San Francisco

We had a great two days in San Francisco this week. Nate and I left from John Wayne airport on Tuesday morning and arrived at Oakland just a few minutes after my mom's and Kathy's planes landed. We took a van to the beautiful Hotel Monaco and quickly got settled before we walked around the city a bit, finding our way to Chinatown after waiting out a few minutes of rain.

On Wednesday, we ate breakfast at the hotel, let Nate take his morning nap (in the crib they set up in our room), and then were off for a full day: we walked to the Ferry house (shops where my mom bought some delicious white balsamic vinegar), took a trolley to Pier 39, ate lunch at the Crab House, watched the sea lions, took a cab to Mission Dolores and toured around, took another cab back to Ghiradelli Square (where I had a delicious mocha), walked to the Cannery (more shops where my mom bought Nate a toy in the John Deere store and bought me some socks in Sock Heaven), and called it a day soon after this. We ate appetizers back at the hotel while we waited for my mom's two other friends to arrive from Arkansas. They got to the hotel around 7:30.

On Thursday morning, we had another good breakfast at the hotel, Nate took his nap, and I got ready to go! My flight home from Oakland was at noon. All in all, Nate did very well and wasn't too fussy, even with the disruption of sleeping somewhere else and not getting his usual naps. He slept until 7:00 both mornings (this is good)!

It was a fast but fun couple of days.

My favorite picture:

Nate

Nate is still not crawling... but that's OK. Starting pretty early on in his life, I stopped reading the "What your child should be doing now" e-mails and books, because Nate was always behind (at least for motor skills). He will develop at his own pace and is healthy and happy!



I am taking Nate with me on Tuesday when I fly up to San Francisco to visit with my mom for two days. She is having an annual get-together with friends up there. :)

Swinging

Last week, I made a stop on our usual walk around the lake. I discovered one of Nate's new favorite things:

Change of plans

Hello--still from Virginia! Nate and I were supposed to head home today and end up at John Wayne airport 11:00 a.m. California time, but Delta called my parents' house last night to say my first flight (6:00 a.m.! out of Lynchburg) today was cancelled. After two hours on the phone with them, we rebooked for tomorrow, Wednesday, leaving Lynchburg at 4:00 p.m. and arriving in Orange County at 10:30 p.m. That travel time by far beats what they had originally offered: leave Lynchburg at 11:00 a.m., endure two plane changes (Atlanta and Dallas), and end up in Orange County at 9:45 p.m. (14 hours total). Why don't they try doing that with an 8 month old... :) So, with this unexpected extra day and a half, we are relaxing. Lucy and I hung out today and got coffee, and Lucy, Mama, and I took Nate on a walk. Daddy took Mama, Nate, and me out to dinner tonight (Friday's), and some of us are going to watch a movie when Lucy gets home from work later. Tomorrow I'll probably bring Nate to my mom in the morning so I can sleep, and then we'll have coffee and/or brunch with my aunt Leigh (and maybe my aunt Anne too).

Amid all the fun, family, and relaxing, I really miss my husband. A week already was too long apart, but an extra couple of days is way too much!

Hello from Virginia

We are having a lovely time in Virginia. Jon flew home on Tuesday, and I already miss him very much. A week is the longest we will have spent apart since we were married.

I have spent most of the time here relaxing and letting the family enjoy Nate. We opened gifts and had breakfast together on Christmas morning, then we had Christmas dinner at my aunt's house with all the relatives. That night, everyone came over to my parents' house to sing Christmas carols (with Daddy on the piano, my cousin Laura on violin, and me on flute). A couple of mornings so far, I have gotten up to feed Nate in the mornings and then given him to my mom while I go back to bed until 9:00 or 9:30--glorious! :) We have also made many runs to Starbucks; Lynchburg got its first Starbucks only relatively recently (in the past couple of years), so it is still a novelty to go there (there isn't a whole lot else to do). Mama, Lucy, and I went to a 9:30 movie ("The Family Stone") last night after Nate went to bed. Today, Lucy and I went by the J Crew outlet, and I bought a new magic wallet (this one's pink) for $5. Nate now recognizes his grandparents and aunt and uncle--it is so fun to see him smile when one of them walks into the room. He has also mastered the johnny jump-up we borrowed from my cousin, and he loves it so much that I won one for him today on Ebay. :)

Two more days!

