Showering Anna Grace

Obviously, this post is super duper late.  LOL.  For whatever reason I forgot to post it all those months ago (June 2015 to be exact). 

My very best friends put together the sweetest baby shower for Anna Grace.  It was a hot summer afternoon in June filled with lots of pink!  At that point seeing tutus and bows still threw me off.  Deep down, I really didn't think Gordon and I would ever have a baby girl.  This party made me that much more excited for her arrival, and everything pink!   

Everything turned out perfect and her bow collection officially started (we just need her to get some hair now!).   

{Cristin, Alison, Me, Meredith, Rachel and Emily, not pictured: new mama Lindsey Z} {Gorgeous flowers and adorable cookies} {First monogrammed pillow} {Mimi and Nana} {27ish weeks}

We had such a great weekend celebrating Anna Grace!!!  There is truly nothing better than being surrounded by your family and friends.  Since this was around the time I was put on bedrest with William my nesting was in full force.  We spent the rest of the weekend painting Anna Grace's room, her furniture and hanging pictures on the walls.  When all the hard work was done we got to celebrate my dad's birthday!!!  It's a weekend I'll never forget. 

Getting Ready For Halloween

Halloween gets more and more fun every year.  I mean just look at these cutie pies in their skeleton PJs.  I really wanted the kids to be Minions....but a certain 4 year old, I won't name names, insisted on being a super hero, again!  At least he gave the Minion costume a chance. :)

The picture of Anna Grace in the purple outfit with a black cat was taken the morning we packed up the bassinet for a friend to use.  Ahhhhhh....where does the time go?!?!  Between buying pumpkins, baking pumpkin seeds and putting sticky skeletons all over the windows this mama's heart could explode.  These days will forever be a happy place in my heart.

Pumpkin Patch Fun

A couple of weeks ago we finally made it to a pumpkin patch!!  Between soccer games, traveling and the hot weather there was no time to go sooner.  We meant to go back to Blessington Farm this year but this mama messed up and realized they were already closed when we were driving there.  Whoops!  Regardless, we had fun!

Getting everyone to look at the camera and smile is always highly challenging, and then keeping Anna Grace off the hay (which she hated) was even harder.  The picture of Anna Grace and me reaching for William cracks me up.  Typical!  

After the hay ride to the pumpkin patch we snapped a few pictures and then headed back to play.  William rode a pony and went on several slides.  His favorite thing was the play area that was free.  LOL.  My kinda kid!  Since William wasn't interested in the activities that cost money we put our extra tokens to use and bought kettle corn, of course!

Our trip to the pumpkin patch was a quick one this year, but full of fun memories and smiles!

ONE year old!

Oh my goodness.  ONE!  I just can't even believe how fast the time has gone.  Right before this little cutie pie turned one she said BYE BYE to her fashion accessory, the pink helmet.  To be honest, I kinda missed it at first.  She just looked so cute with it on!  But, I'm super happy to be able to kiss on that head again.    

Weight:  20 lbs 2 oz (54th percentile)
Height: 29.8 inches (71st percentile)
Head: 43 cm (7th percentile...the highest it's ever been!)  

Eating:  Around her first birthday we started trying to cut out one bottle a day (4 instead of 5).  She does great at home but has a harder time at school.  At home she has a bottle when she wakes up, before nap (around noon), 4pm and 8pm before bed.  Right after her birthday we introduced cows milk to baby girl.  We started with her bottles being 4 oz breast milk and 2 oz cow milk.  She did great and hasn't seemed to notice/mind.  We are now doing half breast milk and half cow milk.  Anna Grace's solid food eating has really taken off.  One day she decided she was ready and started gobbling food up.  She loves to feed herself!  This girl loves everything she eats.          

Development:  On September 10th our little lady started crawling.  She had been working so hard at physical therapy, so this was super exciting.  Once she got the hang of it she was off....and hasn't stopped since! We had to answer no to most of the developmental questions at her 1 year check up.  She says mama and dada but not any other words and she isn't pulling herself into the standing position.  BUT, we know that she will get there soon.  

