Growth of the Gringers

Happy Birthday to Grace!

2011-10-12T21:21:00.002-04:00

Grace turned 3 on September 19th this year. This was a bittersweet day for me. I was really sad that my mom wasn't able to be here to celebrate with us and watch Grace really understand and enjoy her birthday. At the same time I had so much fun watching Grace really enjoy her birthday for the first time. Below is a video of Grace enjoying the birthday festivities at Jenny's (the kids' babysitter & family friend) house.

Baby Giggles

2011-10-11T20:59:00.004-04:00

In the beginning of September Patrick really figured out how to laugh. I was fortunate enough to catch it on video one day after work. There's nothing like those big belly laughs.

Video a Day?

2011-10-10T21:27:00.003-04:00

I just got an Iphone in August and I really love it. I felt really guilty for buying such an expensive phone for myself, but so far it has been worth it. I have taken a ton of videos of the kids and I haven't been posting because I went back to work at things are crazy. I am going to try to post a video-a-day to catch up and keep people posted on our family.

These videos are from August. Grace has turned into quite the little singer lately. She picked up the microphone and just rocked out. At the time Jason was working crazy hours so you can hear Grace sing "and Daddy's at work..." haha.

Dance Camp

2011-08-20T09:18:00.006-04:00

Grace completed her first dance camp this summer. It was a five week program and during the last week of class we were able to watch. The class was from 1:30-2:15 which was a little tricky since that is her nap time. Fortunately, she will be joining a class in the fall that meets on Saturdays from 10-10:45. We are really proud of Grace and her progress from just a few weeks. We can't wait to watch her dance skills continue to grow this year. Jason took some fantastic pictures. It was so hard to choose a few to add to the blog. Feel free to check the gallery for more.

Scaring one of the other little girls.

Getting her bunny nose ready!

Jumping over the puddles.

She just loves getting her sticker at the end of class.

Is it August Already?

2011-08-03T15:52:00.005-04:00

I cannot believe that it is August already? I wanted to be better about blogging this summer, but it just didn't happen. We have been so busy just enjoying life and I have loved spending so much time with my family.

Patrick is getting so big, so fast! It is unbelievable how fast babies grow. I think that with Grace I was rushing to get to the next stage, but with Patrick I have really tried to soak it all in which makes it a little harder to watch him grow and change so fast. He had his 2 month check-up on July 15th and he weighed 11 lbs 3 oz. He is also 23.5 inches long and his head circumference is 15.5 in. That all means that he is in the 19th percentile for his weight and head circumference. He is in the 49th percentile for his height. He is already wearing some 3-6 month clothing and even some 6 month items. He rolled from his back to his belly to his back for the first time on July 22nd and just yesterday he rolled from his back to his belly. He is still trying to gain full control of his head so we don't let him sit in the bumbo seat yet, but I know it will come in time. Patrick also loves to chew/suck on his thumb and hand. It is so adorable.

As for Miss Grace, she became fully potty trained in the beginning of June. She still has some accidents here and there, but we are so proud of her. This took a lot of patience on our end, but she did in her own time and when she was ready, she was ready. I was really bummed that my Mom was not here to see this accomplishment. She was often here helping Grace along and even from the hospital she tried to bribe Grace to use the potty. I know she would have been so excited and proud of Grace. Grace recently started taking dance classes and she loves it. She is completing a five week camp right now. She likes it so much that we decided to sign her up for the full year class in the fall. She also had her first dentist appointment today (8/5). I am so proud of her! She was the perfect patient and her teeth are fantastic according to the dentist. We are going to begin brushing her teeth twice a day, flossing and teaching her how to use "big girl" toothpaste. Here are some pictures for you enjoyment.

Seabreeze and a Growth Spurt (so old, but here it is)

2011-07-02T09:59:00.005-04:00

This week was the beginning of my summer vacation. My aunt, cousin and I decided to take the kids to Seabreeze yesterday. I have many fond memories of this amusement park as a child, so I could not wait to take Grace there. We kept telling Grace about it all week, so by Friday she was more than ready to go. We arrived right when the park opened at 11 and went straight to the wave pool. Grace had a ton of fun there and on the kiddie water slides. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures because I was either feeding Patrick, pumping or enjoying the fun with Grace. At about 1 o'clock we headed over to the rides. The water really tired her out, but she still had a great time. Here are some pictures of her on the rides.

Patrick August's Birth Story

2011-05-17T11:53:00.003-04:00

I have been trying to write this post since May 11th. Apparently life really is a lot busier when you have a two year old and a newborn.

Warning: This is very long and TMI.

Most of you know by now that Patrick August Gringer was born on April 28th at 1:43 am. On Easter Sunday I was awakened by our house phone ringing at 6:15 am. It was the hospital (Unity) calling to tell me that my mom was bleeding from her trach again and they were moving her back to ICU. Unfortunately this meant that she had to go back on the ventilator. I immediately got dressed and called my brother so we could head up there to make sure she was ok. As I was driving up there I thought to myself this stress might make my water break and that's the last thing we need. After sitting at the hospital for a few hours I started to cramp and I decided to use the restroom. To my surprise, I started to lose my mucous plug. The cramping seemed to stop though. On Monday morning I woke up for work feeling nauseous. I went to work and felt fine the rest of the day. On Tuesday morning I woke up feeling really nauseous and I actually got sick. I felt pretty terrible all day and I was extremely tired. I wasn't really sure what was going on since part of our family was battling a flu from the weekend. I didn't know if it was labor or if I was sick. I was having what I thought were braxton hicks contractions, but at times they were kind of painful. I began timing them, but they were all over the place. I ended up going home right after work and I didn't even go to the hospital because I still thought it was a flu and I didn't want to get my mom sick. I laid on the couch all night and timed my contractions but they were still all over the map. I went to bed early just in case anything happened. I didn't have any contractions throughout the night and when I woke up I felt really good. I showered and began getting ready. While I was drying my hair I began to have some mild cramping. I drove to work while having some more cramps. When I arrived to work (@7am) I felt off so I went to the bathroom and I was immediately shocked and scared to see blood. I called Jason immediately to tell him what was going on and he said to calm down and call the doctor and then call him back. I called the doctor and waited for what seemed like forever for the on call doctor to call me back. When she called back she said it is completely normal, but she wanted me to head to their office to get checked just in case. I left school completely in denial that I was in labor. While I was waiting to see the doctor at about 9am I began to have very mild contractions. I couldn't even tell if they were braxton hicks or the real thing. They were more regular though. I saw Dr. Herron who actually delivered Grace. She checked me over and said that I was 1 cm dilated and about 60 % effaced. She said I could have the baby that day, the next day or two weeks from then. Since I had a substitute for the day and I still wasn't quite sure if I was in labor I decided to go sit with mom at the hospital. Mom was convinced I was in labor and telling all of the nurses and techs that came in the room. I was still in denial. As the day went on, I did notice that the contractions seemed to become more intense. I decided to go pick up Grace from Jay's moms and head home just in case. I got home around 4pm and the contractions were getting progressively stronger and regular. Our friend Lilac came over around 7pm so Jason could help her make B-day invitations for her son's party. By this time I had the labor ball out because the contractions were much more intense and now they were also in my back. I didn't say that I was in labor yet. She noticed as soon as I came in and said "You look like you're going to pop! I bet the next time I see you, you'll have the baby." She was over for a while and helped with Grace as it was becoming more and more difficult for me. By 9pm the contractions were 5 minutes apart. I called my doctor's office and the doctor on call (Dr. Dwyer) called me back. She asked if the contractions were so intense that I couldn't talk or move during them. I said not really. She told me to me to take a shower, relax and come in when they were more intense. Jason called my brother Brian and asked him to come over and stay with Grace. He also called Nana and I remember at this point he told her that "I might be in labor". He asked if she could come a little later to watch Grace the next day since Brian would be there. I decided to take a bath and after the bath I laid down for a while to get some rest. Jason ran over to the gas station to get beef jerky while I was bathing and when I was in bed waiting for him to get home my brother arrived. As I was laying down the contractions became more intense. When Jason got home, I asked him to finish packing the rest of our things using a list I had made at the hospital earlier in the day. Every now and then I asked him if we should just head to the hospital and he said no let's wait a little longer. At one point I called him in and said we need to go now and he was still hesitant, but said ok. I got out of bed and began to walk out of our room. I made it to the dresser and had an extremely intense contraction and at the end of it my water broke (@11:30pm). Brian started to call my dad and my mom to tell them my water had broke. My mom of course said she was staying up until I had the baby and she wanted us to call her when that happened. I remember changing my pants and then I headed downstairs to the car. You could tell Jason was not the one in labor because it took him a while to get into the car. I remember being a bit annoyed by this, but I was in too much pain to say anything. On the way to the hospital the contractions continued to be very intense and they were now 4 minutes apart. We arrived at the hospital at midnight and we had to go through emergency to get to the birthing unit. I went in to the triage area and waited to be admitted. It seemed like it was taking forever and by this time the contractions were so painful that I had to make some sort of noise. The resident came in to see if I was dilated and went to check me in the middle of a contraction. I remember kind of yelling at her to wait. She checked me at I was 5 or 6 centimeters. It still took them a while to do everything and I don't remember much more about triage except during one contraction I felt like I needed to bite something and went for Jason's arm and then realized what I was doing and stopped. Since I couldn't really walk at this point they rolled me to my room in the triage bed. I don't even remember how I got to the bed in our actual room. We arrived around 1am. Once we arrived they checked me and said I was now 9 cm dilated. They began to prep the room for the delivery and they said that there was no time for an epidural and I said ok. A few minutes later I remember feeling like I needed to push. They checked me again and said I was 9 1/2 and I could begin pushing since the baby's head would push me to 10cm. I remember pushing and yelling because of the pain and then apologizing because I was so loud. They kept telling me not to worry because the woman in the room next to us had just delivered and she was even louder. I pushed for about ten minutes and then Patrick was born at 1:43 am. They immediately put him on my chest so I could hold him. I held him for quite a while and then they took him to clean him up. By 2:15 we were all cleaned up and I was able to nurse him for the very first time. I remember right after he was born my mom called to see how we were doing and to her surprise Patrick was already born. It was such an amazing labor and delivery. It was definitely my dream birth. We were so fortunate that everything went the way it did and we ended up with a healthy baby in the end. Everything happened so fast that Jason didn't have time to get the camera from the car. We were waiting until we were in our actual room and then Jason was going to go get our bags. Thank God for camera phones!

Catching Up

2011-04-20T19:31:00.005-04:00

So much has happened in the past month that I don't even know where to start. I am now 37 week pregnant. It is hard to believe that soon our little guy will be here. At my last check up I found out that I have started to efface, but I am not dilated yet. I have another appointment tomorrow and I will find out the results of my Group B strep test and see if I have progressed any further. We have pretty much finished the baby's room. I will post some pics below. Jason and I finally chose a name a few weeks ago, but we are waiting until the birth to announce it. We figured we have waited this long already, why not wait just a few more weeks. My co-workers were kind enough to throw a shower for us last week. Due to my mom's health we had to reschedule it a few times, but we were finally able to have it during our lunch period last week. I cannot explain how much of a blessing they have been to me during the past few months. I am so honored to work with such professional, compassionate and caring people. They have definitely done way too much for us! Thanks to them the baby's closet is full of clothes!

Grace is doing really well. It's so awesome to watch how much she has grown in the past few months. She is full of so much joy and she brings so much to our lives. She has been such a breath of fresh air for me during this last month. I have been off of work for spring break this week and we have had so much fun together. Mom was moved to a regular room from ICU last week so now Grace is able to visit. We go up every morning and visit with "Moma" and then we come home for lunch and Grace takes her nap. She absolutely loves visiting Moma. Especially when no one else is there. She tends to act up when others are visiting too. She loves to use the potty in Moma's room because Moma is kind enough to give her "cookie money" when she does. Eventhough Moma is in the hospital, she still knows how to spoil Miss Grace. :) Here are a few pictures from the last month.

Here's one of Grace with her "boo boo" before bedtime. She is such a crack up!

We took a few pictures of my baby bump since we haven't taken any this pregnancy. I think this is from when I was about 33 or 34 weeks along.

28 Week Appointment

2011-02-12T12:36:00.002-05:00

I had my 28 week (27 weeks 1 day)check-up on Wednesday. Everything went very well. The baby's heart rate was 155 bpm again. It seems like his heart is always around this number. I was able to get my results from the glucose test that I took on Saturday and my count was 79 and I had to be below 130 to pass. The test also checked my iron levels and those came back good. I have been feeling really well especially compared to how I felt with Grace at this point. I must say that being pregnant during the winter is much more enjoyable than during the summer. We have had many illnesses going through our house lately though and I caught some sort of upper respiratory thing and I had a hard time sleeping during the beginning of the week. Dr. Ogden said that the best thing you can do is use saline nose spray 3, 4 or 5 times a day. I took him up on his advice and I must say that he is right. I felt much better towards the end of the week. I have had no more issues with my sciatic nerve anymore. Hopefully this trend will continue! Dr. Ogden didn't say anything about my weight gain this month although I'm pretty sure I gained a few more. I have still only gained 7 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight which I think is pretty good. I am hoping that I will fit perfectly into my dress for my cousin's wedding in May (about two weeks after the baby's due date).

I think the baby may have turned on Tuesday as I was feeling more uncomfortable and I am having a harder time bending over now. It feels like something is now in the way whenever I try. I have also noticed that his movements are in different spots now and not as strong.

As for now, we are all doing well. Grace loves to hang out in the baby's room. She is not thrilled with the fact that we haven't painted the closet though. She likes to point it out to everyone. She is definitely a perfectionist!

Proud Big Sister

2011-01-24T17:34:00.002-05:00

We ordered some new furniture for the baby's room a few weeks ago and we found out that it will be delivered tomorrow. We have been working on cleaning out the "former" office for a few weeks now and on Saturday we finished the job. We also ordered some new bedding for our baby boy and it came in the mail on Friday. On Saturday we were able to pick out some paint for the room. It needed to be repainted anyways since we didn't do a great job the first time so we were kind of looking forward to it. Yesterday we put Grace in some clothes that she has grown out of and we threw on her Crayola art smock. We let her help us paint the room and I have to say that it was one of the best decisions we have made. Grace has so much fun and so did we. Unfortunately, her nap fell during the time we were painting so she had to stop in the middle which she was not very happy about. When she woke up from her nap the room was completed. We took her in to show her and her face lit up. She was so proud of herself! Of course,we weren't able to paint the closet because we still have to clean it out and she picked right up on it. All day today she kept opening the door and going in the room to show Moma her work. She also pointed out the "missed" spots in the closet. Here is a video that I took when we first started painting.

