Grace at 12 weeks old

Gracie weighed in at 14lb 2 1/2oz and is already 24 inches long!  She is now in the 97th% for her age!!  She doesn't seem big to me, but apparently she is:)  She had to get 3 shots last week for her vaccinations.  She did really well and had no symptoms afterwards.  Sleeping wise, she goes to bed around 8pm and sleeps for 9-10hours! Wakes for a quick feed and sleeps for another 2-3hrs!! yesssss.  swaddling is the key for sure.  As well we've been putting her to bed awake...she looks around and than puts herself to sleep.  That is something I wish I did with Parks.  Overall she is an awesome baby.  She hardly cries and usually only makes a fuss when she is hungry.  She lets Matt and I bring her on the boat constantly these past few days...and while in her car seat she takes all those bumps like a trooper:)  She has just recently started to notice her hands and loves to suck on her little fist. so cute.  She still has her big blue eyes, so we shall see if they stay for good. I hope so!  She loves to stand up and smiles all the time.  She is already a Daddy's girl...he gets the biggest smiles.  Breastfeeding is her favorite past time...every 2 usually 3 hours during the day, and just recently she has started to stare at me and if I look away she unlatches and starts to coo at me with a big smile.  Its become bit of a game.  She loves to say 'ah goo' its soooo cute to hear her tiny little voice.  We are so happy with our little girl.  Parks is just IN LOVE with her. We are excited to get out to Ottawa in a few more days and have Grace's Auntie Robyn, Uncle Jeffie and cousin Tessa meet her for the first time!!

Spiritual Thought

Just this past Sunday I heard a great talk given at church and thought I should share it on my blog.  It was about the Virtue of Kindness by Joseph B. Wirthlin.  It was one of those talks that make you feel warm and fuzzy inside and it inspired me to try and be a better person.  Which is one of the main reasons why I love going to church.  I haven't had much opportunity to feel warm and fuzzy recently because Parks and Grace usually distract me alot of the time.  But every now and again when I need it the most I guess, I get blessed with exactly what I needed to hear.  Anyways this is some of the talk...

The Church is not a place where perfect people gather to say perfect things, or have perfect thoughts, or have perfect feelings.  The Church is a place where imperfect people gather to provide encouragement, support, and service to each other as we press on in our journey to return to Heavenly Father.
Each one of us will travel a different road during life.  Each progresses at a different rate.  Temptations that trouble your brother may not challenge you at all.  Strengths that you possess may seem impossible to another. 
Never look down on those that are less perfect than you...We are all children of God.  And we are here with the same purpose: to learn to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, strength, and to love our neighbour as ourselves.
When we are filled with kindness, we are not judgemental.  The Saviour taught, "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven."  He also taught that "with what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."
"But", you ask, "what if people are rude?"
Love them.
"If they are obnoxious?"
Love them.
"But what if they offend? Surely I must do something then?"
Love them.
"Wayward?"
The answer is the same. Be kind. Love them.
Why? In the scriptures Jude taught, "And of some have compassion, making a difference"
Who can tell what far-reaching impact we can have if we are only kind?

Hill Family Reunion 2010

It was a great week with all the happenin hills at Tie Lake.  Its a pretty big deal when we can get everyone out at the SAME time.  We ALL have such a blast especially all the kids with their cousins.  Grant and Sue have 23 grandchildren now!  Its a busy place to be but so worth all the great bonding time:)
Caitlin organized activities, meal plans, and just 'organizing' in general, so we could get the most out of the week together...without TOTAL chaos.  Thank you so much Caitlin for taking the initiative!
Matt and I organized the 'Water Olympics' again this year, we had an awesome glow stick dance party one night, we did an AMAZING triathlon created specially for our family by Caitlin and Kristi.  (My first time running since having Grace...7 1/2 weeks after surgery pretty sweet).  Lots of boating and playing in the water ofcorse,  we had an awesome talent show that a few of the sister-in-laws ROCKED! haha  I felt like I was in high school again planning out our dance routine...it was so fun girls.  I hope I made Tina Turner proud;)  And throughout all those activities the brothers ripped off the old porch beside the main cabin and built a muchly needed new one.  As well as take the new dock back out of the water to make a days work of adjustments on the floaters.  (In other words make the dock float higher above the water). 
Grace and Parks were awesome the whole time...sleeping great.  Matt and I got sick half way through the week with an annoying cough that only comes when you want to sleep, sore throat plus I lost my voice and sounded like an old man for a few days.  all good fun:)
Parks has been continuing to wakeboard and never says no when he is asked to go.  He has been having so much fun with his cousins...its a love/hate relationship with them all.  (i always find it so heartwarming how little kids can hate each other one second, forget about it, and love each other a few seconds later.  I guess that's the way we adults are suppose to be, or rather, try to be).
Grace and I have yet to even go in the boat...which is very strange for me.  I guess once I am able to wakeboard it'll be different.  I cant wait to get out on the water.  Here are some pics from our big family photo shoot:

We miss you Jessica!

