18 April 2008

Family date night

Jesse and I try to go on dates once a week, but with work, school, and a baby that isn't always the easiest thing to accomplish. Most of the time we take Rosalee along with us because she sleeps through most (or all) of the outing. Plus we don't get to see much of her during the week so we feel guilty about leaving her with someone for any extra amount of time. Don't get me wrong, we love having time together just the two of us, but it's nice to do things as a family too. We went to Golden Corral on Wednesday night and had a really nice time. Our first official date was to a Golden Corral back in Pocatello, ID so we have many fond memories of that place. Plus it's a buffet so Jesse can actually leave feeling full! :)

Good ol' predictable Rosalee...

Jesse with his soup bowl.

Protesting having my picture taken... but check out that delicious bacon wrapped steak!

The nice thing about taking Rosalee to restaurants now is we can start giving her little nibbles from our plates. She really really enjoyed sucking on a piece of cantaloupe while we finished our dinner. We took turns holding it so one could finish their dinner while the other was with Rosalee. When she was done the cantaloupe was sucked dry! I'm pretty sure it was the first time we've seen a dehydrated cantaloupe chunk.

17 April 2008

Mealtime messes

I said I would post some pictures of Rosalee eating baby goo and here they are! We moved from sweet peas to butternut squash and now we're on to carrots. So far it seems like the carrots are her favorite and the squash is a close second. Or it may just seem that way because peas were the first thing she'd ever eaten so she was just unsure about the whole process.

The best way to deal with messes- feed your baby in just a diaper and then give them a bath!

Feed me!

Rosalee decided that I wasn't feeding her fast enough so she "helped" mommy by grabbing the spoon and shoving it in her mouth. She thought this was GREAT because not only did she get to eat her squash, but her fingers now tasted better!

Full of squash and ready to be hosed off!

13 April 2008

Peas please

Rosalee has started to eat baby goo. She had her first bite Friday night and then some more this afternoon. We were nervous about starting her on baby goo before she turned 6 months old but for some reason we just felt like last Friday was the night to start. She enjoys her baby cereal, can sit up with minimal support, and is the age that solid food can be given.

We decided to start with peas and I thought she'd spit out the food right away or scream at us but it was the EXACT opposite! She took the first bite and then kept opening her mouth for more. The feeding suggestion articles I've read recommend giving the baby a teaspoon to start with, but she liked it so much we can her a whole tablespoon. Tonight we gave her slightly more and again she kept opening her mouth for more.
The batteries in my camera died so I wasn't able to take more than one picture and you can't really tell she's eating goo. I'll buy more batteries and take a picture when we introduce carrots... something nice and bright to accent the mess! :) For those of you who are wondering, yes, Jesse and I both tried the pea baby goo. The ingredients- sweet peas and water; the taste- not too shabby. I bet Jesse can't wait to try the veal baby goo or guava baby goo!

06 April 2008

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.

25 March 2008

Yummy, Yummy!

At Rosalee's last appointment the doctor recommended starting baby cereal because she's underweight. We were hesitant to start because of all the research we've read suggesting that we should wait until 6 months. So after some debate we decided to start feeding Rosalee oatmeal cereal now. She'll get 1-2 tablespoons every night, or every other night, of her cereal mixed with 1 ounce of breast milk. We're planning on waiting until she's 6 months old to start veggies and fruits though.

Stripped down and ready to be fed!
The first bite
Most of the oatmeal cereal ended up down her front...

23 March 2008

Easter weekend




Rosalee was VERY happy all weekend. She loves to smile and we love to see her smile! She now can recognize our dog, Trouble, when she walks by. When Trouble is near Rosalee will roll over to look at Trouble and will try to "talk" with her. If Trouble is brave enough to lie near Rosalee she runs the risk of being poked, licked, pulled on, or laughed at. We're very happy that Trouble is so good with Rosalee. Rosalee also got her ears pierced for Easter. Jesse and I thought it would be good to get it done now because she's too little to really notice them so she won't play with them or be bothered by them. She is also at the chew on everything stage. We think she's getting one of her bottom teeth because Jesse felt a bump earlier and she's been fussier than usual. She's getting really good at putting her toys in her mouth. She also likes to pull her pacifier out and then shove it back in. We love how she can amuse herself!

This weekend we brought out Rosalee's swing for the 1st time. She's not quite tall enough to jump in it, but she loves her toys and the noises they make. We're confident that this will be one of her favorite things to use over the next few months.

For Easter we decided not to buy anything for each other, but as Saturday went on we ended up buying a few items. Jesse and I got new clothes and exercise equipment for each other. We also got Rosalee some new dresses and the movie Enchanted. I also found some camoflage decorated plastic eggs at the store that I thought would be hilarious to buy for Jesse. I always tease him about studying trees and animals so I thought nothing would say I love my wilderness man like some plastic camo candy filled eggs!

She had a grand time pulling up her dress all day at church.

Rosalee and me

Daddy's little girl

She loves to stand and show off how tall she's getting.

1st Easter!
We hope that as she gets older we'll be able to teach her the reason we celebrate Easter and find a nice way to incorporate religious traditions with non-religious traditions. To this day I'm still not sure what a giant pink rabbit has to do with the resurrection of Christ.

21 March 2008

Chef Brain


My brother Jesse has applied to go to school to pursue a career in culinary arts. He's a GREAT cook so I'm glad he's decided to go to school to learn more. We wish him the best of luck with this new chapter in his life!