Driveway Sleddin'

2011-01-23T11:55:00.006-05:00

It is 9 degrees outside today. Perfect weather for some driveway sleddin'. We met my Dad for breakfast this morning and when we returned home we decided to brush off my car and let Grace play outside for a little bit. I thought about taking her sledding down our driveway, but my intelligence clicked in and I decided that it probably wasn't a good idea for a pregnant woman to do so. Daddy stepped up to the plate. Please excuse my laughing in the video. I have really needed a good laugh lately and Jason was kind enough to provide me with some entertainment. The second video is my favorite.

24 Week Visit (a little early)

2011-01-18T20:05:00.002-05:00

Last Wednesday I had to go in for my 24 week appointment. I was only 23 weeks at the time, but I am about a week ahead on my appointments. The baby's heartbeat was 155bpm. I also received my information and yummy drink for my glucose tolerance test. I have to go sometime during the week of February 2nd and I think I will have to go on Saturday, February 5th to avoid missing work. Apparently I gained 8 lbs in the last four weeks. YIKES! I am still only 1 lb heavier than I was before I became pregnant. Dr. Ogden checked to see if I was swollen, but I am not and my urine test was fine. Looks like it was the yummy holiday food and week off from work.

Last Sunday I decided to vacuum and mop all of the floors in our house. I was very sore afterwards and thought I probably overdid it. During the beginning of last week I was getting a pinching feeling down my left leg. I told the doctor about it and he seemed to think that it is sciatica. It looks like the baby is already sitting on my nerve. He showed me a few exercises that I could do to help relieve the pain and he said that if it continues I could go to a chiropractor (Yikes, no time for that!). Thankful when I woke up on Saturday the pain and pinching feeling disappeared. Funny how things work when your pregnant! It was back again on Sunday and now on Tuesday completely gone. Hopefully he continues to stay off of my nerves for now.

Grace Rockin Out on the Drums

2011-01-08T20:02:00.003-05:00

Grace loves rocking out with Daddy. Here's a video that Jason took a few weeks ago with his phone. I just love her little dance in the middle of the video. She's such a little comedian.

It's a...

2010-12-17T19:17:00.002-05:00

beautiful, healthy baby boy!!! Jason and I went in for our ultrasound this morning. Everything went very well. His heartbeat was 138 bpm and he is perfectly healthy. Our doctor was not in the office today so we had to see another doctor from the practice. She was slightly concerned because I haven't gained any weight so far. She just asked how my eating habits are and I explained that I have been eating plenty, but I am pretty active still and I had the flu a few weeks ago. I have to go back in 4 weeks for my 24 week check up with Dr. Ogden. Here is a video of the little man for now. We had a name picked out, but I'm not sure if I still like it so he doesn't really have a specific name yet.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-04T09:21:00.002-05:00

Grace is loving this holiday season. After she was born we found an Elmo stocking that sings "Jingle Bells". This is the first year that she can actually enjoy it. She loves when we push the button and she can sing with Elmo.

Pretty, Pretty, Princess

2010-10-03T09:01:00.007-04:00

This post is long overdue, but I was waiting for Jason to upload the pictures and then I needed to find time to write the post. Time is very hard to come by these days for Jason and I. During the month of August, Grace went through this phase where she would only wear dresses. It was the cutest thing because she would pick out the dress and I would put it on her. Next, she would run to the family room and then twirl in her dress and sit down and primp it. It provided my mom and I with a lot of entertainment.

The picture below shows Grace in a dress my mom picked up at Big Lots one day. When she woke up from her nap she found in laying on top of the ottoman. She immediately asked to wear it so I had to give in.

The dress below is actually my old dress from when I was Grace's age. She picked this one out one day and she absolutely loved it. I will have to find the picture of myself wearing it to compare in a future post.

This dress is from Grandma Gina. I received it as a shower gift before Grace was even born. She seemed to love the length of this dress. We also put little clips in her hair so she could have Princess hair.

This is just a picture of Grace being silly. She ran into the office one day and climbed in the chair and started to pretend she was using the computer just like her Daddy. She has such a great sense of humor!

Happy 2nd Birthday to Grace!

2010-09-19T20:29:00.004-04:00

Jason and I would like to wish Grace a Happy 2nd Birthday today! It is hard to believe that it has been two years since Grace was born. It has gone by so fast, but we have cherished every moment. It is amazing how much laughter and love Grace has brought into our home. At this time last year she was only saying a few words and phrases and she was still crawling. Now she is walking, running, dancing and jumping. She has "small" conversations with us and she loves to crack jokes here and there. She is such a blessing!

Yesterday we were able to celebrate Grace's life with our friends and family. It was such a wonderful day and we had a great time visiting with everyone. Thank you to everyone for such a great day! Here are some pictures from the party.

Springdale Farm Trip

2010-08-08T14:01:00.005-04:00

Sorry for the long delay in posts. We have been very busy and although we have taken a bunch of videos and pictures, we haven't had the time to upload all of them.

For the past few months, we have been working on animal names and sounds with Grace. About a month ago we found some great farm animals at Toys R'Us and they quickly became one of Grace's favorite toys. We finally had a chance to take Grace to Springdale Farm and she had a blast. Here are some pictures of our trip.

They also have a playground and picnic area. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to pack our lunches that day so we had to eat at home. Grace still loved going on the playground with Daddy though. :)

Grace hamming it up for the camera!

Here's Grace riding the tractor. Unfortunately, I am terrible at taking pictures so her face in blurry. :(

Here's Grace feeding the baby goats. She loved this part.

Grace pet the sheep, but we had her stay away from them since they are so big and she's still so little.

Grace and Daddy on the tire. :)

We taught her how to feed some grass to the goats so she kept trying to feed grass to all of the animals. So cute!

We all know how Grace loves horses (aka horsies).

I'm sure we will be visiting Springdale Farm a lot more in the future! What a great place!

Spring Break

2010-04-25T13:26:00.005-04:00

I was able to spend the past 9 days at home with Grace. I was really, really, really looking forward to it and now my time at home has come to an end. :( I absolutely love my job, but I also love spending time at home with my little peanut. Jason had to work many, many, many hours this past week so Grace and I had a lot of Mommy & Daughter time at home. We didn't really go anywhere because we were waiting and waiting and waiting for Daddy to come home. I have to say that it was really a blessing in disguise because we usually have a million things to do while I am on break and for once we were able to relax at home. Here are a few pictures from our week:

Here is Grace with two of her favorite items in the world, chalk and bubbles. She loves to play outside now that the weather is a little nicer. It is very difficult to get her inside once she is outside. She usually throws a fit so we have to time our playtime outside wisely.

We spent a lot of time watching the birds, squirrels and ducks in our front yard. Below is a picture of Grace watching Grandma Peej feed the ducks. We just love how she says bird (bur), squirrel (girl) and quack (ga-go). Too cute!

Here is Grace playing with her "Word Whammer". She loves to push the button and sing-a-long to the "ABC Song". I tried to record her with the video camera, but of course she stopped singing whenever I tried. This an awesome toy that I purchased for my students in Vegas, but she really loves it. I don't even know if they make them anymore.

On Monday I decided to mop the floors. Grace showed a lot of interest in this activity so I grabbed her mop and bucket so she could "pretend" to help. She decided to dip her mop in my bucket and help that way. She also liked playing with the real mop. :)

It's unbelievable how fast our little Grace is growing. We can actual converse with her now and she understands what we are saying. She loves to sing songs and she has many phrases that she says over an over again such as "Where'd it go?" "I did it". When we took her for her 18 month check-up last month the doctor asked us if she said about 10 words and we just laughed. She is definitely a chatterbox just like her Mommy. She also loves to draw like her Daddy and she is also quiet and shy in public just like her Daddy. She seems to really love animals right now. She has a great sense of humor and she loves to make people laugh. We are so grateful to have her in our lives. She makes us laugh/smile everyday and we are so grateful to that.

Swim Class Part 2

2010-03-23T16:23:00.005-04:00

We are happy to report that Grace is really enjoying her swim class now. I ended up going in the pool with her during the second class and then Jason when in with her for the third class. We think she was just adjusting to her new surroundings. It has really become a great Saturday routine for us. It doesn't seem like she is really learning a lot, but we are all having a lot of fun doing it as a family. We are learning a lot of different techniques to use when we have Grace in the pool so at least we are getting something out of it. She isn't really swimming yet, but she is definitely getting used to the water. We sing a lot of songs and incorporate different movements to the tunes. Grace also gets a chance to practice "jumping" into the pool. Which basically means we stand her up on the side and carry her into the pool. Here are a few pictures from this past Saturday.

Above is a picture of Grace learning how to do the superman pose while reaching for the ball.

The picture above shows Grace trying to grab different colored boxes. At the end we had to put them in the correct bin.

The picture above shows Grace practicing her kicks and scooping motion.

The above picture shows Grace practicing her jumps. She really just wanted to sit on the side of the pool though.

We were practicing some sort of song here, but I don't remember which one. It may have been "The Wheels on the Bus".

On the road to recovery...

2010-03-02T19:00:00.004-05:00

On Monday my mom went to Strong Memorial Hospital for stereotactic radiosurgery. Click on this link to learn more about it:

http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/neurosurgery/neuroendocrine/treatments/Stereotactic-Radiosurgery.cfm

It went really well, but it was a very long day. We had to get to the hospital by 6am. When we arrived they took her back and got her settle in (inserted IV and gave her some sort of sedative). Then she was transported to the radiology department for the MRI. This took about 45-60 minutes to complete. After that she was transported to another department. This was the worst part of the day. They had to numb her forehead and the back of her head. At this point Peej lost it a little bit because the pain was so extreme. I love to watch medical shows, but I thought I was going to lose my breakfast. It was the most disturbing thing that I have ever seen. After her head was numb they screwed in the headgear (which was a lot heavier than we thought it would be). They actually used a screwdriver to insert the pins into her head. It was insane. Thankfully she couldn't feel this part. Fortunately at this point the worse was over.

Once the headgear was in place we were taken to another department where the CAT scan was performed with the Medical Physicists. This took about 30-45 minutes to complete. Then we were transported back to the 23 hour unit. Peej was finally able to eat some strawberry jello at this point but of course she was still starving.

We learned that Dr. Milano had an earlier opening so instead of waiting until 3:30 for the treatment, they were able to take her at 1:30pm. We were so thankful for this. The actual treatment took about 15 minutes and then they were able to take the headgear off. The spots where it was screwed in were a little tender, but they gave her some vicodin for it. We were able to leave the hospital at 3:30 which was wonderful.

Peej is feeling really good today and she is very thankful that they were able to do this procedure instead of operating and taking the tumor out. Her head has some bruising from the headgear and her eye has a small black and blue, but other than that, you wouldn't even know what happened. She has to go back in about 4 months for another MRI to see if this worked. We will keep you updated.

First Swim Lesson...

2010-03-01T19:34:00.006-05:00

did not go as planned. We have a swimming pool in our backyard so we have always wanted to take Grace to the YMCA for swim classes. Well she has really developed a love of water over the past few months so we thought it was time to sign her up. We have been so excited about this for the past few weeks. I went shopping for a bathing suit and cover up for Grace last week and we decided that Jason would go in the pool with her. The class started on Saturday and this is what Grace thought about it...

She literally cried for about 20 minutes straight. We couldn't believe it. She loves going in the bathtub at home and she loved going in our pool last summer. We think she may have wanted me (Stacey) to go in with her or she was just a little scared of her new environment. This is how the class ended....

Hopefully next week will be more like the second video. I'm going to try and bring my suit on Saturday so I can try to calm her down and we can switch if she gets upset. It was a great parenting lesson for us though!

Juke Box Baby

2010-02-14T20:40:00.004-05:00

We have a new ritual in our house. Every night we have a "dance party". Grace loves to dance and she has many moves now. We were finally able to catch some of the action on video. Enjoy watching our "Juke Box Baby" bust a move!

Truly Blessed

2010-01-28T20:37:00.004-05:00

We received some wonderful news today. My mom finished up her last round of chemotherapy two weeks ago so she had to go for another CAT scan last week. She received the results today and apparently the cancer in her lungs is gone. She has a few spots on her lungs that they believe are scar tissue or dead cancer cells, but that's it. What a miracle! Dr. Ashbury said that the radiation office at Strong will be contacting us soon to set up an appointment to start radiation on the small spots still left on her brain. We are so thankful and truly blessed. Now my mom is just looking forward to packing on the pounds that she has lost while fighting this battle.

I will leave you with a picture of our little angel. It's amazing how much joy this little girl has brought to us during our "rough" time. What blessing she has been to our lives!

Hockey Battles Cancer (In Honor of Patty Guck)

2010-01-16T20:39:00.001-05:00

Hockey Battles Cancer (In Honor of Patty Guck)

hosted by

RYH Squirt Minor AAA Hockey

Free cocktail / hors d’oeuvre happy hour 6:30 - 8:30

Live music by “Different Every Time” 8:30 - 11:00

Saturday January 23rd, 2010

Max at High Falls, 60 Browns Race

Free Parking, Silent Auction and Raffle

$20 Individual $35 Couple

Proceeds to benefit the Interlakes Foundation, where Patty Guck receives Chemo & Radiation Treatment

For tickets contact Brian Guck at brian@maksymum.com or Patty Guck at 305-1351

If unable to attend, and would like to make a donation,

please mail check payable to “Interlakes Foundation” c/o

Ann Wall

47 South Village Trail

Fairport, NY 14450

2009-12-17T21:43:00.002-05:00

Isn't she just adorable? She's such a little ham nowadays. Oh how we love her!

