Six months is no excuse...

But it happened anyway. Let's see, here's the short version of all that has gone on:
1. Jake started crawling
2. Summer vacations (up north to Cheboygan and Traverse City)
3. A few trips to the Toledo Zoo
4. crawling fast like a super hero
5. Oh yeah, mommy is having another baby...it's a boy!!
6. Jake turned 1 and celebrated with lots of good friends
7. School is so much fun!
8. Halloween means costumes and candy? Who knew??!!
9. Getting brave about taking steps
10. The new baby is almost here....there's now a second crib in my room and I know a baby goes in there, I just don't quite understand what that means to my life....yet.

So there's the short version. BBK#2 is estimated to arrive 12/28/09 but at the next doctor's appointment we'll be discussing his current size (surprise, surprise - he's a big boy) and whether that means we'll be trying to schedule a c-section ahead of going into labor or not.

Hope you're well and I promise I'll post some pictures of the summer and fall (including his 1-year pics) as soon as possible. What a whirlwind this year has been!!!!

I know it's been a while....

Jake is growing by leaps and bounds. I have been sick and tired of looking at the computer since tax season ended, but I think I'm finally ready to get back to updating this thing :)

Jake is rolling both from tummy to back and back to tummy and all the way around whenever he can. He's starting to get up on his knees and rock back and forth which means crawling is just around the corner. He got his first tooth and it's finally peeking through the lower gum. The one right next to it is on the way as well. Time to break out the toothbrush and baby paste!!

We took him swimming the night before Chris' graduation and he LOVED it...no surprise to me really, I mean Chris is part fish or something. He got a swing and treats from the Easter Bunny and grandma Bunny got him a whole swingset....hopefully someday soon Chris can get someone to come over and help him get it put together so Jake can enjoy the swing.

We visited my parents last weekend for Derby. It was very tame this year compared to previous years but it was nice to go down nonetheless.

Here are a couple of pictures to enjoy until I get another change (sooner rather than later) to get more (and recent) pics updated.

Happy Mother's Day!!

6 month update

Well, I know it's been some time, but I finally made myself sit down and write Jake's happenings for the 6 month mark. He's doing well and growing so fast it's almost unbelievable :)

At his appointment he weighed in at 20 lbs 8 oz. He only measured at 26.5 inches, which is half an inch longer than his 4 month appointment, but the doc assured me the length measurements are difficult, especially with how wiggly Jake is since he's always trying to sit up or roll over or just scooch around.

Jake is now eating breakfast, lunch and dinner with bottles in between. He's a big fan of most everything he's eaten to this point and we're happy to have a good eater on our hands!!

I took Jake to Portrait Innovations in Brighton today for some professional shots....enjoy the few I've posted here. This place was great! They include a CD of all his poses with your order so I have every shot at my disposal.

The quick update and some pics

Ok, so it's been way too long. Thanks to all those who chastized me into updating finally. I wanted to take some new pictures so I could post the latest and greatest and the days just aren't long enough with everything going on.

We have made our first visit to Louisville to see my parents. They were so happy to have us and the trip went very well. We only stopped once (well twice on the way home cause I didn't have a nipple for the bottle in the bag, it was in the trunk so it had to be retrieved) so it was a success indeed.

Jake has rolled from tummy to back and is working diligently on back to tummy....I think he'll get it any day now. He's drooling up a storm (as evidenced by the rosey - chapped - cheeks) so I think he's starting the teething process. I'm happy that I'm pumping and not nursing anymore so I don't have to risk getting bit. I know moms who have smacked the baby as a first instinct then felt terrible afterward and I won't have to ever feel that, which is kind of a relief.

Chris has separated himself (what a nice way to put it) from his job at Habitat for Humanity and is now concentrating on his heavy school schedule for the semester and helping/visiting his mom who is scheduled to have surgery later this week. Keep us in your thoughts that all goes well for her!!

My busy season is over and we're just helping support these days. It's a nice time of the job cause I'm very comfortable with support having done that as my job for over 5 years, so it's nice to wake up and know exactly what I'm going to do most days.

