Tummy time...
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| Baby Gracia~ |
...she's not a big fan ;)
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
The Bucket Brigade~
Come bail away, come bail away, come bail away with me...
Yeah, sometimes I'm corny like that :)
We, ummm, enjoyed the effects of Hurricane Irene this week. This hurricane hit the coast of NC and then proceeded to pummel the East Coast all the way up into New England. On one hand, the hurricane ended up being much weaker than originally forecasted, and therefore, did not cause as much damage as at first expected. On the other hand, the damage it did cause in certain areas was really bad...some areas are just devastated. When I see the pictures, I wonder what would have happened if the storm had stayed more powerful. It was technically only a Category 1 when it hit the coast, but it was a huge storm...and she left her mark...all the way up into Vermont.
The storm came ashore near Moorhead City, NC, tore through the coastal areas and Outer Banks, walloped the Virginia Beach area, cruised up the Delmarva Peninsula, pummeled the Jersey shore, hit Long Island and proceeded to continue dropping amazing amounts of water up into the New England states. It has left flooding and destruction in its path.
We were expecting a pretty tough time of it here in the Philly area. We have already had the wettest August on record. The ground here is simply saturated and cannot hold a drop more...and then Irene decided to add to the water amounts. Flooding was a huge concern with the storm approaching as well as power outages.
We prepared by having extra water on hand, gathering the candles and flashlights, and making sure our radio had batteries. We have a gas stove and can use the burners without electricity, so I wasn't too worried about food or cooking.
I was a bit concerned about our basement though. Basements around here get water in them pretty easily...it is not uncommon at all. We have a french drain and sump pump in our basement and have never had a real problem with water. But, with the ground already so wet and the expectation that we would lose power, I was concerned that we could easily flood if the sump pump could not work. Thankfully, Steve and I had really gotten a lot of cleaning up, cleaning out, and organizing done in our basement in the spring and summer. Steve brought his guitars and amp and some other music equipment up out of the basement in case. We had a lot of kids clothes stored down there, but they were in plastic tubs, so I thought they would be fine. Other items were stored on shelves...not much was on the floor.
Well, the storm arrived...it rained all day, Saturday, August 27th. Then the wind began to pick up. We lost power at 10 that night...uh oh, the worse part of the storm had not even arrived yet. We all slept in one room (mine and Steve's)...the one with the least amount of possible damage from any falling trees. And thankfully, we slept pretty well through that dark and stormy night. We woke up around 6 and found about 2 to 3 inches of water in the basement. Our basement is not completely level, so one corner had about a 1/2 inch of water and the opposite corner had 3 to 4 inches. Well, what's done is done, so we didn't panic...instead we heated up some coffee and enjoyed a cup. Steve tried to figure out a way to siphon some of the water out while I tried to figure out a way to go ahead and start working on the water situation. So, after our coffee, we went back down and noticed that the water was rising...time for action! Steve worked on his siphon plan while the girls and I began hand bailing the basement. I put a big bucket on a chair, the girls used their smaller buckets to fill it, then I trucked it upstairs and emptied it. While I was carrying one bucket, the girls worked on filling up another...when I got back with the empty bucket, I traded it for the filled one...what a workout! Unfortunately, Steve could not get the siphon plan working, but the girls and I were actually making progress...we all took a break.
During breaktime, we checked on our neighbors around us...just about everyone had water. Our next door neighbor had 18 inches in his basement...so did one neighbor across the street...yikes! Then back to work we went...this time Steve was the big bucket lugger while the girls and I rotated watching Gracia and bucket bailing in the basement. It was a great morning of teamwork...the girls were wonderful workers! We had the basement cleared of standing water by 10:30 that morning...boy, were we tired!
Then Steve took our truck and helped our neighbor get a generator to power the pump for his basement. The fire department arrived right after Steve and our neighbor left. They were checking on homes and families and taking a list of names of homes to come help pump out with their truck...wow, super kudos to our local fire department! The guys got back and got the generator going...we also hooked up to it and our sump pump unloaded gallon after gallon of water out of our basement even though there was no more standing water in it...crazy! Here we are, two days later, and the pump is still coming on every now and then...sending water down our front slope. Thankfully, the post storm weather has been B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L and we are enjoying cooler temps, low humidity, and bright, sunny skies...and we are drying out :)
Our power was restored early afternoon the next day...much earlier than we had expected. Now it was time to assess the damage. Thankfully, no major appliances suffered any damage...phew! We found a few boxes that took on water and so we had to deal with them...toss or salvage. I found one more box of kids clothes that got water damaged, so I quickly did a load of laundry and they are fine. We had some boxes of packing material we had been saving that got wet...down to the curb they went. Some books we had intended on giving away got damaged and had to go in the garbage too. A few more things had to go bye-bye, but it wasn't that bad.
