"It Makes Them Hard"

I went on my first run of the year tonight.  I always start out going such short distances and by the end of the summer I can go a couple of miles.  You know, a couple of nice, slow miles.  :)  Tonight, I don't even think I went half a mile and it was VERRRY slow.  Probably someone could walk faster than I ran tonight.

The "parenting fail" of the day was when Gracie fell off her bike.  She has a teeny tiny little tikes bike. Observe a similar bike I found online:   

Now hers of course, has metal handle bars with ribbons coming out of the ends and a yellow banana seat.  You know my kid has to have a bike with a banana seat.  The basics are there - plastic, crazy colors, and four wheels.  Well, Gracie fell off of it today.  And not just a little bit.

She flipped over the handlebars.  And landed on the concrete.  Face first.

Don't worry, her shades broke her fall.  (That girl has more pairs of sunglasses than Jacob and I combined!)  She must have bit her tongue, because there was a little bit of blood there, and a small (honestly, it was pretty tiny) goose egg on her forehead.  The sunglasses escaped with a minor scratch.  

In my line of work there is this civilization that we call "scanner land".  "Scanner land" is made up of all the people, many of them with (honestly) nothing better to do than to listen on the radio so that they can call us and ask questions about things that they heard going on in their neighborhood or that their sister's license plate was read over the radio and they want to know why.  I'm sure there are citizens of "scanner land" who are perfectly normal, pleasant people who enjoy listening to some occasional radio traffic while reading the newspaper and drinking their morning coffee.  I just never talk to any of the normal ones. 

Well tonight, "scanner land" got a treat.  I'm not much for sexual innuendos, but tonight they got to hear me say "it makes them hard" over the radio.  How. Embarassing.  What I MEANT to say was, "it makes IT hard".  IT, people.  IT. 

No one called in about that one.  I guess I made things perfectly clear. 

Friday Fun Facts

• There is something big happening in my life.  I promise I will share eventually, but I kind of like to stew on things myself, and then share them in my own time.  I'll get there, I'm just not there yet.  
• I counted up the words that Gracie can sign today.  It's 10.  I'll try to list them.  Milk, more, please, eat, baby, banana, water, book, cracker, and I saw her sign "drink" for the first time today.  That girl is so stinkin' smart.  
• She can SAY mama, dad, hi, dog, cat, car, cow, baby, and if you count "ball" (she says "dall").   
• I'm starting to hate politics more and more.  I got really into the debates and the election back in 2008, but I just hate that no matter what, I'm not going get what I want.  I'm not even sure what I want exactly.  I WILL say though, that I hate the disputes.  I don't mean debates, I mean the nasty disputes between people.  Neither side is going to change their mind.  Why keep fighting?  
• I am really frustrated that people think they can make decisions in me and Jacob's life.  I'm sorry if this is pushy, but the fact is that there is not a leash on either of us and we are free to make decisions on our own.  That's something that you are going to have to come to terms with.  Not me. 

One-Year Appointment

Gracie's one-year appointment was earlier this week.  She is in an odd stage right now.  See, she went and stayed with her Nana and Papa for about 4 days.  I was very grateful for this because that gave my husband and I a couple of days to ourselves AND it gave me a couple of days to plan a surprise baby shower.  :)  There was only one problem. 

I missed her.  Like, a lot. 

But enough about me, that girl came back with a double chin and an attitude.  The first thing I noticed about her was that A. she looked a little bigger (in FOUR days!!!) and B. they hadn't fed her any of her baby food...yeah. 

Thanks, mom. 

The next thing I realized was that when she pointed at the M&Ms and said, "Whassaa?" (her little version of "What's that?" or "I want that") and her daddy told her, "no, you can't have M&Ms" she FLIPPED OUT.  That lip grew like Bubba Gump's on a shrimp boat and her little blue eyes were all Niagra Falls up in my garage.  Holy cow, my kid is spoiled. 

Thanks, mom. 

