On the Move

Here is a video I got of James rolling over. He has finally figured it out! He still wont roll from his back to his belly, but I think it's because he has figured out that he HATES being on his belly!

I bought James a bath toy! It's a little rubber duck. "Duck" was my very first word as a baby, and my toy ducks were my absolute favorite. I hope James can enjoy his duck, as much as I enjoyed mine! He still loves his baths. He splashes like crazy until he finally wears himself out and tells me it's time for bed.

Today Jamey was sitting next to me while I was ordering Christmas presents online. I looked over when I heard a strange noise, and I realized that it was James SNORING! He had past out slouched over in the chair. I guess shopping really isn't his thing.

This is Jamey's very FIRST Christmas ornament I picked out for him this year.

I helped him put it on the tree. He wasn't too sure about it, and he tried to eat it. He then proceeded to fight me for it when I tried to take it from him. He does, however, enjoy the tree and will just sit and stare at the blue and white lights.

We tried rice cereal for the first time this week. James wasn't too sure what to think about it. He would slurp it out of the spoon and then spit it out. I then put the cereal in his bottle, and he ate it in about 5 seconds. Needless to say, he was a fan.

Here is a picture of James and Nate playing with "mirror baby" It's their favorite game of the day.

It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Well It's officially December, and well into it at that, and I have not bought one single Christmas present! We don't even have our tree up yet! This is a very odd thing for me, because I am usually ready to put our tree up as soon as the Thanksgiving turkey is had. I guess having a baby really does change things :)

I have still been trying to decide what we should get Jamey for Christmas, and I think we might just wrap up some diapers and wipes and call it good :) We did buy him a DVD player for the car for when he is a little older, so I guess we will wrap that and put it under the tree too. I am curious to see how he reacts to all the christmas hubbub.

We had his four month checkup last week and wow has he grown! He was almost 27in long! This was in the 90th percentile. (no wonder none of his 3-6 month clothes don't fit him anymore) He was also 15lb 6oz which was in the 50th percentile. So he is cruising right along. It amazes me when I look back at pictures of him when he was a newborn. He was so itty bitty, and now he is this massive infant! I know it won't be long and he will no longer be my little baby. I try not to think about that though, because I'm enjoying him being small for as long as I can!

James still hasn't rolled over since last week. Just the one time, and I guess he was done with it. Hopefully he will decided to try again soon. It's so fun watching him learn and develop new skills!

Well the little monster is starting to wake up, and it's time for him to eat!

Thanksgiving

This last week has been super busy and full of all sorts of excitement.

Last week was thanksgiving and Nate, James, and I braved the harsh Dakota winter weather and journeyed down to Brookings to spend Thanksgiving with Nate's Family.

James had a lot of fun playing with his cousins and spending time with his Grandpa and Grandma. He always seems to enjoy being around large groups of people. He does so good whenever we travel. He keeps up his sleeping habits and his eating habits.

(All Dressed up for Church)

While we were in brookings, we decided it would be a good time to have James dedicated. We had Grandpa Steve do it for us at the church he preaches at(Brookings Wesleyan Church). James did very well in front of all of the people. He even got his first Bible.

I have been trying to decide what I should get James for Christmas. As Nate states, why do we need to get him Christmas presents, he gets stuff from us all the time :) I was thinking about getting him some teethers, as he really seems to be working on cutting some teeth. I still don't see anything erupted, but he chops on anything that gets close to his mouth, and he drools on everything in sight. I'm not sure what else to get him though. I do need to do some searching for a stocking, as he doesn't have one. I thought I would look in etsy, since there are so many cute, homemade things on there.

(Like Father, Like Son)

We got our first big snowfall this last week, so we haven't left our house much. James and I have spent a lot of time hanging out inside. Today while we were playing in his room, He rolled over for the first time! I am so proud of him. he rolled over from his belly to his back twice! My baby boy is grown up so fast. I realized that today is the day, one year ago, that I found out I was going to be having my little man. I can't believe how fast the time has flown by.

How can it be that my baby is 4 MONTHS OLD!!!

I can not believe that is has been 4 months since I brought a Mr. James Peter into this world. Time has just flown by!

