On Broadway!

Okay, so we're not going to be on Broadway... :) But we're keeping our tradition of going to see Broadway alive! Going to shows is one thing that Austin and I have done since we started seeing each other. We've managed to make it to at least one show, almost every year! Our first show was at the Chanhassen Dinner Theater, so not a Broadway production, but still pretty good! I really hope that this is something that we can continue to keep doing. We both love musicals and Broadway, obviously and it's a great date night! 

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Chanhassen Dinner Theater, December 2007 - Our first show, and although not a huge production, it was a lot of fun because of the intimate setting which included audience interaction! 

Wicked, Minneapolis Orpheum, December 2008 - I had already seen this show but this was Austin's first time. While our seats weren't the best, you can't beat the music! 

 

Rent, Des Moines Civic Center, November 2009 - probably my favorite show that we've been to. Not only did we have awesome seats thanks to a co-worker (center and just the perfect amount back to see everything), but this show also had some of the original members from Broadway and the movie version! 

Avenue Q, University of Northern Iowa Gallagher Bluedorn, April 2010 - This was also not a huge production because of location, but we had awesome seats for this very funny and very inappropriate show! 

Mary Poppins, Omaha Orpheum Theatre, February 2011 - This is probably at the bottom of our list in terms of memorability, but I wouldn't say it was because of the show. The show itself was great and we found ourselves clapping along with the songs and all the many kids also in the audience! But I think we forget about this one because just a couple months later we saw... 

Les Miserables, Omaha Orpheum Theatre, April 2011 - This show we were able to see with my sister and some friends of ours. The only downside to this one was our seats were so far back that it was hard to see somethings. But the music and special effects were outstanding! I'd definitely go see this one again! 

Lion King, Omaha Orpheum Theatre, April 2013 - This was our last big date night before baby and it was an awesome show! We had some really unique seats - we couldn't see the whole stage but as you can see from the picture, we had a fun view of some musical instruments that were a part of the show. This production is so great! Not only is the music fantastic but the costumes are so fun! 

Phantom of the Opera, Des Moines Civic Center, September 2014 - After this show, we realized how much we miss going to musicals! Hopefully we can keep the tradition up! This show was so good and the stage and the effects were just incredible! We were really impressed, especially by the chandelier! Our seats were pretty good as well, but I think they were even more valuable because they were right by the doors and the same level as the bathroom! No long lines for us! :)  

A New Place

Well we've gotten ourselves through another successful move! Seriously, we are pros at this whole moving thing! I actually starting thinking about this the other night... how many places I've lived at in my 28 years. And it is a lot. Let's review...

My first home was the red and white house on Prince St, from there it was the house on Oakland, then that little blue house next to the fire station. Then we lived at Lily Lakes Estates and then the little yellow house we rented until we moved out to the farm. Now some of these were during college so I wasn't always living there, but I'm counting them. These were the places I called home. Then there was college: I lived in Centennial Hall for two years, and in two rooms so I'm counting this one twice because I did have to move completely out and back in again. Then there was Founders Hall, I did a brief stint in the Manors for May Term before moving to a condo in Waverly for the summer. There were also the Wartburg West apartments in Denver and finally, Knights Village my senior year. Then it was my first apartment after college, the place on Pinehurst in Waterloo. Crappy apartment, but for the right price. Then Austin and I moved to an apartment on Edgemont (still in Waterloo) for a short six months. After that was the "big move" out west. We lived in a really great apartment but on the dreaded third floor in Council Bluffs before moving to a neat little apartment in Oakland for two years. Next we moved back east and lived in a small house in Reinbeck before a temporary move to Austin's parents until we finally found a place of our own in Lisbon. Where we are now. 

Did you lose count? If you did, that's 20 places. 20 places I've called home for any amount of time. 20 places in 28 years. Our family are angels for helping us move so much. We have a reputation among our friends as the ones that move the most. And it's probably true. It's just been how things have worked out. For the most part, we probably could have stayed put a couple of times. :) 

And as much as I hate packing and moving boxes and furniture, there are somethings I love about a new move. I love the way a place is empty before you bring everything it. It offers a new beginning. It offers the possibilities of making this place your own. Making it a home. And I do enjoy the unpacking part. I love finding places for everything and making sure everything is organized - even if it never stays organized! I love added the personal touches to make it our home, hanging pictures on the wall or a rug on the floor. I love that feeling of a new place. Your own place. But then the novelty wears off... maybe that's why we keep moving. :) 

I would like to say that this is our last move before we look into buying a house and really settling down, but I can't. I can't say something like that because I've learned that life is going to happen. Events happen, people change their mind. Would I like to be looking at buying a house? Absolutely. Both Austin and I feel like we're at that point. But because we have moved so much, I think we're both hesitant about making that big of a commitment to one place. Are we really ready to settle down here? Is this where we want to be? What we want to be doing? Those are questions we don't know the answers to yet. But maybe someday. 

