Mother's Day

Yesterday was Mother's Day. It was my 1st mother's day actually being a mommy.  I know I've said this several times on my posts, but Bryant really is busy 99% of the time with school and tests and practicals and papers and groups and homework and stress and the list goes on.  I guess it's to be expected with a Doctorate program.  So, with that said, I was really not expecting much for Mother's Day, and not because Bryant doesn't have great intentions or that he doesn't do sweet things for me, but I know how busy he is, and I was not expecting Mother's Day to be on his list.  Boy did I underestimate him! It wasn't just Mother's DAY it was like Mother's WEEKEND for me!

On Saturday they had a Relief Society enrichment activity with different classes and stuff.  I wasn't planning to go because if I had to take Gracie I would have gotten nothing out of it (kind of like church these days!) I didn't want to ask Bryant to watch her because he had a huge final paper due on Monday and I figured he would need to be on campus getting that done.  However, he got wind of this activity and so he stayed up super late on Friday night working on his paper and got it all finished so he could watch Gracie with no stress and so I could go to the activity without feeling like I had to rush back.  Needless to say, I enjoyed the much needed break and the classes I took were very inspiring and enjoyable! 

Then, Saturday night we went to Spamalot! Thanks Mom and Dad by the way! I got to go on a real date with my husband.  I think that was the longest date we have been on without Gracie since she was born.  Thanks Heather for watching her for us! It was so fun.  I LOVE going to the theatre, and Spamalot was just a really fun, light hearted play that was very enjoyable.  Plus John O'Hurley played in it!

So then on Sunday, Gracie woke up at the 6:30..ugh.  I got up and got her out of her crib and the next thing I know Bryant (who is like a Zombie for a good 30 minutes in the morning) got out of bed and told me he was planning to get up with her so I could SLEEP IN! Seriously, you could not buy a better present than that! At 9:00 I woke up to....BREAKFAST IN BED!  Bryant then proceeded to do all the dishes from breakfast. He also took Gracie during all 3 hours of church.  Then for dinner, he made BBQ pork chops and mashed potatoes.  

What a great guy! How did I get so lucky? He truly made some sacrifices for me this past weekend and it made me feel so special. Thanks Bryant for such a great weekend!  

Gracie's second word...."Dada"

Gracie said "Dada" for the first time the other day.  It was so so cute.  We had just gotten out of bed (actually, I was out of bed against my will, but I have no choice when Gracie decides it's time to start the day) and she was in her usual place....taking all the dvd's off the bookshelf.  Bryant was getting ready to leave for school and went into the kitchen, which is around the corner from the bookshelf.  Gracie couldn't see him so she tried to look around the corner and very distinctively said "Dada." It just melted Bryant's heart of course.  She said it about three times that morning looking right at him when she said it! And now "Dada" is her favorite word.  When anyone tells her to say Mama now she says Dada instead.  Which is fine.  I mean, I'm home all day with her and we talk about Daddy not about Mommy so I guess it makes sense! 

She is also starting to really look like Bryant I think.  Here are a few pictures of them together.  Let me know if you see the resemblance too!

                      

Gracie is VERY good at taking all the DVD's off the shelf! This picture is so funny because she is "stuck" and needed help escaping from the pile she made!

                           

I was trying to get Gracie to smile and moved the camera so it cut her off a bit, but the           picture is so cute I had to post it! 

                           
                            Is it just me, or do they look a lot alike? 

Professional Pictures

We got professional pictures of Gracie taken when we were visiting Grandma and Grandpa in California last month.  They turned out pretty cute.  I was really disappointed with the photo session, so I was glad they came out as good as they did! Here are some pics for you all to enjoy!

You may ask when you look at the pictures, if she bonked her nose.  She did not bonk her nose, she has a hemangioma, which is basically blood vessels that have not absorbed properly into the skin.  It came about 2 weeks after she was born and has gotten bigger over the last few months.  I took her to see a dermatologist and I also took her to see a plastic surgeon.  I mean, she is so cute but the hemangioma is right in the middle of her face and that is the first thing most people see.  They both assured me that it is NOT dangerous and that it most likely will go away on it's own by the time she is 2 or 3 years old.  If it doesn't however, there are a few options available that will help it shrink.  So, try to look past it so you can see how very cute she really is! 

                     

A picture with Grandma and Grandpa. Gracie just fell in love with them!

               

Pretty girl!

       

               Crawling! And look at that smile!

                   
      Rosy cheeks
             
                                                                      

What a sweetheart!

Gracie said her first word!!!

Okay, so I know all I blog about is Gracie...I hope this does not bore people! But she is my whole world now, so what else is a mom to blog/brag about? She just did one of the most exciting things though! She said "Mama" for the first time.  And I'm not just talking about the whole baby talk thing and she might of kind of said something that sounded like "Mama". It was very distinctive! It just melted my heart! Now, we have to work on saying "Daddy." 