Anyway, so I was totally expecting her doctor's appointment to be a bit embarrassing.  (Sidenote - my kid went from the 10th percentile when she was born to the 95th at 2 months.  THAT, my friends, was embarassing.  Needless to say, we overfed her in the first 2 months.)  We've been working since then to undo what we did.  Not that a higher percentile is BAD per se, it's just that we didn't want her getting any HIGHER on that chart.  :) 

At 9 months, she was 22 pounds.  At 12 months she was 22 pounds 9 ounces.  She was 30 inches long.  Both those are the 75th percentile. 

!!!!!

That's the lowest percentile she's had since she was 2 weeks old.  I was so proud. 

Shots.  Suck. 

And lastly, since Gracie hadn't walked much (other than a couple of steps on her own) before the appointment, I asked our doctor if it was anything I needed to be worried about or if there was anything I should do that would help her.  She said that no, of course there was nothing wrong - every baby walks in their own time.  Then she glanced at her hips.  She murmured something about, "see if there's anything wrong with her hips here" and my heart totally stopped. 

Well I won't work up your anticipation.  She just looked her hips over really well and moved them all around and said that she looked just perfect!  (Oh Lord, thank you.)  AND just tonight she took 5 steps in a row!  Hooray!  And yesterday she took one that was totally on her own, no egging on from mom or dad at all.  She just decided to take a step all by herself.  She's getting brave enough to lift those feet up off the floor. 

Gracie's First Year

"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."

Dear Daughter,

Tonight was your first "Welsh Christmas" (because we had already had it by the time you came around last year).   You had so many firsts.  It was your first time eating a meal that was entirely chopped up and no blended food.  Your first time opening gifts.  Your first time having cake.  Your first time playing with balloons. 

You weren't the only one who had a first tonight, though.  Someone else did something for the first time.  Someone like me. 

I broke down tonight. 

And I've done that before, but not like this.  This time it wasn't out of frustration at being a working mom or running on less that 12 hours of sleep for the week, or a crying, teething baby that I just can't comfort.  It wasn't out of drugged, sleepless, hormonal awe like it was the first week or two that you were around. 

It was out of real, genuine emotion.  Happiness.  Sadness.  Amazement. 

Before you have a baby no one tells you that a year after the child is born you'll then have a toddler and no baby.  No one tells you that those absolutely adorable little newborn clothes that babies wear at the very beginning will turn into cute toddler clothes in a matter of months. 

No one tells you that the one person that trusts you most in the world will start doing things on her own and learning and beginning to trust others within months.  I wasn't prepared for you to be okay with everyone holding you tonight.  You didn't cry for anyone. 

I am so happy for you.  I am so happy for our little family.  You have had a beautiful life, Gracie.  I pray that it continues until long after I'm gone.  I am so blessed to have you in my life.  You are the best thing about every single day.  You are the most beautiful thing I look at.  You are the sweetest person I interact with.  You are the smartest person I know.  I can't believe how lucky we are to have you.  That saying is so cliche, but it's how I feel.  How different you could have been so easily and you are wonderful.  You are perfect. 

I cannot believe how far you've come.  I can't even stand that you were my little 6 lb 15 oz girl.  I already don't remember what that was like, but I bet it was a lot easier to carry.  :)  I still am in amazement that a year ago tonight I headed into the hospital with contractions, not knowing what I would leave with. 

I left with someone who held my husband's heart in the palm of her hand and the depth of those little blue eyes.  He loves you so much, you know.  (And that's saying something because he wanted a boy!) :)  He cried like a baby when you joined us in the world. 

Tonight I rocked you to sleep.  I rocked you like you were a 1-month old.  You're not.  Not even close.  But you still fell asleep in my arms.  That was when the tears started rolling. 

(Thanks, Lord, for waiting until we got home to start that business.) 

I can't believe you're a year old.  I can't believe you're climbing out of chairs on your own, eating normal people food, talking (jabbering) to strangers, taking steps....  You were supposed to be a baby for much longer than this. 

