Corn, corn and more corn

We are moved! We moved into my dad's house in Zellwood yesterday. We almost fit everything that we are storing on the pod. The guys fit everything in there just like a puzzle. I guess I'm not getting anything out now. Thank you so much Sean, Matt Metzler, Rick, & Thomas and Juli for helping us move. We couldn't have done it without you!

I am slowly unpacking everything. We have limited space so I'm trying to figure out the best place for everything. Adam has our computer hooked up, but not connected to the internet yet (I'm on my dad's computer) so when he gets it all working I'll post cute pics of our little man.

It is so different out here in Zellwood. There is corn, of course, (the annual corn festival was this weekend), but my dad also saw a bobcat in his yard - watch out Garnet! Our horse, aka Garnet, is slowly adjusting. It is really different. He is sleeping on the porch and there are lots of noises. My dad said he was barking at 4am! Hopefully he will adjust soon. We have a shock-collar fence for him. We'll try that on him tomorrow...should be interesting!

Jacob is doing pretty well. He has been congested now for I think 3 weeks. That is slowly getting better. He is constipated and that is not fun. Let's just say we had an interesting adventure Saturday involving grunting, me, my mom, A&D ointment and a thermometer (if you don't understand, you don't want to know). I think he is getting back to normal. I didn't give him anything but milk Sunday and today. I'll add back in baby food tomorrow (fruit only for a little) and hopefully that will help. He has been really clingy and not napping unless you are holding him, but it seems like he is back to sleeping through the night (cross our fingers). Poor little man, he is still so off. I hope everything gets back to normal for him.

Well, I'm off to go plop on the couch and rest more (Adam is watching a show on how things are made...boring!). We are exhausted and I am working 3-days in a row this week so hopefully we can catch up on some good rest tonight. I'll post pictures soon...

Finally, pictures!

It has been crazy around our house this weekend. Busy, busy packing! Thank you soooo, soooo much John and Grace for helping me pack all of my china and glass stuff and thank you Kristin for keeping Jacob occupied. I think that we were able to pack most of the stuff that is going to get stored. Next Saturday Adam will be gone at the guys’ retreat so my mom and I will pack the rest of the stuff. Right now I am relaxed about it and feeling good, but I know I’ll probably be completely stressed out by Thursday.

I just found out today that my Aunt from Tenn is coming to visit. I was going to pack Friday night, but instead I get to hang out with her and her family so that will be fun! It will hopefully help me relax about everything, but we’ll see.

I have been HORRIBLE about updating pictures and have gotten really behind. Here is a slide show of everything that has been happening. It is long (sorry), but there are some really cute pictures.

I’ll have to post more of an update later (probably not until after we move). Jacob is sitting on my lap grunting and I think I need to go tend to the “present” he has made for me. Enjoy the pics!

Today we pack...

...and hopefully I post Jacob's cute pictures tomorrow!

Check out my cousin's blog. Matt, my cousin-in-law, is battling cancer and had a biopsy surgery yesterday morning.

www.ButschekFamily.blogspot.com

Busy, busy, busy

Well, you can tell from my lack of posts that we are very busy in the Shaw household. I have lots to tell and lots of pictures to post. I hope to get that done shortly. I'll probably post several shorter ones instead of one long post, so scroll down to catch up on everything. Maybe I'll get to that by Sunday, but who knows. Here is a quick look at what we have been up to...

Jacob is doing GREAT with the baby food - he even eats peas!

Jacob was sick with a bad cough and junk in his lungs and had to have a nebulizer, but is doing better now.

We decided to move in with my dad while our house is being built and so we (which means me) are packing and are moving the Sunday before Memorial Day.

Jacob is 10lbs 12oz!

Oh and we are packing ALL DAY this Saturday if you want to come and keep us company (aka help). You have to promise to at least pack one box and not just play with Jacob the entire time. =)

Catch ya'll up later with the details...hopefully!

Yummy, yummy in my tummy!

We had our first experience with baby food last night. Jacob did great! We started with bananas (my favorite!). I put a blanket over his bouncy seat (to keep it clean) and put him in it and he was ready to go. I had breastfed him only on one side so he was still hungry, but not starving. Adam said it was weird that we were starting baby food when he couldn’t even sit up.

