Picture Overload

Here are some recent pictures of my two cuties....

3 months old!

I cannot believe my baby is a quarter of a year old now. Tuesday marked Jake's 3 month birthday. I got my weekly "BabyCenter email" yesterday that tells what he "should" be doing and what to look forward to, but the thing that caught my eye was the statement, "Most babies cry the most their first three months of life so you should notice your baby's crying to taper off now." Well, if that was the most Jake's gonna cry, then WOW, I have an awesome baby! He is so laid back and precious...hardly ever utters a peep unless he's startled or dirty diapered. We are so lucky!
Here's what else is going on with Baby Jake:
*Wearing size 6-9 month clothes
*Wearing size 2 diapers but only until they run out, and then we are moving up to 3's
*Smiling and cooing with occasional belly laughs (usually at Brooklyn)
*Holding his head up very well by himself
*Eating every three hours during the day
*Consistently SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT! (Hooray! However, he is trying to get up at 4:00am but just a little shake of the pack-n-play and a paci plug, and he's back to sleep.)
*Not sure about weight (My guess is about 18 pounds. Yes, you read that right. 18.)
*Loves the glider
*Still swaddled at night, and I am on the hunt for a larger Halo Swaddler SleepSack
*Still has not needed formula
*Is so friendly when people talk to him
*Has lost most of his hair on top and its being replaced by a small amount of blonder hair...unfortunately, he still has darker hair in the back and around the sides, so he has the "old man" look going on
*Still suffers from reflux and takes Zantac twice a day
*Is a quieter sleeper, but still grunts and poots a bunch
*Is really learning to swat at and grasp at his toys; loves rattles and stuffed animals

THIS is American Idol!

So, we have started watching American Idol as a family. It's great that all 4 of us can sit down and watch a TV show together. Brooklyn has really gotten into it.....maybe too much. :-)

Way Back When-esday!

This week's Way Back When-esday picture was taken at one of our "Girls Nights" while the boys were off playing poker. This was January 2008. Brooklyn (almost 4), Zoe (2 1/2), and Allie (just turned 2) were playing with babies all night, but I'm not sure why they decided to line their chairs up in the kitchen. But, of course, they were cute, so I took a picture!

Oh, Happy Holiday Weekend!

Here's two reasons why I loved this three day weekend (and REALLY love my sweet children).

Brooklyn told me this weekend that she learned about Martin "Lunar" King at school. When I asked her what she learned she said, "Some people have orange hair and some people have purple hair, and that's OK."

Jake turned 12 weeks old today and as a gift to the family he slept until 6:30am. That means we went 9 hours last night (9:30pm to 6:30am). Yay!!!

So many babies!

When I started my "Oh, Baby" list on the righthand sidebar, I knew there were a few more that I would be adding as soon as their pregnancies went public. I didn't know just how many more babies, though! I've even been surprised by a few of them myself. :-)

Congratulations to Jami and Joni on their newest additions, and best wishes to Marisa, Caroline, Beth, Elizabeth, Page, Loryn, Kristen, Chrissy, Anna, Holly, Jennifer, Mary, and Angela on their pregnancies.

Please continue to pray with me for these sweet babies and their families. I get great joy celebrating each pregnancy and birth as I update and add to my list, so please let me know of any others.

Jake's Special Day

On Sunday, January 3rd, Jake Edward was baptized at First Lutheran Church's 6:30pm Shout service. It was a beautiful ceremony performed by Pastor Charlie (who also baptized Brooklyn and gasp, ME!). Jake did great. He stayed awake the entire time and just stared up at Pastor Charlie. I was so afraid he would start having gas issues and scream from gas pains or start "tooting" during the service, but my prayers were answered and not a peep came from anywhere in Jake, top or bottom. :-)

Here is Jake with his big sister and his God-sister, Allie.

Jake, Brooklyn, and our God-daughters, Allie and Zoe The God-Family....Henzlers and Johnsons

The Johnsons

With Oma and Opa

The Baders

Sweet precious Jake wearing his Uncle Eric's baptism shirt. (It was a bit too chilly for the short overalls.)

God Bless Our Son! What a privilege it is to be this special boy's mommy!

