SPU Visit Today

Jay and I had a fun visit to SPU today (where I used to work). My good friend and former co-worker, Debby, is headed to Hong Kong with her husband Mark next month where he will be pastoring a church. Today was Debby's last day in the office so we were able to join in on a farewell lunch in her honor. Thanks for thinking of me and including us in wishing Debby a fond farewell! That meant so much gals!

I dressed Jay in his costume (since tomorrow is costume day) for the gals to see, but then I took it off since it keeps him super toasty. The lunch was yummy (thanks to Organics To Go and the President's Office) and the fellowship terrific! Jay was very good (as usual) which made my time all the better, of course. I love that he likes to be with people, likes to be held by anyone, etc. After the lunch gathering Jay and I enjoyed a quick visit to the SPU Finance Office to say "hi" to friends that work in that area. So fun! Thanks for letting us interrupt your work day a bit!

I brought my camera today, but wouldn't you know it, I didn't take any pictures. Oh well! Too bad my intentions didn't come to fruit.

We have an outing tomorrow evening with friends so I promise I'll post pictures next time.

Sleepy Song

You can't see Jay very well since we recorded this when he was going to sleep in his crib, but the audio is there to give you a good idea of his "sleepy song" that he does when he is tired and is about to drop off for a nap or the night.

Pictures from last week

Listening to Dad reading Barnyard Dance

Wednesday, October 22

I love the hand Jay put on his face!

Some photos taken on Friday, October 24
Play Time

Fun at Home

Today Jay had another fun time in his exersaucer. Can you tell? He now slowly moves his way all by himself around the saucer playing with the toys. He likes to "talk" alot while playing in it, too. He'll happily play there for 15-20 minutes. A nice break for Mom!

Shortly after this picture was taken he received an impromptu bath. Why? Well he had a certain "odor" about him and let's just say he is getting really good at filling his diaper up and over.


Here are a couple videos I've been meaning to post. This video was taken on Thursday, October 16th at my sister Molly's house. Notice how he loves to talk to his new favorite puppy.

And here is a video taken on Sunday, October 19th with a week's practice at eating his rice cereal. He was basically this good at eating right from the start. He is now getting rice cereal at lunch and dinner every day (vs. just at dinner when I first started him on rice cereal).

Afternoon with friends

After church and Sunday School today, we had the pleasure and privilege of enjoying great food and terrific fellowship with our friends Doug and Kay. It was relaxing and so enjoyable to catch up with the latest in our lives, counting our many blessings, giving thanks to God.

Pumpkin Patch Visit

Here is Jay in his car seat on the way to the pumpkin patch this afternoon. I couldn't resist this photo op. Notice his favorite new puppy dog from Dalene. I know he likes it since he often gives it open mouth kisses and loves to play with its soft, floppy ears. I'll often see him with his arms wrapped around its neck, too. As a bonus you wind it up and it plays Brahm's Lullaby sweetly. SO ADORABLE!

Here is Dad and our little "pea in the pod" in the backyard of a home just down the road from Maris Farms near Buckley, WA. We met up with the group at 3:00 this afternoon and walked to Maris Farms. We walked back to this backyard at 5:00 for a terrific fall potluck. It was so fun! And Jay stayed cozy warm in his costume.



Costume, you say? Well, yes! I thought a pea in the pod went nicely with the pumpkins, don't you agree? Mark, a big thanks to you for taking these family photos at the farm! It wouldn't have happened without you!

Jay's first visit to a pumpkin patch was a great success! Contrary to what these photos show, he enjoyed himself. As usual, lots of smiles abounded from him when we were with friends who talked to him. He is quite the charmer. Now I just need to work with him on smiling for the camera...

Pictures from Weekend at Grandma's

Jay and I had fun at Grandma's house this weekend. As promised in my last blog entry, here is a photo of my cousin Ray J with his daughter. They came and visited for a few hours Saturday morning. She's so cute! Her busy-ness also gave me a glimpse at what life may look like in about 6 months.

My first cousin Ray J with his 10 mo. daughter Gretchen

Grandma Amy and Jay hanging together
Saturday, October 11

Sunday afternoon the wind finally calmed and the day was beautiful so Jay and I seized the moment and worked outside with Grandma trimming the caragana (sp?) hedge that borders Grandma's yard. Jay LOVED it! After working a bit we decided he'd do better on my back, so believe it or not, I flipped the Bjorn around so he was on my back. He especially loved it when I leaned down because then he was flat on my back looking up at the sky. He thought that was so FUN. He enjoyed the outdoors for nearly an hour before he started fussing telling me he was ready for a nap.

Jay ready for the outdoors
Sunday, October 12

Jay and I have been fighting a mild case of a cold the last three days or so, but we're doing fine. I bought a humidifier yesterday to put in his nursery to help ease his cold symptoms.

Jay got his first taste of rice cereal this weekend! He has caught on being fed by spoon very quickly and it isn't near as messy of a process as it was the first two times. I plan to post a picture or video of him enjoying his rice cereal sometime this week so you can get a peek.

Jay also has started giving me wonderful, slobbery, melt-your-heart, open-mouth kisses. He is especially generous with his kisses in the morning. So fun!

Long Weekend at Grandma's

Jay and I drove Dad Matt and Uncle Keith to the airport Thursday night. Dad is enjoying his annual long weekend in Arizona golfing and relaxing with his good guy friends so Jay and I decided we would seize the opportunity to spend some time with Grandma in Eastern Washington.

