Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Howdy

And that's about all I have time to say.  And yes, those are wrinkles by my eyes and gray hairs sprouting from a head I am 99% sure is mine.  But I'd say I look pretty darn good for 45.

That's all for now, but at least I didn't put my foot in my mouth...


Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Our little rooster

Jonah is so much older than he was 3-4 days ago.  He always seems to grow leaps and bounds when we go out of town or have out of town family come to us.  He is such a people person (if I'm around - if his mama's not in the same room it's a no-go).

My great aunt passed away this weekend and we were fortunate to be able to attend the service in Abilene.  I wish I were blood related to Elizabeth because she was the cutest, smartest, sweetest thing you've ever met.  She was 84 and lived a life of joy and dedication to The Lord.  It's just the way you want to leave this place.  Honorably.  Saved.  Known for your joy and service and incredibly cute figure and sense of style :-).

Jo was the only baby at the funeral and worked the crowd with his charm.  He did not know it wasn't an all out parTAY.  In the procession driving from the service to the gravesite Jonah was giggling with delight and energy telling me all about the fun he was having.  He couldn't contain it!  It was hilarious!  Not appropriate funeral behavior, but definitely a huge dollop of joy and life.

Jo and his Great Gape (my grandma):

Nonni and Poppy:


Back home

Baby's first selfie:

Jonah is grabbing really well now.  Ever since he was a teeny tiny newborn I've brought his little hand up to my mouth for a kiss while he nurses.  This is the new resulting experience:




Jonah also has a new sound now - the squeal.  He sounds just like a rooster.  It made our car ride extra fun :-).

We love our little grabby rooster.


Wednesday, January 22, 2014

20 Week Photos


Well.  I have finally gotten around to uploading these for you.  It's been busy what with all variations of first world problems like lamenting the fact that I don't have a napper so how can I make a phone call to my financial adviser before 5:00 and getting up into the attic to go through bags of pre-pregnancy clothing to find my black blazer because I thought it'd be a good idea to store clothes that (still) don't fit up there to declutter my closet but now I'm basically getting dressed in my attic and why oh why did my gift wrapping station behind my coat closet door become unsuccessful.  You know, the true anxieties of life.

So here you are.  Most are unedited because who has the time.  We started off smiley and posey and went a little downhill from there.  I can't say that no (stuffed) animals were harmed during the making of this photo shoot.

I wonder if I'll be able to get him to sit in this chair and do this when he's 14.  Or next month.





























No.  I don't have an over-documentation problem.  Why do you ask?

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Hot Vanilla

Tonight I'm linking up with Andrea and Erika for a Favorite Things Party!  It's where you share your favorite things under $10.  I've got three favorites right now and they all have to do with hot drinks!

First favorite:  HOT VANILLA.  Oh my goodness this is my latest be-my-own-barista creation and I feel that my lifetime love of fancy drinks has come to its highest moment of fruition.  It's simply scalded milk with the following ingredients added: a splash of vanilla syrup (2 tsp) and vanilla extract (1 tsp) (we get our vanilla extract from Mexico and it's amazing) and a dollop of honey (1 tsp). 


Mmmm.  It is delicious, sweet, light, creamy, and comforting!


But if you're in the mood for hot chocolate, it must be this- my second favorite thing for today.  I don't know that I can be your friend unless it's this.  My mother raised me right - on Williams Sonoma hot chocolate.  It's simply a matter of values.


And lastly, it's not under $10 anymore, but it was when my MIL got it for me on sale - a milk frother!  This is a must have for any fancy drink!  I can't wait until mine arrives!



See you back tomorrow for Jo's five month pictures!


Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Top 2 Tuesday: Randoms

1. Yesterday the local high school track team made a stop at our playground and Jonah was FASCINATED.  He listened intently to every word the coach said and his jaw dropped when the boys started running again.


2.  I am loving my part time schedule.  Who would have thunk?!  Stay tuned tomorrow for a special "Day in the Life" edition to celebrate Jonah's 5 month birthday!

Happy Tuesday!

A Day in the Life at 20 Weeks

Jonah is 20 weeks old today.  Wow.  I think this is the last time I'll calculate his age by weeks instead of the calendar, mainly because his next vaccine (flu) has to be calculated by calendar and not weeks.  Also, it will help stave off his half birthday a little longer!!

Weight: 19 # even (he was 7#11oz at birth)

Length: he's squirmy so this is an estimate ... 26.5 inches (20" at birth)

Clothing size: 18-24 mos.  But he can also rock a 2T.  I can't keep up with this kid.