And now back to updating you on our life...

We've moved to Lisbon and so far we're really enjoying it. We're working on getting into our own routine. The shorter commutes to work have been so fantastic. I feel like we get to spend more time with Jacob. 

And speaking of Jacob, some of you may have seen, he got to spend almost a full week up in Minnesota with his Grandparents. He went up right after we moved and Austin and I were able to take advantage of the Jacob-free time to really unpack and organize everything. Jacob had a great time in Minnesota and even got to venture way up North to visit his Aunt Meg and Uncle Dan even came over from Fargo for a visit! As much fun as he had, we were sure glad to get him back home. It was crazy how much we missed him! I've honestly never missed anyone more in my life. A parent's love is a crazy thing! 

Jacob is still being stubborn and not really walking. He's more than capable, just lazy. :) He is standing a lot more and taking steps away from furniture own his own, so it's really just a matter of time before he figures how walking is so much better than crawling. Jacob seems to really like the new apartment, especially the sliding doors -they're perfect for him to look outside. We do have a small balcony and we've spent some time out there blowing and popping bubbles - something Jacob loves to do! 

Jacob continues to be a good eater, but he's not always interested in his own food - he wants to eat whatever you're eating! So there's a lot of sharing at our house now. He also is getting better at saying new words - which I love. He can say "cracker", "bye", "gone" "baby", "nigh nigh", "duck", "quack", "kitty", "dog", "bubble" and "z". :) He also tries to say "thank you". We've starting saying "all gone" when Jacob eats all of his food otherwise he'll continue to ask for more so we hold up our hands and show him that they're empty and say "all gone". Well Jacob has started to do it too! He'll put his arms out and say "gone" but he puts his arms out behind him - too cute. This morning when Daddy left for work, I said to Jacob, "Where'd Daddy go?" Jacob held out his arms and said "gone"! It was adorable. :) 

He does do a lot of "talking"... he'll "read" books to us, talk to his toys or the cupboards. And he also has "learned" how to talk on the phone... if you haven't see the picture or video, you check them out on Facebook. It's so funny! Sometimes when he reads a book, he has to put it right up to his face. And sometimes he puts a lot of emotion into his readings! :) He also LOVES to have you point to things. Anything. But he has to help. He likes to grab your finger and have you point to things. Pictures in a book, pictures or hangings on the wall, the ceiling fan, the mouse in Goodnight Moon, the Owl on the rug... it's endless. And only cute until he won't let you stop. :) The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is still his favorite TV show and he will dance up a storm when it's time for the Hot Dog Song! 

Jacob has also already started the Terrible Twos... which I thought weren't suppose to start until he was actually two! Nope! They've started already. Now, some of this might because we moved to a new place and then sent him to Minnesota so his routine was very much disturbed, I don't know. But he has started to throw fits. When you won't let him play with your phone, when you tell him no and stop playing in the blinds, when you won't give him another cracker, when you won't pick him up because you're doing the dishes, when his toy shapes won't fit in the hole they're not supposed to go in.... you get the idea. And I know it's hard because he can't really communicate to us any other way. Just another joy of parenthood. 

Jacob has finally started to do more and more walking. And he'll do it on his own, without us trying to get him to walk. He'll pull himself up and slowly walk around. He also loves to dance - to pretty much any music! But he will almost always stop when a theme song for a TV show comes on and dance to it, it's pretty cute. He also likes to nod his head yes or shake it no, although I'm not sure he knows what that means yet. :) And he just recently started doing this "big smile" thing where he will show all his teeth and squint his eyes! And he finally enjoys brushing his teeth! Every night, after bath, we go look in the mirror and Jacob will try to push it open. I grab his toothbrush and he'll open his mouth and point to his teeth, ready for me! It makes me smile!  

This is such a fun stage because Jacob is constantly learning and developing and I can't tell you how fun it is to watch! :) 

Happy (Belated) Birthday Jacob!

Our sweet, funny, amazing, goofy, smart, adorable, lovable baby boy is no longer a baby. We officially have a toddler on our hands now. Jacob turned one (almost a month ago already, due to my poor blogging skills...) and I have no idea what happened to the past year. By all accounts it was the most interesting, most stressful, most fun, most difficult, most exciting, most amusing, most sleep-deprived, most adventurous year I think I've ever had. There were tears, laughter, mistakes, learning, growing, moving, challenges and love. More love than I've ever known possible. Becoming a parent really does change everything. And in ways you will never understand until you become a parent. 

I created this fun poster to help showcase Jacob's first year. 

