The Finals!!!

My baby made it to the finals in the Baby Contest!! Please go to the link here and vote for Jonah to be baby of the year!!!!!! Also if you can pass the word on and get everyone you can to vote that would be great!!:)

HP TouchSmart Giveaway!!

Hey there! You really should check out MckMama's blog! She is giving away an awesome computer! Go here to check it out and enter to win!

Baby of the Week!!!

I just had to let everyone know that my precious son Jonah can be on a magazine cover, but we need your help to make it happen! He has been in the baby of the week contest on newparent.com for many months now. This contest was something that Kortnie sent his picture in for online, not thinking he would be chosen, but he was and has been getting votes ever since that happened. He was one of 47 babies that were picked and is now in the semifinals and is one of 10 babies!! This round goes from today until December 13th. The 3 babies with the most votes from this round move on to the finals, and the ultimate winner gets a $500 amazon gift card and gets to be on the cover of the spring issue of new parent magazine! So I would really appreciate if you would go to the link below and vote for him! We need all the help we get!!:) All you have to do is roll over the five stars to give him a top vote.

http://www.newparent.com/amazon-baby-of-the-week-semi-finals/meet-jonah/

My precious boy!

I really wanted Jonah to walk, as many first time parents do, and many many people told me to cherish the time before he could walk. I did cherish that time, but I still wanted him to walk and now he is officially a walker. In just two days he went from talking 6, 7, or 8 steps in a row between Micah and I or my mom and I to walking across rooms, turning corners, and walking outside downtown Morris! It is soooooooooooo cute!!!! He walks with his arms straight out in front of him:) It is going to be a little bit of a tougher task for me though starting on Monday when he's walking this much and I'm at home with him by myself. I will be getting a lot more exercise following him around the house I'm sure! In just a few days he has also gone to saying Mama here and there to saying it all the time!!! He walks to me saying Mama the whole way...it melts my heart!

We have been in Morris all week and it has been wonderful. Last weekend Micah was here too and we spent time staying at his parents house. Saturday night we went to Princeton, IL for one of my best friend's weddings and it was a blast!! I got to see my girlfriends from college Bible study and I hadn't seen them in forever (a few of them had not even met Jonah!) Then Micah went back home to WI on Sunday evening to work for a few days and Jonah and I stayed with my parents on Sunday night, Monday night and Tuesday night and had a great time as usual. Then Micah came back Wednesday evening and we went back to stay at his parents house for two nights and have Thanksgiving with his family. Then Friday morning we came back to my parents and were here last night and had our Thanksgiving today. It was very nice as well. Back home and to our normal routine tomorrow!:)

Halloween

Happy halloween! So this was Jonah's second halloween but last year he was only a couple weeks old and pretty much just slept in his little pumpkin outfit. This year we decided not to take him trick or treating since he cannot even walk and doesn't eat candy. We just thought he would dress up and we'd stay at home and hand out candy. Well that plan was only half of what we did...Jonah did dress up (in two different costumes might I add), but we did not hand out candy because we did not have one single trick or treater! I was so sad about this fact because I love handing out candy and last year at our old place we had TONS of trick or treaters! We did have a nice relaxing day at home though and Jonah got two decent naps which was nice and he looked ADORABLE in his two costumes!! I hope everyone else had a wonderful halloween:)

12 Month Checkup

So Jonah had his 12 month checkup at the doctor on Tuesday. It went pretty well overall. He has been fighting a stuffy/runny nose for over a week and a cough for many days, but the doctor wasn't concerned at all about that...his lungs and everything sounded great. He did have a little clear fluid in his ear, but not enough to make the doctor worried and he didn't even want to put him on any meds for it so that was good. He is growing well the doctor says. He is definitely slowing down in weight...he is 21 and a half lbs and that is only the 30th percentile but the doctor says that is just fine. He is staying up there in length though...he is 30 inches long and that puts him in the 75th percentile. He had to get four shots and that was not fun. He cried really hard...it makes me feel so bad for him! The shots did not have any affect on him afterwards though...no fever or fussiness or night waking or anything so thank goodness for that! He also had to get a finger pricked to check his iron levels and they were a little low. The nurse gave us a sheet with suggestions of foods to be giving him as often as we can to help his iron levels and they will just test them at his next appointment which will be at 15 months. I am so thankful for a healthy one year old boy!!:)

Not Me Monday!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not wipe my son's snotty nose on his sleeper because I was too lazy to get up and get a kleenex. And I did not give my son a couple bites of a cookie just to keep him happy and quiet so I could finish eating.

I did not starting setting my dvr to record The Girls Next Door because I wanted to see if the new girls are as entertaining as the old girls. I did not leave clothes sitting in the washing machine because I was too lazy to go transfer them to the dryer, even though I knew the washing machine had quit.

