Thankful

For the most part, this blog has been a bulletin board of Greta.  It makes sense, she is our greatest accomlishment and our whole-hearted true love.  I love nothing more than plastering this blog with her photos and making my pride known....loud and clear.  I knew I would love her, but I never expected this much love.  Life is truly sweeter with her in it.  And more importantly, life has so much more meaning with her in it.  It is hard to put into words (as you other parents know), but I humbly thank God every day for giving us the gift of Greta.

I am thankful for not only Greta, but for the family that Jace and I have made together.  I am thankful for a mom that remembers that her adult daughter will always be a little girl at heart. I am thankful for a father-in-law that runs out to buy humidifier filters to remedy his grandaughter's chapped cheeks.   I am thankful for a sister-in-law who inspires me to think deeper.  I am thankful for so many people and so many things.  It's easy to be thankful.  It's easy to thank God for the good things in our life. The part that I find difficult is trusting in God when prayers go unanswered.  It is so hard to let go and realize that God has a plan and often times, that plan is very different from mine.

As I look back at my last 30 years, there are so many things that didn't go my way.  But whatever path led me to this point in my life is heaven blessed.  With the new year on the horizon, I hope to have more faith that God has a plan for me and my family.  I know I will fail many times...those of you who know me know that I have a hard time letting go of the reigns.  But I am a work in progress. As a wise woman once said, "I have a long way to go still." 

Here's to a wonderful 2010!

Keever Family Christmas

Greta has really taken to baby dolls.  She truly loves anything she can snuggle.  As you can see, she was very happy to receive a dolly of her very own. 

 

This is what Greta looks like when she hasn't had a nap all day!

Grammy gave both of her little ladies the recordable Hallmark book, The Night Before Christmas.  Such a sweet gift and I know it will be a very special treasure for Greta.  Listening to my mom read the story brings back such great memories of her reading it to Justin and I after Christmas Eve candlelight service.

 

Blind Wine Tasting:  We had planned to do this at our cabin retreat, but never got around to it.  Let me clarify, we drank plenty of wine, we just didn't get to the taste test.  Each couple was supposed to bring two bottles of Pinot Grigio under $10.  Some of us (Dad) decided not to stay within that limit and some others (Nikki/Justin) brought a bottle of Riesling instead.  Regardless of the rule breaking, we had a great time and discovered some new wines.  Next Christmas...whiskeys!  Okay, maybe reds.

 

As is tradition, Dad prepared some excellent filet mignon for the whole family.  This year he found a great butcher shop in Carmel to provide our main dish.  It was to-die-for!  

 

 

Sleepover

The Keever kids came over for some QT with the Smiths.  Justin and Nikki had a wedding to attend and enjoyed it kid-free.  Uncle Jace had to work most of the time, so it was Aunt Laura and four kiddos...whew!  I loved spending time with my favorite mini-Keevers, but boy was I glad that I'm just a mother of one...for now.
 

"Rubber ducky, you're the one."

Big girl Greta outgrew her first bathtub, so it was time for an upgrade.  I thought the ducky tub was a great "in between" tub for her.  I'm not quite ready for my little girl to sit in the big bathtub yet...and definitely not ready use that much water for every bath.  So, the ducky is the ticket for awhile.

The Keever kids were here for a sleepover this past weekend and they were all excited to see Greta in her new ducky.  Who knew how exciting it would be...but they all scrambled upstairs to see her in it.  Too precious to see all the cousins together.

 

Smith Family Photos

Photography by Stacey Heck

 

 

 

 

 

Sweet Cheeks

Greta's first diaper rash and after lots of input from fellow Facebookers, we attempted some remedies last night.  Cornstarch and air for her little tooshie...hence the bare booty.  I had to snap a pic on my phone of my little commando Greta. Thankfully, no accidents on the floor.

Ears

After multiple ear infections in her first 10 months, the doc decided it was time for Greta to get tubes in her ears.  Her surgery was this morning and she was in and out in an hour.  Jace and I weren't excited to send our daughter into the OR, but everything went very smoothly.  She was pretty cranky after waking up from the anesthesia, but after some serious screaming, she got it together.  She was been doing excellent today and we are hoping that this improves her ear health.

