Cha Cha Cha CHANGES!

A lot of changes have gone on in the James house lately so I thought I should update everyone!

My favorite change is that it is FINALLY spring! After having late snowfall I am VERY happy to see the sun shining and to be buying seeds for my tiny patio garden. This year we've decided to plant various flowers, tomatoes, broccoli, leaks (onion tasting things), sweet pumpkins (for delicious homemade pies), and some herbs. We've bought most of the seeds and have pots from last year so we're almost ready to begin. Tomorrow night we'll be potting everything and once my little garden starts to sprout I'll had some new pictures.
Another change is a bitter sweet one. Our apartment complex has decided to increase rent by $100 a month! The reason they gave us is "because the cost of everything is rising". So it isn't a nice hot tub or fixing the giant pot-holes, it is just because they can. We'd be given a discount of $25 for resigning a lease and then another $25 dollars for Jesse being a Purdue student. That still means an extra $50 a month for rent. We've been looking at a few places and we've found the one we want today. It's a rental house with a garage, small yard, HUGE living room, beautiful fixtures and design, and a screened in front porch. The best part is that we can have a bigger place, not pay for heat, and only pay $1 more a month than we pay now! That's right, just one dollar more to have less bills and a bigger place.
We'll only have the bottom floor but the upstairs has a separate entrance and is rented by a teacher who works out of the county so she leaves early and gets home late. The current tenant said she can never hear her and rarely sees her so we're happy.
Jesse~ At the end of this month he will be a senior in his program with only 1 year left of school! We are both extremely happy and excited that his time in school is coming to an end soon. He also is going to have a busy summer with practicums, work, and internships. Normally he just works locally during the summer but he's realized that now is the time to "beef up his resume". We're still not sure where he'll be for his internship since sadly the one he had has recently been cancelled due to circumstances out of our hands. We've looked at a few and now he just needs to decide on one and contact the people about it.
Marie~ Last Friday I turned in my letter of resignation to the school district. I thanked them kindly for the year I've spent with them but told them that being home with my daughter is the most important thing right now. I will work throughout the summer with helping transition my students (the school has removed the special ed. program from the building) and school district owned equipment to their new places. I plan on working in the home and running a small daycare for infants and young toddlers. The house we'll be renting has a giant living room that I can easily use for the children to play in. I feel really good about my decision and now I just have to do some paperwork to make it legit!
Rosalee~ I know that 99% of you read this for information on Rosalee so I better fill you in on her too! :) As of today Rosalee is 5 months old and developing new cute skills all the time. She now can-
Roll from her stomach to back without any trouble
Roll from her back to her stomach, but gets stuck on rotating her shoulder
Eat her oatmeal from a spoon fairly successfully
Sit up with minimal support
Imitate facial expressions and sounds
Laugh when being tickled
Put EVERYTHING in her mouth
Recognize familiar people... and Trouble
We really enjoy this age and stage of her life. She is so fun to be with and easily distracts us from pretty much everything we need to get done.

The first picture is of Rosalee when she was 1 week being held by her Grandma James. The second picture is from a little over a week ago. Rosalee has gained about 5 1/2 pounds and wears a new clothes size since the last time her grandma saw her.

This last week we moved Rosalee out of her bassinet into her crib. We were using the crib as a storage place for diapers and blankets so we were hesitant to move her. But after having to place Rosalee in the bassinet diagonally and having her stretch and hit her head we realized we had to make the move.

Your future... changing my dirty diaper!

Rosalee's 5 month pictures.
At the end of last week she had a cough and then it developed into gooey eyes. :( Even though she's been sick she's still a happy, smiley girl. The nice thing about her being sick is that she's been VERY snugly. She pulled the blanket up around her head and was tickling her face with it. I had a fun time watching her laugh and play with her blanket.