Happy 4 Months Gracie Girl!

Wow!  4 Months Already?!?!

I'm Back (at least I hope!)

Oh my gosh, it has been FOREVER! 
But, in all that time, this blog has not been forgotten.  I have wanted to come back so many times, but life got in the way.  Yeah, something about having baby #2 that does that to ya..... 

I am always worrying that Gracie will think I don't love her as much as I do Tucker due to the lack of posts on her....  I feel very guilty about failing to document her life the past (almost) 4 months as much as I did Tucker's first 4 months.  I'm hoping that she will understand how much more time I had when it was only Tucker.  Besides, a large portion of my lack of time to dedicate to this blog is in fact HER fault!  That girl does not sleep!  She's a night owl who views the hours between 8:30 and midnight as her chance to have Mommy and Daddy's undivided attention while Tucker Bug is snoozing away.  And during the day, well that's no different.  Why sleep at the same time as Tucker does (or why sleep at all!) when that is time she can have Mommy all to herself!?  Yeah I'm not quite sure why when I was 9 months pregnant and enduring sleepless nights due to insomnia, my literally larger than life belly, and Gracie dancing on all my organs that I looked forward to her actually getting here so that I could sleep.  I've definitely grown accustom to surviving on very little sleep these days. 

But, with all that said, sweet Gracie and that devious brother of hers are way worth it.  In every way possible.

So, Gracie, know that when Mommy wasn't blogging about you, I was instead spending that time loving on you, smothering you with kisses, making silly faces at you, NURSING you, rocking you, singing to you, changing a GAZILLION of your dirty diapers, dancing with you in the kitchen, and just plain staring at your gorgeous-ness!

Pretty much, we've been busy, the FOUR of us, living life versus documenting it.  I do plan to do a quick photo recap of Christmas.  (After all, it was Gracie's first!)  And I HAVE to update you on Tucker, and give you a glimpse into Gracie's ever-developing personality.  So, stay tuned!


Until then:

Do you think my babies look alike?

Taken 12/17/2011

What about Daddy & Tucker?  Everyone says Tucker's "Lil' Wes"  :)

Taken 12/18/2011 After church service

And what about my little princess?  She's got my eyes, right??  Yeah, I'm probably pushing it...

Taken 12/24/2011, before bed on Christmas Eve

And just to prove that even with two kiddos, Daddy and I still manage to get out ONCE in a while:

Date night, 12/23/2011

Thankful

Thankful.  That simple little 8-letter word is not near enough to describe the overwhelming gratefulness that is in my heart.  I am beyond thankful for so much in my life.

At the very top of my list is God's love for me.  As a mother, I am able to get a glimpse into what a sacrifice God made by sending his son to die on the cross for ME.  There isn't anyone on this earth that I would give up either of my children to save, but God did just that for me (and for you!).  I am grateful for his unfailing love and grace.  I am grateful that he loves me when I don't deserve it.  I am grateful that he cares about every aspect of my life.

I am thankful for my family.  Our beautiful little family of four.  My healthy babies.  I could not ask for more and could not be happier than where we are right now in life.  Wes, Tucker and Gracie are my world and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I am thankful for the rest of our family.  Our parents and siblings, niecies and nephews.  I am so thankful that Tucker and Gracie have cousins to grow up with and to make many memories with.  I am thankful that they are surrounded by so many family members that love them.

I am thankful for the amazing group of friends that Wes and I have, and their children.  I am thankful for their support and encouragement in our lives.

As the season of Thanksgiving comes to an end, it's nice to just take time to reflect on what all we are blessed with.  Sometimes these are things that we take for granted in our day to day lives.  The small things and the big things.

God,

Help us to be thankful not just in this season of Thanksgiving, but all year round.  Thankful for the small things and the big things.  Help us to not take for granted the blessings you have graciously provided us and place a desire in our hearts to use those blessings to spread the gospel and glorify you.

Father, Thank you for sending your son to die on the cross so that we can spend eternity with you.  Thank you for first loving us, even when we did not deserve it.  Thank you for swiftly forgiving us of our sins, and freeing us from any guilt.

