Checkup and Baby David

Gracie's checkup this morning went great.  The dr. was very happy with how she is doing.  Here are her stats:

Height:  23 1/4" (95th %ile)

Weight:  11 lbs, 7.5 oz. (90th %ile) with PJs on

Head:  97th %ile (I don't remember the measurement...height and weight are enough to keep up with!)

Just to give some perspective, at this age, Jonathan was barely taller, but hadn't made it to ten pounds yet.  I have vowed not to compare them too much, but I think this is a harmless comparison.  Right?  

I'm so thankful for all the weight Gracie has gained.  We have worked hard for every ounce.  I am only pumping once a day now, and she needs 5 ounces of "extra" milk per day to gain weight.  If she gets less, she stalls out or loses weight.  (Big thanks again to Linnea for lending me the scale.  Without it, I wouldn't have my magic number -5- or know exactly what she needed.  Whew!)  I wish she'd just nurse without help, but I'm also thankful that I no longer need to pump after every feeding or try to get her to drink three ounces extra after every meal, which I did for awhile.  Ugh.

She has been smiling a lot as well as concentrating more on her toys and batting at them now and then.  Jonathan really loves her and loves talking to her and "playing" with her.  I had to run to the bathroom this morning, and when I came back, he was holding her hand.  He told me he loved her and was taking care of her.  We're so thankful for both our kiddos.

After Gracie's checkup, we were able to sneak in a visit to see sweet baby David.  Here he is!

I even got to hold him.  He's perfect.  He felt so light!  His mom and grandma say he looks just like big brother Andrew did.  Welcome to the world, David!

Congratulations Are in Order!

Gracie's buddies have been born!  My two friends from the baby shower have had their babies:

Julie's baby, Jackson Michael, was born Saturday, 8 lbs, 7 oz.

Leslie's baby, David Michael, was born yesterday,  7 lbs, 13 oz.

Everyone is doing fine!  We haven't met either baby yet, but hope to soon.  We didn't get to visit Julie in the hospital because the hospital frowns on children visiting.  We hope to see her at home soon.  Leslie is still in the hospital (one that does not prohibit children!) and we'll try to see her today, depending on how things go.

Gracie has a checkup with the pediatrician today.  I'll post about how it goes as soon as I can!

The Magic Touch

Jeff did a temporary fix on Jonathan's glasses with his soldering iron. Good thing I have a multi-talented husband! He tried to make them feel comfortable for Jonathan afterwards, but Jonathan couldn't be satisfied. Jeff suggested I give it a try in the morning. Here's the end of their conversation:

Jonathan: You have the magic touch with the baby, but not with the glasses.

Jeff: What about Mommy-does she have the magic touch with your glasses?

Jonathan: I don't know, but she doesn't have the magic touch with the baby.

Getting Out of Dodge

On Saturday, Jeff got all of us out of town.  It took some effort, but it was worth it and I'm so glad he initiated the trip.  It got my mind off of our nursing woes and helped us to build some fun memories as a family of four.  And, Gracie got to see the ocean before she turned six weeks old (today.)  Not bad!

Jonathan and Jeff give her a post-meal bottle

Jonathan's first ferris wheel ride

The height bothered Jeff a little, but didn't bother Jonathan at all!

My kiddos

Jonathan went from not wanting to see the ocean at first to wanting to be barefoot to wanting to dip his feet in it.  He got really excited about making marks in the sand.

This was one of the last happy, dry moments on the beach.  Jonathan ran away from a wave and fell face first into the water.  He was not happy about it but recovered quickly and was a pretty good sport about walking to the car in wet, sandy clothes.

He's old enough that I don't think about bringing extra clothes on trips.  But, I did have receiving blankets that he was happy to use in the car.  It was an adventurous end to an exhausting but super fun day together.

How to Sleep...

when you have a loud big brother!

What to Do Before Church

Build an "electric helicopter!"

Sleeping

I love the fingers up against the wall.  Looks like he was in the middle of...something.

Pictures from Today

"This vehicle is super powerful!"

(Jonathan's glasses broke.  Not because of something he did, but they just finally wore out.  It's been 11 mos., which I think is pretty good when you're four!  Unfortunately, Pearle Vision is no longer Pearle Vision and also does not accept our insurance, so I'm working on finding a new eye doc and finding out whether we can go ahead and get the yearly exam now along with the new glasses instead of waiting until May.)

Snuggling with Grandma

Trying so hard to hold up her head...tricky when your head is so heavy!

