Oh How Time Flies!

Okay so anyone who says parenting is easy is either lying or not doing something right! I come home from work & the next thing you know, it's 10:00 PM! I'm drop dead tired. After the bottles are made, diapers are changed, dinner is cooked, husband and baby are fed, house is cleaned up.... whew.... I don't have the time to keep up with this blogging stuff! ...and so now you know the rest of the story.... as Paul Harvey would say.... I can't believe I've only done 9 blogs for the year of 2009 thus far...

Well to catch you up on this week's news... let's see....

Last weekend Jace started the "GI JOE" crawl as Joe calls it. He gets on his belly, extends his little arms as far as they will go, uses his hands like suction cups to the hardwood floor, and scoots his little body across the floor! So much for the foam puzzle piece pad we bought to keep him off the floor!

On Monday I was feeding him his solid food and he did something. I shook my head no and said, "NO NO NO". He mocked me by shaking his head no, too, and smiling a big ol' smile at me. Now how in the world do you discipline something as preciously cute as that??? hee hee hee I use the old distraction method....

On Tuesday morning he was playing with something in his crib. I was proud of whatever he was doing at the time and I said, "Yay Jace" while clapping my hands. He started clapping his hands, too. Much to my surprise!!! It was the cutest thing.

On Wednesday when I picked him up at the daycare, they told me he was getting up on all fours & just rocking back and forth. I don't think it will be much longer before he is mobile! I'm half excited and half nervous about it. He'll be into everything. He's such a nosy little thing. We already have a problem with him "eyeing" the electrical cords to the ficus tree lights. He loves that tree and now he sits on the floor looking at the cords and rocking back and forth until he musters up the nerve to get onto all fours. That will then lead to the belly to where he'll "GI JOE" over to the cords. If we give him a stern "no" he cries and decides to play with something else.

I can't believe we're only a few days away from him being 9 months already. Where has time gone? I started planning for the first birthday party. I plan on making his cake. Maybe someone should warn the guests to eat before they come to the party for cake & ice cream????
Actually I can't wait to make his first cake. I hope that it will turn out the way I want it to. That's all I'm going to say about that. I don't want to ruin any surprises. But yes, plans are underway. In fact, when my sister's bridal tea was over, I was in the backseat of the car on the way back to Tennessee making plans for Jace's birthday. Have I mentioned I love party planning??? ha ha ha ha

Today Joe passed his P&C for his new job! Yay, Daddy!!! Jace and I are so proud of him.... He's our "P&C" hero.... For all of you non-insurance folks, that's "Property & Casualty".. HA HA HA Yes, add yet another insurance employee to our family. Joe will be selling insurance via an in-bound call center. Now that he's passed his tests & obtained his license, they are going to put him through training on policy, sales, & the company's system. So he's got a few more weeks to go before he'll actually be in production.

Okay, well, it's bed time for this sick MaMa.... Yeah, I've got some head cold or some sort of crud going on. So I've got a hot date tonight with the NyQuil bottle.

Good night!!!

Trying to Crawl

Walking Down The Hall

Funny Face Video

I don't know where he gets these facial expressions from, but Jace is one of most expressive babies I know. I think this video is too cute. You'll see the face I'm talking about....

Jace's School Picture

I was going to keep it a secret until we came home, but we had Jace's pictures done at school. Aren't they darling????

Last night he said his first word.... DA DA.....I couldn't hardly believe it. I slapped Joe's leg, my mouth flew open and I gasped! Then I got big tears in my eyes. I asked Jace, did you just mean that? Say Dada again. So he did....

We're getting so excited for our trip home. I can't wait to see everyone. I wish it were a longer visit, but we'll have to wait until after June when I get my vacation for that! Pod is planning to learn to swim in Pap's pool this summer! LOL :)

New pics of our 20 lb 10 oz baby!

Swinging Giggles

Jumpy Jump

Mommy & Pod fall asleep on the couch & Daddy takes our picture!

Isn't this the most precious picture?

Hey Good Lookin' Whatcha Got Cookin'?

Look, Mom, No Hands!

Pod has had a jumpy for a few months now and never really cared too much about it. The other day I got it back out again to see what he thought of it. Now we can't keep him out of it! He absolutely LOVES it!

Pod is doing well. He's turning over to his belly and back to his back again. He is also gripping items. He shook his rattle the whole ride to school today! He is growing like a weed & goes for his six month check up next week. Time is flying by! Before you know it, we'll be having his one year birthday party... hmmmm I better get to planning!

Well, here's a video of him in his jumpy. It's funny to watch him in it. I love to watch him jumping. It looks like he's trying to do an Irish Riverdance or something. He just has a ball and is usually grinning ear to ear!

