It's Almost Over!

I just have 5 more days of Banquets before this crazy season ends for me. Man it has been rough this year. Having a baby really does change everything. Wesley has been semi-good. He seems to be holding it agianst me to for being away so much. In 24 days I will have only made it home for dinner 4 times, and been off 2 full days. That is bound to wear on a little boy who loves his mommy. Soon enough we will be together again. On top of me being busy this is Levi's busiest school week yet with finals, and projects due. Wesley isn't seeing too muc of either of us.

I am not even close to being finished with my shopping looks like I will braving the crowds on Christmas Eve! I never thought I'd be that kind of shopper. Hope there is still merchandise. People might open "I Owe Yous", that'd be bad. I did attempt to shop the other morning before work. It was time for his morning nap and he made me pay. He wasn't all that bad compaired to other babies I've seen but not so good for Wesley. I won't be doing that again. Just 5 more days and I'll be a good mom and wife... well try to be a good mom and wife.

Hope to see you all soon when we are home for the Holiday!

Welcome to the Family!

Cailee Jane joined us November 29th around noon, which was convienent for the working aunts and uncles. They were able to see her for the first time during their lunch break. How considerate of her. Levi took Wesley up to Redding that afternoon to meet the new addition. I didn't get to meet my neice until Monday the 3rd. She was so little. She was around 6lbs when she came home. I can't believe Wesley was smaller than that. You do forget. Everyone says oh you'll forget how small he was... they were right. I can't tell who she looks like yet, she just looks like herself. Little Cailee. Finally I am an auntie. I don't know what to go by either. Honestly it will be awhile before she is calling me anything either... Auntie J... that sounds fun. I need to be the fun aunt (sorry Deanna, Erica, and Amber) Aunt Jessica is to formal and old sounding. Still thinking though. I am happy that Jake and Jenn had a girl and I have a boy. If I need a girl fix I can love on Cailee and same with them. Wesley was very interested in her. He was wanted to touch her but he is too little to understand he has to be gentle. He did hold her hand, it was cute. Next to Cailee he looks like a little boy not a baby. He is growing so quickly.

So Much To Be Thankful For

We'll we had a good Thanksgiving and a good trip to Redding. I made the turkey this year. I decided that I don't care to be the host... no time to visit! I didn't get to see my family on Thanksgiving. Wesley needed a nap so we stuck around the house to let him sleep. He took a 2 hour nap so we missed Thanksgiving at my Aunts house. I have to be honest I had high expectations for my first turkey. I thought it was going to be the best anyone had every had. I was using a recipe from Levi's cousin and when she made it the turkey got rave reviews. It looked so golden and juice, but honestly the taste was lacking. It might have been one of the worst turkeys I'd every had, sadly. At least there is room for improvment. I think it might have been worse to start off with a bang and never quite measure up after that. The side dishes were all wonderful though. I had my helping of sweet potatoes. I never could get past the texture before, and a sweet- potato, who'd like that. Wesley eats them though, so then I would take little bites of his and decided that I kinda liked it. Oh and Mary Jane did great job with the sweet potatoes on Thanksgiving... yum. Wesley had Thanksgiving Dinner also. He didn't care much for the bread. He just held it in his mouth funny for awhile refusing to eat it. His favorite part of dinner was Auntie Deanna. He spent the whole meal peaking around Levi to smile or laugh at her... I mean the whole dinner. Later he got his pj's on and chased Maggie around the house, they both love that game. Everyone called it an early night since most had been with family all day. Plus there was shopping to be done the next morning.

Yes I braved the crowds, expect there weren't really crowds. I got some good deals and started the Christmas shopping. I don't really know why I like to go out the day after Thanksgiving. I just do. It is a way to kick off the season. I spent most of my trip singing "Let it Snow" to Wesley... it doesn't snow in Sacramento ever, it is just catchy and got me in the shopping spirit.

