smiles

We finally got some smiles on camera last night. I love his big dimple.

happy birthday again

Scott turned the big 2-5 yesterday. Now he is really getting old. 25 just seems old. Sorry, Scott.

He wanted spaghetti and meatballs again, which I happily made. I also made my first from-scratch cake and I think I chose the hardest cake you can ever choose to make. It took me all day. It was chocolate with milk chocolate frosting. The cake was a little dry, but the frosting was divine. Overall, it was just good.

He said that it was the best birthday he has ever had, so that's a success in my book.

Anyway, Scott has added yet another talent to his lengthy list: excellent father. He is a really good dad. He loves Jonah WAY too much and Jonah loves him right back. He thinks Scott is really funny. Scott is very patient with him and does everything he can to provide for his needs.

So happy birthday Scott! We sure love you.

three months

Look how chubby he is! And I even caught a smile on camera. I don't really feel like getting the two month picture off the CD I burned it onto, so you can refer to it in the two month post.

Jonah turned three months old on November 23. I know that was a while ago. He is almost four months old. I can't really believe it. The first two months went by so slowly but it seems like everyday he gets bigger and learns new things. It is making me a little sad to see how fast he is growing up, but he is in a really fun stage so it is okay I guess.

After a long time of being a really tiny baby, he finally hit a huge growth spurt right before he turned three months. You should see him now. He is a chub! I love it though. I guess the first two months went by slowly because he was so small for so long. But I'm not complaining. I'm glad I had all that time to take in a tiny, just-like-new baby.

At three months, Jonah:

-loves his overhead gym. There is a mirror attached to it and he loves to look into it because I think he thinks someone is there playing with him, which is really nice. I'm not going to lie.
-smiles a lot, but I can't ever get one on camera. He has become a really happy baby ever since I figured out that he requires about four or five good naps during the day. I feel bad that I was depriving him of sleep those first two months. Oh well, live and learn.
-started sleeping through the night more consistently. If he does wake up, it is only once and I just give him his binky and he goes back to sleep. It is amazing what a full night of sleep can do for a mother. He is also officially moved out of his cradle in our room. I think having him sleep in another room helps me sleep better.
-naps! We have a set schedule now and he is obviously more happy.
-started laughing. His laugh is hilarious. It is a like an old man gut laugh. The first time he did it, I laughed so hard I cried.
-pretty much hates going to church. I don't get much out of church unless he is asleep, which is very rarely. Since we have started taking him, I have sat through maybe two full Relief Society lessons. And zero full Sunday School lessons because that is when he wakes up to eat. I know Scott would love to help but he doesn't have a milk supply and he has to be in Young Men the third hour.
-pretty much hates breastfeeding now. He was doing really well his second month and then all of the sudden one day decided that he would have no more of it. He will nurse first thing in the morning after he wakes up (which is really nice for me after a long night of no nursing) and maybe after his morning nap or maybe in the evening. I never know what to expect. My milk supply is dwindling so he's on formula. And don't judge me, please. I know what you're thinking. My mom told me what she thought of mothers who said their babies didn't like to nurse until she got one of her own. Don't judge us. If you do, you will be cursed with a baby who hates to nurse and you will know my pain. I swear it.
-loves to chew on things. Like his burp cloth, his hand, and my hand. He doesn't like to suck. He likes to chew. Which is why I'm pretty excited to start feeding him solids.
-got his first hair cut. He started losing hair on the sides as all babies do and the top was about five inches long, so I gave him a little trim. It looks much better now.

Anyway, Jonah is a fun baby. When we found out we were having a boy, I was completely surprised because I wasn't sure how to raise boys. But I honestly think I would love to have mostly boys (at least one daughter would be nice though). Boys are too much fun. I love my little baby boy. Everytime I look at him, I feel so blessed that he is my baby boy. He has brought a lot of joy into our home and lives. I know it is cliche, but we can't even comprehend what our lives would be like without him and I can't think of a better way to express it. It would be like daytime without sunshine (I'm being sarcastic, but you get the point). I just love the kid so much.

mean mom

Think this is a milk mustache?

Nope. That's spit up.

I know, I'm a mean mom for grabbing the camera instead of wiping his face. But I get it from my mom. She loved to tease us. She had a huge cabbage patch doll that freaked me out when I was little and she would terrorize me with it.

