Happy Easter :: 2013

He is  Risen; He is Risen, indeed!

Happy Easter!

Love, Jack Jack

2013 Goals: February & March Update

I figured it might be more interesting to do these every 2 months instead of every month...it could get a little repetitive.

So, here's how I've been doing the past two months:

Goal 1: Intentional in my relationship with God

February: Still rough in this department.

March: Definitely better. 

Part of it had to do with having a week off for Spring Break, which allowed me to be much more intentional during Jack's morning nap. I crave routine and since his morning nap is so consistent, it allowed me to buckle down.

Goal 2: Date Night with Jason 1-2 times/month

 February: Jason and I went on three dates in February.

These included dinner for my birthday, a wedding for a college roommate of mine, and another dinner date to BJ's.

March: Not as great. 

We went on an afternoon date for coffee and shopping on St. Patty's Day. 

We then had one or two others on the calendar, but just weren't feeling like going out. So, we did stay at home dates...had dinner and either watched a movie or Downton Abbey. 

It's hard because Jack goes to bed so early, so if we want to go out, we have to have someone come to our place to watch him...which is harder than just dropping him off somewhere. Thankfully, we have a few different friends who said they would totally be up for hanging out at our place for an evening so we can go out.

Goal 3: Family day dates once a month

February: We went to Santa Cruz for our family day. It's just a little over an hour from where we leave, and while I've been to the beach many times, I had never been to the downtown. 
So, we had lunch and enjoyed exploring the shops. 



We were going to go down to the beach, but parking was a nightmare since it was a 70 degree day in February and everyone wanted to hit up the beach!

March: Our family outing was a trip to San Francisco. 

(One thing I love about where we live in CA is that we are a 40 minutes from the city, an hour or so to the beach, and 2-3 hours from the snow!) 

It was a gorgeous Spring day, and we enjoyed strolling along Pier 39, eating fish tacos, Ghiradelli ice cream, and doing some shopping.

Goal 4: Try two new dinner recipes a month and one new dessert/baking recipe

(Sorry, now pictures this time)

February: One new dinner recipe.

It was a maple honey mustard glazed chicken...pretty tasty.

Did a bit more new baking than cooking, which included butterfinger blondies, peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, blueberry muffins, and a strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting.

March: I tried 3 new dinner recipes.

I made Pioneer Woman's white chicken enchiladas. They were a bit bland...I think the jalepanos and chiles that we used had no spice.

I also made her homemade mac n' cheese...fail. Way too mustard-y. We threw the whole dish away. Sad.

Normally I'm all about PW, but this was a rough month with her.
So, I tried to make-up for her awful first mac n' cheese by making her fancy mac n' cheese for easter. Much better!

I also made these Southwestern Stuffed Shells via Pinterest. Pretty good.

I think I wore myself out baking in February because I didn't make anything in March.

Goal 5: Check 3 things off my 30 before 30

Nope....  

Goal 6: Blog more

I blogged eight times in February...which I think is a record for me. Haha.

For March, I will end with 7 posts. 

Jack: 6 Months Old

Half a year.

How did we get here?!?

Our boy is so grown up!

Jack's had a great month.

He's still growing like crazy and is an eating machine!

But, I attribute it to him being a sleeping machine at night, so he has to make up for all those hours of not eating.

He generally goes to bed around 6:30 or 7 and gets up around 7:30 or so. Sometimes he will go straight through the night; some nights he wakes up after 9-10 hours (around 4 or 5) and wants to eat, but then goes back down for another stretch.

He normally naps from about 9ish-11ish in the morning.

Afternoon naps are still a battle and normally don't last more than an hour. 

But, I figure he's getting plenty of sleep...

A day or two after Jack turned 5 months, we gave him rice cereal for the first time.

I thought he was ready for it...

But we tried multiple times, and he didn't seem to love it.

I think part of the problem was that I always tried around 4 or 5 in the afternoon when he was entering meltdown mood and just wanted the comfort of the boob.

I decided to not force it after trying five or so times.

It's been 2-3 weeks since we've tried, so we're going to give it another go now that he's six months old.
 

Jack continues to be super observant and doesn't miss a thing.

He loves people and being around them!

He also loves to be outdoors and go on walks. 

He's busy busy with his hands, reaching for and grabbing anything that he can get his hands on.

He's not really into the pacifier, just likes to play with it, but continues to try and put that thumb in his mouth...ugh. 

Still no teeth nor huge signs of teething...except being a crazy droller, but I don't really think that has anything to do with teething anymore.

He's definitely into army crawling and will find a way to get to something he wants!

He hasn't learned proper crawling form, but I'm fine with him taking his time.

Jack's sitting better on his own, but still is not very stable. 

He lasts 15-20 seconds before his body weight pulls him to the side.

