Jonathan - Four Months

Jonathan, my sweet boy, your mama is sorry for not writing more about your sweet little life. It's not that I don't value you as much as I do Trey - he had things written about him all the time when he was an infant. But I am busy enjoying moments with you and have a hard time finding time to sit down and put my thoughts in writing.

You are a delight to our family. I know you were always meant to be a part of us.

Your smile makes all of us smile. Your brother Trey particularly loves when you laugh at him. I can tell already that you and he have a special bond - I pray every day that you will grow to be good friends. You tolerate his slobbery kisses and his forceful hugs so well.

You are a little more serious than your brother Trey but equally happy. You like to study people before you give them the privilege of seeing your gummy smile.

You have bright, sparkling blue eyes - you look quite a bit more like your mama at this point which I'm quite okay with because your big brother is your Daddy's clone.

You are a chubby baby. At your 4 month visit with Dr. Kennedy, you weighed 15 pounds and 7 ounces and were 25 1/4 inches long. You're in the 59% in both - your brother Trey was always in the 25% so you continue to be a bit bigger than he was at his age. I'm glad you have chubs and rolls. We have to clean through 4 rolls on each of your thighs while changing your diaper. You are wonderfully squishy and delightfully snuggly.

You love your hands - particularly your fingers. You study and stare and concentrate and finally work them into your mouth. You also just started rolling from your tummy to your back. Way to go, buddy!

You are still being exclusively breastfed. This is a big deal to me because I feel so bad that I have to work - I don't want that to hinder my milk supply. I am thankful that I am able to pump at work and that you eat so good for Daddy. You eat about 4-5 ounces from a bottle when Daddy feeds you. You sleep through the night, so we haven't started you on cereal yet. Dr. Kennedy said "If it's not broke, don't fix it." So when you become less satisfied with nursing alone, we will start some cereal. Daddy and I bought some cereal for you the other night, so we are all ready when you are.

You went through an entire 9 week Beth Moore Bible study with me - you were so good. And I loved snuggling with you while learning about God and how He worked in and through Queen Esther.

Happy four months, sweet Jonathan. You are so very loved by us, but never forget that Jesus loves you most.

Where God is taking us

I started this back on February 23 - and decided to finish it today - still in the same spot but continue to be prayerful...

I had to reference my friend Tiffany today - she wrote a post this morning that reflects exactly where my heart is at - talking about my divine assignment. I was so encouraged after reading it. I enjoy my job - I love being a nurse. It pays well. We have excellent insurance and other great benefits. I work with some very talented, smart, and caring women. I get the miracle of seeing life come into the world every night I am at work - it never gets old. If I have to work, at least I love what I do. Conveniently, I leave for work when the boys are getting ready for bed and I come home from work as they are waking up.

But as much as I enjoy my job, I love my family more. My heart is torn every night that I leave for work. I feel homesick for my family - if that makes any sense. When we first moved out to Phoenix, David was intending to go to school and I was going to work full time while he did that. God redirected us once we were here. It was amazing really how God provided for us. The day before we arrived in Phoenix, as we were driving in New Mexico, I got an email from a missionary friend. She said their mission was looking for a caretaker for their Glendale property. I made some phone calls, we were interviewed the next day after we arrived in Phoenix, and we moved onto the mission property a day after that. So providential. Even though there have been hard times living here, blessing after blessing has been abundant as well. I will highlight a couple here...

David has been home with our boys while I have been able to work. He is here all during the day doing yard work and maintenance projects around my sleeping schedule. He has grown into his role as a Daddy quite well - he is amazing with our children.

We have been able to remain debt free and grow our savings. We live on just my income but because our housing is provided for the work David does, we have been able to keep our expenses down. We basically live on one of my paychecks a month and save the other. Thanks to the teaching of Dave Ramsey and good ole' common sense, we now have enough saved to have a fully funded emergency fund of 6 months living expenses, have enough cash saved up to buy a used van, and also are close to have 20% cash saved for a down payment for when we buy a home. I shop sales and with coupons. I go to yard sales and consignment stores. It's taken a lot of diligence and hard work, but I am so thankful we are where we are.

We have thrived in our home church Faith Bible Church. I am so thankful that God led us to Faith - it is just what we needed as a family. We never found a church in Knoxville that we loved, and it was a struggle every Sunday morning. I hated Sundays in Knoxville which is a horrible thing to admit let alone write. I felt so disconnected, and I had never experienced that in a church before (even when I moved out to Arizona by myself, I found a church right away and got plugged in there).

God protected us from buying out here in Arizona when we first moved out here. We had intended to buy - even had a contract on a gorgeous, almost brand new 4 bedroom home selling for less than half of what it sold for 2 years ago. But we didn't have a peace from Him about it. So we pulled out of the contract. We sensed God has telling us to remain here serving at UIM and to keep saving for a house in the future. We were disappointed to not settle down at that point, but we wanted to be obedient.

