Say cheese, cheese and more cheese

This week Gracie probably was seeing spots the whole time because of the large number of flash photos we took of her. Since this is her first Halloween we wanted to capture some good photos of our smiley girl. This is a photo of our little lady and her first dolly that is almost her twin. Grace still has her blue eyes like the dolly. My dr at my six week appt gave me the all clear to get back to regular life...exercising here I come!

Last week we took a trip to my folk's office and their neighbor's house for a fall photo. Below are some photos my dad got of our little pumpkin with her pumpkin and Lois' leaves. Grace wasn't in the mood to smile that much, though we did get some good photos. Between the three Canon photogs in the family, Grace is not going to want for any additional photos of her for the rest of her life!

Oct 30th we did get her first formal photos. Luckily I have learned her usual schedule and knew she would be more inclined to smile after lunch. So, we took a trip to mall and enjoyed the Nordstrom's bathroom twice for our feedings. They know how to treat a mom with a separate room for feeding and changing. Mother's know how important this can be. As a mother, I continue to learn my limits. I cannot breastfeed my baby while walking through Costco like I saw on Saturday. Feeding at the mall bathroom did allowed Gracie to be at her best for the photos below. Jessica & Randy gave us a great outfit for Grace at the shower in July. We thought it would be fun to have her photos in her little giraffe outfit and stylish boots that you can't see. It was lucky that another baby getting photographed had a giraffe for us to borrow. Having a 3 generation photo is important to me and my mother, so my mom met us there too. Don't worry, we will be sending copies of these photos to close friends and family.

Halloween proved to be very busy because of the very warm weather. Grace enjoyed her swing and sleeping through most of it. Sunday we enjoyed our first family outing. After our first church service as a family, we headed to Golden for the afternoon. It was such a beautiful day, which Grace slept through most of. I can't believe she is six weeks already. These remaining six weeks I do plan on cherishing!

Congratulations to Ryan and Rebecca as well on their new son Graham Himango. Grace is going to have her choice of many boy friends while growing-up...yes I separated the words on purpose. We aren't even close to being ready for boyfriends. That isn't a good thought for the king of back rubs in high school. As Adam said, "80% of back rubs lead to some additional physical contact" God has a wonderful sense of humor to give Adam a daughter.

Have a wonderful week!

George & Gracie

For those that don't know, in the 50's CBS aired the Burns and Allen show that stared George Burns and Gracie Allen. Little did we know that over 50 years later we would have our own George and Gracie show. It just so happens that they were born within 45 minutes of each other. Anne and I could enjoy looking at our own George and Gracie show all day. They are just too sweet. Here are photos from our time together.

Here is George trying to kiss our Gracie.

Here is a photo of Gracie talking George to sleep

Here are just adorable photos.

We had a great time and we can't wait to watch these birthday buddies grow together.

One Month

Happy one month birthday Gracie & George.

I am going to copy a our birthday buddy's one month blog, because it was great. This is what we have learned over the past 30 days.

• She is a cuddler and lover. No matter who it is, she loves to be held by everyone and gives so much love back.


• Her wardrobe is filled with many pink and purple items. She looks adorable in the outfits and even went through three outfits in one day.


• Grace takes after her planning parents and is pretty much a three hour girl. Ever three hours she is ready to eat with only a few nightly feeds that are four hours apart.


• We are lucky that Grace doesn't cry much outside of the usual reasons. When she does cry Brandy is the first to let us know and check on her.


• She continues to develop with tracking images and she loves the paintings on her wall. They are perfect to keep her entertained while changing her.


• Like George she doesn't like being dressed, loves baths, hates leaving the baths, is losing her hair in the front, and loves spending time looking at daddy.
  

Here are a couple photos to compare her growth from the first few days of life. Her cheeks were so adorable and chubby when she was born. Those cheeks have slimmed down a little. These two animals are her lovies. The monkey was selected because that is daddy's pet name for his little girl. We bought the zebra at Frontier Ranch where we spent many of church retreats.

This past week was great. Adam did have his first night away from Grace...he will fill you in on that later. My mom came over for the night to help and spent some special time with our three generations. Today I visited a lactation consultant to help finalize a few things and I think we are going to have an even better week and I will hopefully get some more sleep as well. Enjoy the photos.

The bond between a father and daughter

The bond between a father and a daughter is hard to explain. From the beginning a little girl has her daddy wrapped around her little finger, and in Adam's case their little fingers look the same. I know that my bond with my father, though we have had ups and downs like any pair, is so strong and something that only the two of us share. The bond between a mother and a daughter is just as special and very different. There is a strong understanding and kinship between ladies. Why do I write about these relationships? Adam and Grace have had a special relationship that I have not had that much experience in since her birth. There are only a few times that she and I have had the bond.

