Mother’s Summer Day

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I usually try to get a photo of me with the kids on Mother’s Day, but it didn’t happen this year. Well, I did get this one of Jameson and I which is great, but Coraline was less-than-cooperative. She certainly doesn’t want to sit still!

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I did, however, take a few thousand photos of her in this little pink outfit. We recently got a lot of new-to-us clothes from our neighbor, and this outfit is my favorite. We were so lucky to have such a warm, beautiful Mother’s Day after all the rainy and cooler days we had and had again since.

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Jameson putting on his rainboots, a testament to how rainy it’s been. It’s only muddy in a few areas of the backyard, thankfully! While Coraline napped, I actually did mulching on Mother’s Day, so I was dirty enough myself without the addition of mud.

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A big treat for Jameson is to ride on daddy’s lawnmower while he mows. Brian didn’t actually mow this day, they just rode around, but Coraline gave me a big grin when she passed, so I think she liked her first ride!

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We played outside with the cars, tricyles, and scooters. We even got out the bubbles! It may as well have been summer.

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I was a little frustrated that this shot didn’t come out in focus, but I worked on it for a bit to create a more artistic looking blur rather than simply out of focus so I could keep the moment. Sasha doesn’t often stay still for Coraline because she tries to poke at her: face, paws, nose, anything she can reach.

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Later, Aunt Melissa and Grandma and Poppa came over as well, which meant that I got to relax for a bit after my hard day of mulching and laundry! Happy Mother’s Day to me 🙂

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Comedian

I’m sure I’m not the first mom to think her child is the MOST HILARIOUS KID EVARR. But it’s true. Jameson’s ridiculous.

Wednesday night, Brian’s mom stopped by (she was too impatient to wait until the next day when she got to babysit while Brian and I went to see the financial advisor hehehe). Anyway, she brought with her a couple Christmas gifts from Jameson’s Great Uncle Chuck and Aunt Sue.

Jameson really had the hang of opening gifts, and he immediate tossed the shirt over his head and ran around the couch a dozen times, before finally placing it in his drum set.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl7h3P4wG-s&list=UUVuQ_ykrK3biljZHExldB8Q]

Following that, he decided that the pajamas were next, and completely covered his face with it, giggling. Too funny!

He then decided it was time to play chase and went around through the kitchen, squealing with Grandma behind him saying “I’m gonna get you!”

He always stops because he wants you to catch him. The other day he laughed so hard he fell, still laughing. He loves chase. And I love my little comedian.

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Picture Day

I’ve been waiting for a perfect moment to dress him in this adorable shirt I got from Zulily. It’s all one piece, soft and comfortable-looking.

I’m so glad I decided to take some photos yesterday morning (and consequently show up to work a little late! oh the sacrifices we make). One of his teachers told me when I picked him up yesterday that he wasn’t a huge fan (I think they used the word “timid” on his sheet… lies! I’m sure he was wailing)

They had to wake him up from his nap for his photos, and then I woke him up from his nap to go home later, so he was a touch cranky when we first got home.

But, he is easily distracted with a few of his favorite things.

Okay, the shoes aren’t a favorite thing. Yet.

These are Padraig Alaskan slipper shoes, from Alaska, for reals. My friend who lives there sent them to us when he was born, and look how they still fit nice for this season! That’s my small dude.

Beat that, pro photographer man.

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Celebrating Mother’s Day (Weekend)

This weekend, I enjoyed the company of one of my oldest friends, Emma. Emma flew in for the weekend to meet Jameson. She adored him. This is her favorite photo from the weekend. I haven’t posted the rest yet. She likes the funny look on his face (this was near the end of their photo shoot and he was starting to get cranky!)


Poor little guy is coming down with a cold, so he wasn’t quite himself yesterday. Though somehow he managed to find the energy to plant me a little marigold at daycare; buy me a new Pandora charm; buy me roses and a card. haha


Most of my weekend was actually spent away from Jameson. Emma and I went to Melt Bar and Grilled (her request since she had never been). I enjoyed my Parmageddon and she had their newest permanent menu add, The Dude Abides which has mozzarella sticks and meatballs. We also tried their spinach and artichoke dip which was good and just a little spicy, and a local hard cidar.

I couldn’t believe the days this weekend turned out so nice! We had to walk around Legacy Village and stopped in the new Gymboree brand Crazy 8 store. I got Jameson an adorable shirt with a moving eyeball on it and finally found a nice sunhat for him, with a nice mesh inside for sweat.

We went on many walks this weekend and Brian even took Jameson to the park. I was sad to see the weekend end. Before dropping Emma back off to the airport, we hit up B.A. Sweetie‘s and picked up some candy. What a great place! I had never been there before, but they had all kinds of old-school candy in warehouse style: boxes and boxes of tempting candy and chocolate!

