Pregnancy Journal

It has been awhile since I've been up and at em at 3:30 in the morning. This time it is my doing and not the baby though. My neck is killing me and I think it is causing me to feel like I have an ear infection. I'm not sure what is going on but I am definately going to keep an eye on it and if it doesn't improve in the next day or so I am heading to the doctor.

Gracie was a sassy butt baby all day yesterday. She definately has 100% my attitude. She will stamp her little baby feet in frustration and keep on trying. She cracks me up even though it was making me a little nuts. She kept grabbing her spoon and her bowl and it really didn't matter that she had a bib on because by the time she was done eating...EVERY time she ate...it looked like I had simply dumped babyfood or formula in the floor and let her roll around in it as opposed to actually feeding it to her. ..lol...How she is gaining weight I do not know because it seriously looks like she wears more then she eats. And she has NO patience..zero, zip, zilch, nada....lol...dunno where she gets that from...but she will throw some serious sassy baby attitude when she loses patience and you can't help but crack up. I love watching her personality develope. She and I have already started having the "no" discussion. I've even explained to her that in about 3 or 4 months when she can actually start to grasp that word she is going to be in for an awakening..lol...poor little sassy baby. I knew it was going to be like this when she was on the inside. She had her own little "it's my way or no way " attitude even then. And while it is adorable and cracks us up now I will not let it get out of control and we will nip it back in some when she can actually understand that she has to tone it down some. I really think she just has so much going on in her mind that she can't express to us and she is so excited about everything she is learning. I think once the "talking" begins more and her vocabulary expands she will be less frustrated. Communication makes all of us nuts at times when we can't get our point across. Poor baby girl! She'll get there.

Anywho~ other then all that not alot going on within these walls. I am getting a lot more organized and having time to do things and her schedule has helped immensely. We're going to have to do a little re-arranging of times but I think it will be a smooth transition.There are some transportation changes starting next week so her sleep schedule is going to need to shift a few hours one direction or the other. We'll work it out though. She is starting to be awake for much longer periods and really takes her longest nap now in the morning. Amanda and Kollin are doing well but both are really eager for me to home school them. That is something that will have to be firmly decided on towards the end of the school year so that I can un-enroll them from the school system if necessary. Amanda came home one day last week so frustrated she was like " Mom can you just un-enroll me tomorrow and start home schooling me now"...lol...ummmm nope...not yet..still some things to work out. But I am looking forward to it. The more I think about it the more excited I am. There are so many benefits and resources available plus the people who are willing to share ideas and help you out....I am just excited. I continue to pray for guidnace to make sure this is the right and best thing for me to do. As a woman I am often led by emotion (aren't we all) but I don't want to run my life on emotion I want to make wise and Godly decisions to the benefit of my family and specifically my children. They have so much more opportunity then I ever had and I don't want to make decisions that limit those chances for them. From my understanding things like college, and scholarships that were once a challenge for home school kids are now more available then ever. Colleges are actually seeking out home school kids because they have already developed a mindset of doing their work as an individual and being more prepared for the college environment then those who had 20-30 other students in the class. It used to be a huge concern about socialization for home school kids but now the programs are so expansive that groups of home school children have field trips and dances and all kinds of things to participate in. I am pretty excited the more information I gather. That's about it for what has been going on around here.