Hopefully he'll master this one soon!

Here are Jack's facts at 6 months:

Weight: 18 lb, 2 oz (50th percentile)

Height: 27.5 in (75th percentile)

Head Circumference: 17.25 in (50th percentile)

Diaper Size: 3 (outgrew 2 around 5.5 months)

Clothing Size: Pretty much all 6 month

Sleeping: 12-13 hours (waking sometimes after 9 or 10 hours to eat)

Eating: Nursing every 2-3 hours during the day 

Firsts: Sitting up; army crawling; trying rice cereal

Likes: Being outdoors, looking out the front window, being naked; belly blows

Dislikes: Getting finger nails trimmed? Truly, he's a pretty happy guy... 

iBaby

Jack is really into my iPhone and iPad.

Every time he sees it, he reaches for it and tries to grab it.

I think he likes all the colors and movement on the screen.

I've started calling him iBaby.

This is him the other day, playing on my iPad.

Just swiping away at the screen.

A few days later, we were playing in his room.

The iPad was on the floor, and he kept trying to play with it.

So, I moved it further away from him.

He then started to scoot towards it.

Note: he has not started crawling or scooting yet.

But, that iPad sure is motivation.

I propped up the iPad on his floor mat and took this video of him trying to get it.

I think it's pretty cute. 

This is the first time he had army crawled.

All fun and games until baby gets hurt...

Haha.

Now he is doing it all the time...to any object he wants.

But, that good 'ol iPad was what started it all.

In other news, Jack is 6 months old today!

Crazy.

I'll be back tomorrow or Thursday with his 6 month post...waiting until his check-up tomorrow so we can get all his stats! 

Why I Love Living in Northern CA

Seriously, living in Nor Cal is the best.

All you, Nor Cal'ers, don't you agree?!

And you others...I know you're jealous.

I love, love, love where I live.

We're in the Bay Area, and I think it's the best.

To San Francisco: 45 minutes

To Napa/Wine Country: 1 hour 

(photo credit for Napa pic: Melissa Larson)

To Santa Cruz Beach: 1 hour, 15 min.

To Carmel: 1 hour, 30 min.

To Lake Tahoe/snow: 3 hours

To Yosemite: 3 hours

I mean, awesome.

I love that we have access to so many fun places!

And, I think the weather is great.

I've been thinking about it a lot this week since it's been in the low 70's...

It's March, people. 

We get seasons...but they're mild.

Don't have to deal with living in the snow and all the annoyances that come with...if we want snow, just drive 2-3 hours for a little weekend get-a-way.

We do get Fall...not like the East Coast, but our leaves change and it feels like Fall.

Spring is gorgeous...green hills, mustard everywhere.

And summer has it's hot days and we hit triple digits at times, but for the most part it's in the mid 80's to low 90's. And no humidity. Thank you!

I've lived here my whole life...born and raised.

Even went to college in CA.

I have no plans of leaving anytime soon.

Although, life could have other plans for me.

When we first started dating, Jason wanted out of CA.

He LOVES Texas. (He lived there for 9 months while in the Air Force).

I do not love Texas (sorry, Texans).

About 6 months into our relationship, I went to Texas (Austin) for the first time.

It was June.

I walked out of the airport and started gasping for air.

Couldn't breathe.

Hello humidity.

Call me a wimp, but I prefer to only be wet after I take a shower...not ALL day long!

Before we got married, I made it clear to Jason that Texas was not in 'my' plan...

Jason was up to moving other places, too...

A lot because CA is so dang expensive...

But great things come at high prices, right? :)

But recently, Jason has really come to a place where he is happy being where we are.

I think having a kid has contributed to that, since both our families are within 20 minutes of us.

We're both open to the reality of God having plans for us elsewhere, but for now, we love where we live!

California lovin'!

10 Things About My Week

1. Jack started with a new daycare lady this week (my mom watches him 3 of the days, but we needed to find care for the other two). We loved the gal who watched him before, but she is moving. The new lady, who goes affectionately by Moo, is British. And, she is pretty awesome. And not just because of her accent. But, I am a little bit obsessed with her accent. It's so cool. She sent me about 7 pictures of him the first day and the caption was always along the lines of 'Hi Mum'. Love! I'm secretly hoping that Jack will talk with a British accent after being in her care. I know, highly unlikely. Anyway, I adore her. And she keeps a little journal each time Jack is there to record about the day. How amazing is her hand-writing?!

