4 Months Old - January 15 and 17 weeks January 22

Happy "4" Months...and my 1st COLD!!!
I just feel Yucky but this doesn't bother me Mom!!

Just hanging out trying to get better!!

I LOVE my HANDS!!!

OK - I know this is the first time I missed a WHOLE week...I might just start blogging every two weeks now....getting busy now that I am back at work ( semi-back)!!

So when I left you last I was leaving for a meeting and staying the first night away....Boo Hoo!! It was really weird to be gone the whole night and as you can imagine I did NOT sleep the night away. I woke up at the same times I do with him everynight BUT I DID NOT have to jump out of bed these times!!! So instead I sat there a moment thinking what Ross and Jaxton were probably doing....Jaxton decided to get up more than usual and also wet through his diaper and clothes and both were up at 5:45! Other than that everything seemed to be ok. When I talked to Ross that morning he said , " Jaxton, I don't know how your Mommy does this everyday!" BUT when I got home that night Ross also made the comment , " You can do it because when you love someone that much you just do it"...EXACTLY!!!

Unfortunately for Jaxton my plan to start him on cereal that weekend was BLOCKED by the good ole Rhinovirus!!! This is Jaxton's FIRST time to get sick and the poor little guy has been SOOOOOO good though it all. Even though he can barely breathe to suck down his bottle he has been all smiles and laughs. Baby 411 ( a great book ) said if you can get any baby 3 months and older to smile then they are not that sick....thank goodness we got some smiles!! The doctor said to just use saline drops and the suction bulb and a humidifier. So I tried the Warm Steam vaporizer first which seemed to help one night and then not the next so I went and got a Cool Mist Humidifier which seems to be helping ( supposed to break up the mucus and open up his bronchial passage ways). I know the best thing he can do is to just try to sleep it off and he sure has with more naps during the day!!

And what would you know....Ross and I both have gotten the same cold....too many kisses for Jaxton BUT I just can't resist...oh well....at least we get to take some over-the-counter symptom relief which really helps...Tylenol Cold for Nighttime and Daytime is the BEST!!

In all this mess Jaxton is still trying to roll over completely...he is rolling from back to side easily and almost makes it all the way over but hasn't figured out how to move his arms out of the way yet. BUT would you believe it if I told you he actually LIKES tummy time now!!!! I think because his neck has gotten strong enough where he can hold it up at 90 degrees and actually see what is ahead of him. Ross gets in front of him and sings so he will keep it up for awhile and it seems to be working.

One incredible thing Jaxton was doing at 4 months was imitating me doing a motorboat sound with my mouth!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it at first BUT then when I did it and then he did it back OVER and OVER again I was in complete amazement he was able to figure that out!! I guess I need to step up the learning lessons to more ADVANCED stuff!! This week he justs wants to hear his voice with lots of squeals!!

He is now grasping a toy out of my hand and then holding it with BOTH of his hands and then putting it in his mouth to chew on.......Hopefully he will do this more often because he is eating his hands all up.........to the point where he has gotten his thumb down too far and made himself gag and spit-up!! Geez!!!

As you can maybe see his hair is starting to come back....it looks like it will be light brown...I think!!!

He goes to the Doctor this week ( Jan 29th ) for his 4 month old shots and to get WEIGHED!!! I wonder how much that will be???

Then on Friday ( Jan 30th ) I will find out if I still am employed on not...either way I know I will be fine....I have put it into GOD's hands because he knows BEST!!

15 weeks...almost time for CEREAL!!!

Me, My Mom, My Mom's Mom and Jaxton on Christmas

FIRST day of school!!

Flowers from Ross for making it through the first day dropping Jaxton off

Almost ready to sit by MYSELF!! Cool view from up here!!

I like to play with my rattle now that I can hold it ALL BY MYSELF!!

