Mini Books

I have been having fun making little mini books lately. My mom got me hooked on them. She's made some fabulous ones lately and is working on a little masterpiece at the moment.

I stole a bunch of Christmas photos from my mom that she had printed as 2x3's and made them into a little tag album. My sister-in-law covered a bunch of tags for me two Christmases ago and I hadn't used them, so I covered a few more, added some pictures, ribbons, journaling and photo corners to make a quick little memento of Christmas 2009 with my family.

Just what a new mom needs... a project that's all ready started, with pictures provided. Here's a quick look at some of it:

Bottles, Books and Baby Girl

Bottles

Gracie has started taking the bottle again! I don't want to curse it, but she took it so well last night, I think we're in the clear. She took 6 ounces from a bottle last night and she downed it! Usually, it takes about an hour to get 2 ounces down, last night, she drank 6 ounces in about 30 minutes! It would've been faster, too, but I had to keep making more to keep up with her (Here is where I should note that she's drinking formula from a bottle, not breast milk.....). For some reason, she seems to prefer it when drinking from a bottle.

Also, the bottles that are working best now are super cheap-o's from Costco - $4 for three glass bottles and six nipples. Costco is just the best store ever!

Books


I headed over to the library yesterday and came back with my arms full of books and magazines. I love libraries. There are so many things to learn and new authors to try. Just fun. Plus, you pay $10 for a library card for a year or $20 for one book, that you'll probably only read once.

This post is making me look cheap....

Baby Girl

Updates, Envy and a Way to Help

Updates

Gracie rolled from her back to her front a few days ago and is really enjoying the ability to move around more. She slides all over on her mat now and is never in the same spot for long. She rolls, slides, squirms and wiggles to get things, now. In no time, she'll be crawling, and I'll be running!

She slept good Thursday night, only waking once at 1 am. She slept from 8:30 to 8, otherwise. Quite nice. Last night, however, she was up to her old tricks and woke up every three hours or so....

Envy

Check out this scrapbooking room....
http://pinkpaislee.com/2010/02/saturdays-studio-tour-featuring-jana-eubank/
If you're a scrapbooker, or anyone with a hobby really, you'll be impressed by how organized and fantastic it is!

A Way To Help in Haiti

If you're a scrapbooker and are still thinking of doing something to help the people out in Haiti, you can sign up for a subscription to Scrapbook and Cards Today. The entire cost of a subscription ordered up until Feb. 12 goes to Haiti and the Canadian government will match what they donate(bonus: it's a Canadian magazine)! I believe it's $16.50 for four issues. Pretty good way to give a little and get something in return.

Go here to subscribe.

Smartie Pants

Gracie is growing and changing so fast. She has really advanced her motor skills since she's started using her exersaucer. She has all of the toys figured out, knows which ones make noise and which wobble or spin - such a smartie!

She uses these new fine-tuned skills to play as much as possible. The other night, I heard funny clicking sounds in the monitor at 2 am. I thought it was a little odd, so went to check it out. She was laying in her crib playing with her aquarium! At 2 am! And she jumped when she saw me, like: "crap, you weren't supposed to catch me doing this!"

On the way home from Superstore the other day, she got bored, because there were no toys nearby, so she reached down, pulled off her shoe and started gnawing on the flower on it. Problem solved. She cracks me up!

She has also perfected the raspberry. It's a very drooly raspberry, and takes quite a bit of concentration, but they're hilarious. It took about two days for her to master it. Since she picked up on that so fast, we're thinking we should teach her something productive, next, like how to say hi or wave...

Here's the smartie pants now, in some layouts I made when we were in Hanna:

Good Night's Sleep

We had a great night last night! It's taken Gracie a month to recuperate from our travels over Christmas, but I think she's finally getting back to normal and we're on a good schedule.

She used to nap in the evening and cluster feed before bed, so she wasn't going down for the night until 10 pm. Now, she's in bed at 8:30, which is great for getting things done in the evening or even just having a bit of a break to relax and watch tv or read a bit before bed. Plus, last night, she slept until 5 am, got up and ate and went back to sleep until 10! Fantastic gift for mom and dad!