Keever Family Get-away 2009

We have talked about it for years and this year we finally made it happen.  The whole crew joined in Southern Indiana for some cabin-living for a few days.  It was a great way to spend Thanksgiving.  The cabin was spacious and cozy all at the same time.  We spent our days eating great food, drinking good wine, watching football, relaxing, and playing all kinds of games. 

Some notable highlights were the competitive Scrabble matches, charades (Eagan's request and although reluctant at first, we had some serious laughs), an excellent Thanksgiving meal courtesy of Mama K, and countless moments spent together by the fire.  We all had a wonderful time and I really hope we can do it again someday soon.

 

"Bear Down, Chicago Bears"

This little Bears fan sure puts a cute spin on this horrible season.  This is about the only part of Bears football that has put a smile on our face lately :)  But the Smiths will stick with the Bears...we're no winner-lovers (I guess that makes us loser-lovers?).  Anyway, Go Bears!

 

 

 

 

O'Fallon or Bust!

For the last 20 years, I have been blessed with a great group of girlfriends.  An even bigger blessing is that we have managed to stay close after all these years.  Admittedly, it is getting more difficult to get together as the years go by, but with a little creativity...we make it happen.  This year, our annual Christmas gathering was at Tommy and Nikki's home in O'Fallon, IL.  It was a long drive with loud, screaming babies (still not sure why we thought the kids should go), but at the end was a houseful of great friends, great laughs, and great times.  We enjoyed tasty take-out, trip to the park, HGTV, priceless moments with the kiddos, and of course, lots of talking!  Did you notice I didn't mention sleep.  That brings me back to my previous question...why did we take the kiddos?  Oh that's right, because we love them :) 

Always looking forward to the next time! And maybe then we'll remember to get a picture of ourselves.

 

 

Who Could Say "No" to These Baby Blues?

GRETA:  Daddy, can I have a pony?

DADDY:  We don't really have room for a pony, Greta.

GRETA:  But Daddy, I really want a pony.

DADDY:  Ok honey, how about two?

Silly Girl

This past week, Greta has been battling croup.  Luckily Grandma Teresa was able to extend her weekend visit to help us out when we went back to work.  Greta enjoyed lots of  GTLC (grandma-tender-loving-care), which is exactly what she needed.  You might even say...okay, you can definitely say that she was spoiled while Grandma was here!  She is feeling much better, and as you can tell from the photos, she has returned to being Greta.

Who Needs Windex?

 

 

Cute as a Bug

For Greta's first Halloween, we dressed her as a lady bug.  She didn't mind the costume too much, but really hated wearing the hat/antennas.  We were able to snap a few pics of the whole ensemble.  Cutest lady bug ever...in our opinion :)  She made a visit to Grammy and Papaw's and Grandma Dorothy's in Monticello.  Grandma Teresa came for a visit too. Jace was working Friday night, so we made a visit to Honda to see Daddy.

Halloween night was trick-or-treat in Lafayette.  Greta wasn't feeling very well, so I didn't make her get in her costume.  She did have a great time watching the kids through the door. 

 

 

Bye Bye, Mullet

We took Greta to Cookie Cutters for a trim.  She was starting to sport a mullet in the back and it was pretty shabby all around.  So the stylist shaped it up for her.  Just a little trim, not even enough to save...but it looks much better.

 

 

 

 

9 Month Check-up

Our little girl is 9 months old!  We saw her doctor today and a routine blood draw to check for anemia and lead exposure proved to be traumatic for all three of us.  It took both Jace and I to hold her down while the nurse tied a turnicate around her teeny tiny arm and stuck a needle in her teeny tiny vein.  Lets just say there was a lot of screaming involved.  Am I painting a pitiful enough picture for you?  Daddy and I really needed a drink after that.  We settled for Wendy's instead.

Even after a few rounds of antibiotics, she still has fluid in her ears. So, her doc recommended that we see an ENT specialist.  So we will be doing that in the near future.  Hopefully we can get her ear issues under control. Here are her current stats:

Weight:  17 pounds (10-25th percentile)

Height: 28 inches (50-75th percentile)

Head: 44.2 cm (50-75th percentile) 

Until Springtime...

Justin, Dylan, and Reagan joined us in Monticello on Saturday.  It was an unexpected visit and it was so great to see them (missed you Nikki and Eagan).  We all went out to the farm to see Grandma and Grandpa Kilmer before they head back to Florida in a few weeks.