Almost 4 months!

We have Jack's 4 month checkup next week & I wanted to document some of his latest developments & what we've been up to:

• Jack is babbling constantly & we love talking to him & listening to his responses. He uses a lot of vowel sounds with some m, h, and other sounds thrown in too. Sometimes he talks excitedly with his eyebrows up & other times he will talk with his brow furrowed using a serious tone. Pretty cute.
• Jack smiles all the time now & will laugh when you play with him.
• We play pattycake, sing the itsy bitsy spider & you are my sunshine a lot. He loves it when you move his arms & sing.
• We read a lot of books & Jack will now stare at the pictures on the pages.
• Jack is getting better at expressing emotions with facial expressions & sounds.
• He hangs out in his crib when he wakes up now & spends time talking & eating his hands.
• Drool Factory
• He is pretty obsessed with his hands & chews on them all the time, or just stares at them while practicing his new found conrol of them.
• He has also developed a new cry/wail...oh my goodness. It sounds like he's being tortured when he uses it & it is usually a result of him not geting his food when he wants it! The first time we heard it was when we tried to change his diaper half way through a meal & he was NOT happy about it. He also has a different cry that he uses when he's frustrated or feeling impatient.
• He is sitting up with support & uses the bumbo seat & exersaucer for short periods of time. You can tell he loves his new vantage point when he's sitting up. He especially likes watching Lucy walk around & play with her toys.
• We're trying to work in more tummy time, but are having a hard time with it b/c he spits up so much. He definitely has no trouble holding up his head & shoulders, but we want to encourage him to roll over on his own. He's only done it once & that was a while back (I think he just got lucky).
• He sleeps about 10 hours each night & takes several naps during the day.
• He's more aware of his surroundings & sometimes has trouble sleeping away from home. We've found that if we're somewhere else, he tends to take cat naps instead of the longer ones he takes at home.
• Overall, we're just having a lot of fun with his developing personality & can't wait to see more of it in the coming months. :)

I'm planning on putting up a Christmas post too, but that will have to wait for now! I do have a couple family pics my sister took while she was in town.

This one is not my favorite, but Jack's face is too funny not to post.

This one is our favorite. :)

Fall Recap

I missed a couple of holidays, so here's a recap:

Halloween:

Trunk or Treat: Thanksgiving:

Oh wait, This is literally the only picture we took.

We SHOULD have taken the following pictures:

The turkey BEFORE we devoured it. It was my first time to cook a turkey on my own. Although, I did Skype Mom to make sure I had it positioned right in the pan before I put it in the oven!

My dad carving the turkey with me standing by 'supervising' (meaning stealing little pieces like some sort of scavenger).

The whole family (My parents & brother, & John's parents) at the expanded dining room table which was covered with food, flowers, and Mimi's china.

Little Jack in his rocking chair sleeping through his first Thanksgiving meal.

Matt passed out on the couch. ;o)

Pie. Lots and lots of pie provided by Grandpa M. Yum.

Not only did I forget to take pictures, we also forgot to go around the table & say what we were thankful for this year! Other than that it was a wonderful time with family, & the food was delicious!! I will make a point of taking pictures on Christmas...more than just the turkey carcass.

One of my Favorite Pictures

It's been a long day, but God is good.

As I was driving home tonight thinking about how physically & emotionally exhaused I felt, God put this verse on my heart. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Thanks be to God!

Make 'em Laugh!

That's what we spend a lot of our time doing these days - trying to make Jack laugh. He smiles all the time now & it's awesome. He also spends a lot of time on his little play gym where he examines his toys, bats at them, and sometimes manages to capture them in his little hands. Recently he has started playing himself to sleep which is adorable. One minute he's playing, kicking, and babbling to his toys, & the next he's out. Here's a quick video I caught with my phone of our little guy at a happy moment - maybe one of the first laughs?? Please excuse my mommy voice, it's really only meant for Jack's ears!

3 posts in one day?!?

I added 2 picture progressions today that I've been meaning to put up for a while now, so scroll down if you want to check them out! Jack has been doing awesome & growing everyday. He is so much fun! Here's the latest:

• He smiles a lot more & watches us move around the room.
• He bats at his toys and is able to hold on to them when they're put in his hand.
• He makes a lot more talking noises & uses his voice for more than just crying.
• He likes tummy time, where he practices his baby push-ups and occasional Superman impression. He has rolled over once, but it's been a couple weeks & he hasn't done it again.
• He is sleeping in 4-6 hour chunks at night with the occasional 7-8 hour stretch (unfortunately those longer stretches started too early in the evening, resulting in 3am wakeups, instead of the usual 5am wakeup, but hopefully we can get that worked out soon!)

