Favorite place in the world

Gracie's favortie spot to be, wrapped all cozy and chilling in dad's arms. No place she would rather be at this point- unless of course shes hungry, then she tries his elbow, sometimes his shoulder but it come right down to biology. The mommas boob is the only place to be! Dan is such a great daddy. He is in love with his girls and shows it in everything he does. Praise the Lord for the greatest man to love us, care for us, and down right spoil us rotten. We love you lots! Tracy and Gracelyn Rae

Five days old already!

Well we can't believe how much she has grown. Well I guess not, she is only 6 lbs now but doing absolutely fantastic. She is sucha good little girl. We are counting our blesings and hoping she continues to be so mellow and happy. She has a routine now of eating great, checking things out for a few short minutes and the drifting off into the so called boob coma for a good few hours of sleep. Sometime in there she poops, pees and has a few burps- then she wakes up for the next round. She rarely cries but when she does she sounds like a little bird. Nights have been equally fabulous. We are getting plenty of rest and thank our lucky stars for it. She is greatly loved by everyone and the visits have been so wonderful. We just love finally having her here to share with the world.





This pic is of her first bath on Christmas night. She didn't mind it too much but when she got chilled she let us know with her little bird squeak. She loves when shes wrapped in her towel and has her hair washed. She just loves life in general at this point and we pray she continues to enjoy it all.

Welcome Home Gracie!

So Gracie has arrived. She came fast and furiously as an early Christmas present on Dec. 24 at 11:20am. She is a little peanut after all that trickery fooling us into thinking she would be a big girl. She wieghed only 6lbs11oz and is 19 1/2 inches long. Tiny tot but we love her more than words can express. She woke mom up by breaking her bag of waters at around 0545. Than by 0615 the contractions were beginning and she was ready to come. We ran a few red lights on the East Beltline due to a nervous daddy in the drivers seat and arrived at Butterworth by 0700. My contractions were about a two minutes apart lasting a minute and a half each. No time to rest and I pretty much hyperventilated my way through until the blessed angel( aka anesthesiologist) came to give me my epidural. Then comes the enjoyable part. At 0830 the epidural was in full effect and by 0900 I was 100% effaced and dilated to 10 cm. 0930 came time to push and so there we went with my full team there by my side. Dan was the head coach and did such a fantastic job, I am so proud and honored that he is my partner in this life adventure. His team of assistants included the moms, Wendy and Gloria. The sisters- in-law supreme, Katie Bibler, Kelli Carlson and of course the fabulous photographer herself Lauren Hosford. They were priceless to me and made the experience that much more special. We pushed for just under two hours due to her getting stuck on my pubic bone and needing a little suction help to pass it by. Gracelyn Rae was born at 11:20 and she owned her hearts that very minute. She was able to come home at 24 hours old and so we spent our first Christmas at home together. She is the sweetest little baby and we are blessed and thrilled that God has entrusted her care on this earth to us. What a joy she is already and at two days old she is more precious and loved than when she was born. She grows and changes by the minute and Dan and I are truly enjoying every little moment and every little movement she makes. Welcome Gracie and know that you are loved beyond measure, you are our treasure and the best Christmas gift we could have ever hoped for.

Oh Baby!

Update: So yesterday we had or first weekly appointment for the last four weeks of pregnancy. The checkup went very well. It is confirmed that our healthy baby girl is already at least 6 1/2 lbs and long for sure. I am dilated between 2 and 3 cm and 70 effaced already. So what does that mean? Anytime now this girl will be on her way. Next Wed we get our next checkup and if things progress well we will either deliver naturally between now and Christmas or I will be induced the week following due to the babies large size. How exciting for us. We will be parents in about two weeks Woohoo!!! Continue to keep us in your prayers for a safe delivery and healthy baby girl to arrive soon! Loves and appreciation to you all for the love and support during this exciting time of our lives.

Jonah Babe

What a peach! We love you bunches and bunches Jonah and had so much fun playing on Sunday. You are getting so big and learning so much. It was so much fun to see your litlle personality in all you do. You give us so much joy!We are so greatful to have you in our lives to love and care for. You are so handsome and we can't wait for you to grow into an amazing young man. Lots of love and kisses, Uncle Dan and Auntie Tracy

Just over a month!!!!

Well here we go now. Probably the last phase of belly pics to post. We have just abrely over one month left to wait for our baby girl. She is due to arrive in under five weeks or so. We are just thrilled to pieces and can't wait. Her room is ready for her and so are we! I am pretty excited about how the pregnancy has gone up to this point. I count my blessing that she and I have done so well together. Nothing of note to have worried about and she is big and healthy to this point. Only a few more weeks to grow together and get to know each other better. What a blessing to have been sharing a body for the last months with my daughter. We are definitely bonded and that is so special. So here are the pics of her in her cozy belly home. Not the best quality but it gives the idea. Loves and many thanks to all of you family and friends who have supported us so much through this adventure and prayers that we continue to be blessed by you all as we learn how to be the best parents possible for little Gracelyn Rae.