Breakthrough!

Jon just ate a very generous portion of peas and carrots at lunch, and we celebrated by clapping : ) So he is back on veggies and has finally started clapping!

He is very proud of himself : )

Long week = Long post

Life is starting to settle down from a pretty busy week, and now I need to try to reclaim a routine. After sickness, travel, lots of exercise, more sickness, and more travel...I would like a vacation please : )

Last Tuesday, I held and rocked Jon most of the day. He NEVER lets me rock him, but this time it was because he was sick and pathetic. Although we both shared a sweet day of snuggling, I learned that I am very glad to have a kiddo who goes to sleep on his own and does not demand being picked up all the time. I really did not accomplish anything at all last Tuesday because I was holding Jon most of the day.

Last Wednesday, I frantically tried to get laundry, cleaning, and packing done because Jon and I headed out on my trek to the St. Jude Memphis Half Marathon. Thankfully Jon was feeling better, and more importantly falling asleep on his own like normal. After packing up the Subaru, we drove up to Dallas and crashed at my parents house. (Jonathan had to stay in San Marcos unfortunately).

Thursday I drove to Memphis from Dallas. It was the longest drive I've done by myself with Jon, and it went pretty well. (For those of you wondering why I drove instead of flew, it was a) the cost, and b) not wanting to lug suitcases, a car seat, a pack n' play, and all other stuff one needs to take care of a baby for 4 days through an airport by myself.) Driving during the week is nice, because there is not really much traffic on the highway or at rest stops. When I reached West Memphis, Arkansas and caught my first glimpse of the Memphis skyline since August I totally teared up. Not gushing or anything, but just a feeling that I was coming home, and then a reminder that Memphis is no longer home. The city is a pretty beautiful site after driving through East Texas and Arkansas for 9 hours. With a brief stop at Becky's apartment to unload valuables (we were in Memphis, after all), we headed downtown to pick up our race packets. In the ten minutes we were at the convention center, I saw 4 people I knew. The only time I see 4 people I know in San Marcos is at church on Sunday. Not kidding. This was pretty much the first of many occasions throughout the weekend in which I was reminded of how much life would be different if Rhodes had just hired Jonathan instead of some random person who doesn't even have their PhD yet. After packet pickup and a swing back to Becky's to feed Jon, we went to Bosco's for a dinner treat! Except it wasn't such a treat, because they wouldn't take my temporary TX drivers license, so I couldn't have my beloved Midtown Brown. (Note: In Texas, if your old state DL is not expired, they take it from you and give you a piece of paper as a temporary DL until your card is made. This makes it very difficult to prove you are who you say you are when outside the state of Texas.) Jon also threw up half way through the meal. Yep. Poor kid.

Friday I slept as late as I could, and then took Jon to say hi to folks at Youth Villages and Davis Kidd story time. The YV Development Department continues to do an awesome job at raising money for kids and families - over $70,000 raised at the Hauntedweb of Horrors this year!! It was great to see my old work mates, and although they all told me that I am doing a very important job of staying at home with Jon, I missed work a lot while walking through that building. Becky met us at DK and we hit up Jason's Deli for a healthy pre-race lunch. I, of course, ran into more people I knew at lunch. While Jon napped, we vegged in front of a movie. Then an early dinner of carbohydrates and early bedtime for the race.

All day Friday we were monitoring the weather predicted for Saturday. The last time I ran the Half Marathon, the temp at the start was about 28 degrees - not fun at all. I bought Jon a hat and mittens, figured out how to use the weather shield on the BOB, and had everything set to go for a below freezing race. Becky had spent hard earned money from her book sales on a new running outfit for the weather. But instead of freezing weather, the forecast was for a 47 degree start. This caused some wardrobe reworking Friday night. Then we woke up at 5:30am to 55 degrees. 55 degrees! At 5:30am in December! The warmer temperature was not going to affect my race all that much, since my only goal was to finish the thing. But Becky had been actually training for the past 6 months, including going to track practices, short group runs and long group runs each week. A temperature change not only affects wardrobe, but can affect how much fluid you take in and your pace.