I have no idea how much he weighs or how long he is at this point. He's about out of the last (biggest) size 3-6 month clothes and wearing mostly size 6 months from Carter's. The 6-9 month clothes will probably come out this weekend though they seem HUGE!! I know he's a big dude but he holds his weight well and is compact and dense which has kept him pretty true to size ranges, which is nice (makes clothes buying sooooo much easier).

Enjoy the little man....he loves his toes and isn't afraid to show it. And that smile.....oh my!!

My bad...4 months, Hello 2009 and MMM....foood....

Well, it's been a busy few weeks, that's for sure. We celebrated Christmas with my parents over the New Year's weekend and Jake was so happy to see them!! We went to the Schaffer's for New Year's Eve and Jake woke up just in time to see the ball drop in Times Square. We celebrated with good friends which is always my favorite way to ring in a new year! Jake had his 4 month checkup and he took the shots like a pro. He weighed in at (hold onto your shorts) 17 lbs 5 oz and measured 26 inches tall! Yes, yes....he's a big boy, that's for sure. We don't have to worry about our little chunker not getting enough meals in, that's for sure. We got the go-ahead to start feeding him cereal. We started with rice and he's not the biggest of fans but I think he likes a little something different. Last night I was so disappointed with his dislike of the cereal that I tried peas. Boy was that a change!! Jake loved the peas and ate almost half the jar. He didn't even mind when I mixed some cereal in. I think he just wanted some taste finally. It's funny that he ate peas on my mom's birthday because she hates peas...it's good to know her grandson can celebrate her in such a way...hehehe.

I'm almost done with my busiest season at work so I'll try to keep the posts much more current starting in just a few days...I can't wait for the last product to have it's initial release. That's not to say I won't have updates, but the initial release is always the most stressful and I'm counting down the hours until that is out of my hair.

Mr. man passed mommy and daddy a nasty stomach virus this weekend but luckily it didn't seem to bother him so much. I don't think mommy and daddy have been that sick since we were little kids ourselves, but thank goodness it's over!

Enjoy some updated pics and we send our love to all!

16 weeks, Merry Christmas!!!

Jake celebrated 16 weeks this week and it fell on Christmas day! Of course all three of us had a pretty gross cold too, so we kept it low-key and relaxed as much as possible. Jake has vacation from daycare until 1/5/09, so he'll be at my aunt's family's house a couple of days this week and with his dad the rest. My parents will also be here next weekend so we're looking forward to celebrating the holiday with them.

For a kid who wasn't going to get any presents, he sure made out like a bandit! He got a full Lionel train set from grandma Bunny, some fun toys and outfits from Noreen and Scott, Joanne, Magic great grandma and great grandpa Paul, great grandma Gates, great aunt Ginger and aunt Jessica, a tucan puppet from Papi and Cecily, a toolbox with some starter tools (real man kind, not baby kind) from his daddy, exersaucer triple fun from mommy and daddy and Cookie and Ernie TMX from Santa. What a haul!!

Hope you had a wonderful holiday and enjoy a fantastic New Year!!

Time flies when you have deadlines...

Well, one deadline down....the product doesn't go on CD for another few weeks so there is plenty of time for tweaks if anyone finds something....it feels good to have accomplished something although being at home w/ the wee would be better :)

Speaking of the wee, he's 15 weeks old today!!! How is that even possible? They love his outfits at daycare - they say I'm always dressing him like a little man. I'm sure they have a point.

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Little late on the uptake...

Ok, sorry for the delay. Both Jake and I had our first colds resulting from daycare last week, but we're over them (for the most part) now and ready to conquer the holidays!! He's been a shopping trooper and I can't wait for our first Christmas!!

Otherwise things are going pretty well. Chris' mom is into her treatments now and feeling pretty good so we're thankful for that. My parents are well - though I'm not sure what my dad is really doing with some time on his hands for shutdown, but hopefully he's being productive. Chris has his final presentations for his classes this week, so that's a relief that he'll have some down time before next semester starts. Work is still there and I'm still going, so I guess that's a plus :)

Hope you are well!! Yet again the pictures are uploading sideways, so I'll be back later to add those.

Three months old....you've got to be kidding me

I don't have an updated pic just yet, but I promise I'll get one up later this week.

Jake is loving daycare - they're wearing him out cause he's sleeping from like 9pm right through till I wake him up at 5:30am, which isn't a bad thing. They love him and he's the only baby who doesn't crawl or walk so they like holding and loving on him.

