The rest of January 2012

Well, we officially made it through our first whole month of 2012. We survived without too much tragedy or chaos, and hit another milestone. Here is the recap of days 28-31:

Saturday, Jan 28:

We love Saturdays. I'm not sure that there really is anyone who despises them, but I just wanted to point out that we thoroughly enjoy getting to wake up on our own leisure(at least until Jaela lets us sleep in) After waking up, we love getting to lounge around and clean up the house alittle. In addition to that, we had the opportunity to go to a 16th Birthday party for one of our youth group kids. This picture below is Jaela enjoying the party with one of the birthday guests:

Sunday, Jan 29

We had a REALLY busy Sunday today at church. After morning services, we had a potluck followed by our annual meeting, where the leaders give us an update on the activities of the last year. We got home around 3pm, took a little nap, and then headed back to church for singspiration service. We had a really uplifiting song service. Our congregation is so blessed to have so many people with such great talent. This following picture is some of our little kids singing. They were adorable-I can't wait until Jaela is old enough to participate in Sunday School and then sing with them onstage. At that point, videos will be posted :)Monday, Jan 30:

We didn't really have too spectacular of a Monday. It was our normal back to work day, followed by High School Bible study. Of course, it wasn't too hectic that I couldn't try to capture a quick picture of Jaela. Of course, getting pictures of her continually gets difficult, because she believes that her hand or something must be in her mouth at all times. :) I love this girlTuesday, Jan 31

Last day of January! I can't believe that the year is already 1/12 over! And remember how I said earlier that I cleaned my whole house, and I was going to try to keep it clean? Well, it's definitely messy again. But, on a good note, I read a cute little saying on pinterest the other day that says "Good moms have sticky floors, messy kitchens, laundry piles, dirty ovens and happy kids." So, here is a couple pictures of my messy house to show that I am a good mom :)

Days 24-27

So, I know I haven't been great at updating the blog this week. I've been taking photos with 2 different cameras, and keep grabbing the wrong one when I go to upload photos. Plus, life gets busy, and next thing I know its 11pm and I need to head to bed. Anyways, here is a recap of what we have been doing this week.

Tuesday:

I decided to try something new this night for dinner. I found this fresh take cheese mix at the grocery store. It ended up being pretty tasty. We made chicken strips with it, but I think it would be pretty good using it in mac n cheese or even in cheesy potato casserole. Maybe for the future...Wednesday

Another church night. This photo is Jaela with her cousin Gabby (Actually 2nd or 3rd cousin-I'm not sure how that all works. They're related at least) It's pretty cute that every church night, Gabby comes over and says hi to Jaela and at least gives her a kiss. I also find it interesting to watch Gabby grow, because she was born the month before Josh and I were married. Time flies, that's for sure.Thursday:

This day started out a little hectic. I woke up at my usual time and went out to the living room. I found my phone and discovered a text from my mom during the night that said she was sick. As i was thinking about who was going to watch Jaela, I saw that Josh had a 2 hour delay. I hurried up and got ready for work, and told him that if school did not cancel, I would be back in 2-3 hours so he could go to work. School ended up cancelling due to icy roads. What a blessing that turned out to be.

Later, we were able to capture a cute picture of Jaela sitting in her bumbo seat. We are trying to get the most use out of it, before she discovers how to get out of it.

Jaela was fighting sleep pretty hard that night, so I figured I would snap a photo real quick since she was up anyways:Friday: We had a really busy Friday night. After I picked Jaela up from Hillary's (b/c mom still was sick) I had enough time to go home, feed Jaela and turn around to leave again. We had to make up bowling on Friday night, because we all couldn't make it on our regular Saturday night. After that, we went straight over to a high school basketball game. It was Senior night, so we wanted to make sure we saw that game. The place was packed! I was able to take a few shots of the game, as I am trying to practice a couple different techniques I've learned. Jaela did awesome during both events, especially for as loud as they were. She actually fell asleep in the bowling alley. I'm so glad that she can do that. Maybe we should make extra noise when we want her to take a nap. :)This is Drake, one of our seniors. He scored his 1,000th point that night.

Jan 15: Mommy/Daddy time

Out and about without a kiddo

When we became parents, several people told us how important it was for Josh and I to get out as a couple without the baby every once in awhile. To give us some couple time and time to hang out with friends, Josh and I joined a bowling league. Every other Saturday, we go bowling and leave Jaela with Grandpa and Grandma. We figure its a win-win for everybody. Even though we are not the greatest bowlers, we sure have fun each week.

