Zzzzz....

I forgot to mention that the sleep-thing is going great! He rarely cries when going to sleep now and is sleeping about 11-12 hours every night. The naps could still use some improvement in length but are getting much, much better. I am sooooo encouraged and am finally starting to feel normal again! (As opposed to the sleep-walking, space-head that I was turning into).

ExerSaucer

When my grandmother and Aunt Vee gave us this ExerSaucer for Jack at one of my baby showers, I couldn't imagine that he would ever be big enough to fit in it. We put him in it for the first time this week (at Courtney's suggestion) and he loves it. Whoever invented this thing was a genius!

Ready for vacation

We are going to St. Thomas with my parents next month so we were trying this sun hat on Jack to make sure that it would fit him and also to see if he would hate it. The answer to both questions is yes.

More fun with Maggie

Don't they look so much alike here?

Granddaddy & Tup-Tup

If you read my sister's blog, then you know that Maggie calls her uncle Spencer (my 10-year-old brother) Tup-Tup. Nobody can figure out how she got Tup-Tup from Spencer, but she's always called him that and we think she always will! We are also hoping that Jack will call him that because it is just so funny and cute. Anyway, my dad and Spencer stopped by on Saturday and here are some cute pictures of them with Jack. For a 10-year-old, Spencer is so good with both Maggie & Jack (and they both love him him so much). Doesn't he look just so comfortable holding Jack?

Tummy Time can be OK

Like most kids, Jack used to HATE tummy time. He's finally doing a little better with it and I took these pictures because I couldn't believe he was being this easy-going as this was the morning after our (sleepless!) first night of letting him cry-it-out a little. (By the way, I promise I do put him in something else besides pj's, but for some reason every time I have the camera nearby at home he's in a pair!) Speaking of crying-it-out, last night went really great...he slept for 12 hours with only 3 sessions of 5 minute crying! I got 8 straight hours of sleep, which is something I haven't had since my 1st trimester of being pregnant with him! The naps haven't gone so great, though. Naps have always been harder than nighttime sleep, but he gets to the point where he looks like he will just fall over (or falls asleep nursing) and I try to put him down but he just cries and cries and never falls asleep. He looks pretty awake when I go in to check on him every 5-10 minutes or so, as opposed to sleepy-crying other times. I am at a loss of what to do. This kid has GOT to nap! Any suggestions?

Maggie holds her baby Jack

Maggie & Courtney came over yesterday and Maggie REALLY wanted to hold "her baby Jack." Of course we let her (with some assistance from Court) and she had so much fun! I love the looks on both of their faces. Can you believe how Jack looks like he's almost as big as her in this picture?

Brrr!!!!

Again, on the way to meet up with Chris & Kajsa, but it was cold that day so we put him in his hat again. It just makes me laugh every time I see him in it. It's huge! But very practical, since it is fleece-lined and covers his ears. My mother made sure to let me know that she really liked those features. (She's always worried that I don't wrap him up enough for the cold weather!)

Such a big boy! (and no sleep)

This was taken on Saturday before we left to meet up with Chris & Kajsa. Doesn't he look like such a big boy in those clothes? I just love the little sweater vest and collared shirt. And, as always, he's making his signature expression that is reserved solely for the camera!
Speaking of being a big boy, now that Jack is officially four months old, we started trying a new sleep technique last night. Jack has been sleeping terribly (up every hour some nights!). I have read book after book on the subject and had initially planned to do the No-Cry Sleep Solution (by Elizabeth Pantley), but after much research (and many frustrating nights) we decided to go with a kinder, gentler version of crying-it-out, per the (much misunderstood) Ferber method. Ugh...it is SO HARD! I have been up since 1am last night with him through this learning process, and Jim didn't get to bed until 3am and had to be up at 7am for a meeting. So we each got about 3 1/2 to 4 hours of sleep last night. We are so tired and there is nothing harder than watching/hearing your sweet baby cry, but I guess there is just no other way to help him learn to fall asleep on his own. I have been crying on and off since BEFORE we put him to bed because I knew how awful it would be! He's finally asleep for his morning nap right now but is moving around like crazy because we also quit swaddling him and he's not used to that yet, either. Please pray for us because not only are we exhausted but we are completely worn out emotionally, too! Thank goodness I have such a wonderful man by my side because I could not have made it through this without him. I hope to report back soon with happy tales of sleeping through the night....