I did not turn cartoons on so my son would be happy and I could do some things on the computer.

Not me Mondays...what a fun thing:)

1 Year Old!!!

OK...this time I ABSOLUTELY CANNOT BELIEVE JONAH IS ALREADY 1 YEAR OLD!!! This past year just FLEW by and I know that is going to continue to happen and my baby is not going to be a baby anymore:( I do miss the baby days a lot, especially when I see pregnant women or little babies out and about. With that said, I love Jonah at the stage he is in because he can play and have fun, rather than just lay there doing nothing. He is a lot more serious than he use to be and I think it's because he just concentrates so hard on everything and he's trying harder and harder to figure out how things work and just life in general.

He is not walking quite yet but I feel it's just right around the corner. This past weekend while in Morris for his first of two birthday parties, he started walking really well while pushing a lawn mower at grandmom and grandpapa's house. Every time he would walk pushing it he would have a huge smile on his face because he was so proud and loved doing it! Micah's mom had us bring it home and he is doing so well with it here too. He is also standing for longer periods of time without holding on to anything. The bad part about this is that he thinks when he doesn't want to stand anymore he can just lean forward and I will catch him. I have everytime so far, but there is going to come a time when he does this and he falls smack on his face, but we can hope he figures this out and stops doing it BEFORE that has to happen.

His first birthday party at Micah's parents house was great! We had a wonderful time with Micah's immediate family and some extended family and Jonah got a lot of great gifts (that he really wasn't too interested in opening...haha) I was disappointed though because he wasn't too interested in his cake either. He wouldn't even take one bite but Micah's mom snuck a little frosting in his mouth and he thought "hmmm, that is kinda good" so then he went on to take little bites of the frosting but never got much into the actual cake. I was hoping he would dive in and get messy!:)

Last night for his actual birthday, Micah and I got him a few gifts each and I got him balloons and a cupcake. He was a little bit more interested in opening his gifts when it was just the three of us, but the couple clothes he just tossed to the side...haha:) He was a little more interested in the cupcake too and ate a little more than he did of the cake over the weekend. This Saturday is his last party, which is going to be with my family at my parents house. I hope that one goes as well as the one last weekend!

I feel so happy and blessed to have had one wonderful year with our little Jonah! He is our pride and joy and he is just so fun and I cannot wait to see how much more fun he is going to become! I love him so much!!!

Not Me Monday!!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Since I care so much about my teeth, it was definitely not me who didn't floss all weekend while not at home just because I didn't feel like bringing the flossers with me. And it was for sure not me who was too lazy to wash my face before bed over the weekend in Morris too.

I would never not wash my hair even though it needed it because I was too lazy and wanted to get going to Morris quicker. And I would never lick a spoon I was using to stir up something I was baking. It was also not me who for the millionth time didn't clean the bathtub this week. And it was not me who ate an egg sandwich for breakfast and then 2 hours later eat a gigantic bowl of cereal for what I like to call a second breakfast.

11 Months!!!

Another month that FLEW by!! We had a very fun month because we spent a weekend with Micah's family in Deerfield, WI and we just spent this past weekend (just the three of us) in Egg Harbor, WI. Both were sooooo much fun and Jonah had a great time!

So Jonah is still crawling like Gollum from Lord of the Rings. My mother-in-law thought he would figure out that crawling on both knees would get him around faster, but he just prefers to do it his own way and has gotten VERY fast and efficient at getting around this strange way! I love watching him...it's still so funny to me:) This month he has officially become a cruiser as well. He pulls himself up ALL the time on EVERYTHING and walks around while holding on to things! He started off pulling himself up on his activity table, on us, and in his crib, but now he will do it on whatever he is near (the dishwasher, the kitchen cart, the kitchen chair, the couch, etc... Most of the time when he wakes up from a nap or in the morning, he is standing in his crib. He actually started "teething" on his crib and we had to get a cover for it because the wood was coming off! He is getting better and better at moving his feet and walking when someone is holding his hands, but he still likes to walk a few steps this way and then sit down:) I am chasing him around everywhere at this point, I can't even imagine once he really does start walking...it's only going to get worse!

He is still eating the baby food and loves his snacks too! We are starting now to try some cheese (tonight was the first attempt and he wasn't a fan), so we will try again tomorrow. He also had been battling a cold for a LONG time so I wasn't giving him any yogurt because that wasn't helping his stuffiness. Today was the first time in over a month that he had yogurt and he loved it as much as he did before (thank goodness!) He use to eat the Yobaby and liked all the flavors I had tried to give him, but I couldn't find the Yobaby in the grocery store today. I did however find a yogurt that was labeled as being new. It is made by Horizon and it's called little blends. It is for kids and it's yogurt with blended fruit and veggies in one serving. It sounded really gross to me, but I thought I might as well try it because it's another way for him to get fruits and veggies while having his favorite food of yogurt. The one that sounded the best of the three choices was with apple and butternut squash. I was so glad he liked it! Hopefully he will continue liking it:) I cannot believe that in another month Jonah will be 1!!!!:)