2. Moo couldn't watch Jack on Wednesday, which is when we needed her to start. So, I took the day off and got to play stay-at-home-mom with Jack. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

3. On my day off, I went to Ross. Jason works at their corporate office and 3 times a year they give associates a 40% discount. Honestly, I really don't like Ross because I'm not into that whole 'treasure hunt' experience. I just want to find what I need and get out. But, I do go 3 times a year because of this: 

For $78 I bought:

Two shirts and a dress (Calvin Klein...normally $100, I got for $18) for me, pj's for Jack, 3 Dr. Seuss books, a teething toy, a shower caddy, a plastic water tumbler cup (with a straw, of course), a Superman mug, 2 picture frames, a tube of sunscreen (yes, very random), and my favorite: this awesome truck for Jack's room (which is vintage vehicle themed).

 

4. Jack is starting to sit up much better on his own, which I am really excited about.

5. What I am not excited about is the crawling position he started to get himself into this week. Please, don't go mobile on me. I like a baby who stays in one place.

6. I bought a sling for Jack. I always thought they were for hippies. But the kid gets super fussy the last hour or two before he goes to bed. And he is huge. I'm too weak to hold him for that long. So, we're slinging it up. I bought the K'Tan. My friend has it and loves it. Plus, the reviews on it were great. It will arrive sometime next week.

7. A family from our church hooked us up with 4 huge boxes of clothes for Jack (12 month - 4T size). Pretty sure we are set for the next few years. And these people had pretty sweet style, too.

8. I am fighting my 3rd cold in 3 months...I never get sick. What is up?

9. We had a staff development day for work yesterday. They had a guest speaker come in the morning to talk about Culturally Relevant Learning. He talked about culturally relevant ways of getting our students' attention. My big take away: I say 'Holla' - you say 'Back.' Holla-...-Back. Trying it out on Monday. We'll see how it goes...

10. We're jumping on the bandwagon. Jason and I watched the first 2 episodes of Downton Abbey last night. I had tried to watch the first episode while on maternity leave after Jack was born. I got about 15 minutes into it and had to turn it off. Just couldn't get into it. I had just finished watching all the seasons of Parenthood, so I think I was comparing the two shows...and they are just so different. But, this time around I really liked Downton Abbey...can see why people are so obsessed with it. 

My week in a list. There you are!

Adjusting

I feel like time has been escaping me/us (as a family) the past few weeks.

Like, I haven't had time to do a lot of things I need/want to do...(hence not blogging in over a week).

Where is the time going?!

Ah!

I know life with one kid is 'easy'...

Or at least a lot easier than with multiple.

But, it's still an adjustment.

And there's a lot less 'me' and 'me and Jason' time.

And we've had a lot more to adjust to than just a new baby over the past few months.

In my 2013 Goals post I wrote about how Jason started working part time at our church (in addition to his full time job) in November (2 months after Jack was born).

We both agreed that this would be good because it gives Jason more experience in ministry, which is where he wants to go.

And, since I went to part-time teaching, this paycheck makes up the difference (plus more).

It also allows us to pay for seminary...which he started at the beginning of January (goes to class on Saturdays and does homework on the week nights that we don't have church activities).

So, needless to say, he is super busy...which means I'm also really busy because I've got the little man to watch when Jason's busy.

I'm also adjusting to working part-time...which is so, so nice...

But spending less time at work, means less time to grade, lesson plan, etc...which means bringing work home and trying to find time to do that when I'm tired and just want to go to bed. (Hence the projects that have been sitting in my bag for over 2 weeks now. Sigh)

At first I was trying to do a bunch of things when I got home from work while Jack was still up...like clean, cook, bake, grade, read books for bible studies we're in, etc...

But it wasn't working too well.

I realized I just need to focus on Jack.

I really try to give Jack all my attention when he's up for 2 reasons:

1) I want to spend quality time with him since I don't get to see him the first half of the day, and he goes to bed between 6:30 and 7, so that really only means about 5 or so hours a day with him.

2) I find I get frustrated when I try to do something while he is up, but then get interrupted because he wants to be held or wants my attention (he is definitely becoming more aware of my presence). So I've found it's much more enjoyable to just give him all of my attention and do things after he goes to bed or when Jason gets home and can watch him for a little bit.

We are a few months into this huge life transition, and Jason and I are realizing that we also need to be much more intentional with our time as a couple and family.

Quality time has become huge for me over these past few months.

But, we've realized that we're often giving each other our 'leftovers'...

And we try to schedule things to do as a couple or family after we realize that we already have the month all booked up.

So, we've started sitting down with our calendars at the beginning of the month and blocking out days and nights that we will spend together.

This way the month doesn't go by, and we realize that we didn't get any time together (except for maybe going to Costco or Target).

Hoping that we begin to adjust better to all we have on our plate and make positive changes.

Life is only going to get crazier and busier in the future, so we better figure out a game plan while we have a chance.

In other news, I finally paid someone to spruce up my blog...loving the new look. 

Still have to find time to actually write in my tabs, though.

And, here's a little loving from our Jack...

 Hope to be back soon.