A little bit of everything

It has been WAY too long since I've posted anything! I've got to be really careful to try not to overwhelm you guys with too much information. So let's see how concise I can spill my guts...

Josiah turned 3 months old Sunday.

He is now smiling and laughing all of the time.

He squeals really loud when he gets excited, and "talks" all of the time with grunts and coos and squeals. He still loves to stand up and kick his feet.

(taken last night- 11/23)

He's learning to use his hands and learning where his feet are. So he will stare intently at his hands and grasp them together and grab his feet or swat at his mobile.

He sucks on his arm and fist all of the time, or will put his first two fingers in his mouth at once. He chews on anything his mouth can reach, including your hands or his shirt collar. He started rolling over from his back to his side.

(first time to roll over- taken with my phone camera)

The first few times he then started screaming because he got stuck. More lately, he'll just lay there until you nudge him over one way or the other. His sleeping habits keep going back and forth. He was going to bed between 10-11 pm and sleeping until about 5-7 am, but when Daylight Savings Time ended, he started going to bed an hour later (which doesn't add up), but sleeping solidly until 7-8 am- even then eating once and going back to sleep until about 11 am. The later night was fine by me (except that it left no alone time with Jesse), especially because I could sleep as late as I wanted. But then the last two nights he has gone to bed by 11 but gotten up at either 4:30 am or 3:30 am. He is learning to put himself to sleep. We've been laying him down when he's awake, if possible, and he'll fall asleep on his own.

He even is going in his crib for naps, if we're home, which us a new habit. He is still eating well, and we have just accepted the fact that he is a spitter-upper. We now carry 2-3 changes of clothes for him wherever we go (if we were smarter, we'd take a change of clothes for us too!) and we take at least 2 burp cloths. He still spits up on everyone and everything. Add that to the constant drooling (possible teething) and you've got a wet, soppy mess!

I would say that I pretty much enjoy him all of the time, though. I can't think of any overwhelming moments or times of stress and frustration concerning Josiah since we got out of our "survival mode". I mean, how could you be frustrated with this face?

And, remember Chad and Shelby, the teen couple from our church whose baby, A.J., was born 6 minutes after Josiah? Here the boys were at 4 weeks old and at 3 months old:

A.J. is about 1/2 in. shorter than Josiah and roughly 6 oz heavier. They've stayed consistently this proportionate since a few weeks old.

In other news, my 25th birthday is tomorrow. Whenever I thought about what age I would choose to be if I could skip ahead or go back in time, I always thought 25. In my head, 25 meant full on adulthood (no question about it), still very youthful, out of college, more definite life path (career-wise), and married with a child(ren). It was everything I wanted. My goal was always to have started a family by the time I was 25. In fact, when Jesse and I wrote out our goals for our marriage, this was one thing I had listed. I feel so blessed to be celebrating my birthday this year with everything I always wanted.

Since my birthday is the day before Thanksgiving this year, it kinda gets overlooked in the festivities. Furthermore, since we are celebrating my mom's 50th birthday this Saturday and I'm throwing her a BIG birthday bash, my birthday is getting even more overlooked. It's ok, though. Birthdays are a big deal to me because it's the one day out of the whole year that is in your honor, and when we celebrate it, it says to me, "We're glad you're alive!" I always try to make a big deal about people's birthdays and let them know how much I appreciate them. It's a little sad to me that my actual birthday won't be anything special (especially my 25th birthday). Jesse is not only working, but will be working overtime. Instead, my best friend Jolyn is coming over and hanging out with me during the afternoon, and my mom will probably come over a little later. And, to make up for it all, we celebrated last Sunday with a family dinner. My closest family members and I went out to dinner at my 2nd favorite restaurant (Red Robin).

I ate lunch that afternoon at my #1 favorite (Chili's) with Jolyn. My two favorites in one day!!! My mom treated me to a new haircut- my hair hasn't been done in well over a year!

I got a special necklace that symbolizes motherhood from my mom and Jesse

and Jesse wrote me a really sweet love letter that he literally folded into the shape of a heart.

I also got some cute fuzzy pajamas, the movie "Up" (which I cried the whole way through!), and a candle, and Ipod adapter for my car, to name a few items.

I was very thankful to spend my birthday celebration with my family and best friend. Friendships have been difficult for me lately. I've felt really left out of a lot of events hosted by people who were formerly really close to me. That alone has been really hurtful, but when I heard that part of it has to do with me having a baby now. That just seems really immature and flat out stupid to me. Josiah is a part of my life now and I shouldn't have to pretend like he isn't. I should also be given the opportunity to find a babysitter if I want instead of it just being assumed that I wouldn't want to go because of him. I can't go into too much detail about it before I talk to the people involved, though. Because of it all, I've been really missing out on genuine friendships. None of my formerly-close friends attend church with me anymore (which is where we all met and were close for at least 5 years), so I've tried to see if perhaps young married couples with kids from our church would be a better fit. However, I go to a very small church and I'm not sure, apart from being married and having kids, how many of the couples we'd REALLY have something in common with...There's so much more, but it's too complicated, and a lot of it just needs to be talked out with the people involved. In short, the whole thing makes me that much more thankful for a family and best friend that love me dearly.

Our other difficult situation continues to be our finances. It's basically a matter of getting behind on bills which then compound on top of each other, and then you throw in some unexpected expenses (like Jesse's car breaking down or MORE medical bills). It's been tough the past few months, but I think we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel! I'm expecting to finally get my check (from the government) for providing daycare and I'm expecting a check from my OB's office for overpayment (hopefully in the mail today). As these things come through, I think I'll be able to get all caught up again. It just all adds a lot of stress, but Jesse and I are trying to trust in God and encourage each other when we're feeling overwhelmed.

I'm very excited about Thanksgiving this week, although I'm still shocked that it is THIS week!!! We're using our church building and opening it up to our extended family for a large get-together. I don't know who all will make it, but I love this time of year. Then Saturday is my mom's 50th birthday. I am doing a fifties decade party and am really excited to see it all come together. I am a little worried about how many people will come because of the holiday weekend, but I know that the people who are there will make it really special. It's been a lot of work, but it's all worth it for my wonderful mom, who is one of my absolute best friends! I'll have pics from the party once it's over.

I can't really think of much else (as if all of that isn't enough!). So, I'll leave it at that. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I hope that, no matter what your situation or where you are in your journey, you can find what you can be truly thankful for. Lots of love and well wishes to everyone!