Lately...

Grace graduated to a clip in her hair yesterday for the first time ever! Yay! It only took 14 1/2 months. Only a few of them will stay in since her hair is still so thin. For now we still have to use some headbands, but I'm really disliking them since her hair is technically too long for them and the headbands just don't look great anymore. I can't wait until all of her clips will stay in!

But for now we're making progress, at least. :)

This year in medical school is sort of weird, and unexpected, in my opinion. Several of our student friends are spending months away for "audition rotations", which means they will do a clinical rotation somewhere out of town at a program where they want to interview and possibly do their residency. Some of the students do this for many months in a row and their families are leaving to stay with them wherever they go. In most cases, they have family wherever they're doing these rotations, so it allows the whole family to travel and stay together while the husband is working, rather than being here in Henderson all alone. Because the guys only have 1 year before the DO and MD matches, a lot of those away rotations are starting now, or soon. We're sad to think of having to say goodbye to some of our friends for a long period of time. Even though they'll be back for at least the last few months before graduation next year, it still means we won't see them for awhile and it won't be the same without them while they're away. :( Plus, it's like a reality check for me to be reminded of how soon we have to say goodbye for real to all our friends after graduation next year, and have to move away from such an amazing group and wonderful ward. I guess I went into 2011 feeling like I still had one last year to play and enjoy it here, make memories with my friends, learn from them and enjoy their friendship. But with everybody having different away-rotation schedules (including us) it will mean several people out of town at a time and possibly only a couple more months of all of my close girl friends in town at the same time until next year! So sad.

One family who is already heading to Michigan for 10 months (where they're from and their whole family lives) are the Freels. They are such a sweet family, and great examples to us. We have truly enjoyed their friendship and the fun we've had together. We'll miss them!

We met them at Cafe Rio as a farewell dinner.

On to other things... Grace is becoming much more fun at the park lately! She finally decided to try out the playground and climb the stairs (which she hardly has any experience with, living with no stairs in our house). She LOVES the slides and the swings, and especially loves watching other kids playing and tries to chase after them.

"Look what I found!"

Ryan got sick last week... so then Grace got sick on sunday (and now I'm sick, boo). She was burning up at church and fell asleep in my lap for the last part of church (which I loved, of course). She NEVER sleeps on me so it was a treat for me. The rest of the day she was so cuddly and sweet with both Ryan and I. We just ate it up, even though the poor little thing wasn't feeling well. I had Ryan take a picture of how comfy she was reading books with me... but you can see how miserable she felt. :(

Grace is just now beginning to push the limits and force us to make more rules to protect her from getting hurt or protect our stuff from getting ruined. I know the 18-month age is going to be rough and that she's simply learning new things - - while getting in trouble. I'm learning patience everyday... not doing a great job of it... but I know each new stage brings new challenges, and yet new joys to experience. :)

She just learned the other day how to stand up on her horse, although she hasn't tried letting go with her hands, thank goodness. I snapped this photo at the same time I was telling her "no" (just so I could have proof). haha. This is only the first of many things she'll learn to climb on, and I know it's not really a big deal if she does this little trick... but it's the principle of it that I have in mind. She already fell off of the horse the other day and bit halfway through her tongue, causing lots of bleeding. She'll learn, right? I just still can't believe that 3 weeks ago she couldn't even mount this toy horse by herself at all. Then one day I helped her practice it and she did it by herself. Now, today, she can do this! It's amazing how quickly they learn!

This is the coolest snack cup ever. It has a soft opening at the top so Grace can stick her hand in to grab some cheerios and pull it back out to eat them, but the cheerios don't fall out (usually). It's her new favorite thing (and mine too). Even a half cup of cheerios or goldfish keeps her busy for hours!

Surgery

For those who may want to read about our experience, here it is. But there's no pressure to read it! :) It's mostly for journaling.

Yesterday morning was Grace's surgery on her right tear ducts. We woke up around 5am so we could get up and going and leave the house at 6. The surgery was scheduled for 8am at Sunrise Hospital where they were going to place a plastic tube-type of thing into both ducts. When we got there, we checked in at the desk, and waited in the children's playroom. By this point, Grace was getting hungry and thirsty and kept signing "please" to me to give her something. We weren't allowed to give her anything after midnight, so we hoped she would just stay interested in the toys until the surgery.

Around 7:15 we were taken to the pre-surgery area where the nurses weighed and measured Grace, took her vitals, and we got her dressed in a gown, sweat pants, and socks they provide. In that same pre-surgery area they have a really great toy area (better than the waiting room) where she was having a blast with all the different things there! They even had a wii for older kids! I was impressed. When our schedule surgery time came and went we asked where the surgeon was and the nurses said they hadn't heard from her yet. Apparently she's usually late and they never quite know when she's coming. Even the anesthesiologist was late, who also has to come in to talk with us before the surgery. Finally around 8:40 is when both of them arrived. Poor Grace was starving, thirsty, ready for a nap, and in general pretty ornery, but still doing pretty well considering. Thank goodness for that toy room.

