July was an incredibly busy but fun month! We were all over the place spending time with family and I have so many pictures to share with you. But before I tackle that, I want to catch up on our weekly photos.
Here’s our 28 week old
And our 29 week old
And (my favorite!) our 7 month old 🙂
It is really getting harder and harder to get him to leave the animals alone, I’m sure it will make for some cute pictures in the future. I’ll be back soon, I promise!
We have a lot going on in the next 2 weeks so I will be MIA for a while. I promise to come back with stories and pictures to share, until then, here is our 27 week old.
…had me a blast! Summer lovin happened so fast! Okay, all you Grease fans keep singing the song….
Summer is in full swing here. Now that the June gloom has worn off we have had some beautiful weather (we also had a bit of a heat wave. I know all you Palm Desert people are rolling your eyes at me, I know…I know…) Anyway, we have really enjoyed getting together with friends almost every weekend for a BBQ/potluck dinners. We even had some friends ask us the night before if we were okay with Steak and Lobster for dinner? Uh, yes, please!! We’ve had zoo dates, park dates and lunch dates. We truly have some fantastic friends, and it is great to see everyone in a group setting, but it is hard to connect with everyone and really visit with people in a large group sometimes, so I love these smaller gatherings especially when we can sit outside and enjoy our beautiful San Diego weather!
I thought I better get my 4th of July pictures up before it is August! The 4th was the perfect opportunity to introduce Jacob to his first true beach experience! We’ve walked along the beach many times, but this was the first time he was actually on the sand. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and warm then it cooled off a bit in the late afternoon. We have some good friends who live on the bay and every year for the 4th they set up camp on the beach complete with a BBQ and all the fixings. It is such a fun, relaxing environment complete with good company.
Jacob got to spend time with one of his girlfriends KJ, who was intent on holding his hand in every picture!
Then his buddy Micah woke up from his nap and we all gathered for a photo op, but KJ was not surrendering him to Micah, she held on tight 🙂
Family photo
Jacob loved the beach and enjoyed all the new sights! Even when it came to naptime, he just snuggled in for a bit…
and then woke up ready to go!
Hope you had a fantastic 4th of July!
A few weeks ago, Jacob started sleeping on his side. In fact, he couldn’t fall asleep until he was resting comfortably on his side. During naps, he was pretty still while he slept. At night however, he was quite the busybody! After falling asleep on his side, he would roll on to his back and then onto his other side and he put his feet on the slats in the crib and pushed off them to the next slat all the way around the crib. We would say he was walking the perimeter. He would roll from one side to the other and from the top end of the crib to the bottom all night long. Every time I looked at the monitor I would have to move the camera to find him in his crib because he was never in the same place. But he stayed asleep through all this, except when he got himself wedged into a corner and couldn’t get out then he would start to fuss and one of us would go flip him over or move him down and he would go right back to sleep. It was kind of fun since I never knew where he was going to be in the morning when we woke up and it provided lots of entertainment watching him wiggle around on the monitor. Our joke is instead of watching our 60 inch TV…we are glued to the 2.5 inch baby monitor!
I would put him to sleep this way
All night long he would move around…(sorry for the bad photos, I wasn’t about to turn the light on and risk waking him up to improve the focus for this shot)
And I never knew what position he would be in when we woke up
Now, however…He has discovered sleeping on his stomach. One night he went to sleep on his side like usual, I woke up in the middle of the night and looked at the monitor and he was sleeping on his stomach, I flew out of bed and raced into his room and immediately flipped him over. An hour later, I woke up again and he was back on his belly, I didn’t panic that time, but I did go flip him over. Then some time later I woke up a 3rd time and he was back on his belly again, I gave up. I closed my eyes and said “Lord, I’m turning it over to you, please keep him breathing.” I know babies sleep on their bellies all the time, but these days they really make a big deal about putting babies to sleep on their backs to prevent SIDS. Jacob is now past that phase, but because of that it is kind of scary to see your child make the transition to sleeping on their stomach for the first time.
For a little guy who has never been a fan of tummy time, now LOVES to sleep on his belly. Every time I put him down for a nap or to bed for the night, he immediately flips onto his belly, and tucks his legs underneath him and starts to push up, it looks like he is going to take off crawling at any minute when he does that. He does this for about 10 minutes before he falls asleep, we say he’s doing his exercises before bed.
Good night!
Sometime in the first two weeks after Jacob was born, I was a little concerned with how much he was sleeping. I mean I know newborns sleep alot, but I didn’t think alot meant all.the.time…I was sure something was wrong. I remember saying to my mom, “Shouldn’t he be awake more? He sleeps ALL the time” My mom laughed and said “He’s fine…enjoy this time, it won’t last.” Sure enough as time went on, he woke up more and more to the world around him and I was feeling much better and more confident that nothing was wrong with him.
