Tuesday, February 16, 2010

5 Months Old!?! No way!

Jewell is now 5 months old. I can't believe it. She's growing up so much. I believe she went through a growth spurt last week too! Here are a few accomplishments for her at this time.

1. Bath time: Without screaming! Huge step for us :) I recently bought a baby bath tub and that has seemed to really help! She just loves kicking in it.
2. Tummy time: Without screaming! She can now hold her head help quite well.
3. Bumbo time: Without screaming! Are you noticing a trend yet? Jewell now sits and plays in it!
4. Cereal: Last week she ate tons of cereal (I think because of the growth spurt). But now she is down to just 2 T at a time. She's not quite ready for more.
5. 4 hour schedule: Once I switched to formula this went splendidly!
6. Sleeping: She is now averaging 10-12 hours of sleep a night. She typically wakes once, makes noise for 5 seconds and falls back to sleep.
7. Laughing: Jewell can laugh really hard and really loud. We usually have fun laughing together for quite a bit each night. I love it.
8. Reading: Or, mommy reading to Jewell actually. But she looks at the pictures now. You can practically see the wheels turning.
9. Grabbing: This is probably my favorite accomplishment. Jewell now picks up toys! She has such a curious look on her face when she does this too! I love it.
10. Sitting up with support.
11. Baby Einstein: I know, not quite that great of an accomplishment. But she LOVES watching it. A nice distraction when I need to get ready for the day :).
12. Stroller rides: Without screaming! Haha. She had a bit of time when we first brought her home. She hated walks, silly girl!
13. Sitting quietly: We are still working on this, but she's beginning to play in the high chair all by herself while we eat dinner.
14. Talking: Yes, she takes after her mother. Yesterday I took her to Walmart and she talked really loud the entire time. Seriously, she doesn't stop ;) I'm so proud!

These are just a few accomplishments, and they mean a lot to me. I'm so proud of my baby girl! She's getting so big, and I don't think I'm ready for her to get bigger. But I do love every minute of it! Here are few recent pictures.

"Mom, I know you're tired, but I'm NOT!"


"Daddy, will you be my Valentine?"


"You want me to do what Mom?"


"Oh, that looks cool!"


"Please do not disturb me, I've discovered something and I'm thinking about it really hard."


"Oh wow Mom! I found a new color over there."


"Yes, I know I'm cute!"



Sunday, February 14, 2010

The Hubs

I know I need to post some new pictures of Jewell. But today I just have to brag about my husband. After all, it is Valentine's Day!

I must say that I can't honestly write this post all about how he spoiled me "today." I can't because he spoils me everyday for 365 days out of the year. So here are a few things that mean so much to me!

1. His intelligence. Matt can't settle for just any answer. He must research what he hears in order to know that it's fact. Because of this, we have great intellectual conversations that mean something. We're never bored with the same old talk at dinner. I appreciate that he always wants to learn as well. He's brilliant!
2. His hard work. Last year the economy really hit his company hard. They cut his hours drastically. This didn't discourage him. He simply increased his freelance and made other provisions to provide for us. And he never complained about having to work extra outside of his normal job. Now the Lord has rewarded him with a wonderful promotion.
3. His knowledge on finances. When we first got married we had about 54,000 dollars to pay off. Most of which was my debt from school. We were able to pay it off in just 2 years. If it wasn't for all of his financial planning we couldn't have done it. At times it was a bit annoying, but deep down, I love seeing him graph out all our bills over the year. I mean really, who doesn't want to see a line graph of the water bill each month? ;)
4. His love for his family. Matt's Dad passed away this year. Although it was hard, he didn't let this discourage him from continuing on. Instead, he helped his mom with finances, the funeral, the house, and other big decisions. He didn't care what was happening. If his family needed him, he was there. He amazes me.
5. His love for his daughter. The day Jewell was born he wouldn't stop holding her. We wanted her to sleep in the nursery at the hospital. I asked him to take her there so we could sleep. He looked at me and said "but I'm not ready." He continued to hold her for another hour and a half and just looked at her the entire time.
6. His ability to encourage. I often get discouraged now that I'm a mom and continue to work. I cry to Matt a lot. He always knows exactly what to do or say to put our circumstances in the right perspective. When someone in our family or circle of friends is discouraged, they always know that they can call Matt.
7. His love for the Lord. After everything that our family has gone through this year it would be very easy to question God or even be upset with Him. But my husband always looks to the Lord with Praise. Even after losing his Dad in such a tragic way.
8. His love for me. Matt always listens to me. And believe me, I talk a lot. It doesn't matter what has happened in his day, he listens to me when I need him. He constantly spoils me with little surprises. It's the little things that count! If I even hint that I've had a bad day, I know I'll given a bag of my favorite candy that evening :o). I love the sweet notes he surprises me with by the coffee maker every once in a while. His little random surprises prove to me just how much he constantly thinks about me.

These are just a few wonderful things about my husband. I could list many more! Thank you Matt for being such an amazing husband. I don't know how I'd live without you.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Out of Commission

I must say that the best part of my 12 week maternity leave was avoiding all those classroom illnesses. I didn't get sick at all while I was out. Sure enough, about a month back to work, I got sick. I have been sick since Friday afternoon actually and it's not been fun. I somehow managed to get the flu. The flu shot didn't seem to keep me from getting it, though I'm still glad I did. I believe this was a milder case than the real thing. So, I didn't get to really take pictures of Jewell this weekend. Instead, I stayed in bed. I plan to go back to work tomorrow, now that my tummy isn't sick. Stay tuned for more pictures of Jewell later this week. ;)

Thursday, February 4, 2010

New Toy!

Jewell now has a new toy. We haven't purchased too much for her yet, so everything new is quite exciting. We decided to buy a walker that had lots of toys to play with. She can't quite reach the floor yet, but hopefully she will soon.





This picture isn't of her in the walker, but I just had to post it!