Prayers Needed

2009-12-16T20:06:00.003-05:00

I am so thankful to have a happy and healthy child. I think sometimes we tend to take this for granted. I recently found out that an old dance friend of mine has a young niece who is dying. It is just an absolutely heartbreaking story. If you believe in the power of prayer, then please pray for this family as they are going throughout the unimaginable. You can visit little Anna's website at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/annamckinney

I think that dealing with my mom's illness has made me more sensitive to other family's battles with illnesses. We had no hope and someone how our prayers were answered. I really hope that everything works out for this family. It's just really weighed heavy on my heart lately. Thanks for reading my ramblings.

Crazy Mommy!

2009-12-12T16:29:00.003-05:00

Here is a video that Jason took the other night. Grace is always doing something funny, but we never get it on video. We were playing before bedtime on Thursday night and finally Jason was able to capture it. Enjoy!

Grace Walks! + Halloween Dress Up

2009-11-19T14:06:00.004-05:00

Really been slacking on the posts lately - but here's a couple new videos... Grace was a lamb for her 2nd Halloween (go figure). She didn't mind the costume too much surprisingly... We walked her around the block, but didn't go to any doors for candy... thought that would be a bit weird - but maybe next year as... she started officially walking last Saturday!

I was playing with her downstairs and stood her up in the middle of the room away from her shopping cart, and she walked right over to it (about 7 steps)! She's still trying to get a real hang of it, but is doing much better, especially when she wears her boots upstairs. She has only "ran" a couple times, but I'm sure that will be soon... we're in trouble, she is extremely active as it is!!

Anyways, enjoy the videos!

Update

2009-10-22T20:50:00.003-04:00

On Monday my mom went in for a CAT scan to see if the chemotherapy is working. She had a scan of her lungs and her abdomen. Today she went in to receive the results. Fortunately, the cancer is stable. The cells have not grown or spread anymore. This is terrific news for now! Her doctor would like her to receive two more rounds on chemotherapy, then they will perform another CAT scan.

We do not know about the progress of her brain tumor yet. They will have her go for a scan of her brain in December. Apparently it will take that long to determine whether or not the radiation therapy has worked or not.

The doctor did say that she would like Peej to gain more weight. A few weeks ago she visited her lung doctor and he said that she should stay inside this winter. The cold is not very good for her lungs. Hopefully she will listen! We are just doing our best right now to stay healthy and keep mom healthy. Since I work with 5,6, and 7 year olds, this can be a bit difficult! Thanks for all of the prayers. We really appreciate them!

Grace's 1st Birthday

2009-10-11T20:05:00.005-04:00

I have really been slacking on our blog lately. Everything has just been so hectic in our lives and I finally decided this weekend that I need to reprioritize a few things. Anyways, here is the long awaited post about Grace's 1st Birthday party.
We were so thankful that we were able to have such a wonderful 1st birthday party for our little p-nut. We could not believe the number of family and friends who were able to celebrate such a wonderful day with us. What a blessing! It was an absolutely beautiful day in the 60's and sunny just like a year ago when she was born. Here are a few pictures of the day.

Here is a beautiful picture of Grace and Daddy.

Grace enjoying her new wagon with her lambie.

Here's Grace's classic Grandpa Johnny face.

I decided that I would like to make Grace's cake every year as a tradition. This was the first time I have ever done anything like this. It was slanted, but it turned out pretty good.

Here is Grace not enjoying her cake at all. :)

Visit the gallery for more birthday pictures.

Thank you to everyone who took time out of their busy lives to make Grace's birthday such a wonderful day. We love all of you! :)

Grace Knievel

2009-09-07T20:37:00.003-04:00

Since I have been working for the past few weeks, I haven't had time to post about our little Grace Knievel. She has been getting into trouble left and right around here. A few weeks back she figured out how to climb out of the crib. Fortunately, she didn't get hurt, but it was still frightening. We think that she used one of her stuffed lambs to propel herself out of there, so we took everything out.

She has developed quite the fascination with magazines and I often say that she will be a teacher some day. This afternoon Jason looked at the video monitor and he noticed that Grace was having quite the time in her crib. Watch the video and see for yourself!

Needless to say, Grace did not take an afternoon nap today. :)

Happy 11 Months to Grace!

2009-08-19T21:14:00.002-04:00

A Graduation and a New Job

2009-08-18T16:44:00.002-04:00

Today was Patty's (Stacey's mom) last day of radiation treatments. She was able to take home her special mask and a certificate to show that she graduated from her radiation treatments. We are so thankful that Patty was able to go to The Cancer Center at Unity Health Center. We have never met a more caring, compassionate, and respectful staff. They have been a complete blessing in our lives and we are actually sad that Patty will no longer be seeing them.
Yesterday we met with Dr. Zhang and she said that her partner will be meeting with Patty on September 15th and they will probably do an MRI then to see if the tumor has shrunk. Patty lost two pounds last week, but she stayed at the same weight this week. On Friday she will be meeting with Dr. Fetton to discuss her future chemotherapy treatments. Unfortunately, I (Stacey) will not be able to go due to.......my new job! My brother Brian will be going in my place.
I received a phone call from Spencerport Central School District last week to set up an appointment to meet with the deputy superintendent. On Wednesday I went in for my meeting and I was offered a full year long-term substituting position at Canal View Elementary school. I am very exciting about this new opportunity and I am ecstatic that I will be able to teach first grade again! I will started some new teacher classes tomorrow so that is why I cannot go to the appointment with Dr. Fetton on Friday. We are so thankful for this new opportunity!

Let the Treatments Begin!

2009-08-05T16:22:00.002-04:00

My mom and I met with Dr. Zahng on Monday. She seems like a wonderful doctor who is on top of her game. She showed us a picture of my mom's brain scan on her computer. The tumor is about 2.7 x 2.7 cm and it is located on the back left side of her brain. She is surprised that Peej is not showing any signs of any symptoms.
She will be receiving 10 to 15 radiation treatments total. She will need to go for the treatment everyday Monday-Friday. Each treatment will only last a few minutes. The treatments may cause some swelling of the brain so she has prescribed Decadron to help with that. The treatments may cause some side effects such as hair loss, short-term memory loss, and itchy scalp.
Dr. Zahng wanted to start treatments on Tuesday and when my mom set it up for some reason the office person didn't schedule her until next Monday. I questioned my mom about it and she seemed ok with it. Well on Tuesday Dr. Zahng called and said she wanted her to go in then. I was working so she couldn't go then, but she got an appointment for today. I have to say that this really impressed me. I don't think most doctors would catch something like that.
Brian (my brother) will be taking my mom for her treatment tomorrow and then they will be meeting with Dr. Ashbury's partner to go over the CAT scan results and find out when they will start chemotherapy. Dr. Zahng seems to think that they will not start chemotherapy until they finish radiation. I will keep you all posted. Thank you for your wonderful thoughts and prayers!

Bows & Bikinis

2009-08-03T10:05:00.005-04:00

Grace has been a very busy little girl lately. She is a little party animal. Unfortunately I've missed out on a lot of the fun due to my work schedule, but Jason has done a great job taking care of her while I am working. Here are a few pictures of Grace after Carrie's (Jason's step-sister) graduation party and Sissy's (Jason's cousin) surprise 30th birthday party.

Grace's hair is finally long enough to put hair bows in it. I was so excited about this. The bows don't bother her at all which is nice. As long as she doesn't eat them, we will be fine. :)
Here is a picture of Grace with her first hair bow.

We finally had some nice weather this past week, so on Tuesday, Grace went in the pool for the first time ever. We had to wait until Daddy got home from work so he could join us. Grace wore her Speedo bikini from Grandma Gina and Grandpa Gerry. She really liked going in the pool even though it was a little chilly at first. We thought she would kick more, but she really didn't. She just wanted to float around. We took her in the pool again on Saturday and she was kicking and moving more. She really liked chilling out in the pool with her shades on. We had a lot of fun.

Here is Grace in her bikini, waiting for Daddy to get home so we can go in the pool.

Grace and Daddy in the pool for the first time. Grace is making her new face. We're not really sure why she does it. It looks like she's mad, but she does it all of the time.

Here is Grace in her bikini from Aunt Andi and her sunglasses from Jan. She is loving the pool and the sun!

Hopefully we will have some more beautiful weather so we can get some more use out of the pool and Grace's bathing suits.

Another Update

2009-07-31T21:45:00.002-04:00

We received a phone call from Dr. Ashbury todayat about 4pm. The CAT scan showed a spot on Peej's (my mom) brain. It is about 1 inch in size. They would like to start radiation as soon as possible (hopefully next week). Dr Ashbury also prescribed a steroid for now. Please continue to pray for Peej and continue to encourage her. She really needs it right now.

Update

2009-07-31T10:43:00.002-04:00

Thank you all for your wonderful thoughts and prayers. We met with Dr. Ashbury yesterday morning. We really didn't get any new info. It does sound like they are going to attempt chemotherapy. They sent mom for a CAT scan today. Due to the flu she has had twice in the past month, they are going to scan her head, chest and abdomen just to make sure that it was the flu and not something else. She has to meet with Dr. Ashbury next Thursday at 3:30pm to discuss the results of the CAT scan and come up with a plan of action. I will write an update then. Thank you again for your kind words, thoughts and prayers. We really appreciate them! :)

Unwelcomed News

2009-07-23T08:45:00.005-04:00

I have been debating writing about this, but I know that a lot of people that we don't talk to all of the time read this so I thought it would be a good idea to get the news out on here. Unfortunately yesterday we received some expected, yet difficult news. My mom had a chest x-ray and some blood work done on Monday to check for cancer. On Tuesday she received a phone call from her doctor's office asking her to go in for the results on Wednesday. We knew then that it was not good news. My brother Brian went with her yesterday morning and they were told that the cancer was back in both lungs now and possibly in her bloodstream. He also said that the could not perform surgery or radiation anymore. She has an appointment next Thursday with the oncologist. Her doctor is hoping that they will at least be able to do some chemotherapy. I will try to keep updating our site for those that would like more information.

Please keep my mom and family in your thoughts and prayers. We knew that this day would come. When she was first diagnosed in 2005 we were told that chemotherapy and radiation treatments would give her about 5 more years at the most, but it is still very difficult to hear this news again.

Grace is 10 Months Old!

2009-07-19T14:15:00.008-04:00

Grace passed out on Daddy's lap with her new best friend Elmo!

A close up of Grace sleeping on Daddy's lap.

Grace and Sierra playing together although Grace just liked to watch Sierra play.

Grace eating green beans for the first time and loving them!

Grace's wild hairdo after a nice nap.

We cannot believe that our little peanut will be a year old in just two months. Grace started to do some amazing things this past month. On July 5th she started to crawl like a big girl. The next day she started to go from laying down to sitting up to laying down again. She also started to pull herself up and cruise around. It felt like she literally grew up overnight. It was unbelievable. She also has two new top front teeth which means that she has four teeth total. Her new word is choo choo which sounds more like "ch, ch" right now. Every time she hears a train pass by she turns and says choo choo. It's so cute! Yesterday she started to wave goodbye and we could have sworn that she said bye bye, but we are not 100% positive that she said bye so we will see about that one in the weeks to come. We also weighed Grace today and it looks like she is 17.4 lbs now.

Grace's allergy tests came back negative for everything. We tried some soy formula again a few weeks ago (a different brand though) and she broke out again. We actually just had a sample can in our cupboard and we didn't realize it was soy until we looked at the can a little more carefully. We immediately stopped the formula and of course it went away. We are now convinced that she has a soy allergy although the test said that she didn't. Weird! At least we knew what it was and we were able to stop it pretty soon this time. We also believe that she is allergic to carrots. I'm pretty sad about this because she enjoys eating them and they are super easy to cook for her.

Grace does have some new favorite foods now. She loves Cheerios. I think she would eat them all day, every day if we let her. She also likes green beans. It seems like her appetite is picking up some which is great! Hopefully Grace will have continued health and success throughout the next month~

Food Allergy Update

2009-06-24T10:45:00.002-04:00

I talked to the nurse at Genesis Pediatrics yesterday and it looks like the test came back negative for all of the previously mentioned food allergies. Dr. Wells was a little concerned with one of the test because something did show up although the test still came back negative. He is requesting that the lab redo this test again. He is also concerned with the dip in Grace's weight gain now since the tests were negative. He said that usually when baby's have a dip in their weight growth it is due to food allergies. She had the dip, but now it doesn't look like food allergies is the cause of it. We will hopefully find out the new results on Thursday and if I don't hear anything, then I have to call back on Friday. Until then, they would like us to continue with the Alimentum formula and the solid foods that we are already feeding her and then try to introduce a new food each week. The nurse also said to try and really push those solid foods with her (which is easier said than done with Grace). Hopefully we will have some kind of answer soon. I'm just glad that the doctor is looking into it a bit more and not completely writing me off as some crazy, psycho mommy.

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

2009-06-21T08:48:00.005-04:00

Happy Father's Day to the best Daddy ever! I love you!
Love, Grace

9 Months Check up

2009-06-16T20:20:00.002-04:00

Grace had her 9 months check up this evening. We were able to make an appointment for 6 pm so Jason and I were both able to go. Luckily, Grace did not need any immunizations today, but by the way she was acting you would have thought she had about 4 shots today. She was definitely not happy to be there. We can't complain though because she usually never gets cranky when we are out and about. I think she just didn't like the change in her schedule.
Here are some of her stats from the appointment:
Weight = 16.5 lbs. (11th percentile)
Head circumference = 17.5 in. (66th percentile)
Height = 27.75 in. (60th percentile)

Dr. Wells said that Grace is doing very well developmentally and she is right where she should be. We talked about everything that has been happening with Grace's bowel movements and rashes. Dr. Wells suggested that we get her tested for food allergies. We really wanted to hear this so we are happy that Dr. Wells suggested it. We are not looking forward to putting P-nut through it, but it will be helpful to know what is possibly causing all of these things. Tomorrow I will be taking Grace to the lab to have her tested for the following allergies:
Milk, soy bean, egg white, egg yolk, wheat, peanut, and corn
She obviously won't be eating peanuts anytime soon, but since we are having the test done and she seems to have some food allergies, Dr. Wells thought it would be a good idea to have it done. We definitely agree with him on this. We should have these results within a few days.
As you can see from the stats above, Grace's weight is still a little low. It's within normal range, but due to everything that has happened this past month, we will be watching it closely.
Well, thanks for reading if you made it this far. I will write an update when we find out what's going on with Grace.