Jay woke up at 6:00 a.m. Friday morning for his first feeding of the day. I had packed the car late Thursday night after Jay was down for the night. As soon as he was done eating Friday morning (around 6:45 a.m.) I buckled him in his car seat and away we went! I didn't want a repeat of the last car trip to Grandma's when he woke up in the dark and hysterically cried for 1+ hours.

He fell to sleep just after we were on the interstate and he woke up just before Ellensburg ready to eat again. It couldn't have been better timing. I pulled off there and fed him a bottle. The slow poke took 30 minutes to drink 4 oz., but I just was thankful I was able to fill up his tank and hoped he'd go back to sleep when we got back on the freeway, and sure enough, he did! He woke up just 3 miles before driving into Grandma's yard. Hooray! What a relief for this Mom - especially since this was the first road trip we accomplished with just the two of us in the car.

My first cousin Ray J brought his 10 month old daughter Gretchen for a visit today. (I'll post a picture next week when I'm back on my home computer.) And then my first cousin John was driving by and came for a short visit after having worked in the field down the road this afternoon.

Other than that, we've been pretty laid back around here. Jay is soaking up lots of cuddles, loves, and play time with Grandma, Great Grandma, and his Great Aunt Donna. I'd love to take Jay outdoors during the day but it has been too chilly and very windy yesterday and today, so we haven't ventured out. Hopefully the weather will be nicer tomorrow.

4 Month Check-Up

Yesterday afternoon Jay saw Dr. Ruth Crosby, his pediatrician, for his 4 month check-up. Here are his latest stats:

Weight: 13 lbs., 14 oz. - 25th-50th percentile
Length/Height: 25-1/4" - 50th-75th percentile
Head Circumference: 42-1/4" - 50th percentile

August 12th Weight: 11 lbs., 6 oz. - 50th percentile
August 12th Length/Height: 23-1/2" - 75th percentile
August 12th Head Circumference: 39-1/2" - 50th percentile

Here is a picture of Jay waiting for Dr. Crosby

Dr. Crosby told us we can begin Jay on solid foods any time now. We'll start him out on rice cereal in the next week or two and begin introducing pureed vegetables and fruit one at a time 3-4 days apart. My baby is growing up!

Also, here is proof of Jay's first tooth that recently broke through. I'm not sure you can see it clearly via this photo but it is there! Looking at his mouth his front bottom right tooth has poked through the gum (from his perspective its his front bottom left tooth).

Play Date

This morning Jay and I left for our weekly get-together with my girlfriends and their little ones. We normally walk around Greenlake in Seattle (about a 3 mi. walk we do in 1 hour), but since it was raining/misty this morning, we opted to get together at Katie's house which is not too far away for a play date for the kiddos and adult time for us Moms.

Jay and Audrey

Elorie

Audrey trying out Jay's play center

Jay is 4-1/2 months old, Audrey is 2 weeks older than Jay, and Elorie is nearly 8 months old. Our friend Priscilla wasn't able to come today since her two boys (4-1/2 months old and 3 years old) are sick, but hopefully she'll be able to join us next week. We had a great time!

Two New Milestones!

Today was quite the milestone day!

When Jay woke up this morning I went in to his room to get him for his first feeding. What did I see when I peeked into the crib? A little boy on his BACK looking up at me with a big smile. I put him to bed on his tummy (as usual) and sometime during the night or early morning he had rolled over! What a turkey...

And then at Sunday School this morning Dad happened to stick his finger in Jay's mouth since he likes to chomp on things and what did he discover? A sharp bottom tooth had poked out of his gum! That seems to help explain why Jay reverted to waking up for "no apparant reason" in the middle of the night several nights in a row this week. It was always at different times so I figured he wasn't getting his clock stuck for a feeding or something like that. Now I'm pretty sure he was dealing with a bit of pain from teething. He slept all the way through the night Saturday night for the first time in about 4 days, and I'll tell you, it was much appreciated.

Late this afternoon we visited our good friends Rick, Joy, and Kezia in Seattle. We hadn't seen them in a couple of months so it was great to catch up with the latest in their lives. Joy is pregnant with a second child due around Thanksgiving. She looks GREAT! Kezia will be an older sister to her soon-coming brother by 17 months. Here is a picture of Joy, Kezia, and Jay. Kezia loved her dinner and had gotten food on her cute top so her Mom decided it was time to take off. She also had a cute clip in her hair when we arrived, but since she'd had it in since church which started at 9:00 a.m., the clip was annoying her by 5 in the afternoon so she had stripped that out of her hair, too. She is just the cutest thing. She loves her books and she bobs her head back and forth to her favorite tunes.


Jay was an especially happy boy today. Here are a couple photos of him from this evening. Thanks to our friends Chris and Sarah in TX for this cute outfit and matching dump truck socks!

HI EVERYBODY!!

Happy Boy

Quiet Week

It has been a quiet week on the home front. Jay and I ventured out a few times this week for some fresh air with 1+ mile walks and the obligatory grocery errand run to keep us all nourished.

Tomorrow we will attend church, then our Sunday School class is doing a potluck brunch to kick-off the new season of Adult Bible Fellowships (ABFs for short), so hopefully some newbies will check the class out.

Later tomorrow afternoon we are getting together with another couple to catch up. They have a one year old daughter and they are due with their second child (a BOY!) late November/early December. They are great friends and we're looking forward to our time with them.

The weather is quite blustery today - rain and wind (35-40 mph gusts). I decided it was time to break out a soup recipe so I've made a batch of corn/potato chowder late this afternoon to enjoy tomorrow with some onion bagels and fruit.

All is well - we're just enjoying the quiet of home these days.