New Tricks

Just keep on rolling, rolling, rolling!

Yes, our little "kitten" is rolling around on the floors now.
She'd been so close for weeks until yesterday morning. Now she hasn't stopped moving and squealing. The only quiet time is nap time!

I wish I had a video for everyone. It's absolutely hilarious to watch her! The scary thought is we're afraid it won't be all that long before she's trying to crawl away...she's already trying to grab toys that are too far from her reach.

Gracelynn is also finally spreading out her meals to about 3-4 hours. Thank goodness! Enough grazing already. Now it's about 6-7 oz every few hours and only 1 or 2 dirty diapers! Hallelujah this is fun! :D

Unfortunately, Heath and I spent our Sunday afternoon cleaning and "Gracelynn proofing" our downstairs. She's already been rolling all over our living room and finding all kinds of dust bunnies. Great. I made out fabulously this last weekend at the city-wide garage sales. It was CRAZY! There were women waiting outside garage doors and almost crawling under as they opened. Needless to say, I did in fact stake out a few sales but under no circumstances did I crawl under garage doors!

I found a booster seat, a saucer, a little walker (she hasn't figured that one out yet), new brass knobs for my kitchen cabinets, and Heath came home with some "new" power tools. Oh dear. AND, a whole huge garbage bag full of 12-18 mo clothes. :) It kind of makes me sad to look at those outfits because they are so BIG. It goes so fast already...

Well, I need to go. It's time for a nap already. Rolling over must be exhausting because she naps all of the time now! Lol. Hurray! There has been a lot of squealing, yelling, throwing, spitting up, and moving around in this house lately. I fear our quiet days are over.

love,
the kelleys

Early Bedtime and Exersaucers!

Yes, we took Gracelynn to the doctor yesterday.
We wanted to be sure she didn't have an ear infection or a bug. :P
Apparently, the doctor said she was as healthy as a horse...a 15.6 lb horse! Lol, yes, our daughter is growing just fine. I figure the street clothes added a few ounces, but other than the no napping - she's a healthy almost 4mo old little girl. :)

Of course, she would nap for 4 hours yesterday afternoon after a visit to the doctor. We also decided to put her to bed early at 8:30 (she's never slept through the night if we put her to sleep early than 9:30) and she slept until 6:00! AND, she took another 2 hour nap just now.

So much for the doctor...

She's fussing for her mid-morning meal already so it's time to cut this post short. Sure, I know. It's not nearly as fun to read without the pictures anyway. Too bad - there have already been some really cute moments in her exercise saucer...which she loves!

Have a great day everyone!
love,
the kelleys

P.S.
Heath just accepted a Language Arts/Science teaching position for 6th grade this fall. There were a lot of cuts at the school, but thankfully, the Lord provided a way for him to stay with his 6th graders. I know - he's crazy. Middle schoolers are crazy!

Wet Diapers and No Naps

Hello from the Kelley Girls!

Hopefully this picture is new for most of you because our computer is still kooky and our camera is up in Waukon. Arg! Oh well.

Anyway! Here's the latest in Gracelynn's growing up adventures. Her new big thing is not napping...yes, I know! She's crazy and she needs them. I have to put her in her stroller and walk her up and down Main Street - even then she thinks she only needs a 20-40 min nap. Whatever happened to those beautiful 3-4 hour naps?

It bodes well for potty-training, but right now it drives me crazy...she refuses to sit in a wet diaper for any length of time. Which means, I'm either walking her, feeding her, changing a diaper, or giving her back her pacifier which she now likes to pull out and throw across the room...and by throw I mean really throw.

Did you think that was all?

She can't stand to lay on her back anymore. Yes, she can almost roll over. No, not enough to make her happy. She doesn't even like her swing anymore because it won't go anywhere. Where's the best seat in the house? Mommy's lap, of course. Grandma and I have decided it's no longer the teeth that are bothering her because she's just fine when someone is holding her up or she's out enjoying the scenery - but lay her down on her back and she will really let you have it! I guess her feet only satisfy her for a little while. She likes to get them into her mouth (eww), but after a few minutes, decides they're always going to be there and she can eat them later. (She found them 3 weeks ago and it's hilarious!)

So much for my sweet-tempered little girl...
Here's the little booger in her Easter dress for her 3mo photos. Don't let those eyes fool you! :)
Right now, she's on my lap. The only way I've been able to get any work done (I'm currently in the middle of designing a wedding album) is to prop her up on my lap. But fighting her for the mouse isn't as conducive to "work" as you might think. :S

I'm afraid it's going to come down to a battle of will - hers vs mine.

You always figure you're going to be "tough" enough to stand the tears...I suppose it's time to muster up the fortitude to withstand her cries (and by cries I mean wails) for more than the 15-20 minutes it takes to crack my resolve.

Well, I just literally bounced her to sleep on my lap - too bad this one's only a catnap. Guess I'll switch some loads of laundry around and get myself presentable for the day. Big weekend to prepare for...DeWitt City-Wide Garage Sales!

love,
the kelleys

Teeth?

