Twelve Weeks Today!

I still sit and wonder where the time has gone. I know it will only fly by faster as Gracelyn gets older but it already seems oh so fast. She has changed so much in the past twelve weeks. She is starting to sit up and loves her quiet time. This usually consists of Baby Praise DVD (Just like baby Einstein but with worship songs) and her play mat. This is time when she is okay to be by herself and I can find the time to get some things done using BOTH hands instead of one like usual ;) She smile all the time!! She squints her eyes, wrinkles her little nose and opens her mouth ... SO CUTE!!
Because I work now on mondays and fridays (nanny and preschool home schooling) she take a bottle and I don't get to feed her on the days she stays home with someone. This has definitely decreased my milk supply. I pump but I just don't get that much. Along with that, she is sleeping for longer periods during the day and night so once again I skip out on some feedings. It is weird because it seems as if she is weaning herself off of nursing already...she is not interested at all and would much rather be doing anything but laying down and eating. she takes a bottle so well and sits still for that but not when i am feeding her.. no just two or three minutes into it she rolls and moves and kicks and squirms and grunts and grabs and pinches as if it is the worst thing ever. Other times she just falls asleep right away :(
Her poor mommy is so confused on what to do

Pictures with Daddy!

Watching Twenty Four!

David and I have always been extreme fans of Twenty-Four. Little did we know we have a mini fan on our hands !!!

Mommy's little fishy face :)

Well Gracelyn just turned 11 weeks and I can't believe just how much she smiles and laughs. Of course when we pull out the video camera she is mezmorized by it and doesn't perform so we have only caught it on tape once :( Also, our camera is so slow so by the time we capture her smile it is already gone ... hmmm what I wouldn't give for a fancy smantcy quick shot camera :)

I just couldn't resist :)
This is what happens when I use the flash... sorry baby!!
Taken just seconds after a gorgeous smile :)

One thing that is new this week is her sitting up! We will be sitting on the couch watching one of our four shows ( I know... terrible hobby but we can't give up our 24 or The Office or Smallville ;) anyway, she will just be sitting up straight in my lap. Or another favorite of hers is to stand up against the back of the couch ... only for a little while until her chubby little legs give out and then she sits down :) Another thing that is new that I don't like very much is her grabbing, pulling and ripping mommy's hair out... I am now forced to wear a ponytail :)
OOOoohhhh the joys of motherhood ... I wouldn't trade it for the world!
We are so blessed to have such a happy and joyful baby! The Lord has given us so much and we are so very thankful!

Love to you all,
The Noland Three

1st time in the big girl stroller :)

We put the toddler seat on Gracelyn's stroller and went for a walk. We figured since she holds her head up and can almost sit up she would much rather enjoy sitting up than strapped into a car seat laying down...she LOVED it :)

Gracelyn's friends turned 1!!

Gracie went to her first birthday party for her friends Nathan and Andrew. They are the long awaited twins of my close friend Kristina and they just turned 1!!!! We see them every week at play group and even though I know she really didn't know what was going on, I really do think she remembered the boys!

10 Weeks!

This happened in the car and I didn't realize it until I went to get her out :)

She turned 10 weeks yesterday! It is amazing how much she changes from week to week.
We took her for her 2 month well check. The poor thing had to get five shots! We did however find out that she weighs 12 lbs which is in the 75% (on an empty stomach, if I had fed her before she would have been more) and is about 23.50 inches long so 86% for height. Her head is tiny... I don't know why they measure this but it was only in the top 15% Other than that she had a blocked tear duct but we are taking care of that :) The doctor said she is one STRONG healthy baby!!