Museum, Parade, Carnival and a Visit to the Beach

2009-06-15T20:15:00.005-04:00

In the past week and a half Grace has experienced many firsts. On Saturday, June 6th we took her to the Strong National Museum of Play for the first time. Uncle Brian and Jason wanted to go visit the Videogame exhibit so Grace and I tagged along.

This past Thursday Uncle Brian and I took Grace to her first parade. Unfortunately Jason was not able to come with us. I was a little nervous about how Grace would react to the loud noises, but she loved it. I tried to cover her ears, but she wasn't having it. It did start to rain after a little while so I was not able to take any pictures.
This past Saturday we took Grace to the Spencerport Carnival. She loved watching all of the people. She won her first prize (a fuchsia doggy). We also took some great pictures by the canal. Here are a few:

We stopped home for a quick nap and then we went down to Charlotte beach for some dinner and a walk on the beach. We ate at Harbor Hots which was pretty good and then took Grace for her first walk on the beach. We were able to make it just in time for the sunset and we got some great pics.

Healthy at Last!?!

2009-06-01T17:06:00.003-04:00

It seems as though Grace is finally healthy again. Her bowel movements have slowed down and her bottom is just about healed. Thank God! Jason was right! I was a crazy, overreacting psycho mom. Oh well! Haha. We're thinking that it just took her body a few extra days to regulate itself and get the rest of the soy protein out of her body.
Due to Grace's health, I didn't get a chance to write up an 8 month post. She has really started to entertain us this past month. I spend most days after work watching her in her Around-We-Go. She is hilarious! Orville usually barks at her to play with him when she is in the Around-We-Go. She usually ignores him, but yesterday she realized that he was barking at her and she just started laughing and then proceeded to zoom around.She has also started making this gasping noise. At first is really scared us because it sounds like she is gasping for air. We are used to it now though and it seems like she does it when she is upset about something.
We started turkey and chicken this past month. Since I make it myself it is a little difficult to get the texture perfect. She just gagged on the turkey (probably due to the texture). I mixed the chicken with sweet potatoes and she wasn't a huge fan so I added some butternut squash to it and she seems to be pretty happy with it now.
Grace really enjoys play time on the floor now. She is starting to scoot herself backwards when she is on her belly, but she hasn't started going forward yet. She do it when she is ready!
I know we have some new pictures and video, but I'll have to ask Jason to post them for us. It probably won't be until Wednesday or Thursday due to his softball schedule. We hope you all have a happy and safe week!

Update #2

2009-05-28T22:02:00.002-04:00

Well it looks like things are not getting much better. P-nut's bottom is very red again. She had about 6 bowel movements yesterday. I called the doctor's office this morning and they said that it is still a little concerning, but if there is texture to it then it should be ok. They said that if it is watery, then I should bring her in with a sample. It does have texture, but it still bothers me that she is pooping this much. As the day progressed she seemed to be doing better (2 bowel movements). Later this evening I went to give Grace a bath and I noticed that her left nipple was a little red and slightly swollen. Jason thought I was kind of overreacting and maybe it was just from him holding her (Grace does tend to have pretty sensitive skin). Well after her bath I noticed that it was still there. Jason thought that we should just wait and see how it looks tomorrow morning. Well at about 9:00 pm I changed her diaper and it was still looked exactly the same. Maybe I am overreacting, but this is just really starting to make me nervous. I tried to do some research online and I was not able to find anything. I just wish our little P-nut would get better. Thank you for all of your prayers. We really appreciate it! Please continue to pray for P-nut's health. Hopefully we will have great news.
On a side note, I landed a summer/part-time job at Target. I will be working in the Starbucks located in their store. I cannot tell you how excited I am about this. I can walk/ride a bike to work everday. I also love coffee!

Update

2009-05-25T10:05:00.002-04:00

Our prayers seemed to be answered. Grace seems to be doing much better now. She was able to drink most of her formula yesterday. She also slept in until 9 am which she hasn't done in a long time. She took two good naps too. She still pooped more than she probably should be, but hopefully that will stop once the new formula gets in her system and the old stuff gets out. Her bum also looks a lot better so hopefully it will continue to heal.

Breast really is best!

2009-05-23T15:21:00.002-04:00

I haven't been able to bring myself to post about this because it was pretty heartbreaking. I had to stop breastfeeding at the end of April because Grace decided that she wanted nothing to do with it. I would try to feed her and she was just sit and scream on my lap. She would literally just start arching her back and and pull away from me. It was pretty stressful for both of us. When she first started to do this I thought maybe she was teething or I just wasn't making enough milk. I tried everything I could think of to increase my supply with no progress. I researched it and still nothing helped. Finally after about a week or two of this Jason and I talking about it and decided to stop nursing Grace. I tried to continue pumping, but I was only able to make about 3 ounces a day.
We continued to feed Grace soy formula which we were already supplemented with. She was doing really well at first and then on May 5th she started to get a really bad diaper rash. We went and bought special (expensive! $29.99 for 16 oz.) cream called Triple Paste. It cleared it up for a day and then it came back. We tried taking out some different foods from her diet and nothing helped. We also noticed that her sleeping schedule was a bit off. She's been walking up at about 5:45 am everyday (she usually sleeps until 7). She naps for about 3 hours straight some days and then other days 45 min. Then she started pooping more frequently. We noticed that the rash was always worse after she pooped.
I finally took her to the doctors on Monday and really didn't find out much. They said to increase bananas in her diet and decrease other fruits such as peaches/pears. They also wanted us to give her rice cereal, but our poor baby girl's belly can't really handle it. If this didn't work then they said she most likely has a soy protein allergy (apparently if babies have a milk protein allergy then they most likely have a soy protein allergy).
She seemed to heal well on Monday and Tuesday with this new approach and then Thursday she pooped 8 times. Yes 8 times! Needless to say her poor bum was raw! Well I called the doctor's office back yesterday and they called in a prescription of Nystop powder for her bum and they put Grace on Alimentum formula (hypoallergenic - $25.96 per 16oz can). Well I tried to give Grace this new formula this afternoon and she seems to hate it. She just kept spitting it out.
I have never been the type of person to push my beliefs on others, but now I am going to encourage every person I know to breastfeed at all costs. I can't tell you how many people thought I was crazy for breastfeeding even with the thrush and stuff, but I personally think people who formula feed are crazy. At least we only have 4 more months of this. Please pray that our baby girl gets better and takes this formula and her bum heals.

Lilac Festival

2009-05-09T14:27:00.007-04:00

Here are just a few of the pictures from our wonderful morning!

Above is a picture of Grace in the tulip garden. She's so small so you can't really see the tulips behind her.

Mommy and Grace next to the lilacs.

Grace chilling by the white lilacs.

I love the lilac bush above and these tulips. This lilac had a mixture of blue and purple in it. I thought they were beautiful. I lso love the orange and pink tulips above. They were awesome.

I think they are fantastic! Jason did an awesome job!

This morning Jason, Grace and I woke up bright and early so we could venture on down to the Lilac Festival. Some of you might be wondering how I was able to get Jason to go to the festival with us. I'm not really sure how I did it this year, but I was really excited when he decided to go with us. When I was younger I used to dance at the festival every year. I think that's why I love to go there so much.It was absolutely beautiful this morning! The sun was shining and it was about 76 degrees out. One of Jason's coworkers was gracious enough to let us park in her driveway. This allowed us to park for free and enjoy a short walk to the festival.
By the time we arrived at the festival the parade had already started so we decided to walk through the gardens and view the lilacs. Grace seemed like she had a great time listening to the marching bands and looking at the beautiful flowers. We wanted to venture over to see the different craft booths, but we couldn't get across the street. We only stayed for an hour, but Jason took many beautiful pictures. Unfortunately, he didn't get in any of the pictures with us. :( We were going to go back to the lilacs to get a picture of Jason and Grace together, but we ended up forgetting about it until we got home. Thankfully we got home just in time because he started to pour out and it when down into the 60's.

And Grace's First Word is...

2009-05-01T17:32:00.008-04:00

DADA! Jason and I both missed it unfortunately. While we were at work today she said "Dada". Grandma Peej (Stacey's mom) thought it was just a fluke, but she kept repeating it throughout the day. I can't believe how big she is getting. I never would have thought she would be talking already.

And here's the video! Jason was able to capture her on camera last night as she was playing in her crib, whispering "Dada" over and over to herself. There are 6 different videos in the "Grace's First Word" Series on YouTube you can check out, but you can hear the "Dada" the best in this one (you'll have to turn up the volume on your computer pretty loud to hear, sorry!).

To check out the rest of the Grace's videos, visit Grace's YouTube Channel! You'll find some videos from Easter, her in the bath, and more - all available in HD!

Spring Break and a Sick Baby

2009-04-30T19:10:00.008-04:00

I was able to enjoy a great week off with Grace last week due to Spring Break. We were so busy that I didn't get a chance to write. Daddy finally found some time to download some of our pictures. The rest are posted in the gallery. On Friday we took some lunch to Uncle Brian's work for him and his coworkers. This was Grace's first trip to the ice rink and I think she really enjoyed it.

The weather was kind of all over the place last week. On Saturday it was 85 degrees out. Poor Grace was sweating away so we let her just wear her diaper for a while and she was loving life. Here is a picture of "Super Grace".

We tried to take some pictures of Grace's new teeth on Saturday. It was a tad difficult to do. This picture is not the best, but you get the idea. I think she has a new one working its way up on her bottom gum.
Grace was definitely tired out by our busy week. Here's a picture of her taking a nap.

Apparently we did a little too much last week and now more Grace is sick. We think it's a combination of a cold and teething. Hopefully she will feel better soon! I will keep you updated.

7 Months Old

2009-04-19T21:12:00.008-04:00

Grace is 7 months old today! We cannot believe how fast each month goes by. It seems like it goes by faster with each month. It also seems like each month gets better and better as Grace learns new things.
She has started to sit up on her own. We still need to sit next to her so we can catch her if she begins to tip which happens sometimes. Last week she still needed a lot of help with this, but today she was able to sit for a few minutes without tipping. It's amazing how fast she learns new things. As I reported earlier this week, Grace's first tooth arrived. You can see it a lot better now. We think that another tooth is poking through now too, but Grace won't let us get a clear shot of it.
She is eating lots of different foods now. We introduced butternut squash, acorn squash, avocados, peaches and pears this month.

Grace is also becoming quite the noise maker. She loves to hear herself cough so she will usually spend a lot of time doing this during the day. Apparently when Jason and I leave for work, Grace likes to screech. We are started to notice that she really seems to enjoy music. We have always played music every night while sleeps. Every time she hears music she turns her head towards it and listens intently. She also likes to play the keyboard on her "Around We Go" toy. Another new thing that we have noticed is that Grace is starting to developing seperation anxiety. If I leave the room while she is playing she will usually start to cry until I return. I have also noticed that if I start walking towards her she will smile, but as soon as I turn away she starts to cry. She has also started crying when different family members try to hold her.
Last week, Grace had her first "photoshoot". She was quite the little ham. The photographer asked us if we take a lot of pictures of Grace and we said "Oh yeah!". She said that she could tell since Grace was so comfortable in front of the camera. We are supposed to pick up the pictures on Friday so we will try to post them when we get them.

Grace's First Easter

2009-04-19T21:00:00.000-04:00

Here are some pictures for Grace's First Easter. She was true champ considering the fact that she was teeth combined with all of the running around we did over the weekend.

Grace with her new ducky from Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Pizzoli.

Grace showing off one of her Easter dresses.

Grace and Mommy at Great-Aunt Andi's house.

Here's our little bunny!

This was actually a Halloween costume that my mom bought for Grace, but she couldn't wear it because it was way too big for her. We saved it in her closet because we thought maybe we could use it for something else in the future. A few weeks ago my mom was going through Grace's closet and she stumbled upon it. We finally thought of a purpose for it. A photoshoot! She just woke up right before we took this picture so she was in a bit of a daze.

We have a tooth!

2009-04-14T19:12:00.002-04:00

I believe that I mentioned a bump on Grace's gums during the 6 month update post. Well, that bump just turned into a tooth today. All weekend she was chewing on this like a little crazy woman and the drool was just pouring out of her mouth. We also noticed that she was acting a little cranky which is unusual for her. We figured her tooth would pop out of her gums any day now and sure enough it did. There was nothing there this morning and when I got home from work today my mom mentioned that she got really cranky around 2pm and she had to give her some Tylenol because nothing seemed to cheer her up. I put my finger in her mouth and sure enough I felt a tooth. I mader her laugh and there it was. I don't have a picture yet because there really isn't a whole lot to see yet. I will make sure I post a picture when you can see the tooth a little better.

Grace Diggin' "Big Whiskey"

2009-04-06T19:56:00.004-04:00

~ 6 MONTHS, 18 DAYS ~

OK, so I've had this posted on YouTube for a few days [with already 180+ views!] and figured I'd throw it up here as well...

Story behind this video... Grace was on my lap, I had my laptop out and was letting Stace hear the newly released "Big Whiskey & The GrooGrux King" (upcoming DMB album) clip. The music starts to play and Grace turns her head towards the screen and just stares, listening to the music. I must have played the clip 15 times, every time it stopped she would hit the computer like she wanted it again, and I'd play it again and she was still mesmerized each time. Finally I had Stace grab the camera to film her - of course she got a bit camera shy, and then the dogs flustered her concentration, but you get the idea...

Back end to the story is before she was born, she attended 3 DMB concerts in the womb - she was a fan before she even knew it and this was just music to her little ears!

Some other exciting news to report (technology related of course), we're getting a new HD video camera - (should be arriving tomorrow, thanks fantasy football!!) - so we will no longer be posting grainy video from one of our digital cameras... can't wait! The other video camera we had was lost somewhere in the transition from Vegas to NY. We have a couple other videos that need to be posted as well - Grace's new favorite thing, splashing in the bathtub, and a couple others - Stacey will get them up when she gets time. Until then, hope you enjoyed!

Happy 6 Months!