We spent Sunday evening at Brian’s parents for burgers. It was so nice to have someone there to hold Jameson so Brian and I both got to eat in peace, haha. It was a lovely reminder of how grateful we are to have some family nearby for babysitting, watching, or playing duty. And for my mother, I sent her flowers (tulips this year) like I do yearly, plus a new ebook that just came out with short stories by mom-bloggers called “Stories I Only Told My Mom“. I’m rather excited to read it myself too.

This year I’m particularly appreciative of how difficult a mom’s job is! And how nice it is for us to have family nearby, how difficult it must have been for my parents living so far away from family when I was born. Oh, and there was no Internet you know. I love how connected we all are now.


Mom, me, and grandma on Mom’s side for her first Mother’s Day


Me and Jameson, our first Mother’s Day

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Family Fun & Happy Easter

I have pictures in my queue for editing! We had a great weekend, visiting lots of extended family and enjoying Easter dinner. Friday night we visited my aunt and uncle, cousin Carrie and Brian and their daughters. So I was curious as to what exactly Jameson is in relation to their daughters, and my guess was second cousins once removed. Was I right?

According to Cousin Calculator, Jameson and my cousin’s daughters are actually only second cousins. Removed references a generation difference:

“When the word “removed” is used to describe a relationship, it indicates that the two people are from different generations.

The words “once removed” mean that there is a difference of one generation. For example, your father’s first cousin is your first cousin, once removed. This is because your father’s first cousin is one generation younger than your grandparents and you are two generations younger than your grandparents. This one-generation difference equals “once removed.”  The one-generation difference has nothing to do with age, but rather with descendance from the same person.

Twice removed means that there is a two-generation difference. You are two generations younger than a first cousin of your grandmother, so you and your grandmother’s first cousin are first cousins, twice removed.”

Therefore, my relationship to my cousin’s daughters is that we are first cousins, once removed.

Jameson sat in a borrowed high chair for the first time; not to eat, but just to sit with us as we ate salmon marinated in a honey and balsamic vinegar (plus a few other ingredients but we didn’t see the recipe). The fish was baked and was a little sweet. Very good. I forgot my camera though! I was very disappointed. They took a few photos though, I will have to see if I can get a hold of them.

On Saturday, we drove about 2 hrs and 45 min, Jameson’s longest car ride. He slept the entire time! We were so excited to see Brian’s grandmother in good spirits, talking and reaching out to hold Jameson. It is the best we have seen her in several years. We have some wonderful photos of Jameson and his great grandmother. I couldn’t help but be a bit of paparazzi, simply thinking that if my grandmother were still around, I would want a thousand photos of him and her together. We never know how much time we’ll have.

Sunday, I dressed Jameson in his Easter finest, and Brian was super pumped dressed to match him. We took some family photos, of which I only have one right now, but I have some great outtakes which I’ll be posting to flickr soon. We managed to get Sasha in the photo nicely, I think the only photo we have of all of us together, in focus (since she likes to move so much, of course!).

I don’t know if I have mentioned, but poor Sasha has been to the vet a lot recently! After the infection in her leg, she then got a hematoma on her ear, which I think is fairly common for dogs (could have been caused by her scratching her ear). We have opted not to do surgery on it though because of her older age and because antibiotics would be harmful to her already compromised liver. So it’s a big pocket of blood on her ear, but apparently smaller as far as hematomas go, and we’re just waiting for it to heal on its on. On top of that, she started limping again on Sunday so we have confined her again to the first floor. Brian had to sleep downstairs that first night but she’ll learn quickly again. We’re waiting a few days before going to the vet again; thus far, the limp doesn’t seem to be getting worse and actually seemed slightly better, we shall see.

Of course, the biggest, best news I have saved for last! On Sunday, Jameson rolled over, belly to back! I have yet to see it, and we don’t have it on video yet, but when we do I will be posting it (we have probably 20 minutes now from various 5 minute attempts of tummy time to get this rolling over on video, haha). His first roll was on Sunday morning while I slept in: Brian turned around while Jameson was on his belly and when he turned back, Jameson was happily on his back. He did it again later while Brian’s parents and sister were over for Easter dinner. None of us but Brian saw it though. For second I thought he’d do it once more after we put him back on his belly because he tipped himself but then he stopped.

Speaking of video, we have a lot of video captured on our video camera (as opposed to my camera phone which I used in his early days). However, we haven’t edited any of it. Brian’s been talking about exploring iMovie on our first ever Mac computer, but hasn’t had a chance yet. It won’t be long before I steal his thunder though and do it myself, haha.

