Baby's 1st Christmas

Christmas 2008~

We had a very Merry Christmas this year. My favorite Christmas "present" was actually delivered in September, and I couldn't ask for anything more. Jacob celebrated his first Christmas with both sides of the family: Christmas Eve-The Morkes Family. Christmas Day- The Rojas Family. Lots of excitement and lots of gifts...Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

December 22nd- 3Months

3-Months ~

Jacob is 3-months already! I cannot believe it. Where has the time gone? Little Jake has been the joy of our lives these last 14 weeks...I cannot imagine life without him. Jacob now weighs a little over 14 pounds...he is 23.7 inches, and is now wearing size 2 diapers and 3-6 month-old clothes. He is OFFICIALLY sleeping through the night!!! 12-13 hours! He is also officially in a routine (I love it!) He wakes up, eats, plays, morning nap, wakes up, eats, plays, afternoon nap (shorter nap), wakes up, eats, plays, and a 1/2 hour nap, wakes up, eats, plays, bathtime, little bit more playtime, eats again, and night night. The mornings are the best, instead of waking to him crying, we awake to him gooing and cooing, I LOVE to get him out of his crib in the morning, because I get a nice BIG smile. Jacob has almost mastered the use of his hands. He now can grab things that he is reaching for, he has been holding his pacifier and trying to put it in his mouth!!! He is also sucking his fingers, and thumbs, and will get bored real easily if he has nothing to play with. And he is a mover and a shaker...he loves to kick those legs and swing his arms like a little monkey. Tummy time is getting better, he is holding his head up very steadily, he is now focusing on different objects during tummy time- he gets impatient because he can't seem to reach for something while holding himself up. Hopefully, this will teach him to keep going and learn to crawl eventually...he is rolling on his side, so we'll see...

This past month Jacob has also had his first ear infection. I am glad that we caught it early. However, he was able to finally get a taste of something other than his formula...and he loves that something- because it has a little sweet taste to it- that would be his medicine. Since being on amoxicilin, Jacob has been feeling a lot better. He was just so congested for a few weeks, and everything seems to be clearing up, his eyes are brighter, he seems more comfortable and much happier. Also this past month we celebrated Jacob's Baptism, 1st Thanksgiving, and the excitement of the Christmas Season...it has just been so wonderful. Like I said, I really look forward to the mornings to see his smiling face. The first thing I say to Jacob in the morning is "Mommy missed you." And I did...12-13 hours of sleep is fabulous...but I just miss him, that's a long time to go without seeing those chubby cheeks, hearing those sweet cooing and gooing sounds., and little kisses. I have loved every second of this awesome journey so far. I love you buddy.

1st Week Back to Work

My first week back to work has come and gone, and I am on to the next week. I am taking this day by day. So far, so good. I will start by saying...Jacob has been sleeping through the night as of last Sunday (the night before I started work- he just knew Mommy needed a good night's rest)...when I say sleeping through the night, I mean from 7:30 pm until about 6:15am! I feel a little more comfortable writing this because it has been a full week thus far. My mom told me not to hold my breath because it can change again...so far, so good. The week started a little stressful, when my mom called the night before I was to start work to tell me that she was sick- mind you, she is the childcare. Luckily, Wendy-Rocky's sister is done with school for the semester, so she was able to save the day by coming over that morning, my mom came later that afternoon. The rest of the week, Jacob and I went to Barrington (to Grandma's) in the morning to drop him off...I've been a little skeptical becuase my mom had still been sick. From my parents house, it takes about 10-minutes to get to the office, so it really works out. Once Wednesday rolled around, I was a walking zombie b/c I've been waking up at 5am to start my day- yes, I said 5AM!!! I AM NOT A MORNING PERSON- AND THIS IS MY LIFE- OMG!!! I start with a shower and get myself ready, then feed Jake, and off to Grandma's we go. Everyone at work has been great. However, I've been a little embarrassed because I seriously have "mommy brain." I am the SLOWEST person when it comes to explaining something to me...but once again, we are taking this day by day,and everyone has been very understanding...did I say how embarrassed I am? Also, by mid-week, Jacob's congestion started getting a little worse. His eyes were glassy and he was having a hard time napping. I think what finally gave it a way was the tugging of his ear...my baby has his 1st ear infection. Saturday it was confirmed when we took him to the doctor just to make sure...he is now on amoxicillin. After 2 days of medicine so far, he seems to be feeling a little better...and onto another week. Luckily, this week and next are shorter weeks, so we are taking this one day at a time.

1st Week Back to Work

Jacob's Baptism

God Bless Jacob Brayden~

Please note the baby in the above picture "talking" during his Baptism.

On November 23rd, Jacob Brayden was baptized. The ceremony was held at St.Anne's Church in Barrington where we were married...St.Anne's is an important place to me~I had my 1st Communion, Confirmation, and Grade School Graduation at St.Anne's...I wanted Jacob to start his journey in the Church where I did. The ceremony was nice (at St.Anne's the baptisms are shared with other families, Jake was baptized along with another little girl), personal, and Jacob was in a great mood for the most part~ he was cooing and gooing during the ceremony...it was so cute. Also, at our church, the babies are fully submerged vs. a little water poured over their heads, so that was a bit of a challenge b/c we had to change him in the middle of the ceremony (I was a little stressed out), but he was a trooper. Loren and Sammy are Jacob's God Parents. After the ceremony, we celebrated with an Open House at our home. Most of our relatives were introduced to Jacob for the first time on this special day, it was really wonderful.

