Introducing Emily Ruth

My sister-in-law had her baby on Wednesday! Her name is Emily Ruth Greene. She was 9 lbs and 3 oz at birth and 21 in. She looks just like Mary and Elijah did when they were born. Michelle is doing well (the time in the hospital is almost like a vacation for her!). Mary and Elijah are beside themselves with excitement. We are all just so excited that she is here! I don't want to post too many pictures, because, well, that's Michelle's privilege. But at least you can take a peek!

Thanksgiving

So Everette and I went to Selma Alabama for Thanksgiving. Both of his grandmothers and his aunt and his cousin live there (or reasonably close). It was the first time most of them got to meet Jonathan. One of Everette's grandmother's is unable to travel. She is barely able to walk. We were all excited for her to meet Jonathan. It was so neat, she was so excited. It made the long trip worth it. Which speaking of the long trip... Jonathan was amazingly quiet during this trip. He barely made a peep the whole way down and the whole way back. Everette and I were worried we would spend 12 hours listening to a screaming baby. But he was amazing.
The whole trip was great.. exhausting, but great. It was nice to spend time with Everette's family and it was encouraging to see how Everette and I worked well together on our long trip south.
Here are some pictures!

Jonathan slept the whole way down!

Everette and Grammy and Jonathan, at Grammy's Place.

Grammommie finally got Jonathan to be quiet.

Holy Freakin' Cow!!!!

I don't know how it happened and I don't know if it will ever happen again, but my baby slept for eight hours Saturday night! It was the most glorious thing ever! I gave him a bath, nursed him and laid him down at 1:30 AM and he woke up at 9:30 AM. It was marvelous... the best part is I slept soundly, I did not wake up once in a panic that he wasn't awake, at least not until 8:30 AM when we realized if we didn't get moving we weren't going to make it to church. On top of all of that Everette and I had a pleasant evening out together alone. It was a great end to a reasonably sucky day.

No Escape

There are many wonderful things about Everette working from home, I get to spend my day with my favorite person. He gets extra time with Jonathan, I mean who else gets to have a midday cuddle with their son and their husband during the week? And I also usually have some interaction with an adult every day!
The downside however is that when Everette has a bad day at the office, it is very hard to leave it at the office. This is exacerbated when Jonathan happens to be having a bad day. It isn't like Everette comes home from a bad day at the office, and hanging out with a crying baby is at least different (doubtfully better). He has been hanging out with a crying baby and a stressed out wife as well as dealing with stressful work situations. These days require us to be extra kind and extra patient. We are not always so good at, thankfully Everette has a great job and Jonathan is a great kid so these days are few and far between.

Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures

So Everette and I were at his parents house on Sunday celebrating his younger brother's birthday (Happiest Birthday Grant). Jonathan was being particularly fussy/hungry.
His family was passing him around trying to give me a much needed break. I was also finishing up my dessert (continuing the theory that he only cries when I am eating). Needless to say Jonathan was feeling desperate, so desperate that Daddy's Magic Finger wasn't even doing the trick.
Everette picked him up and held him in front of him and started talking to him. Jonathan in his desperation latched (quickly) onto Everette's nose! And stayed there!!! Long enough for us to get multiple pictures. It was hysterical, and pitiful at the same time. He has also done it several times since then (although now it has turned into more of a stupid human party trick).
Here are a few pictures!


This was the first time... as you can see it was a good latch!

In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.

Proverbs 16:9

So I had planned to move Jonathan out of our room after Thanksgiving, we would be past the 2 month mark and it seemed like a good time. My "plan" was to put him down for his naps in his room during the day so he can get used to sleeping in the room when it isn't so dark and scary. Then after Thanksgiving he would transitions to nights.
However, it seems that he has transitioned earlier... it might be a little too early to say for good (i.e. the pack and play is still up in our bedroom). But after, two nights and two days of little sleep, for all parties concerned, we moved to the "cry it out" method. So far it seems to be working. I hope that someday we get to the "no crying"point, but after a few minutes of crying he goes to sleep.... this was preceded by several 45 min crying sessions (for those of you who might be thinking of calling CPS--he was checked on periodically during the 45 mins).
It's funny how people keep asking me about his personality, like does he sleep well, or does he cry alot, etc. Everyday seems to be different. He is changing and developing so fast at this point that his sleeping and eating patterns are new almost every day.
One thing is for sure it is an adventure and Everette and I are loving it.


Here are some pictures of Jonathan in his very own crib. Enjoy!

And a teaser to keep you coming back... next time: Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures

12:57 AM.. who says those college days are gone?