Despite the unexpected high temperature, Becky did awesome! She finished in 2 hours 14 minutes, a good hour faster than the first time we did the Half Marathon four years ago! I hobbled across the finish line at an embarrassing time, but I finished the darn thing. I told Becky that I am never, ever going to participate in a long distance race that I have not trained for...ever. I did enjoy the walking tour of Midtown and Downtown, and I ran into an alarmingly high number of people that I know : )

We met up with Josie, who had been taking care of Jon during the race, and we had very large hamburgers for lunch! The afternoon was spent resting and trying to entertain Jon while expending the absolute least amount of energy possible. Unfortunately, both Becky and I woke up at different points Saturday night puking our guts out. Throwing up is bad enough - throwing up when your whole body is sore is no fun at all.

I managed to make it to church Sunday morning and really enjoyed worshiping at 2PC and saying hello to friends. After a post church nap due to still feeling pretty bad, I repacked the car and headed back home. It has taken me about a day and a half of being home to feel back to normal. I'm still a bit queasy from whatever caused the vomiting, and Jonathan has been such a big help with Jon while I have recovered.

So that's my week! Now to try to reestablish a routine back at home : )

Likes and Dislikes

What Megan likes today: Chocolate chocolate chip cookies! Why do I make these things?? I just gobble them up myself!! Thankfully they are so rich, I can only eat one at a time.

What Megan dislikes today: It is 80 degrees and muggy for the second day in a row. Uggh! NOT Thanksgiving weather at all! How am I supposed to cook for two days while I'm sweating just sitting here at the computer?

What Jon likes today: Exploring, playing with his pull-along wooden caterpillar from Great Gran Pollock, and "playing" X Box with Daddy (Jonathan took the batteries out of an X Box controller for Jon to use, because Jon has been known to turn on and off the X Box and try to purchase $80 video games by pushing the buttons), also reading his new library books we picked up today. We are reading "Cat the Cat, who is that?" by Mo Willems.

What Jon dislikes today: Vegetables. Oh no! My "eat anything" boy has been on a veggie strike for the past two days : ( Won't touch green beans, peas, or carrots! I even mixed up his veggies with puffs and banana pieces on his tray, and he picked out all of the bananas and puffs, leaving the peas. Hopefully avocado counts as a vegetable, because that is the only green food he will eat right now.

What Jonathan likes today: Chocolate chocolate chip cookies! I made them for him before he headed out to work this afternoon.

What Jonathan dislikes today: Ummm...probably college students who don't know how to work with fractions. That's usually a dislike of his : )

Life according to my iPhone pictures

Below is what my iPhone pictures say about my life. My first observation is that I must like sleeping babies.



This next picture is from my regular walk to and from the library. When my sister visited in September, we passed this metal structure and wondered what it was for. It looks like it has lights strung up on it to form a Christmas tree. That can't possibly be it's only purpose!
A few weekends ago, we went to New Braunfels for Wurstfest (a 10 day celebration of sausage). I was a bit ill the next day because I am not used to that much animal fat. But we had fun while we were there and even ran into a family we know!
Below is a baby hat that I made for another mom at church who is having a baby girl any day now. I experimented with embroidery for the first time. Although it looks like a 5 year old did the embroidery, I think it's kind of cute.

Jon reached the point a long time ago in which I decided I just cannot physically keep my eyes on him at all times. I have learned the #1 mom rule that if you can't hear him, he's probably doing something he shouldn't. Here he is wedged under the buffet in our dining room, as happy as can be. He was able to get out just fine on his own this time. When he crawled under there later in the day, Jonathan had to help him find his way out.
Jon turns everything into a drum, and he really enjoys banging things together. He has an actual toy drum that he loves. Here is a picture of him using Duck as a drum stick.

In other news, I have ordered my turkey breast from Whole Foods for Thanksgiving. I am trying my hand at a roulande since it is just the 2.5 of us this year. I asked Jonathan if he had any 'musts' for the holiday table, and then immediately followed that with a 'but I don't do casseroles.' I refuse to use cans of condensed soup to cook!* His only request (after I shot down all of his boyhood favorites) was that the stuffing have bread in it. I think he saw my Cooking Light opened to a page with bread-less stuffing.

I also joined www.seemommyrun.com to try to find a running partner. My attempts to run with the San Marcos Running Club have not been so fantastic, since I run slower than all of them. Pretty much it just feels like I'm running by myself, because after mile 1 I am actually running by myself. I really do enjoy running, but I just can't seem to motivate myself to run on my own. Here's hoping I find a running buddy : )

And lastly, I packed up the Baby Bjorn, Jumperoo, and Jon's 3-9 months clothes today in a box to send with my parents when they come visit after Thanksgiving. We're using their attic as storage for our stuff that won't fit here. It makes me just a little sad to pack up his baby stuff. We used the Bjorn sooooo much when he was teeny tiny! I took him out in it to run some errands when he was 6 days old, only to find out from our pediatrician at his two week check up that we probably should wait until he was a month old before taking him out to stores or church, etc. Oh well, the kid is still with us!


