jacob jay: six months

it has been a half of a year since we welcomed our jbaby into this world - and what a crazy six months it has been.

highlights this month include:

+ mastering the art of sucking on his toe. verrrrrry talented i tell you.

+ sitting on his own

+ giggles galore

+ first solid food - homemade rice cereal - the goal is to make all of j's baby food. so much fun! next up is banana or sweet potato.

+ first christmas

((peering into the new toy box daddy made him for christmas!))

we are enjoying j more and more every day. he is becoming such an explorer. he loves being on the floor and using his arms to swivel around so that he can get to different things around him. my guess is that he will be crawling any day now. he is constantly covered in drool, but still has yet to cut any teeth. he looks like such a little boy to me with every passing day. i want to slow down time, but it is so fun to watch him change and learn new things. he is fascinated by his daddy. when ryan walks in the room, j lights up and flails his arms. watching the two of them play together makes my heart happy. this baby boy has brought so much joy into our lives and we are so thankful for the blessing that he is.

christmas with the dumi.

i am loving the christmas season this year. loving it. on thanksgiving morning my wonderful husband asked me if we actually had to wait until the next day to start the christmas music. obviously the answer to that question was a resounding NO! so on the music went and two days later we were off to get our christmas tree and other materials for the crafts i had in mind to decorate. last year we were not in our own space, so this year i was rather excited to cozy up our home with fun things (side note - why can't we have lit up trees all winter - does it not make a home more cozy?!).

first, i have to include this picture because it makes my heart smile - my matching guys on tree cutting down day :

and here's christmas at the dumi house through my iphone. a lot of which was inspired by pinterest.

here is our christmas corner:

+ stockings hung on our trunk. we were really excited to pick out j's stocking and found one at pottery barn kids that we loved! worth the investment since it will be used for many years.

+we picked out our tree two days after thanksgiving - yikes she's not hanging on too well, but hopefully she'll have some needles still on christmas. we call her evelyn. i'm not sure why. we almost lost evelyn on the way home from the tree farm - she fell off the roof. hysterical now...not so much when it happened in 20 degrees and whipping wind.

+above our "mantle" is the advent calendar i made. i love christmas because of what christmas is about, so i really wanted our advent calendar to go through the story of the birth of jesus. i found a 24 day break out of luke's account on pinterest and i mounted it on scrapbook paper and strung it up with twine and clothespins. i love how it turned out and we are enjoying reading a card a day! 

here are closer pictures:

here's an instragram look at the little and simple decorations we put elsewhere: 

+ i LOVE mason jars, and my creative husband thought it'd be fun to make the coffee table a bit more festive by adding some candy canes in a mason. thumbs up, ry.

+ we also made a "wreath" for our front door out of a picture frame and hanging ornaments (this idea was exclusively from pinterest).

we are doing some other things to usher in the christmas season as a family, as well. we downloaded a christmas devotional by john piper and we go through that every night as a family. we know j doesn't pay attention, but we want to start now with doing things like that. ry and i have found a church that we like and the pastor is going through a mini series for the four weeks before christmas. it's been really good so far. i love church at christmastime. i love learning about all that the Lord did with and through the birth of Christ. it's just awesome.

but when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. - galatians 4:4-5

and last but not least, who can resist a picture of j in his christmas jammies:

jacob jay: five months

what a FUN month this has been. j has become quite the explorer over this last month and it has been so much fun.

highlights include:

+ rolling across the floor. while he tries valiantly to crawl (legs and arms flailing), he can't quite do that, so he rolls from point a to point b. it's QUITE amusing.

+toe grabbing. he started doing this last month a little, but now every time we change his diaper, the feet go right to the hands.

+petting beans. he's discovered beans, finally! he pets beans anytime he is within reach...and by pet, i mean pulls his hair. we have to convince beans to sit and withstand the pulling. they'll be best friends in no time.

+he laughs! it's so darn cute. mostly he laughs for ryan, but sometimes i can get one out of him.

+putting EVERYTHING in his mouth. if he grabs a toy in his hands, it goes right in his mouth.

+j's first thanksgiving (family photo above is from that!).

+we picked out our christmas tree with the first time with j.

+ NOT traveling. that was glorious.

as parents:

we loved this month. it was by far the  most fun we've had with j. perhaps it is because it was our first full month with him in our own space, or perhaps it is because j is really starting to show his personality. i think it's a little bit of both. he is such a little explorer. not one part of him wants to stay still. he always wants to move and see what is going on. when you place toy a little out of his reach, he must roll to get it. it's just so darn fun. each passing day we love him more. it's crazy how fast time is flying. june 26th feels like it was just yesterday, but years ago at the same time. we are loving being a family of three!

routine at long last.

