51/365 (Feb 20) Really Not Feeling Well

By Sunday afternoon, it had become quite clear the baby girl was experiencing something more than just a cough or a cold. Our little baby who normally hates her car seat with a passion, and insists on constant interaction either with us or with toys, had become the opposite. Suddenly she was fine with staying in her car seat and sleeping the afternoon away, even after the car had stopped and she had been moved inside. She didn't care to do much other than sleep - either in my arms or the car/car seat.

Here is my sweet baby girl sleeping in the living room, while in her car seat - 45 minutes after getting home:

50/365 (Feb 19) Lullaby's and Rolling Eyes

On Saturday, Grace and I went over to Priscilla's house to visit with her and her adorable boys (my two oldest nephews) and to help her make her wedding invitations (I seriously could not be more excited for her and her boyfriend, Josh!!!). Unfortunately while we were there, Grace threw up and started to show signs that she really wasn't feeling well at all. Though our time there was cut a bit short because of her being under the weather, I truly cherish every single bit of time I get with the three of them.

Skylar absolutely adores Grace. He loves to hold her and to sing her his version of lullaby's that he always seems to remember a little different than the originals but in a very cute way. The one I love the most is "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, How I wonder what you are. Up above the whole big sky, Like a diamond the whole world sky." Maybe it isn't quite as cute or funny when you aren't there, but I love it and I know she loves listening to him serenade her as well.

Here are the two lovely cousins. You can see how much he loves her by how much he loves to stare at her in amazement. Unfortunately, you can also see the beginning of the sick baby coming through:

Jaike, my oldest nephew and my first favorite (it's okay to have favorites, as long as there are four favorites, right?), has begun to master the eye roll. He is obviously way too cool for pictures now, and you can't even bribe him to smile in a picture anymore...trust me, I've tried. When I told him I wanted to take his picture, he looked at me with a blank stare. Then I (gasp!) asked him to smile. How dare I interrupt an intense Wii session to ask for a smile?! One great big eye roll later, this is the picture I ended up with:

Little does he know, I love the picture just as much as I would if he had a great big smile on his face. Auntie Mandi - 1. Jaike - 0. But don't tell him that, please!

49/365 (Feb 18) Fancy Feet...and a "Little Black Dress"!

As I mentioned, yesterday Grace and I went on a wonderful playdate and part of the playdate was shopping. One of our purchases was these fancy, adorable, wonderful baby slippers. What is even more wonderful than how cute they are is how functional they are. Grace has had a recent obsession, as you can witness by scanning through past posts, with her feet. This includes her socks and shoes. Not a single pair of either socks or shoes has stayed on her feet for longer than half an hour lately. She kicks, pulls, rubs, and tugs until her feet are again bare. Quite talented, this little lady is. Until now! These little slippers stayed on her feet from 9:30 this morning until I changed her for bed around 6:30 this evening. Mama/Baby Slippers 1 -- Baby Girl 4868.

Look at her chubby little legs in her fancy foot slippers:

And of course, every little girl with fancy feet must be rockin' her little black dress!

48/365 (Feb 17) Playdate Time!

It was time for another playdate with Grace's friends Addie and Ryker. We did a little shopping and then visited at Starbucks. Shopping and Starbucks makes for a happy mama. As you can see, the baby came home very happy afterward, too:

Here are the three little ones sitting on a bench. They look so adorable and so grown-up!

My beautiful baby girl:

Thank you to Stefani, who took the two pictures shown while we were on our playdate!

47/365 (Feb 16) Good Morning, Baby Girl!!

At about 7:15 on Wednesday morning, I woke up to sounds on the monitor. Happy sounds. The baby girl was talking, cooing, and awwing. I turned on the video feed and saw her smiling, reaching for her toes, and telling stories to both her ladybug lovey and the seahorse (whom she was so eager to talk to that she was contorting her neck so she could look him in the eye and make sure he was paying attention, too). I gave her a few minutes and just laid in bed, enjoying the time that I could watch my baby being so happy. As a mama (a fairly new one, I will admit) I can say that there is honestly nothing more fulfilling than seeing/hearing your child in a state of pure happiness. It fills your heart with love beyond belief. I then walked in and when she caught my eye she got even happier. If it was possible for a heart to explode with joy, I would probably be in a hospital bed somewhere recovering from a heart transplant! Happy baby = happy mama. Who wouldn't want to wake up to this bundle of joy everyday??

