Week Three and Four: of Uncles and Niblings, the BOB and other tales of achievement

Here are a few highlights from the last couple weeks...
Erik and Cat came to visit us. I guess it would be more honest to say they came to visit Erik's first Nibling.I'm pretty sure it's fair to say that Erik fell for the little feller.

He empathized with his every cry, squeak and groan.

And was duly baptized in baby cheese as a confirmation of Charlie's undying admiration for his Uncle. (there was a whole lot more of it on the un-pictured side of Erik's face!)

Great Uncle Bob and Aunt Leila sent Charlie a BOB stroller. When the large box arrived Jonathan's comment was, "Now this is finally a present I can do something with!"

Even though he's not really supposed to be in it until he's 8 weeks, but we let Charlie ride around in the apartment. Needless to say we are super excited to try it out in the big outdoors when he finally gets big enough....Thank You!

Jonathan's parents said their goodbyes....

and Charlie said his


Since then, Charlie continues to charm us ...

and challenge us ...

He does not like chocolate or dark leafy greens--probably my two favorite things to eat in the world! He has very irregular sleep/eating habits. He had been eating every three hours and then Friday night he went 6 suddenly, and we got the first 4 hour stretch of sleep since he was born....LOVELY! Lately he's back to 3 hours...and unfortunately last night it was every 2!

Last week he lost all the hair on the top of his head, but not the sides or back.

He smiles at us when we smile at him. He watches the mobile that hangs above our changing table and tracks it as it goes around.

He loves being outside in the sun, being warm, being naked and especially bath time.

Sometimes he sleeps when we are awake. Here he is hanging out with the potatoes in the kitchen.

Sometimes he is awake when we want to sleep.


Charlie likes to keep us on our toes. We look forward to the future, when we can turn in early and tell him to turn off the lights when he goes to bed.

I guess we will keep him!

I sat Charlie up on the couch yesterday and was calling his name so that he would be looking at the camera, and when he finally saw me he did this! I just snapped the pictures as fast as I could. I still can't believe how perfect the timing was (because I got to show Jonathan later...and now you!) and what it did to my pore 'ol heart!




This mama is falling, and there is no going back now!

Flying Solo

Well, my mother is on the plane back to the Philippines and the Jonathan went to class so Charlie and I are flying solo for the first time this morning. He pulled quite the sleeping stunt last night and went 6 hours between nursing...I woke up before he did, wondering if he was still alive! AND after he tanked up he conked out again!

So that left me as close to chipper as I've felt in a long time. Here we are sharing the couch. Me blogging at one end with my favorite coffee (Cafe Umbria Bizzzare Blend) that Abby sent us from Seattle...mmmmm!

And Charlie at the other end all snuggled up in the car and truck blanket that Grandma J made him.

Even though we miss all our family and visitors already and wonder who is going to make dinner for us tonight, it's a good morning!

Charlie's Third Week

Here he is hanging out in the boppy, in the swinging basket. Quite content. (Because he got to go right back to sleep after spraying poop all over the carpet at 4:30 this morning. I had quite the fun with the flashlight (so I wouldn't wake him up) and carpet cleaner! Not as content.)

Jonathan's parents are in town this week. Charlie likes Grandpa M.

As you can see, they are old friends that go way back...shooting the breeze!

Here is my triumphant first(and only meal) I have cooked since the 13th of February...pretty good record I think. If it wasn't such hard work, I'd have babies all the time just to get the meals...It has been great!

Sadly Grandpa J had to leave before Charlie was big enough to throw up into the air. Here they are pretending. Charlie seemed to enjoy the practice at being a big kid.

Here, Charlie is sporting his dad's old swim t-shirt that I converted into a onezie. He was pretty cute, we thought!

"Go Dad, Go!"

Here's Grandma J pulling out all the stops.
Moby wrap + bouncy ball = no more crying!

Everyone has been asking if he has piano or violin hands....this might answer the question!

the last minute crafts

Well, I have a feeling this blog is going to be migrating more towards cute baby Charlie pictures and less towards arts and crafts. This is out of necessity for the next phase of my life...Partly because my middle fingers are still staying asleep all day long (from the carpel tunnel I got in pregnancy...It is supposed to go away, but hasn't yet), thus making it impossible to do small crafts. And partly because a baby on a two-hour nursing cycle pretty much leaves you with 45 min free every two hours..if you are lucky, and that barely is enough to eat and shower and sleep on! I'm told it improves...so we are hanging in there for that!
...so this blog is my last ditch effort to avoid succumbing to a blog completely devoted to cute baby pictures. Instead I will post cute baby crafts! Here are a couple things I made in the last few days before Charlie got here.

Boppy Cover
The boppy covers I had were made out of cotton, which is going to be great in the summer, but felt really cold to touch with all our cold weather, so I came up with this grand plan to make a cover out of flannel. I put the original cover down on two layers of fabric and using my friend's quilt-pizza-cutter-tool thing (I have no idea what it is supposed to be called) I just cut out the shape. I used chocolate brown flannel and blue linen.
note: next time I will imitate the original more exactly and include the little extra piece on the inner curve. It turns out that piece helps the boppy fit around your stomach, without digging in.

Then, because I wanted to see if I could do it, I cut out some pieces for an applique of a bird pattern that I liked.

I sewed the pieces together with the zig-zag stitch.

And then I zig-zaged it onto the blue side of the cover.

I really liked how it turned out, aside from not being as flexible as I'd like it to be in the center. (Can you believe Charlie is in that tummy? Crazy to think!)

Car Seat Cover
When the thermostat got to 6 degrees I decided our baby would probably need more than a blanket to go outside in the car seat. After looking at $40-50 products that were meant to keep babies warm in their car seats, I decided I could make something similar. I found some fleece on sale and also cut up couple outdoor fleece jackets from the thrift store (washed, of course) to make the cozy several layers deep.

I used muslin to sketch out a rough pattern where the seat belt pieces needed to come through and then cut out a back and front and put in two side zippers. It was pretty tricky to get so many layers through my sewing machine...I had to borrow my friend the quilter's sewing machine to finish it up. But the results and cost were definitely worth it.

I put a little snail applique on the foot of the cozy. It needs little antennae to be stitched in still, but that will have to happen later.

I'll let you know when crafting becomes an option in my schedule again, but for now this is Keren-the-Crafter signing over and out!


...stay tuned for cute baby pictures! =)

Before...and...After

On My Night Stand Table

Before~
Alarm Clock
Jewelry Dish
Framed Wedding Invitation
Far as the Curse is Found by Michael Williams

After~
Nursing Pads
Huge glass of water
Lasinoh Ointment
Burp Cloth
Advil
Framed Wedding Invitation
The Broker by John Grisham

Time I Eat Breakfast

Before~
Anytime between 7 and 9 am

After~
All night long! 1am....4:30am...6am and does 11am count as breakfast or lunch?

My Definition of a "Good Night's Sleep"

Before~
8 hours solid when I woke up feeling relaxed and lovely to the smell of the coffee pot.

After~
I'm super excited when I get 2 hours solid, anywhere, anytime, even if I wake up sweaty and leaky to a screaming baby!

How Often I Cook Dinner

Before~
Three to four times a week

After~
Once in the last two and a half weeks--Thank you Mom!

What I Can Do In a Day

Before~
shower, start dinner, make Jonathan's lunch, do a couple loads of laundry, bake bread, write a paper, read some theology, go grocery shopping, attend class, teach a piano lesson, eat dinner with Jonathan, watch a show, and count on getting the rest I need that night to do it all again the next day.

After~
Feed Charlie, take a shower, and maybe one other task.