Our July in Photos...

Some July photo favorites...

"What's so funny?"

Happy Anniversary!!!

Four years ago, I married an amazing guy!

Today, we celebrated in a very special way, as a family, spending time in the sunshine at the Everett Marina, watching the boats, birds and babes (Graycen) and having an early dinner at Skuttlebutte Restaurant.

Olympics here we come!

I think we have a future swimmer! Graycen, Garrett (behind the camera) and I enjoyed one of the few hot summer days of Seattle by heading to the pool to cool off.

It's time...

It's time to start "letting go" of some of the infant things that Graycen has used.  She's getting a little too big/long/strong for some of her baby things...

Thank you Greg and Jessica (and Ben) for letting Graycen borrow your Rock and Play Sleeper - she has slept, rocked and played countless hours in this thing :) 



Her feet are beginning to dangle over the edge AND she uses the edge to push up with her feet. 

5 Months Old!!!!

Can I just say that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this age/stage!!!!  Garrett and I are having a blast watching her change each day.  It continues to amaze me how much she changes from day to day.  We find ourselves saying, almost daily, “look at what she’s doing now…she didn’t do that yesterday!”

Graycen is now:

·         drooling ALL the time – there is constantly a wet spot on our shoulders and drool dripping down our arms J

·         gnawing on EVERYTHING – including the dogs’ tails if they get too close J

·         giggling and laughing

·         “talking” non-stop (see video from previous post)

·         starting solid food – rice cereal for now and loving it (see video from previous post)

·         although she isn’t rolling over yet, she is making progress – arching her back, rolling from side to side, etc.

·         has found her feet/toes, which is making diaper changing quite challenging J

·         loves to stand (supported, of course) and take steps

"Big Girl" Update #2:

Exhibit B:  Eating "real" food.

I hadn't really planned on starting cereal with Graycen yet...I wanted to hold off for a few more weeks, but...  One afternoon she wasn't really into nursing and so I decided to see if she would be interested in cereal.  This became another example of how much she takes after her daddy - will eat anything!  I didn't expect her to take food from the spoon right away, but clearly she is meant to eat like a "big girl." 

Garrett also enjoyed a spoonful of cereal - he was curious about the taste/flavor - until I reminded him that I mixed it with breastmilk.  I guess Graycen won't have to share her cereal with daddy just yet :)

"Big Girl" Update #1:

 Exhibit A:  Graycen’s learning to use her voice.  (My new favorite sound)

Graycen LOVES to talk and believes that louder is better :)  She really enjoys being a part of the conversation and will often interrupt to tell her stories.

Fun in the Sun

Family Day!!!


Yay – it’s finally summer in Seattle, at least for a few more days J, and Garrett didn’t have to work!!!  We dug the shorts out of our closets and slathered on the sunscreen to enjoy a much needed family day in the warm weather. 

Breakfast at Starbucks

Hanging out at Silver Lake





Sun Hat - check; Sunglass - check

And done! 

FREEDOM!!!

Graycen HAS been an excellent sleeper – waking just once a night to eat – until 4 weeks ago.  Since her first night in the hospital, Graycen has been swaddled at night.  She is quite the mover and flailer and needed to be “contained” in order to sleep….until, a month ago when she started to break free from her swaddle.  (She is quite the little Houdini).  As soon as she broke free, she would wake herself up and begin the nighttime fussiness.  I would quietly go to her room to re-swaddle her and shush her back to sleep.  Although, she’d quickly fall back to sleep, she would break free again a few hours later.  I decided that she wasn’t ready to sleep un-swaddled just needed a larger swaddle.  So, I went out and purchased a new/larger swaddle blanket.  No luck…

Many sleepless nights later, Garrett and I decided to start weaning her from the swaddle, starting with just one arm.  The frequent wakes up continued, but we chalked it up to adjustment.  After a week of the “one arm swaddle” and frequent wake ups, we decided to just leave both arms out.  Apparently, this is what she wanted along – FREEDOM!!!  She woke just once to eat J  Fingers crossed that we have another sleep-filled night!

One a day...

Graycen has been spending more time in her activity bouncer these days.  Today, Garrett and I were watching her “play” and realized that she is actually rolling/spinning one of the toys – as in, she was intentionally doing this.  We were shocked – yesterday she just stared at the toys and drooled.  Today, she is really playing with them.  I am so amazed at the little changes that are occurring daily.

I am lucky enough to have the summer off and will be able to enjoy the daily changes that are taking place.  But, summer will soon come to an end and I will be going back to work.  To help me cherish each day, I’ve decided to keep a daily photo journal.  My goal is to take at least one photo a day.  Stay tuned for my first “photo dump.”

My project begins...

19 weeks