The carpet, however, was bad. It was squishy and we quickly realized that a shop vac was not going to do the job at hand. Steve rented a carpet steam cleaner that evening and we made plans to tackle Operation Dry Dock the next day. We spent hours and hours and hours on Monday working on the carpet in the basement. First Steve simply used the machine to suck up water, then he did a pass with carpet cleaner...and it was working! I was there as a mover of things in the way, organizer of what was left, shop vac user, fan mover person, and for moral support...as well as taking care of Gracia :) Steve was the one doing the real work...he and his S.U.X. 2000 (the name he gave the carpet cleaner) made quite a pair!
So, now we continue to move fans around while the last bit dries. It looks so nice and clean down there now...I just have to repack a few more things. All in all, we fared pretty well.
I am so thankful for God's protection in the storm~
Have a blessed day~
Rach
Yeah, sometimes I'm corny like that :)
We, ummm, enjoyed the effects of Hurricane Irene this week. This hurricane hit the coast of NC and then proceeded to pummel the East Coast all the way up into New England. On one hand, the hurricane ended up being much weaker than originally forecasted, and therefore, did not cause as much damage as at first expected. On the other hand, the damage it did cause in certain areas was really bad...some areas are just devastated. When I see the pictures, I wonder what would have happened if the storm had stayed more powerful. It was technically only a Category 1 when it hit the coast, but it was a huge storm...and she left her mark...all the way up into Vermont.
The storm came ashore near Moorhead City, NC, tore through the coastal areas and Outer Banks, walloped the Virginia Beach area, cruised up the Delmarva Peninsula, pummeled the Jersey shore, hit Long Island and proceeded to continue dropping amazing amounts of water up into the New England states. It has left flooding and destruction in its path.
We were expecting a pretty tough time of it here in the Philly area. We have already had the wettest August on record. The ground here is simply saturated and cannot hold a drop more...and then Irene decided to add to the water amounts. Flooding was a huge concern with the storm approaching as well as power outages.
We prepared by having extra water on hand, gathering the candles and flashlights, and making sure our radio had batteries. We have a gas stove and can use the burners without electricity, so I wasn't too worried about food or cooking.
I was a bit concerned about our basement though. Basements around here get water in them pretty easily...it is not uncommon at all. We have a french drain and sump pump in our basement and have never had a real problem with water. But, with the ground already so wet and the expectation that we would lose power, I was concerned that we could easily flood if the sump pump could not work. Thankfully, Steve and I had really gotten a lot of cleaning up, cleaning out, and organizing done in our basement in the spring and summer. Steve brought his guitars and amp and some other music equipment up out of the basement in case. We had a lot of kids clothes stored down there, but they were in plastic tubs, so I thought they would be fine. Other items were stored on shelves...not much was on the floor.
Well, the storm arrived...it rained all day, Saturday, August 27th. Then the wind began to pick up. We lost power at 10 that night...uh oh, the worse part of the storm had not even arrived yet. We all slept in one room (mine and Steve's)...the one with the least amount of possible damage from any falling trees. And thankfully, we slept pretty well through that dark and stormy night. We woke up around 6 and found about 2 to 3 inches of water in the basement. Our basement is not completely level, so one corner had about a 1/2 inch of water and the opposite corner had 3 to 4 inches. Well, what's done is done, so we didn't panic...instead we heated up some coffee and enjoyed a cup. Steve tried to figure out a way to siphon some of the water out while I tried to figure out a way to go ahead and start working on the water situation. So, after our coffee, we went back down and noticed that the water was rising...time for action! Steve worked on his siphon plan while the girls and I began hand bailing the basement. I put a big bucket on a chair, the girls used their smaller buckets to fill it, then I trucked it upstairs and emptied it. While I was carrying one bucket, the girls worked on filling up another...when I got back with the empty bucket, I traded it for the filled one...what a workout! Unfortunately, Steve could not get the siphon plan working, but the girls and I were actually making progress...we all took a break.