2009-03-23T16:41:00.005-04:00

On Thursday, March 19th Grace turned 6 months old. It is amazing how fast she is growing and changing. On February 16th, she rolled over from her tummy to her back for the first time. She is able to grab toys and put them in her mouth on her own. She can sit up with a little help from Mom and Dad. She is babbling and giggling up a storm. She just started to show some signs of separation anxiety last night. She absolutely loves her jumpy chair. She will bounce in that thing forever. She loves to eat sweet potatoes and bananas (separately). She does not seem very interested in apples. Grace also loves to watch the dogs. Most of the time you can find Grace laughing and smiling at the dogs. For some reason the dogs love to run around when she is eating which makes it very difficult to get her to eat because her head is constantly turning from side to side. Grace is also sleeping through the night, which is awesome. Last night she slept from about 9:30 pm to 8:45 am! :) Grace also has a tooth that is about to pop through. She has a little red bump on the bottom right side of her mouth. Dr. Wells said that you can also see a little white slit so it is about to pop through. Maybe it will be in by the end of the week? We shall see.

Below are her stats from her 6 month check-up today:
Height 25.25 inches 31st percentile
Weight 14 lbs. 11 oz. 24th percentile
Head Circumference 16.75 inches 52nd percentile

Dr. Wells said she is developing very well. So far she is just like any other 6 month old. She did have to get two more shots and I must say that it was even harder this time than it was last time. It really broke my heart today. At least she won't have to get any shots at her next visit (9 months).

Liberated

2009-03-14T08:26:00.002-04:00

Things have been so crazy here with work that I haven't been able to even post Grace's 5 month update. I was going to do it last weekend and Jason said "Just wait for 6 months now". Maybe I'll just do a mixed post for Thursday (Grace's 6 month B-day). Well a few weeks ago I was trying to nurse Grace and she just kept screaming and pulling away from me. I thought that maybe her mouth was sore from teething, but it just kept happening at every feeding. She was also waking up at least two times a night and then I ended up getting sick yet again. Jason and I talked it over and we decided to start supplementing with formula :( She has actually been doing really well on the formula. Well lately I have had to bring home work every night and on the weekends. I feel so guilty because at night I get home from work between 5:45 and 6 then I change, eat and feed Grace and then it's time to do work. Meanwhile, Jason holds Grace and most of the time she just sits and looks at me and cries. Needless to say this was causing a lot of heartbreak for me. I have also felt really bad because my mom has been helping out so much with all of the housework, cooking, and cleaning. I can't even tell you when the last time I cooked or cleaned. Jason and I talked it over and we realized that it really wasn't that important for me to work at this job. We figured out our finances and decided that it will be better for me to just go back to substituting and possible get another summer job. So yesterday I put in my two weeks notice and it feels like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. I cannot even explain this feeling to you. I really don't know how working moms do it. I will still be working obviously, but it will really be like working part time I think because I will have half of the work. So with this new venture I am hoping to be able to go back to breastfeeding exclusively with solid foods obviously.

What's Happening?

2009-02-18T16:05:00.005-05:00

Lots of things have happened during the past few weeks. Two weekends ago Grace became sick with a cold. :( She woke up with a cough and she sounded pretty congested. Thankfully she was in great spirits and the cold only lasted for about 3 days :) Last Wednesday I started to feel really sick. Jason and I went to bed and during the night I woke up with the stomach flu. I had to call in sick to work again. Thankfully no one else caught it! On Friday, Jason started to get a sore throat so we spent the weekend at home. He is feeling better now. On Sunday Jason had his best friend Drew over to watch the race. They spent the whole day in the Pan Cave doing guy stuff while the girls were upstairs relaxing. Right before dinner I went to the bathroom and realized that I was getting a UTI. I was at least thankful for the fact that I didn't have to work on Monday so I wouldn't have to call in sick yet again. As the evening progressed the pain became pretty unbearable. I called my doctor's office and they set up an appointment for 8 am Monday. I felt terrible because I had to interrupt Jason's time with Drew so he could watch Grace for me. Thankfully I have a wonderful husband who doesn't mind helping me out!

After my doctor's appointment on Monday, I had to take Orville to see the vet so he could get his rabies shot. They checked him out and showed me his teeth which needed a really good brushing so I made an appointment to have that done on Tuesday. Orville went in to have his teeth cleaned on Tuesday and while they were cleaning his teeth, they noticed that he had a broken tooth so they had to take it out. Orville is such a funny dog, anything weird happens to him. Now he has shown zero signs of having a broken tooth. It must have happened while he was playing with Toby because they do tend to play a little rough. He is home now and doing fine.

Since I have this week off of work Grace and I have been pretty busy. Yesterday we met my former 1st grade teacher Anna for coffee at Panera. I forgot my camera at home though. :( It was a great time and Grace loved meeting Anna for the first time.

We have a few more visits this week so I will try to post about them and hopefully add some pics too! Below is a video of Grace playing with Toby for the first time a few weekends ago. Toby sure is patient! Be sure to check out the final 4 month pictures. I can't believe P-Nut will be 5 months tomorrow. Time sure does fly!

Yummy!

2009-02-04T18:07:00.008-05:00

~ FOUR MONTHS, 16 DAYS ~

This is a video of Grace trying to eat/lick one of her fish toys Stacey captured on her digital camera today and thought it was too precious - enjoy!

I Love Wegmans!

2009-02-03T13:23:00.003-05:00

So I started feeling kind of sick a few weeks ago. It started with a stuffy nose and stuff. I didn't think about it too much because I thought it was just from leaving the house more often now. Well then this weekend I really started to feel worse and yesterday was almost unbearable. I broke down and called in sick to work today and then I went to see my doctor. It turns out that I have a sinus infection. It's probably from the up and down temperatures that we have had here lately. Well anyways, I decided to take advantage of an offer at Wegmans. They are giving away free antibiotics until the end of March. It was actually the perfect time to get sick because I was able to get my medicine for free! I just have to say that I love Wegmans! As a former pharmacy worker at Tops, I must admit that their pharmacy is amazing. It's like a huge assembly line. I cannot believe the number of people that work there!

New Job & a New Car

2009-02-01T20:16:00.005-05:00

Right before Christmas I started substituting in Spencerport again. It was hard, but I really enjoyed seeing my students from last year again. Well right after I started subbing, I received a phone call about a Head Start teaching position. I went to the interview and I didn't expect anything to come of it. Well, right before New Year's I was offered the position. I was a little hesitant about accepting it because of the baby, but I did and started on January 12th. It has been difficult to say the least, but I think it is getting better. I have been pumping at work during my lunch break and then I nurse Grace almost all night before bed, then once during the night and usually about twice before I go to work. So far my supply has been O.K. but I did have one week where it dipped a bit due to a change in hormones. I have been eating 4 lactation cookies a day in order to keep my supply up. This is the only thing that seems to help me. I've tried everything else, believe me. I hope and pray that I will be able to continue nursing Grace until she is 1 years old. This is my first concern. I would never judge anyone else for feeding their child formula. In fact, I always thought that breastfeeding was out of the question for me and I never wanted to do it, but I changed my mind when I became pregnant. The formula thing just isn't for me and I don't ever want to give her formula. Well due to the whole pumping thing we were kind of hoping that the doctor would put Grace on cereal at her 4 month check up which would help me out a lot. He said that she could start it so we tried it, but she just isn't ready yet. This is completely fine and I'm just going to have to try and get through the next two weeks when we have Winter Break. Please just pray that I am able to keep up with Grace's needs.

Well as for my job. I teach 3 year olds that are in the Head Start program in Rochester. You can visit this link to learn more about the Head Start program. http://abcinfo.org/programs/earlychildhood/index.htm Just scroll down the Head Start section. I must admit that I think working with underpriveledged children is my calling. I just absolutely love it.

Since I started a new job, Jason and I decided that we would get a new vehicle. We needed something that was more of a family vehicle since both of our cars are 2 doors. We ended up getting a '09 Ford Escape Limited. It has four wheel drive so it is great in the winter. We are very happy with it so far. Now we are able to car pool to work a few days a week and we are really enjoying that! I'm sure Jason has a lot more to add about the vehicle. It's more of a toy for him than me.

Sorry for the long post, but we had lots of updates!

Happy 3 & 4 Months to Peanut!

2009-02-01T19:13:00.011-05:00

I can't believe Grace is 4 1/2 months old already! The past two months have been a complete blur. I told myself everyday that I had to get on here and do a 3 months post and next thing I know she's 4 1/2 months. She is doing so many wonderful things now. She is sitting up with our support. She's giggling up a storm and now she loves to blow rasberries and purr like a cat. She also started the whole teething stage. This is a great milestone, but I honestly wish it hadn't started so soon. I love her gum smile. She doesn't have any teeth yet, but she is drooling up a storm, chewing on everything, and her cheeks are rosy red.

Well just before she turned 3 months old, I believe that I told you that she was sleeping through the night. Well I spoke too soon. Grace still gets up once or twice during the night. I think she takes after her daddy in the sleep department, but she definitely takes after her mommy in the talking department. She still is not rolling over ( from tummy to back or back to tummy). She actually hates tummy time now. We just try to get her to lay on her belly for 5 to 10 minutes a day, but we don't push it. She will roll over when she's ready. Our little baldy is now growing some hair. I must admit I do miss her bald head though.

This past week Grace went in for her 4 month check up. She is 23.75 inches long (26th percentile), 12 lbs. 13 oz. (26th percentile), and her head circumference is 16 inches (35th percentile). She did have to receive 3 more vaccines (2 shots and 1 oral). Dr. Wells also said that we could start her on some rice cereal and then veggies if we wanted to. I will talk about this more in my next post. She is only on breastmilk right now though.

Sleeping Beauty

2009-02-01T13:54:00.003-05:00

Here's Peanut emerging from her cocoon on December 31st. This absolutely cracks us up. We decided to tape it so others could enjoy it too. Enjoy!

More New Pictures!

2009-01-26T11:03:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the lack of updates lately - it's been toooo busy around here. We promise to post something heartier soon though with all the recent happenings! Until then, enjoy more pictures Jason uploaded (a bunch in the 3 month, and a few in the 4).

New Pictures!

2009-01-05T14:35:00.002-05:00

Jason has posted some new pictures that we have taken throughout the past month. Enjoy!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

2008-12-13T10:20:00.006-05:00

This is such a busy time of year for us. It seems like we have so many things going on as we prepare for Jason's Mom, Gerry, my Dad and Pam to come into town next week. We are also trying to prepare for Grace's baptism on 12/21 and our 3rd wedding anniversary next Saturday.

Grace is absolutely wonderful! She loves to suck on her fists. You can see her trying to do this while she is laying on her belly in a few of the pics. She is finally able to put them in her mouth while sitting up. We think it is super cute, especially because you can see her doing this in my 19 week ultrasound video. This past week has been wonderful because she is finally sleeping through the night! YAY! We put her in her crib between 11 and 11:30pm and she has been sleeping until about 6 or 7 am. At first I thought it was a fluke, but she has been doing this for about the past 6 days. Hopefully this continues! I am just very greatful for the time being. Grace has also been taking a 1 1/2 to 2 hour nap in the morning and in the afternoon. She slept from 3:10-5:30 the other day. Jason had to go and wake her up when he got home from work. We didn't really want to wake her up, but we were afraid that she wouldn't want to sleep during the night. It seems like all she ever wants to do now is sleep. I think it may just seem that way to me since we had such a hard time in the beginning with the thrush and gas. Whatever the reason, I am thankful for it now. It's amazing how happy a well-rested child can be!

Since Grace has been sleeping so well I have been able to complete all kinds of little projects around the house, which I am very thankful for. I will give you more updates on Grace's happenings next Friday when she turns 3 months old! My, how time flys!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

2008-12-01T11:20:00.006-05:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. We ended up staying at home for dinner because we knew that Christmas will be crazy with all of our visitors in town. It was very nice and peaceful. As you can see we dressed Grace up for the occasion. She actually had three outfit changes, but she was not very happy about the hat so we only have her picture in this outfit.

I decided to stay home Friday instead of going shopping. I have always hated crowds, but it's gotten a lot worse lately. Since I am home during the day, I usually go shopping during the week when there is hardly anyone out. However, I decided to go online and see if there were any deals and I found some! I ended up getting a bunch of things for Grace at Walmart.com. I found one item for $67 at Walmart that was listed at $89.99 at Babies R US. I also got a bunch of other items for about $4 cheaper for each item.

I hope everyone had as great of a day as we did!

2 Months & 5 Days Old!

2008-11-26T13:43:00.021-05:00

Get ready because this is a long one! We cannot believe that it has already been 2 months since our little peanut was born. It has been the most crazy, sleep deprived, yet awesome two months of our lives. We could not ask for anything more. We are extremely blessed. Grace is doing so many wonderful things.

Here is a list of things she has started to do during the past month:

On November 4th she started to show us her "real" smile. Wow is it a beautiful smile!
She has started to lift her head during tummy time and lift her chest off of the ground. She is also starting to try and roll from her tummy to her back. Crazy but true! It's actually a bit scary. She also tries to scoot when she's on her tummy and gets really upset when she doesn't have anything to kick off of so we have to put her hands by her feet and she kind of kicks off of them and moves. She also does this when she's on our chest.
She is starting to hold some of her weight when we stand her up on our lap.
She absolutely loves to suck on her fists when she finds them. Usually this happens when she is on her tummy, but on Saturday night she actually stuck it in her month during bath time. It was adorable!
She is following objects from across the room. Jason figured this out one night after dinner while she was in her swing. He walked away from her and notice she turned her head and followed him so he kept repeating it and watched her while she watched him.
She loves to kick her legs and swing her arms. She swings her left arm around a lot. She looks like a little boxer.
She loves to stick her tongue out and she will imitate us when we do this.
She has started to coo and babble and she will also imitate us when we do the same thing back to her or when we talk to her.

Now for her likes:

She loves lights! We just put our Christmas tree up because we know how much she would appreciate the lights on it!
She loves music! Sometimes when she is crying she will just stop if she hears music. She also loves when we sing to her. She really seems to like "Old McDonald had a Farm".
She loves her swing and bouncy chair. This child loves to be on the move and we really don't understand where she got it from. She hardly ever moved while she was in my belly. It must be from being on my feet all day while I was teaching. I don't know!
She loves nursing. She will take the bottle when Grandma Peej or Daddy give it to her, but she is not a huge fan. She most definitely will not take a bottle from Mommy!

