Leapfrog's My Pal Scout

Grace has a new favorite toy. Scout the dog.


She got it for her birthday and cried everytime it played. So we just took it as a loss. Well last night Kris decided to hook it up to the computer and personalize it with her name and things. Well, today she has been so attached to it! It had to come to walmart with us and on a walk in her stroller. She loves him! And honestly he has an adorable voice and isn't annoying like some toys can be. He calls her by name, teaches her how to spell it, does animal sounds, colors and even "likes" pancakes like she does (we personalized it with this). It's amazing how attached she became to it in one day! And the best part is he's the perfect size and not huge. She hugs him when he's sad and rubs/pats his back. And she has to hold him whenever we go somewhere. She even shared her milk with him at the store today! It was adorable. Grace never got attached to a lovey or anything, so it's really surprising.

Is she just immature?

This is mostly a joke, but it's hard not to compare babies sometimes! I read all these posts of what your kids are doing and I feel like Grace is SO behind!

She wouldn't know what to do if I sat her on a potty and she is nowhere near ready for that (and neither am I really).

She has never colored or anything, and frankly I know for a fact she would just eat the crayon!

She still babbles, no real words on a regular basis. Animal sounds? Forget it! She just laughs at you when you tell her what a cow or duck says!

She doesn't STTN consistently.

She can't do the shapes sorter at all and a puzzle is just yummy food at the moment.

She isn't walking and refuses to do so, other than a few steps here and there.

The list can go on and on, but I think you get the point! Please tell me Grace isn't the only (apparently) lazy baby out there! I feel like I am failing her and should send her to daycare so she will learn some things. 

The looks...

Grace is almost 13 months and I'm 32 weeks pregnant. I get looks all the time and constantly feel judged because I don't look my age. I've gotten used to it over the past few weeks but it's still hard to ignore sometimes. I just always make sure my wedding rings are on and I tend to walk with tunnel vision so I don't notice the staring... It is tough sometimes though. And those comments of "wow, you're ambitious or you'll be busy" annoy me! Yes we will but it's what we want and we aren't the 1st people to have 2u2!!

Mommy fail!!

I wrote out her thank you cards for her party within a week! I was so proud of myself that I was on top of that. I was just cleaning the counter and guess what I found?

Her thank you cards in blank envelopes! I didn't write out the addresses yet! Or stamp them! And I completely forgot to mail them out! Now that's a mommy fail! Can you guess what I'm doing right now?

31 weeks and I've gained...

-1lb! That's right. I started at 133 and I'm currently 132. And I'm carrying smaller with Luke too. Now I have to go for an ultrasound on Saturday to make sure he's growing ok and because of my "history of small babies." My OB says not to worry, but now I am!

I'm still wearing my regular clothes. Kris says I don't even look pregnant from the back and when I say I'm due people laugh at me because "there's no way... I'm too small."

On a better note, I'm so excited to see my little man on Saturday! I hope we get some good picture this time!!

We just had an earth quake!

In PA!! Ahh. Apparently it was a 5.9 in NJ!! Kris felt it at his work in Pittston and my mom felt it at her work, but I felt nothing. How does that happen?

Grace's dinner was an adventure tonight

For some reason Grace wouldn't eat tonight! I gave her rice, chicken, green beans, mangos, peaches, red raspberries and pancakes. Those were all fails!! She wouldn't eat anything but maybe a few peaches (which are usually one of her favorites). What did my child eventually eat for dinner tonight? Cheerios!! I gave up the big fight and let her have as many cheerios as her little heart desired. I feel like the worst mom ever, but I just didn't have the energy anymore to figure out what she wanted... 

Please tell me I'm not horrible!!

Luke's Halloween outfit!!

We went shopping yesterday and bought Luke's Halloween outfit. I love it! My mom made the hat to go with it... He's going to look so cute!

My poor sicky!!

Grace woke up yesterday morning completely normal. Then woke up from her second nap with a stuffy/runny nose. Then by bedtime she was miserable! Now this morning she has a 100.6 fever. I'm not sure what's happening but I think it's teething. She's cutting a second top molar. She hasn't STTN since last Thursday so what's a few more days right?

I just feel so bad for her! Her little nose keeps running and she can't breath. She's acting somewhat normal except for being a little more cranky than normal and she gets frustrated so easily! I really hope this passes soon, but all I can say is thank God it happened when Kris was still home and not in China! I don't think I could have dealt with this myself... But she is being a little trooper.

Tooth count

She has 9 teeth!! It's crazy! She has 4 on top, 4 on the bottom and just got a molar. She's not walking or talking but she's got teeth, even her pedi was impressed.

