First Tooth!

Can you see it in there? Well, it wasn't there the day I took this photo, it just erupted last night! I was wondering why he woke up 4 or 5 times last night and was pretty much inconsolable each time. He just sat there and whimpered in my arms... that's when I knew something was wrong, but I couldn't imagine what (hey it was 1:21 AM, gimme a break!).

Jonah has been chomping on everything for months, and every morning I check for teeth. I always check the bottom since that's where most babies get there little first toofers. So this morning, I looked in, I felt around, and nope, no tooth. Oh well, I figured maybe he was getting Stephan's cold and thats was why he was so sad. Actually, I PRAYED that this was just a fluke night since he has been sleeping so fabulously. I then counted on a super morning nap (ha). Super morning nap lasted 41 minutes. OK, this is not necessarily unusual for my little sweet potato, but COME ON KID, you were up half the night, WHAT IS THE TROUBLE HERE DEAR ONE!!!?? Gave him a snack (peas and oatmeal, yumm-o), then a bottle around lunch time. He was still just not himself ("himself" is babbling and smiling pretty much all the time, especially since his Daddy is home all week). I decided to feel all around his little mouth. *GASP* what is that! Oh my, its a right-upper-lateral-incisor popping through! and what are *GASP* all those little white bulges all in a row?!

OK, so he skipped getting the cute little bottom teeth and went straight for the upper incisors. Super. One is through, a perfectly white and sharp tooth. The rest of his upper gum line looks white and swollen. Poor sweet baby. No wonder he couldn't sleep. We just pray that tonight is better. I am going to try to get a photo of the little tooth tomorrow after a good-night-sleep.

The funny thing is, last night before I put him to bed, I just had a feeling he would get a tooth by the morning. I even put on his alligator onesie that says something like "Yay, first tooth!". Isn't that bizarre?

Merry Christmas!

Well, we are off to Long Island to visit my family once again! We leave as soon as Jonah gets up from his nap. I hope you all have a blessed and joy-filled Christmas!

Christmas cookies!

These are the yummy Christmas cookies my darling husband and I made. Jonah helped too; he napped.

This is the first Christmas in a LONG time that I haven't made cookies with Shelli. We would make all sorts of sweet and tasty morsels: sugar cookies, "UFO's", candy cane cookies, fudge, fingers (ooh, ah, fingers!!), ginger snaps, and marshmallows. Yes, homemade marshmallows. Well, not this year. Without my partner in cookie crime, I just don't have it in me to make all of the delectable treats. The sugar cookies came out just grand though, don't you think? Stephan did an excellent job, especially with creaming the frosting and tasting the cookies to make sure they weren't poison. You would think by the 8th cookie he would know if they were poison or not.

All I want for Christmas is a new carseat, a new carseat, see my new carseat!

Gosh, is he not the cutest baby you've ever seen?

Jonah has officially outgrown his infant "baby bucket" carseat. So mommy and daddy aren't getting anything for christmas but Jonah has the latest, greatest, safest, easiest to use, highly rated Britax Marathon car seat. It is good to use until your child reaches 65 pounds (no comments please about how Jonah will be that soon) so we shouldn't need another seat for a LONG time (translation, when baby number 2 arrives and NO I am NOT pregnant, are you crazy?!)

He seems to like it so far. It is far more comfortable and easier to use than the free one we got from the DOT (though we are extremely thankful for the free seat; actually, I'm sure our tax dollars probably paid for it since we got it through some New York state grant thing so its really not free at all. Is anything really free anyway?) I actually installed it myself, after Stephan cleared some things up for me. Basically, you just click it in. I tried reading and deciphering the directions but they were so ridiculously detailed and step by step that they made no sense to me at all. I just see the finished product and do it, just use common sense, really. I think only right-brained people would understand me... or am I left-brained? Wait, do I still have a brain?

Don't you love the cute christmas background?

No updates? How about butt wipes?

I have been accused of not updating my blog (thanks Robin!). Well, when there are no comments on my posts, I figure I am just writing for my own enjoyment so I will update when I get around to it. I do, actually, write this for my own enjoyment; makes me feel like I can get a load off or something; however, it would be nice to know that I had some kind of readership.