Chris & Kajsa got engaged!

My little brother, Christopher, got engaged to his girlfriend, Kajsa Perman, last night! Apparently it was a very romantic proposal and her ring is gorgeous! Kajsa is from Lowry, South Dakota and that is where the wedding will take place on her family's ranch there on June 14th. Check out their ranch, Rock Hills Ranch.
We met up with them at SatCo. for lunch today and Jack loved spending some quality time on his Aunt Kajsa's lap!

I guess it's my turn...

So now we're all sick! I was telling my mom earlier that it feels like the flu, but without the aches and pains. Stuffy/runny nose, cough, sore throat, headache, soooo tired, etc. If you have these symptoms, I bet you have RSV, too! Why, oh, why did I let that doctor remove my tonsils in college? I really do think that's why I catch colds so easily. Don't they offer you more protection if you have yours? By the way, are you all impressed that (so far!) I'm keeping my new years resolution to blog more? I'm pretty impressed with myself... :)

8 Things...

My friend Amanda tagged me to write eight things about Jack on this blog, so here goes:
1. His scent is the sweetest baby smell in the world.
2. His little toes look like candy
3. He loves his learning caterpillar, stuffed dog rattle, and when I sing to him.
4. He sucks/chews on his fingers these days like they might run away from him. Could he be teething? Hope not!
5. He loves when Jim pretends like he's coming to get him and then tickles him all over.
6. He never fails to pee in the bath less than 10 seconds after being placed in the warm, clean water.
7. As soon as he sees me from his crib when he wakes up in the morning or from a nap he gets the hugest grin like he's thinking, "Hey, Mama! I was hoping to run into you here! How did you know where to find me?"
8. His cheeks are perfectly proportioned for millions of my kisses each day.

There's eight so now I'm tagging Courtney, Christy Z, Katie Jane, & Elise to do the same for each of their kids.

Baby Bjorn

We just got a Baby Bjorn and Jack loves it. Jim took him outside and it was pretty cold so we put this hat on him and it was too cute not to document!

Bronchiolitis is Bad

Apparently it's RSV season. If you're not familiar with RSV it's a virus that causes a respiratory infection. In babies, it can cause bronchiolitis, not to be confused with bronchitis, which means it's moved into the lungs and there's lots of drainage, wheezing, and coughing. Jack has this and it is NO fun! Supposedly every child under 2 will get RSV at least once, but not every one will get bronchiolitis. The doctors told us nearly every child they've seen in the past few weeks has had RSV, but that doesn't make it any less stressful when your child has it! There's nothing you can do to make it go away, but something that can help a little bit are breathing treatments. Well, Jack hates them. It's not that they hurt or anything, but I guess he doesn't like having the little mask pressed up against his face. He's doing a little better today, but here's a sad picture of him during one of his breathing treatments.

Our Christmas card

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Daddy-time

One of the best inventions of all time is the pump. It allows me to still give Jack the most perfect food possible for him, but without always having to be the one who gives it to him. Which means Jim can give him a bottle for one of his nighttime feedings. Which is realllllllly nice! Here's an example of that and as nice as it is for me, Jim loves it, too, because he gets to be the recipient of that sweet, food-time gaze.

