Five years...

On December 27, 2008, I walked down the aisle in a pretty white dress.  And I looked my future right in his gorgeous face.

The last five years have been the best years of my life.  

Marriage isn't always easy.  Or fun.  And I've learned more about my own faults than I ever cared to.  

But, man.  Sharing my life with the man of my dreams is just... the best thing ever.  Because I know that no matter what may come, we'll face it together.  Micah is truly my partner.  And my very best friend.  He is honestly the best man I will ever know.  And being his wife is a blessing I'll never EVER deserve. 

So if you're reading this, my love, know this:  I'm yours for good.  From now until forever.

Things that have happened...

I couldn't possibly begin to lay out a play-by-play of the last couple of weeks, so I'm just going to list out, in no particular order, a few of the highlights.  Given how ridiculously boring Micah and I are, this probably works out in everyone's favor. :)

{Two Ear Infections}

Poor baby came down with a fever a few days before Christmas.  By Christmas eve morning, we suspected ear infections since she wouldn't eat much and she had been getting fairly fussy.  So we went ahead and took her in.  Sure enough, double ear infections.  Again.  We left the doctor's office with {another} prescription for amoxicillin and and ENT referral.  We've got our initial appointment on Thursday.  If this girl isn't a candidate for tubes, I don't know who is.

{Seven Christmases}

If you missed our Christmas recap, you can check it out here.

{These Overalls} 

My mom got these for Gracie for Christmas, and I just about died when I put them on her the other day.  I mean, seriously.  The cute factor is off the charts.

{Four More Pounds}

If y'all can believe it, I lost four more pounds over the week and a half I was off work.  I don't know how that's even possible given all the junk I ate over Christmas, but I'll take it.  So that puts me right at 31 pounds lost since October.  Almost a third of the way there!  Now if I hadn't inhaled an embarrassing amount of Oreos today... :)

{Double Date}

We went to the Gaylord Texan resort with my brother and sister-in-law to see the Christmas extravaganza there and eat at the yummy steakhouse.  It was a gorgeous sight - they go all out for Christmas!

Look at my gorgeous sister-in-law sporting heels at 34 weeks!  Love her.

What have you guys been up to?

Seven Christmases...

This Christmas was so ridiculously fun, y'all.  Christmas with a baby is just on another level.  Grace obviously doesn't get it yet, but even still... there was something so beautiful about sharing the magic of the Christmas miracle with our little one.

Since most of Micah's and my family live nearby, we do a lot of getting together around the holidays.  It's pretty hectic, but we've figured out a semi-workable schedule... at least for now. 

(If you can make it through to the end of this post, you're a real trooper.)

Number One (Saturday before Christmas):  Christmas with Dad and Lori 
Lots of food, presents for the little ones, and impromptu cell phone pictures in front of the tree.

(Pardon the crappyquality.  Note to self:  this is what you get when you're too lazy to lug your big camera around.)

Number Two (Sunday before Christmas):  Christmas with Dad's extended family 
Poor baby was suuuuper fussy when we first got to my grandparents' house to visit with our very large group of extended family.  She missed her nap and had an ever so slightly dirty diaper that Momma missed when she did a quick check.  Oops!  She was a new woman after a clean diaper...

... some snuggles with PawPaw...

... and a quick nap on Mamaw's bed.

Number Three (Christmas Eve):  Christmas with Mom and Steve

Gracie napped (again) while the rest of us ate Mexican food, played games, and relaxed.

(This is Micah and my brother battling it out over a game of Tenzies.  Such an athletic display of... dice rolling.)

Number Four (Christmas Morning):  Christmas just the three of us 

No matter how crazy the holidays get, we will definitely be guarding this sweet, quiet time together vigilantly.  Micah read the Christmas story, while Gracie and I snuggled.

We made Monkey Bread for breakfast (using this recipe - so amazingly easy and delicious!), and we stayed in our jammies until it was time to get ready to head to the next get-together.

She did enjoy opening the few things we got for her (mostly, she enjoyed shredding the wrapping paper and trying to eat it), and she has been playing with her new toys nonstop. 

Number Five (Christmas Lunch):  Christmas with Micah's family 

(We had to have an outfit change halfway through.  Such a diva... ;))

Our poor nephew had the flu and strep, so Micah's brother's family had to stay home.

Number Six (Christmas Afternoon):  Quick Christmas with Dad's family
We hadn't planned on on making it to my Mamaw's again, but we ended up dropping by for a few minutes.