We got out the doorway jumpster today and he hand a grand time. He's grabbing and playing with the toys on the bouncy seat and in the swing and he loves to jump and bounce. He really made some big movement leaps this week and I'm sure daycare helps that along.

I'm still wishing for a lottery win so I can stay home with him and see every moment, but at least I know I'm comfortable with the care and love he's getting at Joyland!!!

12 weeks and Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, our little man is almost 3 months old. He is chatting up a storm and loves the interaction. He enjoyed his Thanksgiving with all the family and friends we spent time with. What a joy to see so many people and share him in such a short amount of time.

We start daycare tomorrow so hopefully I can make it through the day without coming to tears...I mean, I do feel good about this place but it's so hard to think of the things I'll be missing!!

Here's our little guy at Thanksgiving dinner with Chris' family...he's stuffed...who knew you could fall into a turkey coma without eating any turkey? :)

11 weeks old

My goodness! I can't believe how fast he's growing. We moved to size 1/2 this week....honestly I thought all the diapers Melissa gave us were plain old size 2's but they were the in-between size...well at least if I don't get through them all I know Noreen will take them for her soon-to-arrive little one :)

Mr. Jake is all smiles and doing well. We enrolled him in daycare yesterday only to find out the woman who heads up the center (the director) was married to Bunny's cousin (Bunny is Chris' mom) and her daughter and niece work there too, so the little guy will really be with family which is so much what I wanted....I honestly believe a relative was watching from above and helped me to make this decision as it was the only place I really ever felt warm and comfortable...funny how that works isn't it?

Remember how he used to look so small in his swing? Now I'm dreading the day he grows out of it (cause it's coming sooner rather than later)...what ever will I do for relaxing time cause he loves it so much!!??!! I'm hoping maybe he likes the johnny-jumper just as much in a different way. Anyway, look how big he's getting!!

10 weeks old...check out that smile!!

It's amazing how much faster time flies when I have to work some days in the week....bleh. Mr. Jake seems to be picking up on the fact that sleep is good and sleeping in longer segments during the night leads to a happier mommy...last night he slept from 10:30 till almost 6am....holy crazy!! I hope this just signals more sleep to come. He's also been crashing out for longer naps during the day which probably means he's transitioning to a more regular schedule...thank goodness for small miracles, right?

My job situation is in flux and discussions are being held at various places...if one of them works out I'll have a nice long holiday this year then down to the grind for some good ol' fashioned tax work...but we'll see. I have a feeling it's all gonna come down to money. Dang lottery ;)

9 weeks old and the 2 month checkup

Jake had his 2 month check up this week. He now weighs 13.5 lbs and measures 23.5 inches long. This puts him in the 95th percentile for weight and 70th percentile for length. What a healthy boy!! I was dreading the immunization shots cause I didn't think I could handle my precious son screaming in pain, but he didn't start till the third poke and once the fourth poke was done I picked him right up and told him everything was OK and let him finish his bottle so he was fine and really forgot all about it. What a good idea that was.....I can't take credit for it since really I read it online before we went there, but I can take credit for having the idea to look for suggestions online.

I'm going to have to take some naked baby pictures (with diaper of course cause Chris would be furious if I really posted naked pictures of his son) so you can see the rolls on his thighs and arms...he's just so beautiful! I also keep trying to get a picture of him smiling or laughing even but mostly when the camera comes out he just gets this look on his face like "what the H are you doing, mom?". He's definitely my son!!

Work wasn't as terrible as I thought it would be this week...and it's not work that's the problem it's being away from the little man for so long that really sucks. Chris is doing a fantastic job with him during the day (of course...he's such a good daddy) but all I want to do when I get home is plant kisses on those cheeks and hold him close to me. I'm still holding out for a lottery win before this whole going back full time and daycare crap starts....one can hope, right?

Speaking of hope, hooray for Barack!! Being a well-known bleeding heart democrat myself means of course you know I was backing him all along, but the fact he actually won is just so incredible. I was driving in to work yesterday morning and Dave and Chuck the freak (on 89X....my Canadian radio staple) were talking about how much this means for their kids and I realized when I actually get around to a baby book for Jake and mention all the things that have happened the year he was born, I can include the fact that our country elected it's first african american president and that made me start to cry. It's amazing how far this country has come in a relatively short time....now if only we can further expand the sentiment of equality to include everyone in my lifetime (yes, I mean prop 8).