My DIY project during Hurricane Irene

So we had no power for about 22hrs, which was awful but could have been SO much worse! I was board so I made name signs for Grace & Luke's bedroom doors. I love how they came out!!!

Here they are with the flash,

And here they are in the "atmosphere" of a power outage...

On the back of each I wrote: "made by Mommy with love during the aftermath of Hurricane Irene 8/28/2011"

And a pic of Kris and Grace for good measure in the dark!

Grace’s food schedule

Here is a sample of a day's worth of food.

7:30: 6-7ozs of milk. 2 mini pancakes. Or about 3tbs of oatmeal with a fruit preserve.

1:30: 6-7ozs of milk. 1 container of organic yogurt. 2 dried apricots or 2 pieces of peach.

3:30: A handful or 2 of cheerios or Kix.

6:30: 6-7ozs of milk. About 20 sweet potato fries. 1/2 cup of rice or pasta, 1/2 cup of carrots and 2-3tbs of chicken. 2 slices of peach.

Now this is just a sample, she does get different foods for dinner, but breakfast and lunch are almost always the same. The amounts never change. She doesn't want more, isn't appearing hungry. She will not eat a cheese stick if I offer it. Almost always eats cheerios any time throughout the day and I offer water throughout the day too (she drinks maybe 3-4ozs total). She doesn't get snacks and a lot of times she doesn't finish her milk

After every meal we ask her if she's all done or wants more. Very rarely will she say more (which is waving), but she will say "all done" and hand me her cup 99% of the time. We ask if she's hungry and she doesn't do the lip smacking (which is pretty reliable here). She seems full...

New sleep patterns... again???

So Grace has stopped STTN as of Thursday (the same day/night as the burn). I'm not sure if it's entirely her fault or if the burn was causing her pain (we have been giving motrin). Then she got her shots on Monday and I know she wasn't feeling good yesterday. She used to STTN from 8:15-6:15 pretty consistently now it's hit or miss. Lately she's been going down at 9 (its when she's showing me she's tired) and waking at 5 EVERY MORNING. Then it takes 2 tries and she goes back to sleep until 7 and she wakes at 7 on the dot. She also wakes up at between 1 and 4 too some nights. Last night she was up at 3:15 as well as her "usual" 5 then 7 times. It's almost like something is waking her but I can't figure it out.

This is literally killing me! I'm so tired. And with Kris going to China for 2 weeks in the next month I don't know what I'm going to do. She is so close to walking and I know they can wake before milestones. She also had the burn then shots. This kid just doesn't seem to need sleep, but I sure do! 8-9 hrs and she's good to go, I thought they needed 12-14 or something like that?

Cutting finger nails = total meltdown?

Since about 6 months whenever I cut Grace's finger or toenails it turns into WWIII. She screams, kicks and gets herself so worked up. I've tried giving her books to play with, singing to her, cutting while she's sleeping (this just wakes her up), different locations. Nothing works. Then she gets herself so worked up and goes into total meltdown mode. This is EVERY week!! It's insane. I can't figure out a way to make it peaceful for both of us. She just hates it! She and I get so upset that I almost want her nails to grow long just so I don't have to cut them ever...

Another China trip

Kris has to make a trip to China in the next month (not sure when just yet). I'm worried because who knows when Luke will come and I have Grace all by myself for 2 weeks 8-9 months pregnant. Did I mention she isn't STTN consistently either? Kris helps a lot and I don't what I'm going to do. I'll be even bigger, tired and cranky than I am now!! Plus what if Luke comes early, like Grace did? Kris wouldn't be here, my one and only babysitter (my mom) would have to be my coach or I give birth alone. I am so not happy about this and just needed to vent! I can't say anything to Kris because he feels upset enough. All I can say is thank God we got Luke's nursery done!!

1 year appt

Grace had her 1 yr appt today and did great! She got 2 shots and took them like a champ. My peanut weighs 18.5lbs and is 28in long. He said at the rate she has been growing she won't break 20lbs until after 15 months... looks like we will be in 6-9 month clothes for a while longer!! But she's healthy as a horse and that's what's important.

I asked our pedi about the recommendation of keeping them rear facing until 2. He said that he never heard of it and doesn't agree. He said that a lot of car seats are meant to have a slight recline when in forward facing position and the impact wouldn't be directly to the neck, it would travel down the spine to the coccyx. He feels that kids should be switched to forward facing when their legs are squished and bent. Obviously Grace couldn't be switched now even if we want to (which we don't by the way), but we will switch her depending on her legs and length. Right now she's short and has been since birth, but she may not even start getting squished until 2 years or even later!! We will cross that bridge when we get there but I thought this was interesting.