We leave for Virginia in two days. Jon is staying until December 27, and I'm staying with Nate until January 3. I'm looking forward to seeing my family, letting them have lots of time to get to know Nate, eating my mom's cooking, and relaxing. We might even have a white Christmas!

Nate cut his first tooth! I felt it this morning along his bottom gum. That may explain his seeming to have a cold this week.

Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving

I just finished making potato casserole (my mom's recipe) and a better-than-pumpkin pie (Jon likes this even better than regular pumpkin pie. It's a cinch to make). I'll bring them tomorrow to Jon's parents' house for the big meal.

Last Thanksgiving, I wrote that I was thankful for "my salvation; my husband, his leadership in our home, his work ethic, his love for me, his gentleness; my husband's job; the miraculous little life growing inside me; the abundance of food, shelter, clothing, and every necessity God has provided for us; Scott and Kim and the other close friends God has blessed us with; [and] our families." This year, I am especially thankful for God's grace and mercy in loving me and sending His Son to die for me; my understanding, funny, handsome, hardworking husband; my precious, hilarious, growing, lovable, beautiful son; my friends, especially Casey; and the provision God has made for us, especially that I can stay home to be with Nate.



Oh yeah--Nate has starting sitting (as you can see)! He isn't very steady yet, so he falls over after a few seconds if he's on the floor, but he can sit for a couple of minutes on the bed. In another week or two, he'll be sturdy enough to sit on his own on the floor. :)

Six months

Nate had his six-month check-up yesterday. I had been both looking forward to and dreading it: it's fun to have him measured and find out the statistics, but holding him down to get shots is no fun. The main thing I worried about is his reaction to the shots--last time (two months ago), he had a fever and swelling/redness at the injection sites. This time, though, his reaction doesn't seem as strong--yay! Now the fun(ny) part--the stats:

Weight: 16 pounds, 8 ounces (30th percentile)
Length: 26.5 inches (52nd percentile)
Head circumference: 17.5 inches (73rd percentile)

That's right, our kid has a big noggin! :) We knew that already, though.

Here are some pictures I took today:

Halloween

Nate is doing 100% better now, and all of my editing is done as of today--two great feelings.

Although this is Nate's first Halloween, we aren't "doing" anything for it. I didn't buy or make him a costume, and in fact, I haven't even bought any candy (sorry, trick-or-treaters). Having children makes you think about how your family is going to celebrate certain holidays (if at all). I am not a big fan of Halloween. What does it celebrate, really? I think it is a celebration of evil, or at least of fear, and I find knocking on a stranger's door demanding candy to be rude, tradition or not. How, as Christians, do we allow our children to have fun but not participate in traditions we find questionable--without sheltering them too much?

Editing and sick children

I've been inundated with editing jobs this week, which is a blessing financially but also makes me feel a bit anxious and stressed. I'm thankful that Nate is feeling better, though (he was sick with a bad cold--we even took him to the emergency after-hours doctor). I wouldn't be able to get any work done if he were still sick.

Speaking of sick children, I have decided it is one of the worst feelings ever as a parent. There were two or three days last week where Nate was just miserable (see picture below as proof!): he couldn't breathe and he didn't know why, and he spent all day either crying or trying to sleep but not being able to because he couldn't breathe very well. I could barely think about anything else. I would have given almost anything for him to have felt better. I would have rather been sick myself ten times in Nate's place. Before I became a mom, I knew it must be awful to have a sick child, but I didn't know how hard it really would be!

Nate sick:


Nate feeling better before going to a harvest festival on Saturday:

Happy fall!

How everything is going

Thanks, Nell, for your comment asking how we're doing. I need some encouragement to find time to blog!

We are having a great time settling into the fall season. Things have been really busy for about a month now; I'm watching my friend Ricci's son for her two mornings a week, teaching 5 flute students, helping at Awana at church, singing and playing flute on the church music team, going to Bible study on Thursday mornings, editing when the jobs come in, and trying to make sure I find time each week to rest. :)

Nate is 5 months old now and is creeping up on some milestones. He has rolled over on his own a few times but doesn't yet do it regularly. He can finally hold his head up pretty well. He does a funny laugh when I let him stand on my lap and I hold on to just his hands. Oh!--and I gave him rice cereal again this past weekend (the first try since his wide-eyed picture below), and he did much better. I also gave it to him last night and will do the same tonight and see how it goes.

My mom was out for a visit over the last weekend in September. We had a great time visiting, relaxing, playing with Nate (highlight of the weekend for Granny), doing a bit of shopping, eating out (and in), and just spending time together. Now we're counting down the days until Christmas, when we're going to go to Virginia (that reminds me: I need to start looking for tickets...).