10 Months!!!

Yahoo...Jonah is 10 months old today!!:) This month I can actually say he is crawling now! He started out doing the army crawl on his belly, did that for a VERY short time, and then went to crawling with one knee on the ground and kind of pushing with the other leg (we kind of think he looks like Gollum from Lord of the Rings). There has been times when he crawls like a "normal" baby on both knees, but he usually does it for a couple seconds and then goes right back to his "Gollum" crawling...it's SO funny!! He has also started pulling himself up on things. He doesn't do this all the time, but he has done it and can do it, and decides when he wants to and when he doesn't want to. A lot of times he makes it up onto his knees and can't quite make it all the way to standing, but he's getting better and better! He is also really into crawling all over me when we are playing on the floor. That seems to be his favorite place to pull up...on mommy.

He is doing SO much better in this past month with eating which has been so nice! I just found a baby food in the past few days that he loves...banana orange medley. He is still really liking regular old white bread, but he hasn't been liking bananas as much as he use to. His favorite regular food, not baby food, is for sure yogurt...he scarfs that down pretty fast most of the time. Also, he's started drinking more juice and water because we actually found a cup he likes!! We got a straw cup and he was able to do it right away and he loves drinking from it (I am SO thankful we found this!!!) Another fun month has passed and another fun month is ahead of us!!:)

Bath time!

I LOVE giving Jonah a bath because he has always LOVED getting a bath ever since he was a little baby. Tonight was especially great! He just played and played and played in the tub and it's so cute to watch. He has a little basketball hoop with three little basketballs that we just got out when we moved into our new place. The first couple of times he has had it in the bath with him he doesn't really do much with it (Micah and I play with it while bathing him more than he plays with it!) Tonight thought he was more interested and he figured out that you put the ball through the net! It was SO cute!!

Crawling!

So Jonah finally started crawling on Saturday morning!! He isn't crawling up on his knees quite yet...I guess he prefers to army crawl:) So Saturday was moving day and Micah's parents and brother Gabe were coming to Waukesha to help us move to Wauwatosa. In the morning, Micah ran 8 miles and I played with Jonah and got a few little things ready. When Micah was back I ran out to get him some morning coffee and when I got back Micah said Jonah had crawled. I was SO mad that I missed it for the first time!:( Then later on when Micah's parents were there he did it again (again...the army crawl, not up on his knees). It was SO cute!! I was SO excited!!!:) He gets up on his knees and is SO close to moving forward so I am guessing that will be coming soon:)

9 Months!!!

3 more months and Jonah will be a year old....CRAZY!!! I just cannot believe Jonah is 9 months old. I say every month that I can't believe he is how many months old he is at that time, but it really is crazy! On the 14th of every month, I just can't believe another entire month has passed by. I was just saying the other day to my mom that it seems like Jonah should be only a few months old, but in a way it's hard to imagine how our life was without him (I think that's because he IS our life now!) He had his 9 month checkup today and everything is looking great! His doctor said he is growing at a wonderful rate and everything looked and sounded just how it's supposed to. He is now 20 lbs and 1 ounce which puts him dead in the middle in the 50th percentile, and he is 28 1/4 inches long which makes him in the 60th percentile.

The past month has been yet another great and fun month. Jonah is still as fun as ever! Again...no crawling yet, but Jonah is so mobile! I don't get how he can get around so well without actually crawling or walking but he manages just fine:) Another way he moves around that is new this past month is when he's sitting up, he scoots around in circles on his butt! It is SO funny and SO cute!! He does this quite often now actually...pretty much anytime he's sitting up.

We are even more aggressively giving Jonah real food now. One of his favorite foods lately is a banana. I have to hold it and he takes huge bites right off the whole banana...it's so cute!!:) Another thing he's really taking a liking to is plain old bread (I guess he has to like it since that's what I live on!) I can't wait for more fun stuff to start happening so I can blog about it next month:)

PAJAMA TIME!!

