Labor Day weekend

Jake, Silas and I headed back home (Iowa City home) for Labor Day weekend and had a WONDERFUL time!! Friday we went up to Marion to see our besties - Chris, Marcie and baby Vivian. Boy, do we miss them!! It was so fun to get the babies together again (it's been waaaay too long!) and see how much they've changed and grown. I cannot wait for our families to take vacations together so the kids can play and be good buddies.

Friday night Kellee was dancing at half time at the City High football game so we bundled Silas up, put him in the Baby Bjorn and headed down to the field. He had SO MUCH FUN and hardly fussed at all (despite being way past his bedtime by the time we got him home). He was so entertained by the lights, the action on the field and the people around him. I was so proud of how well he did...and how stinkin' cute he looked in his little outfit. :) I had bought that outfit last year just dreaming of putting my sweet baby in it someday...now I wish I had bought a bigger size so he could wear it into the winter months.

Saturday was Kellee's 15th birthday. Where oh where does time go??? We spent the day hanging out at home (Jake went to his parent's house to hang out with them and watch the Iowa game) and getting to know Kellee's new boyfriend, Josh. :) Josh hung out with us Friday night at the football game (Kellee was with the dance team so he spent his time with us!), all day Saturday for Kell's birthday, and Sunday evening for a few hours. It was really fun getting to know him and watching him and Kellee interact. Josh and Silas took a liking to each other and Josh and Kellee even fed Silas cereal. :) I must say, I am very impressed with Kellee's choice in boyfriend. And while I have been praying for Kellee's future spouse, it made me realize that I also need to be praying for her current boyfriend too. His (whoever it may be) actions and words affect her now and in her future relationships. I am so glad she has chosen a sweet, caring, Christian young man to take interest in. I just hope that her boyfriend(s) and future spouse see the truly passionate, amazing, caring, beautiful, and talented young woman that we see and encourage her to follow her dreams and live up to her full potential. She really is such a beautiful girl and I am so proud of who she is and who she is becoming!!

Silas seemed to really enjoy himself over the weekend too. He figure how to rollover....and over and over and over. Of course my family praised everything he did and laughed at every little noise, trick, blowout, smile, etc. Silas is never shy about showing off. He got to experience his first "big boy swing" too. Have you seen cuter pictures than these??? He thoroughly enjoyed the swing just as much as we enjoyed watching him in it.






It was such a fun weekend and it's hard to go back into the regular routine of things. So far this nicer weather has allowed us to do a lot more outside with Silas so hopefully I'll be posting more pictures soon!

Silas is 5 months old!!

Can you believe Silas is already 5 months old?? I sure can't! I'm so amazed at how quickly he's growing and how fast he changes - every single week he does something new and exciting! This age is SO MUCH FUN!!!

His personality is really starting to show and Jake and I are absolutely loving what we see. Silas is such a happy baby, which we are both so thankful for! His first month of life was so tough with him crying each night for 4 hours...it really makes you think, "Oh gosh, what did we get ourselves into?" But sure enough, it was just a phase and now Silas is super happy, super smiley, and super fun. He is a major flirt with everyone and really enjoys any and all attention (where in the world does he get that??). :)

I got home from work tonight and was playing with him. I put him down on his back on a blanket on the floor and he promptly rolled right over onto his stomach and lifted his head and chest up off the floor and gave me a huge grin like, "Look at me!" and then rolled right back over onto his back. What? When did my boy get so independent? I've never seen him roll over and back so I was pleasantly surprised and did lots of praising.

He also is starting to get a little tooth nubbin' on the bottom and one on the top. We've been thinking for a while that he was probably teething because EVERY thing goes straight to his mouth and he's a drooling machine.

I know I say this often, but Silas really has become my little buddy. I'm almost surprised at the depth of my love for this little person. Of course I am whole-heartedly IN LOVE with Jake and think he is the greatest husband and partner I could ever ask for. However, this love I have for Silas has really developed and taken on such a cool form. I have such a blast being with Silas - I carry him around on my hip, put him in the Baby Bjorn to go to the farmer's market, take him shopping, bum around the house with him...and all these things he seems to take great joy in. He is so easy going (not something he gets from me) and is just so happy - even the ladies at daycare comment frequently on what happy guy he is. I think that's one of the highest compliments a mother can get is that she has a wonderfully happy baby.

