who knows
Monday, February 15, 2010Labels: baby love
Just last week I had settled on a new schedule for Jasper that cut out his morning nap. I was completely okay with him giving it up as long as he wasn't a grouch all morning. Around 9:30 on Thursday morning I put him in his crib for "quiet time" so I could shower. He slept for almost two hours. This has been repeated every day since. In fact I can hear his baby snoring over the monitor right now. So for now, I'm rolling with it because that what you do. What would parenting be if there wasn't a time every week when you thought "I have no clue"?
jabber jaws
Friday, February 12, 2010Labels: baby love
I was finally able to get a decent video of Jasper jabbering. I'm not kidding you, he is CONSTANTLY babbling. Unfortunately he gets very distracted by the video camera and I can't get a good video of the talking. He was very engrossed in the computer screen and didn't notice the video camera. I just wish I knew what he was saying!
going a little stir crazy
Wednesday, February 10, 2010Labels: baby love
Jasper and I are going a little stir crazy trapped in the house. We've had a bit of snow and not that we have a car to go anywhere... So we just entertain ourselves.
He's easy to get giggling.
And I can't help laugh when he does.
This...well, I have no excuse for putting him through this.
Someday I will just blame him for only taking an hour nap, running around like a crazy man and being trapped in the house. He'll forgive me when I show his first date, right?
sleep patterns
Tuesday, February 09, 2010Labels: baby love
From day one we've been very lucky when it comes to sleep and our little guy. Jasper slept great in his crib that first night home from the hospital. We eventually did the cry it out thing and really didn't have to work too hard at that. I don't believe in rocking babies to sleep so we have always put him down when he's awake.
Last week it was like he flipped a switch. He decided he for sure didn't need a morning nap and suddenly wasn't ready for bed at 7:00pm like usual. Our schedule has been out of whack so I thought it was all related. It seems though that he is ready for a new schedule.
He wakes at 8:00 ready to attack the day. Usually around 9:30-10:00am I put him in his crib so I can shower. He doesn't sleep but still gives me a good 30/45 minutes to get ready and drink a second cup of coffee. He'll start yelling for me when he's tired of "quiet time". Naptime is now 1:00 and he sleeps for two hours (although I'm hoping that time increases as he gets used to no morning nap). Then he's ready for bed by 8:00pm.
Of course tonight he was ready for bed by 7:00pm. It's like just when you get used to something they throw you for a loop. You know, just to keep you on your toes.
jasper videos
Monday, February 08, 2010Labels: baby love
Jasper loves music and is really getting into dancing these days.
Although he does say "mom" and "mama" now, he prefers to mouth or whisper the words. He loves to be ornery!
starting him early
Wednesday, February 03, 2010Labels: baby love, kodachrome
Last Friday at our favorite coffee shop we decided to enjoy our coffee there instead of to go. Jasper sat in one of the chairs like a big boy and helped Josh eat a scone. Once that was gone though he really wanted to get down and run around. So I handed him my little point and shoot to occupy him. At first I left it off but then decided to turn it on for him. I showed him what button to press at the top and he went to town. Most of the pictures were of his legs and hands but we also got the picture above. I'm excited to share my love of photography with the little guy.
latte
Friday, January 29, 2010Labels: baby love, coffee talk
Jasper had his 15 month shots this morning. I was surprised when he only needed one! To keep going on our good day we visited our favorite coffee shop and I got one of the best vanilla lattes. Nice to start off the weekend right!
kids get sick
Wednesday, January 20, 2010Labels: baby love
Last night Jasper got sick. He had been down for the night in his crib (showing no signs of feeling ill) when we heard him cry. Josh headed upstairs and mother's intuition kicked in. I knew he was sick. I got upstairs as Josh was bringing him into the bathroom. Poor little guy had thrown up all over himself.
Now let me preface this to say that I do not do well with puke. I seriously would take gushing blood over throwing up. I have only thrown up once since I was in fifth grade.