We have a set routine when it comes time to put Jonah down for bed. I always nurse him downstairs, then we go upstairs to get him into his pj's. It has become a fun thing when we go upstairs because Micah always carries him up and I follow up the stairs behind them. Jonah knows that is what I do and he always peeks over Micah's shoulder, or his newest thing, is to peek around the side of Micah. It's SOOOOOOOOOOO cute!! He leans down to the side as Micah is holding him, to look at me:) If I'm not behind them, he is looking and gets a sad/confused look on his face, wondering why I'm not there. Then once upstairs, Micah gets Jonah's diaper changed and gets him into his pj's. Then I pick out a book and we go into our room to read him a bedtime story. I always read the story and Micah use to hold him, but Jonah likes to lay down on the bed instead of being held when the story is going on (most of the time). Tonight we read Pajama Time by Sandra Boynton (I highly recommend this book). Sandra is one of my faves and I LOVE this book! We have read it before, but tonight while I was reading it Jonah was cracking up! It was hilarious!! He sometimes gets fussy when I read because he's really sleepy, but not tonight at all, he loved every second of the book! He was still laughing when Micah was taking him to his room to put him down in his crib. I follow them to the room and give Jonah a kiss on each cheek and tell him I love him and say goodnight and then Micah puts him down. What a great bedtime routine and tonight was especially great because of how much Jonah enjoyed the story!:)

So Much Fun!!!

Jonah is just sooooooooo much fun at the stage he is in right now. He is just so cute and he makes me laugh so much every day!! He just scoots around everywhere (still no crawling), but he manages to get all over the living room. I turn my back for one minute and he's across the room! Something new that I just realized today he is doing is when he's sitting, he scoots around to face a different direction. I had him in the kitchen with me earlier tonight when I was getting dinner ready. He was playing with a big plastic spoon that he loves, and I turned around and he was facing the fridge (and his back had previously been to the fridge). I didn't even know he could do that! Another time today when he did that was when his back was to the drawers in the kitchen and I went to get something from the pantry. I came back to where he was sitting playing with his spoon and he was facing the drawers and opening one of them! I guess this means it is now time to really childproof our house. We are moving in a month so I'm sure we will really do it once we move (hopefully nothing bad happens before then!) All day today when we were playing he was talking to himself. He will hold toys right up to his face and chew on them and when he's not chewing it's like he's talking to the toys...TOO FUNNY!!:)

The other fun thing is how much he loves the water!! Over the past weekend we took him in my parents pool for the first time. At first glance of the water (he hadn't even been in it yet), he started crying (I don't know what that was all about). Then once he got in and I was holding him in the water, he started liking it. My parents have a blow up boat you can lay in while in the water and we put him in that and he loved it! After being in for awhile we got him out and tried him in the baby pool. He LOVED that!! He was in there for 45 minutes straight and we had to take him out because we were getting ready to go out to lunch. We didn't have too much water in it so I thought I would try him on his tummy and see what he would do (I didn't expect him to like it). He got a smile on his face immediately and stayed that way for awhile. He kind of pushed himself around to move about while on his stomach. He even put the side of his face in the water and liked it! The funniest thing was when my mom was splashing water in his face and he would make a really funny face and then smile and she would do it over and over again. He also went in a little bigger kiddie pool yesterday at my friend Sally's house. She has a little tykes slide going into the pool for her 2 1/2 year old son to play on. Jonah and I were just sitting at the end of the pool and Cameron would slide in and splash us and Jonah smiled every time! I hope he will always like the water!

8 Months!!!

This past month FLEW by!! Jonah is just too much fun! The biggest change in the past month is with his eating habits. He is eating so much more solid food. We have found a few things he just loves and some things he wants nothing to do with. We decided to skip most "regular" baby food (the jarred stuff) and move right to real table food. I really love this method and I would highly recommend it to others! It seems Jonah's favorite big people food is applesauce. He loved it right away and continues to love it. Other things he has really liked are carrots, sweet potatoes, and bananas and most recently cantaloupe, cooked apples, and he LOVED mango! He also loves baby treats such as Gerber puffs, yogurt melts, and yogurt nibblers, and also veggie sticks (crunchy, kind of like chips). A few things he has tried multiple times but wanted nothing to do with were green beans, avocado, white potatoes, and broccoli. It is so much fun being able to feed him different things and see what he likes and dislikes. I am hoping he will come to like more veggies than he has started out liking:)

Still no crawling...I keep waiting for it to happen but he's just not quite ready yet and that's completely fine! It will happen when he's ready:) He still pushes himself backwards (almost always) when on his tummy and he gets around a lot by that and rolling every which way. He sits up even better now that another month has passed which is so nice! It's nice to be able to have him sitting up when he's outside so he can look around and see the world. Also, we have started putting him in his stroller now without being in the infant seat so that is fun as well. He gets so excited when in the stroller because he just likes to look around. I love talking him on walks because he just smiles and "talks" most of the way because he loves it so much!