Just before 9 I handed Grace over to a nurse and they immediately left the room so Grace wouldn't notice I wasn't coming and get upset. I know it's a little silly how emotional I got (since I knew the surgery wasn't a scary one) but I wasn't the only sad mommy in the waiting room. In the big waiting room with all the other families, there is a board that keeps you updated on your patient. It kind of reminded me of the arrival/departure board at an airport, but with code numbers for each patient so nobody knows anyone else's situation. I checked it every few minutes... but whoever was supposed to keep Grace's status updated wasn't doing their job. All it said the whole time was "pre-surgery" (meaning the patient was waiting for the surgery to begin) until 30 minutes later it finally said "surgery end". Right after that the surgeon came out to give us the great news that she DIDN'T have to make the incision to repair the ducts! She only had to insert the plastic tube. There was no cutting or drilling or any of those yucky things, which means she doesn't have any deformation. :)

We were able to go into the recovery area where Grace was starting to come out of sedation. The anesthesiologist said he wouldn't be intabating, and would have some sort of sleeping gas coming out of a tube in the back of her throat... I didn't quite understand all of that when he said it... but it turned out that he DID in fact intabate while they also had the morphine going through the IV. This morning I could see that they'd tried to get a vein on both feet and both hands (total of 5 sticks) before they got one going on her right hand. Poor girl! That's a lot of pokes. As she started to come to a little bit, her eyes were still closed but she was crying and moaning. It was so sad to see her like that! She was still hooked up to everything so they could monitor her stats while she woke up, but they allowed me to hold her for an hour. At one point she finally opened her eyes a little and was frantic, probably feeling confused and a little strange from the drugs. We offered her apple juice in her sippy cup, which she downed in about 60 seconds! She must have been so thirsty and starving. When I tried to take it away she would scream and cry, eyes still closed, until I put her binkie back in her mouth. I'm sure she just needed something comforting.

After an hour in recovery, she proved (after another full cup of juice) that her stomach was fine after the morphine and she could go home so they took the leeds, IV, and heart monitor off. We got home about 11:30 and put her to bed, but she woke up really confused and upset within 45 minutes. The rest of the afternoon was about the same: She would wake up every 45 mins or so upset, but hardly opening her eyes at all, wouldn't let us force her into our arms or on the couch, and wouldn't let us lay her down in bed. It sort of felt like we had a newborn again! It was a sweet afternoon to have her just cuddled in our arms with us on the couch while we watched movies and took naps ourselves.

She was still very tired while I gave her a snack before bed.

Today she is totally herself and doesn't look or act like she had surgery yesterday! Her eye/face are not swollen one bit. The probing she had done a couple months ago gave her black eyes, but this didn't at all. She slept great last night, a full 12 hours even after sleeping most of the day, so she's a very happy and well-rested girl today. I'm glad we decided to get this done now while she's so little. She doesn't know what's going on, won't remember it, and I'm not worried about her playing with or pulling at the plastic tube in the corner of her eye. Even though today I've already wiped her eye about 10 times, and I have 6 months of that to deal with, I know it'll all be worth it after July when we get it removed and her eye is NORMAL! :)

If you look at her right eye in the corner you will see the tiny little white line. That's the plastic tube that goes into the duct on the top and the bottom. If you click on the picture you can see it a bit better.

A big thank you goes out to our friends/family who brought dinner, visited, and checked in on us during and after this process. We're grateful for an amazing support system, even though this wasn't a big, scary surgery. We're grateful for a great surgeon who did such a good job (Dr. Janice Eggert), was so confident that it put our worries at ease, and who was gentle enough that she didn't bruise up Grace's face. I think that says a lot! (She was even surprised when I told her how bruised Grace was after the other doctor did the first probing) I'm also grateful to Ryan for getting these 2 days off of work so he could be with me. He's been so helpful and wonderful, and I know Grace can tell it's special when Daddy is home all day with us.

Netflix

What an AWESOME thing Netflix is. Even better than getting one or two movies per week, is that we can watch any of the "watch instantly" movies on our computer at any time. Then with our BluRay player we can watch those movies right on our TV. Technology is amazing isn't it?!

Lately I've discovered some really great films that are either BBC films or somewhat low-budget/practically unknown films. These are my favorites and I wanted to share the wealth:

One Night with the King - The story of Esther from the Bible. It has Tiffany Dupont who played the original Lydia McBride in the first Work and the Glory.

Daniel Deronda - From BBC.

Wives & Daughters - From BBC.

North & South - From BBC. I may or may not have a tiny crush on Richard Armitage...

Flipped - SUCH a cute movie! Ryan and I both loved it.

Watch them and enjoy! :)

4-TEEN Months Old

Exactly one year ago today...

Our little "baby" is becoming more and more of a big girl everyday - especially one with att.it.ude. But it makes life fun, honestly. It's really exciting to see her personality that is just so "Grace". She is such a performer and truly loves to be around people. Mom and Dad just don't cut it for her ideal audience, and loves when other people are watching or paying attention to her. She also has a great time with other kids these days which makes play-dates really fun for all involved!