GOD sure was with Jaxton and me last Monday!!! He slept great the night before his first day of school and I was able to get some good rest too! He took a little nap before he went and then we got him dressed and drove over to Ms. EJ's house....I sure was antsy and had some anxiety BUT I knew GOD put Ms. EJ in our lives for a reason!! I dropped him off and gave him a BIG OLE' Hug and Kiss and then handed my precious over to a stranger for the FIRST TIME!! He started to cry as I left but I waited to cry until I got into the car!! She said NOT TO WORRY and to call anytime if I wanted to.

Several hours later ( and watching my phone to ring from her...which it never did!! ) I went by Babies R Us to pick him up a treat and then headed to pick him up!! When she opened the door she was holding him and he had a HUGE SMILE on his face and I was so relieved!!!! She said he did GREAT and only cried a little more after I left!! She said he had a BIG MOMO and had 2 naps and loved to be held in her lap!! What a RELIEF!!!! That evening he was very happy so I knew he had a good day with her and liked her alot...she has a real calm and loving personality...that's what I like most about her!!

He went back again on Wednesday and did even better that day...NO CRYING when I left!!! WHAT A HUGE BLESSING SHE IS IN OUR LIFE!!!!

For me returning to work as a MOM was different but good to see everyone again and of course they wanted to look at my book of pictures I was sure to take with me!!!

This past week Jaxton has been all over his bed at night ( still in his swaddle ) so I tried to put him in a "Sleep Sack" instead to see if he would like that better so he could move his arms....BOY WAS I WRONG!!! He woke up alot....so back to the swaddle and he has slept great ever since!!

There is a book called "Baby's First Year Journal" that tells you what happens everyday with your baby for the whole first year. I read it every Sunday for the week ahead and I tell you what....the book is right on as to what he starts developing next!! It is cool because it helps me look out for what he should be doing or what I can work with him on.

He still hates tummy time BUT is holding his head up really good and is turning from his back to his side ( by kicking up his legs in the air )! He still is eating his hands and really found his thumb last week BUT has not sucked on it alot...hopefully not!! He has great eye / hand coordination now so is able to grab his toys really well and put them in his mouth this week! He sits there and inspects his hands all the time and has started to pull on his clothes and MINE all the time!! He has even found his toes but hard to reach them everytime due to his fat rolls on his legs!! HA!! When he sees his bottle now too he starts to make sucking motions with his mouth and gets excited and then proceeds to hold his bottle ( not by himself but almost ).

We started to raise him above our heads in the air during playtime and he really smiles and laughs....didn't think he would like that because he HATES it when I walk down the stairs with him.

AND HIS HAIR>>>>> STILL LOSING IT!!!!! He looks really funny from the side...half of his head has hair and the other half has very little!!

This week is another BIG STEP for us because I am STAYING THE WHOLE NIGHT AWAY for the first time for a meeting at work on Thursday/Friday in the Woodlands!! So pray for Ross and mostly for Jaxton!!! We are about to have MAJOR LAY-OFFS at work and will find out if we are still employed on January 30th. They are cutting 50-60% this time!!! WOW!!! If I do get severed my last day to work would be Feb. 6th but they will pay us full time salary until April 27th then I would get my severance ( 37 weeks of full pay )!! I am a little anxious BUT know GOD where put me where he wants me!!

My Boss called to tell me he reserved a room for me with a big KING bed all to myself for a whole night of uninterrupted sleep ( But I bet I wake up since I am so used to it )!! I told him they may have to come knock on my door to wake me up then or I might sleep and sleep and sleep and be late for the meeting the next morning...he said he would give be a "hall pass" if that happened!!! I'll let you know if I get my FIRST night of FULL sleep in 4 months!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009!!! - 14 Weeks

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Oooh...This wine thing is pretty cool!!!

Would you believe it if I told you Jaxton SLEPT THROUGH ALL the fireworks????????!!!!!!!!! They were so LOUD....it sounded like a war going on outside our house!! I kept looking at the monitor and it was going all the way to RED ( which means there is very LOUD noise in his room )!! He moved several times but did not wake up until 2:30 when the fireworks were all over BUT when I was just able to go to sleep from all the noise...GEEZ!!!!