It really helps that we don't have to swaddle her anymore. For the longest time, the swaddle really helped her sleep, but now, she has better control of her arms and likes to suck on her fingers. It helps soothe her and she sleeps longer because of it. Plus, before we basically had her tied into a straightjacket to keep her swaddled.

A good night to kick off the weekend!

This is a photo for her Auntie Steph, who gave her this cute hoodie. A little surfer girl all ready in her Roxy hoodie. Too cute.




And a few shots of the Heritage Makers book I made for Gracie. It looks grainy in the pictures, but it's really nice in person. I recommend it if you're looking for a little keepsake.








This last week was busy. Gracie wasn't feeling well over the weekend and we were at my parent's place in Hanna until Monday. Tuesday, Gracie had her four month shots. Wednesday we had Salsa Babies and did a big grocery shop. Thursday we met Charmaine and Sebastien for lunch and some window shopping. Friday we went to strollercise. Today, we've been relaxing. Took Bailey for a walk and went out to pick up some diapers.

Back to relaxin' at the Malacko's.

Passport debacle, shots and Gracie

We've been so busy, lately.

Brad was asked to go to Seattle for work and Gracie and I were all set to go with him and make use of the free hotel rooms, until the passport debacle. To make a long story short, Gracie's passport picture was rejected and we apparently went to the 'fake' passport office in Edmonton, so Gracie and I didn't get to go, but Gracie and I went to the farm for a visit instead.

She had a bit of an upset stomach over the weekend and was still recovering Tuesday when we had to go in for her four month shots. Poor girl. She was a trooper though and only screamed for a moment. :(

Here's a clip of her after a teeny dose of infant tylenol... talking to pink elephants, I think.



Ha ha, I'm just kidding. She just likes to chat, this wasn't tylenol induced.

The nurse was good this time. Gracie has excellent eye sight and hearing and good focusing skills. Plus, she weighed in at 14 pounds, 7 ounces! She gained half a pound in the last two weeks!

Four Months Old!

Yesterday was Gracie's four month birthday! I can't believe how fast the last four months have flown by. She's growing and changing everyday and I can't wait to see what comes next.

We stopped in to get her weighed yesterday after strollercise and she is almost 14 pounds all ready! She weighed in at 13 pounds, 15 and a quarter ounces and was 24.5 inches long. She's growing so fast. We're slowly thinning out her 0-3 month outfits now and bringing in the 3-6 months clothes. A whole new outfit every few months, how luxurious, I've had some of my clothes since high school!

We have our first Salsa Babies class today at the army base just north of us. Should be fun. We did a trial class in St. Albert and it was great. Gracie loved it when I made her 'dance' and had so much fun, plus when she fell asleep near the end, she crashed hard.

I spent yesterday's naps cleaning out my scrap room and picking out papers and embellishments for 7 layouts. I'm all packed up and organized for a weekend of scrapbooking in Hanna. Can't wait. Plus, I've got a bunch of new pictures to drop off at Costco, so there will be many more layouts coming soon!

Here are a few of the things I've made lately:

A Christmas layout of Gracie's first Santa experience:



and, a card I made with the help of my new cricut cartridge for my grandparents birthdays and anniversaries:



and, a layout of the first 2 weeks:

A Jolly Jumper

Recently, we started putting Gracie in her Jolly Jumper and she loves it! She has so much fun hopping in there and loves the little musical mat she has for underneath.

I took a few video clips (and again, forgot that you can't turn the camera, when taping a video....) Here's a clip of Gracie jumping:



She blew a slipper and hopped right off the mat and she gets curious when the camera comes out, so she's slightly distracted, but it's a glimpse into my day. It cracks me up, anyway. The funny smile she gets when she's jumping, like she's thinking, "Soon I'll be strong enough to get away."

She's so close to rolling over from her back to her tummy, too. She gets about halfway and then rolls back. She's been rolling from her tummy to her back for months.

Tomorrow, she is four months old. Can you believe it's all ready been four months? She's growing so fast.

Playing with Gracie

Gracie loves to play. She's such a happy, little girl, she cracks me up.

She plays with the toys hanging down in her little playmat/gym, she loves her exersaucer,








she laughs when you play with her, sing a song or make funny faces,


(I swear I can hear her giggling when I look at this picture)

she loves to play peak-a-boo or to see the world from a different angle,



and she likes to explore and discover new things, like her toes.



