Birthday pictures as promised...sorry so late!

13 Month Stats

Daddy took Grace for her 13 month checkup yesterday (on his birthday) and she is now 18lbs 15oz (10th percentile) and 28 and 1/2 inches long (20th percentile)! So she's growing at a pretty steady weight. Dr. Sackett says she's a healthy little girl. She had to get four shots :( She used to take doctor visits well, but Seth said that she was not happy about being measured, looked over and she definitely didn't like the shots! I think she struggled because she had to sit still and/or lay down and, well, shots hurt. At least she got to spend a little time with daddy during the workday.

We go again in a month to get the other half of one of the vaccines, and then the next appointment will be at 18 months.

First night away...

Grace has finally spent her first (and second) overnight away from Mommy and Daddy!  She stayed Sunday night and Monday night with Granny and Granddad Crum! I think it was much, much harder on us that in was on her! Actually, it didn't seem to be hard on her at all, which, I admit, breaks my heart a little. I know she had a blast playing with them and her uncles, cousins, great aunts and uncles, church family and more!
When Seth and I arrived home on Sunday night, we were a little lost as to what to do with our time since we didn't have to do her usual bedtime routine. We didn't even have Millie to take care of since she stayed with them too. We ended up going grocery shopping together after 7pm. We never get to do that anymore! We either go before 7 (Grace's normal bedtime) or one of us goes after. I was also able to put her laundry away instead of setting it outside her door until morning like I normally do. It was strange. I wonder what we did before we had her?!
I tried my best not to call and bug them too much...since I knew she was in great hands, but that was tough! Not that they would have been home if I would have called...they were out showing off their Grandbaby!
Needless to say, Grace got lots and lots of hugs and kisses and Millie got lots of hugs and scratches from me on Tuesday and from Seth when he got back from Orlando last night!

I am certainly blessed to have my little family :)

Giving Thanks

Ahhh, I'm so behind on this blog! Spending time with Seth and Grace, family, Grad school/homework and work has occupied nearly every spare moment of my life lately! I look forward to when school is done and life settles down a bit, and I will get back to working on this blog. For now, I will give a little glimpse into my thoughts today.

My devotions this morning reminded me that, as Christians, we must give thanks in every situation. I struggled with this a bit the last few days as my family has been through quite a lot in the past few months, experiencing a lot of pain and loss...but also a hope that one day we will all be reunited in heaven. The author was careful to note that the Bible doesn't say that we must give thanks 'for' every thing...but that we must give thanks 'in' every thing (in 7 of the 8 translations she checked). I thought that giving thanks 'for' every thing seemed like an impossible task. However, giving thanks 'in' every thing is not easy, but its do-able...especially because I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
 "In every thing give thanks."1st Thessalonians 5:18

I am continually amazed at how God used my cousins, Jeremy and Aaron...even to their last minutes on earth and their legacy's live on. I pray that I will always allow God to use me for His glory and that I will give thanks in every situation, just as they did.

It's hard to believe that Gracie girl will be a year old in 22 days. That's right, 22 DAYS! She's grown so much this past month, and now she gives kisses (open mouth of course) when you ask! Ok, I'll be honest...she has to be in the mood to give the kisses, otherwise you get slapped in the face like Auntie Erin did this morning. Haha! She's been really sleepy for the past few days, so I think she's growing. Sleeping and eating seem to be her two favorite activities. We're hopeful that someday she will grow some hair and get more teeth since she only has two :) She has stood on her own, is a master stair climber, loves baths and plays peek-a-boo. Mama is probably her favorite word right now, but she also says dada, bye bye and I've even gotten her to say baby before. We try to get her to say 'bye bye, dada' every day and sometimes she says it, sometimes she doesn't.

This past week my family has been up and it's been GREAT having them here! Especially because they get to spend lots and lots of time with Grace. And also because my sister sends me pictures of Grace throughout the day! Here are a couple that she sent yesterday :) Enjoy!

 

 

Baby Stroller!

Grace is getting so big! Below are a couple of pictures from the night that Seth put her baby stroller together. Her Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Kilty gave it to her for Christmas and we were pretty excited to finally get it out. Now she can stand up by herself (just for a couple seconds without touching anything) and she walks this stroller around the living room floor! She is also incredibly fast at crawling...usually towards things she's not supposed to have (examples include outlets and dog toys).

I have a feeling that keeping up with her is not going to get any easier!

Daddy assembling Grace's baby stroller

It might take her a little while to figure it out...

Harrison's Birthday Party!

Can you believe that my nephew, Harrison, turned one at the end of July?! Crazy! It seems like it was just a couple months ago that we were making a day trip to Lexington to meet him. I was very pregnant with Grace, who was always a very active little girl in the womb, and when I held Harrison, Grace would kick him :) I'm looking forward to watching these two open Christmas presents together this year! Fun!

Here are a few fun pictures of that weekend!

Here, Harrison is attempting to show Grace how much fun his home-made car is.

Trust me, she had a lot more fun than her face is showing!

With Grammy in the RV!

At Harrison's first birthday party!

Skyping with Auntie Sarah :) Oh, technology!

Yes, that child is STANDING! Crazy kid!

And this is my favorite! It's amazing what two can do when they put their heads together!

Nine Months!

Please note....I'm posting these before her 9th month ends (tomorrow)! Somehow, this is a major accomplishment for me :) It takes a lot to keep up with such a busy little girl!

As you can see...it took two days to do the nine month pictures earlier this month. 

It's like she's saying "Eh, mom, really? Pictures again?"

She's not happy, but she's wearing shoes for the first time ever! And she hasn't worn them since...ha! Not because she doesn't like them, but because I'm too lazy to get them out!

And this was how picture time ended. Poor little one was so sleepy. She has the longest eyelashes...

Almost smiling...

Cutie :)

Getting comfy!

And then she settled in for a nap.



The bear is looking as creepy as it always does :)



She's so sweet when she's sleepy and cuddly!

 

 

 

 

And I think we're done. Haha!

I can't believe I only have to do this two more times and she will be a full year old and we will be doing her 12 month picture then...this is going by too fast for this momma!