This weekend is my birthday (and I will finally be on the later half of my 20’s), and Brian and I are having Brian’s sister Melissa babysit for us while we go out to dinner at a fondue place. I love going there because it’s always what I like to call a “slow” meal. Since Brian and I are very quick eaters, its always nice to go somewhere that forces us to slow down and chat a little. Melissa is excited because since Brian’s parents are out of town there’s no “competition” for Jameson’s attention. And a great time will be had by all!

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Everybody’s Working for the Weekend

TGIF!

This week went by fairly quickly though actually. Hopefully soon I’ll be able to share some fun news, I am crossing my fingers and toes.

Last Saturday, Jameson visited with his friend Jonathan again. Jonathan is getting so big; he’s also a very hungry little boy! He had 8 oz of formula/milk just while we visited that evening! Meanwhile, Jameson’s pretty casual about his eating (until he gets really hungry like at night). Oh, you would like to feed me now?  Okay, I’m game.

Lisa has to go back to work soon, and I know that’s rough, so we definitely wanted to have a fun night with them before their routine changes again. I think sometimes that’s the hardest part. Not really leaving them (because sometimes it’s nice to leave them, really), but it’s just changing up the routine.

And on Monday we finally got to visit with Carrie and Matt and Jameson’s new friend, Nicholas. Nicholas is 2 months old but very alert. Him and Jameson had a little staring contest, it was funny to see them so aware of each other.

This week was also exciting for Jameson; he got to go in the exersaucer at daycare! The exersaucer is the round toy-filled fun standing seat. It helps them practice putting weight on their legs while being surrounded by super fun toys. So Brian put together our exersaucer at home and put a blanket underneath because even at the lowest setting he wasn’t quite touching the ground. Jameson immediately started reaching for the toys. I have a couple photos to post soon.

I also want to share my new favorite site, Pinterest.com. It’s like a bookmark in that you save sites you visit, but it’s all about the images. So I have some new inspiration boards, particularly for our basement which will eventually finish off, and also for Jameson’s first birthday party (it’s never too soon!)

Tonight we’re seeing Jameson’s great Aunt Carol and cousins. It will be a fun visit! And tomorrow we’ll be doing our longest drive with him yet, to visit his great grandma and more aunts and cousins! It will be a fun filled Easter weekend for him, full of family and up to 6 month clothing (since I finally washed it all haha). And maybe he’ll sleep through the night again? He did last night! but not earlier this week, so maybe it’s wishful thinking.

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A 4 Month Recap

This past week, I realized that I haven’t taken as many photos of Jameson this month as in previous months. It must be because of going back to work, but it made me a little sad because Jameson is so much more active and aware now. I weighed him and he is about 12-1/2 pounds right now. One of the biggest changes this month since he started daycare is his “tummy time”. He will now stay on his tummy for minutes at a time, and his head is way up, about 90 degrees (though not consistently the entire time he’s on his belly). Some of his recent photos demonstrate this, but I love this one from his 4 month photo shoot this weekend.


The second biggest change this past month is the development of his napping schedule. I think I’ve talked about this a couple times already, but okay, it’s still not really a schedule, but at daycare he will sleep 2-3 hours at a time, and at home on the weekends he’ll nap for 30-45 minutes at a time. That may not seem like a big change at home, but he is napping in his crib!

Jameson’s bedtime is also gradually getting earlier. We’re working our way to an 8 o’clock bedtime. A couple weeks before starting back to work, we started him at a real bedtime and routine at 10. Since then we dropped to 9 after daylight savings, and now on most nights it’s 8:30. I’ve been avoiding an earlier bedtime, fearing that he’ll wake up twice at night, but the past two nights he has slept through the entire night (not just the 5-6 hours that doctors consider “through the night”, but a full 8-9 hours) Hopefully the trend continues and it wasn’t just because it was the weekend and he didn’t have as many naps during the day!

His photos on Saturday made him look so big! I put him in shoes, and a white button up onesie which my mom ironed for me last weekend when they were here. It was his “alternative” baptism outfit. He sat there with his little knee upright without my posing. And what a smile, right at me and the camera! He was sitting still enough there’s no blurriness.

Compared with his previous month photos below. I think I’ll have to do a little collage at the end for his 1st birthday party or something.


Can I just point out too, how my photo taking and editing is getting so much better? Look at how yellow the earlier photos are. I’m going to have to go back and re-edit some of those good ones!

In other news, Brian and I left his with Brian’s mom last Monday night while we went to the PACE Awards! Brian’s company didn’t win a trophy, but they did get a plaque, which is wonderful considering they go through thousands of applicants. There were a lot of engineers there, and we saw some great new innovations coming to the auto industry! A couple of my favorites (ie., I could understand what the innovation actually was) were the inflatable seat belt, which is effectively an airbag for the rear seat passenger, coming out on a Ford model. And also the high beam headlights which you don’t need to turn off because they automatically adjust the angles to avoid direct lighting in oncoming traffic, coming in a Mercedes model.