* After writing that I remembered that one of the possibly three people who reads this blog actually owns a cookbook with recipes centered around cans of condensed soup!

First Word

Jon may have said his first couple of words (outside of dada and mama). The words aren't correct, but he has assigned meaning to them, and they are kind of on the road to being real words.

For cat, he says "dat" or just "t, t, t, t, t, t." He knows that Sigma lives in our bedroom, so he will make a beeline down the hallway saying, "t, t, t, t," and when he actually sees Sigma, he says, "dat." Jon loves Sigma, wants to touch her, chase her, and be her friend. Sigma, on the other hand, does not like Jon at all and seems in her best mood when Jon is either sleeping or away from the apartment.

For duck, he says "dut." I can ask him to go pick up his duck from a pile of toys, and he will get the duck in his hand and say, "dut, dut, dut."

So, do we count these as his first words? If so, I think we'll count cat as the first one with duck as a close second.

Back in the saddle

Full disclosure - I am eating M&M's as I type this.

Megan-the-runner is making a come back. I'm going to sign up for the Austin Turkey Trot 5 mile road race. This is for a multitude of reasons: (for more on lists, please listen to the 9/5/10 Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast here.)

1. I did not train for the St. Jude Half Marathon, and that got me super depressed. I need a small, more 'do-able' race to train for and regain some of my self-worth. Note: I am still participating in the Half Marathon. I will just suck hard and probably finish in four hours.

2. I need a goal in life. I am a goal oriented person. Now that baby is here and I no longer work, I find that I actually have very few goals. Would you count getting dinner on the table every night as a goal? Or finishing the laundry before the weekend? Those are not the kind of goals that get me going every day. So, this 5 miler will be a new goal. Again, I will hopefully regain some of my self-worth.

3. I need to get in shape! This is more for my overall health. I'm not particularly repulsed when I look at myself in the mirror (perhaps growing a human being for almost 10 months has something to do with that), but I am very aware that I want my heart and lungs and brain and all that to be healthy. Since I need something to work for (see point 2) in order to exercise, a race will hopefully get me sweating every day in preparation.

4. We are not doing anything for Thanksgiving. I didn't want to travel with the baby (Scratch that, I didn't want to pick which side of the family got 1st Thanksgiving vs. 1st Christmas. Oh yeah, I am a 'withdraw-er' for sure when it comes to decision making), and although we have extended the invitation, no one is coming to Central Texas to visit us. So, I have the morning free and no deadlines to get the turkey on the table. Why not run 5 miles with a few thousand people?

This morning I ran to the library for Jon's story time. I am doing the San Marcos Running Club 3 mile run in about 20 minutes. Tomorrow I should probably dust off the pilates DVD that has been sitting out for three months (I thought that if I put it out on a shelf where I see it everyday, I would use it. But no. See point 2 again.). I will gladly accept any tips on maintaining a training schedule, what to do for Thanksgiving when you have no family in town and barely know anyone, or any other tidbits you'd like to share. : )

VOTE!

It's time to vote, everyone! If you didn't vote early, carve out some time today to exercise your right to vote! Don't know who to vote for? The League of Women Voters has a great rundown of all of the candidates in your particular precinct.

Jedi Jonathan and Dragon Jon say, "Go vote!"
**Dragon Jon is actually saying, "Is it time to go home from this party yet?"

9 months, the great northeast, and Kara

I'm stuffing a lot into one post, I know.

Baby Jon, who is now much more like Little Boy Jon, is 9 months old today. The kiddo is a lot of fun, and keeps me on my toes. He is now 29 inches tall and 23 pounds, both of which are the 75th percentile for his age. Most people who interact with Jon say that he is very big for a 9-month-old, but good grief, a quarter of babies his age are bigger than he is! His head, bless his heart, is in the 97th percentile. Maybe that's why people think he's older than he is. Sorry, little dude, you have a big noggin! He's doing everything a little 9-month-old should do, except for clapping. The nurse who checked him out seemed concerned about that, but the pediatrician didn't freak out, so I'm trying not to. Although in the past couple of days, I have been clapping at everything and showing him how to do it. He still expresses zero interest in clapping. He does express a lot of interest in climbing, standing up, cruising, and eating : ) He puts everything in his mouth except for food. Stuff I find on the floor? Mmm...good eatin'! Bananas and puffs? Nope, I think I'll just squish those around in my fist and throw them on the floor.