The Erins

One of my best friends is named Erin, also, and she and her husband live in Santa Barbara, CA which is beautiful but way too far away. They came in town for the holidays and her parents had an amazing brunch at their house a few days after Christmas. We had so much fun and the time flew by way too fast and before we knew it it was over and they were gone again. Very sad. But...I did love this photo because somehow Jack managed to be the only guy in this shot and he looks like he's enjoying his stud-status!

A Very Landers Christmas

The Landers came up to celebrate with Jack a few days after Christmas and we had a great time. Jack got tons of gifts and loved spending time with them. The picture with Dan & Amy on the couch is hilarious because Jack would cry every time Dan tried to hold him. We decided he must not be used to seeing Santa Claus when he's not in his red costume! :)

The best gift ever

He will hate me for this one day!

Jack & his Bumbo

Jack's GrandNonna got him a Bumbo seat as one of his (many!) presents from her. I think this picture is so funny. As soon as we'd sit him in there, he would lean to one side and clasp his hands together. Jack loves his Bumbo & he loves his GrandNonna! I thought we had taken more pictures of that morning, but I guess they were all on Victor & Amy's camera. As soon as I get copies from them I will post those on here.

Christmas Eve & Christmas day

We had such a wonderful Christmas with Jack. The only not-fun part was that he was having a growth-spurt so he was feeding every 2 hours all day AND all night so we didn't get much sleep on Christmas Eve. But we still had so much fun and here are some cute pictures. Notice Jack in the picture with his Granddaddy and he has on the Santa suit his Aunt Amy bought him. We just laughed and laughed at him in that outfit! I love the picture of Jim holding Jack swaddled & asleep and Maggie talking to him. She was probably using her version of the baby-voice she's heard Court talk to Jack in. It is so funny because instead of talking in a higher-pitched baby voice, she gets this really low, exaggerated voice that sounds like Shaft or Barry White. I love it!

Silly Jack

He laughed. I laughed. He is just so much fun and his gummy smile melts my heart every time I see it (which is now too many times in a day to count!) This photo's a little blurry, but you get the idea.

Santa, Jack, and Mimi

Here are some pictures the day Mom, Courtney, Maggie, Jack and I went to the mall to get the kids' pictures taken with Santa. For some reason in the week or two leading up to Christmas, Jack would cry every time his Mimi held him. She tried not to let it bother her, but I know it was breaking her heart! He's back to loving her more than ever these days, but this first photo is a very accurate documentation of their relationship at that time. The second one is a little better and then there's photos of Courtney and I with each of our little elves!

Full-time mom = new car

I'm officially a full-time mom! I turned my notice in recently and while I'm sad to leave all of the physician's offices and co-workers that I loved, I am so excited to be with Jack all the time! Since I'm a drug rep and have a company car, that means I have to turn in my car and we would be short one car. So THAT means we had to get a new one! I absolutely love it! It was fun to pick out a car that I wanted after almost five years of driving a car that was assigned to me. Don't get me wrong: the free gas & insurance & no car payment were really nice, but this is definitely more fun. Here's one of Jim & Jack in the back seat the day we bought it.

Christmas party

Our group of friends always have a big Christmas party and this year it was at Steve & Katie Jane's house. We had so much fun, partially because Granddaddy (my dad) kept Jack so it was kinda like a date night! Here's pictures of the girls & the guys.

The camera goes Flash!

We've noticed that in most of his pictures Jack has the same funny expression. He can be smiling or making the cutest face and we go to take the picture and as soon as the flash goes off his expression instantly changes to one of dumbfounded confusion. It's hilarious! Here's an example of this in a picture of him in his Christmas pj's.

Decorating the Tree

So this is obviously Jack's 1st Christmas and we had so much fun decorating the tree and house. Wait, did I say we? I meant JIM had fun decorating. For some reason I was being a huge scrooge this day (I think I didn't get much sleep the night before) but thank goodness my two guys were around because it's hard to be in a bad mood around the two of them! We ended up having a blast and Jack loved looking at his tree all season long. Here are some pictures of us once we got the tree up.