Graceyn at 6 Months

Such a happy girl

   Our little sweet pea turned 6 months old this week.  My, oh my, has the time just flown by!  I can not believe she is half way to being a year old.  The first year just goes by way too fast.   I love this age so much and wish I could keep her forever at this age.  They just grow way too fast.
   On Monday, I took Gracie for her 6 month check-up.  The doctor said she looks perfect and is growing great.  She was impressed with her gross motor skills.  She now weights 16 pounds (48%) and is 26 inches tall (65%).  She is definitely my biggest baby.  Dawson and Ashlyn were always in the 25% or below.  The doctor said she definitely thinks her eyes will stay blue.  I was over the moon to hear that.  I love the color of her eyes and so badly want them to stay that color!  She had to end her appointment with shots, but she was a brave girl. 
    Graceyn is very quickly becoming super mobile.  She is mastering the army crawl.  When she sees something she wants, she is good at moving to reach it.  She is also starting to push up on all fours.  I know crawling is right around the corner.  Exciting, yet scary because of how vigilant we have to be with baby proofing.  Dawson is in the habit of leaving his little Lego pieces on the floor and we are constantly reminding him how dangerous this is.  This whole process is definitely keeping me on my toes at all times.  She has also mastered sitting up.  She can sit up and play without falling over for well over 30 minutes.  I think she enjoys the new view. 
     Graceyn's sleep has really been touch and go.  She was sleeping decently, then her sleep took a major decline.  She would sleep one four hour stretch and was up at least every two hours after that.  I of course, did a lot of research on it and discovered that babies often sleep horribly right before they do something big developmentally.  While in Disney World, she started babbling like crazy.   I love their first "words".   This literally happened over night.  I think that was a factor.  Her doctor also said her teeth are close to coming in, so that also may be a factor.  On Sunday night, we was up at least 5 times and it was tough.  I talked to her doctor and she gave me some tips.  I decided to only give her 2 naps a day so she would be more tired at night.  The first night she slept from 7:00 pm to 5:00!!!  Last night she slept from 7:00 to 6:00!!!  I can't say how happy I am to finally be getting some sleep.  It took 6 months, but its glorious none the less.  I just pray she keeps this streak going.  The only problem is I am still waking up a lot at night because I get worried that I haven't heard her all night. 
       Another big first for Graceyn is that she is starting solids.  We decided to start with avocado.  She wasn't exactly crazy about it.  I am making all of my own baby food again.  I bought the coolest baby food maker where I just cut up the fruit or veggie, turn it on, and it steams and mashes it.  I am in love with this thing!  I am able to make all my own organic baby food for a fraction of store bought food.  Gracie also got pears this week which she is a lot more fond of.  We are still practicing with the spoon and she is doing better each day.
    Gracie continues to be such a sweet and happy girl.  She just loves to smile.  She has even started to wave.  Tonight we put her in the swing outside and she just laughed and laughed.  It was so cute.  Every where we go she just smiles away and makes everyone she smiles at smile back.  People are constantly commenting on how cute she is.    She makes my heart smile each and every day.  I am so glad she is in our lives.  We are all so blessed to have her.  

This girl loves her books

Sitting up

A few weeks before we started solids, Joey got out the high chair for her to sit in during dinner.  She LOVED it. 

Ready to try some new food

Ashlyn giving Gracie her first bite. 

She couldn't wait

Ready to give it a try

She wasn't too sure what to think

What a face!

Going for more

Messy girl!!!

Here are the 6 month shots I got of her.  I liked a bunch, so I'm posting a bunch.  

Showing off her sitting up skills

Big Girl

As much as it saddens me, my baby is growing up.  We have been working on sitting for a while now, but she hasn't been able to get the hang of it for long.  Last night, I was inside doing homework with Ashlyn.  Joey called for me to come outside, and I come out to Gracie sitting in the grass like an old pro.  She sat up forever like she had been doing it for weeks.  She is working so hard on crawling too.  She is getting really good at pushing herself up.  I am so not ready for a mobile baby! 

Big girl

So pretty

her brother is the best

Mama's model baby!

Sister outside being crazy.  Gracie loves to watch her!

