That's All She Wrote...

Friday night, Jake had quite an exciting late night. Lauren Hance and I took Jake to Barnes and Noble for the Harry Potter release party where we met several of our students from Northland. (In the above pictures, Jake is with Molly in one and then Nat, Lauren, Emily, Amy, Paul, and Molly in the other.) The atmosphere felt like New Year's Eve...everyone was so excited and the store was packed to the brim. I had made Jake a shirt for the occasion with "Weasley Jr." on it...since his hair has a red tint to it, I figured he looks more like a little Ron than a little Harry. I had never been to a midnight release party for Harry Potter but wanted to make it to this last one. There was a countdown before 12:01 and then they started selling the books. I started reading Friday night when we got home and finished up about midnight on Saturday. Ty says this makes me a huge nerd for first of all reading all of the Harry books and then second of all for reading the last book in one day. I honestly couldn't help it...I had to know what happened. (***If you haven't finished reading it or plan to, don't read the rest of this) I knew in my heart that Harry would live and did...he lived happily ever after! I personally loved this ending. I like stories that are tied up in neat packages in the end--where the good guy wins and the bad guy loses--where the guy gets the girl--where when I finish reading, I'm smiling. Rowling does not disappoint in this last installment. The book explains a lot of background about Harry and Dumbledore, and she continues to shape many of her complex characters. Her characterization is simply extraordinary, and we see the flaws in Sirius and Dumbledore and ultimately the good in Snape (which I had to say surprised me). I'm sad this is the end of the series, but hopefully someday Jake will want to read them and that will bring them to life all over again. One of my favorite quotes says something to the effect that re-opening a good book is like visiting an old friend. That's the beauty of literature!

Some Firsts for Jake

Jake has had a busy past week with several firsts in his young little life. This past weekend Ty and I went to Galveston to celebrate our 5th Anniversary by staying at Moody Gardens. Jake had his first overnight adventure with Grandma Jonesa and Papa Al in Conroe. Jake did wonderfully and I imagine was spoiled beyond belief. He apparently only cried a total of about 20 minutes the whole time although he didn't sleep too well at night. I was quite nervous being without him although I knew he was in great hands. I myself didn't know what to do with my extra hands...no diaper bag to carry, stroller to push, or carrier to lug around! Ty and I did have a great time and saw the aquarium there, several IMAX movies, and a lounged by the pool. Its hard to believe that we've been married for 5 years now....time flies by so quickly.

As you can see in the picture, Jake also had his first adventure with baby food...which he hated! You can see that there is more squash on his face than in his mouth :) Dr. Grenier thought the baby food would add some extra calories so she suggested that we go ahead and try it. The only way to get him to eat was for Ty to make him laugh and for me to sneak it in with his mouth open. At that point, he would make a serious of hilariously awful faces and spit the food back out. I mixed it with rice cereal the next night and he ate it a LITTLE better. We'll keep trying. Next week I'll try some fruit and maybe he'll enjoy that...

Last night he also slept in his crib for the first time. I realize this is a bit late, but earlier in the summer when he should have made the transition, he was having breathing problems so I kept him sleeping in our room and then I just haven't ever moved him. The past few weeks he's been waking up every 2-3 hours so I thought this might help. He did really well, but still woke up several times. If I nurse him, he goes right back to sleep, but I realize I've created a bad habit. I'm going to have to start letting him cry it out some and see if he can put himself back to sleep. Any suggestions?

He's still perhaps the most pleasant, happy baby ever! I'm so enjoying my time with him. I just find myself making coffee in the middle of the day to stay awake :)

15 Pounds!

Jake had his cardiology check-up with Dr. Grenier yesterday and he is doing really well. He's weighing in at a whopping 15 pounds which puts him in the 25th percentile. Dr. Grenier didn't hear any regurgatation in his heart which means no signs of congestive heart failure. They did an EKG on him yesterday which was quite humorous. In the past he has been so good for all of his tests and always lies still for the x-rays and echos. He now loves to grab everything in sight so as soon as the nurse would stick a wire on him, he would pull it right back off. Jake thought it was a really fun game to play :) Eventually she and I got all of the wires attached and the test came back with good results. So, God is good and is continuing to take care of our precious Jake. We don't have to go back to Dr. Grenier until October. I do have one prayer request regarding Jake's health--we are battling with the insurance company to get a RSV vaccine for him. He would have to have a shot once a month this fall and winter to protect him from RSV. Our doctors have written letters to the insurance company and hopefully they will approve the request soon. This is quite an expensive vaccine, but it would protect Jake from getting RSV and hopefully continue to keep him healthy and hold off his surgery. The picture here makes me smile--Jake now loves cups of any kind so I got him his first sippy cup. He's not really sure about how to use it, but loves playing with it and last night proceeded to dump water all over himself. I love that everyday he learns something new...he is so fun!

Those pesky mosqitoes!

We had such a wonderful long weekend visiting Ty's family, and Jake made the whole trip to the lake in Mooringsport and Pop's ranch with just two little mosquito bites, but sure enough when we brought him back to Houston he got 7 bites in our backyard Tuesday night. I realize this isn't the end of the world, but I hate for him to get bitten! Poor little guy has 4 bites on his sweet face...I ordered Avon's skin so soft yesterday and we're going to try that to prevent them in the future since we can't use the repellent with DEET on him. We'll see if this works...

It was so refreshing to be out of the city for awhile. We spent two nights in Mooringsport with Aunt Kaye and Uncle Kenny and got to spend some quality time with Ty's Grandparents as well. Grandad cooked some wonderful deer steaks for us and Marie spoiled us with her great cooking. They just built a balcony to their deck on their house by the lake and it has a beautiful view. Kip was also in town and Ty got to go fishing with his cousin a bit as well. Jake loved the lake and sat out on the deck with Aunt Kaye and Gaga and just loved it. We had church out on the dock on Sunday morning and got to listen to some of Grandad's wise words.

In Marshall, Jake was spoiled some more by Pops and Nonnie. He spent more time with his cousin Elsie Jane. She loves Jake and just kissed all over him and kept hugging him. It was very sweet.

Now we're back to the big city and those darn mosquitoes!