Goodbye to one thing, hello to another.

Well, it's here...Grace is officially on her way to being an exclusive bottle and formula feeder. This wasn't exactly my ideal time frame. My intention was to breastfeed (or at least pump) through her entire first year. However, after solely nursing for just one month, my supply took a huge hit as a result of those pesky postpartum complications. The blood loss, stress of it all, and being on estrogen for four weeks (to prevent scar tissue) just didn't make for a good combination. We ended up having to supplement with formula while I "caught back up", but with Grace being such a hungry thing I was never fully able to. Ever since, we've been doing this crazy mix of nursing, pumping, breastmilk in a bottle, formula in a bottle, breastmilk and formula in a bottle...a bit of a pain. An upcoming week-long trip (for only mommy and daddy) provided a good target stopping point.

So, those priceless little moments are coming to an end, and it's harder than I thought it would be. Almost every morning, my sweet husband has brought Grace to me and she and I would snuggle while she ate...and while I closed my eyes a while longer! She would usually fall back asleep as well and we would just snooze there together. I'm definitely going to miss that. I'm also semi-struggling with the social pressure aspect. Women in general can be very hard on each other and, sadly, moms are not always an exception. I don't think it's just paranoia on my part to feel like some people out there secretly think superior thoughts when they see you feeding your baby formula. I'm resisting the urge to care about that though! We gave it our best for six months...she got the antibodies, we've bonded, it's all good. I will now be channeling that energy elsewhere: baby food.

That's right, somehow I have decided to make my own baby food. Who would've thought?! Not me! Anyone that knows me knows that I am not a healthy eater. I love fast food, soft drinks, and anything that involves cheese or butter...or ranch. However, owning the responsibility of your child's health tends to make you start paying attention to things you've never thought much about. Grace is brand new. She hasn't been "contaminated" by anything yet. I don't have any illusions that she won't enjoy a Happy Meal one day, I just think a broad (regular) sampling of wholesome foods can only help our chances that she'll maybe prefer some of the good stuff. And if David and I can make changes to our palate as well, wonderful!

Anyway, this is really just as much a cost-saving thing as a nutritional thing. Jarred baby food can add up, especially when your child eats as much as Grace and you happen to want organic. I actually thought it sounded like a smart idea (in theory) before she even started solids. I wasn't confident about doing it, though, until I heard about the Beaba Babycook from three different moms within a week. I had to get one. It steams and purees the food for you, then you just freeze it in trays to take out one cube at a time. It's kind-of addicting really. I'm getting things from the produce section I have never even seen before! Butternut squash??? Always sounded disgusting to me, but Grace loves it:

New Introductions

Grace got to meet her Great Aunt Martha and Great Uncle João today. They drove all the way from Norman, Oklahoma just to have lunch...very, very sweet. GramB and Papa John made the trek from Huntsville and Aunt Kimmie and Uncle Charles joined as well. Despite the gloomy weather, it was such a nice time. We just don't get to see the Skeeters side of the family enough...

Can you tell they're siblings, or what?

Grace was fascinated with Uncle João's hair and beard

Aunt Martha is so funny!

One last little pic

When did she get so big?

Stroller Fun

A few of our playgroup friends, Tara & Rosslyn and Stephanie & Sam, came over this week to take advantage of the beautiful weather and go for a stroll. We put the babies in their big-kid strollers for the first time and walked down to the little dining/shopping village area for some lunch. We tried out the new Mediterranean place, which was pretty tasty. The little ones were on their best behavior; I think they like getting out. Man, they are getting so big...

The rest of our weekend...

Before the snow came, we had a Valentine's Day party during our playgroup's weekly get-together. It was adorable (as always) and our hostess totally went overboard with brownies, pink lemonade, chocolate covered strawberries, and a craft (Valentines for the daddies). Here are a couple pictures taken by the fabulous Lisa Montgomery:

Lily, Cooper, Rosslyn, Sam, Levi, Grace

After the snow, we pretty much hung out on the couch, in our comfy sweats, watching the Olympics and other various television musings:

I think it's time for a bigger dog bed

Brad and Talya came to hang out for a bit and we finally got a picture of our two girls together. Grace weighs more than Dylan, who is a year older...albeit a tiny thing!

Is it possible that my child is narcoleptic?!?