Jon's job has been very busy for the past month or six weeks or so, as they are transitioning from one cell phone carrier (T-Mobile) to another (Verizon). Most of the transition seems to be done, so now I'm just praying that this was a profitable move for the company. Jon is stressed but seems to be getting better.

I'll leave you with a couple of pictures from Saturday 10/1:

Solid foods

I gave Nate a little bit of rice cereal last night, and this is what he thought of it:

Update

I write this update while I sit at the desk wondering if I'm safe. You see, we are finally getting a new roof on the house (it has needed one for at least a few years now), and the workers are up there ripping the old one off and making quite a raucous. I've thought more than a couple of times that the roof might collapse and a worker or two would fall right through the house. And to think Nate has slept through all of this just confirms that babies can sleep through anything.

Of course, he might be sleeping through it so easily because he has Tylenol in him--he had his 4-month check-up this morning, which included shots (they give Tylenol to help with the pain and for fever). Besides the shots, the appointment was great. He weighs 14 pounds even now, which is in the 30th percentile, and he's 25 inches long (55th percentile). I'm happy with his growth, especially since he was 3 weeks early and started out below average and has grown to average.

I don't think the schedule I described in the post below is going to last much longer. I sense Nate getting sleepier earlier in the day, so he is naturally tending toward an earlier nap. The nice thing is that will also mean he goes to bed earlier at night, which gives Jon and me more time together. I'm going to put Nate to bed at 9:00 tonight and see how that goes.

All is quiet on the roof now, so that means either the guys are done working for the day, or they're taking a break. They sure made quick work of that old roof--the whole thing is off (though they left the wood structure underneath intact).

Off to check on the baby. ;)

My mama schedule

I'm a relatively structured person; I thrive on schedule and planning. That's why I'm happy to have Nate on somewhat of a schedule--it's nice to have a good idea of how the day generally will go (when he'll eat, when he'll sleep, etc.). It makes it much easier for running errands or planning times to hang out with friends. Here's how a typical weekday goes for Nate and me:

Some time between 4:30 and 6:00 - Nate wakes and I feed him, maybe change his diaper, and put him in his swing to sleep some more.
8:00-9:00 - Nate wakes usually at 8:00 (sometimes later--woo hoo!) and I feed him again, then change his diaper and clothes. Then we play for a few minutes, either just talking to each other or with one of his toys. Next I usually put him in his little seat in the living room and fix myself some breakfast.
9:00-9:30 - Nate watches his video while I take a shower and get ready for the day. I usually check e-mail during this time too.
9:30-10:30 - Nate usually falls asleep for a little 15- or 30-minute catnap some time in here. That's when I usually get some computer time. The rest of the time I either sit and play with him, or he observes while I clean the house or do whatever. (He's so good--he's often content just to sit and watch whatever is going on.)
10:30-11:00 - If the weather is nice, I take Nate on a walk in his front carrier. I do it during this time since he's probably starting to get hungry and this keeps him from fussing, since he really loves being outside and looking at the trees and cars and feeling the breeze.
11:00-11:30 - Time to eat again, and then I usually change his diaper again too, if it didn't need it earlier.
11:30-1:30 - If I have any errands to run (I usually do), I most often save it for this window. Yesterday, we went to the grocery store and dropped some things off at Goodwill. Today, we went by the cleaners and the bank and drove through McDonald's for one of those new chicken sandwiches. Nate often takes a short catnap or two during this time.
1:30 - I feed Nate again and put him down for his nap. Unlike a lot of babies, Nate takes only one long nap in the afternoon, instead of a nap in the morning and one in the afternoon. During his nap, I work on editing, play on the computer, read, scrapbook, maybe get things ready to make dinner, clean the house, do laundry, take a nap, write letters, sew, get my flute lesson materials ready if I'm teaching a lesson later, or watch TV.
5:00 - Nate wakes and I feed him.
5:15-6:00 - Play time
6:00 - I teach a flute lesson at 6:00 on Tuesdays, so Jon's mom comes over and watches Nate.
7:00 - Jon usually gets home around this time, so Nate gets some Daddy time while I fix dinner. I teach a lesson at 7:00 on Mondays, so Jon makes sure to make it home by 7:00 then so he can be with Nate. If Nate is ever fussy, it's usually at this time of day.
7:30-8:00 - Dinner (Nate watches Jon and me eat and will often take a short nap. When Nate was newborn, Jon would hold the baby while I ate first, and then we'd switch off, because Nate would cry if someone wasn't holding him).
8:00-9:00 - Time for Nate to eat again at 8:00. Then we play.
9:30 - It's bath time! Nate really likes taking a bath. I fill the tub up with a couple of inches of water and lie him down right in it. He kicks and plays for usually a good 15 minutes or more. Then I take him out and get him dressed for bed.
10:00 - I feed Nate one more time before bed. Then I swaddle him in a blanket and hand him to Jon, who rocks him for a few minutes and then puts him down, usually at about 10:30. Most of the time, he doesn't wake up during the night now, but when he does, either Jon or I just re-swaddle him and give him a pacifier, and he goes back to sleep without needing to be rocked or fed.