(And yes, Grandma Jo...I let her go to bed with her hair up. You want to be pretty while you sleep, too!)

46/365 (Feb 15) A New Must-Have and Cousin Landon Turns 2!!

We stayed the night at Janna's house in Bellingham on Valentine's Day so we could get up and help Landon celelebrate his 2nd birthday (which wasn't actually until the next day, but that was when the party was to be). Grace woke up and decided to practice her sitting skills, which have improved by leaps and bounds. She is confident sitting with no hands for support and looking around, twisting and slightly turning to see the world from a whole new perspective. She can correct herself if she starts to topple in either direction now, too. She has yet to figure out how to sit straight up and try to eat her toes all at the same time, though.

Grace also showed interest in something new- that has become a must-have for our house. Mama has been looking for one that baby can call her own. She loves cousin Landon's bean-bag chair. Not just kinda likes or loves a little - she LOVES loves it! She squirms around on her back and smiles and giggles at how it feels.

See? Happy baby girl!

She even really enjoyed tummy-time on a much more inclined scale than ever before. For a baby that normally can't stand being on her belly for more than a couple of minutes, this was the selling point for Mama.

And of course, here he is. Look at my handsome nephew, Landon, enjoying his birthday cake! I absolutely love him and I can't get enough of his smiles!

45/365 My Most Perfect Valentine!

Valentine's Day was perfect because I got to spend it with my sweet baby girl! They say nobody is perfect...but I think whoever "they" are, they clearly haven't met this little lady.

Getting a picture with her at the end of the day was hard - because all she wanted to do was plant big kisses on me and give me "face squishies." It's how she shows me her love- and I can't get enough of either.

Sure, sometimes her kisses look more like she's trying to eat my face:

And the face squishies make me look...well, squished:

But I love her just the same and will cherish our first Valentine's day together forever.

Earlier in the day, Grace had fun playing in cousin Landon's Johnny Jump Up. It wasn't the same as her jumperoo, but she seemed to have fun. She was amazed by how she could lift her legs and spin in circles effortlessly:


And while the adults enjoyed dinner at the restaurant, Grace shared her lovin' with Sophie:

This sweet baby makes my heart so full of love every single day. She was definitely my most perfect Valentine!

44/365 (Feb 13) Almost Heart Day!

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day! I have been trying to have Grace wear all her little outfits with hearts on them before the big day. Today she wore a cotton sleeper type outfit from Auntie Janna. She also wore a super cute clip that came in her very first Valentine from a boy! She plans on wearing the clip again tomorrow.

As you will see, she wasn't very into the idea of taking pictures today, so none of the shots are great. Who cares, though - every picture of her is an adorable one!

Isn't her hairclip super cute??

Pure honesty - how she felt about today's photo op; bored and so over it!

I managed to get one smile once she was laying down. Although I think her favorite snack as of late (her fingers...) might be the true reason she was smiling. Either way, I'll take it!

43/365 (Feb 12) K is For......

Kissable? Kind?

Whatever it stands for, the baby holding the letter "K" is awfully cute!

42/365 (Feb 11) We Love Friends!

We got together with Auntie Elle and Baby Landon, as well as Sarah, to discuss plans for the Relay for Life team that I am joining (and very excited about, by the way). Here are a few pictures of Baby Girl, Elle, and Landon.

Of course, it wasn't long before the fingers went into Grace's mouth.

And a close-up of Landon. He is such a sweet boy- and so handsome. We love him!

41/365 (Feb 10) Rockin' the Hoodie!

I'm loving the hearts. Happy almost-Valentines Day, everyone!!

40/365 (Feb 9) Babies Who Wake at 4AM...

Aren't particularly fond of photo shoots. She is still so darn cute, though. I often wonder how in the world we created such a beautiful child. Here are a few photos I got before the meltdown officially began.

Per norm, the first few photos were smiles. A certain voice and particular smiles from Mama will almost always produce one or two smiles in return from Baby Girl. I hope things stay that way. Katie even commented on it when we were on our playdate that Grace is so good with the camera. Well, Katie, as you will see as the pictures progress, all good things do come to an end!