I think that's about it! I'm back in the swing of things at work. I love being back, but I think the sleep deprivation has caught up with me. I am constantly praying (i.e begging God) for patience with my rowdy bunch of 5th graders. I've also been living off caffeine, which isn't a habit I want to get stuck in. The good news is Thanksgiving break is right around the corner! Woo hoo!

Sometimes I get smilie

Sometimes I get mad

2 Months Old!

We took Jack for his 2 month check up today and here are his stats: 11 pounds 9 ounces - 50th percentile for weight 24 inches long - 75th percentile for height head circumference - 37.47 cm. 10th percentile So basically he's right in the middle for weight, taller than most, and has a skinny little head! In other news, he is getting more and more active & responsive. He smiles a lot more now, looks at us & focuses on us even from across the room, & spends more and more time playing and hanging out (here he is at the end of a hard day at work with Daddy! ;o). He's also more snuggly than ever! I've gotten a little behind on posting since I've gone back to work, but hopefully I'll be able to add a couple more this weekend. We shall see...

Fascination

Jack spends most of his playtime these days trying to control his hands & get them to his mouth. This was while I was getting ready for church on Sunday (the background noise is the sink running). I may post some more videos if this one works, but most of them have me baby talking in the background & I'm not sure I'm ready to share that with the world! ;o)

Back to Work

This past week I went back to work. My first official day back was Tuesday, but I went in for part of Monday so I could talk with my sub & ease the transition a little. I am so glad that I decided to go in a day early because I felt completely overwhelmed. I walked into a classroom of 26 kids (when I left I had 17), a new schedule, and a new subject to teach. This was on top of the out-of-the-loop feeling I had from missing 6 weeks of meetings, staff developments, and the day to day happenings of the school. I kind of floated through the day with a dull headache while trying to remember how to talk to grown ups & carry on adult conversations. When I left on Monday I realized my grand plans of jumping in full steam ahead needed to be scrapped. Once I realized that, my stress level dropped quite a bit. I spent the evening brainstorming how I would handle the next day & decided that I would have to treat it like the first day of school all over again. Good call. When I walked in Tuesday I was ready. It felt right & good to be back. I had a wonderful day & it went by so fast I barely had time to wonder about Jack. It didn't hurt that I knew he was safe and sound with Daddy! The rest of the week flew by & I already feel like I'm back in the groove. It's going to take a little while to get caught up on all the miscellaneous stuff I need to do, but I'm not stressing about it. Some how it always gets done! Plenty of people have asked if I cried through the week, but honestly, I didn't. There were definitely times when I missed Jack, but I knew he was safe & happy with John or Nana (my mom) or Grandma (John's mom) depending on the day. I'm glad to be back to work & I feel blessed to have a job I enjoy that challenges me, and gives me the chance to make a difference in the lives of other people's precious babies each day. I also think going back to work is making me value my time with Jack even more. I look forward to coming home every day & snuggling with him. Even the late night or early morning feedings aren't so bad because now I see them as another chance to spend time with my little guy.

Pumpkin Time!

At our church October = Pumpkin time. Every year we have a pumpkin patch & the proceeds go to our summer mission trips. If you're looking for a pumpkin patch to visit, check it out! Our church website has more information. Today we took Jack to check out the pumpkins:

He was pretty great for about 4 minutes while we took pictures & I was surprised how mellow he was while we moved him around. After that he let us know he was done! :)

I hope everyone is taking advantage of this beautiful weather - Happy Fall!

It's October!

This Wednesday Jack will be 1 month old & he is changing every day!

New developments:

• Going longer between feedings - We're starting to get one longer chunk of sleep each night (3 & 1/2 to 4 hours). It's inconsistent, but exciting.
• He's awake! Newborns sleep soooooo much, so it is exciting that Jack is staying awake for longer periods of time each day.
• Growing, growing, growing! He has already grown out of some of the smallest clothes & all of the newborn stuff is starting to get tight on him.
• Lots of tummy time! He seems to like it, so that's good, plus it's fun to watch him pick his head up & look around (with that cute wrinkly forehead I love so much).
• This one's my favorite: We now have eye-contact. Jack will look at us, turn toward our voices, look at himself in a mirror, & stare at toys/mobiles. I love looking at his sweet face & seeing him looking back into my eyes. It completely melts my heart!

