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!

9 Months

So, today Candace and I took Gracie to the doctor for her nine month appointment. This meant two things we got to see how much she has grown and Gracie got a shot, which was my first time with her during a shot. Candace has told me several times how sad it is to see Gracie get a shot and i didn't realize how much it breaks her little heart when the nurse pokes her. My little girl was strong and did not cry for more than a few seconds and is a real trooper. Gracie weighed 17 lbs and 11 onces and which is in the 28th percentile for her age. She was, according to the nurse, 27 and one quarter inches long which was somewhere in like the 35th percentile. The doctor did say this couldn't be right because she looks much longer than that. Its just strange for me to see her be so little comparatively, because i don't think i have ever in my life been below the 75th percentile for any size category? Oh well, hopefully this means she will look like her mother!
Thinking back over these last nine months some things have become very relevant for me. First, it is hard to imagine life before Gracie was born or ever being without her in Candace's and my life. Second, it has been an amazing journey to see Gracie develop, change, and grow. Gracie has brought great joy and laughter to our lives. Third, I am truly blessed to have such an amazing wife who is a great mother to our daughter. Candace is just so gifted at being a mother I sometimes am amazed at all she does and still works full-time. I may be one of the most blessed husbands and fathers in the world.

Troy Schenk

Summer Days

This morning I heard this song on the radio on the way to work that made me tear up. I quickly change the station, only to turn it back on because I had to hear the rest of the lyrics. I added it to the blog so those of you with sound enjoy and mom's grab a tissue you may need it.

I thought I would just share a couple of new pictures and that our Gracie is crawling all over the place, since about a week and half ago. And she is already is now pulling herself up on everything. Enjoy.


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Sweet Nighingale

I have talked before about the songs that I sing to my beautiful Grace while rocking her to sleep. Right now the song I cannot get out of my head is from Cinderella. One night there it was and there it may stay. Now hopefully I do not sound like the step sisters, at least Gracie likes it. I also sing Good Morning to her, I do wait till she is actually awake. Enjoy.

Summer Days Gone By....

Although the month of June is not complete I am more then ready for it to be over. It was a very busy month for us and the month of July seems to be filled of promises of a much quieter time. The end of May / beginning of June we spent time catching up with old friends and there families. Troy then continued to work on his masters by taking another week long class and a month long class. He has spent most of his time reading and writing papers. In the midst of that we traveled to Iowa and were able to visit with 2 dear friends of mine. It was so nice to be able to catch up with them and get to see there children. The whole family then headed to Cincinnati for a friends Baby Shower. It was lots of fun to see her pregnant and to be able to see some friends from my Youth Group days. I also made the cake for the shower, it was a beach theme. Although, I do wish it was fondant but the weather was giving me fits so I decided to just not mess with it. This weekend a girl from my work was getting married and I made her wedding cake, which turned out pretty well. I will have to find out what she thinks later. Oh, some of you may or may not know that on top of all this I am taking a photography class. I am loving it! I had to transition back into class mode and let Gracie stay with a babysitter for the first time. Although, it was a friend, which made it a lot easier, it was still overwhelming. This weekend Troy and I were able to enjoy some time with Gracie and set up her little pool to see how she liked it. She was not to fond of it at first because the water was too cold, so we warmed it up and she was good to go. I think she would play in it all day if I would let her. Oh, yes I am also going to be an Aunt which I am so excited about. It is the first of many nieces and nephews I am sure to come but I am just excited to be an Aunt.

Just an update, as you can see Gracie is sitting up by herself and loving it. She is in the beginning stages of crawling, which I am excited for but not ready for her to be mobile. This just means I will be chasing her all over the house. She jabbers plenty and screams plenty which we are having to tell her no too. She is screaming so hard she ends up coughing after each scream. She does seem to think it is the funniest thing ever. She also got her first hair cut, ok it was really just a trim but her hair was out of control. She had pieces that were supper long and then some were really short. So I just trimmed it, just a little. Anyway, attached or some of the pictures of our month events and some from my photography class for those of you that wanted to see them, enjoy!

Have a wonderful 4th of July!