Moving forward....

Jake is on the move.... well, almost. He is working so hard on crawling. I'm not sure I should push it. It's kind of nice to walk out of the room and know he'll be in generally the same spot when I get back. Anyway, here is his little progress...

Movin' on up..

So our not so little baby has moved out of the carrier and into a big kid car seat. He was just getting WAY too heavy to keep carrying around in that carrier. Not to mention his little head was getting a little to close to the top. He seems to enjoy his new seat. Where did my little baby go?..... okay, so he was never THAT little, but he's growing up so fast!!





I think he looks pretty happy in his new ride!!

a GREAT pick me up!

Jake LOVES his baths.... he loves getting wrapped up in his towel even more. He's so darn cute!! Enjoy!!

Guess who's 6 MONTHS OLD!

As much as I try not to think about it, my precious boy is 6 months old today!! The time has gone by soooo fast, I just can't believe it. He is such a joy to be at home with every day. He is all smiles, and is laughing more and more every day. He has this unique... ummm giggle?? I don't know what you would call it, but it makes us laugh every time.



He's not as interested in his play mat these days, he would MUCH RATHER be jumping in his jump-n-jive or jumperoo. He will jump until he is plum tuckered out..



He wants to explore EVERYTHING. He is constantly reaching out to find something new. He is already quite taken with cell phones and remote controls... I don't see the fascination, but anytime one is around, he's reaching for it.





He also LOVES faces. If you pick him up, he's going for your face and teeth. He thinks teeth are pretty funny. He has also discovered his toes and LOVES to pull his socks off to get at 'em. (sorry this pic is blurry, it was taken with my phone.



He loves books, but enjoys opening and closing them more... oh, and trying to eat them too. EVERYTHING goes in the mouth these days. He still doesn't have any teeth, but I'm convinced he's got some moving to the surface. He drools quite a bit and bites down HARD on that paci.



He had his first ride in the front of a cart at Babies-R-Us. He did really well. Probably not quite ready for a LONG Wal-Mart trip or anything, but he can sit there pretty comfortable for 20 min or so.



He is still our tummy sleeper. He sleeps with his little butt up in the air and it's the cutest thing ever!! When he wakes up he usually rolls over onto his back and plays with his blankets until we get him up. He ALWAYS wakes up happy. I LOVE going to get him up for the day. When he sees us walk in the room he'll just stop what he's doing and give us a great big morning smile. It's the greatest part of the day.
His bedtime is between 7 & 7:30, and he wakes up for the day at 7. Some days he will wake up earlier and just lay in his bed and talk until we get him up at 7.

He can roll from his back to his front with the slightest of help. He'll be doing it on his own before we know it. This will be nice b/c we will no longer need to go flip him over during the night if he happens to get that little tush too far up in the air and topples over.

He enjoys his bath at night and for some reason his favorite part is when we take him out and wrap him up in his towel. He thinks that is so funny! Our night time routine is a special time for the three of us. Daddy does the bath then together we get Jakesters all lotioned up, and ready for bed. We read one Bible Story, a page out of his book of Bible Promises and then a fun story. His FAVORITE is Pajama Time. He smiles every time we read it to him. Then we pray together as a family, I feed him and he's down for the night. I LOVE that time together.

Jake is curious about everything. I love watching him discover new things every day. Its like you can see the little wheels turning in his brain. He is very observant of his surroundings. I often wonder what is going on in that mind of his. So far he hasn't really had any stranger anxiety. He is passed around at church and never seems to have a problem. He stays happy and smiles at whoever has him. He is just an overall happy baby. He is such a joy to be around.

Well, I'm sure there is a TON more that I could write about, but I'll end here with his stats and a 6 month slide show.