We spent the next four hours sitting on the couch downstairs with Jasper, tipping him over a bowl when he threw up. It was terrible. But really...it wasn't that bad. He didn't have a lot to throw up and was fine in between. Josh was home (thank goodness) and handled it all like a pro. I, on the other hand, couldn't stop shaking.
When Jasper wasn't throwing up he would lay his little head on my shoulder but still muster a smile when his daddy did something silly. He always gave a high five to Josh when Josh would ask for one. It was the saddest, cutest thing ever. After he would throw up he would do the sign for all done in sign language. It made me want to cry.
Finally at 12:30 he slept soundly in my arms. Under different circumstances I would have been in heaven. Josh and I decided to wait it out down on the couch just to make sure Jasper was done. At 2:30am we all headed upstairs. I put Jasper down and he slept the rest of the night in his crib.
Today he has kept down everything he ate. Besides sleeping more than usual, he was in good spirits. Getting into the cupboards he knows not to, throwing things down the stairs, "getting" Bebo... Thankfully he just caught a touch of the flu and it looks like we're well on the road to recovery.
Of course, I am still completely paranoid he is going to start throwing up again. An hour or so after putting Jasper down tonight I heard him cry. I bolted up to his room taking two stairs at a time so worried I would find him covered in throw up. Thankfully he had just gotten scrunched to the foot of the crib and couldn't right himself.
Seeing your kid sick has got to be one of the worst things in the world. I am so very thankful that this is Jasper's first illness and he has recovered quickly. I couldn't help but say a few extra prayers for all of the parents with sick or hurt children tonight.
taking a breather
Monday, January 18, 2010
Sundays have slowly turned into a day off for me. Since we are usually just bumming around the house Josh takes over with Jasper. He changes diapers, gets him food, corrals him... It's a nice break for me and it helps me get through the coming week.
Yesterday Josh got called into work and the kid decided not to nap very long. Suddenly I was back on duty, full force. Jasper has been exhausting lately. He's really into climbing and running. His attention span with a toy is about thirty seconds. Makes it a little difficult to contain him. I really needed a break to recharge.
My mom offered to come and get Jasper for awhile. I put up a fight but she's more stubborn than I am. I couldn't help feel guilty that I was "pawning my kid off". Jasper spent two hours over at my parent's house allowing me time to chill out. By the time he got home I had started missing him and was happy to have him back.
I wish I wouldn't feel guilty about needing a break. I'm a better mom when I can have that every once in awhile. Two hours was all I needed and I was back in the game. Sometimes you have to take care of yourself to take better care of your kids. posted by kimberly, 1/18/2010 09:57:00 AM
3 comments
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couldn't believe it
Tuesday, January 12, 2010Labels: baby love
I asked Jasper if he read my blog today. This evening Jasper said, "mama". At first he said "mamamama" and then wouldn't say it again. We asked him a bunch but he wouldn't repeat it. Once we looked away or did something else he would say it! He said some version of mom at least ten times tonight.
Before he went to bed, I sat him on my lap with my arms wrapped around him and said, "Say mama". And he said it again. My heart almost burst out of my chest. I can't wait until tomorrow so I can hear it again.
words
Labels: baby love
Jasper's babbling has become more consistent and is really starting to sound like actual words. The problem is that I still don't know what those words are. Josh and I answer him like we know what he's saying but usually have no clue. 
It's fun to see him using sign language in the right context. I can also see him pointing more and "asking" for things. Yesterday he was standing up in his crib during naptime, pointing at one of his stuffed animals on the floor. He stuck his little finger out and pointed so fiercely that I had to laugh. I think I actually said, "Okay, I get it! You want Scout. Stop yelling" even though he didn't make a noise. 