Hope everyone is well.Take care and God Bless,

Misty

Hello my dearest Gracie poo punkin face...lol...with all your pet names it is a miracle you know your name is Gracie. I love how you turn your head when i say I say your name or say look at mommy. You are now a little over 5 months old. You sit very well when supported on the sides and are trying harder and harder daily to do it by yourself. Plumb is your favorite singer next to mommy of course. I could probably sing the grocery list and you'd be entertained which makes me a happy mommy. You are such an easy pleasant baby. You can sleep anytime anywhere as long as someone takes the time to lay with you for a few minutes (cough cough..the mommy does it) and lets you drift off to dream in their arms. For example...you are currently asleep on a pillow in daddy's office at his work because our computer is messed up at home so I came up here with him while he works and you decided it was time to take a nite-nite ( what we call nap time). I thought we were going to have a problem without having bunny here but no....you take this one long nap in the afternoon everyday so it was just that time. You also will put yourself to sleep rubbing your bunny blankey all over your face then you clutch it to your chest and hug it to death while sleeping. It is adorable to watch and I could hover over your crib for hours just listening to you breathe and babble in your sleep. You are now easily sleeping 11-12 hours a night with no bottle needed. You eat like a monster during the day. Easily downing 30-40oz. of formula and anywhere from 2- 4 jars of babyfood all in 24 hours. Your favorites are sweet tatoes and bananas. You prefer your orange veggies over anything green but I think that is ALL kids and not just you. You REALLy don't care for sweet peas and prefer the yucky green beans ( which you initially had fun spitting at me by the way) over them. You LOVE your family to pieces and though we can't hear you say it yet we see it in your beautiful gummy baby smile and bright blue eyes and hear it in your laugh. You follow us all with your eyes and when we go out of sight that way you will flip and contort to get us back in sight. My heart aches with love when I see you smile so big at Kollin and Amanda. They love you with everything in them and I am so proud of how well they handle you and love you so much. Not one little bit of jealousy in them and when they do feel the tug of the green eyed monster they just come get a hug. They think I don't know but I do and so does your daddy. We've started making special times durning the evenings to read with them and play games and just talk about their days. I think this has helped them adjust to how much time you demand but I really don't think they care. They aren't like me. They only get to see you a few hours a day so they'd rather play pass the baby and pay attention to Gracie then be worried about who is getting what attention. Like I said...I am really proud of them. There is however no one and I mean NO ONE who compares to your daddy. I really thought I'd be jealous of how much you love him but it just lights my whole heart up when I see how happy you are to see him at the end of the day. You definately are a daddy's girl. That's ok ...for now...lol...

I am also really proud of you. You had your first cold over the past week or so and you absolutely love daddy more then me right now cause I had to be the bad guy and make you breathe. Also known as sucking the boogies out your nose with the aspirator. I say thank God for Little Noses and humidifiers and Vicks baby rub. Without those 3 items this may have gone worse but your yuckies stayed clear and white and never turned infected. You slept like a champ once we elevated your head and you are one tough little cookie. You made it through that cold without batting an eye. Sleep was slightly messed up but that happens when you can't breathe. You are just such a good easy baby. We are very blessed. You remind me so much of your brother in so many ways when he was a baby. No one is a stranger to you except Uncle Jamie when he is at work...lol...but other then that one time you love everyone...although you've been known to keep an eye on mommy and daddy when someone is holding you. You have so much fun sitting and playing in the nursery at church now and you LOVE the bible songs for kids CD's. Kollin's Aunt Karla got them for him and boy are we glad. You love to play head, shoulders, knees, and toes and you think The arky arky song is hilarious or you just think mommy is a crazy lady singing it but either way...it makes you giggle which makes us all happy. You are rolling all over the place like a log and grabbing your legs to turn and pivot your body to where you want it to be. Your newest favorite thing to chew on other then the cool toy daddy bought you is your toes...playfully known as the piggie toes..or the toe toes.You are so smart and watching you manuever to get to a toy is fun. Your newest thing is to grab our eyes, nose and cheeks and squeal...you love to talk while beating us all in the face...it must be your way of communication..."I sure do love you".*slap*...."I mean it ..I really love you guys" *pinch*..."No seriously ..you guys are the best"*smack*

..oh and ANYONE holding a cup near you can just hand it on over or you WILL snatch it away. You have made it clear you ARE a big girl and you WILL drink from a cup like us...or  a water bottle. Waterbottles are your favorite. Your Grandpa has been awesome and has called several times to check on you....and that is his only reason for calling. I am glad that you are bridging the gap and tying this blended family together my little Gracie poo. You have no idea what kind of blessing God gave to us by giving us you. You are dearly loved my baby girl. You have family and friends and friends that may as well be family that love you to death. I pray that you will look back on this and know how special you are to ALL of us.

Love you with all my heart to the moon and back,

Mommy

So it has been a long time since I updated. Gracie is 4 /2 months now. She is rolling from tummy to back and just started back to tummy. She is sitting up when propped and laughing silly little belly laughs. I am going to try to get pics up on here sometime tonight. She is more andmore beautiful everyday. With her beautiful gummy grin and her drooly teething face and big blue eyes and LONG dark eyelashes. Just gorgeous. I am so in love with this baby girl. She is sleeping about 9 - 9 1/2 hours straight now and will go back to sleep once she is fed after that initial interruption. She takes one short nap of about 30-45 minutes in the morning and then a 3 hour nap in the afternoon. She is eating her sweet potatoes and cereal like a pro even though she is still a little uncertain about texture at times. Her new favorite thing to do is to take the bite and wait for mommy to say " GOOD GIRL!!!" and then grin and spit it out at me...lol...she also prefers choo choo sounds over air plane sounds whenbringing the spoon to her mouth. She thinks mommy is hilarious when sounding like a choo choo train.

I can not believe she is 4 1/2 months already. I am in shock. Ok more later.

Love and God bless,

Misty