11 months & a fun vortex of a day

So we weren't as quick as we thought we would be on updating the blog. Work, life, and prep for a party kept us busy during the nights.

Gracie updates:

• Gracie now officially says many words, Mama, Dada, Da (dog), Ba (ball), and just on Friday started Hi. Also while reading "Ollie the Stomper" she actually said Ollie.


• She is now very confident in standing on her own. So confident you can see in her 11 month photos a few scraps on her face from the few falls she has had trying to move from one thing to another.


• We are lucky that Gracie still doesn't have stranger anxiety, though she does love to lay her head on our chest when she sees us again.


• The lady loves all types of food. Yogurt or ice cream still are her favorites.


• Any baby, child, or nice animal in a book is given a kiss. Kisses are thrown out with no abandonment.


• The girl has got rhythm. Music on the radio, pumped into a store, or just made by a funny parent, leads to Gracie bobbing up and down.


• Shopping also is a new past time as long as she can play in the racks like her mother.


• Still no teeth!

This past weekend we had some fun. After a crazy Bunco night at the house on Friday, I headed up to Fort Collins to watch the Sanderson kids. Though I missed Gracie it was so much fun to enjoy time with their kids and see what my future could look like. Boy am I glad that I have 3 more years to prep for an almost 4 year old. While I was gone there was some good Daddy daughter time that included pool time, church, and lots of loving. Gracie was also lucky to have a brand new house for play. We now have a new chair and the box it came in is her playhouse. Grandpa cut holes in the box for windows bringing many laughs while playing inside or out.

This week we are getting back to a bit of more normal life only to be altered next week. My work has allowed me to travel to Kansas City for work and Ms. Gracie will be coming to visit with the Guenthners. Can't wait for the fun!! Here is a photo of our little frog in her frog coat from Auntie Jessica. Way too cute!

Here are photos from our vortex of a day. The day started with a sick puppy (Brandy) throwing up on the floor once, then twice, then a baby girl gagging on something to produce a little too, then dog again, and again with a final activity of the night...you knew it would happen some time, but I just wasn't ready for it today... Gracie pooped in the bathtub. We of course had to get her out, clean her up in the sink and then clean the tub. Seeing her in the sink just reminds me of how much she continues to grow. I am not ready for her 1st birthday!!

Enjoy the photos and your week!

One day shy of 11 months

Where has the time gone? Gracie continues to perfect her crawling and has decided that she really wants to try this walking thing. Now she wants to play standing on her own two feet when she can. This has led to a few diggers and some tears that are just a part of learning. Now with her walking toys she is getting the hang of the walking thing. I have no doubt she will be walking by her birthday.

You know you might be too busy when you can't find your day planner and you don't remember what you have done the past 10 days. We will work our way backwards.

Gracie's week has been a bit of a shuffle. Nicole had to leave town unexpectedly so Grace is with three different people during the day, though hasn't complained since she has had playmates at each location. She is just the happy little lady. This past weekend we had some good times with the Peters. Papa J is near us now and we had a wonderful Sunday lunch with the family. Saturday night was a great date night with the theatre, picnic, and babysitting by Grandma and Papa. What more could we ask for?

Now I remember the weekend before, how could I forget? Our friend Kacey was a saint on Saturday. After a day of hiking she had us over for dinner and then watched Gracie while Adam and I played in Central City to celebrate a friend's birthday. We even left the place with some extra dough and Gracie was pretty good. Again, we are blessed with great friends.

Here is a photo to tide everyone over until the 11 month photo shoot. She loves her cheerios and yogurt! It doesn't matter where they are on her face either.

Countrygirl - Ride 'em cowgirl

Another busy couple have weeks have kept me from updating the blog, which is bad because so much has been happening. We were able to enjoy some time at the farm the past weekend. Adam and I were busy painting while Gracie had some great visitors to keep her busy. The first visitor was my Aunt Nancy from Oklahoma. Gracie sure loved to wave at her and hear her laugh. Here is a great photo of them together. Sadly I forgot to bring in the wonderful books she gave Gracie as a gift, the Gossie & Gertie books. Love them! Our family friend also came to entertain Gracie, which she loved.


