Christmas???

Can you believe that tomorrow is December first? Hmmmmm... I really must get some shopping done. I'm not even sure what we're doing for Brad's side of the family, yet. Usually, they draw names, but I haven't heard anything. Must call and check on that. We decided not to get gifts for the Benedict side of the family this year, which is going to be hard. I love buying gifts, but we all decided that we have so much, we'll focus on spending time together instead of gifts.

I've rooted out my Christmas decorations and music and am thinking of getting a tree this weekend. Where will I put it? No idea. That's what I need to figure out. This is our first Christmas in Edmonton, so I'm still figuring out where to put things. We never put up lights in Lake Louise either brecause we lived in a two story and we didn't have a ladder and we were grinchs, I guess.... We put a string of stars in our front window and called it good. This year, we're hoping to get some more lights up.

It's also Gracie's first Christmas, so it's got to be special, even if she won't remember it. We've got to get her started in the Christmas celebrations the right way. We'll start some little family traditions of our own.

Speaking of, here's some new pictures of Miss Gracie:





And some more scrapbooking. I decided we needed a Brad and Gracie page in her scrapbook:

Gracie's First Trip to the Theatre

Brad and I went to a movie yesterday and took Gracie. She slept through the whole thing! It was great. A bit of a date for us, and we didn't have to worry about leaving her with someone else or anything. Am I a bad parent though, for taking her to a movie about vampires and werewolves?? Yep, we went to see the new Twilight movie... and took our 10 week old daughter.

We took Gracie and Bailey to the dog park again today and they both enjoyed it. We've got to get out in the fresh air while it's still nice enough.

I got a bit of scrapbooking in, today. Here's another layout. I can't get a good picture of it, so the colour is off and you can't see the title.... oh well.

A Day Out On The Town

Gracie and I went shopping today and I found these cute tights for her:



She has a bunch of party dresses for Christmas and no tights or anything to wear with them, so now she's ready. I also found myself a new jacket and a bunch of soaps and stuff from Bath and Body Works. A good day out.

Some more pictures of Gracie, all bundled up for our winter walks:



Her new snow suit is a little big....



but it's so cute!

And a little picture of her waking up. She's so cute when she's starting to come to, stretching and rolling all the kinks out.

Gracie's Favourite Chair

I've talked about the chair that my grandparents gave Gracie before, but it really is her favourite place to hang out. She can grab onto the animals now and the chair rocks while she's in it, because she's so happy in there she kicks and squirms like crazy.

It's a great place to kick back and relax:



or to stretch out and play:



See her grabbing that birds tail? We may have to teach her that we don't grab animals by the tail... Poor Bailey may be running away from her soon.

I had to make a layout so that I remember how much she likes her chair. I have so many pictures of her in that chair playing and laughing, so I had lots to work with.



And some close-ups:

Two months old!

Gracie's two months old today! Time is flying. I forgot to mention that we had Gracie weighed last Friday. She's 11 pounds 2 ounces now and has grown 2 inches in length since she was born.

For some reason, Gracie refused to take a bottle on Saturday at the shower and she hasn't taken one since. It's gotten to the point that she screams and cries when we try and give her a bottle, and before Saturday, it was no problem. Any ideas? I can't think of anything that would have turned her off the bottle so completely and I'd like to fix this. Last night, we got her to take an ounce, but it took an hour and she was not too happy about it.

The good news is she slept through the night again last night. It's getting to be more common.

Anyway, this is a layout I made this week:



And another Gracie picture:



And here are a few photos of the baby quilt my mom made for Gracie:







Isn't it the most beautiful thing you've ever seen? And so nice and soft. I folded up one edge so you could see the back, but it's hard to show how soft and cuddly it is.

Another Busy Weekend

We went to Hanna last weekend where Sam held a baby shower for Miss Gracie. It was so great to see everyone! Lots of friends from high school, family friends and family all in one room. It's amazing how things have changed. A few friends were there with their kids, two were pregnant, and everyone is in new places with new jobs or new activities. It's so great to catch up.

Other people were taking photos all weekend, so, again, I have none from the weekend. I'm relying on everyone else to pass pictures on.

Here are some from when we got home. A few days have passed and we're just playing and getting back into our routine.









So far, Gracie has rolled over twice today, and she slept through the night Monday night, again! Yay! This time, I slept, too, which is even better.

On the Move

That's right, Gracie's all ready starting to get mobile. On Monday she rolled over for the first time! She's done it a few times since. As long as she's got some motivation (ie. a toy just out of reach) she'll work and work until she rolls over. So far, just tummy to back, but she's rolled both left and right.