Already, the smile was beginning to fade. I love this next picture, though, because we have discovered new bows that work in her hair (even her "up at 4am, tired and messy in much need of her morning bath" hair). I prayed while pregnant and after finding out that she was a girl that she was going to have at least a little hair. And lo and behold, she was born with a full head of it! During her delivery, Ryan was giving me the play by play of the cesarean. I remember hearing "Here she comes...here she comes! Look at her! Look at her! LOOK AT ALL THAT HAIR!!" I know that is somewhat of a vain thing to wish for, but of course I prayed that she would be healthy above all else. We ended up being blessed with a beautiful, healthy, happy baby girl with lots of hair for Mama to play with! Enough hair that she can actually wear clips now and not only headbands or ponytails! Okay, moving on...

"Okay, Mama...I'm so over this picture thing now. I'm going to pout until you put the camera away."

"If pouting won't work, I'll just turn away from you and try to distract you by eating my PJ's!"


Then she just decided to totally avoid me and the camera completely. She is still such a doll and so beautiful. I love how curly her hair is getting - you can really notice it here!

39/365 (Feb 8) Ahh...Bedtime!

Now if only I could get myself to fall asleep at the same time she does...

Note to self...get batteries for camera!

38/365 (Feb 7) Choices, Choices...

This morning, Grace was faced with a pretty serious dilemma: Which do I want, to chew on my foot, or to eat my bottle?? Man, what a tough choice to make, huh? I believe she did what any brilliant, multi-tasking young lady would do...both!

If only the tough choices I had to make in life involved just my feet and my food. Life would be much simpler, eh?

(...please excuse the grainy Blackberry picture. The camera wasn't handy at the moment, and this is just too good of a picture to pass up for today's shot.)

37/365 (Feb.6) Baby's First Superbowl!!

Ryan, Baby, and I went to Grandpa and Grandma Privetts house to watch the big game today. It was Baby Girl's very first Superbowl. She was a pretty good little girl for most of the day, but when she got tired, she definitely let us know she was tired. She spent the day cuddling with all of us, semi-watching the movement and lights on the TV screen, rolling around on the ground (we brought her playmat, too) and of course, practicing her favorite new trick...which is sitting.

Daddy and Baby Girl

Baby sitting and watching the game

The Daddy!

Big Smiles from the Baby Girl

Of course Dolly was there to watch the big game, too!

Well, the Packers won...and more importantly, the Steelers lost. We spent the day with the beautiful baby and the family we all love so much. Great day in my book.

36/365 (Feb.5) Shhh.....it's a secret!

So this post is a little different. Yesterday's picture and content must remain under wraps for a couple of weeks. Once it is no longer a secret, I will update this blog post with the correct picture(s) and stories that apply. In the mean time, because I still want a pretty picture for the day, I will leave you with my all-time favorite picture of Newborn Baby Grace. She was just 4 days old when this picture was taken and I love it.

35/365 Still the Clear Favorite

Over the past few months, Grace has been "bonding" with some of her toy friends. We often joke that we are no longer just a new family of three, but rather a family of 7 or 8 when you include all of her must-have tagalongs. Certain pals work better for certain situations, but as was evidenced tonight, her very first favorite friend - Mr. 8 Legs the Octopus - is still very clearly her ultimate friend of choice. She was having a rough evening starting around 5:30 when she decided she was ready for bed and I was trying to keep her up for another hour or so before starting our bedtime routine. Nothing was working - singing, dancing, the jumperoo, Sophie her teething giraffe, her laptop...nothing. I even offered up my cell phone, which is normally a big no-no. At about 6, I gave in and laid her down on her ocean playmat while I got her bedtime diaper and bottle ready, knowing she would only have to cry for a minute or two while I got prepared. I quickly went to her bedroom, paused and stood there shocked by what I was hearing in the living room- cooing and baby talk. Umm, what?! What?! Where is this happy baby coming from all of a sudden? A quick few steps back to the living room and it was evident what was making her happy- her very first, most favorite pal Mr. 8 Legs. I stood to the side and watched (and took a few photos, of course) for a good 15 minutes in total delight as my baby girl was calmed and comforted by her buddy.

I wish you could hear the cooing and talking that was going on while this picture was being taken:

Big smiles for our favorite friend:

And here is a "throwback" picture of Grace and her oldest pal when she was just 11 weeks old. Just because it's cute:

I find it a little humorous, yet charming as well, that I owe the night's peace and sanity to a stuffed blue octopus with rattles and chew toys connected to his tentacles. It seems that their little one-sided conversation they had together was exactly what the babe needed. I changed her, fed her, and put her down in her crib. She has since fallen asleep - and without a single fuss, whine, or cry while doing so.

