Eight months of Grace

It is snowing today and Grace is 8 months old!

New outfit! Guess what? It's a 6-mo outfit still. 

The pictures give away a few things, but here are Grace's updates:

• Grace LOVES her two little teeth. She touches them all the time, wants to chomp on everything, and ate the corner off of her first (and hopefully her last) library book!
• She is crawling! I posted an Instagram video of her crawling with a wonky leg. Well, that was day 1. By day 2 the wonky leg was gone and now she's crawling pretty normal-like. Now she's into cords, the drawers on the TV stand, and everything else...although she's not too brave about crawling on the slick kitchen floor yet.
• In addition to crawling she is constantly planking and putting herself in all sorts of awkward and uncomfortable-looking yoga poses. She's pretty hard core.
• She doesn't like it when I take a shower, but she LOVE LOVE LOVES bath time. We've moved her out of her baby tub and into the big tub and she splashes, wipes everything with the rags, tries to lay down on her tummy, sticks her hand in the running water, and I think she's figured out when bath time is over, because she repeatedly closes the drain after I open it!
• She says "mama" all the time although she has no idea what she's saying or what it means, but it's nice to hear. :)
• She has also started reaching a bit. Unfortunately for everyone, she's usually reaching for me.
• She gets a huge smile on her face and flaps her arms like crazy when James pulls out his mandolin and plays her a little ditty before bed.
• She has grown impossible at church for the most part.
• She is either terrified of or just loathes the vacuum, because I've never heard her scream so loud, seen her get so red, or watch her more violently shake in her standing toy.
• She loves to pick things up and wave them around: her binky, her stuffed bear, her spit rags.
• She has started scratching her diaper after we put it on and will sometimes get so distracted by it and just stop everything and reach down to scratch it. Haha..so hilarious.
• She smacks her lips when she's hungry. And also when she's not. But especially when she is.
• She rides sitting up in the grocery cart and thinks she is just the coolest cat.
• She is starting to really love books. She'll sit quietly through the sacrament when we pull a book out and just yesterday I read her all 10 of her library books and she sat still and quiet and very attentive. Her favorite book by far is Pinkalicious.
• Her favorite toys are basically all things that are not toys: sprinkles containers, wrappers, my phone, my badge, my hair, the remote...
• I finally gave in and started putting her to bed earlier when daylight savings rocked our world. She now sleeps a solid 12 hours consistently. (But we miss the extra time with her at night so we always go pick her up while she's sleeping and smooch her face off.)
• She loves sleeping on her side.
• She throws everything off her high chair tray.
• She is an expert on putting her own binky in her mouth, even when she's mostly asleep.
• I swear she becomes more snugly each month! She'll just lay on my shoulder and in my lap as she grabs my hair or my nose or waves her binky in the air.

She is making it harder and harder to go into clinicals but more and more fun when I get to be home with her. We are crazy for Gracie :)

Seven months of Grace

Grace is seven months old today!

Her hair is actually brown, not red. Just the lighting.

Everything about this face exudes sweetness.

I had to add this pic because standing up against the couch is her newest trick.

Since Grace's last update a month ago:

