So, this is the time I hate. The waiting period between jobs and a move. There is so much unknown and I like to plan. But I can't plan yet.
I want to know how much my paycheck is going to be so we can figure out bills. I want to know when AJ will get a job and how much he'll be getting paid. (Please don't read this as greedy, it's a feeling of anxiety about paying bills and paying off some debt) I want to know if we'll be able to pay off some debt while saving money by staying with my parents. I want to know when we'll do the big move of all the furniture and everything in the apartment. I want to know where we're going to put it all! I want to find a good daycare for Jacob, one that we will all love as much as our current daycare.
I also find myself wishing time away. I long for the day when we can buy a house. To finally be settled somewhere. To put down roots. In my mind, I associate buying a house with the opportunity of being able to accomplish everything else that's getting pushed aside right now.
Once we have a house, we'll finally be able to have all of our things, boxes and unopened wedding presents in one place. Once we have a house, we will finally go through all of our boxes, get rid of what we don't need and then completely organize everything else on shelves in tubs with detailed lists of everything inside. Once we have a house, we can finally get that king size bed. We can go back to having dish and a DVR! Once we have a house, Jacob will finally have the space to run around and a yard to play in. Once we buy a house, I'll find more time to work out, maybe join the rec center. AJ and I will be able to slow down and spend more time on us.
These are the things I hope/want to happen. I know it's unrealistic. But that's what my mind thinks. And while I ponder away at these things, I'm missing life right now. I'm missing my last few days in Iowa. I'm missing Jacob watching the trucks drive by our apartment. I'm missing spending time with AJ before we have to be a part for awhile.
So this is where I struggle. I struggle to stay in the presence and not worry about what I don't know will happen in our future. But that's exactly what I need to do. And I know God is telling me the same thing. In fact, just this morning, there was an email in my inbox. A prayer from the Unveiled Wife. This morning's prayer was a prayer for couples moving.
Dear Lord, I pray for husbands and wives who are in the transition of moving. There can be so many reasons for couples to move, such as job opportunities or fresh starts. I pray that these couples would not feel overwhelmed by the work it takes to move. Send them helping hands to get it done! I also pray that where they are moving to is a healthy environment. I hope that these couples do not feel alone or friendless. Send people to welcome them and get them connected to the community. May You bless their move and show them all the awesome things about the new move. I pray that their would be no contention within their marriage about the move, but that they would submit to and rely on You in Jesus' name. AMEN!
I've been so busy lately that I haven't had time to update the blog... even though I've had a lot to say. Or a lot that I could say. Or want to say. :) But between a baby, starting a new job and life, things get put to the back burner. But I did want to do a quick update after Jacob's four month check up! So here we go!
Jacob is still a "perfect" baby. Meaning, his numbers are all looking great. Although I'd argue he's perfect in all ways! :) He weighed in at a whopping 17lbs 11oz! At four months!! His cousin weighed around 17lbs at 9 months! So I'd say he's getting well fed! Ha! His weight is in the 86 percentile. He's 25 inches long, 38% and his head is 17 inches, 87%. He's had a bit of a cold for a while and so the doctor showed us how to properly clean out his nose and man, did he have a lot of snot up in that little nose of his! And Jacob was not a fan of having his nose suctioned out! haha He screamed pretty hard, but he can breath so much easier now! He still has a bit of a cough and hopefully that gets better soon. He also got his four month shots and these were a lot better than at 2 months. For one, Daddy got to help hold him down so Mommy didn't have to! But he didn't cry nearly as much, maybe he was still traumatized from the nose suctioning!
The doctor also gave us the go ahead to start some rice cereal! So at his evening meal, we add a tablespoon of rice cereal in with some milk, so not a lot. But we feed it with a spoon, which is a messy ordeal! But he'll get the hang of it soon! I was hesitant to want to start with the rice cereal and when Austin asked me why, I confessed it's because I feel Jacob is growing up too fast and I want it to stop! :) But I know that just can't happen.
Jacob is becoming more and more fun to interact and play with every day. He is still a little talker, telling stories to whoever will listen! Although sometimes he picks some very inopportune times... like 5:30am! But it's a lot of cooing, blowing bubbles and raspberries, and a lot of vowels sounds. It's so fun listening to him try and communicate! He also loves to be upright. He hasn't figured out his balance yet to sit by himself, but he's working hard at it. Sometimes he'll get it for a second or two before tumbling over! He also LOVES to stand! He, of course, can't do this by himself yet either but has the leg strength to stand up and even help himself stand up. He just squeals whenever you let him stand.
He still loves mirrors - he'll just look, smile and talk to himself in that mirror all day long! He also has really gotten the hang of grabbing toys and blankets. Before he would just hold his arms out and try to grab things by putting his arms together but now he knows how to reach out and grab hold with his hands. And he's grabbing all sorts of toys and bringing them to his mouth. The doctor said he was starting to teethe! Nothing through yet but it might not be long! So he just loves playing with all his different toys. And he's really figured some of them out too, pulling on certain ones that vibrate or make noise. He also has this spinning ball toy, one on each his activity chair and activity table that he knows how to spin and play with. I just love watching him as he learns and figures all of these things out.
He's also still great at rolling. He'll roll to his sides a lot when he's playing on his back. During tummy time, he'll roll to his back a lot quicker. He still isn't always a big fan of tummy time, especially when we try to keep him from rolling to help strength those muscles and maybe start moving towards crawling! He's also found his feet. Putting them up in the air and grabbing on to them, or trying to grab them and then trying to put them in his mouth. He hasn't figured out if he can actually do that yet or not.
And Jacob still gives the best, award winning smiles that can just melt your heart! I love picking him up at daycare and once he sees me, he just gets this huge smile on his face! Or when he hears his dad talk, he'll just smile and smile! No matter what else is going on, his smiles always make me smile.
So that's about it for a Jacob update! And that's about all I have time for right now! Hopefully more soon!
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.