I spent the first 8 years of my life in New England, and most of my extended relatives still live in the northeast. Jon and I took a trip out to Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York to visit relatives who had not met him yet. He was able to meet his three great-grandparents on my side of the family as well as my mom's siblings, one of my dad's uncles, and one of my dad's cousins. I also tagged along with my parents as they attended their 35th reunion at Gordon College. Here are a few pictures from our trip:

Meeting Great-Grandma Fox

Meeting Great Uncle Kent & Great Aunt Sally

My mom pointing to a dorm window at Gordon College. When she was a student (1970-1975), there were bars on the ground floor windows of the girls' dorms.
Keeping the girls in or the boys out?

Watching the Homecoming soccer game.

Back at Uncle Kent and Aunt Sally's house, we took a walk through a beautiful park in Wellesley. Pictured here are my dad, mom, me with Jon, and Aunt Sally.

Sitting with Great-Gran.

Sitting with Great-Grandfather.

Swinging at the park.

Yes, it was cold enough to wear a hat! Note the changing leaves in the background.

Talking to Aunt Sue and Uncle Earl via Skype. Jon is sitting with Craig and Jenny - Craig is my dad's cousin. They have four boys around my age, so they enjoyed hanging out with an 8 month old boy for a while!

Playing in Gran and Grandfather's kitchen.

End of a great visit!

Meeting Great Aunt Debi and Tickle Me Elmo.

Meeting Great Uncle Ivan. As Uncle Ivan was whipping Jon around, my grandmother very sternly told him to stop that!

My mom standing Jon on his head.
Now what would Great Grandma Fox have to say about that?

The day after we returned from our trip, my friend Kara died unexpectedly. Kara was the first friend I made at Rhodes College, we went on to be roommates, and she was one of the few people I stayed in touch with after college. I can't say enough about how much Kara meant to me, and last Friday was one of the most difficult days of my life. Thankfully four of my other friends from Rhodes also made the trip to Kansas for her funeral, and we all comforted one another and shared memories. The last time I saw Kara was in April when she came to Memphis to visit and meet Jon. All that comforts me through her loss is that Kara lived life to the fullest, and God had her live every day and every moment that she was meant to. I know that sounds trite, but that is the best way I can put it. I miss her terribly, and I am glad for the time I had with her.

Exhausted

(Both physically and emotionally)

I've been out of town for almost two weeks. One week was a planned trip back East to visit my grandparents, and the past week was an unexpected trip to Kansas to attend a funeral. The second trip was one of, if not the hardest things I have ever had to do.

But I'm back home now, Jon is in bed, Jonathan is grading tests, and dinner is on the stove. More to come.

More 8 Month Fun

Last night I only had the energy to post pictures. Now here is some more info on our growing boy!

He loves to stand! The child will be in a room full of toys, and he will spend 20 minutes standing and patting the coffee table while talking to you. Jon can now walk around the coffee table, transfer from the coffee table to the couch, and walk from one end of the dining room table to the other by holding on to the chairs. He is very proud of himself, often doing this with a big smile on his face. We play with blocks, rings, rattles, teething toys, stuffed animals, coasters, bits of dust on the floor. Uggh...Jon ate his first dust bunny on Sunday. It was disgusting, and I feel the need to compulsively swiffer now. Jon is much more of a mover and shaker than a cuddler. When we read books, he is usually standing or playing with something in his hands. His favorites seem to be "Quiet Loud" and "Noisy Kisses" because we make loud noises while reading them. This brings literal squeals of delight.

We are working on clapping, waving, and blowing kisses. He doesn't do them himself, but I think (maybe) he knows what they mean. At least he gets very excited when we start clapping. I'm also trying some signs, but I don't think the child has a clue what they mean. He much prefers to whine and grunt for his milk. I know it is a bit early, but the internet is full of these "oh yes, my 5 month old knows the signs for milk, more, and thank you" stories...blah, blah, blah. I don't have any books or DVDs, I just look up the signs online and start using them. There is probably a better way of introducing sign language, but I'm not willing to spend money on it.

