Lengthy Ode to My Love

Today is a very special day. :) It is my Topher's 26th Birthday!
The love of my life is one year older (wiser too perhaps?). And yes, I try to be appreciative of him on a daily basis, not just on his Birthday, and yes I COULD write blogs about how much I love him on a regular basis, but...people would most likely get annoyed, and no longer read my sappy blog. And Topher would be embarassed. Those of you who know him know he has quite the adorable pink cheeks when embarassed. BUT, since it is his actual birthday today, I can go all out. Write just how much I love and adore him and no one can complain, and he only has to be embarassed for a few short minutes. :)

Anyone who knows me, my dating history, and Topher, KNOWS that Christopher Curtis Andersen marrying me, is well, a miracle!! For me, his being my husband is the most powerful confirmation of God's love for me. There is no way He would send me someone as AMAZING as Topher, unless he loved me A LOT.

That aside, I just want to take a minute, for Topher and for me and my kids in the future that read this....to just name some of the many reasons I love my Husband so very much.
Topher is a trooper. This week we have ALL been sick. It started with Grace being sick. Then Topher and I both caught it a day or so later. As of yesterday, Grace was getting a little bit better, and Topher and I were both getting worse. Now...it's his Birthday week people. But, has he once complained about being sick? NO! He has stayed home a whole day from school (which is a HUGE deal for him at this point in school) JUST to be with me. Yes, he rested a little, but mostly he cooked, cleaned and babied me and Grace. On top of that, yesterday he let me lie around moping and feeling sorry for myself, while once again, he cleaned and babied me and Grace. He put movies on for us, tucked us into bed together, put laundry away, brought us drinks. And let me remind you, he IS STILL SICK.
I know, I know, my family is thinking that I'm the worst wife ever. And that may be. But, Topher doesn't think so!! I know!! What is the MATTER with him!! He says he loves me. But, I'm still wondering if my parents are secretly paying him. ;)
If that is not reason enough to love him to pieces, then let's add on to that the fact that I have been INSANELY grumpy the past few days. I have been crying randomly and sad constantly, un-motivated, whiny, and completely un-helpful. I know for a fact, that I would drive myself and many others crazy. I feel that I should have been driving Topher crazy. But instead, he told me how much he loves me and how beautiful I am. This is with no make up, 3 days of unwashed hair, no deodorant, a fever, a cough, and a tissue up my nose, while whining and being self-centered.
See why I think he is being paid??!
He is such a sweet heart. I wish I deserved such a Prince, but deserving or not, I am SO GRATEFUL HE IS MINE!!!
Not only is he a wonderful husband who for some reason adores me, and loves me unconditionally, he is the most loving, affectionate, and attentive Daddy.

He is so sweet with Grace and everyone who knows us, knows that Grace's favorite person in the whole world is her Daddy. And it's not hard to guess why.
He plays with her, tickles her, lets her give him kiss after kiss, even when she has a snotty nose. He'll watch Shrek three times in a row for her, or 10 minutes each of Mulan, Shrek, Toy Story, & Peter Pan before she decides that really she just wants to eat. He plays hide and seek with her, takes her outside on adventures, plays "1-2-3 wee!" over and over and over. He helps her feed, change, and put her baby dolls down for naps.

He makes her favorite TinkerBell and Buzz Lightyear characters with his Mr. Potato Head stash. He reads her stories, dances with her, sings to her, even when its out of key. He has no problem changing diapers, even if it's Grace's 3rd in 25 minutes. He lets her put him to sleep, even when he is trying to put HER to sleep. And he is so so patient with her. Little Grace can be such a handful sometimes, and most of the time when she is whining, crying, screaming or even screaming her Graceysaurus shrieks, he can just smile and think she's adorable.

So, yes, he is an amazing family man. But it doesn't stop there.

I had a lot more written out here, but, re-reading it, it was too much to share in such a public blog. So....although this has already been quite the ode to my man...I'm going to lengthen it a little more and name my 10 most favorite Topher qualities. :)
1. I love how smart he is. He is dedicated and works hard in school and personally, I think he's a genius. Even if he CAN'T keep track of his phone or car keys. :)
2. I love that he is in the Navy. Maybe it's because I grew up in a military family, maybe it's because military to me means masculine. ;) But I love that he has taken our lives in the direction of the Navy and all it has to offer us. :)
3. I love that he wants to be a Doctor and go to Medical School. It's going to be a LOOOONG road and definitely hard. But so rewarding. And I think he'll be amazing.
4. I love how much fun we have together. He is a genius yes, but he has no problem acting like a big nerd with me. We laugh so much together and I love that.
5. I love how much he loves the outdoors. I know we'll never have a summer without multiple vacations that include camping, kayaking, picnics and kite flying. I love that he takes us on adventures and gets us outside.
6. I love that he is adventurous. He always wants to try new things and just about everything he tries, he's good at. This summer he finally did kite-boarding lessons and it was a blast for him and for me to watch.
7. I love that he plays games with me!!! We have about a bazillion games, and we play games constantly. We like to take a day off from everything, watch movies and play games and it's the greatest!
8. I love how much he loves me, and Grace. And I love knowing that he would do anything for our little family's well being.
9. I love his testimony and strength in the gospel. He is such an example to me and I love having that in my life. He always brings a strong spirit into our home no matter what and that means the world to me.
10. I love that he loves my cooking!!! He thinks I'm the best cook ever! And what wife doesn't like to hear that??!!
and 11. because I need a #11...I love that my husband is a babe!! I love that he can grow a beard and it grows in red!! How awesome is that!!? I think he has the sweetest most perfect face, (esp. his nose!!) and I love that my head fits perfectly in the nook on his shoulder. :)
I love you Topher!!!!!!! You are my everything!! Thank you for being the perfect Husband for me! No one could love me better!
Happy Birthday!! I'm so excited to celebrate you!