In fact, he was so alert and was only taking 30 minute naps! And he could only tolerate being awake for about 2 hours before he needed to sleep, so the days were a constant cycle of awake for 2 hours, sleep for 30 minutes, awake for 2 hours, sleep for 30 minutes…He was up, down, up, down, up, down all day long! Thankfully he was sleeping good at night, but I was getting a little frustrated with the 30 minute naps since I couldn’t get a single thing done during the day. I even asked my pediatrician about it and he asked how Jacob was sleeping at night, I told him he was sleeping great averaging anywhere from 10-12 hours. And he basically told me that babies this age need about 13-14 hours of sleep. So if he is sleeping 12 hours at night, then four 30 minute naps during the day is perfectly fine. I must have had a strange look on my face and since I didn’t say anything right away (I was still trying to process it in my head and quickly do the math), he must have realized that was not the answer I was looking for! And he casually said…“well, you can put him on an activity mat on the floor next to you while you take care of a few things.” Yeah right, like I am able to just leave him laying around, it’s way more fun to get down on the ground and play with him.
As time went on he would occasionally tease me with naps that were longer than 30 minutes, I would literally text Justin and say “Whoo Hooo he slept for 40 minutes!” That extra 10 minutes made a big difference. And there were times he would sleep for an hour and I didn’t know what to do with myself since I was sure he was going to wake up any minute during the last 30 minutes of that hour. I couldn’t get too involved in a project because I was sure he was going to wake up at any second. So on those rare occasions after the first 30 minutes, I would watch the monitor while working on my computer just waiting and expecting him to wake up. When he surprised me with an hour long nap, I would anticipate him taking an hour long nap at the same time the next day and would plan my day around it and plan things I wanted to get done during that time, and of course he would go back to his 30 minute catnap and throw everything off.
Now I am excited to say this past month he has taken more hour long naps than 30 minute ones! In fact he has been napping for up to two hours! That is HUGE around here. Occasionally, he will surprise me with a 30-45 minute one here and there, but I am starting to rely on at least an hour, anything more is an added plus.
He is such a good baby in so many ways…and one of those ways is that he will sleep on the go. He will sleep in the car, in my arms, in the stroller, no matter how loud the environment is, he will sleep when he needs it. It makes our life so much easier! I like to make sure he gets at least one good nap in his crib then I don’t mind if he naps on the go. We’ve finally reached a happy medium in the napping department!
Here is our 26 week old 🙂
Yesterday we had Jacob’s 6 month check up. Our pediatrician was very pleased and said he is a very healthy baby boy and all is well! He gave us the green light to start fruits and vegetables, so I’ve been reading up on homemade baby food and am getting ready to bust out my food processor and steamer. I am sure they are going to become permanent fixtures on my kitchen counter now. We talked about Jacob’s motor skills and he seems to be right on track, he warned us that he could start crawling at anytime and we should start baby proofing our house. So our multi-level home will be quite the display of baby gates soon.
Of course with a check up there are always those lovely shots…Jacob handled them better this time than he did at his 4 month check up. He was all smiles when we got home and slept it off with a 2.5 hour nap in afternoon! Today he had a little fever and was a bit fussy at times and I think he is still achy and just not feeling 100% due to the shots. He is still drooling and chewing on everything so I am expecting a tooth to pop through any day now. I have to say that this past month from 5 months to 6 months has been so much fun! I mean all of it has been fun, but this last month he seemed to change and grow in so many different ways that has made for some exciting changes around here. Every day seemed to be something new. I know it is only going to keep getting better! Here are his latest stats:
AND…..check out his latest skill!
We have a sitter!
Sorry I’ve been MIA for almost 2 weeks, we’ve been busy! Summer is in full swing and our calendar has been packed. I have so many great pictures & stories to share with you and they will come, but right now I just wanted to focus on the fact that Jacob is 6 months old today! That went by sooooo fast! The time from 5 to 6 months has been my favorite time so far, it is so much fun. He still continues to sleep 11-12 hours at night, he recently started taking longer naps during he day (Hallelujah!) and in the last 2 days he has mastered the art of sitting up by himself. He’s still a bit wobbly so I am always there to catch him but it is amazing to see how he went from sitting up with assistance to sitting by himself in 2 days.
I’ll be back with more stories and pictures soon, but for now, here is our 6 month old 🙂
…since I started this blog.
A year ago, when I was setting everything up, I only bought 1 year of hosting, even though I would have gotten a deal if I purchased more than one year. I didn’t know if I was going to really do this, or if anyone was even going to be interested in reading it, so I figured I would just do one year, then see what happens. It took me by surprise when I got the renewal email, I can’t believe I’ve kept it up this long! This has been something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, but I didn’t know what the focus of the blog would be since I didn’t think anyone would really be interested in the lives of Justin and Michelle. But when I got pregnant…I knew that would capture the audience of friends and family! I am so glad I finally did start this, ironically enough the author of one of the blogs I like to follow just came up on the 4th anniversary of her blog. She did a great job talking about doing your “thing”, read it here.
I do have a few favorite blogs that I follow about photography, DIY, baking, motherhood and just life in general (check them out, they are listed on the right side of the page). They are funny, sad, inspirational, informative and thought provoking. Some of the authors of these blogs really have a talent for writing and captivate their readers, I mean some are published authors. I am not a writer, but I try to make it interesting so you keep coming back for something.