Now for her dislikes:

She hates wet diapers. She will let you know the minute it's wet.
Going to bed. She will always cry and we've just gotten used to it. She seems to like it more when Daddy puts her to bed rather than when Mommy does it. She cries and fusses a lot more for Mommy!

2 Month Check-Up:

She is now 10 pounds even and she is 21 3/4 inches long. Her head circumference is now 15 inches. She is now close to the 25th percentile in everything which is quite a jump from her 2 week checkup. Dr. Wells was shocked that she was tracking him with her eyes from across the room at her appointment. He was also quite impressed with her motor skills as she tried to pull an instrument he had in her ear out, then grabbed his arm, so all was well in that department --- he said she was showing skills that usually only 4-5 month olds start to develop!

She also had to have the dreaded 2 months vaccinations. I don't think I was quite prepared for that. I felt pretty bad for her. The nurses had me put Grace on the table and I held both of her hands and then they quickly administered the shots to her upper thighs. Grace's face turned bright red ( like fire engine red) and closed her eyes and opened her mouth. You could see actual tears on her eye lashes. She just laid there like that for about 30 seconds to a minute with no sound coming out of her mouth. Then the screaming began. So I immediately picked her up and tried to comfort her. Finally after a few minutes she calmed down and we went home. When we got home I took her out of her carseat and went to lay her down so I could go to the bathroom and she started crying again so I had to pick her up and hold her. I ended up nursing her and then she feel asleep so all was well. My mom and I ran to the mall to pick up a few things for Grace. When we got home my mom went to give her a bottle and she absolutely refused it. She just wanted her Mommy which was so rewarding to me. I think it made the past two months of frustration with nursing worth it! She ended up sleeping for most of the evening and she only woke up twice during the night and she seems to be doing a bit better today. At least we know that she won't get any "deadly" diseases and hopefully she will continue to stay happy and healthy!

I will get Jason to post a bunch more recent pics tonight or tomorrow!

7 Weeks Old and Sick Again... :(

2008-11-08T11:05:00.005-05:00

Grace is now 7 weeks old and she is getting big! What a scary night we had! Last night our friends Lilac & PJ stopped by the see Grace. While they were here I took Grace into her room to change her diaper and I noticed that she had green stool. A little while later I took her into her room to change her again and she had green stool with a little bit of blood tinged mucus. I immediately took her temperature which was 99.7 degrees and then I called the doctor. Since it was 8:30 pm I had to speak to the answering service and then a nurse called me back a few minutes later. She wanted me to call our doctor's office immediately this morning to get her in, but she said if she had more blood or if she woke up inconsolable during the night then I would have to call back right away. Thankfully we didn't' have anymore bloody diapers and she actually slept for 6 hours straight during the night! I could not believe it! I called Genesis Pediatrics at 8:00am this morning and got her in for a 9 o'clock appointment. Thankfully they are open on Saturdays for illnesses! Well we found out that her Thrush is completely gone, but she does have rota virus (stomach virus). They are going to send her diaper for testing ( Yes we saved it and took it in) and they will let us know the results for sure in a few days. We also found out that she now weighs 8 lbs 13 1/2 oz. She has gained 11 1/2 ounces in a week! Mommy's milk must be good! She has also gained this much weight while sleeping for at least one 4 or 5 hour chunk per night. : )
I also had to go to see my doctor yesterday for my post partum visit and my Thrush is back so I have a new medicine that i need to use. Hopefully it works because nursing is very painful and Grace needs to eat frequently so she does not become dehydrated.
Needless to say, anyone who comes near Grace can expect us to tell them to wash and sanitize their hands before coming near her and then repeating the process many times. Sorry, but we need to protect our Peanut. She's been through too much already!

I'm Getting Older but I'm Still the Same...

2008-11-03T19:20:00.024-05:00

... I'm just not that vacant anymore.

~ ONE MONTH, 15 DAYS - 20.5" | 8.2 lbs ~

As you may or may not know, today is my 25th birthday - and maybe it's the quarter-century milestone, but I think I'm actually feeling older this time around, way more than I usually do. I guess fatherhood will do that to you... Looking back, it has been a great run so far and I wouldn't have had it any other way. I've experienced more in my lifetime than many ever will and have been blessed more over than one person should ever be with all the Lord has chosen to give me thus far in life - my health, my family, my loving wife Stacey, and of course, our beautiful daughter Grace. If I'm able to provide Grace with half the things my parents have provided for me, she'll be a very lucky girl. Thanks to everyone I know for making my life so special and here's to another three-quarters-of-a-century to go!

I suppose I should back-track a little in the week though... The weekend before last - Friday & Saturday - we had a couple birthday parties for my paternal Grandpa ("Papa") - with one being a big surprise party at the Brook House - for his 80th birthday. Almost all of our family made it in town from VA and the likes, and it was great to see everyone - especially since we weren't able to make it down to VA for my cousins wedding - even though there was some travel hiccups along the way, and Grace was able to meet so many new family members for the first time. It was a blessed time and a deserved celebration for a great man! He also had NO CLUE about the surprise party, which made it even better.

On Sunday, we took Grace down the road to a local farm and picked out some pumpkins. She was dressed in her full pumpkin wardrobe - hat, shirt, pants, booties - and we picked up three pumpkins for only $6. This was big to us as it cost us $30something for two in Vegas!! Here's a few pics from the event and the pumpkin carving that ensued the next day:

Friday night was Halloween and we weren't going to dress Grace up as she already had her pumpkin outfit and there really isn't many Halloween costumes for newborns, but Patty ended up picking one up a lion one for her and it was pretty adorable. As you can see, we dressed up the boys again as well - and Patty adorned the full witch costume (quite scary) to spook the little ones in the neighborhood - however, we didn't end up getting too many kids at all which was a bit of a bummer for her.

The next night, some of my Dad's family came over to celebrate my birthday, and my first with Grace. We had a great time as we got Nana (my paternal Grandma) and Papa to try out our Wii - bowling and baseball. They had a blast with it - Papa was good at the bowling, while Nana was better at baseball. Papa couldn't hit the ball to save his life and Nana kept trying to coach him and everyone else, shouting "NOW! NOW! SWING! NOW!", after she was feelin' good about hitting a home run. Here's a few pics from the event:

So that has been the past couple weeks --- Grace is doing well and trying to get the hang of sleeping a little longer at night. She's been going about 4 hours at a time during the night which has been much better than her usual 2 or so, and she still has some remnants of the thrush on her bum, but it seems to be doing a lot better. Her weight and length have been increasing as well as you may have noticed the stats from Saturday night at the top. That's about all I have to report... many more pictures have been posted to our gallery as well, so be sure to check them out!

I've Been Here for One Month!

2008-10-19T12:22:00.010-04:00

~ 29 Days, 16 Hours ~

It has been almost one month since I arrived into the arms of my loving parents and I have already learned and witnessed so much! So far I have met most of my family and can't wait to meet even more of them next weekend - boy do we have a big family and I'm not really good with remembering names... As you can see, Dad has already set up my own email account, taught me how to use the computer to blog, and have online video chats with Grandma in Australia.

I'm still trying to get used to this "sleep at night" thing, but I think I'm getting better. Not sure if Mom thinks so, but hey, a girl needs to eat! I've really put Mom and Dad through the ringer with my fussiness at nighttime but thanks to cousin Karen who sent up a book on nursing, Mom may have cracked the case on what has been causing this irritating diaper rash on my bum and my bouts of fussiness --- thrush. I think it is the 5th different infection I've caused Mom to get, but hopefully things will start to get better now that we have figured it out! Plus, I really love having my butt blow-dried during each diaper change - very soothing! I have also started to get a little "tummy time" recently during the day as I can lift my head a bit as my neck muscles keep getting stronger, and my brothers really enjoy chilling alongside me on the mat.

The doctor said that I am growing at a nice, steady pace - 6 lbs 12 oz at our last visit - and I can feel myself getting stronger, larger, and longer by the day. My hair is also growing a bit longer and getting darker - it's still too short for my taste... I look like Dad enough already, so I can't wait for my hair to grow in! Other than that, life has been good and I have enjoyed my time here so far. Time to go watch the football games with Dad - he has me started with sports already... Don't forget to check out all of my new pictures in the gallery!

Two Weeks Old!

2008-10-03T14:36:00.005-04:00

Grace had her 2 week check up today and it is official, she is a peanut! She is now 6 lbs. 3 oz. and 18 1/2 inches long. Her head circumference is 13.5 inches. Apparently her head really was swollen after birth since she went from 19 3/4 inches long to 18 1/2 inches long. She is in the 14th percentile for her head size and 3rd percentile for her height & weight.

We also talked about a little problem that we have been having at nighttime with Grace. For some reason between 1am and 6am every night she screams bloody murder. It doesn't matter what we do, she will still start to scream a couple minutes after we put her down. Her doctor said that it could be gas or it could be colic - we are really praying that it is just gas. We bought some gas drops and we will try them out tonight. Hopefully it does the trick! Otherwise we will be dealing with a colic baby for the next 3 weeks to 3 months :( I wouldn't wish this upon my worst enemy.

On a lighter note, we gave Grace another bath on Tuesday and of course she pooped in the tub not once but twice. It seems as though this is becoming her favorite past time. I cannot tell you how many times I have been pooped, peed, and tooted on in the past two weeks. I wouldn't trade it for anything though. Jason is smart - he is the official "hand holder" during diaper changes and baths so he gets to dodge all the messiness!

We will let you know how our night goes now with the gas drops. Please pray for us on this one! Jason also posted some new pics in the gallery of Grace and her funny faces. She makes the funniest facial expressions, even the nurses at the hospital commented on them! She's adorable! :)

Grace is in Today's Paper

2008-10-01T10:08:00.001-04:00

We just wanted to let everyone know that Grace is in today's D&C paper in the "Our Towns" section!

The Past Few Days

2008-09-26T10:12:00.007-04:00

~ SIX DAYS, 13 HOURS OLD ~

Hard to imagine that on this day one week ago we were just getting settled in our room at the hospital and Grace was knocking on the door to come on out! The last few days have gone by fast but they have been great days. Here's a quick rundown...

On Tuesday we gave Grace her first bath at home - they had given her one at the hospital the day after she was born - and lemme tell ya, she did not enjoy it too much! She's not a big fan of stripping down to just her diaper, but I'm not going to complain about that... I had to end up consoling her towards the end by letting her have a grasp of one of my fingers in each hand, while she sucked on my pinky finger at the same time.

Grace had her 2nd doctors appointment on Wednesday and everything checked out fine. Her slight jaundice still wasn't of a concern and it has started to go down since then. Next visit is now scheduled for October 3rd (2 days before her original due date!) Also on Wednesday, Stacey was having some pains in her abdomen so we took a trip to her doctor and they said she had a bladder infection and her stitches were starting to get infected. Originally she wasn't going to go, but its a good thing she did as it could have progressed into something worse.

Sleep during the night has much improved since night #1, as Grace has been doing a good job of usually only waking up when she is hungry or can't stand being in a dirty diaper anymore. She has definitely taken after me in the way she sleeps - mouth open, arms spread way out, and twitching every so often. We keep her bassinet out in the living room and Orville's (our first dog) new favorite thing to do is keep a watchful eye over Grace. We did not expect Orville to be so protective / curious out of all three of our dogs as usually he is really laid back, but his new favorite thing to do is jump up on the couch on the arm rest and stick his head into the bassinet for a few seconds, make sure Grace is inside and asleep, then jump back off. I snapped a pic of him yesterday in the act.

Nothing else too exciting to report though, which I suppose is a good thing! Grace doesn't really fit into any clothes right just yet - they're either too big or the legs on her "preemie" outfits are too short - but I don't think she really minds... Other than that, we are wishing everyone from my Dad's side of the family safe travels to and from Virginia this weekend for my cousin Mike's wedding - hope it is a joyous time and we're bummed we couldn't be there to celebrate. --- Be sure to keep checking the online gallery for new pics, I'll try and post some every couple days.

1st Doctor's Visit, 2nd Night Home, & New Pics

2008-09-23T11:38:00.010-04:00

Well we had a great 1st visit at the doctor's office. At least we thought it was great, but I don't think Grace really agrees with us on that one! We talked with the doctor about Grace's rough night and he thinks that she may have been allergic to something that I ate the night before. When we arrived home from the hospital, I had a glass of milk and a blueberry muffin from Wegmans. He gave us a list of foods to avoid or try in moderation to determine if your baby is allergic to them or not. I was a little disturbed when I realized that half the things on the list were given to me in the hospital. So for future breastfeeders make sure you know what these foods are and do not trust that the hospital is feeding you breastfeeding - friendly food (Even if they are a so-called "Baby-Friendly" hospital). We also learned that Grace jaundice is very mild so the doctor did not need to even test her to make sure her levels were good. When we were discharged from the hospital, they said that based on her physical Sunday morning she was down to 5 1bs. 4 1/2 oz. Yesterday she was up to 5 1bs. 9 oz ! We were really happy to hear this especially after our difficult evening. She will need to go back to the doctor's office on Wednesday for a weight/jaundice check , but it seems like she is doing a lot better now!

Now for our 2nd night home. It was glorious! Grace was able to sleep in her bassinet without any problems. She was also able to nurse without any problems and she hit her wet/soiled diaper goal by 7am this morning! I don't think she will have any problems gaining weight before her visit tomorrow. We were able to get a lot more sleep and things are very peaceful around the house this morning (thus the ability to actually get on the computer). Jason was also able to go into work for a few hours today to work on some things. Hopefully everything will continue to move in a positive direction and we will update you after our appointment tomorrow to let you know how Grace is doing. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers! We really have appreciated all of the love and support that we have received over the past few days from all of our family and friends! We are so happy to share our wonderful miracle with you!

Here's a few new pics, but be sure to check the online gallery (link on the left <--- ) for more!

Oh, Sleepless Night

2008-09-22T10:29:00.002-04:00

We made it back home around 7:30p last night with Grace! She did great in the car on the way home, didn't make a peep. We were very interested to see how the dogs would react to this new being in our life, so Stacey went in first, and I followed a few minutes later with Grace in my arms. To everyone's surprise, the dogs were calm as can be - we've never seen them that calm and not barking and running everywhere / going crazy after we had returned from a long time away! Patty had brought home a receiving blanket from the hospital and cut it into three pieces for them to play with before we got home and that may have helped some. Either way, they accepted her right from the start, only very slightly curious, and very much welcomed her home.