This past week was wonderful. My sister (Now Aunt Amy) came to town & stayed with us. It was a very special visit to me & I already miss having her here.

Jack also met Aunt Mary, Uncle Billy, and his cousins Will & David last weekend.

Baby Jack, you are so very loved!

September 20th

I wrote this a couple weeks ago & didn't post it, but here it is now! Today is my due date! Today Jack is 2 weeks old! This is one more testament to God's perfect timing. I was determined that Jack would be late, but he was 2 weeks early. God knew what he was doing. :) At this point we've already gotten 2 weeks with our little guy & he is already growing like crazy. I'm pretty sure he has outgrown the newborn diapers - at least that's what I was thinking when he peed all over me earlier (out the top or side of the diaper?? I still don't know how he managed it). We've already had 2 weeks of bonding & getting to know him, 2 weeks of sleepless nights, 2 weeks of precious baby noises, 2 weeks of diaper changes, 2 weeks of transitioning to a new life stage... It's flown by & I feel like each day gets better & better. I can't say I'm a fan of the whole hormonal roller coaster you get to ride after giving birth. That part is no fun & I've hated not feeling like myself. Random crying, anxiety, feeling overwhelmed by a new little life who is completely dependent on me - those aren't things I've enjoyed walking through. However, every day gets better - I cry less, feel more excited than anxious, & I feel more comfortable with, & thankful for the gift God has given us. Most of all, I feel like my capacity to love this precious little one multplies as each day goes by. I feel kind of weird putting all these feelings out there, but I have appreciated all those moms who have been so honest with me about their struggles in the first month of mommyhood & so I'm trying to be honest about mine. Speaking of feelings, I love this little guy more every day! I think his Daddy is pretty stinkin' awesome too! You can't see John in this pic, but he was right there hanging out with Jack. Watching them together is one of my favorite things to do these days!

11 days old

Here's what's been going on:

• Eat, Sleep, Pee & poo - we've got about a 3 hour cycle going with these activities & it repeats 24/7. John has names this item "The Poop Snake" we've emptied the diaper genie twice so far...
• Other activities Jack seems to like: hanging out in his swing, going for walks with Mommy, Daddy, & Lucy, cuddling, trying to catch his hands/fingers as they fly by his mouth (he's only been successful at getting a thumb in once, but often sucks on his fist or random fingers).
• Jack doesn't cry often, but makes fussy noises when he needs/wants something.
• He stays awake a little more now & spends the time looking around & attempting to gain control of his hands.
• He is very verbal & makes tons of different sounds & noises.
• He picks up his head a lot when you hold him over your shoulder or put him on his tummy.
• He has a love/hate relationship with being swaddled - either he calms down & sleeps awesome b/c he's not bonking himself in the face with those crazy hands, or he's grunting & stretching trying to break free. It's kind of funny & after a few days we started calling him Houdini because he seems to have the ability to escape any form of swaddle if he so desires.
• He seems to have an every-other-night thing going with sleeping in 3 hour chunks between feedings, or keeping us up all night (last night was the latter). As you can see, even Lucy is worn out today!
• His umbilical 'stump' fell off & scared me to death before I realized what happened.
• We're still getting settled & getting used to being a little family.
• We're grateful for all the love, support, & food we've received from family & friends!

In Love

How could we not be?

Welcome to the world, Precious One!

Jackson William Moran arrived on Labor Day 9-6-10 at 7:49pm.

Baby Jack weighed in at 7 pounds, 1 ounce & 19 & a half inches long.

We are now home sweet home and everyone is doing well. Thank you for all the prayers and support!

I've been meaning to post...

Well, lots of stuff. So today you get the shoulda-coulda-woulda of posts: 1. Vanity

• I never knew how much I loved my feet until they left me & got replaced with trunks. I mean, as a girl, no matter how insecure you are with your body, you can always put on a pair of great shoes & feel fabulous. I love to go shoe shopping even though I don't even buy anything most of the time. It's like dress-up for grownups! Anyway, it's no fun right now & I'm down to 1 pair of flip-flops & my tennis shoes that still fit my swollen sausage feet! Oh yeah, and the days I wear my tennis shoes, I have to wake John up to put them on for me!

