Christmas Break

Ryan, Grace and I are in Salt Lake to spend time with our families. There were so many people waiting to meet our baby girl and it has been so much fun so far!

Our car was filled to the max! Babies come with a lot of baggage apparently. :) This was the view from my seat looking back... you can see Grace's little head in the mirror.
We spent some time reading books while Ryan drove...

Grace and her cousin Layla. They are exactly one month and 3 lbs apart. :) They may not look related but we hope they will be the best of friends being so close in age!

Layla has been sharing all her old newborn clothes with Grace and this is one of my favorites so far.

Grace loves it when Daddy helps her at bath time. This is in my parents' sink.

Gracie finally got to meet her Grandma and Grandpa Turner. (She gets her dark complexion from this Grandma's side of the family)
Uncle Jason and Aunt Jacey were color coordinated with her outfit. ;)

Grace's favorite position to be in is laying on someone's chest. In this case my dad was cozy and warm.

Cousins!

Love it.

Great Job, Ryan!

You survived block week! In fact, all 3 of us did. But really, he did a great job this semester and pulled off good grades (even with the rough couple of weeks after Grace was born). I'm so proud of you, Ry. You will make a wonderful doc.

Grace and I gave Ryan a little "end of block week" gift. Look at that tongue... yum... milk...
We celebrated the end of the semester at one of our favorite restaurants - Lucille's Smokehouse BBQ. A much-deserved night out as a family.
The District is so neat during Christmas time. They decorate the whole place with lights and have live music on the weekends.

I can't begin to explain how great it is to know that we have Ryan all to ourselves for almost a whole month!

One Month Old

Can you believe it?! I sure can't.
Grace turned one month old on December 9th. It has been strange to see December 2nd (her actual due date) come and go... and December 9th (the original due date) as well... realizing how lucky we are to have her with us earlier than expected.
Her one month check-up with her new doctor went well. We love our doctor by the way (Dr. Carrie Wijesinghe... not sure if I spelled that right). No shots until next month but they did have to prick her toe to check her hemoglobin (everything was fine with her red blood cells this time).

At one month Grace ...
- weighs 6 lb 11 oz (up 8 oz from birth)
- is 3rd percentile in weight for full term babies, and 10th percentile for preterm babies (yeah... we're working on it)
-is 20 inches long (grown an inch from birth)

-is wearing a few of her newborn sized sleepers and outfits finally. All of her preemie things are a bit snug and short on her.

-is getting less and less sleepy. The longest she's gone staying awake so far is 2 full hours.

-sticks her tongue out a lot.

-loves her binkie.

-is really good at holding her head up on her own.

-slept in her crib last night instead of the bassinet in our room- yay!

Grace is no longer jaundice... but look at this picture! Ryan has an olive complexion, so you can see where she gets it from. But even this picture shows how much darker she is than even Ryan! She definitely doesn't have my fair skin.
I was telling Ryan the other day how lucky she is... dark hair, olive skin, and beautiful blue eyes. She'll be a heart-breaker!
We're working on the smile... This wasn't exactly a true smile - even though I caught her at a moment where it looks like it. But still close! Hopefully soon we'll see those dimples for real.

Grace's Photo Session

Here are a few of the gorgeous shots my friend Melynda took of Grace. For being a super uncooperative baby (both times we tried), Melynda was able to get some really beautiful photos.

Thanks again Melynda!!

Here she is making me feel like a bad mom.

p.s. HAPPY 1 MONTH BIRTHDAY, GRACE!

December!!

I have been looking forward to this month almost all year! It may have been because my due date was December 2nd, but mostly I can hardly wait to spend a couple weeks in Salt Lake with our families and celebrate Christmas. We'll be headed up there in a week and a half. It'll be so great to finally be able to introduce everyone to Grace! They've all been so instrumental in helping her get better so quickly ... because of their faith, prayers, and fasting. It will also be so nice to have lots of time there and not feel rushed to see everyone and do all we want to do.

Ryan's last finals week of the semester starts on monday. But all of the intense/endless studying has already been going on. It's already been a bit rough on me the last couple of days, but I know it's about to get a lot worse come monday. Usually, in order to survive block week, the other wives and kids will get together throughout the week and hang out so we're not too lonely and bored. This is my first week as a mom during block week, and practically all the wives have gone home for christmas... and those who are still in town are dealing with sickness in their home (which we have to stay away from)! I realized too late that I probably should have just gone home to Salt Lake a little early as well so I wouldn't be alone with a newborn this week. But unfortunately Grace and I have doctor's appointments scheduled, so we'll just have to survive it. I'm being more of a complainer than I need to be - we'll be fine. :)

Grace is almost a month old! I can't believe it. Her entire wardrobe has consisted of a few preemie sleepers we've borrowed from friends, some long-sleeve onesies, and newborn sweatpants rolled up twice. (pictured below)
She hasn't been able to fit in any of her cute newborn things we have yet ... and the preemie things we borrowed are now getting a bit too short and snug on her. YAY!! I'm really looking forward to being able to put her cute newborn things on her soon. :) Plus it means she's growing.

Gracie and I went on our first walk in the stroller this week. It was a chilly 40-something degrees that morning and she fell right to sleep. But I enjoyed getting out for a few minutes - even though I realized after only 5 minutes how tired, sore, and out of shape I still am!
This picture is too funny. She was enjoying a little "tummy-time" on the boppy and used her strong neck muscles to lift her head up (she's surprisingly strong, even being a few weeks old). But she's still a little bit of a bobble-head and I caught her funny movement and expression on camera. Silly girl.

I think we'll keep her...