Eva Marie Jones

Eva is here! Born on February 19, weighed 3 lbs and 15 inches tall. She is currently in the NICU and will probably be there for about a month or so. She has been doing very well there this last week. Her billirubin got back up to 10, but they decided to wait another day to check her levels before trying the lights out again. She is eating (through a tube) very well so they are planning on taking out her PICC line in the next two days. She has gained a couple ounces so far and is up to 3 lbs 2.5 oz. She should gain about an ounce a day. I go try to nurse her twice a day for now which is also the only amount of holding they will let her have too... sorry grandparents. We are hoping she will be moved soon to the other side of the NICU so people can see her through the windows if they wanted.

We are so greatful and blessed to have this little girl in our family. I am recovering a lot better than I expected from the c-section. I am excited to start working out and looking normal again! Tanner is also doing better now that Mom is home. I sure missed him while I was gone. It will be nice when I can actually hold him too.

Thanks for all your support and love!

Big Brother doesn't know about sister yet...

Random Pics

Tanner is now one years old! He's now learned how to climb on the couch, and has opened a door once (hope he forgot how to do this). His favorite word is Dad. He can also say Mom, Gram (grandma/grandpa), Ji (Jill), and a lot of really funny gibberish. He sometimes waves bye-bye, and will close doors and turn off light switches when asked.
My favorite things he does lately is will sit completely still in a chair and watch Elmo's World. Tanner is always on the move, so to see him sit still for even a minute is a miracle. He also picks up everything off the floor and will bring it to me. I'm glad he doesn't usually put things in his mouth first. Although when he does, he usually will come over to me with his mouth wide open and his tongue sticking out.

First time at the park... he was okay for a minute on the swing until Dad started pushing him higher. He got scared and didn't like swinging anymore.
















First ride in front facing car seat.... didn't seem to care about the new view.




























Tanner's first birthday cake.... loved the cake!


























Happy First Birthday Tanner!!


























Tanner hates anything on his head, but let me put his hoodie on for a minute...


































checking out his shoes...






















hangin out in the walker...























Tanner walking with Daddy when he just came home from work...






























Ahhhh!





















Tanner and Mommy in front of the huge snow pile...

Favorites and Not-So Favorites

Tanner is growing up so fast! He's getting very mobile, so it's hard to keep up with him these days. He is trying to walk now. He can walk from one room to another pretty good now. He's getting better and more confident every day. He likes to follow me everywhere. If I put him down and walk somewhere, I usually will find him walking right behind me with his arms straight up in the air and a huge grin on his face. I love it.

Here's some other stuff about Tanner:

Some of Tanner's favorites:

Piggyback rides

Pointing

Anything with a face (toys, people, pictures, books, etc)

Books. He loves to turn the pages back and forth and studies the pictures

Turning everything upside-down (puzzles, big toys, laundry baskets, even small toys he will just keep turning them over and over to see what's on the other side)

Wheels

Pictures of Tanner. He always gets a huge grin on his face when he sees himself.

Climbing upstairs

Opening drawers and cupboards... then taking everything out of them

Turning lights on and off

Buttons and any jewelry

Being chased and tickled

Some of Tanner's not-so-favorites:

People leaving (even strangers, but he's mostly sad when Daddy leaves)

Trying to get him to climb downstairs

When Mom says "no"

Putting arms through shirt sleeves

Getting his nose cleaned

When Mom tries to take things out of his mouth

Where's the Cheerios?

Last Sunday I packed Tanner's diaper bag for church... diapers, toys, blanket, juice and our newest addition to the list- cheerios. While at church, Tanner was getting fussy, so I decided to get out the cheerios. Diaper bags can seem like a bottomless pit. Whenever you are looking for something, it always seems to be the last thing you find in the bag. However, the cheerios were missing after my search in the bag. I remember holding a bag of cheerios that morning, and also scanned the room for anything I might have forgot right before we left. So I was out of ideas of where they were.

Well, Mike found them later that day.... in the freezer. I always bring a frozen teether to keep Tanner's juice cold. I keep a couple of them in a baggie in the freezer. I guess I picked up an old teether and stuck it in the cheerios bag and put them in the freezer. Maybe Tanner will like frozen cheerios.... haha. Hopefully someday he will laugh along with Mike and I at all the crazy things I do.

Crawling and Climbing!

Here's Tanner now 7 months old. He has now mastered the army crawl and is getting pretty good with normal crawling.
He is also climbing on anything he can grab... legs, couches, toys, exercise bikes, and unfortunately his crib. So now when he's in his crib, he climbs up until he's standing and chews on the wood.
So lately I am really trying to get him on a sleeping schedule. It seems to be making things worse. I've tried this before and it just makes me more frustrated with my unabilities to get him to be a good sleeper and Tanner also gets more cranky. We've made a little progress since now he's sometimes taking naps in his crib instead of never. Usually I have to hold him for his naps or he won't take them at all. So I guess it's a start. Hopefully he continues to get better.


I read a really good quote the other day that actually was perfect timing for me since I was having an overwhelming day:
"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." – Franklin D. Roosevelt

.... so I guess I'm hanging on now :o)

Bless Those Big Thys!

Tanner's Owies....


Tanner's still smiling even after shots...


Tanner had his 6 month checkup today (wow.... 6 months already!) I always dread the checkups because of the shots. However, he seems to do better every time. I attribute this to his cute chubby thys (which seem to get bigger by the hour... lol) and his short attention span. He was over it by the time the nurse handed him over to me. I think he was mostly mad because he couldn't move and he was on his back. He now loves tummy time and refuses to be on his back.



So he now weighs 17 lbs 4 oz (He was 14.4 at 4 months). He's in the 50 percentile, so that was good. I think they got his height wrong because he just wouldn't sit still. He measured at 26 inches.



Tanner is definately on the move now. He has learned to army crawl and wants to go everywhere! So he either wants to be standing or crawling. He's almost impossible to get a diaper on now. The moment I put him on the changing table, he arches his back and tries to get to his tummy. Once he's there, he stays put. Maybe I should invent backwards diapers...

Watch out if you ever hold Tanner now. We saw 2 teeth coming in on the bottom. Tanner already loves to chew on fingers and arms. I was hoping he would get teeth a lot later... at least he wasn't early.

Hair today... gone tomorrow

So I cut my hair! Now Tanner can't get tangled in my hair anymore. I love it!

Before...

After....

16"!!!