So Tired!

But excited for the day! My mom and I have appointments to get our make-up done by the Bobbi Brown world-traveling make-up artist today! It's such a fun "event" - at an upscale department store - the last time they were even serving champagne! The last time we went it was the spring after Grant was born, so actually Grant was about the age Grace is now. It's just a fun girly time, and fun to do it with your mom.

And, last year I met my parents at the mall the weekend before my birthday, too. We did some shopping and of course got some coffee. It was fun because they didn't know I was pregnant, so after we "left" the mall I sneaked back into the mall to look at and dream over Pottery Barn Kids and Gap Maternity. :) (It was like, the last week before I started getting sick!)

From a year ago:

Fabulous!

Whew!

I just got in from running and I feel so.much.better! With this crazy week, I haven't really had a chance to run! Bummer! But, fortunately Matt had a little bit of time at home this morning so I did a quick 30 minutes outside. It felt SO GOOD! I even ran in the rain I wanted to get out there so much! I feel ready to take on the day with a 2-year-old and a baby now!!

Of course, the baby slept in this morning (she slept ALL night from 9 to 8! wow!) but Grant woke up at - are you ready for this? - 6:25!! Why in the WORLD was he awake so early? He'll take a good nap, hopefully, so if I can get Gracie to sleep for longer than the 10 minute stretches she did yesterday afternoon I can maybe get a nap in myself!

Monkey Joe's!

i found a video on my phone from when we went to Monkey Joe's last week! you can get a feel for how fast Grant goes down the slides - and this is one of the smaller slides! He LOVES them!!!

I'm trying to figure out how to turn the video - for now, I guess you can rotate your head!

For the Grandparents!

-anna

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Grace

Tuesday Morning

Making pumpkin pancakes!

Monday Evening

Grace was in her crib by 8:15 tonight (I think she's moving her bedtime a little earlier!), so I had some time to look at some recipes and enjoy my cup of coffee!

Grant was definitely feeling better today, but you could tell still not 100%. I'll see how he does tonight and then we might call the ped. in the morning.

Matt went to one of the small groups of the church tonight and he said it went great. People had a lot of questions, and were really interested in getting to know him. I think that's a good sign. I wish I could've been there, from the sounds of it! I thought it was going to be more of a Matt-just-pop-in-and-say-hi kinda deal. I'll try to make tomorrow and Wednesday night's groups, if we can get someone to watch Grant.

off to bed!

Weekend Re-Wind

So, what a weekend it was!

Saturday:

We had to leave by 11:25 for our luncheon with the search committee and respective families. I had to finish picking the house up, get lunch ready for the in-laws (even though we weren't staying) and get myself ready, all the while keeping Grant and Grace happy. whew! I was showered by 7, which was good because Grant woke up early.

We got everything ready in time, and I even had time to go get my toenails painted! (my sweet indulgence - it's really cheap, actually, at the local nail place!) Saturday was the first time we left Grace for an extended period of time where I knew she'd need a bottle, so I was a little nervous. Matt was so right though, that Grace is such an easy baby that there was nothing really to be nervous about.

So, we left for the lunch and it was so nice to leave with just the 2 of us! Wow did I feel like I was missing something - no diapers/wipes/sippy cups/snacks/changes of clothes to bring!

The lunch went well, and I was dressed appropriately (always worry about that! ) Everyone was really, really nice, and I had a really great time chatting with everyone. There was a girl about my age that I seemed to really "click" with...I could totally see us being friends.

We got home about 3:30, right after Grant had awakened from his nap. And, Matt was right - Grace was *fine*. She took the bottles with no problems, but was definitely ready for *me* by the time we got home. I nursed her and she immediately fell asleep and was *out* for awhile.

But, then Grant got sick Saturday evening. He was sitting on my FIL's lap, and I thought he was just tired, but then I felt Grant and he was *burning up*. His fever was 101.9! Poor guy.

So, I was running on fumes by Sunday morning as Grant was awake a LOT Saturday night - probably 8 times, maybe more, between 11 and 3:30. He did sleep from 3:30 to 6:30 without a problem, though, so that was the most sleep in a row I got that night!

Sunday Morning went really well. I dropped Matt off early and then drove around 1) to keep Grace asleep for a little longer and 2) to find coffee! I did find this cute little locally-owned coffee shop, where this perky and cute highschool aged girl got me my coffee. (It even had a drive through, which is a BIG
in my book!)

Matt did a *fantastic* job meeting everyone and the message was very good - and, overall, I got the feeling that people liked us!

Here's a picture from after church, when my lipstick had worn off and Matt had already taken his tie off! lol.

