Who's Who??

As vain as it may sound, my baby boy reminds me of... ME! Mom sent me some pictures of me when I was a baby, so I have posted them for your comparison. Can you tell who's who?

Looking at Mommy

Looking at Mommy


Little Jay is a little younger and redder than baby Shaina

Baby Shaina and big sister Em

...only time will tell WHO this little guy will look like!

Happy Birthday, Jeff!

June 1, 1982 was a great day: that's when Jeff was born! I've had Jeff's birthday present for a month, but I made him wait till his real birthday to open it. It was a trick kite! Too bad it wasn't windy...

Putting it together

Tricky trick kite...

Trying to fly it with our box fan didn't quite work

Birthday boy!

Week One

Jay is officially a week old!!! It has been SO FUN taking care of him and holding him and looking at him... and even feeding him is getting less painful for me! He has started regulating his night sleep/wake up pattern to feeding every 2 hours-- not bad! He is so little! Most of his cute clothes are huge on his baby shoulders and legs. Even though he is still less than 7 pounds, I have been SO SORE from holding him all the time! I wish "Mom muscles" came in as fast as milk!
Grama Meri (my mom) came for a visit this week. She helped SO much with: cooking, cleaning, laundry, driving, diaper changing, baby-holding, and moral support. Thanks, Mom! I wish we had gotten a picture of Grama holding Jay, but it just never happened. I guess we'll have to see her again soon!

One of his few awake pictures

Baby burrito! Just like when he was inside me, he likes to KICK in his sleep*, and since it's warm enough, we let his feet fly free

I swear, the carseat weighs just as much as he does!

Napping in Mommy's and Daddy's bed after a nice meal... he can somehow sneak a little pee out of his diaper every time, no matter what defensive tactics I use. Hence the towel.

Our little angel

His knees slipped up into his little suit so he looks like a penguin!

I got lucky and finally captured a sleep-smile! He may be smiling here because he peed all over Daddy a few minutes later... and right when Jeff changed both his and Jay's clothes, Jay got him again! Why do we even use diapers, anyway?

Here is a good reason to let your baby sleep in a CRIB

Welcome Joseph!!

Thursday evening as I was happily enjoying my grilled cheese sandwich, I felt a small explosion under my seat-- like a water balloon popping. 5 hours later I was holding the sweetest little baby boy in the whole wide world!!!!!

I am very thankful that everything went so smoothly-- no complications, no interventions, no unnecessary scary big needles... and now the fun begins!!!

what a little sweet face!!!

Daddy!

Mommy!

Our 2-hour old family-- Little J's fingers are crossed! Even though his official name is Joseph, we decided that we can't resist still calling him Jay for "short"

First photo: Joseph Argyle White: born Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 10:59pm. 6 lbs 15 oz

Home at last!

"Seven Mile" Sunset

While encouraging me to take a walk every day, my doctor here in Walla Walla reccommended Seven Mile Road as the best place around to enjoy a sunset. He gave me directions, and Jeff took me out there to check it out. What a gorgeous sunset! Even though I miss the rolling, wooded hills in "the east," there still is something to be said about a nice clear horizon.

The lovely sun setting

He's not even BORN yet, and our child is already "interrupting" potentially romantic moments! Can't...reach...lips...

Thank goodness our necks still allow us to reach forward!

Lately I have been really losing patience with people who comment "you're looking so big," "how pregnant you look!" and "you look miserable," and other such comments. News flash: believe it or not, I KNOW I'm 8 1/2 months pregnant! However, every now and then I do recognize a particularly silly-looking pose... This picture cracks me up because my stomach looks fake!

Baby Shower!

Last night (Tuesday, May 12), my sweet visiting teachers threw a baby shower for me! They really THREW it together fast-- it was announced on Friday in the Relief Society email, and 20 ladies came! It was great to meet more of the sisters in our ward. I am touched at all of the kind gifts they gave baby Joseph and me. I felt very welcomed and it was a ton of fun too!! Treats, games, and gifts... and plenty of chatting! Thanks to my new ward for being so wonderful and welcoming! I don't have any pictures of the actual shower, but here is the "aftermath:"

The heap 'o bags... I'm STILL folding tissue paper

It took a while for me to arrange all of the gifts. Baby Joseph is one lucky guy!