Talk to you all soon!

PS - Pod wants to type you all a message....

cdsssssssssssssssssssssssss bcx b

b q

More Pics and A Speedy Gonzales Video

Okay so here are some more pictures. The first few are Pod in his Steelers outfit that his Pap and Grandma Amy got for him. He was a real hit at the daycare and the super bowl party, too! Everyone loved his little Pittsburgh outfit!

The next picture was taken one day while Pod and I played in the kitchen. He loves to walk in his walker. I know he's only 4 months old. Well, in the picture above he's only 3 months old, just about to turn four months and he was already walking in the walker! He loves it!!

The next picture down was his first day of day care. I'm a blubbering mess.... I didn't want to leave him. However, he & I have both adjusted so well. I absolutely love that daycare and he does, too. He socializes with his little friends and the teachers all treat him well. He's learning a lot & has improved so much in just over a month. I'm amazed! I think that daycare, although I fought and fought not to have to send him, was a blessing afterall. I don't have to go out of my way to drop him off and I'm literally less than a minute up the road from him. I can stop in and see him whenever I want. I make unannounced visits and do not have one complaint yet. They treat him great and he loves the teachers! He's all smiles in the mornings when I drop him off. It's great, but then again, it breaks my heart! :)

The next two pictures down again are pictures of him in his walker.

The two pictures of Pod in his sunglasses were taken yesterday. It was in the 60's here and we took him for his first trip to the park. He wore the sunglasses so at some point during our walk, he fell asleep. I'm not sure when, because the glasses are dark, but nevertheless, he was at the park....

Last but not least is the video of him in his walker for all the non-believers... He is 4 months old in this video and going to town. Really, though, he's not going anywhere like he normally does. It seems like when I get the camera out, he's done "performing".... This is the best I could do!

Love you all!

It's been a while!

Wow! It has been so long since my last post! Before Christmas??? Goodness!!! I cannot believe it. Okay so here goes.....

On December 23rd, Joe and I took Jace to see Santa. We stood in line for a few hours while Jace slept. Then right before we got to the beginning of the line, we woke him up and got him ready. He wore a cute little snowman sweater and pants that Grandma Dana got for him. Jace really liked Santa. He didn't cry at all! Santa said he was honored to meet Jace and that he's been a very good boy. He said that he's a well behaved baby and truly a blessing. I told Santa I couldn't agree more! Jace really didn't smile for the picture with Santa, but he was holding on to his hand! LOL

On Christmas Eve we went to Machael and John's house for the annual Christmas Eve dinner. There was a ton of food. We did the dirty santa gift exchange in which I got a pan. I can't remember what Joe got. Jace got a hat.

On Christmas mornning Jace woke up at 5:30 for a bottle. We stayed up until Daddy got up at 6:00. We had our gift exchange & Jace played with toys from Santa. Then Jace & Daddy went back to sleep. I worked on getting some things ready for the Christmas brunch and then we all got ready to leave. We went to Joe's parents' house for Christmas Day. We had our gift exchange and brunch... well.... it was supposed to be a brunch, but ended up being a lot of work. We didn't eat until late afternoon by the time it was all ready to go.

New Years Eve we spent at home. Jace slept through the ball dropping but woke up shortly thereafter for a bottle. Joe and I watched the ball drop. It was a bittersweet thing for me as it usually always is. New Years is always a bittersweet time.

Jace started daycare on January 5th. He loves his school and his teachers. He is everyone's favorite! They all spoil him. He's the only boy in the infant room. The second week of being there, though, he got sick and contracted RSV. He was out of school for a quite a while with that. It's a viral respiratory infection, so he couldn't be around other babies.

Let's see what else.... oh yeah, he's actually "walking" in the walker, not jumping around. He makes it go all over the house. We've put him on rice cereal twice a day and he's also eatting sweet peas. He loves sweet peas!!!

The last time Jace was weighed (January 16th) he weighed just under 17 pounds.

He is still such a happy baby, full of life and smiles. What a blessing he is. I just love him to death!

Well, here are two video clips for your amusement.

Gigantic Cookies

Okay, so cooking and baking hasn't been my 'thing'. I get it honestly, I guess, just ask Mom. But anyway, I try because I enjoy doing it. I've told Joe many times that I wish I could cook. I can't just start baking or cooking without a recipe. I'm not one of those types, although I would love to be. I'm not very organized in the kitchen either. If I had to prepare a whole meal like my Aunt Darcy does at Thankgsiving, I'd go nuts. I wouldn't know what to make in advance, yada yada yada.

Well this year I offered to help out again with the candy cane cookies. Joe's mom always makes them. I made them last year and they were pretty awful. Anyway, Sue said it would be great if I could make a batch. I knew I could make cookies in advance. So, this morning I started making the candy cane cookies. They're not the easiest things in the whole world to make, but they're pretty interesting.

