Pay it Forward

I know I've been a complete blog slacker! This game will help me find out if anyone is still checking my blog! I copied this from my friend Jessica's blog and I already have a fun gift idea so you should play! Pay it FORWARD--How it works: The FIRST THREE people to leave a comment on this post will receive at some point during this year a handmade gift from me. What it will be and when it will arrive will be a total surprise--to both of us. The CATCH is that YOU MUST PLAY TOO! Before you leave your comment here, write a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going (you can cut and paste these instructions). Then come back and let me know that you are going to play, and sit back and anticipate the arrival of your gift. It's THAT easy! Remember, only the FIRST THREE comments will qualify. Good luck!

Fun Times

I just love my little angel...especially during quiet moments like this when I can hear and feel him breathing on my chest and can enjoy his warmth, his smell, and his occasional sighs of contentment.

My new favorite game to play with him is the "hokie pokie." We don't have a video of it yet but I love to sing and dance with him. Many mornings after he is fed I just put on some music and we dance together in the living room. I know he won't remember dancing with momma but I will always treasure these times.

Ryan also loves his little angel...especially when Jonah is in what we like to call, "Jonah Party Time" mode. Ryan takes him all around the house checking out every painting, picture, and mirror in the house, helps him fly like a super hero (one of my personal favorites), and tries to read him stories.

The key word here is tries!

When Jonah gets fussy we have discovered a fail proof, insta-happy Jonah maker: The Bouncy Ball, a.k.a. Jonah's happy place. No matter how unhappy he is, the bouncy ball works like magic to bring back our calm, happy baby...every time!


(Thank you, Julie, for mentioning how much Henry likes to be bounced on the birthing ball...it's wonderful!)

New Toy

Waking Up

Jonah is becoming a much better sleeper. He still doesn't like to sleep on his back but he sleeps in his car seat just fine. (The angle seems to be easier on his tummy.) Here's our current nightly routine:

I feed Jonah around 9:30pm and then let Ryan burp/change/ and put him down while I go to bed. (Jonah sleeps in his car seat in the living room with daddy while he studies.) Then when Jonah needs to eat (usually between 1-2am) Ryan brings him to me. After I feed him, Ryan burps and changes him and puts him back down to sleep. Then Ryan goes to bed and I'm on Jonah duty the rest of the night. Lately he only needs to be fed again between 6-7am so I get plenty of sleep.

Jonah used to have his party hour between 3-5am so my shift used to be pretty tough. But now that he eats and then goes right back to sleep, I've got it easy! We've decided that Ryan can now go to bed earlier if he needs to, and I can handle the 1-2am shift. We know it sounds crazy to the average person but you must understand that Ryan's internal clock doesn't get tired until after midnight, and he only needs around 6 hours of sleep! So this has been working well for us.

Here are two cute videos of Jonah waking up. (Or of us trying to wake him up!) I took him out of his car seat and laid him in the crib to help him wake up.

Our little model

Here's a link for photos from Week 1:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=225401&id=782935653&l=c2018d09cb

Check out this link for photos from Week 2:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=229219&id=782935653&l=2cc7289179

Videos will soon follow...

Whew...survived the first week!

We were released from the hospital Monday, March 2nd around 6pm and finally got to bring our beautiful baby home. We can't stop staring at him. Like most parents we are convinced that he is the cutest baby we've ever seen! And he is such a good baby! He's not much of a crier yet which we appreciate...he just grunts to let us know he needs help.

The first night went pretty well...Jonah ate every two hours and went right back to sleep! I was so excited! But then for a few nights he didn't want to sleep after his 4pm feeding...his eyes were wide open and he just wanted to play! This wasn't too surprising because he was always kicking around 3-4am when he was in the womb. But it was a little rough. For the last few days it seems like his sleep/wake cycle is on track, but the poor little guy has been having a lot of digestive problems. He's been groaning and straining whenever we lay him on his back. And we don't want to lay him on his stomach, so last night Ryan ended up holding him while he studied until 4am and then I took him until 8am. We had an appointment with our pediatrician today and she gave us some good suggestions. I'm going to try eliminating some gas-causing foods from my diet and we got a little tummy medicine for him. We've also had him nap in his car seat today and that position seems to work a lot better for him. I'll let you know how it works out!

The next two weeks are going to be crazy for us because Ryan has several quizzes and finals. It's just so hard for Ryan to focus because all he wants to do is play with Jonah! (And respond to all the recent comments on his blog.)

We feel so lucky to live close to both of our families. Ryan's parents came up Tuesday and Wednesday to help, and help they did! They cooked, cleaned, did laundry, and in their "spare time" they held and played with Jonah. =) Thank you Jill and Randy! And my Mom was here for almost a week (just left today) and she spoiled us with amazing meals, a clean kitchen, clean clothes, and open arms to take Jonah in the wee morning hours when we are just too exhausted to rock him back to sleep.


All in all, we are loving our new role as parents. We are tired but we know that these first few weeks are always hard. Jonah brings us many more smiles than tears! And he's just so darn cute that it's impossible to be mad at him (for long. =0)

Jonah's Epic Adventure!

This is a video we put together today. It covers the time leading up to Jonah's birth and it has some clips from the rest of the day. Its about 10 minutes long so it might take a little while to load. This is another one that looks great fullscreen. Hope you enjoy it!