Also during Jacob's first year, he has already lived in three different places (in three towns even and different parts of the state!), been to Nebraska and Minnesota in addition to his home state of Iowa, has visited a zoo, gone for some tractor rides, loves looking at himself in a mirror, looking at pictures of himself or watching videos of himself. He has developed an adorable belly laugh that I cannot get enough of. He's made new friends at two different day-cares, both of which have been great. He loves to go swimming and making noise - any kind of noise. He loves to eat and can make the funniest faces. He went as both Charlie Brown and Jake from State Farm for Halloween because we couldn't decide and he spent is first Christmas at home with just Mom and Dad. He's also already been to a Wartburg Outfly and Homecoming, so he's well on his way to becoming a Knight. And that cute little cone-head he was born with turned into an even cuter perfectly round head. :) 

Jacob is already a spoiled kid and had two birthday parties! We had one in Minnesota and then another one a week later in Iowa. I figured it would be easier for family and friends this way. And Jacob was blessed by everyone that came and helped out. We are so grateful for you all. The birthday party theme was of course, Goodnight Moon, after Jacob's favorite book! As much as Jacob loved the cake during his cake smash photo shoot, he wasn't into it at either birthday party. For his credit, he was probably tired and overwhelmed with all the people and a different schedule though. He did want to eat a lot of the fruit though, and I know I should be thankful my son wanted the fruit rather than the cake, but where's the fun in that? :) 

Jacob also had his one year check up and of course, is still a healthy baby! And he's finally a well proportioned boy! :) Haha! He weighed 23.3 lbs (81%), is 30 3/4 inches tall (83%) and his head was 18 3/4 inches (87%). In the 80% for everything - first time that's happened! He also got some more shots which I was nervous about because Austin couldn't get off work to be there with me, but I successfully distracted him with the "Hot Dog Song". 

Jacob is getting closer and closer to being able to really walk on his own. He has taken his first steps, but won't go more than a half a dozen steps before sitting back down or falling over. He's great at standing unsupported though. And those first couple of steps he took? They were towards mama, but I was also playing the "Hot Dog Song" on my phone, so I'm not sure I can take the credit. :) He also loves to talk a lot, but we're not hearing any real words yet. Although he is getting closer I think. The other day it sounded like he said "yeah" to a question we asked him and last weekend, it sounded like he was trying to mimic the words "I love you". 

We also successfully quit nursing. I was actually very surprised at how well Jacob did with this. I had been slowly weaning him, cutting out feedings until we were just nursing at night before bed. But Jacob started taking a bottle instead with no problems! In fact, we've even stopped giving him bottles already and just use a sippy cup. The doctor had told me at his appointment that he'd like to see Jacob not using a bottle or his pacifier by 18 months. So the bottle is done but I think his pacifier might be a bit more of a challenge. Although, I generally just let him have it in the car and at nap and bedtime. 

Jacob has also started cutting his molars and it has not been fun. I think this has been much worse than his other teeth. He seems to get fussy at random times but especially at meal times. When he's normally been such a good eater, now it can be a give or take. Although he does like things that he can crunch, probably feels good. And he also loves to eat whatever we're eating. So my food is no longer my own... I better get use to sharing! :) 

In other news, Jacob and I got to spend the week of July 4th up in Minnesota with my family. My sister Meg was down on vacation too and she was able to get in a lot of Jacob time, which is good because we don't get to see her much now that she lives up North. :) Austin was able to come up and join us on Thursday and it was nice to finally have him there too. It was a perfect week of relaxing and spending time with family and friends that we don't get to see nearly enough. 

Writing this also reminded me that in mid-June, I had my 10 year high school reunion! I don't think I ever mentioned that here so I'll do it now. It was so great to be able to see those friends again. Some of us were able to get together a day early and brought the kids and husbands (if they weren't working) for some nice family time. And there sure are a lot of kids when we get together now! :) Then at the reunion, it was great to just have some fun adult time with no kids! After that, I realized how much I miss my high school friends but how thankful I am that we can still get together, even if it's just once a year, and it's like nothing has changed. We also had a great time going over old yearbook pictures and memories! Always a good time! 

And finally, we're moving! Again! I know, shocker. We found a two bedroom apartment in Lisbon and will be moving around the second week of August - let us know if you're available to come help. ;-) It's a little smaller than where we've been, but it's nice and super close to work for me - only 8 minutes! And it's only 20 minutes for Austin. Hopefully within a year or so, we can start looking for a house to buy. It's about time we try to settle down in one place, right? No? Maybe. We'll see. :) 

Long Overdue

This post is long overdue. I'm not even sure I'll be able to remember everything that's happened in the last couple of months! :) 

Since the last post, Jacob had another couple short bouts of sickness, including bronchitis. It took him a while to get over that one, we were doing breathing treatments for quite a while. He also got the hand foot and mouth disease from daycare but only had a small fever for one day and then was acting like his normal self again. He did get spots though all over his body and didn't really have any sores in his mouth, so I don't think he was in too much, if any pain. He also has eczema, so that made it look a little worse too. Since then though, he's been healthy! 

