Night time fun

Grace is such a silly girl. Last night she was up and out of bed four or five times. The first time was at 12:30. I woke up when she opened her door. I was laying there waiting for her to come in our room, but she didn't. She went out into the living room instead. Apparently she wanted to play! I got up to get her and when I walked in the living room she said hi. Totally cute, like she was supposed to be up playing and was glad I joined her. I told her it was still night night time and she went back to sleep without a fuss.

The next time she woke up was a few minutes after Bob left this morning around 5:30. She then was up again at 6:00 and 6:20. I think 6:20 was the last time. I was kind of groggy by that point. Of course when she finally fell asleep she slept in past 8:00 but I had to be up at 7:30.

She has been doing really well for the last week or so about sleeping all night. She got out of bed a few times Sunday night, but that was right after she went to bed, not in the middle of the night. That was a really cute night. The first two times she got up she kept saying "loon" like that was her excuse for getting up. After the second time she got up I hid the balloon, so on the third time out of bed it was her "blockies" that were her excuse for getting up. The fourth time (and last time thankfully) that she got out of bed Sunday, Bob and I were downstairs and heard a couple of thumps. We went to the stairs and there was Grace making her way downstairs, looking very innocent of course.

The big girl bed has been quite the adventure the last few weeks, but I am very proud of how well she has done! She is such a big girl and is going to be such a good big sister. I can't wait to see her holding her little baby brother/sister. It is going to be so sweet! No pictures tonight. Today was a busy day. We are going to have a relaxing day tomorrow so I will spend some time taking pictures.

Today was spent watching Brooke and sorting through all of Grace's baby clothes. She had two big bins and six bags full!!! Way too much even for a little girl! I took out all the gender neutral clothes and put them in the baby's dresser. I then sorted what I wanted to keep and what I wanted to give to goodwill. I got rid of three bags of clothes! Then I sorted the clothes by size and folded them neatly this time (originally I just pitched them in bins and bags, lazy mama), and put them away. I got all the clothes I kept to fit into two bins. It took me about 3 hours! I felt accomplished by the time I was done though!

Well, I will try to get some extra cute pictures tomorrow. Oh yeah, I am still looking for prize ideas for the baby pool contest. I need to come up with something soon so people have time to get there guesses in, so please leave me your ideas! Have a good night!

Miss Smarty Pants

I am always surprised by how much Grace understands. I know I shouldn't be, but I forget how smart she is just because she can't communicate as much as she can take in. This morning we were sitting on the couch and I was holding her hand looking at her fingernails. I was saying how I needed to clip her nails, just talking out loud. A minute later she got down off my lap and went into her room. She was being quiet (usually a sign of her getting into something she's not supposed to) so I went to see what she was up too. She had pulled her storage bin off her dresser (a downside of having a very tall child). She had taken her nail clippers out of the bin and was bringing them to me. So smart!

This afternoon we were getting ready to go to the store. I had put her shoes on and was getting some things together when she brought me my shoes. I didn't even ask her to get them! She brought me slip-ons and I wanted my boots, so I asked her to get my boots and she did. Very convenient for mommy!

When she does things like she did today, I have to remind myself that when she is being naughty she understands that too! I always feel bad when I have to discipline her because I wonder if she understands and remembers. Today is a good demonstration that she does!

Even though she can't communicate as well as she can understand, her ability to speak seems to grow greater everyday! She is at a stage where she likes to repeat words that you say. And she learned so many new things this week! She knows that cows moo, duckies go quack quack, and piggies go oink oink (added to those she already knew; doggie, kitty, monkey, sheep, and lions). She also learned how to say and sign snow. I know there are other things she has learned this week, but I just can't remember them all now. It is so fun to see her learn and grow.

I only have one picture for today. I am too lazy to go get the camera to import the ones from yesterday and today. Hey, I am 32 weeks pregnant...that is a good excuse! Look forward to a baby pool coming up on my blog. I just have to think of a good prize for the winner. You can comment with any prize ideas!

Wearing Daddy's hat.

Uh-oh

Grace started a new thing tonight. She came over to me and took my hands and started walking backward. She was trying to help me up. So silly.