James is getting so much more animated and fun. He loves to laugh and play, especially with his daddy :) He loves to lay under his activity center and "get" the animals. He even pulled the giraffe off of the hook! When he plays with daddy, they will often "get" all sorts of things. Their favorite is the baby that lives in our hallway mirror. James will just sit and stare at this strange baby that is staring back a him :)

James has been sleeping through the night for the last month. We usually put him to sleep after a nice fun bath (in which he splashes and splashes!) which usually takes place around seven or so. If I am home, I will nurse him and rock him to sleep (I know this is establishing horrible sleeping habits, but when I am away from him so much, I just want to cuddle him at the end of the day!) When Nate is home, James is usually given a bottle of milk and then cuddled to sleep while Nate watches some sort of television show. He usually goes to sleep fairly easily for us, and has been sleeping until around 6ish in the morning before he wakes up and wants to eat again :) James will sometimes take 2 or 3 hour long naps for me during the day. These are still a work in progress. However, I can definitely tell when it's nap time. I get one cranky boy when they are past due :)

James still breastfeeds every 2-3 hours during the day when I am home, or he will take a bottle of milk when I am at work. When he has a bottle he will eat anywhere from 5-8 ounces at a feeding! He is such a growing boy! He is even learning to hold his own bottle now! Still hasn't quite perfected it, but definitely getting there!

James still enjoys daycare and loves taking in all that there is to see and experience there. Tracy does such a wonderful job with him, and I am so incredibly grateful that we found her!

Still no rolling over, but he is getting so close! He will roll to his side, and then just stop and roll back. Jamey loves to grab his toes and stare at his hands and feet. He enjoys sitting up and looking at all the excitement that is going on around him. This is great, except when he is trying to eat and see what's going on around him at the same time. He gets especially distracted when his dad is around :)

James has been especially loving to cuddle his blankets this month. His monkey and giraffe blankets are his favorite and he will bring them right to his face and smash them against his cheeks whenever he has them. He still LOVES his paci as well. I have a feeling both comfort items will be hard to break him of later.

We got our first snow this week and I am so excited to let Jamey has his first experience with snow. Maybe even go on a small sledding ride :) I was definitely not ready for winter yet, but I am sure grateful that we bought our Envoy. 4-wheel drive is Amazing!

Well I need to get some sleep today before we brave the roads and head to Brookings for Thanksgiving. James has his 4 month appointment complete with shots on Monday after thanksgiving so I will update on his weight and height after that! I am sure that he will have grown like crazy since last time!

First trip to the Chiropractor!

So this week James had his first trip to the chiropractor! He has been super fussy and spitty, so we decided to take him to see one of the family chiropractors in town. He did a great job with James. It was weird seeing my little baby getting his back cracked, but Jamey did really well with it. Since then, Jamey seems to be doing better-less spitting up and definitely happier!

We have been so crazy busy lately, and I don't even know what with. It just seems that between working, and housework, and a couple extracurriculars, we just have no time to do anything! It's hard to remember what I did with all that time before I had James.

We got the rest of James' 3 month pics that Farrah took. They turned out so cute! She did such a good job, and I cant wait to see my little munchkin's face plastered on the walls of the hospital!

James has still been super active. Not quite rolling over, but he is getting so close! He is so fascinated by his hands and his feet he could just play with them for hours!

well, time to get some sleep while I can :)

3 month pictures

My co-workers Farrah took pictures of all the babies born this year for the artwork for our newly remodeled OB unit. These are a couple of the pictures she took of Jamey. I am so excited to see the rest of them!

So we have been busy the last few weeks. We spent Halloween in Williston visiting my Dad, Grandparents, and aunt Kristi. It was so good to see them all. I wish we weren't so far away from them. James was quite sad to say goodbye to his grandpa :)

Jamey has been super crabby this week again. He has been running a borderline temp, and I don't know if he is sick or maybe cutting a tooth (or he could have just been constipated) Hopefully he will get over it soon, because mom is getting tired of the crabbies.

