R & R

After three months of sleepless nights, Court, Grace and I have ventured off to Hawaii for some much needed rest and relaxation.

As I should be "vacating" and not blogging, I will leave you with a few pictures of our trip so far.

I think someone loves Hawaii!

We don't get enough Dad time at home!

Grace's first swimsuit!
(Possibly Mom's last...)

Grace's first dip in the pool.
I think it's a bit colder than the bath tub.


I couldn't resist photographing the flowers right outside our door. Just beautiful!!



And finally, what vacation is all about...

Nap time!

Our Top Model

Our little girl is growing so fast. All we can do is enjoy each moment...and take LOTS of pictures!

To capture the magic of Grace's first year of life, I am planning on having professional photos taken at ages 3 mos, 6 mos, 9 mos and one year. Yesterday, we started that process. After weeks of scouring the Internet for outfits and shoes, our little family headed off to the studio of Kelli Lynne Photography for our first photo session. To tell you the truth, I was actually quite nervous. I don't know why but I seriously had butterflies.

Anyway, we found a fabulous photographer here in good ole Prosser thanks to a referral from Ed and Gayle! The session started at noon and by 5 pm that same afternoon, Kelli, the photographer, called to tell me she had a few "sneak peaks" of Grace up on the website.

You can check them out here!

http://kellilynnphotos.com/site/#/gallery/grace/gracew3-217-of-341-2/

We had so much fun and can't wait to see the rest. Now to choose which pictures to buy...

Long Nights Make for Even Longer Days

Last Wednesday was a big day...or shall I say, a big night in our household. Grace officially moved out of her cradle and into the crib in her room. A very momentous occasion as we hope that 1) this will prevent her from smothering herself in the bumper of her cradle (very important) and 2) it may promote sleeping through the night.

This move was meant to occur earlier last week but a weekend trip to Seattle and being stuck on the pass delayed the setup of the baby monitors until...well, Wednesday night. I kept hoping Court would figure everything out so that I wouldn't have to. The monitors are a bit complicated to set up because they have a built-in sensor to detect the baby's breathing. If the monitor doesn't identify movement every 20 seconds, a siren equivalent to a miniature fog horn goes off. (Her crib is literally 20 feet from our bed, but I'm not paranoid.) I think Court was unconsciously sabotaging the cradle-to-crib transition as he was not ready for his little girl to move out quite so soon. (Don't even mention the "c" word to him - college!!)

I finally got it working and put G Baby down for the night. I thought the anxiety Court and I felt would keep us up all night. Was she lonely? Was she scared? Would we hear her when she cried? Did she feel abandoned? However, we were both sound asleep within minutes of hitting the pillow!

Anyway, here is Grace in her cradle at 5 days old. She fit inside perfectly.


Here is Grace's final morning in her cradle at 3 months of age...



Grace did great...the first night. She woke up once to eat and then slept until 6 am the next morning. I peaked in on her before she woke up to document the milestone. She must have missed being cooped up in her cradle because she somehow turned herself around so that she was sleeping sideways in her crib.

It was a good thing I went in and checked on her when I did because not 30 seconds after taking this video, the your-baby-is-not-moving-or-breathing-foghorn-alarm went off.

Grace had squirmed herself so far into the corner of her crib she was no longer on the sensor. I was standing right there, fully aware that she was alive and breathing but the alarm still scared the hell out of me. It would NOT have been a good way to wake up but Grace didn't seem to mind.

Since the first night went so well, I was sure that the nights following would be a snap! I was confident we'd have this kid sleeping through the night by Saturday. Overly-confident. Grace has since made it clear that she has other ideas.

Let's just say the last few long nights have made for a very tired, very cranky Mommy. I now understand why "Mommy time" is what everyone always wants for Mother's Day. A night of uninterrupted sleep is now on par with, or perhaps even more coveted, than jewelry, fancy shoes or a fabulous handbag! And for me to say that, you KNOW I must be sleep deprived!

Just a friendly reminder....

All cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sale calls.

To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone:

#888-382-1222

It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time. It blocks your number for five (5) years. You must call from the cell phone number you want to have blocked. You cannot call from a different phone number.

You're welcome!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Myspace Graphics, St. Patrick's Day Graphics at WishAFriend.com

Thumb Sucker

I think we might have a future thumb sucker on our hands.

Hopefully, she doesn't take after me. I sucked my thumb until I was 11 years old. I quit cold turkey the day I had my braces put on. Now if only I could quit chocolate as effectively!

Treasured Gift

I must share this amazing gift I received from my friends, Jamie and Chris. It is a necklace and the pendant is a pair of angel's wings. What is so meaningful and special to me are the words that accompany the necklace. It is one of my most treasured items because it so eloquently sums up how I hope I live my life and how I hope to teach Grace to live her life.

If you can't see the words, it says...

GRACE

make a wish and put on your necklace.
live in grace. be kind, thoughtful and conscious.
remember to give thanks for all the world has given
to you, and take nothing for granted. let your necklace
be a reminder to honor yourself as well as others.