Laughter is Good for the Soul

Oh, I don't know about you, but there is something about a child's laughter that just warms my heart, and makes me smile. So, to spread the warm fuzzies onto you, here is a video of Jaela laughing at her daddy doing Mahna Mahna (you may recall it from the Muppets)

Monday, Monday

So, I started off this entry originally by talking about Mondays and work, but who really wants to hear about that? I know that we all just really want to hear about Miss Jae and how adorable and cute she is.

Look who found her feet!

I told you yesterday about how she is starting to teeth. I personally thought it was early, but I guess it's pretty common for kids her age to start doing. Her other latest trick is that she has found her feet. I looked over tonight and she was playing with her activity mat, but also reaching down for her feet. She had been just reaching her thighs, but now she has discovered that if she reaches her legs up a little bit more, there are interesting feet and toes that she can hold onto. I'm sure she will eventually learn to suck on her toes like she does her hands, but I am ok with her waiting to do that. I also think she is close to rolling over, she just needs to figure out a reason for wanting to do so. Once she does that, I have a feeling that diaper changing will become a whole new game.




I want to end this post by thanking you all for reading this blog and allowing me to brag on my daughter. Being a parent is such an amazing experience, and I love talking about her. I just try to remember when I'm out and about that there are other things to discuss with people too. I just can't help it-I think my kid is the best and the cutest kid ever! So, thanks for putting up with my ramblings and all our ridiculous photos. We are just having fun and enjoying life right now.

Please Hold

Hi, you have reached the Blog of Josh, Megan and Jaela. Unfortunately, we are having technical difficulties right now, and are unable to upload our photos. As soon as we have this issue fixed, we will upload the rest of the blogs from the past week. Thank you for stopping by, and please check back soon. --*beep* (end of message) :)

Sunday, Jan 22

This Sunday we had another break from our normal lunch routine. My brother Adam had us all over at his apartment, and he cooked us lunch. He made chicken alfredo with garlic bread, some salad (made by mom), green beans, and dessert (made by me). Well, technically, I think his girlfriend ended up making most of the food because he was talking. But the meal turned out pretty good-I didn't starve and I didn't get sick-a win-win! Afterwords, we took Jaela home and the three of us took at least a mini nap.

Chicken and salad as part of our meal

I wanted to also include a picture of our new church building in progress. The crews have done a really good job so far, and it has been exciting to watch it grow. It's starting to look like a church building now. I can't wait until its done and we get to start using it!

OH, I almost forgot our big news--Jaela is teething! We discovered that she now has one tooth that the top part has popped through, and the one right next to it is ready to pop. They are still really little, but you can definitely tell they are there when she tries to chomp on your finger. Oh, let the biting stage begin..

Saturday--Fellowship

Fun with friends

We had the opportunity tonight to spend some time with friends from church. It was a nice time, full of laughter and Christian fellowship. Our friends, Matt and Brandy, had a bunch of people over for board games and a movie. It mostly ended up with the guys watching Rocky 4, and the girls playing Scattergories. The kids all ran around on their rug, or played in a bedroom and even placed themselves in a dog cage. Jaela showed off her smiles and drool, of course. We have learned that we are officially now part of the parent crowd, who leaves around 9 or so to get the kids home and ready for bed and church the next day. And you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way. :)

Thursday and Friday-Daddy time

Playing airplane with Daddy
Thursday and Friday nights this week were opportunities for Jaela and her Daddy to spend some time together. Thursday night was just a normal night in, but I needed to work on some schoolwork. While I worked on that, Josh took the opportunity to play with and entertain Jaela. Of course, I had to take a break to capture a couple photos.



This photo I know is a little blurry, but I just thought it was too adorable not to post

On Friday night, we had plans to go to a high school basketball game. However, we started getting snow, and the games got cancelled. I didn't mind this at all, because I had kind of a crummy day at work, and just wanted to spend some time with my family. We ended up sitting on the couch together and watching Toy Story. I think Jaela enjoyed it for the most part. Josh and I were talking about how we remember when the movie first came out, and how long it's actually been. We also spoke about how we have already changed our movie buying habits. We had some Christmas money that was supposed to be for us to choose a DVD, and we bought Toy Story so that we would have something else suitable for Jaela. It won't be long until she starts talking and repeating what she hears and sees, so we would just rather have something on that is worth her repeating. You know what they say-"out of the mouth of babes..."

