8 months old

Jason is 8 months old today! Since I guess Justin got tired of me irritating him about the 7 month pictures, he went ahead and did these 8 month photos! Plus, I think he's wanting to make a new business card, and needed Jason as a model. Luckily, our son doesn't mind taking pictures. In fact, I think he rather likes it!

My oldest son

Bread is the first animal that I've ever had live in the house with me. As I was growing up, I always had a dog or cat that lived outside, but my mom was really strict about animals living in the house. Although, my brother has a cat that lives in the house with them now, but I guess that's neither here nor there. Anyway, there's something different about the relationship that you develop with an animal that you share life day in and day out with. They stop being just another animal, and become a member of the family.

Butter, the cat, is a woman unto herself. She will only allow you to hold her when she deems fit. Since Rocko died, that has happened more often, but she still will not let you hold her unless she is in the mood. Peanut, the Australian Shepherd, is the consummate family dog. He is only happy when he has the whole family in one room. If we are not all in the same room, he will shepherd us together, or go crazy trying! Bread, the Pomeranian, has always been my dog. He is constantly by my side, and I love him dearly!

When Justin was taking the 7 month photos of Jason, he decided to take a few shots of my first baby. This one was my favorite:

Oh what fun it is to try...

to take a Christmas card photo! For the past 5 years, I have taken pride in getting a good family Christmas photo to send with Christmas cards. With 2 dogs (and at one point, 3 dogs) and a cat, it has always been a handful, but still manageable. Well, throw a baby into the mix, and it is just plain crazy! Our friend Bill came over to help with taking the photo, but next year, I think I will get two people to come over. We really need one person to take the photo, and another to get everyone's attention.

As we were looking through all the shots (over 100), there was really only one that would work. And, it was one of the first ones. We should have quit while we were ahead! But, we sure did get some really funny ones. I wanted to share what all we went through so that I could keep the tradition going for the sixth year. Enjoy!

Peanut was not being cooperative.

Everyone, except for me, is not looking at the camera!

This one is just silly

Now, Justin's looking, but no one else is. Peanut's head isn't even in the shot.

I particularly like Jason's and Bread's faces in this one!

And finally, I gave up on everyone looking, and just picked the best one of the humans! Merry Christmas!

Sippy cups and growing up

He's getting so big so quickly! I can't get over how he keeps learning new stuff each day!

The contractor's wife's house never gets built...

and the photographer's baby never gets professional photos! Well, almost never. I had been bugging Justin to take Jason's 6 month pictures. Other babies get those all the time! In fact, we have taken 6 month photos of other babies. I have been threatening to just take Jason to Wal-Mart. Well, the 6 month photos never got taken. One day after his 7 month birthday, Justin took these. He said they counted as 6 month photos since Jason was 5 weeks early. Whatever. Just enjoy the photos!

We Love Prunes!!

Jason has discovered prunes! I've tasted them, and they are pretty good!

Fun up in da hood

I have been wanting to get outside, but the mosquitoes are terrible in our neighborhood, so I can barely go outside with Jason. Luckily, I got this bike trailer, which Jason and I love.

Jason gets to be outside, but totally miss the mosquitoes! Yay!

First Foods!

Jason had started getting hungry...ALL THE TIME! I mean, I would feed him, and then he'd be hungry 1.5-2 hours later! I'm still nursing, so this took a ton out of me! Literally. So, I decided it was time to try out some real food.

First meal: Cereal

Now, it's been a couple of weeks, and he's already got some favorites. He loves pears and peaches, likes sweet potatoes, is okay with cereal, and HATES English peas! Really, I tried everything with those peas. I tried hiding them in pears, watering them down, slipping them in between bites, but, after getting tons of peas spit at me, I decided to give up. Hopefully, the vitamins will cover for his hatred of English peas!

I love that his bib is almost as big as his body!

Finally!

I have been so lazy! I haven't finished any of my thank you cards, sent out birth announcements, or placed a birth announcement in the paper. Bad Mommy! But, Jason finally has a birth announcement on a webpage that chronicles events happening in Simpson County, the county where I work. Ignore the shameless self promotion/advertising I did!