Some other funny things he does now is when we go upstairs to put him to bed, Micah always carries him up and I follow behind that. He realizes now that is what is going to happen so he looks over Micah's shoulder at me and smiles. We make a game out of it pretty much every night. Anytime Micah carries him up the stairs now he looks over his shoulder for me, whether I'm there or not. It's SO cute!!:) We have also discovered that he has a few tickle spots on him and we get him laughing pretty good. He loves music and always has, but whenever Micah plays the song "Mess Around" by Ray Charles on his phone Jonah gets a huge smile on his face...I guess it's his favorite:) Well, I could go on and on about how fun and cute Jonah is but I guess this will be all for now:)

7 Months!!!

So Jonah is now closer to being 1 year old than being just born...how crazy is that?! The time with him is just flying by! Another month has now gone by and Jonah has changed so much more yet again. When I posted on the blog at 6 months, he was only rolling over from back to belly and only one way. Now just in the past week he has started rolling any way, belly to back, back to belly, over right, over left, it doesn't matter,he just likes to move. He isn't crawling yet, but he has gotten up on his knees a few times, but never figured out how to actually do anything once he got there. He is able to move though, he just pushes up pretty high on his hands and pushes himself backwards...it's too funny! It is so fun finally seeing him do even more moving!

He still loves grabbing at things and putting most things in his mouth. I was in JcPenney with him a few days ago and it's a little crowded in the juniors department and he was in his stroller reaching out and grabbing clothes. Luckily I noticed this right away before he was able to reach something to his mouth! His sitting up has gotten so much better as well. He can sit up on his own most of the time. Of course he still has moments where he might tip over and sometimes he bonks his head, but it's nice not having to hold him up when he's wanting to sit. Jonah is just so great and so much fun and we really couldn't ask for a happier baby. When he is in a good mood, there is no stopping his smiles!

BEAUTIFUL!!!

Wow! This weekend was just amazing. The weather was so wonderful...sunny and close to 70 degrees both days! It is so nice being able to take Jonah out of the house without having to bundle him up in hats and his bundle me in the carseat and blankets. It sure does make it less of a hassle to go somewhere with him. Today was so great. It was a wonderful day spent with my two favorite boys in the whole entire world! We lounged around this morning, Micah and I had eggs for breakfast while Jonah was taking his first nap of the day, and then we got ready and when Jonah was up and fed we went out for a couple hrs and ran errands. After our errands we came home and had some lunch and did things around the house, and then we spent some wonderful time outside going for a walk and playing on the swingset in our front yard. It was so great! Jonah has been in a swing before at Micah's parents house, but this was his first time in the swing that's in our yard and he loved it! He was so relaxed, almost falling asleep while swinging. I also took him down the slide...he was a little uncertain of that (as was I...it was fast!) Then he took another nap and we did more things around the house and watched the Cubs game (finally...we rarely get them on tv here in Wisconsin). Then tonight Micah grilled out and Jonah and I went outside while he was cooking. I took a blanket out and let Jonah sit on it in the grass (this was the first time sitting outside on a blanket)! He was looking all around, not knowing what to think. He had a great time though! It was really funny when I put him directly on the grass. He was kind of grabbing at it, not knowing how he really felt about it. I am not a fan of grass so hopefully he will not be like me in that respect! So yes, as you can tell, I had a great day and a great weekend and I wish it didn't have to end. But tomorrow is Monday and that means back to work for Micah and the weekend is over.

What a stinker!

Jonah has been a stinker lately! He use to sleep straight through the night, no peeps even most nights. Then he started making some peeps in the night, but nothing major where we had to go in his room or anything. Then there were a few nights when we had to go comfort him in the night but it wasn't too terrible. Now, he has been crying in the night, too many nights now, and we have to go in and when we lay him back down in his crib when he's practically back asleep, he starts crying immediately. We don't know what is going on...he never seems like anything is wrong, he just doesn't want to be away from us. I have done a lot of reading and read that around 6 months this can happen for many reasons. One thing we have noticed is that when we get him in the morning, many times he has his head at the opposite end of the crib from where he started and he's on his tummy instead of on his back. This could be waking him up, so hopefully if he continues to flip and turn, he will get use to it so he doesn't get so angry! We have been so tired lately, but I just have to be thankful that he hasn't been like this for the entire first 6 months of his life! Thank the Lord for that!:)

6 Months!!!

Jonah has been a part of our little family for half a year...so crazy!!! He is such a joy and becomes more and more so each day. I cannot believe how much he has changed in the past month. He became so much more alert and aware of things between 4 and 5 months, but it has been even more so between 5 and 6 months. He looks around at everything and wants to touch and grab everything within reach. I think he likes to feel the different textures of things because he always rubs his hands along blankets, the couch, the walls, etc. He now laughs even more and his personality is shining through more every day (which I didn't think was possible because of how much personality he was already showing). He is overall such a happy baby!