She is almost out of her 1-2 diapers and now that she is over 12 lbs we will be switching her to size 2 as soon as we use up the rest of the 1-2's :) I am still flip flopping between Pampers and Luvs. Both of her diaper cakes that I got at the showers were Pampers 1-2 and Pampers 2 so we are using those, but we really liked how much the luvs held... hmmm decisions decisions :)
Because of her long legs she is wearing 3-6 months and 6 months clothes depending on the brand! We have to roll her sleeves a bunch because other than the length, she swims in the 6 months! It is so sad to pack away all her newborn and 0-3 month clothing but it is fun to have her wear big girl outfits now and not footies all the time! She is also wearing her shoes now!
Some things that happened this past week:

Aunt Alyssa got engaged :)
Went to the Bridal Expo with Mommy and Aunt Alyssa!
Went to Daddy and Grandpa's first softball game and actually was awake and watched it!
Daddy went back to work :(
Kept her sick Mommy company while Daddy was at work!
Went to the mall with Mommy, Aunt Ashlee, Aunt Lyssa and her friend!
Went to see Bride Wars at the theater with Mommy, Aunt Alyssa and Kristina :)
Went to David's Bridal to watch aunt Lyssa try on wedding gowns YAY!

Hey! A new trick :)

Her favorite toy right now is her play mat. She lays on it and bats at the toys hanging or kicks them. We added extra rings to make them longer so she could reach them... hoping to encourage her to start grabbing at them more!
The other day I was in the kitchen and I could hear her talking away... lots of noises and then I would hear her sucking. Now she loves to suck on her hand, any part of it... fingers or fist or wrist so i just assumed it was that. However, when I walked into the room I saw her sucking on the toy. She was moving her head back and forth trying to catch the star in her mouth.

WE LOVED WATCHING IT! David got out the video camera and I took some pictures so here! Enjoy :)

Some of my favorites :)

More pics of Gracie Shea!

My baby girl is a talker!

Gracelyn is a talker. That is ALL she does. She talks when we are holding her and when she is just hanging out on her play mat or in her pack n play... she just talks to herself. I think she has finally found her voice and just LOVES the sound of it :) Today I decided to start playing her baby tunes so she become familiar with them. Well before I put the music on I was just listening to her cooing, screeching, squeaking, gurgling. Once I played it and left the room, I could hear her trying to talk OVER the music. LOUDER and LOUDER she was actually trying to compete with the lady on the tape. In between songs she was just at a norma volume but as soon as they started... she was going to sing louder than them :) I just thought that was hilarious!
Also, I can clearly tell that she is NOT talking whatsoever in these pictures, but they were so cute I just had to post them!

Alyssa is ENGAGED!!!!

Today my little sister got engaged. Everyone decided to go hike Camelback mountain for Dan's birthday, I unfortunately couldn't go but David was able to video tape the proposal at the top of the mountain!! It was breathtaking!! The view and the reaction it was perfect!!!!

Congratulations you guys!!!
We are all sooooo excited for you!

2 months old!

This month has been wonderful!
Gracelyn experienced a lot of firsts

*First Christmas
*First movie at the theaters
*First time meeting her Great Aunts, Uncles, and Great Grandparents
*First time Daddy made her smile
*First trip to Utah
*First babysitter (Aunt Alyssa and Uncle Dan)
*First snowfall
*First New Years
*First taste of lemon...that was funny!


*First time sleeping out of the moses basket

There are so many more but our favorite by far is the smiling! She is always smiling now, when we get her out of her crib or her car seat or when we smile at her!!! What a fun age!!!

Outings in Utah!

Some of the things we did while in Utah:
*Exchanged Christmas gifts and Gracelyn got to meet her great aunts, uncles, and Grandparents :)


*Had a huge family dinner at my Aunts and the guys playing Madden '08

* Spent the day in Park City eating at Bandits and then finishing the day at the outlet shops :)




*Went to see Four Christmases, Tale of Despereaux, and Bedtime Stories. (Gracelyn was in the sling and slept through all three movies)

*Spent a day sledding Soooo much fun though the snow had become ice and we kept losing our footing!



*Watched many episodes of the Office
*Rang in the New Year eating at a Chinese food restaurant and then headed home to play a game of Mexican Train Dominoes and and drink Sparkling Cider

*Had a girls night watching Mama Mia at Grandma's house
*Celebrating the University of Utah's victory at the Sugar Bowl!!! and enjoying the HUGE snowfall :)