Steve, Vicki, Peter and Lydia are here this weekend to help celebrate Abbie's birthday. I am sure that Jamey will be excited to see his other grandparents. He doesn't get to see family very often, so when he does he tends to just soak it all up.

Well, I suppose I should get some sleep before the little monster man wakes up and wants to eat!

video wednesday

Jamey splashing in the tub. He loves his bath time!

3 months old!

My little man is three months old today!

James Peter,

• You weight 15lbs and are 25in long.
• You have completely outgrown all of your newborn clothes and most of your 0-3 months
• You are still wearing size one diapers, but I just bought a new pack of size 2!
• You still love to eat! You take 5-8oz at a time, or you will eat for 45 minutes!
• You are super smiley and giggly, but once the smiles are done, the crabbies start
• You are starting to not like being swaddled at night, but you wont sleep unless you are
• You have really started to suck on your hands. You even are beginning to prefer them over your pacifier
• You go to daycare 3 days a week when mommy is at work, and I think you are starting to enjoy being around all the noise and other kids a little more :)
• You love to snuggle, and will fall asleep almost instantly when snuggled up to mom or dad
• You are not rolling over yet, but I am hoping soon! your muscles seem to be strengthening, but you just don't have a lot of interest in moving yet
• You still like playing on your activity mat on the floor
• You LOVE your baths at night
• You are the most perfect baby, and I think about you whenever I am not around you. You are my world, and my life isn't complete without you in it.

Momma and her boy :)

Daddy and his boy

Smiling Baby, Sad Mommy

I Can't believe my baby is 12 weeks old already! I feel that I say this every week that goes by, but I truly am amazed at how fast Jamey is Growing. As you can tell from this picture, James has started to really start laughing and smiling. He especially loves when he catches a glimpse of his feet. I usually put colored socks on him, so when he sees them moving around, he gets really excited!

Jamey also really enjoys his activity center. He could just sit and play under this for hours. He has started to become more curious and he gets really excited when he hits one of the animals and it moves. He also discovered that when he kicks his feet really hard the music plays. As soon as the music stops, he legs start going like crazy to try and get the music to start again.

This is how I found James one morning. He had kicked off his blanket and punched through his Halo. He must have decided to leave his arm up in victory. I thought he looked pretty ridiculous. He has started to outgrow his halo, but he wont stay asleep unless he is swaddled. I may have to look into some bigger ones with stronger velcro. He has started sleeping better through the night. One night he slept from 10pm until 6am! This of course, was for Nate while I was at work. He also seems to know when I'm home, because when I am, he gets up at least every 4hrs during the night to eat.

Going back to work has been quite an adjustment for me. I really miss being home with James all day. I miss seeing the sweet smile on his face when I woke him up from his naps. He does really well at daycare, and I think it is good for him, but I miss him SOOO much when I am away from him. Three days a week doesn't sound like much, but to a new mom, it's torture!

Nate is still subbing for 8th Grade Tech Ed. and is still really enjoying it. We are excited that he should be able to stay at this job for a while. Hopefully a position will open up in English for him next year :)

Well Its time for me to catch up on some sleep. Hopefully James will let me get a little tonight :)

11 week Chunky Monkey

WOW! I can't believe James is 11 weeks old already! As you can tell from the picture he is really starting to chunk up. I haven't weighed him lately, but I'm sure he is over 12 pounds. I had to put all of his newborn clothes away this last week, as they were just ridiculously too small for him. I washed up all of his 3-6 month stuff and realized that he probably wont fit in them for very long. It is just crazy how fast they grow!

I officially finished my first full week back at work. It went pretty well. The weekend was really slow, so that was a nice transition back to work. Last night however, was quite eventful. I had my first delivery, which went pretty smoothly (I did almost miss it though, because I was pumping when it was time for delivery). Then, at 6am a patient came in and delivered a 9lb 11oz baby on a pillow on the floor. She refused to get in to the bed so one of my co-workers delivered the baby with the patient crouched over the bed. It was quite an experience!

James has been doing pretty well at daycare. He seems to take the bottle ok, which is good. I think he is still trying to figure out how to take his naps when his mom isn't there to cuddle him to sleep though. I should give credit to Nate, who also survived my first week back to work. He did great getting up with Jamey during the night, getting him ready for daycare in the morning, and then picking him up from daycare after school.