Hi Everyone!

Yes, it's been a long while since I posted...sorry. Our computer has been fighting a virus (haha - not funny) and I still can't load any pictures. So! It'll just be an update for now.

Last week Gracelynn hit the big 3mo growth spurt and ate every hour - dirtied a diaper almost as often. She was a bit fussy and I attributed it to her feeling sore and tired from growing. Well...her fussy cry has continued into this week and she's had a fever for the past couple of days. Until this afternoon - I didn't even entertain the idea that she could have teeth coming in.

Poor little girl. She's been trying to tell me she's been unhappy. :(

Another mom/neighbor told me to take a peek - maybe they were coming in early? So, Heath came home from work and we both took a look. Sure enough, she has two on her upper gums that are just about ready to cut and we can see the two front teeth fairly well already too. Poor poor little girl.

I made a mad dash to the drug store and came home with some Orajel. She's been content to suck on her pacifier now and I feel so bad I didn't catch it sooner! Who knows how long it will be until she actually starts cutting teeth - but for now - I have my eyes wide open!

Better go - Heath and I have a date tonight! "How to Train Your Dragon". And a babysitter for Gracelynn. Hurray!

I'll try to get pictures up soon,
love,
the kelleys

Baby Equation

Heath and I have decided that there are a lot of factors to consider when traveling with a baby - and we've come up with a simple equation:

baby + entire household packed in a suitcase = prepared

Heath had spring break starting after school last Wednesday and the plan was to travel up to Waukon for Easter. Since I'd been particularly behind on dishes/laundry, Heath delivered an ultimatum before he left for work that morning: "If this house isn't cleaned by the time I'm home - WE'RE NOT GOING!" Would you believe it? Somehow I had the entire house ready to go with bags packed by the time he was home. Haha. Yes, I was exhausted.
Below is Gracelynn as I worked - feverishly worked, might I add!

Gracelynn is such a great traveler that I only packed a few extra clothing changes thinking, "She never spits up anymore and poo escaping a diaper is a rarity...I'll probably only need x amount of clothes and of course, my whole diaper stash"...May I just say now that I am still considered a mommy-newbie?

We had a rude awakening.

Gracelynn went through an unheard of 3-4 clothing changes every single day! That may not seem like much, but for us, it seemed like her entire wardrobe (and by Sat. morning...it was!).
Here is the little darling praying for forgiveness in her last pair of clean pants. :D

It takes 2 1/2 hours to reach the Snitker farm from here and with Gracelynn hitting another big growth spurt we figured we might possibly be making a DQ stop in the middle (I have affectionately been dubbed as the "Dairy Queen" by my family). She eats every hour and a half to two hours again - which makes keeping up with housework very difficult, I might add! But at least it only takes her 10 minutes.

Regardless, she did end up sleeping through the trip. A three hour empty stomach seemed fine. Grandma picked our sleepy "little g" up from her car seat and got a few soft smiles...her uncles...all three at a time proved to be too much. She took one look and didn't stop screaming until she fell asleep...hours later. Heath and I spent those next 3-4 hours calming her tired screams, rocking her, driving her around the countryside, and falling asleep to the sound of her kicking down her playpen.

She never cries. We were afraid. Very afraid.
But, despite how her first night at her grandparents started...she was back to her typical self the next morning.
Uncle Seth fed her.

Uncle Seth burped her.

But Uncle Seth refused to change her dirty diaper!
(He did agree to finish snapping her clothes back on though :)

My post is getting long, so below are more pictures with less comment!
Here is Gracelynn and her great-great grandmother

Our little Easter "bunny"

Gracelynn with Grandpa wrapped around HIS finger. (You've got it all wrong, girly!)

Mom always fixed up "Easter baskets"...here is Gracelynn's.

Grandma & Gracelynn "reading"
*Notice the extra spit-up on Grandma! :(

Our family photo...

Tummy time! (Her uncles call her the "beached baby". How terrible, I know!)

And one final photo. (Stop moving girly!)
Gracelynn was so excited to be back home last night. She smiled non-stop when we finally sat down on our couch to relax. She's been making all kinds of crazy sounds with her lips these past two weeks and I can spend hours (literally) on my hands and knees making faces and sounds right back at her. :) It's what makes the "work" part of "mommy" fun.

Well, I'd better wrap this up. I have all kinds of things to wash up from our weekend and unfortunately, laundry waits for no mom.
Onward soldier! You can do it!
- okay, whatever, who am I kidding? I'm not tackling that laundry by myself...I made way less than a third of it and there's one third that I know of who can help - Daddy.

blessings all!
the kelleys

P.S. Since we are now at liberty to share...
MY BROTHER IS GOING TO BE A DAD!
Andrew and Alex are expecting in November. How crazy will Christmas be on the Snitker side with twins, a new baby, and...and a toddler! (shudder!)