Anyway, so how about a great idea for make your own baby wipes? Some ladies and I were chatting in the nursery at church this past sunday and I thought it would be a good idea to post (just in case anyone actually reads this). I read this in the book "Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron. The book has some interesting ideas other than how to make your own baby food, including this about making your own butt wipes. This is what she says to do:

Mix the following:

2 cups water

2 tablespoons baby oil

2 tablespoons baby shampoo or baby wash (I plan on using Shaklee's Basic H)

1-2 tablespoons aloe from a houseplant

7-8 drops of lavender oil

Then she says to use a roll of strong paper towels cut in half (i.e. cut the whole roll in half) and take out the cardboard tube (I say to then use the cardboard tube to keep your cords from getting tangled, like iron, blender, etc.). Put the paper towels in a container like a round rubbermade container, pour the liquid over, turn the container upside down and let it sit. You can cut a small X in the lid to feed the paper towels through. Seems like a great idea. I haven't tried it yet though.

Let it sew, let it sew, let it sew!

So, I thought of something else I did pre-Jonah: SEW! And see, I am having time to do it again! Above is the shopping cart cover I made for him. He seems to like it; however, he still kinda leans a little too far in the cart and topples sideways. The cover is fully reversible and is made with really cute fabrics I got on SALE at Joann's. I used a pattern from a website called make them yourself. I think the pattern worked out pretty well, I would recommend the site too. She has a few neat ideas for shoes that I really want to try. Here is the link:http://www.makethemyourself.com/index.html



Another project I was determined to do was to make Jonah some sleep sacks. They cost $20 (or more) and its basically just fleece with a zipper up the middle. So off to Joann's, this fabric is soooo cute and was on CLEARANCE at $5 a yard. The fleece is fabulously soft and cozy. I made him a matching taggy blanket since he loves zipper pulls, ribbons, tape measures, and tags. They came out pretty good I think. I sort of used the directions for making the sleep sack from this website: http://www.sleepingbaby.net/jan/index.html

This is an AWESOME website with tons of great ideas for making baby and mama stuff . I am working on a diaper bag now.


I call this the "Super Doula Bag". I made this one for my super doula, Julia (or as I like to call her Julia the Doulia). Anyway, its basically just a totebag with a outside pocket made with coordinating cute fabrics.
Here is my wall hanging that displays the woodsy side of me. I made the shooting star blue because I saw a blue shooting star once, it was so amazing. Trees signify hiking, camping, etc. I always dream that someday I will have a little cabin in the woods. The bear just looked cool. I have seen bears while hiking and camping, but truly I would rather not... their claw marks on trees are enough for me...

Thanksgiving at the Green's

Jonah with Grandpa... this is who Jonah gets his middle name from.
Jonah got a great pinch on Unlce Monster's nose!

Uncle Stephen has a strage obsession with pointing to Jonah's nose.

Aunt Florence can't resist the cheeks!

Jonah tried turkey, but prefers sucking on apples and pears in his chewy thing.

I would write more in this post, if only I had the time. You see, its "nap" time in our house. Most moms LOVE nap time, I generally dread it. Currently my sweet potato is bawling in his room because something in his little brain woke him up after a brief 30 minute snooze. So now he is so sad and tired . I wish there was something I could do, really I do. With Jonah, it seems that he will either sleep or he won't... and there is very little anyone can do about it. I find it very difficult to concentrate or do anything while he is "napping"... so off I go to intervene. Maybe this time I can get him back to sleep.

"I CAN'T PUT MY ARMS DOWN!" - A Christmas Story

I wish I could have snapped this pictures just a half a second earlier. The kids was crying and fussing and would have screamed "I can't put my arms down!" if he could only talk. The second he saw the camera and I said "Jonah", he gave me his usual big grin and his little fit was over. I just love this kid and I still can't believe he's mine! He charms most everyone he meets wherever we go. His name means "one who declares joy and salvation". He definitely has the "joy" thing down pat!