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| Thanks Hurricane Irene~ |
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| Hard working members of the Bucket Brigade~ |
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| This sweet one enjoyed just hanging out~ |
During breaktime, we checked on our neighbors around us...just about everyone had water. Our next door neighbor had 18 inches in his basement...so did one neighbor across the street...yikes! Then back to work we went...this time Steve was the big bucket lugger while the girls and I rotated watching Gracia and bucket bailing in the basement. It was a great morning of teamwork...the girls were wonderful workers! We had the basement cleared of standing water by 10:30 that morning...boy, were we tired!
Then Steve took our truck and helped our neighbor get a generator to power the pump for his basement. The fire department arrived right after Steve and our neighbor left. They were checking on homes and families and taking a list of names of homes to come help pump out with their truck...wow, super kudos to our local fire department! The guys got back and got the generator going...we also hooked up to it and our sump pump unloaded gallon after gallon of water out of our basement even though there was no more standing water in it...crazy! Here we are, two days later, and the pump is still coming on every now and then...sending water down our front slope. Thankfully, the post storm weather has been B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L and we are enjoying cooler temps, low humidity, and bright, sunny skies...and we are drying out :)
Our power was restored early afternoon the next day...much earlier than we had expected. Now it was time to assess the damage. Thankfully, no major appliances suffered any damage...phew! We found a few boxes that took on water and so we had to deal with them...toss or salvage. I found one more box of kids clothes that got water damaged, so I quickly did a load of laundry and they are fine. We had some boxes of packing material we had been saving that got wet...down to the curb they went. Some books we had intended on giving away got damaged and had to go in the garbage too. A few more things had to go bye-bye, but it wasn't that bad.
The carpet, however, was bad. It was squishy and we quickly realized that a shop vac was not going to do the job at hand. Steve rented a carpet steam cleaner that evening and we made plans to tackle Operation Dry Dock the next day. We spent hours and hours and hours on Monday working on the carpet in the basement. First Steve simply used the machine to suck up water, then he did a pass with carpet cleaner...and it was working! I was there as a mover of things in the way, organizer of what was left, shop vac user, fan mover person, and for moral support...as well as taking care of Gracia :) Steve was the one doing the real work...he and his S.U.X. 2000 (the name he gave the carpet cleaner) made quite a pair!
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| Steve and the S.U.X. 2000~ |
So, now we continue to move fans around while the last bit dries. It looks so nice and clean down there now...I just have to repack a few more things. All in all, we fared pretty well.
I am so thankful for God's protection in the storm~
Have a blessed day~
Rach
Saturday, August 27, 2011
The earthquake that was, but wasn't, a big deal~
A major earthquake shook the East Coast on Tuesday, August 23rd!
This should be short and sweet...because it wasn't really a big deal...but then again, it was :)
It wasn't a big deal because it only caused relatively minor damage and, thankfully, there were barely any injuries. Maybe someone sprained their ankle running out of a building or something...because us East Coasters didn't know that you're not supposed to run outside and look up :)
But it was a big deal because it was a 5.8 M...the biggest earthquake in these parts in 67 years. It was a big deal because people felt it hundreds of miles away. The epicenter was near Mineral Springs, VA, but it was felt from Georgia to Maine. I felt it here in PA and my Dad felt it in NC! It struck at 1:51 pm.
I was in the office when I felt the house shake...it felt like the house was on a raft. It only lasted a few seconds. I actually thought that it may have been an explosion or problem with the water/sewer lines b/c workers have been working on them a few houses down from us. So then I wondered if I needed to get out of the house...was the possible sewer line problem going to cause the house to explode? Then I wondered if the shaking had even really happened b/c I was sick and thought maybe I had just felt lightheaded. I vaguely wondered if it was an earthquake, but this was not my first thought. Within a few seconds Steve called me to see if I had felt it...so I wasn't imagining things after all...and now I knew it wasn't the water lines...it was an earthquake! Steve had felt it at school in Philly. He was on the 4th floor working on his thesis when his building began to shake...his chair swayed back and forth and his chemicals swirled in their containers. WOW!
I was quickly on Facebook and earthquake statuses began popping up from all over the place...it was fascinating and exciting!
