The "Race" - Some Call it "Life"

Hello all! This is my first attempt at a blog so we'll see how well I can keep up with it. Since it seems harder to keep up with everyone via phone calls, I thought this might be a good way to keep everyone posted on the big events (and the small, every day ones).

Abigail had her 4 month check-up yesterday. We have been blessed with a happy and healthy baby girl! She weighed in at 15 lbs, 2 oz. (80th percentile) and 26 inches (97th percentile). She is a good eater and we started her on rice cereal this week. She didn't seem to crazy about it but I'm sure that will change soon! She is rolling all over the place now (front and back). In fact the other day she rolled off her "kick-kick mat" (as Grace calls it) and Grace was worried that she was on the carpet (which I suppose is probably not as clean as the kick-kick mat)! So now we need to be diligent about picking up those tiny little pieces of toys that Grace loves to play with!

Abigail is sleeping well too - she is tired around 7:00 p.m. so unfortunately that limits our time to play with her after work but that's how it is for now. She wakes up once a night to eat and then generally sleeps until 6:30 a.m. or later. (Grace was not the best sleeper so we are very happy that Abigail is a good sleeper!) She is smiling at everyone and laughing a lot. She has just started really paying attention to Grace and Grace can now make her laugh - it is so funny!

Grace just turned 5 and is doing well in pre-school. She is a VERY good big sister (although Abigail hasn't started getting into Grace's toys yet)! Funny Grace story (which proves she watches too much tv)... we were in the mall the other day and she said "Look mom, there's Kay Jewelers!" (Now, she really can't read yet, so I guess she recognized the logo or something.) Then she said "They are the #1 jewelry store in America." I was laughing so hard! Then she proceeded to say "And every kiss begins with Kay!" So, I'm sure that Kay jewelers would be pleased to know their marketing works (at least on a 5 year-old). We just finished registering Grace for kindergarten. We hope she will be happy there!

You may ask why I titled this blog "The Race".... I told Bruno a few weeks ago after I returned to work full-time that I felt like I was in a race. We race to get the girls ready and out the door in the morning, I race to meetings all day at work, I race to pick up the girls, we race to feed them, bathe them and put them to bed..." As many of you know, it's tough to juggle full-time work and 2 little ones but we all find a way to manage. After being home for 3 months with Abigail, I also know how tough it can be to be a stay-at-home mom.

But I always try to remember that as stressful as my race may seem, there are so many people who have such greater struggles than I will ever know. We are blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives who cheer us on during our race. We are blessed with two absolutely wonderful little girls and we are blessed with family and friends and good fortunes.

And then there are times, after I have fed Abigail at night and she is asleep in my arms that I stop racing and just hold her for a few extra minutes before I put her in her crib. Or when I stop racing to read Grace a "long" book before she goes to bed so that I can spend just a little extra time with her. Those are the moments that help me race the next day!

So, stay tuned for updates on the race... and have a great weekend!