Gracie's Baptism

To top off an already wonderful, memorable weekend with family, we decided to have Grace baptized on Sunday November 27th at St. Michael Catholic Church in Wheaton. Not only was this the church Zach and I were married at, but it is also the church I was baptized in during Easter weekend 2010. It was a beautiful day to say the least, and extra special having Grace's best girlfriend, Lyla Rose Labelle, baptized with her! She slept through the entire ceremony, and only fidgeted slightly when the water was poured over her head. I was honestly amazed! We felt so blessed having so many of our family members together for such an exciting event and couldn't be more thankful for Grace's godparents, Uncle Brock and Aunt Brooke. We were not only thankful they accepted this honor, but also for playing such an important part of the day and in Grace's life going forward. I accidentally volunteered Uncle Brock for a reading beforehand,  and he couldn't have done a better job :)

Mom, Dad and Gracie before the Baptism.

Grace looking beautiful, and happy as can be in her new bonnet and cute shoes from her Great Grandparents, Mimi and Papa. Unfortunately they couldn't make the trip to Chicago, but we were thinking about them the whole time! Grace missed you both!

Proud Papa :)

Ullrich family.

Livingston family.  

Proud Mama :)

Brock and Carolyn. 

Grace's amazing godparents, Brock and Brooke (not hard to say in the least.. haha).

Grace and her BFF, Lyla!

Baptism

She hardly made a peep! 

Sporting a new bib and oily "do" post baptism :)

The only man tall enough to light the candle! 

Wonderful grandparents

Such a special day for the Labelle and Ullrich families!

Godparents :)

We headed over to the Ullrich house for a delicious late lunch and dessert following the ceremony. Thanks again to Jodi for entertaining everyone once again after such a crazy weekend, and to everyone who came to support Grace! She is lucky lady having so many incredible people in her life who love and support her so much. 

Our wonderful host! 

Amazing cake created by Ta Dah! 

"God Bless Grace Mackenzie"

Grace, Grandma Jenny, Great Grandma Faye, and Great Aunt Kym

Dad, Great Uncle Neil and Great Grandpa Rolly 

Dad and Grandpa Brad celebrating! 

Grace and Great Aunt Kym

More celebrating of course. 

My beautiful sisters, and Grace's incredible Aunts! Love you all!

Fun playing cards :)

 Thanks again to everyone for the thoughtful, and extremely special baptism gifts!  I can't wait till Grace is old enough to understand the meaning behind everything you picked out for her. 

Turkeys, Trots and Treats!

What a fun filled weekend we had with family! We started Grace's first Thanksgiving celebration with the Livingston family's annual 5K Turkey Trot in Naperville. Luckily the Ullrich family was up for the morning challenge as well, and met up with us and the Pavela family for the run. Grace slept through her first 5K and first thanksgiving meal at St. Charles Country Club, but was alert and lively for meal number two at the Ullrich home. We have a tradition at the Ullrich's of going around the table with a wine filled baron stating what we are most thankful for. It was an emotional meal to say the least, until Grace decided to let out a rather loud fart immediately following Jess's beautiful speech about her love for Aaron and their future together! Haha. It certainly broke the mood, and is officially my favorite Thanksgiving memory to date :)

Livingston family pre-run

Livingston and Pavela clans meeting in Brad's "secret parking spot" for the Annual Turkey Trot.

Grace's first 5K. She had no idea she even participated :)

Ullrich family feeling good after the Trot.

Ullrich fam running the Turkey Trot sans Grandpa. He was "in the zone" at this point!

Grace and her lovely Aunts! 

Livingston Thanksgiving meal number one. Never mind the antlers blocking Grace's head.. haha

Mom and Grace photos are rare these days.. haha :)

Kisses from Daddy

Family shot :) 

Auntie Dizzle holding Grace Mack in the outfit she gave her as a baptism gift! Perfect for Thanksgiving! 

Ullrich Christmas card photo for Thanksgiving meal number two!

Grace with Auntie Kels and her wonderful Great Grandparents

On Friday the Livingston ladies took Grace shopping for her first "Black Friday" experience. We were smart to head about in the afternoon to avoid the craziness at Oakbrook mall. We accomplished a few Christmas gifts on our list, and even had time for a relaxing meal at Cheesecake with our sleeping angel!
We continued the holiday festivities on Saturday with a cookie baking party at the Ullrich home. Our first baking party couldn't have turned out better, and will definitely be a fun family tradition for years to come! Grace even decided to help Mom with her favorite grapenut oatmeal cookie recipe by hanging out in the bjorn for the majority of the day :) We topped off our cookie party with one of Grandma Faye's card games to compete for her hand made Christmas ornaments to take home. They are absolutely stunning, and couldn't be more special hanging from Grace's first tree.

All the Waller ladies pre-baking. My preggo look is really just Grace Mack hiding under my cute apron.  Thanks again Kym for the adorable matching aprons! 

Chef Grandma Jodi and Grandpa Tom loving on Gracie. 

Grandma, Auntie J and Great-Grandma with our first finished product! Blondie cookies - very appropriate :)

Babe in the Bjorn. Great baking buddy.

Waller ladies post-cookie making!

Grace's first Christmas tree. 

Happy 2 months (and 1 day) Miss Grace!

A little late yet again, but better late than never! Grace turned two months old yesterday, and we can easily say its been her parent's best two months yet. While we would have loved to have spent the day celebrating, we had her two month vaccinations scheduled for that afternoon which unfortunately put a damper on the day. Grace handled her shots wonderfully, but her mother on the other hand, didn't fare so well. Seeing your baby happy as can be get poked in both legs, without any indication pain is on the way, is heart wrenching to say the least! Embarrassed to admit that I lost my composure the minute the nurses walked in the room and had to force myself to pull it together even AFTER Grace stopped crying. God forbid this girl ever falls down, scrapes her knee or sprains an ankle.. Haha :) Hoping this experience toughens me up a bit before her four month shots take place in January.

Grace and her girlfriends!

Renata, Lexie and I were so excited to finally introduce our girls to one another yesterday! We have been waiting a long time for a few girlfriends in Gracie's life! Grace had her first play date with Lyla Rose Labelle (born on November 1, 2011) and Francesca Amelia Kerr (born on July 29, 2011). It took quite awhile to make sure all the girls were fed, changed and fairly happy enough to lay side by side long enough for a few good photos, but we accomplished our task! Looking forward to many tea parties, sleepovers, dress-up days and potential soccer games and gymnastics meets with Grace's new BFF's :)

Lyla, Grace and Francesca in order or their birthdays!

Locking arms - too sweet!

This is Gracie's favorite direction to turn - see below.

In other news, we have also started physical therapy and home therapy for a condition Grace has called Torticollis. The term means "twisted neck", and refers to a tilted and turned position of the head. More than likely, Grace's torticollis was caused by her positioning in the womb which caused her neck muscles to tighten on one side pulling her head towards the right and her ear towards her left shoulder. Fortunately our pediatrician believes in starting therapy as early as possible to correct the condition! The earlier babies get started, the quicker the results. We had our initial evaluation last week, and will be going once a week through the end of December and hopefully less as she improves. Luckily she is handling the stretching and home remedies like a champ and seems to even enjoy having her head moved around in different directions! Not sure how long that enjoyment will last, but we'll keep our fingers crossed! You can tell she is going to be a tough little girl - Mom and Dad couldn't be more proud :)

Grace working hard at PT! Go G-Mack!