Jon likes to pull hair. It is kind of his way of saying hello...although I am trying to nip this habit in the bud. He obviously pulls his father's hair, and we say "ouch" and frown while we pull his hand away to try to let him know it is a bad thing. Despite that, whenever he crawls up to a kid at story time or church, he goes straight for the hair. Usually the other kid doesn't mind, and we pull him off immediately with the accompanying ouch/frowny face. This morning, though, he pulled the hair of a girl who could talk. For the next half hour, she kept saying, "That baby pulled my hair!" Any ideas on how to teach an 8-month-old some social skills?

He's still eating solids twice a day along with two extra milk snacks. I keep thinking of adding a third meal of solids, but the kid is growing just fine, and our pediatrician said that he didn't need to start three meals until 9 months. So, I guess I'll wait. He likes all kinds of cereal, bananas, avocados, pears, apples, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, and peas. I bought some peaches and blueberries to prepare for him next. My baby food cookbook is in a box that has yet to be opened, so I'm not quite sure what I should be cooking next for him! I've started giving him small chunks of banana, and he does not really appreciate having to work to eat his food, but he is getting much better at chewing. I think at his 9-month check up, we should get the green light for cheese, yogurt, and more finger foods. I also haven't given him meat yet. I honestly can't stomach pureed meat, so I wanted to wait until I could give him shredded meat.

And last, but not least, he has a mouth full of teeth! The bottom center two came up in June, the top center two started a couple of weeks ago, and the two upper teeth outside of the center started this week. We're finally going to get professional pictures taken this week (last time we tried he was sick), and he will have a nice, toothy smile!

So that's what Jon is doing! Growing like a weed, as they say, and keeping us on our toes : )

8 Months

Jon is 8 months old and growing every day! He is a lot of fun and really is a sweetheart. Here are some pictures from what he's been up to. They are iPhone pics, so I apologize for the fuzziness.


Here is how I usually find Jon in the morning and after naps, happily standing up (and sometimes chewing on his crib.)
We went to a park after library story time with a couple of families from the church we have been attending. At the park, Jon played with a stick for the first time. It didn't taste very good.

The boy is finally crawling! Here he is going after some toys.

Chapter books, here we come! Well, kind of : ) Becky's book is finally out! Buy it HERE, and not just because I am in it ; )

Jon is not always super happy boy, unfortunately. Jonathan and I have had to start using "No," as you can see below. (But he was so cute, I had to take a picture.)

Here is what he was told he could not have...

On Friday, Jon and I went to the Comal County Parade with two sweet families from our church. Jon had a lot of fun interacting with the other kids (and being held by the other moms), although he did not like the loud parts of the parade. Here he is just chilling - it was a 2 hour parade!

Hmm...what is this? Can I reach it?

Must get all of my toys out of my cubbies...now!

Come play with me, Mama!
Only in our household is this shape referred to as a concave decagon.

Jon is pulling up and cruising all over the place! Today he pulled himself up on the kitchen wall.

Hug Your Babies

In the past few days, two different pop culture icons have made me squeeze my baby tightly - Disney and...Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Specifically, the movie "Up," and the television episode "The Body." I personally do not understand why Buffy only won one Emmy, and for best make up design at that. Joss Whedon is brilliant, and the episode about the death of Buffy's mother really makes you think about death and life. It is well acted, well directed, and completely sucks you in to the world of the characters. Jonathan and I watched the episode after dinner Sunday night, and when it ended, I felt the need to go wake up Jon and hug him. I restrained myself, though, because waking a baby up in the middle of the night is one of those crazy things you just don't do : ) Then today I watched 'Up' for the first time because I wanted something in the background while I was doing work and Jon was napping. Hah! I ended up just sitting on the couch, watching the movie. Like "The Body," the movie made me think about what I'm doing with my life, what I am really impacting.