BrainCandy

Jacob has been a bit of a "bouncy-seat potato" these days. He LOVES any Baby/kids programs such as "Baby Genius" and this new one: "BrainCandy." Whoever thought of these programs was a "genius"...so simple...I should have thought of it. Just video of shapes, colors, letters, etc and the babies go nuts!!! BranCandy has a host and its a brain...strange...(but he LOVES it!) and the "Brain" talks/sings about eyes, ears, colors, shapes, etc. Little Jake will sit there and talk to the "Brain." It's ON DEMAND too.

Congratulations Campbell Family!!

A Belated Congrats to the Campbell Family: Jess, Brian, and Big Sis- Elliott on their upcoming arrival this Summer. We are SO EXCITED for all of you!!!!

It's been 12-weeks and my Time has Come...

Yes. Tomorrow is the day I return to the working world. I have SO MANY mixed emotions about this. I have been very anxious about this day because I'm not sure how I will handle this. I know Jacob will be in the best care: Grandma Joey (my mom) will be watching him everyday. I think one of my biggest fears is that he becomes more used to my mom than me...will he even recognize me at the end of the day? He is changing so quickly right now, I feel so weary about leaving him with fear that I will miss out on a new "something." These last 12-weeks have flown right by. I've enjoyed every second of it, and just like these last few weeks, this new chapter (working and being mommy) I will take a day at a time and we will figure it out from there. I know I need to go back to work for now to atleast give myself that chance and see how it all goes...so here is a picture I keep in my mind to remind me of who's waiting for me when I get home.

All Ready for the Holidays!

I have been having such a great time finding adorable pajamas and outfits for the Holidays. Our Little "Goo" is going to be sleeping in style as Santa comes to visit...Hanna Anderson has the cutest things...here are a couple (and the best part: I got them on sale!) And as you can see, Jacob has had it with all the pictures. Oh, and the pink bouncy seat, I couldn't resist, I had to take a picture of Jacob in SOMETHING pink...this bouncy seat happens to be Peyton Stanczak's.

Warm and Toasty!

Jacob just loves his "Bear" Land's End Snow Outfit. It is nice and warm and snuggly. The second I put him in his toasty outfit, he gets a huge smile on his face, relaxes, and falls asleep just in time for the car ride. Love it!

Jacob and Family...

Grandma Joey, Uncle Dave, Cara, and Jacob...

If You Think I'm Cute, You Should See My Aunt...

Aunt Karen got Jacob this cute onesie...

Our Little Fan

Jacob is officially out of newborn sizes and is almost out of 0-3 months...so I am trying on all of his cute onesies before he no longer fits in them, some of them are out of season already, so better late then never. I finally tried his CUBS onesie on him. Its taken me awhile to get over their nightmare of a post season- I'm not one to talk sports, but it was a sad, sad time, especially since I thought there was a slight chance our son would be born the same year the CUBS won the World Series- that was obviously just a dream. Either way, Jacob has no choice, he is a CUBS Fan and he had a few things to say about it...

Sleep, Sleep we missed you so!!!!!

Jacob is officially sleeping 7-8 hours at night!!! Oh my gosh!!! I really shouldn't be posting this b/c I am sure it will jinx it. The Little Man is "out" between 7 & 8 pm. We've tried and tried to keep him up past then (just so he will sleep a little longer), but he will have no part of it. Tantrums begin after 7pm...which means we are starting to understand eachother- 7-8pm is Jacob's bedtime. What Baby wants, Baby gets. I have posted some pictures of a Happy Sleeping Baby and Jacob and me in the morning after some "decent" sleep.

Busy Thanksgiving Break

Well, I'm still on maternity leave for another week...so really, it wasn't much of a "Thanksgiving Break" for me, but with all the family and friends that we were able to see, it felt like the Holidays are finally here! Jacob celebrated his 1st Thanksgiving. This year we celebrated with Rocky's family (we switch every other year). Little Jake was asleep by 7pm, so he really didn't get to do much celebrating and no turkey or stuffing this year...but the Morkes clan stopped by to see him that day before they headed for their celebration. We have some pictures of Aunt Loren (Jacob's Godmother) and Uncle Brandon in his Thanksgiving outfit (really, you can't see it b/c he is wearing his bib and is sucking on his paci-bibs and pacis seem to be his staple accessories these days, we can't go anywhere without either of them!!!!) The night before the Rossis, Smileys, and Kreuzers stopped by. Jacob was able to meet Little Ryan- who is 2-months older than Jake (Ryan is my girlfriend Jackie's little boy- he is SO CUTE). The boys went to bed pretty early (Jake was out by 7) and us adults were able to celebrate like it was the good ol' days at WIU. We had a great time! Thursday (yes, Thanksgiving) was the first official day that I was hungover since being a mom- not fun- at all.