He did stay up long enough to want to suck on the bottom of my chilled wine glass to Celebrate the New Year...I think he liked the moisture on his tongue!!

The next day Ross left for Dallas to see Texas Texh in the Cotton Bowl which turned out to be a HUGE upset...Whahhhhh!! Jaxton and I went out to Katy to see some old family friends and to see his future wife " Emma"!!

BUT as we were heading to Emma's house Jaxton was starting to cry in his car seat and I was on the phone trying to get directions from Heather ( emma's momma ) and my Mom was following me over there when all of a sudden I noticed bright flashing lights in my rear view mirror....YES ... Jaxton was being pulled over for the very first time...( too bad it wasn't a cop pulling us iver for his crying!!!). In the mean time my MOM is saying out loud to herself as she is following behind me " Steph...do you not see that State Trooper behind you...SLOW DOWN". She was trying to call me BUT I was already BUSTED!!! So I turned into a parking lot and as he followed me my MOM was following him BUT WAY TOO CLOSE. He put his brakes on TWICE for her to GET BACK...and she kept saying to herself " what is he doing??" So as she turned in he stopped his car before coming to me and got out and YELLED at her to park over there ( away from me)...the poor guy thought we were trying to trap him in between us!! He said " Lady, we pull guns on people like you...you NEVER trap a STATE TROOPER!!!!" So as I am watching this in my side mirror telling myself " Mom...just stay in your car"....she is getting out to try to explain to her that I am her daughter and I have a crying baby in the car. He asked her how old I was and she said " 32" and he said, " She is OLD ENOUGH to take care of herself so stay put!!" So finally he comes over to me and asks why I was speeding and was MAD that I was on my cell phone and that was very dangerous with a baby.....I said " I know and I have told myself I would not talk or text while driving BUT I was trying to get directions from a friend ( Jaxton was in the back trying to tell the cop to please let us go so he could go to sleep!!) . After it was all said and done he gave me a written WARNING and let my Mom finally come over to us after scolding her AGAIN that what she did was wrong. She said she was sorry and was just being an OVER PROTECTIVE MOTHER!!!! He ended up turning out to be really nice and we all laughed about it and was on our way then. He even pulled up next to me at the light and waved again and smiled!!! GEEZ!!!!

I think Jaxton was the one who was able to get me a WARNING!!! Thank Goodness!! If it weren't for him Mom and I would probably be in JAIL!!!

Well we finally got over to Heather's and played with all the other babies and then headed back to my Mom's for a much needed HOT BATH!!!!

On Friday Mom and I went to Babies R Us for about 2 hours to get all the stuff he needs to go to his Babysitter's starting on MONDAY!!! Whahhhh!!! After a couple of hundred dollars later we strolled over to LaMadeline for lunch where Jaxton started to find his THUMB!!! I have been trying to force the pacifier in his mouth but all he does is CHEW on it...I think he will be getting teeth ( or a tooth soon!!) We left there and went shopping so I could find some new suits for work and "Little Man" slept the whole time!!!!

WAIT>>> Did I say Little Man??? He is now weighing in ( as of Monday Dec. 29th ) at 14 POUNDS and 8 OUNCES!!!! I took him to see the Dr. because he had a rash under his neck fat roll and they said it was from sweat and the moisture was creating a rash so put Lotrimin on it for a couple of days....and what do you know???...it went away!! So now we must make sure to dry him really well in all those fat creases!!!!

We are SOOOOO close to starting cereal and I can't wait to see if it really makes him sleep through the WHOLE night...I bet it will since he is such a CHUNKY MONKEY and is growing so fast that he needs more that just a LIQUID DIET!!!

Pray for all of us this week as we begin a new chapter in Parenting as we hand over our little precious to a stranger for his care!!!