Three Months and Everything's Changing

My little baby is three months old! And I'll say it again, time keeps moving way too fast! And I know I'm going to be saying this every time I post here! :) But it's been so much fun watching him grow and learn new things!

Jacob is becoming much more vocal, cooing at us, blowing bubbles, laughing and giggling, buzzing his lips and making random noises. And they are just the cutest things I've ever heard. I could sit and listen to him "talk" to me all day! Especially when he smiles when he talks! He's also getting much better at tummy time, not getting as mad when we put him down but sometimes even enjoying it! He's doing great at pushing himself up on his arms and looking around. And he's even been getting better at rolling over more quickly to his back! He has also rolled from his back to his tummy a few times, although he normally can't get that one arm out from under himself. But he likes to roll to his side a lot and then back to his back again. 
Jacob also loves to put things in his mouth, or try to put things in his mouth! He loves to chew and suck on his own hands. But his coordination is getting much better as well! He can pull some things towards him like blankets and certain toys, which he'll then try to put in his mouth. You can also see that he's trying to reach out and grab at toys around him. Sometimes he'll get them and others he'll just bat at them. We have a little activity chair for him that he's really starting to enjoy sitting in and play with the toys around him. 
He loves to move around all the time - laying down on his play mat, sitting on the couch or even while you're holding him. He will just kick his little legs and swing his arms all around. He's got some great strength in his legs too and is getting better at putting his weight on them when you hold him up. He's definitely going to keep us busy once he becomes mobile!
Overall, he's become much more aware of everything around him and a very active baby! He's a lot of fun to interact with now too because he'll interact back with you! We've decided he's becoming quite the charmer! Everyone who meets automatically falls in love with him! And it's easy to see why! :) 

In other news, Austin is keeping very busy at school. He's doing a fall musical and he's decided to do "Annie" this year. Rehearsals have started and performances are the first weekend in November, so they've got a lot of work to do. He's working with someone from the community to help with some of the drama so he can focus on the music side a little bit more, which is nice. He's also still learning about his students and they're trying to find a groove that fits together. The choir is very different from his choir at Riverside and so there's a learning curve. But I know, with time, they're going to find something that works and he'll be just as successful at D-NH, if not more! I think he's also enjoying teaching the third and fourth graders but would much rather be teaching middle school so he could build up the program more. We'll see if that's something he'll be able to do next year.  

And in case you haven't heard, I'm officially back in the workforce! I've started my new job as the Marketing Coordinator at Maple Manor Village in Aplington, Iowa, which is a nursing home and an assisted living home. A quick overview of what I'll be doing is of course all of their marketing (posters, ads, newsletters, etc.), event planning within the community and working on inquiries and referrals. This will actually be a good mix of my past two jobs - marketing, like I did at Kruger, and then going out into the public and being a face for the company, like I was for UNO. But this is in a totally different industry which means I have a lot to learn. But I think it's going to be a great new and exciting challenge and I'm really looking forward to working here. 

So this also means that Jacob has started daycare. We found a great in-home daycare in Dike, just two blocks from the school. It's run by a husband and wife who are both super nice. We love that it's so close to school, not too many kids, at someone's house but also still structured. I was having some pretty bad anxiety about having to leave Jacob at daycare for his first day, for a number of reasons. I had been able to spend three amazing months at home with him and those are days that I'll treasure forever. So it was going to be a big adjust me for me not to have all that time with him! I was also worried because he had been fighting sleep and would only fall asleep in my arms most of the time and I knew that was something he wouldn't be able to do at daycare. However, the first drop off wasn't nearly as bad as I originally thought. And of course Jacob did great! He's a champ! And all the other kids just loved him! They swarmed his carseat as soon as we got there! :) He's pretty much the center of attention! And daycare has been great for his sleeping habits!

Like I mentioned, Jacob was having a hard time going to sleep. He would be obviously tired but would fight it really hard. He would not fall asleep on his own, he would just cry and cry and I couldn't stand listening to him cry so hard, so I'd always go pick him up. So we tried swaddling, shushing, rocking, singing, walking, bouncing, going outside, putting him in a swing, opening the freezer door for a cool breeze... I tried it all. And it would take a combination of some of these. And then as a last result, I'd give him a little bit of gripe water and that would almost always calm him down enough for me to get him to sleep. But then I would hold him while he slept, if I tried putting him down, he'd wake up and cry. Even after just a couple of days at daycare, Jacob has been doing better. At daycare, they told me he'll cry for a little bit and then put himself to sleep! So I thought, okay, time to try it at home! Up until this point, Jacob had still been sleeping in our room too. So, the other night, I put him down in his crib while he was still awake, shut the door and waiting for him to start fussing. I expected him to fussy some, but he did nothing! He just fell asleep! I was amazed! The next night, I put him down again while he was still awake. This time he did cry for a bit, but eventually fell asleep again! We've even been putting him down in there for his naps over the weekend and it's been working out pretty good. 