So there you have it, a day in the life of a mom with her 3-month-old son! :)

Nate had his first real giggle/laugh tonight! Up until now, he has smiled and cooed a lot, but he hasn't laughed. He laughed while lying on the changing table when Jon was playing with him (he was tickling and talking to him). It was precious! This is so fun.

Well, I changed the template for my blog, and it looks like the formatting is a little better. I liked the old look better, but oh well.

Quick update: I did take Nate to the pool the other morning. He didn't kick and laugh and smile, but he didn't cry either. He kind of sat back and observed. :) I waded around the pool for about 15 minutes holding him, and once he got used to the cold water, I think he liked it. I dipped him up to his neck a few times, then his chin, then his mouth, and then I dunked him all the way under once. He didn't particularly like that, but he also didn't cry. It was fun!

We're having a new person from church over for dinner tonight. His wife is out of town for a couple of weeks, and since they're new to the area he really doesn't have anyone to hang out with.

Then tomorrow we're off to a wedding (Jon's a groomsman) and we're going to leave Nate with Jon's parents. This will be the longest I've left him--probably for about 8 hours. Please pray that he does well and that I don't worry.

I'm off to clean the house in preparation for a baby shower I'm throwing for Jon's sister on Sunday.

Life keeps plowing along for us here. Nate and I have gotten into a routine, and it's nice to know sort of how each day is going to go, when he's going to eat, sleep, be happy/fussy, etc. He's sleeping well: I feed him at about 10:00 at night, then Jon puts him to bed, and he has been waking up around 4:00 to eat and then going back to sleep until 7:30 or 8:00 or so. Then he takes a good long nap in the afternoons (today I fed him at 1:15 and put him down, and he'll probably wake up around 5:00). It's nice to have the afternoons as "my time," when I can scrapbook, play on the computer, do editing work, read, or take a nap myself. As Nate gets more and more aware of his surroundings and more interactive, it just gets more fun. I can actually play with him now. I'm thinking of taking him to the pool for the first time early next week; he loves taking baths so I think he might like the water. This life as a wife/mom sure is different from life as a full-time-working wife! I love it.

By the way... Bryce or anyone, can you tell me why the text of my blog is starting so far down (below the archive list on the right) in Internet Explorer? How might I fix it? Thanks. :)

Our trip to Virginia
July 2005
We had such a nice time in Virginia July 3-10. The flights out there (LAX-Atlanta, Atlanta-Lynchburg) were relatively uneventful, and Nate slept most of the time. We arrived late on Sunday night and Nate met his grandfather and aunt for the first time (my mom and brother had already been out to California)! We spent the first three nights at Hanshill, my grandparents' summer house in the country. Jon, Nate, and I stayed in the air-conditioned cabin and stayed very comfortable (I was especially comfortable knowing Jon killed all of the camel crickets each night before I went to sleep).

The whole family (my grandparents, aunts, uncles, some cousins and their kids, etc.) came out to Hanshill for dinner on the 4th of July. Here is Nannie, Mama, Nate, and me:


This is my cousin's daughter, Ginna, walking in the yard at Hanshill with Jack:


Nate must have been exhausted from being handed around so much at the 4th of July party, because he slept through the night that night! I fed him at 10:00, and he didn't wake up until 6:00. That was glorious. In fact, he slept through the night (a little over 7 hours) two other nights during the trip.

