Sunshine

Hello, people! It's been a pretty tame week around here, unless you count our little growling, biting, crawling boy. Jay is officially 9 months old!!! He is eating more and more real food, and he loves feeding himself. It gets pretty messy, but he ate a whole chicken puff the other night! Other happenings: we had a few lovely warm sunny days here this week and I just basked in the springy weather. I hope it's here to stay! I walked to the store and ran to the park and scootered to the post office--it's nice to not have to clamp Jay into his car seat every time I want to go somewhere! Jeff starts class observations this week and student teaching in 3 weeks. Jay and I are going to miss having him around during the day! If you can believe it, I did not take one picture this week, so I just quickly took some so this post isn't too boring...

Jay is getting better with a sippy cup

Man this little guy is SO much fun!! He's such a happy little fellow. We like him.

Jay has improved his crawling greatly:

Fraggle Rock

"Dance your cares away [clap clap], worries for another day-a-ayyy! Let the music playyyy, down in Fraggle Rock!" Who can resist a classic 1980's Jim Henson show? Jeff recently discovered that his childhood favorite, Fraggle Rock is on Netflix online streaming. Jay actually likes it! I must say, it is quite the cute show. I would watch it with them more, but space in front of the computer is rather limited...

Jay and Daddy watching Fraggle Rock. When Jay gets antsy (that usually happens after 5 min or less), Jeff just stands him up in his crib and Jay can move around and watch the show when he feels like it (during the songs).



Jay's room is the multi-purpose room: because we get the best Wi-fi signal in there, that's where we moved the computer. Yes, Jeff found our computer monitor out by the dumpster with a sign on it that said "works." (we used to use the TV as a computer screen) I kept the sign on it to remind myself that this huge ole thing actually does function...



Jay's favorite play area is by our big front window--he pulls himself up on the a/c unit and looks out the window and plays with the a/c switches. It's hilarioius when he actually manages to turn it on because he gets a huge blast of air in his face and he gets so surprised! People passing by our window often stop and wave at Jay--it is sooo cute to see his little head peeking out!


Where is Jay in this picture? He is so sneaky! I moved the trash can onto a chair, so luckily the only thing he can get in to back there is the diaper bag.

I love having a little friend to make forts with me!

Jay always stands on his tippy toes--I'd say he got his good-looking legs from his mommy, wouldn't you?

Hearty

Happy Valentine's Day! 4 years ago, Jeff and I went on our very first date together! Since then, we've tried to do something for V-day to celebrate our first date. Well, there was that one exception when we spent Feb 14th on a very unromantic all night train ride from France into Italy...across the isle from a very smelly guy whose body odor wafted over to our poor singed nostrils with his every snore...

ANYWAY, We had our special date the 13th this year. We stayed home for a frugal but fun evening (the whole date cost less than $9). Jay has recently started going to bed at 7pm, so that gave us plenty of time for an at-home date! We had a fancy dinner with a TABLECLOTH and a CENTERPIECE, watched one of our favorite movies (Peter Pan-the non animated version), and then we had a mini dance (2 songs worth of dancing...we're all about quality rather than quantity when it comes to dancing). Our stake had an adult Valentine's dance, but ever since we got married, we both lost that feeling of obligation to attend church dances. So we moved our furniture aside and had a surprisingly fun evening of dinner, movie, and dancing!

The card I made for Jeff

mmmmmm alfredo. On the left is a tiny twig of my centerpiece--a vase of jewels (from our Mancala game...) and sticks with Hershey kisses hanging off them.

Possibly the best part--dessert! We shared this hot gooey giant cookie topped with melty ice cream and chocolate mmmmmmmmm

Can you believe I did a whole post without any pictures of Jay??

Big Boy!

Sniff... my baby is growing up!!! Jay is such a little PERSON these days! He is a surprisingly fast little mover when he has a goal in sight, and he enjoys pulling himself into a standing position on anything in reach. It's amazing how much babies learn and grow in such a short time. I'm always surprised!

On Monday, Jeff had his all-day job interview with Teach For America at Seattle University, so we stayed 2 nights with my family--bonus visit! While Jeff was interviewing, Jay and I were hanging out with Grama Meri. I love my mom! It was fun to nip up and see my family for 2 days! Jeff thinks his interview went pretty well. He had a 2.5 hour wait for the one-on-one part of the interview, so he randomly walked 30 minutes to sit by the water for lunch...in his dress shoes. He came home with a big ole blister. We are excited to find out Jeff's acceptance/denial to this job in March!

Jay eats bananas just like his Uncle Kyle used to: all in one bite! I only give him 1 inch long pieces, but he likes it all in there at once!

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In December and January, Jay stopped sleeping all night, and after weeks and weeks of getting up 1-3 times each night, I consulted a book and my sister for HELP. The first thing I tried worked within a week! All I did when he woke up was go in, cover him up, and pat him for a few seconds, and then leave. I went back in every 10 minutes and comforted him with a few pats, and he eventually went back to sleep. It took an HOUR for him to get back to sleep the first few times (I'm sure our upstairs and next-door neighbors just love us), and I was exhausted, but now Jay is the MASTER at sleeping all night! Weeehawwww!