Watching Toy Story

1-18

So, today was our typical Wednesday--work, church, home, bed. But, it was not a lost cause for pictures. We arrived at church early tonight, and was able to capture a picture of Jaela with her great-great Aunt Dorothy (who also is the oldest lady in the church and very proud of it) Dorothy was married to my Grandpa Roth's brother Max, who passed away a couple months before Grandpa did. She's a sweet lady, and always loves to stop by and give Jaela a kiss everytime she sees her.

1-17-Cereal!

Messy face after first spoon feeding

Today was a big day in the Burton household. Jaela got her first taste of cereal by a SPOON! She is such a big girl--at least she thinks so. It was pretty funny watching her take her first bites. I think we got just as much out as we got in. However, the pediatrician told us yesterday that this would happen. He stressed that eating by spoon right now is more about taste, texture and technique, rather than nutrition. It's a big step at least. Before we know it, she will be eating solid foods and telling me that she does not want what I made for supper that night. Oh, let the fun begin...

Monday, Jan 16

Waiting for the Doctor to come in

Today, we went to Jaela's 4 month check up. Things went really well-she weighs 13lbs, 11 oz, is 24 1/2 inches and her head size is 16 in-she ranks in the 50th percentile in all categories. The doctor said that she can now start taking some cereal by spoon, so we will be posting more about that later. The only bad part about the visit was that she had to get 2 shots. The poor girl didn't even know what was coming. She was super smiley and cooing, then all of the sudden she realized that something hurt. I think seeing her look at me with those big eyes that seem to ask "why did you do this to me?" is harder on me than it was her. The cry only lasted for a minute, but my heart hurt for her longer than that. There is nothing like seeing that pouty lip with crocodile tears and hearing those hurtful cries coming from your daughter. The vision remains etched in your brain.

Anyways, we were so thankful to hear that our little girl is healthy and and doing well. The congestion from earlier seems all cleared up, and she is well on her way to become an active little girl. We go back in 2 more months, and that will be here before we know it.

Notice the 2 bandaids on her legs from getting shots.

Sunday, Jan 15

Well today we celebrated Josh's Birthday with my family. We have a tradition of taking the birthday person to lunch or dinner to a restaurant of their choosing, usually on the Sunday or Wednesday around their birthday. It's a pretty fun and tasty tradition-at least I think so.

Josh decided that he wanted to try a new restaurant for his celebration. He decided to try Ziano's, a nice little Italian restaurant by Chapel Ridge. Overall, the experience was good. The breadsticks were nice and airy and buttery, and the main courses were nicely sized and tasty. I had the lasagna, which had chunks of meatball in it, and Josh had an Italian Sub, which he said was rather tasty. We finished the meal out with their chocolate chip cookie dessert, which is very similar to the Cookie Monster at Chedder's restaurant.

Jaela did very well the whole time we were at our meal. She was alert and smiling and talking, all up until the very end, when she decided that it was time for her nap. I think she enjoys Italian food...

Four Months!

Our little girl is officially 4 months old! I can't believe it.
Jaela, you are getting more fun to be with each day. You interact with us more and more each day. It is so fun to watch you grow. At this age, you are now able to do the following things:

-Make more direct eye contact and mimic facial expressions
-Squeal and coo almost constantly (I think you are going to be quite the talker)
-Reach for close objects and place them in your mouth
-Still sleeping through the night (Yay!)
-Change positions in your crib at night (sometimes ends up perpendicular and at the other end of the crib than what we placed you in)

You love when we place you on your feet so you can "stand." You love sitting upright in your Bumbo seat. You enjoy looking at bright objects and things that move-like the TV. Daddy thinks you like to watch soccer, and we let him believe that. It is great to see you more alert during the day. You are such a drooler, and you think it's pretty cool that you can place your whole fist in your mouth.

Jaela, each day we thank God for the blessing of you that He gave us. Our lives feel so much more complete with you and our hearts overflow with love for you. My favorite parts of the day are first thing in the morning when I get to pick you up out of your crib and when I get home from work and get to hold you again. I look forward to many more months and years with you. I love you, Baby Girl!