...and breathe.

it's a glorious thing, really. sitting down to take a breath...and eat chips and salsa while j naps due to him not sleeping well last night. i finally feel like things are falling into place in our little apartment here. it's oh so nice to have our own space again and to be able to settle into our weekly routine. ry had his first full week of work last week, so we have started to figure out our morning routine with baby for the first time - no more ry leaving before j and i wake up due to a VERY long commute - PRAISE THE LORD!

if the evening goes smoothly (read: j doesn't wake up wanting to play for 1 am to 3 am like he did last night), ry and i get up together. we take care of beanies while j still sleeps so i can limit my trips outside with him with j after ry leaves (unlocking and locking multiple doors with child and dog is not a skill i have mastered quite yet). we make ryan's lunch and get ry's clothes ironed. coffee gets made, as do the smoothies:

any day started with a green smoothie is a good day! yum. and i say we above because it is a team effort in the mornings here. j has recently stopped sleeping through the night. in fact he's been up multiple times through the night lately, so i am a zombie most days, which means ry takes on the bulk of the morning duties and allows me to sleep until j wakes up or i stumble out of bed feeling guilty that i'm still sleeping (to which he usually turns me around and sends me back to bed for as much shut eye as possible). j wakes up in time to eat and play a little with daddy before daddy heads off to work and then we're off started on our day. i'm still working part time for a little while, so that happens during naps.

we are so thankful to have our own space and to have a job that provides enough so that i am able to be home with j. soon i will be done working and then we will really be able to settle into a routine where i will be able to get most of our chores done during the day instead of having to do them at night or on the weekends. for now, i am thoroughly enjoying getting used to our mornings here :)

jacob jay: four months.

baby boy is four months old (plus one week...i'm slow on the blogging). he gets more and more fun every month.

some highlights include:

- "talking" non-stop for mommy and daddy. he seems a little more shy around others, but he'll talk a little for a few people. we get to enjoy the 15 minute long conversations, though!

- roll over, big boy. jbaby has mastered the art of rolling over. in fact, when we put him in his crib, if i check on him one minute later, he's on his belly. yes, he's a belly sleeper. there's no stopping it. he's just like his daddy.

- oh. the. smiles. they get better each month.

- grabbing at everything. pulling my hair. i've completely stopped wearing my hair down. it's just not worth it to have it pulled every time i pick up my little man.

- the highchair. phew. thank you high chair for allowing us to eat a meal while j plays contentedly in high chair with his train!

- he moved from vermont to new york. that was pretty exciting for him. he has done pretty well, though we had to relearn sleeping through the night for some reason. silly boy wasn't used to sleeping in his new room all by himself!

- we have a great schedule. he wakes up, eats, plays, sleeps 1.5 hours and repeats the cycle until bed time between 7 and 8. sometimes bed time is a battle, but we're getting there. usually we get him to fall asleep and then the noisy neighbors upstairs wake him up, so i think we're going to be getting a white noise maker.

on being parents:

my oh my do we love our little man. LOVE HIM. it was quite a challenge, though, moving with a 3 and a half month old. i'm not quite sure what we were thinking. we are so glad we have our own place to call home with him now, though. oh and with the move i resigned from gordon. i am working part time while they hire/train someone and then i get to be a full time stay at home mama. this makes my heart so happy. working full time hours and full time mama was becoming quite taxing as his awake time lengthened. we are falling into routine with the drop in my working hours and ry has started at his new job. it's nice to have routine back and we feel great about feeling a bit more stable for j. oh and did i mention...we love this little boy? what a gift from the Lord he is to us. we are so thankful.

that time we moved to new york.

there's been a slight change in our life over the past two weeks. two and a half weeks ago ryan received an offer from a firm in rochester and a few days later we decided to take it. so we packed up and moved our little family here. we found an apartment with the help of my dad and step mom, they came up along with my step brother and helped us pack the uhaul and then we left vermont. we've been here for a week and it's been full of running around getting things settled like licenses, insurance, bank accounts, etc. we're finally feeling a little bit more settled and even had our first dinner guest tonight. so that's that. sorry to all our friends who we didn't have time to fill in, moving as quick as we did was quite a task, let alone moving with a three and a half month old. j baby has been quite a trooper and we're excited to be able to settle and give him a home. we're exhausted, so i'm going to go rest with my handsome husband...more to come...like j baby turning four months old on friday...CRAZY!

Dumas Family Favorites: Honey Pecan Granola

so every blog post written lately has been all about jacob jay. if you couldn't tell, we're sort of in love with the little man. but, in case anyone is sick of him (not sure how that is possible), i've decided to throw in a dumas family favorite. i am addicted to this granola and it is constantly in our cupboard to be consumed with greek yogurt on a daily basis. this is partly to save me from not drinking coffee as my breakfast and partly because i can't get enough of this six ingredient granola. thank you martha stewart.