Thank you.

Amen

"Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His mercy endures forever."  1 Chronicles 16:34


Here are a few attempts at a family picture this Thanksgiving.  Getting two little ones to look at the camera simultaneously is near impossible!

Our Hearts are Forever Stretched



8 weeks old

































My Sweet, Sweet Gracie,

Wow how time flies!  You are 9 weeks and a day today!  (Your "updates" are coming soon!)  I cannot believe it has been that long ago that you entered our family, then again, I can't believe it has only been 9 weeks!  You have fit seamlessly into our family and have stretched our hearts beyond imaginable!  (Now, don't let that lead you to believe things have always been smooth sailing!  We have had our ups and downs, but every 'down' has been worth it by far!)  I confess that before you were born I wondered how I would ever love two babies....but when you came, you brought with you an ability to love more than I ever dreamed possible.  And love you we do! 

You have your Daddy wrapped all kinds of ways around that little finger of yours!  It makes me smile and tear up at the same time to picture the way he looks at you.  He would do absolutely anything and everything for you.  He would literally move heaven and earth to make you happy!  Man do I feel bad for your future boyfriends!  They are gonna have it R-O-U-G-H!  You are "Daddy's Little Girl" for sure.  

2 weeks old


However, you and I have a very special bond too.  Gracie, Mommy loves you to the moon and back times infinite!  I can't look at you without feeling an overwhelming love for you that I struggle to put into words.  My heart over flows with love for you.  I thank God a thousand times a day for stretching our family and our hearts by blessing us with you.  

6 weeks old

And that brother of yours has loved you from the day he laid eyes on you.  You are HIS Baby Gracie.  Any time someone besides Mommy or Daddy hold you, he immediately becomes concerned.  "Mommy, get her!" he will direct me.  "That's MY Baby Gracie!"  I have a feeling that protective instinct he holds for you will be with him always.  While your future boyfriends may have a rough way to go when it comes to your Daddy, I'm thinking the one they will really need to watch out for is that big brother of yours!  Every chance he gets, he lays a kiss on you, hugs you, holds you.  He has to watch me change every diaper.  If you start to fuss he'll say, "Where's her paci at, Mommy?" and start to shush you or sing to you.  He loves when your hand touches him.  "Mommy! Baby Gracie touches me!"  He is completely in love with his baby sister.  This makes Mommy's heart smile SO big!  

Tucker 24 1/2 months, Gracie 4 weeks



Tucker 25 months. Gracie 8 weeks

And just look at the way you look that big brother!  You adore him and love him right back.  When he starts talking, you stop and listen then start to look around the room for him.  I'll tell Tucker, "Gracie's looking for you!" and he will come running with a huge grin on his face!  He can always make you smile and when he does, he'll say, "Gracie say I funny!"   

My babies



In one of the letters I wrote Tucker, I remember saying, "Our lives are

forever changed, forever better."  Little did I know then what our life would be like once it was again forever changed.  

Gracie,

We love you more than words could ever convey!  You are our "Lil Momma" and you have turned this family of 3 into a family of 4 and we are forever grateful for that!

Mommy loves you!!!

XOXOXO,

Mommy

Tucker Meets His Baby Sister for the First Time

First Peek

Saying he was in love is an understatement!  It was so sweet to see how infactuated he was with her!

Of course, it helped that Gracie managed to get Tucker a blue semi-truck as a special "Big Brother" gift ;)

 He even came back for more the 2nd day :).  As soon as he walked in the room, he said, "Where's my Baby Gracie at?"

And what did Gracie think?  Well, she thought meeting her big brother was a a lot of work!

Welcome Baby Gracie!

Way WAY over-due.....

Anna Grace Keene

September 25th, 2011

9:54 pm

9 pounds, 1 ounce

20 1/2 inches

Absolutely perfect!

BFF's

Tucker has so many friends to grow up with.  I am so thankful for that!  Boys and girls whose Mamas and Daddies Wes and I LOVE.  We feel so blessed to be surrounded by so many amazing friends who have lil ones that are Tucker's age (and Gracie will have the same!). 