How is it November already?

I'm still dreading my return to work on Monday, but thems the breaks I suppose.

Good news to report though, on Thursday night Jake slept from 10pm until 4:30am. I thought maybe it was just a fluke, but we've been working on this "becoming baby wise" schedule all week and some days it was pretty tough so part of me wanted to believe after these last few days maybe he was finally starting to get it...well I'm happy to say that last night he slept from 11pm until 6am!! Yes!! I couldn't believe it when I got up this morning...even when Chris got up for work he said "this is the first time he was up all night???". He's also been taking a 3 to 3.5 hour nap in the morning and trying to get one in the afternoon - though when we're out and about he takes a few shorter naps instead. It's been glorious and we have Carrie to thank for lending us the book to get us going on this method....I hope the streak continues!!

Also, this morning when I went to retrieve Jake from his bed (with much energy since I had so much sleep too) he had scooted all the way to the top of the matress!! Needless to say, once he got out of bed for a little while I promptly removed the bumpers...it doesn't seem like the same little baby crib anymore, but it's exciting to realize the kind of progress he's making every day!

Happy Halloween!

Well, after lunch with Tina, Claire, Kim and Henry today, we returned home and I decided we were going to do a fall photo spread. I got out the boppy and put leaves all over it and pulled the pumpkin around back so the pictures could be autumn-tastic. Jake didn't mind laying in the leaves so much but once I put his Sock Monkey costume on, he wasn't too pleased. Maybe we'll get some happier pictures this evening at my grandma's house :)

Check out my Facebook page if you would like a copy of any photo since the Smilebox slideshow won't allow you to save or copy pictures from their site.

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8 weeks old...he's getting so big!!

We don't have the 2 month appointment till next Tuesday, so I'm not entirely sure how much he weighs or how long he is at this point, but his 0-3 month sleepers are just about too short....maybe a week left trying to wear them then they'll get packed up with the newborn stuff and tucked away. He's becoming a champion of pooping out of his diaper, but that's pretty common for this age....a lot of force behind that removal (sorry for the graphic imagery). We've been working on a "becoming baby wise" schedule this week and toward the end of his naptime he starts crying for food. Chris seems to think he just starts crying at the first sign of hunger and doesn't know how to deal with it since I catered to his every whim before....but I have confidence that he'll get used to it. I was hoping this would improve his eating habits really and make him a more of an eater instead of a snacker, but I think if he could take more in he'd be much happer at the end of the cycle....in due time I'm sure.

I do go back to work on Monday and I'm not looking forward to it in the least, but there are some things in the works so maybe there's a light at the end of the tunnel.....I won't get my hopes up quite yet but I have to try and remain positive about the whole thing.

I visited a couple of daycare centers yesterday and one was kind of scary but the other was pretty nice. I really liked the people and the setup of the center but they've recently raised their prices a little making the price difference between the two places something to seriously consider. I have a couple more places to contact and figure out what our final decision will be for December. It's so hard to make a decision when none of the options are really what you want.

There are no pictures to post today as tomorrow morning we'll be conducting a photo spread outside with the fall leaves and our pumpkin and Jake's costume....I love the fall so I'm really looking forward to it :) I'll be sure to post before we head out for our tour de force of the evening.

7 weeks and a sad reality

Well, Mr. Jake is 7 weeks old now....actually 7 weeks and 5 days as of today. Sorry it took longer to post this week, but you have to know it's been a rough few days. My boss called Thursday to tell me I had to come back to work this week. What? We had discussed my being off for 12 weeks so I have the vacation time all ready to go. The problem becomes she thought maternity leave was 12 weeks and didn't realize she could tell me no and since she has final approval on all vacation time and the products aren't getting done as they need to be (which isn't my fault....again, another sign of poor management) she is making me come back to work. I even got HR involved so we "compromised" on me coming back 10 days in November. The other suck part is that I'm going to end up losing some vacation days unless I get creative with calling in during December. It's all a total bummer. Needless to say I have spent some time just cuddling with my darling son to fit in some time....since I thought I had 5 weeks left hanging out with him day in and day out and it's been rudely reduced to 1. I start back on Monday....unless we can pull a lottery win out this week.....if karma or any of the gods are listening, please....please.