The pastor in the church we have been attending in San Marcos is currently focusing on God's covenants. In this world of uncertainty, God's promises are rocks we can cling to. He will be our God, and we will be His people. When I die, my soul will go to be with Him. In "The Body," Dawn (Buffy's little sister) is obsessed with seeing Joyce's body. She wants to see her mother. But Buffy reminds Dawn that Joyce is not there; it is just a dead body void of their mother. Despite my faith, thinking about death and how it affects our loved ones still pretty much took my breath away. Needless to say, I prayed an extra prayer for my baby and thanked God for blessing me so much with this amazing life. I want to give him a meaningful life, one in which he will leave this world better than it was before he entered it. I want him to have a beautiful relationship with God and with everyone that he encounters. I want the same for myself, and I really wondered today what am I doing that will leave an impact. Is my life just washing dishes, doing laundry, and baking cookies? Those are the activities I have done today. How am I living out my faith daily? How am I impacting my family, my community, my sphere of influence?

Who knew that watching TV and a movie would bring about such deep thoughts?

new skills

Well, I think Jon may have had a small bout of roseola...maybe. After his fever went away, he got little tiny pink spots on his arms and legs. The rash is faded a bit today, and he hasn't actually had a high temp since Thursday, so I think we're out of the woods. I have learned something about my kid, though - he is very pouty and whiny when he doesn't feel good. I guess I can say the same thing about me!

I had a not so fantastic run this morning. I'm trying to train for the St. Jude Memphis Half Marathon again, and I am significantly behind in training. I think I might try to run again tomorrow morning before church to make up for the lousy run this morning. I know that it doesn't really work that way, but oh well....

Here are pictures of Jon's newest skills: standing up and using a sippy cup:

Sick baby : (

So we've made it 7 months, and now Jon is sick : ( He's had a high temp since last night. I called our old pediatrician in Memphis, and the nurse on call pretty much told me that he did not have a fever...even though it was 99.8. She said that it's not a fever until 100.6. Well, at 100.2 I went ahead and gave him baby acetaminophen. He thankfully slept through the night pretty well, and felt much cooler each time I checked on him (which was about once an hour until midnight...I was a bit worried). He's hovered between 99 and 100 today, and has spent most of the day sleeping. Of course, Jon chose his first day to get sick when I had 6-month (ahem...7-month) pictures scheduled for him. Being crazy mom, I took him anyway, but he cried the whole time and was not his adorable and smiley self. He then took a four hour afternoon nap, I woke him up for his afternoon snack, and now he's back asleep. : ( He's so pathetic and I just want him to feel better. I'll gladly take any sick baby remedies anyone has out there.

What's in this box?

My motivation to finish unpacking:
a very curious 7-month-old

Baby steps

I took a very small but significant step in making San Marcos my new home. Yesterday, I stopped listening to WKNO on my iPhone and started listening to KUT. Granted, I am listening to the same NPR programs, but now instead of Memphis traffic, weather, and community announcements, I get Austin traffic, weather, and community announcements. At first, it was comforting to hear the same voices I have listened to for several years telling me that Memphis is having rather wonderful weather right now, but I had to face reality and make the switch. Just in case you were wondering, it is significantly hotter in central Texas than it is in west Tennessee currently ; )

Each room of our small apartment is still about 1/4-1/3 filled with boxes that I have not had the desire the unpack. I unpacked all of the stuff we needed for daily living, and then I had no motivation to unpack the rest. The move was a bit harder than I anticipated, and the shift from full time working mom to full time mom has been significantly more difficult that I thought it would be. I actually had a dream in which I asked my former boss if he would hire me back. I told him that I didn't need my same job back, since I didn't want to kick the new person out of a job, but I just asked him if there was something I could do. I think that the transition to stay-at-home-mom is more difficult since we are in a brand new place where we do not know anyone. I had a pity party for myself last week, in which I kept thinking, "If we were in Memphis, I would live across the street from the zoo, and I would have 'Mom' Bible studies at church, and I would have dinner club with my friends, and I would have my best friend to run with, etc." Dwelling on the 'ifs' does not make integrating into a new community very easy.

After several days of that, I decided I needed a significant attitude adjustment. My sweet husband ran with me Saturday morning. Yes, you read that correctly. Jonathan ran with me Saturday morning. And, of course, he runs faster that I do. I have been a pretty consistent 11 or 12 minute per mile runner for four years, and on his first time out, I'm thinking Jonathan was keeping up at 9 or 10 minute per mile pace. Needless to say, I gave him the jogging stroller, and I tried to keep up with him. Sunday we visited a church that we may end up attending regularly. Monday I switched radio stations. And today, well, today I think I am going to tackle the rest of the boxes in the living room.

