2010 What a Year!

 So many wonderful things have happened to us this past year...Here's to a wonderful 2011!

7 Months!

I cant believe Grace is 7 months old already. She is just amazing. We often hear our parents tell us how fast time has gone by and how it seems like just yesterday we were this small. I never understood how they thought it went so fast. That was until Grace came along! These past 7 months have felt like like 7 days. Somedays I want to push a pause button and keep her this little and other days or should I say nights I wouldn't mind a fast forward button to get through her teething or little colds.

Pat and I are so lucky to have Grace in our lives. She truly is our little miracle! We have often thrown out the thought of another and time will tell if we will be able to add to our family but for the time being we cherish each day we have together.

Gracie is learning so much lately and amazes us every day with something new. Her most recent accomplishment is saying DaDa. Pat was wrapped around her little finger before but when he hears her say DaDa he is whipped! MaMa & DaDa are her first 2 words and she shakes her head NO when she wants to be silly.

Grace weighs 17pds and is about 28in long. She has been sitting up on her own for about 2 months and LOVES to stand. She is still pretty wobbly but is learning. I have a feeling she will be an early walker. She loves to babble and is really into the dogs and cats. She's a people watcher (gets that from her mom) and is perfect when we take her out to dinner and shopping. Often she's the light of the party and is such a ham at times. When excited she will clap and wave. Her latest is new found joy is sitting in front of the mirror. We need a 2nd bathroom pronto!

We look forward to the days, months, & years ahead of us and we will share every wonderful step with you!

Santa Claus is coming to town!

 Pat came home and had surprised us with a Christmas tree. It's perfect! Grace and the dogs sat in the living room and watched him as he got it all set up. All three were a little confused but once the lights were up on it they loved it!!

 Grace posing with her first gift to put under the tree. She LOVED the bow. I might have to just get a box and wrap it and stick bows all over it as a gift this year for her!

 Our Helen Keller tree is back. We havent added any lights to it since last year and with all the storms we have had the tree looks pretty pathetic I must say. Well it does every year but this year I think has the others beat. I have to say it does make me laugh everytime I see it.

Our Christmas Angel Grace. What a wonderful blessing she has been to our family. She is full of smiles and is always so happy. She is the best gift of all!

Grandparents, Aunts & Cousins

Over Thanksgiving Grace got to meet her Grandpa & Grandma Clouse, Aunt Erin, Aunt Lindsey & Cousin Alta. We all had a great time. Dinner was excellent and we were even able to get family pictures done while they were all here.
Grace's Cousin Alta who is 2 1/2 was so cute! "Hi Baby Grace, Im going to be your friend" she was so sweet with her and very talkative! I couldn't believe how big our niece had gotten. Im excited for what we have in store for the future with Grace.
We miss having them live so far away but when we are able to visit with them it feels like we were never apart.

Update

I've really taken the lazy train with my blog and Im kind of bummed I've let it slip away from me for this long! I haven't posted anything since August! So much to fill everyone in on so here are some highlights...

September was alot of fun. Gracie got to meet her Grandpa Kee for the first time and what a wonderful weekend it was. She was spoiled the entire time.

October we were able to go to a local orchard and pick out some pumpkins and we grabbed a bag of homemade doughnuts...Mmmmm. Grace also celebrated her first Halloween and was dressed as a giraffe.

So far this month we have been adjusting to the change in the weather and it takes us twice as long to get ready to go anywhere since we have to dress like we live in the North Pole! Thanksgiving is just days away and Grace will get to meet her Grandpa & Grandma Clouse, Aunt, Lindsey, Aunt Erin, & Cousin Alta for the first time.

I cant wait for Christmas this year since Santa gets to come to our house :) I will have to have a post just dedicated to all the fun adventures we will be having in December!!!

I know this has been short and sweet but I just wanted to do a quick update so I dont feel too guilty for slacking :) Here's a quick list of Gracie's stats at 6 months:
16pds
27 inches (98th percentile for her age)
Sits up by herself
rolls to get where she wants to go
screams at the dogs
learning to wave
started drinking from a sippy cup
just starting to like cereal (with bananas)
2 teeth

I've been busy

Well I've been a little busy and haven't had as much time as I'd like to update our blog so here we go.....

Gracie had a well visit appt and passed with flying colors last month. She got 3 shots and did just fine. Here she is showing her dad her war wounds. 

 

 

 

Awww her booboo's.

12 weeks! I dressed Grace in her announcement outfit for her 12wk pictures. Im hoping to be able to somehow keep them in all the major pictures for her first year. At 12 weeks they were a little tight so time will tell on how I can work this out!

Gracie has really started to come out of her shell. She has such a cute little personality and isnt afraid to show it!

At our baby shower I was given this sunhat from our friend Kathy. We decided to try it out and it fit perfectly. She was so stinkin adorable in it!!!

Playing Peek-A-Boo at Music Class

At music class dancing with Daddy. Grace had so much fun!