As for her burn, he said it looks ok. He wants me to keep using Aquaphor and keep it covered. Yay!! So all in all a good appt!

Why does she go straight to crying when she wakes?

Grace used to talk when she woke up in the mornings or from naps. Now it's straight to screaming bloody murder whenever her eyes open. I'm literally woken out of a dead sleep to screaming. I've tried leaving her there for a minute crying to see if it will chance to talking but it never does. This change happened around 9 months. She used to talk in her crib for almost 1/2 an hour and it would buy me a few minutes of extra sleep.

As soon as I get her she's happy as can be. She plays independently until breakfast an hour later. It's not like she's hungry or something is wrong....

Grace got burned... :(

So today while working on Luke's room Grace got burned. Kris was drilling a hole for a cable wire and she touched the drill with her arm (it was hot because he just finished drilling). And of course the drill was the bigger hole size so the burn is pretty bad. She only cried for like 10 seconds but it looks pretty bad. It's right below where her elbow is and is about the size of a quarter with a big blister that's purple.

I put aquaphor on it and a band aid, then gave her motrin before bed. It's doesn't seem to be bothering her. Is there anything else I should be doing? She has a pedi appt on Monday so he can check it then. It scares me sometimes how tough she is... Like why she didn't really cry from getting burned that bad.

My poor baby, but she really doesn't seem to know the difference..

Finally started Luke's nursery!

So we thought that we should start on Luke's nursery seeing as Grace came at 37 weeks and that is just 7 weeks away!! (that is just crazy by the way). So my mom and I painted on Thursday. Then today Kris and I ripped out the carpet, laid the wood floors and put up the wall border (all with Grace under foot which was interesting to say the least). It looks so cute!! Tomorrow we are putting the furniture back in. I'm really happy with how it's shaping up. It looks like such a little boys room!!

What to do with Grace when Luke is born

My mom is going to watch Grace when I go in to have Luke. It's after he's born and the nighttime that I'm worried about. I'm not sure if Kris should stay at the hospital with me or if he should go home. My mom will be staying with Grace at our house and she sees Grace everyday so it's not like she isn't comfortable with my mom. I'm afraid that Grace will get more upset with daddy coming home then leaving again rather than her just staying with my mom the whole time. FYI... We are 99.9% sure Grace will not be coming to the hospital to see me or Luke. She's very attached to me and would get more upset seeing me.

This brings up the other part... It's going to be so hard being away from her for 2 nights!! I'm thinking of cutting my stay short and coming home after 1 night. Assuming I have a normal vaginal delivery like I did with Grace and Luke is healthy, I don't see the need to stay 2 nights... Honestly I wish I could skip the whole labor part because I'm going to be worrying about Grace the whole time and I hate having to be away from her!!

1st time in the rain

She loved it! Kept trying to grab the raindrops. I'm so glad that I have Kris because I never would have thought to put her outside in the rain.

My poor baby is so brave..

Grace has had a rough few days. She's teething and getting in her top molar. The only way I figured this out was because she got a nasty rash out of nowhere. So on top of the teething, she's got an awful rash that is so raw it hurts her when you hold her. But my girl never complains! She only needs Motrin at night because it does wake her up.

Then tonight, she fell into her straw sippy and cut her top gum (between her front teeth and top lip). It was bleeding like crazy and her lip is so swollen, but she only cried for a few minutes! Then when I was putting her to bed, you could tell she was in pain and had her pouty lip out, but wouldn't cry. She's so brave... I feel so bad for my poor baby.

So, PSA... watch out for those straw cups!! They really messed up her mouth and there was blood everywhere!!

Happy 1st Birthday Sweet Girl!!

I cannot believe my baby girl is 1 today! Where did the time go? This has been the best year of my life. I had so much fun with my girl and look forward to the next 100 years!

We had Grace's party today! We had a blast, despite the monsoons we had all day (so much for a 30% chance of rain). We had lots of people there, yummy food, Grace loved her cake and she got some really awesome gifts!! Overall it was a great day... Here are a few pictures of our fun day.

Mastered the stairs!

I'm so proud of her!! We've been working with her for weeks trying to teach her how to come down the stairs. She is a pro at climbing up but then she gets stuck and goes head first. Well, Sunday she finally turned herself around and came down the stairs backwards! It was amazing watching her little brain work and she figured it out all on her own. 

She was so proud to make it to the top!

This weekend she also started standing by herself! She's not walking but she gets up to standing position without even touching anything! Then she gets so proud of herself, falls and laughs. She also tries clapping, drinking her sippy and holding toys while standing. My little baby is growing up! It's almost like she knows she's going to be 1 on Saturday and she feels like she has to "catch up!"