Catching Up

It's been so long since I've had a "real" post, that I don't even really know where to begin. I suppose first a little explanation for my absence. I've been busy. Really busy. It's mostly work. It's hard to really describe to anyone who doesn't truely understand my job, but a brief summary goes something like this. I had a renewal proposal due to a client last Friday (3/18). It's a big client, so they have lots of different kinds of insurance. We use brokers in our Chicago office to do the negotiations. They all were supposed to give me quotes for my proposal. As of Friday morning I had complete information for 2 of the 7 parts. By the end of the day (the day it was due) I had 4 of the 7 done. Last week I had a pre-renewal meeting on Thursday. I had to prepare a strategy presentation for the meeting plus put together a submission to send to underwriters by Thursday. My plan was to finish up that first renewal by 3/18 and then have all last week to work on the next client. Well, since my proposal didn't get finished that Friday, I had to continue working on it last week. It just got finished on Wednesday! That means I didn't even start on my meeting presentation until Tuesday afternoon and my submission actually got started after my meeting on Thursday. I worked a lot of hours last week. Monday I left on time, but after work took Grace to get her 3 month pictures taken at Target. Tuesday, I left a little late, but had to get Grace since it was Eric's late work night. I brought work home though and worked on it after Grace fell asleep. Wednesday I stayed at the office until 8:15 p.m. Thursday I worked until 6, and then came home and went to the Maundy Thursday service at church. Friday our office had an early close at 1:00 p.m., but I worked until 4:30 p.m. The good news is that most of it is done now and next week I should be able to just catch up on everything else that I neglected (even you all!)

Again, I can't remember everything I've forgotton to discuss, but I decided to through some pictures on here and narrate, so I can discuss some of the other stuff going on. The rest of this is mostly about Grace. She's wonderful by the way. Being a Mom is the best. I'd like her to sleep a bit more at night, but other than that...the best!


Grace watches TV
I think this girl is too much like her Dad. TV facinates her. She seems especially interested in basketball. Eric thinks it's the greatest thing in the world. I'm not so sure.



Head Control
She's exceptionally good with head control now days. She does awesome on tummytime. Compare this picture

with the one from this post just 3 weeks ago. I can't believe how fast she changes.

Playmat
Her new favorite toy is the playmat.

She loves to "get" the hanging animals. She really grabs at them now and sometimes even gets ahold of one. This mat plays music every time she bats at a toy, so she can really make it go. It's a good distraction for her. She just swats and kicks her feet and will keep herself occupied for 15-20 minutes easily. It's so cute to see her really concentrate when she tries to grab one. They move when the music is playing so it can be tricky.

Lovey
This hasn't become a "can't go anywhere without it" kind of thing, but she does seem to like this teddybear blanket. She will hug it and hold onto it. I think it's cute, so I give it to her to hold alot.


Sitting
Besides the head control, Grace is also getting lots of back control. I have her "sit" alot. I'll have her lay on her back and I'll pull her to sitting with her hands. She can do pretty well too. She'll stay upright with me only holding her hands for balance. I prop her up on pillows on the couch too. I'm guessing we still have some time before she sits without support, but I know every thing we do is helping her get there. Once she can sit, she can officially use the Exersaucer. Sometimes we do a test drive for a couple of minutes though. This time she seemed intrigued by the idea.


Random Cuteness
No real story line, but I liked these pictures.



Easter
Today was Grace's first Easter. Of course we took pictures. Here are a couple of good ones. This is also the outfit she was wearing for her 3 month pictures (minus the jacket.




Ok, that's all for now. I better see if naptime is over. I'll try to do better this week.