Christmas!!

Our family spent Christmas at home in Indiana. Even if Rosalee won't remember her 1st Christmas we will always remember the great feeling of having her with us this year. It was a lot of fun opening her gifts, even if we already knew what most of them were. Poor Jesse developed a cough and cold like symptoms but all stores were closed so he had to suffer. :( Rosalee wouldn't wake up when we opened presents so all of her pictures look the same. In the afternoon we went to see the movie National Treasure - Book of Secrets with our neighbors. Rosalee was her usual self, and slept the whole time!

My aunt and uncle sent Rosalee some Harley clothes and booties. It was so nice to get presents from our families for her.

Santa brought Rosalee some Purdue clothes and a monkey stuffed animal. The only bad part is that Santa got 12 month sizes so Rosalee has to wait to wear her new things.

Weekend in Ohio

We spent the weekend before Christmas visiting Jesse's sister Beth, and her family, in Dayton Ohio. We've lived away from family for over a year now so it's nice to finally have someone kind of close for us to visit. While there we made graham cracker houses, played with our nephews and niece, went to church, and just had a wonderful time.

Rosalee's Christmas outfit for church. Her dress had so many layers that it was hard to hold her and get her situated in her car seat. Rosalee's Aunt Beth made her a cute bracelet that matched her dress perfectly. Rosalee with her cousin Lindy.
Jacob, Jesse, and Tyler singing Christmas songs to Rosalee.

Trouble the model?

We received a phone call the other day from the breeder we bought Trouble from. She said she wanted to use some pictures of Trouble to make some ads for her dogs. She said that the pictures and advertisements would run in various dog magazines throughout the country. She wanted some pictures of Trouble looking happy and some of her with Rosalee. She thought it would be nice to show that bulldogs are good with children. Here are some of the pictures that we sent her to use. So maybe one day these will appear in a magazine at PetSmart! Wouldn't that be funny!?

Here comes Santa Claus

Our apartment complex had the annual Christmas party this week. We went on a horse drawn sleigh ride around the complex, singing Jingle Bells. Rosalee slept for most of the night so we were able to talk with friends and eat all the delicious food. We tried to wake her up for a picture with Santa but she wouldn't wake up. Right before we left she woke up so we ran back over to Santa to get a family picture taken. Jesse and I are very excited to celebrate our first Christmas with our daughter!

Winter is upon us!!!

IT'S COLD HERE!!!

This week we had our first snow of the year. Jesse was happy to see the snow but I was not. I'm not a big fan of snow so I spent a lot of time inside drinking hot chocolate. One nice thing about the snow is it gave us an excuse to dress Rosalee in her Halloween costume. :) We woke up this morning to find this outside. Apparently during the night we had an ice storm that covered everything in a sheet of ice. I've never seen an ice storm before and I think that it makes everything beautful!

Since we didn't find out church was cancelled until we were half way there we went for a drive. Jesse took us to a horticulture park near Purdue so we could see all of the pretty trees covered in ice. We agree that the prettiest ones are the trees with red/orange leaves covered in about 1/2-1 inch of ice. While Jesse enjoyed running around taking pictures I enjoyed staying warm in the car watching Rosalee sleep.

Daddy time

Here are some pictures of Jesse with Rosalee. Since the day she was born he's been an excellent father. If he's home he offers to change her diapers, hold her, rock her to sleep, any thing that would give her more time with his girl.

Here he is with Rosalee rocking her to sleep in the hospital.
He burps her during the night after I feed her. He used Trouble as a prop pillow to hold Rosalee up and ended up falling asleep. :)
This is the first time Jesse gave Rosalee a bath. This is one of the things he enjoys doing with her.
He loves snuggling our girl after burping her at night. It's so sweet to see!
Jesse LOVES the snugli! He puts Rosalee in it to do homework, housework, or to cook. As soon as we put her in it she falls asleep against Jesse's chest.

Happy Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving we have so much to be thankful for! First we're thankful for the new addition to our family. Rosalee is a wonderful baby who we fall in love with more and more every minute. We are also thankful for the love and support that our parents have shown us throughout our lives, but especially since the birth of our girl.