The next day we were able to spend some time with the Sandersons as well. Our goddaughter Abigail decided that she liked playing and helping Gracie. Ian, her brother who is only 6 months older then Gracie, is a whole different ballgame when you are playing. Every day it amazes me how much Gracie is changing. She loves to play now with other kids, wants to be around other kids, and especially loves older kids about 3 - 4. Abigail was a wonderful friend teaching her how to play with this toy. At the pool this week Mom was chopped liver and the 3 year old in the baby pool was so entertaining for 30+ mins. Now that Gracie can move around easier she is seeing so much more. One of her favorite items is a doll I got in S. Korea years ago for Great Grandma Peters. Grandma Jeanne thought an official doll would be a great gift and she was right. Here is Gracie looking a lot like her dolly that she loves to give kisses to.

This week Gracie has also started testing the waters everywhere, literally as well as figuratively. The 3rd she started to climb the stairs at the house and got up 3+ stairs before we started working on going down them correctly. Tuesday we got her out of bed to find her standing in her crib. TV components and Brandy's water bowl are her favorite "No" areas to test daily. She wants to keep trying to see if we will let her play with them or if she can sneak some play time past us. We have been learning to have eyes in the back of our heads. Here she is trying new locations for play.

Brandy is the best dog "horse" in the world. They both are starting to enjoy playing together or at least being around each other. Brandy sure isn't a fan of the baby gates and their ability to keep her away from us. Now she is even closer to us while Gracie is around so she can make sure she is on the right side of the gate.

This weekend we are looking forward to some fun as a family with our friends. Some great news for our family is the move of Papa J to Denver. Gracie's only living great-grandparent will now be in Denver. We look forward to seeing their relationship grow over the years. Until next week.

Where'd she go

Here is her 10 month photo...

Over the past week Gracie has added a few new "tricks" to her bag. Crawling is now something that she has mastered and quickly moved past. Gracie's daycare buddy Addison is crawling, talking, and Miss Social. This makes Gracie want to do all of those things to keep up with Addison. Gracie is now pulling herself up on items to be standing and is testing the waters with cruising. She even learned to say Mama, Dada, and Dag (Dog) this week, though she isn't always using the right word with the correct person. Mama is the lucky word she uses when she wakes in the morning since she knows I am usually the one to get her out of bed. Mommy's ears are usually ready and it was less then a month ago we stopped breastfeeding. Her other two big advancements involve leaving. She can now wave goodbye, which is more of a beauty queen wave or a scooping motion with the wrist. In addition to goodbye she is blowing kisses using the back of her hand. How can you not think she is just adorable?!?!

This week Gracie was a busy lady. Nicole likes to keep her so busy and entertained. I love it and I know Gracie does too. There were trips to the park, play dates, the aquarium, and a little time at home. Honestly if I were home with her I don't think we would venture out to do everything and Nicole takes Gracie and her 18 month old. WOW. Gracie did have a fun play date with Kacey and Seeley. Seeley was nice enough to give us some clothes too that are just the right season that will be a wonderful addition to her wardrobe. All I can say is that we are blessed to have such wonderful friends to give us toys, clothes, and so many other baby items that we use daily!! Back to the weekend...Saturday we enjoyed the afternoon celebrating cousin Alex's 4th birthday. He is such a wonderful cousin and someone Gracie wants to be with all the time. The best part of the party was of course the ice cream that she wouldn't stop asking for with an "uh, uh, uh." We created an ice cream monster!! Here is a photo of the birthday boy, Gracie, cousin Andrew, and their cousin Scott.

