Jane's First Christmas!

This year was Jane's first Christmas.  It was a good one, Jane was showered with gifts although she is still too young to understand the concept.  We started the day at church which is nice for Christmas Day.  I would have argued the point as a child... but we took the day slow and it was so nice.  We didn't open gifts at home until 1:00!  For everyone else, I'm sure Christmas had already been unwrapped.  We then went to Grandpa and Grandma Walker's house for more gift-giving and Christmas dinner. Here are a few pictures from Jane's first Christmas:

Jane in her Christmas dress.

We've been trying to get a good picture of her smiling.

We finally got one.

                                               Jane and her pony.

She really enjoyed the wrapping paper.

Jane, Mom, and Grandma playing with

Jane's Peek-a-Shoe

3 months

At three months, Jane loves personal attention and smiles from others, she enjoys having 'conversations', but talks to herself also.  She's sleeping well at night and usually during the day.  She likes to be carried around facing out so she can see what's going on around her.  She is exploring her world mostly with her mouth, but also with hands and feet.  She likes to stand and sit supported, and is working on rolling over.

Two months

At two months, Jane has become a bit more particular about how she likes things.  She enjoys baths.  She hates riding in the car and will scream the whole way.  But loves being held by her tummy in a football hold facing out.  She likes to go to sleep with a pacifier.  She loves to watch her mobile and even laughs and coos at it.  We think she enjoys Vivaldi and Mom's singing.  Mom has started a three-hour schedule and she's eating faster and staying awake longer, but still mostly sleeps!  She is very easily overstimulated and if she doesn't get to sleep on time, she gets very cranky!  But she's starting to coo and continues to smile. 

One Month

This month was a crazy one!  Mom had to get used to this whole 'nursing' thing, while Jane picked it right up!  But this new little body has lots of growing to do.  So far she can grasp fingers, hold her head up, and turn it from side to side.  She had great control over this from the very beginning.  Makes mom wonder why she wouldn't turn her head for delivery:(  She also smiles and watches faces and high contrast patterns.  But mostly she sleeps.  Probably 18 hours a day or more!  She eats every 2 hours.

Jane's First Photo Shoot

A friend of ours offered to take some photos of Jane when she was just 5 days old.  Man, did it take some patience to get these photos!  But here they are, proof that it can be done with a sensitive little newborn.... even got a smile out of her.

The Many Faces of Jane

I know we're her parents and we see her through rose-colored glasses, but I don't care, you've got to admit, this is one adorable girl....

Mostly we notice she does 'grumpy' faces very well.  Must be those chubby cheeks.  But when she smiles it lights up our hearts.

Jane's Blessing

Jane was blessed on October 16 by her dad.  Her grandpas, the Bishop, and friends helped to bless her.  A simple but wonderful blessing.  Really it was quite superfluous because we already feel so blessed just to have her!

Grandma and Grandpa Pack were able to be there.  We enjoyed having Grandma's help for a couple of weeks.  Family is truly a blessing.  We hope Jane will be able to spend lots of time with relatives as she grows older.

Baby Jane's Arrival

Oh dear! Jane is almost 3 months old, so we'd better post her arrival story. In fact, as new parents, we find that this blog thing could be a great way to journal for her, so keep checking back, we are determined to be better if for no other reason than little Jane's sake!

Andrea went into labor on September 2nd at 11:00 pm. There were no signs of labor to speak of so it was a surprise to her when her water broke in the middle of the night! We waited until the following day at 4:00pm to go to the birth center for active labor, but even though mom was fully dilated and pushed for a few hours, Jane was making no progress. So we decided to head to the hospital, which was the longest 10 minute drive Andrea says she has ever experienced. At the hospital, she opted for an epidural and pitocin to get things moving, and tried to push again but baby Jane's heart rate was dropping even though she wasn't, so a C-section seemed to be the only option left. She was born at 12:18pm on September 4th, 7 lbs and 3 ounces, and every bit of perfect. Mom was quite upset that she didn't even get to see Jane until after the newborn procedures but she was still being operated on. Jeff got to hold her after a few minutes and take some photos. We learned a lot about how to care for her in the hospital while Andrea started to recover. Jeff stayed the whole time which was great. Grandma and Grandpa Walker, Erik and Ryan came to visit, as well as our Vlazny family. Went home on Wednesday, three days after she was born. We love having her new little spirit in our home!

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Yes, We Are Still Alive...

Ha, ha, how clever of me to steal the title of the last post. Ok, maybe not, but we are still alive. Somethings have changed for us, and a lot has happened in two short years. The first, the most important, and the biggest news is that we are expecting a little baby girl in September. We are both very excited and, if truth be told, a little scared and nervous. We have some ultrasound photos of the baby that I will post later this week. Andrea thinks that she looks like me, but I don't see it.

The second thing that has happened is that my little brother left for, served, and returned from a mission to Columbia, South Carolina. It's kind of funny that for two years he was within a 5 hour drive from us, but we flew 5 hours to see him in Colorado this last weekend. We got to see the rest of my family, including those who we haven't been able to see the last couple times that we have flown out to Colorado. It was a short but good trip.

The third thing is that we had to move out of our house, and rent it out for a year and a half before we were in a position to move back in. Six months after I lost my job, Andrea lost hers. Fortunately, Andrea was able to find someone to rent it to, and we went to live with her parents. We are now back in the house and in the process of making some improvements. We have torn out all the carpet and have had hardwoods installed in the kitchen, living room, and the hallway to the back rooms. we are also having a few small walls added to the wall that separates the living room from the master bedroom, so we can build a "fireplace" complete with mantel, flat panel TV, and shelves on either side. Again, I will post pictures later this week.