I spent some much needed time with my girlfriends. I don't think they really understand how much I miss them. Good friends get harder and harder to find and keep. Life gets busy and you have to work to keep them in your life sometimes... especially when they are 150 miles away. It is work to keep them involved. We had a get together with some other moms and mutual friends, and it was nice to have such a laid back day. I don't think Wesley smiled once till Molly was taking a nap and all the other babies were gone. He doesn't share the spot light very well. In his defense I do bring him around to my friends house usually close to nap time, so I do it to myself.

We also did family photos, which Levi loved! Betsey got a little creative with them and we took them in front of a train car. I love them, some people will probably think we look like bums and for those I have other photos they will probably enjoy. It is nice to finally have a family photo.

Wesley is now 10 months old. I can't believe it!! So very soon he will be 1 year! He is crawling all over the place. He still just follows me around instead of running off. He is understanding the word "No" just hates hearing it sometimes... well all of the time. I am trying to teach him a few signs and he clear understands some things I say to him like "this is the last bite" One time he just cried before he even got the last bite... He didn't want him breakfast to be over. I gave him more, that is when I realized he might be ready for baby signs.

I am so thankful for Wesley. I thank God for him daily. I am so thankful for Levi. He has been such a big help, a wonderful father and husband. I definately couldn't do it without him... I don't know how single mom's do it! My list of "Thanks" could go on forever and it ever changing. With every turn there is someone and something new to be thankful for. (Wesley in Gramps' SCUBA booties... He loved them. Gramps thinks that is a good sign)

Kisses, Crawling and Cuddles

These are just a few of Wesley's most recent accomplishments. I don't know if you could say that cuddle is an accomplishment but I sure do love it. He is such a sweet baby. He often comes over to me just to sit in my lap and lay his head down. The only time he not up for cuddling is when it is bed time or nap time. As my dad puts it I put the "sleeper hold" on him and he doesn't like that. It doesn't last long though and he is out!

He also started giving kisses this last week. He only gives them to me... ha ha Levi. Levi keeps asking for kisses and Wesley never gives him one, just me. The sweetest part is he'll crawl to my lap or pull himself up to my face and plant a nice, wonderful, slobbery kiss on me... I don't even have to ask for them.

Crawling is go well. He is going a little farther every day. At first he would only do a few crawls, now he is doing a bit more. He doesn't follow me around yet, he still just cries when I leave the room or his sight. Soon he'll figure out he can follow me. He started pulling himself up the same day he started crawling. The next day I was sitting on the couch and Levi was near by on the floor. Wesley pulled himself up and turned looked at Levi let go of the couch and took a step... it was unsuccessful. It all seemed to happen in slow motion like the movies. I was able to catch him before he fell face first on the floor. I couldn't believe was already taking a stab at the walking thing. We have had a couple sob fest from falls and bumps. He is up so quickly and back down twice as fast. Poor little guy.

We are having to use "No Wesley" more often too. I didn't think I would be having to discipline already. He is not a fan of "No" tonight you thought the world was going to end because I told him no to sticking his finger in the electrical outlet... we forgot to baby proof one. We went back in forth a few times saying "No" & removing his hand. Finally he just cried and cried, I plugged up the holes. Some of you might say he may not understand what no means, well he does. He usually listens. He is growing so quickly. Thank goodness he still gives me kisses despite me correcting him. I am just trying to keep him safe.

On another note, I am excited for my brother to see Wesley. Jeff has been on quite the journey with the Coast Guard and will have a leave soon. He hasn't seen Wesley in 3 months. Oh I am excited to see Jeff too...

Halloween

Well our first Halloween went well. My family has never been much into celebrating. Just an excuse to eat other peoples free candy and dress silly. Too bad for Wesley he is too little to eat any candy maybe next year. Andrea did have baby treats for him. Sorry to say that Maggie helped herself to the pears... that is another story.