As far as feeding goes, Gracie is gaining weight, but only because I'm coaxing (coercing?) her to drink extra milk from the bottle after most feedings.  Each time we "wean" off of pumping and supplemental feeding, she stops gaining.  So for now, I'm still pumping and bottle feeding.  I know the newborn period is hard for everyone with a new baby.  This has definitely made it hard for me.  She's obviously totally worth it, but it's overwhelming sometimes.  I look forward to the day when every feeding doesn't involve concern over whether she's eating enough.  Thank goodness for family and friends who help out.

Jonathan's Wisdom

J:  An oregon is an instrument.

M:  Oh, yes, an organ.

J:  Oregon.

J:  Real extruction [construction] workers are mans, not ladies.

M:  Well, ladies can be construction workers, too, if they want to.

J:  Yes, in faraway states, there are ladies who are extruction workers, but not in our state.

So Much for Swaddling...

But who needs a swaddling blanket when it's 97 degrees out??

Gracie was up every couple of hours to eat last night.  I knew that five hours was a fluke, but it sure was nice.  Good thing she's so adorable...

Smiles

Jeff's mom left early this morning, and we had a good visit. She spent lots of time giving attention to Jonathan, which they both really enjoyed.  If you're local, you'll see lots of new flowers in the yard that she planted, too.  And I got a little extra time to start working on birth announcements.

Grace had her first smile at four weeks but got really smiley at five weeks.  Most of her smiles have gone to Cheryl.  I remember now (from Jonathan) that I don't get many of the early smiles...I figure my face is way too familiar to produce many grins, but that's OK!  I'll get them later.  Here are a couple for you.

We are still watching the weight gain issue closely, but things are going much better than they were.  I still have the pump on hand but don't use it very often.  She still needs a little more milk than she is getting, and it's challenging to get her to eat it.  We're in a good routine of eat, awake, sleep, repeat, but times are totally random.  She went for a long stretch (five hours!) between feedings last night but doesn't seem to be able to go longer than 2 or 2 1/2 hours between feedings during the day.  And I'm counting from the beginning of a feeding to the beginning of a feeding.  So, we're learning each day...it's a very sweet and challenging time.

PS-Love that laundry in the background, yes?  That's reality!

Ira is Four

For those of you who have followed Ira's story and prayed for him, you'll enjoy this post.  He is four today!

Quote for the Day

Jonathan's new hobby is telling Grace what's going on in her world.  It's very sweet.  I laughed at what he told her this morning:

"Your eyes are open, Gracie!  Mommy is feeding you!  It's fresh milk!"

One Month Old

When Jonathan was a baby, I took pictures of him on each of his month-birthdays.  I probably took pictures of him on every other day, too, but I made a special effort on those special days.  I'll do my best to do the same with Grace.  I'll be taking her to have her pictures taken at JCPenney soon, too, but since the first attempt didn't go well at all, I'm going to wait until she is a better eater.  Hopefully soon.

Here are Grace's one-month pictures (from yesterday.  Yesterday afternoon didn't go so well as Grace was mostly crying or eating.  Jeff's mom came to visit today, so I have a little more time to post.)  "Everyone" says that parents don't take pictures of their second child, but I don't think that's the case here!  Grace started smiling real smiles earlier this week, but I haven't caught any of them yet.  As you can see, Jonathan had to get in on the photo action.

How to Sew a Messenger Bag in 32 Minutes

Click here to check it out!  Hat tip to Design Mom.

Because I will sew again someday!

Giggle and Grin

If you need a little laugh this morning, take a few seconds to read this short post from Jen's blog.  I cracked up when I read it!

Easter Pictures...Better Late than Never!

After a great morning at church, we went to Linnea and Fernando's house for Easter lunch.

Gracie was alert for most of the afternoon, so we got to pass her around a lot.  Here she is with my grandma-one of the Evelyns that she is named for.  The other one is Jeff's grandma.

Jonathan hunting eggs with Natalie.  He really got into it this year.

Blowing bubbles with Grandpa

Such a big boy!

My dad supplied this cap.  Jeff and I thought it made him look like a little farmer.

Sweet

Milk

For those of you who are wondering...