I tear up just thinking about what awesome plans God has for these kiddos.  There is no doubt they all will do wonderful things, many hand in hand :)

Here's Tucker with a couple of his BFF's!  These 3, along with several others, will undoubtedly make many memories together!

Welcome Baby Nash!

Michael "Nash" Yates

 September 21, 2011

8:25 am

7 pounds, 15 ounces

20 inches

Perfection :)

I'm Bringing Sexy Back

I am so pregnant.

I mean I am REALLY pregnant.

I could write a book on some of the comments I've heard recently regarding just how pregnant I am. 

Just this morning, while getting a pedicure, the lady asked me what I was having.  After I told her a girl, she responded in her Asian accent with, "A BIG girl!" then her and the guy doing the pedicure next to me starting talking in a language I didn't understand.  I'm 100% positive it had something to do with the size of my stomach.

I am getting ZERO sleep at night.  Okay, maybe 20-30 minutes here and there.  My hands and wrists hurt from the pregnancy carpel tunnel and I'm feeling so much pressure "down there" that it keeps me up at night in pain and I'm surprised every morning that I wake up to find that Gracie hasn't stuck a hand out or something.  (Sorry if that was TMI...)

I have like two tops that fit well enough to cover my ever-growing belly.  My poor husband.  I'm sure the day he said "I do" he had no idea what he would have to put up with from his wife parading around in shirts that allow half her stomach to hang out!  It's a good thing he has a great sense of humor!  Last night, I sent him a picture text after I got out of the shower (he was in the basement) with the caption "I'm bringing SEXY back!"  What was the picture?  Well, it wasn't what you are probably picturing (and shame on you!).  It was something close to this:

Sexy, uh?

I'm pretty sure all the ice cream I've been eating this pregnancy has contributed to Gracie's larger than life size.  My doctor assures me this is not the case.  I think she's just being nice.

I have been praying for labor since last Thursday.  Now, I don't want Gracie to come at least until Friday.  My sister is having her c-section in the morning and my mom is keeping Tatum.  I need my mom to keep Tucker when I go into labor.  It will probably be my luck that I'll go into labor tonight or tomorrow!

Tucker bit a kid at school today.  I know, it's not really related to this post, but I probably won't get a chance to write a post on it.  Every day, his teachers have raved about how good he is, how well he listens, and what a great eater he is.  Today, I pick him up and before his teacher even has a chance to say anything to me, Tucker says, "No bite!  Not nice! [and something about a kid crying]."  My stomach sank.  Then his teacher proceeded to tell me how he bit a kid in the FACE!  I feel awful about it.  I talked to the other parent and made Tucker apologize even though his teacher had said he hugged the kid and said "sorry" right after he did it.  What do you do in that situation?  That's the first real biting incident we've had and I pray it's our last....

Last night I stayed up until midnight cleaning out the refrigerator and freezer.  I'll end on that.

Potty Days

This is not an unusual siting thing around these parts:

Fortunately, the owner of the abandoned diaper can usually be found here:

Tucker is doing really well with peeing and pooping on the potty!  Right now, we're just making it fun, not really pressing the issue.  We ask him throughout the day if he wants to go potty.  Sometimes we get a "No thank you" and other times we get, "Yes!"  Then there are times he initiates it himself by either telling us he has to go potty or tearing his diaper off and running to the bathroom.  If I have the patience and attention span to let him keep his diaper off, he will actually go potty several times. 

When he does go, he gets stickers (1 sticker for going pee pee, and 3 stickers for going poopy) for his Potty Chart.  After 6 stickers, he gets a prize (a small match car, his favorite thing!).  He has really taken to the Potty Chart and is quite proud of it! 

 *Please don't make fun of my lack of creativity regarding the Potty Chart!  I really do not have a hidden teacher inside of me and the only creativity bone in my body is probably found in my pinky finger...  Hey, it works lol!

He goes back and forth on how frequently he wants to use the potty.  Three days ago, he earned 8 stickers in one day!  Then, yesterday and Saturday he didn't want to use the potty at all. 

We're still proud of our almost-two-year-old (gulp!)!!!