Playtime & Friends

Another thing I love about where we live, is that there are tons of excellent parks nearby. We could go to a different park every week of the summer and spring probably. I can't wait till Jos is big enough to enjoy them. Well, maybe I can wait. She's growing up too fast anyway. Here are a few of Josie's first try on the swings. I'm not sure what she thought of it, but she gave a few timid smiles. She was REALLY tired and started falling asleep in the swing. The last few in the swing are of her almost dozing off while looking at her feet. She kept resting her head on the swing and looking through the little holes. She also kept trying to suck on the swing which made me a little crazy since it was so old and dirty. She's so funny!!

Josie has a friend. Well, she has more than one, but McKayla is one of her favorites. She's 8 months older and they get along very well. Jos is fascinated by her and is always trying to grab her face. McKayla doesn't like that very much.

Just Josie.

I promised a ton of 6 month pics, so here are a few. All but the last 2 are courtesy of my friend Rachel. She babysat Jos for a few hours while I auditioned for the Master's program and took a bunch of adorable pics. Thanks Rachel!! You can't tell so much from the pics, but Josie's eyes are starting to change from blue to a greenish color. They are still light, but look darker in pictures. I'm excited to see how they'll turn out. I predicted she would have green eyes like me.

Ahna and Papa

Kevin's parents were here visiting this weekend. The weather finally turned very warm and it feels so good to walk around in shorts and t-shirts. We decided to take them out to see the country and ended up in Nappanee at Amish Acres. It's kinda a tourist trap, but so pretty. Only a couple weeks ago, there was still snow on the ground, now Spring is everywhere! So pretty! Our yard is exploding with growth. There are new blooms each day. I'm taking pictures and when everything has bloomed, I'll post them. Anyway, we have been OBSESSED with strawberries lately. I have been regularly making strawberry shortcake, strawberry tarts, strawberry yoghurt, strawberry shakes, and pretty much anything that can have strawberries on it. We have gone through at least 10 pounds of them in the last couple weeks. I am not at all ashamed of this. I lasted a long winter and feel I deserve to eat a little summer berry. So far, Jos has not really taken to baby food very well. She pretty much thinks its all kinda yucky (can you blame her?) She does, however, LOVE when we give her some non-yucky people food. She has joined in on our strawberry obsession:

If you give her one to suck on, she will try to shove the whole thing in her mouth and won't let go. If you take it away, she cries. We both hope she gets teeth soon so she won't have to endure baby food for too long.

This is where we went:

Places like this make me love living in the Midwest.

Of course, Jos's favorite part was the grass tasting. It's her favorite activity.

Thanks Ahna and Papa for visiting and giving so much love to our family! We love you!

6 months later........

Special note: This post doesn't have a ton of pics like usual. I am planning on taking a ton this weekend and will post them soon.

For some reason, I've been procrastinating new blogs lately. Maybe because it's finally getting warm and I have a life outside my house now. So, get ready for lots of updates:

First we'll start with Josie. She just turned 6 months! So crazy how fast time has flown. At her 6 month appointment the doctor said she is one of the healthiest babies she has seen. Jos has never been sick and is a happy, smart, fun baby. Here are the stats:

Weight: 16 lb. 14 oz. (80%)

Height: 25.5 in. (50%)

Interests and Abilities:

*rolling, scooting, and turning to grab what she wants (verrrry close to crawling!)

*biting and sucking on everything

*"singing" with mommy and daddy. She always tries to sing with us.

*behaving like and angel in public (and at home most of the time)

*napping wherever

*actually jumping around in her "Jenny Jump-up"

* loves being thrown up in the air and tossed around. It makes her laugh.

*just being cute!!

Eating: Because she was doing so well with breastmilk, we decided to wait until at least 6 months to give her anything else (recommended by LLL and pediatricians). I feel really lucky that breastfeeding came naturally to us both and we have been able to continue it. It also helped me get all the weight off quickly after having her. It actually worked a little too well! I am back to being a little underweight and have to increase my calorie intake more so I can stay well. I started getting sick quite a bit because she was taking all my nourishment! Anyway, we started trying solids this past week and she is still a little unsure about it. Most of it still comes out and she is more interested in playing than eating. I'm patient though, and until she gets better at it, she will still be mostly breastfed. 

