Look What I Can Do.....

Merry Christmas

"For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." -John 3:16








All my Christmas presents....Thanks Mommy & Daddy!!



Daddy & Mommy's Christmas Gift!!



Tired after a couple of long days...

Xbox

Grace was chillin out with Daddy one night and they decided to play a little Xbox.




High-fiving after a game

Christmas Parade

On Saturday we took Grace to her first parade. She seemed to enjoy it and was watching everything go by. I'm sure the Christmas lights helped out with that.










Our Favorite one for the night!!

Playdates....

Several of our friends have had a baby over this last year, so while we were back Gracie had a few Playdates.


Logan & Grace (Grace was not wanting to sit down in this photo)

Nicole, Logan, Grace & Me (Much happier)

Micah & Grace

Best Friends already....Micah & Grace

Finally meeting in person after emailing each other a couple times.
Carter & Grace

Carter & Grace

Meeting of Family and Friends.....

While back in Jersey, Grace got to meet a ton of people. We had a couple of gatherings with friends and family the first weekend we were back and then we were out almost every night meeting up with friends or family. Below are a couple of pictures of Grace with those she met on our trip.

Blizzard of '08

Who says you never get snow in Texas? Yup that is right, last night we got snow!! Yesterday it was really cold here and never got above 35 so last night as it was raining it turned to sleet and then finally snow!! Unfortunately it did not last. :(





In some spots it has been reported they got a few inches, as you can see from the pictures we got only a dusting. The kids around here were very excited, for some it was the first time they have ever seen snow.








Oh, by the end of this week and into next week, we should be back up to 70+ degrees. Crazy!!

Thanksgiving....

We had Thanksgiving at Aunt Eleanor's house this year. Since we did not have to travel for it, we stayed at Eleanor's during our trip, we could take our time getting up and getting ready which was nice because we did not get to bed until at least 3 the night before. The whole family was able to come! It was so wonderful to see everyone again.


1st Thanksgiving


Lovland Family


Great-Grandma & Grace


Tante Elizabeth, Tante Karin, & Grace

First Trip

Sorry for such a long delay in updating the blog. We went on vacation over the holiday and are just getting back, so there will be a few updates over the next week or so.



Like I said, we went on vacation back to New Jersey for Thanksgiving and then extended the trip an extra week. We were slightly nervous or concerned how Grace would do with flying. All I can say is, she is quite the champ. Like most trips you take, it does not always go as planned. We left the night before Thanksgiving and we were to take off at 7:10 However, after boarding the plane we found out there was a mechanical problem and we were delayed about an hour. Grace started fussing around 7 because she was hungry, so after the pilot told us about the mechanical problem and that it would be 30 minutes before it was fixed I decided to feed Grace. I was slightly worried because we were told to have her eat during take off and landing so her ears would pop. I was just praying that she would want to eat again once we took off. So an hour later when we did take off, she thankfully ate. She then fell asleep until we were putting her in the car once we had landed in Jersey.

As our trip was coming to an end, I was praying that we would have a great experience with her this time around as well. Let me just first say, Grace was wonderful!! Again our flight was at 7:10 so we boarded the plane at 6:40 and again we were delayed. This time we were delayed for 2 hours!! We took off at 9:10, which meant we were on the plane for 2 1/2 hours just sitting there. Once again I was trying to have Grace wait to eat until we took off. Fortunately she fell asleep on the way to the airport and stayed asleep until 8:30. We were in line for take off but I had no clue where in line we were, so I gave Grace her pacifier hoping that would hold her off for a while. She thankfully took that until right at 9 and then she wanted nothing more of it. I felt she could wait no longer and fed her. Of course, the whole time we were just praying that they would say we would be taking off. However, that never happened. But thankfully, shortly after I started feeding Grace we took off, no announcement or anything from the pilot. So after eating she proceeded to go back to sleep until landing. Actually, she woke up during the decent but started eating right away so her ears never bothered her!!

I figure that if we can make it through all of that then I shouldn't have any problems flying with her in a few months. Of course, I realize the next flight could be completely different but I pray that she does just as wonderful as she did for this trip.

Talking & Showing off our tongue

Grace finally decides to continue "talking" once we started filming her. You will also see that she has discovered her tongue too.

2 months....

Two months already, where does the time go. The last couple months have been an experience that we will never forget, with all the ups and downs. I would like to think that in the last 2 months Mark and I have become better parents and I would love to say that we have it all figured out but that would just be a lie. Let's be honest does anyone ever really get it all figured out?!?

So with 2 months comes the 2 month check-up. I'm not really sure who had the hardest time. The first two thirds of the appointment went great. She was weighed and we sat and talked with the doctor for quite sometime. She reassured us on some of our concerns and told us our little girl was developing right on track. Grace now weighs 11 lbs., is 21 3/4 inches tall, and her head circumference is 15 1/4 inches. She is in the 50% for weight and head size but only in the 30% for height. The last third of the appointment Grace got her first round of shots. It would be nice if I could say she handled these as well as the PKUs but no dice. As Daddy and Mommy looked away from the needles (we both hate needles) Grace let out a high pitch cry. It is so hard to just watch your poor baby go through that and not just pick her up and hug her until the pain goes away. However, the crying did not last as she was done before we ever got back to the waiting room.

(Notice the band-aids)
Our next appointment will be in 2 more months. It seems so far off and yet I'm sure it will fly by just as fast as the first 2 months did!