Anyway, here are a couple pictures of the little man. Jake and I have a long weekend coming up (YAY!!!!) and we're headed to Iowa City to see both of our parents and celebrate my sister's 15th birthday (yikes...when did SHE grow up?). I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures to post after the weekend!

"Hmmmm...how am I gonna get that ball?"


We watching Jake's boss' kids twice a week...here's Silas hanging out with Tristan and Emma:



Hanging out outside:

Modeling

So I know everyone thinks their baby is the cutest baby EVER but c'mon....look at my child! :) And according the Bible, I'm not supposed to boast except to boast in the Lord......but again, look at my child! I can't help myself! I just have to brag about him and go on and on obnoxiously about how stinkin' cute he is!

Of course I am completely biased but every time I take Silas out, I get men, woman, old and young cooing and smiling and complimenting every little thing about him. "Look at his beautiful eyes!" ; "Look at those eyelashes!" (which I am seriously so in love with and completely jealous of!); "Look at his toes, oh, look at his eyebrows!" ; "He is just the cutest baby!"; "Look at him smile at us!" I had about 7-8 people come up to me in Hy-Vee today to flirt with Silas and/or tell me how perfect he is.

And of course I immediately call Jake on our way home to brag to him about how many people complimented our child. Jake thinks we need to get an agent and put this child into modeling. :) Can't you just see him modeling for Baby Gap? Ha!

Okay, okay....enough with the bragging and obnoxiously going on and on....here are a few cute pictures of Silas!


Mr. Flexible in the bathtub!



This is a goofy picture, but look at those eyelashes!!!



Silas and Daddy watching tennis together on Sunday afternoon. Doesn't this melt your heart?

4 1/2 months old

Sorry I haven't posted in a while! I've decided I need to get an amazing camera like my Mom has 'cause I take sooooo many more pictures with her camera! No excuses, though...I just haven't been good about taking pictures.

Last weekend Silas and I went to Iowa City for the weekend since Jake had to work. It was a nice, relaxing weekend - Silas got to hang out with my Mom & Dad while I got in the pool for a bit, my Dad washed my car and I got to spend some quality time with Kellee, even getting to meet her {sort of} boyfriend (she'll kill me for saying that).
Silas was a real show-off last weekend, which my family just ate up. He talked, he made goofy noises, he smiled....anything and everything he could do to ham it up and get attention, he did it!

Silas has discovered his toes and is constantly trying to get them in his mouth. I'm impressed with how flexible he is - being able to bend himself in half with a belly like his can't be that easy! ;) He also started reaching for things - I first noticed it when I was drinking out of cup about a week ago. It was a bright colored cup and he instantly reached right up for it. It's so cute watching him reach for things...I love watching him learn!

Why didn't he come with a handbook!?

One question I will ask God when I get to heaven is, "Why didn't you send a handbook with each baby!?" I mean really, how many of you walked out of the hospital thinking, "That's it? They just send you out the door with this baby and you're expected to know what to do?" Dear God, why didn't you roll up a handbook in the womb to be delivered promptly after the baby?

Silas has been waking up 3 times per night with watery eyes, nasty-sounding cough and stuffy nose/boogers. Well this morning at 4am, all of those symptoms were at their worst...and I'd had him sleeping in his swing to help facilitate breathing. The poor babe was still asleep but I had woken up hearing him try to breathe through his snot. He wasn't running a fever and was acting fine but I would be really upset if someone brought their child to daycare like that and exposed my baby. Here's where the handy handbook would have come in nicely. Page 104: What to do when your child is sick. Page 107: When to stay home with a sick child. What's a girl to do? I ran my thoughts by Jake and thankfully we both agreed that sending him to daycare to expose other children wasn't a good idea. Have you ever seen those poor kids that have snot smeared across their face, dirt all over their clothes, hands and faces, hair is a mess, but they're still smiling? I have vowed to NEVER, EVER send my child in public looking like that. It's one thing to have a runny nose, but it's another thing to have a filthy child that no one has bothered to clean up. So in my attempts to be a good Mother, here I am home with my snotty baby. :)

