Beach Babe

We have another beach babe in the family! I took Gracie to Clearwater Beach, Florida with my mom and five other lovely ladies last weekend. We arrived Thursday around 11am and headed straight for the beach after picking up our rental minivan.

Unfortunately, a storm blew in as soon as we arrived at the beach, so we went straight to The Palm Pavilion bar and grill (our favorite spot right on the beach and next to our hotel, the Palm Pavilion Inn) for lunch and our first drink of the weekend. The food and drinks at The Palm are great and cheap. And they have live music all weekend, so it's a great atmosphere. Last year it's the only place my mom and I ate the entire weekend.

After dinner on Thursday we all walked down to the beach and let Gracie walk at the water's edge. We were disappointed that we didn't have any time at the beach but were hopeful it would clear up in the morning.

First time in the water

The weather did not cooperate. It was extremely frustrating to watch the days waste away under storm after storm. Friday we headed to John's Pass for breakfast and some shopping, hoping that after a few hours the sun would shine. But it wasn't meant to be, so we took our time shopping and even stopped for coffee and hot tea... something I never thought we'd want to drink at the beach! Friday night it was back to The Palm for dinner, drinks and music. Megan, Gracie and I again walked down to the water to get our feet wet. Grace loved sitting in the water as the waves splashed around her. Grace and I called it a night early, but the rest of the ladies danced and sang the night away!

Saturday morning we woke to a rain-free morning. There were still plenty of clouds in the sky, but we were determined to have a beach day, rain or shine. A few sprinkles came and went throughout the morning, but we didn't have to head for cover so it was a successful day!

This was Grace's only full day on the beach, and she did great! She was not so sure about sand on her feet and hands, but thankfully I had bought her a sunshade that kept her off the sand and out of the sun.

The Palm Pavilion Bar and Grill and Inn are behind Gracie

Although she wasn't a big fan of the sand, she LOVED the water! She relaxed on her turtle float (nicknamed Tommy the Turtle by Mimi), and giggled and splashed as the waves came and went.

Saturday night we had dinner at another great restaurant on the beach and saw our first sunset over the water before bedtime.


We had to head home Sunday afternoon, but the weather was beautiful that morning, so we spent a few hours on the beach before cleaning up and heading to the airport. Grace again floated in Tommy the Turtle and even fell asleep! Mimi and I were excited to see that we'd have a fellow sea-floater for our beach trips! I was again thankful to have the sunshade because it was sunny and hot!
It was hard to say goodbye to the beach so quickly, but we had great company that made the trip a success, even though we had less time on the water than we had expected to enjoy. I guess there's always next year!

9 Months

Gracie hit some pretty exciting milestones this month!

She has been crawling the official way for about two weeks now. She will still occasionally crawl with one knee in the air, but she's figured out that she is a lot swifter on both knees. Grace is also very interest in walking these days. She loves to hold onto furniture or someone's hands and walk all over the place. Her balance is much improved, so I won't be surprised if she takes her first solo steps before her first birthday! We have yet to completely baby-proof the house, so we folllow her all around as she explores new rooms, stairs, and cabinets!

She remains in the 95+ percentile for height and weight at 23 pounds, 9 ounces and 29 inches long, but she seems to be slimming down some at the same time. Her face doesn't look quite so chubby, but those thunder thighs sure are sticking around!

These days Grace prefers "real" food, as opposed to baby food. If we don't have enough veggies or fruit with our meal, I'll feed her baby food before any other food is brought to the table. She has no interest in the baby food once she sees our food! I honestly can't blame her... our food has seasoning. Daycare also feeds her portions of baby food and finger foods. To date Gracie has already had more food than I can keep track of, but some of her most common foods include: pineapple, apples, mandarin oranges, mac & cheese, chicken breast, deli meats, hamburger, black beans, green beans, peas, guacamole, yogurt, cheese, rice, and bread. I have yet to see her reject any food we offer her! She'll even eat a pickle or lemon!

As I posted earlier this month, Grace has had a little separation anxiety from her momma. Thankfully it is usually only when she is really hungry or tired. Bedtime is definitely a struggle when I have to put her down, which has been more often because of Trinity's travel for work. She's also cried when I dropped her off at daycare a total of three times (yes, I'm counting), so I usually try to wait until she's distracted by one of her teachers or another kid before I head out the door.

Overall, she is very happy at daycare though, and Trinity and I are very happy with her teachers. I know she has a special bond with the main teacher, Miss Silvia. Silvia has been out for the last two weeks, so Gracie was very happy to see her this morning when I dropped her off at daycare. She smiled big time and reach out her hands to go to her as soon as we walked into the room. It was too cute!

Gracie is still a very happy girl, and we have been so blessed these last 9 months. I can't wait to see what the next few months have in store for us, as she continues to grow and learn!

Sew What?!?

If you had asked me a year ago if I wanted to learn to sew, I would have laughed in your face! But there is something about looking at adorable $50 little girls clothing and knowing that it can't possible cost that much to make them that made me want to learn. I might not ever be good enough to sell the clothes I sew, but they will definitely be good enough for Gracie to wear for the few months she'll fit in them!

