You can take the baby out of the routine, but you can't take the routine out of the baby!

Whoever invented this wonderfully nifty little contraption deserves a gold star! Jacie has to have her routine at night or else she won't go to bed. Usually Ryan will shower with her and then I get her dressed and fed and off to sleep. But sometimes it just isn't possible for Ryan to be home, and I have to take care of it. She is getting too big for the infant tub, plus, she really doesn't like it. I thought for sure that if we could get her into the tub sitting up, she would enjoy the splashing and playing. Sure enough, she enjoyed splashing the water all around and grabbing her toys. It takes longer to get her down at night now, but its worth it since she enjoys the bath now. I think that some fun and interesting bath toys will be on the Christmas list this year.
The red on her belly is from leaning against the front of the chair so much. I didn't put enough water in the tub and she was having to strain to get to the water to splash. Oh, the lessons we learn...

The Pooping Face

All babes have it--that face when you just know they are taking care of business in their drawers. We (Ryan, Baby J and I) were spending some fun giggly family time in the living room last night when all of a sudden the smiles stopped, the grunts came out and business was taken care of. Then, back to the smiles, giggles and happiness again!

Cuteness all around!

Jacie may be almost 7 months, but we still had to do the 6 month shots! Finally, after many start and stops and cancelled appointmnets, we took her cranky butt in and got at least a few shots! She hated being there today, cried for almost every shot. Anyway, this adorable little outfit was sent it to us by Nana and she loved it so much (and we do too!) that we just had to have her pictures done in it. Plus, I have a thing for hats...
I don't know if you can appreciate the cuteness of this picture. There is a tear on her sweet little cheek.
First shot of the day! This monkey has been with her since before birth and we have a newborn shot of her with it, and then this one. I want to take her pciture with it at 1 year, 18 month and so forth to show her as she grows in comparision to the monkey.
One bathtub shot is all she would allow.

This little frown is the Great Grandma Powers frown. For her 1 month shots, she has the same frown. It is so full of expression to me, but that might be just because it reminds me of my Grandma! In other Jacie news: she doesn't seem to like peaches, but loves Carrots, Green beans, and peas. She doesn't care for her baby cereal anymore and I think she is working on getting her teeth (nope, none yet!) I have no idea what I am looking for, but it looks like I can see her teeth through her gums coming down on the top and bottom. and for the best news--she has slept a solid 8 hours two nights in a row all on her own! However, I wake up at about the 6 hour mark and lay there until she wakes up to eat. Does that ever end??

The cracker

We let Princess Happiness have her first go at a cracker. By the looks of her very round face, she doesn't need it, but she loves food, so we thought we would try it.

Just as we suspected, right into the mouth without a second thought.
Wanna piece?
I dub this here cracker my very own!

On other food items...she liked the peas, but not as well as the green beans, and certainly not as well as the Sweet Potatoes we started today! Oh, she loved the cracker, too. Gummed it right down to nothing!

Yet another race

Ryan ran in his second race this year, and Jacie girl went to watch. It was super chilly, but then again, it is fall! She enjoyed this one a lot more becasue it was only a couple hours we were out instead of half the day.

Special Gift

At church, there is an elderly woman with terminal pancreatic cancer. She is a really sweet woman, and Jacie and I have taken her dinners and to a couple of her appointments for Chemo. She has developed this attachment to Jacie, and Jacie just loves her! She laughs at her all the time. Sometimes I wonder if part of it is all of those wonderful sweet wrinkles she has that make her look so fun. Anyway, on Sunday, she gave us this "gift". It even made Ryan feel touched. These plates are from her own collection. She used to collect these plates with her Mom and told Ryan that she couldn't stand the thought of them being sold at a rummage sale, and wanted them to go to someone she loved. I feel truly honored to be the mother of someone she thinks of like that. Jacie has no idea of the value of these plates, but I will do everything in my power to teach her the same unconditional love she has been shown. People--sometimes they inspire me to be a better person!

La Manta and Green beans

This picture is of Jacie Girl cuddling her la manta (Spanish for blanket). A very good friend of mine named Griselda made this for her before she was born. It has a matching hat, too. Anyway, I don't let it out of the crib, unless I am rocking her in the rocker next to her bed. She plays with it while she is falling asleep sometimes and when she wakes up. This time, she snuggled it right up to her. She loves it. She will smile every time I hand it to her, or put it up by her hands. She is such a sweet sleeper (yes, those are her fingers under her arm, in her mouth).
In other news...she loves green beans! Far more than her squash that I thought she liked. No, she only tolerated the squash, probably because she thought that was all she was going to get. We moved up from the small jar to the big jar with the green beans and she eats every last drop, even wanting more. I bet she would eat until she puked if we let her. Next: sweet peas for the sweet pea!