And the obligatory tummy picture: This is me 1 day shy of 37 weeks... I think baby Joseph is PLENTY big enough to join us on the outside, don't you?

Bread!

I have tried to make bread like my Mom's at least 3 times in the past, but I failed miserably with hard, flat rocks for loaves all 3 times! So, when I was visiting a few weeks ago, I took notes and asked questions while Mom made bread. And yesterday, I finally accomplished 2 golden, fluffy, soft loaves of half-white-half-wheat bread! Hurrah! And now for the pictoral proof:

35 weeks and counting...

This week baby Joseph and hit I hit the 35 week mark... only 5 weeks left! Wahooooo! Even better: if he is born in 2 weeks, he'll still be considered full term. All I can say is any time now, buddy! I started laughing at my profile recently because I look like I swallowed a watermelon whole. I catch random people quickly looking away all the time in public, and cashiers have started asking when I'm due, etc. So, without further ado, here's the latest baby picture... I don't think I've grown very much since the last one, but I feel TONS heavier!

The latest

Jeff and I cut up about 30 to 40 t-shirts each back when we were leaving SVU, and I finally got around to making Jeff's t-shirt quilt this past month. I looked up ideas online, and then I kind of winged it... luckily this picture does not show too many of the imperfections! I must say, I am pleased with the finished product. The hard part now will be finding the motivation to make my quilt-- it requires a lot of crawling around on the floor to arrange pieces, and my big belly gives me a big back ache when I do too much of that these days!

Jeff with his prize

Some pregnancy cliches have completely passed me by and seem quite ridiculous, like "pickles and ice cream." However, there is one that is becoming alarmingly more real every day: I CAN'T MOVE! I can't bend over without some difficulty and a little groan on the side. I can't sit in any position comfortably for very long, and at the end of the day, I always need a back rub!!! I won't even start with how uncomfy sleeping is! I'm scared I'll start waddling any day now! haha, Hurry up, baby!

Today is Little J's 33 week mark, so we took pictures... Thank goodness there are only 7 weeks left (I'm hoping he comes sooner)!!! We can't wait to hold our little guy! (and I can't wait to be mobile again)

Spring Break!

Last week, (April 3-11) was Kyle's and Mel's spring break (my brother and sister). I drove up to Seattle (4 1/2 hrs) and Em and Steve flew out from MO. We had a great week of family fun-- we were only missing Brad (serving in Portugal), Jesse (working tax season in MO), and Jeff (taking classes in Walla Walla). The Brown home hasn't had that many girls in it in a LONG time, and it was great! We went shopping, watched movies, did crafts, cooked yummy food, went to yummy restaurants, played games, and enjoyed Steve's little vocabulary. We didn't really take a very balanced variety of pictures--poor Em, the most dedicated photographer, was hit with the dreaded morning sickness half way through the week. There are still plenty, though!

Mom made us refreshing smoothies, and Steve loved them!

This is my new favorite picture of Steve

Kyle scored great Uncle points entertaining Steve during General Conference...

...and letting Steve play with his iPhone

Steve really stole the show-- he eventually was able to hit ping pong balls with the hockey stick instead of whacking his own ankles!

Aunt Mel and Aunt Shaina took Steve to the park one morning!

I tried helping Steve on this one, but my stomach was too big and we both couldn't fit behind the controllers, so Mel stepped in

Steve's puppy was never far from the action-- Em forgot it in MO and Steve's faithful aunt Cammie had to OVERNIGHT the beloved bedraggled pooch for him

weeee!

I couldn't really climb and slide with Steve, sadly, so I was photographer

Steve loves his Aunt Mel!

And of course, we had to do a craft... I finished Jeff's t-shirt quilt. It was quite bulky and hard to sew!

We camped out with our sewing machines in the kitchen

Mel worked on a quilt

I love my sisters!!!!