• She has her first two teeth!! And so far she has handled teething very well. One day of drooling and still a very pleasant baby. They're just the cutest little bottom chompers.
• She has become pretty disinterested in bottles. She just likes to chomp down on the nipple with her new cool teeth.
• She LOVES LOVES LOVES eating big girl food. She has tried sweet potatoes, squash, apples, and pears and loves all of them. She eats those and her rice/oatmeal cereals like a champ!
• She has started Daycare and seems to really enjoy it. She only goes on Fridays, she has never fussed or cried when we handed her over to new people, and they say she's an easy baby. It puts my soul at peace that it is going so well.
• When I said last month that she was in 6-mo-old clothes, I meant like one or two 3-6-mo-old onesies. But now she is FINALLY wearing all 6-mo-old clothes. Even though most of them are baggy, I figured pushing the 3-mo-old clothes for four months was long enough!
• She almost always rolls over and naps on her tummy.
• She is a jabberer
• She has a new high chair which she very much enjoys
• You can tell she's trying to get up on her hands and knees, but usually when her knees come up her face goes down.
• She started scooting a little. For one day. Backwards.
• She flaps her arms constantly.
• She's got more hair growing in.
• Even though that third pic doesn't totally demonstrate it, she has very strong legs and a strong core and can stand up against the couch, lean over and grab for things, and stand herself up again without any help. We're always right there next to her, of course. ;)
• She does this thing in her carseat, on the the changing table, and in her stroller where we set/lay her down and she just puts up two stiff arms to the side, sits up as straight as she can, and/or cranes her neck up to fight being buckled in. 
• She's still so amazing to take to the gym. Just sucks on her binky in her stroller for like 30+ min while I work out.
• She grabs my face/hair and comes towards me with an open mouth, which I interpret as her trying to give me a kiss.
• She is starting to be a little more ticklish.
• When I sing to her she smiles at me. Maybe because she likes it or maybe because she's laughing inside at my terrible voice.

She truly gets cuter and sweeter by the day. We love baby Grace Elizabeth.

Six months of Grace

Baby Grace has brightened our lives for half a year already! She hit her 6-month mark on Sept 10, just in time for college football season, and she's decided she's a baby cougar. Hence her outfit.

Active limbs=blurry pics. I give up. Her face is presh.

Sweetest smile that melts our hearts.

Grace gets cuter every month. She doesn't have as many new updates as she did at five months, but here they are just the same:

• Weighing in at 15 lbs 8 oz, she is in the 40th percentile for weight (her birth weight was 7 lbs 0 oz)
• At 25.3 in she is still in the 30th percentile for height
• Her brain apparently had a growth spurt, because she's in the 94th percentile for head circumference. I personally don't believe that. Her head doesn't look that big. But maybe it's just me.
• She sits up very well for a long time and plays with her toys
• She is officially eating and loving solids, though as of right now she's only had rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, and she went to town sucking on a piece of watermelon
• She stares at everyone as they eat and at everything they're eating. She smacks her lips and gazes at you with pleading eyes that make you want to just shovel all your food into her little adorable baby mouth.
• She touches our faces constantly.
• She has gotten noticeably more snugly with me in the last month, falling asleep in my arms and on my shoulder, and turning her face so our noses touch when I pull her into bed in the morning for a few more minutes of sleep-in.
• She is generally an excellent napper morning and early afternoon.
• She sometimes rolls over onto her stomach in her crib.
• She often cries when I leave the room.
• Her favorite toy currently is probably my lanyard and badge for clinicals.
• She is working on the cutest little scrunchy-nosed smile. I unfortunately haven't captured it yet to post.
• Stranger danger has definitely set in. We handed her off to several different friends at a baseball game and with each of them she busted out the pouty limp and broke into a heartbreaking cry. Same thing last night at a redbox machine. She was in her stroller facing a strange man and she apparently thought we'd just left her in an unknown place with an unknown dude and she had a meltdown.
• While she still fits in several of her 3-mo clothes, she has outgrown lots of them recently and now has some adorable 6-mo-old clothes she's wearing.
• She sleeps in her own room like a champ.

And speaking of her room...I finished it this last month. We live in a two bedroom apartment and we use the second room for both an office and a nursery, so her room is actually a half-room. But it totally works, because our glider is in the living room. I loved decorating this and am really excited about how it all came together and how little money I spent on it.

Owl themed, as you can see. The Pack and Play was more practical since we'll be moving next year. Plus, it was given to us for free by James' aunt Susan! The colors (green and purple) were conveniently a perfect match with the rest of the room!

Bagpack/lunchbox owl from Diane (mother-in-law)

Pillow I made. Jk it's from Michael's.