Well it's time to make dinner and put James down for the night. Hopefully week two of work will go just as smoothly!

My Sweaty, Smelly Baby

So, Jamey has been very very sweaty lately. When he wakes up his sheets are quite wet and he has a rather pungent smell. So, needless to say, he has been getting more and more baths. He has, however, finally started to like his bath, which is rather nice.

He has also started to sleep a little better at night. Last night he slept from 8pm until 4am! I however couldn't fall alseep until midnight and then kept waking up every hour and checking to make sure the baby monitor was still on.

I head back to work on Friday, which means tomorrow is my last official day of maternity leave :( I am going to miss this wonderfully special time I have had at home with James.

I have been craving CremeBrulet for quite some time, but sadly the restaurant in town stopped serving it, so I decided to tackle making it myself..... Sadly it didn't quite turn out as well as I would have hoped. It tasted fabulous, it just was more like drinking a glass of cream that eating sweet custard. Oh well, maybe I'll try making it again someday.

Oh, and I forgot to post a picture of the outfit Jamey and I made for Nate for his birthday. He was quite excited to show him it when Nate got home!

I will leave you with a picture of Nate comforting James after his bath. Although he has grown to like his bath, he still doesn't like the being cold and naked part that comes after the bath.

2 month Check Up, and Happy Birthday to Nate

James had his two month Well-Baby check up today with Dr. Svedjan.

His stats were:

11 lbs, 10 oz (50th percentile)

24 inches long (80th Percentile)

Basically my baby is a very long boy! We shall see if he eventually evens out. He also got his two month shots today. He has been very Cranky all day and has been screeching.

Oh, and a Happy 23rd Birthday to Nate! We love you so very much and we are so lucky to have you as my husband and Jamey's Dad. You are the greatest!!

2 months old today!!!

I can't believe my BABY is 2 months old already! Time has really flown. He is starting to get so big and show so much more personality. He has started to smile and I have even heard a few laughs out of him.

He has gotten really good at holding his head up. He loves to sit up and look around at the world around him. He hates when he cant' see what is going on.

Here he is sitting up in his Bumbo that his Aunt Kristi got him. He likes it for a while, then I think he starts to get tired holding his head up.

Here is James in his Jumperoo. Despite his face, he really does like it :) He has been kinda' crabby the past few days. The other day he was awake from 3am until 3pm when he finally laid down for his nap!! Speaking of naps, we have been trying to transition to two naps a day instead of one. I think this may help some of the crabbies! He just seems to get so overtired by the end of the day

Grandma Jodi Came to visit us again before heading back to Georgia. James really enjoyed spending time with her. He loved to play and smile at her. He was working really hard to laugh for her while she was here, but he didn't manage to really get a good one until she left. Hopefully we will get to see her again soon!

This is a picture that my mom took of us together before it started to get really cold out here. As you can tell from the picture, Jamey has my very very pale skin tone :) Maybe that will change as he gets older, but for now, I am enjoying him looking like me.

Here is a picture of the poop EXPLOSION he had last week..... sorry it's so graphic. He went through his two outfits, his Halo, and it squirted across the room and onto the carpet.. It was quite a mess!!

We have still been working on sleeping through the night. We still haven't had any success, but hopefully soon we will so that I can get some much needed rest before heading back to work. On a positive note, Nate got a subbing job at one of the middle schools here in town that may turn into a full-time position sub job!! So because of that we decided to find a daycare for James to go to 3 days a week when I work. I found one that one of my co-workers uses, and I really think she is going to work out well. I am really nervous to send him, but I know that for now it is what we have to do.

We have a Doctor appointment tomorrow for James. I am really curious to see how much he has grown in the last two months. Sadly he will have to get some shots at this appointment. Hopefully he can be a trooper and it wont be too bad (for him or me :)

My Ten Pounder

Here is my big boy! I can't believe how big he is getting already. This morning I was rocking him after he got done eating and all I could think about was how he wasn't really a newborn anymore. He is approximately 10lbs and is really starting to chunk up. He has these super cute little fat rolls on his legs.