Unfortunately, the girls were outside playing and did not feel it...that is a bummer b/c it may be the only earthquake they ever experience.
It was a big deal, but then again, it wasn't. There was some building damage closer to the epicenter, but it was minimal by earthquake standards. The Washington Monument has a crack near the top and the National Cathedral lost the tip tops of some of its spires. The media made a HUGE deal out of it...and the West Coast enjoyed a good laugh :)
A picture that circled through social media pretty much sums it up and had me laughing. It is a picture of a plastic set of lawn furniture. One of the chairs is tipped over, lying on the ground. The caption underneath says, "We Will Rebuild"...bwahahaha!
Now, we're preparing for a hurricane...this could be bad~
Rach
This should be short and sweet...because it wasn't really a big deal...but then again, it was :)
It wasn't a big deal because it only caused relatively minor damage and, thankfully, there were barely any injuries. Maybe someone sprained their ankle running out of a building or something...because us East Coasters didn't know that you're not supposed to run outside and look up :)
But it was a big deal because it was a 5.8 M...the biggest earthquake in these parts in 67 years. It was a big deal because people felt it hundreds of miles away. The epicenter was near Mineral Springs, VA, but it was felt from Georgia to Maine. I felt it here in PA and my Dad felt it in NC! It struck at 1:51 pm.
I was in the office when I felt the house shake...it felt like the house was on a raft. It only lasted a few seconds. I actually thought that it may have been an explosion or problem with the water/sewer lines b/c workers have been working on them a few houses down from us. So then I wondered if I needed to get out of the house...was the possible sewer line problem going to cause the house to explode? Then I wondered if the shaking had even really happened b/c I was sick and thought maybe I had just felt lightheaded. I vaguely wondered if it was an earthquake, but this was not my first thought. Within a few seconds Steve called me to see if I had felt it...so I wasn't imagining things after all...and now I knew it wasn't the water lines...it was an earthquake! Steve had felt it at school in Philly. He was on the 4th floor working on his thesis when his building began to shake...his chair swayed back and forth and his chemicals swirled in their containers. WOW!
I was quickly on Facebook and earthquake statuses began popping up from all over the place...it was fascinating and exciting!
Unfortunately, the girls were outside playing and did not feel it...that is a bummer b/c it may be the only earthquake they ever experience.
It was a big deal, but then again, it wasn't. There was some building damage closer to the epicenter, but it was minimal by earthquake standards. The Washington Monument has a crack near the top and the National Cathedral lost the tip tops of some of its spires. The media made a HUGE deal out of it...and the West Coast enjoyed a good laugh :)
A picture that circled through social media pretty much sums it up and had me laughing. It is a picture of a plastic set of lawn furniture. One of the chairs is tipped over, lying on the ground. The caption underneath says, "We Will Rebuild"...bwahahaha!
Now, we're preparing for a hurricane...this could be bad~
Rach
Monday, August 22, 2011
Miracle at the Beach!
I got to spend a couple days at Fort Story, Virginia Beach with my parents and girlies. We met there to exchange my big girls...they had been with their Oma and Opa for over a week. I'll blog more about that rendezvous later...now, I want to share about one amazing thing that happened at the beach.
I lost one of my wedding bands...not something you usually consider an amazing thing, right?
...yep, on the beach...one of my diamond wedding bands lost in the sand...forever?
I was only wearing my two bands (I had left my engagement ring home) and took them off to apply another layer of sunscreen to my girls. I put the bands in the cup holder of my beach chair. Obviously, I intended on putting them right back on...but a bottle of water went into the cup holder instead.
When it was time to leave, we packed up all the chairs and umbrellas, towels, blankets (you get the idea) and loaded them up onto a wheeled cart. We crossed the sand to the boardwalk. My dad had to bump that cart up 8 or so steps up to the boardwalk and then we began our trek back to the condo. This boardwalk is rather long and zigzags through the dunes. I went ahead with the girls to the shower to rinse them off...and that's where I realized that I was not wearing my wedding bands. I quickly back tracked to find my dad. One lonely wedding band was still in the cup holder of my chair...now I panicked and tried not to cry.
My parents took the cart apart to see if it had fallen into anything else we were carrying while I began the task of backtracking. My eyes searched the walkway as I returned to the beach. If it fell out while on the boardwalk and fell into the dunes, I realized I had little hope of ever finding it. I asked people along the way. I searched under the stairs from the walk to the sand...nothing. I prayed. I could still see the cart tracks, so I slowly walked along those tracks...searching, searching, searching...the berm had never seemed so long.