Vase from Walmart, flowers from Michael's 

Star from Germany (Shay brought it home from her mission. Grace loves ceiling fans and since there isn't one in her room, this is the next best option). Pics from Michael's, TJMaxx, and Babies R Us, and the one of Christ is from Greg Olsen. 

A puzzle I did and glued (from Barnes and Noble for $3.12 because I had a gift card)

Shelf and drawers from Target and Walmart. ($20 because I used a gift card for most of it) Stuffed bear and moon statue belonged to my maternal grandma and the brown bunny is from James' cousin Whitney.All the books and blankets were gifts from baby showers.

This blanket also belonged to my grandma. I painted the letters I bought at Michael's

Rug from K Mart 

Changing table I bought from KSL and repainted. 

Hamper from TJ Maxx 

Cute wall hanging from my mom

Thanks for everyone whose gifts contributed to this adorable and sentimental half nursery for sweet baby Grace.

Oh what do we do in the summertime?

This summer has been infinitely better than last summer. Last summer I worked full time, the water at Bear Lake was too cold to enjoy and we were only able to go for a weekend, our trip to Colorado was for Daniel's funeral, and instead of a cuddly bug baby I had a stomach bug called morning sickness.

This summer I was in my second semester of clinicals which was very part time; I usually only did 20 hrs/wk. The weather and water at Bear Lake were perfect and we were there for an entire week, our trip to Colorado was to do Daniel's temple work, and we have the flipping fetchingest cutest dang baby to accompany us on all our adventures.

And plus also a hundred other things made it a smashing summer.

BEAR LAKE

Bear Lake was our wonderful vaca with the McKean side of the family, although you wouldn't know they were even there by my absolute lack of pictures with them....just James, Grace, and yours truly. The week was filled with sleeping in, jet skiing, games, HGTV, ridiculous "would you rather" questions, bike rides, running, walking, sitting,  reading, tennis,  M&M's, ice cream, guacamole, potato chips, yum yum take me back.....

Baby Grace chillaxin' in her rocker on the beach

Talk to the foot because this baby's too cool for the camera.

What good lookin' folk I call family.

Nakey baby. Mouth full of fists.

Not sure how she feels about Daddy's vacation scruff.

Happy family in front of a swamp.

Sunbathing under a blanket.

Hating on the paparazzi. Or maybe she's actually asleep.

Grace found something on the ground frustratingly fascinating.

 COLORADO

Grace's first flight. Glad that's over with. She had a well-timed blowout just before boarding and a meltdown when the plane momentarily stopped taxing, but other than that (as I've mentioned before) she was great.

The first day in Colorado was wonderful but difficult. It was the one-year anniversary of Daniel's death. As family and close friends, we gathered at the Denver Temple to do his temple work, and at least for me, it was an experience of joy and peace. It was the loveliest way to honor and remember him, and as my parents pointed out-the last thing in mortality we can do for him. It is so wonderful to have gospel knowledge to keep us grounded, motivated, and hopeful for "a better world" (Ether 12:4).

Photo cred to whoever took this. It wasn't me. 

I love this picture. It includes everyone except Grace (and Daniel, of course)

Photo cred to Shay. #evakate #totesadorbs

After the temple session we went to Outback Steakhouse where Daniel used to work (we went to a Denver location however) and was nominated employee of the month several times. James and I were able to visit his headstone for the first time which was very surreal. It was raining, the cemetery was still and quiet, and the headstone was beautiful. We found lots of flowers, notes, etc. near the grave left by Daniel's thoughtful friends.

This wasn't when we went to visit it, but it is a clearer picture. It says "Beloved Son, Brother, and Friend." And below, "Blessed are the Peacemakers," for Daniel truly was one.

It seemed out of place to smile in this picture.

This is Shay, cleaning off the grave. She's the sweetest.