I have noticed that since putting Jacob in his crib, he's been waking up more often to eat but I don't know if the two are related. I've read about the four month sleep regression and he's also had a bit of a cold so who knows what exactly is waking him up more often. But we're making progress in the right direction! And that's all that matters! It's been great having him in his own room finally too. We don't have to be quite as quiet when we're getting ready for bed and can stay up a little bit later, although we're almost always in bed when Jacob goes down! 

So, life is definitely changing and we're adjusting to a new life as two working parents. But I think it's all going well and we're going to like our new life. And it's so much fun watching Jacob change every day! I'm looking forward to seeing where life leads us! But it feels like things are starting to fall into place and we're finally getting some answers to our prayers, which is a great feeling. God is good. 

The Sun will come out Tomorrow!

Austin and I have gotten our lives back! "Annie" is officially over! Our performances were just this past weekend on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And for the first time in at least recent history at the Grist Mill Theater, all four shows were sold out!! Pretty big deal!

Each show was awesome! The audience was just what we needed as a cast to get that extra energy and enthusiasm on stage. There were no major screw ups or anything. The music was great (obviously with such a great music director! ;-) haha), the lines were given smoothly and no one tripped on stage! :)

Overall, the show itself was a great success. We heard a lot of positive feedback. But more importantly than that, were the friendships that we made at Grist Mill during our two months there. Rehearsals were long and often, but we met some really great people! Every person in the show or helping with the show really made it so much fun. And although I think Austin and I (and probably everyone else in the show as well...) will enjoy our free nights and weekends again, we're really going to miss hanging out with everyone.

Here are some pictures for you to enjoy from the show! 

Austin makes the best faces!

See? 

Meg and Grandma J. came to the show!

John and Austin during warm-ups

Before our second show

Mr. Warbucks and Drake like the dress! :) 

Mom & Dad Zaruba came as well!

After our third show

As you can see from the pictures we had a good time! 

The cast of "Annie" 

If you want to see more pictures, they're up on my Facebook page! :) 

Keeping Busy

Okay, now we've definitely been keeping busy!

Annie rehearsals have been in full swing for a while and with our performances next week, we're really working hard! Rehearsals are pretty much every day from 6:30pm until around 9:30 or 10pm. Last night it was 10:30. This makes for a rather long day. Especially on the days I have orientation at work. On orientation days, I have to be at work by 7am which means my alarm goes off at 5am and I'm out the door around 6am. Those are very long days. Luckily however, we don't have any orientation days next week, the week of our performances! So I'm very happy about that!

Annie has been a good experience for us! It's gotten us out of the house actually doing something! (We like to really just enjoy the time we have to ourselves right now and normally not have to do a whole lot of anything. But I know that this has been good for us for when we do have little ones running around and keeping us busy in the future!)  We've also met a lot of really great people! The cast is a fun group to work with! It's also been great having the chance to get back on stage and for me, to really sing again! It's been so long since I've gotten to sing, you forget how much you love it! And it's been fun working with AJ, with him working as the Music Director and as a fellow cast member. I think we were both a little nervous about it since we like to butt heads so much... ;-) but it's been really good and really fun to work with each other.

Another bit of exciting news is that AJ has gotten a part time summer job!! YAY!! :) I might be a little bit more excited about this than he is... haha! AJ will be working at Enterprise at the Omaha airport. Basically he will just be driving cars back and forth between some locations at the airport. So it's pretty simple, just part time and just for the summer! Plus, it's at the airport! And if you know AJ, you know how much he loves airplanes!! I just hope he keeps his eyes on the road while he's driving and not up in the sky watching the planes!

As soon as he has that schedule worked out, he'll also be doing voice lessons for some of his students. So he will be keeping busy this summer! Which is good. For both of us. :)

Some Music Updates

I seem to be averaging about one blog a month... I can't blame it on us being too busy because while we've been busy, we haven't been that busy. So I'm going to blame on it on the fact that we just don't have a lot going on. We can be boring people. :)

