And she Skypes' too!!

Since we're so far from family and friends it's nice to let them (mostly Ashley and my mom aka Mimi) see MG live!  That way they can see how she's moving and talking and playing and growing!  Mary Grace is pretty animated with it too, she totally puts on a show... when she wants to!  Here are a few pics of MG skyping with Aunt Ashley and Uncle Jeremy.  If you want in on the MG skype action just let me know!

I had to add this one because they have the same face! LOL

And she eats, like actually eats! Food! Not boob food, real food!

So we started MG on food last weekend.  Am I a horrible mom that twice this week I've forgotten that we started and didn't feed her?  I mean of course I fed her, just not real food, boob food.  She doesn't complain and let's be honest, after working all day and playing and snuggling I just forgot.  Oh well, I'll work harder next week.  Anyway.  She did sooo well!  We started with avocado and have since tried banana and butternut squash.  The avocado and banana were pretty chunky, I figure it'll make for an easier transition to full on table food.  She did awesome with it, opened her mouth for more, picked pieces up off her tray and generally loved it!  And the homemade food is soooo easy!  Plus with her being a little older we won't do purees for long, pretty soon it'll be chunkier and chunkier and then just what we're eating.  That's cause I'm lazy;) Here are a few eating pics, cause lets face it, we all love babies with food on their faces!

Shout Out!

So my awesome sister has started a new project and a blog to go with it.  It's a great blog that journals her struggles and successes with her journey to a healthier life!  I'm so proud of her!! Check it out!

http://www.tomorrowstartshere.blogspot.com/

6 months! Really?! 6 months?

So, the title says it all! Our sweet Mary Grace, or as Tracy put it "our new baby" is no longer that! She's a big 6 month old! She's doing so much, talking up a storm, ba ba, ma ma, da da, and many other syllables she's stringing together.  Rolling all over the place, sitting, trying to pull up and getting on all fours.  I really can't believe how quickly it's going by.  As I sat in her room nursing her tonight I got tears in my eyes, my baby is growing and changing every day and soon she won't be a baby anymore!  We're soaking up every moment and know how incredibly blessed we are.  Here are a few pics of our 1/2 year old;)

The Unlucky Lucky...

So I was reading another blog tonight, friend of a friend type thing.  This poor couple has been going through the whole miserable infertility and road to a baby for quite some time, probably around the time we started trying for MG.  I think about them often, I guess because they're going through the same struggles we were, there's a connection even if you don't know the person.  So I was just dropping in to check on her (kind of a stalker, not in a bad way) and I read that she got a BFP! That's big fat positive for those of you who don't speak the lingo.  YAY! So exciting, but then I keep reading and it seems things aren't going well, not sure if the pregnancy is going to last, and then I tear up.  And then it hits me, I'm so lucky.  Truly.  Okay, sure, it was hell going through what we had to, there were some rough years in there with no baby in our arms but look at us now.  Blessed.  We traveled a rocky road but we came out on top, we got the grand prize!  We are the LUCKY ones.  Not everyone who travels this road gets to the finial destination, some just keep trucking along hoping upon hope, failed attempt after failed attempt.  Those on the outside may ask, "why keep going" those are typically the ones holding their little ones safely in their arms.  They can't possibly understand.  Moving forward is just that, moving.  Working toward a goal no matter how hopeless it may seem.  So to those unlucky ones, those who have tried time and time again with no little one in their arms, I am praying for you.  You are not alone.  Infertility is the worst kind of pain and I wish it upon no one.  We are the lucky ones.

Lack of sleep and other things.

Soooo, I pretty much hate blogger for uploading pictures, it's the reason I never post on this dang blog.  Besides, I don't really think anyone really looks at it, besides my gals and they can see MG's pics on FB.  So I am going to blog, mostly for me, and if you want to read, great, if not that's fine too. ps. I think I added too many commas. 