Jacob has grown and changed so much in the last two months! He's officially self feeding, no more pureed foods. I was still sending some to daycare but only to get rid of what I had in my freezer. Jacob loves to eat. And he can eat a lot! He's pretty good about chewing, but likes to shove a lot in his mouth and then he signs 'more' before he's even done chewing what he already has! He's really good about signing 'more' for us too when he's eating and in fact, has starting doing it now if we do something else he likes and wants to see more of. We just started working on signing 'please' with him too. He loves peas, carrots, cheese, chicken and strawberries. But he's a good sport and will almost always try something new. Sometimes he'll pick up a new food, try it, spit it back out only to pick it up again and put it right back in his mouth! Haha! We've also been spoiling him with the occasional marshmallow and ice cream cone. :) 

Jacob loves to go swinging and before it was really warm enough, he loved to kick his feet in the pool at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We did finally get him in the pool last weekend and he LOVED it. He splashed the entire time with a huge smile on his face! We also have a small ball pit (a $5 garage sale find) that he loves. Okay, mostly he loves just sitting in it and throwing all the balls out of it. :) But he's mastered climbing in and out of it on his own. He also still loves anything that makes noise or plays music. In fact, he's started to dance with the music, mostly swaying side to side or shaking his head, but it is too cute. He's also really figured out some of his toys. Like putting the rings on the stacker -   and then looking around waiting for us to clap for him. He also has this gear toy that turns the gears when you press a button and he's figured out where to put the gears to make them turn and he also likes to put them on the largest gear and watch them turn on that too. So smart! Jacob also enjoys opening and closing doors. If you're holding him, he'll make sure to help and when he's on the floor, he'll crawl to open it and then crawl to the door again to close it, curling his little toes so they're out of the way. 

He's still not walking but he is a crawling machine! And he can really zoom across the room when he wants! He's also really figured out how to get from a standing to a sitting position now so when we try to get him to stand and walk, he just plops his butt down if he doesn't want to. But he'll get there in his own time. He can pull himself into a standing position really great too. He also has 7 teeth, with an eighth close to cutting. Jacob loves to hear himself and is in a phase of screeching. He will screech to get our attention or when he wants more of something. It's cute at first, but gets old pretty quickly. :) He still talks a lot and sometimes it even sounds like he's singing. He also still does the Jacob Jig - which is when he gets really excited, holds his arms out and opens and closes his fists. It's the cutest thing! Sometimes he'll wave his arms around during songs and it looks like he's conducting! His new favorite song is the "Hot Dog Song" from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I found a YouTube clip of this one song on repeat for an hour and while I don't enjoy listening to it that long, it satisfies Jacob! 

As for Austin and myself, a lot has changed in the past two months as well. We've relocated (again) and are currently living with Austin's parents in Tipton. We were waiting to find a place to live until Austin found a job and now that he's working, we're looking for a place probably in the Mt. Vernon/Lisbon area. Austin has started working at Tipton Structural Fabrication as a steel cutter. Very different from teaching, very physically demanding, but he's really enjoying the change of pace. My job is still going great as well. It's getting easier and I'm understanding a lot more, but there is still a lot to learn! 

Well that's about it for now. I'm sure I could think of more things the longer I sit here but this is plenty. :) Our sweet baby boy turns one on Thursday and I'm still struggling to figure out where the past year has gone. But more on that in the next post... in about six months. ;-) 

9 Months Old

Note: I wrote this blog shortly after Jacob's 9 month check up, but never published it because I kept forgetting to get his measurements from the note at home to put in there! And now my baby is almost 11 months old! Oh well, better late than never! :) 

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I haven't been as good about keeping on top of this! But my little baby isn't such a little baby anymore. Jacob is 9 months old! He's officially been out in this world longer than he was inside of me. Crazy. And he's changing so much, every single day. I was just telling Austin last night that I feel like even in the past two or three days, Jacob has made huge strides in learning new things! It's such a fun stage to watch him learn, figure out new things, see how proud he is of himself and praise him for it all! :) 

I mentioned in the last post that Jacob had gotten sick and had an ear infection. Well that wasn't the end of it, unfortunately. At the end of that week of him being sick, Jacob picked up a separate stomach bug at daycare. It hit him on Friday night and he was throwing up quite a bit. We didn't even try any foods - just a lot of breastmilk. And then on Saturday night, it hit me and by Sunday, AJ. It took us all down. I have to tell you, that those 48 hours or so that all three of us were sick, were some of the worst. I've struggled quite a few times as a mom - we all do. But during that time of sickness, I didn't know if I would make it. It was that bad. Luckily(?) Jacob was still under the weather so he didn't need quite as much attention from us, which was good because we would not have been able to give it. But, thankfully, it passed. And we survived. And it took a good while for Jacob to really get back on track. When we had our follow up at the doctor, he still had an ear infection so we got some stronger medication for him. He seemed to like this one better and it finally knocked out that infection. But it took a couple weeks before he was back to eating normally again. 