Grace was great and took in her new surroundings like a champ. We had been waiting for her second soiled diaper of the day to come, otherwise we would have had to call the doctor very early in the morning, but she finally did her business an hour or so after she was home. Everything was going great until it was time to get some sleep - and that's when the fun began... or not.

We put her down in bassinet #1 but about 15 minutes after, along came the wailing. We went through this all night long - holding her, rocking her, trying to feed her every 2-3 hours, checking her diaper, putting her in her crib and other bassinet - pretty much everything we could think of. She would be totally fine whenever in my arms but go to put her down and a few minutes later shed start to cry. We thought maybe Stacey wasn't getting any food out, as Grace wasn't latching on like she usually has, so we fired up the breast pump, but that wasn't the problem. We even fed her some breast milk out of a glass dropper like the nurse at the hospital suggested - and she would down all of it - but still, couldn't get to sleep on her own. I think we each might have slept off and on a total of 2 hours-ish. Was frustrating because she had been perfectly fine at the hospital and home up til this point sleeping on her own. Finally when it was time Stacey called the doctor to get in for an appointment this morning (we had one planned either way), and one of Grace's nurses at the hospital called at well, and it was determined that Grace probably had a belly ache from the dairy Stacey had eaten last night. So, hopefully that is the case. We are off to the doctors here in a few minutes - 11:30 appointment. Will update more on our return!

Discharge Very Soon!

2008-09-21T15:56:00.002-04:00

Looks like we are all headed home sooner rather than later - probably after Stace gets her last meal around 5pm. Going to fill out Grace's discharge papers very shortly and then we will be pretty much set to go!

Patty brought a receiving blanket Grace used for a bit home to the boys so they could get some of her scent. Should be interesting to see how they react to the new inhabitant in their domain, and them getting a little lower on the totem pole. I'm sure they'll be very excited to see us, so Stace will be going in first and I will wait with Grace downstairs. Once we are home safe I'll be sure to let ya'll know.

Might Be Coming Home Today!

2008-09-21T09:20:00.004-04:00

Great news - we have a good possibility of getting discharged today with our little one! They are allowing her to stay in our room pretty much all day today and only has to go back down to the SCU for a couple quick checkups and take any medicine she needs. We were not thinking we'd be able to take her home until at the earliest tomorrow morning so this is definitely awesome news!! She has one test that still needs to come back to be sure she is clear of infection, and should be hearing on that in the next few hours.

Grace is still doing rather well with her feedings as she has had a few more wet diapers - which she absolutely hates to be in and cries if she is. That is pretty much the only time she really cries so far except if she is really hungry and Mommy's food is taking too long to get to her mouth! Her favorite thing so far seems to be sucking on our pinky fingers - which she probably would do for who knows how long before we pulled them out. Also, she still has her little IV in her hand, which they had to switch to her other hand last night as the other one was leaking. Hopefully that will be out soon enough. Will post again either from home or when I know more about the discharge.

First Trip Out of the SCU!

2008-09-20T16:09:00.008-04:00

Yay! Grace is now able to come down to our room for feedings and stay for a little while after! Here's a few pics from the first time (2:00p)... she's back down here again now and sleepin (5:25p).

Well, I went to post this and just before I did we had some issues trying to feed her and she was starting to get a little fussy. Couldn't tell if she wanted to eat, sleep, or was messin a diaper. She is however, already a Daddy's girl as she stopped fussing as soon as she was in my arms :) Shes back in the SCU now as we eat and rest til the next feeding... (btw 1 soiled diaper and 3 wet so far!)

New Life... - Concluding the Birth Blog

2008-09-20T11:32:00.006-04:00

FYI: Posted a bunch more pics - just click here to view!

I'm sure many of you are wondering how it all went down last night after my last post around 7p...

An hour after Stacey had been dilated about 8cm (6:30p), I left Sue in the room with Stacey (about 7:30p) and went downstairs for some air and to use the restroom. Upon arriving back in to our room, the curtain was drawn, the doctor was in and prepping to start active labor. I could not believe it! The doctor was great and really wanted to see us have a natural birth and not have to go to have a C-section (Stace was dreading that - and I think with our normal doctor, he would have opted for the C without a doubt - that's how much of a fine line we were walking on). So, we had to move quickly as there was still some complications with heart rate a bit high, Stace having the fever, and the possibility of infection.

Active labor started around 7:54pm. They turned off the epidural once labor started and the contraction measuring device was not working at all for some reason, so we had to go by feel for each one. Stacey was a champ, and really pushed awesome and strong for being so tired. I took position on her left side, holding her head forward and left leg up during contractions, as well as rotating counting to 10 three times for each one with the nurse (who was on her right side). Sue was helping me at the head of the bed with ice water washcloth duty and Patty was also on leg support. The doctor had told us this stage usually takes around 2:30 hrs so we were ready for the long haul. I hadn't had a chance to eat any dinner besides a pear and a couple chips so at this point I was just hoping not to pass out as I had a pretty bad headache as well.

After about maybe 30 minutes of pushing, Grace had really started to get close to emerging, very much to our surprise! The doctor started prepping for delivery at this point, readying the table, and getting all of her instruments together. This was such good news as it was pretty much confirmed we would not have to go for the C-section, however the doctor said she would like to use a small amount of suction to get her out as soon as she could and because of Stacey's smaller pelvis. Patty had moved to the other side of the table holding Stacey's right leg, and after a bit Sue moved down to help with her left leg as the table was gone now so Stacey didnt have anywhere to set her legs down.

Around 8:37p Grace was on the verge! Stace was pushing strong like a champ and really impressed everybody in the room - the doctor, nurses, and of course, myself. The doctor used a slight bit of suction and after really only after about 5 minutes of pushing, at 8:45pm our little Grace was born! I recall the first thing I said to Stacey as soon as she came out was, "it's a girl!!!" (definitely exciting because we had been kind-of dreading it would be a boy at this point after we had gone all-girl on everything, clothes, decor, and of course, the mural!) I was able to cut the cord, which was pretty cool and something I hadn't been expecting to do, and then they turned the baby over to the other nurses / doctors in the room for the initial cleaning and tests.

I then left the bedside and went to take pictures on the other side of the room where they were dealing with Grace (the birthing suite was quite large - there was probably 15 people or more in the room at points). It was such an awesome experience and a great blessing that the delivery moved along so well once we were in active labor, as she came much faster than anyone had expected which also we hope helped vastly improve her chances of not getting any infection. I guess after I left the bed they removed the placenta and discovered Stace had 2nd degree natural tearing and they had to stitch her up which took a bit.

I was over at the warming table snapping pics and watching as they tested Grace. She did not cry much at all and was so attentive - eyes wide open the whole time looking around and barely fussy. Everyone could not believe how awake she was as she couldn't stop taking in her new world and staring at yours truly. They did her weight, her footprints, and attempted to get her dimensions. After that I was able to hold her for the first time - I dont think she took her eyes off me the whole time. However at this point I wasn't feeling so hot, just light-headed from not eating, a bit exhausted, and sweating some from the heat in the room, so I had to go get some fresh air. I did not think I would expend that much energy but I really should have eaten more - oh well, now I know for next time!

When I came back up, Grace was on her way over to the Special Care Unit and everybody (New Grandparents Patty, My Dad & Sue - Carrie, Stacey's Aunt Karen, and Kasey) was leaving for the night. Headed back to the room to see Stace - there was still quite a bit of blood on the floor - but she was doing very well and eating a sub! After that Staceys Dad and Pam, who had drove up from Virginia during the day and arrived in time for the delivery, took off and we were finally alone together... just missing our baby down in the SCU.

I went down to check on Grace about 15 min later, it was maybe 10:30 at this point. The doctor said she was doing great and everything was looking to check out, they just wouldn't know about any infection for 48 hours. I was able to spend some time with Grace before heading back to the room. Stinks she could not be with us in our room but as long as she is healthy, that is all that matters - and we do have the rest of her life to spend with her! I think that's where I left off last night... I'm sure I have forgot some things and it all seems like a bit of a blur at this point, but that should be the jist of it! We are now proud parents of an adorable baby girl and could not be happier!

Grace --- The Big Reveal!

2008-09-19T23:16:00.010-04:00

...And here she is! I will upload more tomorrow, as well as pick up where I left everybody hanging on the running blog. I was just down in the Special Care Unit for a bit with Grace and she is doing very well. They won't know about any infections for 48 hours, but the nurse said she is doing great and she kept sticking her tongue out at me, mouthing like she is ready to feast on Mommy!! (as soon as Stace can make it down there). Thanks again to everyone for their support, every bit of it helped get us through the day. K, time to try and get some sleep!!!

11:51pm Update: Check that... we are going down to the SCU to see if Stace can give Grace some good eats tonight!

12:46am --- First feeding went pretty well, she did some good sucking for quite awhile, and of course seems like it will be a pretty trying process. I think she was as wiped out as we are from today's events! Okay, NOW it's time to try and sleep... til the nurse sounds the morning feasting horn...

She's Here!!!!

2008-09-19T21:51:00.003-04:00

Grace Isabella Gringer --- 6lbs, 2oz - About 19"

Stacey is doing very well and she did so amazing!!! Will post more and update the running blog when I get a chance. Grace had to go to the special care unit because she was early and Stacey had the fever / possible infection, so they have to run some tests to make sure Grace doesnt have an infection and run a bunch of tests. Stay tuned for the pics - we love you all!

New Life Decides to Come Through the Front Door --- A Running Birth Blog

2008-09-19T04:59:00.028-04:00

~ THIRTY-EIGHT WEEKS ~

FYI: This is a running blog I am attempting to keep on today's events, leading up to the birth of our first child! It's not going to be an exact science but I will do my best to keep everyone informed. Thank you in advance for all of your prayers!

7:05pm --- Fever has gone down! I have been on ice-washcloth duty switching out washcloths bathing in a bowl of ice water, onto Stace's forehead and neck. Now around 37.4 C and dropping!

6:30pm --- 8 cm dilated - Nevermind... still has a slight fever and if the dilation doesn't continue to progress and the fever doesn't go down much we may be looking at a C-Section as Grace's heart rate is still high.

6:01pm --- And looks like those worked... temperature starting to drop.

5:42pm --- Up to 7 cm --- Temperature has been up a bit over the 38 degree Celsius mark (fever) so they had to give Stace some Tylenol and antibiotics to try and keep any infection down if that were to happen.

5:15pm --- We've hit the 6 cm mark... heart rate back on the rise however.

4:45pm --- Quick update if I scared anybody with the last post... BP seems to have normalized now, and heart rate has stabilized for both Stace and Grace. Pitocin is back on.

4:26pm --- Dozed in and out for a bit and when I woke up Stacey's blood pressure was having some issues... very low and her heart rate was up a bit. They say usually that happens right after the epidural and weird it has happened so far after. Stopped the Pitocin for 30 minutes or so and they gave her some new drugs to hopefully help get her BP back up... hasn't been working so well but they seem to finally be getting somewhere. She is shaking quite a bit from the meds, they say - hope to turn it around soon by next update. Stay tuned... Also just wanted to say thanks for everybody's comments and encouragment - very much appreciated!!

3:10pm --- Started the Pitocin - or "Vitamin P" as they call it here... and Stace is doing real well. Grace's heartbeat has been steady for the most part all day, just went down a bit after the 2nd epidural and they had to give Stacey a bit of oxygen to help with that. Also, happy to report she does not need another dose of the Cytotec! Our nurse, Linda, is hoping we have the baby by the time she has to leave (7:30p) as the same thing happened to her yesterday with another lady - went all day and missed the birth! Everyone in the room here (Sue / Patty) agrees that would be a good thing (only 4 more hours of labor). Might try and take a nap here if possible --- only had 4 hours of sleep last night. Not good.

2:15pm --- 4 cm dilation - After many trials and tribulations, the anesthesiologist had to redo the epidural, as it wasn't in the correct way the first time and Stacey was still in a great deal of pain and able to feel most of her body, having some very painful contractions. Now that it is back in correctly, seems to be much smoother sailing and Stace is actually talking and laughing some. Trying to get a bit of rest now...

12:05pm --- 3 cm dilation - Epidural is only working on the left side of the body, trying to figure out what is up with the right side...

11:30am --- Epidural has been inserted - they seem to be having a busy day here with other couples as well... Dilated over 2 cm, 90% effaced, -1 position.

9:00 - 11:00am --- Moved into our room now, met with a doctor from Stacey's office (ours is not on call today), and they gave her a Cytotec pill to help "soften the cervix" and hopefully help get some dilation working. This dose will take about 4 hours and then they'll see if she needs to take another round of it. Stacey is having a lot of back pain and back labor along with the contractions which isn't helping much, however the labor actually seems to be progressing a lot faster now the meds have set in and the contractions are getting a lot stronger. Wasn't the original plan but will probably soon be going for the epidural...

7:30am --- Arrived at the hospital (Rochester General), went to triage unit. Everything checked out well - They told us we wouldn't be going home, Grace is head down, vital signs good. The nurses kept saying "what a happy baby" according to the heart beat. However, it seems like we are only dilated a tiny bit, which means we will be here quite awhile... The nurse couldn't get the IV in so well in either arm (veins collapsing) so they had to call up a IV specialist.

6:50am --- Leaving for hospital now!! --- Contractions ~5 min apart lasting ~56 sec

5:04am --- Contractions about 6 minutes apart and lasting around 53 seconds each.

4:03am --- Stacey's water breaks --- (see post below) Oh my, a little over 2 weeks early. Well, away we go...

We're Having a Baby (A lot Sooner Than We Thought)

2008-09-19T04:16:00.004-04:00

Just wanted to let you all know that my water broke this morning at 4 am! What a shocker that was! I called my doctor and they said that to take my time and shower, pakce and eat some breakfast and get to the hospital by 8 am. It looks like we will have our little girl within the next few days!

FYI: Jason is going to have his laptop at the hospital and will attempt to keep a running blog of the events to keep everybody updated. Not sure how well this will work but he will try...