Last week was our week to wean Gracie off of pumping/bottle feeding.  We did that, and her weight stalled out and dropped slightly over the weekend.  So, Sunday afternoon, I started adding a little bit of extra milk into her feedings again, and she has had good gains for the past couple of days.  So, now the trick is going to be finding a happy medium.  I'm still hopeful that we'll be done with the pump by the end of this week.  I'll keep experimenting to figure out what she needs to gain on her own.  The good news is that she's closer to 11 pounds now than to ten!  And she'll be a month old already on Thursday.  Amazing.  We're learning her better each day and figuring out what her cries mean and how to get her to sleep better in the late evenings, which are her difficult times.  Overall, she doesn't cry very much at all, so we're a little spoiled!

On a totally different subject, I have been overwhelmed by everyone's kindness surrounding Gracie's birth.  From gifts to meals to just plain help, everyone has been wonderful...even people that I don't know well.  And it has made me think to myself, "Did I do that for them?  Did I make them a meal when they had a baby?  Did I invite their child over to play when they needed help?  Did I bring them groceries or a gift?"  And the answer, unfortunately, is that I did only sometimes.  So, I'll be inspired in the future to keep my eyes open to opportunities to help other friends when they have a big life event...I have certainly received lots of kindness that I can pass along! 

Sunday Best

Here are Jonathan and Gracie before we went to church.  Someday soon I'll be trying to get them both to smile at the same time.  In this picture, I couldn't even get them both looking at the camera, but it didn't bother me at all.  We're just so thankful to have both of our sweet kiddos.  We forgot to get a family picture.  I'm still quite sleep deprived and was probably doing well to have everyone dressed!

Gracie's darling little dress was the first dress she was ever given-it's from Jen and her family.  I love it!  Notice that Grace has a bow in her hair.  I have been coached by several mothers of girls that she has enough hair for bows.  That may be a bit of a stretch, but it was fun for a picture!

Jeff really likes to give Jonathan an Easter basket each year, and this year, I got to put it together.  The best part was these two little Lego sets.  Target had some tiny Lego sets in their Easter section, and we gave one police set and one fire set to Jonathan.  Here they are, all set up on display for you.  He was so excited!  I wasn't kidding when I said they were little, was I?

Coloring Eggs

"Actually," says Jonathan, "we didn't color eggs.  We painted them."  I think Jeff and I are a little tired of the word, "actually."  Of course, it's partly our fault, because we know that Jonathan copies our speech patterns...ugh.

As we teach Jonathan about the true meaning of Easter, I never know exactly how to explain why in the world there are eggs involved in the holiday.  I guess there are some things we just do for fun without needing a bigger reason!

He is Risen!

We hope that you experience the joy and hope of Easter today.  He is risen, indeed!

Jake and Laura

Our dear friends, Jacob and Laura, were here for a visit on Friday.

They always give lots of love and attention to Jonathan, who loves them right back!  This time, they brought him these finger puppets.  He was pretty excited to wear them all.

This was their first time to meet Grace.  Jonathan always had to get a piece of the action.

iPhones.  What else can I say?

Gracie with Laura and Jacob

Thanks for the sweet visit, friends!

(You can tell by the number of pictures that I got that I'm not spending quite as much time feeding Grace as I was when Lucas and Cherissa were here!  It's a relief.  However, Grace's weight gain has stalled out for the past two days, so I'm hoping that she gains tomorrow and that we don't have to backtrack to more pumping and supplementing.  We'll see...)

A Benefit of Having a Sister

Gracie received this beautiful quilt from her great aunt Linda.  Jonathan thought it was perfect for snuggling, and Grace didn't mind!

Her quilt gave him renewed interest in his quilt that my dear friend, Jo, made for him before he was born.  He was happy to snuggle under one of his own!

Clean Hair

and a hairbow...

and a watchful big brother.

(It's not generally this serene around here, so I thought it was worth capturing the moment!)

The New Buddies Meet

On Friday, my dear friend Kathy came by to visit.  She had an unplanned visit to the area, and I was excited to see her and Olivia!  She had never met Grace before, so this was a fun opportunity to introduce them and have some time for grownup chatting.

Olivia is four months older than Grace.  Kathy's son, Isaac, is three months younger than Jonathan.  What a treat to have boys and girls that are close in age!  I loved seeing Olivia smile and roll around.  Her hair may be starting to curl, too.  What a cutie!  Grace still wants to stay curled up in a ball, as you can see.

The baby with the bigger foot is ours.  Oh, my.

Olivia was interested in Gracie.  I enjoyed seeing what we'll be experiencing in a few short months, but I want to soak in the sweet new baby time, too.

And here are Isaac and Jonathan when they first met.  We didn't get car seat pictures of the girls since they were awake and not in the mood.  We are so thankful for our sweet kiddos and the chance to watch them grow together!