Honey Pecan Granola

adapted from martha stewart

3 cups old fashioned oats

2 cups chopped pecans*

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/3 cup honey

1/2 teaspoon salt

cinnamon

1. preheat oven to 300 degrees fahrenheit.

2. mix first five ingredients together.

3. transfer to parchment lined baking sheet and spread out evenly.

4. sprinkle desired amount of cinnamon on top.

5. bake until lightly golden, about 30 minutes, stirring halfway through.

6. ENJOY!

*cousin...you can substitute in an extra cup of oats instead of the pecans. so can the rest of you nut-allergied people. 

jacob jay: three months

time is flying. i didn't know time could feel like it was moving this fast. somehow our baby boy is already three months old and i'm not quite sure how it happened. i must say this three month marker is so much fun. i'm guessing i'll probably say that about every stage, but the things jacob is doing are just so much fun.

- smiles. big big big smiles in the dumas house for this guy.

- check out that hand. before he would cry and cry because he couldn't get his hand in his mouth to self-soothe...this month...not a problem.

- show me the world! when held, jacob must be facing forward at all times, otherwise he is not a happy camper. he loves looking around at everything around him.

- playing in his exer saucer. he LOVES it. his hand eye coordination is getting better and he intentionally spins things and hits buttons. he concentrates really hard to do it and it is adorable.

- we went on two trips this month: rochester for labor day and massachusetts (where i managed to take ZERO picture...doh!)

- generations! how fun is this... four generations:

- we growth spurted. it was miserable. it lasted for what seemed like forever. no naps. forget sleeping through the night, we were up two and three times. it made for one sleepy mama and one uncomfy jacob. poor kid was always hungry and never comfortable. we made it out, though, and we're back on a really good eat/play/sleep schedule. we're working on that night time sleep thing again, though.

on being parents:

ry and i were discussing the other day about how, looking back on the past three months, it feels like we were in a fog. at each month marker we've done that and think to ourselves, "we're functioning so much better!" i wonder when we'll actually be functioning as normal humans...never? but, who cares?! we are more in love with j with each passing second. he's so much fun. i started working from home and i'm juggling getting up early to work and working my schedule around j. the good thing about a baby is that he takes a lot of two hour naps! perfect for working, really. the whole working thing has been tough on the getting things done ... like laundry and cooking ... but we will figure it out. it's one big team effort and it's just so much fun.

and as a side note: beans does still exist. poor guy is STARVING for attention. we take him on our walks and play with him, but he's got a bit of a jealousy issue when ry is hanging out with j. he'll get over it once him and j become best friends :)

two months.

didn't i just write the one month post?! how is time moving so fast?! 

thoughts on my two month old:

+ in month two jacob visited new york, maryland and massachusetts. i guess we can even count new hampshire since we pit stopped for an hour to visit our friends! he drove through pennsylvania, delaware and new jersey. that's not bad for two months of life, right?

+ jacob also decided it was time for a his first hike - a 1.1 mile climb to sterling pond in smuggler's notch.

+ he's slept for eight hours straight on two occasions. hopefully these occasions will become more frequent.

+ he's got a serious case of the smiles. what a smiley little man we have. it's so fun to sit him on our legs and get him to smile for minutes on end.

+ naps are our friends. it took me a little while to figure out that once changed and fed, if he's fussy, chances are he is tired. he loves his morning nap. he loves his afternoon nap. he loves his stroller nap on our nightly walk. so thankful for my napping, happy boy. when well-napped, his awake time is full of smiles and fun!

+ jacob loves his daddy. loves him. in fact, the only thing he wants right before bed is for his daddy to hold and rock him a little bit. we've read how it's not good to let such habits begin...but sometimes the little man needs a little extra snuggle and we don't think there is anything wrong with a little extra love...so forget all those don't rock your baby to sleep/don't snuggle your baby to sleep nonsense. we say...SNUGGLE AWAY! 

+ little man works like clockwork. he's on such a good schedule and it's so good to be able to predict when he'll be hungry and when he'll need his nap. makes life happy and easy.

thoughts on being parents for two months:

my friend told me that when i had jacob, after about five weeks the fog would lift. she wasn't kidding. after about five weeks, we were in our routine and life started to sail along smoothly. i'm not entirely sure what happened those first five weeks of jacob's life, but i do know that new parents should not be held accountable for anything that happens those first five weeks. what a blur of walking around in zombie like states. wow. now, though, i feel like we are fully functioning human beings again! it is awesome.

and have i mentioned...we love this little guy. each day we love him more and more. it's crazy to think that two months ago we were just meeting him. we can't imagine life without him.