Saturday, October 27, 2012

Fall Fest @ 31 Weeks


Is this not the cutest 31 week Grey Bunny you have EVER seen?!


Her costume arrived JUST in time for the United Way Fall Fest on Thursday (her 31 week birthday)!

She was SO excited about it...and kept chewing the sleeves like she does "grey bunny".  :)

Our weekly photo shoot was her costume shoot.  Enjoy this cuteness.

On our way


When we pulled up to the Coliseum, our little bunny was out for the count.  We woke her up to go inside, but it wasn't long before she was falling asleep again on my shoulder.  Our Fall Fest experience was a whole 20 minutes long, but that's what to expect with a 7 month old!

Daddy decided seeing his happy Grey Bunny was worth me buying the costume after all.


31 Weeks Achievements:
  • You turned 7 months old this week!
  • You started your first round of antibiotics.  All these colds and allergies for the last couple of months have finally taken their toll on you.  You developed an ear infection and a respiratory infection. :(  We visited the doctor twice this week (fun times), however we decided we will be healthy enough from now on, that the next time we see them is for your 9 month appointment!  The amoxicillin seems to be working; you haven't had any fevers since two days ago!
  • You tried out a high chair for the first time and did great.  It is crazy to think that our baby is big enough to sit in a high chair now.  
  •  You are able to get to a stand by grabbing on to nearly anything.  You have even "let go" a few times (of course you fell back down), meaning you are braver than Momma for sure!  You love to stand in front of the mirror and push my hands away.  Quit being so big already.
  • One of your favorites lately is riding on our shoulders everywhere.  You basically just like the extra pulling hair leverage. ;)  Ouch!
  • You are so expressive and know how to make us laugh.  I love it!
  • You are the extra beat in my heart.  
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." John 8:12


Saturday, October 20, 2012

ahhh 30!

I think I have dragged my feet to post Grey's 30 week blog long enough.  It's time I just accept that she is THIRTY weeks old! :)


She spent the day at daycare (as usual) on Thursday, while I spent the entire day in Lubbock.  Once again I didn't get a chance to have a great photo shoot, but I did snap a few of my cutie patootie when I arrived home.  She has just recently been allowed to sit on grass without a blanket down.  I figure the natural dirt germs are less dangerous than human germs! :)

At 30 weeks:
  • Sweet princess, you LOVE to hold our hands and 'walk' all over!  You know exactly how to put one foot in front of the other, and can go for about 10 minutes at a time before your legs give out.  You giggle and get so excited to 'walk' when we hold your hands!  
  • Daddy discovered you love to be splashed in the bath!  All this time we have avoided splashing you, but when he did it the other night you cracked up!  We have gotten a kick out of how tickled you are when you are splashed.  Water baby!
  • I found you under my bed one morning this week after I had turned around for about 45 seconds.  You are crazy mobile!
  • You are not babbling or talking as much, but that is okay, because you are working so hard on learning to crawl and walk!
  • You have started spitting up terribly again, even on your medicine and probiotics.  I think your body is attempting to adjust to more formula.  I found a recipe for homemade formula made with a goat's milk base, and I am going to give it a try soon.  Hopefully you will not be too picky about the taste!
  • You continue to love trying solid foods and drinking from regular cups. 
I saw a tiny newborn last night at your first football game (Go Snyder Tigers!), and I ached to kiss your newborn head again.  I pleaded with time to slow down, although you are so fun at this stage!  Daddy and I can't get over how much you learn and change every day.  Your personality brings us such joy - and maybe makes it easy to spoil you. ;)  
By the way, you were enthralled by the game, band and people.  You didn't even notice that it was cold out and past your bedtime!


