Giggle, Giggle, Laugh, Laugh...

Our home is filled with laughter. Grace's antics constantly cause Jonas and I to break out in laughter and awe as we witness every new developmental milestone. It's so fun watching her make new discoveries. She will be 5 months old next week! It's going by so fast!!

Grace has discovered her feet! And she loves grabbing at them every chance she gets...while on her changing table, during playtime, and even when she's sitting on our laps.

I love her smile. She has also discovered her voice. She gets loud with her cooing! It's funny to hear her going on and on...I guess she's going to grow up to have a lot to say.

I asked Jonas to read to Grace...

This was the outfit Grace wore to church this past Sunday...and she come home in a different one...oops!


We've been introducing solids, mainly rice cereal. She isn't taking to it too well. I thought I'd let her play with the spoon for a bit. She likes the spoon!!

We'll be in Nashville in less than a week! And it's really cold there right now. Yikes! We're praying it warms up for our visit.
Blessings!
Beth

Feliz Navidad!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

All Better

Baby Grace is all better. She started feeling better Friday and by Saturday, she was back to her normal self. She has been eating well and sleeping well too. What a relief! Seeing her sick was so hard on Jonas and I. I suppose every new parent will go through the grief of having your child get sick for the first time.
Here's Grace feeling better...

She's all smiles!
In less than two weeks we will be in Nashville for Christmas! I can't believe how fast it's coming up. I checked the weather today and its going to be cold...brrrr...cold for us Californians!! And I just found out that the Belle Meade Cafeteria closed! NO! I didn't get a chance to eat there!! Oh well!!
Hope you have a wonderful week!
Blessings,
Beth

She's sick!

We took Grace to the doctor again today and she has a lower respiratory infection...baby bronchitis. Yuck! It's heart wrenching to see her sick. She's been coughing and sneezing a lot today and has vomited a few times today. Poor baby! She's such a great baby though. Even though she's sick, she's still smiling and cooing. We're praying she gets better really soon.

Blessings,
Beth

A Week of Firsts

This week was eventful! Grace had her first Thanksgiving, first cough, and ate her first solid foods. Grace has had a cough since yesterday. It seems that is might be from teething. She has not symptoms other than the cough. It really stinks hearing your four month old coughing. Here she is all bundled up for a visit to the doctor.

We also gave her rice cereal today for the first time. She didn't dig it much, but it was a good first feeding.



Hope you have a fabulous week! Grace is starting to fuss so gotta go tend to her.
Blessings,
Beth

Blessings

It's been a busy month. I can't believe it's already the holiday season! I love Christmas and it is going to have so much meaning this year. It will be Grace's first Christmas and we'll be in Nashville with Jonas' family. Grace and I went shopping yesterday and we bought her a Christmas dress. I am looking forward to her Christmas pictures.
Jonas and I feel extremely blessed. Grace is such a joy and she warms our hearts. Last night she rolled for the very first time. She did it three times in a row, but by the time we got the camcorder out, she was done. She also likes standing and sitting (with minimal support). She is very much into drooling and chewing on anything she can get her hands on. And! She's starting to wear 9 month clothes! She is growing too fast!
She wasn't at that angle when we first put her in her play mat...
We love her smiles!
First time in her bouncer. Thanks Mimi!
She likes her bouncer!
Here's the face of a very blessed mommy!
This month reminds me to be thankful of all that the Lord has given me and to treasure family. I hope that I will remember to be thankful all year round!
Blessings,
Beth

Strawberry Kisses

Our sweet little Grace was a strawberry for Halloween this year. She looked so adorable in her costume. We're not much for celebrating Halloween, but done right, it can be fun for kids. Our church hosted a Harvest Festival this year, which we think is a great alternative to trick o treating. Although, I have many fun memories of trick o treating when I was a kid. We'll cross that bridge with Grace when she is old enough to ask about trick o treating. We took her to a local pumpkin patch today and took some shots of her in her costume.



Grace helped me celebrate my birthday yesterday. We had a few friends over for dinner and cake. It was mellow and fun. Funny how things change when you have kids. I was not in the mood to go out...thinking I'd spend more time tending to Grace than having fun. Staying home was more comfortable for the both of us!


Here's a short video of Jonas playing with Grace. He sure can make her smile, laugh, and coo. They are so sweet together.