This blog serves so many different purposes. At first it was a way for us to share our story. I spent so much time reading stories of other people who were struggling just as we were and it was comforting knowing that I was not alone. I hope that our story will provide some hope for someone else. Then it became a fun way for me to share my pregnancy journey with family. Also, if you know me well or have been reading along, you know I love to take pictures and take lots of them. So this is a great way for me to do something with the pictures I take. Now it keeps our family and friends up to date in what is going on in our (or rather Jacob’s) lives (life). And it is a great way for me to document Jacob’s milestones, growth, achievements and of course his cute little face. I do have a baby book that I am working on, but you can’t really tell stories in a baby book and they also can’t hold the thousands of pictures I take. I know there will come a time when Jacob will roll his eyes at this and say “really mom…” (at least that is what I would have done when I was a teenager), but I hope someday when he is an adult and has a family of his own he will appreciate it.
Sure it is a lot of work…Some posts involve a lot of emotion and thoughts which require time (which I have little of now these days) to organize those thoughts and figure out the best way to convey them in a written form. I’m sure if I was a man it would be a much simpler task, I mean really, it is not easy trying to organize the millions of thoughts that go through a woman’s mind into a blog post. Some posts are simply just to document and share pictures, these have been the majority lately. One thing that has really encouraged me to keep up with this are the messages I get from all of you. The fact that I know there is someone out there reading this and they actually care makes me want to stay up a little later at night to write a post. I love all the texts, phone calls and emails you all have sent my way, thank you! I would really love it if you have thoughts or comments to leave a comment on on the blog, some of you have and I do read them all, I promise! It would be great to have all your comments here so they can get documented along with everything else.
Thank you for checking in and thank you for all the encouragement to keep this going, I did renew it for another year!
And I couldn’t do a post without a picture (of Jacob of course) 🙂
Here’s our 24 week old
Last weekend was action packed! Saturday we drove up to Oceanside to go to the Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum with my Aunt & Uncle. It was a gorgeous day and we saw lots of old tractors, cars, engines, and other random antique things. The all around favorite part was the blacksmith barn, where blacksmiths were working with machines or an old fashioned hammer and anvil to create various things. It was really interesting to watch.
Jacob with his great Aunt & Uncle!
Then we went to the Rancho Guajome Adobe house. Where a lady took us on a very thorough tour of the house and surrounding grounds, giving us an idea of what life was like in the 1800’s. Visiting these kinds of places is always fascinating to me. One thing that I love about visiting places like this and the old castles and palaces in Europe is imagining the people living there, sleeping in the beds, making meals in the kitchen, walking through the gardens, making history in their offices or reading books in the libraries. I love the preserved clothing, kitchen supplies, old pianos and trees that are over a hundred years old. It makes you feel thankful for the things that we have now, but also makes you think about things that you really don’t need. Our lives these days are crowded with material things that we all want or “need”. Visiting these historical places reminds me that sometimes the simplicity of having conversations with people, playing the piano and singing or dancing along, reading books and kids running around outside using their imagination to play is so much better than TV, iPads, internet and video games. But there are some things I am incredibly thankful for, like running water! And electricity, although the occasional blackout is kind of fun once in a while. Anyway…it was a fun day.
Sunday was Father’s Day! We started the morning at church, then drove downtown to the Petco Park to watch the Padres beat the Diamondbacks. Jacob had fun hanging out with his daddy and even wore a shirt telling the world that “It’s dad’s first Father’s Day!”
When the “Padre girls” were sling-shooting balls into the crowd, Justin caught one for Jacob.
Why watch the baseball game when you can watch Jacob for entertainment
Hope you all had a wonderful Father’s Day!
I know I promised I wouldn’t make a habit of this…but I just can’t help it! My camera is on a continuous shooting mode, so as long as I am holding down the button, it keeps taking pictures. I love that option! It is great for catching those fleeting smiles, expressions and movements that you otherwise would have missed. The only problem is I end up with LOTS of pictures of the same thing, so it takes time for me to go through, compare and narrow them down to one. Sometimes it’s pretty simple to do, most of the time I keep several different versions of the same scene because there are too many good ones that it is impossible to narrow it down. It reminds me of the old fashioned way of making “moving pictures” where there is a stack of drawings and each page has the tiniest change in movement, so when you quickly flip through the images come to life. I am often laughing at the scenes I capture with my continuous shooting. Last Sunday when we were doing his weekly pictures, he continued his love affair with the giraffe…instead of pulling on his arm, he struck up a conversation with him. So without further adieu here is our 23 week old!
Huh, you want me to do what???
Oh yeah, that smiling thing…no problem, you got it!
Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk to my buddy here…
Really, you think the little guy is sad that I am growing so fast??
Silly elephant, doesn’t he know that is what little boys do?
What’s that giraffe?
Awww, I know I will eventually pass you up too, but the 3 of us will always be best friends
Things that were pretty remarkable about this past week was the fact that he started taking the bottle again, and he has slept through the night every night! This is one happy momma here!