Jury Duty

So I've done my civic duty!
Today I spent the day at the county court house sitting on a jury panel. Luckily I wasn't selected to sit on the final jury for the trial...thanks to my experiences in city government and having an infant at home. But honestly, being a Law and Order junkie (dun dun)...the whole process was very interesting. I'm glad to have witnessed the process. Out of over 250 persons called to court today, I was selected at random to be in the 36 that were questioned to serve on the jury for a civil case. The questioning took until 2 pm...ugghh...then the lawyers and judge took an hour and a half to select while we were on break. Luckily they skipped over me...AND...I won't have to report back for another day of selection tomorrow like the other 214 left over.

So...that said - it was VERY hard to be away from Will for that long too! My arms were aching by lunch. Papa was kind enough to come stay with Will while I was away...he was even prepared to stay for a week if need be! I think they had a good day...just the guys.

Will wonders 'what are you thinking Mama - are you sure about this???'



And speaking of Will...he's got legs of steel! He loves standing up...here's a snapshot of him getting some sugar from Daddy...how sweet.

Feet, Feet, Feet

"How many, many feet you meet!" --Dr. Seuss

Will has met his feet! There's something on the end of those legs - and they're pretty cool! He hasn't started chewing on those piggies yet, but won't be long.


He's even trying to get to them while strapped into his bouncy seat. He loves playing with them on the changing table (sans diaper), making it very difficult to change him.

Botanical Gardens

April 9, 2010
Our first play date!

We are so blessed to have such wonderful neighbors! Frank and Karen are so much fun and we've really enjoyed getting to know them. They have the two cutest little kiddos...Evan is almost 5 and Ella just turned 2. Karen invited Will and I to go with them to the Missouri Botanical Gardens! Woohoo...Mama and Will get out of the house and we each have someone to 'play' with!

There's a beautiful fountain at the entrance...

The tulips were in full bloom and beautiful...probably only lasted a couple more days!

Evan with the tulips - he's quite a handsome little fella. (Karen and Frank both attended Mizzou - go Tigers!)

The windchimes are really cool...Evan and Ella playing.

Easter

April 4, 2010
Will happened to turn 4 months on Easter Sunday. Happy 4 months Will!

We celebrated Easter in Jefferson City this year with Grandmother, Papa, Aunt Stephanie, Chris, Courtney, Abbi, Meredith and Meagan. What a great time. We started with a sunrise service at church, then breakfast at Perkins followed by lunch at Grandmother and Papa's then the egg hunt. The kids hunted over 100 eggs! This year the golden egg held a $20 bill! Will collected a whole $1.50 in his hunt!
Here are all the kids. Meagan and Meredith on the end are Stephanie's fiance Chris' girls - they're beautiful!

Of course Will has his very own Longaberger Easter basket - thanks Grandmother!


Every year we make the beloved bunny cake. Courtney and Abbi have always loved doing this - yes Courtney still does at 16! This year Will got to join in the fun!

Here are some other highlights from our weekend in JC.

First Foods

April 2, 2010
We couldn't wait to start some solid food with Will. He seemed to really be intersted in what we were eating, he's holding his head up really well and sitting assisted. Who wouldn't want a little more than just milk??? Apples were the first try, with a little rice cereal. I debated doing just cereal - but have you tasted the stuff? So - we began.

I'm not sure he likes it really.

Definately doesn't like it...maybe tomorrow!!

The following morning we tried again...bananas this time! I know, I know, I'm suppose to only introduce 1 food at a time, but after I tasted the apples, they tasted tart to me, so I thought we'd try something a little sweeter. Here we go again...he seems happy enough.

Wait, no I don't think he likes bananas either.

Definately isn't sure about this stuff...maybe not so bad...so we'll keep trying...he'll get the hang of it soon.


Now the advantage to this blog for now, is that I am posting all this stuff in the future! So I can tell you that Will has really started liking his foods. It took about 9 days of trying it twice a day and he really started figuring out the spoon and how to swallow. Now he's loving apples, bananas, sweet potatoes, green peas and pears!

catching up...part 3

January
2010 - well that's just weird isn't it...can't believe a decade of the 2000's is gone!

Will turned 1 month old - boy did it fly by...except during those middle of the night feedings! I officially resigned from working to stay home with Will. After all the years of praying for a child...I wasn't gonna miss one second of anything! Thank God for blessing us with this opportunity!