I'm not worried about him. It will only make him stronger.

tagaroo

My friend Abbey tagged me, so here we go.

Nine TV shows I watch:

• The Office
• Jon & Kate Plus 8 - even though Kate is really kind of rude, I think it's hilarious.
• Law & Order
• Kath & Kim (yeah Abbey!)
• 30 Minute Meals - Rachael Ray is kind of annoying but I've made her stuff before and it's good.
• Barefoot Contessa - Ina Garten is sooo classy.
• Dog Whisperer - not sure why. I don't own a dog, but Cesar is amazing!
• The Biggest Loser
• What Not to Wear - still a classic and it's probably my favorite show.

Nine Favorite Restaurants:

• Miramar
• Mandarin
• Sunshine Cafe
• Ruth's Diner
• Cafe Rio
• Plates and Palates (yeah Abbey!)
• Cannella's
• CPK
• Pace's (I know it's fast food, but it's still so good)

Nine Things I did Yesterday:

• Watched TV
• Fed my baby nine times
• Went to Wal Mart
• Played with Jonah
• Cleaned Jonah's room
• Did Jonah's laundry
• Picked up Scott at school after his car key broke in half
• Ate leftovers for dinner
• Went to bed at 9:45!

Nine Things I am Looking Forward to:

• Christmas!
• Thanksgiving!
• Jonah sleeping through the night
• Jonah taking really good naps during the day
• Having a house
• Scott being finished with school
• Scott having a career he enjoys
• Lauren and Brandon's wedding
• Having more kids!

Nine Things on My Wish List:

• Lots of kids
• A house
• A Wii
• A healthy child
• At least one daughter
• To finish school
• Lots of money to spend on Jonah
• A short winter
• A bigger car so I can make it through the winter

Nine Things I am Scared of:

• Jonah not waking up from a nap
• Losing Jonah in general
• Losing Scott
• Losing any family member or friend
• SNAKES
• MICE
• RATS
• ANY TYPE OF RODENT OR BIRD
• Not being a good parent or not being able to provide good experiences for our family. Like college, missions, vacations, etc.

Wow, that was really hard! Anyway, there you have it. Now you know much more about me than you probably would have liked to know.

two months

Jonah is now two months old. We went to his two month doctor appointment and he weighed 10 pounds 5 ounces and was 22 inches long. So he's definitely growing. I was a little worried about that for a while. Here he is compared to last month:



At two months, Jonah:

• still cries, but not as much.
• finally nurses like a normal baby.
• is better about not being held as much.
• naps a little better, but we are practicing his self-soothing techniques so he can put himself back to sleep.
• only likes to take naps on our bed (bad, I know).
• has really pretty blue eyes.
• doesn't really like his crib.
• loves the vacuum, hair dryer, and radio static. If he is screaming in the car, we just turn on the radio to a staticky station and he calms right down. I should put a video of it on here sometime. It's pretty funny.
• spits up a lot.
• smiles, but only two or three times a day.
• has a love/hate relationship with being tickled.
• likes to play peekaboo.
• is becoming more interactive. He has been a lot of fun these past couple weeks and sometimes I would rather play with him than put him to bed.

happy halloween!

two years

Happy two year anniversary to us!

10.26.06

And yes, it might be true that I finally ordered our wedding pictures after two years. We might have received them on Friday. Who knows when I'll get around to putting them in an album...

thoughts on motherhood

If you read my earlier post, you would know that Jonah was screaming in my ear while I was typing it. Now he is sleeping soundly on my chest and as I was looking at the post about his blessing, I got a little emotional. Motherhood can do that to you. Occasionally I will look at him or a picture of him and be totally overcome with emotion. I love being a mother more than anything in this world. It is the hardest thing I've ever done. It is emotionally draining, and not just with happy emotions. There are anxious emotions, sad emotions, worried emotions, frustrated emotions.