Video of Grace

I know it's dark and sideways, but I still think it's cute. :)


-anna

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Saturday Morning...too early

What a ridiculously short night! I have *got* to get the bumper in Gracie's crib - she moves so much now that last night she woke her self up when she ran into the side of the crib! Her head was banging on the rails (I'd wake up,too!) so she woke up at 1 AND 3! She NEVER does that! And then Grant was crying at 5 (fortunately Matt got up to get him, but I still heard him) and then Gracie's crib alarm went off at 6:40, waking BOTH kiddos. I don't think Grant ever went back to sleep, but he did stay in bed at least until 7:15. It's now almost 8, and Grace hasn't gone back to sleep, either.

So, at least I got an early start on the day since I have a lot to do this morning, huh? I need to finish a couple loads of laundry, clean up the kitchen, iron my skirt, wash Gracie's hair, get her bottles ready (thankfully my supply has been *so good* this time around and our freezer is stocked with breastmilk!)...so, off to be productive!

And, soon I'll blog about our experience cutting Grant's hair last night. AAACK! Why, oh WHY, is getting a hair cut SO incredibly traumatic for a 2-year-old? It's still not totally done, but looks way better.

Friday morning

whew! Just got back from running - only about 2.75 miles. I say *about* because I forgot to start my GPS watch for the first couple of minutes, so I didn't get the first bit of the run. The watch says I did 2.5, and I'm guestimating I did about another .25 before I realized the watch wasn't started. Regardless, it was nice to get a quick run in during this busy week and weekend!

On my way around the neighborhood I got to stop and say hi to a couple neighbors, too, which is always nice. One just had another baby girl 3 weeks ago, so we were chatting about our babies. We both had to go as the said babies got hungry, but the other mom and I agreed that we'll have to get together soon.

So much to do today! better get moving! Gotta get some chicken in the crockpot so Grant and the in-laws can have lunch tomorrow while Matt and I are gone (just chicken soft tacos and some rice), and I'd like to get the manicotti made ahead for supper tomorrow night. And, of course, the standard dishes/cleaning/laundry/2-year-old-chasing.

off to get in the shower.

Thursday Morning

Grace just woke up once last night, her usual 3 o'clock feeding, and Grant slept into 7:20. (and, how OLD am I that I think 7:20 is sleeping in! )

I'm sitting here drinking my coffee, Grant's loading up his legos in the dumptruck, and Miss Grace is almost turning over from back to front!! She's *very* close. I'll have to look up in Grant's baby book (or go back in the blog!) to see when he rolled, but I'm pretty sure it was much later! Watch out, brother, your sister's working on coming after you!!

Brotherly Love

A couple of days ago I was loading everyone (and everything!) up in the Durango to go play at Monkey joe's with my sister-in-law and nephew. I put Grace in, and then went back into get my purse. Grace start fussing at being in her carseat, and when I went back out to calm her and put Grant in his carseat, this is how I found Grant! He had opened the Durango door (something I didn't know he could do!) and climbed up, and was talking to Grace! He was saying, "hi, hi, hi! where's your paci? paci for Gracie?" As Grace gets older and more interactive, I just LOVE seeing Grant talk to her and "play" with her.

(I'll enjoy it know until she starts crawling and taking all of his toys, and all of this, "hi, hi, hi Gracie" turns into "my toy!" ;-))

"gheeee"

one more thing before I go to bed - Grant's just *the cutest* around Grace recently. Since Gracie is now so vocal and interactive, Grant is really liking her "talking" to him. When she starts cooing and making her little baby noises, Grant will go over and say "ghheee" and "ooooh" back to her in his cute little 2-year-old way. It's so sweet. I'll always remember that at around 51/2 weeks, when I was wondering if Grace was really socially smiling or not, her first smile was definitely to her brother.

tired! tired, and more tired!

Stayed up way too late last night surfing while Matt listened to the Purdue game, and then got up early with Grant and Grace! We played hard today, though - at the playground this morning and outside here this afternoon. Grant played with the "water hose" (the garden hose) and thoroughly soaked himself but loved every minute of it! He just loves playing with the hose!

It was weird to have Matt gone on a Sunday! Made for a lonely Sunday afternoon with out him. It was also weird to not be at church together...

speaking of which, I'm getting very excited about next Sunday! It will be good to go to church and be able to meet everyone and get a feel for their ministries. We're not taking Grant with us (don't want to quite yet terrorize the nursery with our separation-anxiety-plagued 2-year-old!), but I'm still trying to think about what to do with Grace. I know she'd sleep in the sling, but I don't know if I want to wear her the very first Sunday we're there. She also likes for me to walk around when I'm wearing her, and I don't know if I want to walk around in the back of the sanctuary the first Sunday while Matt's candidating! I could just hold her, or possibly even put her in the nursery, if they have swings - she'd at least sleep quietly in the swing. I'll have to think about her!

Might be coming to an end..

