Wesley is 6 months old!

This month was full of ups and downs.  Jimmy has been on CT which has him at the hospital by 5 a.m. and home usually around 8 p.m.  The days have been LONG.  Grace turned 3, Wesley was baptized, Grace got a stomach bug, then Jimmy got the bug, and Wesley got his first ear infection.  The biggest improvement this month by far has been Wesley's night time sleep.  More about that after the picture journey through the month!

Wesley @ 6 months old

 

Grace @ 6 months old

Jimmy with Wesley @ 6 months old

 

Jimmy with Grace @ 6 months old

 

Myself, Sarah, Ashley, and Sam

The three of us threw a baby shower for Sarah in April.  I highly recommend the restaurant Bleu.  Their private room is free to use and the owner, Sam, was overly helpful!  Sarah had her baby girl, Reagan, a few days ago.  We love you Sarah!

I found this stuff over a year ago.  I tucked it away and planned to pull it out on a rainy day.  It wasn't a rainy day, but we pulled it out for some bath time fun!

You pour this powder into the bath water and within minutes the water turns gooey.

When you finish, you pour a different powder substance into the goo which turns the water back to normal...for the most part.  It was super fun!

We spontaneously went a Winston-Salem Dash baseball game.  We weren't planning on it (especially since it was at 7 p.m. which is bed time for thing 2 and close to bed time for thing 1) but sometimes you have to live on the edge, right?

Thanks to Dan we have some great family pictures!!  Grace had SO much fun playing with Dan's older boys.  They slid on the grassy hill the whole time.  Grace slid so much that she busted open the backside of her pants.  Everyone slept hard that night!

Someone wants to be JUST like her daddy.

The Children's Museum has 1/2 priced Fridays each month.  The admission is half price from 4-6 which is a great time for us due to naps.  This was the second time we have gone to 1/2 price Fridays and there was hardly anyone there.  We were SO glad Brooke could meet up with us.

Hard to believe these girls are 11 days apart!  Grace is short.  Brooke is tall.  Too funny!

Sweet Wesley came along for the ride :)

Probably my most favorite picture of the girls ever!

Bird watching with daddy! 

Jimmy went to get Grace up from her nap and found her asleep mid book :)  She opened her eyes when he took the picture.

Little man is sitting up like a champ!  Grace was sitting independently at his point but Wesley is doing something she wasn't at this age...rolling everywhere!  He'd rather roll around than sit up.  I guess I can't blame him.

The Salem Widow's Ministry still exists!  I haven't posted about it recently, but we just had an Easter cookie decorating social for the residents at Homestead Hills Assisted Living.  Grace really likes icing.  The residents liked watching her eat the icing, so it was a win win.

 

Sarah K. with her boys, Wyatt and Jonah

Sarah E. with her boys, Will and Jack; Nicole with her boys, Landon and Liam

Thank you ladies for your continued support and volunteering with the ministry!

 

Our fellowship group from church meets on Wednesday nights.  We have grown really close with everyone.  Unfortunately for us, the Walters are leaving so it was a good time for us to plan a retreat with all of the families.  We missed David Todd but were glad he could come for one evening!  We went to the Flow Farm about 30 minutes from town.  It was perfect! 

Grace and Ellory are buds :)

Wesley and Elijah will become buds...this was too funny!

 

The only people missing from the picture are David-Todd (work) and Grace (napping).

 

Wesley is all sorts of obsessed with Jimmy.  If Jimmy is in the room, Wesley is looking at him.  If Jimmy is talking, Wesley is cheesing it up.  It's really sweet.  Wesley kept rolling up to Jimmy and smiling while Jimmy was doing his workout :)

My sick babies!  Jimmy and Grace both got the stomach bug this month.  They were quarantined to the bed together :)

 

Our sweet, happy, and chubby boy!

Weight: 19 pounds 3 ounces (77%)
Height: 26 1/4 inches (29%)
Head: 18 inches (97%!)
Moods: Happy...or happy!  I think Wesley is so entertained by Grace that he is always smiling at what she is doing.
Favorite foods: Milk!
Favorite toy: If he can roll to it and get it to his mouth, he likes it.
Sounds: He isn't a noisy baby like Grace was.  Wesley makes some noises here and there but he mainly watches and listens to his big sister.
Favorite hobbies: Rolling around the floor and watching Grace
Sleep habits: I took Wesley to the doctor shortly after he turned 5 months because the nights were getting worse.  I wanted to make sure he didn't have an ear infection or SOMETHING going on.  The doctor basically said Wesley was plenty big enough and old enough to sleep through the night.  He said the reason Wesley was crying was because he knew I'd be coming in there at some point during the night.  SO, operation cry it out began.  It took several nights before Wesley was only crying once at night.  Even then, he wouldn't cry for long so progress was encouraging.  After a few weeks I'm happy to report that little man sleeps 7-6:45 or later some days.  I guess I just needed a doctor to tell me he didn't need to eat at night anymore!  Wesley is a happy boy so I haven't damaged him for those of you that don't like the "cry it out" method...it worked for us!  Believe it or not, he won't remember any of this :) 
Clothing Size: 6-9 months and some 9 month stuff
Big sister update: Grace is still have her "threenager" moments but the doctor assured us at her 3 year check up that is usually lasts a few months as they learn their boundaries.  We have started a behavior responsibility chart (thanks to an idea from Nicole!) and that has helped us be more intentional about rewarding her good behavior instead of focusing on her bad behavior.  Grace continues to be an amazing big sister!  Jimmy has a really funny video of her dancing around Wesley and making him laugh. 
Kristen's work update: My contract has been extending until December 2014!  I was thrilled about this because I really love having a work outlet; especially when it's something I'm good at and love.  Also, we have begun the English Language Arts project that should be finished in June.  We are developing 15 ELA problem based learning cases per grade level K-8 aligned with the Common Core Standards.
Residency Update: Thank you for your prayers!  Jimmy has been working so hard this month.  CT is NO JOKE, y'all!  He arrives at the hospital around 4:45 a.m. and hasn't gotten home until 7-8 most days.  When he's on call (it's home call for CT) he gets home even later because he has to be the last one to leave.  When you are on home call during the week, you work a full day and then still get called in at night if something comes up.  If you are on home call on the weekend, you don't have to go in unless something happens at the hospital.  I have to actively talk myself out of being so selfish when Jimmy gets called in since of course we'd rather have him at home.  I know when Jimmy gets called it it's because someone is really sick...someone that has a family and loved ones.  One of Jimmy's weekend home calls he was at the hospital from 5 a.m. - 2 a.m..  The sacrifices residents and their spouses make are great and usually unnoticed.  Jimmy chose this career path, so in a way we signed up for all of this but that doesn't make it any easier!  We are thankful for God's continued guidance in our journey that is almost halfway over.