Hair: still fabulous.  We trimmed it above his ears to avoid the look my husband so lovingly referred to as "homeless."

Mobility: Rolling over if you get him positioned for it.  Grabbing feet, but because of his belly they can't make it to his mouth.  Supported sitter.  Driving.  Reaching and grabbing intentionally.  Can sit up from a slanted seating position.  During tummy time he also can scoot himself around with his head in the same spot - like the hand of a clock.  I think he's taking the term 'tummy time' too literally.

Sleeping:  usually from 8:00pm to 7:00am.  He wakes up once or twice a week for a 3:00am feeding.  

Eating: Still nursing.  He also eats 2.5-5 oz of solid foods and 2-4 oz of formula per day.  So far he's had blueberries, pears, apples, sweet potatoes, squash, and bananas.  The bananas were not a parent favorite.  It's true you are what you eat because they made him bananas.

Shay did a blog post about a day in the life for her and it was so fun to peer into someone else's world, so I thought I'd do the same.  It will be fun to do these periodically and see how our daily routine changes.  Here is a day in the life of Jonah, Mommy, and Daddy (Papa).  This was a typical weekday!  Enjoy!


6:00 am - Say good morning and bye to Howard. Start laundry.

If I bookend each day with laundry I can stay on top of it.  (Which means we can see some of the floor in our closets instead of none.)

6:30 - Work

I like to get caught up on my grading, lesson planning, and anything else that needs to be done for teaching my 2 French classes.

7:00 Jonah's awake! He starts talking when he's awake and ready to be picked up.


He's always so smiley and cute in the morning as he starts to stir

Diaper change #1


Jonah has breakfast in bed while I munch on a granola bar and read my Bible


I'm doing a read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year plan with friends at church.


7:30 Text Papa to say good morning 


Mom finishes her school thoughts and Jonah checks to make sure the car has gas and is ready for the day


8:00 time to change for our jog!

Waiting on Mom to change

Mirror time (for Jonah)


Jonah's turn to change!  Diaper #2


Window time - we always have a little ceremony for opening the window in Jonah's room and talking about the weather and our plans for the day.  



Plan B on the jog.  Jonah fell asleep.


8:40 - After cuddling sleeping Jo and getting this far in writing this post, my arm starts shaking from holding an almost 20 pound sack of potatoes, so I decide to try a transfer to the swing and a Jillian Michaels workout in the living room.

Success!



NOT.  That lasted 3 jumping jacks.  Jog it is!


My go-to Pandora station for runs

Sunny skies sweepin' the clouds away!

Swing in the park

Then it's back home for an impromptu rhyming song about Mommy's protein shake (I should send the lyrics to Florence and the Machine.)



Now it's time for Jonah's protein shake.  And I turned on some Dave Ramsey.



10:30 - Mommy's gotta shower!

Afterwards Jonah fell asleep and took a 20 min nap in the crib- woohoo!  Perfect - I could finish getting ready.




I've missed logging several diaper changes.  I lost count.

12:00 - Playtime with mommy and another protein shake

12:30 - Jonah's turn!  Time to nurse.

Our sitter is here!  She is so wonderful and nurturing.  I call her Mary Poppins!  

It makes it a little easier to leave knowing I get to go see this guy at school!  Howard and I teach right across from each other :-)


But we don't teach the same thing.  I teach French and he teaches this foreign language:


And here was Jonah while Mama and Papa were teaching:

There was some crying too, but I didn't take pics of that.  He's still adjusting to me working part time.

An hour and a half of teaching later, I'm out the door and headed back to my chubby preciousness!  I love my schedule - 1.5 hours four afternoons a week.  It's been perfect.

Jonah, Howard, and myself are always starving after school.  Even though it's early (4:00), we all like our big meal of the day at that time so it's a mad rush to get everyone fed.  


By 5:00 we've all had our turn to eat (I look forward to when we can sit at the table and eat all at the same time) and Jonah is conked out in my arms.

An hour later Jonah is up and it's time for solids!

Sweet potatoes and apples!

Except this is what happens first when it's served by two teachers:


Poor kid.

Now it's bath time!  (For Jonah, not Howard...just in case the picture of him playing with bathtime toys was confusing).

Afterward we do pjs, nurse, bottle, and read from this awesome book (seriously it's amazing.  Howard and I both teared up the first times we started reading it to Jo.)


A lot of spit up and a few pajama changes later, our little chubby lovey is finally down for the night.

Time for laundry and dishes, boring stuff like bills and insurance, and then at 9:00 Mama gets a shower, sweet treat and bed herself at 10:00!  


That's our typical day right now.  Glamorous, huh?  I think so. :-)