Here it is!
Jason's Birth Announcement

First Day at Church

We finally decided to brave going to church, after some encouragement from our friends Justin and Misty Stricklin. I had been worried about how it was going to work out, since I am nursing. Luckily, our church is prepared for that, and has a nursing room available. So, we got up early one Sunday morning, got Jason ready, fed him before we left, and went to church. Church started at 10:45. We dropped him off at 10:30. At 11, I got a text message saying to come feed him. I left the sanctuary just as the pastor was starting his sermon. When I got back, the pastor was saying, "Join me in prayer", essentially finishing his sermon. I pretty much only got to be there for the singing before and after.

Very tired, but happy to be there!

Luckily, Misty is a seasoned veteran with babies (she has 3, and is a NICU/well baby nurse), and she advised feeding him at the church before I went to the sanctuary. I did that the next Sunday, and guess what? I got to stay during the whole service! Thank goodness for good and smart friends!

The Fair

This year, we tried what many others have done in the past, but still we met it with trepidation: the Neshoba County Fair with a baby. This year, my grandmother sold me and my brother the fair cabin, so I was really looking forward to my first year as a fair cabin owner, my 29th fair, and Jason's first fair. Sadly, a place where everyone stays up all night isn't the best place for a baby. Or, maybe I should rephrase that. A place where everyone stays up all night is not the best place for a baby's parents! Jason actually had a great time!

In the past, I have loved staying up to 3 or 4 A.M., dancing, eating, playing cards, and swinging on the front porch. However, when you've been getting up every 3 hours to feed a baby, staying up late is the last thing on your mind!

see the bags under my eyes???

We did manage to have a good time though. We had our friends, Justin and Misty Stricklin and their whole brood (Addie - 9 months, Mac - 4 years, and Connor - 3 years) come. Connor boy playing in the sawdust

Bill Johnson also came and stayed several days. I think him being there helped Justin keep his sanity! BEEEUUULLLLL

Justin's aunt and uncle Sandra and Jamie Monohan also came with their little boy Wesley. Wesley is the one who so nicely is sharing all of his old clothes and toys with Jason now. Several of our dear friends who come every year couldn't make it because they were being grown-ups, and they were sorely missed! Maybe next year.

Jed, my brother, entered his antique Chevy truck in the car show. This year, he managed to get a trophy and a prime spot. Yes, we are goofballs!

He was nice enough to let me and Jason ride around the horse track with him for the parade. Jason really loved the wind in his hair! Four generations of the same chin!

First Shots!

Jason got his first shots the week before the fair. Luckily, our doctor's office is on top of things, and had 2 nurses who did the shots simultaneously, so we didn't have to experience too much crying! They did the shots, and then Jason let out the loudest cry I've ever heard, but once I picked him up, he instantly calmed down. They also put some cute Band-Aids on, and, as everyone knows, Band-Aids make everything feel better!

Updating

I haven't been able to update this in a while, with the whole having a baby who won't sleep through the night thing. Plus, my trusty Howard computer from UMC is messing up, so I have to find a time when Justin isn't on the big computer to use it. And, Justin is always on the big computer. But, don't worry...I'm working on some blog posts right now, since Justin is at work! Tune in later for some new pictures!

More silliness!

I got a new iPhone, and it takes way better pictures than my old phone. I've been trying hard to get a picture of Jason smiling, and this is a little closer than the ones before. Eventually, I will get a video of him in the act, but until then, enjoy!

Smiley boy!

A couple of weeks ago, Jason graced me and Justin with his first smile. Ever since then, Justin has been trying to record it on camera. This is the closest we have gotten. I got a really good one on my cell phone camera, but the quality is poor. Until he gets better at posing for the camera, enjoy these!

And two make three

Jason Cade Rives was born on April 30, 2009. He weighed 4 pounds, 11 ounces. He was 18.5 inches long. Although the nurses and doctors had been preparing us for the NICU, he came out fighting, and didn't have to spend one minute in the NICU. He came home when I came home, which was exciting.

We had been so worried about how Peanut would react. Well, Peanut turned into this gentle creature whenever Jason is around. Now, if a visitor comes to the door, he's back to his hyper self. But, if you are holding Jason, he won't jump, and just wants to sniff him. Bread seems to love him too, but we weren't worried about Bread since he has done well with babies in the past. Butter just ignores him, which we expected.

