6 Weeks!

On Thursday, Jake's six week birthday, we took him up to Mark's office and weighed him. He tipped the scales at a whopping 11 lbs 4 oz. He measured 22 3/4 inches long. We are glad to see that he is indeed growing and gaining weight. We thought you might like to see how much he's grown...

One day old

Five weeks old

Daddy feeds Jacob!

On Monday night we had a practice run to see if Jake would take a bottle of mommy's milk from Mark. The goal was for me to be able to go to Bible study on Tuesday night and not have to worry about leaving early to come home and feed Jake. We thought it would be best to try giving Jake a bottle when I was home and available rather than leaving Mark high and dry with me gone if he wouldn't take it. We should not have been worried! Jake took the bottle without any problem and drank five ounces of colostrum... he definitely had a full belly and slept well!

Daddy feeding Jacob

Charleston

We took our first family trip last Saturday. We went to Charleston, SC for Laura Lee and Marty's wedding. Laura Lee is a fellow intern with Mark here in Greenwood and Marty just graduated from medical school. Jake enjoyed his first dance with the bride and we had a wonderful time. Jake traveled extremely well and enjoyed the view from his window seat in the new car.

The bride and groom dancing the shag (the state dance of SC)

Our sweet little man all dressed up! Thanks, Jackson, for sending Jake this handsome outfit!

The Greenwood crew

Danny, Karissa, Jeremy, Laura Lee, Marty, Brian, Amanda, Beth, Jake, Mark

Family photo op

All the girls!

Amanda, Karissa, Elise, Laura Lee, Beth, Laura Lee's mom

New wheels

No, Jacob didn't get a new stroller.

Beth and I took the plunge into the car-purchasing market on Friday and replaced her Saturn (which served us well for many, many miles) with a new, quiet, more spacious vehicle. We had been looking at buying new based on how things are with the market right now, but found a great deal on a 2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid. We have both been really excited about driving a hybrid vehicle, both for fuel efficiency and emissions benefits.  We were able to get a vehicle with more space than my Jeep Grand Cherokee and better in-city mileage than the little Saturn 4-cylinder (while still having the power of a 268 hp V6).  Plus it's amazing how quiet a car can be when it's only running on a big battery!  www.hybridsynergydrive.com explains how it all works.

Now Jake can ride comfortably with all the latest and greatest safety features, and grandparents can sleep better at night when we make road trips!

Making the trade-off

More Pictures

We've received multiple requests for more pictures, so here you go...

Sleeping peacefully

Napping with daddy

Making a funny face

All stretched out sleeping

Just chillin'

Smiling for mommy

Snuggled up after a bath

Looking at daddy

Playing with his activity floor mat

One month already?

It's amazing to realize that Jacob has been with us for a whole month. We're impressed at how much he has grown already, and is able to move around in his crib (including getting up on his side). It's incredible that although he seem so new to us that he is changing so fast. His awake time has been evolving as well - he's now showing more interest and tracking the animals on his mobile.  I (Mark) have really enjoyed having vacation time to spend at home for snuggling up on the couch and changing lots of dirty diapers!

Before Jacob was born we talked about how we realized how much we loved him already. Of course, now that he's here we are even more aware.  One night back around Easter we were talking about how amazing it was that God would give his own son for us, to die so that we could live. Just thinking about that brought us both to tears, that we could not bear the thought of sacrificing our son for somebody else. Never before had the love of God been so impressed upon our hearts, and having him here now confirms that thought daily.

Jake gets his hair washed

After Beth's bout with the vaseline in Jake's hair she discovered that although he's not always excited about a full bath, he does like having his hair washed. Something about mommy's scalp massage, I guess...

Here's video (I promise he really is alive)

First Mother's Day

Sunday was my first Mother's Day, and it was a wonderful day! I still can't believe I am finally a mother! I am LOVING being a mom, and Jacob is such a sweet baby. Jake and Mark surprised me with a beautiful necklace that Mark claims Jacob picked out, but I'm not so sure... I do know that I love it!

The one on the left is the one they picked out for me.

We went to Sunday School and part of church and enjoyed the beautiful weather! We took a few pictures outside and then enjoyed a wonderful waffle lunch made for me by my loving husband. It was delicious!

The new mom

The happy family

Bath Time

Jake has become quite proficient at peeing and pooping on Mommy and Daddy. He will have a full diaper and while we are changing him, he finds it amusing to fill his diaper again... the only problem is that he no longer has a diaper on! No matter how fast we put the new diaper on, he can somehow manage to dirty his changing pad cover and make a huge mess in the process! When this happens (which is not all the time, thank goodness), the only solution for clean-up is to head straight to the bathtub! Jake likes the water and enjoys having his hair washed, but is not a fan of the actual bathing part of his baths. Hopefully once he gets older and can play in the water with toys, he will enjoy his baths more.

Daddy giving Jake a bath.

Cradle Cap Adventure

Jacob's scalp has been dry and peeling a little, so I decided to do something about it last week. I looked up cradle cap in the book What to Expect The First Year, and it suggested massaging petroleum jelly into the scalp and then shampooing the hair to get rid of this problem. Well, let me tell you that they forgot to mention that it may take repeated washings to get the petroleum jelly out of the hair! Finally after about ten shampoos with both baby shampoo and adult shampoo, Jake's hair is back to normal. After hearing of my little escapade, my sister told me that she always uses olive oil. This definitely works better!