Clothes:  Size 4 diaper and clothes 12-18 months (18 month pajamas fit better)

Sleeping:  I finally gave in and moved Anna Grace to her room right before her first birthday.  I'm happy to say she has done fabulous!  I give her a bottle, rock her for a few minutes, lay her down in her crib and that's it, folks.  Such a good girl. :)  Baby girl goes to be around 8pm and wakes up between 6am-7am.             

Things She Loves:  She loves, loves, loves her baby doll.  She hugs it and pats its back.  When she's not dragging around her baby doll she is tossing a water bottle around or searching for a remote control to play with.  HAHA

Things She Hates:  Having things taken away from her!  She is a bit hard headed and very vocal about what she wants.  Definitely not as laid back as her brother was.         

Mommy Stuff:  Right after Anna Grace's first birthday I stopped pumping.  I was hardly making any milk by that time.  Getting my body to stop making milk after William was challenging, but for whatever reason, with Anna Grace at 10 months my body started slowing down.  That was around the time she started to refuse to nurse.  I guess my body knew she was done.        

Health:  Anna Grace got her first ear infection right before Labor Day.  As I mentioned before, neurosurgery released her from their service a week before her birthday.  Her head still has a flat spot but it is SO much better.  Luckily, most nights she sleeps on her stomach or side and avoids the flat area. I am so so happy to no longer have to drive to the med center for her helmet appointments.  :)

We fall more in love every day with Anna Grace's ever growing personality.  She has some spunk to her that is so fun.  On the other hand, she is such a lover.  Her smile is contagious and can brighten anybody's day.  There is something so strong and resilient about her.  I just know that this little lady is going to do big things.  At the end of every day I'm sad to say goodnight to her because she's just so fun to be around!
Happy birthday to our sweet baby girl.  God knew just what the Gooding house needed when he sent you.  ;)

Anna Grace 11 month old

It's hard to believe that this little angel baby will be a year old next week!!!  Where does the time go??

45 WEEKS OLD

 Anna Grace doesn't have her helmet on in a few of these pictures because she can't wear it when she has fever or when outside in the heat.  It's always nice to get to kiss on that sweet, bald head!  Well, I say bald head....she is getting some dark fuzzy hair.  The other day William noticed it and said, "Awww my baby's getting hair!  I'm so proud of you Anna Grace!"  #wordsfrombabes #meltmyheart

46 WEEKS OLD, headed to her first baseball game!

Weight:  Almost 20 pounds  

Eating:  Not much has changed in this category (5 bottles and 3 meals a day).  We have been giving Anna Grace more table food.  She's still not too sure what to think.  The other day I caught her with a mouth full of green beans.  I guess she think they should be dissolving like her puffs.  :)  We've started giving her a sippy cup to practice with.  Right now, she just bangs it on the table.  Every once in a while she'll put it to her mouth and laugh. Anna Grace recently tried raspberry, blueberry, spinach and pumpkin.         

Development:  Baby girl is getting so much stronger.  She can pull herself into the crawling position, but is still working on moving forward.  I always find her pushing herself backwards.  As long as she can get to where she wants she is happy. Baby girl has started waving HI and we get some claps out of her every once in a while.  Anna Grace recently qualified for Occupational Therapy.  I was a little disappointed that we were going to have to add one more appointment to our list every week, but was willing to do whatever she needed.  Luckily, at her first appointment they found that she was already doing better and wouldn't need as much help as they originally thought!  Great news!!!  I think baby girl has a time table of her own.  I love the saying It's not about where you start but how you finish.   

Clothes:  Moved up to size 4 diapers and 12 month size clothes.

Sleeping:  Baby girl excels in this department!  She's basically been sleeping through the night since she was 2 or 3 months old.  We of course still have nights that she cries and needs help getting her paci back into her mouth, but overall she does awesome.  This sweet girl will even put herself to sleep.  Just lay her down in bed and she is fine.  I prefer to snuggle with her for a few minutes after she finishes her bottle.  :)  We put her down around 8pm and she gets up between 6 and 7 in the morning.  At home she takes a 30-60 minute morning nap around 9:30 and then an 1.5 hour afternoon nap with William.  At daycare she doesn't usually sleep much.  I guess there's just too much going on?!?!      