Texas

   Last week we took a trip down to Texas to see Adam and Jane.  We have been wanting to get down there for a long time.  My work schedule never allowed for it and summer is not the time to go to Texas.  Now that I'm not working, we were finally able to take the time to go visit.  Ashlyn wasn't able to come with.  She is already missing a week of school for Disney World and I didn't want her to miss any more.  She was perfectly happy and very excited to get to stay with her grandparents and auntie and uncle.  I think she had just as much fun as we did.  We missed her like crazy, but I have a feeling she didn't miss us much. 
    We left last Wednesday.  The drive is about 13 hours, but with two young kids, we decided to break it up into two parts each way.  We made it to Amarillo the first day.  The kids both did amazing in the car.  Dawson watched his movies and Graceyn slept most of the way.  Each leg of the drive she had about 20 minutes where she got pretty fussy, but besides that she was an angel.  Not bad for 26 hours in a car!  I was pretty impressed. 
    On the way down, we stopped at the famous Big Texan for a steak dinner.  They have a 72 ounce steak challenge that I forbid Joey from trying.  It is a ton of food! We still had a good dinner there even though we didn't have a 72 ounce steak.  Joey and Dawson went swimming that night at the hotel and we all slept really good that night .
    We got to Adam and Jane's Thursday afternoon.  They made us an amazing meal and we got to watch the Broncos game together.  They next two days we spent at the trade days.  I live for going to the trade days in Canton.  I've been three times before, but I haven't gone for 4 years.  That place is just beyond amazing.  There is so much to look at and shop for.  They have the neatest stuff that you don't see anywhere else.  Dawson was a trooper shopper, and Gracie got lots of new hair bows and other adorable accessories. 
    We spent the rest of our time in Texas visiting with Adam and Jane and eating amazing food.  I swear Texas has some of the best food on the planet.  It's not the healthiest, but boy is it good.  We had some amazing meals.  We had originally planned to leave Sunday around noon and even booked a hotel room for that night.  We were having so much fun, that we cancelled our room and decided to leave Monday morning instead.  On Sunday afternoon, we went to Lake Tyler which was beautiful.
    The trip back was very uneventful which is exactly what I want on a road trip with small children.  We were all very sad to be back at home.  We had such a great time with Adam and Jane and they are always the best hosts and show us such a good time.  We are already talking about when we can plan another trip. 

The Big Texan

Here is all the food you have to eat for the steak challenge.  You have one hour to do so.  If you do, your meal is free and you get a t-shirt.  If you don't succeed, you owe $72!

Gracie loving Texas

This is the special table the steak challenge people have to eat at.  I think they do that so you can't cheat.  When we got there, there was a guy finishing a steak challenge.  He actually was able to do it, but he was hurting when he was done!

Pool time!

He loves to swim

Gracie at the hotel

Such a sweet girl

Texas has really nice rest stops with parks. The weather was nice, so Dawson got to get out and play for a bit and stretch his legs.  It was definitely needed!

Gracie happy to be out of the car

Happy girl

Dawson at the park by his aunt and uncle's house

Gracie relaxing

Gracie on her first swing ride.  She loved it.

Already looks like a pro!

One of the buildings at Canton

Dawson did not ask for one thing the entire time we were shopping.  Until he saw this gun set.  We had to get it for him since he was such a good boy. 

This kind of gives an idea of one of the buildings.  The entire place is huge and I always get lost. 

Gracie and her Aunt Jane. 

They love their aunt and uncle so much!

Dawson dancing

Sweet girl.  Every where we went, so many people would stop and comment on how cute Gracie is.  She gets a lot of compliments.  At Canton, they had these neat swings for kids.  We put her in one to try it out.  She just sat back and relaxed.  At one point there was a small crowd of women around her all exclaiming how cute she is. 

My doll baby

Sisters

   Ashlyn and Graceyn already have such an amazing sisterly bond.  They truly love each other so very much.  Graceyn's entire face lights up when she sees Ashlyn.  I swear she misses her when she is in school.  I am so close to my sister and I am so glad to have two girls to share the same special bond.  Ashlyn has already promised to teach Graceyn everything she knows.  She is already working on teaching Gracie her letters.  I am thoroughly enjoying their relationship grow and deepen.  I love my girls. 

They love reading together

It's awesome having an older sister to read to you. 

Cuddle time.  Ashlyn is always wanting to old Graceyn. 

My favorite girls in the whole entire world!