New Beginnings: Will's First Christmas/New Year

Welcome 2015!

Why didn't anyone tell me that I wouldn't have any time to maintain a blog when I have a 3 month old?! :)

The new year is in full swing, and looking back on 2014 we had a LOT happen. Dave got a new job, we had an ugly court battle, we sold our house, moved to Pennsylvania, and of course, Will was born. That's a big year! I wonder what 2015 has in store?

Baby Will is almost 4 months old already! Dave and I marvel every day at his new little developments and accomplishments, not to mention his ever-growing chubby cheeks! In the past month Will has started to giggle, which is the absolute best sound in the world! He makes lots of little cooing sounds, and even held himself in a sitting position for a few seconds. He seems to be one strong little kiddo. From day 1 he could hold his head up by himself, and I think he was less than a month old when he could bear weight on his legs. He is becoming a little more mobile with all of his wiggling and rolling abilities, and I think we may be seeing teeth in the near future!

Will- 3.5 months

3.5 months

Will is still a Mama's boy. My darling son wants to be held ALL. THE. TIME. Preferably by me. It is cute and a little frustrating at the same time. I just keep reminding myself that he will only be this little for a short time. Who cares if I can't get as much laundry done as I intended, or if the dishes start to pile up? It's most important that I spend this time with my sweet little boy. While he still has a hearty appetite, his feedings seem to be stretched out a little more these days, which is a welcome relief for Mommy! Many of you know that Will was especially fussy in the evenings and wanted to eat constantly. Thankfully, he seems to be getting into a little bit better routine.

I think he is starting to look a little more like me! Don't you think?

Dave started his Spring semester today, meaning his time is pretty much filled with course preparation. He gets to teach an advanced ecology course and ichthyology, both of which are classes he is basically designing from scratch. Despite being busy, he took a little time to go ice fishing yesterday morning with a colleague. I was wishing I could go, too!

Will's First Christmas

It was great having Jonah for a decent chunk of time over Christmas Break, and Will had an awesome first Christmas. We spent two weeks in Michigan with my family. Santa definitely spoiled all of us yet again this year! The kids had a great time playing together, and sure took home a haul of presents. Of course, less than an hour after opening presents Jonah was already begging to play on the iPad. Isn't that always the way?! A boatload of great new presents, and technology still wins out.
Will didn't have a clue what was going on, but he sure was cute! My favorite part? The gift Jonah picked out for Will, all by himself. He spotted this little green sea turtle book at Barnes and Noble when we were there one day. He knows how much I like turtles, and he immediately said he wanted to get it for Will. It was super cute. :)

Christmas morning!

Jonah helping Will unwrap gifts!

The kids in some of their new gear!

A nice shot of Nana and Papa with their new desk calandars

The girls with their new American Girl Dolls!

Maysie-4 Cammie-6 Jonah-7 Will-3 months

I have very fond memories from this Christmas that I hope I will always remember. Jonah and I decorated the tree together, laughing to our own version of The 12 Days of Christmas. A few years ago Renae got Dave some ornaments that all correspond to the song, so we started with those. After that, we had to come up with our own version to go along with our other ornaments. Jonah and I were cracking up as we sang, "On the 13th day of Christmas my true love gave to me, 13 wiener dogs..." or "14 chubby chickens..." The memory still brings a smile to my face.

While we were in Michigan we took the time to go visit my grandma in the nursing home. She is 96 years old! She always gets a kick out of the seeing the kids, even if she doesn't really remember any of us. To see a smile on her face as she spent time with the kiddos was worth the 4 hours of driving. She definitely still has her sense of humor! It's fun to see the glimpses of the grandma we all know and love.

4 generations!

Will meeting his Great Grandma for the first time

Other News

Jonah is still doing well in school. He is in an advanced language arts group, which is no surprise. Reading is easily his best subject. That, and art! He has doodles all over his school work, most of which have beady, red eyes and bloody fangs. I am happy Jonah's teacher does a nice job of communicating with us. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for our current parent coordinator. If I am being honest, this school year has been pretty tough when it comes to the custody issues. We are trying to adapt to this new schedule, but we are helpless to resolve any disagreements because our assigned parent coordinator will not return our calls or e-mails. It is beyond frustrating and it is forcing us to return to court. Most of all, we miss Jonah like crazy. We try to have him as often as possible, but with the assigned holiday schedule we have been missing some of our regularly scheduled weekends. It all feels unfair, but I am finding that when you deal with the courts and custody, things are often unfair.

Besides all of that business, however, things are going quite well. We have been in Pennsylvania for 5 months already (wow!) and despite missing our families, we really feel at home here. We have made some good friends already, and my directionally-challenged self is starting to learn my way around. I went to my first "Moms and Babes" group last Wednesday and I am SO glad I did! I am already looking forward to the next meeting. They seem like a really nice group of ladies who are in the same boat I am (stay-at-home moms who desperately need to socialize with other adults to maintain sanity). I hope it will help us to meet other young couples with kids so that Jonah and Will can find some new playmates, and hopefully Dave and I can make some new friends.

Even though the winter here hasn't been as bad as the Michigan winters I'm used to, I am still VERY eager for spring! Getting out for a walk with Will was always the highlight of my day. The other day we were able to get a walk in for the first time in over a month. It was over 50 degrees here! Woo hoo! But then it turned cold and nasty again. I am thinking of loading up Will to wander around the mall for a while.