I know fall is here...

...because we keep getting sick! I just got over strep throat last week, and then this weekend was even worse. Wednesday night Gracie was choking up some mucus all night long, but she never ran a fever and was eating and playing just fine in the morning, so we went ahead and took her to school, and made her a doctor appointment later that day so Dr. Len could check out her congestion issue. The director at her school called me at 10am to let me know that Gracie had had two huge diarrhea blowouts within an hour of each other. She was otherwise fine, playing and eating, and no fever at all, so they let her stay until I picked her up at 2:30 for her doctor appt. David met us at the doctor's office, and while we were in the waiting room, Gracie threw up twice, a LOT. This was huge, projectile, painful vomiting, and they had us go ahead and come on back without waiting any longer, since it was turning into an emergency. Dr. Len diagnosed her with having a stomach virus (which we think she picked up from another little girl at school who had been vomiting the day before) and a mild ear infection. We got her home and on some formula specifically for diarrhea, Pedialyte, and an antibiotic for her ear infection. The antibiotic was Zithromax, which I'm deathly allergic to, but the doctor and pharmacist said it would work the best and fastest on her ear infection, I just couldn't come into contact with it at all. So that was scary for me.

David had a big work project to do downtown the next day, so I stayed home with Gracie on Friday. She seemed fine in the morning; no vomiting, just one small diarrhea episode. She wasn't very interested in the fluids though, and was sort of lethargic, so I worried about her getting dehydrated. But after a couple of great naps, she started chugging down the pedialyte and formula, and I could tell she was feeling better. Unfortunately... I had caught her stomach virus, and by about 2 in the afternoon was pretty miserable. Thankfully, David was able to make it home by 3:30 and was able to take care of Gracie so I could be sick. I actually did get pretty dehydrated as I couldn't keep anything down for several hours, but I was able to rehydrate and rest throughout the day on Saturday and woke up feeling much better today. Fortunately, David didn't seem to get sick at all, so we're very thankful for that. Gracie seems 100% better as of Saturday afternoon, no more diarrhea at all and eating, drinking and playing well. Glad we won't be sick ALL weekend long.

Texas won big yesterday, YAY! Go Cowboys today! =)

Gracie's cheering for.....

See for yourself! =)

Lazy Sunday

We had a nice, relaxing Sunday at home today (we needed it!). We took a few pictures of Gracie playing around.

Gracie starts a full-time daycare program at Primrose School of Highland Village tomorrow. It's right down the street from our house and we just love the people, program, and facility. She's been there a couple of times to meet the teachers and play with the other babies and she's done well, so we're hoping she will make a smooth transition.

Go Cowboys! =)

She's so tall!

"Flying" with Daddy

I put this coaster in my mouth to be funny and then she bit it and pulled! Haha!

Already getting into trouble with Daddy's credit cards, LOL!

Gracie is 9 months old!

Sorry I haven't written anything in awhile. Just had a LOT going on during the last few weeks. But today David and I both took off work to have a much-needed family day. We ran a couple errands this morning, went to lunch at Red Hot & Blue (I'd never been there before; it was great!) and then took Gracie to her 9-month check-up.

She is weighing in at 21 pounds and 9 ounces, and measuring 30 inches long. She is in the 90th percentile of babies her age in weight, and the 100th percentile in height. She's on the higher end of average for her age, but she is developmentally advanced enough to accomodate her size so her doctor is not concerned, just impressed. She only got one shot today, thank goodness. She is just a perfect, active, healthy, beautiful 9-month-old baby girl! ...that wears size 18 months clothes! =)

Gracie can stand on her own, and balances perfectly. She sometimes takes a couple of steps but only if she's within reach of something; otherwise she sits back down and takes off crawling towards her destination. She should start really walking on her own any day now, she just doesn't realize that she can. =) Both of her top front teeth FINALLY broke all the way through last weekend and are growing in fast. She says Dada, Yuck, Mama and Nammy, and makes a "daw" sound when she gets close to the dogs. Sometimes she says "bah" when she sees a bottle, but not consistently. Yesterday she said, "mm-mee" after I said "yummy" while she was eating her puffy snacks. So she is developing and growing in leaps and bounds!

After Gracie's appointment today we went to Turpin Park here in Highland Village and just relaxed enjoying the beautiful weather. Here are a few pictures! Oh yeah, and I dyed my hair brown again. It's not as red as it looks in the pictures. I love it! Don't worry, I'll put the blonde back in in a few weeks. =)

Gorgeous darling girl

She was so interested in the grass, haha

Swinging with Daddy

Stepping in the sand...

She loved the way it felt between her toes!

"What are you looking at?" haha

She really likes water bottles

Sitting on Daddy

Being lazy on the grass with Mommy

Gracie's first words!

She's been making the "da-da-da-ad-ad-da" noises for a while now, but in the last week or so we've noticed that she really only makes those sounds around David. It's hard to know just when she associated the sound to her Daddy, but the first time she just said two syllables of "Da-da" was last week, so we'll make that her first word. =)

Then today, she picked something up, and Brandi took it from her and told her, "Gracie, we don't play with that, it's yucky." Gracie, "plain as day" (in Brandi's words) looked at her and said, "Yug". Haha. So she says "Da-da" and "Yuck". =) It's so sweet.

Here are a few pictures of her goofing off around the house in the last few days. Enjoy!

Cuddle-kisses after bathtime!

"What?" haha
Finding all sorts of places to get into trouble
Oodles of fun with a cardboard box!


Aaaand she's on top of it, haha

Brian & Whitney's baby shower!

We had such a great time at the Goff's baby shower last night! Brandi and Kathleen did a fantastic job planning, decorating and hosting the event! Everyone is so excited for the debut of this fun couple's daughter Ainsley in October! Here are a few pictures:

A full rainbow!

The beautiful cake and cupcakes
Overflowing gift table Mom-to-be Whitney and Hostess Brandi
Lining up to play the "Guess this babyfood" game
I don't think David liked the green beans very much, haha
Gift time!

How Bout them Cowboys? LOL

Ainsley plaque that Brandi made
Brandi also made this beautiful quilt, that matches Ainsley's bedding exactly

We got a CR-V!

In May, we traded in the gas-guzzler F150 truck we had and bought a 2005 Accord, that we just love. However, since my schedule is so unpredictable, and David works all the way out in Richardson (he drives 80 miles round-trip every day!) we've been looking for a second car. We wanted something with high miles, great gas mileage, and reliable (in other words, another Honda =P). We had our wonderful sales guy Joel Burnette up at Bankston Honda (where I work) keeping his eye out for a great deal, when this 2005 CR-V came up. It is an LX, a dark silver/gray, and has 76,000 miles on it, just within the financing guidelines. We were able to get a smokin deal, using our Stimulus check as a down payment, and last night drove it home!

This will be my car, and will only be driven within a dozen miles of our home (basically, to Gracie's babysitter, my work, and back). The Accord will continue to be our main family vehicle, and travel the longer distances. We are glad to have a greater storage capacity in the CR-V; Gracie's big stroller fits great in the Accord's trunk, but leaves little room for anything else!

We are very excited to have two reliable, economical, safe and wonderful vehicles that will last us a very, very long time! Here are some pictures of the very newest addition to our family! (=D)

Playtime!

Here are some pictures of Gracie playing today, on her new rug. I love that she has more space in her room now to play to her heart's content! Her hair is also long enough now to hold bows, so she wore one for awhile this morning. =)