There was an announcement in the church bulletin about mentors needed for foster kids in the community, so I think I will check that out. I have also signed up to help out my alma mater with fund raising (don't kill me when I call you, fellow Rhodents!) and new student recruitment. Jonathan came to toddler story time with Jon and me this morning at the library. So things are improving. I still miss Memphis very much (my friends, my church, my job, my apartment), but I need to see the potential in my new home.

I will post pictures soon, I promise : )

We're here...or there...depending on your perspective

We have successfully moved to San Marcos, TX! Our schedule was off a bit due to packing, cleaning, and loading a truck taking much, much, much longer than anticipated. We had my mom and dad helping us out, and Jon was a trooper the whole time. This kid really is such a huge blessing! He is so laid back and willing to have his schedule changed as needed to fit our lives.

So we made it down to San Marcos on 8/11 and I would say we are about 1/2 unpacked. We just got internet today, which is why I haven't checked in earlier. We have made two trips to IKEA, one trip to Target, and one trip to Lowe's. Although, I think Jonathan is going to make a second trip to Lowe's this afternoon.

Ah, Jon just woke up. Like clockwork - lunch is in 5 minutes! I'll update more later.

New study about reducing foster care population

Had to plug Youth Villages at least once more before I leave!



Please check out this study that cites a 34% reduction in the number of children in Tennessee foster care since 2000. It highlights to work of Youth Villages with TN DCS.

What I learned on our trip to Texas

1. "Dry heat" is a myth! It is just as humid in central Texas as it is in Memphis!

2. It is pronounced San Marcis, not San MarcOs. Apparently that is the California way of saying it, and you will stick out as a foreigner if you say it that way.

3. I need to learn how to make sweet tea, for my husband's survival. (I am open to suggestions!)

4. Any time is a good time to jump in the San Marcos River for a swim! (I did not personally experience this, but every time we drove by - including during a thunderstorm - people were in the river.)

5. You can buy wine in the grocery store and a pitcher of Shiner Bock at the local pizza place!

Facebook...

Okay, with the pending move, I have been asked five million times, "You're on facebook, right?"

No, no I'm not. I really don't like facebook, although I've never been a member. I feel like all of this instant, technocentric communication is hurting our ability to have deep relationships. We are losing the skills of communicating our differences in a constructive, respectful way. I know this is entirely hypocritical of me to write about my loathing of social networking on a blog! Oh well.

So, here is my dilema: I'm moving to another state, and facebook has the potential to help me stay easily connected to my friends here in Memphis. But I don't like facebook. Ughh....

Please help me out by letting me know what you love or hate about facebook, and let me know if you think I should join. I appreciate your feedback!

Jon helps us pack...

Jon is very excited about all of the boxes in our living room!

We are heading out to San Marcos, TX at the beginning of August. Jonathan accepted a teaching position at Texas State University! After about 9 months of trying to find a job, we are very relieved that he has a full time position for the fall. Currently it is just a one year position, but it may have the potential to be extended. San Marcos is just outside of Austin, and we are looking forward to taking in all that Austin has to offer. So grab your inner tube and Shiner koozie, and come on down to central Texas!

Where's Jon?

Jon has started to understand the concept of peek-a-boo! I think this game is taking a break while Jon tries to stuff both fists and the burp cloth in his mouth : )

Silly me!

I thought I would share this funny moment from my day : ) Below is a picture of my notepad after a conference call meeting. It was obviously important that I get information from someone; my brain just neglected to write down the name of the actual person I needed to contact! Thankfully I remembered who the 'her' was. Does this happen to any of you??

Lay off me, I'm starving!!!

Thank you, Chris Farley...

I have enrolled in Weight Watchers through work again. I did this about 3 years ago and lost about 15 pounds. Alas, in the years I have been off of the program, I gained all that weight back. I'm almost back to pre-pregnancy weight, and I did have to get new jeans on Saturday because my first pair of post-pregnancy jeans were too big, which I'm pretty pleased with. Those jeans were the first (and hopefully only) pair of size 16 anything I have purchased, and it was no fun : ( Jonathan tells me that I shouldn't let numbers bother me, but they do... I am still overweight according to my BMI, so I thought Weight Watchers program would help get me healthy. My first meeting was last Friday, which also happened to be my 5th wedding anniversary. Let's just say that I used all of my extra points for the whole week at dinner that night! But who is going to pass up a delicious meal at a fancy restaurant with the sweetest guy in the whole world? Oh, and throw in a bottle of Malbec with that! So now I'm really on the program, and I'm in the stage where I feel hungry ALL THE TIME! I just have to train my body to eat a healthy number of calories a day. And don't worry - since I'm still breastfeeding, my caloric intake goals keep that in mind. I'll try to keep the blog updated each Friday with weight loss updates. Losing 18 pounds will get me to a healthy BMI, so that's my goal!