We spent the days at Hanshill reading, relaxing, taking walks--not doing much, really! After the three nights out there, we spent the next three nights in town at my parents' house. The air conditioning and lack of bugs were very nice. :)





Nannie and Pop came for dinner one night:


A moth outside my parents' house (on Jon's finger):




On Saturday, July 9, we all drove to Charlotte (in a huge van my parents rented) to visit my dad's parents. It was neat to bring Nate to see them--he is their first great grandchild. We went to my dad's sister's house on Saturday night for a big party for Papa's 80th birthday. Then we stayed at Grandma and Papa's house on Saturday night and got up early Sunday to drive the 4 hours back to Lynchburg so we could catch our flight home.

We had a long layover in Atlanta (made even longer by several hours of delays--but Nate still did great). Here's Nate in the airport:




We had a great trip!

Here's a picture we took a couple of days ago that I love:


Today we looked at ourselves in the mirror and had some fun:

Nate started smiling (for real) about 10 days ago. It is so fun! Jon is the best at getting him to smile.

Here's his first real smile caught on camera:


Smiles with Dad (you can see his bandaids from his first shots):


In his carseat:


But he doesn't always smile...


We are heading to Virginia on Sunday for a week to visit my family. I'm praying the flights go well!

These pictures, which our friends Neil and Casey took, give a different perspective of Nate's birth from what I saw... :)

Here's Colleen listening at the door to hear Jon yell out that it was a boy:


Here's Jon triumphantly exiting the hospital room for the first time to tell everyone Nate was a boy and what his name, weight, height, etc. were:




Another of me in the hospital room:


It's hard to believe this was already over six weeks ago!

Here we are when Nate turned six weeks:

It's hard to believe that our baby is over 5 weeks old now! Nate's still mostly just sleeping, eating, crying (but not much), and getting bigger. We should start getting some interaction (like real smiles) from him in the coming days!

For our third anniversary, we dropped Nate off with Jon's parents and went to dinner at the Fish Market. Leaving Nate wasn't too difficult--I knew he was in good hands, and I was looking forward to some time with just Jon and me. I wondered if we would be able to talk about anything but Nate, but we did. It was nice!

The other day, Jon and I looked at each other and laughed as we realized our 3-year anniversary is in a few days. We had both not really been thinking about it. I think we will end up leaving Nate with his grandparents or some friends for a few hours and going out to dinner for our anniversary; I've really been missing sushi!

Things are still going well as we continue adjusting. Nate is still sleeping great at night, though he has gotten a bit fussier during the day since something is bothering his stomach. That something is something I'm eating--I just have to figure out what. I stopped eating dairy 4 days ago, but that isn't doing the trick, so I'm going to try something else next (either soda--because of the carbonation [but I barely have any soda anyway]--or acidic foods like orange juice and tomatoes). I started teaching flute lessons again this week and also started editing again. The flute lessons are great--just a half hour or hour and I'm done. The editing is a bit more stressful as I always feel like I have something hanging over my head when I have a job to be working on that isn't done. I did just finish a job today, and I have one more to work on, but it isn't as rushed. My goal is to work on editing just one to two hours a day when I have a job to do.

Time to sign off!

Staying home from work with Nate has been so great. I am amazed, though, at how little I actually get done during a full day! Not only do I feel very scatterbrained (a combination of the post-pregnancy hormone rollercoaster and general new mom-ness), but also there are just so many interruptions--either from Nate (not really an "interruption") or the phone or visitors or whatever. Once I start doing something (walking out the door to fold laundry, heading to the kitchen to put away a few things), I remember three things I need to do first, so I start to do one of those. Then it's time to feed Nate, a process that takes at least 45 minutes when all is said and done (feed, burp, change diaper, etc.). Then the process starts again, and before I know it, it's 5:00!

Here are some more pictures of my favorite little boy.







He's watching his mobile in this one:

So far, life with a baby is wonderful! People always warn about how difficult the first weeks are, how big of an adjustment it is, how little sleep you will get, etc., that they forget to include how wonderful the first weeks are, how you will discover 1,000 cute things about your baby (like how he heaves a big sigh after he sneezes, how his feet are long and skinny, how his eyes roll back in his head when he's full and happy, how you can get him to smile when he's almost asleep if you softly tickle his face), how you will find there is more love inside of you than you thought.

Nate is doing really well. He had his two-week checkup yesterday, and he has surpassed his birth weight (babies lose weight their first week, and the goal is for them to be back up to birth weight by week two); he now weighs 6 pounds 10 ounces. He's doing great at night, sleeping for 3.5- or 4-hour stints in between feedings. (He eats about every 2.5 or 3 hours during the day). We are loving life as parents and can't get enough of our Nate!