Being cute.

Her is really good at getting into things!

Brushing her teeth just like a big girl!

Well, it has happened. I knew it would, but I was hoping it would be a little while yet. Grace has figured out she can get out of bed anytime. Last night she woke up around 12:30. I went in and comforted her and gave her a drink. She was quiet for about 10 or 15 minutes and then she started crying again. She cried for about 5 minutes and then suddenly she stopped and said bye bye. It was quiet for a few seconds and then she started saying bye bye again and you could hear her getting out of bed. When she got to the door she started saying see ya over and over and trying to open the door. Even though it was the middle of the night it was really cute! Bob got her and brought her in bed with us for a little while. She laid down with us for a while, but then she started trying to sit up so I brought her back to her room. She went to sleep without a fuss, wicky picky.

This afternoon at nap time I heard her start talking and moving around after 10 minutes or so. I peeked at the monitor and she was at the end of her bed contemplating getting out of bed. Daddy had to go in and scold her and lay her back down. She went to sleep after that. Then tonight at bed time I heard her crying about 10 minutes after I laid her down. I went up to check on her and she was standing by her door with her glow worm and blanket trying to get out. I laid her back down and told her she would get spanks if she got up again. She went to sleep without a fuss. :)

I really hope she sleeps better tonight. I am just very run down. I don't sleep that great as it is right now so any extra wake ups are really draining. Only about 8 more weeks and I am going to be really exhausted so I guess I should be grateful for all the sleep I am getting. She did take a 2 hour nap again today which was nice. I hope she keeps this trend up. We did an 8 o'clock bed time again tonight, so we shall see!

Daddy came home!

Today was a good day...Daddy came home! Grace was very excited, but she always gets excited when Daddy comes home, even if he is just gone for the day. I've noticed lately that when Bob gets home she wants to show him things. For instance when he came in today she showed him her blocks. It is very cute.

Grace was in a good mood all day. She woke up around 7:15. I heard her talking to her monkey that sits on her bed. She was saying oh oh ah ah over and over. After 10 minutes I heard her getting out of bed and trying to open her door (sometimes she can get it herself and sometimes she can't). I got up and just opened it a crack and went back to my room just to see what she would do. She came right into my room and found me. She walked up to the bed and said Mama, it was very cute.

She played really well all day and wasn't grumpy while I got my run in. Day 5 of my training. The runs so far are shorter than what I have been doing, but 6 days a week as opposed to the 2, maybe 3 I was doing. My back is a little sore, but I feel great every time I finish another run!!

Grace even took an extra long nap today, 2 hours and 15 minutes! Yea!! She got herself up again and managed to get the door open on her own. She came right into my bedroom again, smart little girl. She wasn't even very grumpy after her nap like she can be sometimes.

Tonight we are tried a slightly later bed time for Grace. We put her down at 8:00, only a half an hour later than normal, but I am hoping it will help her take better naps. Lately, with the exception of today, she has been napping around an hour, an hour and a half max. Mommy would much prefer a two hour nap time. It takes me a little bit to fall asleep so my nap always seems too short!

These pictures are random shots from the last couple of days. There has been a little more picture taking than normal because of the new camera. I am glad I have such a cute subject to use my new camera on!

I think she has decided she likes the camera...she claps and signs more!

Uh-oh!

She climbed into the baby car seat that is sitting in the closet downstairs. Silly.

She climbed into the cupboard today. She was actually all the way on the shelf, but by the time I got the camera she was off.

Peek-a-boo!

Grace practicing being a big sister

Grace going "night night"

Twice a week I watch my best friend Melanie's niece. Brooke is about 8 months old and Grace just loves her. First thing after Brooke gets here Grace wants to hold her. When I go to take Brooke off her lap Grace will sign more, it is very cute. Grace also likes to hug Brooke and try to pick her up so I have to keep an eye on her. I call Grace the not so gentle giant, but she has really gotten a lot better at being gentle. Brooke is really moving around now so she is able to interact more with Grace which is great. They are very cute together. Here are a few pictures from this morning of Brooke and Grace. Enjoy!

