Christmas morning

Christmas morning

I can't believe it has been 5 months since since we received the biggest blessing ever. She now weighs in at 11 lbs 14 oz and 24 inches long!! she's our little string bean. Today she sat up on her own for the first time. very exciting. She rolls all over the place and loves to hold your hands so she can stand. Sitting still is not one of her favorite past times. We should be in great physical shape once she starts crawling... goodness. The child does not sit still. that's okay though, fits in perfect with our family.

Her favorite past times now are her new bouncer and speedy walker. The dogs, not so much a fan of the walker :) Not that mommy chases them with it or anything... hehehee. Last month Gracen was able to visit the beach for the first time at our annual Thanksgiving trip to Dana Point. she loved the sand. She also was able to see Santa for the first time this Christmas. Did pretty well except for puking all over the front of my sweater before the family picture. oh, the good times we are having!

We love bath time!

six and seven weeks

Here are a couple recent pics and a video of Gracen. Our internet will be down for a few days as we are FINALLY moving! Our new address is 590 Tara Bella Drive, Lincoln, CA 95648.

Gracen is doing great. Still getting bigger every day. We are still working on sleep schedules. Actually, i should say "she" is still working on "our" sleep schedule. She seems to do well the first stretch but around 2 am she is wide awake and not looking to sleep anytime soon. oh well, another night owl like her mama.

Here's a funny daddy story for ya... Dave took thursday off so that we could get stuff ready for moving. I figure, this is a great opportunity for him to share in the nightly duties since he doesn't have to be up early the next morning. Like the wonderful dad (and husband) he is he was up most the night with Gracen and I. The next morning, after she had finally fallen asleep (you know, from being up ALL NIGHT) Dave got up and went into the guest bathroom to brush his teeth. We don't usually use the guest bath for this so there wasn't any tooth paste readily available. He opened one of the cupboards and found a travel can of colgate toothpaste (notice i said "can"). He puts it on his tooth brush and begins to clean his teeth meanwhile noticing a horrible taste in his mouth. He then revisits the "can" of colgate toothpaste only to find it is colgate SHAVING CREAM! needless to say, david doesn't function well with minimal sleep.

5 weeks

Stroller Ride

growing fast!

well, our little 5 lb girl is now a whopping 8 lbs 4 ozs!! still petite though. the premie panits now fit her but are a little short. we just call them capris :). The new born pants are too long so we roll them :) Every day she is more amazing... her personality, the way she smiles (oh yes, she smiles), even the prizes in her diaper (AMAZING!).

She has had many visitors the past couple weeks. Grandma Lacoste, Aunt Teresa and Cousin Barratt all drove from Idaho to visit. Including Aunt Eileen from Oregon. Gracen also had a long visit from Noni Coiner. Dave and I were blessed with many mornings of sleep as noni took gracen and entertained her while we snoozed (thank you noni!).

we are progressing well with tummy time. she lifts her head and looks around. Uncle Chuck had her scooting all the way across her mat the other day. She will definitely be crawling soon (watch out dogs!). the smiles come all the time (not just when she is passing gas) and she is great at entertaining herself while I get ready in the morning.

She took her first stroller ride this evening in her bright red stroller from Aunt Nancy and Uncle Bob. She loved it as she was able to see everything and not be cooped up in that car seat. She still is a little too small but with some "mcgyvering" we were able to prop her in.

the pacifier

The days after

The last few weeks have been rough but exciting. Gracen is teaching dave and i lot! She is doing great sleeping at night, however days are a different story. People keep telling me to nap when the baby naps, well, that involves the baby napping! She is constantly moving around and talking up a storm (well making noises) and cannot stay in the same position for an extended amount of time (like her mom). I have used every holding method for a baby, plus i think i may have made up a few. She will be 3 weeks old already this monday, july 18th. Can't believe how fast she is growing! At her 2 week appointment she weighed in at 6 lbs 4 oz and is now 20 1/2 inches. This explains the constant eating. seriously... CONSTANT eating (and pooping). She has changed our lives dramatically but i can't imagine our life with out her.

She's here!

I finally have a moment to sit at the computer since our little "bean" has arrived. i am quite sleep deprived so please excuse any misspellings or things that make no sense. So, here's the scoop... Sunday night, July 27th, my water began to leak. not a big "gush" like you hear about, just a little leak. so, around 10:30 that night we head in to the hospital to make sure that's what it is and see what we need to do. Turns out, it was my water so at 2 am, monday morning i was admitted to the hospital. i was not in labor yet so at 3 am they administered Pitocin. Pitocin is the drug they give you to begin labor. it can work very fast in some women or it can pro long labor and head you in the way of a C-section. it is also the worst pain you will ever feel in your life. it takes a normal contraction and doubles the intensity and frequency. by 3:30 that morning i was having contractions that were going off the chart every 2 minutes. i believe my exact words to dave were, "i think my @ss is going to explode!!" By 6 am i caved and asked for the epidural. just my luck though, all it did was numb my right leg and my face. figures. They were going to re administer it but i noticed it felt a little crowded "down there" and asked the nurse to take a peak as i felt the little bean might be making it's way out. sure enough, she could see the top of the head. so much for the epidural. She told me to push at the next contraction to help the pain so i did. turns out i'm a really good pusher as the baby's head started to come out more! the Dr. was called (and so was a young, male, EMT intern that got the show of his life!) and the baby was born in less than 10 pushes. Dave got to make the call and let us all know it was a baby GIRL!! Gracen Jackleen was born July 28, 2008 at 10:25 am weighing 5 lbs 12 oz and 19 inches long. She came out screaming and kick'n and hasn't stopped since!

July 14, 2008 (9 days to go!)

Still... No baby. I know, our due date isn't for another week and a half but we figured with the pre term labor stuff back in June we might get to meet this little one sooner. Apparently "Jr." has his/her own agenda. At our Dr appt back on July 1 the Dr. said i was already 50% effaced. I'm hoping that means since we already have 50% of the cervix out of the way the birth will be really quick. I know, "keep wishing gina!" Anyway, sorry nothing exciting to share. We are all still doing well though with baby continuing it's somersaults and Karate kicks on a daily (and nightly) basis.

Well, 4 weeks to go and needless to say we are very anxious. Can't wait to see in person the little being that has been moving in my stomach like something from a sci-fi movie. And, of course, the dangling questions... is it a boy or a girl??? hmmmmmm. We shall see.

not much of a bean anymore!

Pics at 20 weeks and 31 weeks.

5 weeks

Here is our little bean at 5 weeks. Sort of like a "where's waldo!"

5 weeks

Here is our little bean at 5 weeks. Sort of like a "where's waldo!"

baby lacoste