I keep saying how I want to get a journal and write all this down, but what is a blog if not an online journal.  So here goes.  All what you might ask? Or I might ask.  All this amazement that I look at every day.  I will say that I honestly think I don't take for granted this amazing gift I've been given.  I think a lot of that has to do with all we've been through to get our little miracle (if you don't know what "all we've been through" is, start at the beginning).  I absolutely know how precious she is.  Now don't get me wrong, all parents know how precious their kiddos are BUT when you have to wait and pray and pray and wait to MAYBE have a baby it really puts things into prospective. She is our dream come to life.  I have discovered patience I never knew existed, and ways to function with minimal amounts of sleep.  Here's an example.  My little darling was up at 3am this morning, not that unusual, but that she was up and wanted to play was.  I woke up and looked at the clock, "holy cow! it's 3am! Mary Grace hasn't been up yet, HURRY! go check, make sure she's breathing" (I will also say I'm ALWAYS grateful and amazed that she is) so I walk in to take a peek and she looks right at me with a huge, gummy grin.  I can't help it, I break the cardinal rule of no eye contact after bedtime, I smile back.  That's it, it's all over.  I nurse her with the hopes that she'll become milk drunk and fall back into her peaceful slumber... nope.  She tricks me a little, nurse sweetly, close eyes, nod off.  I remove her from the boob and BAM! eyes wide open, gummy grin looking right at me.  Sooo we rock and snuggle and sing a few songs, I check the clock, 3:45.  Oh crap, I've gotta work in the morning. So I'm now really trying to get her to go back to sleep, she's not having it.  She's not the least bit crabby, nor apparently the least bit sleepy.  We rock some more, I lay her in her crib with her blanky.  However, because I am panicked that she will either a) smother herself with her blanket or b) choke herself, I cannot leave the room.  I snuggle into the chair with a baby sized blanket, not near enough to cover me up.  She lays there peacefully for 5, 10, 15 minutes.  Safe to go back to bed, I go to remove the baby death trap from her crib and she shows me that she in fact was not sleeping, just enjoying the beautiful wall art that mommy painted for her (big mistake on my part!).  So in hopes that she'll go back to sleep so I in turn can go to sleep I take her into the guest room so we can snuggle in there.  She'll have none of this laying still UNLESS she can play with (and by play with I mean rip out) momma's hair.  So I of course let her and by 5:30 my sweet girl is back asleep.  I, (bald patch and all) am right along with her. Then the alarm goes off.  Up to start a new day, and not even really missing that sleep.  It is worth it.  Every minute I spend with her is priceless.  I fall more in love everyday.

Just for the record, this was NOT last night.  This was a night that she was actually sleeping. 

A fresh start:)

I know, I know. I am so far behind it isn't even funny.  It's hard keeping up with this since it drives me CRAZY with how slow it is to upload pics... however, Elise is doing a great job and she's given me new motivation!  I'm gonna try to get on here once a week and upload pictures and tell everyone how our week is going.  It would help if you're reading this you let me know (by leaving a comment) that way I know I'm not just writing it for myself!! 

Soooo.... here's what's been going on with us since the last update.  Mary Grace is growing like a weed.  She'll be 4 months on the 1st, and I go back to work on the 9th.  Where has my time gone!  We went for a weight check last week and she's 12.15lbs, growing girl!!  She's rolling over on occasion from tummy to back, nothing regular, she's also trying to roll from back to tummy.  She smiles and talks all the time and loooves when you sing to her. Her favorite is Old McDonald!

We've done quite a bit of running around this summer, inculding a trip to Chicago with her first plane ride, a trip to Vegas with another plane ride and an upcoming return trip to Chicago for a wedding!  She is becoming quite the little traveler, and has done AWESOME on the plane! Let's hope she does the same when her and I drive by ourselves next week!!

Without further delay here are some pics from the last month+, enjoy!!

UPDATE: Blogger wasn't letting me upload pics even though I wrote out this blog about 3 weeks ago!  Also, since originally writing this, Tracy is now back in action too... I'm looking bad :)

First plane ride, home from Chicago!

Would NOT wake up, even in all the O'Hare chaos.

Before boarding, such a happy girl!