Sickies

We're starting to feel a bit better here at the Malacko Sick Ward. I'm feeling much better and Gracie is napping better, so I think that's a good sign.

It's hard when babies are sick, because they can't tell you what's wrong or how they feel and you can't reassure them (except with a pat on the back and some cuddles).

Anyway, like I said, things are looking up. We'll take the weekend to relax and by Monday, we'll be 100 per cent.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend. Kale's first birthday party on Saturday and his favourite new toy:

Back from Lethbridge

We spent the weekend in Lethbridge visiting family and celebrating birthdays, babies and new houses. We had a great time, but now we're home and we're all exhausted and sick.

Because of this, just a quick message.

Gracie has started to put herself to sleep, which is fantastic. Of course, she didn't start until we got home from Lethbridge. Oh well, I'll take it.

Brad's brother and sister-in-law, Broc and Steph, just moved into their beautiful new house Thursday and all ready had a birthday party for Kale and a surprise party for Broc on Saturday. It was a busy day, but really fun.

On Sunday, there was a baby shower for Tara, Brad's sister, who's due on April 1st.

And, since it's a long trip for Gracie, and we don't get to see my grandparents as much as we'd like, we stopped on the way down and on the way back for a little visit.

Great weekend, but now it's time to sleep and get everyone back to normal.

A day in the life

It seems like every blog I post could be titled, "so busy." Time is flying by and I honestly don't know what we're doing or what's new in our lives, but something (or perhaps, someone) is keeping us busy.

Miss Gracie will be six months old on the 19th. Can you believe that? I feel like I should still have a newborn. I just had a baby, I swear.

We try to get out for strollercise and salsababies classes and playdates, get groceries and run quick errands, I try to keep up with friends and family, and try to keep the house clean (although my standards have dropped significantly - is that a cat? nope, it's a dustball).

Every day Brad comes home and tells me about his day and I try to think of what we did.

"Nothing much, I guess." Seems like I was running all day....hmmm.

So, another day of nothing much is passing.

We started the day with a 7:15 wake up call. A smiley baby was waiting in the crib for me (luckily, it was my own - wouldn't that be a wake up call!)

I got her up, changed her, got her dressed and we headed for the kitchen. Gracie sat in her high chair licking her lips while I mixed up her cereal. After cereal, we introduced a new food -green beans, not a favourite, but she liked her applemush, so she got some nutrients.

An hour of playtime, a phone call from my mom, another diaper change, and it's time to get ready for SalsaBabies.
We're both dressed appropriately. We're both clean (for a few minutes), got everything we need in the car, Gracie's in her chair and ready to roll. Off to SalsaBabies.

Quick nap for Miss G enroute, strap a snugli on, change a diaper, transfer Gracie from the seat to the snugli, and dance and visit with the other babies and moms for an hour.

Another transfer, another nap (for her), back home for lunch.

While I'm feeding Gracie, the FedEx guy arrives with a parcel. Our doorbell doesn't work at the moment (okay, for the entire time we've lived here), but our dog is an excellent replacement. His barking makes Gracie cry, and suddenly there's milk spraying around like a sprinkler. We get ourselves organized, get to the door and sign for the package.

"Is that a cat?" he asks, pointing at one of my largest dustballs.

"No."

We're both fed, changed (me out of workout clothes, her in a new diaper), and ready for another hour of playtime.

Quick diaper change, some lullabies and snuggles and here we are at naptime. This is my time to run around and clean up, do some laundry, check emails, wrap presents, pack for the weekend, edit photos, figure out supper, book appointments, chug a cup of tea, etc. all the while hoping that she'll sleep just a few minutes longer so I can get one more thing checked off my list...

That's my nothing for the day, so far. It's 2 pm.

It sounds crazy, and it is sometimes, but I must be a little crazy, too because I kinda love it.

Olympic Cooldown

That's what my tv will be doing; cooling down now that it's not on and tuned to Olympic coverage all day, everyday.

