13 months old!

Gracelyn is 13 months old now! It actually seems like the last month hasn't gone by so quickly, unlike the month leading up to her first birthday. probably because so much happened in the last month with camping and her youngest-big brother's birthday party on top of our "normal" craziness.

she wants to be front and center

Gracie is doing very!!
She is eating very well and loving pasta, grilled chicken, turkey, pancakes, eggs, bread, cheese, fruit, most veggies and is a champ at feeding herself! G loves water and I've actually been able to get her to drink 1 ounce of whole milk so far before she throws her sippy down. I'm adding 1T of mirilax to her sippy cup each day.
Miss G is walking all over the place, still a bit unsteady but getting there. Her daddy wanted so badly to make her Frankenstein for Halloween because she still walks with her arms out for balance. (I vetoed it.) As long as she is not sleepy or fussy, she takes the trips and falls pretty well and will jump right back up.
Being a girl, she isn't quiet, she jabbers constantly, but as far as actual words, "mama" is the main word and "duck" has been said a couple of times. Her daddy pleads with her to say "dada" but she laughs and growls at him. Animal noises are plentiful from Gracelyn, what do you expect with 3 big brothers?
Despite the top pic, she is still a mostly happy girl. Gracie absolutely adores her brothers, adores them! In the morning when I get her out of her crib she points to the door to go find them, and they all light up when she comes in the room.
G is doing pretty well in CDO. She is getting less fond of me with the other babies and will want to sit on my knee if another baby is in my lap. I am so impressed with her ability to share with her friends Taryn and Ellie. The girls do very well sitting and playing together! I think it's comes from having big bros that sort of "take charge!" so they are pretty used to it.

at CDO, she loves the baby dolls!

G's 1 year stats

Gracelyn went to the pediatrician Friday!

The doc was very happy with how well G looked, and said she was right where she was supposed to be! She couldn't believe how happy Gracelyn is and how well she is walking! Gracie was all smiles, as always and walked back and forth between the doc and me.
Our only concern is constipation. Of course all the foods G likes at this point don't help with the issue so we are upping the Mirilax in hopes that it helps!
Gracie tipped the scales at an even 22lbs and measured 29 3/4", both in the 75 percentile!
The appointment took longer than normal Friday because the pedi and I reminisced on the past year with Gracelyn. mainly Thursday, March 11, the day I brought her in limp and having no idea what was wrong. We shed tears together and group-hugged Gracie, who had absolutely no idea what the water works were all about! Her seeing for herself how far G has come after how far she was set back made her day!

NOW PRESENTING.......

Gracelyn the WALKER!! She has tackled, head-on, ALL of the hurdles in her way since she was diagnosed with botulism. Now, she is walking, walking 2 months sooner than any of her brothers! G is actually walking steadier than the video portrays, she was anxious to get across the floor to the camera, which she loves, imagine that!

and, because she is so cute, our little Indian Chief!

Gracelyn is ONE!

RM Photography once again did a phenomenal job taking Gracelyn's 1 year pictures. Rebecca is so patient, even with a certain 1 year old that begins crying after less than 30 minutes into the shoot and wants her paci (that totally clashes with her outfit and this mom cannot locate the purple paci) And Rebecca is so super creative that as soon as we finish I am so anxious to see what she captured. If you are in OK or even if you aren't, you should contact her, she has camera, will travel!

Gracelyn is lots of smiles these days and I'm talking huge, expressive smiles. She is one happy girl and we L.O.V.E. it! G does love her pacifier and lights up when she sees it and will snatch it from you and pop it in her mouth. I won't paint a picture of a 24/7 pleasant baby because she is can be full of drama and will throw her head back and squint her eyes and make a really pathetic whimper or wail at times. All in all, she is our princess, the boys, all of us treat her as one.
Miss G is very picky with foods right now. I sometimes can get her to eat yogurt, sweet potatoes, several fruits but it depends on her mood. One thing that Gracie does love, pancakes and will gobble them up!! She is a snacker, just like her mama and does enjoy graham and animal crackers, cheerios. and vanilla wafers.
As far as development goes, as of her 1 year birthday, the 16th, Gracelyn had taken 3 steps with no assistance! She is saying "mama" and "dada" and she does call her brothers something specific but I cannot tell exactly what it is. G can sign "more" and "all done" and "drink"
Gracelyn is sleeping sooooooo much better at night!! She wakes every 3-4, which is quite an improvement over every hour! And sometimes it's just because she lost her paci!! Naps are hit and miss, especially at CDO where they average about an hour long, but that's just fine because she is sleeping at night!
Gracie looks very healthy but I have no idea her stats as her 1 year well check was supposed to be this Friday but instead it was moved to next Friday. I'll post them after the appointment.
Gracelyn Paige, our miracle baby, our princess: mom, dad, Brandon, Blaine and Britton love you greatly. You light up our lives, make us all smile and have taught us so much about determination and helped strengthen our faith.

Happy 1st Birthday to the Princess!

Gracelyn Paige has turned 1!!!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Saturday, October 16 was her 1st birthday as well as her 1st birthday celebration! Our princess had a princess themed party fit for a true princess and because so many people love her we hosted it at the upstairs of our bank. Everything was so perfect and so pink and purple!!
Gracelyn had 2 onesies to go with a purple tutu and a bow and pink sparkle Tiny Toms to match. She was excited about her friends and family being there and smiled a lot! She enjoyed the icing on her cake but not the strawberry cake so I gave her a piece of white and chocolate from the main cake. She loved both of those flavors equally! Gracie helped a bit during the process of opening presents but because I requested mainly clothes, her attention drifted. She is one blessed little girl who is loved by so many! We are all blessed to have her.

11 months have flown by

11 months! Just thinking that in ONE short month Gracelyn will be ONE makes me cry. As quickly as this year has gone by, so much has happened.


Gracie is doing well.
I have started introducing her to table food. Up until the last few weeks the littlest pieces of food that were not pureed would make her gag. She's had small pieces of banana, grapes, potatoes and carrots. She loved them and handled them pretty well. Yogurt and mirilax help her bowels, which makes it very nice to not have to give her suppositories every other day!!
G is saying mama and has said dada a couple of times and still loves to wave!! She also gives open-mouth, super wet kisses, mainly to Britton, but occasionally to me as well.


She is also a full-time crawler, no more army crawling for her! With that also comes little red, chapped knees, which are so precious!! Gracelyn in the couple of days before turning 11 months began standing for almost 1 minute! I think in the next few weeks she may just try taking a step!
Her bottom 2 center teeth are still only about halfway in (10 weeks later) and in the meantime the top 2 on either side of the center have cut and the top center 2 are in the process of coming through. Teething tablets are plentiful at our house!

so in the middle of the photo shoot, the chair falls to the side and Gracelyn remains standing!
She stood for a good minute and I was just snapping like a paparazzi-crazed mama! (of course I'll admit that's what I am anyway!)

I'll also admit that these pictures were taken today at 11 months and 1 day because there was literally no time yesterday. life these days is insane so I'm afraid that posts just may become few and far between.

our little walker, with a walker!

Gracelyn is walking now, with assistance!!! She does well most of the time. She gets going really fast and wipes out but most of the time will stand back up and go again! Miss G can pull up to her walker and start and even transfer her weight from something TO the walker and take off!!
She is not going to let anything get her down!