Our marriage is stronger. Our family is more centered. Giving birth to our son Jonathan when we had no family around showed me how much stronger our marriage was. We had no one to depend on but each other, and we did amazingly well.


We find ourselves at a crossroads right now. We know that the time has come for us to switch roles again. My heart and my husband both know I am to be at home. David wants to work outside our home. He is so talented, smart, and gifted but he often fails to see that he is. But to do that entails moving - he can't keep doing what he's doing and work a full time job. We don't know right now what that will involve. We may buy here in Arizona. We may look to move closer to family on the East coast. We are praying diligently about this every day that we will listen to God's voice and follow His direction. It is exciting and scary at the same time, but I am looking forward to what God show us in the coming months.

Family bits and pieces

Trey is learning how to play more gently near Jonathan. Jonathan takes things pretty well - we think he's going to grow up to be a tough little boy. The other night in the middle of the night, Jonathan woke up and I went in to see what he needed. There was Trey in the dark standing at Jonathan's crib trying to console him saying "oh baby". Trey shouldn't have been out of bed, but it was really sweet to see him caring about his brother. I put Trey back in bed, gave Jonathan his pacifier, and then we all went back to sleep.



Jonathan likes to share with Trey ... or so Trey thinks. Trey will sometimes randomly take Jonathan's pacifier and start sucking on it.

At almost 2 1/2 months, Jonathan is holding his head up really well - he has excellent neck and upper body control. This is him after his bath tonight. I think he looks like he is ready to take off.
I was trying to get a picture of his funny hair in the back - it lays horribly and he has a thick dark patch at the bottom that he has had since he was born.

Trey's Big Boy Bed

We have been sleeping Jonathan in the pack and play in our room since he was born. Trey has never climbed out of his crib, so my mom suggested that we keep him in his crib until after Jonathan was born and we were more settled. I am really glad we did that. It gave me peace of mind to know that Trey loved his crib, and he was safe in there. David and I had been talking about whether to get him a toddler bed or a twin bed. We ultimately want to have bunk beds, but we didn't want to spend the money of those right now when we don't need them.



I've been looking around on craigslist for beds, and I found this Pottery Barn Kids bed for about 1/4 of what they sell for. The seller even gave us 2 sets of Pottery Barn Kids sheets and a PBK quilt and pillow plus the mattress and box spring. The quilt is a sports theme - not my first choice - if I had bought something, it would have been with trucks or trains on it because that's what Trey loves, but it's really cute. Plus it was included, so we saved a lot of money. This bed is from the Thomas collection at PBK - they still make it and we can eventually buy another twin bed to make bunk beds.


Trey was pretty sad to see his crib be taken apart and put in another room for Jonathan. He cried quite a bit, but we told him how exciting it was that he was getting to sleep in a big boy bed. We showed him Jonathan in the crib, and Trey seemed genuinely excited to see his "baby" sleeping in there.

This is Trey sleeping during his nap the first day having his new bed. It was a pretty smooth transition. He does try to climb out of bed, and he knows that he is not supposed to do that. We have been very consistent about making sure he stays in his bed - he gets disciplined when he gets out of bed after we have tucked him in bed. But each naptime or bedtime is getting easier. He really likes his bed.

Trey still loves to sleep with his bottom in the air...

... just like when he was 6 months old (May 2008)

Trey - 6 months old

2 months with Jonathan

We have really enjoyed having Jonathan in our family. We are all adjusting really well. Some days I still feel a little frazzled when I have to go out with both of them, but each time we go out, I get a little more confident. I have been taking both of them to Tot Town (a big open gym play time for Trey) on Mondays and to Bible study every Wednesday and then out to lunch with our friends. I still don't feel very organized. I had some people warn me before Jonathan was born that we shouldn't expect him to be a good baby because Trey was such a good baby (why do people say crazy things like that to pregnant moms? ) But he is a good baby - he does like to be held a little more than Trey did. But then again, we probably held Trey just as much - we just didn't have a toddler that needed out attention as well.

Jonathan had a great 2 month well baby check up with Dr. Kennedy. He weighs 13 lb. 10 oz. (90%) and is 23 inches long (57%). He is thriving! He is still being exclusively breastfed - we haven't had to give him any formula even once. I pump before going to work and then pump a couple times at work. I love nursing and feel like it is something wonderful that I can give to him. Jonathan has been doing really well for David since I went back to work nights on January 31. He has been sleeping all night for him - in fact, I came home from work last week at 8 am, and Jonathan was still asleep after having been put to bed at 7:30 the night before. He isn't sleeping that long every night for me - most mornings he is waking up around 5 of 6 and then goes right back to sleep after feeding. He is smiling and staring to coo and "talk" to us - it is absolutely darling.

