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Thursday, January 29, 2009

Aren't Sweaters Great?!

Sweaters are one of my favorite things to buy and wear. I'm not sure what the ratio of sweaters is to everything else in my closet, but, I'm sure it's something like 3:1. It's just the first thing I'm drawn to when I'm shopping. And, it's no different when it comes to baby clothes! I just love seeing Josiah in a nice sweater, and he has had some great ones already- you've probably seen some right here on the blog!



Here is a new sweater, along with several other cute things we got in the mail, from friends of ours in Manitoba (Thanks Mike & Karen & Taylor & Adam!). How adorable is this?!







Here is another one that a friend in PEI (Thanks Joanne!) knit for Josiah and mailed right after he was born. When I first looked at it, I thought it would be forever before he would be able to wear it, but here it is fitting rather nicely, and looking totally sweet and cuddly!



Hope you are all staying warm and cozy too on this rather snowy day!

Progress Report

It's that time again- the big weigh-in!
After another two weeks of plugging away, here are our results:

Chris: 5 pounds
Running Total: 15 pounds (4 weeks)
Jenn: 3 pounds
Running Total: 15 pounds (4 weeks)

We have slowed down a bit, which I think is good,
but are both pleased as we are still moving in the right direction.
Some of the people viewing our blog have been asking how we are finding the program. We love it! You can find a free 7 day trial at http://www.calorieking.com/ if you are interested in seeing what we are doing (we did not subscribe to the website, but rather bought the software for our computer). It is really nice, because nothing is off limits, so it feels manageable for us.
It is a very good way to organize your meals, exercise etc. and is designed for people to lose, maintain, or gain weight.
Quite honestly though, it means being willing to make changes, so I'm not going to lie, it's been hard work! Although Chris and I would both agree that it's more than worth the pay-off so far. Here's to another two weeks!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Four Months Old Today!

Can you believe that this was just four months ago?! Yup, Josiah is officially four months old today. I found this picture (compliments of Mitch and Melanie- thanks for posting it guys!), and loved it. This was obviously in the hospital, when Chris brought Josiah out to meet his family, who were in the waiting room, and he just looks so happy!





Well, our lives have completely changed since that day- mostly for the better!
It amazes me how much a baby can grow and learn in such a short time.


Here are a few things Josiah has been up to lately:





He is lifting himself up when he is on his belly, and trying to lunge forward.


It looks like he wants to crawl, but isn't sure what the next step should be,


but he's flailing away, so he'll get it eventually (hopefully not anytime soon!).


Spinning around and around in his crib, despite being supposedly held in place with the sleep positioner (he always starts off in the middle of the crib). We just are never sure how we will find him in the morning. Many times, we find him as in the picture below, with one or both of his feet sticking out through the crib bars (sometimes actually stuck!). Yet, he still grins his biggest smile, stuck or not (well, not in the picture, because by the time I got the camera, it seemed that he was kind of wondering why I had not yet rescued him!).

Josiah has discovered his hands, and is using them to explore everything! Nothing is safe, so watch out for your jewelry, hair, or anything else that you don't want grabbed. For a while, I was concerned because he was using his feet to play, and he didn't even really notice he had hands most of the time. Now, I am worried that my baby-proofing has not kept up with his progress! Here he is playing with his crib toy. He can even make it play music all by himself (the same 4 songs, over and over and over again).



Josiah LOVES hanging out with his dad, and no one can make him smile quite as big as Chris can. I think they are really starting to have fun together now that he is playing a bit more interactively (although no football yet!).




Everyone asks about sleeping, and I think, from what we can tell, that Josiah is a great sleeper (although sometimes it does not feel that way at 4 am)! He has at least two naps a day, and goes to bed around 7:30/8:00 pm. Then he gets up once to eat in the night, and goes back to sleep until around 7:00-8:00 am. Of course, this past week has not been that easy, as he is in the midst of another growth spurt, and has gotten up as many as three times a night to eat. Just when you think you have a schedule down...!

In the past few weeks, he has also started rolling over back to front and front to back, sitting up (with a little help- he actually sat up on the couch when he was home with daddy, and did a face plant on the hardwood floor, which led to a weekend in and out of the hospital to check for head trauma. He just started moving so quickly within a short few days, and we were not prepared for the changes we'd have to make, like not leaving him on the couch or bed anymore! By the way, everything is fine!).

