Grace's Pooh

Grace has come to love a classic friend to many...Winnie the Pooh. Pooh is the theme that I picked out for her nursery before she was born. We have noticed that since she has been growing she has been fascinated by this special friend. I believe that she is attracted to his bright yellow and red colors...however, maybe there is more than meets the eye. To her, Pooh is very entertaining. She loves to stare at him, reaches out to knock him over, and even puts her arm around him. I can't believe that my baby girl is 3 months old now. She is growing into such a beautiful girl already! We are always admiring her beautiful blue eyes! She loves to explore the world around her...and as far as she is concerned, Pooh is her favorite companion...other than her parents of course. And who could help but love him anyway...a cute and simple bear.

Beauty of Prayer

Last night I sat on the couch with Grace laying across my lap. She had just dozed off, and I sat admiring her beauty as she slept. She is such an amazing baby girl...always full of smiles and happiness. What a wonderful gift we have in front of our eyes. Grace Marie has changed me in so many ways already. I am so grateful to have her in my life. I sat there thinking about the joys of motherhood and how many women might take it for granted. I thought about how mothers need to be led by example...they need to be led by our Blessed Mother...what a perfect role model. I also thought about the unborn and how people could take away their right to life. I thought about all of the pregnant women and the amazing experiences that they would be blessed with. So I asked Marc for my rosary...and we prayed for all of these things. We prayed for the guidance of our Blessed Mother...in our needs and for those mothers, pregnant, young lives, and those lost. What beauty and love came from those words of prayer. It doesn't take a lot of time out of your day to pray. I know that I felt so much closer to Mary and to her son, Jesus...in just those few words of prayer. I know that sometimes I take my many blessings for granted...but I also know that I am trying harder to be a better mother every day. Because I am responsible for another soul now...not just my own. I love Grace more each day...and I hope that I can be a great role model for her...but I hope that she may find her Blessed Mother to be even more of an example that I could ever be. I hope that I can help show her to always take time to appreciate the beauty of prayer!

The Beehive

Last night Grace, Marc, and I went to a popular restaurant, The Beehive. However, this place was far from popular to us. We went because a good work friend of mine was going to be leaving for South America on a military mission. We were supposed to have reservations for 12 at 7 pm. They did not seat us until around 8 pm and we didn't get served until 9 pm. Everyone was dressed up and Marc and I were wearing jeans. I was wearing a mickey mouse t-shirt, which happened to match Grace's mickey mouse outfit. I am sure everyone thought that was funny. Marc and I didn't have much to choose from on the menu because it was Friday and this was a western steakhouse. It was Lent and Marc and I had to abstain from meat on Fridays. Everyone else at the table was disappointed with the food. However, we did go out to see our friend off. Grace was very well behaved...and she seemed to be the most popular one at the restaurant. Even the hostess that was slightly ill-mannered when we arrived ended up cooing with Grace. Grace brought fun to a not so eventful evening. We love you Grace! The only thing that could have made this experience worse would have been the following...bees flying out of the kitchen telling us to stand clear of their honey.

Grace Marie...I love you so much! You are changing so much. I love to watch you grow...just don't grow up too quickly!

Love-

Mom

Memories of 2008

The year of 2008 marked our first year of marriage. My life became enriched as I embarked on a lifelong journey with my best friend and husband, Marcus. Our first year together was filled with smiles, laughter, and carefree timelessness! It began in Disney World. We celebrated our honeymoon there. What a wonderful place full of magic and dreams! The perfect destination for a new couple! All aboard the magic carpet ride....just believe in the Disney magic...just believe and your dreams will come true! They did come true...and I look forward to each new day with Marc. Our first home was in Omaha, NE. We lived in a one bedroom apartment with all of our things stacked up high. Marc worked at TD Ameritrade. He studied very hard for the first 4 months of our marriage. All of his hard work payed off as he became licensed as a Stockbroker. I worked at Offutt, AFB as a dentist in my advanced education residency. On the same day that we were celebrating Marc's accomplishments...we were blessed with more great news. I found out that I was pregnant! How exciting! Our lives were going to change again...we were so thrilled. We celebrated at Red Lobster that night. We went to the wedding of two of our best friends Dan and Laura in May. We told our parents that we were expecting on Mother's Day. Many fun days were shared with Linda, Marc's cousin. We grilled, swam, set fireworks off, went shopping, played games. We also played many slots at the boats in Omaha. We went to one of the best zoos in America. We went to many fine dining restaurants in Omaha. We found out that we had to move to Abilene, Texas due to the military. Marc realized that he had to put in his notice to Ameritrade. We made it back to Lafayette for my baby shower in early August. I graduated from my residency the week that we returned. We moved to our current home here in Abilene. We lived here for a couple of weeks without our things. I was given sometime off of work to move things into our house and get settled. I started working at Dyess, AFB. Marc continued looking for a job in this area, but soon realized that we were living out in the middle of nowhere without much opportunity. We accepted this change. Marc became a great cook...he had my lunch ready for me when I came home in the middle of my work days. He is amazing! My pregnancy went awesome! I remained active all the way until I delivered. We spent our first Christmas and our first Anniversary here in Texas. We had no white christmas...it was very warm! My parents flew in on Christmas Eve. They spent many days with us in hopes to see the birth of our little girl. Marc and I went out to watch The Curious Case of Benjamin Button after a nice meal at Logans for our anniversary. I started to go into labor at the movie theater. We came home and I walked around and the next thing you know we were at the hospital having our first child. Grace Marie Gretencord was born on December 30, 2008 at 1:18 am. She weighed 7 lbs 1 oz. and measured 19 inches...the next few days she measured 21 inches. Giving birth was one of the most amazing experiences that I have ever had. She is such a blessing! My parents were so happy that they got to meet her while they were visiting. I was given 6 weeks of maternity leave and I asked for an additional 2 weeks. My parents enjoyed time at the Air Park looking at all of the planes from the history of the USA. We got ready to start a brand new year together as proud parents of our new baby girl!