Have a wonderful week. I am really going to enjoy the upcoming holidays now that we have a baby. I am seeing things with new eyes now. So much fun!
Blessings,
Beth

Three Months!

Grace turned three months old yesterday! Three months!! It's hard to believe she's already three. She got a little birthday surprise. Abuelo and Abuela paid a surprise weekend visit. We drove up to my sister's house in north LA to see them.
We didn't plan the outfits! Grace and Abuela's shirts matched perfectly.
Abuelo loves Grace! And she had lots of smiles and coos for him.
Grace loves it when daddy gives her a bath.
We got Grace a Bumbo seat. She likes it...although she's still not quite ready to sit up for long periods of time.
Next week is Halloween...she have a cute little costume for Grace. I bought it last month thinking she'd be starting to wear 306 months clothes...well she's wearing 6 month clothes! I hope we will be able to get it on her next weekend.
Blessings!
Beth

Growing, Growing, Growing!

Grace is growing so quickly! She is now 12 weeks old and wearing 6 month clothes. She wore her first 6 month outfit today. She is so long and keeps getting longer. It seems like she keeps doing new things and saying new sounds. The other day, I came home from going to the movies and it looked like she was waving at me. So cute!
Here she is wearing a 6 month outfit.
Doesn't that smile make your heart melt?
And she loves her daddy! She smiles so big for him and laughs when he talks to her. It's really neat to see their relationship. She's a daddy's girl.
Here she is with her first teddy bear.
Mommy and Grace.
Have a great week!
Beth

Weekend Fun

I am watching Grace sleep right now...she looks so peaceful. We had a great weekend together...and both of us were glad to have Jonas home too. I took video footage of Grace this weekend. It will be fun to show her these clips when she grows up.

This is Grace during tummy time. Normally, she cries and generally, dislikes it. But this time, for whatever reason, she was okay with it. She was kicking her legs and trying to lift her head.

Here we have her looking fascinated with her legs, knees, and feet. It's fun to watch her make new discoveries.
Here hoping you have a great week!
Blessings,
Beth

Girl's Weekend

Jonas is at a men's retreat this weekend, so it's me and Grace. I am having so much fun hanging out with her. She is such a great baby...she makes it easy to enjoy her company. It's was a hard week for me being away from her. Thankfully, we found great daycare. The woman who is taking care of her runs a very small daycare out of her home. She is a Christian and her husband is a pastor! What could me more perfect?!?! Her home is very peaceful and the children seem very happy. Grace is doing great in daycare. That makes it easier for me knowing she is being well taken care of. On the bright side, she wants to be held a lot more. Before, after awhile, she was done with being held and wanted to hang out in her bouncy chair. Now, I suppose in wanting to reconnect, she doesn't mind being held all night long.
It's been an eventful week for Grace. This week, she laughed for the first time, she's reaching for things, and she also pulled herself up to a sitting position...she wasn't able to hold that position for very long. She is holding her head up when I support her in a sitting position and I can hold her without having to support her head as much. Ahh, she is growing too fast!! Here are some snapshots of her 2 month portraits.



And finally for some papercrafting. I have done scrapbook layouts, but have not had time to take pictures of them. This was a super fast card I made for a baby shower. It's one of DCWV's embossed cards. I added a diecut and ribbon. Whaalaa!

Grace is asleep, so off to do some laundry!
Blessings,
Beth

Back to Work

It's Fall, but around here it still feels like Summer. We had hot weather last week. What's crazy is that our summer was extremely mild with really cool weather. My maternity leave is officially over! I went back to work on Friday. It was hard to leave Grace and fortunately, my work day flew by. I drove home fast!
We had a good weekend. Rest, fun with friends, and church was awesome this morning. Here is Grace with our good friends, Bryan and Nicole.
Mommy and Grace...
Grace laughed for the first time yesterday. Jonas was playing with her and she let out three chuckles. It was so cute! Then she did it again. She's been laughing today too.

