September Days Have Gone

Things have been crazy busy so I have been a little behind in posting. So, here is a little update. Right now Gracie is working on pushing 4 more teeth threw on the top. I can see the outline of them, it has to be so painful for her. Gracie is getting braver in her venture to walk. It has been fun watching her just to be able to stand by herself but the walking without a little guidance has not happened just yet but I am sure soon. Once she figures it out she will be well on her way.

Lately, Gracie has decided her new time to wake up in the morning is about 5am, which I think is due to her cough. A couple of times I have gone in and gotten her and brought her in to lay with us but she never lays. She gets on her knees and bounces on her Daddy waking him because she obviously is ready to play. But, when Troy goes and gets her and brings her to our bed she sleeps. She know her daddy wants to sleep and play time is not an option. Funny thing is once she is in our bed she seems to sleep so much longer. I have had to wake her up to just get her ready for school. Needless to say I am hoping this is just a phase for the week.

PS~I have not forgotten about the football updates I will add some soon. We have a night game this weekend, that I am very excited for, I love them! Here is a link to their site if you want to keep up with the Pioneers. http://www3.malone.edu/athletics/teams/football/schedule-results

Here are a couple of fun pictures from the last month.

Gracie watching her daddy make dinner.

Gracie's hair in a pony on top of her head for the first time.

My daughter needs a bow?

Ok as most of you know I am not a big fan of bows in Gracie’s hair. I have never been one of those moms that feel the need to put the biggest bow on her head. Plus have you meet my husband? He would not let me buy it let a lone let her out of the house like that. The only time I put bows in her hair is if they are small and usually for pictures. She takes them out before we make it to daycare and is usually trying to eat it. Over the past 10 months on numerous occasions people have called Gracie a “He”. “He” is so cute, or how old is “He”. I am always thinking seriously, “She” is wearing pink or purple or whatever but clearly this is a girl. I never think to correct people because I feel bad that she does not have a bow that screams this is a girl. I just smile and nod and tell them her name in hopes they will catch on. I have always thought if you’re not sure just say “oh your baby is cute” and let the parent then tell you what it is if you are unsure.

So, the other day some kids in the neighborhood stopped and were watching me take pictures of Gracie which usually consists of me crawling around on the ground. They too thought she was a boy and I told them it was a girl and her name. They then clearly pointed out all the reason why they should have known it was a girl. I very much appreciated the fact that they noticed all the colors. To be honest I am sure if I ever have a son, he will probably look a lot like Gracie but right now Gracie is a girl and maybe I do need to put more bows in her hair but she does not like all the extras. She won’t even wear socks and shoes. I drop her off at daycare at 8am and by 9, one shoe is in the toy box, the other on the counter, and she has already accomplished pulling her socks off, if not in the midst of it. So, sometimes the extra effort is not worth it. I guess I can only try.

Thoughts...Big Bow? Really?

My Creative Gears are Turning & Burning

Ok so the next couple a month’s lead up to some exciting events of which I am the planner. Ok, ok honestly I totally do not mind, I love this stuff. I love my lists and my note book full of little pictures of ideas of what everything should look like. Yes, I know all these events do not take place until November but if I am making stuff it will take time especially with a little one who wants me to play with her instead of crafting.

The first BIG event is Gracie’s Birthday. My baby will be 1 and you only have one First Birthday so I am trying to make it extra special. I have a whole section dedicated to her big day, from her little outfit, to invitations, decorations and the invite list. All I have to do is make all of it. Seriously, I have started some of it and I thought I would show you just a little, not too much to give it away, but just enough.

This picture was too cute to pass up.

Last but not least Kristen’s Baby Shower in Kansas. Yes that is right I am planning a shower in Ohio to be given in Kansas. This does make for an interesting situation but I am up for the challenge. Since I can’t get together with the people who are helping I have just been bouncing ideas off people at work, just to make sure things aren’t too cheesy. I actually sent Sheila a huge envelope of stuff so she could at least see some of my thoughts and ideas. I am excited about this, we have the location, games, decorations, food and invite list already to go. I just have to make all the invitations, the decorations and make sure everything is sent out before I leave Ohio. Flying with all this stuff plus Gracie would be just a little to crazy. Plus I do not want anything smashed. I have limited resoures in Smith Center, the Dollar Store, and I just do not think they have then kind of stuff that I would be looking for. I thought I would give you a sneak peak at the envelope of the invitations. I drew it up on the computer the scan was horrible. The colors and strips are a mimic of the bedding Kristen wants for Baby Schenks nursery. And the address in this picture is completely fake just to protect all parties involved :) I always wanted to say that.
No worries I will post pictures of the real events so you can see how everything turns out. Pray for me, seriously my brain is all over the place.

Go Pioneers!

This weekend was Malone’s second game. Last weekend Gracie and I had to attend a baby shower and missed the game, but Malone did well and won. This past weekend Gracie and I attended our first game together. I was a little nervous how it would all go considering we were in concrete bleachers and the game went right thru one of her naps. Since Gracie had a fever for the prior week I just wasn’t sure.

So before we left the house I of course packed everything but the kitchen sink just in case, you just never know what you will wish you had brought. We got to the game a Gracie was very entertained by the band, ok she loved them, so much so that she would not even eat at the pregame meal. She sat very happy on Amy’s lap actually watching the game. By half time she was ready to sleep and rest.

