Hay fever, coughing, a stuffy nose... What's ailing the Hurst's? Nobody knows!

Okay. Corny blog post title. The point is, we've all been feeling quite yucky since Thursday night, and whatever it is (allergies maybe? or just a cold?) we are praying it will go away soon! Grace Louise cut her first tooth this morning (YAY!) so I think her diarrhea and runny nose were symptoms of that. Since Jimmy and I have all of our teeth, I'm thinking we simply have colds ;-)

I should have my sick self in the bed, but I just couldn't resist posting some Easter pictures from last weekend. (Plus, my husband is entirely too intrigued in the PBS Lewis and Clark expedition show to go to bed).

We had a wonderful Easter service at church celebrating Christ's resurrection! I'm so thankful and excited that the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is living in us! After church we had lunch at LaLa's, enjoyed some Easter basket goodies, and had an egg hunt for Triston. I snapped some really neat pics, which is so easy since my daughter is obviously quite the little ham!

You know the rule, not everyone can be smiling and looking at the camera at once!




Granny and Papa Coates

LaLa made Grace Louise this precious Easter basket! She made mine when I was baby, which I kept into my teenage years. So special. She had Grace Louise's monogrammed with her name on one side and "He Is Risen" on the other.

Now that Jimmy and I are parents of an impressionable little human, we get to decide which cultural traditions we want to celebrate and how to incorporate them into our family in a way that reflects our priorities and values. Finally. Power!!!...Muhahahahahaha! Just kidding. Really, it is a neat responsibility.

5 Whole Months!!!

Grace Louise turns 5 months tomorrow, April 1st! And I'm not kidding!!! No April Fool's here! We enjoy her so much... all 16 pounds of her! Wherever we go, everyone seems to just love her... and it is easy to do! She is such a fun and loving little baby, with all sorts of new tricks up her sleeve- most recent is drinking water out of a cup! One more month or so and we'll introduce some veggies!

She finally fits the hiking pack and seems to love it! We're going on our first hike in the Nature Conservancy this week.













Did I mention it doubles as a teether?









Happy Feet!

"I see you!"

Making use of all her toys now. She loves to jump in her JumpARoo!

She's learned to jump, so now she jumps in the ExerSaucer (which is NOT made for jumping)... more like crashing!

Who sits up now? I do! I do!

Equilibrium

Yesterday I took Grace Louise on our first solo picnic at the lake! I had been feeling really overwhelmed, especially by work (and my CRAZY plagiarizing students!) and just needed to get outside and enjoy the weather. I had a "moment" the day before (commonly referred to as a meltdown), and the teeter-totter of life felt completely out of balance. This happens from time to time, when something is taking up too much of my time or thoughts; something unworthy becomes the center of my attention. So, as I told a friend earlier today, meltdowns are really just epiphanies; they're reminders that life is out of balance. Yay! Meltdowns are good!!! Ha- not!

Realizing that so many things were competing with the undivided attention I wanted to give my baby girl, I decided to retreat where nothing could interfere (besides my BlackBerry ;) My afternoon with Grace Louise was precious and it turns out she loves the outdoors as much as her mom! We strolled around Lake Wailes, had playtime under a big, beautiful oak, and she took a nap on a blanket while I read! Doesn't that sound serene and amazing?!?! (IT WAS!!!) Pics to follow...

Knowing where I long for the Center of my life's focus to be, I've committed to sing this first song on my playlist everyday for a week. Hmmm... we'll see!

On the road again...

One of our fave things to do is visit! We usually spend a couple of days during the week visiting friends and relatives, and I'm so thankful to be able to do this with her! Here she is with two of her uncles (who, by the way, are just crazy about her!)

Teeth and other fun milestones

I only thought homegirl was teething before... now she's really gnawing anything she can get her gums on! No teeth yet, but they must be doing something in there to get ready. We experienced Motrin for the first time a couple days ago... a 3 hour nap later, and she was feeling quite spry!

The faces of teething:

And when she's not chewing on the side of her exersaucer, she loves playing in it! She's been "exersaucing" with the support of a rolled up blanket since she was 3 months. Now her back and legs are so strong; she stands up, bounces around, and turns to her favorite toys. It amazes me to watch her in it. She jibber-jabbers to all of her toys and stands up to reach the top of the tall ones, bending them down to chewing level! Most impressive, though, is that she uses the "pincer" grasp (instead of the "mitten" grasp) for one of the toys with small moving parts. Babies aren't expected to do that until 6 months or after!!! In a spot where there is a toy missing in her exersaucer, she bends over and looks down the hole... how does she know that's a hole and that something might be down there?? Who taught her that??? And when she's ready to get out of her exersaucer she reaches her sweet little hands up to Mama. (Reaching- with a preference for her mom- is new...and oh, so sweet!)

Grace Louise had an even bigger accomplishment just today... She sat up on her own!!! Only for a few seconds before slumping over, but still!!! Milestones are more exciting that I thought they would be!