Sleeping: For the last little while, she has only been waking up once at night. This is a pretty big improvement. It seems we are finally close to sleeping through the night. She will go down at around 8:30ish, wake up at midnight, then sleep in till around 8 or so. Not too bad. My body is actually still getting used to having more sleep. She is still a great napper and gives mom some good breaks during the day. I just need to remember not to let her sleep with headbands on or she wakes up like this:

Kevin update:  

Kevin has been busy with work as always, but he has been very good about not letting it interfere with family time. His company celebrates it's 100th year this year and as Director of Marketing, he has been a big part of everything. Fortunately, with all the lay-offs that have been happening in the area and even at his company, he would not be in danger of losing his job. We also have been spared from salary reductions which I guess has been a popular thing lately. I am so proud of all his hard work and ability. He is such an ambitious person and has created quite a name for himself in the industry. A couple years ago he was named one of the "top 40 under 40" in his industry and I suspect he is moving up on the list. He has been getting up at 5 am to go to the gym lately which I have a lot of respect for. I could never do it. Love you, Kev!

My update:

Things have been very interesting for me lately. I have made a decision that I never thought I would even entertain before. I'm going back to school. Ok, hear me out. I have been pretty desperate for performance/audition opportunities lately since it's been forever since I've really performed. My old voice teacher/mentor suggested that I go to graduate school, take it really slow, and meanwhile get free lessons and performance opportunities. As a grad student, you are often invited to perform with the symphony or other things that you don't get as an undergrad. I said I would NEVER go back to school. Especially with the horrible experience I had at USF. Yet, here I am applying and auditioning for the Master of Music program at Indiana University in South Bend. I've already been admitted to the program, I'm just waiting on scholarship decisions. I told them I would only go if I could have a scholarship. They said they would see what they could do. So there you have it. I really feel SO fortunate to be a stay at home mom and I don't want to ruin it. I will only take 1 class at a time and am hoping to schedule it around when Kevin is home or when she is napping. Many of the requirements I already completed as an undergrad, so I'm hoping it won't take me forever. Plus, after I get the degree, sometime down the road when the kids are in school, I could be an associate professor of voice. Most university voice teachers only have a Master's anyway. It's also a good security plan for if Kevin was ever out of a job or couldn't work.  I am not starting until the Fall, so I have awhile to change my mind. 

Anyway, we have Kevin's parents in town this weekend and had friends in town earlier this week so we've been busy. We are planning to go down to Amish country tomorrow. It is about 85 degrees today! Finally some beautiful, warm weather!! More pics and posts to come!

Easter Pics- First attempt

I got Josie this adorable easter dress and added matching flower and ribbon to it. It turned out super cute and she was the cutest thing ever on Easter. The only problem we have now is that I am still a horrible photographer. I can't seem to figure out lighting and focus and all that stuff. Anyway, here are a few we took after church in the backyard. I'm going to try again tomorrow since it's supposed to be sunny and warm. 

Always with the tongue out........

Ok, have you ever seen so many arm rolls on a baby? I love chubby babies!!

......and again with the tongue......

Our after church routine:

Jos will be 6 months in a few days but her 6 month check-up isn't until next Tuesday. I'll post her 6 month update after her appointment. My prediction is that she is around 16.5 or 17 pounds. We'll see!

California.

I'm starting to come to the realization that Kevin and I travel a lot. I'm not sure if it's cause we get lonely here, or if we need a change of scenery or what. I feel like we probably would fit in better here if we were actually here more! Anyway, Kevin goes to Germany every spring for a convention. I usually take the opportunity to go out to see my family while he's away so I don't have to sit at home alone. This time, my parents flew Josie and I both out to visit. It was great to visit and relax and even better to have a free babysitter. Ok, so let's talk about the flight. I was absolutely DREADING flying by myself all day with a 5 1/2 month old. When she was younger, she slept the whole time, and when she was awake, I had Kevin to help me. Also, Josie is TEETHING. This means she is a little unpredictable. She has started biting everything and her teeth bother her sometimes. Not sure when they will actually poke through, but I'm hoping soon. Fortunately, we had all kinds of people praying for us and their prayers worked. Josie was such a little angel! We had to fly through Atlanta, have a 3 hour layover and then fly 5 hours to Orange County. It was SO long! Josie was happy as can be and slept a good part of it. I was so relieved. Thanks for all your prayers! Here is what out trip consisted of:

Playing with Grandma:

Playing with Grandpa:

Talking to daddy on the phone. She would beam every time she heard his voice.

Lounging around:

Sleeping in Grandma's Pack N' Play. I love waking up to this:

Playing with Andrea..............

...............and her face:

We also went to see the "Savior of the World" production on Friday while my aunt Karen and her husband LaMar watched Jos. It was fabulous! We visited Jos's great grandparents too. We wanted to visit her great-great-grandma (who's 97) but couldn't make our schedules work. Maybe next time! 

The trip was great! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Money!