My cousins and I got the kids together in the afternoon. I wanted to see everyone costumes, and snap a photo. A snap shot is what I ended up with. We had all sorts for creatures there. Jason was a duck, Kara a Pirate, Bella a Poodle, Tessa a mermaid, Anna the cat from Alice and Wonderland (don't know the cats name), Jackson a Dragon and Wesley a Chicken or Rooster sounds more manly. It was crazy with all the kids... we didn't even get poor Kara in a photo. Wesley was tired this all took place during nap time. Anna and Jack were cozy cousins sleepin on each other. They were so cute, both so content! Jason fell asleep on the floor at one time waiting for all of us to be ready. They are all so precious.


We then went to GG's, Great Grannies, Grandma Mary Janes, Andrea's, then home. He was sooo tired. You would never tell by the smiles we were able to force out and capture. He was a good sport though. The next morning I was paying though. He was fussy, still tired, and demanding. I think I wore him out too much the day before. It was nice to see everyone though.



Wesley did learn a new trick while he was up in Redding though. Molly Walton taught him to crawl. She was crawling all over and pulling herself. After watching her he tried it himself. Only took one crawl while we were up there, but Thursday evening did it a few more times. He doesn't remember that he knows how to crawl yet. It takes him a minute every time. Now he is also trying to pull himself up on all the furniture too... fun. I am sure I will be chasing him very soon. Maggie will be running, Wesley will be following close behind and I will be trying to catch them both. Also guess it is time to baby proof a little better... great...

Sunday Drive

Gas: $30.00
Starbucks:$7.50
Lunch: $20.00
Pumpkin Waffle Mix from Dean and Delucia: $9.00
Admission into the Petrified Tree Forest: $12.00
Admission into see California's Old Faithful: $14.00
Spending a Sunday with Levi and Wesley: Priceless

We decided to do something different with our Sunday. Lazy Sunday afternoons are nice but we wanted a change of scenery. We missed church because Levis slept in (yes I am blaming it on him) we packed up and went on a drive. We drove over to the Napa Valley area, Calistoga to be exact. It was a lot of fun just to be together.

We stopped at the famous Dean and Delucia and got yummy sounding waffle mix... pumpkin. I think I might make them on Thanksgiving morning. I doubt we can wait that long though. We grabbed some lunch and went to the Petrified Tree Forest, which sounds cooler than it is. Semi interesting though. Levi and I were debating how scientist can date things back 3 million years ago, how does that work anyway? We then went for a drive missing our next destination the hot spring geyser or "California's Old Faithful" as they call it, how original! Pretty drive though; finally we got back on track. While there we saw a 2 headed lama, not really but I tried to be crafty and make it look that way. We had to wait about 20 minutes for the spring to go. It was beautiful and amazing. I was happy to see that I was able captured the rainbow in the photo as well. Wesley was not impressed he would have rather kept watching the little kids play their jumping game in the rocks.

After all that it was Levi's favorite activity- Family Photo Time! He was a good sport though. After about 4 photos he kept saying, "This is the last one". I'd convince him to take one more. Of course the one where Wesley is looking at the camera and is cute, is lame of us so since we out number him so this is the one we are going with. Aren't the colors beautiful?! I took some other neat photos of the area. That was part of the point of the drive today to take a picture of the vivid ever-changing colors. Hope you enjoy them. Overall we had a nice time together. We live in such a beautiful area sometimes you forget what you have waiting for you outside your comfort zone.

9 Months Already!!

Can you believe it?! Wesley is 9 months old. I don't know why but 9 months feels like a big deal. Maybe cause it takes him 9 months to get here so he has spent just as much time outside the womb than in, it seems like an accomplishment. Well in his case he didn't bake the whole 9 months so we actaully passed that milestone awhile ago but that isn't the point. I always say I want him to stay this size and it appears that he is!! Since 7 months he has only gained 8oz. and grown 1/4 inch longer! At his last appointment he was 16 lbs. 12.2 oz. and 26 inches long! She said it is fine and he is still moving up the growth chart... slowly. I want him to stay small but then when he does I worried that something is wrong. Looks like there is no need to worry he is just fine.