Clean House!!

Now, you may be thinking that a post about a clean house is not blog worthy...and if that's the case... well then you really don't know me. Because an ENTIRELY clean house...is DEFINITELY blog worthy in my world.
We have been so all over the place since about...mmm....the beginning of Summer??...that our house has dearly suffered the consequences. It has not been completely clean since...well, I can't even remember.
Now, I don't do well with messes. They make me angry, and frustrated and grumpy. So, eventually we always cave in and clean. But, with a problem called "Gracey", we never get further than 1 or 2 rooms....1 or 2 loads of dishes and clothes. The house is always half clean.
Well, this time, we really got down and dirty. We cleaned the WHOLE HOUSE!! BOOM BABY!!
It was wonderful. I am so happy.
So, to document this momentous occasion...I'm blogging about it.
Including pictures.
Don't worry, i'll throw in a cute picture of Grace too. Just for giggles. :)
Would you look at that??? Clean dining room....living room. Ooh! Ooh! And you can see the floor in our bedroom!! The WHOLE floor!! There isn't even a basket of clean clothes waiting to be put away! Go me! Oh! And my desk?! It RARELY gets to be that clean. So nice.


And here is my adorably beautiful baby. She's happy the house is clean too. :)

And....another one. Because I can. And...she's too cute for only one photo of that smile. :)

The great thing about a clean house...is that when I wake up in the morning...I don't have to dread trying to clean my house with my ankle biter. Instead....I can focus on her, and me. And us having a good time together doing things that are way more important than cleaning...like having tickle wars and watching Shrek 4 1/2 times.

Getting Better...

On Saturday morning, Grace was still really sick. Her fever had persisted for over 7 days, as had her cough, cold and diarrhea. So we decided to go into the Dr. again. Just to double check that things were o.k.
They did a viral panel, which she HATED. We got the results back on Sunday and YAY! She tested positive for R.S.V. We lovingly passed this along to our neice Maya (so so sorry misty!!) and I may have also passed it on to Ellie unknowingly!! Ugh! I hate getting people sick!
We have no idea where it came from...but for now...I'm going to blame Caden. :) He was the only person sick at Christmas time (afte which grace got sick) and it makes you feel so much better to point fingers doesn't it?? Ok, fine, maybe not. :) I love you Caden!
But anyway, she tested positive for R.S.V.
However, R.S.V. really is just like any other common cold. Just about everyone has had R.S.V. at some point, they just don't know it because it was a mild case. We are scared of the diagnosis R.S.V. because we hear about all the kids in the hospital with it. BUT, the kids in the hospital with it have the RARE bad luck of having a more severe case of the virus. So, since Grace's condition was normal and nothing severe, they offered no extra advice, no medication. Just that we stay home and take care of her there, unless her condition worsened, and mostly, if her breathing became labored. So...we are at home, waiting out this nasty virus.
The good news though, is that it finally seems to be going away!! She has had it now for 2 weeks but it seems to be making its exit. She hasn't had a fever for almost 2 days, the cough is less persistent, the diaper changes are less frequent and disgusting...so this is good!! We are on our way back to our healthy girl.

Along with her health, her personality is also returning. She wanted to take a bath yesterday and was all smiles and silliness for me. So so sweet.

