Like taking a steak from a starving dog...

We bought Gracie one of those mesh teething feeders tonight. We thought she might like to chew on it since she is a slobbery, teething mess. So I cut up some chunks of banana and froze them, put them in the feeder and gave it to her. She seemed to like it- even figured out how to get it in her mouth the right way. Well, I realized that she needed some more banana in it (I hadn't put much in it to begin with) and I went to take the feeder from her to add more, and I about came back with a bloody nub!! She freaked OUT. I mean, hollering, shaking her arms, red-face, crying real tears. I didn't even get it out of her hand- I merely tried! I got the heck out of her way and let her have it until it was gone and I had to get it away from her to add more (crying ensued). She made a tremendous mess and we then gave her another one with some ice pieces, but she wasn't as into it. I'll have to try some stuff that doesn't make as much of a mess (I've read frozen grapes, melon, mango, peach are good to do). But I will proceed with caution when taking it away from her!

We also got her a Pack-n-Play today. I love it! It is so pretty. It has the basinette attachment, a changing station, a mobile, soother with lights and sounds. We tried it all out- fantastic! We can put her in there to play without worrying about the animals or her eating cat hair off the carpet. We're going to take it to Randy's mom's house for her to have while I'm working, but it is easy to transport so we can bring it home the weeks I'm tracked out. Only downside is our living room is small and already has a TON of baby stuff (well, an Exersaucer and the playplace) so the Pack-n-Play takes up the rest of the room. Oh, well.

Not much else. We had BabyPalooza yesterday at Grant and Sherry's- Gracie, Olivia and Olivia's cousin Drew were having a play-date. Drew is about a month younger than Gracie, and what a cutie- we've already arranged their marriage in about 25 years! Here's a couple pics from their first date (Olivia was the chaperone?).

BFF

Here's a couple pics of Gracie and Olivia. Gracie looks HUGE compared to the little one! But it looks like Olivia is working on some competition cheeks! =)

New Trick

New tricks

Gracie is mastering this rolling over business. However, there's a catch. She LOVES to practice her new skill, but she HATES being on her belly for very long, and she can't figure out how to roll back over. So, she begins to fuss, which escalates into a dramatic, whiney mess of a baby who has to be rescued by... me. This is getting old.

But here's a cute video of the roll- and she stays happy for this one!

Rollin', rollin', rollin'

Well, just one roll, but... Gracie did it! She finally rolled over! And we even have witnesses. She completely made it over to her belly last night at Grant and Sherry's. I was so proud of her! She just needs more practice now. She was trying to reach a jingle bee (thanks Grandmama!). She's working on repeating the feat as I type. She doesn't really like being on her belly, so she is sure to get frustrated once she's stuck that way- so now she needs to figure out how to get back on her back. Go, Gracie, go!

The End

We have (finally) reached the end of our Pearl Jam following. I know Randy is sad, but I'm happy to be home for a while. Our last concert was last night, and it was insanely long- more than 2.5 hours and 31 songs!!! Randy loved every minute of it (especially since our hotel was in walking distance), but our seats were definitely the worse we'd had, as we were on the side about halfway back from the stage- 3rd row up, and I couldn't see a thing. I hate being short. I spent the first 5 or so songs in the concourse area as I had a toothache that merged into a migraine, so the lights and noise were too much. I had taken some Advil, but that just didn't do the trick- finally I got some relief from a Cherry Coke (yay caffeine!). It was a good show. At the end, Eddie pulled some kid up on the stage and let him play his guitar for the song- that was pretty cool. Not sure where the kid came from.
This is my last week of track out before I start my new job. I'm going to miss being home with Gracie, even though we've been gone a lot. I think I then have 3 weeks of work then a week off. Nice.
Not much else going on, until Thursday when little baby girl Michael is scheduled to arrive- we're planning to go meet her this weekend. I can't wait to find out this kid's name!

We are the luckiest folks EVER!