So, the days of Grant being confined to his crib might be coming to an end! He was making a weird noise about 15 minutes after he went to bed tonight, so when I went up there I found him stuck on the top of his crib! The back of his knees were balanced on the crib rail, and he was kind of hanging on to the side/corner of the crib! He climbed out of the pack-n-play at my parent's house for the first time last weekend, but since then he hasn't tried getting out of his crib. He was really scared/freaked out being "stuck" on the top of his crib, so hopefully that freaked him out enough to not try again. We're hoping to hold off to the "big boy room" until after we move. (which, of course, is dependent on Matt's job situation - only one more week until he candidates!)

I am so surprised that it took 2 1/2 years for Grant to climb out of his crib, though! So many of my friends seem to have kiddos that climb out at like, 18 months! I'm thankful it's lasted this long - after he can get out on his own, it's a whole new ballgame!

Another Beautiful Morning!

Grant, Grace and I enjoyed another beautiful morning! I went to Starbucks (grande nonfat latte), and then we went to the playground. he LOVES the slides at the elementary school's playground, so we went there since we can't use them during the week during the school year. there are 2 BIG slides, and he probably did them 2 dozen times. We then ran to Target to get a few more groceries (and diapers! someone is always out of diapers! we have GOT to work on PT'ing soon!), and I bought chicken for a GREAT price - Target will now price match Meijer's sale prices!

Beautiful Morning!

Grant, Grace and I just had a wonderful morning together. It was so beautifully cool! We got ready and went to a new playground, which Grant just had a blast at! It was a little "big" for Grant, but he still had a great time - he *loved* the big, twisty slide - he probably climbed the stairs and went down the totally-enclosed slide 30 times! He went down fast and would always come out all staticy-headed and laughing. I played with him, wearing Grace in the sling, all while sipping my non-fat latte. Just a beautiful morning!

Crazy Short Night!

What a crazy short night it was! Grant always seems to know when Matt's gone and decides to freak out over night. He was awake at least 3 times, just crying. I had to just rub his back and stay with him for a few minutes to get him to calm down. And then he woke up at 6 o'clock, saying "out! out!" I was thinking that there was NO way I was starting the day that early. So, I gave him his stuffed duck to get him to lie back down and hug his bumper, which he did, and slept for another hour and a half, thankfully.

And, the baby woke up 2x over night to eat, which is unusual - she's been down to just one feeding around 5am for awhile. So, between the 2, I slept in about hour increments! *yawn*

Off to get more coffee!

Sunday Evening

I'm all hot and sweaty after a good run - I'm still ridiculously slow, but, hey, I'm faster than if I were sitting on the couch, right? I did 3.3 miles in 35 minutes. whew! I can definitely tell I'm getting my groove back, though, post-Gracie - doing 30 minutes of running is fairly easy, instead of having to kill myself step-after-step to reach 30 minutes!

Off to get in the shower before Grace wakes up to start her night time feeding jig!

Answered Prayers

Recent favorites...

I just LOVE this one of Grant

Tuesday Evening

I'm showered and clean after a good, easy run of 2.5 miles - and, I cannot believe that I think 2.5 miles is "easy". But, it truly was tonight - I felt like I just went out, cranked out 30 minutes of running (yes, if you do the math, you'll see that I'm ridiculously slow...but, it's okay, I'm running!), and came back in!

So, now I'm showered and getting settled in for my evening nursing marathon session with Miss Grace. She goes about 4 hours during the day, but starting at about 7 she eats on and off for a couple of hours. Cluster feeding to the T! I don't mind, though-it gives me lots and lots of snuggles with her and gives me an excuse to sit on the couch all evening and watch reality TV. America's Got Talent, here i come! ;-)

Up Early...

Up Early this morning, enjoying a rich cup of coffee with half-and-half. Gracie's still asleep, and Grant is eating toast and raisins (his choice!) in his high chair. Hopefully a good start to the weekend!

-anna

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Sugar Cookies!

So, these are the sugar cookies that our favorites so far! They're super good, and relatively easy. They stay very fluffy, and are just excellent!

roar!

I was trying to get a picture of grant in his new jammies and when I pulled out the camera he decided to be a dinosaur!

Grace at the mall!

How Grace does the mall. :) We both love the sling.

Grant and Matt after a Sunday morning brunch outside.

Cookie Update

Someone commented on my previous cookie post about how to make fluffy cookies - and she's totally right - I discovered that you need a recipe that uses shortening instead of butter. The butter spreads too much, apparently. (Thanks to Alton Brown's article about the science of cookies!) However, the new trans-fat free shortening can leave an "off" after-taste, so I used butter-flavor Crisco sticks. I found a recipe that used 1/2 shortening, 1/2 butter, and some sour cream, and the cookies were just fabulous - nice and sweet and fluffy! (And, believe me, I am NOT a good cookie baker, so I was thrilled that they turned out! :D)

It's weird, too, because I usually don't care for shortening in stuff, but this recipe was SO GOOD. Not healthy *at all*, but good. I have one more recipe that I'm going to try, but I the one I made the other day was definitely a keeper. I'll upload some pictures of my next batch.

