face out in her baby carrier! She loves to look around at everything!



Oh, my Grace Girl... I am so glad I have you. You are such a little miracle.