Gracie had so much fun cruising around this coffee table that has sat in my Mamaw's living room for at least the last thirty years.  It's the very same table that my cousins and I cruised around as babies, and it has the scuffs and bite marks to prove it!

Number Seven (Christmas Evening):  Christmas with Micah's extended family 


By this point, we were pretty worn out. 

(Clearly.  I'm a downright hot mess in this picture, and Gracie's not even in it because she had already crashed in the Pack 'n' Play upstairs.)

But we had a wonderful time visiting with Micah's dad's side of the family.  Such an amazing legacy of love.

So there.  We officially survived our first Christmas as a family of three.  And you (all three of you who managed to stay awake long enough to make it this far) survived this ridiculously long post.  It's a miracle!

Alive and well...

Am I the only crazy person who starts worrying that bloggers have died when they go too long between posts?  Probably so.

But just in case you guys were wondering, we're totally alive around here.  We've just been savoring some sweet time off from work with our girl, and posting sort of fell by the wayside.  We had a magical, lovely, WONDERFUL Christmas, and we celebrated our five year anniversary yesterday.  I've got approximately eleventy billion pictures to sort through, and posts are in the works.  Just wanted to drop by and spare you the trouble of trolling the obituaries for my picture.  ;)  

Hope you all had a very merry Christmas!

Grace: eight months

My darling Grace,

We were so busy playing last month that I forgot to get your seven month post up!  And goodness gracious girl, you've grown so much since then!

Things are so fun with you right now.  You started crawling and pulling up to stand on everything in sight.  You officially finished with the DOC Band.  Mamaw taught you how to blow raspberries, which is so funny.  You got two teeth!  You are making more sounds, and you seem to really be trying to understand what we're saying to you.  You're seriously just such a joy.  I can't get enough of you.

But since you're so busy, this month's pictures were very challenging. Ha!

(Daddy had to stay close to keep you from jumping off the chair... :))

Here are your eight-month stats:

Eight Months at a Glance

Weight:  ? 

Length:  ?

Eating:  6-8 ounces four times a day

Sleeping:  11 hours at night, 3 naps (anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours each time)
Bedtime:  7:00-7:30
Awake: 6:00-6:15 (although you slept nearly until 8:00 one day!  I almost died of happiness!)

Diapers:  size 3

Clothes: 6-9 months, 6-12 months, 9 months

Things You Love:  talking to yourself and everyone else (loudly!), crawling wherever your heart desires, pulling up on everything, FOOD!, blowing raspberries, smiling, Daddy, iPhones, mirrors, Lilly, other babies, TV remotes, your piano, ABC caterpillar, giving kisses

What You Can Do This Month: crawl, pull up to stand, blow raspberries, give (wet!) kisses, wave your arms when excited, push things away when you're done with them

Eating:  You're eating 6-8 ounces at a time 4 times a day.  Usually around 6 when you wake up, then 10-ish, 2-ish, and 6-ish.  If you don't eat all of your 6:00 bottle, you finish it just before you go to bed.

You've tried lots and lots of Level 2s, but you projectile vomit any time we try and give you real mashed food.  Avocados, mashed potatoes, and apple were all no-gos.  We're going to move up to Level 3s this month and see if that will help the transition to table food.  We're also going to try some puffs and see how they go.  You also seem to be pretty sensitive to strawberries, so we're steering clear of those.  

Sleeping:  You still won't usually stay up much past 7:00.  The last few night, you've woken up crying a few times, so I'm wondering if another tooth or two might be trying to break through.  You've also woken up early a few times lately.  But for the most part, you go down around 7:00 or 7:30 and sleep until 6:00.  We've been putting several pacifiers in the crib with you so you can find one if you knock one out.

Naps are getting better and better.  You're sometimes taking a catnap on the way to school.  Then you'll take one or two naps while you're there (anywhere from an hour to two at a time).  And then you sometimes nap on the way home, too.  But you still sleep best at home (either in your crib or in Mommy and Daddy's bed on weekend mornings).

Other Stuff:  Your DOC Band adventure is officially over.  You made great progress, and we were happy to see that thing GO!  Your skin seems super sensitive - I think we may have an eczema problem, so we'll see what your doctor says next month at your checkup.  And you got another ear infection this month.  Yuck!

But goodness, sweet baby.  There's nothing we love more than to spend time with you, watching you grow and learn.  We'll do anything for a laugh, and our hearts stop when you cry.

(Although you may or may not be mastering your drama queen face... :))

You complete our little family in a way we never expected, and we are so looking forward to seeing you become the little girl God intends you to be!

Love,
Mommy