He has his two bottom teeth fully in now and I'm sure it won't be long before the top middle two start coming in. Also, he is rolling over much more, he is starting to do it at least once a day. He has still only gone from back to belly and only over his left arm, but he is getting better and better at doing it! It's so exciting and fun to watch! I feel like he knows we like to see him do it because he tends to look up at whoever is in the room after he does it. Another one of his favorite things to do this past month has been grabbing his feet, mostly when his feet are bare. Today for the first time he actually got his foot all the way up to his mouth while laying on his changing table. It was hilarious!!!:) He is also "talking" so much...he is such a babbler. The best is when I'm feeding him on my right side in our living room...he stops and looks over my shoulder and talks to his imaginary friend Oliver (yes, we believe he has an imaginary friend and my mom and I named him Oliver). He just makes us laugh ALL THE TIME!!:)

So he went for his 6 month doctor's appointment tonight and he is a growing boy and doing very well. He is now 18 lbs 5 ounces (only 60th percentile now so he's slimming...even though he's still a big boy!). He is still long/tall...he is 27 3/4 inches putting him n the 90th percentile for length. He sure is beginning his life taking after his daddy in that respect! The doctor was very happy with how he's growing and developing. Thank the Lord for a happy and healthy 6 month old baby boy!!!

Jonah's first Easter

Easter...what a WONDERFUL day!!! "Let the resurrection joy lift us from loneliness and weakness and despair to strength and beauty and happiness."

Today was Jonah's first Easter. We just hung out this morning as we would any normal day and then we got ready and drove an hour and a half to Barrington to Micah's sister and brother-in-law's house. It was me, Micah, Jonah, Micah's sister Katey, her husband Tony, their daughter Mia, Micah's parents, and Micah's other sister Abby and her husband Phil (we were missing Micah's brother Gabe and Micah's other brother Seth, his wife Amber and their two sons Nick and John). We got to Katey and Tony's house a little after one and had some appetizers and chatted and then we sat down close to 2 for lunch. Katey made salad, ham, asparagus, potatoes, carrots, and rolls. It was all so fancy and delicious!! We had a wonderful time eating and catching up on life with everyone. Jonah was awake the whole time while we were sitting at the table and he was so well behaved so that was nice! Mia, our niece, was napping for awhile after we got there, but she finally got up and her and Jonah got to "play". She is 4 months older than Jonah so she is mobile and can do a lot more than he can, so she just wanted to grab him...it was so cute! I can't wait until they can really play!! Then after awhile we had some delicious strawberry cream cake and chocolate tart for dessert (Katey made both of them) and I made peanut crisp cookies and brown butter toffee blondies. Everyone enjoyed the dessert very much:) I feel very blessed to have such a wonderful family on Micah's side. What a wonderful Lord we have for blessing us with such great people!!

Sick :(

Jonah is getting over his very first cold (sad, I know). Luckily it wasn't too horrible, no fever or anything, just a cough and a very stuffy/runny nose. I think that it has been affecting his sleeping habits a little and making him a little more fussy during the day, but nothing too horrible I guess. I just felt so bad for him when he was coughing and when his nose was all stuffed up because he can't express how he's feeling and he can't blow his nose or anything like that (like we do when we're sick). He still smiles a lot and is most of the time his normal self so thank goodness for that! I am not looking forward to the time when he's REALLY sick and isn't his happy, smiley self.

So Jonah gave me his cold and I've been sick the past few days and it's no fun. I think I am worse than he was because it's definitely been affecting me more than it did him. I am so stuffed up and am constantly blowing my nose and can barely breath at times. The first two nights sleeping was horrible, but the past two nights have been a little better. Now today I have developed a cough so that is no fun, but hopefully I'm on the upswing! I am very lucky because this happened over the weekend so Micah was here to play with Jonah and do everything since I didn't feel up to it. Yesterday he was even able to take a sick day from work because he didn't have any meetings going on or anything he had to do at work. Today he went to work though and I feel even worse than I did yesterday:( It's so hard playing with Jonah and taking care of his needs when I feel so blah and just want to lay around the house doing nothing. I am really hoping this goes away very soon!!

5 Months!!!

Jonah was 5 months old yesterday and what a day...HE ROLLED OVER FOR THE FIRST TIME!!! We have been practicing doing it and he lots of times seems like he wants to do it, but just can't quite make it. Yesterday we were at Micah's parents house playing on the floor with him and Jane was rolling him back and forth, back to belly and belly to back. After a few times of doing this, he did it on his own, back to belly! I almost missed it, but I didn't. We all got so excited and made lots of noise and it scared him and he cried a little, but it was still so cute!! I was so excited! He probably won't do it again for awhile, that's what I hear happens often, but I was so glad he finally did it today:)

The past month has brought lots of changes for Jonah. He has developed even more of a personality in the past month; he laughs A LOT and smiles even more than before (if that's even possible). He has more fussy times than before too (which isn't always fun), but the happy and smiling times far outweigh those crabby times:) He has discovered new sounds he can make with his mouth and he has also discovered his toes and loves to pull his legs up and grab his toes. He is also starting to be able to sit a little bit on his own (he tips over a lot), but he's on his way! And then just today we discovered he has a tooth starting to poke through! We thought he has been teething but were unable to see a tooth or feel one, but now we can feel it and see it a little as well. He is growing up so fast!! He is just such an adorable and happy guy and I can't wait to see what the next month brings!!