We got Jay a new carseat!! His infant one has been getting FAR too tight to munch his poor soft little body into, so we found this sweet convertible seat: it converts from rear-facing to front-facing easily! Best part: it cost a mere $60 from Amazon.

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All you students out there: Amazon does this sweet textbook buyback and they credit the money into an amazon.com giftcard online! All you have to do is enter the ISBN #s and it lists how much they'll give you for each book. Then you print off a free shipping label, stick it on the box, hand the box to your mail man, and POOF one week later you have Amazon dinero! (that's what we used to get Jay's car seat)

Even with an awesome new seat like this one, Jay's favorite time with his car seat is when he gets OUT!

Skills

Jay and I have been honing our skills this week. Jay is now a pro at sitting up from his tummy and clapping his hands. I am still a pro at making forts out of blankets (20 years of practice). And, I got a few ideas about homemade cards last time I was at Joann's craft store, so I attempted to make a cute thank you card for my mom... it was a LOT harder than I thought it would be! But I was pleased with how it turned out in the end. I hope you've already gotten it in the mail, Mom, or else the surprise is now ruined...

Trying to get out of the fort

Jay's fun fort!

Here's the finished product of my first attempt at a "paper-craft" style card.

And last but not least, here's a little video of Jay's latest skills in action. It's always tricky getting him to perform in 30 seconds or less, but he managed it in the end, and then he started attacking the camera!

Jay Kix Butt

It's time for more Jay pictures for all of his fans out there!!

And anyone who knew Grandpa White will appreciate the baby in a BASKET!

This past week was pretty low key for us. Jay figured out how to get into a sitting position from his tummy, which allows him to play and explore for long stretches on his own now. He loves his newfound mobility! We have had to make some drastic adjustments in order to keep cords, the computer, and our lower bookshelves out of reach to our curious little Jay.

Jeff and I both got an annoying stuffy head cold (mine was accompanied by an all-night fever). Luckily, it only lasted about 24 hours and now we're just slowly de-stuffing our heads. This process has us making some startling noises that earn us some very confused looks from our son. Jay has still never been sick in his life, (knock on wood), and that is why he "Kix butt!"

Ankle Biter

Here's a sample of Jay's new skills! He has become a little ankle biter--literally! When we're sitting on the couch or when I'm cooking, he scoots over to my feet and nibbles my toes and pants and anything he can sink his sharp teeth into! It can get quite painful at times.

The One Pie

Peanut Butter Perfection:

One pie to rule them all! My Mom gave me the recipe for this delicious NO BAKE peanut butter pie. No food has ever had SO much power over me. It is pure peanut butter bliss!!!! Jeff re-named it "The One Pie" (we've been watching Lord of the Rings). I could go on for pages about the delectability of this pie, but instead I'll just give you the recipe so you can decide for yourself!

Ingredients:

8oz cream cheese

1/2 cup creamy PB (I added an extra 1/4 cup and it's better)

1 cup cold milk

1-3.4 oz package Jell-o Vanilla Instant Pudding mix

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, warmed

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1 Oreo pie crust

Directions:

1. Beat cream cheese and PB till blended.

2. Add milk and pudding mix and beat 2 minutes.

3. Whisk in the whipped cream and spoon it all into the crust

4. Put the pie in the fridge while you microwave 1/2 cup heavy cream and the chocolate chips together for 1 minute, stirring till it's all melted together into chocolatey creamy goodness.

5. Pour the chocolate over the peanut butter pie and refrigerate it for a good 4 hours (I did it over night to resist the temptation of taking it out early).

6. Take that first creamy peanut buttery bite!! MMMMMMMMM

Warning: a severe peanut butter addiction could result. Consume with caution.

as if you aren't already full of joy, here's one of the few things that's BETTER than PB pie:

Forward, PARK, Reverse

Woah.

It has happened! Jay can now army crawl FORWARD!!! It all started one week ago, and Jay has been refining his technique all week. Where are we going to hide all of our power cords and bottom-shelf books? We have no extra room for them, so right now we put flattened cardboard boxes in front of the bookshelves... and Jay is already learning how to move them. I think Mad Eye Moody has the only answer: constant vigilance!

Jay can move forward and he can rotate in a circle on his stomach, but he has yet to go in REVERSE. Result: he gets stuck when he crawls under our chairs and into corners.

This week we had a few days of gorgeous 60-degree weather, so I took Jay to the PARK! He fell asleep in the stroller on the way there, so he was a little out of it at first. The grass fascinated him. First, he touched the grass.

Next, he picked some grass.

...and then he ate some grass. I was ok with that small amount touching his lips until I saw a large flock of ducks near the playground...

Time to swing! Jay loves the park!

P.S. Although these pictures don't show him, Jeff really does so much with Jay! He plays on the floor with him, he takes care of him for the last 2 hours of church, and he is probably responsible for teaching Jay how to army crawl! What a good Daddy-- Jay loves him. It's quite cute.

