Tummy Time Surprise

Hooray for the beginning of my summer hours! We are officially on 20-hr. work weeks and I will be off Mondays, half Thursdays, and Fridays until the end of August. I couldn't be happier to be spending more time at home with Jackson.

This morning I put the baby on his tummy on a play mat so he could work on some tummy time. He usually gets fed up with it after a couple minutes, but he's getting better at lifting his head and neck and even his upper body. I read somewhere that you're supposed to have a baby do tummy time up to 8 or 10 times a day. Who has the time for that?! Especially when the little ones don't seem to like it very much? We feel pretty good if it happens more than twice! Anyway, after I put him down I went to get a glass of water. Imagine my surprise to find him off the play mat and on his back when I returned mere seconds later! He had rolled over all by himself! At 3.5 months, no less! I was totally amazed, and he looked pretty shocked with himself too! After whipping out the camera and setting it to record video, I waited patiently as he hoisted himself up on one arm, only to realize after a few moments that this first roll was, indeed, an accident. But a pretty special one at that.

Chewing on his puppy while getting his diaper changed

Smiling for the camera - FINALLY - instead of just looking at it like, "What's

that thing?"

Making faces at himself in the mirror

Life in Motley

I wanted to make good on my promise of delivering more pictures of life in Motley. If you previously viewed this entry, sorry about the layout! I didn't have time to fix it then, but this version is better. Still not great... I'm still learning!


Here's Jackson napping in our bed. I can't believe how big he has become and how quickly it happened! Isn't he sweet?!

Below is a picture of Curt and our family friend, Chuck, working on the deck in the pouring rain a couple weekends ago. They were soaking wet and freezing when they came in that day! These tough boys sure worked hard, though.



On the right is Grandpa hanging out with Jackson, who just got out of the bath. Grandpa, not realizing he'd just been in the tub, said, "How come you're so hot, buddy? Is that a hot outfit or what?" Hehehe.

Just this past weekend we were visited by Curt's cousin Jim, his wife, Liz, and their three kids, Vince, Connor, and Maggie (baby #4 is on the way!). Curt and Jim are very similar people and the four of us have a lot in common. It is always a good time when we can hang out together. Curt and I learned that, although it works for Jackson, our house is not prepared for children yet! We have lots of work to do before he can start crawling/walking and getting into everything!!!

Here are Jim and Vince helping out with the deck. Thanks for contributing, boys!
This is Liz cuddling with Jackson. It was super windy out but we really wanted to sit on the deck and test it out, so I threw this winter hat on him. He didn't like that so much since it was too tight and it left a little ring around his head. You can tell it was a bad idea because it makes him look so chubby. We quickly put on a better choice.

On a happy closing note, tomorrow is the last day we have preschoolers in the classroom! YAY! We are going to a park in Wadena for a carnival/picnic on Thursday to celebrate the end of the year. Work has been SO stressful lately and we are all very ready for the year to be over! After the holiday weekend I only work 20 hrs/week and I am incredibly excited to have more time at home with Jackson! I CANNOT WAIT!!!

Mother's Day and more

Wow, has it been a long time since I posted! I have a few spare minutes on my lunch break for once (it's mostly taken up by pumping) so I can give you a little update. Sorry, no pictures today. Again I need to remind everyone that I knew this would happen and have said so several times - it seems as though there is no time to do ANYTHING anymore! Especially since Jackson is so entertaining now that he's starting to giggle! That's right, I said giggle! It is the sweetest thing I have ever heard in my entire life! It was so sweet the first time a couple weeks ago that I cried. :) I suppose that's how every mom feels about the little accomplishments of her first born.

Speaking of which, I was able to celebrate a very special day on my first Mother's Day. I was so proud to be able to do so as a mom this year. Jackson has been such a blessing and I am so proud of our little family. Working with children who have special needs and come from troubled families reminds me on a daily basis of how lucky we are to have a healthy, happy baby boy. I thought about all the moms that I am honored to know on Sunday and took some time to reflect on the things you have taught me and the gifts you've given me in my life. Thank you all for your inspiration, support, and love. And for those of you who aren't mothers, I hope you celebrated your own mom on this very special day! And thanks to Jackson and Daddy for the sweet necklace. I was very surprised and have been wearing it almost every day. :)

In other quick news before I have to go back to the classroom (only 4 days left with children! YAY!), we are in the process of building a deck in our back yard and have been busy the past few weekends with this huge project. I will have to take some pictures soon and post again next week. A huge thank you goes out to my parents and our friends Chuck & Meline for helping us undertake such a task! We couldn't have done it without you and we're so grateful for your assistance.

Another April Snow

We had one more blast of winter up here yesterday and today, and we are super bummed! Of course it's gorgeous outside, but getting six inches of snow on the last weekend in April when we were supposed to be building a deck off the back of the house is just MADDENING! That's the view from our deckless :( back window. I don't know if you can tell, but even the deer looks confused. It just stood there for a while, not knowing what to think, until it finally gave up and laid down.I cannot wait for spring to arrive again and stick around this time!!! I shouldn't be saying that at this time of year because it should already be here, dammit! We are keeping our fingers crossed for good deck building weather next weekend...

On a side note, remember how I said I'd have a hard time blogging once I was back at work? Well... yeah. It is so hard to find the time! I already feel like I don't have time to get anything done because all I want to do from the minute the kids leave the classroom till the minute I get home is cuddle and play with my baby, and that's pretty much what we've been doing every night! So we'll see if I get any better late next month when part-time hours kick in (I can't wait!).

