New Milestone!

Life is beginning to get more and more exciting with our little Jewell. She has been very sick this week, but tonight she had her energy and happy self back. Jewell typically doesn't like sitting in her bouncy seat while I cook. I've been trying to teach her to a little bit at a time. Tonight I tried it again. She finally noticed the little toys in front of her! She kept playing with them too. I was so proud.

Once dinner was ready I decided to put Jewell in her highchair (we have to practice this). I put some toys on the tray to see if they would distract her so we could eat. About halfway through dinner Matt and I noticed something different. It was quiet! Jewell was just sitting in her highchair sweetly playing with her toys. She even picked them up all by herself and put them in her mouth. We were so proud!

Jewell seems to slowly be getting better. Her cough is still pretty rough, but she's starting to eat more again, a huge blessing. I'm so happy to see her start to get back to her normal happy self.

I was talking to Jewell while she was in her swing this afternoon. Daisy got a bit jealous. She insisted on sitting on my lap! So...my 35 lb. dog thinks she's a lap dog. Spoiled...so spoiled!

First Sickness

Friday evening, after shots, Jewell came down with a fever. I assumed it was because of the shots. Then on Saturday it was still there. I continued to give her Tylenol throughout the day. Still, the fever did not go away. On Sunday her temperature got up to 102. She was coughing, sneezing, had a runny nose, and would barely eat. This morning I took her to the doctor right away. We found out that she has an ear infection in her left year. My poor baby is so miserable. She doesn't like her antibiotic at all, and still won't eat much. Tomorrow is a workday for teachers so I plan to stay home with her. I hope she feels better soon.

Cereal Success

We did it! This morning Jewell was in a wonderfully fun mood. So I decided to put her in her highchair while we ate breakfast so she could talk with us. She was so cute sitting in her little highchair at the table. Once we finished eating I thought it would be fun to try cereal. I mixed 1 tablespoon of cereal with 4 tablespoons of warm formula. The first few times I put the cereal in her mouth she pushed it back out with her tongue (it was a bit confusing for her). But she seemed to get the hang of it by the end. She even opened her mouth every time I put the spoon in front it. I'm so proud of her! My little girl is growing up and eating baby big girl food.

Jewell's 4 Month

Yesterday was Jewell's 4 month doctor visit. I can't believe how much she's grown! She now weighs 13 lbs and 2 ounces. She's more than doubled her weight in 4 months and has grown 5 inches. The doctor said she's right on track. I was concerned about her head control since she doesn't do tummy time well. But the doctor said not to worry because babies typically don't understand what to do for tummy time until about this age. That made me feel so much better.

Dr. Wylie told us that we can start her on cereal whenever we feel comfortable with it. He told us that the way to know if she's ready is if she enjoys trying to eat it. If she looks away and fusses then we should wait another week and try again. So we may be endeavoring that little adventure this evening just for fun. We are also beginning to start giving her 2 formula bottles a day while I'm at work. I believe this will make me breath a lot easier.

We finished the visit with 4 more shots. Jewell was fussy last night, but ended up sleeping for 12 hours. No complaints! Here are a few pictures from this week.

Jewell's first jumper experience. She was a bit confused ;)

All dressed up for church last Sunday!

Congratulations Matt

My dear husband Matt is a video producer at Jackson Marketing Group. He also does freelance in video production on the weekends. This week he was informed that Jackson Marketing Group received 3 Aegis Awards on videos that he edited for them. He also earned an Aegis finalist award. What a great accomplishment!

We Miss Daddy

This week has been very interesting. It's my first week back to work since Christmas break, and of course right when life gets the busiest, Matt has to leave town for 6 days for work obligations. We miss him terribly. And to top it all off, Jewell is going through a growth spurt. I should have seen it coming, after all, she is 16 weeks old now.

With Matt gone, and me and baby all alone, I've done my best to enjoy the moments as just the two of us. It's hard taking her to daycare (Matt usually does) and realizing she's the only one there that early, and then only getting a few hours with her before her bed time. But I've tried my best to look at the positive side of it all by enjoying every moment I have with her in the evenings. Her newest thing is laughing really hard! I like to put her on my lap and move her arms really fast. She must love it because she laughs so loud! It's adorable. I can't wait for Matt to see it when he gets home on Sunday. We miss you Daddy! Here are a few pictures of her from this week.

Jewell loved playing with her new Dr. Seuss stuffed animal. She was laughing pretty hard here.

Each night I put her in the highchair to practice sitting by herself. This gives me time to clean the bottles and get them made for the next day. She makes the cutest little faces.

Savoring Every Moment

Jewell is now almost 16 weeks old. I of course just can't believe it. Fortunately I've only had to leave her at daycare for 1 week since she's been born. The best thing about being a teacher is Christmas break! However, I do go back to work on January 4th. As I sit and think about starting a new year with my precious child I realize something, she's growing too fast. So this year I've decided to make what I call a "life" resolution. I want to savor every moment with her for the rest of my life. I've always been a go, go, go type of person. I have a list that MUST get done right away or I basically lose it. Having Jewell has made me realize that my to do list really shouldn't be my biggest priority. Enjoying time with my family, loving them, and serving them should always come first. So I guess this decade will bring about many good changes for me. Here are a few recent pictures.

Showing off our new Dr. Seuss books. I just had to buy the stuffed animals with them.

Reading :)

Driving back to SC. Jewell had fun playing with her new stuffed animal. You can see her first injury in this picture. She has a big scratch on her head :(

Sitting in our high chair for the very first time.

She looks so tiny.

Playing with toys while Mommy cleans.

I just love how her teething ring became a bracelet!

I was unloading the dishwasher while she was playing. I turned around and found her "kissing" her glow worm.

Another attempt at tummy time. I tried to videotape this but it only ended in tears again.