So I was rolling them out and twisting them up. They baked and came out looking like walking canes instead of candy canes! They're huge!! I called Sue and told her I was going to make peppermint sticks instead of candy canes becuase they keep falling apart. You can't tell in the picture but most all of them are broken! Well, the one you can tell it was broken, so I had to taste test.

So, we'll each get one cookie for Christmas... LOL oh well... at least I tried!!!

Who Is The Happiest Baby In All Of The USA?

Is he not the very cutest baby you've ever seen? Okay, okay... I'm a little biased... Anyway, the top picture of him in his hat and coat was from our shopping trip yesterday. It was bitter cold out and I had him bundled up like Randy on the movie "A Christmas Story". He looked so adorable in his little hat. He had a good time shopping with me. He stayed awake the whole trip (2 hours). When we got toward the house, I realized I needed to run to the bank. As soon as I passed our road, he started crying. I had to pull over in the Home Depot parking lot and feed him his bottle. He was fine after that. The top picture was taken while we were in Home Depot's parking lot.

The next three pictures were from Joe's birthday. In the top picture, check out the new microwave. It was a birthday present to Joe from his parents. Also, the shirt Joe is wearring is another birthday present.

Pod's clothes he had on were purchased for Christmas, but he needs them now. LOL The jeans, which are too long, are 12 months, the socks are 12-24 months, and the two T-shirts are 6-9 months. I also bought the jacket he is wearring in the first picture = 18 months. The boy is growing like a weed!

While we were out yesterday, I bought him some more of the formula. I didn't know what to do when I saw that it was only $14.49 before tax... WOW!! Anyway, I have been feeding him the straight milk-based formula without any of the old formula mixed in. He's doing great on it. He has had a few bowel movements and no blood in the diaper! Praise God!

Today I have start cooking for the Chistmas Eve & Christmas dinners. On Christmas Eve I'm taking meatballs, veggie tray, fruit tray, cheese balls with crackers, and yule logs. For Christmas brunch I'm fixing a ham, bacon, pancakes, candy cane cookies, 24 hour salad, and a cresent wreath. I've got a lot to get done and the baby is asleep, so I should go get started. I thought I would share the adorable pictures, though.

Love to you all!

This Weekend

Friday night Joe worked late. On his way home, he had a wreck. No need to worry, he's doing fine. He was sore in neck and back for most of the weekend, but he's feeling better today. Some woman hit him from behind and then while he was getting his insurance information out of the glove box, she took off. Hit & run.... Luckily he didn't have any severe injuries and the car only sustained a few scratches. I didn't see them, but I didn't look either.

Saturday Joe was on call for work. He went in on Saturday morning and then came home and took a nap. I cleaned the house because I knew his family was coming over on Sunday for his birthday. Anyway, when he woke up, his pager went off and he had to go back to work. He worked for a few hours and then finished his Christmas shopping. He didn't get home until later.

Sunday Joe woke up. Pod and I gave him the rest of his birthday presents. Yes, he got two of the three early. One from Pod (foot massager), one from me (boots), and one from both of us (gun book). He opened his gun book yesterday. After church (we didn't make it), Jerome & Sue came over. We all went for brunch for Joe's birthday at Lakeside Tavern. We all had the brunch buffet, which I thought was delicious. Then it was back to our house. Joe's sister, Machael, her husband, John, and their two girls came over, too. We had cake & ice cream, played with Pod, and visted for several hours. We all played Catch Phrase. Once it got dark, Machael and John left. Jerome and Sue stayed and the four of us played Phase 10 while Pod slept in his swing. He was so tired from visiting all day without a nap! He napped at the restaurant, but that was it.

I didn't get to bed until 1:11 a.m., because by the time I was ready to go to bed, Pod was waking up from his nap wanting his bottle. So I fed him and then off to sleep we went. He woke up again at 7:00 & wanted another bottle. So now, he's sitting here on my lap watching me catch up on this blog!

Today, Pod and I are going to make a run for forumla and bottle parts. A few of the bottle parts fell during the dishwashing cycle and then heating element burned them. So I have to get replacement parts, which they sell at Babies R Us. We also need more formula. He's now taking straight formula that I can buy at any old place. It's a milk based formula & he seems to be doing great with it. He's has a few bowl movements since we started him on the new formula & there haven't been any signs of blood in the diaper. Thank goodness!