The bond I speak of...this morning as Adam was about to change Gracie's diaper he said "now don't pee or poop while daddy is changing your diaper" Their bond is starting out really strong with her defiance. Again, right as Adam was changing between the clean and dirty diaper Grace peed all over her and luckily a little of the clean diaper this time. Grace has a crazy knack for peeing when Adam is in the middle of the diaper switch...and he doesn't even take long to perform the switch. This is a bond that I don't understand and am glad that I usually don't experience. Thank goodness for changing pad covers and the fact that we have a washer in our house. Could you imagine if we had a boy?!?!?

Hope everyone enjoyed this little glimpse into the bond between a father and daughter. I am interested to see what their future relationship will be like.

3 Weeks and loving life

Life is good for us. Grace is sleeping very well at nights and we are working on her day sleeping. She continues to be the light of our life no matter if she is crying, sleeping, or just looking at us. Grace continues to love being held, amazing isn't it :P She is obsessed with being swaddled, her pacifier, and the sounds of the ocean. Without these, no one in the Peters household would be sleeping or happy.

We had her first bath this week, and only took a few photos afterwards. She enjoyed the actual bath, when the water was warm. Grace furrowed her eyebrows when I refilled the bath with clean accidentally colder water. Here is a photo after the bath was over. The happy camper changed her tune.

Saturday we took our first road trip which went really well. Adam went to the CSU homecoming game for a networking event and the ladies were able to enjoy time with the Sandersons. Abigail finally was able to meet baby Grace, the baby in Karla's tummy. Her 6 month old brother, Ian, loved Grace and wanted to get a little closer to her...as you can see in the photos. Let's just say Phil better watch his son's grabby hands in the coming years. Adam is already protective of his little girl.

Yesterday I was able to organize my clothes and pack away most of the maternity wear. It was good that I bought some clothes a little bigger last spring, now I have some in-between clothes. Sunday will be Adam's first night away from Grace for his quarterly planning at work. My mother is coming over and the ladies will enjoy an evening at home with some good tv. I will update the blog again soon, it is harder then I thought to get some down time for sometime. The rest of the day I am going to be working on some thank yous I am behind on. Enjoy the new photos.

Diapers, Sleep, and Burping...oh my.

What a wonderfully crazy week. We have enjoyed spending our time with our daughter and getting to know her likes and dislikes. This week we have learned she doesn't like to sleep on her back for a long period of time. She of course loves to sleep in the arms of anyone, as our many visitors this weekend would back-up. Grace's two week appointment was on Monday and she is up to 8lbs, 7ozs. Like the pregnancy, she is right on target and is in the 50th percentile for weight. She continues to eat well and is starting to sleep even better at night.

This was a busy weekend with so many visitors and we were able to finally introduce Grace to her cousin Andrew. The two look adorable together and it is hard to believe they are six days apart because Grace does look bigger then Andrew. Everyone at the other Peters' household are doing well. I will update with a photo of the two later.

I continue to forge ahead as a new mother. The infection is gone though I am still working though breastfeeding. Grace is a good eater and is about every three hours. This is wonderful at night being able to get some good sleep. It is hard, but I do try and nap during the day as well. Her umbilical cord fell-off last week and seems to be healing well. I also am healing well and took my first solo drive to the grocery store on Saturday. Being without Grace was a little strange, though it was liberating to be driving myself as well. It was just in time for the dr. appts this week.

Here is a photo of our little pumpkin and her pumpkin that Grandpa Kent gave her. She wishes everyone a very happy fall! I will try and update again soon.

October 1st Already!?!?!

Let's just say things are looking brighter everyday. Like I stated in the last post, there were some complications with breast feeding that got worse actually on Monday. After reaching a 101.3 fever Monday at 2am, we scheduled a dr.'s appt on Monday morning. It turns out I was getting an infection and needed antibiotics to clear it up. My mother was able to come and help our her girls for the next two days. Can we say...life savor? Grace can't get the infection and was still able to keep her nursing up. Her two week appt is on Monday and we will see how much weight she has gained. It is amazing to look at her birth photos, with the big adorable cheeks, and now her more lean look. We will see how she keeps growing.

Yesterday was Adam's first full day back to work and he came home missing his little lady. Here is an adorable photo I got of the love between the two.

Today I am completely back to normal and making it through my first day home alone with Grace. Sorry I haven't been able to talk with as many of you as I would like. I am going to have more time now. This week we are going to start taking some photos of the little lady with the pumpkin her Grandpa Kent gave her in one of the adorable pumpkin outfits. Well, back to the little lady. We will update again soon.