I'm anxious for him to begin saying even more words but especially "Mama" which he will not say. I cannot wait to hear that come out of his little mouth.
happy feet
Tuesday, January 05, 2010Every day Jasper is doing more and more. He knows all done, more, please, and thank you in sign language. He says dog, good, hi, hey, dad, Josh, giggle. He can show you where his belly is. He gives lots of kisses and hugs. Is rarely short on laughs... Labels: baby love
It has been so much fun to see the changes in him just in the last few weeks. Just this week he has started doing what we call "happy feet".
may your days be merry
Friday, December 25, 2009Labels: baby love, christmas cheer
Merry Christmas from my family to yours. Eat lots of cookies and laugh as much as possible. That's what we're doing here.
snow
Monday, December 21, 2009Labels: baby love
We got a little snow over the weekend and decided to take Jasper out in it yesterday. We bundled him up and took him outside. At first he looked at us like "uh, what are we doing out here?". 
Josh gave him some snow to hold and he instantly ate some. He was very interested in it and didn't seem to mind the cold. He looks pretty darn cute bundled up if you ask me!
what a week
Friday, December 18, 2009Labels: baby love, family matters
Oh what a week. I had a yearly doctor's appointment in town on Wednesday. I worked it out with my mom to borrow her car. She got a ride into work and then I would pick her up before the appointment. To say I was excited to leave the house was an understatement. I don't get to leave the house much these days. Josh needs the car to get to work and pick up parts for work during the day. So Jasper and I are kind of trapped most days. I've accepted it and I'm okay with it. (Even though some weeks I feel like I'm going a little stir-crazy.)
Wednesday I got us all ready to go and we headed out. I burnt a cd with Jasper's favorite songs and we were jamming to the tunes. I got two blocks out of town and hit a huge pothole, hard. I worried that it popped the tire and drove a bit to the stop sign. By the time I was there I was sure the tire was flat. I got out of the car and checked. Yep, flat.
I quickly called Josh and drove the six blocks to his work to switch cars. I know you're not supposed to drive on a flat but I didn't really know what else to do. We swapped cars and I headed into town. I couldn't believe it. Once I was almost into town I called Josh. I was worried driving on the flat did damage to the rim. Turns out hitting the pothole damaged the rim and not driving on it.
So I trashed my mom's tire and rim within five minutes of driving it. I was feeling so awful about it. On Thursday my dad sent me a link to this commercial and said he wasn't upset and that crap happens. To make matters worse the tire and rim probably wouldn't be fixed until early next week. So my parents and us would be sharing our one good car throughout the weekend so we could leave town if needed.
My dad called Josh today to let him know he wouldn't be using our car this afternoon to pick my mom up at work. The tire and rim were out for delivery on the UPS truck! In the words of my mom "it's a Christmas miracle"! Thank goodness. I am so thankful that we can start the weekend off on the right foot. I still feel terrible about the tire but I'm glad it's going to be fixed today.
I swear I have the worst luck ever. I guess it's a good thing I don't get to leave my house. And at least I have an adorable kid to hang out with.
new Jasper pictures
Tuesday, December 15, 2009Labels: baby love
Getting pictures of Jasper right now is really a two person job. One to contain him, make him smile and the other to shoot. I tried by myself and managed to get a couple great ones. 
And a couple of outtakes:
the eating habits of a 13 month old
Monday, December 14, 2009Neither Josh or I are picky eaters. To be honest, picky eaters kind of annoy me. When I was younger I was taught that I had to try something at least once. If I didn't like it then I didn't have to eat. I have carried that with me and will try basically anything at least once. I also try things that I don't like over and over thinking maybe my taste will change. Example, cottage cheese...still don't like it but I have tried it a hundred times. Labels: baby love
When Jasper started eating "real" food he gobbled up everything I set in front of him. Bananas seemed to be the only thing he didn't really get in to. Fast forward to the end of November. Suddenly he didn't want his pureed veggies anymore but also didn't want them when they were whole. He has always LOVED green beans. Then a couple of weeks ago he refused to eat them. He shook his head and turned away, mouth shut tight. So I cooked some green beans and gave him a few to try. He put one in his mouth, chewed for a second and then spit it out!
