Friday, February 26, 2010

Thank You!

I belong to a mommy message board online, and the moms sent me this adorable blanket for Gracie. What a great group of women! We've been "friends" online for 3 years (although I sure wish we could all be friends in real life!). I've met one mom but hope to someday meet more moms; we live all over the U.S.

Thank you!


Thursday, February 25, 2010

This is what happens...

This is what happens when you are a tired nursing mother...



Yes, you walk around with breast pads stuck to your butt until your 3 year old says, "mama, what is on your butt?"

Gracie Girl

How cute is she?!?!? And how lucky am I?!?!?!


Gracie's First Bow

William's attempt at putting a bow in Gracie's hair...


My attempt...

William's Party

We had a small family birthday party for William at a local pizza place. Of course he had a great time being the center of attention! He loves being with his papa, uma, uncles, Jackie, and Anne. Thanks for the gifts!











William is 3 years old!

My baby is 3! The time has gone too quickly. William is such a nice little boy, and I am proud to be his mom!

Newborn 2007


1 year old 2008


2 years old 2009


3 years old 2010

Thursday, February 18, 2010

I am so lucky!



I love being a mother and feel so blessed right now! The other day Olly said I'm very maternal and a "natural". Motherhood does feel natural to me, and I really do love every moment of it.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Gracie

How precious is she??!!



William having fun at the children's museum

Today I decided to be brave and venture out with both kids on a big outing. We spent the day at the children's museum. It was fun and both kids were great! Gracie slept for most of the time in my ring sling. William really enjoyed the museum-what a great hands on place for children!

William enjoyed "grocery shopping" at the museum.




Dinosaur Exhibit


On our way home I asked William what he thought of Grace, and he said, "Mama, I want to keep her because I love her." He loves his baby sister so much, and he tells me how much he loves her several times a day. He loves to hug her too! He's such a cutie!

Monday, February 15, 2010

Gracie

Almost 3 weeks old!




Gracie and her papa

Family Photo

I realized that we haven't taken any family photos yet since Grace was born, and she's almost 3 weeks old! My parents came over last night for dinner, so I had my mom take some pictures of us. It's not easy to get an almost 3 year old to pose for a picture these days!

I've resorted to bribery which is something I promised I'd never do! William posed for the picture, so he was able to have a piece of cheesecake afterwards. Mama did get one bite out of the deal!

Saturday, February 13, 2010

William, Grace, and Caroline

My aunt Maureen, cousins Sarah and Ashley, and Sarah's daughter, Caroline, came over today. It was so nice to hang out with them for a couple hours! I've always enjoyed spending time with my aunt and cousins. Caroline is almost 8 months old-she is such a cutie!!





Friday, February 12, 2010

William is so funny!

William is really enjoying his role as big brother. Whenever Grace cries he will say, "She needs me" and then he will go running to her. He's quite proud of the fact that she often stops crying when he talks to her.

The other night Olly said that William is really gentle with Grace and would never hurt her, so he felt he was about to walk away from the two of them for a minute (Grace was laying on the floor and William was sitting next to her). I turned and saw William putting his hands under her armpits. I said, "what are you doing with Grace, William?" He said, "I was going to move her onto the pillow." We realized that even though he's gentle with her, he doesn't seem to be afraid to pick her up!

In the morning when he wakes up, the first thing he says is, "where's Grace?" He then goes running to wherever she is so he can say good morning and see what she is doing. I don't want to wish away time (actually I want it to go slowly!), but it'll be fun when she can interact with him more and watch him. I think he will love that too!

Sleep!

We've had two nights of pretty good sleep. Grace likes to be swaddled with her arms across her chest rather than at her side (sometimes she still likes her arms out near her face). We also reverted to using the swing during the night. I REALLY wanted to avoid that, because we used the swing for several months with William, but my sleep is more important right now!

I tried putting her in the swing without it swinging, but that didn't work. So for now, she actually does swing throughout the night. I'm going to try to stop the swing though, but I don't want her to wake up!

She seems to be getting her days and nights figured out. She is still sleeping a lot during the day, but she has awake times in the morning and evening. She's pretty sleepy in the later morning and throughout the afternoon.

William's Ocean

I've been making an effort to spend quality time with William now that Grace is here. Last weekend we went to the craft store and stocked up on supplies. Here is our first art project. I asked William if it was a lake or ocean, and he said, "it's the ocean". He also learned that blue and yellow make green (his favorite color in addition to purple). He kept saying, "Mama, I like making art projects with you."

He enjoyed it so much that he wanted to make two oceans. Luckily Grace slept the whole time-even through the clean up. Thank goodness because we were both covered in paint!





William insisted that each fish have two eyes!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Gracie's First Bath

Grace had her first bath this morning. She LOVED it! She was so calm and relaxed. She loved when I poured water over her tummy and legs.



Gracie


I love this picture!