Other:  Anna Grace went to the lake for the second time and went to her first baseball game (Astros vs The Rangers).       

Things She Loves:  She loves zooming around the house in her walker.  She runs into everything (include our feet) and is always grabbing things off our shelves.  William usually calls her "my baby" which is followed by the cutest squeal from Anna Grace.  She currently loves to play with William's farm truck and animals.  She'll sit on the ground for 30 + minutes playing with them.  We've noticed that she has stopped chewing on everything she comes into contact with.  Don't get me wrong, she still chews on things a lot....but she is showing interest in what the toys are doing.     

Things She Hates:  The doctor looking in her ears, anyone wearing a hat and strangers.  The stranger danger thing hit Anna Grace earlier than it did William!     

Mommy Stuff:  I'm down to pumping 3 times a day and having a hard time accepting the fact that our baby is almost a year old!  LOL      

Health:  Right after Anna Grace turned 10 months old she saw Neurosurgery for the 3rd time.  Unfortunately, her head didn't grown much in the 8 weeks between visits.  No growth means not much head shape change. BUT, the flat spot didn't get any flatter and the width of her head stayed the same.  Both of those are good things.  Since baby girl isn't crawling and lays on her head more than most kids her age the decision was made to leave the helmet on for another 6 weeks.  We have noticed that Anna Grace wants to sleep on her right side versus her back now.  Hopefully, when the helmet comes off we can keep her sleeping on her side/stomach instead of her back.  Also, right after her 10 month bday baby girl got a high fever and was wheezing.  She had to have blood work done, a CXR and breathing treatment.  Luckily, she was better within a few days.  We've had a lot of medical issues with AG, but I will say I'm so grateful that she's never had an ear infection or needed to be on antibiotics.  #itsthesmallthings    

If you know me, you know that I'm in full blown party planning mode!  I can't wait to celebrate you next month, sweet rainbow baby.

Anna Grace 9 months old

Sweet Anna Grace turned 9 months old while we were at Horseshoe Bay with my family.  It was her first trip to the lake!  Baby girl loved the boat rides.  I never did a 9 month post, :( but here is here 9 month photo collage.  This is the month she started to sit up on her own!  This meant she got to start participating in splash time at school on Tuesday and Thursday morning.  Water + Anna Grace = Happy Baby Girl.  xoxo

Anna Grace 8 months old

I forgot to post this 8 month update....better late than never!




Eating:  Anna Grace has continued to be an excellent eater!  Baby girl loves her food. :)  Up until she was 7.5 months old we were giving her food at lunch time and dinner time.  The week we were at the beach we started to do breakfast, lunch and dinner.  She usually nurses when she wakes up around 6 and then has 3 bottles at school and has one more bottle after dinner/before bed.   

Development:  Sometime after Anna Grace turned 7 months old she started rolling over both directions.  She is sitting up a lot better (but not completely on her own).  When she talks she can say dadada and bababa.  This big girl has TWO teeth now!!!  

Other:  At 7.5  months old Anna Grace went to the beach for her first time. She took lots of naps down at the beach and enjoyed our daily bike rides.  

I had to stop swaddling baby girl somewhere around 7 months old.  Her physical therapist said it wasn't recommended with torticollis.  I was sad because it helped her sleep so much better, but she has adjusted well.  

Things She Loves:  Bath time is still her favorite time.  When she hears the water come on she starts kicking and squealing.  She loves splashing in the tub.  She will just laugh and laugh.  Being thrown in the air is still a favorite as well.  Whenever she cries William will sing either Twinkle Twinkle to her or the ABCs.  Singing to her usually calms her right down (William is her favorite!).  Her favorite toy is her keys and she will chew on anything she can get in her mouth.  

Things She Hates:  She is still an easy going baby.  Tummy time is always a struggle and she tends to cry a lot during physical therapy.  But honestly, who can blame her!?!?  Her muscles are tight and all the stretching and exercising they have her do isn't comfortable/hurts.  

From The Doctor:  We haven't seen Anna Grace's PCP since her 6 month check up but we've seen a million other doctors in the last two months.  We have been busy.