I had a pretty good idea of where we had been on the beach because Bella had dug a big hole nearby. Another family had already taken that spot. I told them what had happened and they helped me search. We moved their chairs and cooler...still nothing. They assured me they would turn it in to the check-in desk if they found it...I began walking back. One of the ladies from their group walked with me and helped me search the cart track path again. In order to see what my band would do if it were dropped, I took off my other one and simply dropped it into the sand...it completely disappeared. It sunk right into the soft sand and my heart sunk with it...it didn't even leave a circle where it had fallen...that's when I knew the chances of finding it were slim to none. I thanked the lady who had walked with me and headed up the steps to the boardwalk.
There is a cabana area at the end of the boardwalk. I asked the lady working there if anyone had turned in a ring. Another lady who worked there was very sad about me losing my wedding band. She called the front desk to see if maintenance had a metal detector. She also called the military police to see if they had one. I talked to the lifeguards to see if they had anything that might help. No metal detectors anywhere. I cried as I walked back down the boardwalk.
When I got back to the condo, my dad headed out to the rec center to see if they had any metal detectors. I called the military fire department to see if they had one. The fire chief told me that people often used metal detectors at night or in the morning on the beach. We had seen a man using one the night before...I wondered if he would be out there again.
I also called Steve. He was so kind and understanding...I just cried...I was so sorry for not being more careful.
Well, no metal detectors at the rec center either. My dad called some local places to see if we could rent one...nope. But my dad had another plan. He suggested we head back down to the beach and sift the sand through a mesh bag...a bag that had once been part of the beach cart. He knew we couldn't search the whole beach, but we could search the area where we had been sitting. If the ring fell out before we started the trek back, then maybe we could find it. We both knew there was little hope if it fell out somewhere along the way.
So, we packed up the buckets, the mesh bag, and a beach mat. By now, it was early evening and I was hoping that someone with a metal detector might be able to help us...but no such luck. I also asked the girls to pray. I found the hole Bella had dug and was able to determine just about where we had been seating...I am so thankful for that digging project of hers. Dad put the mat down and he and the girls knelt down on it. His plan was to systematically search that area...the girls had their specific instructions...stay on the mat, use your bucket to scoop the sand down to where it's not dry, dump the bucket into the mesh bag...one scoop at a time...I was the sifter.
The first scoop...nothing but some shells. The second scoop...more of the same.
The third scoop (which was Bella's scoop, by the way)...I saw something glittering while I shook the bag to sift the sand, but surely that could not be my ring.
BUT IT WAS! There, in the bottom of the mesh bag, was my wedding ring. I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT! There it was! Found in the third scoop of sand...unbelieveable!
I'll confess...I had little hope of finding my ring. I really didn't even want to go look for it...but my dad was so optimistic...his hope was contagious. If he was willing to go dig around in the sand, shouldn't I be?
Dad, you're brilliant...so very wonderfully and amazingly smart! Your plan (which I think God planted in your head) was perfect! Thank you, thank you for encouraging us (insisting, really) to go back down to the beach :) And thank you, Lord!
Here's our re-enactment photo of the Miracle at the Beach.
Have a great day...God bless~
Rach
I lost one of my wedding bands...not something you usually consider an amazing thing, right?
...yep, on the beach...one of my diamond wedding bands lost in the sand...forever?
I was only wearing my two bands (I had left my engagement ring home) and took them off to apply another layer of sunscreen to my girls. I put the bands in the cup holder of my beach chair. Obviously, I intended on putting them right back on...but a bottle of water went into the cup holder instead.
When it was time to leave, we packed up all the chairs and umbrellas, towels, blankets (you get the idea) and loaded them up onto a wheeled cart. We crossed the sand to the boardwalk. My dad had to bump that cart up 8 or so steps up to the boardwalk and then we began our trek back to the condo. This boardwalk is rather long and zigzags through the dunes. I went ahead with the girls to the shower to rinse them off...and that's where I realized that I was not wearing my wedding bands. I quickly back tracked to find my dad. One lonely wedding band was still in the cup holder of my chair...now I panicked and tried not to cry.