Also, I think part of the reason she's been getting better is thanks to her many naps. She has taken about three every day for the past week or so, and in some unusual places too. :)
We love her so so much and just think she is the sweetest thing. Sneaky yes. Shockingly defiant, yes. Dinosaur Tantrum thrower, yes. But so so sweet too. Yesterday I realized more than ever just how much I love her little face. It is so sweet and beautiful and I just love it. She completely abused this however because she did all sorts of mischeivous things yesterday and then she'd look at me with this BIG mischievous grin and those beautiful blue eyes, and when I'd say "that's not ok, we don't do that", she would giggle and say "okay", with the mischievous grin and eyes that say..."ok...I won't...at least not when you're looking...."
We love and adore her and are so glad she is getting better.
Topher's first day of school was yesterday. It seemed to go well. It was a long day, he didn't even get home until almost 6:30 and had left at 7:30 that morning. But, I think he'll do great. He is capable of so many amazing things and I'm looking forward to the semester more than I thought I could. After all, this is our second to last semester!!!
I just hope I can be the wife he needs me to be. I've learned that a lot of how Topher performs and does in school, is a result of the support I give him. Whether it me keeping Grace out of his hair, feeding him, getting him up in the morning, or getting him to go to bed, getting him focused on homework or just giving him pep-talks...I really do influence him a lot! Wow, huh? So, I hope I can be helpful to him as much as possible, and not be a detriment in any way.
Anywho...that's all for now...oh, unless perhaps you were wondering...
YES I DID WATCH CHUCK ON SUNDAY!! The season 3 premiere was on Sunday, and let me just say it has not budged as my favorite show ever!!! I also watched it again in its usual time slot last night. It is such a great show! I love it! And I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. Mondays. NBC. 7p.m. Be there or be square. :)
Ok...there's my Chuck fan moment for you. :)
And BTW thank you everyone for your sweet comments last post. I didn't mean to sound down. But it was really nice to have all the thoughtful comments saying to keep posting what I want and need to write. Thanks so much. You guys are all great. :)
Lots of love
the Andersen Family

Don't Know Where To Start

I keep falling behind in blogging. Sometimes I wonder if I should just give up! Every time I post, there's a good five weeks to catch up on...so each entry is a re-cap rather than daily happenings... or for that matter even weekly happenings. Geesh.

The last post I did was talking about the end of October and all of November. The post before that was our entire summer in one post. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail because too many of my family members COMPLAIN. So. In short.

I put our tree up after our Thanksgiving in Preston Idaho with Topher's family.

This picture is from Nikolaus.

Finals happened. Winter Break came. We went to Temple square with Mum & Sam.

We left for Idaho on the 17th of December and stayed for a week. Did Christmas with them and a day after Christmas party with Sam's kids.

Christmas Day in Idaho. With our matching pj pants from my Mom.

We left two days after Christmas and did Christmas with Topher's parents. Then did Christmas with my Dad and family. And New Years was with the Andersen family.

I'm so sorry this is coming off very impersonal and uncaring. I am feeling pretty hopeless that I'm so behind in updating. This is supposed to be my journal in a way, and I hardly ever write!! And I sure don't write in my regular journal any more than I write here, so, Im just sad that I've done so poorly at making and keeping a record.

I need to be better. I hate New Years resolutions...but maybe this should be an exception and I should make a resolution to write weekly...or at least every other week. Who knows.

At the moment, Grace is sick. She has been since last Friday. She has a fever, sore throat, cough, cold, diarrhea. The whole works. We already went to the hospital, and she wasn't dehydrated, so, all we can do is take care of her at home. But that was Tuesday and it still won't go away!!! Our poor baby. The saddest part is that she tries to be such a trooper but it is so very evident that she is miserable. Oh well. This too shall pass. This is her snuggling her daddy with her two new stuffed teddies the nurses gave her while waiting for labs.

We, or maybe just I, am dreading Monday when Topher goes back to school. Its been so wonderful to have him 24-7 for the past 3 weeks. This semester promises to be even more work than last and that is too overwhelming to even think about.

Aside from Grace being sick...I was able to do actual PIG TAILS on her about a week ago. You may be thinking that this isn't blog worthy...ooooohhh but it is. She has hardly any hair, and what she does have is kinda wispy and not worth mentioning...but I was able to do pig tails the other day. I personally thought it was adorable. Took about 10 pictures of the back of her head.

Anyway. Not really sure what to mention. Too many family members complain about my insanely long posts...so I don't want to do another re-cap that just puts people to sleep. So. yeah. The Christmas holiday was fun, tiring, full of wonderful family, involved sisters, tearful farewells, good food and lots of driving as well as some relaxing.

I'll try to do better at updating more frequently. But as i've said before, no promises here. :)

We're Alive!!!