4 months!!

How in the world can Jonah already be 4 months old?! It's SO crazy how fast time goes with a little one! He was actually 4 months old on Saturday and had his 4 month checkup today at the doctor. He is a big, strong, healthy little baby...slowing turning into a little boy:) He gained three pounds in the past 2 months so he now weighs in at 16 lbs and 9 ounces which puts him in the 85th percentile (he is getting skinner though because last time he was in the 95th percentile). He also grew almost 3 inches in length so is now 26 1/4 inches long, which puts him in the 90th percentile. Based on these facts, he is going towards the direction of being more like his daddy, not his mommy, which is fine by me! The doctor said he is doing great...growing at a great rate, lungs sound good, and everything looks great developmentally up to this point. We just need to keep working with him on his tummy time so he can start rolling over! He also got his second round of shots today and he didn't do too terrible with it considering they were sticking a needle in his poor chubby leg. He cried, but it didn't last as long as when he got shots at 2 months so I was happy for that! So yeah, he's great and we are so happy and we feel very blessed with how good he's doing so far:)

First night away

So I had my first night away from Jonah on Friday of this past weekend. I had plans to go to Champaign to the Rascal Flatts concert with my sister Kaislie. Kaislie had asked me awhile back if I would want to go and I told her no because I couldn't spend the money on it at that time, and she really wanted to go so she was very kind and said she would buy me ticket. I couldn't pass that up so I said yes and we made our plans. Because it was on a Friday night I knew Micah couldn't keep Jonah because he would have to work that day, so my mom said her and my dad could keep him overnight. I decided that I would like a night away so I said ok to my mom's offer. I knew I would have to bring milk for Jonah because he doesn't take formula so we practiced giving him bottles a few nights in a row before the time came to be away from him. On Thursday Kaislie wasn't feeling well so we didn't know if we'd go, but the next day she was fine so we went. We left Morris around noon on Friday. I wasn't worried about Jonah's safety or anything like that since he was with my parents, but of course I was just nervous for him to take 3 bottles in a row on Friday and then another one Saturday morning. Also, he sleeps through the night, but I didn't want him not to for my parents and then have to be up in the night with him. I sent my mom multiple text messages throughout the day and night and talked to her a few times as well, just to check up on things and see how it was going. Every time I talked to her, she said things were going just fine, except he did fuss when they put him down to bed so they picked him up, he fell asleep in my mom's arms, and then she put him down and he was fine. He slept straight thru the night just as he always does so that was great! My mom actually went into his room at 7:30 on Saturday morning because she hadn't heard him yet and he normally makes a few sounds before then. We got back to Morris around 10:30 on Saturday morning and I was soooooo happy to see Jonah. I missed him so much but I do have to say that I am glad I took that opportunity to get away and know he was safe with my parents:)

Amazing!

It really amazes me everyday how much stronger and more "advanced" Jonah is getting. It seems like just yesterday we had to really support his head and all he could do was lay down on his back, and he hated being put down on his tummy no matter when or where or how we did it. Now he can hold his head up on his own, he is liking tummy time a little more each day, and he can sit up (while supported some of course). The end of this week has been great for his tummy time. He use to only stay on his tummy for 5 minutes at the most and he has given me a few times of 15 to 30 minutes lately which is such a huge step! When he's on his tummy, he really can hold his head up so much more and it's so fun to watch these advancements in his growth and development. He is changing day by day and it's so crazy! Here are a few pictures that really show his strength:)

Yay for Jonah!!

From the time Jonah was born he has been sleeping at night swaddled. The two nights in the hospital he was swaddled in a blanket and ever since he's been at home he's been swaddled in a swaddleme. I hated swaddling him with a blanket. I thought it was really hard and I couldn't do it (Micah or a nurse had to do it for it to be done well). The swaddleme is the best invention! All you have to do is put him in it, his feet are covered and you just swaddle the arms and it has velcro to get it to stay. Whenever I would do the blanket it would come loose because I wouldn't get it tucked in good enough; not an issue with the actual swaddleme. As Jonah has been getting older and bigger, we knew we would sometime have to break the habit of swaddling because he will eventually start rolling over and we don't want him swaddled when then happens. Last weekend we decided we would try and put him down to bed without being swaddled. This was a disaster! He never cries when we put him down to bed and he started crying the second Micah put him in his crib; he was hysterical! We had the monitor on downstairs and we let him cry for about 5 minutes and then Micah went up and took him out of his crib and loved him for a few minutes. The second Micah picked him up he of course stopped crying. After a few minutes, Micah put him back down and the crying started again immediately. We went back downstairs and let him cry a little longer this time, and he wouldn't stop so we had to go back up. Micah swaddled him up like normal and guess what...he went to sleep like it was nothing...not even another peep. So the week came and went and we decided to try again last night. We decided this time to wrap the swaddle around him so he still has that tight and comforted feeling, but not put his arms in the swaddle. He made a few peeps when we put him down but he slept! It was great!! We went in to get him this morning and he was just as happy as ever. So now tonight we were hoping for the same greatness of him sleeping without his arms swaddled...so far so good!:)

Surprise!!!