It was fun to get dressed up, and we met with Brian’s client and his wife, some other co-workers who I have met before, and his CEO and his wife. It was wonderful to be able to talk about Jameson (actually having something to talk about).


Jameson did great, and Becky successfully put him to bed without us for the first time. When we left he was giving his grandma all kinds of giggles so I knew he would be fine. He woke up when we got home for a feeding, and slept the rest of the night. The latter half of last week was a little rough on me though for lack of sleep since we got home so late. It was nice to sleep in on Saturday while Brian took Jameson, and I let Brian sleep in on Sunday. This is usually how our weekends go these days, taking turns.

This weekend, Brian has off on Good Friday and will be brewing beer (he says this batch will be a citrus-y IPA); on Saturday we are hopefully going to visit Jameson’s great grandma and more extended family who he hasn’t met yet; and Sunday will be a relaxing day after church for Easter. I am getting two pansy baskets in memory of Brian’s grandpa and my grandma. If it’s nice, I have been thinking about planting lettuce in either a basket over the railing of the porch or in a pot if their roots need more space. I got the idea from a recent Better Homes & Gardens issue. (like this but a little different).

Also, hopefully this week we will finally get to meet little Nicholas; our friends had their baby over a month ago now and due to a series of unfortunate illnesses (us and then them!) we haven’t been able to get together. Hopefully tonight will be the night!

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Jameson’s Baptism Weekend

Jameson had a great weekend (and we did as well!). On Saturday, we visited my grandma’s house which we are still cleaning out as its for sale, and Jameson got to meet his great-great aunt Dee (my grandma’s sister). It was really nice to see her, though it is still unfortunate that he never got to meet his great grandmother and being in her house made it a little sad.


He was in a great mood this weekend, even though he didn’t nap very well at all on Sunday! On Saturday, he mostly slept in the carseat because we were on the move so much, first during shopping on Saturday morning and then to grandma’s and back. Sunday he only slept for five 30 minute naps! Usually at daycare he sleeps in a 2 or 3 hour chunk, twice a day.

I think Jameson loved seeing all those people smiling at him on Sunday! He saw both his grandmas and grandpas and his aunts, and his great aunt and uncle! It was disappointing that my brother couldn’t make the trip, since he missed a lovely family photo with Jameson and his family. My dad hadn’t seen Jameson since he was born so it was great he got to see him.

He didn’t fuss much at all, and he slept right through the baptism, waking up at the end of the service. What a little angel! He wore his little bonnet, which was almost too small for him, so it was great that he was able to wear it. Pastor Mike made it fun like usual, and invited the congregation’s children up in aisles so they could see. Pastor Mike even integrated Jameson’s baptism into the sermon, which was really good this week. I was proud to have family with us and see what a great friendly church we attend! Jameson got a certificate, and a keepsake candle and medallion.

I have a better photo of his hat close up, but I didn’t post it to flickr, so here’s one farther away with Pastor Mike. This is the hat that mom made out of my baptismal handkerchief, and gave it to me for his baby shower.

I am so happy to have a nice family photo of just us too; every photo of the 3 of us has been with him sleeping. He was actually alert in this photo, looking around. These photos in the church were hard to edit; the lighting was so weird! I finally got some natural looking skin tones though.


Earlier that weekend, there was some drama on my part trying to decide what he should wear! I had a sweater outfit for him but of course, the weather didn’t cooperate and it was going to be 80 that day! So he wore it that morning but we changed him when we got home. He had little red cheeks most of the day, he certainly wasn’t used to that kind of heat. But I don’t really know why I was so concerned about what he was going to wear, things worked out just fine. Seems like I am often concerned about things that end up fine, particularly where Jameson is concerned. I did buy him a spare outfit which I had mom iron (yes, a baby shirt was ironed). He’ll wear that for his four month photos on Saturday. I can’t believe he’s almost 4 months!

It was so nice though that it was warm. We had the windows open and had a family lunch with spiral ham, pasta salad, baked beans and appetizers, with cheesecake for dessert. Later, we went on a walk while Brian fixed brakes on his car. A great end to a great day!

Tonight, Brian and I are driving 3 hours away for an awards dinner/ceremony for his work! They have been nominated for an award. It is a black tie event, so I am really excited to get dressed up. Jameson will be staying home with Brian’s mom and she is super excited to babysit. It’s the farthest we’ve ever been from him, and the longest we’ve both been away at one time, so I’m sure I will be nervous but it will be good to be away for a little while. Can’t wait!

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