At Jacob's 9 month check up, he did great! He did actually develop a rash over his body just like a day or so before we were suppose to go to the doctor so we were glad we already had the appointment scheduled. We also decided that "googling" baby rashes is not a great idea... ha! We were trying to figure out if it was from new foods we were trying with him, new laundry detergent or different water... we weren't sure. Luckily, the doctor told us it was just a post-infection rash that babies can get from being sick. It doesn't itch or bother Jacob at all and would go away on its own. Other than that, he is a perfect and healthy baby! His weight was 20lbs 4oz (67%), height 28" (33%) and head 18.5" (92%). Not really any weight gain from his 6 month check up but I think he lost some weight being sick and not eating like he normally was. So, a great appointment and no shots! 

Like I mentioned above, Jacob is in a really fun stage! He's learning so much! He's figured out how to clap and loves to make noise! He's still very much experimenting with his mouth and vocal chords and it's so fun to listen to him make all that noise! Although, maybe not when we're trying to watch TV. :) He also has really figured out some of his toys and it's so entertaining to watch him play. 

And we officially have a little mover on our hands. Jacob has finally figured out how to really move around. His crawl is a little unique and sometimes he'll crawl on one knee and one foot... silly boy. But he can effectively get across the room to get a toy or to come to mommy. :) And we're also quickly realizing how much more he needs to be watched and what types of things we can't leave laying around. Jacob has also been getting much better at standing without any type of support. You can see the determination on his face and he's working on his balance and sometimes he'll hold his breath! :) But he's able to stand by himself much longer. He can also pull himself into a standing position. He's done this in his crib, climbing up on Daddy or holding on to your hands. And when you walk with him, he wants to sometimes let go of your hands but don't quite have that balance yet. It won't be long before he'll be up and walking though! 

Jacob has also cut another tooth! His top right front tooth has peeked through and the left one is close to following. Hopefully this will help ease some of that teething pain, but he has been a biter lately. He bites our arms, fingers and he's biting while nursing. This is a behavior that we're having a hard time trying to stop, but we keep working at it. But I have to admit, with the biting during nursing, I have an internal struggle about continuing to breastfeed. I want to make it a full year, but I hate the biting and am so tempted to quit. I don't have enough in the freezer to get us through June and I also hate pumping so I don't think I'd have the drive to just exclusively pump. So for now, I continue to nurse while trying to teach my son the word "no". I must add, it doesn't help that when he hears us say no he tends to smile, giggle and try to continue doing whatever it is we want him to stop doing. Like, Jacob currently has this strange obsession with throwing himself backwards. He does it when he's on the bed or couch. But he also does in the highchair. Another behavior we're trying to stop. Oh, the joys of parenthood. :) 

Some other fun facts about Jacob: He LOVES the book "Good Night Moon". I mean, loves it. Every time we pull it out, he does his little hand grabbing motion and bounces in his seat. In fact, one time I just started reciting the book without it in the room with us and he looked all around trying to find the book! He also loves to help turn the pages! Bath time is still a favorite activity, especially trying to drink the water these days... He still likes the song "Six Little Ducks" as well. 

More than anything though, Jacob ADORES himself. Okay, so I don't know he really loves himself or just really loves that baby he keeps seeing in mirrors or on our phones. :) We started showing Jacob "the baby" in the bathroom mirror after his bath each night. He would get so excited to see this baby every time! And now, anytime there is a mirror, he loves to see the baby! And when we pull up old pictures or videos on our phones, he will just watch them or stare at the pictures, getting excited. But when we put the camera on so Jacob can see himself, he gets the most excited! He's a fan of selfies. :) It's too cute. 

Jacob is still a great eater. We've tried some fancier foods recently. Still a lot of chicken, but we've had corn chowder; minestrone; braised beef; veggies and cheese sauce; potatoes and peas; chicken with sweet potato and apple; potatoes with leek, carrot and peas; tomato, cauliflower, carrot and basil; and pasta and butternut squash, tomato and cheese. Very fun! And Jacob definitely eats better than Austin and I. Haha! We're also slowly starting to work on letting Jacob feed himself. He does great with puffs and these little biscuits called Mum-mums. But we need to start with small pieces of veggies or fruit for him to pick up by himself.  

Jacob has also slowly been getting better about sleeping. He's not always as fussy when it comes to going down for a nap or at night. It use to be where he had to be rocked or in the swing to fall asleep, or nursed to sleep. But he's been able to put himself to sleep just laying down some times. Austin even sent me a picture of Jacob sleeping on the floor in the living room - he had fallen asleep while playing! That has never happened. He still wakes up to feed at night so I haven't started any real sleep training yet - no point until I know he's capable of sleeping through the night. And when he does wake, he normally eats pretty good so I know he's still hungry. I'm not sure how exactly to start weaning these, maybe try feeding him more during the day or try offering a bottle of just some water at night? That'll be our next adventure though. 

Also, if you have some time, please check out our vimeo page! (link on the right sidebar) If you love videos and love Jacob, you'll love our vimeo page! :) There are plenty of videos to watch, as Austin pointed out to me the other day... 2 pages of personal videos and 9 pages of Jacob videos. I didn't see the problem! 