Geesh I have not blogged in a LONG time. Most likely because the last two months have been insanely busy. Everything from bed bugs to Disney World and everything in between. Definitely a lot has happened. I would love to go into detail about everything but that would probably take an incredibly long post which I know a lot of my family is not interested in reading through to the end. To start with though, back in October I was supposed to go to my sister Emily's house in Vegas. However, my neice on Topher's side got the swine flu and passed it along to Grace, who then unknowingly exposed all my brother's kids as well as my sister Dacia's little girl. All three of us and our kids were planning on traveling to Emily's house, but because we were all potentially sick and exposed to Swine Flu, the trip was cancelled. :(
We were so disappointed and sad, but, again, Heavenly Father demonstrated his all knowing and we were actually being given an answer to prayer. Those of you who have seen Grace at any point since EASTER, know that she has consistently had a rash. Not just any old rash either. It was terrible. Red, itchy bumps took over her entire face, neck arms, legs and sometimes her tummy. It was awful. She didn't even look like a beautiful little baby. She looked diseased, and sick and she would itch all the time and it was just awful. We had been to dermatologists, pediatricians, cardiologists and family doctors about the rash numerous times. Everyone who saw her had a different idea of what the rash might be, from chicken pox to rosacea. A dermatologist we like had prescribed a cream for her that would sometimes work, sometimes not. We had been praying for months that this rash would subside, or that we would be able to discover what was causing it...but we never thought the answer would come in the form of Swine Flu!
When Grace came down with the Swine Flu, I decided it was time for a deep cleaning of her room. I sanitize it frequently, wash the sheets frequently and lysol her toys a lot also. But I hadn't stripped her bed completely and washed the whole frame or the surrounding floor and walls in quite a while, so I decided I would do that to try and get her room really sanitary again.
I took off the blankets and pillows, then I went for the bumpers around her crib. I undid each tie around the posts of the crib, and found this...

not just one of this either...but in extreme numbers. Each tie of a post was undone only to unleash over 15 bugs that would scatter all over her bed. I remember being frozen in shock for a split second, and then I screamed, then I gagged, and then I cried. Bed bugs in my baby's bed! TONS of bed bugs in my baby's bed! Disgusting, creepy big bugs! It still gives me the heebeejeebies.
It was a horrible couple of days, however, we were so grateful that we were finally able to discover what was causing Grace's rash (which was in actuality bed bugs, eating my baby's flesh every night) and then put a stop to it.
Yes Grace got swine flu, as did Topher and I. But Grace was sick for a total of a day and a half. As soon as we found the bed bugs, and Topher and his Dad gave her a blessing, she was back to herself by that evening. So miraculous. Swine flu SHOULD have put her in the hospital. But all it did was serve as a means to an end. It was the only way I would have found those bugs, and so it was the only way Heavenly Father could answer our prayers.
We had an exterminator come that same night and spray the entire house. Curtis and Topher also took over 9 jumbo size garbage bags to the laundromat because the exterminating company said that any laundry around or near Grace's and our bed needed to be washed at extreme high heat to get rid of any possible bugs/eggs/feces.

It was an exhausting and upsetting couple of weeks what with cleaning and being sick. The day after we found the bed bugs, I came down with the swine flu, and the next day Topher did as well. However, we came to realize even more how very blessed we are with loving, helpful and supportive family and friends. Our "adopted" sister Francesca, AND her mom came over to our house the night we found the bed bugs and brought us dinner. They also took some laundry for us and then stayed to clean and sanitize different rooms in the house. Toph's dad came twice to give us all blessings. My adorable sister came and brought us about 10 bottles of juice and snacks and medicine. My sweet sister in law also came, bearing medicine and pie. She also took Grace in the days that followed so I could recuperate and clean. And my even dropped off soup and medicine. We felt very loved and are still so grateful that we had friends and family so willing to help. Thanks to all of you! You are wonderful!
After the laundry, coughs, fevers, and bugs had subsided, we were left with a destroyed house, which kept me too busy to ever post about the adventures we'd had.
Then came Halloween with my family, (my awesome sister even came up from Vegas!!) Grace was a "Fairy Witch". Topher and I decided she needed to be something that fit her personality. My sister's adorable angelic baby Ellie was being a fairy, and Daysh said we should do the same thing so they could be fairies together. But...you see, Ellie is angelic....Grace is destructo girl. So it didn't fit right. But when we added the adorable little witch part...it suited her just right. Adorable, yet sassy. My mom and I made the costume together, which was a blast, and it turned out so so adorable and fun.

A trip to my Mom's (including the Tetons)

Thanksgiving in St. George (which included a 5k with my whole family!! Dacia & Joe participated as well but left early to get dibs on the shower),

Thanksgiving in Preston and a Thanksgiving in Farmington (yeah...probably gained about 10 pounds that week)
and finally this last week...DISNEY WORLD (!!!) with my Dad, Karen and Rachel.

I am finally home again. And hopefully will be for a while. It would be nice to finally get my house in order and get back on a schedule.
Here's a couple of my favorite moments of late though...
In St. George there was a sweet garage sale...I got matching dresses for all the little Johnson girls, new shoes for me, and they had a stack of barbies and a barbie car. I asked "how much for all of this?" She answered "2 bucks for the whole stash." In my mind I was jumping up and down like a school girl, on my face I was the image of absolute maturity. So I bought them all for Grace, then went back to the St. George condo we had, and gave them all a bath in soap and lysol, washed their hair, brushed and styled their hair, dressed them with Barbie clothes I just happened to have in my trunk and then let Grace play with them. I only creeped out about every person that walked past the bathroom and saw me primping and styling my barbies. hahaha.
To put it simply, Grace has found a new love. And that's her barbies. She loves them, hugs them, kisses them, rocks them, puts them to sleep in a shoebox we fashioned into a bed and carries them around everywhere saying "baby baby". She is so cute.
Also, her newfound talent....snorting. She has always snorted if you get her laughing hard enough. And it was made me laugh hysterically. But she has finally reached that age where she loves to make me laugh, so she'll do it on command now, just to make people laugh.
I got this video of her for your viewing enjoyment. Sorry it's so dark, but the noises its what you want anyway.

