life with baby

Lasagna Night

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Saturday night, we invited JP, Lisa and Jonathan over for dinner, and Brian decided to make his very first lasagna. You may be surprised if you know Brian that he’s never made lasagna before, but you would never know it by the taste. It was fabulous!

Unfortunately, Jameson was a little cranky. He has been teething hard, and I am pretty sure he is also getting at least one molar as well as another tooth in front. Poor thing. He woke up from his nap (some 3 hours!) with a 102.2 degree fever. It responded quickly to a lukewarm bath and Advil though, and disappeared the next day, so I think it may be teething related. (Bonus to all this: He also slept in on Saturday AND Sunday, until 9:30 and 8:30, amazing!)

Another thing the bath helped along…

Anyway, they still had some fun together, though Jameson was a little on edge and slightly possessive of his toys, which I’ve never seen in him before. Hello, toddlerdom.

They both are very interested in the walk along toys, so luckily we have two of them. Mr. Dino is hard to steer, we’re a big fan of the other Learning Walker because Jameson can steer that one himself (that means we don’t have to follow him around so closely – with the dinosaur, Jameson yells for us to help him)

Jonathan’s birthday is coming up soon! He’s going to be a big one year old in February. How time does fly. His party is going to be gray, blue and red. We’re excited for it and his gift has been picked out for almost a month. It ships soon.

To occupy them toward the end of the evening when they were both getting tired, Brian broke out the play set again.

They were only in it a short while before they got tired of it. We wore them out!

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Tunnel Play

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For Jameson’s birthday, Brian got him the Mega Land play set. For about a month, we’ve only had a tunnel portion set up, but last week we put up the playhouse portion.

Isn’t Brian cute? I love watching him play with Jameson. It’s so great to see him being such an involved and happy father.

Sasha wanted to play too. She was concerned when her favorite people disappeared!

Then, we put up the whole shebang and it overtook the living room for the weekend.

We had Miss Lily from next door come over to play.

She’s not a fan of confined spaces though, so she only wanted to play in the open portion of the set.

It was fun, and it easily folds up to a thin stack that we put in between the wall and the toy box. It came with a lot of balls too, which was fun for Jameson. He learned how to throw the little basketball and chase after it!

He also tried to crawl out of the tiny little holes for the balls at one end, getting one arm and half a face out. Too funny!

Then they got bored and decided to play with the subwoofer buttons.

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Cheers to 2012!

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For New Years this year, we went over to our friends Jonathan, JP & Lisa’s house. We also decided to spend the night there, with Jameson in tow. I am not sure how soon we’ll be doing that again, since Jameson decided to rise at 5 am (I am sure the unfamiliar feel of our pack and play had something to do with it)

Our friends Jason and Lisa were there as well with their daughter Vivienne, and our friend Kyle was there as well (between the 3 families with babies, I am pretty sure we were good birth control reminders for Kyle).

Vivienne is getting so big! I love her adorable cheeks.

Here are the boys, and lady Vivienne. The flash didn’t fire for this photo, but as they say, black and white covers a lot of sins.

We had JP’s famous taco dip (my favorite), a new buffalo chicken dip, and bacon wrapped water chestnuts and mini hot dogs from Brian. For dessert, Jason brought his famous brownies (the secret ingredient is cinnamon). Since my diet didn’t start until the next day… I had four.

Jameson didn’t get to try any of that, but we did offer him cheese, pulled pork, and the homemade macaroni and cheese we all had for dinner. He preferred the crackers though, haha.

After dinner it was play time again! Jameson sat on Jonathan’s new ride on/walk behind car for a little while, but he couldn’t figure out how to make it go while he was sitting on it. He looks like such a big boy here, doesn’t he!? Also, I was completely thrilled to get him and Jonathan looking at the camera.

Jonathan and Jameson got to open their gifts from each other! Jonathan got a bead maze, onesie, and trucks. Jameson got an “mp3 player” and Thomas train that moves when you shake it.

Jonathan was thrilled with the wrapping paper!

Toward the end of the evening, Jameson started to get fussy and it was clear it was bed time. I took his pacifier away to try and get a picture of him on my favorite couch of Lisa’s, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be.

It took Jameson a while to fall asleep that night because he was overtired and teething, but he finally fell asleep. Vivienne was a night owl and stayed up until midnight to watch the ball drop, while Jonathan fell asleep but got up shortly after midnight to greet the New Year.

Happy 2012 everyone!

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Merry & Happy

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Sadly, I am returned to work after some 10 days off at home with Jameson and Brian. It was lovely, and now it’s over, so forgive me as I try to get back into the swing of things.

Hopefully this is not as late as it seems to me now, but I had to share our Christmas fun!