And in non-Jacob news (boring, I know). I've been at my new job for almost a month and so far I'm really loving every minute. I've really had to jump in with my feet to the ground and start running. It's a busy time of year with planting season soon starting so I've been thrown into a lot and have been kept busy. But I love it! I love being busy, I love learning new things, I love having a lot of projects to work on. I'm still getting comfortable with all the jargon and equipment but that will come in time. But I think this is going to be a really great fit for me. I've talked a lot on this blog about my calling and trying to figure out what I want to do and I have to say, I think this job is a step in the right direction. And that feels great.  

Some of this & that

These past few days have made me realized how truly blessed we've been with a healthy baby so far! This was the first time that Jacob has really been sick. Sure, he's had a couple small colds and one bout of pink eye, that luckily we caught right at the beginning and it was gone in just a couple of days. But this time, we had a sick little baby on our hands.

We noticed on Saturday morning that Jacob felt a little warm and when we took his temperature, it was higher than normal. Unfortunately, it stayed high all weekend and Jacob wanted to spend most of the weekend cuddling or just sitting or laying in someone's lap. Normally, he is a very active baby, always wiggling around and wanting to play. 

By Monday, Jacob still had a fever, a pretty bad sounding cough and a very runny nose. So it was off to the doctor for us! He had gotten a virus, which also caused a small ear infection and luckily we were given some medicine to start helping. But even with medicine, it was Wednesday before his fever was gone completely and he still had a runny nose and a small cough.

During these past few days, it broke my heart to see him sick and just cuddling/laying there, looking miserable. I so wanted to make him feel better, but didn't know how. The days were also exhausting. While Jacob did want to just cuddle and sleep, he couldn't always find a comfortable position. He would lean into me to cuddle but then sit back up crying. Then after a few seconds, he would cry again and lean in to cuddle. During the night, he would wake up screaming and crying and a couple of times, it took a long time to calm him down enough to get him to eat or back to sleep.

He would also scream bloody murder while giving medicine or getting the snot out of his nose. No fun. Although, we did learn a little something about Jacob. He likes to know things and/or have control of things. Example: when we first started giving him Tylenol for his fever I would come with the syringe and when I tried to give it to him, he would fight it and scream. If I brought over the medicine bottle and showed it to him, let him watch me put medicine in the syringe and then show it to him again before offering it to him, he would almost always open his mouth and let me give him the medicine willingly. Granted, this hasn't worked every time, but he's a smart cookie.

I really enjoyed being able to spend some extra time at home with Jacob, even if he was sick. And by Wednesday, he was feeling much better and wanting to play a lot more. And he is soclose to crawling! He will get up on all fours and rock back and forth before going back on his tummy. His head is also still a little heavy. :) But his overall balance is just awesome and if he falls over or onto his back, he is almost always able to get himself back into a sitting position! He also loves to try and pull himself up to a standing position! He does great "walking" across the room with us holding him up as well. Very soon, we're going to have a very mobile baby on our hands! Spring can't come soon enough so we can just have him run around outside!

Jacob also has a new favorite word! "DADA"! It's all I hear some days. :) And when I try to get him to say "mama", he will smile and laugh and say "dada" again! Silly boy. Although, I did use this to my advantage one day. I asked Jacob, "Jacob, who do you want to change your dirty diapers all day?" To which he answered, "Dada!" Good boy. :)

In other news, we will be seeing some change again soon. Seems like we can't ever have a year go by without something changing or something exciting happening or us moving. :) Some of you may know that I wasn't completely happy at my current job at Maple Manor (a nursing home and assisted living facility). I just haven't felt that I got all the necessary training to help me be truly successful in my position. So I was applying for other jobs. Well I am happy to announce that starting March 13th, I will be in a new position.

Even though I risk being disowned by my family - haha! - I will be the new Marketing Coordinator at P&K Midwest, a John Deere implement in Eastern Iowa. They have nine locations and I'll be responsible for the marketing for all nine locations. It's going to be a huge job and one that I'll need to hit the ground running, but it's going to be much more similar to what I was doing at Kruger Seeds and it's in an industry that I feel much more comfortable in. I'm very excited to see where this opportunity will take me.

For the time being, I'm going to be based out of the Waterloo office, but by summer, they want me based out of Mt. Vernon, which is about an hour and half south of us right now. So yes, we will be moving again. We really don't know all the details yet on where and when. Austin has already decided that he doesn't want to teach at D-NH again next year as he didn't feel like it was a good fit for him there. So he's looking into some possibilities closer to Mt. Vernon. After all, we figured I've followed him for his last two jobs so now it was his turn. :) The good news is that we'll only be about 30 minutes from Austin's parents but the bad news is that means we'll be farther away from my parents. So we've promised them many trips up to Minnesota. I joked with my mom that we'll just have to get a cabin in Minnesota to spend our summers there and she said "Yes, Megan's house!" Sounds like a plan to me! :)

So with this new adventure, I'm sure there are going to be challenges. But we've had a lot of challenges in life and I'm confident that God will provide and will be there to help us make this transition as smooth as possible. I'm hopeful that with these changes, better things will come for our family.