Marie is thankful for Jesse being willing to wake up with her in the middle of the night and help with the baby. She is also thankful that the school district is willing to work with her on developing a flexible schedule to work with students in the home so she can spend more time home with Rosalee.

Jesse is thankful for good family and good food. He's also thankful that the semester is almost over and that he's doing really great in his classes.

Rosalee is thankful for her parents who do their best to take care of her. :)

Rosalee posing by the turkey and rolls.
Mom and baby

Rosalee showing off her pretty rose dress that we put her in for the holiday.

Cute baby girl!

Jesse and I love taking pictures of our beautiful baby!

Here's Rosalee posing with Jesse. I took several pictures before this and the flash would startle her. I think she's making this face out of protest of having her picture taken. :)

This is one of my favorite pictures so far! My mom thinks her lips look just like mine.
One of my favorite things to do with Rosalee is snuggle her. She's so small, adorable, and loving that I just can't help myself! We spend a lot of naps like this on the couch.
Jesse is already adapting to doing things around the apartment with Rosalee. Here he is putting a puzzle together with Rosalee sleeping on his shoulder.

We <3 grandparents!

Over the past three weeks Jesse and I have been VERY fortunate to have our parents come and visit. Jesse's parents came right before Rosalee was born so they were able to see us in the hospital, attend her blessing, and then spend some time with us after. My mom came to visit for the week of Thanksgiving. She's enjoying being a grandma for the first time. Any time Rosalee needs to be burped or held my mom is the first to volunteer!
My mom came to my school with me to visit the students and show them Rosalee. My mom was great at helping the students and working with them even though we were just there to visit.
Mutti (German for mommy) and Rosalee making funny faces at each other.
Grandpa James bouncing Rosalee
Grandma James and Rosalee in Rosalee's jungle room.
Grandma James and Rosalee
Grandma James spent a lot of time making nice blankets for Rosalee.

Birthdays

My niece and nephew both have birthdays this week so when they came for Rosalee's blessing we celebrated their birthdays. Jesse's sister Beth made a pink castle cake for Lindy and then Tyler had Cars cupcakes for his cake. Lindy had fun playing in the frosting and with her new doll. Tyler was excited to get Scooby Doo items and Play-Dough toys. It was fun getting to have a little party for them.

Rosalee's blessing

On Sunday the 11th we blessed Rosalee at church. I was nervous to take her into public so soon, but it was the only time we could bless her with Jesse's parents in town. Plus I was baptized on the 11th of November 2001 so that day has a special place in my heart already.
My mom made the dress for Rosalee's blessing. She cut, sewed, and finished the whole thing in less than 8 hours. Then she overnight mailed it to me so we'd have it in time for the blessing. I'm very thankful that she was willing to stay up and work on it so we'd have it on time.

Jesse's mom made her a white blessing blanket (the one she's lying on in the picture below) the day before her blessing. She worked on it the whole time she was here, staying up late to make sure it was done in time for the blessing. I think for any other children we'll plan the blessing for a month or two after the baby's born so we won't stress out the grandmas!

A big yawn for such a little girl.

In her blessing she was told that her smile would light up those around her and I already see that happening with Jesse, me, and everyone who's seen her.

This is her all dolled up for church. Her Aunt Beth gave us some red slippers that matched the gown PERFECTLY. Jesse picked out the bow for her head after twenty minutes of debating. He's so cute about things like that!

Her cousin Lindy wanted to rock her to sleep. She held her, with help from her mom, and rocked her saying, "rock a bye the baby" over and over. It was really cute. You can tell by the smile on Rosalee's face that she LOVES being rocked. Lindy also loved giving Rosalee kisses and hugs.

Rosalee Helene

Rosalee Helene James was born Tuesday the 6th of November 2007. She weighed 7 pounds and 9 ounces and was just under 21 inches long. She has A LOT of thick dark hair and several noticable cowlicks. Jesse and I think she has my dad's wild child hair and Jesse's nose. Other than thoes features we aren't sure who she looks like. She is a happy healthy child and we are very excited to have her here.

Just seconds after being born.
Our little beanpole!
Her cute little face
Our first family photo
Mom and baby
Dad and baby
Mom and baby napping together

Rosalee's first night home in her crib