Weight: 18 lbs (60th percentile)
Height: 27 1/4" (80th percentile)
Head circumference: 17"
He is in 9 or 12 mo. onesies because his torso is so long. Still in 6 or 9 mo. pants/shorts depending on the waist. Poor thing, most his shorts are manpris because he just doesn't have the longest of legs. I'm having faith that they'll catch up with his torso someday :o)

Well thanks for reading and stay posted. I'm sure I'll update as I remember stuff I wanted to blog about. (You see, I've done an AWFUL job at keeping up to date in his journal. It makes me feel better to know I've at least blogged about his milestones)

Happy Easter!!!!

So we had an AMAZING 1st Easter with our precious son Jake. We read to him all week about... not the Easter Bunny... but the Easter story. Christ and his RESURRECTION!! It will be so fun when Jake is old enough to really understand exactly what that means in His little life. That God loves him soooo much that He gave his own son to die on a cross. No longer do we have to go to priests to pray to God on our behalf. No longer do we have to make sacrifices to atone for our sins.. God gave the ultimate sacrifice... His ONLY son! Being a Mommy of a precious boy now, it's hard to comprehend what God felt seeing His son suffer so greatly at the hands of those He came to save. I think I would have looked out at the crowd and said.. fine.. you're not worth it and took my son down from the cross and left this world to fall apart... but HE didn't do that! THANK YOU GOD!!!

I had a dream Saturday night that Jake was lost. I have never felt such desperation as I did at that moment. I knew where he was, but I couldn't get to him. I wanted to make sure he was safe, but he was too far away! My heart ached!! During worship Sunday I was reminded of that dream and just started to think about what it must have been like for God. He knew where His Son was. He knew what His son was going to endure. I'm sure He too, wanted to run to His son and hold him... but he couldn't... don't get me wrong... he could have.. but he chose not too... FOR YOU!!! In my dream, if someone had said, we keep Jake, but you will save the world... NO WAY! Give me my boy and don't you dare touch a hair on his head!!

Do you get it?? I mean, do you REALLY get it?? I know I think I get it... and I know I still don't (and probably won't ever) completely get it. JESUS SACRIFICED HIS LIFE FOR YOU!! GOD ALLOWED HIS ONLY SON TO BE BRUTALLY BEATEN, FLOGGED, MOCKED, AND ULTIMATELY HUNG ON A CROSS FOR YOU!!!! He didn't have to do that... but He loves us SO MUCH that He did... even while we were still sinners. The best part of the story?? The reason we celebrate Easter?? It's not the pretty dresses or the yummy Easter meals... no... it's that HE LIVES!!! JESUS LIVES!!!! HE WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD!! Not even death could keep him down!! How exciting is that!!!! Ahhhhhh!!! I could shout it from the roof top!!

As I was saying.. I just can't wait for the day when Jake can really understand the greatness of our God. His dependence on Him and how we have hope in HIM no matter our circumstances good or bad. It is always mine and Gerald's prayer that Jake will be even crazier about God than we are. That he will have a boldness that we lack. That he will have an even closer relationship with the Lord than we do... we want him to "get it"!!! We discussed at lunch today that we look forward to the day that his faith will challenge US! Oh the glorious days ahead!! Now, don't get me wrong... I love Easter for the traditional reasons too.

Now, I do look forward to decorating and hunting Easter eggs with Jake. I look forward to finding things to put in his Easter basket, and telling him "no more candy!" (and sneaking a little when he's not looking) ;o) I do enjoy dressing him up in adorable outfits. I love that Easter means that Spring is upon us. There are many reasons I enjoy Easter, I just always want to make sure none of that overshadows the REASON we celebrate to begin with. (have I mentioned that HE LIVES??!!)

So our Easter this year consisted of a visit from Grammie and Grandad, an Easter basket filled with goodies (don't eat the grass), and a swing in the backyard for Jake to enjoy on these nice Spring days. (built with love by Daddy and Grandad). We had a fun weekend filled with playing on the floor with Jake, watching him jump endlessly in his jump-n-jive, taking lots of pictures, and just good family fun. I hope your family found itself marveling in the greatness of our God and His son Jesus. I hope you found yourself blessed beyond measure by His Grace and Mercy. Most of all, I hope you found yourself loved by the Savior!! HE IS ALIVE!!