Started out sitting up...this is the wiggle worm in action

Kicked her feet out

Wondering what is going on!

Happy 3rd Birthday A & N!

Nora attended her first Chuck E Cheese birthday party Saturday for cousins Ann & Nellie who turned 3.  She loved all the loud noises and bright lights-just what stimulus driven babies love.  For mom's of stimulus driven babies like me, CEC was overstimulus and I was exhausted from all the energy there! The kids loved it.  We joke about the cheap toys they win from all their tickets, but its worth the couple hours of fun they get from the games.

Ann, Nora, and Nellie at A&N's Birthday party at Chuck E Cheese



LOL, this picture cracks me up!

Nora with Nana Karen

Our Back Yard

We have tomatoes!

Bunny rabbits love our back yard since it's right next to a grassy, weedy field

These little guys just started coming around lately.  Jake wants to get a feeder so they come up closer.  This is out in the field behind our house. There were probably 5-7 of them, but they are quick little suckers so this is the best picture I could get!

The "big bunch" has bloomed!

Happy First Father's Day

Yesterday we started the day out going to church and Sunday school. After we got home we ate, then Jake cleaned out both the cars while Nora and I took a nap. Golf was on pretty much all day-which was fine because it was Father's Day and Rory is my golfer and he was dong really well. We went for a walk, grilled out for dinner, and relaxed as a family. Here are some pictures from the day:

Outside with Daddy learning about birds and gardening

Love this picture of them together. She adores her daddy!

Quick...lets get a family picture before all the bugs get us!

Reading about a little turtle with a turtle finger puppet and all



Nora's gift to Jake.  We made this card on Friday. The footprint was a good idea, but the hand print "blob" wasn't such a good idea. Paint, a baby hand...not a good idea, but I wanted a cute card so I did it and it was a mess, but it turned out! Jake thought it was Jersey's paw at first! This card is now on the fridge-Jake insisted it be displayed.  Squeak is Jake's nickname for Nora.  She got him some car care stuff, but we reminded him that his big gift was the lawn being treated this whole summer since he can't stand the weeds!

A great day for Jake's first Father's Day!

3 Month Update

Somebody rolled over...ON CAMERA...for the first time (well, second counting the fluke that happened a month ago).  Jake captured her in action on Tuesday when I was at work. He called to tell me and I thought I was going to cry because I missed it, until he told me that he got it on video! He set the camera up because he thought she would do it at some point in the night, but to his surprise it was only a minute after he set the camera to record. 

For the past few days she has been a rolling over Queen, but then she gets mad and cries because shes on her tummy. She's not quite sure what to do when she's there so we turn her back on her back...and the process happens over and over again! Yay, we are so excited to see her grow and do new things. 

We are not ready to un-swaddle her arms at bed time since she's sleeping so well.  But, her rolling over with arms in-isn't a good idea.

3 Months Already

Wow time flies! Nora is 3 months old today. We have had a lot of fun the past month getting to know her personality more and more each day.  She talks to people when we are at stores to let them know she is there and taking everything in.  At church she sits on my lap and listens to Pastor Kurt as he preaches and she coos when we sing songs. 

We have pretty much established a schedule that works for her and us at the same time.  She is typically in her crib between 9-9:30 pm and wakes any where between 8-9:30 am...a great sleeper! We have been putting her down before she is sleeping to make sure she learns to put herself to sleep which will pay off in the future.  Usually she is so tired that with in 10 minutes she is fast asleep and typically doesn't make much noise until the morning.  We count our blessings every night that she sleeps so well and hope that teething doesn't interrupt this wonderful schedule!

Probably her most prominent new thing is gnawing on her fist.  She sucks and bites on it like crazy. At first I thought she was trying to tell me she was hungry, but quickly I learned that wasn't the case as she rejected the feeding.  We have been putting a rattle in her hand to show her "how" her hands work.  She now grabs and smacks her toys under her play gym and recognizes the ones that make noises. 

This is Jake's input to this segment of Nora's 3 months...."She poops up her back and through her clothes. I had to give her a bath.  She smiles, she giggles, she cries hysterically when dad is holding her...mom comes to the rescue and she stops. She likes to read books."  Told just like a dad!

She doesn't have another doctor appointment until 4 months so we don't know her measurements, but I know shes growing because she has been able to wear some 6 month clothes due to her length.  Her 3 month pants are a little short, and 0-3 pants are like high waters.  Gerber 3-6 month onsies are stretched to the max to get buttoned! We are going to have a tall girl on our hands.  She continues to get new hair in-lighter than it was, but it seems like it's still changing.  We haven't fed her anything else but breast milk and don't plan on it for a few more months unless necessary.  I'm excited to make my own baby food when the time comes, but it's nice to not have to worry about anything but nursing and pumping right now.  Enough about that...

Here are some pictures from the past month!