Foods he will eat:
-whole milk yogurt
-natural applesauce (occasionally he refuses this)
-grilled cheese
-oatmeal
-graham crackers
I bought some SmartDogs over the weekend. (They are like veggie hot dogs.) He refused the first one but we tried again on Sunday and he scarfed it down! There is one more thing to add to the list. I am just kind of at a loss on what to feed him.
I will not raise a picky eater but I do know that most kids go through this phase. I will just keep trying different foods. As for now I will feed him graham crackers and grilled cheese until he outgrows this.
no toys?
Tuesday, November 24, 2009Labels: baby love
We are still working through all of the books that Jasper got for his first birthday. I remember at his party when all of the gifts were opened thinking how happy I was that we did a book party. Instead of a huge pile of toys, he had a huge pile of books.
We started talking about doing a book party for many reasons. It's not that we don't have the room for toys or that we don't want Jasper to have toys. We just couldn't help but think "how many toys does a one-year-old really need?".
I have a bit of a high standard for toys. Jasper has never really had any of those huge bright-colored plastic toys and doesn't seem to miss them. He happily plays with wood puzzles, wood toys, books, "toys" from the kitchen cupboard. I love the idea of Jasper using his imagination more which I think he'll do with those types of toys. I think kids develop just as well without all of the talking toys. We read to him and make up games to play with his toys. And since Josh and I are both readers, I hope that by facilitating his love of books he will grow up to be a reader as well.
We are currently planing to repurpose my crafty area in the house to a toy room. However, this isn't driven by a need for toy storage but rather a place for him to play and learn that can be his (and someday his siblings). I have big plans for that area of the house and can't wait to execute them (more on that later).
I'm looking forward to doing a little toy shopping for Christmas. But as is our philosophy in life, everything in moderation.
coming home
Sunday, November 22, 2009Jasper and I are not apart very much. We spend all day together during the week and usually all of the weekend. Saturday Josh and I went out with another couple to a movie and dinner. I think the last time we were out with another couple like that was at the beginning of my pregnancy with Jasper (so over a year and a half ago). Labels: baby love
We had a great time out and I didn't worry about Jasper a bit. Once we started home though, we both got pretty antsy to see him. Josh got into my parent's house first and said Jasper dropped the toy he was playing with and darted over to him. We sat and visited for a few minutes and Jasper showed us the toys he had been playing with. Every so often he would come over to me, put his little arms around my neck and lay his head on my shoulder.
Knowing your kid missed you and is happy to see you is pretty much the best feeling in the world. It warmed my heart.
just a little random jasper
Friday, November 13, 2009Labels: baby love
I found a recipe for baby hair gel online. (1 cup warm water and a 1/2 teaspoon of unflavored gelatin) I thought I would try it out since Jasper's hair is pretty crazy. The length, the cowlicks, the flyaways...poor kid got the worst of both Josh's and my hair. The hair gel works pretty good and he looks so darn cute with slicked over hair.
He basically doesn't ever sit still. His new thing is to get into the food cupboard in the kitchen. After four time-outs for it, I decided to just move the loveseat in front of the kitchen. I moved the chair in front of the stairs so he had free rein of the downstairs.
This picture cracks me up because the minute I pull out my camera he heads for it. It's so difficult to get him to sit still anyway but when he sees the camera he can't stand not touching it.
I was able to snap a self portrait of the two of us. I snapped four right in a row and actually got a couple in focus and where he wasn't grabbing at the lens.
Is it completely terrible that this picture makes me laugh? I guess only because I know he was trying to get something he shouldn't so I got him in trouble.
