We have a tooth!

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"

~ 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!

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

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?

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!

~ 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!

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

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!

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

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!