So proud to be 3 months!

Bored already...

This is what I do now!

After bath time

Mommy is obsessed with making large bows!

Playing outside on the hot hot days

After church

I love my daddy!

See...Mommy and I look some what alike? Don't we?

Cousins

Nora loves her cousins Ann & Nellie.  She laughs and coos at them and they love calling her "Baby Nora". We joked yesterday that they will probably call her that for a while-even after she's not technically a baby anymore. But, it's cute and they can't get enough of her.  Nora has been a good practice baby for the girls since they will have a baby sister coming in October who will be taking a little attention away from them. I think they have managed well when Rachel watches Nora.  They are always up for helping change her, feed her, throw the diaper away, hold her...whatever they can! I keep telling them next year she will be able to play with them and eat what they eat, but I'm not totally convinced they understand a year or why she can't do those things now.

Flower Garden

I'm waiting for our big ole bunch of these to bloom.  We transplanted a few small bunches like this one to fill our flower garden for FREE this year.  We will probably have them all over the yard by next year. I love perinnials for that reason.  I'll post a picture of the huge bunch when its in full bloom. I bet it has over 50 flowers ready to bloom any day now!

Bye Bye Kia

Thursday we drove the "Golden Girl" aka the Rio for the last time.  We took a trip up to Fort Wayne to look at a van we saw on autotrader.com. It had everything we were looking for, but we just wanted to see it in person and make sure it was in the condition we wanted.  There were a few thoughts going through my head on the way up there...1) I hope the Rio makes it up there and 2) I hope the van is in good condition because I dont want to take another 2 1/2 hour drive back home in the Rio! Well, here she was for the last time in the driveway with Squeak.

Here is the new van! Shiny, like new 2008 T&C! We have more room-my knees were touching the dash as we drove up to FW and on the way home we were much more comfy.  Nora liked the tinted windows with built in screens to block the sun and Jake was content letting me drive my new van. I think he's only excited because now the Audi is his to drive, but I'm OK with that. 

Alright...all you van haters unite, but tell me what I can get for the storage and passenger load, gas mileage and price and I'll show you this every time!

Buckle Up!

We have a little wiggle worm on our hands! We used to put her in the swing or bouncy seat with out buckling it because she was always so still.  The other day I found her with her bottom at the end of the swing and her head almost where her bottom is supposed to go...she was wiggling her way out! Now we are strapping or buckling her in everything.  I had bumpers on the crib (I know, illegal, but so cute!) that I removed the other night because she was on the opposite side of the bed. Imagine me..in the middle of the night...trying to be quiet untying each tie, but I was worried that she might scoot her way up to the bumper.  Last night she had her feet 180 degrees from the position we laid her down in earlier that night.  Jake said to me last night, "can we put the bumpers back on? I feel like shes in prison and that we aren't taking care of her!". I reassured him she would be fine and the bumpers were not going back on!

Speaking of the wiggle worm...she's not happy right now...gotta go!

It's Garage Sale Time

Garage Sales are one of my guilty pleasures in life and now is when they are in full swing.  Every other community around us has a community wide garage sale day and they advertise with huge signs.  Whenever we drive by one I can just hear Jake clenching his teeth hoping I don't see the huge-unavoidable-not-gonna-miss-it sign that is posted at the front of the neighborhood. 

I've always been a garage sale kind a girl-always looking for the lowest price and best deals around, but now that Nora is around I love them even more FOR THE TOYS and other kids stuff.  Our community sale brought a couple good deals on toys for her even though they are for when she is a bit older, but garage sales don't happen in the winter....but then again that's what Craigslist is for! This past weekend I cleaned up at a few community sales.  I first went on Friday morning. Since I'm not working Fridays its nice to get to the sales the day before most people go out so I can get all the deals-see how this is a game for me?! I scoped them out first before lugging the stroller out and wasting time that  I could spend down the road at other sales and decided this upscale neighborhood was a good find.  I strolled around getting a few things mainly for myself. This lady was selling a bunch of Pampered Chef grilling spices and a Easy Accent Decorator that had never been opened for $5...Cha-CHing! I've been waiting for the next PC party to get the Easy Accent Decorator because we take deviled eggs to my side of the family for a lot of our get togethers.  I got a few cute outfits for Nora that day too, but most of the toys were $3-$7 and I was not paying that price at a garage sale! I mean come on...seriously?

Well, little did I learn later that day at Babies R Us that $3-$7 for the toys they were selling was a HUGE discount since most of those toys were $45 and up! Holy Cow! I went back Saturday morning and scooped up all the toys that were fifty cents to $7 and seemed cleanable.  I never realized how expensive toys were especially when kids get so bored after 2 minutes with a toy.  Later that night I disinfected all the toys and stored them away for when she is ready to play with them.

Next weekend there are 2 more community sales I think I'll go to just to see if I find anything worth the money.