At any rate, Jake is growing like a weed. He's still fitting into his 0-3 month clothes, but some are pushed to the limit. He's surely not going to make them another month, but maybe a couple of weeks so he's not quite giant to size as one might expect. He's smiling and cooing and melting my heart at every opportunity.

November is going to be very busy between my return to my stupid job and Chris' classes plus he's starting a new class that takes place Friday nights and Saturdays plus he's still got to try and work a couple of days and also study for the LEED exam he wants to take in December. By the time Christmas comes around the next 2 months will seem like a blur, I know it.

Despite the somber....or angry tone of the post, here are some great pictures of Jake in his Osh Kosh wear. He was on the floor in his newborn lounger and the dog was hanging out beside him. Sometimes you can see Yukon in the shot but other times I just captured the loving lookes Jake gives him. He's always checking to see what that big furry thing is doing and where he is. I love it.

Take care and enjoy the pictures -

6 weeks, you're kidding me??!!??

So, under old CSI policy if I had no other vacation time to take and my 6 weeks of maternity was over, I'd have to go back to work today. What? Are you freakin kidding me? There's no way I could turn this little guy over to someone else all day today. As it is I don't think it's going to be any easier in another 6 weeks when I really do have to go back, but I'm trying to stay positive about the whole thing.

Jake is now 6 weeks old. He's dictating the eating and sleeping schedule but at least I can nap during the day so it's not terrible. If I could just go to bed earlier myself it wouldn't be bad at all cause he's sleeping most of the time from like 8pm till 2am, but there's no way on this green earth I could possibly get myself to bed that early unless I was really sick. So I just deal with it...but waking up with him is just more time spent in the quiet, alone together and I can watch his darling face and he smiles at me and I melt. That's REALLY when I dread going back to work...hehehehe.

I had my 6 week follow-up this week and barring a few more tests at the hospital next week, things look all healed and good to go. I lost another 10 lbs making total weight loss since delivery 36 lbs. Nice, eh? I'm ready to do it all again if I can lose another net of 25 lbs....hahahahahah. Just kidding, I want to enjoy Jake while he's still in the cuddly cooing phase before any of that happens. Though the doc did say if I wasn't going to use any formal preventative methods, please try to space them 12 to 16 months apart and don't pull a Spears girl so I have enough time for everything to heal inside properly....hahahahha, the Spears'.

Ok, now what you've really been waiting for, more pics of our little man. These are from yesterday so exactly on his 6 week celebration. He wore a fitting t-shirt for the party time. We visited Chris at work and the Habitat ladies were all over him with love, then we went to Aunt Sue's office so the ladies there could love on him a bit and Laura even got to stop over and love on him, so he was gushed upon greatly yesterday, but of course he loved every minute.

Enjoy!!

5 weeks and a couple of days....

So I wasn't right on top of 5 weeks this week, but I did start a Facebook page with a photo album of the little man AND my parents were here again this weekend so there was a lot going on. They stayed at our house and watched Jake (and Yukon) so that Chris and I could go out and celebrate our anniversary. It was nice to go out and not have to think about all the stuff going on here. Matt and Brian came to dinner with us since Matt now lives in Dallas and Brian is working in China for a year and is only home a short while to sort out some visa stuff. It was great to see them and I think they were both happy to meet Jake.

Otherwise things are moving along. Some nights are better than others but he's definitely getting a schedule to come together, so at least his hourly cluster feedings are predictable.

Here are some updated pics, enjoy!!

4 weeks old

Well, it's been 4 weeks since the little man arrived into our life and things are trying to stabilize and become more normal. Chris returned to work this week and they were very happy to see him! Jake is still fitting into the newborn clothes, but this will probably be the last week...luckily we don't have that many and it just means the size 0 - 3 month stuff fits better.

We attended the Thomson family carnival last Friday and it was nice to get out and visit with some work peeps. Jake had a great time. Also my parents were in town for the weekend so we were quite busy.

This week's pics are Jake and Claire, Partied Out, and Tough Guy. Enjoy!!