James - 2 months

Time for a new picture of James! This week Sweet Baby James turned 2 months old. At 2 months he:

• Smiles a lot


• Eats every 3 hours but usually skips 1 meal during the night


• Is awake a lot more


• Loves to hear us sing to him


• Plays with his baby einstein gym


• Still loves to snuggle

He weighed 10 pounds 13 ounces, and measured 23 inches this week which puts him at the 30th percentile for weight and the 50th percentile for length. I may be able to stop obsessively weighing him every week now. Then again, maybe not. He's growing out of his newborn size clothes but a lot of the 3 month stuff is too big. I'm remembering that Jeffrey always seemed to be in between sizes.

I finally got some baby announcements this week and plan to get them mailed this weekend. Two months went by so fast!

~Sharon

1 month

Sweet baby James is 1 month old!

Right now he:

* weighs 7 lb 12 oz

* eats every 2 1/2 to 3 hours

* has started to smile

* loves to be held

* stretches his legs until they are completely straight

* loves to have his hands by his face

We are enjoying every moment we can with him. With Jeff beginning his senior year, we're all too aware how quickly all this will go.

~Sharon

James is here!

We are so happy that James Thomas is here!

Born: July 22nd, 11: 23 pm (23:23)

Weight: 5 lbs. exactly

Length: 18.5 inches

Sent and protected by God.

Ummm

Since I am 41 years old and expecting my second child, I've been getting some strange and stupid questions/comments. Here's my top 7:

#7 "You should have another one right away so this one doesn't grow up alone." Okay, first of all, I've never had that kind of control over my fertility. Second, Jeff has grown up as an only child for all of his 17 years so far and I happen to think he's a well-adjusted, kind, generally awesome person. Third, another baby at this age? Get real.

#6 "Whoops." Probably the most offensive, especially since it was from someone I barely know.

#5 "How old are you? If you don't mind my asking." I wonder what people would say if I responded, "Actually, I do mind you asking." I don't really mind but I just wonder.

#4 "Better you than me." Yep. Couldn't agree more.

#3 "Did you plan it this way?" Yes. I wanted to wait to see how my first child turned out before I had another one.

#2 "Are you showing yet?" I understand this question from people on the phone whom I haven't seen lately, but I don't understand this from people who are standing right in front of me. If you can't tell by looking, why ask? Then again, there are a lot of people who aren't asking they just talk to me while looking at my belly.

and the #1 stupid thing people have said to me: "You're just like Sarah!" (of Abraham and Sarah in the Bible.) Excuse me?! I'm 41 not 91!!

As you can see, it's bringing out my inner sarcastic self (okay, I don't have to dig deep for it).

Sharon

Snow, snow, snow!

We have been buried in snow here this winter. We had near-record snowfall in January -- I think we missed the record from 1978 by an inch. We had two storms which dumped about 12 inches each plus lots of days of snow flurries. I have to confess, I've had trouble seeing the beauty in it this winter. But one morning I was looking out the window and saw the sun shining on the snow and creating these lovely shadows so I went outside to try and capture it.




This winter, I've also been especially thankful for this handsome young man who has been our primary shoveler.


Thanks Jeff!

Power!

This is a picture of the house across the street as a small sample of the destruction in our neighborhood from Hurricane Ike. Thanks to good old Ike, we've been without power since Sunday night but finally last night, the electricity was restored. Hallelujah. Notice the white danger tape in the picture. That was all the evidence we had that the electric company was even aware we existed for the first three days. That wind was amazing though. God's power is truly awesome.

Being without power has its blessings.

* On our walks with the dog, we saw a lot more of our neighbors.

* We got to bed earlier than normal.

* Reading by candlelight is sort of fun.

* No recorded political phone calls.

* My refrigerator is very clean.

The worst part was not being able to make my coffee in the morning. Having to go out for coffee is so backwards. In order to go get coffee, I have to get myself ready to go out and face the day and how in the world can I do that before I have my coffee?! And without electricity to plug in the hairdryer. This morning as I made my coffee I said to Jeff, "Look at this coffee! Isn't it a beautiful thing?" Of course, being 16, he rolled his eyes and sighed and said, "It's just coffee, mom."

Jeff trying to figure out why we still had no power on Thursday.

Four crews showed up yesterday around dinnertime to begin working. These guys were all from Connecticut.

Finally, they got it all fixed. I haven't figured out how to take decent pictures at night yet.

I'm so thankful for power today!
~ Sharon

First day of school - Grade 11

No new, cool backpack. No new box of crayons. But we still take time to take a picture for the first day of school.

Welcome home

On July 5, Jeff (on the left, with his friend Sean to the right) left with 81 other teens and advisors from our church for Trujillo, Peru to work with missionaries there. Tomorrow he comes home! We got a quick note from him once and he sounded like he was enjoying the ministry there and really letting God use him to the fullest.

I made him a card to take with him but forgot to take a picture of it. Here's his welcome home card.

Praying him home,

Sharon

Lake Fun June 2008

Make a Smilebox slideshow

21 Years!

As of today, Scott and I have been married for 21 years! Holy cow. It's been wonderful and I'm very blessed.

Sharon