37 Week Appointment

2008-09-16T19:05:00.002-04:00

I had my 37 week appointment today! The baby has started to drop. I had a feeling that she may have started to drop yesterday since I was having an easier time breathing while laying down and I also had to make many more trips to the bathroom. Dr. Ogden also checked to see if I had started to dilate yet, but no such luck there. Which is fine with us! My Group B Strep results were back too and I tested negative. That is also great news. Other than that he said I am having a perfectly normal pregnancy and normal does not mean boring! So I will go in on Monday for my 38 week appointment and update everyone then!

Baby Shower #2

2008-08-31T16:14:00.010-04:00

~ THIRTY-FIVE WEEKS ~

Yesterday was the second, and last, of our two baby showers - this time thrown by Stacey's mother, Patty, and my step-mother, Sue - at Knollwood Lodge inside Northampton Park --- ironically there was also another baby shower at the same time at Northampton, for somebody else named 'Stacey'. We were blessed to have many family and friends in attendance, along with an over abundance of awesome, mostly homemade food and desserts - thanks to all who contributed! Grace is now even more spoiled (and also very much loved), as she received many more gifts, clothes, and everything else... If this baby is not a girl, we are definitely going to be in trouble with this large, predominately female-only wardrobe!! Many thanks to everybody for all of the gifts, everything is greatly appreciated for sure --- and luckily we didn't get anymore Bumbo seats!

A couple baby shower games were played --- 'guess the belly size in string length', and 'baby bingo'. Maggie Kolcon won the string game as most people's strings were way too long, and there was a bunch of different winners for bingo. I surprised Stacey by inviting one of her good childhood friends, Christina Morganti, who she used to dance with among other things, and hadn't seen in a long time, to the shower. When Stace saw her walk around the corner into the building, the look on her face was priceless, and she was definitely very surprised and happy to see her!

A few shower pictures are below, but you can check them all out by Clicking Here! Also, the nursery has pretty much been finished, as both sets of doors are now up - but I'll post more on that in the upcoming days with some updated nursery pics. We have spent last night and the first part of today putting everything together and away, and pretty much all that's left is Grace's arrival (tentatively Oct. 5)! Stacey is still feeling well, still getting kicked every so often, and ready for baby bump to be gone! Hope everybody has a great Labor Day.

(You can click on an image to view it full size).

The Nursery -- Stage 3: Mural Complete + Furniture

2008-08-19T23:25:00.014-04:00

Finally!!!

I finished the mural this past Friday night as I mentioned in the last post, a couple weeks after all of our nursery furniture arrived that we had ordered from Simon's -- many, many thanks to my Mom & Gerry for all of the furniture! I gave in to Stace and let her see the mural before it was done when the furniture came and she was very happy to finally be able to get back into the room (she loved the mural as well!!) Overall I am pleased with how it came out, as it was quite a task to complete and must say I'm happy to be done, as it took a lot more effort and time than I originally thought it would! I'm also really digging how everything came together (colors, furniture, mural, etc.), and as close to my original vision as I could have hoped for. Was a bit nervous that I was going to screw something up along the way... Alas, now that the paint has dried, we are definitely hoping the doctor did not make a mistake and that we are in fact having a girl!!! Especially with all of the clothes, shoes, and other misc. female items that have now accumulated in her closet / armoire -- such a spoiled baby already...

I've posted a few pictures below, but you can check them all out by Clicking Here - enjoy! (Pictures were taken before 1st Baby Shower - the room is quite a bit more full now...) Now all that's left to finish is installing the new main and closet doors (Stage 4) and it'll be all set for Grace's arrival in about 6 weeks! That's all for now - next post will be after Baby Shower #2 on the 30th - until then...

(You can click on an image to view it full size).

Baby Shower #1 & Other Misc. Updates

2008-08-17T10:51:00.017-04:00

~ THIRTY-THREE WEEKS ~

On Saturday we had our first of two baby showers, thrown by my Mom, at Hawthorne's on East Ave. near Pittsford (second shower is on the 30th of this month). About 30 people were in attendance, the food was great, and everyone seemed to have a good time. Thanks again to everyone for the many gifts for Grace and I'm sure we will put them all to good use! The most popular gift for sure was the "Bumbo" seat, as we received three of them because for some reason it never was removed from our registry once the first one was purchased... but thats okay. Below are a few photos from the shower --- you can also view the full album here: Baby Shower #1. Sorry, didn't have a chance to get any of Stace opening gifts as I was busy helping out, but if anybody has any they took, please be sure to send them this way!

Last week we finished our 5 week long birth class and I think we have retained quite a bit of useful knowledge that will help us both with the upcoming delivery --- hopefully I won't forget most of it as I need to be on top of my coaching game when the day arrives. We also completed a breastfeeding class last weekend together and learned a bunch of tools, Stacey especially, as she attempts to undergo the feedings once Grace arrives. I'm sure it will be a trying process that will hopefully go smooth and well enough for all parties involved.

Also, the nursery is almosttt complete as the mural has been finished & baby furniture has been furnished, however we hit a little snag putting in the main and closet doors... Hopefully those will be in sometime this coming week with some more help from my Dad. I will however post some pictures of the completed mural and furniture in the upcoming days as it has been a very busy weekend and I wanted to get these up first --- so stay tuned!

(You can click on an image to view it full size).

The Nursery -- Stage 2: Molding Complete, Mural Underway & Other Misc. Updates!

2008-07-25T13:29:00.026-04:00

~ THIRTY WEEKS ~

Okay, another lengthy delay between posts, but boy have we been busy!! First an update on mother and child --- They both survived a tiring week of 3 DMB concerts & weekend in Saratoga and both Stacey & Grace continue to do well as we are nearing the two-month to go mark. Everything has checked out well with Stace recently at the doctors and no complications to report besides the to-be-expected hands/feet swelling and sore body. Grace continues to grow as she often plays Stacey's stomach like a drum with her feet and arms.

Our birth classes have started at Rochester General (our birthing hospital) and have been pretty interesting, as we are two weeks in (three to go). First class was mainly information, second was massage / breathing techniques. Some things that stick out in my mind up to this point: "T.A.C.O." and "Howt / Hee-hee-hoo". Feeling a bit more comfortable than before about the whole process, which is definately a good thing!

The nursery continues to progress as with A LOT of help from my Dad, we were able to get the molding up around the middle of the room and it looks great! I started on the mural as well, drew everything on the wall and started painting a few weeks back. It has been a bit more difficult than I thought it would be painting with wall paint, instead of something like acrylic, as I've had to do 2-3 coats for each color so far, which is adding a lot more time than I had originally anticipated. However, it is looking pretty much as good as I had hoped so far and about 30% complete -- sorry no pics 'til it's done!! Our furniture is FINALLY in from Simon's (crib, dresser/hutch/changing table, armoire, glider/rocking chair) and will be to us on Saturday, so I'm hoping to have the mural mostly done by then.

August should be a very busy month for us --- two baby showers, a couple weddings, & more --- I'll be sure to post updates of the showers after they happen. We have started to accumulate a couple main necessities last week to go with the piles of clothes and other misc. small items we have so far, as we were able to score a nice breast pump off Ebay and received a travel system (stroller / car seat) from Stacey's Dad. Also, I finally went ahead and bought a new digital camera (Nikon D60), and it's pretty awesome. The picture quality is pretty amazing and it's definitely gonna get worn out once Grace arrives! All right, think that's all I have for now --- enjoy the pictures below --- the last 6 were taken with the new camera, the one of the ceiling fan (in the nursery) is a personal fav., and also threw in some of the boys relaxing in what they think is "their" room (gonna be angry when they don't have that empty room to play in anymore once Grace is here!)

Pics 1-3: Molding, 4: Travel System, 5: Bassinet Close-Up, 6: Ceiling Fan, 7: Toby in Living Room, 8-9: Orville, Toby, Buddy in Nursery
(You can click on an image to view it full size).

The Nursery -- Stage 1: Main Colors Painted

2008-06-11T20:48:00.022-04:00

~ TWENTY-THREE WEEKS ~

It's been a month since the last post, and its long past the half way point -- figured I should give an update of recent happenings around here...

I started painting Grace's nursery a couple weeks ago -- had to prime over 2 shades of blue which we had previously painted over the original room's (previous owner's) color of orange, then put on the two new main colors, since we've now turned what was once the spare bedroom, into the nursery. I was given complete creative control on the project and it's all in my hands, so hopefully all turns out well... so far so good though - at least the colors look the way I had hoped up to this point. Big thanks though to Stacey's mom, Patty, for helping with the priming! The next stage commences this weekend as I'll be starting to draw out the mural that I'll be painting on the main wall (the top part). Stacey wants to be surprised as she doesn't know what it's going to be until I finish - I guess I'll leave ya'll in suspense as well. I'm hoping it turns out OK as I've never really done a mural before, or any creative painting in a long time (hopefully it's like riding a bike...), and don't want to mess it up! I'm hoping to have it finished by the time our nursery furniture arrives in a month or so. The final stages will be placing white molding where you see the current stripe going around the room in the pics below, and getting all of the furniture set up.

Nursery Pics - Stage 1: (You can click on an image to view it full size).

FYI: Current paint colors are -- BEHR: Vanilla Custard (the yellow) & Foxgloves (the purple)

Other miscellaneous news to report --- Stacey is doing well and everything checked out in good measure at the last doctors appointment- she goes in for her glucose check in 3 weeks. Grace has been very active, kicking quite a bit, especially on Stace's bladder, which needless to say she doesn't enjoy the frequent bathroom trips very much! Grace seems to be especially active after Stacey eats ice cream or something sweet. It's been quite hot and humid up here the past week or so, and luckily we have a pool because they've been in it quite a bit - and I'm sure will be most of the summer if it stays this hot! Next week Grace will be experiencing her first Dave Matthews Band concerts - one at Darien Lake, and two in Saratoga Springs over the weekend - as we'll be away for probably the last time before she arrives. If she's kicking away in there, I think we'll know we have a fan in training... haha. --- OK, that's about all from this front as this is long enough already, but I'll be sure to post again once the nursery is further along and we have more news to report!

It's a ... [continued]

2008-05-14T08:46:00.010-04:00

*If you don't know the sex of the baby yet, read yesterday's post first! Also, pics / video below*

So as you might have noticed, we discovered at our first "official" ultrasound that our first child will be a girl and we can now refer to her as something other than just "it", "the baby", "he/she", etc - making it all the more 'real' for lack of a better word. I could tell pretty much right away that it wasn't a boy as she was moving around quite a bit (thanks to Sissy for her OJ + sugar tip) and we had some good views, however I don't think Stacey realized til the ultrasound was almost over and the attendant informed us for certain. Stace and I both thought from the start it was a girl, don't ask me why, but maybe because we had both agreed upon a girls name I had come up with 3-4 years ago in Vegas, so we just assumed that's what it would be - plus, we hadn't really solidified a boys name yet. However over the course of waiting to find out the sex, almost everyone who wanted to give us their opinion on what they thought the baby would be, kept telling us it was a boy, boy, boy, so I kind-of had it in my head going into yesterday, expecting it would be a boy. Alas, it was not, and we are happy to now know we'll be having a girl! Not much else to report besides everything else checked out well and mother to be is in good health. We can now turn our attention to nursery construction and purchasing all of that fun stuff as we await Grace's arrival. I'll try and get Stacey to post some details on the baby shower(s) soon so ya'll can save the date if you were planning to attend. Until then...

It's a ...

2008-05-13T17:14:00.014-04:00

GIRL!!

~ Grace Isabella - NINETEEN WEEKS ~

Ultrasound Pics (2D / 3D) & Video (with yawn - 0:15) - Week 19

I'll post more tomorrow on the visit but wanted to give an update for anyone who was expecting to hear the news today.

We Were Wrong...

2008-04-17T09:19:00.005-04:00

~ FIFTEEN WEEKS + ~

We went in to the doctors for what we thought would be our first ultrasound with them yesterday, as previously posted below, however we were misinformed and the first official ultrasound won't be until next month, May 13. Sorry to disappoint anyone who was anticipating new pics... The baby's heartbeat was clocked in at 150bpm, the doctor said Stace should be able to start feeling the baby kick within the next few weeks, and overall it was just a routine visit, nothing much else to report. Next month if everything goes well, we should be finding out the sex of the baby... so stay tuned!

Second Ultrasound Update

2008-04-09T13:58:00.008-04:00

~ THIRTEEN WEEKS + ~

We went in for our second free ultrasound at CompassCare, thanks again to Sue, last Tuesday, April 1st and our little one had grown quite a bit! The baby was extremely active for the camera, doing numerous somersaults, curling up in a ball, stretching out, and staring directly at the camera for the most part. Soon it won't have enough space to move around like that so I guess the baby is getting it all out of their system. I also must admit it was a little weird to see the baby with no eye-lids but I suppose those will be forming very soon. Our next ultrasound is scheduled for next Wednesday, the 16th, which will be the first "official" one with our doctor, and I'm sure we'll see a lot more growth! I've scanned all of the previous ultrasound pics, promise they'll be up here soon! Stay tuned...

We are also praying that our cousin Karen & her husband Brian have a safe and easy delivery of soon to be baby Sierra!

Update: Thu, April 10

Congrats to Karen & Brian on the birth of their baby girl Sierra, the newest edition to our ever growing family, born early this morning in VA! -- Ultrasound pics are below as promised yesterday...

Ultrasound Pics - Week 8

Ultrasound Pics - Week 13

The Word's Officially Out! (+ Heartbeat)

2008-03-24T09:51:00.009-04:00

~ TWELVE WEEKS ~

We gave the news to my mom and her husband Gerry this past Good Friday after we had been holding the secret for about 3 months waiting for her to fly in from Australia for Easter. She was extremely excited for us and unable to control her tears of joy! The word quickly spread to the rest of her side of the family as everyone was in town for my Grandma's 70th birthday. So now I believe everyone in our family officially knows...

Also on Good Friday we were able to hear the heartbeat for the first time! The doctor said it might take awhile for her to find it, but it surfaced within a second and at a rate of about 160bpm. Next month we'll be going in for our 2nd ultrasound, and then in May at the ultrasound after that, we should be able to determine the sex of the baby - which we aren't going to wait to find out... we like to plan ahead! Vote on what you think it might be on the left side menu <---- I'll try and post some scans of our first ultrasound soon, even though they're a bit hard to distinguish - as well as some belly shots.