I love babies and I always have, but he is a hard baby. I will admit that. Maybe it's just because I've never had my own baby before, but I don't remember my little brothers and sisters being hard. And I was fifteen when my youngest sister was born, so I would remember. I will also admit that I was scared out of my mind when we found out we were having a boy. I had heard horror stories from Scott's mom about him as a baby and I was terrified that our baby was going to be the same way. Turns out he is! At least we know he is his father's son! But even though this is hard, the best parts come in the little moments. Like when he is sleeping soundly on my chest and I can smell his new baby smell and kiss his cheeks off. Sometimes I can't stop kissing his cheeks. Or like when I give him a raspberry on his tummy and he opens his mouth wide like he is trying so hard to smile and I can almost see it. His face is so sweet when he does that. Or when he does his complaining coo. He doesn't cry but since he's not crying he has to be complaining. It is such a sad voice and it makes me laugh everytime because he is so serious about it.

I was thinking the other day that I can't wait until he grows out of his fussy stage and I can't wait until I can feed him something other than breast or I can't wait until he fits into all his clothes or I can't wait until this or that. Then I realized that I will never have today back and soon he'll be off on a mission or gone to college or married and having kids of his own. I probably will look back at these days and wish I had them back even though I would have to listen to his constant screaming. I am trying to remember the moments that make me really happy and cherish them. They make all the hard work worth it. I am trying to make it so that I won't have to look back and regret that I didn't soak it all up when I had the chance.

blessings

On Sunday, October 12, we had Jonah's blessing. It was a special day for us and we are very blessed to have Jonah in our family. I'll keep some notes about the blessing in a different place because it's probably not very appropriate to have it on the internet, but Scott did a really good job and it was very touching. I'm a lucky woman to be surrounded by these cool boys! I could really get used to this!

Here are some pictures of him on his blessing day. I loved his little outfit. He looked so sweet and he was surprisingly so calm the whole day. He didn't even cry during the blessing, which I was really worried about. He was wide awake and calm as can be, which is extremely rare for him. Maybe we should dress him up and give him a blessing everyday. Except my mom would go crazy from all the cooking. Thanks Mom! Everyone loved your food!

We are blessed.

one month

Okay, I realize that I'm really behind and it's almost been two months, but I want to make sure I have these down.

Jonah was pretty good for the first month, but we started seeing glimpses of his naughty side. He became a little better at eating and he is actually a very good sleeper at night. He goes down around 10:30 or 11 and wakes up around 3:30 and then around 7:30. So, Mom hasn't been too sleep-deprived. Daytime sleeping is a whole different story. He's not a good napper.

This is him on his one month birthday. I guess I'll take a picture of him compared to this froggy every month so I can see how much he has grown. At his two week well check, he weighed 7 lbs. 1 oz. and I took him to the doctor last week because he had a cold and he weighed 9 lbs. 8 oz. So he's definitely growing and even getting a little chubby!

These two pictures showcase Jonah's favorite pastime, which is screaming his head off when he's being held and not being held. He screams when he's not eating, sleeping, or in the bathtub. It gets old pretty fast.

So other than the fact that I have a fussy baby (I'm still in denial about colic. I really don't think it's to that point yet.) and a cat-napper, we have been having a great time. I don't get as much done around the house as I thought I would, but I'm enjoying being home with him. I'm not bored yet! I do have some other things on the side to keep me sane, so that's good. It's a good thing he is so dang cute and that we love him so much or we might have to give him back until he decides to find another way to communicate. If I sound angry or baby-bluesy, it's probably because he's screaming in my ear right as I type. I'm mostly joking around here and just trying to keep it real. But we really do love him and we can't really even remember what life was like before he was here. Whatever it was, it wasn't as good as it is now!

goofy

Just thought I would post a picture really quick of the little guy. I laugh so hard everytime I see it.

only 35 more days

This one's for you, Brooke!

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my life just got a whole lot easier.

Three things made my day today.

1. No more umbilical cord remnants means no more lame sponge baths. He absolutely hated sponge baths and absolutely loved his real bath today. No more screaming at the top of his lungs at bath time!

2. We finally have a crib mattress. He loves to take his naps in his crib. Today he just laid in his crib for thirty minutes - peacefully! Awake! That was awesome.

3. The Baby Bjorn came today. We tried it out and he was a little fussy at first but then - seriously - he fell asleep in five minutes. Now I may actually be able to get chores done with both hands. Get a Baby Bjorn.

little buddy

Jonah LOVES to sleep on Scott's chest. Here is evidence. It happens a lot.

I love how he curls up in a little ball.

All his clothes are huge on him. He's just a little guy. I swear I feed him!

This is what he looks like when he's not sleeping. Rooting, rooting, rooting. He always wants something to suck on.