Cinderella

You can call me a bad Mom, but sometimes I just have to study (like right now, although I am pooped out on Spanish and need a break) and sometimes other forms of entertainment fail miserably. So I pop in Cinderella. For some reason, she LOVES this movie. I think I've said that before, but this time I caught her instant reaction on film. As soon as she hears the opening credits, she looks around for the sound and becomes mesmerized. For the time below, I moved her high chair into the living room so she would be a short distance from me, and she saw it come on, grabbed a hold of her tray and wouldn't let go. Just to clarify, she does not watch TV all day, nor does she watch it ever day. Just in times that I really really need to get something done.

Thumbs Up

Our little finger sucker has turned into a thumb sucker at night! She sucks her fingers during the day, but at night, will stick her thumb in her mouth with her fingers up, not making a fist. I just can't help but smile at those little moments. It may not be cute to anyone but Ryan and I, but...

Super Sweet 6 months

Jacie turned 6 months on Wednesday, September 19th! Yippee!!! She had her check up today, shots and had her first veggie--squash. Yummm. She ate the whole jar, but was very slow. She was excited for the food, seems to know what a jar means, or at least the spoon and opened up wide, took it in, then gave us this look of "what the heck was that?!" But she didn't spit it out, so that's good. She must be accustomed to Daddy being the one to feed her, because he had to take over the feeding process. She wouldn't open up for me. Speaking of Daddy, she is getting more and more attached to him by the day! It must be all the evenings they spend together. Still, when she is sad, she wants the momma, so I still have her heart...at least a little bit.

Here are the stats for her growth: 26 inches tall (60th percentile), and 15 pounds 3 ounces (40th percentile). She has these cute little roly-poly chubby thighs and her hands are getting little dimples in them. Yep, she likes her food! No teeth yet, the teething fairy is visiting regularly..she sure likes to bite my fingers, and has even gotten Ryan's fingers a time or two.

I just can't believe she is 6 months old already. Did I really have her that long ago? So much has changed already. She is sitting up on her own, sometimes topples backwards, but will sit and play for a long time and is getting super mobile in her crib. I am loving the growth and excitement she finds, but feel so sad that my baby is growing up.
Mmmm, yummy squash. Can I try green beans next?

Shoes, Glorious Shoes!!

We have someone looking out for our style interests and her name is Alexandra!! Yes, Alex sends us shoes and we love 'em. Last night Jacie Girl got three new pairs and I just can't wait for her to wear them all. This girl is going to have a shoe addiction when she is older.

Sippy Cup

Look, Grandma Jo, I can hold my own Sippy Cup! She finally got the hang of the cup. She's liked it for awhile, but REALLY likes holding it on her own. The other night while I was at class, Ryan fed her. Apparently she was super hungry because when he sat the cup down in front of her in the high chair, she grabbed on and sucked her little heart out. It used to be that she would only drink an ounce, but now she will drink all of her milk from it. The pediatrician told me that if she is going to take formula, it will be a battle, and that I have to show her I have a stronger will--do I?? Hmmm... we shall see. Considering that I will be taking 17 credits next semester in order to graduate (yes, graduate in May!!), I will need to have a bit more flexibility with her feedings, so she will need to take formula. If we start now, maybe it can work. To see the video, click on the box, then on the play button.

Over the river and through the woods to Grandma's house we go

Nana sent us a bunch of new clothes for our ever growing peanut and this was one of them. The shirt says “What happens at Grandma’s house stays at Grandma’s house”. She wore it today for the first time. I just put away her newborn onsies (she could still wear them, but they are starting to get too small) and other 0-3 months and 3-6 months clothes. One of the onsies was the one she came home from the hospital in. I got a little teary eyed to think that she is 6 months old already! She can still fit in her 3-6 months stuff, but the majority of it is summer stuff, and it has been getting cold here, so time to break out the warm stuff!

Bring on the snow, baby!

Jacie is all ready for the cold weather. We put this little do-dad on her head and took her out for a spin in her new stroller and she looked so darn cute in it. She never tries to take off her hats, so lets hope that continues…

Awesome Buys!