Our Week in Pictures Jan 8-13

Sunday:
This photo is Jaela before I had to wake her up before church. Notice her hands. The night before, I was clipping her nails, and accidentally clipped her thumb. She barely noticed it, but the bleeding seemed like it would never stop. I finally put a bandaid on it, but didn't want her to put her thumb in her mouth with a bandaid on. So, to make sure she didn't chew on the bandaid, I placed socks on her hands. It also helped to keep her little hands warm during the night. :P
Monday:
Monday nights are high school Bible study night. I was looking around for something before we had to get ready to leave, and I found a couple hats that we have used for camp skits. So, this mommy played dressup with Jaela and here are a couple of the results:

Tuesday:

We actually had a semi-free night together. While I was working on supper and homework, Josh took a moment to read to Jaela. They are reading through a Winnie the Pooh book, hence the Pooh bear that is also sitting on her lap. Sometimes it's nice to just unplug from the electronics and spend time together with simple things like story time. Wednesday: Another church night. I am still trying to figure out a routine for Wednesday nights to keep Jaela happy throughout church. This picture is just her being cute before we left for church. And of course, she is talking away. I love it now, but I have a feeling we will spend a lot of time telling her to be quiet in years to come. :)Thursday: Josh's Birthday! He turned 27 this year. We celebrated his birthday with a night in, and a homemade meal of his choosing. Jaela decided that she wanted to act like a present for him, so here she is wrapped up for him. She also gave him a wallet with a Chelsea soccer logo, that I think he enjoyed.Friday:

Josh had a 2 hour delay this morning, due to some snow with blowing and drifting on the roads. I still had to go to work at the same time, so Josh had to get Jaela ready on his own. He did a great job, and seemed to remember everything, including her bottles and milk. So proud of them!

After work, we had a couple friends over to the house to play games and just hang out. Here, the guys are all playing video games, girls are talking, and Jaela is sitting watching the guys. I also want to note that she loves the Bumbo seat that she is sitting in. She always gives me a proud look when she is in it. I think it makes her feel grown up.:Anyways, that's just a few things that we have been up to this week. Jaela turns 4 months next week, and will be heading to the doctor for a check up, so we will have updates from that visit soon. I'm excited to see how she is growing according to the charts. My baby girl is growing up way too fast.

2012: Days 5-7

Well, we made it through the first week of the new year. So far, we are doing alright, just a few minor illnesses which we are slowly getting over. I have managed to take pictures every day this year, even if I haven't posted them online exactly that day. So, without further ado, here are the remaining events of the week:

Thursday: we had a particularly busy day. I didn't get off work until 5:10, then came home, changed and got back in the car to go to Woodburn. Josh and I are both committee members for our local Relay for Life event, and we had committee and team captain meetings that night. Jaela came to the meeting with us, and did great through the first meeting, and Mom helped watch her during the second meeting. I wish I could have taken a picture during the meeting, because at one point, I looked back, and Jaela was sitting on Mom's lap, looking at a book Mom had in front of her. cute moment. When we came home, it was time to get Jaela ready for bed. I did manage to get one picture, though:

Jaela calming down, getting ready to sleep. I tried not to disturb her too much, so I took the picture from her doorway.

Friday: It's safe to say that I am not a contestant for Mother of the Year. Jaela went down to Mom's house today during our work hours. As I prepared the diaper bag, I remembered most of the essentials: food, outfit change, medicine, activity mat-but no socks. If you live around us, you would not be surprised by this, because Jaela hardly ever has socks on, because she kicks them off. But today, Mom noticed that Jaela's hands and feet looked a little blue. The pediatrician said that can be perfectly normal for her, that we should just moniter this, and make sure she does not breath hard or turn blue in places like her lips. So, in order to make sure that Jaela's feet stayed warm when the blood reached them, Mom placed a pair of her socks on Jaela. they look more like leg warmers on her.

Poop Face:too funny to leave out

Saturday:Hooray for the end of the week. I know it was a short week, but it still felt like forever. Now that I am back to work, I find myself looking forward to the weekend even more. As it approaches, I look forward to having 2 whole days to spend with my daughter. At night, i just want to cuddle and play with her. I don't look for it to change, even as she gets older...

