Thursday, March 3, 2011

Jacob Carter at 3 Months





I cannot believe that Jacob is already 3 months old! Crazy Crazy Crazy how time flies by!  We had his 2 month check-up late due to both babies getting RSV, so we had to wait until he didn't have a fever or anything for him to get his shots.  I knew Jacob was bigger than average but I was still shocked to find out how big he really was.

        Weight: 19lbs 2oz. (off the charts)
        Height: 26 1/2 inches (again off the charts)
        Head Circumference: 16 inches

   The Doctor's jaw literally dropped when he found out how much Jacob weighed.  We broke the record at the Polk-Davis office for the largest 2 month old.  Dr. Davis walked him around the office showing him off and how big he was.  The average 2 month old weighs 11 lbs and the average 1 year old weighs 22lbs.  I knew he was big simply because he is already wearing 6 month clothing and size 3 diapers but Dr. Davis reassured that assumption.  Other than the shock of Jacob's size everything else went perfectly, healthy and strong baby.

   Jacob made his first trip to Plano last weekend to see his Grammy, Grandad, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Debbi, Cousin Natalie, Aunt Megan, and all my church family.  He is just as good with traveling as Jo A is.  He slept the entire way there and only fussed the last 30 min on the way home.  This weekend we are traveling once again to see JoJo's side of the family for a wedding......keep your fingers crossed that they both will do just as well as they did on the trip to Plano.  

Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day!

   Happy Valentine's Day to all!!! 
      On a day that is solely devoted to the concept of love it's hard to think of much else, and all I can think about it how lucky I am.  I am so blessed so have unconditional love from friends, family, my incredible husband and best friend, and two of the most precious little boys.  This morning I was able to wake up the most amazing "love" moment a person can ask for.  I woke up to hear JoJo in the shower so I decided to get up and start some breakfast and make him lunch.  On my way to the kitchen I looked down at Jacob laying in his bed and all of a sudden, with such an excited burst of movement, he got a huge smile on his face and started kicking his legs and waving his arms.  LOVE!!!!! Jo A. hasn't even woken up yet but I'm positive that I will walk into his room and find him standing in his bed and just the sight of me will bring a huge smile to his face, he'll start bobbing up and down, he'll grab his lamby and hug him, and then reach out for me.  Once again......LOVE!!!!!  I get to wake up to this every morning to this! I am so blessed!  I am confident that as the day goes on this amount of love that is shown by my precious angels will not fade.  Whether it is Jo A. kissing Jacob every 30 min., or if it's Jacob's constant smiles, or even when it's JoJo coming home from working a labor intensive 9 hour work day and still having enough energy to hug and kiss on me as soon as he gets home till we lay our heads down and go to sleep.  
   As a parent, it is so rewarding seeing this love that JoJo and I have and share with them pour out of their little bodies.  Jo A. has become so attached to this little lamb of his.  He always had  to have something to go to sleep with but now he will go into his room in the middle of play time and yell for his lamby that is just out of reach in his bed.  He even double fists it sometimes and will be walking around with lamby in one hand and his bear in the other.  I learned that children around the age of one start to understand this concept of "love" that they see in their home.  It makes me so happy to see him hug his lamby then hand him off to one of us to hug, and then grab him back and hug him once more.  He is mirroring the love he receives from us.  Even when I feel like all I am doing is telling him 'no, no' and making him cry because he can't get into everything he wants, he still feels the love through it all.  

"All you need is love."    
   

Monday, January 17, 2011

Out of the mouth of a baby

   Jo A has become even more vocal than he always had been.  He walks/runs around the house speaking complete gibberish with the cutest little voice. We love watching him.  He looks like he is carrying on a conversation with someone, and no one else other than him is talking.  His vocabulary is growing way too quickly, and we are having to be careful what we say and how we say things to him.