We have been wanting to get a jogging stroller for quite some time. I’ve looked at them online and in stores and even at a used children’s store but they seemed so expensive. We decided to bite the bullet and just do it. We were headed out to the store to pick one up when I said that maybe we should try the second hand store one more time (Waddles and Toddles). We had to hurry though because they closed in 45 minutes. When we got to the store, Jacie Girl was asleep, so Ryan sat in the car with her while I wandered through the store. Lots and lots of stuff, but no jogging stroller. Suddenly, Ryan appeared with the Peanut and I told him I didn’t see one so we could just go. We were walking to the front of the store when Ryan said “Whats this”. Buried in the maternity clothes and below the breast pumps, we struck gold. How in the world did he see it?! It was completely covered from the top. All you could see were a couple wheels. Of course we took it out and guess what—it was $100 LESS than we were going to spend! Up to the front of the store we trot and what to my wondering eyes (or is it wandering in this case) does appear, but a really cool high chair! We had one (old and beat up, bulky and took up tons of space), but this was the bomb! It has an interactive toy that attaches to the tray for Jacie to entertain herself with while I am doing kitchen duties. It was way too awesome to pass up. So, here is the best part…We bought it for $35, and in the store is $90! It’s in terrific shape. I just love deals and Princess Peanut loves both of them!

Laughy Daffy Jacie Girl

If you see a black box, there should be a small arrow pointing to the right (play) at the bottom of it. Click on play (the arrow) two times and wait for the video to pop up.

Tonight Jacie girl was a little bit tired and she gets a little rummy like her Dad when she is. I was cleaning her room and making her bed and moving stuff around when I came across one of Ryan's frogs in her room. It's a puppet type frog and I put my hand into it and she started laughing and couldn't stop. Pretty soon, all I had to do was move the frog and she would laugh. I thought it might scare her, but she loved it! However, the flushing of a public toilet, automatic towel dispensers, and printers make her scream.

I say this all the way through, but I think this is my most favorite stage! So much of her little personality is coming out. I can be carrying her facing out (her back to my chest) and kiss the top of her head. She breaks out into this huge grin. Also, I discovered she is giving me kisses! It seems like she is trying to eat a part of my face, but she does it after I've kissed her cheeks or neck. She does it back, but open-mouthed. I love it!! Also, when I am carring her face out, if I start talking to her, she will turn her head to look back at me. Who knew being a Mom could be so great?! It is absolutely the best thing ever.

Super Sitter Girl

Jacie is learning how to sit up! Sitting up his her preffered method for any activity. She is so close to doing it on her own. This video clip is short because she has been practicing all morning and I think her little muscles get tired and give out. Anway, we are on our way to being a big girl!!
For those that can't get the video, here is a shot of her sitting up. She is playing with her new photo album that has pictures of her in it. So far, she seems to like it.

Sweetness

I know I post a lot of shots of her sleeping, but she is so precious when she sleeps. Now there is a nick name we haven't used in awhile--"the precious"! Anyway, we were laying in my bed this morning after Ryan left at 5:30, and it was dark. She must have night vision, becasue she seemed to be able to see me perfectly and would smile and coo at me while I was trying to get her and myself back to sleep. Anyway, she turned her head so she was facing the ceiling and I caught this profile shadow of her face. It reminded me so much of when we could see her on ultrasound and all we could see was her profile in black and white. So precious! Anyway, she played with my face for a good 15 minutes before going back to sleep for about an hour. I can tell already I am going to be sleep deprived this semester!! It'll all be worth it, though! This shot is her little face. The "knot" is her fist on her forhead, then nose and lips.

Fire Princess

This past Labor Day weekend, we had the chance to go with our friends to their amazingly beautiful cabin. We left on Friday afternoon and came home Monday night, so it was a really wonderful break from the monotony of everyday life. Well, Jacie is never monotonous, but dishes and the house and laundry all took a break for a few days. Speaking of Jacie girl, she LOVES people. She just ate it up that she was surrounded by new faces and had 4 wonderful days of entertainment. We played a card game several times and she sat at the table like she was one of the players and had a grand time, even when there was shouting across the table. She would pause and look at the person or people making a raucous and continue on playing with her card (we gave her a dummy card to keep her entertained). We, that’s Ryan and Judy, got some time to play on the quads they have. The trails are pretty tame, nothing like Idaho, but still so much fun!

We also visited Lake Michigan while we were there. It is beautiful! It looks a lot like the ocean. Ryan and the Ross boys had a wonderful time playing in the water, but the two women in the family that prefer to stay out of the water did. Well, except for the time that I put her feet in it. Was she ever mad!Peanut had her first camp fire and she wanted sooo badly to get right down there and play with it. She tries pretty hard to get mobile. She is always trying to scoot off our laps and into something more interesting. This is Isabelle Dobson, our friend and owner of the cabin.

Apparantly Jacie likes dogs! This little munchkin called Gizmo had her laughing and laughing as he played with his toys. She loved it. Hmmm....maybe there is a dog in the future!

This is just a silly shot of Jacie sucking the thumb of Kristopher, one of Ryan's young men he was over at church.


No, I am not nursing her!! She is sleeping, and I am holding her precious little hand. Looks a little suspicios, though. She really loved being outside on the swing or walking through the trees.