Life as of late

I suppose it is time that I write another blog post.  I seriously have intentions of updating this thing more frequently, but it kind of takes a back seat to everything else these days! I started back to work 2 weeks ago, and so far it has been going pretty good.  I definitely cried the first day I went back...but I'm told that is pretty normal :)  Jade is doing pretty good while I am away, although she had some issues at first switching back and forth between the bottle and breast feeding!  She is starting to talk and coo more and more and we are loving her big smiles!

Here is Jaders with Dad in her cute little winter hat:  

The hat though sometimes falls over her eyes when she is in the car seat :)

These are some cute pictures we took after church one day- she was in a particularly good mood!  She was in such a good mood that I decided that it would be a good day to trim her fingernails....well....that didn't go so well.  Pretty sure I cut her finger and she screamed bloody murder.  I felt so bad that I started crying too :(  So then the next time I asked Mark to do it, and he cut her finger too!  Anybody have any good tips on fingernail trimming??

This is her little butterfly toy that she loves!  She is just starting to grab for toys a little and put them in her mouth, but her motor skills are not quite there yet :)

She loves being naked...sometimes we will just strip her of her clothes to put her in a good mood:

Here is a picture of Jade with little Logan- they were born on the exact same day- only 2 hours apart!

A couple of weekends ago, we decided to use our 2 free Marriott nights up in Rockford...we went to the yummy Machine Shed for a great breakfast, went Christmas shopping, then to Belvidere for church to see Dean and Carol and family!  It was good to see you all! 

Hanging out at the hotel:

We have been starting to put her in the Bumpo while we eat dinner, and Mark never ceases to put something different on her tray for her to look at.  These pictures just totally crack me up...

"What is this?? Barbeque sauce??

"Yum....yes it is barbeque sauce...maybe I will take some and no one will know! ahahaha!"

"What?? Barbeque sauce??  I'm not taking any barbeque sauce!"

Jade has been drooling like crazy!!  As you can see here, it is all over her chest:

Bath time is always a highlight of the day:

Since Jade can now hold her head up no problem, I had Mark put together her jumparoo.  She seems to really like it:

 However, she isn't quite tall enough to reach the floor yet...

So I improvised with Mark's Bible Concordance!

Tummy time and reading books (it really looks like she is reading, doesn't it?)

Some really cute, drooly pictures:

Jade and her favorite toys:

 And one more cute one:

We are totally in love with this little girl, and we love watching her grow and learn new things.  Lately she has been arching her back when she wants out of her car seat or swing, so now we have to start buckling her down!  She loves chewing on her hands, loves laying on her changing table, and loves to be held so she can look out!  She also hates her car seat, hates being dressed, and hates tummy time. We are starting to notice too that she might be a little shy...she looks at Mark and I no problem, but will sometimes ignore anybody at church that may look at her!  She might have more of Mark's personality than we thought!

Thanksgiving and Such

Well we officially made it through the first holiday with an infant!  It's funny...normally when the holidays come around, Mark and I look forward to taking off of work and staying up late...unfortunately, when you have a baby, anything off of their normal routine can mean chaos for the parents!  Jade didn't do terrible, but I think she was a little overstimulated at times- she is not used to her little nephews running around making noise!  Anyways, we had a great time up at Shayne and Em's in Wisconsin with the Fehrs and another great time in good old Princeville with the Stollers.

Before we get to the holiday pics, here are a couple cute pics of Jaders (our frequent nickname for her :)

Bathtime!  She loves her bath and moves all her arms and legs pretty much constantly because she is so excited to be in the water!

Hanging out under the mobile!  She loves this too, but only for about 5 minutes, then she wants Mom to hold her again...

Mark and I's bed is one of our favorite places to play

Here is a picture of Jade after her 2 month shots...if you look closely, you can kind of see her battle wounds on her chubby little thighs.  She did awesome that day- I was so proud of her!

Playing on the Boppy...these pictures were taking right before she started screaming...she is not too fond of "tummy time!"

Chillin at Mom and Dad Fehrs:

She still has the occasional blowout in which usually both Mark and I are needed so poop doesn't get everywhere:

One night, Jade was particularly happy upon getting home, so we had a little photo session in her car seat:

Hanging out at the hotel in Wisconsin:

Hanging out at Shayne and Ems:

Jade absolutely loves to watch TV...I think she has already perfected the "Stoller Stare" with her father.  What do you think Cassie??

My nephews pretty much destroyed the basement with toys!  Here is Drew and Kristin attempting to clean it up:

The 2 lovely pregos and "Mama Leenda":

Dad and Shayne:

We were super excited to see Doug, Krista, and Ashlyn back from Texas!  Ashlyn was so cute and we can not believe how much she has grown since we last saw her!  She was completely in love with Jade and wanted to hold her constantly:

Doug, Mark, and Ryan- chilling with the ugly dog that Ryan was dog-sitting:

All in all, it was a great Thanksgiving...hopefully as Jaders gets a little older, she will get used to the constant chaos the holidays bring!  She is going to be 12 weeks old this week, and I start back to work next week already!  Time really does fly.  

Until next time!

2 months old!

 We officially made it through week 8, and Jade is really starting to get fun :)  She is definitely happiest in the mornings so that is the best part of the day.  We have been trying to get her into a schedule and it has been going pretty well- especially at night!  Last night was probably the best she has ever done- we put her down close to 9:00 pm and she didn't wake up until 6:30 am!  I was so proud of her :)  She is also starting to take better naps during the day too.  She definitely has her temperamental times- where we have to guess exactly what she wants, and if we don't get it right by the 3rd or 4th try, it is too late and she is too mad to remember what she wanted to begin with!  Sometimes Mark and I just laugh at her because her temper can go off in an instant without warning :)

Sometimes Jade and I go on play dates with friends.  A couple weeks ago we hung out with Ayla (Shari's little girl) and Teyden (Drew and Jodi's little boy/our nephew).  Unfortunately we don't have pictures of that play date, but Jade loved watching Ayla and Teyden play!

Here is a picture of our play date with Paisley (Leah's little girl) and Kinsley (Morgan's little girl).  

Jade was crying right before this picture was taken, and after settling down for a split second, Paisley looked at her and then started crying too!  

Jade is starting to like her swing...but only sometimes.

She loves to lay on her changing table and talk to me:

Here is our first attempt in the Bumpo...she is definitely leaning as her neck isn't strong enough to hold her head up quite yet:

Jade and myself:

I thought this pic of her sleeping was adorable :)

And here are several pics of Jade and her grandparents fawning over her and holding her:

Hopefully I will post some videos once I figure out how to get them uploaded to my computer.  Later!