Caitlin thank you for making that week so fun!

Matt's new ride

He bought it off of his brother Mark and at first I was really worried about my husband riding a bike, but I know he is responsible and not an idiot.  One of his 'FireFighter' co-workers said 'just drive like everyone is out to kill you' so in other words drive extra cautious which is what he does.  It's a great bike though, nice and comfy:)

Calgary Stampede

Well I can officially say I have been to the Calgary Stampede, we (Matt's mom, Parks, Grace and I, Kristi and her two kids, Mark, Caitlin and Anderson) went yesterday for the 'SuperDOGS' show.  It was really cute, Parks loved seeing all the dogs ofcorse.  It was super HOT outside (thankfully it was indoors) but we managed to get the kids on some rides too afterwards.  This was Parks first time on rides, we did the carousel, train ride, and a mini roller coaster caterpillar one.  Thanks Gran for the tickets!  Afterwards we hit up the mini princess pool (that is all Sue could find at Walmart) at Matt's parents place and had the kids play while we enjoyed the sun:)  Later that night Kristi, Caitlin and I went out to do some shopping and had a fast dinner.  Thanks again girls, it was a blast!

Sue didn't want Grace to go deaf with the loud music...lol

On the carousel with the kiddos

Parks and Morgan cooling off

so cute, I cant wait to show them this when they are older:)

SMILES

This is Gracie's first smile on camera!  Its not full force but its still a smile:)

Grace 6 weeks old!

 She is healthier than can be at 12lbs 3 oz. Her weight puts her into the 90th percentile for her age group. Just like her brother was. She is 57cm long which puts her into the 75th percentile for height. Her head measured at 41cm which puts her in the 95th percentile! haha which doesn't surprise us at all...She has Matt's forehead that pops out in the front, which is why her measurements are so big.
She gave her Mommy first smiles when she was 5 1/2 weeks old and now gives them to both of us (especially when she first wakes up in the morning) so cute. After we got back from Tie Lake, Grace was so use to being bounced around in her stroller or constantly being held by someone, that she drove me crazy when we got back home. I had so much to do, Matt was working and I was ready to pull my hair out! My incision was getting so sore because I had been doing way too much. Every time I would put Grace down she would wake up, pick her up and she fell asleep instantly...she was exhausted. She woke up at 7am that day and stayed up until about 1:30pm...at which point I called Matt and begged him to come home. My incision was swollen and red (not good) too much bouncing and carrying her in the snuggly around the house. Anyways to make a very happy ending. I went on Facebook that night desperate for some advice when I saw 2 of my girlfriends posts...one talking about how to change the way you pray, don't expect to have your baby changed magically just because you asked. Rather, ask for the strength/patience to deal with your baby and guidance/help to know what you can do differently to help sooth and comfort her. It was very uplifting to read and know that someone else was feeling what I was feeling. THAN later on that day help was given to me by another friend that had mentioned about 'The Happiest Baby on the Block' by Dr. Harvey Karp. WOW! Revolutionary. I didn't pay much attention when she first told me about this technique because Grace slept on her tummy and was doing okay. But things obvioiusly changed! This Doctor's technique is the 5 s's to help sooth and calm a fussy/colic baby. It is 98% effective EVERY time. He says there are very few babies it wont work on because they are in actual pain, and therefore it is more than just 'colic'. (swaddling, side/stomach positon, shushing, swinging movement, and sucking). Do them in order and you will have a happy little baby in seconds.  I watched a 5 minute preview on youtube and all I can say is that this guy knows his stuff. I cant wait to watch his dvd and learn more. The first day that I did this to Grace she slept the entire day just woke for a bit to eat:) (I got soooo much done!) Than we decided to try swaddling her at night and lay her on her side (she usually sleeps on her tummy). She went 7 hours! It added on 2 glorious hours of sleep! Lastnight sucked cuz she got out of her swaddle and woke up after 5 hours but I can deffinately see the light now:) I know it wont be perfect every night, but it is way better than what i was doing before. Thank you so much Catherine and Anona. I wanted to make sure to post about this in hopes that someone else will read it that is in need:)

Our beautiful girl at 6 weeks old