I saw this interesting recap of the Olympics by the numbers on the Vancouver 2010 website:

26: Number of Canadian medals.

14.5: Medals won by Canadian women at 2010 Games (pairs figure skating makes up the half medal)

14: Gold medals won by Canada at 2010 games.

119: Winter Olympic medals won by Canada prior to Vancouver (7th overall in Winter Games history).

5: Storeys that aerialists soar in Olympic competition.

19.1: Weight, in kilograms, of the curling rocks used in Olympic competition.

7: Number of nations that made their Winter Games debut in Vancouver: Cayman Islands, Columbia, Ghana, Montenegro, Pakistan, Peru and Serbia.

17: Countries that sent one athlete to the Games.

50: Years since Canada beat Russia in the Olympic Games. That ended with Wednesday's 7-3 Canadian victory that bounced Russia from the finals and sent Canada to the semifinal against Slovakia.

972: Kilometres an ice surfacing machine had to be hauled on a flatbed truck from the Olympic Oval in Calgary to replace broken machines at the Richmond Olympic Oval in British Columbia.

3 million: Pairs of Olympic red mittens sold.

10 million: Amount of Own the Podium dollars allotted to Alpine Canada over the last five years.

5th: Highest finish for a Canadian alpine skier in 2010 Games.

11 million: The number of television viewers who tuned in during the last minute of the gold-medal curling match between Canada and Norway.

10.5 million: Number of Canadian viewers for Canada-Russia game.

9,143: Total number of metres American Bode Miller had to ski to win gold in the Super Combined (3,838 metres), silver in the super-G (2,200 metres) and bronze in the downhill (3,105 metres) on the Dave Murray Olympic course in Whistler, B.C.

36: Kilometres Norway's Marit Bjoergen had to ski to win a bronze and three gold medals at the 2010 Winter Games. Bjoergen won bronze in the 10 km freestyle, gold in the 15 km pursuit, the Individual Sprint Classic, and was a member of Norway's Olympic champion 4 x 5 km relay team.

And this quote, from the closing ceremonies sums things up perfectly:

“Athletes of the world, at your hands and through your determination and tenacity we have felt every imaginable emotion,” said John Furlong, CEO of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC). “We have lived the agony and the ecstasy with you as if we ourselves were competing. Boys and girls you will never meet now know that it is possible to achieve greatness through the power of a dream.

“I believe we Canadians tonight are stronger, more united, more in love with our country, and more connected with each other than ever before. These Olympic Games have lifted us up. That quiet, humble national pride we were sometimes reluctant to acknowledge seemed to take to the streets as the most beautiful kind of patriotism broke out all across our country.

Wow! Fantastic competitions, fantastic venues, fantastic fans, fantastic job, Canada!

Weekend Visitors

Last weekend Gramma Gay and Grandad came up to visit and Gracie had so much fun! Gramma Gay knows hundreds of songs to sing and Grandad taught her how to turn pages when she's getting a book read to her. Such a smartie!






Aren't those pj's adorable? They're my favourites right now. They even have little monkey faces on the feet. So sweet.

It was a really productive weekend, too. Gay and I made 32 freezer meals from The Big Cook. This is a great cookbook for making lots of freezer meals in no time at all. Very handy.

I made four more meals myself Monday evening, so I have a fully stocked freezer right now.

Gracie is eating fairly well now, but it bothered her tummy for awhile. She eats everything super liquidy and has maybe a tablespoon worth of food at breakfast, but she is all ready eating rice cereal, oat cereal, prunes, apples, sweet potatoes and carrots. She even got a cookie (Mum-Mum's, they're like a rice cracker or something that dissolves on their tongue) for Brad's birthday yesterday. Gracie sat with us at the table in her high chair and had her cookie while we had supper. Our first family meal. :)

Covergirls

Cover Girl

First off, go vote for my friend, Elaine to be on the cover of Explore magazine. She could be a covergirl, but needs votes to win. Hint: she's the one wrapped in the sleeping bag. Also, if you vote by the 27th, you could win a free subscription to Explore.