Grace "helping" Brooke get dressed....and laughing about it!

Brooke smiling nice for the camera.

Grace giving me silly looks.

Grace giving Brooke a kiss. What a good big sister!

Brooke had it figured out...Grace was totally looking the wrong way!

Pictures for Daddy

Playing outside with rocks

Classic Grace

Saying all done

Her funny look at the camera

Looking surprised

Today I got a new toy in the mail...a new canon camera. Bob is very jealous because he is out of town. I am putting pictures up for Daddy so he can see his little pickle. I really like the camera so far even though I am not really smart enough to operate it to its full potential... Grace doesn't know quite what to think of it. It has a very bright flash and makes a funny noise. She kept giving me funny looks, saying uh-oh, and all done. Hopefully she gets used to it so I can get some pictures of smiles!

I also added a video of Grace, Ender, and Grey from this morning. They were being so cute tonight. Grace sure is going to miss her cousins when they go! Enjoy the pictures and video!

Decisions Decisions

So, I am having a hard time deciding on which baby girl name I like best. If it is a boy Bob gets to pick so I don't have to worry about it, but if its a girl I get to pick. I have three names picked out, approved by Bob of course, to chose from. I am looking for feedback from friends and family to help me decide. If you can tell me your favorite and maybe why it is your favorite, that would be awesome. So here they are...
1. Elizabeth Rachel - I would call her Lizzie
2. Isabella Faith - I would call her Bella
3. Molly Joy
Please leave your comments on this post! Also, in case you want to know, if it is a boy Bob will probably choose Isaak James. Our second boy name is Isaiah Daniel. Thanks for the input!

Who hates I teeth?!?!?

So, does anyone else think that cutting teeth really bites? Haha, pun intended. This last week or so has been really crummy. Grace has been cutting her I teeth and has had such a hard time sleeping. That is bad enough at home, but maybe a little worse when you are sharing a hotel room with her. Last night was not fun. I didn't fall asleep until midnight or so and then I woke up a few times feeling nauseous before Grace even started waking up. Then around 1:30 Grace started whining/crying in her sleep. She woke up around 3:30 and I gave her more tylenol and orajel, but she just couldn't fall back asleep. She was trying...she was sucking her thumb and occasionally playing her glow worm. She would get quiet after a little bit, getting my hopes up and then I would hear the glow worm. After about 30-40 minutes she started crying again. I think she was frustrated that she couldn't fall asleep. I finally just got her up and took her out in the sitting room. She was grumpy out there, but I was hoping Bob could at least get some sleep. I laid her back down around 5:15 and she finally fell back asleep. She was in a fairly good mood this morning considering. However she only took an hour nap, so I am VERY tired! She definitely needed more sleep, because she is being quite crabby this afternoon.

On a more positive note, we went swimming this afternoon and she enjoyed that. She tried to drink the water a few times, yuck! She didn't really try again after she got a mouthful that made her cough. I suppose we have all had our fair share of chlorine. I got a few pictures, but it was hard because I was keeping and eye on her and trying to take pictures. I think we might go with daddy again tomorrow night and then we can get cute video and better pictures.

On another side note, I think Grace finally has her first real case of diaper rash. I guess diaper rash once in 18 months is pretty good. I love her cloth diapers. I don't have any of the inserts that I need to use the diaper rash remedy the doctor's office said I should use, so I will have to get a small pack of disposables. I should buy some of the inserts just to keep on hand, but I have never needed any in 18 months, so I never thought about it. Speaking of diapers, I just changed her because I thought she was smelly, but she wasn't and guess what she just did....I guess I will go change another diaper her in a minute. I am going to make sure she is good and done this time. :)

Right now we are just waiting for daddy to get home from work and then we are going out to buy what she needs for her rash and then out to dinner. I think we are going to go to some italian place that I can't remember the name of (blame it on the babies). After Grace goes to bed tonight I need to go run. I don't really feel like it, but like I said the other day, excuses aren't going to help me run the 5/3rd in May. I really want to run the 25K (assuming my delivery is healthy), so I am going to run as long as I can until the baby gets here. I am hoping to at least make it until January, if not longer. I still feel pretty good running, I just have to keep it to 3 miles or less, but that is enough to give me a base to start with after I deliver wicked pickle number 2. Running has made a big difference in weight gain this pregnancy compared to Grace (I gained 40lbs with her and I am on track to gain about 28lbs with this baby), which is great, and I am hoping to shed to pounds faster afterward than I did with Grace (after one year I was 4lbs. short of my prepregnancy weight and then I got pregnant again).