She is so adorable and I love her so much. She was so good at Disney World. I Really wanted to go and I felt fine about taking her, but that didn't stop the worries and fretting over if she would scream the whole plane ride, or if she'd sleep and eat enough, or if I'd be able to keep her clean and healthy, but she was an angel. Or, at least, she was on her best impish Gracey behavior. She was still her sneaky mischievous adorable self, but she was so happy and energetic and sweet too. No tantrums (except when I took her off the carousel),
hardly any whining, she ate well, slept well and was just a joy to be with. It felt like a mommy daughter date that was too good to be true for 4 days. I loved it!

This is her on the carousel. It was easily her favorite ride. She loved being on it and each time I took her off the ride she would go nuts. I asked my brilliant dad to take a video of me taking her off the ride at the end because I just had to show Topher how much Grace loved it. Somehow...there was a communication break down between my Dad and myself. So when I handed him the camera, he thought it was recording. I thought it made sense that I just had the camera on the record setting...but not recording when the ride wasn't started yet, and I was handing it to my Dad...but that aside...the best tantrum thrown the whole trip...was not actually caught on video because Dad was not recording as he thought he was. So, she used up all her could fetal position screams and shaking in anger for nothing. So, when we went to put her on the ride AGAIN, she was a little less energetic. So, watch this video and then imagine her being three times as upset. Because that's what the norm was. :) Knees locked up against her chest, arms at her sides shaking, and screaming in distress. That was how powerful this little girl's love was for her horsie. haha

Her two new favorite words of late are "wee" and "side". She absolutely loves to swing and slide. This video is really cute, its her saying her two favorite words, and then also talking about ellie and dacia who were in the room with us. It was also a demonstration of her ability to clap for herself when she eats. Such an over achiever. Her favorite food is bananas and we clap when she eats, so she was trying to remind me to clap for her. When we were in St. George there was a little playground in the back yard of sorts, and the slide was all she ever wanted while we were there. Day in and day out, she would ask for it.

I love this picture of her on the carousel. It should have a title like "baby on cloud 9" or something.

When we tell her to smile, she goes "eeeeeeee" with this big cheesy grin.

Disney World was so neat with the Christmas decorations. The castle was all lit up in icicle lights that made it look so neat and frosted! It would change color too which was awesome.

Karen and I were the model of poise and maturity during our Disney vacation.

My dad, seriously, he needed a time out every now and then. Seriously.

Or maybe...its just that the picture of Karen and I is one of a series of pictures that became less and less poised and mature looking....hmmmm....
This is my favorite picture of her lately. Her skin is finally getting back to the baby softness that its supposed to be. And I just think she is so pretty and so adorable. I love those eyes and that perfect little nose. I just love this little girl so much!
Anyway...that's about all the time I have to post...so...although this is a very random post, I'm gonna be done now.
Just know that we are alive and well and having fun with our ever growing and adorable little Gracelyn. :)
I will try to post again soon! Thanks for keeping updated on our little family!

End of Summer At a Glance

Yesterday I finally gave up trying to find the cable for my camera. I ran to the store in my pjs with grace bundled up with me and got a card reader.
So, I had over 650 pictures to upload onto the computer and all of them were from the last 2 weeks of July to now! That's a lot of pictures. And all those pictures have a story behind them.
Since I knew it would take me months to tell all the stories of the rest of the summer, I decided to this instead. A quickie glance of our happenings. Perhaps later, I will be able to go more into detail on some of the events. Like Grace's Heart Birthday and how special it was to be with Topher's family. Or about our surfing adventures, and my actually being able to get up! Or maybe the very fun weekend at my mom's house where Grace discovered her wigs. There's also the amazing Girl's Weekend my sisters and I were able to pull off. Lots of beading, movies and good food. As well as a lack of personal hygeine. ;) But, since these all could merit a blog of their own, this will have to do for now. :)
For those of you who always want more pictures...ENJOY! This is just for you!
ANDDDDD....since I can't figure out how to make the collages show up on here bigger...click on them and it will take you to a larger view. :) I have text on them you won't be able to read unless you view it larger. :)

July had some fun outings. California with Austin. Girls Weekend with the ladies in St. George. Camping at Utah Lake with the Andersens. Kite Outings. I'd say we were home a total of 2 weeks...off and on.

Disneyland with the Andersens. Trips to see mom in Idaho. Again, a busy and VERY fun month!

September was slower since school had started up. We were able to get away for one fun weekend with Daysh and Joe though! We mainly went for the food....and the boat. ;)
Thanks for checking in!
Now that I have my camera AND a method of depositing pics. onto the computer, there will be many more pictures and posts to come!