So, other than that I've got to finish wrapping a few last minute presents today. I've got one more Christmas project I'm working on and I've got a lot of cooking to do. We have a Christmas Eve dinner at Joe's sister's house every year and then Christmas day food. This year I'm making miniature Yule Logs for Christmas Eve only because I couldn't find chocolate jelly roll. So I'm going to use Swiss Cakes..... hmmm I hope it works out well. LOL Then I'm also going to take a veggie tray and a fruit tray. For Christmas day, I'm fixing a ham (the very first one I've ever made), 24 hour salad, and candy cane cookies.

This year is the first year that I'm off for Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas. I'm ahead of the game in comparison to where I normally am at this time of the year! Joe, too, has the day after Christmas off, so we're going to be able to have a nice time together for Pod's first Christmas. Speaking of which, we're going to see Santa tonight.

Okay, Pod's tired of sitting here. We need to get ready to go do our running so I can get home and finish up the wrapping and my projects.

Love to you all!
Jaime

Christmas Tree Shopping

Our Christmas Tree - Pod's First Christmas Tree - 2008 Another view of Pod's first Christmas Tree - December 14, 2008
Pod's Presents - December 14, 2008

Another picture of our Christmas tree 2008 - December 14, 2008

Our Living Room - December 14, 2008

Pod is watching us decorate the tree - December 14, 2008

Pod is watching Daddy untangle Christmas lights - December 14, 2008

Daddy untangles Christmas lights - December 14, 2008

Pod on December 13, 2008 = 3 months old

Our Christmas Tree - December 13, 2008

Joe puts the Christmas Tree on the porch - December 13, 2008

Check out the rope going along the roof of the car! - December 13, 2008

Daddy & Pod waiting while the Christmas tree is being put on the Cruiser

December 13, 2008

Daddy waits while the tree is being put on the Cruiser

December 13, 2008

The Christmas Tree on top of the Cruiser!

December 13, 2008

Mommy & Pod standing next to a Christmas Tree - We didn't pick this one

December 13, 2008

Mommy & Pod standing next to our Christmas tree

December 13, 2008

Pod is out Christmas Tree Shopping on his 3 month birthday!

December 13, 2008

Well, it's that time of the year! Finally, as of today, I am done shopping with exception to Joe's neices, which his sister was supposed to call me tonight and didn't do. She must not have gotten any time alone.

Anyway, we went Christmas Tree shopping on Pod's 3 month birthday (December 13th). We found the tree we wanted, which was $35, the two guys selling the Frazier Fir trees strapped it to the top of the PT Cruiser, and off we came back home. Joe unloaded the tree. Then we took Pod to Grandma Sue and Papa's house so Joe & I could go shopping. We found a few things. Joe bought me one of my Christmas presents... A 2008 Swarovski Christmas ornament. I decided that when we got married, I wanted a dated Swarovski Christmas ornament for every year.

By the time we were done shopping and had gotten back to Sue & Jerome's house, Machael & John had already left. We ate pizza & then brought the baby home.

The next day, December 14th, Pod, Daddy, & I went to church. It was Pod's first day at church. Everyone was happy to see us. When we got home, we put up our Christmas tree. Jerome and Sue came over. We finished decorating the house. Jerome & Sue played with Pod. Joe went to Home Depot and got a wreath for the front door and put white lights in it. He also got three flood lights (two red & one green). Our ouside of our house looks nice. I'll have to take picture and post it on here. We watched Christmas Vacation and part of Elf, ate hotdogs, macaroni & cheese, and green beans.

On Monday (December 15th) Pod, Sue, and I went to Pigeon Forge to do some Christmas shopping at the outlet stores. I got some Tommy Hilfiger clearance items for Pod and some sleepers from Carter's. Everything I bought was either 9 months or 12 months in size. The boy is growing like a weed!

This weekend is Joe's birthday, so we'll be busy this weekend. Oh yeah, and by the way, we got a notification on our cell phone tonight that Drew and Carol had their baby! Victor was born today. He weighed 6 lbs 3oz and was 53cm long! I told Pod that his buddy was born today. He looked at me like I was crazy!

Pod had his 3 month check-up today... NO shots! Yeah!! Anyway, he is 14 lbs. 10 oz. and is

24 1/2 inches long. He is doing great. The doctor told me to try Good Start formula, which is milk based. If I see blood in the diaper, I need to stop it immediately. Well, while I was shopping for the formula, I saw that they had a soy based formula, too, which was milk-free... All this time I've been paying out the hind end for formula, when I could have had him on a $13.00 can of formula.... Oh well, live and learn. At least I know that if the milk formula doesn't work, I can get the soy formula and not have to pay the crazy costs for what he has been taking.

Oh yeah, before I forget... I've got 10 more lbs to go to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight... I won't ever wear the same clothes again, but I'll weigh what I did. This jelly-belly is driving me crazy!

okay, enough for tonight...