Well, I think stinky is done filling her diaper so I am going to go change and her and go downstairs and watch for daddy. Sorry to ramble so long, but it makes up for the two weeks that I didn't blog at all. :) Enjoy the pictures!

The problem with making such cute barrettes for work is that I want to buy them all for Grace!

Playing peek-a-boo like a silly girl.

Checking out the water.

I love this face. I think she might have been leaning in to try to take a drink! Goofball!

She has a cute butt, what can I say?

Walking back to our room.

Leaves

It was such a beautiful day out today! It was so nice to be able to spend time outside today. Bob and I (well, mostly Bob) finished the leaves today. Of course Grace helped. She loves being outside so she had a good time. I helped bag about eight bags and I was done. Things are definitely getting more difficult to do as I get closer to my due date. Only about 13 weeks left!

It is supposed to be even nicer tomorrow so we are going to try to go to the zoo tomorrow. Grace loves animals so it should be fun. Hopefully I will get some good pictures. I hope you enjoy the pictures of Grace playing with the leaves!

Colors

I have been working with Grace on her colors for the last few weeks and we finally seem to be making progress. About a week and a half ago she learned pink. (Maybe because of all her pink clothes and her pink room....) Today she learned blue and yellow. It is so cool to see her learn and to see our practice paying off! It is just so cool to see how fast and how much she is learning. I am constantly amazed at how much she understands and she is getting better and better at communicating.

Grandpa was over today playing Zelda (Grace knows how to say Zelda, of course). We were playing and did something cool and Grandpa taught Grace how to fist bump. He only had to show her once or twice and voila, she knows how to "give knuckles". It is soooo cute. Sorry no pictures today!

A Pleasant Week

This week was a fun week. Grace was in a good mood all week which was such a nice change after her being sick for a week and a half! She just played so well all week. This last Thursday we decided to go the orchard because it was probably one of the last nicer days this year. It wasn't as sunny as I would have liked, but at least it was warm enough and dry! Brooke, Ender, Grey, Emily and Allison came with us. We had a really nice time looking at pumpkins and eating apples. I was a little disappointed that there weren't any donuts, but at least I discovered that Grace likes to eat whole apples...a lot. On the way home I was hungry and I asked Grace if I could have a bite of her apple and she kept shaking her head no. She did not want share with mama! I literally had to force her to give it to me! Silly little piggy.

This week we also discovered something Grace likes doing...she has taken to standing on our bed and looking into my vanity mirror with her shirt pulled up. She thinks it is hilarious! We took a video because it was just so cute! Apparently my kids are modest in the womb, but lose that modesty somewhere in the first year of their lives and become exhibitionists! Enjoy the pictures and the video!

A very long week

This is one of the silly ways we found Grace sleeping this week. She even did a little butt wiggle while we were in her room. Too cute!

Well, it has been quite awhile since I have updated the blog. This last week has been a looooong week for us. Grace hasn't been feeling well since Sunday, I started feeling sick on Monday, and Bob started feeling sick on Wednesday. I took Grace to the doctor's on Wednesday after she had a fever for three days. They tested her for strep because her throat was really red and irritated. That came back negative so the doctor said that it was either a cold or the swine flu, but she was on the mend so they didn't test to see if it was swine flu. She told me I should call my OB to let them know that I might have been exposed to swine flu. I am now taking tamiflu as a precaution. My sickness hasn't gone beyond a stuffy/runny nose and a sore throat so that is a praise. Grace finally seems to be feeling a little better today, but she still has a runny nose, a pretty good cough, and is really tired. She has been going to be early every night and sleeping in a little later every morning. She even took two naps on some days! I really hope she is feeling back to normal this week because I really need to get things done! I have just been taking care of sick people all week, so it will be good to get some work done next week. Also, Aunt Christa is coming to town tomorrow and I want Grace to be able to enjoy the visit! Here are some random pictures from the last week, enjoy!

