Grace's 1 Year Pictures

We took Grace in for her 1 year photos the weekend after her birthday (March 10th), so her face had time to clear up from Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease.

She did a great job..

Cute picture of Tommy - he's growing up too fast!

At 1 Grace:

• butt scoots everywhere and just started crawling - but only a little before switching back to the butt method
• eats mostly table food - we still give her some fruit baby food - she's not as picky as Tommy was
• can say "BA-be," "Da-Da," "Bad-Bad-Bad," & "Ma-ma"
• drinks only whole milk now - no more formula for her
• loves to ride in her brother's red car
• enjoys opening cabinet doors and pulling stuff out
• knows to go to her highchair when we turn the lights on in the breakfast nook
• loves to swing
• loves her big brother - he can make her laugh like no one else can
• knows what "kisses" means
• gets a huge smile on her face when Tom or I pick her up from daycare
• loves to people watch when we go shopping

Grace's 1 Year Checkup

Last Thursday, Tom, Tommy and I took Grace in for her one year appointment.

Our poor baby still had an ear infection and had to get the normal shots that she definitely didn't like (there were 2). The doctor also gave us some stronger cough medicine that was supposed to help her get over her cough. :(

Here are the stats from the appointment:

• Weight - 24 lb. 15 oz. (93%)
• Height - 30 1/4 inches (82%)
• Head - 18 inches (68%)

Other than the ear infection - he said she is doing great!

Such a sweet, beautiful little girl!

Tommy NEVER sits still!

He's such a good big brother - comforting "his Gracie" before her shots.

Grace's 1st Birthday Party

We had Grace's birthday party on Saturday, March 3rd. She took a long nap - so she was fashionably late to her party. I decided to go with an "owl" theme, since I'm sure there will be plenty of princess themes in our future.

Mommy & Daddy with the birthday girl

Grammy & Grace

Swinging

Gramma & Grace

 Gampa & Grace

For the party, I got a lot of my food ideas from Pinterest - like the Mac N Cheese, Fruit Cones, Veggie Cups & Pizza Rolls. I feel like we had a lot of food, but thankfully we didn't have a lot of leftovers.

Fruit Cones

Pizza Rolls & Saucy Asian Meatballs

Mac N Cheese Cups

Strawberry Punch

No bake cookies - yum!

Grace wasn't 100% - due to the Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease, but she did a lot better than we expected. She was excited to see all her friends and family. One thing she didn't like - was her smash cake. She didn't even want to touch it! Tom and I were really surprised. I never thought I would get to save a fully intact smash cake from her tray.

Get that thing away from me daddy!

Tommy & Charlie patiently waiting for cake

Tom & Chuck hanging by the cake.

Later in the evening, we went into the front room to open presents. Let's just say that one of our kids was a little more excited about opening gifts - and it wasn't Grace! Tommy ended up opening all her gifts for her. She DID get excited when she saw all her new toys.

I don't want to open presents!

Just give me the toys. :)

Pointing out the features on her new stroller.

Playing with Kylee

Happy 1st Birthday sweet Grace!

Stars vs. Penguins game - Feb 29th

We celebrated Leap Year by heading to the AAC to watch the Stars take on the Penguins. Since Grace had Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease (see previous post); one of the girls from Tom's office volunteered to babysit.

We were 2 rows up from the ice and like last year, Tommy was a little scared the first couple times the guys ran into the glass. After the Zamboni came out - Tommy had fun and loved watching them.

We ended up staying the whole game, which included overtime and a shoot out. The Penguins ended up winning - thank goodness.

Oh, and on the way out the couple that sat behind us complimented us on how well behaved Tommy was. Ha - if they could only see how he acts at home!

Someone was excited for the "pockey" game

We had awesome seats

Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease

In our family, it's a requirement to get Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease before your 1st birthday. :(

On Monday, Tom called me after dropping the kids off at school and let me know that there was a note on the older infant door that said to watch out for Hand, Foot and Mouth disease, because another baby went home from it. Great - if anything goes around that school, Grace ends up getting it!

Sure enough, that night when I was changing her diaper - she had quite a few blisters on her legs, and since Tommy had it before, I knew that's what it was. There's not much to do about it, but around 9:15 that night, Grace woke up screaming and tugging on her left ear. I just knew she had an ear infection, so Tom ended up taking her to Acute Kids where they prescribed her with her normal ear infection medicine and some other medicine to prevent the sores to itch.

Poor baby!

Needless to say, we both had to miss work until Tom's parents got here on Friday, but by then she probably wasn't contagious anymore - we just kept her home to be on the safe side.

It was nice getting to spend a little one on one time with her those couple days.

Church, Haircut & Walk (CHW - for those Jersey Shore Fans)

Two weekends ago, we ventured out to the Children's mass at our church. I took a couple pictures of the kids before the service started. They look so grown up!

After church, we ended up taking the kids for a trim. For the first time ever, Tommy did a great job sitting by himself! Grace was just as good this time as last time - and pretty much just sat there watching me!

Since the weather was so nice, we took the kids out for a walk in the wagon. They both loved it. :)