Over all the game was a success. With no game next week and the next in Massachusetts, we have until October to attend our next game. I am sure it will go just as well. Oh, I almost forgot, during the game we made an interesting discovery, Gracie had 2 teeth coming in on the bottom of her mouth, that would explain the high fever.

Enjoy the pictures, sorry they are fuzzy.

Gracie Video

The first video is of Gracie dancing. I must warn you the only music that you will here is some strange beat I made just to get her going. So the music is not great but at least the dancing is cute.

Gracie Dances from Candace Schenk on Vimeo.

For those of you not on facebook her is a new video of my Gracie. We played peekaboo/hide and seek for about 20 minutes and she loved it. So fun!

Peekaboo from Candace Schenk on Vimeo.

Visiting Baby Pearl

This past weekend Gracie and I headed to Cincinnati to stay with my friend Molly and her new baby girl Pearl while her husband was out of town. But before that could be accomplished I first had to drive 3 ½ hours to get there. Gracie is usually great with trips but not this one. I stopped to feed Gracie dinner about and hour into the trip. About an hour later we stopped because Gracie was screaming in the back. I can’t blame her she had been in that car seat for a while so, we stopped. I went to the bathroom, I got Gracie all lotioned up and put her into her pajamas and let her play for a while in the backseat with some of her toys. At this point it was getting dark and I was not enjoying the location where I choose to stop so I was ready to get the back on the road. I then feed Gracie her bottle and walked around with her outside, just so she did not feel so cooped up in the car. She got back into her car seat, all the while praying she would not scream as I put her back in. I gave her a blanket and her favorite book, I love you through and through. As I got back onto the highway Gracie was looking at her bed time book as I quoted it from memorization, then I sang to her and off to sleep she went. Amazing how our nightly routine put her at ease even in the car.

As for my time with Molly, it was like the good old days spending the night, eating pizza and just chatting the night away. The only difference was the 2 little girls we had and all the baby stuff. But it was so nice to see her and Pearl. For the most part Gracie did not bother to even acknowledge Pearl except when Pearl was cry and Gracie would stop whatever she was doing and look at me, just too cute. Gracie did try to steal her bow during picture which she knew was a no-no, you can tell by the look on her face.
I did take a few pictures of Gracie and Pearl together, enjoy!

Welcoming Fall with Open Arms

Gracie and I survived the first two week of football. Gracie and I had a lot of time together since Troy stayed on campus. There were lots of walks and play time until bed. Gracie attended her first football practice which she seemed to enjoy. Amazingly I forgot my camera but did take a few with my phone so they aren’t the best. But she did meet a lot of players and seemed to gaze up in awe at the size of those guys.

Gracie is now 10 months yes that is right 10 months. It is so crazy to me that each month seems to fly by so fast. I did not even get to take 9 month pictures of her like I wanted. Gracie is doing great, she now its regular food for lunch and dinner. The ladies at daycare can not seem to get over how well she is doing and how she loves everything, from spaghetti and meat balls, to all of her veggies. She eats it all. A couple of weeks ago I went at lunch time to see her each chicken and noodles. Natalie one of her classmates crawled up and was peering at Gracie from across the tray. Gracie proceeded to feed her seeing she too wanted some. Hilarious, just too cute, at least I know she can share! I told the ladies last week it was ok to give her a Fig Newton, they said they laughed so hard how she could not get it into her mouth fast enough. I figured her being in the 28th percentile a Fig Newton is not going to hurt her. My word, the kid can eat….hmmm…..I wonder where she gets that from. I am sure you will also notice her cat like scratches on her face I can not seem to keep her nails trimmed fast enough. Her nails grow so fast I can not believe it, that is not from me either mine just do not grow at all.

As many of you know I have taken on a numerous amount of projects, which seems to be the trend come football season. I am trying to pace myself a little better right now because I took on a lot at once and then realized with Gracie I do not have as much free time to work on everything. I have been painting furniture for Gracie’s room, hanging up pictures, and sewing dresses. This has made for a very messy office. Anyway, one of the projects that I want to share was the name verse picture I made. Honesty, I stole it from a friend and when I asked how it was done she said Photoshop all the way. Well, if you know me at all you know this was not the answer I was wanting. I wanted fabric, glue and what every else crafty I could come up with. So, I did just that I picked out fabric and ribbon that would go with the colors all ready in Gracie’s room. I printed off a verse and went with what I thought would work in my mind. I love it and so does Troy. I got Gracie to hold it for 2 seconds while snapping a picture to show all of you.
As the summer is close to an end our schedules only seem to pick up in pace. The weather has already turned to fall and I am starting to take more pictures which will be fun with the leaves. This is my favorite season and I have plenty to do and think about. Troy’s Birthday, Gracie’s First Birthday to plan, our trip to Kansas for Thanksgiving and planning a Baby Shower, my mind is full on top of all the extras I have added. I started reading The Time Travelers Wife and then talked a bunch of ladies at work into it. We will all head to the theatres when we are all done. This is officially the first book club I have ever been a part of and I love it.

Enjoy the pictures, there will be more to come here shortly!

Gracie playing with her Daddy!