He seems to understand what we are saying to him. My words and explinations seem to provide some releif and comfort sometimes. We talk to each other all the time. He is mimicing our words and sounds more and more. He seems to reconginze people too as long as he seems them every couple weeks are so. Any longer and seems to forget.

The other day I actually took the time to look at him (update my mental image) he looked so big. He is turning into a little boy. He feeds himself his own bottle, bannans and cookies. He is even getting better with his sippy cup. These are things I use to have to do for him and though they are small, it is huge accomplishment for him to conquere each of these obstical. Next is his drivers license!

Time flies when you are having fun!

A Crisp Fall Afternoon

It was such a beautiful day today. This time of year has to be my favorite. I love the changing leaves. I love the beautiful palette of colors that line our streets. I love the cozy clothes, breaking out the sweatshirts and wrapping up with blankets in the evening. I also love the fall flavors too... pumkin, apples- yumm! Oh ya and my birthday starts the season...maybe that is why I love it. I was born to love it.

After work today I took Wesley to the park. I thought the change in routine might be good for us. He is doing this new thing where he cries the whole way home from the sitter. I understand it though. He hasn't seen me for a few hours then when he finally does I throw him in the car to go home. The 30-40 min ride home is already fun enough without a screaming baby. So today we went to the park near by and had mommy and Wesley time. It was so beautiful outside. He swung on the baby swing. We went for a little walk. He was in amazment of the other children playing. He hasn't even mastered crawling and they are running on their 2 feet. He is much more interested in children then he is adults. It is funny to me that at such a young age he already knows the different.

It is fun having him around this time of year. Since I love this season so much I like to do things that require me being outside. I didn't have much reason before to go to a park for the afternoon. Dogs aren't allowed in most parks so poor Maggie isn't invited. Now with Wesley I have a reason to go down a slide or play on a swing. I now know why my Granny says she is in her 3rd childhood. The 1st is the one you experience for yourself, 2nd the one you experience threw your children, and 3rd grandchildren... in her case she should be on her 4th with all the great grand babies born this year. It is fun being a kid again. One day I will embarass him I am sure but now he loves that his mom is a goof ball.

I also thought it would be cute to take a picture of Wesley playing in the leaves and it was till he started tasting them. Yuck! Who knows who or what squatted on those leaves. So I scooped him up and we left. I'll probably take him back soon before the weather turns to icky to go outside. The whole plan worked though he slept during the drive home instead of screaming the whole ride home. Yeah!

Most Embarassing Moment!

OK so I had my most embarrassing moment this morning. I wasn't there for it and thank goodness. I just heard about it later. Have you confused yet? Well here is what happened. My brother and sister in laws came into town late Monday night to fly out of Sac. They were on there way to visit the Levi's Grandparents. A few of us met them for the first time last summer, Levi and the boys have only see them a hand full of times anyways... Levi decides to make a video of Wesley for them to take on their trip so we can show off our adorable boy. He transfers video off the current tape onto the standard VHS. We even decide to do a video greeting on the way out the door. They all sat down to watch the video this morning and oops there is a shot of Jessica is the bath with Wesley! We were in the bath so yes we were in our birthday suits!! I have only taken a bath with him like twice and one time Levi came in with the video camera cause... I think he likes to hear me yell or something. I was not convinced that the camera was really on, he was just scaring me... nope he flipped it on. He loves to do this thing like " Dare Me ... Dare Me..." Why would I want to dare you to something I don't want you to do in the first place... ok back to the story. He was suppose to tape over the bath footage but I guess he didn't. It was a quick shot. He must have not caught it while he was transferring video (because he better have not done it on purpose). I talked to Amber this morning and she informed me of what was on the tape. I just wanted to die!!!! I want to die but I also want to strangle Levi at the same time. I'll have to watch the video to judge for myself. I guess Levi's Grandpa's reaction was "oh well we didn't see anything..." I seriously think I won't be seeing them again for awhile. I also have to face my brother and sister in law who watched it too!! Ok I am off to curl up and die... This was too funny to keep to myself. I have been laughing myself into tears all morning. Jake and Jenn find it rather hilarious too.
****
So I watched the video, and ya it is embarassing! They were like "oh you could see anything..." That was wrong you just couldn't see EVERYTHING! You could see stuff, just not everything... ok back to dieing!