Gracie, people say that after you have a kid you can't even remember your life before the baby.  Well let me tell you something - I remember.  This is so much better. 

Love,
Mommy

Gracie's Song

A Thousand Years

Heart beats fast
Colors and promises
How to be brave
How can I love when I'm afraid
To fall
But watching you stand alone
All of my doubt
Suddenly goes away somehow

One step closer

I have died everyday
waiting for you
Darlin' don't be afraid
I have loved you for a
Thousand years
I'll love you for a
Thousand more

Time stands still
Beauty I know she is
I will be brave
I will not let anything
Take away
What's standing in front of me
Every breath,
Every hour has come to this

One step closer

I have died everyday
Waiting for you
Darlin' don't be afraid
I have loved you for a
Thousand years
I'll love you for a
Thousand more

And all along I believed
I would find you
Time has brought
Your heart to me
I have loved you for a
Thousand years
I'll love you for a
Thousand more

One step closer
One step closer

I have died everyday
Waiting for you
Darlin' don't be afraid,
I have loved you for a
Thousand years
I'll love you for a
Thousand more

And all along I believed
I would find you
Time has brought
Your heart to me
I have loved you for a
Thousand years
I'll love you for a
Thousand more

We Hit a New Milestone

Today we took a huge step towards becoming a real child rather than a baby. 

Gracie got in trouble.  Like, real trouble. 

She was getting into her cranky morning stage - the "I need a nap" stage.  She was getting clingy.  We were watching Sesame Street 2-Headed Monster on YouTube and I really wanted to watch one more before her nap. 

She wasn't really into it.  So she got angry, leaned over and got all clingy on me (this is about the time when I was thinking, "Aww...she just wants to cuddle with her mommy when she gets tired and cranky") and then she bit me.  With her teeth!  And it hurt! 

I pushed her back ("pushed" as in picked her up and sat her on her bottom about 6" away from where she originated from, ok?), got the "mommy look" - you know the one - pointed my finger in her face and said, "Gracie!  No!  That's naughty!"

I thought I was pretty darn stern.  Thought I said and did the right thing for the situation. 

In return, her face turned red, she got tears in her eyes, and she stuck out her bottom lip at mommy.  That was it.  I couldn't contain myself.  I started giggling.  Seriously, this is probably the funniest thing she's ever done. 

I mean, she's gotten in trouble before.  Just little things like playing with the trash can when she had been told not to.  Spitting her food.  Throwing her toys out of her stroller.  Nothing crazy like BITING HER MOM. 

She's even had the occasional "spankin'".  It wasn't even enough to cause an 8-month old to blink.  Seriously.  She didn't even blink.  It probably was more soothing than painful.  But Mommy being stern with her had her in tears. 

Oh Gracie...

Things I Don't Understand

Something that I do understand is that everyone cares.  In some way, shape or form, everyone cares about someone or something.  And a lot of people care about my daughter. 

Something else I understand is that God gave me Gracie because for one reason or another we are the best for each other.  I will learn from her.  She will learn from me.   I am meant to be her mom. 

Another thing I understand is that I don't necessarily have the most experience with babies.  I get that.  This is why I did a LOT of research about certain baby-related things while I was pregnant.  I was online all the time looking things up.  Another thing I understand is that research and reading aren't quite the same as actual experience with children, but you can learn a whole lot from books.  Seriously.  A whole lot. 

One thing that I don't understand is why others feel the need to constantly tell me I'm doing things wrong. 

I am a smart, responsible woman with common sense.  I love my child more than anything in the world.  Except maybe chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.  That's a joke, people. 

I know that 26 years ago when I was a baby I slept on my stomach.  Yes, I lived.  No, nothing is wrong with me.  Other than that funny looking nose and the occasional need to interject people's stories and state some sort of "fun fact".  But nothing serious.  I also know that there was a lot higher rate of SIDS back then and there may have been other babies who had lived if only they had slept on their backs.  I am not a crazy free-thinking young whippersnapper for choosing to have my baby sleep on her back.  (This doesn't apply so much anymore, but when she was a newborn I would put her on her back and certain people would think I was crazy.) 