On Christmas Eve, we joined the neighbors for dinner and exchanged a few gifts. Jameson wore his brand new overalls from his aunt and uncle!

Just before we sat down for dinner, Santa and my aunt arrived for a quick visit. However, things did not go as smoothly though as they did for Jameson’s visit with Santa a few weeks ago, and Lily was also beside herself.

Oh well, there’s always next year!

Lily is an expert with the fork and was even practicing before the food was in front of her.

Here is Kelly holding Jameson and Lily was grabbing at his hand. This is why I always leave the camera on so all I have to do is pop off the lens cap.

I made a homemade gingerbread which I used with our mini bundt cake pans (I first used these for Jameson’s birthday you might recall).

It was delicious, and I think that the second day it tasted even better. Brian did the molasses and beer part, and I did the rest. It was actually really easy (just a lot of ingredients) and so rich and wonderful.

Jameson and Lily are really interacting a lot which is adorable. Lily wanted his pacifier, and Jameson offered her his socks in trade for the laptop.

Christmas Day, Jameson awoke ready to open gifts (by now he is an expert!)

However, we only made it through a couple before he lost interest in the opening part and just wanted to play with the new toys that were opened, so we helped him open his gifts.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwPbMUgOSak]

We have decided to adopt the 3 gifts from Santa rule. That is, Santa is only allowed to fill his stocking and bring Jameson 3 gifts for under the tree: something to read, something to wear, and something to play with. This year, Santa brought him a snowsuit, gloves & mittens, and boots which all went together of course; a board book; and a sled!

Midway through opening gifts, we stopped for cinnamon rolls!

Sasha enjoyed some of her gifts as well (some of them are still wrapped up for her later)

But the fun didn’t stop there. While Jameson napped and Brian worked on food, I went to church. Then Jameson woke up just in time for Brian’s parents and sister to arrive to celebrate and have Christmas supper.

He practiced his patty cake with grandma.

And then we dove in with Charlie Brown Christmas in the background (Jameson got it in his stocking along with some snacks and You Are My I Love You board book)

We had a lot of fun and are so grateful for all the wonderful gifts we received. And I think we did a pretty good job this year on the giving. Jameson makes it pretty easy.

Both sets of grandparents got this birth through 6 months digital scrapbook (what do you think I’ve been working on this week? the 6 month to 1 year one… slowly). They also received a family photo on canvas (thanks to Groupon) from Picture It on Canvas. I’ve now used both Canvas on Demand and Picture It, and I’ve been really happy with both results.

I hope you and yours had a wonderful holiday as well! I’m sad it’s over, but our lights will still be up through this week to help the celebration continue on!

P.S. If you love my family and adorable pictures of Jameson, here are the rest of our Christmas photos, and a few more cute videos of Jameson ringing bells here and playing with one of his new-old toys here.

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life with baby

The Party

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Saturday was The Party. Clutter was cleared out to the upstairs spare room, balloons were blown up, cakes were iced and decorated. It was a little bit of last minute chaos but it all came together.

My parents, sister and brother came up for the day, along with my brother’s girlfriend who I was finally able to meet.

The outfit Jameson has on, he had on for his photo shoot on Friday too. They were a clearance find, along with his first birthday bib, from Babies R Us. The bow tie was $2! Note the upside down polar bears on it though. Both my dad and Brian seem to have trouble putting it on right side up. Oops!

Jameson’s always a little uncertain of his grandpa he doesn’t see as often, but he warms up after just a little while. My family and Brian’s parents & sister kept Jameson occupied while we finished up the details. Like borrowing an ice bucket from the neighbors and getting help from said neighbor, my sister, and cousin Sam to work the balloons.

And then the guests began to arrive!

JP, Lisa and Jonathan in his adorable hat (he’s so good with hats) came with the nachos and taco dip. Jason and our other friend Lisa came with not as little Vivienne!

Carrie, Matt and their son Nicholas arrived too. We hadn’t seen them in a long time (not quite this long, but still long).

Cousin Nicholas who’s birthday was just last week arrived too with parents Jerry and Lisa and brother Nathan. (Lots of Lisa’s)

That’s a lot of babies!

After some play time (Jameson has a thing for water bottles right now), and food for the adults, it was time for cake!

Jameson didn’t blow out any candles this year. He also was quite a bit more delicate with the cake than I expected, though he enjoyed it! He was also fascinated with the balloons attached to his highchair.

We didn’t expect to open many gifts, but Jameson made it through all the gifts for the people who were there with us. First up, neighbors Kelly & Curtis and their daughter Lily. Then came Lisa, JP & Jonathan.

The babies wanted to help open the gifts they got for Jameson, it was so cute!