So yesterday was just going to be a normal day of nothing for Jonah and I. I had fed Jonah about 7:15 a.m. and then I got myself ready for the day (which means I showered, dried my hair, pulled it back in a ponytail, and got dressed in sweatpants and a sweatshirt). We then went downstairs and played for a bit on the floor until Jonah was tired and fell asleep. I proceeded with my day by eating breakfast and watching t.v. which I do pretty much do every morning. We have started to try a four hour eating schedule with Jonah instead of 3 hours, so I still had some time before I would need to worry about him waking up and me feeding him again. I was watching The View and I decided that I needed to work some more on Jonah's scrapbook which I have been obsessed with doing lately. The first page I did was a page of Jonah and his Auntie Kirsten. It wasn't too complicated of a page so it did not take that long. Then I was working on a page of him and his grammy. I was about halfway through the page when the doorbell rang. I was hesitant to answer because I didn't know who in the world it could be at 10:30 in the morning. I was sitting at the dining room table which is right by the door so I decided I better answer. I opened the door and it was my parents and Tink. I couldn't believe it!! They surprised me and came to visit!! I was sooooooooooo happy!!! Jonah was almost ready to be waking up anyway so I woke him up so his grammy and grampy could love him. It was such a wonderful surprise. We just hung out and played with Jonah all day. It was so much fun. Mom and Dad are so great and bought me Subway for lunch and we ordered carryout from a restaurant called Pano's for dinner. When Jonah was in bed for the evening mom and I got to watch The Bachelor and Momma's Boys together (Dad and Micah were in the room, but they did other things instead of watching). It's so fun having someone to watch my shows with and talk about them:) They stayed the night and then this morning got a little more time with Jonah before I left for a MOPS meeting at 8:45. What a great day I had yesterday! I only wish it could happen more often.

3 months!!

I can't believe Jonah is 3 months old today!! These past 3 months have just flown by, yet it's hard to remember our lives without our precious baby boy. When looking at the big picture, 3 months is such a short time, but 3 months for a baby is huge! There are so many changes that take place in the first year and so many have already taken place in the first 3 months. I remember when I was waking up in the night, 2 or 3 times, to feed Jonah (boy, am I glad those days are gone!). Now, I feed him before I go to bed between 10:30 and 11 and he sleeps until 7 or 7:30 (YAY!!) I remember when we had to completely support his head...now he can hold it up practically by himself. I remember when he would wake up in the morning just crying because he was hungry...now I hear him stirring and go in to his room and he's awake and smiling:) I remember when all he did was sleep...now he stays awake some between feedings and plays and smiles and coos (there are some days when he's fussy that I wish he did just sleep:) Jonah is such a blessing in my life and in Micah's life as well. I cannot wait to see what these next 3 months will bring!!!

The start of a new year

So with the start of a new year (well, this isn't quite the start being that we are already 12 days into January), I thought I would jump on the bandwagon of blogging. I figure with an almost 3 month old baby, I could have stuff to talk about and pictures to share:) So 2008 brought about many changes to the lives of Micah and I. First off, we were not planning to have a baby so soon, but February 26th came the great news of the new life that would be joining us in a short 9 months. We were surprised but SOOOOOOOOOOO excited!! Then, Micah was finishing up grad school and starting to apply for jobs and go to interviews. He graduated in June and was still without a job so he kept searching. The hard part of that was that our lease in New Lenox was up at the end of June and we were then going to be homeless because we couldn't move because we didn't know where he would find a job. We then decided it would be best to move in with Micah's parents in Morris until we knew where we would be going. We moved in with them at the beginning of July and lived with them for the whole month.

Meanwhile, towards the middle to end of the month, Micah found an amazing job but the not so amazing part was that it was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was such a great job he couldn't pass it up so we took a weekend, looked around for places to live, and found a great place in Waukesha, WI. Micah was starting his job August 1st and he lived in a hotel for a week until we moved into our new home on August 9th. I had to leave my job at JULIE in Joliet obviously since we were moving to WI. That was a big move, considering I was about 7 months pregnant and had to quickly find a new doctor. I found a doctor and she was great and Jonah Dean Tesdall came into our lives on October 14th at 3:01 p.m. Now fast forward about 3 months and here we are:) Jonah is so amazing...such a little blessing in our lives. I hope you will enjoy hearing about him and seeing pictures and videos of him!