I probably should be packing, but...

...we're almost done with packing anyway, and I don't feel like it! :) I was going through pictures looking for some of Granna and just kind of got lost down memory lane as far as Jenna is concerned. She certainly has come a long way since being that skinny little thing lo these many moons ago.

5/22/07


5/23/07 - Sleep Like An Egyptian...


6/7/07 - Braden kept blowing in Jenna's face, because she would blink, have a sharp intake of breath and stick out her tongue


6/7/07 - Jenna used to turn her head when Braden burped her, because she was used to me and being on my left shoulder. She would invariably find herself full on Braden's cheek. I ran to get the camera after these words were uttered: "Help! She's LICKING me!!"

Granna's Passing

For those of you who don't know, Braden's Granna passed away in her sleep early this morning. She had just turned 89 on Wednesday. We were there last night, and it was obvious that she was close to the end. This has been a long time coming, since she had a stroke in early February and probably had several more over the months. Those of us who knew and loved her were saddened to see her suddenly go from a vibrant, intelligent, independent woman to a shell of her former self. I can honestly say that while we will miss her very much, we are glad that she is in a better place, free of pain and suffering. She is now with her husband, who passed away over a decade ago, and we are thrilled that they are together. While we were there last night, I whispered to her to watch over her namesake from above, and I know she heard and understood, because her breathing got faster. Jenna can never go wrong in this life if she follows the example of her Granna, who taught everyone around her about Christ-like service and charity.

We love and miss you, Granna.

May 13th, 2007


May 24th, 2007


October 26, 2007 - Jenna holding Granna's hand one last time

Happy Birthday Ryan and other things

Happy Birthday, Ryan!! Ryan is a whopping 23 years old today, wonder of wonders. Hard to believe my little bro is coming up on his mid-20s. Doesn't that make you feel old!!?? And here I am almost out of my 20s. But it doesn't matter, since everyone else will continue thinking I'm a teenager. :)

In other news, Jenna now gets into EVERYTHING. She has learned to roll both ways and pivot as well. She has also learned how to get from a sitting position to on her tummy, so just sitting her down only works for maybe 30 seconds. We're also trying to not have her be in the exersaucer so much...it's her default position since we know she can't go anywhere when she's in it, and I have to pack somehow!! So since we're trying to have her exercise more on the floor, it also means that I don't get much done, which is a source of stress for me, but what can you do. That's part of being a mommy. Things will be better after we get this move done and are unpacked at the other place, which will probably be a few weeks. Thank goodness we will have more room! We have to be careful that we don't give in too much to our tendencies to accumulate schtuff while we're in a house.

Happy Baby


Watching Baby Einstein


Somebody Just Took My Picture


Heeeeee...


Ya!!!!

Jenna Going Nutso

This video is hysterical. I don't know if you can tell, but I was having trouble holding the camera steady. And then at the end, it's like she knew was performing for the camera! My little drummer girl.

Books are gooooooood

When I read to Jenna, she always wants to "help" by eating the book. This isn't necessarily what I want her to do, since most books aren't meant to be edible. So I found a couple of books yesterday that are made of cloth and washed them. Today I took one out of the dryer, and I believe my exact words were, "Here, Jenna, here's a book you can eat!" She promptly obliged.



Quit clowning around with the camera and finish feeding me, Mommy!

What? I can't hear you. Jenna is "talking"

This is what I have to deal with on a regular basis. I know you all envy me.



Jenna does this randomly, just to talk. Sometimes it's because she wants to move, but most of the time, she is just seeing what she can do with her voice. SHE IS SOOOO LOUD. And the thing is, I can't call attention to it when she's doing it, or else she learns, "this is how I get Mommy to pay attention to me", but arrrrrrgh. Any ideas on how to encourage other forms of expression would be most welcome. I hope she grows out of it soon!

Big Girl Bath Time!

Jenna had her first bath ever today. We haven't bathed her at all since she was born, since we figure, hey, she's a baby, she's always clean, right?

Just kidding. Okay, for real now. Jenna had her first bath in the big bathtub today! Yay! She was exceptionally well behaved, as usual during bath time. I think she likes that it's something different. We only give her a bath about once a week (unless she has a massive blowout or something) because her skin gets really dry, but I may step it up to 2x per week pretty soon, especially now that she's eating solid foods and getting it all over herself sometimes. She had cradle cap, but we used a special shampoo named Mustela only 2 or 3 times, and it's almost all cleared up now. I really recommend it for cradle cap; it works great! That just reminded me of The Truman Show: "Who are you talking to?" (when his wife talks about a product a la Price is Right model).

