The Bunny Pic

Grace and I accompanied our friends, Stephanie and Sam, to get the little ones' first pictures with the Easter Bunny. He was so creepy I could barely make eye contact. Thankfully, Grace didn't seem to mind.

Seven Months (a little late)

*While I realize we're fast approaching eight months by now, I'm writing this post strictly as of April 2nd. If you know me well, you know I have a slight compulsion for being exact - so rest assured these updates are true to the seven month mark and haven't been blurred by the many developments since then. :)

So, Grace officially has one bottom tooth and another ready to cut through. It's already changed her smile so much...makes her look older (sad). She's now a master at rolling around; she can get from one side of the room to another this way. This has made diaper changing a bit tricky! She wants to be sitting up all the time, but doesn't yet know how to get there on her own. She's an awesome sleeper...twelve hours at night and two naps (averaging three hours total) during the day. She pretty much smiles all the time, but you have to work hard for a belly laugh and the same thing never works twice. She does have some fiesty moments (when we're graced with a dramatic outburst) ...usually when her food is gone, or when you're trying to put her arms through a shirt, or if you walk through the room without acknowledging her. It makes us laugh more than it does anything. She's really such a great baby and we're having so much fun with this age!

Pool Introduction

Today Grace and I met our friends, Stephanie and Sam, at the natatorium to "swim". Since Grace absolutely loves her baths, I was excited to see her reaction to the pool. Especially being that this is mine and David's regular pasttime during the summer! Thankfully she did not disappoint. She splashed and kicked up a storm...even put her face in the water (although she realized immediately this wasn't a great decision). Now we just need a float so mommy's arms can get a little break!

Atlantis

Thanks to David's company, we recently spent five nights and five days at the Atlantis resort in Nassau, Bahamas. David was one of six individuals that won the Circle of Excellence Award for 2009. He won in 2006 as a rep, after his first full year in the field, and this time as a manager, after his first full year heading the Dallas/Ft. Worth district. If you can't tell, I'm incredibly proud of my husband and endlessly thankful for his hard work, which allows me to stay home with our daughter.

Speaking of Grace, it was pretty tough leaving. I cried! I knew she was in very capable hands, though, and that I'd surely miss her more than she missed me. My mom had come to stay with her and I could just imagine them reading, singing, and playing nonstop. She also had her DeeDee (David's mom) come play with her one afternoon and her Aunt Kimmie come stay overnight (she even took a day off work). David and I checked in a couple times each day, but really just tried to enjoy our time together...and we did.

The resort was amazing. Huge! And the other winners (and their spouses/friends) were so much fun, as is the VP of Sales who "hosted" the trip. We ended up spending most of the week together as a group...by the pool, at the beach, in town, on a private catamaran charter, etc. While it didn't end up being the most relaxing vacation, it was definitely a good time! Did I mention it happened to be Spring Break? Pretty crazy. Oh, and we saw Taylor Swift. We'd heard she was there with her family, but then she walked by our beach chairs with her entourage. Kind-of exciting...even if you weren't her biggest fan before! I think I like her now, though. :)


























Best part of all...coming home to this:

Where does the time go?

Well, I haven't blogged in a month and now I don't even know where to start. We've been to the Bahamas, celebrated Easter, helped welcome a new baby into the world (not ours, obviously...our best friends' second), and experienced many little milestones with Grace! I'll do my best to blog regularly until we're brought up to date. A big "sorry" to the grandparents... lots of pictures to come!

Another Pretty Day

Walking White Rock Lake during playgroup

A tiny downtown Dallas in the background

Pretty Day

The weather is finally nice again! We took advantage of it yesterday afternoon and just hung out on a blanket at the park...

Catching Up

As mentioned in my last post, I've pretty much been computer-less the last few weeks. I've had my phone and the occasional use of David's laptop, which he takes with him during the day and on work trips...thus, little opportunity for me to blog. Lucky for me, my sweet brother-in-law came up with a temporary solution out of his plethora of equipment (he's a computer guy). Thanks, Charles! So, here are some pictures/updates I've been meaning to share:

We have a new nephew. David's sister is now a mother of four and Luke is just as adorable as the others. It's pretty special how it worked out that, despite a nine year age difference, she and David now have children only five months apart. And, since we all live in the same city again, they're going to grow up together! Luke is now a month old, so unfortunately these pictures are a bit outdated (I had to include the one of Brookie and Grace during our last visit because it's just so dang sweet).




Still loving our little playgroup. A few weeks after Grace was born, we started Square One...a ministry Watermark offers for first-time new moms. Connecting with others in the same crazy life stage sounded like a neat idea; we had no clue how neat, though. After the class ended we decided to keep meeting on Thursday mornings at each other's houses, as well as various other times/places throughout the week. It's pretty cool watching these 10+ babies grow together and forming friendships with their moms!




Speaking of those friendships...we had Mom's Night Out. The ladies from our playgroup decided to have a "no babies allowed" get together, complete with an Evite and everything. However, by the time that night actually rolled around only three of us could make it, and two of us lived in the same area. So, the venue was changed to our neck of the woods and Jess (being nearby) joined us as well. Our plan was to have dinner and then head to the next place, most likely a girl movie. We ended up getting distracted by the margaritas and interesting conversation, though, and never moved on!




I turned 28. No big production...which is exactly how I wanted it! My mother and grandmother came up a few days prior to wish me a happy birthday (a.k.a. see Grace). Mom cooked my favorite dinner - filet mignon with portobello mushrooms - then took us to my favorite seafood restaurant the following night. On my actual birthday, Kim and Charles joined Dave and me at Maggiano's for some rich, creamy Italian food. So now I'm not only one year older, but several pounds heavier!

Six Months

Grace celebrated her half-birthday today with a crummy visit to the doctor. She ended up getting five pokes...three immunizations and both flu shots. Her doctor only felt comfortable putting off one of the immunizations until the nine month visit (which wouldn't otherwise include any). Four didn't sound much better than five to me, so I decided to get them all over with at once and give the poor baby a break next time around. Dr. Smith's sweet nurse is so quick...Grace had hardly gotten out a scream before it was over, and then she was fine. I felt sick though!

So, she definitely remains at the top of the charts in size...90th percentile in weight and 75th in length. No sign of teeth though. And while she's pretty much sitting up, we still have yet to master rolling from back to front. Maybe she just doesn't want to, who knows. The doctor mentioned that by next visit she'll probably be pulling up, which seems CRAZY to me. It's all happening way too fast...


*More updates and pictures are on the way, I promise. Since turning my laptop in to work last week, my computer time has been pretty limited. Hope to be back up and running very soon!