Sick

Sorry for the delay in posting recently. Both Noah and Gracyn had colds last week. On top of Noah's cold, he also had an intestinal bug...poor kid, as if one was not bad enough. So, once I've unearthed my hallway and laundry room floor from the mountain of dirty clothes and puked on sheets, I'll get back to posting.

GO VOTE!!!!

If ever there were a time to vote, it is now! Please vote today. Not only is it your right, but your duty. In my humble opinion, you lose your right to "criticize" the government if you won't even take a few minutes to vote. Didn't vote? Then I really don't want to hear you bash the government when you couldn't even spare a few minutes to throw in your 2 cents. I'm just saying...

Sweet tooth...

This weekend, while rushing through Wegmans, I grabbed a few bags of candy bars that were on sale, leftover from Halloween. Since we don't take our kids out to Trick or Treat, they don't get much candy...just a few bags from my family. This means that when I steal candy from their bags, its usually noticed, which is not good. So...I grabbed several bags of candy for Matt and I to eat from, whenever we wanted: ) Last night Noah asked if he could have a mini Snickers bar. I said, "sure". He tried it and surprisingly did not like it. He even spit it out. I told him he needed to clean up his gooey mess. I was whipped from being on my feet for several hours making jam, so I sat down for a moment on the couch. About 60 seconds later I hear the baby make a strange noise, like a frustrated whine, while sitting in her high chair a few feet away. I jump up to check on her and see her hands, face and shirt covered in chocolate. Apparantly, Noah had set down the remainder of his uneaten candy bar on her tray. She grabbed it and gave it a try, and boy, did she like it. Her frustrated whine was because the slippery lump of chocolate had slipped out of reach. As I cleaned her up, she kept lunging forward, trying to grab that lump of chocolate. She was pretty frustrated that Mama ended her candy binge. All I can say is, "I'm glad to see she is not allergic to peanuts". Just to update you, this is what Gracyn has now tried:

* Rice cereal
* Sweet potatoes
* Squash
* Mixed veggies
* Peas(by the way...she hates them!)
* Applesauce
* Snickers!!!

Pretty things...

Several weekends ago, Gracyn and I went on a ladies retreat with about 17 other women from our church. We all stayed together overnight in a cabin at Camp Cherith in Nunda, NY. We were together about 24 hours and just had so much fun. I really got to know the ladies a lot better. We played a game where we each listed an obscure fact about ourselves. I think that out of the 17 women, I only knew about 6 of the facts. I was shocked because I really thought I knew these women well. Later, we played another fun game, "Imaginiff", which I will be adding to my Christmas list.

Gracyn was a little sweetheart the entire duration of the retreat, and I don't think she even cried once. The weather was perfect...Indian summer! We even enjoyed a visit to Letchworth State Park, which was only 15 minutes away and holding their annual Arts and Crafts sale. I was able to get a Christmas gift and birthday gift, which was great. The scenery was just spectacular in the southern tier, where we were. The campgrounds were just loaded with beautiful trees, rolling hills, forests, and this beautiful pond you see in the pictures above. My favorite picture is the forest reflecting off the pond. Its almost hard to tell where the forest begins and the pond ends. It was great to sit in that swing beside the waters edge and just enjoy the view. I even got to see either a turtle or fish repeatedly surface. And of course, another "pretty thing", my Gracie.

First tastes....

Yesterday, October 22nd, was Gracyn's 6 month birthday. Is that possible? On the one hand it feels like she has always been a part of our family, but on the other hand I can still feel her warm, sticky, heaviness as they plopped her on my belly just after birth. Our lives will never be the same. She's so much fun. I think that I have always been a fairly relaxed mom, but with Gracyn I have progressed to enjoying my children more. They are less "work" to me now, because I have learned to enjoy the journey so much more. Its not that I didn't enjoy the other kids...hardly! Its more like I've finally come into my own and realized that being a mommy is one of those things I was created to be, so I embrace it fully.