Jo A's vocabulary includes:
Yes= Yeah
Truck= ruckkkkkk (the 'ck' is over eccentuated)
Lamby= ammy
Sock= sssockkkkk
Baby= baubyy
Mia (our dog)= Ah Mi....I don't know how he got this but he says it backwards
Puppy= puppppiiiiis
Please= Peeees
Nap= Ap
Up= Upppp
Fish= Ish

All of this talking is so new to him and us and it just shocks me every time something new comes out of his mouth.  It truly is amazing how much of a sponge little kids are. 
   When Jo A was born I really didn't read many 'how to' books, I just kinda winged his whole first year with the help of the advice from certain people.  It was doable with one baby, but now I can't really just wing it with Jacob in hopes that something would stick. The main topic right now is sleep.  Jo A has been such an amazing sleeper since he was only weeks old.  He was sleeping through the night, 9+ hours, every night.  One thing that I think really helped that was moving him into his own room much earlier than most.  He was about 3 weeks old and we had moved him out of our room and into his.  That has been the easiest thing ever since.  He LOVES his naps to the point of walking himself to his room with his paci and lamb and if we didn't catch his hint he will come back out and wait till one of us follows him in and puts him down.  He also does not require any sort of coddling before sleep and never has.  I started out trying to rock him and read to him but he would just wiggle his way out of my arms.  We very quickly realized that all he wanted us to do was lay him in his crib and put his lamb on his face and walk out.  I was not about to fight him about it.  But now I have a 6 week old who is sleeping about 5 to 7 hours through that night, which I am very thankful for, but I still can't move him into the room with Jo A yet.  I would much rather have one kid sleep through the night uninterrupted, than none.  So, now I'm onto the 'how to' book idea, but where do I begin?
   Besides 'sleeping through the night' ( 5-7 hrs), Jacob has become such a little socialite.  He has been very vocal since day one, which was screaming and crying, but now is onto some of the cutest noises.  It's almost like he reads the emotions of us and portrays them back to us.  Whenever we are excited or getting loud, which is normally during a funny movie, playing with Jo A, or playing the Wii, Jacob turns into this little social bug.  He will start moving his whole body, kicking his legs and waving his arms around, and start 'talking'. He also has begun gracing us with his beautiful smile.  Jacob's and Jo A's smiles just melt every inch of me. 
   My life has a purpose, and it is proven to me when my children smile & cuddle with me.  Nothing could ever replace it or be described until someone has felt it themselves. The unconditional, untainted love of a child......Ahhhhhh!

Monday, January 10, 2011

2011 here we come!!!

So another year has come and gone! These last two years have been two of the best years of my life. In 2009 JoJo and I found out we were pregnant....SURPRISE, had my dream wedding where I married my best friend and love of my life surrounded by wonderful friends and family, and had Joseph Andrew Ramirez. Turning the corner to 2010, I thought there was no way life could get any better. Once again God showed me who was really in control of my life. Just as I was getting use to being a mom and getting comfortable with my life we found out I was pregnant once again.....SURPRISE! This news made me realize that I needed to slow down and enjoy these beautiful babies' childhood, so I quit my (high-stress) job and relaxed at home and got to watch my baby grow up! Boy do they grow up fast! Jo A turned 1 on November 11, 2010 and decided to start walking the very same day! With him getting around so well and myself being 8 months pregnant, I was worn out! Jacob must have known I was ready to be done being pregnant because he chose his own birthday and came almost 2 weeks early on December 3, 2010, weighing in at a whopping 9lbs 11oz. Needless to say the past month has been crazy busy with little to no time to sit down and relax, but I'm loving every minute of it.....at the moment.
Yet again, I feel that God is going to give us another memorable year with Jo A starting to talk and pick up on things so quickly and Jacob absorbing everything this world has to offer. This new family of mine brings me so much joy and love that it is impossible to explain in words. I know that the future brings me many days where I won't be able to hear myself think for one second, and days of complete exhaustion, but also, without a doubt in my mind, I know that God will not give me more than I can handle and he has lots in store for me and my family in the new year!

Here are some pictures just to recap since I last posted!




Jo A's first "real" haircut at the barber shop!



Pig Roast 2010. His first taste of Illinois soil.

Jo A's first Jack-O-Latern

8 months prego with Jacob.


Jo A posing for his first pic being 1 year old! ha Ha Ha this cracks me up!



His new tricycle he got for his birthday!



Digging into his birthday cake!



Jacob Carter Ramirez; 12.3.2010


Our family as of 12.3.10. Jo A is such a love bug!


Our little angel.



Merry Christmas 2010!
I hope all of you are just as excited about the upcoming new year as we are and may God bless you and your families!