I need a beer

Or maybe three beers. Does it make me a bad mom that I took my daughter to the liquor store to buy a six pack today? It's just been one of those weekends. I managed to almost start a new business, decide it wasn't financially possible, and disappoint a wonderful mentor in the span of three days. Ugh...

So that is why I have been a little out of the loop. Had me a little pity party but I will be back to my old self soon :)

Just Another Day in Paradise

Ahhh, the weekend update. Busy as usual. Friday night we had Drew, Steph, and Grant over for pizza. We always have a good time with them and it was great sitting out on the deck and catching up.

Adam had a golf outing on Saturday and my mom took the opportunity to go shopping in Ann Arbor. Got some great deals, these shoes (in brown)for me and pink and brown baby Puma's for Grace. I also got a few tops from Von Maur and Old Navy for myself, pjs and a shirt for Grace from Old Navy. Old Navy is having this Stuff and Save thing where you get 20% off of everything you can stuff in a bag. I also bought four books! They were buy one get one half off at Borders. I have started reading a lot again and can't wait to start "90 Minutes in Heaven", "The summer of Naked Swim Parties", "Island of the Lost Girls", and "Love Walked In". What is on your summer reading list? I just finished "My Best Friend's Girl" and "The Year of Fog" when I was on vacation and they were both great. I am currently reading "Body Surfing" by Anita Shreve and it is a real page turner. I was so engrossed I was reading in the car today which makes me really car sick.

Last night we headed to the lake. we were planning on putting Grace to bed and going to a bonfire at Dave and Sadie's but little miss crazy pants had different ideas. She would not go to bed and we finally just let her stay up until about 9:30 in which she was a social butterfly and entertained Aunt Sally, Uncle Jim, GG's, Grandma, Grandpa, and Alexis with her antics. I really think she just didn't want to miss anything. It was a perfect day out there today, sunny and not too hot. We enjoyed being with family and had a wonderful meal.

And now, the dreaded Sunday night. I have so. much. work. to do. Ugh.... I am obviously getting a whole lot of nothing done right now and using this blog as my chance to procrastinate. Hope you all had a great weekend too and here is to a positive and productive Monday :)

Picture Time

Nicole took Grace's ONE YEAR pictures last week and posted a sneak peek on her photography blog. Check them out here.

One Year Doctors Appointment

Grace had her one year check up yesterday. She was talking and babbling to Dr. Tim and showing him all her tricks. He looked at me and said, "I have a feeling there is never a dull moment with her around". Ain't that the truth :) She was her usual little miss crazy pants until Dr. Tim actually had to touch her. Then all hell broke loose. Followed up by three shots and one finger poke. We will have to work with her with the play doctors kit she got for her birthday so next time it hopefully isn't so traumatic. You would have thought they were severing a limb- jeez.

The stats:
21.4 lbs
29.5 inches long

She has pretty much stayed anywhere between the 50th and 75th percentile since birth. Dr. Tim also told me that it is time to start whole milk and weaning her off the bottle. Which is going to be waaaaaay harder for me than her. She is down to one in the morning when she gets up and one at night before she goes to bed. This is pretty much the only time she will sit still and cuddle anymore. For a guilt ridden working mother this is "our time". It absolutely breaks my heart to give it up. Wahhhhhh.....why is he trying to rob me of my baby!?!

The big blow out bash

I am still recovering .... from the big blow out bash of a first birthday party we had last Sunday. We had about 60-70 people attend and it went pretty well: food was good, Grace was happy, and I think everyone had fun. My only disappointment was I spent hours doing a video slide show of pictures and video clips from her first year and you couldn't see it very well projected on the wall. Oh well... I did have her (half finished) scrapbook and baby book out though so people could at least see a some pictures in those. God forbid not every moment of this child's life be documented :)

I didn't get too many pictures because I was pretty busy the whole day but I did get some of Grace eating her cake and the paparazzi capturing her every move! She had so much fun and loves all her new toys and clothes. She was asleep before we pulled out of North Shore Drive at the lake. It is so tiring being princess for a day!!

A humongous thank you goes out to everyone that helped: all Adam's aunts, and especially my wonderful MIL Ann and my mom- you are the best! Thank you for indulging me and my craziness! Thank you to everyone that came! I told her she isn't going to have another party like that until she graduates from high school- LOL.

Ahhhh...Vacation

We had a great time in Cape Hatteras, NC. These are the islands off the coast of North Carolina. It has been built up quite a bit the last 10 years or so but is still a nice break from civilization. I have been going there my whole life with my family but have not been in 4 years! This was Adam's 3rd time going and Grace's 1st! She absolutely loved it. She had so much fun on the beach playing in the sand and surf, was happy as could be in the pool at the cottage. She was an angel baby the whole week which made our vacation so relaxing.

What is not to like about sun and fun with Nana and Papa and her cousins!? Grace and Luke- they are always going to be two peas in a pod. I love that they are going to grow up so close. He is all boy and she is all girl so it is so funny to watch them interact.

We have a happy hour every afternoon from about 5 until dinner. We take our drinking seriously in the McIntosh family. Grace even got in on the act with her Margarita glass.

Nothing better than spending time with family and creating priceless memories. Can't wait to go back!

Gracie is One!!

Click on the collage to make it bigger

It was one year ago today my life was completely changed by a sweet little baby. After 13 hours of labor (with no drugs!) Grace Elizabeth came into this world at 5:14 pm weighing 7 lbs 7 oz. She shocked us all with her bright eyes, chunky physique, and tons of dark hair. I remember looking into her little face and being amazed that I produced this little being and that she knew I was her mama.

Fast forward a year. Gracie has developed in so many ways. Here is a snapshot of her at a year.

• She loves to talk (babble really). She will carry on a non-sensical conversation with you and is sure to drop in a few of her favorite words such as "Doo-lay" (Dooley), Iiiiii (Hi), and "Uh-oh".
• All animals are Doo-lay. She calls people by yelling "YA YA!?!
• She can climb a full flight of stairs in a minute flat
• She walks around everything and can take about 6 steps at a time and stand and balance for about 30 seconds
• She is such a happy kid most of the time. I cannot believe how lucky we are
• She belly laughs when you tickle her. Her tickliest spots are under the arms
• She loves her blankie and is sure to grab it before you take her out of the crib for one more cuddle. The corner with the tag is her favorite to sniff and suck on
• She makes this crazy face where she scrunches up her nose and mouth and sniffs. It cracks me up every time
• Her kisses are complete with a pucker and sound effect of MUAH!

I can't believe it has been a year. Her big birthday bash is on Sunday but we had Grandmas and Grandpas, Scott, Nicki, Ally, & Luke, and Jeremiah & Alexis over for pizza and presents this evening. She got a little people plane, a "sweet pea" jacket and socks, a play purse complete with cell phone and change purse, some books, a medcal kit, a sand and water table, and a slide for the yard. She didn't know what to do with all those presents but luckily had lots of cousins to help her open and play with them.