A few weeks ago my mom, Megan, and I were sitting around drinking wine on a Saturday night, and my mom asked what I wanted for my birthday. I mentioned that I had thought about asking for a sewing machine so that I could learn to sew for Gracie. Thirty minutes later, after finishing our bottle of wine, we were on the internet looking at sewing maching prices! We headed out to Target and Walmart around 10pm and came home with a $100 machine!

The next morning my mom and I went to Joann's and bought a pattern, material, and the necessary supplies to teach me to sew! We thought making Grace a 4th of July outfit would be a good first project. As an aside, my mom made my whole family matching 4th outfits one year, and we were one good-looking family! Unfortunately, our shorts fit us for about 5 years... much longer than any of us wanted to match!

That afternoon Mom and I sewed for quite some time. I was pretty slow at the beginning, but I started to get braver as the afternoon went on. By the end of the day, I had made pretty good progress on the bloomers. Ironically, they looked quite large, as Trinity is demonstrating!

Over the next week I worked on the outfit after putting Gracie to bed each night. It took just over a week to complete the top and bottom, and I was so proud of my accomplishment that I decided to make the matching hat!

Although my seams aren't always straight, I was generally pretty surprised at how well the outfit turned out. It was a lot easier than I expected it to be, and I definitely think that I have already improved from the beginning to the end of my adventure.

Gracie wore her darling outfit to Erin and Craig's cookout on the 4th. I was so glad it fit! I wasn't able to get a great picture of her with the hat on because she just doesn't like things on her head.

This project was so much fun, and I cannot wait until I can start on the next outfit for Gracie! I already have some material waiting for me to start, and I have plans to make Grace's dress for her first birthday party!

Swimming!

This past week Gracie and I took a Mom and Tot swim lesson. We enrolled with our friends Dan, Leann, and Madison. I was really excited to get Grace in the water from an early age to make sure that she loves the pool as much as I do!

Being a Mom and Tot class, the lessons were short (only 30 minutes) and mostly consisted of singing and splashing in the water. We sang The Wheels on the Bus and Ring Around the Rosy, as well as some other pool/tub songs I'd never heard before. Gracie enjoyed splashing around while we circled the pool and sang.The only thing Grace didn't seem to care for was laying on her back. Every time her head hit the water, she'd jerk back up into a sitting position. After a few tries, I decided to keep her on her tummy when the other kids went on their backs.My favorite part of the class was getting Gracie on her stomach and trying to get her to kick. The lifeguards would come up behind her and tickle her feet, and before long she had the kicking down! And a few times she even extended her arms to paddle... I know, she's a genius. What can I say, other than good genes. :)

Trinity missed the first few days of lessons because he was out of town, but he met us at the pool on Thursday and took some great action shots, which you can see on our Picasa site! I was so glad he got to see our little fish in the water!

And She's Off...

In the past month Gracie has started turning into a little girl. It is so hard to believe how much she has learned since gracing us with her presence in October!

We recently bought her a "big girl" rocking chair for the living room. The first time she sat it in, she just rocked away... right out of the seat. It was hard not to laugh! Thankfully I think the crying was more from fright because she got right back in it and started rocking again.

Grace has learned to crawl in her own special way: one knee on the ground and the other in the air with her foot on the ground. Even though it's not as fast as traditional crawling, she's learned to get around pretty quickly like this! It is so fun to watch her crawl throughout the room to explore. She now loves to crawl under the barstools and play. So far she hasn't gotten into any cabinets, but I am sure that is only a matter of time. Which means...we are behind on baby-proofing!

This is one of my new favorite picture of Grace

Grace is also learning to pull herself up. So far she's only done it completely on her own a few times, but she is getting better at it every day. Grace can also take baby steps along our coffee table while she's standing. She walked from one side all the way to the other and back the other day, which makes me wonder how long we have before she's walking or running all over the place.

Playing with a ball is one of Grace's new tricks. One evening Trinity was tossing a plush toy block to her while she was in her exersaucer, and she kept dropping it on the ground next to him. He figured it would be a good time to start playing toss, so he kept tossing it her way, and she kept dropping it back down. I think she would have played forever if he hadn't quit after a while! Then a week later, Trinity was on the ground with Grace and rolled a ball to her. After a few tries, she finally rolled it back to him!



This month we also bought Grace a rocking giraffe. So far she hasn't decided whether or not she likes to sit on it, but I can only imagine that she's learn to love it as her balance while standing up improves. As well as rocking, it also plays four songs about the alphabet, counting, shapes and colors.

VOTE!

UPDATE: Gracie is in 61st place right now! Keep on voting!!!

We've entered a few pictures of Gracie into the Parents Magazine cover contest. The grand prize winner gets a trip to NYC for a cover photo shoot, but there are also weekly winners. Weekly winners are determined by voting from friends and family.

Vote for Gracie in this week's contest here! You can vote once daily through June 19th!

Broke.My.Heart

I knew this day would come, but I was definitely not prepared for it...

The door to Gracie's daycare room has a large window, so after telling her I love her and kissing her goodbye, I always wave through the glass on my way out the door. She usually just smiles at me and then looks away to play with her friends. But today she waved goodbye to me and then burst into tears as soon as I stepped away from the window. I had to muster all my strength not to peak back through the window. I know that Miss Silvia will calm her down quickly... but it doesn't make it any easier.