One thing I've learned by living here is that life is unpredictable. We aren't guaranteed that tomorrow is going to work out like we planned. Case in point: Mitch called yesterday and said he was at the hospital with a family from church. The father was a diabetic and hadn't felt good that morning. He stayed home, and that morning he passed away. His wife, who was at home the whole time, came in a found him not breathing. The doctors believe he was having a heart attack, and the symptoms of the diabetes masked it. He left behind his wife and two sons, one of which is a senior in high school. Please pray for them.

In other news, Jacey is going through a growth spurt. She's 6 weeks old now, so I was expecting it. She eats every 1 to 3 hours, and has slept all morning, poor thing. Luckily for us she did make it about 8 hours last night between feedings. It's amazing to actually get sleep!

The evils of garlic

After eating lasagna, pizza, and breadsticks for dinner the past few nights, and waking up to a screaming child, we're hoping that she is opposed to just garlic. The poor thing will just scream with a gurgling stomach after her midnight feeding. I'm saddened by this because of my love of all things Italian, but I value sleep and a happy, comfortable child more.

This weekend was very enjoyable. Friday we went to Sam's for diapers and a tour. I haven't shopped there in so long that I had no idea what wonderful things I could buy in bulk. They even have decent furniture. Who knew? Saturday we invited ourselves over to Newton and Laura's for a movie day. We hadn't seen them in a while, and so we enjoyed a lazy Saturday together.

Here are a few recent pictures for your enjoyment:

We are trying to take a picture each month by the same object to see how much she is growing. This is Cuddles, my childhood teddy bear.

I was so lucky in my timing to get this picture! She is smiling because of gas, not because of mom, unfortunately.

I love her pants! She is finally just big enough for them.

A little less sleep

So I have a typical newborn. After sleeping through the night (well, almost), we were up every 3 hours Sunday night (mainly because mom ate pickles), and 3-4 on Monday. I think Jacey's been going through a growth spurt. At least that's all I can figure. Last night was much better though.

I've realized that all my posts are about Jacey, so I'll try to fill you in on her and the other things in our life (I think there are other things). We are planning a trip to Nashville courtesy of my parents at the end of October. They are dying to see Jacey again, and it'll be fun to show her off. Even though they live 15 hours away, we're hopefully going to do better about seeing each other, for my sake as well as theirs. Work and the craziness of life are poor excuses for not seeing family in my opinion. So I'm thrilled about that.

My inlaws gave us a lot of chicken that was leftover from camp this summer, and I've had fun creating meals. If anyone has any good recipes for chicken, feel free to share!

New Xbox game - Lego Star Wars II = lots of fun. It's a comedy, really.

Pretty girl

This is her first Sunday to go to church. Grandma gave her the pretty dress, and the booties she's wearing I wore when I was her age.

Getting ready for another trip out.

Sleeping beauty.

My drama queen.

It's amazing to look at these pictures and realize how much she's already changed. She's definitely put on some more body fat. and has more cheeks on her. She's also starting to sleep more (hooray!). Thursday night she slept for 6 1/2 hours before I woke up and fed her. She's consistently stretched feedings to 4 hours this week.

One of my new favorite things: giving Jacey a bath and watching her relax. It's one of the most peaceful things I've ever seen.

A familar face

I found this picture of Jacey from a few weeks ago. According to my mother-in-law, Tyler, my husband's brother, had a huge mouth when he cried. I have no idea if this is remotely closely to that image, but I thought of that story when I saw it. Isn't she cute?

I'm finally here!

My sister-in-law encouraged me to start a blog, so here I am! I really enjoy reading my friends and family's posts, and I like to write my own occasionally. It's such a good way of keeping in touch. So here goes.

Life is good around here. Things are settling down as we get accustomed to having a little baby. Jacey has definitely made the transition to parenthood easy for us. She's such a sweetheart, and isn't a difficult baby. Last night she slept for 4 hours between feedings, and we all were rejoicing! Our pediatrician really pushes to have her patients sleeping at least 6 hours by 2 months. I love the idea, but I've been worried about how to get Jacey to stretch it out. Like all things I've discovered about parenting so far, the child usually knows what she needs, and things will work out in due time. And last night was proof of that.

She's also getting to be more active and awake. We played in the floor on our stomachs yesterday as she worked on lifting her head and looking from side to side. She works at it so hard that she gets tired and grumpy pretty fast. But she's definitely making progress!

Mitch's job is going well. We're getting back into a set schedule after this summer's trips and all-around craziness. The kids, parents, and congregation are starting to open up to him more since we've been here over a year. He's beginning to be able to incorporate his ideas and goals, instead of doing what has always been done. It's great to watch.

On a more random note, I love making funfetti cake. You know, the mix with the sprinkles inside. It's not necessarily my favorite flavor, but for some reason I'm drawn to it every time in the grocery store. It's just hard not to be happy as you make and eat it.

For those who've requested, here are some pictures of our family...

I love to headbands. I don't know if she does...

Hungry Jacey!

Sleepy Jacey.

More coming soon!