AJ has officially finished up with the school year. Okay, well not quite yet. He still has two more weeks of school but when it comes to all of his concerts, performances, etc. he has finished. The Middle School concert at the end of last month sounded great and he had those kids doing some pretty difficult music for their age! They sounded great. The High School concert also went really well! He was able to show off some of the smaller group talent and showcased all of his seniors that will be graduating. My Mom and Grandma actually made the trip down for the concert and I think they really enjoyed themselves! They just kept saying how amazing the choir sounded and the quality of music they're singing. They also kept commenting on how much fun AJ seems to have when he's up there conducting. And it's true - he just dances away on stage! :) He brings a level of energy and enthusiasm like none other and the kids respond to it. They were so focused on him the entire time - very professional! And you can tell how much they respect him!
AJ also had his Large Group Contest back on May 4th where the choir traveled to Elk Horn, Iowa to perform in front of three judges. The choir sang their very best, did an outstanding job and walked away with an Excellent (Division II) Rating! And they really deserved it! (Well, actually I think they deserved a Division I, but I'm not a judge!) They sang a level 3 difficulty of music and for a program so young and still growing, they rocked it. They did really well. AJ and I have been working on putting together videos of all his past concerts recently and when we were watching the video of his very first concert at Riverside - with only like 12 kids - it was amazing the difference in sound they have, the level of professionalism while on stage, and how much more talent they have now. It's been fun to watch them grow as a choir.

AJ also decided to start some traditions at Riverside. This past Saturday, he held the first ever Riverside Choir Awards Banquet. He asked students and parents to help bring food and we had a nice little brunch on Saturday morning. AJ then spent some time explaining everything that they had done throughout the year and then presenting the students with their awards (letters, pins, bars, etc.). It was a really neat thing and fun for those students to get recognized because they really deserve the recognitions. Another tradition he has decided to start was recording the choir singing songs from throughout the year. So last week I took off work to help with the project. We spent all morning at a local church in town recording the choir singing a number of different pieces along with some small groups. For the first year of doing this, the CD will have 20 tracks on it! And with the sale of all the CDs, the money will go straight back to the Music Program, which is really great. So, because I know you're all interested... :) if you want to buy a CD, I've included the order form below. You can also go to the Riverside Vocal Music facebook page and download it there too! And just in case you haven't already, you should go to the facebook page and "Like" it so you can stay up to date on all Riverside Vocal Music stuff! 

I think that about does it for us right now. "Annie" rehearsals are still going great and I really love being back on stage and singing again! I forget how much I miss it! 
More from us later - as soon as some things happen! :) 

A little of this and that

Things are starting to get busy for us around here! Usually summer is a time to relax and take things slow... but at least for the beginning of the summer, that isn't going to be the case for us!

I decided to audition for "Annie" - the community theater show where AJ is music director this summer and landed the role of Grace Farrell (secretary to Mr. Warbucks)! I'm pretty excited and definitely excited to be back on stage - for the first time since 2005! - and to be able to do some singing again! We started rehearsals this past weekend and it looks like "Annie" is pretty much going to consume our lives until the end of June! :) Not that I'm complaining, I think it's going to be a lot of fun and it's with a great group of people!
We have performances June 21st - 24th so let me know if you want tickets! :)

Even though we've only had two rehearsals, it's been fun to watch AJ work with all the little kids in the show! It never ceases to amaze me how well he is with kids. And I'm sure most of this is because he's just a big goofy kid himself! :) But it's just so much fun to watch him in his element! I've been lucky enough to be able to do this quite a bit lately!
Last month AJ had 15 students from the high school that went to solo/ensemble contest. Basically for those of you that don't know, this is a competition the students go to where they've prepared one or more pieces of music and perform in front of a judge. The judge will then score them on a number of different areas and give out a rating that ranges from Division I (Superior) to Division IV (Poor). The 15 students that AJ took were the largest group of kids to go to contest from Riverside. Of those 15 students, they walked away with 8 Division I's, 6 Division II's and one Division III. It was an outstanding day for those students! You could tell how hard each of them worked and how much they wanted to do well, not only for themselves, but also for Mr. Z! :)

Tonight AJ has his last Middle School concert for the year and the last High School concert is next Monday. He also has Large Group Contest this Friday night. Large Group is essentially the same as solo/ensemble contest, only the choir goes and performs as a whole in front of three judges. Last year the choir received a Division II. This year, with a choir that is practically tripled in size, AJ is hoping to walk out with a Division I. He and the students have been working very hard. AJ also found out recently that he has just under 50 students signed up for choir next year! This is just amazing considering that the started with just around 12 his first year - just two years ago! He is really doing some great things with the Riverside Vocal Music program!

For some other great news, we heard back from H&R Block about our amendments for the previous two years of state taxes and we will be getting some money back!! We'll actually be getting back right around $1000! So we're very excited and this is going straight into our emergency fund - as part of our Financial Peace University learning. And speaking of FPU, we have officially graduated! We had our last class last week and we're kind of sad it's over! It has been a lot of fun going to class every week, learning some really great things, but also meeting and getting to know some other people in town. It'll be strange now having to go to class now every Wednesday! And I would say it'll be nice to have our Wednesday nights back, but we've moved on to "Annie" rehearsals now!

I think that's just about it for us right now! If I don't post anything for the next two months, now you know that we'll be busy! :)