Other news: not much else happened this week, except we visited the Whites for a day--Costco trip! I got 4-3lb jars of Jif because Jeff and I have eaten almost 6 pounds of peanut butter this month! Other stuff: I randomly ran nearly 9 miles yesterday. AND, I made the pinnacle of Peanut Butter Perfection: the recipe calls it "Peanut Butter Pie," but that's too plain a name for something so delicious. It actually deserves a post of its own, so stay tuned!

Elder White

Here are some fun pictures-- I couldn't resist.

"I hope they call me on a mission! When I have grown a foot or two" (or 4)

Jay loves Daddy...

...and Mommy!

"I've had enough pictures for a lifetime!"

Almost...

Jay: almost crawling.
Shaina: almost figured out how to knit a scarf (it may be summer again before I get it right)

Jeff: almost done with his masters degree (6 months to go qualifies as almost, right?)

Jeff: almost employed!!!!

ALMOST is the story of our life right now!!!! Bring on the future!!! Jeff put in his first job application last week-- he applied to Teach for America, which places teachers in high-needs areas like poor rural schools and city schools with big achievement gaps. There are 2 phases to the interview/acceptance process: phone interview, and an interview in person. The final acceptance and location assignment is made by March 8th, which is WAY sooner than any other teaching jobs (due to end-of-school year teacher contract renewal, most schools don't even post job openings until late April at earliest). I don't know how to put a sweet hyperlink on this post, but the website is http://www.teachforamerica.org if you want to learn more!

TODAY is a great day: Jeff got an email from Teach for America which told him that he completely bypasses the phone interview phase and goes straight on to the face to face interview!!! WeeeeeHAWWWWW!!!! EXCITEMENT!

And now, on to the cute stuff:

Jay wants to move on his own SO badly, but he just hasn't figured it all out yet, but it's not for lack of trying:

1. he leans forward...

2. he kneels...

3. thud.....maybe next time!

until then...

Innovation

All Jay wants to do these days is STAND!!! I'm not sure he cares enough about crawling to learn how to do it. Since he needs help standing, and we can't just hold his hands all day, Jeff and I brainstormed a brilliant idea! Yes, that is a tension shower rod in between our kitchen counter and the wall. Jay loves it--he can pull himself up and stand all by himself! The only problem is he thinks he can walk, so we usually have to be within "lunging distance" so he doesn't crack his cute little skull.

Speaking of cracks, the cracks under our apartment's 2 doors and around the heating unit make our floor freezing!! I got a tiny space heater to cut the chill for Jay, but it DOUBLED our power bill in one month, so new plan! We had put pillows against the door before, and they did NOTHING. Jeff got online and discovered that the magic filler for a doorway liner (or whatever they're called) is kitty litter, of all things.

Since it seemed pointless to spend money on something that you're going to stuff with kitty litter and shove under the door, we decided to strip the ugly fabric off of our kitchen chairs that my sister covered them with a few years ago (sorry, Em). It is nice, sturdy upholstery, so we re-used it! I simply sewed 3 long tubes and Jeff stuffed them with kitty litter (10 lbs of kitty litter was $2). Result: NO MORE DRAFTS!!! My only lament is that we still have to look at that fabric!

Thanks to all of his loving relatives, Jay now has a toy box full of fun things, and he enjoys tipping it over. So many choices! Jay's Grandma and Grandpa White gave him the ultimate Christmas gift: a REAL remote control!!!! Do you think he likes it?

One of the many awesome word games I got for Christmas is the Bananagram: 144 tiles and you can play it by yourself! You start with 21 tiles and make a crossword. Every time you use up your letters, you draw another one (or 2) and add it in. It is quite satisfying to make a nice, sprawling web of words, and I can do it while I feed Jay! Last year we had the page-a-day Scrabble puzzle calendar, and I miss it! So this is how I get my word challenge of the day. [for the record, I'm getting way better-- this picture is my first attempt]

This one's for you, Grama Meri! Jay really likes his star blanket, and when he's crying in bed, he clutches it and bites it (while wrestling with Piglet, of course). I doubt I'll ever tire of photographing my sleeping baby!

P.S. In a baby-care book, I found a list of baby-friendly finger foods. One of the suggestions was avocado, oddly enough. So when we had burritos last night, I cut up a few pieces of avocado for Jay and he ate them right down! I don't think I'll be feeding him much mushy jar baby food any more because he wants the real thing! He's also had bread, broccoli, carrot, banana and cheerios so far. Such a little adult!

P.P.S. I'm taking suggestions and tips on how to keep a 7 month old baby asleep all night! Jay has been sleeping all night since he was 2 months old, and then last month he started waking up at least once (often twice) to eat at night again! I know 1. I was spoiled by such a good sleeper, and 2. I know we've been away from home and his schedule was thrown off and 3. I know growth spurts require extra feedings, but does a growth spurt last a whole month? HELP!!!