While I am blogging, I might as well include photos I took yesterday of Grey and her friends' "pumpkin patch" experience.  My friend Erica decided we should just bring the patch to them, since our schedules were not working out to make it to one this fall.  Thanks to our gracious neighbor for letting us borrow her lawn and hay, and Erica for the pumpkins, we had lots of fun!  I may just be able to convince Grey that I was a cool enough mom to take her to a pumpkin patch as a baby. ;) ;)
Grey's friends were a little more excited about pictures than she was.  Grey was mostly excited about eating the pumpkins.
The face I got when I took away her pumpkins.

October definitely showcases my favorite weather in Texas.  We have enjoyed reading books outside every day, and taking gorgeous walks in the evenings.  I really did not ever expect how amazing "full arms" could feel...I am so grateful for each day of watching my sweetie grow up.

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

Thursday, October 11, 2012

29 + 6 Month Stats

I was not a great picture taking momma today!  In fact, I am embarrassed to say this is one of the only pictures I took all day!  After Grey got back from daycare, she was exhausted...and so was I.   But I did get to snap this one while she was laughing.  (Toofies captured was a fun bonus!)

Grey had her "6 Month" Well Check (at 6.5 months) on Tuesday.  I am so glad she didn't react as poorly to this set of vaccines as she did from her 4 month set.  She ran a slight fever yesterday, but that was it!  Her stats:
  • 14 lbs. 7 oz. - 20th percentile (Those chubby cheeks and thunder thighs can be deceiving...our little girl really isn't very heavy.  She also has quite a small frame, so I am sure that is another reason she is low-ish on the weight scale)
  • 25 1/4 inches long - 30th percentile (I was shocked to see that she had grown length-wise!)
  • 16.6 inch head - 50th percentile (Her head is growing a lot --- making room for all that brain!) ;)
Beautiful girl, at 29 weeks:
  • You are scooting forward more and more and are getting up on all fours.  You can get to anything you want with a combination of rolling and scooting.  
  • You are fighting sleep for over an hour at night before finally giving it up.  We always say, "At least she is a cute monster!" =)
  • Everything goes in your mouth.  Everything.  
  • You have started eating baby food up to three times a day.  You are loving it, and I think if it were up to you we would skip bottles and just eat table food and ice water.  
  • You are a social butterfly!  I've only known of about 2 people you have ever not been excited to greet!  No matter your mood, you almost always smile at people. 
We had a wonderful time celebrating cousin Kayson and Tisha's birthdays in Brady last weekend.  Grey truly loves her family and is absolutely enamored by children.  I wish it could've lasted longer.  This weekend (starting tonight) we have friends staying over to watch the Tech game and hang out.  I am so glad Grey is such a people person, and is always wanting to "talk" and play with everyone! 

I am trying to slow things down for us this fall, but that has seemed impossible.  We do remember to enjoy each minute though...I know they are all gifts.  Chet and I have loved getting to know our daughter and grow in love as a family each day.  We hope to participate in the Memorial Walk for Babies in Midland on Sunday.  What a difference it will be to have full arms at this year's walk. 

Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Psalm 62:1b 
[I had a different Scripture in mind, but after feeling so tired while typing this I clicked over to Bible Gateway and this was the daily verse.  Perfect.]

Thursday, October 4, 2012

28 Already!

Yes, it's been 28 weeks since the day we met our daughter!  It's October, my favorite "Texas month" (i.e. one of the only months the weather isn't sweltering hot or freezing cold), and my little love is growing like a weed.  I stared at my office calendar today and just wondered how I could let time pass me by like I have.  I am really excited about this month!  We are going to take Grey to the pumpkin patch and corn maze soon, head to Brady this weekend for cousin Kayson and Tisha's birthdays, host friends here for Tech games, and spend many days at the park enjoying cooler temps and colorful leaves.  (There are a few trees here with leaves that change colors.)

I have been terrible about getting the real camera out for her weekly photo shoot (that happened like three times ha), especially since Grey goes to daycare on Thursdays so I can work.  In fact, today I didn't even do any sort of photo 'shoot' per-say, so I will just include a random assortment of pictures I snapped with my phone throughout the day.  They're actually a nice snapshot into what our Thursdays look like lately:
Ready to head to daycare this morning...it is STILL hard for me to leave this face.  Gosh.  I can stare at her sweetness all day.