Today, Jaela went to her first high school basketball game. She was sleeping in the car, but when we walked into the gym, she woke right up. She enjoyed the game, and actually watched the whole thing. At one point, I tried turning her to look at someone, but she kept her eyes on the game. We may have a future basketball player on our hands.

Well, that's all I have for this week. Thanks for reading this ridiculously long post. Maybe next week, I will be better at making shorter posts each day...Have a good night!

2012: Days 2-4

So, the last couple of days haven't been anything too wild or crazy, but just thought I would share a couple pictures and random pieces of info.

My clean kitchen :)

Monday morning, I received a phone call that my brother was in the hospital needing to have his throat cauterized because a scab from his tonsillectomy came loose. I spent the majority of my morning there. When I came home that afternoon, I decided to be productive, and spent most of the afternoon cleaning my house. I used half a can of Lysol, disinfecting my couches and beds, and a whole bunch of clorox wipes to clean baseboards, lightswitches and anything else our hands may come in contact with. I even took pictures to prove that my house can be clean. After that, was Jaela's bathtime. She is starting to enjoy baths a little bit, I think. At least she doesn't fight it as much.

Tuesday, was back to the normal grind. Josh and I both returned to work. Since my brother was still in the hospital, we had one of Josh's former students watch Jaela during the day. The two of them seemed to do well together. I had to run home at one point during my work day, and when I did, Jaela was perfectly content, and even appeared to be watching Finding Nemo:) When I got home, Jaela appeared pretty happy, and was "telling" me all about her day. It's so awesome to see her develop and hear her figure out language. As I watch her try to make sounds, I can see her trying to figure out how to form her mouth and practice different types of voice influction. I can't wait to hear her actually say some words, and hear the actual pitch of her voice.
Jaela getting ready for bed. We usually give her a little massage before putting on her PJs. Such a spoiled girly girl :)

That brings us up to today. Again, Trisha watched Jaela during the day. My brother is home and doing better, thankfully. However, I went back to the doctor, and have bronchitis (again or still have it apparently). I am back on an antibiotic. Jaela is still coughing as well, so we are back to giving her Albuterol treatments 4x/day. Can I just say I really wish it were spring already? Jaela and I stayed home from church for one more time, so she could sleep more and I could get some antibiotics going in my system. But, soon enough, we will be back to normal activities, at least until the next set of germs comes and hits us:)

One last thing, sorry if you find the blogs too long. I am trying to do some photos of the day/possible 365 scrapbook this year. So, as I write things down, they are just as much for my recordkeeping and memory as they are for your information. Enjoy the pictures, and excuse the boring notes :) I'll try to tune them up better throughout the year.

a message from Jaela

2012:Day One

Well, it's official: we are now experiencing the year known as 2012. January 1 fell on a Sunday this year, giving us a great opportunity to start the year off right: around the Lord's table with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Jaela did well and stayed quiet and awake throughout most of the services. After church, we came home and ate pork chops and potatoes. (Normally, we eat pork and saurcraut on New Year's Day, but I forgot to get saurcraut this year or even have mom give me some. Hopefully, I won't be jinxed for not eating it-lol

After lunch, we participated in the traditional Sunday afternoon naps. Josh fell asleep on the couch while watching football. Jaela didn't want to sleep in her crib, or even fall asleep for that matter, so I walked around with her. She finally fell asleep in my arms, and I let her sleep on my chest for a while. After I woke up, I let her stay in the middle of our bed for the remainder of her nap. (disclaimer: I generally don't allow cosleeping with her, but today this was the only way we were gonna get a nap out of her. )

Little girl in a big bed

Jaela and I ended up staying home from evening services tonight. She started coughing and sounding a little congested again, so we thought it might be best to keep her in away from more germs. I am really looking forward to springtime, so we can be rid of the cold and flu season. I hope that I am wrong and that she is really not getting sick again. This could be one long winter for us.

Two good lookin girls cheesing it up

Love this picture of a girl and her daddy
Overall, we had a good start to our new year. It's so strange to think at this time last year, we were praying that we would be able to have a child, and now we have a 3 1/2 month old. The Lord has truly blessed us and we thank Him each day for her. I can't wait to see what 2012 holds for our family.

I know Christmas is over, but I saw this idea and had to try it. The snowmen on here are made with Jaela's fingers. I think I will try to do this each year and then see how much her hands change each year.