One Month- 6 Weeks

    I didn't get around to blogging last week, so this blog post will serve as a post for weeks 5 and 6.  Graceyn will officially be 6 weeks old tomorrow.  I think 6 weeks marks the end of the newborn stage.  It hurts my heart that she's no longer a newborn.  I am very excited to see the tiny person she will become in the coming months.  Watching little personalities emerge is just the neatest thing in the world! 
     Graceyn has grown so much in just six short weeks!  She seems so much bigger to me.  She is such a little chunky thing.  She loves to eat and it shows.  She has the most adorable rolls.  She is definitely the chunkiest baby out of all three. 
       Graceyn has become such a laid back and content little girl.  She was pretty fussy at 3 weeks, but  think that was due to a growth spurt and the fact that I was still eating dairy.  I decided to cut it totally out of my diet for the time being.  I want her to be happy, and I know that me eating dairy could hinder that.  It is very hard to do at first, but I will make any sacrifice for my children.  I don't think she is as intolerant to dairy as Dawson was, but I will continue to eliminate it for the time being.  She is just doing so well and she is so happy that I don't want to chance anything.  We just love our happy little girl.  She will just lay on her play mat and look around and take in the world around her.   She rarely cries unless she is hungry or needs someone to hold her. 
       Graceyn is starting to be much more alert and awake for longer periods during the day.  The biggest thing that Graceyn has started doing in the last two weeks is smiling.  I just love those first smiles so much.  They aren't incredibly consistent right now, but we all love catching one.  I know in the next week we will be seeing lots and lots of smiles.  She tends to smile the most for her brother and sister.  We have been trying to get pictures, but they are quick and hard to capture. 
    Sleep time is still pretty rough for us.  For the last week, she has been getting up every two hours.  I can handle every two hours.  However, around 2:00 a.m. to about 4:30 a.m. she is wide awake!  She's not fussy or crying at all, she is just wide awake and does not want to go back to sleep.  I am getting very little sleep.  I know this phase is so short in the grand scheme of things, but I look forward to our little "party" time to happen during the day and not at night.  Sleep will come again eventually.
    I take at least 20 pictures of her a day.   Like I mentioned before, I have so much fun dressing her.  I change her outfits several times a day, so I usually take a picture of each outfit.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from the week.  
    

My mom got me this chalkboard to take a monthly picture of Graceyn. I plan to always take it on this chair with this teddy bear for comparison purposes.  This is her one month picture. 

Exactly one month old

Just out of the bath

Her shirt says "Grandma's little girl"

She looks so much like Ashlyn in this picture.  Sometimes I think they look a lot alike, and other times I don't think they do. 

Cuddling with Daddy

Big brother and sister

My princess

She's starting to really become more aware of the world around her. She discovered the moving animals above her swing.

I have a slight obsession with putting hair bows on this girl.  They are just too cute!

Glimpse of a smile

There's a smile

Big yawn

Another smile

I had to take a picture of her crying.  Even when she is crying she's cute!

Daddy's little girl

Lifting her head for tummy time.  She's getting really good.

She loves her pacifier. 

Easter

    This year's Easter was extra special because we had a new family member to celebrate it with.  It's crazy that last Easter we didn't even know about Graceyn, and just a year later she is here.  Since Graceyn is still so young, we had a very laid back Easter.  The kids were so excited for the Easter bunny to come.  He is kind of a big deal around this house.  The Easter bunny tends to really go all out at our house because he realizes that these kids are only this young for a such a short time and the joy they get is priceless.
    The night before, the kids always leave out their baskets for the bunny.  I didn't get around to getting Graceyn one with her name on it yet.  Ashlyn took it upon herself to make a special sign with her name on it so the Easter bunny would know it was hers.  Ashlyn also left out the sweetest picture that she drew for the Easter bunny to take with him.
    After the baskets and carrots were out, it was time for bed. Both kids spent a lot of time playing outside that day, so they were asleep very early.   I was up around 3:00 a.m. to with Gracie.  I could have sworn I heard Ashlyn, but i thought maybe I was hearing things.  About 30 minutes later, she came bursting into our room with excitement.  She told us that she had scouted the whole house for eggs.  She even went out into the backyard to see if he left eggs out there.  She even counted how many eggs were in the house.  She was literally talking a mile a minute and I have honestly never seen her so excited before.  Joey went and laid with her and she fell back asleep.  It was one of the funniest things she has ever done.  I got a really big kick out of it, because my brother is the oldest and he used to do the exact same thing.
     Around 6:30, the kids woke up for the day.  They ran downstairs to check out all the Easter bunny had left them.  They were so excited with all they got.  They were literally jumping up and down.  After they checked out their baskets, it was time to start looking for eggs.  The bunny left a lot of eggs throughout the entire house.  Ashlyn already knew were most of the eggs were from her adventure in the middle of the night, but she was really good at letting Dawson find some too.  Dawson really enjoyed looking for eggs.  I carried Graceyn around the entire time and she just watched the kids.  Giggles, laughter, and smiles were abundant!
     After all the eggs were found, the kids ate breakfast and played with all of their new toys.  They had a great time.  Around 11:00, we headed to my grandma's house for Easter lunch.  She hosts every year and always does an amazing job. How that woman makes all the food with no help, will always amaze me!  The kids had a great time playing with their cousins in the backyard at my grandma's house.  After lunch, we headed home with very fully bellies.  We spent the rest of the day playing outside and relaxing.  What a great Easter we all had!

On Friday night, we went to dinner at the restaurant at Bass Pro Shops.  They had the Easter bunny there and they took your picture for free.  I loved the way the picture turned out. 

The baskets all ready for the bunny.  The white paper says Graceyn's name on it. 

This is the picture that Ashlyn made for the Easter Bunny.  I love that she wrote "This picture is for you"

Coming down the stairs ready to check out her loot

Dawson looking at his basket for the first time

Getting a better look

Ashlyn trying on the hat that she got

Graceyn was very festive in her bunny pajamas

Ashlyn on the hunt for eggs

Dawson was a pro

Look at all those eggs!

Eggs everywhere!

Dawson wearing his new hat

All the excitement really wore Gracie out

The handsome little boys in their matching shirts

My three angels.  I love this picture

Our attempt at a picture of all the kids.  Jameson has a new fear of the camera so he didn't cooperate too well.  Dawson looks awesome in this picture. 

Ella in her pretty Easter dress

Love that smile!

Graceyn in her pretty dress.  It's the same dress Ella wore for her first Easter. 

A little better picture of her dress

Daddy and his baby girl

Daddy and his big girl

Graceyn changed into her other outfit

The kids all eating at their kids table.  They all decided that they love sparkling apple cider.  Dawson was calling it spider apple.  It was pretty funny. 

On the car ride home, Dawson was very quite.  We later found out why.  He had gotten into his chocolate bunny.  This is the mess he made!