2. Start of School

• It's been great! The first 2 days were rough & I was wondering if my body was going to cooperate, but we've been blessed with cooler temps & that has helped a LOT. Just getting out of the 100 degree weather everyday made a huge difference.
• I love the newest group of 5th graders! I already have tons of stories of their funny comments, stories, questions, etc. They crack me up!
• Anxious - if you know me, you know my students are 'My Kids' & it's really really weird facing the fact that I'm about to turn them over to someone for so long. My goal is to finish off the lesson plans this weekend...we shall see...
• I love my co-workers! I have the best work family & they have kept me laughing even on the days when late pregnancy has not been kind (i.e. days when tired, whiny, always burning up Katie shows up at work). I'm so thankful for the support, genuine care, & hilarity they provide on a daily basis.

Jack is Almost Here!!

• Surreal. We're about to have a new little person here with us & my mind refuses to wrap around that.
• People keep asking if I'm miserable & there are some rough days, but I would classify them more as uncomfortable than miserable. I'm still feeling pretty good considering I'm 8 & a half months now. I haven't really had anything to complain about with this pregnancy because everything has gone so smoothly & for that I truly thank God!
• Since my due date is a little more than 2 weeks away, I go to the doctor every week. Everything is normal & he seems to be happy where he is. We just scheduled a sonogram for next week to check Jack out. I think they want to get a better idea of how big he is, etc. since there's been no sign of any action so far. I already told my doctor (and pretty much everyone else) I just know he's going to be late. I could be wrong, but that's my feeling about it!
• Maternity pics - My friend Dori took some AMAZING pics of John & me & my tummy. I put them on Facebook and added some to the slideshow at the top of the blog. She is so gifted & I love the pics! You can check out her work here!
• We've pretty much got everything ready for Jack & I've been working on packing for the hospital & getting things ready for my maternity leave. John is simply amazing & has been keeping the house clean, getting the laundry done, and helping me out while trying to get ahead on his work stuff too. I am completely spoiled by this man (and couldn't be more thankful!)

I think that should catch me up for now - yay for long weekends!

First 2 days

I'm officially back to work! I feel something like that old cell phone you replaced because it wouldn't hold a charge anymore. Even though I rest as much as possible, I just run out of energy much faster than normal. Other than that, things are going well! Yesterday was full of meetings & I'm thankful for my loving & patient school family who put up with this big ol' preggie lady (& my sarcasm). I'm hoping I didn't scare any of the new staff members who don't know me yet... It was a good day, but I'm pretty sure our motto this year will say something about "The family that sweats together..." I'd like to send a special thank you to August in Texas for providing the insane temperatures! Needless to say, when I got home I was pretty wiped, BUT Lucy was having some sort of allergic reaction, so I had to take her to the vet. Apparently something triggered her immune system & she is now on the doggie version of cortisone & prescription strength benedryl. Side effects: increase in thirst & increase in urination. Um...yeah...so, John & I are having to schedule her pee breaks (i.e. one of us letting her out) throughout the day. Oh well, good thing we love her so much! Today we had the chance to work in our classrooms all day. My wonderful mom spent the whole day helping me out & John came for the afternoon to help move big stuff, staple things that are too high for me to reach, & set up my work station for me. It was amazing how much we got done & it made me feel ready for the new year. There's no way I could have done even half of that without them - I am SO grateful for their help! Other than that, I'm trying to keep my feet up tonight because my ankles are angry about this whole work thing. They are GIANT & just plain freakish looking. I started to take a picture, but had second thoughts - I hope you're not TOO disappointed.

Final Days of Summer

As summer is wrapping up, we've been trying to make the most of our final days of 'freedom' by getting ready for Jack & just hanging out together. We also took a last minute trip to Round Rock & Georgetown to relax & catch up with friends and family.

Here are some pics of Jack's room, which is almost ready!

Here are some pics of me with my giant belly trying to stay cool!

I'm almost 35 weeks, so I have about a month left- I can't even believe it! Jack is still moving A LOT even though he's running out of room, & we're enjoying watching his gymnastics. The heat has been rough and starting this week I've had some swelling in my feet & ankles, but according to the Dr. that's just part of the final stages of pregnancy. Even though it's getting uncomfortable, I feel so blessed that everything has gone smoothly so far & Jack is doing great.

Monday I'm officially back to work, so if things are quiet on the blogging front for a while, you'll know why!