Here is hoping for a good week at work and a fast one too!
Blessings,
Beth

Pretty In Blue

I have to admit that when it comes to shopping and dressing Grace, I am addicted to pink! Much to Jonas chagrin, I tend to buy mostly pink clothes. He'd like to see her in other colors. This cute onesie was a gift. And Grace looks wonderful in blue! It brings out her blue eyes. I'll have to buy her more blue!
She's saying "HI!" She can't wait to meet all her family from Nashville this Christmas. It will be here before we know it and she'll be five months old!!!
Just like her momma...give me peace or I'll give you a beating!
Posing for the camera!
Tomorrow will be my last day at home with Grace. I'll be back at work on Friday. I am not looking forward to it. I have really enjoyed being home with Grace. It surprised me because I didn't think I was the stay at home type of person. I prayed a lot that things would work out financially for me to stay home and I even started playing the Lottery. On the bright side, the Lord provided a wonderful woman to take care of Grace. She runs a small daycare out of her home, she's a Christian and her husband is a pastor! Even though I'm extremely sad about going back to work, I have a lot of peace knowing Grace will be well taken care of. And! I will keep playing the Lottery along with responsible handling of our finances so that hopefully, I'll be able to stay home with Grace and the next one to come.
Blessings!
Beth

Happy Birthday Grace!

Grace is officially 2 months old today...and will be 9 weeks old tomorrow. Weird how that works out! Happy 2 month Birthday Grace!!!

She is growing so much! Her vocabulary of cooing is growing tremendously. And she is quite the explorer. She loves sitting on our laps looking out and when we carry her around, she moves her head back and forth to look at her surroundings. This past Sunday, she held up her head for the first time. Jonas took out the camera and the video camera too to capture the moment.
He took a while to get to the camera...by this time, her head was starting to slouch a little. But isn't she so cute?!
I created this little number for Grace's room...
It's a dress that I cut out with my Cricut using the Princess cartridge and then attached a plastic hanger and ribbons to it. As you can see, I made it to hold/display her hair clips. I'm a visual person and I forget what we have if it's just sitting in a pile in a drawer. This way I can see what she has and they are more accessible (it's hanging next to her changing station) when I'm dressing her. I got this idea from LuBirdBaby.com. The owner, Kristin, attends the same church we do. She makes really cute items like hair clips, headbands, bibs, burpclothes, onesies and she made this car seat canopy for us...

Isn't it the best thing ever! When I saw it, I knew we had to have one. I had never seen anything like it and it works like a dream. Now I can protect Grace from the sun, carry the car seat without having to worry about a loose blanket falling off, and give her a dark place to sleep when we are out and about. Check out LuBirdBaby.com.
Hope you are having a great week!
Blessings,
Beth

A Video and A Card

Grace is 8 weeks old now! Wow! She is getting so big and still so cute. We love her so much! I also have a card to share. Finally, some papercrafting. I've done a few layouts too, but haven't taken any pictures. Will share soon! Most of it are of Grace...and a few to finish my pregnancy album.
Video first! Grace has been kicking a lot! It looks like she's marching most of the time. It makes us laugh. She's building those muscles to preparation to walking. She's also slobbering a lot! I suppose that's in preparation for teething. Here's the video...

And now for some papercrafting. I am getting really good papercrafting quickly while Grace sleeps. I bought these Papertrey stamps a while ago and had not used them...not even opened the packages. I finally opened them to create two birthday cards. They are not your typical birthday cards, but I like them.

Hope you have a wonderful week!
Blessings,
Beth

Getting A Grip

Both Grace and I have been getting a grip lately...I have been falling into a nice routine and actually getting some scrapbooking done. Yesterday, I finished two Yo Gabba Gabba albums I had started before Grace was born...I posted them both for sale on my Etsy store. I am learning to scrap fast. I have a couple of huge projects coming up and I hope I can get them done in a timely manner.
Grace is getting really good at not only grasping for things, but holding on too. She has always had a really tight grip, but she is progressively getting better at holding on. Here she is holding a toy in her hand for the first time. She held on to it for a good while and at one point held it closer to her face to get a good look. Last night, she grasped a hold of my hair and didn't let go until I opened her hand. It was cute last night, but I don't think it will be cute once she starts doing that regularly! Guess it's a good thing I like wearing my hair in a ponytail...much to Jonas' dismay!
Here Grace is looking so cute in her panda outfit. I dressed her up to run errands with me. Instead of getting in the car, we took the stroller and walked to the post office and the grocery store...Mommy needs the excercise! Lift us up in prayer...my friend Jessica is coming over Saturday night to babysit while Jonas and I go to a formal dinner with the White Horse Inn (a Christian organization we support) in San Clemente. This will be the first time we leave Grace for an extended period of time. Pray that all goes well and that I'll have something to wear that fits!!!
Blessings,
Beth