Exersaucer fun:

No Moo for Gracie Lou

Baby Girl just turned 4 months on March 1st! We took her to get her 3 month pics taken at The Picture People in the Brandon Mall (a bit late, but better late than never). Talk about a ham! She was cheezin' it up and looked absolutely adorable in her pink flower headband and sundress. If any modeling agency is reading this (ha!) and would like to use her pictures in exchange for her college education, please give me a call! We didn't order the copyrights, but you can view them at The Picture People website. Username: emily.hurst3@gmail.com Password: gracielou

We finally heard back from the pediatrician about the reducing substances test... came back positive. GL is intolerant to dairy proteins in my milk, so no more dairy for mom. Just tried Silk Soymilk for the first time... not too bad. (Although I don't think I'd want to try it without the chocolate!) Hopefully this lactose intolerance goes away in the next year.

Here are some pics from the last couple of weeks.

Big Sunshine and Little Sunshine meeting for the first time!

One of GL's favorite things to do. She really digs this playmate in the mirror!

Jada: "Mmmm this flower smells really nice."

Trying to trick daddy into folding laundry.

Lala is always encouraging the genius in Grace Louise, bringing out toys that are beyond her age. Playing the piano... who knew she would be so skilled?!?!

Going, going...

Gone!

(Crazy Fish was apprently a bit too crazy for her!)

The BEST daily grind

"Extra" time doesn't exist, so I've learned. "Making" time is what I'm doing. I love to blog, especially about my adorable youngin' so I must, must, must be better about this! I have just closed out two of my four online classes and couldn't be happier! I will NEVER do that again...and please hold me to it! I feel like I have spent every spare moment that I haven't been feeding or taking of Grace Louise on the blasted computer grading papers. Did I already say that I will NEVER do that again?!?! Now it is tax season and working on the business taxes... always something. Can I just veg for a little bit?

I went to MOPS yesterday, had coffee with my bestest this morning, and a wonderful visit with my brother this afternoon. Making time is good. I'm trying to get up every morning before Grace Louise to steal away a few moments of quiet time. I'm more than 50%... not too shabby ;-) I'll try not to mention this struggle with feeling overwhelmed every time I blog, but seriously, is this new balancing act not a major life adjustment for parents??? A million people warned me, "your life will change". There is no doubt about that! Somebody should have slapped me- what did I do with all my time before she was born?

The daily grind, though, is made much sweeter with this extra love in our family! I've had these pics edited on the computer for a couple of weeks now, so I'm eager to get them out. Enjoy.

How sweet is this? Triston made GL a Valentine's Day card.

And here she is reading it while her V-Day monkey is singing "Buttercup".

This book teaches her how to count to five in English, Spanish, and French.

She's more interested in how it tastes. Teething.

Morning kisses for mommy!


Good morning, Sunshine!

This was the first pic of the morning. Couldn't quite get those eyes open yet!

This crazy thing behind her in all the morning pics is a rice sock Jimmy made me when I was pregnant (for heat/cold therapy). It comes in handy. I use it to mimic my hand on her while she is sleeping and also as a barricade to keep her from rolling off various pieces of furniture :-)

Holding on to the silver fox.

Hanging out with mom on the office desk.

Hats and Hair Bows

Momma got paid (wahoo!!!)... so we took a little trip downtown to the boutique last week and bought some pretties. A new hat and hair bows with interchangeable flowers!

Playmates

I love watching Grace Louise interact with her friends! There are clearly no age requirements for play dates! She thinks Addi is so funny, especially when she blows raspberries! She's learning to share- letting Joanna wear her new hair bow. Trey treats her like any sweet big brother would (don't ask me... couldn't tell you a thing about sweet big brothers! ha!) It's pure entertainment hearing Sophie say her name. And since Carson is the same age, they've got so much in common!

A song in honor of all of Grace Louise's cute little friends...

Say, say, oh playmate,

Come out and play with me

And bring your dollies three

Climb up my apple tree

Slide down my rainbow

Into my cellar door

And we'll be jolly friends

Forever more, more, more more more!

Grace Louise and Addi Fann

GL and Joanna Banana

Trey Michael

Sophie

Hot Cakes

AKA... Carson Joyner

Cling to what is good!

One thing that undoubtedly changes when you become a parent is your personal time. “Alone time” with God, specifically, has changed and is much harder to come by… mostly because, well, I’m never alone! Realizing that God is so much greater than the box I like to keep Him in, I prayed that He would begin to reveal Himself to me in the small, seemingly mundane, day to day events. I prayed that my eyes would be open to see and my heart open to learn in unconventional ways. My first lesson came Saturday morning… Cling to what is good.

When my hungry little munchkin woke up, it didn’t take her long to ring the breakfast bell! She squirmed around restlessly in her bed and as soon as I picked her up- mouth open, hands flying, she went to reaching for the dairy! Much to her dismay, a diaper change was in order! After taking care of business, I nestled her in the bed, arranged myself, realized I was all twisted up in my nightgown, rearranged, and by that time, she was screaming her head off (mouth still wide open, hands still flying). As I came close enough for her to nurse, she grabbed ahold of my breast with both hands and wasn’t letting go! Clinging doesn’t even begin to describe the grip!

Romans 12:9- Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.

I find it most interesting that this passage does not say “Do what is good”, but instead uses a really committed word, like cling. God doesn’t want us just to do good, but to cleave or unite to those things that are good. The passage goes on to give examples of what is “good”- brotherly love, fervor in serving the Lord, hospitality, rejoicing in hope, etc.

Our small group is super excited about our new focus for 2010- doing good for others. Our first step was a service project for the community. Below are pics of us working hard to clean up a transitional housing project for the Lake Wales Care Center.