Playing the drums with Mommy

Gracie with her BFF Ava at Music Class playing the drums :)

Our Funky Monkey. Before Grace was born Pat called her Monkey. While pregnant and out shopping with Pat he found this hat. He had to have it! I wasnt a fan of it but somehow she makes this ugly cap so cute :)

The bib says it all!

Tummy time! Grace is getting so strong and rolls over to her side...almost on her belly, then rolls over to her back.

These rings are her favorite toy at the moment. She throws them, shakes them, and of course sticks them in her mouth. Right now everything is in her mouth!!!

Too cute.

A Surprise Visit From Uncle Ryan

We were so excited to find out last Wednesday that my brother Ryan was going to be flying in to visit for a couple days. We havent seen him since Christmas and we were so excited to have him meet Grace. Grace was named after Ryan...Grace Ryan Clouse. We were thrilled to have him spend some time with his niece and Grace just loved every minute she spent with him. It was a short visit but we were so happy he was able to find time out of his busy work schedule to visit. Ryan lives out of state and travels a ton with work so any visit with him is cherished. Maybe his visit with Miss Gracie will make him want to move back home :)

4th of July

Our 4th of July this year was a quiet one. Usually we spend the 4th at our friends house but this year we have Grace so we laid low and spent the day with Grandma and Grandpa Pierce. We had a nice BBQ and Gracie showed off her 4th of July colors.

Grace is growing so fast!

Well its been about a month since I last updated our blog. I have been putting a ton of pictures on Facebook but thought since Grace was asleep I had a few minutes to update our blog.

She changes everyday! She is such a happy baby except for the occasional screaming fit at night when shes so tired from the day. She's sleeping through the night and is already wearing 3 month clothes. She has also started to make new noises and notices things around her.

Grace is in love with the dogs. She can't get enough of them. Emma just loves her and the two of them have become best friends.

Grace has started to roll on her side and we think before long she will be rolling all over the place. She holds her head up and turns to look at all of activities going on around her. We are guessing she weighs over 12 pds at this point and when she is fully stretched out she is the length of one of our couch cushions. She is so long. I have a feeling shes going to be a tall skinny young lady when she grows up.

Sorry to make this so short and sweet but I have to run. Enjoy the pictures :)

One Month

I cant believe our little girl is a little over a month old already. The time is just flying by so quick. She has gone from this little tiny baby that slept all the time to a beautiful little girl that smiles and coos. She has started to recognize our voices which is one of the best things in the world. She will look at Pat and me with such an intense look in her eyes that warms our hearts. She has started to smile more when you talk to her, roll to her side and has even started to sleep almost through the night!

She is such a little miracle that has touched our hearts. Its amazing how quickly you can fall in love with someone. She is our everything. Pat and I enjoy each day we have with her. As Grace is learning new things so are we. We see things in a different light now. A big smile when she sees her hand, or the big stretch and the arch of her back when she wakes up in the morning, the long sigh after being fed...those are little things we would not really think about but after having Grace we watch every movement and cherish every second.

4 Generations

This weekend was a very special one for Grace. Pat's mom flew into town and was able to meet Grace for the first time and she was able to bring Pat's Grandma with her.  Four Generations all together! It was so wonderful to be able to have Grace meet her Grandma and Great Grandma White. We took a ton of pictures since one day when Grace is older these pictures will mean so much to her.

Great Grandma White was so proud of her new Great Granddaughter Grace. She couldn't get over how good she was and how heavy she felt while holding her. She just loved her so much and Grace was so content in her arms.

 This is one of our favorites.

We had a wonderful time with Grandma and Great Grandma. We will cherish these memories and pictures for a very long time.

1+1 = Husband and Wife, 1+1+1 = A Family

Pat and I met 5 years ago this coming Monday. The moment I met him I knew I was going to marry him. We had a connection like no other and everything just seemed to fit perfectly. We had so many things in common and so many things we could do apart. At the end of the day we could both sit on the couch and look at each other and be perfectly content with our lives and all the stresses of the day would disappear.

Pat and I got married December 1, 2007. It was the happiest day of my life. We have a beautiful home, a happy life together and memories we can look back on when we are old. Life felt complete. I had a husband and Pat had a wife. We had puppies that loved us and friends to enjoy the sunshine with. But deep down something was missing.

Before we were married Pat and I both knew we wanted a family. We wanted to have children to raise and make new memories with. We wanted to take them to swim lessons, play catch in the front yard, teach them to ride their bikes. Our struggle was long and took a toll on us emotionally. But after 2 years of struggling infertility we became pregnant.

Grace Ryan turned us from husband and wife into a family on May 5th, 2010. The sleepless nights, the feedings, the emotional and physical roller coaster they call parenthood has been wonderful. We wouldn't change a thing because this little miracle has made our dreams come true and we are now a happy family looking forward to all the new memories we have ahead of us.

Bath Time

This morning Grace had her first real bath in her new bath tub. Pat and I have been giving her a sponge bath since we came home from the hospital. I know in the pictures she doesnt look too happy but she ended up liking it towards the end. After her bath she was as happy as a clam ready for the almost 90 degree weather we are going to have today!