This is the one "present" exchanged for Valentine's Day (thanks again, Steph, for your nifty craft session). We went to church, had brunch, and then got back to watching the Olympics in our comfy clothes. Maybe someday we'll go all out...low-key is kind-of nice, though.

Our fancy feast of nachos and brownies

Snow Day

I'm clearly behind with this post...the last few bits of whiteness are all but gone by now. If you keep up with the news, you surely know that Dallas had a record snowfall (12.5 inches) this week. It literally fell for an entire day without stopping. While we found the snow to be beautiful and make for a cozy couple of days, we also know several who lost power for extended periods of time...many with young babies. Our new nephew, Luke, even spent his first night home from the hospital without power (he got to snuggle with mommy all night). Luckily, we were able to stay warm and just enjoy the "snowpocalpyse" for what it was. Here are some highlights:

Our house

Our street

Our doggies

Untouched snow...nothing prettier

"What happened out here?!?"

Best Daddy Award goes to David. He built a snowman for Grace, despite being sick, just to have these pictures someday.

Yes, I know it's not sunny. I just happened to have a very hard time not squinting in my picture attempts! :)

The finished product

Fighting for dear life

The End

Wow

Have you ever had one of those moments where you were left speechless by God's perfect timing? Well, mine was yesterday. Due to a freak occurrence where Grace slept until 9:45 am, we missed first service and were cutting it very close for second. We debated skipping and just watching it online, but I really felt the need to be there and thus kicked the getting-ready process into high gear. By the time we checked Grace in (only our second time to do this) the worship center had filled up and we were directed into an overflow room. This has happened a few times and, I'm embarrassed to admit, has the ability to put me in a slightly annoyed mood. It's just not the same (although Watermark has pretty much perfected the overflow room experience, which now includes singers in addition to the huge screens). But, when Todd announced that the next four weeks we would be hearing from Jonathan Pokluda - the Young Adults Director and an incredible speaker - I got excited. JP went on to deliver the most humbling, most applicable, and most needed message that David and I could've heard.

You see, just a few days prior we'd made the decision for me to leave my job. My maternity leave had ended over the holidays and I'd started back part-time, from home, at the first of the year. I was still trying to get the hang of working 10 hours a week when they asked me to increase it to 20, something I wasn't expecting to do for a while. Four uninterrupted hours a day is a LOT with a little one that's totally dependent on you. The thought of it completely stressed me out. I knew at least one area would suffer, whether it was work or Grace...or David, due to me being frazzled at the end of the day. The chance of slacking on my work was unsettling, but the idea of not giving my best to Grace and David just broke my heart. Lots of tears! We weighed everything and even tossed around the idea of a nanny/housekeeper, but in the end it just didn't make sense. So I left. The decision brought freedom, but also fear. This was going to mean some big changes in our spending. I'd gotten used to just buying things (baby clothes, house decorations, yummy food, etc.) whenever I wanted. Would I be content with our new situation? For David, my keeping a foot in the door at work had provided some security. Knowing we'd have something to fall back on, if something were to happen to his job, had taken a small weight off his shoulders. Needless to say, there'd been an undercurrent of nervousness in our household since making the decision.

Well, the Lord (through JP) totally took that away on Sunday. His message on worry was the best I've heard. There were several times that David and I exchanged sheepish "he is SO talking to us" smiles. It's not that I didn't know that, as believers, we're not supposed to worry. I've heard and read it a hundred times...it's just somehow never totally resonated with me. I truly believe that the timing of the message, in combination with the way it was delivered, were what made it so powerful. Here is just one of the many great points he made:

We battle worry with control and replace faith with comfort.

How true is that?!?! Yet so unbiblical. If you're interested, you can hear the whole spill here (Message 1 of Life's Too Short from 02-07-2010). As someone that has always had a tendency to struggle with worry, I honestly walked out of there with a peace like I've never had before...

Five Months

Grace is five whole months old today. Craziness. She is so fun(ny) right now...and busy! Taking pictures in the chair is starting to get a bit trickier:

Has to be sitting up

Has to investigate everything

A few more updates:

Grace LOVES baths...particularly inspecting (or chewing on) the foam letters. This is a regular piece of our bedtime routine. She's going to be an awesome speller.

She is a drool-er! When she gets bored, she starts doing this spitting thing that absolutely soaks her clothes; the bib is a definite must. This is her guilty face.

Other than when eating or sleeping, she rarely lets us just cuddle her anymore. She wants to be checking things out all the time. This was a recent exception...