Jameson is learning how to clap, or maybe it’s patty cake (per his grandma). This is the very first time I saw him do it, and it was even captured on camera!

Uncle Ty’s girlfriend Emily took the camera from here and got some great shots. I was really excited to be in some photos for a change (open mouth and all).

Proof that some of the classic, old school toys are the best. Jameson wouldn’t let go of his little man peg (reminiscent of the Game of Life) the entire night from Jason, Lisa and Vivienne.

Here I am, trying on Jameson’s onesie from Aunt Holly. Captured on camera thanks to Emily, haha.

This used to be a card from his grandma and grandpa.

One of the last gifts of the evening, and one of my favorite photos. A frog hat, from my friend Teresa.

Jameson had a good time, but he missed an afternoon nap and was so tired at the end!

We had a great time! We opened more gifts, from us to Jameson and others who missed the party, on Sunday. Jameson really got the hang of opening gifts by the end. Some of his favorite things, of course, are the wrapping paper, bows and tissue paper. It’s the simple things, right?!

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What You Didn’t See

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So, in case you didn’t notice from my pictures on Monday, (Or in case you didn’t see my thousand shares on Twitter and Facebook) there was an Instagram photo I stuck in.  That’s right, I got myself an iPhone. My 2 years was up, my Droid phone was dying, and I said to hell with Google, I’ll get an iPhone. Actually, it was more like, YAY PHOTOS, rather than to hell with Google, because I really really do like Google.

Anyway, I spent the weekend taking photos both with the iPhone and my Nikon, and yes, I have fallen in love with Instagram. So here are some moments from Thanksgiving you didn’t see.

That in the bottom left, is a picture of me that Brian took as a joke. I think I am losing another game, I might have been grumpy.

As an aside… yesterday Brian found out from the daycare that Jameson has already been using a walk-behind toy at daycare and loves it. Hence why he immediately was so good with it. Can I just say it was a little like ruining Christmas for me, to find out that Jameson had already had this experience before without us? It was depressing. I’m pretty bummed about it. Also, he’s going to move up to the new class at daycare soon. Part of growing up. But I was kind of down about it yesterday.

Luckily, my friend Lynne arrived to go out to dinner and chat, so that made the night better. Oh, and my rosemary tree arrived. It’s a mini tree, and it makes the kitchen smell lovely.

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December Babies

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Friday Jameson got to visit his friend Mark for the second time. Mark and Jameson were born just a week apart, but we live hours away. The past couple visits, Jameson has been sick with a cold or cranky, but we finally were able to get together again.

THEN: June, about 6 months old.

NOW: November, 11-1/2 months old

In June, they were barely sitting upright by themselves. Jameson had just started, and Mark wasn’t quite there yet. I was taking pictures without a flash. And now they’re standing, crawling. Mark is walking with walk-behind toys and climbing (yes! climbing!).

We corralled them in the family room and watched them play. Jameson had his first experience with a walk-behind toy and enjoyed it!

And this cutie? He started out his life in the NICU for a week just after birth with a gastrointestinal bleed. Look at him now. Perfectly healthy and happy.

“He’s too young to get a hair cut,” Katie told me. I completely agree. I am digging the mohawk, it’s completely adorable.

I only wish we could get together more often!

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The Best Things in Life Aren’t Things

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Jameson has already experienced new toy phenomena. That is, the toys you (think) you’ve never seen before, or haven’t seen in a long time, are the coolest.

Consequently, the toys that aren’t yours = totally, ridiculously awesome. The best things in life are toys that aren’t yours.

Just kidding, the best things in life are friends who have toys that aren’t yours.

JP, Lisa and little Jonathan have visited us quite a bit the past couple months, so this time it was our turn.

As usual, a little bit of this went on:

And for the ladies, a New Age white wine with lime.

We ate pot roast in their lovely dining room, which I think Jameson really enjoyed. And after dinner, we hung out in the living room. And I took a couple self-timered shots (what, you already know I have a problem). Somebody might be hanging out in the background there…

Jameson and Jonathan each played in Jonathan’s walker for a little bit. Aside: The doctor told us a long time ago no walkers for the babies because it can harm their growing hips. So, we told daycare no walkers. He can be in one, but it can’t move, like an exersaucer.

Well, I am kind of wondering if maybe he has been hanging around in the daycare in the walker every once in a while, because he sure did get the hang of it really quick, forwards and backwards…

He loved the hardwood floors in their house. Easy to crawl and chase toys around, and of course use the walker.

For a little perspective, I plopped Jameson on their (fancy) living room couch. Remember these photos? Look at him now.