I make all of Gracie's baby food.  Well, unless we're going to a restaurant or something.  Why in the world do people think this is crazy?  Quite frankly, I think it's crazy to feed your infant sugary, salty, processed foods from the get-go of their life.  Really starting your little one out healthy there, aren't you?  Or how about choosing the ones that contain traces of arsenic?  It almost makes me wonder how anyone who has access to this information could possibly give this food to their baby day in and day out.  People say I'm crazy.  Well, I guess I'm just a total loon for wanting to not give my baby poison before a year old.  Nuts.  Was I fed jarred baby foods?  Yes.  Am I ok?  Sure.  But maybe - JUST MAYBE - Gracie will be smarter than her mama.  Maybe Gracie won't have weight issues like her mama.  Maybe she'll live longer than I will. 

Some are concerned because they think my baby will choke on what I feed her.  First of all, I blend all of her food right now with very few exceptions.  All of the "exceptions" are foods that are perfectly fine for babies to eat.  Feeding a 10- *almost 11-month old things like Cheerios, Gerber Puffs, small (small) chunks of cheese, tiny pieces of bread...  It's all ok.  Feeding them a fair-sized hunk of steak is not.  So when I am literally told that feeding my child spinach will cause her to choke I want to scream.  Spinach (along with all of the other foods listed) is perfectly fine and normal for a baby to eat.  I'm not handing her a string of frozen spinach and telling her to go at it.  I use organic spinach, cook it, and blend it.  (I don't always necessarily go organic, just here and there.) 

I wonder why it is that I constantly am finding people sneaking her snacks and saying she's fine.  Read the ingredients.  Why would I want my baby eating diglycerides and carrageenan?  I'm not saying she can NEVER have dessert, I'm just saying let's not feed her those things every single day before she's even able to walk.  Ok? 

Here's the deal:  I've thought about my baby since I myself was a wee one.  I've thought about how I want to raise her.  I've dreamed of things we would do together.  I get excited to do things for her.  know I want to raise her to be smart, respectful, honest, quiet (with an opinion ;) ), loving, healthy, God-fearing...  Why is that I make these decisions and choose that I want her to be honest, then I leave her with someone for a day, then find out someone has been feeding her foods that they KNOW I don't want her to have behind my back?  Way to teach her honesty.  Not to mention - way to make ME trust YOU.  I really never want to leave my kid with you again if you're just going to go against my wishes behind my back. 

Don't question me.  Don't doubt me.  Trust that I'm doing what's best. 

Halloween and Pomegranate Meltdown

What a unique title...

Halloween was SO FUN!  I am so blessed that I was able to take the day off work and pretend for a day that I was a stay-at-home mommy and get things done and enjoy my day.  I could get used to this.  Unfortunately...I cannot live above my means.  And I like my lifestyle right now.  I like it a lot. 

Back to business here.  Can't make this post longer than it already is going to be. (Sorry about that, by the way.) 

I went to Walmart with a baby TWICE today BY MYSELF.  I know.  I showered, I fed the kiddo, got both of us around, headed out, came home, put the kiddo down for a nap, cleaned my car (what, what!), carved out my pumpkins, separated the seeds from the goo, spray painted them and carved them out, got the kiddo ready for Halloween, took her to Jacob's work and my work - all by myself!  Then after we met up with Daddy-o, we went to a friend's house, then to the mall where they had some games and a kiddie haunted house and whatnot (all activities were very much advanced for Gracie, but we didn't realize that until we were already there, so we just wandered around and checked out everyone else's outfits).  Then we came home and made a stop by the neighbors' houses.  (One of our neighbors was so sweet - she got Gerber puffs and some yogurt blends for her!  So thoughtful!)  Then we came home and handed out some candy with our friends the Dotys.  Here is a picture of Gracie in her outfit with the Doty boys. 