Congratulations, Dr. Hulgan!

Jonathan received his PhD on May 8th! Congratulations on completing six years of hard work, sweetheart :) I am so proud of you!

Disneyworld!

We are not very good at remembering to take pictures, so this is pretty much all we have from Disneyworld. Don't worry, with both sets of grandparents, two great-grandparents, and an aunt along for the trip there are plenty of pictures for posterity! Disneyworld was tiring and fun : ) I don't necessarily recommend it with an infant, but this vacation was planned long before Jon was planned... Jon spent his time either looking around confused or asleep! He did smile and coo and keep his relatives entertained : ) He also enjoyed his first pool time!

Growing up

Baby Jon is now 4 months old! While 4 months is not a very long time, it has been amazing to see our little boy grow up. He has a very sweet personality and is such a joy in our family! He greets me every morning with a big grin and ends every day with a cuddle before I put him down to bed. The child has his moments, don't get me wrong, but he is a very good baby!

Here are some updates:

Eating - Jon has a pretty solid routine of 5am, 9am, 1pm, 5pm and 8pm feedings. We've introduced rice cereal at his 1pm feeding a couple of times, but I don't actually think Jon has swallowed any of it! He just grimaces, gums it a bit, and then spits it out.

Sleeping - (after rereading this, you will probably only care about this if you are the parent of an infant) Naps are getting better, although he still doesn't like them too much. Most of the time, he'll cry for about 5-10 minutes when we put him down and then fall asleep. Last week, Jon started sleeping later in the morning, and there were a few days when I woke him up at 6am so that I could feed him and get ready for work. So, this weekend, we decided to just let him sleep until he woke himself up, thinking that we might have hit the magical 12 hour sleep schedule. He amazingly slept until 7am Saturday morning - longer than he's ever gone! Of course, this completely messed up my plans to run Saturday morning.... So we adjusted his feeding schedule according to this new wake up time, and I thought how great it might be to have him eat at 7, 11, 3, and 7 instead of his current schedule. Well...he woke up at 4:30 this morning and would not settle back down to sleep. I can't remember the last time he woke up that early! So, I don't think he's ready to extend his night sleeping just yet, and I need to be content with his 8:30pm to 5am night right now.

New skills - Jon is a rolling machine! He rolled over from back to front for the first time on May 22nd and from front to back on May 26th. He has much more trouble rolling from front to back, and he gets frustrated when he can't do it, but he is getting better every day. He can pick up soft blocks with both hands, but hasn't really started grabbing all that much. He chews on everything! If he is sitting in my lap, he'll grab one of my fingers and stick it in his mouth. He is successfully sitting in his high chair and restaurant high chairs, although he still kind of sways from side to side. He has found his feet and often does the happy baby yoga pose while getting his diaper changed. Jon scoots a bit in addition to rolling, so we are going to have to switch into babyproofing mode : (

Favorites - Jon loves his jumparoo! He does not seem to get tired of bouncing up and down in it, and he has started playing with some of the toys on it. He loves squirming...especially at diaper change time. Of course Jon loves his daddy! He will look for Jonathan when he is not in the room, and his whole face lights up when he catches a glimpse of Jonathan. Although I miss him when I am at work, I am so glad that Jon and Jonathan have this special time together. Jon loves to giggle, laugh and smile, which we are of course enjoying! And his all time favorite thing may be his train mobile above his crib. He gets a huge smile on his face when he sees it, and he has long, deep conversations with that train : )

Stats: Height - 27.5 inches (97th percentile), Weight 15.14 pounds (83rd percentile), HC - 43.5 cms (96th percentile)

Here are some pictures to show how far Jon has come in the past four months:

First bath at home at4 days old: Screaming his head off

Bath at 4 months old: Cool as a cucumber! We imagine he would pop open a cold one if he was legal.

First tummy time at 5 days old: What am I supposed to be doing?

Enjoying rolling around and scooting at 4 months old: How did I get half my body under the coffee table?