Posing for a picture with mommy. You can see how tired she looks!

Ready to eat at Olive Garden. We had a nice time with Jen, Leah, Tieler, and Courtney!

Grace's new big girl room!

I haven't updated the blog in awhile because I have been so busy sewing, getting Grace's room together, taking care of Grace (she was a little under the weather yesterday, but is feeling better today), and what feels like a million other things! Her bedding came today and I got things mostly together in her room so I wanted to update the blog with pictures! I love Grace's new bedroom! Every time I walk in her room it makes me smile! It is so bright and cheerful and GIRLIE! I was going to paint it gender neutral colors because baby #2 didn't cooperate, but I decided to do it girlie because that is what I really wanted to do! (and going by Rabbitt genetics baby #2 is probably a girl anyway!) I am so glad that I did. We can always repaint if we are still here when baby #3 comes along. Now, just to get her to sleep in her big girl room...We attempted nap time in the big girl bed this afternoon, but that didn't go so well. She ended up taking only a short nap and that was in her crib, but we will try again tonight. I wanted to start early so we could have plenty of time for her to adjust before baby brother/sister gets here! She likes playing in her new room and on her new bed, just not sleeping in it! Enjoy the pictures!

Grace being silly on her big girl bed!

I love her bedding!

I love the paint job in her room! Bob did such an awesome job, getting it exactly how I pictured!

Today was a pretty good day. Grace woke up too early for my taste, but that is usually the case. She played really well while I did stuff for church, folded laundry, and ran. Then I took a shower and she took a shower/bath. She likes playing in the shower! She thinks its fun to have the water rain down on her, so I will fill up the bathtub that way. We played for a little bit after lunch and then it was nap time, yea! Grace took an excellent nap today, two hours and forty five minutes! Finally a long nap when I could nap with her! I really needed that nap today. After nap time we ran a few errands and then came home to cook dinner. After dinner we went to Home Depot to pick out paint for her bedroom. I decided to paint her room girly even though we don't know the gender of baby #2. Bob said he expected to paint with each child anyway! At home depot we put her in the car cart. She had so much fun driving around the store. After Home Depot we went to Meijer to get a few things and let her ride Sandy the pony. She enjoyed it, but I think she liked driving around Home Depot more. Enjoy the pictures. Sorry about the poor quality, I didn't have my camera so I used my phone. But she was so cute that I figured those pictures were better than no pictures!

A day of little girls and dancing!

Today was a day full of girls! I was watching Brooke today and also watched two little girls from church, Mallory and Lauren. Considering there were four little girls under the age of four, I thought the day went remarkably well! They even all napped/rested at the same time! Grace enjoyed having friends over to play with. After her friends went home, we went and picked up some prefolds off craigslist. I also bought a few BumGenius AIO's and a diaper cover from a friend and she brought those over today as well. They are so tiny! I don't remember Grace being so little! She is growing up SO fast. Her newest thing is dancing. She has finally learned how and now she is learning new moves. She was being so cute that we got out the video camera. Of course, as soon as we did she stopped doing her new moves. The video I got is still cute so I am sharing it with you. Enjoy!

Naughty Baby

Well, as most of you know, I had my second ultrasound on Tuesday. They were able to get all the rest of the measurements that they needed, but the silly baby still wouldn't reveal what was between those legs! Apparently my children are modest in the womb, but by the time they are one they are exhibitionists! I was trying not to get my hopes up about finding out, but it was kind of hard not to. Needless to say I was a bit disappointed! I know I should have been happy that the baby was healthy, and I was, but I really wanted to know! I am very happy that the baby is healthy. They said it was measuring about 5 days small, but that was okay. Me a small baby? Maybe it will only be 22" instead of 22 1/2", ha! Well, enjoy the pictures of the new babe and enjoy waiting about 4 more months with me!