Sedation=Drunkeness

Before your imagination gets carried away, no, none of our household was drunk. At least not literally. But in a manner of speaking? Perhaps.

I mentioned that Grace had her Biopsy in late August. Although it went really well, Grace's Dr. (Dr. Everitt) said they wanted a more clear picture of her ascending aorta, because the gradients/pressures were shown to be a bit uneven. They weren't particularly worried, but just wanted to be safe. So we scheduled a sedated echo for a month after her Biopsy. That was just a couple of days ago and boy oh boy, it was quite a day.

When Grace goes in for a sedated echo, she has to be fed differently beforehand, so I set an alarm on my phone for the day before, so I would remember to feed her differently. But, setting it the day early proved to be too early, as I had forgotten by the time her evening meal rolled around and promptly fed her a bottle. Her echo was supposed to be at 8:30a.m, but since she had the bottle the night before, we couldn't do the 8:30 echo anymore. Which was a bummer, because it would have been much easier to not feed her the night before and all night long. She doesn't typically wake for midnight snacks. But, our rescheduled echo time was 2:30... now I'd have to keep her hungry all morning and afternoon. I knew it would put her in great spirits for the echo... starving and mad. I tried to postpone breakfast as long as possible, and made sure we ate the same thing, so she couldn't ask for something else. Raspberry Jell-o and apple juice isn't the best breakfast in the world. But, oh well.

We got to the Dr. at 1:30 and she was angelic. Completely the opposite of how she usually behaves for echos. She is always kicking and screaming and sprawling all over, but this time she was so good!! She insisted on holding her baby doll, and she would rub its head and give it kisses and tell people around her to "shhhh" because baby was asleep. She was so sweet.

For the first 15 minutes.

The doctors felt like she was pretty cooperative, but not "still" enough, so they figured they would try to just give her half of the sedation dose. Just the feel of the medicine going into her vein sent her over the edge. Strange, I know, but its true. How she doesn't love cold liquid streaming through her arm is beyond me. She didn't like that feeling one bit. So, they had to give her the full dose, plus a dissociative, (relaxant). I had to hold her in my arms because no one could restrain her little body on the bed as she kicked, screamed, arched her back and tried to roll away from everyone. Holding her little body in my arms as different parts lost complete control was so hard!! She was fighting me with every fiber of her being, but was slowly losing control of her head, and her eyelids, and so on. Poor thing, even once her eyes were closed and she couldn't lift her head anymore she was still pushing against me. It took her a good 10 minutes until we could put her back on the bed, and even then, she continued to whimper in her sleep, just to show she was still protesting.

They said that most babies will stay asleep for 2 hours, and not to wake them early, because they will be very very grumpy. Since Grace can so easily have a mean streak, I really didn't want her to wake up early. However, I also knew that if Grace had any say in the matter she'd wake up the second her eyes could open, whether the rest of her body was ready or not.

And that's just what she did. Exactly 45 minutes after they'd administered the sedatives, and only 2 minutes after finishing the echo, she started to wake up. Go figure they were moving her upstairs in a bed, so her floppily trying to sit up in the bed was NOT a good thing. She smacked her head into the side railing, then on the oximeter and was just all over the place. When we got to the post-op floor she was writhing in my arms, with no head strength mind you, and her eyes rolled back into her head, and moaning loudly. Of course, for comic relief, she was doing all of this verrrryyyyy sllllooooooowwwlyyyyy. Sort of like someone had hit the slo-mo button. I would ask her a question, and she would nod "yes", but when she lifted her head up, it would roll back and stay for a second, then she'd push it forward, and it would roll way forward onto her chest and be stuck there until I held it against my chest. So I decided to stop asking her questions.

They got her a warm blanket (they have these amazing blanket ovens) and put it over her, she immediately responded with "aahhhhhht" "aaahhhhhht". "Yes baby, its hot, huh?" Then another nod of the head, locked backwards, and then locked forward. "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhht". It was so hysterically adorable, and sad at the same time!

Even though her eyes were still practically closed, she wanted to get down from my lap and walk around. They warned me she would be VERY dizzy, uncoordinated and to watch her very closely. I underestimated their meaning. She had NO coordination WHAT SO EVER.

So, back on to my lap she went, complaining, and moaning the whole time.

She tried to drink a bottle of juice, but drooled a lot of it out. Also very funny. And finally was happy with oreos. Most of the filling ended up up her nose, because she couldn't use her hands. She had a big band aid on one from the labs they drew, and an i.v. in the other one, (which means the cardboard up her hand) and so she had no control of her hands and where they were putting the cookie. So, up her nose they went. But she was happy anyway.

When they said we could be discharged from post-op and head downstairs for clinic, Grace was completely awake, but still very loopy.