She has grown up so much in the last few weeks.  Not only is she crawling and standing up on stuff, but she stood up for a good 10 seconds without holding onto anything yesterday, she can feed herself now (not with a spoon yet though), she has learned how to wave, I taught her how to play patty-cake and she LOVES to clap her hands, and she plays peek a boo! I will try and get a little video of her doing a few of these things to post so all of you can see how cute she is! 

Did I mention I LOVE BEING A MOMMY!

She's crawling....and standing up!

Well, I am afraid I'm in big trouble! Gracie has been "almost" crawling for a while now, but she figured out how to move her hands and her knees at the same time and now she cruises around like nothing! In fact, last week we were going to meet Bryant for lunch at school so I got Gracie all ready to go and then I jumped in the shower for like 3 minutes! I left her on the floor in the living room feeling sure she would be fine for a few minutes.  I got out of the shower and came to check on her.  In the corner of the room was Bryant's easter basket that had an open bag of robin's eggs in them.  Of course in the few minutes she was left alone she found the easter basket, dumped the candy out and sucked the chocolate off one the the robin's eggs! What a stinker! So, now I cannot leaver her alone.  She either has to go with me, or go in her crib for a minute or I have to wait for her to be asleep! 

Then today, she was "asleep" or so we thought in her crib.  I heard some giggling from her room so Bryant went to check on her.  The next thing I know, he called me into her room.  She had figured out how to stand up in her crib, and was looking at herself in the mirror laughing at herself! I'm afraid it won't be long until she figures out how to walk! Of course, I grabbed the camera really fast to take a few pictures of her standing on her own for the first time!

She is growing up so fast, and really, it's so fun to watch her discover new things! 

Our Little Mariner.....

Okay, first of all I want to thank everyone for looking at our blog! I am going to try really hard to keep it updated from now on!  Plus with a baby as cute as ours, it should be easy!

On Saturday, we were having some people over for dinner, so between conference sessions, I was trying to clean the kitchen (the never ending story of my life) and get dinner started.  So, Bryant was put in charge of giving Gracie a bath, which he has only done a couple of times before.  Anyway, he also had to get her dressed after her batch which meant of course, he got to pick the clothes she would wear.  In the back of Gracie's closet is a cute little Mariner outfit we bought in Seattle last year when we went for Opening Day.  In case you don't know, Bryant is a huge baseball fan and by far the Mariners #1 fan!  He stays loyal to them even though they stink and continue to disappoint him year after year! So, we bought this outfit thinking it might be fun to have her pictures taken in it since Bryant is such a baseball fanatic.  Anyway, the next think I know he comes out and says "Look what Gracie told me she wanted to wear today!" So, we had to take some pictures of her on our own camera because she was so darn cute! And hey, maybe having her wear it was good luck...the Mariners season is off to a good start this year!

Update

Okay, so it's been like 3 months since I last updated the blog. Honestly, I have thought about doing it several times, but I'm not sure if anyone really even looks at this.  So, if you look at this blog, leave me a comment and I will update more often! 

Well, we continue to be busy and especially love watching little Gracie grow.  Last time I updated the blog, she wasn't quite rolling over.  Now she is about to crawl! Check out the video below.  Excuse the voice, I was getting over a bad case of laryngitis.  She has also figured out how to sit up by herself without toppling over.  She still needs help to get to the sitting position, but she can reach for toys and stay up.  She is the most smiley baby too.  Her face just lights up when she smiles. We feel so blessed to have such a sweet, happy and healthy baby.  

In January, Celeste (Bryant's sister) came to visit us for a long weekend.  It was really cold, but we bundled up and took her to Riverfront Park downtown Spokane so she could see the beautiful falls Spokane has.  She was here to celebrate Bryant's 26th Birthday with us as well.  We loved having her here and hope she will come again! 

In February, Bryant and I celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary.  I can't believe how fast time flies. He was in school all day, but that weekend we got a great couple from our ward to watch Gracie so we could go to the temple TOGETHER for the first time since Gracie has been born.  We have always had to take turns going, which has been few and far between I'm afraid! It was so nice to spend a few hours in the Temple together.  Now that Gracie is older, we are going to make it a point to go more often.  

Bryant has officially finished his second quarter of school and has started his third.  I think we have finally all adjusted to his very demanding school schedule.  We cherish the few precious moments together as a family and especially look forward to the breaks he has between quarters.  

Gracie and I have been away from home more than we have been at home it seems.  Bryant's parents bought a house, so Gracie and I flew to Boise the end of February for about a week to help them move.  Then, we came home for about 10 days and then flew back to Boise for our niece Ava's baby blessing.  Bryant was in the middle of finals, so he drove down about 5 days later.  My sister Kristin drove up from Rexburg for a day to see us which was a lot of fun. After being away for 11 days, we were glad to be back home! Next time Bry has a break from school, we are just going to stay here and have some relaxing family time!  Next week Gracie and I are going to California to visit MY family.  I'm excited to see my mom and dad, especially since Gracie has changed so much since they last saw her. 

Well, that's a very brief and condensed update of what's going on with us.  Enjoy the pictures below! And, please write me a comment if you look at this, if you do, I will update more often!