He has started to turn pages in stories all by himself (he loves books, and kicks his little feet in a mad storm when we are reading one of his favorites).

He has also found his very loud voice, and likes to use it at very inopportune times!

Josiah is a growing boy, weighing in around 19 pounds, and his interest in watching people eat has grown to the point where you almost feel guilty eating in front of him, 'cause he starts smacking, trying to eat his hands, or lunging at whatever it is you are holding. Very soon!


Here he is, looking like a rather grown up four-month-old,

and not so much like a newborn anymore!

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Special Visitors


On Thursday, my Mom and Aunt Faye came to visit us for the day.
It was so much fun to have them come- they drove up from NS. Josiah had a blast visiting with them. They brought a whole sled full of clothes for him, probably his entire wardrobe for at least the next 2 sizes, and a few extras too-it was like Christmas looking through all of the cute stuff!
There is a store in Truro called Louis' Good Used Clothing, and it is like our Frenchy's here, only maybe a bit better sometimes, and they always find amazing clothes there.
The clothes are so adorable, with lots of sporty and football themes- Chris loves this!
Here is a picture of them with Josiah, and a pile of clothes.





Josiah's grammie also brought a baby sled for us to use, because for winter walks I had been carrying him in the Moby wrap- very heavy! So we all went for a walk, and Josiah seemed very comfortable in the sled. He even napped for most of the way, despite the bumps and the wind. I think we will be enjoying many more walks this winter now that we have a sled!

Doesn't he look cozy in there?!




You'll notice the stuffed dog in the picture- it goes almost everywhere with us now! Josiah has grown quite attached. The only problem is that I haven't figured out how to wash all of the spit-up out of it, so beware of slimy, crusty dog.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Muffins

Here's a recipe that I tried for the first time this week, and LOVED! These muffins are very easy, moist, and freezable. Hope you enjoy them as much as we do. (Sorry there is no picture. By the time I thought of it, they were frozen and they just don't look as pretty that way. If you want to see one, you'll have to make them, or come to my house and have one!)
Apple Date muffins

(If you don’t have dates, raisins can work well too)
Ingredients:
2 cups flour (half whole wheat)
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1Tbsp. cinnamon
2 egg yokes, beaten
1 cup vanilla yogurt or fat free sour cream
1/3 cup applesauce1 Tbsp. oil
2 cups finely chopped apples
1 ½ cups dried dates, chopped
Topping:1 Tbsp butter, melted
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup oats
½ tsp cinnamon
Mix dry ingredients in large bowl.
Combine egg, yogurt and applesauce, and oil in separate bowl. Add to flour mixture, stirring until just moistened.
Stir in apples and dates.
Grease muffin tins, and fill.
Combine topping ingredients and spoon onto each muffin.
Makes 12 large muffins or 48 mini muffins. Bake at 375 (large) or 350 (mini) for about 25 minutes (or 12-15 for mini).

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Bumbo Fun

A couple of weeks ago, I realized that Josiah was probably almost ready to start using his Bumbo chair, so we pulled it out and gave it a try!

After we managed to get him in it (I don't think they are made for kids as wide as him!), it seemed to go pretty well. He actually looked kind of proud of himself, and since he has always loved his own space, I think he rather enjoys having a new place to sit! I have to admit that I laughed a lot, cause he just looked funny to me for some reason! Maybe you agree...




Oh, and this was before his big hair cut, so you can see the long wisps! I am glad we cut it now!

Progress Report

A couple of weeks ago, I had posted that Chris and I were both starting a new plan to lose weight, and that we would let you know every two weeks how we were doing.

Well, I am pleased to say that Chris has lost 10 pounds since starting, and I have lost 12 pounds.

I can't believe that two weeks has passed already! We are both happy with our success so far, and very pleased with the program we are using (
http://www.calorieking.com/). It is not a diet at all, just software that helps us to keep track of our intake and our exercise- not rocket science, just a bit of physics.

We'll let you know again in another two weeks how much more we have lost!

Just a Peek