Thank you, Mr. 8 Legs, Thank you!

34/365 Hugs for Dolly

With only a few seconds to snap this photo before Ryan was off to take the baby to Grandpa and Grandma P's (the man has very little patience, folks), this shot came out a little on the blurry side. Oh well...it still makes me smile. Grace loves her baby doll, whom we have not so cleverly named Dolly. If we hand her to Grace, she hugs onto her just like in the picture. The other day, Dolly was lying next to her on her playmat. Baby girl decided it was "rolling time" and naturally she took Dolly along for the ride. She clutched her tight, rolled over, and then would look at her, as if she was seeking approval or a reaction from Dolly for the ride she just provided. Definitely one of the cutest things I have seen her do lately.

I was never, and I mean never, a doll type of girl. In fact, the only doll I ever asked my mom for was Ariel, the Little Mermaid. I believe she still has it because it was that impressive and shocking that I had actually asked for something super girly. I guess that's how it is when you have an older brother and all you want to play with is his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! I'm glad that (so far anyway) Grace is into her dolls and that she is still small enough for me to dress her up in ribbons, bows, lace, dresses, etc... If she is anything like me, she'll be playing with her older boy cousins' trucks and action figures, as well as down-right refusing to wear anything girly in no time. I think by the time I was two, any time Mom would put me in a dress or anything with lace, I would simply take it right back off. I am fully prepared for my daughter to do this to me as well. Mom would say Grace is going to give me a dose of my own medicine! I will, however, continue to hold out hope and relish in the fun I get to have with her doing and wearing all things uber feminine.

Here is Grace loving on Dolly:

33/365 Sleeping Beauty

Lit by the dim glow of Sal the Seahorse, sleeping peacefully with quiet melodies playing in the background,a satisfied and sweet smile on her face, and clutching her "Lovie" ladybug blanket, here is my Sleeping Beauty:

Though she is still waking a couple more times during the night than Mama and Daddy would like, we are very happy that she sleeps in her own crib every single night. (I know many people with babies her age and a little older that are just now struggling with making the transition into the crib/nursery. We started putting her in her own room around 6 weeks old and though it was only for a few hours a night at that point, and that few hours was always really hard for Mama, I am so glad we made that decision. )

And in regards to her waking up more often than we would prefer, although it really stinks getting up at 3:30 in the morning to soothe the baby and sometimes feed her, the reward of seeing the above precious face once she falls back asleep (which usually never takes more than 5-10 minutes) is worth every minute of sleep lost. I will catch up on my sleep one day, but she will only be this tiny for so long.

32/365 Baby's New Computer

Grace, like most babies her age, has developed a liking for all things around the house that are non-baby toys. Topping her list of "favorite things I'm not allowed to have, and I get overly frustrated when Mama and Daddy take them away..." are the TV remote, Daddy's PS3 controller, the camera, our cell phones, and at the very tippy-top of the list is Mama's laptop. She lunges at it, hits the keys, moves her fingers around on the mouse pad, you name. The other day I closed all the windows and let her have at it for a minute, as I don't want to be one of those moms who always say no. And although everything was closed, she still managed to disable my wifi internet capabilities and make the "H" key no longer work. So, what is a mom to do? The first step was to fix my computer while the baby took a catnap and then we were off to find something that would hopefully entertain the baby in the same or even close capacity that my laptop does. I found several LeapFrog laptop toys, but at 5 months, I don't think she is quite ready for them yet. And I really don't want to have to spend an abundance of money on something she isn't ready for. Maybe that will be her first birthday present...or second. Today I found the perfect thing for her. It was like finding the golden ticket in a chocolate bar. It's a Vtech Baby's Learning Laptop. It is for ages 6+ months (hey, she's close enough) and requires little more effort from her than pounding on the keys and playing with the attached "mouse" and it lights up, plays music, talks to her, etc... When she is ready, it will also teach her shapes and letters as well. AND...it's pink and purple. Not a bad purchase for $15.00. We stopped off to visit with my mom for a while and got it out of the package. She seems to love it so far and was all smiles playing with it.

"Look at my new toy, Mama!"



See...perfect fit for her little hands!



Taking a break to look at Mama and make sure she is paying attention to how much fun she is having.



Ahh, success!!



..and yes, I have hat hair and wasn't wearing my hat to cover it up. Oh well. Deal with it. It's about the baby and her toy, not me.