Grace had her first cold while in Colorado, so we missed out on the Sky Sox game(minor league baseball) the family went to because she slept from 6pm-morning, but we got a Redbox and ice cream which is second to none...except maybe to the Dippin' Dots I was so anxiously anticipating at the Sky Sox game. We went on a double date with Morgan and Eliza to Garden of the Gods and to a restaurant to eat delicious bison burgers. We got to catch up a bit with Jimmy and Charina AND Shaleena (my two dear childhood friends who live in TX and OK). What an amazing coincidence that all of us were in the Springs the same weekend for three different reasons! We met both of their newest baby boy additions and now Grace has four choices as to whom she will declare her betrothed.

Garden of the Gods. Voted most beautiful park in the US according to something I saw on Facebook once.

Don't be fooled-I'm the only one keeping that rock from tipping.

Two blond men named James, two brunettes wearing pink v-necks. Unfortunately I forgot to get a pic with Shaleena.

Grace sure loves being outside. And Aunt Sterphenerph

And Eva loves Grace. :)

We also took family pictures in the backyard in Daniel's memorial garden. I don't have a pic of the whole family, but this is the whole family James and I have created thus far.

PARK CITY

I'm embarrassed to say I don't have more than one picture of Grace to document this trip. I'm not embarrassed to say that's because we were having too much fun! This was a two-day offsite/work retreat with James' firm (well, the firm he works for at least). We got to stay in a nice hotel and had access to pool, hot tub, alpine slide, coaster, DIPPIN' DOTS, and a number of other fun and yummy cositas. A great time was had by all. James works with awesome guys who have awesome families.

We all got T-shirts! Even Grace!

Okay, and here's the other picture I took. Haha. Grace asleep in a restaurant.

Since we're talking about James and work...here's James' work pic. Sorry honey, couldn't resist. You're too handsome! :)

ST. GEORGE

I have to admit, our trip to St. George was the epitome of vacation (for me at least. James continued to work hard on MBA applications). My in-laws share a house down there with a few other families, and they reserved this weekend for us. We went to half of a Tuacahn show (rained out after intermission), went on a long walk and small hike in Snow Canyon, took Grace swimming, went shopping, went out to eat, read, watched movies, went to a park, and never wanted to come home. Oh, and Grace learned to roll over, slept four hours EACH WAY on the drive down and back, and was the most pleasant, amazing baby the whole trip.

This face illustrates the kind of baby Grace was ALL weekend.

Testing out this hiking bag at the park. She actually didn't love it. Good thing it was borrowed.

But she did love riding on my shoulders.

Always spitting, but always cute.

Rainy Beauty and the Beast Tuacahn date (cancelled after intermission)

Doughnuts from The Fractured Prune. French toast, banana cream pie, and caramel bliss. SO DELISH.

Cinnamon rolls at the Saturday street market/fair/thing at Tuacahn

James loved this hand-carved wood vase. So we bought it.

We loved this man driving this tiny car that said "Street Legal" on the front windshield. So we took a pic of him.

Books+Grace make for a lovely time outside.

Such a sweet face.

Grace loves this tube.

Our appetizer was the cutest lil "frito slider." Sad face means he was pretending it was his main course.

LOVE

Grace just chilled while we cleaned up the house before leaving.

We had a picnic outside the St. George temple.

And took a family selfie.

And we've done a lot of other fun summer things aside from trips.

Pool time at home

Oakley Rodeo

Hokulia shave ice 

Walks in the stroller 

Friends

Some seriously grumpy reclining on the balcony in the diaper. Actually she's just content, but her resting face when she's outside looks like this.

Shoulder rides at BBQs

More pool time

Healthy picnic dinners

While baby sleeps, parents eat

Walks in the carrier

Free outdoor concerts at the park

Errands with mom...like napping at the church while mom practices the piano

Bowling

Walks in Grandma's stroller

Books sales at the library

Homemade pizza with Grandpa

Holding hands with cousin Lily

In between all the fun James worked on MBA applications and went to work like a man and I did clinicals in the hospital and did online classes like a woman. I am officially halfway done with my ultrasound program!!! Next August I will be done with school and we'll be getting ready to move so James can start school.