But she insisted on walking. Gratefully, Topher was with us by this point and could help her. But, she didn't want any help. She wanted to walk and dang it, she didn't want Dad's help. He would try to hold her hand, and she would shove his fingers away from hers, and begin to walk. She couldn't put one foot in front of the other without tripping over it, and couldn't walk even one step straight. She swayed this way and that, tripped over this foot and then the other one. Fell over, then tried to get up and fell back wards. Then cried for help, and started all over again. But she didn't lose her grip on the Oreos in her hand.

The rest of clinic had to be performed in the hallways of Cardiology because she was not about to sit on some hospital bed in a hospital room. She was done sitting. She wanted to be walking around putting on her best impersonation of a tipsy 18 month old. Everyone that saw her laughed hysterically. Her Doctor could barely get out a sentence before having to pause and just laugh at Grace's attempts to walk without tipping over.

When they sent us home they said she would need constant supervision, and that she would be grumpy and clumsy at least until the next morning.

She slept on the way home and another 40 minutes once we got home. When she woke up and I went in to get her out of bed, she was leaning her arms and head against the railing of her bed, crying. But, she was crying very slowly, and in a much lower tone than usual. It was crying in slow motion! Once she saw me, she gave me a crooked smile, reached her arms up for me.....and fell backwards into her bed.

I pulled her little body up, and took her into the living room, where she of course, just wanted down. I put her down......and she fell over into the movie case. So, I decided to just put her in her spot on the couch. I tucked her as far back as she goes, put pillows around her and put a movie on. In the time it took me to lean away from the couch and push play, she had tried to turn around and climb off the couch. Instead, she managed to fall off the couch and land on her back. So, I propped her up, between the couch, and the coffee table, while I went to push play again. This time.....she fell over side ways, hitting her head on the coffee table leg, AND the chaise. And since she never cried after any of her falls (she just looked very, very confused each time she fell), Topher and I didn't have to feel guilty for chuckling.... perhaps even laughing hysterically. each time she tipped over.

The poor thing had such a hard night. On top of the clumsiness she was also EXTREMELY grumpy. So, it was a good thing there were things to laugh at every once and a while, or we might have gone crazy with such a grump on our hands.

Anyway, I just had to post about this. As I've said before, this is a form of journaling for me, and I don't want to forget how hysterically cute she was that whole day.

I wish more than anything I had had my camera. Pictures wouldn't have done the day justice, but video for sure would have. But, alas, its still at my sister's. However, they said these sedated echos will be a twice a year occurrence...so next time, I am GOING to have my camera in hand, ready to capture my stubborn and tipsy Grace.

Grace is 18 months old!

I know I haven't finished my California Dreamin' posts, however, I still can't find my camera cable, and now, to further the situation, I've left my camera at my sister's house. So, it may be a while before my trip diaries are completed.
But, since this is a form of journaling for me, I couldn't let another day go by without mentioning that my baby is 18 months old!! On the 18th, actually. So, I'm a little late. But, that's nothing of a surprise.
Grace never ceases to amaze me. She is constantly growing and changing, and very slowly, she is turning into a little toddler. I no longer feel like I can call her my baby. Babies are not as active, energetic, affectionate, silly or stubborn. She has always had a strong personality. No one can dispute that. She has definitely had all the same characteristics since she was born, but she can express them much more now.

She is into EVERYTHING, and I don't even try to keep up with her anymore. She makes messes faster than I even find them. Such as this morning, she found my food coloring. Let me just say that the cupboard the food coloring was in, was supposed to be baby proofed. She found a way around that. Found a way to get the lid off the food coloring and proceeded to turn her face green. Only once I saw her did I also see that she'd emptied out all my pancake mix onto the floor, the nesquik mix, the plastic cups, (now placed strategically AND individually all over the kitchen floor), the cereal, and the crackers. Along with everything being on the floor, she also had a handful of said foods in each hand, and lumps in each cheek.
What joy.
Honestly though, I wish I could have put on a straight face and scolded her, just so she'd know I meant business. But all I could do was laugh. So I turned and walked away so she wouldn't see me laughing hysterically at her mischief.
When I came back she had a look of such elation. Grinning from ear to ear, but at the same time, pausing every couple seconds to look at me for confirmation that she wasn't in trouble.
See, that is why I can't call her my baby anymore. Babies don't make that much of a mess!! Only toddlers on their way to being terrible twos.
Some other new things Grace is learning, is how to spin in a circle when she dances. She has always loved dancing, shaking her hips and such, but the spinning in a circle is definitely a new acheivement. Of course, I should mention she gets thrown off balance before a whole rotation and usually runs into an adjacent wall or falls down. But it is adorable to watch none the less.