I don't understand why everyone says your life is over after you have a kid. People say to me your late nights are over...so far things haven't been farther from the truth. I mean in college I stayed up regularly until midnight at least (often 2 AM). Well here it is 12:57 and I am WIDE awake. Just like the good old days. In college I spent my late nights hanging with my roommates watching movies, crying and indulging in midnight snacks. So far there is a lot of that going on now... only differences are my roommate is a one month old boy and his crying is a LOT louder and so far he is the only one snacking (on the plus side I am burning calories while he is eating). But really I don't see what the fuss is about. If I just popped some popcorn it would be just like the good old days. (ooo wow... that was a REALLY LOUD scream). Also on the positive side my jaw has progressed from feeling like I was hit by a semi to just one really good punch in the jaw.


Everette's parents came over yesterday and made me dinner and his mom spent the night to help with Jonathan. It was wonderful! We also took a bath (really just Jonathan but we helped... umm that would be weird). But here are some fabulously adorable pictures. Don't worry they are all PG thanks to one strategically placed rubber duck.

It's all relative

So today is day two of having my wisdom teeth removed, and I have learned that pain is all relative. Like yesterday I went to sleep feeling like I lost a boxing match, but today I woke up feeling like I was hit by a semi. But this pain is nothing compared to the searing, piercing, stabbing, nerve exposing pain I felt in my tooth before they removed it. This pain was the second worst pain I have ever felt in my life (just in case you are wondering... the first is NOT labor--- when I was in high school I had these strange reoccurring lower abdominal pains--definitely the WORST pain in my life). So the moral of the story is if you are afraid of getting your wisdom teeth removed because of the potential for pain; just let a large painful cavity develop in one of them and wait until the pain gets so bad you want to blow off the side of your jaw and then the surgery will be much less painful... relatively speaking.

Super Fun Weekend

I know that I had a really fun weekend, my problem is that I absolutely cannot remember what I did on Friday. Saturday Everette and I met for a spontaneous dinner at Olive Garden. It was quite fun. The evening got even better when we went over to see my brother and sister-in-law. Who we have not seen in FOREVER! It was so great to see them and spend time with them. Which brings me to more serious thoughts. It is interesting how people keep telling me that they are amazed at how calm and together I am since Jonathan was born. Quite frankly, my life is easy. It is people like my brother and his wife that are amazing. Both full time teachers, with two kids under five and one on the way. Quite frankly I don't know how they do it, and they manage to do it all while keeping their sanity. They are great parents and they manage to find time to do things with their kids and each other. I truly am impressed with them, especially in light of recent events where they seem to be bombarded with one thing after another in this already insanely busy season of their life. So Michelle and Brian... hats off to you. Your kids are amazing, you are amazing. I hope my kids turn out as good as yours. It is an honor to know you and call you my family. Love you lots! I am praying for rest for you all!

Halloween

So mostly this is an excuse to post more pictures of my kid (those of you who were complaining before... watch out now!). My parents came over for Halloween and passed out candy to trick or treaters. In the past this is something Everette and I have really enjoyed doing. We stock up on the "good" candy--you know the stuff you traded for. This year, I hardly got to enjoy it... one of the many secondary benefits to nursing... you are tethered to a chair (positive-people wait on you, negative-you miss seeing adorable kids dressed up like pirates). It was quite comical the few moments I wasn't nursing, we became quite a spectacle answering the doorbell. Imagine some poor five-year-old ringing the doorbell, only to get bowled over by an over-exhuberant dog trying to lick you to death. When you finally get back up on your feet there are four adults and one screaming infant "oooing" and "ahhhing" over your costume and shoving candy in your face.
Overall it was a pretty great time, we did however realize that our neighborhood has quite a few less houses than our previous one did. Next time we don't need as much candy.


So the outfit Jonathan is wearing is from his Gramma Mills. She bought it before he was out of the hospital. I have to admit I was skeptical that he would be able to wear it by Halloween, but here he is! He definatley has some room to grow (out) lengthwise he has almost reached the toes. Enjoy!

The name

So I feel compelled to explain the name. Many of you might have guessed JEM are the initials of my family members. After Jonathan was born we got a congratulatory email from a dear friend of ours JP Flory. There he pointed out that we could now be "truly outrageous"... sending me into hysterical laughter and several moments reminiscing over one of the best television shows of my childhood. Not to mention my own secret identity of glamorous rock star--I am JEM, or at least I was in my bedroom.
I was then struck by the irony that Everette had NO idea what JP was referring to, even after I explained it to him. I thought it would be perfect. After all, we are Truly Outrageous.
For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, please check out this youtube video. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpKggnvna8k