And an impressive yoga position. I don’t do yoga, but I’m assuming this is representative of something you’d do in yoga:

We had a wonderful time, as usual. I’m always impressed and grateful with the amount of time JP and Lisa spend with us. JP travels a lot (consequently, Lisa is trying to drop down to 4 days a week at her work), and so I know time is even more precious for them than it is for us. It is so nice to have friends with children the same age, and get together like this.

Oh, bonus points for having friends who can take photos. Lisa snapped this lovely of my family:

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Chili Cookoff

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Saturday we had some friends over pretty last minute (this was all planned out the week of). Surprisingly, we had a nice turn out, some great food, and good times for our First Annual Court Chili Cookoff. Capital letters, italics and all.

Jameson got to meet little Vivienne, who Brian and I just met last week. Vivienne wasn’t super fun to watch, apparently. Don’t worry Jameson, she’ll be awesome and active just like you sooner than you might think!

Check out Jameson’s crazy hair! He always looks like he has a bed head now, hehe.

Little Jonathan, not so little anymore, is getting mobile too. He and Jameson really seemed to interact a lot more this visit.

The boys played nicely in the kitchen (only a few diversions needed from the dog dish) while we had chili.

At our house, we had 3 different kinds of chili. The weather didn’t cooperate, so only the boys shuffled back and forth to the neighbor’s house while us ladies and babies stayed in. Next door, there were two chilis to judge.

The winner, I’m so proud to say, was Mr. Brian’s.

I confess, I tried to get Brian to share his recipe with me, but he tells me it’s his own secret recipe. I can say that it was the healthiest of the bunch with only real peppers and ground turkey.

Neighbor Curtis’s was pretty good too, a sweeter chili (but still with heat). Kyle’s was obscenely hot. But all the chilis were really unique, and we had a lot of fun.

P.S. Last night, I processed all these photos, naming them Chilli. That’s with two L’s. I didn’t even bother to check… so here I am, with 100+ photos named wrong and already uploaded. I’m too lazy to update them. So please, if you are combing through my flickr photos like a stalker admirer, ignore the misspelling.

P.S.S. Apparently, Jameson is pulling up in his crib at daycare now. Here we go!

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Newest Addition to the Band

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Today I’m really excited to share with you some photos of the newest addition to Jameson’s band.

(I say Jameson’s band, but we’ll see. Only time will tell!)

Vivienne was born about 5 weeks ago and we finally were able to meet her on Tuesday night. Jameson didn’t get to, but he’ll be able to this weekend for the first annual street chili cookout. The party will cross two houses, and for a last minute get together, we sure are getting a great turn out!

But enough about us. This is about this adorable lovely lady born to Jason and Lisa. She is the first baby girl amongst most everyone I know who have had babies in the past year! I think someone said she had drummer hands, but I don’t see it. These definitely look like delicate baby fingers…

See what I mean? Adorable. I might have teared up a little bit. Just a little. She’s around 8 pounds, so Jameson would’ve been much smaller at her age, but time and perspective do funny things! Vivi seemed incredibly small to me. Even Brian seemed to forget how to move a baby that small.

I’d love to show your her equally adorable parents, but Lisa told me she wasn’t dressed for photos. I took some anyway, but I’ll refrain from sharing. Oh, but here’s a few of baby Vivienne comfortable on her mother.

I’d like to say she was as angelic as her photos but she was occasionally a little fussy, as newborns often are. She was hungry a lot, so I am thinking growth spurt! or tired! or one of the many other speculations you have about newborns.

Scratch that, speculating continues on well past newborn phase.

Jameson is having some crummy nights recently. Brian is convinced he is hungry, and I am anti-middle-of-the-night bottle. 3 am is not the time to argue about such things though. I think it’s teething, ear pain, or gas pain. Something is causing him to not fall back asleep even with a pacifier in.

Last night was better than the night prior, mostly because we didn’t mess around for hours waiting to see if he’d finally fall back asleep. Within one hour we were in response mode. I tried Advil first, but you know half of it didn’t go in his mouth, it squirted right into the chair or dresser (I’ll find out later feeling around for sticky messes). Not knowing if he got much but not willing to do another full dose, we switched to Tylenol (Triaminic, same diff) and got that all in.

But wait, there’s more! We did the bottle but once he went back into his crib he was crying again, so I rocked him back to sleep. Moms to the rescue!

Now having done all that, there’s no telling exactly what is causing this. I think I’m nixing the bottle tonight though. This is the part where I laugh and say there’s no such thing as sleeping through the night. One minute they’re doing it, the next there’s something causing them to wake up in the middle of the night again.

I did have a bizarre dream though that this was a milestone issue (because sleep habits can also be upset when approaching a milestone, or so I’ve read). Anyway, I dreamt that Jameson suddenly started talking. In full sentences.

Lead singer in the making? Maybe.

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