Milestones:
- sleeping in his own room
- getting up only once a night - YEAH
- bearing weight on his legs - he loves to stand up
- seems to be getting on some kind of schedule/routine
- 1 month: 9 lbs 15 oz, 23 inches
- smiling and cooing most of the time
- first trip away from home to Jefferson City - Happy Birthday Papa!
- started rolling to his side and hangin out there
- batting at objects

Mama and Daddy are loving parenthood!

February
Will's second month brough even more joy! Will started staying awake more and really having some great alert time. We really started to get into the groove of a routine! Sleep, Eat, Play...Repeat. It's great - Will knows what to expect and so does Mama.

February also brought his 2 month check up and vaccinations - ugghh...but he did really well. Will started really having trouble keeping his milk down and difficulty with feeding. We began treating for reflux and everything greatly improved. So glad to have a happy eater now!

Milestones:
- sleeping through the night at 10 weeks YAHOOOOOOO!
- 2 months: 12 lbs 4 oz, 24.5 inches
- holding his head up really well
- really interested in watching/discovering
- reaching/grabbing for toys

March
Come on Spring...could you get here any quicker! Can't wait to get out a little...Mama's got the winter blues. Will continues to amaze us and melt our hearts.

March brought many visitors - and we loved every minute of it!
Aunt Diane, Nora and Keith got to visit FINALLY...we enjoyed a trip to the Magic House and the Arch. Nora and Keith joined Will's fan club...who wouldn't want to be a member. They fought over who got to hold him more!
Tracy and Meagan got to come too - what fun shopping and hanging out in our PJs.
Our first Zoo trip to meet the Car-Horns, Bill, Heather, Trisha and Ellie. What fun watching the penguins and to finish it off, a trip for dinner to Dewey's - yummmmmm.

Milestones:
- laughing out loud and jibber jabber
- blowing raspberries / motorboating
- wants to sit up and stand up so bad
- loves bath time - splashing all around
- first trip to the Zoo


3 month photos: we had these taken for his 3 month birthday! I'll brag - I have a cutie pie! The baby dress belongs to Will's great grandfather Ramon Carver - it's near 100 years old!

April
4 months...no way! Finally some warm weather has made it's way to Missouri! We're so glad to get outside a couple times a day to enjoy the warm air and sun.
Will turned 4 months on Easter Sunday and Mama and Daddy still can’t believe it! Seems like he’s been with us forever – can’t remember what was so much fun before he came along.

He’s doing great. He’s 14 lbs 12 oz (50th percentile) and 26.25” long (90th+ percentile). Just like Daddy, he’s gonna be tall and skinny! He’s doing great and has just started trying some solids. Each time we give him a little, he seems to enjoy it a little more, won’t be long till he’s eating us out of house and home!

He’s not quite rolling over, but will be pretty soon. He’s got some pretty strong arms and legs…can escape out of any swaddle we put him in and wants to stand up a lot! He’s talking all the time, or maybe I should say “screaming in delight” all the time. Mama and Daddy hope that he learns some vowel sounds soon, cause the screamy talk is hurting our ears! He’s happy all the time and loves to be on the go, don’t hold him down too long – he’ll let ya know about it!

Milestones:
- graduated OUT of the swaddle
- 4 months: 14 lbs 12 oz, 26.25 inches
- started to enjoy tummy time
- eating solids
- enjoys other kids, watches and laughs the whole time

catching up...part 2

Will's First Christmas
Christmas was upon us before we could say "ho, ho, ho". Luckily we had finished all our shopping and decorating before the big arrival.

We had a wonderful celebration as our families all came to see us. Yeah...no traveling this year! I could barely handle a trip to Babies R Us, let alone a 2 or 3 hour trip across the state!

We attended our church's Christmas Eve service - Will did a great job at church! Grandmother, Papa, Aunt Stephanie, Chris, Courtney and Abbi joined us for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. We threw out all the stops, as we wanted the best for Will's first Christmas - he didn't care a lick - go figure! We had our traditional snacks and red velvet cake after church and then the big lunch on Christmas day.

Will was of course showered with wonderful gifts including his first train set from Santa, a jumperoo from Grandmother and Papa and his very own toddler chair from Grandma and GrandDad. We all had a grand time while Will slept through most of it.

No major milestones yet for the little guy - he was only 3 weeks old.



Happy New Year
New Year's marked Mama and Daddy's first "date" and time away from Will. Grandmother and Papa came to ring in the new year with us and they babysat, while Mark and I joined some friends downtown for dinner. We had a great time, but missed our little guy. It took all we could muster just to stay gone for more than 3 hours!