Fun with the Fam

Last weekend, Brooklyn had a great time with all her grandparents (and of course, Uncle Eric). First, she went ice skating for the very first time. She did an awesome job, but unfortunately our visit was cut short when they had to clean the rink with the Zamboni. By the time it had finished, Brooklyn had lost interest and was ready to get her skates off and leave.

Then, we had Chad's parents over for dinner and played some Band Hero on the Wii. Brooklyn, Gramma and Pops made the cutest band. :-)

We are so lucky to have such great (and fun) grandparents for Brooklyn and Jake!

Last but not least....

Our last Christmas hurrah was the Tuesday before New Year's. We had our annual "Johnson Henzler Christmas" with our "God Family," Joe, Misty, and Allie Henzler. Each year, from the time Allie was about 18 months old, we exchange gifts and then head out for dinner and the Tanglewood Festival of Lights. This year, we left Jake with my parents because the idea of riding 5 mph with a screaming 2 month old in his car seat did not sound like "merry christmas" to me. :-)

I got the girls matching holiday t-shirts:
Here they are looking so sweet in the back of the Commander. The night started out great, but then we got a lot of "I'm hungry....She took my pillow...I wanna ride with you in the middle, Mommy....I want a snack....Is it over yet?" The adults decided that next year we are going by ourselves. :-) Really, we will just remember to bring lots of snacks and pillows in the car next year.

Here are some funny "outtakes."

Flying Solo

So, besides the 1/2 hour each weekend morning that Chad runs out and gets coffee and a random hour or two here and there, I have not had both kids by myself. Wednesday evening, I put myself to the test when Chad went into the recording studio to work on our new album for Grace Reigns Down.

I am working at my office Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, so those days, I pick up Brooklyn from school and bring her home. We came home around 5:30 where my MIL was watching Jake. She stayed around for a few minutes so I could start dinner, change clothes, and unpack all my stuff (mainly breastmilk that I pumped at work). She left around 6, and I soon had Brooklyn eating dinner (Easy Mac, crunchy Chinese noodles, and a yogurt with Oreo crunchies) and I was reheating my dinner (leftover Thai from lunch). I ate my dinner quickly and then settled on the couch to feed Jake. So, though quite an eclectic meal, it was a well-balanced dinner for both Brooklyn and Jake, and both my kids were eating at the same time.

Success #1!

Jake is at his happiest right after he eats and can sit for a good while in his Boppy and watch the world around him. We have about 15-20 minutes of good "can occupy himself time."So, as soon as he and Brooklyn finished dinner, I herded them both upstairs and started Brooklyn's bath. She was sooooo good (baths can sometime go either way with her) and just let me quickly bathe her, get her out of the tub, and get her PJs on while Jake sat in the hallway in the Boppy.

Success #2!

So, by now, I am feeling quite cocky.

Do you see where this is headed?

Jake needed a bath sometime in the next day or so, so I though "no time like the present! I can do this!" Brooklyn was watching Nick Jr on my bed, so I moved Jake and his Boppy to the bedroom and started his bath. We use a baby bath tub on our bathroom counter, filling it from the whirlpool tub and then filling the sink with clean water for rinsing the soap off. I filled the tub and began to move it over to the counter when, all of a sudden, I am soaking wet from the legs down. I completely forgot to put the plug in the bottom of the tub and water was pouring out everywhere!

I had floaded the bathroom floor!

I quickly plugged the tub and threw our bathtowels down on the floor to soak up the water (it needed a good cleaning anyway). The kids were still watching Nick Jr on the bed (well, Jake was looking in that general direction) so I cleaned it up quickly and continued on....both kids were gonna be bathed tonight, darn it! So, bath was filled and ready to go, and I stripped Jake down and laid him in the tub.

Forgot the towels.

As Brooklyn went to the linen closet to get towels, I looked over to see a water fountain arching from the tub directly into the sink with clean water. My son, whose "wee wee" is usually always covered with a washcloth, but was not because Brooklyn was getting the towels for her forgetful mama, had proceeded to pee straight up from the bath tub, skipping over the counter, and directly into the sink of clean water! It was amazing to see his aim and accuracy and quite hilarious, but now I had dirty "clean water." Brooklyn came back with the towels to find me laughing hysterically and shaking my head in disbelief.

Maybe you had to have been there.