I have been working on trying to get him into a schedule since I will be going back to work in two short weeks. Lately he has been taking a 3hr nap from noon until three, and we have been trying to get him to go to sleep around 8pm. He is still not sleeping through the night, but sometimes I can get him to do 4-5 hour stretches.

We bought him a jumperoo this week because he really has enjoyed standing. He is a little small for it, but he is starting to get it. He can't quite hold up his head all the time, so we prop him up with a blanket. He seems to like it ok. I am not too sure about the MamaRoo that I got for him. I am thinking that I will return it as it was quite expensive and he really doesn't seem to like to sit in it. I have another week to decide what I want to do with it.

Here is a picture of the HUGE fish I caught at the lake over labor day. It was definitely the biggest fish of the trip. It was 30 inches long! As you can see nate is holding it because I can't stand touching fish. We took James on the pontoon for the first time. He wasn't sure what to think at first, but he fell asleep after a while.

This afternoon I will be going to the gym for the first time since December! Nate and I got memberships to Center Court fitness to hopefully get back into shape. I am a little nervous, but hopefully it won't be too brutal :)

my serious seven week old...

James is a very serious baby. When we originally picked out the name "james" we thought that we would pretty much just be calling him "jamey" but I find myself calling him "james" quite often. I think this is because of his often serious and intense expressions. He often will just sit and stare very intently ahead. He has started to seem more interested in his surroundings this last week. I have been thinking about buying him an activity center to play under. Something that he can lay under and look up at all the cool stuff.

James has started holding up his head a lot more this last week. He still is a little wobbly, but I can definitely tell those neck muscles are strengthening. I have been working on giving him more "tummy time" so that hopefully we can start working on rolling over.

My little monster is still eating like a champ, and it is finally starting to show. His legs and arms are really starting to pudge out. He finally has a few little rolls! I only wish that he didn't like eating so much at night so I could sleep for longer than 2 hour intervals!!

Well I am down to my last 3 weeks of maternity leave! I cant believe how fast it is just flying by. Nate is in the subbing mode and will be doing that full time this fall. We still aren't sure what our plans are yet for daycare, but I'm sure it will work itself out.

I was a bad mom this last week and forgot to take pictures of James meeting Sara and Tyler. They came to visit on Monday. Tyler wasn't too sure what to think of "his baby james" he held him a few times and enjoyed helping James put his pacifier back in his mouth. I could, however, tell that Tyler wasn't too fond of attention being on James and not on him, as I think he is used to. I could definitely tell he is an only child :) Aunt Sara did bring us some cute new outfits for winter. It has been absolutely freezing here lately, and I think we will be adding many extra layers of clothes these next few weeks!!

Well James is finally asleep, so I guess I should be too :)

week six

Well, James has reached 6 weeks old. He is getting so big and strong. He has been holding his head up for quite a while when he is on his belly. His feet are getting huge. Socks that were really big on him when he was born, are way too small now. He is still wearing his newborn onzies and sleepers, but the sleepers are getting a little too short. He is still really skinny, but he has gotten really long. His eyes are still the same color as mine (deep blue) and his hair is still a dark blonde/light brown color. He has started showing more interest in the things around him and will sit and stare at just about everything.

We got his mamaRoo in the mail this week, and James isn't quite sure what to think of it. It's not exactly what I hoped, but I am hoping that maybe he will grow to like it. We have also started putting him in his vibrating bouncing seat. he likes it alright, but still would rather be held by mommy.

Grandma Jodi came to stay with us for a few days this last weekend. It was nice for Jamey to get to meet his other grandma. She took him for walks in his stroller and rock-a-byed him is his rocking chair. He really seemed to miss her when she left. I am sure that he will be huge the next time she sees him! Auntie Sara and cousin Tyler are coming to visit this next week, and we are getting so Excited!!

We are at the cabin this weekend for the last hurrah of the summer. We were a little nervous for a while, because the power went out for a while, but it came back on, so we were relieved :) I go back to work in 4 weeks, so I am trying to enjoy the time I have left with my punkin.