Teething?

Well, we're still trying to figure out whether or not she's teething right now. It feels like the top of her gums are tight and thin, but no teeth have popped through yet. And she won't let us get a good look at her gums either. Some signs we think that point towards her teething are:

* excessive drooling
* more fussiness than normal
* not sleeping through the night anymore
(although she has done a much better job the past two nights - yeah!)
* wanting to chew on EVERYTHING
* tight, thin gums

We have her 4-month check-up on Tuesday, so hopefully the doctor can give us some insight into this teething conundrum.

Only 4 more weeks of school before summer break! I'm excited, but I already know I'll miss my kids. I am realizing more and more just how much I LOVE teaching. I know without a doubt that this is what God had planned for me. However, I'm still struggling with the decision of either staying home with Jenna or going back to work next year. I never would have dreamed it'd be this hard of a decision. We're just trusting that God will make it clear to us what I should do.

I'll leave you with a video from last night of Jenna laughing. I'm telling you, she is a DADDY'S GIRL. :)

Picture and Video Update

Jenna is now 4 months old so I thought I'd post some recent pictures of her. She's getting so big and she's now reaching for toys.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter

We had a great first Easter with our little girl. No Easter bunny or egg hunts or chocolate candy...maybe next year when she'll understand it better. We did enjoy our Easter Sunday service. What an amazing, LIVING God we serve!!

Jenna was completely wiped out after a long day at grandpa and grandma's house on Easter.

Since we haven't been able to post updated pictures of Jenna lately (after losing them all when our computer crashed), here are some recent pics of her...

Thank you Carrie and Christen for the adorable sweater and jeans. I just LOVE them on her!

Jenna LOVES laying on her diaper changing table!

Jenna's already wearing 6 month clothes (and she's only 3 months old), so we decided to try her 6-month swimming suit on her. We just might be in trouble for this summer...it already fits her and it's only April!

Jenna just "lights up" with her daddy. She sure loves him!

Jenna and Daddy playing. Can you see how excited she is? She's sticking her tongue out and smiling at Daddy.

And my NEW favorite picture of Jenna....

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. A few weeks ago I was planning on updating the site with some videos and pictures of Jenna, but our (new) computer crashed on us and, unfortunately, all of our pictures and videos of Jenna are on that computer. We're praying that we'll at least be able to access the hard drive so we can get the pictures and videos off of it. So, in the meantime, here's a pictureless update...

On March 10th, Jenna rolled over for the first time. We thought it was maybe just a fluke, but she did it consistently for the next few days. However, she decided to take a break from it and has only done it a few times since then. :)

Jenna's also getting closer to actually sucking on her thumb/fingers. She still tries to stick her entire fist in her mouth and gets frustrated when that doesn't work very well. This morning I found her with her hand at her mouth and her fingers open instead of in a fist....so I think we're getting closer.

Jenna is able to hold up her head well. She's very attentive and loves looking around. We've found that we can't hold her in towards our body because she wants to see the world. We always have to hold her facing out.

She also prefers sitting up when she's held. She doesn't want to be reclining at all. If you lay her back, even slightly, she'll straighten her legs and tighten her stomach muscles trying to sit up. It's too funny! If it were up to her, she'd be sitting by now.

Jenna's been much more vocal lately. She's making many new sounds including squeals and a few little giggles. We're looking forward to when she really laughs out loud. That should be coming up soon. Many times we'll wake up in the morning to Jenna's noises - it's precious.

This is my last week home with Jenna. I go back to work next week. It makes me sad to think that I'll have to leave her for most of the day, but I try to keep telling myself that it's only for 9 weeks and then it's summertime! I just pray that those 9 weeks go VERY quickly.

Hopefully I'll be able to update soon with some new pictures...

Great-Grandpa Jones

Our family has had a difficult past week. My grandfather was diagnosed with terminal cancer almost a year ago and this past Tuesday he passed into eternity. Although his death was expected, it's still very difficult. We all miss him and look forward to seeing him again someday.

My grandpa LOVED babies and couldn't wait to meet Jenna. I feel so blessed that the Lord allowed my grandpa enough time to meet and hold his great-granddaughter. Even in his last days he would light up when Jenna was brought into his room. We'd lay her in the bed with him so he could cuddle with her. Although I'm selfish and wish grandpa could have had more time with Jenna, I'm so glad he was able to spend some time with her.

Great-Grandpa Jones holding Jenna at the hospital after she was born

2 month check-up

Jenna had her 2-month check-up at the doctor's yesterday, which meant she had her first round of immunizations. She did really well though! Of course she cried bloody murder while she was getting the shots, but afterwards, I picked her up and she stopped crying. Such a sweet little girl! She got 3 shots and drank one of the immunizations (for Rotavirus)...she seemed to really like that one - she kept licking her lips. :) We also found out that Jenna now weighs 12 lbs and is 23 1/2 in. tall. The doctor said she's in the 90th percentile for weight and the 95th for height. Yep, we have a BIG girl.

I'll leave you with some pictures...

Mommy and Jenna playing

Jenna's staring at her mobile on her crib

Here's a video of Jenna watching her mobile. She's really started noticing it within the last week.

Dear Daddy...

Dear Daddy,

I'm so excited to see you tomorrow! I've missed you! I've followed your instructions and been very good for Mommy. I've slept through the night every night you've been gone (except one). Last night I slept for 7 1/2 hours (I think Mommy was really happy).

Mommy and I have had a good day today. I've been a happy baby, smiling and cooing at her. :) This morning Mommy took some pictures of me. I was busy trying to suck on my hand...boy, is that hard to do! I think I'm getting better at it though. I'm sure one of these days I'll figure it out.

Then Mommy bundled me in the carseat so we could visit with Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Jones. She even took a picture of me in the rear-view mirror.

I got to cuddle with Grandpa when we got there. I was so happy to see Grandma and him that I couldn't stop smiling!

Now Mommy and I are going to eat dinner with Grandpa and Grandma. Whew! What a busy day, but it's been fun.

Love you, Daddy!

~ Jenna