This is the view from our seats at the Pearl Jam show last night:

Yeah. There's NOBODY in front of us. We bought the tickets through Ten Club, and had no idea where our seats were. Seats are usually given based on seniority in the club, and Randy is pretty low on the list. BUT- they put everyone into a lottery for what we thought were 2nd and 11th row seats, but evidently for this show the lottery was for FIRST row, and we hit the jackpot! When we got to the will-call window the lady found our tickets and said "Oh, you got front row!" I didn't think I'd heard her right. But we did indeed get row A in orchestra 2, which is front and center. Our seats were only a couple down from dead center. It was incredible. I've never seen Randy so excited. It was neat because they are very strict about the people with access down front, and we had to get our hand written on, our ticket sharpied AND a wristband to make sure that we were the correct people in our spots.

Let me just say, that Eddie Vedder is every bit as good looking up close in real life. He has really pretty eyeballs. And I got his SPIT on me! (yeah, I know, EW) Randy got a guitar pick from Mike McCready, and the girl 2 seats down got a set list. They were also giving out tambourines, but no luck on those.

We had a great time. No concert will ever compare. Here's a couple more pics (we hate that we didn't bring a real camera!)

Too much going on!

We've had a busy week! The short version: we went to Tampa, Florida, to see my grandma Amos (Gracie's great-grandma) and for a Pearl Jam concert, got stuck in the Atlanta airport on the way home, Gracie turned 5 months, and Olivia was born!!!
Ok. Now the details. Our trip was great! We had good flights down there, Gracie did fantastic on the plane. We got to hang out with Gracie's great-grandma and grandpa Scott (my father) who just adored her. The concert was AWESOME, and Gracie did great staying with grandma- even made a nice poopy mess for her! =) We took Gracie to the Florida Aquarium on Friday, and she was really interested in the fish- trying to grab them through the glass (the fish should be glad the glass was there). Then came the trip home. That was an adventure. Our flight leaving Tampa was late, and we had a really short layover to contend with even without the delay. So we got to Atlanta late, but had almost made it to our gate in time when they announced they had switched gates and that it was final call. The new gate was on a different concourse (Atlanta is a ZOO) and we knew we wouldn't make it. We got there and the plane was closed up and about to leave. So we had to go to re-ticketing and deal with the EVIL people there. That woman was so incredibly rude and mean, and the only thing she did for us was put us on STANDBY for a 7:00am flight the next day and give us a discount on a hotel, blaming US for missing the flight. Whatever. So we wandered around and found a nice Delta agent who put us on a confirmed noon flight (much better) but we still had to rent a car to get to the hotel, because we had to get formula for Gracie. We ended up in a ghetto Walmart that was about to close, but at least we got what we needed. Gracie spent the night in the middle on the other bed in our room and we made it home pretty uneventfully the next day. And Gracie was an ANGEL for all of this. She was overdue for a feeding at the airport and still was in a great mood- helping us to stay calm and in control of the situation. She never got upset. She is the best baby EVER.


Here are some pics from our trip (I promised Grandma I wouldn't post her pic on the blog...):

At the aquarium

Uh-oh- this stingray isn't behind the glass!!

Welcome Olivia Rose Nelson!

While we were stuck in Atlanta, Grant and Sherry had Olivia! Sherry called me early on Sat. morning to tell me she was in labor and was close to delivery. Olivia was born at 12:21pm on Saturday and is just perfect! She's a beauty, too. Check out their blog for pics: Nelson Baby Blog
We're so glad she's here and can't wait to see her again tonight. She'll get to meet her new buddy Gracie, too!
Also, Kelly is going to have a c-section to deliver her little girl who is breech (directionally challenged) on the 26th or 27th- YAY! I'm so glad she'll be here before I go back to work. So many new babies!! Squee!

5 months old!

My baby is starting to look like a little girl now! She's getting so big! And so stinkin' cute! Here's some updates.

*the girl can EAT (yeah, no duh, right? What a porker!) She loves carrots, and eats with gusto: sweet potatoes, squash, and pears. She had some peas today and merely tolerated them. She's so much better at getting the food actually IN her mouth and not all over her.