Scary stuff

I used to have high blood pressure and took medication for it since 2006. However, when I got pregnant, my blood pressure dropped, so my doctor took me off of the medicine. My blood pressure has stayed down until last week. When I was doing a routine BP check, it was really high. So, I called my doctor, and had to go in last Wednesday. They put me back on medicine, and told me to come in Friday.

Oh, and I had to "collect" a 24 hour urine sample. Talk about fun! If you haven't had the pleasure, a 24 hour urine sample is pretty much what you think it is, except you have to keep the pee REFRIGERATED. Imagine how much a 8.5 month pregnant person pees in the night, and imagine having to catch all that pee and refrigerate it. It was a blast.

I came in Friday, and my blood pressure was 163/105. They made me lay down, and took it again. It wasn't much better, so the doctor wanted me to go over to labor and delivery after we did a biophysical profile. They did a sonogram and a biophysical profile test on Jason. He weighs 4 pounds 11 ounces, and scored an 8 out of 8 on the test. He's a little on the small side, which is common for white boys, or so I'm told. My doctor then informed me that we might be having this baby Sunday or earlier if my blood pressure didn't go down. If it did go down, he said I would be on bedrest.

I have not cried once this whole pregnancy. Well, I had a total break down when he told me this. I didn't know what I was going to do with my office, my baby wasn't ready to come out, and I wasn't ready for him either! He still needed time to ripen! I boo-hooed the whole way to the hospital. They wouldn't let me walk either, so I looked really pitiful riding in a wheelchair down the hall. Plus, I had told Justin not to come to the appointment with me since it would be routine. So, here I was, all alone, pitiful.

Luckily, Justin got to the hospital room right after I had changed into my hospital gown. I must have freaked him out. I have no clue how he made it that quickly, but I am so lucky to have him. He helped me calm down a lot.

Turns out I have pre-eclampsia, which is marked by blood pressure and protein in urine. It can lead to eclampsia, which is where the mom has seizures and the baby can die. So, they are putting me on bedrest. Dr. Gebhart came in this morning and said that he's going to try to keep Jason in there for 2 more weeks, which will put us at the 37 week mark, which is a healthy time to have a baby. Luckily, my blood pressure has stabilized, and will hopefully stay that way. Just keep me in your prayers! Looks like I have 2 boring weeks ahead of me.

More applique fun!

Okay, after I went to Hancock Fabrics, I realize this might be getting out of hand. But, if I can't have a cute little girl to dress up girly, I can at least have a stylish little boy. I know they live in onesies, so at least his onesies will be cute! This one was hard, since I'm not really good at sewing on a curve, but I don't think he will mind.
First, you need a onesie, a printed out letter in a font you like, fabric, and fusible webbing. I used Wonder Under brand, but I'm sure any kind works well. Iron on the fusible webbing to the backside of the decorative fabric (following the directions of your webbing), and trace your letter on it. Then, cut it out, peel off the paper, and iron it onto the onesie. Technically, you can leave it at this point, but the final step makes it pop. Then, sew around the letter. This helps hold it on and keeps the letter from fraying. Just be careful to not sew two pieces of the onesie together. Those 0-3 month onesies are tiny!
Final product:Next projects: onesies with bowties and cute burp cloths.

Nesting...or whatever that means

The last few days, I have been in a crafty mood. Maybe it was the 50% off sale at Quilt Arts, or maybe it was these onesies and cloth diapers that I got from the shower that were just begging for embellishment. Maybe subconsciously I know that I won't get to do many crafts in 8 weeks because I'll have an 8 pound something that will take all of my time. Whatever it is, I've been a sewing fool! I've been trying to do more posts, so I will try to spread this out.

The first craft: Sewn on tie
I had seen these somewhere on the internet, and I figured they couldn't be too hard. Well, they weren't! Luckily, I found a webpage with all the info: Crap I've Made: Appliqued Tie Onesie Tutorial. Anyway, here's my finished product:

I am so proud!!! Until now, the most I had sewn was hems, curtains, and pillows!

What a difference 9 weeks makes!

On the left: Me at 22 weeks

On the right: Me at 31.5 weeks.

It's weird that less than 10 weeks ago, no one knew I was pregnant. Now, there's no hiding it! I guess Jason had to pop up sometime!