With Gracyn, I decided to wait until 6 months of age before introducing solids. Both Rylee and Noah began at 4 months, but I knew that nursing was meeting all of Gracie's needs, so we waited a bit. I know she is definitely ready, though. The last month she has been trying to grab utensils out of our hands, reaching for our glasses, etc. Last night, on her 6 month birthday, we tried some cereal out on her. She was very eager, and managed the food really well, but you can tell the taste was just so different than what she is used to. She would open her mouth, take a bit off the spoon, let it sit on her tongue, then shudder wildly. It was hysterical. The faces were so entertaining. Matt and I and the kids were all laughing. Sorry about the closed eyes in some of the pictures, but you would blink too if you had a flash going off every other second.

Gracyn's personality is still easy going, laid back and super happy. She generally has one mood: Happy! She smiles non stop. She even stops nursing just to look at me and flash me a giant smile, then she'll go back to nursing. She loves attention and being held (what baby doesn't?). She already knows to react differently with different people. For instance, when Matt gets home from work, he scoops her up and she immediately starts "playing" and gently hitting his face and smiling. I think it must be a baby girls version of wrestling. With me, she tend to just smile and snuggle. With Rylee and Noah, she flashed these quick, engaging smiles to them that just beckons them to come play with her. She now says, "mama" with regularity. I think she even knows what she is saying because when she is tired or hungry, she'll cry "mama" over and over. Last week she started saying, "Hi!". Its not just any "hi", but rather a high pitched, drawn out "Hiiiiiiii!!", complete with hand wave. Imagine yourself saying "Hiiii!!" to a baby, and this is how Gracyn does it. Its pretty funny.

Gracie had definitely worked herself so completely into our hearts and lives that we just could not imagine our life without her. Happy 6 month Birthday, little one!

Wow!

Wow! You must read what Randy Alcorn wrote about on his blog yesterday:

http://randyalcorn.blogspot.com/2008/10/im-not-voting-for-man-im-voting-for.html

I was tagged!

I WAS TAGGED! And I have no idea how to include the image of the rules and link to other people's blogs, etc. So, here goes, minus the links and rules. (By the way, anyone is welcome to try and teach me how to do the above if they feel inspired to. I know you tried once Carole.)

I was tagged by Carole. These are always a fun way to learn about people. Unfortunately for me, I'm a pretty "open book" which means its difficult to think of new things to include, but I'll try.

Seven random or weird facts about myself:

1) I absolutely LOVE tropical punch kool aid. Call me a kid. I know its probably terrible for me with all that red dye and sugar, but I pretty much never tire of it. I even try to limit keeping it in the house because then I want to drink it. Yes, I do have self control, but still...

2) Ditto that thought regarding cream filled doughnuts. Not the pudding stuff or "Bavarian", but the sickening sweet, white, frosting type filling. Once, again, they cannot be in the house or I'm a goner.

3) I spent a large portion of my Monday in the Dr's office in severe lower abdominal pain. Around 11:00 I felt a cramp like sensation, then within minutes I couldn't even stand up straight I was in so much pain. My arms and face went numb, like I was going to pass out. I was on the couch writhing and moaning from the pain (this from a person who had an almost 11 pound baby with zero drugs and rarely makes a peep during labor). Upon arriving at the Dr's office, the pain began to lessen, but my abdomen was very sensitive to touch. I was sent for a special ultrasound which revealed that I was perfectly healthy. I think that it was strange occurrence that prayer took care of. (For those that are interested, they were able to rule out kidney stones, tubal pregnancy and ovarian cyst)

4) Chances are, if my feet are cold, the rest of me is too! I tend to get chilled quickly and take a long time to warm up.

5) I don't mind "doing" the laundry. Its just the folding and putting away that gets me.

6) I thoroughly enjoy nursing. I guess it gives me a lot of satisfaction to know that my body is doing what it was created to do...nourish a child. And I know Gracie enjoys it ; )

7) One of these days I would love to have a mini orchard in my back yard. Complete with apple, pear, peach, cherry, and plum trees. As well as assorted berry bushes (although I already have some of them), and strawberry plants and grape vines. I also really wish kiwi and lemons could grow in our NY climate, but they don't.

Hmmmm.... I tag Jen B., Hannah, Jewel, Amy Jo (if you are reading this) and that's about it. Although I have people reading this blog, most don't have their own blog so I cannot tag them.