Photo Shoot with Gracie

Now, enough about other people, back to Gracie :)

I know that we take hundreds of photos of Gracie thanks to the blessing of digital cameras, but I wanted to pose a few so I don't always have a thousand toys, a fireplace, some laundry, a chair, my legs, Brad's feet, etc. in the background.

We played for a few minutes and racked up tons of cute shots that will be fun keepsakes. Here are a few:


cute and innocent


blowing raspberries


getting a little wilder, now


We're both laughing


Too cute, is right!


big eyes


more raspberries


playing with her toes

They should be fun to scrapbook, too. Some of them are a little blurry, but they capture how active and happy she is, so I still like them. Will definitely have to do this again.

Growing Up

Did you know she turned 5 months old over the weekend?? Time flies!

Warming up??

It's getting a little warmer out.... slowly... now we just need to get through the rest of Februaury and March. Usually they're good for a few freezing cold snaps.

Here's a reminder of what the cold feels like:



Gracie's new sunglasses and her rosy cheeks after a quick wintry walk a few weeks ago.

Hope you're enjoying the weather, but if not, head to Costco to get all of your photos printed this week. They're only ten cents each for the rest of the week, online or in the store (but you do need the coupon, ask the lady at the door for the winter coupon book, if you don't have one). We just did a little Gracie photo shoot the other day, so I've definitely got some photos for them.

Gracie Exploring Her Exersaucer

Gracie is growing and changing so much, so fast. She passes toys from hand to hand, has learned how to unhook the toys from her play gym so she can get them into her mouth, and loves to play with all of the centres on her exersaucer.

She loves to work on all of the toys until she has them figured out and then she moves on to the next one. She knows which buttons to push, what crinkles when you play with it, and what toys can be pulled off.

Here she is, looking at the mirror that sits on the table top, trying to get as close as possible to that baby. Where is she?



She also loves it when you say hi to her. It's not like we don't talk to her, but for some reason, hi is her favourite thing to hear.

My Mind's Eye Challenge

Here's another fun challenge I did last week. This one's for My Mind's Eye, one of my favourite companies. I used the Bohemia lines and some of the new Ooh La La line for this one.



The Bohemia lines are some of my all time favourite papers. I love the colours and patterns.

Go check out some of their new releases from CHA, they've got lots of great things coming out.
http://mymindseye.typepad.com/blog/

Cosmo Cricket Challenge

I have been having fun playing with sketches, lately and Cosmo Cricket always has good ones. I made this one based on their challenge sketch last week using the Boyfriend line. Fun!



This line is made to suit masculine layouts, with a retro, 80's feel, but it's so versatile, you can use it on a baby layout. I love the cute sayings, too.

Check out their website here to see more of their fun papers and embellishments:
http://www.cosmocricket.typepad.com/

Paediatrician's Appointment

First off.... did you know that's how you spell Paediatrician?? Who threw that a in there? Strange.

Now that that's out of the way, Gracie had an appointment with hers on Wednesday and we were told she's perfect. Surprise, surprise.

She weighed in at 14 pounds, 12 ounces and is 25 inches tall now. That puts her in the 50th percentile for height and weight, but her head was in the 75th percentile. Smartie needs a big head for all that brain! :)

The doc gave us the go ahead to feed her solids so I tried out some rice cereal this morning and she did great! Ate lots and neither of us were too messy afterwards.

We knew she was getting ready because she stops whatever she's doing and watches if you eat in front of her. Plus, she's been practicing on everything that comes near her:

her blanket,



her frog,



her giraffe,



another blankie or her peacock, whichever gets to her mouth first.



So, we practiced hanging out in the high chair a few nights ago,



and then, this morning, she actually got to eat cereal, in her chair!

Another Mini

I made this mini album in the days before Gracie was born, while I was patiently waiting to meet her. At the time, I just needed a distraction, but it was nice to have something all ready to add pictures to when she was born.

I completed this awhile ago, but haven't posted it, so here are a few pictures:













And the cutie, herself:

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: