Clicking our heels three times...

I told you we'd update you once we found a new place to live. Well, as Dorothy said, "there's no place like home." We have discovered that is true...so we're going home to New York. We've decided to step out in faith and move home at the end of June. Once we have an address, we'll let you all know. We'll be living with my mom until we find a place to call our own. There are so many reasons for this decision, and it was far from easy to make. We love our life in Virginia. We love the weather, we love the history that we are surrounded by, we love our proximity to Washington DC. We have friends that we dearly love and a church that we are comfortable in. What we don't love, however, is how far we are from our families and the uncertainty of living at someone else's mercy because we can't afford to buy a home. Our families are missing Joshua grow up and we don't think that is right. Ben doesn't have a job yet and we have nowhere to live, but we are going to step out in faith and trust that God will provide both of those for us. At least we know that we have family to support us and help us and give us love whenever we need it. That's enough for us. :)

Lots of firsts!

Joshua had his first REAL bath tonight. We expected that there would be lots of screaming, kicking & fighting from our little boy, but we couldn't have been more wrong. As soon as we put him in the water, his eyes got really big and he just relaxed. The whole experience was a relaxed one...except for when we took him out. Then the screaming began. I totally understand...I hate getting out of a warm bath too. Right now, he's out like a light!

I had him in his crib again tonight trying to get a video of him rolling over. Well, he didn't roll over, but he did sort of sniper crawl around the crib. I know it wasn't a real crawl, it was more of a "mom I'm so frustrated because you won't pick me up and you keep trying to make me do tricks for your stupid videos" kind of movement, but I was still pretty impressed. That was until he ran smack into the siderail of the crib. Then I felt bad for trying to make him do tricks for my stupid videos. :)

This week he's also started sleeping around 6 hours at night and going around 8 hours between feedings at night. It's been really strange for me. I keep waking up expecting him to be fussy and wanting to eat, but he never is. I know it's weird, but I kind of miss that 3am feeding. I feel like he's growing up so fast and he just doesn't need me as much anymore.

Tomorrow will be a big first for Josh. We're getting on a plane! We're flying home for Memorial Day weekend. Everyone is so excited to finally meet Joshua and we can't wait to introduce him to all of you in NY. See you soon!!

Yippee!!!

We have a cordless baby!!!!! No more medicine, no more central line, no more home health care!! Joshua had his central line removed this morning and we couldn't be more happy. He went through surgery like a pro and recovered beautifully. We get to take his bandage off in 48 hours and then (drum roll, please)........we get to give him a bath!!!!! It may not seem like much, but for us it's huge. We haven't been able to get him wet up until now. At first, his umbillical cord hadn't fallen off and then he had the central line put in. So now, we have a beautiful cord free baby with a real belly button who can have a real bath!!! I can't wait to see how he reacts to being completely in the water. He wasn't the biggest fan of the washcloth baths he had been getting. Hopefully he'll like being warm in the water better.

Now for some other big news...Joshua is ROLLING OVER! On Sunday, we were working on some tummy time in his crib when all of a sudden...he was on his back. Ben screamed and then laughed this maniacal laugh and we just stared at each other (apparently Joshua scared his daddy!). So we put Josh back on his tummy and he rolled over again. After the third time, we decided it wasn't a fluke. Our son is rolling over! Oh my goodness. I looked it up online and this particular milestone doesn't usually occur until between 2-4 months old. I spoke with Josh's nurse yesterday and she said that is really more like 4 months old because babies aren't as strong as they used to be because they are put on their backs most of the time. She was quite impressed with him. I'm so proud!! My son is so advanced! Take that doctors who said he might miss milestones! He's meeting and even doing them early! :)

Just for Aunt Jodi...

Dear Auntie Jodi,

I know you're sad today because Tio is deploying tonight. I wish I could be there to snuggle with you and make you feel better! I'm really looking forward to seeing you next weekend. I promise I'll cuddle with you all weekend and give you lots of smiles! For now, mommy is posting some pictures and a video of me to make you smile. I hope they help a little bit!

Josh smiling at PsyOp Charlie from Jamie on Vimeo.

Love,
Joshua

Visit with Aunt Kim & Uncle Mike

Last weekend we had a visit with Aunt Jodi & Tio Jay. What I completely forgot to tell you about was our visit with Aunt Kim & Uncle Mike the weekend before! Kim, Mike...I'm so sorry! I know you were so excited about meeting Josh and we were so excited to have you all to ourselves for a weekend. We really enjoyed our time together and Joshua loved meeting you both finally. :)
Uncle Mike & Aunt Kim are in Scotland right now with Grampa & Gramma. They're probably not checking the blog from across the pond, but we can't wait to see them again when they get back!!

The first smiles!!

