4 month appointment- Shots and no tears

Well, JJ had his 4 month appointment today. My little man is so big. Here are some pics of the little man.

4 month b-day shot with baby lardy


Bathtime!


JJ is starting to talk a lot, play with toys and we will be starting him on food soon. :) So life continues to get better and better!

4 Month Stats:

Weight: 16 lbs. 11 oz (Up 3.5 lbs since his two month appt.)
Height: 25 1/2 inches (Up 2.5 inches)

Shots: Two and an oral dose. He took them like a champ, not even noticing the first one and crying for a minute after the second one. What a big boy I have!

A Father's blog, a touching story and tears on a Wednesday morning

I love reading other people's blogs...about food...family...life. Here is one I have been following for a while, since before I was pregnant with JJ. It is the blog of a father who's wife died 24 hours after the birth of their first child.

I just revisited the archives section of his blog and cried my eyes out for a good 30minutes. Now that I have a child of my own, it makes his story even more heart wrenching. The courage Matt has to take his grief and turn it into something that helps other people astounds me on a daily basis and I encourage you to stop by his blog and check him out: Matt, Liz and Madeline.

He has also set up a foundation to help others in similar situations. They had a fundraiser last week in MN. Check out more information here: The Liz Logelin Foundation.

Matt and Maddy's story is inspirational. What I like about it the most is his honesty and candor about raising their child alone, how much it sucks that Liz died and how he is coping with it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Traveling for work- The first trip

I just returned from my first business trip away from JJ since was born. It was very difficult to leave the little man, but I knew he was in good hands with Daddy. We all knew the day was coming when I would pack my bag and head off to a show for work. (Being a trade show manager, it comes with the territory and I LOVE what I do.) One thing that helped my heartache were the daily pictures I got from Jeff. I can't tell you how much I love texting pics back and forth while we are away. It makes the time go faster and sends us a current snapshot of what we are doing.

For example, I sent Jeff this one of my room:


He sent me pics of JJ at night:


and in the morning:


and here is one of JJ "cheering" for me to come home:


All in all, it was a great trip. I love my men and missed them while I was gone but it also felt great to get back in the swing of things for work. I swear JJ grew so much in the six days I was gone. When I got home, my heart stopped aching and swelled back up with the love only my family can create. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Reading, reading and more reading

I am a self-proclaimed bookworm. When I was young, mom and dad would read my sister and me stories before bedtime. As I started to read by myself, my parents would buy me book after book after book. They were in awe of how quickly I would get through them. ( R.L Stein was my favorite, but I also read the classics like the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.) Finally, my parents learned to take me to the library. There was a larger selection of books AND they were free.

Jeff and I both agree that reading to JJ is important. Experts state many reasons to do this from a developmental standpoint. (Read this article on how to start reading to your kids.)

But, we also want him to enjoy reading. Jeff grew up hating to read. He felt he was too slow and he would find himself daydreaming halfway through a paragraph. When he told this to me, I said "That is what books or articles are supposed to do...make you think about being in another place or time."

When we got married, I started getting the paper delivered each morning. While I poured over the weather and variety section, Jeff would focus on the sports page. It would make me happy to see Jeff enjoying his morning reading time and finally finding something he wanted to read each day.

Part of our bedtime routine includes me reading to JJ. We read Dr. Seuss or "Guess how much I love you." JJ has quite the collection thanks to my passion for books. But, I am not the only one who reads to JJ. While I read children's books to him, I often hear Jeff and JJ reading the sports page together. It is so sweet hearing Jeff read last night's baseball scores or the latest football trade and asking JJ what he thinks about that. (I finally captured one of these moments this morning.)



Tell me readers, what are some of your favorite books to read, either to your kids or by yourself?