The Joy of Socks

I was trying to figure out what I would blog about if I wasn't a mom. It didn't take me too long to remember some of the things I used to do with my time... after all, Jonah is only 8 months old.

Aaah, a good, long backpacking trip. Heading out onto a trail about 120 miles, spending a couple of weeks in the woods. All I had to think about was putting one foot in front of the other, one foot in front of the other, one foot in front of the other. Feet. Very important to keep your feet dry and comfy when you're backpacking. Out of all the gear I brought, my fleece socks and Tevas were an absolute MUST. There is nothing quite like hiking all day, setting up camp, then airing out your feet and putting on dry, clean (relatively) fleecy socks. And oh, what happy colors!

Since this photo, I have changed from Tevas to Crocs (fake, cheaper crocs) as my comfy "in-camp" shoe. They are much lighter, dry almost immediately, and don't stink after standing in mystery murk water one too many times. You can also slip them on quicker when making a trip to the outhouse in the middle of the night. Amazingly versatile.

Socks were one item I didn't skimp on while packing. I might only bring 2 tank tops for a long trip, but three pairs of socks (plus one fleece pair): one to wear, one as a backup if the one to wear was washed that eve, and one as a back-back-up if the one to wear was washed and wet and the backup one got wet from hiking in the rain all day. Hiking in wet socks is miserable. Hiking in the rain is tolerable if your feet are dry. And if worse comes to worse and all three get wet and/or nasty... there's always the fleece to change into at camp.

Hope to be backpacking again soon... wait, is that a baby crying? yup, he's supposed to be sleeping. Maybe I should get him some fleece socks.

Merry Christmas through the years...

Before you were conceived, I wanted you

Before you were born, I loved you

Before you were here an hour, I would die for you

This is the miracle of love

This statement could not be more true. You know you truly love someone when you deny yourself of everything you want, and even things you need (sleep, a drink of water, clipping your own toenails, etc) for the one set before you. God has blessed us with our sweet potato. I still call him the cutest pain in the neck I ever met... but the sweetness is increasing and the pain-in-the-neck-ness is decreasing (i.e. never sleeping). I guess this is kinda what Jesus meant when He said;

Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

"Chippers"

Christine Schunk

circa 1996

Medium: Maple Syrup

FREE picture book from Snapfish...

I have impressed myself... now I know how to add links to other web sites! (btw, the rainbow picture has nothing to do with this post, I just thought it was pretty...)

A mom from my MOPS group sent this to all of us. Its an offer for a free book from snapfish. The idea is to take pictures of all of you little artist's pictures, upload to snapfish, and create a one-of-a-kind book! This is supposed to reduce the amount of random clutter floating around your house. I don't think it will help the clutter situation here, my little picasso just likes to fingerpaint with baby prunes on his high chair tray, and I don't think that would make a very interesting book! (although I smeared a very detailed chipmunk once with maple syrup on a plate... I will have to find that picture and post it). Check out the Oprah LINK (wow) to the right.

Hey, I actually figured out how to add a playlist! So far there is only a mix of four very eccentric songs... somehow they all have meaning to me and my life! "Sing" and "Annie's Song" both usally make me cry. "Red neck woman"... I have no idea why I like this song. "Top of the World" reminds me of my Dad. Hi Dad!

Cast your vote: Who does Jonah resemble more...

Mom or...

Dad? Scroll down for the popular vote!

I can sit up now!

Here is the original 1958 bathroom. Isn't the pink plastic tile pretty? I know some of you are probably into it.

Then Stephan started tearing it apart...

He added walls, plumbing, electric, tile, vanity, sink, washer, dryer, molding, trim...
Presto! We love our new bathroom! It even has a ventilation fan now!

This is my life... Jonah George

Jonah sleeps with many pacifers.
A yummy carrot... keeps him occupied for quite a while!

Jonah was a frog for Halloween. I got the costume

last year after Halloween for 3 bucks!

Classic smile

He sat up for this shot!

I'm still not sure what it means to "blog" or what the attraction is, but my good friend Michelle seems to get a kick out of it. So here I go...