*she still loves to stand up and we're working on sitting propped up on her hands

*still can't roll over. Her arm gets in her way. She has made it from front to back once or twice- by accident, I think.

*she loves her exersaucer

*she grabs at anything near her and usually can get ahold of what she's trying to reach.

*she's interested in watching the cats and dog now- and grabbing them when she can. We have very tolerant animals, which is great.

She really is so good 95% of the time. She has her moments, but usually she's tired or hungry (or both), so it is easily remedied. We have really lucked out with her so far!

So big!

This little girl is growing up way too fast! Every day she acquires a new talent. Most recently she has mastered the ability to grab ahold of things you hand to her. Anything you pass her way she'll take from you. Of course, the item immediately goes straight into her mouth! She is really into toys, especially the ones on her exersaucer. She's also working VERY hard on rolling over- her arm keeps getting in her way, though! She can't figure out how to get that arm out from under her once she's over. So I don't know if that counts or not. She also now looks at you when you're talking to her, even if she's been paying attention to something else. She's doing great with her solids. She's had carrots, sweet potatoes, peas (didn't really like them), green beans (not so big on those, either) and pears. She just noms them right on down!

We leave for our trip in a couple days. Hopefully our flights will go smoothly. I've made a list of all the things to take with us- what a list!

We went to Kelly's baby shower on Saturday, which was really nice. It was a family affair so there were couples and kids there- I like that kind of shower.

In other news- We're getting a new car!!! WOOHOO! Unfortunately we have to wait for it. We're on the waitlist for a new Toyota Prius. They are in such high demand right now, what with gas prices through the roof, that there is at least a 2 month wait! But we think it will be worth it. We've been thinking about getting rid of the Escape, as it is several years old, and we need something that doesn't eat gas. Well, the Prius gets at least 47 MPG. And it has all kinds of gadgets, which I love. We picked 2 colors, and the first one to come in is what we get- so it is a surprise, which is kinda cool. I'm excited. I've only had one brand new car, and it was leased. Mmm, new car smell!

Gratuitous baby shot:

Video of nom

NOM!!!

We are doing SO much better with the solid food. I took my friend's advice, and only tried the cereal every few days. She has really caught on to it now! She's had rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, and tonight... CARROTS! And she LOVED them! I am so proud of her. Boy, what a mess, though. At least more is staying in now. She even opens her mouth for the spoon, and watches it like a hawk. We're doing 5 bottles and 2 feedings and it seems to be working so far. We put her feeding seat together and have been using that. We have it attached to one of our barstools, which is a great height for me.
I have ONE more day left of work- yes! I wasn't sure I'd survive this year. But next school year (which starts in a month) should be great, I hope. I have gotten the computer lab job that I wanted! It is a 10 month position (I'm currently 9 months) which means a bit more money, and I get to pretty much pick my own track out schedule and more control over what I do in the lab. I'm really looking forward to it.
A friend at work gave me an Exersaucer for Gracie today- she really likes it! She can't be in it for long before she gets tired, because she really has to work to support herself. But she was grabbing at all the toys and trying to move around in it (the seat spins). I think she's really going to enjoy it. It is in great condition, and I gave Alison $20 for it, since they typically cost close to $80. I figured it was a good deal, and I'm glad it came from someone I know. Our living room is a vertiable jungle of baby paraphanelia. I always said I wouldn't let my house get like that. Oh well.
What else? Kelly's shower is this weekend- looking forward to that. Then next week we go to Florida to visit my Grandma Amos and to see Pearl Jam. I think it is so cool that Gracie has several great-grandmas, and I'm so glad Grandma Amos will get to meet her. I'm hoping the flights go well- we bought Gracie a seat and are taking her carseat. I hope it FITS in the airplane rows. I also hope the air pressure on her ears doesn't freak her out. That's my biggest fear. Should be lots of fun to haul all her stuff around the airport, too.