27

Well I am 27 now... ICK. I don't know how this happened. I am in my LATE 20's! My birthday was good. We didn't do much, which seems to happen a lot when you get older. You don't care about your birthday as much, which I thought would never happen. When I was younger I refused to be a person who doesn't care about their birthday but it is true I didn't really care what we did with the day. Levi came home from school and asked why I was cleaning on my birthday... I said it was a gift to myself, A Clean House. How sad is that. We had fun. Levi made us a yummy dinner. A feast really, scallops, and crab. Wesley slept threw dinner well threw almost the whole thing. We got to eat 90% of our dinner in peace and quite... ahhh. That is present enough these days. To top off the night we went to ice creams. We shared a huge banana split. I only have a before picture because the "after" is quite embarrassing really. Levi did give Wesley a small taste of the peppermint ice cream. He could take it or leave it ...he didn't love it, so it was just one taste. Levi said that Wesley deserved the right to celebrate too. I was happy to see he didn't care about the ice cream. He was interested in it visually, it was colorful and huge! He was pretty fussy on my birthday. I kept telling him it was my birthday and I could cry if I wanted to... not him. (I am a dork). Mostly it was just nice to have an extra day off work and relax... oh and get presents, that's always fun.

BFF

Wesley and Maggie BFFs (Best Friends Forever)...

At least that is what Wesley thinks. He loves Maggie so much... Maggie not so much. He giggles at her as she passes by, runs after a toy, sneezes or shakes. She is the funniest thing in the house as far as he is concerned. The other day we gave Wesley a teething cookie while he was in his high chair. We stripped off all his clothes and let him enjoy. He loves those cookies!! Levi does too... shhh don't tell. He (Wesley that is... not Levi) just chews on them and makes the biggest mess. He was enjoying his cookie as usually and all the sudden he decided to share. He reached over and gave his cookie to Maggie. Usually if he drops it he fusses or cries out of frustration, because he wasn't done! Not this time. He was finished and thought he would share the yummy goodness with is best friend. It was like he knew she was going to eat it and it would be gone. Maggie liked Wesley for about a day after that. She is now back to showing little interest in him. She is always a good sport though. She does play back on occasion, and gives him kisses randomly. Mainly I don't think she understands where he came from and when he is leaving. It has been 8 month you'd think she be use to him by now. One day, one day soon they will be best friends. It make take a few more dropped cookies... well we are not going to make a habit out it. They'll become friends some how, sometime.

Wesley is 8 months old

I can't believe it. My little boy is growing so fast. I know I say this all the time but I don't want him to get any bigger. He is so fun right now. He talks ALL the time, and we love it. It just makes us laugh. He laughs at the most random things. For some reason when Maggie sneezes it is like the funniest thing ever.

He gets so excited to see us. It is the best feeling for him to put his hands out for us. He loves horsey rides on our knee, talking back in baby babble, when we make his toys dance and much more. Right now his favorite toy is a wrack. Yes a wrack... it for some big boy trucks he'll get to play with later. He found it in his toy basket and absolutely loves it.

A few weeks back we went up to Redding. We got spent time with friends and family. While I was up there Betsey and I had a chance to get the kiddies together for a summer photo shoot. Wesley was not a fan of sharing the spot light with another baby. Molly just wanted to play but if she got too close or too loud the water works started. He also got to play with Grandma and Great Granny. He thought they were both so fun. He was so proud of himself to sit by himself on the rocking horse. Granny swung him around and he just giggled. At this point these are great memories for me, I wish he actually could remember all the fun we are having together right now... while he is a baby. I know there are many more memories to come but these days are just so special! I want to video tape every minute so that I can replay this time with him over and over again. I know that is completely unrealistic but it is how I feel.