But he looked like this within two seconds of the crying picture. He cracks me up.
imperfect blogging
Monday, November 09, 2009Last week I tossed around the idea of not blogging anymore. I had almost decided to delete my blog after writing a good-bye post. I had a comment on the post about Jasper's party that insinuated that I think my family and I are perfect. It came at a bad time. I was stressed with lots of Knight Light work. We also have been dealing with some rude people that we just keep trying with. It's funny because I feel like as far as blogs go, mine is pretty honest. I write about bad days, good days and the ones in between. And then I get that comment... Labels: about me, all you need is love, baby love
I truly feel that Josh and I are perfect for each other, but I know that we are not perfect people. I am lucky that I married a man like Josh. He tweets things to me like, "you are my favorite hello and hardest goodbye" and blogs things like this. He also never loads the dishwasher, likes motorcycles, and gives me charlie horses*. (*To be fair he has only given me one charlie horse and that was over the weekend.) I know Josh likes when I make him supper or pick up after him. He also thinks I spend too much time on Facebook and like Christmas entirely too much.
I am far from being a perfect mother. Sure, I use cloth diapers, make my own baby food, don't ever have the TV on for Jasper. But some days I count down the minutes until nap time or wish that kid would sit still for more than two minutes at a time.
The thing about blogs is that you can put out there as little or as much as you want. I prefer to read blogs that are more honest and come across as authentic rather than hiding a lot. If you're going to put it out there, you might as well let your freak flag fly. There are things I don't/won't blog about. I never blogged about my job, issues with my in-laws or if Josh and I have a fight. Those topics would only make situations worse.
If I have ever given you the impression that I think my family is perfect or that everything is rosy here, well then I am sorry. Of course it's not. I just don't write about everything. I don't think you want to hear about how it seems the dog and baby need to poop at the same time every day. How today I had to wash the dog's butt after he was outside. And then I threw the washcloth away because I didn't want to deal with the aftermath. Of course, that was after changing a poopy diaper. And right now my kitchen is a mess but I have no energy to clean it up. Instead I will go and sit on the couch with my husband and enjoy the snuggle time instead.
Our life isn't perfect but we sure enjoy it. We laugh a lot, we cry occasionally, we dance in our pajamas on Saturday mornings... We are imperfect together.
off baby duty today
Friday, November 06, 2009This week I had some big Knight Light projects that had to be finished. Between those and senior sessions I'm still wrapping up, I had to seriously get stuff done. Jasper decided this was a good week to take short naps and I ended up spending most of Wednesday in bed not feeling well. Josh has had enough overtime this week that after going in for two hours this morning he was able to leave for the day. (And still have eight hours of OT.) Labels: baby love
He's completely in charge of Jasper today and I am cracking up at them. They are downstairs with a movie blaring, toys strewn everywhere and the footstool blocking the stairs. Every few minutes I hear Josh say, "Jasper! No. Hey! Don't do that". He said to me, "Oh my gosh, he is exhausting". Jasper is in the phase where he is testing us to make sure we'll say no EVERY time he touches something he shouldn't. He also wants to get into everything.
It's weird to be focusing on my work and not the kiddo. But I am lovin' the fact that Josh is experiencing a typical crazy day with Jasper.
one year session
Tuesday, November 03, 2009Labels: baby love
my little monk
Sunday, November 01, 2009Labels: baby love
For Halloween, Jasper was a monk. I had the idea months ago and thought it would be a pretty easy costume to make. If you didn't already know, Josh and I like to do things that more unique. Having Jasper be a pumpkin would have been cute but not really our style.
Josh found this awesome brown fuzzy fabric at Hobby Lobby. We got the rope and cross there too. This is monk costume 2.0 as the first one wouldn't go over his shoulders. I drew a "pattern" onto paper and then just started sewing. The hood was my crowning achievement. Someone that can really sew could have done a way better job but I was happy with how it turned out.
