Dedicating Jonah

Today, surrounded by friends and family, we dedicated Jonah to the Lord. I think Josh described it best when he said that not many things can bring tears to his eyes, but anything about Jonah will make his eyes wet in a hurry.

Jonah in his new outfit

Family Picture

Pastor made sure the wrapping paper was St. Louis colors

Jonah loves his grandma Kerry We have been wanting to dedicate him for a while, but we were trying to get as many family members here as possible. My sister Hannah and brother Josh came for an extended weekend this week so I thought it was a perfect time. The only person missing was Aunt Rachel. It was wonderful to be surrounded by family as we offered our son to the Lord. I suppose I have done this every night since he was born and even while he was in my stomach but the visual seemed to feel different. I pray every day that the Lord will keep him safe but at the end of the day I know the Lord's plan is so much bigger than my own.

The white and red roses represent the parents and the pink represents Jonah.

Jonah still loves lights!

Jonah still looking at the lights :)

He wasn't sure what to do about the sandals. :)
One sad part of the day was the absence of my mom. Daily I think of how much she would enjoy Jonah. A friend of mine and I were talking about how you don't really appreciate all your mom(parents) do for you until you become a parent yourself. I just wish I could tell her how much I want to be like her.

Another highlight of my sister and brother's visit was the zoo. Hannah and I took Jonah to the zoo for the first time on Friday morning. It was warm but there was a nice breeze to cool us off.

Jonah needed a little nap while we were there.

I have to say that I'm glad we didn't take Jonah any sooner. He was aware of some things but unfortunately most of the animals weren't moving fast enough for him to take interest.

We went to the new tiger exhibit and Hannah and I had to laugh as Jonah was about a foot away from the tiger's head and he was more interested in the strap on his stroller than the tiger.

Eating lunch at Olive Garden after the zoo

We had a great time and a wonderful visit. It is hard having them so far away and a treat to see them whenever they get to come home.

6 Months And Counting

Today my baby boy reached the ripe old age of 6 months. It doesn't seem possible that 6 months ago Jonah changed our lives. When I fed him last night I was telling him about how we checked into the hospital and got hooked up to that annoying baby monitor. The night wasn't very restful but I think I managed to get a couple hours of shut eye. This morning as I was feeding him I was telling him how that morning they came into my room and got the medicine started that would bring him into the world. I caught myself saying that my contractions started and he was ready to come into the world. I then had to correct myself because I'm not sure that he was ready since he wouldn't come all the way out (even with a vacuum's help :) )

We went to the doctor yesterday for his last round of shots until he is a year. He did so well. Here were his stats:

WEIGHT: 18 lb. 8 oz

HEIGHT: 26 in

My dad, sister, and brother called to sing happy 1/2 birthday to him tonight. My dad asked me what time he was born and I had to think about it for a minute. I was so wired from the drugs and so exhausted from the whole day there are some holes in my memory.

I've said that I don't want 7 kids and I don't but I loved being pregnant and giving birth. I guess the Bible is correct that you forget all the pain of childbirth when you look at the most precious gift you have ever received. We're not ready for another one yet, but I hope there will be a couple more :)

I took Jonah last week to get his pictures professionally taken. The place we went has a $10 special with a lot of pictures, but the only drawback is that you can only pick one pose. There was no way I could do that so I unfortunately spent more than needed but they were just so gosh darn cute.

Enjoy!