Happy Thanksgiving!

Today Grace turned 7 months old. Sometimes it's hard to believe that a mere 7 months ago she could hardly hold up her head and talked in her sleep.

She's happy most of the time. Unless she hungry. Or bored. Or tired. Or bored.

Who's #1?!

I love her little laugh and that she has to curl her toes when she's sitting up.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving for all my American friends and family. This year we're preparing a proper Thanksgiving feast. I found a recipe for brined turkey and decided to try it out to see if it makes a difference. Also, I've always stuffed the turkey with a bread stuffing but this year I'm going to stuff it with aromatics (apple, onion, cinnamon stick, fresh thyme, sage, and rosemary). I'm also making green bean casserole, broccoli casserole, mashed sweet potatoes, cornbread stuffing, cranberry sauce, turkey gravy, pumpkin bread pudding, and apple pie. I have it all timed out so that everything will be ready at the same time. I'm hoping it works. I made the desserts today and I've already baked the sweet potatoes and the casseroles are ready for the last minute touches before they go into the oven after the turkey comes out. I'm way ahead of the curve this year and I'm hoping it pays off.

Thanksgiving isn't just about the food. A few years ago I posted the 30 things that I was thankful for. Although I'm still thankful for every thing on that old list, some of them now seem a little superficial. Maybe I was trying to be creative and fill the space. Or maybe I truly meant it. Maybe both. It was easy to list the materialistic things when I thought that a family was never going to be in my near future. God has changed all that, of course, when he gave me his free gift-Grace. This Thanksgiving that word has two meanings now. The first, is his grace that I have been forgiven. Completely. And can now stand in his presence without fear and give glory to his name. The second, is my daughter. She is an unbelievably beautiful surprise that has allowed hope and healing to fill my heart once again.

May you have a wonderfully blessed Thanksgiving!

Our 14/7 Anniversary

7 years ago I was young 

and free 

and as independent as one could ever hope to be.

So I want to thank you

for showing up to the church

and saying, "I Do"

and changing my life for the better.

Half Way to 1!

Every day she gets stronger and more strong-willed. She wants to stand in between my legs or sit all the time now and she is starting to terrorize the dog when I put her in her walker.

Blowing bubbles and making funny faces gets a laugh every time.

Hanging out while Mommy does the laundry is always a comfortable ride.

Especially when the laundry basket turns into her own personal playpen!

And of course, kitchen sink baths with Daddy blowing bubbles is the best part of the day!

5 Months Old!

Grace is a Pro when it comes to holding up her head now. The bobbly-headed baby my sister was so afraid of is long gone.

She's been rolling around quite a bit despite the fact that Grandma Pavlovic is in town and nearly refuses put her down because she doesn't "want her to cry". Believe me, this kid hardly cries real tears. I'm not the "Cry It Out" kind of mom. She does fuss and some days I think she's more fussy than usual because she constantly held, but that might be another story.

She's even starting to laugh and has taken an interest in Davey whenever he decides to grace us with his presence.

I'm starting to get real laughs out of her too. Of course they're adorable. She has a down-right fascination with her toy lions. There's one stuffed lion that she has a hard time napping without. I call him Lyon. She loves Lyon. It doesn't matter what kind of mood she's in, as soon as she see's Lyon she is all smiles. She'll grab onto his wild mane of hair and squish his face as hard as possible to hers, yank him back again, and give a little laugh. If Lyon doesn't end up Real someday, I will be utterly shocked.

4 Months Old!

My how time is moving along. It turns out that Grace is a LONG baby. During her 4 month check up she measured 26 inches!

The smiles are much more frequent now. She's not really laughing yet but she enjoys watching Mommy make lots of funny faces.

And she's discovered her feet. Well really, just one foot, and spends a good deal of the day trying to taste it.

The one question I get the most...How is Davey around the new baby? The answer is fine actually. He wants nothing to do with her. He ignores her and leaves whatever room she is in. He seems pretty upset that this little squeaking creature monopolizes so much of my time. She's not too interested in the dog either. She rarely looks in his direction during the rare times that he's in the same breathable atmosphere. I figure he won't take a real interest in her until she's able to hand over the good stuff, like her dinner.