Jasper only made it over to my parents for a little trick or treating. He's still working on his 12 month molars and was kind of crabby. He went to bed early so Josh and I snuggled on the couch watching movies. It was fun to get him dressed up even for a short time. The wheels are already turning thinking about what he should be next year.
jasper's first birthday
Thursday, October 29, 2009Saturday was a big day for us! Jasper turned one and we had his first birthday party. I have been planning forever so here is a massive post with all of the details. Labels: baby love, family matters
We bought 36 inch balloons and rented a helium tank. I really wanted to keep the decorations simple. I bought aqua colored card stock and printed out letters to make the banner. My mom was nice enough to cut out all of the letters. I glued them to the card stock and strung them through a ribbon for the front porch. It was pretty windy on Saturday so we ended up popping two of our four huge balloons. The other two were kept inside after that.
I started sewing the flag garland months and months ago. I bought fat quarters from the fabric store in different patterns. These flags are all over the Internet these days and there are a million different ways to make them. I of course, took the more complicated approach. I didn't want to do the easy way and just cut the fabric using pinking shears. I sewed each triangle so they are front and back. Flipped them the right way out and then made my own bias tape for all of the flags. The flags are reversible and I will definitely be able to use them again. I think I ended up with about 90 flags so it worked out to be 9 separate sections.
I had originally planned to sew all nine sections together so I had one long garland. I'm glad that I didn't do it that way. We put a section over the stairs leading downstairs, two downstairs, and the rest upstairs. It really made the whole house look very festive.
I got loads of prints for a Jasper timeline. I printed them through Mpix because you can get the white border automatically on them. I got 78 prints to begin with. Friday night I laid them all out on the floor to figure out placement. Turns out I got way to many...it was just so hard to narrow it down. I picked through them a couple times and ended up with five rows. I loved being able to see these all out in a row. They are still hanging in my kitchen because I can't bear to take them down.
I bought a bag of 100 balloons and we filled up almost all. I tied them around upstairs and just let the rest float around downstairs. It looked so fun! The kids really enjoyed playing with them as well. I currently have about 90 dead balloons on my floor downstairs. One of these days I will pop them all and throw them away.
The food was simple. We did sugar cookies and cake. I bought a large number one cookie cutter and decorated the cookies with stripes and stars.
My mom made the cakes. A little one just for Jasper to dig into.
And an awesome book shaped cake for everyone else to enjoy.
Jasper did so awesome all day. He didn't get an afternoon nap in so I was a little nervous that he would get frustrated with all of the people over. His reaction to everyone singing was hilarious. He looked confused and just looked from one person to the next.
He picked at the frosting for awhile and then Josh helped him really dig in. He definitely enjoyed the cake but I think he liked the frosting most. We did the cake first before anything else. I just rolled up Jasper's sleeves and put a bib on him. I've seen a lot of people have to hose their kid off after the cake. Jasper pretty much gets most of the food in his mouth so I wasn't too worried. He just needed a little wiping off after but we were good to go.
Before presents we showed a video slideshow I put together with videos and pictures. I used music by Renee and Jeremy and I loved how it turned out.
Jasper wasn't super interested in opening gifts. He helped pull some of the paper but mostly Josh and I just unwrapped the presents. He got so many awesome books. We have already read through quite a few of them. Amazingly I think we only got like two duplicates. It was awesome to see a huge stack of books when we were done and not a ton of toys.
Jasper's outfit was something that I spent some time on. It started with the brown denim jeans from babyGap. I picked out the shoes from See Kai Run. Then I got the long sleeve cream shirt from babyGap. And after three different fabrics I finally settled on one for the shirt. I cut out a one and used those iron-on fusible sheets. You just stick them to the back of fabric and then iron it on the shirt. I did run it through the sewing machine for a more finished look.
Since my good friend, Sondra, was there I enlisted her help to take pictures. We were able to take a few pictures of my little family which was awesome. I was so thankful knowing that she would be taking pictures so if I was too busy I didn't need to worry about it.
Josh and I took Jasper outside for a few pictures with the large balloon. It was so fun to have those huge balloons. Jasper thought they were pretty cool. All in all it was a great day. Good to spend time with our friends and family. Jasper was such a trooper. He walked around, played and giggled all day. He's such an amazing kid. It was a great day to end our first amazing year together.