Hudson (red) was Lightning McQueen, Gracie was a sock monkey (her favorite toy for the longest time was her purple polka dot sock monkey) and Landon (blue) was a police officer. We had a fabulous time celebrating G's first Halloween.

After everyone went home or went to bed I started making baby food...because that's what I do. Make baby food.  I was doing very well.  Started with lentils, then bananas, then carrot/tofu, green beans, spinach (new!), plum (new!), and pomegranate (new...). 

Now...I've tasted the flavor of pomegranate, but I've never made anything with pomegranate before.  I've seen Rachael Ray make some sort of something with pomegranate though, and she's nothing special, so I figured, "piece of cake".  All I remembered from that episode was that she rolled the pomegranate on the counter and it made this kind of popping or cracking noise.  So I got started rolling and sure enough - this weird sound and sensation of feeling like I just broke something crystal inside of 6 layers of leather. 

I liked it. 

No, I LOVED it.  I loved it a little too  much, actually.  I went and somehow poked a hole in my pomegranate.  That's when I learned those things are pressurized.  Red juice came shooting out at me.  It got everywhere.  The counter, the stove, my shirt, the floor, my face. 

Imagine me almost giddy having a great time popping my pomegranate and all of a sudden I get a little too giddy, poke a hole in it's vein and it's shooting it's little pomegranate blood at me. 

Okay, after I realized I hadn't just somehow slit open my own wrist, I almost found it humorous.  Almost.  So next I find a pot for my mangled pomegranate to go in so I can figure out what to do next. 

In the meantime, like any normal person would do, I google "how to peel a pomegranate" and the first thing to show up was a YouTube video titled "How to Cut Open a Pomegranate - Episode 7".  Ha!  Any fruit that takes 7 episodes for one to learn how to "cut open" it...  Well, let's just say that this was the first point that I actually thought to myself, "maybe I shouldn't have gone for the pomegranate".  So a YouTube video was a strike.  Plan B. 

Squeeze the crap out of the sucker until things come out.  Out came maybe a couple of teaspoons of juice.  Awesome.  There's got to be more in there.  This thing's bigger than my fist. 

So I pull out the kitchen shears.  I cut it open.  And this was when I realized that not only have I never actually peeled/cut open a pomegranate before, but I really don't think I've ever seen the inside of one, either.  What in the sam-hill are these things and what in the heck am I supposed to do with them?  To say the least, this is not what I expected.  I squeezed.  I smushed.  I tried to get juice out, but all that was happening was these seed thingies were just falling into the pot.  I did the best I could.  Which wasn't very good. Then I realized I had two pomegranates. 

Ugh... So...I don't know if I need to or not, but I boil these things.  Probably a third of the little amount of juice that I have evaporates.  I think about watching Episode 7 at about this time, but let's face it - it's too late.  I tried mushing these seed thingies with my potato masher.  Didn't do anything.  So I strain everything through a colander.  That might have been right, but I didn't get any EXTRA juice, no matter how hard I pushed with that spoon. 

When I strained it from the pot that I needlessly evaporated it in, I strained it into a bowl.  Then I thought I could just dump it into some ice cube trays and make little cubes of pomegranate juice out of it and that would work just fine.  So from the bowl I started pouring it into the ice cube tray.  You know when liquid magically decides it owns gravity and doesn't go STRAIGHT down, but it just follows the dish or jug or glass that it's being poured from?  Yeah...this liquid kicked gravity's @$$.  So instead of going into the ice cube tray that I had carefully lined up the bowl with, it dumped itself at the tail end of the bowl on the countertop. 

So instead of 3 tablespoons, I had 2 to work with.  This is totally pathetic, but I even tried to sop up the juice from the counter and sort of "wring" it into the ice cube trays.  It just wasn't meant to be. 