Old Friends

Today I got together with some of the "girls" from my pledge class - which, crazy enough, was 10 years ago this fall that we pledged together! There were 17 of us in the pledge class, and about half of us got together today. Some of them I hadn't seen in the 7 years since I graduated, so it was just so fun to catch up! The majority of us are SAHM - there were toddlers running around everywhere!

It was fun, though - we laughed as we revisted college memories - talking about the guys we were dating, the classes we shared, and the pledgeship we survived together. It was a fun, fun afternoon, and hopefully will spark some more get-togethers, especially as several of us are SAHM's in the Indy area.

Here's a picture of some of us - I'm wearing Grace in my Peanut Shell sling, which I just love.

3 Months...

I'm determined to write more about the day-to-day happenings with Grace, as after having Grant I know how quickly I forget stuff I thought I'd always remember!

So, at 3 months old Grace I'm still just so in love with my Baby Girl. Quite honestly, it's hard for me to "get" that actually have a baby girl, I'm not pregnant any more, I don't have to worry about clotting any more (hopefully!)...just seems so surreal, still, after so long of worrying about her health and my health.

From month 2-3 she pushed her bedtime back a little bit...she used to go to sleep around 8-9, then awake 1-2x over night to eat. Well, she now sleeps from about 11-5 am or 6 am, eats, then goes back to sleep until 9 or 9:30 in the morning! She sleeps in her crib in her miracle blanket, which we used with Grant and fell in love with. After she wakes up at 6 or so to eat she sleeps in her swing until 9 or so.

She's definitely becoming more awake and aleart - more intently looking at you and focusing. She loves her big brother, and gives the smiles the most readily for him. She had her first "real" smile around 5 1/2 weeks - to Grant. She's now smiling a little easier, if you work with her. :)

She also flipped herself from her stomach to her back for the first time this month! wow!

She's just a happy, easy-going baby, and I'm so in love. We're beyond blessed.

Happy 3 Months, Grace!

Recipe #1...

I'm on a mission to try to re-create those thick, fluffy sugar cookies you can buy in the bakery section at the grocery store. We LOVE them, but all the recipes for sugar cookies I've tried are thin and flat, or cripsy...none of which we like in sugar cookies! So, I'm on Recipe #1 to try to make thick, soft, fluffy ones!

Thursday Morning

Goodmorning from Grant!

(These are some of my new favorite shots of him!)

Grace!

Some of recent pictures of Grace - she's even smiling in some of them! :D









Big Smile!







Look at all this tongue!


And, she's asleep...I think she's beautiful in this picture!

New Recipes

I really like to cook and missed doing it regularly when I was pregnant. So, here are a couple of my recent new favorites:

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes
We just had them as the main course, with some roasted asparagus on the side! A great vegetarian dinner, though they'd be a great complement to a meal, too.


Ingredients:

* 3 sweet potatoes, even in size and scrubbed
* 4 tablespoons butter, room temperature
* 2 tablespoons brown sugar
* 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
* 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
* salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

* Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

*Place sweet potatoes on sheet tray and bake for 1 hour or until soft. Remove from oven and let stand until cool enough to handle.*

* Split potatoes and remove the flesh to a medium sized bowl, reserving skins. In another bowl add butter and cream cheese and the all of the spices and mash with a fork or rubber spatula.

* Add the butter and cream cheese mixture to the sweet potato flesh and fold in completely. Add the filling back to the potato skins and place on a half sheet tray. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

* During the last 5 minutes of baking, sprinkle the brown sugar on the top.

*I totally baked the sweet potatoes in the microwave! sooo much faster and didn't have to have the oven on as long in the summertime!


Roasted Cauliflower

Ingredients

* 1 head cauliflower (about 2 pounds), cut into bite-size florets (about 8 cups)
* 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* 5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
* 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
* 2 teaspoons kosher salt
* 2 teaspoons roughly chopped fresh thyme leaves

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Toss the cauliflower with the olive oil, garlic, and red pepper on a baking sheet; sprinkle with the salt and thyme and toss again. Roast until golden and tender, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve.

*I used dried thyme and also generously sprinkled Parmesan cheese on the cauliflower before roasting!

Valentino

I caught a few minutes of Oprah yesterday where she was interviewing Valentino, the Italian fashion designer. Towards the end of the show he said that he felt like he could do 3 things really well - those three things were:

1) Designing a gorgeous dress
2) Decorating a fabulous home and
3) Hosting a dinner party

After I heard him say that I was like, those are 3 pretty awesome things to do well!