More Jacob Updates

Who doesn't love Jacob updates? :)

Jacob is teething again, this time he's working on cutting those top front teeth. We've noticed some of the same habits from the last time he was cutting his bottom teeth: waking and feeding more at night, drooling, fighting sleep at night. So we know he's probably in some pain, which is no fun for him. Hopefully they come in sooner rather than later!

Eating solids is still going great. We've tried carrots, bananas, sweet potatoes, green beans, apples and pears. We've made more food and we also have broccoli and peas in the freezer. We did buy some yogurt melts but they're pretty tart, so Jacob isn't a huge fan. Dad is though... :) And we have a couple mesh feeders so I've put banana in that so he can work on feeding himself and maybe work on chewing and not just sucking. Pretty soon we'll have to make another batch of food! Jacob has started eating solids twice a day.

Jacob still loves the sound of his voice and he has started to screech and scream a lot. It's pretty cute and only sometimes annoying. :) He still babbles some other sounds as well, mostly when he thinks we're not listening.

He is also a little wiggle worm, he just wants to move around so much! But he hasn't figured out the crawling thing yet! He's great at rolling to where he wants to go though. This past weekend, he also really started to pick up his feet and "walk" when we hold him up. He had a lot of time in his walker at Grandma and Grandpa's and was just moving all over the kitchen and dining room.

Jacob also has the cutest laugh. And boy does he get going if something is really amusing to him! He's very easily entertained too!

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To continue on the Jacob updates, he is becoming a master at getting what he wants. Ha! He has started to whine if he wants a toy out of reach, or if he falls over and can't get back up, or if you leave him alone in a room. So we're working on not immediately giving in to what he wants and trying to help him understand he has to do some work too! He will also hold out his hands and open and close his hands over and over - when he does that you know he wants something! He will also do a little bounce! It's pretty cute to watch.

We also had a very productive weekend of making more baby food. We were actually up in Minnesota at my parents' and the extra space and help was greatly appreciated! We left with three plastic bags full of frozen baby food! We made apples, pears, zucchini, nectarines, peaches, plums, prunes, cauliflower, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, corn, green beans, peas, chicken stock, and chicken with veggies. Jacob is such a great eater and does really great when trying new foods!

We've also started giving him puffs and rice cakes so he can work on feeding himself. It started off a little rough, but he's really got the hang of it now! In fact, when we went out for breakfast this past weekend, Jacob managed to grab a little handful of pancakes before I took it away from him! :) I'm sure it won't be long now before we will start giving him small pieces of food to eat.

We did end up going into urgent care while we were up in Minnesota too because Jacob looked like he had pink eye. Luckily, we took him in early enough, that it was just starting so he got some drops for his eyes. He is not a fan of those! But it cleared up in just a few days.

Since he still hasn't worked out crawling yet, we've started to "walk" with him. We hold on to his hands and let him take steps forward. It's so cute and fun to watch him do this! Some of the steps are really big, others very small, and sometimes he'll cross his feet in front of one another! I know we're just asking for trouble as we encourage all this moving! :)

Jacob has also started a Kindermusick class in Cedar Falls! We go every Tuesday night and have had two classes so far. They've been a lot of fun, but I think they've been more of a workout for Mom and Dad than they were for Jacob! :) But he loves to watch the other kids run around. The class we're in is for newborns to 18 months and there are some other babies younger than Jacob so he isn't the only one not moving on his own. But the class is great, we love the music and the movement and so does Jacob! He especially loves the bubbles at the end of each class!

I think that's about it for now! :)

Longing

Today I have a longing in my heart. I have wants that are pulling at my heart-strings. Life is anything but predictable. I've learned that the hard way. But today, that is what I want. I want predictability. I want a plan that I know is going to work the way I want it to. I want reassurance.

As I look at those few sentences I've just written, I see the words "I" and "want" a lot. Two words that God probably laughs at. Because what I want and what God has planned, are not always the same. I've also learned that the hard way.

The past five years have taught me so much, allowed me to grow, beaten me down and raised me higher than I could have ever imagined. It's been a lot in such a relatively short amount of time. But looking back, would I have done anything different? Would I have asked for different outcomes? I don't think so. There are certainly times that I don't wish to ever have to repeat, but I know that I've grown from those times. Learned from those times. But looking forward on my life, I want more.

Don't get me wrong, there is a lot about my life that I absolutely love. My son. My husband. My family. My friends.

Maybe I'm being selfish for wanting more. But I do. I want more. I want a house to call ours. I want a community that we feel welcomed and accepted in. I want a community where we have friends to visit with and events to go to. I want a group of people to have a card club with. I want to be a stay at home mom, even though I don't think it will ever be possible financially. And if I can't do that, I want a career. Not just a job. I want a career that I love. That I'm passionate about. I want to figure out what that is. I want to feel like I've accomplished something. Whatever it is.