One hour later, I learned that Gracie will not be eating anymore pomegranates. 

A Boy Named Gracie

Here's the deal, people. 

Gracie?  She's a GIRL.  I'll give you a short lesson about how to tell whether a baby is a boy or girl upon seeing it: 

• When you see a baby who is wearing purple pants and a sweater that has a purple, GLITTERY BUTTERFLY on it, it generally means that the wearer is female. 
• Also, dresses are a big hint.  If a baby is wearing a dress, then it's probably a girl. 
• Also, hair bows.  Don't call a baby with a hair bow a boy.  She won't like that. 

Each of these instances have sprung up in our recent history.  All three times she was called a boy.

Purple.  Glittery.  Butt.Er.Fly.

Jacob said, "Wow.  We need to put a REALLY BIG bow in her hair."   

Music I'm loving right now: 

Taylor Swift - Sparks Fly.  I'm a closet TS fan.  Don't tell anyone.  I'll just put it out here on the internet for everyone and their dog to see.  Not that a dog could read it. 

Jason DeRulo - It Girl.  Since I'm married, I probably shouldn't make any comments on this one.  ;)

Lady Gaga - You and I.  What?  WHAT?  This girl cannot STAND LG.  But I can't lie, I didn't even know this was Lady Gaga until I rocked out to the song on the radio for like, the 38th time.  Awesome. 

Keith Urban - Long Hot Summer.  This is more like my kinda jam.  And I don't mean jam like jelly, I mean jam like tune.  But if Keith Urban were a jam, he'd be raspberry.  A little sweet, a little tangy, and able to be grown in Australia. 

In other news -

We went to the pumpkin patch the other day. 

It.  Was.  AWESOME.  When I was a kid we didn't have pumpkin patches like this.  This one was paved.  And had underground slides!  And a petting zoo!  Mommy wants to go back.

These are pictures from our family picture day a few weeks ago.  (I tried to upload more pictures of my husband and I with G, but let's just say the computer and I are not agreeing right now.) 

I made these blocks!  Gracie was born December 24th and around the first week of February I had the great idea that I would make her blocks for Valentine's Day.  I am still working on them.  They're pretty much done, but an occasional side needs a little polyurethane. 

Gracie was also a model for a photographer friend that we know, Jessica Orton.  I decided to go ahead and buy the CD from Jessica, so I'll add a few pictures eventually of that photo session. 

On another topic, WHY do baby outfits have to be so awkward to put on!??!  Gracie has one sleeper where - litterally - the zipper only goes down to mid-thigh.  How am I supposed to be able to drag out one foot while the other is stretching out the other side of the fabric, I have kicking child who is trying to roll over, and then I just realized I have no diapers in the drawer!?! 

Arrrrgh. 

In other highlights from my life recently, my sister came to stay with me part of last week while my hubs was at a "Top Gun" training (which, ironically has NOTHING to do with guns). 

Here was the jist of the conversation: 

April:  When I used to live in Virginia, I would drive by an alpaca farm every day to work.  So one day that got me thinking, how much does an alpaca cost? 
Me:  Yeah...
April:  So when I got to work that day, I was looking up alpacas on my computer. 
Me:  Yeah...
April:  And then my coworker Nan came over and asked what I was doing.  And I told her, 'Looking up how much an alpaca costs.'
Me:  *laughing so hard there are tears in my eyes*
April:  And she said that alpaca wool was a hot commodity.  And our plan was to make our own alpaca yarn and knit dog hats. 
Me:  *laughing so hard I fall off my chair*
April:  The kids would love those. 
Me:  *laughing and kicking the floor*
April:  Why are you laughing?  That was our plan in case we got laid off. 
Me:  *shows her this picture of dog hat off of etsy*

April:  Oh, someone already makes dog hats? 

"I'm breaking out like I'm in the eighth grade"

One thing about being pregnant is suddenly your hormones change.  We all know that.  But what people don't know is what a toll it takes on everything about you. 