The funny thing is, she rolled over right after a strollercize class. I think all the moving around (on my part, she slept through the whole thing) motivated her.

I actually don't have any new pictures to share. **Gasp!** I guess the need to capture Gracie every five seconds has worn off a bit... We're heading to Hanna this weekend, so there should be some more photos for next week.

I have a few new layouts to show, though. Of course, they're all about Miss Gracie!

Ready for the Weather

Sleepy weekends are so nice and relaxing. Nothing planned, nowhere to be, just hanging out.

Here's a few pictures of Gracie bundled up before a walk. We're getting lots of walks in now while it's still nice.





Another layout:



And a few of the finer details:

Sleep Update

At seven weeks old, Gracie slept through the whole night! I fed her at 10 last night, and she slept until 8:15 this morning! She woke up twice right after I put her down at 11, but I never even had to pick her up, just patted her chest and talked to her and she put herself back to sleep.

Now, if only I had slept that whole time.... unfortunately, I woke up occasionally throughout the night to check on her and then from 6:30 on, I was awake alternating between cheering her on and checking her vitals.

Up and Down

Gracie has been sleeping really well, but there really is no pattern to her sleep habits... Thursday night, I fed her at 10:30 and she slept until 5:30! It was fantastic, but then she didn't sleep very well all day Friday. Just would not sleep. She was stretching to see the fan or look at a light or trying to squirm her way out of her swaddle and wasn't interested in closing her eyes. She slept okay last night, but she definitely isn't on a set schedule. Just when I think I have her figured out, she changes things up on me. At least she's always happy. Even with no sleep, she's pretty content.

I've been doing a little scrapbooking this week and last. Everytime I get a few minutes, I pull out some pictures and play. Here are a few of the layouts:







And no post is complete without a few Gracie pictures. I decided that if she won't sleep, she'll just do everything I'm doing with me. Yesterday, I layed her on my yoga mat and did some yoga around her. She seemed to like watching me, so I had to take a break to capture one of her big smiles. She liked the downward dog.

Bigger and Bigger

A few pictures of Gracie right after she woke up. Stretching and getting ready to play:







She's starting to reach for things and has more control of her arms and legs now. She even has a little laugh at the toys hanging above her every once and a while. Unfortunately, I can't catch her laugh on video. She's sneaky about it.

Here's a little video of her playing on her mat (you'll notice, she's like a wind up toy, she gets her strength by kicking her right leg).

Changes

Six and a half weeks old and changing every day. We gave Gracie a bottle for the first time Sunday and another last night. It took some getting used to, but once she got the hang of it, she fed pretty good and Brad got a chance to get more involved.







I think we'll keep trying this every few days to get her more used to bottle feeding and then make it a night time ritual. A little bit of quality time to spend with dad.

She's also started cooing back to me when I hum to put her to sleep. I hum lullabies and she gets a big, sleepy smile on her face and makes little noises in the back of her throat back at me. Poor girl will be tone deaf thanks to me, but she seems to like it.

Gracie is growing up so fast. I think she's stretching out more lately, getting taller, instead of just getting a bigger belly.

Before, when I fed her, her belly literally stretched out over her diaper on both sides, and now, her stomach goes straight from her armpits to her hips even after a feed. The photos I'm posting may not reflect that, but she's either hidden by blankets or wearing layers, so you can't really tell.

Brad and Gracie hanging out:



My favourite jacket:



If the cute ears on her sweater didn't convince you, here's one to ensure you'll fall in love. How cute is a sleeping baby?



She's so cute, that suddenly, I can't stop using pet names when I talk to her. I always thought they were ridiculous, and now I find myself hardly ever calling her Gracie. I call her Sweetie-Pie, Cutie, Gracie-Girl, whatever pops into my head.

And it's not just me. She wins over everyone that sees her. A friend of ours stopped by to visit the other day, a young, single guy who is afraid to have only one girlfriend, let alone kids, but when she woke up from her nap, he loved her. Loved her little mitts and said, "she doesn't even look all wrinkly and alien-like." Might not sound like huge praise, but it was a pretty big step for him.

Dating someone who needs to be convinced to take the next step? Give us a call.
:)

Happy Halloween!

Gracie's first Halloween was pretty quiet. She had a few costumes, so we dressed her up, even though she didn't know what was going on...



She doesn't look impressed, does she?



She's like Cher, needs a costume change halfway through the day...







We had about 30 trick-or-treaters here. About triple the number we ever got in Lake Louise, but I was still expecting more. Now we have tons of candy left and we both have a big sweet tooth. Could be dangerous. If Gracie doesn't sleep well, we'll know that the caffeine and sugar got to her.