I want to not have to worry about things. Even if it's just for a while. I want to live care-free. I want to live debt free from our student loans and medical bills. I want to have a time in my life where things are great for an extended period of time. I want a time that is "bump free". I want to know what the future holds. Not my whole future, just the foreseeable future.

I also want to be the best mom I can be for my son. I want to be able to give him all that he needs. I want to be able to provide for his future. I want to be the best wife I can be to my husband. I want to be able to support him in all that he does. I want to be the person that both my boys need more than anyone.

I want to have all the answers. I want things to fall into place. I want to know.


So that's it. That's all I want. That's not too much, is it? Is what I want what God wants for me? I don't know. I pray for answers. I pray for what I want. And I pray for God to show me His plans. His wants. And that's what I'm waiting for.

Our Six Month Check Up

The time has come for another doctor appointment check up! This is Jacob's 6 month check up. Six months! I have absolutely no idea where the last six months have gone! And can I please have them back? (Okay, maybe not...)

Jacob's doctor's appointment was held on one of the colder days. Normally, Austin and I both try to go to these appointments but because of the time, Austin couldn't leave school early. So it was just me. I decided that this needed to never happen again. Ha! Normally, Austin will drop Jacob and I off at the door so we don't have to walk. This would have been perfect on this cold day! The walk from the car was long and very cold! Plus, Jacob is a big baby. So him plus the weight of the car seat - uff-ta! It really didn't help matters that I was feeling sick and weak myself that day either. So I made a mental note to always schedule his appointments as late in the day as possible so Austin can come along!

Other than that though, the appointment went well. Jacob is measuring right on track! He now weighs 19lbs 12 oz, which puts him in the 85th percentile. His height is 27.25 inches (70%) and his head is 18.25 inches, which puts him back up to 100% there! :) The doctor asked if we were able to fit shirts over Jacob's head and I mentioned that I had just tried to put on a turtleneck that was 12 months but it wouldn't fit over his head. The doctor said he wasn't able to wear turtlenecks until he was a teenager and all of his shirts as a baby had cuts to fit over his head! So he told Jacob that he was probably going to be a doctor with that big head of his! :) Everything checked out great and we go the go ahead to start solids! He also had some more shots, but again, they weren't nearly as bad as that first time and I was able to handle it. :)

Jacob is growing like a weed, and I'm not talking about just his height or weight. The kid is getting smarter every day! He's a great sitter, when he wants to be anyway! Sometimes he likes to just fall over backwards or face first into the pillows around him. He still isn't crawling, he can scoot backwards a little bit though. But mostly, when you put him on his tummy, he'll just roll over. He still loves to stand though, so we're working on doing the motions of walking. Maybe he'll walk before crawling like his daddy did!

Jacob has started to whine if he wants attention or can't reach a toy he wants or he leans forward and rolls over and wants to be set back up. He does this little fake cry. So we're working on him figuring things out for himself. We let him "cry" for a bit to try and get what he wants himself, without our help. My first instinct is to automatically help him out - pick him up or get the toy he wants, but I know he needs to learn to do it himself!

He also has his two bottom front teeth - so cute! But so painful! Teething is not fun for the little man! And you have to be careful putting fingers in his mouth now because those suckers are sharp! Sophie the Giraffe has become one of Jacob's favorite toys right now. It's so easy for him to grab and he loves to chew on it. He'll also put one of the legs in his mouth, bite down and then pull it out. It really is a great toy for any teething baby!

Jacob also received a lot of new toys for Christmas! What a spoiled baby! :) And it's been fun watching him play with those new toys as he figures them out and what they do. He's great about being able to pick up certain toys, reaching out and grabbing new toys. He has one toy that is a dinosaur that has balls that bounce from the inside. Well Jacob has figured out since he can't quite reach inside to grab a ball, he'll grab the side of the toy and tip it sideways to get inside! Such a clever boy!  

Like I mentioned above, we got the go ahead to start solids with Jacob. We've been pretty excited about this and Jacob has definitely been ready. He loves to watch us eat and will often try to reach out and grab our food! I also decided that I wanted to make all of our baby food. I liked the idea of knowing exactly what I was feeding Jacob. We have the Baby Bullet and Steamer and it worked great! Austin and I spent a couple hours over the weekend making different types of baby food and freezing it. It was actually a lot of fun and something we enjoyed being able to do together. We made carrots, pear, apple and sweet potato.

The first food we tried was carrots. Jacob made a lot of faces and it took some time getting use to the taste and texture, but after a couple of days, he is eating them like a pro. We also tried banana and this was much better for Jacob! After just two days, he is eating them up! I think we're going to try the sweet potato next!

Otherwise, I know we're only about a week in, but other than the freezing cold, 2014 is off to a really great start for our family!