He actually turned 8 months a few weeks back... I am a little behind. He is still not crawling but every day he is getting a bit closer. It is so fun to watch him do new things, but yet I think I would be fine if he held off on the crawling for a bit longer. Everyone keeps asking though.

"Is he crawling yet?"

"No, not yet"

"Really? How old is he?" like there is something wrong with him. So for that reason we would love to proudly say "Yes he is crawling"... no I take that back I am still willing to wait. I like knowing that where I put him is where is going to stay. Oddly he can pull himself up. He only does it when he is in our laps or we are close enough for him to reach us. He grabs our shirts, hands, legs anything to steady himself as he stands. He hasn't learned that the coffee table, couch and chairs can all be great stabelizers. Only a matter of time. He would much rather stand than sit or lay on the floor, which makes me a bit scared he'll just skip crawling all together.

Wesley 8 months old ( Sept 23, 2007)

So What Have I Been Up To?

My life can seem so uncontrollable at times, like I am sure many of you feel. About 2 weeks ago I visited my doctor to get this side pain I was having checked out. I wouldn't even call it pain really just discomfort and soreness. The doctor was like "Humm... You might have an appendicitis but you aren't the typical patient so lets do an abdominal CT scan to be sure". So a couple days later I went and had the test done... that was fun. They guy stuck me 5 times and didn't get the IV in right once. Finally on the last try he brushed a nerve a shooting pain went up my arm and I not so kindly asked for the doctor to the next one. He came back saying the doctor said to go without... 5 pokes for nothing!! The funny thing is after the test I had the red feverish rash all over my chest. We figured out it was my nerves which has never happened before. Weird. Anyways later that day the doctor was tyring to track me down. I was just going on conducting normal business at work and went and did errands. She called Levi, my mom in Redding, and my work several times. I had an APPENDICITIS!!! I had to drop everything drive downtown to get checked out and possibly have surgery that night. Um I was working... I have to work tomorrow... I have a 400 person catering event Saturday I am in charge of... not now!!!



We were able to schedule the surgery for Friday evening. I needed time to mentally prepare for another surgery. Mind you this is my 3rd surgery in 2 years!! My appendix was not about to burst or anything it just looked sick and needed to come out. Plus this all happened on my dad's birthday. Even though we weren't able to celebrate with him I didn't want to go under the knife on his birthday! I couldn't eat anything or drink anything after midnight and my surgery was scheduled at 5pm, so that was kinda torture, but I did survive.



While they were prepping me for surgery I informed the nurse she only had one shot to get the IV in because I was a pin cushion early and didn't really feel up to it again. She got it on the first try... I was so happy. Sure enough once again my nerves acted up and here comes that rash again! What is this?!? It is new and I am not sure I like it.



The surgery was only about 30 min. and I was out a total of an hour. I woke up in so much pain. The anetesialogist had said "this isn't a very painful surgery" so at that point I wanted to find him and punch him! I got to go home that night. My mom and Levi took care of me and Wesley. Mom stayed for a few days and helped... Thank Heavens for MOMS! Recovery hasn't been too bad. The first few days were not fun, but I am feeling alot better now. I am suppose to be off work for 2 weeks, and I can see why. You need that long to heal. I have just been staying home and I have my final check up on Thursday.



As far as Wesley goes he isn't to kind to the belly area. He loves to climb all over us and kick at me while he is nursing... ouch! He's just a baby, it is hard to get frustrate or hurt over something a baby is doing to you

I'm Here

I'm here!!
I enjoy reading other people's blogs so I thought I would join in on the game. I thought it might be a fun way to waist more of my time:). I am just getting started I am sure I will be posting something new soon... so keep checkin back.

Happy Blogging!