I don't get much done anymore, but I do have fun playing with her.

More Christmas Pictures

A friend of mine gave me a coupon to make a Heritage Makers Book for a shower gift for Gracie. What a neat gift! I spent all day yesterday playing with it and think I'll have a great keepsake for Gracie when she's older. It's basicallt digital scrapbooking and in the end, you get a great, hardcover book mailed to you. Fun!

I found a few shots of the present opening at the farm on my camera, so I thought I'd share. We decided to just do stockings this year, just getting gifts for the girls. I'm not sure it worked...Our stockings were just enormous :)

Jada was a lot of fun to watch. The tissue paper was usually her favourite part!







Gracie layed around and watched:



Mom and dad opening their stockings:

Playing at the Farm

Grams and Papa got Gracie a great little sled for Christmas. We took Gracie and Jada out in their little sleighs one day over the holidays and the girls (and the dogs) loved it.

Gracie slept through a lot of it...



but, was awake for the first few minutes:







Rosy cheeks:

New layouts

Just thought I'd show a few new layouts for Gracie's album.

Gracie's First Halloween:



Photos from when Gracie was just a few weeks old:



This is one of my favourites. I mixed up a bunch of old and new supplies and I like how it turned out. The teddy bear and the title are cut with the cricut cartridge Brad got me for Christmas.



Just another Gracie layout. I loved the blossom paper when I saw it.

A New Decade Begins

I know I'm late, but I can't believe it's 2010 all ready! A new decade has begun, and it's made me look back on the last decade.... A lot of things happened in between celebrating the new millenium and welcoming in this new year.

In the last ten years, I:

-graduated high school
-moved to Calgary
-completed my degree in Commmunications from U of C
-completed a diploma in journalism from SAIT
-worked as a lifeguard, pipe tiler, reporter, crack filler (road crew), fitness consultant, information centre attendent, admin. assistant, marketing exec, writer, and who knows what else...
-moved to Lake Louise
-met and married my husband
-became a sister to 13 new people
-got Bailey
-had a house fire
-became an aunt
-travelled to Australia, Italy, Croatia, France, Greece, Turkey, Vegas, Hawaii, Ottawa, and all over B.C. and Alberta
-tried out mountain biking, snowshoeing, snowboarding, surfing, cross country skiing, tennis, yoga, and bungi jumping
-met all kinds of new people
-celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, and numerous milestones with friends and family
-moved to Edmonton
-bought two vehicles
-bought my first house
-had Gracie

It's been a fantastic decade! Can't wait to see what the second decade of the millenium brings....



The best part of the last decade, snoozing on the way home from our Christmas travels.

Gracie's Room

I realized I never showed pictures of Gracie's room. I warn you, it's full and I never actually finished decorating because suddenly there was so much in the room, there was no space to decorate....

Anyway, it's a work in progress, but this is where Gracie hangs out:





You think she's spoiled, that picture was taken before Christmas....





Isn't this a great picture frame? Curtis and Brandi gave it to me for my birthday and I couldn't wait to put pictures in it.

Some of Gracie's stuffed animals and a little decoration I made before Gracie was born. In the pre-baby, mat leave days, when I was so bored.... sigh.... I sure wasted those days. Next time, I'll know.

Home At Last

It's nice to be able to have a long break so we can go visit family and friends, but it's so nice to be home and back to our regular schedule. Gracie is still not sleeping as well as she was before we left, but she's all ready returned to her chatty, smiley self.

Our Christmas break consisted of many miles and many smiles...We went to Hanna to visit my family, then Crossfield to see the Sackett side, then back to Hanna for a skating party for the Benedict side, then off to Lethbridge for new years with the Higginson side and lots of visiting friends..... all in 11 days. Phew! See why we're glad to be home?

Now it's back to regular food, regular sleep hours, regular schedules, just life.

Again, I took hardly any pictures because everyone else is taking so many. If you have some, please send them my way. These are some that my mom took over the holidays:

My little fairy (thanks Great Aunty Rhonda for the super cute dress!)





Gracie with Great Grandpa:



Gracie's Christmas Sleeper:



Cuddling with Papa:



Jada's little green dress (Another Great Aunty Rhonda number):



Jada opening her gift from us:



Hope you all had a great holiday season and all the best in 2010!