Trey is doing well with Jonathan - still working on the gentleness part with him. I found him straddling Jonathan the other day while jumping up and down on him - kind of like riding him like a horse. It is frustrating to know how to help him be gentle except keep reinforcing over and over. Trey had a little trouble listening in church this week his teacher said. He kept putting baby dolls in the cabinet, shutting the door, and walking away. Hmmmm... try not to over analyze that one too much. Trey likes to give Jonathan his pacifier when he is crying and does try to share his toys with him. I am so happy they are so close in age so they can become good buddies.

Bath time with Brother

Trying to smile - so hard to catch one on camera

Jonathan has beautiful blue eyes

What's on my Mind

I grew up journaling - I go through phases now in my life where I journal more at some times than I do at other times. Some times I have been given such clarity by journaling - I can just write whatever is on my mind. I have books filled with prayers - just pouring my heart out to God. I was inspired by my friend Tiffany to free write today. Tiffany did this on her blog the other day - she wrote "If you are not familiar with free writing it is an exercise in which one writes whatever comes to mind for a predetermined amount of time and doesn't go back and read it or correct the grammar while writing." I decided to try this. My time limit is 5 minutes starting now.


I am so happy to have had great one-on-one time with Trey this morning. We ate yogurt parfaits together while Jonathan slept. David was away at a meeting. I cherish this alone time I get with Trey. He brings me such utter delight.

He is learning to talk more. I sometimes wonder if he is delayed in some way verbally when I compare him to other children his age. It makes me afraid that I am not doing enough with him to help him develop. The things he says are so cute - like his saying "bow". We were reading from our Jesus Storybook Bible the other night about Noah and the rainbow. Then the next night there was a rainbow in the sky. That doesn't happen a lot in Arizona - I believe that was God's gift to us - to remind us that He knows right where we are and what is going on in our lives.

I always question what I am doing as a mama - am I doing a good job? I want so much to give my little ones the best start in life. I don't want to put Trey in a preschool but I see other kids his age in daycare or preschool and I wonder if we should do that for Trey to give him more opportunity. It's so expensive and I would rather him be home with us.

I need to clean today - I am so proud for having my cleaning list all made out for each day of the week. Now to just implement it. I need to go through Jonathan's things and get out bigger clothes for him. I just don't seem to be able to have the time to do it when both boys are asleep. I want more than anything to be organized and to keep our life simple. I have dinner planned and need to get some heavy cream at the store for the sauce.

David made me coffee before he left for his meeting. I love him. We didn't have any creamer today so I used milk. It was still good.

I had a good quiet time this morning. I needed that. I realize my need for Jesus so much more now with the enormous task of raising 2 little boys in front of me. I don't know how I will do going back to work - I am thankful for a good job. But I am dreading going back - I hate the night shift funk I will be in. I don't like being away from my family. I know some women want and need to work - I am different. I want and need to be home with my family.

Tomorrow is my Grammy's 80th birthday - she is one of my favorite people in the entire world. I'm sad we won't be there to celebrate with her.

Time is up - that was fun - I could have kept writing. I may try this again sometime. I'm off to play with Trey and wait for Jonathan to wake up.

Jonathan - One Month

We have been enjoying getting to know Jonathan. He has been in our family a little over a month now. He is a really good baby. Trey loves him to pieces - he still doesn't quite understand how to be gentle with his baby brother but he is getting better. Jonathan gets lots of slobbery kisses on a daily basis from Trey - he doesn't mind the kisses too much but he does mind when Trey climbs on top of him to give him the kisses. We still haven't seen any kind of jealousy from Trey towards Jonathan - we have tried to give Trey a lot of one-on-one time with us when Jonathan is asleep.


Jonathan eats well and sleeps pretty well. At his one month visit, he weighed 11 pounds 14 ounces and was 22 inches long. He has lots of little fat rolls all over his body. He goes for 3-4 hour stretches at night. I cherish the times that he wakes to nurse in the middle of the night. Even though I am tired, I know this time with him as a newborn is going so quickly. I don't want to wish it away.


Jonathan has a bit of a temper - much more than Trey did. But he doesn't stay mad for long. This picture was taken while I was getting him dressed after his bath. Some nights he cries after his bath and some nights he just lays there and studies me with an intent look. He doesn't cry for diaper changes anymore. We are still cloth diapering and are very happy with our decision. We have bought some more cloth diapers but haven't bought any disposable diapers. We do a load of diaper laundry every 3-4 days, so it hasn't been that much more work than disposables.

We bought Jonathan a swing, and he really likes it. We didn't buy one for Trey - we had borrowed one from a friend. The swing has been good because Jonathan likes to be held a lot. I love holding him, and I have carried him quite a bit in my Moby wrap when I go out or even around the house doing work. Trey likes to walk up to Jonathan and try to climb in the swing with him. The most exhausting part of having two little ones is trying to keep Trey from unintentionally hurting Jonathan. He doesn't understand that Jonathan doesn't want to be climbed on. Like I said, Trey is getting more gentle each day with Jonathan. We couldn't be happier with our two little boys and want to raise them to be good friends.