Your emotions run haywire. 

Along with the emotions, you get this stuff that you haven't seen in like, 6 years called acne.  You may be asking me to remind you again what acne is.  WELL, acne is what happened to me that one time I was up for homecoming queen that made me bribe my yearbook-editor-BFF into photoshopping my face for the homecoming page in the yearbook. 

Post-partum it's still nasty stuff. 

But I said to myself, "Boy, if only someone gave away a $50 gift card to drugstore.com I could buy myself some nice Olay Prefessional ProX Clear Line facial cleanser."  Luckily for me, a lovely lady that I follow is giving away just that - a $50 gift card to drugstore.com!! 

*To be entered to win, all I had to do was blog about her giveaway.  Many apologies for such a boring post.  I promise I'll do better next time. 

Here's my little note to you, Kayla Aimee, just in case you peruse through your comments and say to yourself, "Hey!  I'm going to check out that blog right there!" and you click on my little link. 

Dear KA,

I would really like to win this gift card.  I signed up for swagbucks today using your link so that you could win extra buckeroos on my dime.  If you could go ahead and pick my name as the winner, that would be just fantastic.  I am also reminded of that time that you shaved one leg because Scarlette was ready for a change of scenery from her bouncy chair.  Yeah, that happens to me every day.  If I MUST go through life with only one shaved leg (I always start the right and never get to the left...) then at least I gotta have a cute face. 

Sincerely,
Ashley

Just In Case You Ever Need To Know

So...just in case you ever need to know, if your child does knock over her humidifier YES IN FACT THE WATER DOES LEAK OUT.  Yes it does. 

Gracie's first "real" illness has hit.  She got a stuffy nose on Thursday the 22nd and I am very happy to say that she is now better and we had NO trip to the hospital!  I'm not gonna lie, I was worried.  And if I didn't know that her 9 month check-up was close, I may have just made her an appointment, but luckily her check-up is just around the corner. 

Also...sad news.  My *Supersitter* has to take one day off a week.  ARRRGGH.  The babysitter issue has been ROUGH.  I've been through 4 sitters in the last 6 months.  Ri.donk.u.lous. 

In other news, we had 2 family reunions in 2 days.  Yikes.  A couple of quotes from my family reunion: 

"You take the baby, I'll take the gun."  (looking around, and everyone's staring) "What?  This here's a classy family!"

and shooting the AR-15 (like I said, classy):  Dad:  "Pretty close, a little to the left."  Me:  "Can I get closer?"  Dad:  "Well, yeah, you can get closer."  And then lots of laughter as I WALK closer to the target.  That wasn't the get closer he was talking about. 

Gracie with her Nana.  My mommy <3. 

"Growing up happens in a heartbeat." -- The Wonder Years

I was born in 1985.  I don't really remember much about The Wonder Years. 

So my baby girl's carseat only goes to 22 pounds.  When my husband saw the weight limit we were all "WHAT??!!  MUST.  GET.  BIG.  GIRL.  CAR.  SEAT."  Since she's such an over achiever on her weight, (like, 95th percentile) she's a 9-month old that has to have a car seat for those 1-year olds. 

I almost cried.  This is not funny.  She was just born in December.  DE-CEM-BER! 

That's like, a week ago.

time to wake up!!

So Gracie thinks it's super fun to wake us up by pounding on her crib. 

WHACK WHACK WHACK WHACK WHACK WHACK WHACK WHACK...

At 6:30 in the morning. 

This is too early for me.  I get off work at 11:00 at night.  And I'm lucky to get to bed by midnight.  Last night, I wasn't asleep until nearly 2:00.  My poor husband actually went running to the front door and opened it, thinking someone was knocking on our front door.  At 6:30 in the morning.  Poor guy. 

But I'm not complaining.  At least she's sleeping through the night now. 

And at least she's pretty. 

And we started parsnips this week.  They smell like pepper, if you're wondering.