Baby Bliss

Tygh snapped this picture of Grace while window shopping one afternoon after lunch. Though she was sound asleep, I think she had a sixth sense of what we were up to!

Aspen

After being home long enough to unpack, do some laundry and repack, we were off again for another adventure.

Grace loves riding on the airplane...thank god!

This time we were headed to Aspen, Colorado for a week of family fun and some skiing/snowboarding. (Well, everyone else was skiing/snowboarding...I was on baby duty!)

I think ski trips where you don't ski are my new favorite type of trip! I slept in everyday...or as much as you can sleep in when sharing a room with an infant. I explored all the stores of Aspen...I mean, read my book and worked out diligently. I also enjoyed some very delicious meals. (I admit, losing the baby weight was not high on my priority list while on this trip!)

It was a momentous week in Grace's life...not only did she meet her Uncle Tygh and Aunt Sarah for the first time,

she came down with her first case of the sniffles. Don't worry, I didn't overreact at all. I am a TOTALLY laid back, cool, don't-sweat-the-small-stuff kinda mom. At no time did I make several calls to the pediatrician demanding treatment or medication. And at no time did I think her cough sounded more like a wheeze which, according to my online self-diagnosis, could be a red flag for an emergency room visit. No, of course not. Panick schmanic. Court was also a rock...steadfast in his belief that that cough was not a wheeze. We were cool as cucumbers! (Where's the video of that night, right?!)

Instead of overreacting, like so many "inexperienced" parents, I merely gave Grace a steam bath in the middle of the night and voila!! Bye bye sniffles (well, at least bye-bye to whatever sound might or might not have been a wheeze)!

Tygh and Sarah were both naturals and the more they held Grace, the more time I had to drink wine...with both hands! Lucky for me, they wanted to hold her at every meal!!

Vacation bliss for a stay-at-home mom - the use of both hands at meal time!

And.....we're back!

Did you miss us? Well, we are back and ready to BLOG!!

So much to say. So much to get caught up on. This is probably going to take a few entries!

We went to Boston (as the last post mentions!). The east coast has been slammed with bad weather all winter long but we lucked and had a sunny, "warm" week! While Court filled his brain with lots of important knowledge, Grace, my mom, and I filled our brains (and tummies) with all things Boston!

My mom was told on two separate occasions that she looked like my sister. Great news for her but...
My sister did tell me last week that I had been looking haggard, so I've got that going for me!

We took a bus tour of the city and did you know that the majority of Boston is man made? The city itself has been built upon landfill over the past 150 years or so! Fascinating stuff, huh?


The next day we visited President Kennedy's museum. Awesome. We learned about all things Kennedy. Especially fascinating (to me at least) was Jacquelyn's outfits that she wore at all the important events...inauguration, balls, dinner parties. She handmade Christmas cards and they are on display in the museum. We tried to buy some on the way out but apparently they are not for sale. A total bummer because they were beautiful! Also of importance (at least to me) was a purse given to Jackie by some King. It was COVERED in emeralds, rubies and diamonds. It was BREATHTAKING! My mom and I stared at it for about a half hour.

After spending a few days enhancing our brains, it was time to spend...literally!

Shopping, shopping, shopping!
(Or as my family likes to say...Chopping, Chopping, Chopping!)

We hit up the infamous Newbury Street. Which, if you ever go there with a child in a stroller, don't. It is totally overrated. Way too pricey and nearly impossible to navigate with a stroller. We did eat lunch at the top of the Prudential Tower on the warmest, sunniest day of the trip. We could see for miles and miles. Grace, was a total trooper and slept almost all day in her stroller.

It was a great week filled with lots of Grace and "Grammy" time. After Court was done with his meeting, my mom headed home and the three of us continued on NYC to visit friends. Court, Grace and I all took our very first American train ride. The ride was beautiful and all aboard were quite enamored with our little Grace. They were especially amazed at how she slept almost the entire way!

Me and Grace on the train to NYC.

We stayed at a hotel called Le Parker Meridian. At check-in, we saw Tori Spelling, her two kids and her two nannies. It made my day!

I didn't take this picture but I could have. These were the two nannies and one of them was pushing this exact stroller.

Court and I haven't been to New York City since 2004 when we got engaged. From our room, we could see the hotel where Court proposed. What memories!

The hotel on the far left is where our lives changed forever!

Grace got to see Central Park, from afar, for the first time! We tried to go for a walk in the park but it was frigid. Far too cold!



As it was Valentine's Day, Grace, of course, was decked out in all things pink and heart shaped!

We spent that evening with our good friends, Shane and Alison, their adorable son, William, and the cutest dog EVER! It was a fantastic evening.

Lucy.
(It took all my being not to venture into the pet store where Alison bought this dog and find one for myself.)

The next morning we brunched at Morandi where we had a delicious meal and another star spotting! Maura Tierney - best known for her role in ER.

I've been told that I look like her. I don't see it. Maybe it's the body...I mean, the hair. Hair...yes that's it!

Our trip came to an end and we were excited to go home...at least for a few days!