 This is what she is like after daycare; won''t let go of me and is super snuggly.  It melts my heart.  She is not sleeping in the above picture.  She is just snuggling.  (Yes, I know this is an awful photo of myself, but I thought I would include an honest photographic journal of what a busy, 'working from home and in sweats' day looks like.  Makeup is obviously minimal.)
 And she reaches up to give me lots of kisses.  These I cannot get enough of.
 And wants to know what I am doing at all times.  We are curious curious curious!  (Yes, I know Instagram edits those baby blues...but in the sunlight - as they were when this was snapped - they are pretty close to this color!  I am beginning to be convinced we have a blue-eyed girl.)
And this evening Grey had her first experience with "Stage 2" baby food!  She loved it!  In fact, I would have scraped the jar if it were up to her.  This kid takes her food serious.  Like can't-eat-baby-food-in-public kind of serious.  (Oh you're right - it's not homemade.  Thanks for noticing!)

I take better pictures all through the week it seems, than on Thursdays.  Maybe one week I will not be in a time crunch, and post pictures from the whole week like I used to! 
Grey is at such a curious age!  I love that she wants to be a part of everything we do!  She wants to try everything we put in our mouths and will throw a fit exhibit a bit of grumpiness when we won't let her try something! ;)

At 28 Weeks:
  • You celebrated your Daddy's birthday on Monday!  We sang and danced to Happy Birthday a lot, which you laughed at every time.  He had to work all day, so we sent him pictures every hour of us wishing him a happy day.
  • You have gone up to size 3 diapers!  We are still using your size 2 diapers up, but we won't be buying anymore of them.  I think it's time we face the facts...you are growing.  Your 6 month check up is next Tuesday, so we can see just how big you are then!
  • You graduated to stage 2 baby food.  Well, I guess you did that a long time ago when I let you try any vegetable (and some fruits) I was eating myself. ;)  You haven't tasted anything you don't like yet, and I am so happy about that.  I am trying to give you 95% vegetables, with only a rare treat of fruits, so that you have a solid love for veggies before you get spoiled with the sugary sweetness in fruit.  Your two favorites by far are green beans and squash, although you will devour anything.  The other day you tasted my steamed artichokes and loved them too.  Mmm mmm mmm.
  • You are on the verge of crawling.  I definitely think October is the month you will be crawling.  You can get up on all fours and rock back and forth.  You have made a few forward movements, but not enough to be "officially" crawling yet.  
  • You still prefer rolling all over to get somewhere.  We are already baby proofing our living room, since you roll into everything.  
  • With a little help you can stand up on furniture. 
  • Your hair fuzz is returning.  Woohoo.  I have been feeling it like crazy.  I am a little partial to your cute fuzz.
  • You are not picky about the taste of formula mixed in your bottle anymore.  Your palette is allowing for more variety, thank goodness; that fight was a tough one.  This is also good since I am officially done pumping, and you will be using up the freezer supply of my milk.
  • You are still not talking as much as other babies your age, although you do babble and make cute sounds.  We know you will say words when you are ready to!
28 is a special number in our family, just as this 28th week of getting to know the little person God has entrusted us with has been so very special.  For some reason the 28th week of pregnancy with Grey stands out in my mind so strongly...it was the week I kept reassuring myself that if the Lord decided her birthday was going to happen early, then it was likely [with medical intervention] that she would be okay.  There hasn't been a '28' I have seen in two years that doesn't make me think about our firstborn.  Sweet number.  I have loved loving you infinitely Grey Danelle! 

The Shuffields took our family photos a few weeks ago when Joel's family was in from California.  Here is a sneak peak:

 

Save Your people and bless Your inheritance; Be their shepherd also, and carry them forever.  Psalm 28:9