She also has started trying very hard to take care of her baby dolls. She rocks them, puts blankets on them, tells us "shhh", becuse they're sleeping, and carries them all over the house. She also is trying not to bite their fingers and toes as much anymore, (I think this is because she bit her cousin Ellie's toes the other day, and Ellie didn't like it so much).
She wants to watch movies, ALL THE TIME. It used to be that when we got her up in the mornings, she wouldn't leave us alone until she was fed. She would grab our faces, pull them towards her and tell us hungry in sign language REPEATEDLY until we got out of bed and to the kitchen.
Now, she gets in bed with us and yells "Wa! Wa! Wa!" (To mean Watch of course) We tell her to pick out a movie, and she brings us one, exclaiming again "Wa! Wa!" We of course like to repeat this sequence a few times, to give ourselves a few more minutes to snooze while she is putting one movie back and picking a new one. But she is constantly wanting to watch movies. Yes, sadly, she may be becoming a couch potato. Although, she only watches any given movie a maximum of 15 minutes, then she wants a different one, or some food.
She hugs, kisses, tickles and blows raspberries on EVERY BABY SHE SEES. And this includes PICTURES of babies. It's a bit awkward when I don't even KNOW the victim of a baby, or their parental units, and I then have to apologize for my daughter's over excessive display of affection.
One thing that has completely changed is her favorite food. That's not to say she doesn't still like oreos, cheese and berries. However, none of these match up to Bananas. She can down an entire 'nana' in about 5 minutes. With oreos, she has discovered how to twist them to separate top from bottom, and she now just licks out the cream filling. Smart girl that Gracey. I didn't even teach her how to do that!!

Anyway. That is my girl. She is adorable. And a large majority of the time, she is a big pain in the pants. But I love her to pieces. Sometimes I feel like all I'm doing is feeding her, giving her a place to sleep and changing her diapers. But then she does little things, without being prompted, to show me that I might just be teaching her some things. Like wanting to say prayers at night, listening to her primary lullabys, saying please, thank you, and sorry, giving hugs and kisses to people that come or go, and sometimes just knowing when I need her to calm down and just let me hold her. Those are the moments I can console myself with thinking that maybe, just maybe I'm doing a few things right.

Anyway. Thanks for reading! Grace is growing fast into a healthy, strong, beautiful, and happy little daughter of God and we are so thankful for her and the time we've been blessed to have with her. Thanks for checking in on us and for all the love and support!
By the way, my apologies for all the pictures being so out dated. Once I get my camera back, and the right cable, I'll be sure to post plenty of pictures of our beautiful girl. She has definitely changed a lot!

California Dreamin'

California was definitely a theme for us this Summer. We visited the great Golden State a total of FOUR times this Summer. Which, maybe for some of you isn't much, but in my opinion, that's a LOT! Sea World was the first, and I have already posted about that, the Reunion was the second, and I have also posted about that. The 3rd was our Celebrate Little Brother Austin trip. Where we went to California for the sole purpose of lounging on the beach. In all honesty however, Austin got burned our first whole day there, and didn't want to go back after that. Haha! Instead, we relaxed in the Hotel, re-applying aloe vera every couple of hours. Ha! Good times. We did in all actuality spend most of the time at the beach, it just wasn't quite what I imagine Austin had expected.

We drove down to Las Vegas on a Thursday after Austin got off work. We were worried about the long drive, but Austin managed to keep Grace entertained with his....um....im not sure what to call it. Yes, that's saran wrap. But don't ask me where he got it. I didn't give it to him...

But it entertained Grace. She managed to entertain him quite a bit too. Then they wore each other out and ended up like this.

We arrived quite late at my sister's lovely abode and crashed there for the night. The next morning we left relatively early to finish the drive towards Seal Beach/Long Beach. We just had to make one short pit stop along the way.

Yup. A Surf Board. Neither of them had ever surfed. But, it was only 50$! So they decided it was worth it to try and teach themselves.
Austin and Topher had arranged to take some kiteboarding lessons while down there, so once at the beach, Austin got right into his lesson. When he wasn't worried about how his muscles were showing up on camera, he did a really good job. hehe

Topher had already taken the first lesson (see Hood River post) and so he busied himself with skim-boarding, and perfecting the art of face planting in the waves. I'd say he got it pretty down pat. The video gets funnier each time you watch it by the way...

So, that was our first evening in Seal Beach. The next morning we went to a local Beach where Topher and Austin tried out their new Surf Board, and where Austin learned just how much you get fried from falling asleep on the Beach and refusing Alysia's offers of sunscreen. Lobster. That is the word I'm using to describe Austin's back, arms, neck, legs after his little nap.

Grace also took a nap on the Beach and that gave me lots of uninterrupted reading time. yay!
I would LOVE to finish this post...however i can't find my camera cable anywhere to get the pictures onto the computer...so...that is the first 2 days of our trip, and as soon as I find a way to get the pictures on the computer, you will get the last 2 days. As well as our last few trips of the Summer.
On another note, Grace had her biopsy last Friday. She had her Heart Birthday on August 21. And she is doing better than anyone ever could have hoped for. The Biopsy went well, really well. The results came back great, no rejection and we are thrilled.
I have tons of things to post about, but no pictures to include, so hopefully soon that will change.
Thanks for checking in!