I Know, It's About Time!

To my few followers I appologize for not updating the blog in about 2 months. It has been a busy two months. I dreamed I would have extra time to blog on my days off, but Jonah, who is now on the move, decided to change that.
How is it that I can have all these lofty plans and some days get absolutely nothing done. School is going well. I love being able to stay home and do school. Here are a couple videos of Jonah. Sorry for the one that is sideways.

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!

The Adventures of Rolling Over

Jonah woke up from his nap this morning and this is how I found him. There are many benefits to rolling over but looking like he is in prison isn't one of them :) He has discovered sleeping on his tummy for the first time. Not sure if he likes it better than his back but he is giving it a try.

A Beautiful Dinner

So I couldn't resist posting a picture of our dinner the other night. It was just almost too beautiful to eat. My step sister Christa made this salad one Sunday for lunch and Josh and I loved it so much we have it about once a week.

It is so easy to make. It's just spinach, strawberries, mandarin oranges and pecans (the candied ones are the best). I had some extra blueberries so I put those on their too. I also add chicken (the rotisserie ones work really well). The best dressing is raspberry vinaigrette (store bought or homemade).

ENJOY!

Vacation at the Lake

Sorry friends that it has been a while since I have posted. We were gone for a week at the lake and then it seems like it has taken me forever to get caught up around the house. Having three to unpack and clean for is different than two.

Friday afternoon Josh loaded up Jonah and I headed to see my grandparents in Tulsa while he went on a canoe trip with the men's group at our church.

Then Saturday evening we met Josh and headed to Beaver Lake in Arkansas. If you have never been you must go. It is a beautiful lake. We had to stop by Chick-Fil-A for dinner, a first for Jonah.
We were able to spend the week boating, floating, swimming, skiing, and jet skiing. A friend of my dad's owns two houses there. Josh and I were able to stay in one and my dad and Lana along with her family stayed in the other. We had a great time. Jonah and I gave Josh a guided fishing trip for Father's Day which he was able to go on with uncle Caleb. Jonah enjoyed being in the water. The funniest part of the whole week was seeing Jonah's face when we put his life jacket on. Needless to say the kids was not going to sink.

Another exciting thing that happened while we were gone is that Jonah rolled over all by himself. Now he loves to do it all the time. I tried to upload the video but it wouldn't upload. I'll try again some other time.

This was our family vacation for the year but Josh and I are planning a night away to go to a St. Louis Cardinal game and enjoy some time together.

More New Things

Jonah is now 5 months old and the days are just flying by. I cannot believe that I have to go back to school in a month. It hardly seems possible. I am loving my time at home and Jonah is learning new things every day. His new thing as of Monday is spitting. He has discovered that if he can get some spit in his mouth he can use his tongue to get it all over himself. I tried to video it the other day but all I got was him just looking at the camera. Something else we are working on is sitting up on his own. Josh was playing with him the other night so I snapped a couple shots of them.
(Can you tell they're related?)

I was also able to video him all by himself so enjoy it. (Pardon me in the video:))

We also were able to borrow a new toy from a friend and Jonah is having a great time playing in it.