April

Mason learned the hard way that the nocturnal critters who visit our yard in the night like Easter candy as much as he does. He was super sad that they ate his Cadbury Cream Egg and his Cadbury Mini Eggs. 

Mason loves April Fool's Day and really wanted me to play a joke on him so he woke up with half a mustache drawn on his face. I could only draw half because he kept swatting at the marker in his sleep. Haha!

5 Months! Our little sweetheart weighed about 14 pounds and was finally starting to really fill out at five months. Such a huge improvement from her teeny, tiny birthweight of 3.55 lbs! Gracie became very smiley and laughed for the first time this month. She also started reaching for and grabbing toys. Sadly, she also got her first cold curtesy of two big brothers who go to public school. We had a few mostly sleepless nights, but made it through.

Gracie's favorite things were Daddy, Mommy, Spencer, and Mason, reaching for toys while laying on her playmat, and her binky. 

She still slept swaddled with a binky in her mouth, but sleep was still not great. She would go down ok around 8:00, but was usually awake and very upset by around 9:00. She wouldn't sleep in her bed at that point so one of us (usually Alan) had to hold and rock her until about 11:00 when she had another bottle and would then sleep in her bed again for a little while. She would wake up to eat twice more during the night.

Those evenings were long and exhausting and prevented Alan and I from ever having any alone time together. It was especially hard when Alan was out of town for work and my mental health really suffered for the first time in my life. I would often break down in sobs when I couldn't get her to sleep and felt so guilty for having negative feelings after receiving such a huge miracle. I knew I loved her and that God brought her to us, but I was just completely depleted. Mason was often home with me during those break downs and was amazing to just hug me and tell me it would be ok. Not something I ever wanted him to have to do for me though and that added to my guilt. 

I was thinking about making an appointment with my primary care doctor to talk about anti-depressants when Gracie's sleep starting improving at around 6 months. A little bit more sleep completely changed my mood and life seemed so much brighter. Hallelujah! Not sure I could endure that kind of sleep deprivation again. 

General Conference time! Being so sleep deprived, Alan and I both had a really hard time staying awake this time. The Spirit was still there though and I'm so grateful for the chance to re-listen to the talks for the next six months. 

The FHE lesson Mason wrote all by himself: 

Football

Football is kind of like life and the God Head. We are the ball and Heavenly Father and Jesus are on our team. The Holy Ghost, to me, is the ref. The devil, Satan, is the opposing team and in the middle of the game is wanting to have you on their team. Stay on Jesus' side, and if you fall short, always repent.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Gracie and I loved spending warmish afternoons outside on a blanket. 

Adorable outfit from my high school friend JoElla.

Because of conflicts, we didn't have our Fool's Cafe dinner until about two weeks after April Fool's Day. I wouldn't have minded skipping it this year, but apparently, it's one of Mason's very favorite things and he was very insistent that we have it asap. As usual, it made for lots of laughs.

Lily had told us Gracie liked the swing she had so we registered for one. Unfortunately, the one we picked was back-ordered (without us knowing) and took almost two months to arrive! We didn't use it much but I could sometimes get her to fall back asleep in it after a too-short nap. 

Hooray for spring blossoms and blue skies! When the weather was nice, I could get a walk in while Gracie napped in the stroller. 

Spencer's sophomore track season was a good one. He mostly ran the 1500 and 3000 and improved both of those PRs by a lot. I didn't make it to nearly as many meets as the year before - just the ones in decent weather and close to home. With the exception of the district meet. I'll write about that later. 

Spencer participated in a spring piano festival just before his birthday. For this festival, you and two-three other students play two pieces for a judge. She scores each student independently and then gives some quick tips to the group as a whole. Spencer worked really hard and earned a Superior rating on his two pieces. He gets a little nervous, but actually preforms better under pressure. 

One of Alan's bosses sent us an Athletic Timing jacket for Grace. It might fit by the fall! 

It is SO much fun dressing this already cute girl in adorable clothes! I have been envious of all of the cute girl clothes since we first started looking at baby things when I was pregnant with Spencer.

I know a lot of babies don't like the feel of grass, but Gracie never minded it a bit. She loves experiencing new things and just tries to take it all in. 

After a long break from losing teeth, Mason lost another one!

LOVE watching babies suck on their toes!

Gracie has been fascinated by Kiki from the start. Kiki mostly keeps her distance from the flailing arms and that is a very good thing. I prefer our feisty cat to stay away. 

Update pictures for our wall: Gracie wasn't quite sitting on her own yet so that was a hard one to get. I love how the boys' turned out though. We are so very blessed!