Joshua has recently started to smile at us at random times. Oh, how the hope of getting a smile out of him makes my world go around! The first smile I got from him was on Mother's Day morning and it was the best gift EVER. This morning, I caught some smiles on video! That big, gummy grin just makes my heart flip. :)

Joshua smiling! from Jamie on Vimeo.


Joshua smiling from Jamie on Vimeo.

Weekend with Aunt Jodi & Tio Jay

We drove down to North Carolina this past weekend to spend some time with Aunt Jodi & Tio Jay before Tio deploys. I'm so glad Jay got to hold, feed, burp & cuddle Joshua before he goes!! Jay has taken to being an uncle like a duck to water. It's so evident that he just loves Josh to bits.

This is Joshua's new buddy, PsyOp Charlie:

Jay bought this as a gift for Josh and Joshua just loves him. He stares at him and blows bubbles at him and uses his ear as a pacifier when his falls out of his mouth. :) He has a parachute in the pack on his back and he even has patches & pockets in all the right places. Thanks, Tio!!!

Healthwise, Joshua is doing great. He's in his last week of medication and we will soon have a cordless baby!!! We're done with the antiviral treatment a week from today and then we get to make an appointment to have his central line taken out. Yippee!!!! I can't wait until we don't have that coming out of his leg. His nurse came today and he was weighed. Hold onto your hats, folks...he weighs 11 lbs, 10 oz! I sure hope this crazy growth spurt slows down soon...he's growing out of his clothes too fast and he's getting really really heavy to carry around. But he sure is cute all chubby with all those rolls and chins. I just love it.

For Mother's Day, Joshua gave me the best gift ever. He smiled at me! Not the I'm sort of asleep smile...it was an open mouth, huge grin, eyes wide open smile. I was kissing his cheeks & nose and he broke out in the biggest grin I've ever seen. I can't wait to see it again!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

For as long as I can remember, the answer was always the same anytime anyone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wanted to be a mommy. There were short spurts of wanting to be a teacher or a lawyer or a counselor, but I always knew motherhood would be the ultimate goal. Now, I've reached that goal. When I was pregnant, I worried that once Josh arrived I would be somewhat sad. Like when you're waiting for Christmas for 364 days and then all of a sudden...it's here! And then the day after, you feel sad because it came and you have nothing to look forward to. But I now realize that I have so much to look forward to. Each day is such a wonderful gift and Joshua is the best thing I've ever done. No matter what life brings from here on out, nothing will diminish the joy of knowing that I'm Joshua's mommy. Forever.

The day after Joshua was born, my aunt sent me this email. I've seen it before, and I cried each time, but this time it really hits home.

A baby asked God, 'They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?' God said, 'Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you.'

The child further inquired, 'But tell me, here in heaven I don't have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy.' God said, 'Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you. And you will feel your angel's love and be very happy.'

Again the child asked, 'And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me if I don't know the language?' God said, 'Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak.'

'And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?' God said, 'Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray.'

'Who will protect me?' God said, 'Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life.'

'But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore.' God said, 'Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will teach you the way to come back to Me, even though I will always be next to you.'

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, 'God, if I am to leave now, please tell me my angel's name.'

God said, 'You will simply call her, 'mommy.'

Happy Mother's Day, everyone. To my dear friends Kristen, Jodi, Tori & Carly...a very special Happy FIRST Mother's Day to you!!! :)

Six weeks old!

When am I supposed to stop counting his age in weeks? I haven't switched over to the month count yet because one and a half months sounds so much older than six weeks. I want to keep him little as long as I can. :)

So Joshua is SIX WEEKS OLD today! This calls for a video montage extravaganza!! All the videos have sound, but the last one has sappy music with it as well. If you are a sleep deprived new mommy who's emotions are running high, someone who cries when the guy gets the girl at the end of the chic flic, or my mommy...you might want some tissues handy. :) Enjoy!!


Joshua waking up from Jamie on Vimeo.


Joshua doing nothing special from Jamie on Vimeo.


Joshua 5/5/08 from Jamie on Vimeo.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Tummy time!

It's a lazy Sunday at our house today. Joshua went six hours between feedings last night! He ate at 10pm, went to bed at 11pm, and didn't wake up until 4am. I don't even know what to do with this much sleep! I feel like I could take on the world!! Ok, maybe taking on the world is a little much, but I definitely have enough energy to make dinner. :) Being that it's a lazy day, we did a little tummy time with Josh. Usually he loves it. Today, not so much. He hadn't slept much leading up to this and it was time to eat. So this is what happens when you try tummy time when Joshua is tired and hungry...

Joshua tummy time from Jamie on Vimeo.

Yesterday, we went to the doctor to be diagnosed with reflux. Poor Josh. As if he didn't have enough medicine running through his system, now he has baby Prilosec in the mix too! We've been treating him with baby doses of Maalox, but hopefully the Prilosec will work more effectively. We see the infectious disease specialist on Tuesday so we'll update you after the appointment. And we'll add more pictures and maybe even another video. :)