Grace is still a GREAT eater. Surprisingly the only time she refuses to eat what we offer is if we have people over for dinner or are eating at someone else's house. The newest addition to her list foods she'll eat are kiwis. We just tried them today and she loved them! Her favorite things are oranges (but not canned mandarin oranges), cheese of course, craisins, graham crackers (which I bring with me anytime I leave the house and it saves us from temper tantrums at the store), black beans, pickles, and pasta noodles. The best way we can get veggies into her meals is by putting them in her quesadillas. I can put anything like spinach, tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers, etc and she never refuses it. Milk is definitely not an issue anymore. She loves her milk and probably drinks 4 or 5 sippy-cups worth in a day.

Words Grace can say:

-"mah mah", meaning Grandma. (sounds slightly different than "mama")

-"bahbah", meaning Grandpa.

-"buh boh", meaning bubble (also means "bath" in her mind)

-"buh ber", meaning diaper.

-"dee", meaning please. (she also signs "please" by rubbing her tummy)

-"jee", meaning cheese. (it's hard to put letters to the sound she makes for that one)

-"nahnie", meaning goodnight. Ryan says she did this once for him the other day but she hasn't done it for me.

-She says "wow" but it's only a whisper and it sounds like "whah"

Animal sounds she can make:

-cow

-dog

-monkey

Things she loves to do when asked:

-DANCE!

-spin

-wave hi or byebye (not just an arm wave, or a little 4 fingered wave - but from the wrist like a beauty queen)

-blow kisses

-play peek-a-boo with her hands

-point to head, hair, toes, nose, tummy

-tickle us

-bring us something particular that we ask for, like her Noah little person, or her baby doll, or a book.

blowing kisses

pointing to her nose

She's learning family members and their names so well. I made her a book with pictures of all her cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents, as well as a picture of Jesus and President Monson. Whenever we see the page about Jesus she rests her face on the page which means she's giving Him kisses. So sweet! On Christmas night, we ate dinner with her Aunt Jacey and Uncle Jason. She doesn't see them very often in person, but sees their picture in the book. When I asked her where Uncle Jason was, she smiled and looked right at him! And when I asked her where Aunt Jacey was, she turned her head and looked right at her. I was so impressed! I had no idea the names and faces were sticking in her mind. She also is obsessed with looking at and carrying around my parents' Christmas card which has a photo of her and her Goates cousins. She just loves looking at pictures!

Grace loves my purses/bags and will find as many as she can around the house to carry around with her. She'll just drag them around the house. If I put one over her shoulder she will keep her arm lifted up to help keep the purse on. It's so funny to watch. Such a girly-girl! I didn't even own my first purse until I was 17 and graduated from high school, simply because I vetoed the "girliness" of it. Funny that I ended up with a little girl who loves all of that stuff. :)

Her sleeping schedule is finally back to normal. For a little while there I thought that I was supposed to get Grace on a one-nap-a-day schedule because she wasn't sleeping through the night very well. I tried it for a couple weeks but she would only sleep for an hour, if that, during that one nap. After talking to a few friends, they insisted that I should stick to 2 naps as long as Grace will do it. I don't know what I was thinking trying to get rid of one nap when she happily takes two still! Duh. So I took their advice and gave Grace 2 naps again. She sleeps about 1-2 hours in the morning, and then 30 mins-90 mins in the afternoon, depending on the day. At night she sleeps 12 straight hours - it's WONDERFUL.

Running around the Conference Center grounds in SLC

Making a big mess of her new toy shelf, but having a grand ol' time doing it!

That's all that matters.

Being silly with daddy while I was tying her fleece blanket

One of her favorite things, and Ryan can get her SO HIGH! This picture doesn't even show the height.

Even though church is getting more and more difficult (a few more months 'til nursery!), and she has her temper tantrums, and she ALWAYS knows when I am trying to nap while she does and refuses to sleep longer than 20 minutes that day.... we still love her so much. She makes my life so beautiful and keeps me smiling and laughing (most of the time). We both would be missing the most wonderful part of life on this earth without her in our home and are grateful for the unconditional love she brings into it.

Our Little Dancer

We have a talented little dancer in our house! She LOVES to dance. Any music these days on the TV, movies, or CD player will get her moving. We have dance parties and it always makes her happy! I've heard or read from other moms that when their young kids are fighting they'll yell "DANCE PARTY!", turn music on, and everybody has a good time. The kids forget why they were fighting. I believe it now, and will definitely use that tactic in the future.

This was at my parents' house, the day after Christmas.

This was the other day, dancing to music from Jules Morrow's new CD.

***Julie - I think you found yourself a choreographer..... ;)

Did you catch the booty-drop somewhere in the middle?

When I was 3 or 4, I was OBSESSED with watching the Peter Pan musical on video, starring Mary Martin. Did anyone else ever see that version? My parents video taped me dancing to the "uga-wuga-wigwam" song (trying to copy every move they did on screen). I soooo wish I could put a clip of that on here, 'cause it's hilarious, but the next best thing is to point you to youtube where that scene is found (incase you want to check it out). Loved that movie!!