Sunday we enjoyed the worship at Craig Hospital and Gracie even stayed quiet because she learned she had a tongue. I on the other hand had a horrible time staying quiet and not laughing too loudly at our adorable daughter just sticking out her tongue at everything. So sweet. We visited our friend's Jody and Mike to meet month-old Elizabeth. It is hard to remember Gracie that small! The whole family seems to be loving life. Finally it was dinner with the Peters at Maggiano's. We knew Gracie would have a ball people watching, we just didn't know how much, and the attention the balloons at the neighboring table would get. I foresee many a balloons for her birthday party to keep her busy.

- Here is driving Ms. Daisy in her sun hat!

2 weeks time and 10 months old

It has been a little too long since our last blog and so much has changed. Grace finally got to spend time with her only living Great-Grandparent, Papa J. Margie's father was so excited to meet Gracie and spend time with her. She especially loved his excitement when he saw her and the waves he always gave her. Here is a cute photo of their almost toothless grins. We were also able to see the rest of the family on the Western slope, see their new houses, spend time with her second cousin Rayah...who took her on a little stroll in the drive way of Adam's Aunt and Uncle.

What an adorable photo. Grace didn't have a problem with the drive or the lack of sleep due to the packed weekend schedule that did allow for a visit with the Mullers and my godson. Adam was able to get Gracie's deck swing up on Sunday. She loves to be able to watch the neighbor kids have their fun while she swings.

The next week I traveled to Atlanta for a couple days. This is was longest I had been away from Gracie which was so hard for me. She started to learn to crawl the week of July 6th and mastered it while I was gone. Luckily Gracie had a lot of family to help her. The carpets were cleaned just-in-time, though there is a lot more baby-proofing to go on. Then I arrived home on Friday I was greeted with a wonderful hug and kisses from my girl. She did make me feel missed and I know I sure missed her. Saturday we were able to enjoy a hike with our church group, time at the pool, and a night with Adam. Today was wonderful too because her birthday buddy George came over with his Mommy. Boy did those two have a ball at the pool. Anne hopefully got some good photos there...here is one from the house. From month to month you can really see them change and how they interact with each other. They played so nicely together, tried to give each other kisses, and even talked while we were walking.

Big changes this month:

• Crawling - Like we thought, once she got going there was no stopping her. She concurred her last inside obstacle...non-carpeted floors. Next are the stairs.


• Singing - Now she likes to sing. When I sing her a scale of La la's, she tries her best to repeat it back to me. So sweet.


• Feet - Her favorite item to chew on besides paper.


• Electronics - Anything electronic looking, VCR, remote control, cell phones, etc. catch her eye.


• Dolly - Adam's Grandmother Dottie collected dolls. I bought her one from S. Korea and brought it back with me upon her death. Gracie saw that doll on top of a bookshelf in the study. She likes it so much that she purposely goes into the study so she can play with it.


• Brandy - Dog might be her first word because she loves her doggy. She has learned that Brandy's tail doesn't taste very good, since everything is going in her mouth now that still has no teeth.

Things keep changing and I am sure the next month will be a huge eye-opener for me. Our little baby is now on her way to become a toddler and I am not ready. Just this morning she was on her knees to greet us in the crib. We moved the mattress down to the lowest level to be safe, which is tearing my heart out. At least she threw me a cuddle bone this weekend because we got to nap together on the couch Saturday for an hour. HEAVEN!!! Adam is at planning tonight and I am off to bed to be on Grace duty for the night, which is usually pretty easy for our happy little lady. Her birthday photos will be posted tomorrow...wow 10 months already!

A Whole New Ball game...

Tuesday the 7th Gracie got to experience her first baseball game with the O'Reillys, minus the moving George. Our seats were in center field lending to the perfection location to get a photo with Dinger. Here is the family photo with Dinger and Gracie even smiling, while my hair looks nothing like it is beautifully flowing in the wind. She loved to people watch, visit with Dinger (though he did get a little too close for Gracie at the end...her face was priceless), and the excitement. The evening out as a family was wonderful.