Being back at work is still going well. It's been easier for me than I thought it would be, and he's doing wonderfully at daycare. Lately Jackson has been getting up just once a night and it's been excellent! He slept through the night for the first time two nights ago and we're wondering when it'll happen again. It's so interesting how different life is now that we have a baby. Sleeping for 7 uninterrupted hours is unheard of around here and I woke up so refreshed! I think Curt might have been more tired than me for once since he checked on him more often than I did. I'm having so much fun watching him be a daddy. :)

Baptism Weekend

Our family had another big weekend this weekend. On Friday, Jackson Ryan turned 2 months old!!! I know I say it all the time, but it is really so hard to believe how fast time flies and how quickly babies grow and change! I got extra time to enjoy him on Friday as work was canceled due to the snowstorm we had up here on Thursday night/Friday all day. I'd say we got close to a foot, and I'm thrilled to say that it is melting quickly and the weather's getting beautiful!

On Saturday and today we got to hang out with Auntie Sheila, Uncle John, and cousin Madelyn. The babies have only seen each other once before, so it was lots of fun watching them together. They smiled at each other a little bit but mostly stared. Wouldn't it be fun to know what they're thinking? They also played lots of monkey-see, monkey-do: one would start crying and soon the other would follow! Jackson didn't feel too good yesterday but he's back to his regular self today after lots of extra sleep. Thank goodness! He was so fussy yesterday and I felt so bad for him!

Jackson was also baptized today! It was a proud moment for us to watch our son officially become a child of God, and we were honored to share it with his Godparents, Sheila and John, and the rest of our families. We had lots of fun with visitors over for lunch and meeting Great Grandparents Hines for the first time.

While we celebrated, today also marked a sad occasion for my family in my mom's cousin's death. He went into the hospital about a month ago for frequent headaches and was diagnosed with brain cancer. He had a fast-growing tumor and there was not much hope for him. It is astonishing to think how much life can change in such a short time. While I am saddened by the loss in the family, I am also reminded of how precious life is and how important it is to not take things for granted. We are so thankful for all our blessings...

D-Day

Today is the day I have been dreading for eight weeks... back to work. :( This weekend I was an on-and-off basketcase with several crying jags, both short and long-lasting (just ask Curt). I held Jackson extra tight and gave him tons of kisses to hold him over while I'm away from him. (Like he'll even notice, right? I'm trying to make myself feel better by telling myself he'll miss me just as much as I miss him.) This morning I got my car stuck in the driveway and have never been happier about doing so! That meant I got to spend extra time with Jackson while I waited for Curt to come home and bail me out! I was so proud of myself for being ready to go on time and then the inevitable happened. It seems I get stuck after every fresh snowfall of over an inch. I hope it is gone soon...

Anyway, I had to wake my son up to get him ready and he was being so cute and cuddly and smiley, making it extra hard. That's when the tears welled up but I am surprised to say that I held it in and haven't cried yet today! School was cancelled due to the weather, and it has been surprisingly easy to be here, even without distractions from the kids and with being all alone in the office. Since I've been gone, I have no prep work to do, which is why I have time to post this. Of course I'd rather be home with Jackson since I'm really getting paid to not do much today, but his first day at daycare had to come sooner or later. I am looking at his picture all the time and wondering how he's doing. Is he fussy? Is he taking his bottle well? Is he overwhelmed with all the other children around? Daddy is picking him up this afternoon and probably won't get the details from Kathy, our daycare provider, like he did from me every day, so I'll have to talk to her tomorrow and find out. I hope he is doing as well there as I am here.

Thanks for all the positive encouragement and well wishes! It's much appreciated and it helps to know you guys are thinking of me today! :)

90%

Today Jackson had his two month wellness check-up, and he is a very healthy baby! Weighing in at 13.5 lbs, he is in the 90th percentile! His height is also up there at 23 3/4". What a big boy! I figured he'd be right around that mark... his double chin really gives it away. :) We are so lucky to have such a healthy little boy!

He was also given his first dose of shots today. When I gave him some medicine before we left, he spit it all out and cried, so I was very worried about him. I even chose to wait in the waiting room rather than be there while he was given the shots. Is that terrible? I felt like a bad mother! But he doesn't know the difference anyway, right? I was still there to give as much comfort as I could when it was all said and done. He came out crying, but I've actually seen him cry harder at home a few times when he's desperately hungry, so I was surprised that it wasn't so bad. Once I got him in the car seat and started walking he had basically calmed down; then we went to visit Daddy and his friends over in the radiology department and he got lots of cuddling, which really helped a lot. :) After that we went on to get even more admiration and cuddles while visiting Mommy's work. I think the pain set in when we left there because every time he'd move his legs he'd cry. I gave him more medicine and he actually swallowed this time, and now he seems to be doing fine. We lived to tell about it and I hope round two goes just as well at 4 months.

We also went to visit our daycare provider today and drop off Jackson's stuff for Monday. We spent about half an hour with her and she loved him up the whole time! I do feel comfortable with her, just sad to have to leave him at all and return to work. Being distracted by other children all day will help, though - I'll barely have time to think about him!

We had a very busy day today and are ready to relax this weekend and cuddle a lot before Monday. :) Get out and enjoy the nice weather if you're lucky enough to have it!