I just got back from Target where I loading up with Vick's vapor rub, Vick's smelly-thing (supposed to put the scent in the room), saline drops for babies, boogie wipes (yep, that's what they're called) and anything else I thought might help out the poor baby. I feel so bad for him - his cough sounds awful and I can feel the rattling in his chest, his eyes water even when he's asleep, and I keep coming at him with the bulb syringe to suck out boogers, which he hates. I do think he loves being home with Mommy, though, and so I feel good about being home with him because I know it comforts him.


I'm guessing I'll be asking God the handbook question again in a couple years. In case God decides from here on out to deliver each child with a handbook, I have a couple suggestions for chapters:

-How to handle the first few weeks
-What to do when he still won't stop crying
-Terrible two's: how to cope
-Teaching your child the basics of driving
-What to say when your son wants to date
-How to handle boy hormones
-Poop: when to be concerned about color, smell, and consistency


You get the idea....I'm sure there will be many more chapters I'll think of as the years pass...


When you think of it, say a little prayer for baby Silas. I'm hoping this nasty cold or whatever it is goes away soon!

4 month appointment

So I guess I forgot to update after Silas' 4-month appointment last week! Our big boy is 17 pounds, 10 ounces and 26 inches long -- that's 90th percentile for both!! I joke that Jake is starting to question the paternity but really, where does he get it?

Monday Silas discovered his toes. It cracks me up to watch him grab for them every time I lay him on his back. He has yet to bring them to his mouth, but it won't be long...EVERYthing ends up in his mouth these days. :)

Silas began to give me a little laugh today when I tickled him. I cannot wait for that belly laugh to begin. There isn't anything cuter than a little baby giving a great big belly laugh. His was more of a little "huh" with a huge smile - he looked as if he wanted to let out a big laugh but just couldn't quite do it. I'll be sure to post a video when he does!

That's all for now!

Happy 6th Anniversary, Jacob!!

Jake and I celebrated our 6-year Anniversary yesterday! Can you believe it's been that long?? I have so many wonderful memories of that sweet day - it was such a wonderful day. I realize more and more each day that I am the luckiest girl to be married to such an amazing man. Not only is he a great father to Silas, but he is the best man for me! We completely two peas in a pod and compliment each other so perfectly (if I do say so myself). Marrying Jake was the best decision I've ever made and I am forever thankful that God brought him into my life so many years ago.

Jake and I were able to get away for a night together - a MUCH NEEDED night away. My parents and sister so kindly babysat Silas and I surprised Jake with a hotel room downtown Des Moines. The night was so simple and yet so, so perfect. Of course when you're used to waking up early, it's hard to sleep in and we really only slept in 'til 8:15 or so, but just having an evening, night and morning just the two of us was so nice. We thought about Silas a lot, but I can honestly say I was 100% okay with leaving him for the night...of course that's because I knew he was in good hands. :)

I found a cute picture on my camera that my Mom must have taken of Silas getting a bath...doesn't he look like he had a blast?




Friday was a big day for Silas - I had him playing under his little gym and for a few weeks now, he's been rolling up onto his side but never quite made it over his chubby little arm. I happened to look over and see him on his side and as with every other time, I got super excited thinking maybe he'd roll over. He finally did it Friday!!! I was so excited I began the high-pitched "Good boy, Silas! Yay!!!" and immediately called Jake. I had just been thinking today that I would probably miss the first time he rolled over. I'm so thankful I was at home with him to experience it! Here are a couple action shots....doesn't he look so proud?






Just last Sunday he found his thumb (you how he loves his middle and ring fingers) an purposefully puts it in his mouth. He also started blowing bubbles (also known as raspberries) which is SO CUTE. We blow bubbles at him, he does it back & then smiles about it. I just love it! We also started cereal on Sunday, which went pretty well. I feel like he's done so many new thing on just 5 days. Where does the time go? How quickly he's changing!