Here are some bath pics. Future Blackmail, baby!



She was sucking on her hands and must have swallowed some water, because she started to choke a little and cough right before this pic...thus the red eyes:

That's Sick!

Has anyone ever heard someone use the term "sick" to mean "cool" or "awesome", as in "that skateboarding trick was SICK, dude"? I saw it on craigslist today in the for sale section, and it was used to describe the graphics on a skateboard, like the fact that this guy thinks it's "sick" is a major selling point. Yeah, well, if it's so sick, then why are you getting rid of it, HUH?? :)

Anyway, the reason it crossed my mind is because we have all been sick, dude!! We've all had colds for over a week now, and now I think we're starting to get better, thank goodness. Poor Jenna...this is her first cold, and every time I go in to check on her when she's sleeping, her breathing sounds so ragged. She hasn't been too happy lately, with teething and general not feeling well-ness.

Here's my current favorite pic of Jenna. My sister-in-law Gina took this when she was babysitting Jenna for a couple of days while I was up north.



It is official: we have given our 20 days notice at our apartment complex, and we will be moving to D (Braden's bro) and T's place by the 31st of this month, which, you may have noticed, is not very far away. The problem is that D and T, who are moving to Renton, will not be out of their place until at least the 27th, so we don't really have anywhere to put our stuff yet, but, hey, that happens. We've taken over some stuff, and we may take some stuff over to the parentals-in-law's place. I dunno, like I said, we've been not feeling well, and Braden's never home, so we're behind. We'll get it done, we always do, but the 31st is definitely creeping up on us.

Here's a video of Jenna eating solid food for one of the first times:


And then here is another video from the same feeding. You can tell in the first one how she's doesn't quite know what to make of the food, and then in the second video, she is all for it!! :)


Jenna feeding herself:


Jenna sitting on Daddy:


My cross-eyed baby girl:


More peek-a-boo fun:


And finally, Kerry breading chicken (...one of these things is not like the other...):

Events of note

Jenna had her first solid food last week. We tried rice cereal a couple of times, but she hated it, so we moved on to sweet potatoes, and she seriously can't get enough of it!! She grabs for the spoon and shoves it into her mouth, and then won't give you the spoon back while she licks it clean. :) Yum yum. Braden tried a little, but I declined, since I don't like real sweet potatoes and I could smell it from a few rooms away.


I finished my two weeks up north doing Spanish QA. Jenna was passed around to many in-laws, but she did remarkably well considering the chaos she must have endured, what with all the different people and environments. And chaos is good for her once in a while...she doesn't get much at home, since it's just the three of us. That will change for our next child, I'm sure, and that's just the way it is! :) I missed my little babe sooooo much while I was away; thank goodness Braden and Jenna came up twice while I was out of town. I am very grateful to be able to stay home with Jenna. It is truly a blessing, and one that I try not to take for granted, since I know that there are a lot of moms out there who want to stay home but aren't able to for whatever reason. And of course there are some moms who choose to work FT, but I sure couldn't do it. I really, really missed Jenna. And Braden, too, of course!!

Jenna is now holding her bottle by herself and sitting up. Here's a picture of me distracting her with the camera while she's feeding.


The visiting nurse came by on Friday, and Jenna weighs 17 lbs 2.5 oz. She didn't gain too much from a few weeks ago when she was weighed, but I think her growth spurt is over for now, and she's kind of settled, plus she's getting more active.

Here's a pic of the cutest pants! I love them.


Jenna was up on her haunches while sleeping the other day, and it was so funny, I had to back up out of the room quickly b/c I laughed out loud. I knew the dangers of taking a picture and did it anyway, so I fully deserved her waking up because of the flash. But it was worth it, baby!


Here's Jenna playing with Baby Kermit, who was with me when I was in labor. Come to think of it, so was Jenna! :)


Jenna has this thing she does now (sometimes) when she's on her blanket rolling around. She'll grab the end or corner of the blanket and roll again and again and again, until she's all wrapped up in it. She LOVES it, and even if she's previously been fussy, she'll quiet down if she gets wrapped up. She loves to play peekaboo, too.