So, as Jake played in the tub, "wee wee" now covered, I poured the dirty "pee-pee water" out and refilled with clean water. Jake was soaped and rinsed, dried and clothed, and the three of us made it downstairs by 7:30pm to watch some good old episodes of "18 kids and counting." Chad came home at 8:20pm to two kids fed and bathed (with baby sleeping) and a very proud wife. :-)

Way Back When-esday!

It's been so long since I have been able to do a Way Back When-esday post! It's nice to go back and look at old photos from the year before. This picture was taken the first week of January in 2009. It is so precious because Brooklyn had really fallen in love with her Uncle Eric over the holidays, and this was their last hurrah before he had to go back down to Florida. The love has not wavered either because when Eric was home for Christmas from LA, Brooklyn barely left his side. :-)
So...let's see all of YOUR Way Back When-esdays!

10 Weeks!

Jake is 10 weeks old this week! Monday, I started back to work fulltime...thankfully with a modified schedule that allows me to work from home Tuesday and Thursday. So, I felt great going into work knowing that (1) Jake was in great hands with his Gramma at the house and (2) I would be staying home with him the next day. :-)

We saw Dr. D for Jake's 2 month check up this morning. Here are his stats:
*Weight: 16 pounds, 9 ounces (97th%)
*Length: 25 inches (95-97th%)

*He also got 4 shots and 1 oral vaccination, but he was a big boy and did great.

And finally, here are some fun facts about what Jake is doing now:
*Can laugh a teeny bit when really excited about something
*Starting to use his hands a little better with more control
*Loves sucking on his fist when the paci is not in his mouth
*Sleeping in the pack and play in our bedroom
*Still waking up one time during the night (about 2-4am)- hence the pack and play sleeping
*Able to put self back to sleep after middle of the night feeding (thank you Jesus!)
*Eating every 3 -3.5 hours during the day
*Still solely raised on breastmilk (I have to put in a disclaimer here and say that the reason I continue to celebrate this is because I gave up too quickly with Brooklyn and nursing. After a rough start with her for about 2 weeks, I nursed her some and supplemented with formula for about 4 months. Then, I went strictly to formula for the next 8 months until her first birthday. I pretty much decided that I was too lazy to commit to it and "wanted my body back." I was also working fulltime and a bit shy about pumping at work. I am not against formula at all...Brooklyn is quite bright and fairly healthy so I know she received everything she needed....But, I cannot believe how much money we spent on formula ($23 for 5 days so over $1000 in formula for 8-9 months) when I could have just stuck with the breastmilk. So, with Jake, I have vowed to just keep going as long as my body keeps producing (up to the 1st year), but when I stop producing enough and he's not getting what he needs, I will add in the formula. Judging by his healthy weight gain, though, I think he is getting what he needs. Ha ha!)

*So sweet and friendly with people...has a HUGE toothless smile
*Loves to hear and see Brooklyn (and is soooo tolerant of her many kisses and snuggles)
*STILL suffers from reflux but definitely not as bad and has less gas pains after eating
*Likes sitting in his Boppy, but still not a huge fan of the swing, glider, bouncy seat, or car seat
*Wears size 2-ish diaper (depending on brand)
*Wears size 6 month clothes (yikes! we are gonna have to do some creative thinking with the outfits to make them work seasonally.)

2009 Review...Again :-)

Thanks, Elizabeth, for helping me post these to the blog.

My Year According to Facebook

So, I cannot figure out how to make these appear directly on the blog, but follow these links for my "lazy year in review" (according to Facebook Statuses and Pictures). :-) If anyone can let me know how to get the actual pictures to appear on the blog, let me know.

http://apps.facebook.com/my-year-in-status/show.php?u=519979141&t=1262488117&from=feed_desc&ref=mf

http://apps.facebook.com/my-year-in-photos/show.php?p=2233293405200453941&from=feed_desc&ref=mf

Happy New Year.....I'm tired already

I wish I could do a great "year in review" post, but there is laundry to be done...presents to be put away....Goodwill bags to fill....clothes to sort....weight to lose.....Wii to play (LOVE Band Hero)...food to eat.....weight to lose......dishes to wash.....pacis and bottles to sanitize....diapers to change.....books to read......Nick Jr to watch....weight to lose....

I'll get around to it soon enough.