Maybe it was the fact that Gracie knew George wasn't at the ball game because he can crawl or that she wants to keep up with all the kids she loves to play with, but Gracie officially started crawling last night. She has gotten so close and continued to move. This weekend she even started getting frustrated that she couldn't move like she wanted to. While we are visiting with Papa J this weekend, Adam's maternal grandfather, she will be able to perfect this new ability. Boy are we in for a world of change. Adam's Sunday project is going to include the baby gate at the top of the stairs. More trinkets are going to be packed away for some time for a wonderful reason. Here is a video to show you her very early baby crawls!

Miss Independence Day

How time flies when you are having fun and dealing with a sick baby. Thursday the 25th Gracie had her 9 month appt. She is now 17lbs 13oz (30%), 28 1/2" (75%) and her head is still 85%. The doctor said she is a normal little girl. Everyone was amazed when the dr said she had a horrible ear infection in her right year. Gracie didn't seem any different to let us know she was sick. She started her first round of antibiotics.

Adam and Grandpa Peters completed the Bike MS ride that Friday and Saturday. They amazingly rode 150 miles on a bicycle in two days. This is Adams 11 year and I lost count with Neil. Our time with Gracie that weekend didn't go very well. She was running a mild fever all weekend and we officially had our worst sleeping night ever with her. Nothing would calm her down. After researching a little, I thought she might be having an allergic reaction to the Amoxicillin. Monday her fever broke and off to daycare. When I picked her up from day care she had a rash that the dr wanted to see. It was determined to be a rash caused by a medicine allergy. Tuesday it was still around and even scare Nicole, her daycare lady, because she though Gracie was sunburned in addition to the rash. Now that time has passed we learned her buddy Ian ended up having the same symptoms a week after we visited when Gracie was in her prime contagious period. We are now going to check with the dr to see if it was possibly Roseola.

Daddy is done with his ride, yeah....I missed him and don't like being sick.

That episode actually kept us pretty busy over the past week. We were able to visit with our friend Ileen, her son Max, and meet her new daughter Kate. So cute and I am so glad they are moving a little closer and only one time zone away. We were lucky and had Friday the 3rd off to celebrate the holiday. What better way to celebrate our country's independence then with a trip to the spa with my mother? It was a much needed relaxing time after a week with a sick baby. My back ached after holding Gracie so much. Looking back, I did cherish my time trying to calm Gracie. She is just our world and we would do anything for her. Adam was able to enjoy some Daddy daughter time that day. That night we visited with our friend's the Himangos. This past couple weeks have been filled with rain showers off and on. This weekend was no exception. We were forced to be inside for sometime to stay out of the rain. This did allow for some great footage of Gracie giving 8 month old Graham a few kisses, her newer "trick."

Happy 4th of July. For the second year we had a BBQ at a neighbors house to celebrate the 4th. After spending some quick chatting time with the Shiers, we headed in the rain to the party. Thank God for 3 car garages. We were able to chat and enjoy time with our neighbors and friends. God Bless America & Carol for the outfit :) Standing is a new favorite thing as well as starting to get on my knees and rock. (will post the photo again soon)

Like I said, it was so darn cold out here is outfit number two. We had to put on our KU outfit...it is crimson, red and blue.

After a later night for everyone, Sunday was nice enough to let us sleep-in until 8am. I felt like a new person. Her schedule was off the whole day after that, so we skipped church. I had planned all weekend to get photos done and it still worked for Sunday. Here are some photos, as well as her Jayhawk outfit above. We are so lucky to have such a happy and healthy little girl. God Bless America and God Bless our family in the coming year!

9 Month photos, and the originals do not have Gracie's feet cut off. The photo was too big to scan. Loving the photos :)

Wishing you all a wonderful week. This weekend we are going to drive to Grand Junction and visit Gracie's only living Great-Grandparent. Margie's father Papa J is very excited to meet his newest Great-Granddaughter. More updates to come.