My parents took the cart apart to see if it had fallen into anything else we were carrying while I began the task of backtracking. My eyes searched the walkway as I returned to the beach. If it fell out while on the boardwalk and fell into the dunes, I realized I had little hope of ever finding it. I asked people along the way. I searched under the stairs from the walk to the sand...nothing. I prayed. I could still see the cart tracks, so I slowly walked along those tracks...searching, searching, searching...the berm had never seemed so long.
I had a pretty good idea of where we had been on the beach because Bella had dug a big hole nearby. Another family had already taken that spot. I told them what had happened and they helped me search. We moved their chairs and cooler...still nothing. They assured me they would turn it in to the check-in desk if they found it...I began walking back. One of the ladies from their group walked with me and helped me search the cart track path again. In order to see what my band would do if it were dropped, I took off my other one and simply dropped it into the sand...it completely disappeared. It sunk right into the soft sand and my heart sunk with it...it didn't even leave a circle where it had fallen...that's when I knew the chances of finding it were slim to none. I thanked the lady who had walked with me and headed up the steps to the boardwalk.
There is a cabana area at the end of the boardwalk. I asked the lady working there if anyone had turned in a ring. Another lady who worked there was very sad about me losing my wedding band. She called the front desk to see if maintenance had a metal detector. She also called the military police to see if they had one. I talked to the lifeguards to see if they had anything that might help. No metal detectors anywhere. I cried as I walked back down the boardwalk.
When I got back to the condo, my dad headed out to the rec center to see if they had any metal detectors. I called the military fire department to see if they had one. The fire chief told me that people often used metal detectors at night or in the morning on the beach. We had seen a man using one the night before...I wondered if he would be out there again.
I also called Steve. He was so kind and understanding...I just cried...I was so sorry for not being more careful.
Well, no metal detectors at the rec center either. My dad called some local places to see if we could rent one...nope. But my dad had another plan. He suggested we head back down to the beach and sift the sand through a mesh bag...a bag that had once been part of the beach cart. He knew we couldn't search the whole beach, but we could search the area where we had been sitting. If the ring fell out before we started the trek back, then maybe we could find it. We both knew there was little hope if it fell out somewhere along the way.
So, we packed up the buckets, the mesh bag, and a beach mat. By now, it was early evening and I was hoping that someone with a metal detector might be able to help us...but no such luck. I also asked the girls to pray. I found the hole Bella had dug and was able to determine just about where we had been seating...I am so thankful for that digging project of hers. Dad put the mat down and he and the girls knelt down on it. His plan was to systematically search that area...the girls had their specific instructions...stay on the mat, use your bucket to scoop the sand down to where it's not dry, dump the bucket into the mesh bag...one scoop at a time...I was the sifter.
The first scoop...nothing but some shells. The second scoop...more of the same.
The third scoop (which was Bella's scoop, by the way)...I saw something glittering while I shook the bag to sift the sand, but surely that could not be my ring.
BUT IT WAS! There, in the bottom of the mesh bag, was my wedding ring. I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT! There it was! Found in the third scoop of sand...unbelieveable!
I'll confess...I had little hope of finding my ring. I really didn't even want to go look for it...but my dad was so optimistic...his hope was contagious. If he was willing to go dig around in the sand, shouldn't I be?
Dad, you're brilliant...so very wonderfully and amazingly smart! Your plan (which I think God planted in your head) was perfect! Thank you, thank you for encouraging us (insisting, really) to go back down to the beach :) And thank you, Lord!
Here's our re-enactment photo of the Miracle at the Beach.
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| Look closely...there's my ring! |
Have a great day...God bless~
Rach
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Burritos are Yummy!
It's no secret that we enjoy Mexican food :)
Burritos are especially yummy...but this Baby Burrito is by far my favorite!
Oh, I could just eat her up :)
Burritos are especially yummy...but this Baby Burrito is by far my favorite!
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| Sweet Baby G...getting ready for a nap~ |
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| Baby Burrito....mmmm, yummy! |
Oh, I could just eat her up :)
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Baby Gray~
Baby Gracia is 10 weeks old today...I can hardly believe it!
She is growing well and nursing well. She still will not take a paci. Instead, she is intently trying to get her fingers or thumb into her mouth, but she's not been very successful yet. She likes to sleep swaddled, but is getting strong enough where she often gets one or both arms out. She's been standing since she was a few weeks old...her legs are strong. Obviously, she can't balance yet, but she sure likes to stand. She also kicks and can "scoot" on her back across her crib...if she's really crying hard, I know it's because she got herself stuck in the corner :)
She is very vocal, but she doesn't cry very much...she gets a bit fussy when she's tired and sometimes she "complains" when you first put her in her crib, but (most of) the rest of the time she's pretty mellow :) She makes the cutest sounds and is far more vocal than her sisters were at this age...I wonder if she'll talk early.
She likes to swing, is not a big fan of riding in the car, smiles at her family, and is sometimes curious about the cats...but, by far, her favorite thing is the ceiling fan in my room. I usually just change her on my bed and as soon as I lay her down, she smiles and talks to her friend, the fan...it's so, so, so cute! She also likes the fan in the office...too funny!
Here she is today in the office. I have tried many times to catch her "talking" to the fan, but she usually stops when I get out the camera...I guess she's trying to figure out the camera. Anyway, I was able to get some video of her flirting with the fan today. Also, notice the blanket she's lying on...isn't it cute! It was made for her by my very dear and talented friend, Michelle...thanks, Michelle...we love her turtle blankie :)
At her two month check-up she weighed 9 pounds, 15 ounces and was 23.5 inches long. She's in the 85th percentile for height, but only 15% for weight...long and lean...like her sisters. She slept 7 hours through the night twice last week and then got her first round of shots...that completely nixed her sleeping through the night. But just last night she slept from 11:30 to 7...woohoo and amen! I am very hopeful to be getting more sleep :) Last night is the longest I have slept since I was a couple of weeks pregnant. When I am pregnant, I have to potty every few hours (regardless of how much I've had to drink) throughout the entire pregnancy...every night...every single night. Seriously, there are probably less than two weeks worth of nights in almost the past year when I've slept even 5 hours straight, so last night's 7.5 hours worth of sleep was wonderful!
Good job growing, Baby G...we love you so much!
Mommy~
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| This picture just cracks me up! |
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| At one of the many outdoor concerts we've attended this summer~ |
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| Pretty in purple~ |
She is growing well and nursing well. She still will not take a paci. Instead, she is intently trying to get her fingers or thumb into her mouth, but she's not been very successful yet. She likes to sleep swaddled, but is getting strong enough where she often gets one or both arms out. She's been standing since she was a few weeks old...her legs are strong. Obviously, she can't balance yet, but she sure likes to stand. She also kicks and can "scoot" on her back across her crib...if she's really crying hard, I know it's because she got herself stuck in the corner :)
She is very vocal, but she doesn't cry very much...she gets a bit fussy when she's tired and sometimes she "complains" when you first put her in her crib, but (most of) the rest of the time she's pretty mellow :) She makes the cutest sounds and is far more vocal than her sisters were at this age...I wonder if she'll talk early.
She likes to swing, is not a big fan of riding in the car, smiles at her family, and is sometimes curious about the cats...but, by far, her favorite thing is the ceiling fan in my room. I usually just change her on my bed and as soon as I lay her down, she smiles and talks to her friend, the fan...it's so, so, so cute! She also likes the fan in the office...too funny!
Here she is today in the office. I have tried many times to catch her "talking" to the fan, but she usually stops when I get out the camera...I guess she's trying to figure out the camera. Anyway, I was able to get some video of her flirting with the fan today. Also, notice the blanket she's lying on...isn't it cute! It was made for her by my very dear and talented friend, Michelle...thanks, Michelle...we love her turtle blankie :)
At her two month check-up she weighed 9 pounds, 15 ounces and was 23.5 inches long. She's in the 85th percentile for height, but only 15% for weight...long and lean...like her sisters. She slept 7 hours through the night twice last week and then got her first round of shots...that completely nixed her sleeping through the night. But just last night she slept from 11:30 to 7...woohoo and amen! I am very hopeful to be getting more sleep :) Last night is the longest I have slept since I was a couple of weeks pregnant. When I am pregnant, I have to potty every few hours (regardless of how much I've had to drink) throughout the entire pregnancy...every night...every single night. Seriously, there are probably less than two weeks worth of nights in almost the past year when I've slept even 5 hours straight, so last night's 7.5 hours worth of sleep was wonderful!
Good job growing, Baby G...we love you so much!
Mommy~
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