Jacob didn’t know what to think of the first bite, but after that he seemed to like it. It was hard to get the spoon in his mouth as he has to learn how to open his mouth, but he ate half of the jar. We also had to keep moving his hand out of his mouth – he really wanted to eat. I’m sure he would have eaten the entire thing if I would have let him, but I want to go slowly. Twice he even started to really cry when I didn’t get it to him fast enough. He was too cute. Adam fed him some as well. It was a fun family bonding time.

I’m going to give him bananas a couple more times and then move onto sweet potatoes. Once I do that for about a week or so, I’ll add in more feedings, but for now just one feeding a day. Enjoy the videos of his first experience with food!

Contagious Laughter

This is too funny. I look forward to the day when we can make Jacob laugh!

Did you miss us?

I didn't realize how long it has been since I have posted anything. All is good in the Shaw house and we have had some HUGE things happening. Let's see...where to start...

Work: Work is good. It is hard being away from Jacob, but I have my pictures and lots to keep my hands and brain busy so the time goes quickly. I pump at work and I enjoy the comments about it from the office. Poor things...if they walk by the kitchen they hear my milker going. I think some are a little disturbed by the thought of it, but I'll spare you those thoughts. Adam's work is going good. He is back in Apopka. Jacob and I went and had lunch with him a couple of weeks ago. It is hard to get there more often. I'm having trouble adjusting to being gone from the house so much and still getting things done and getting rested. Last week, on both Wednesday and Friday, I fell asleep on the couch - I just couldn't stay awake. I think it will be easier and I feel better once I go to only working 2 days a week. Hopefully that can happen by the end of May (maybe?).

Jacob: He is our BIG little man. We went to the doctor today and he weighs 10 pounds! He is doing great. He is smiling and talking more. His newest trick is holding his arms together in the middle of his chest. Adam says that that is a good thing, that it means he knows where his mid-line is and that is a developmental mark. I said "OK". He is also trying so hard to figure out how to reach for his toys. His favorite is his zebra that hangs on his bouncy seat. The other night you could tell he was reaching his arm for it, so I brought it closer and he was opening his hand and trying to figure out how to make it grab it. I decided that since he loves it so much (whenever he sees his zebra he starts kicking and I have caught him talking to him a couple of times) that I need to buy him a stuffed zebra. I have one in mind that I want, now I just have to find it. Where do you buy stuffed animals? I have never bought one before. The doctor said that I can start feeding him baby food...oh my, this will be interesting. Just when he feeding times have been getting shorter, now we add a whole other element. It should be fun! Also, I think the kid has eczema. I have had it all my life and am really broken out right now and have noticed several spots on my poor little man. The doctor said to try grape seed oil and rub that on his skin. We'll see if it works. I cried and cried when I realized that he had it as it has been such a pain for me and I'm so sad that I gave it to him. Just another thing for God to work on! =)

Our BIG news: So we bought a house! We signed the contract Saturday. We had plans to buy the house we are in in May, but Adam started looking at new homes and found a couple that were priced the same as what we would buy our house for. I thought that he was just looking for something new to research, but when he wouldn't stop talking about it I agreed to go and look. I thought for sure that I wouldn't like the idea any more once I saw the house and that we would end up staying where we are. We went and looked on 4/19 and I hated the first one (I didn't like the plan, the yard or the location) and then we went to the second one...I loved it. We talked with the realtor and got all the details. We crunched the numbers and took my mom to see it the next day. We talked about it a little more (by this point I was getting really excited - a complete 180 from my first reaction to the idea) and couldn't convince ourself that we shouldn't move. We called the realtor and signed the contract on 4/26 - one week after we looked at the house and only two weeks after we decided that this might be a possibility. Craziness! We go next Friday to the design center (it is a Ryland home, fyi) and pick out everything and should be in by October. It is only 3.5 miles away from where we live now (it is called Oak Hill Reserve). They have been building in there since 2005 and it is still a nice neighborhood. It has a community pool, park and playground. I love it! I'm excited, but get overwhelmed when I think about packing...yikes! I'll keep you updated with the progress through pictures.

Well, that is about all that has been happening in the Shaw home. Lots of adjusting and changes. Life is exciting. I am feeling very, very overwhelmed at the amount of BIG decisions we are having to make in a short amount of time. If I think about it too long it makes me emotional. Adam did remind me that we tried building a new house when we first got married - about the same square footage (our house is a 4/2 and is 2002 square feet) - and it didn't work (they raised the price $70,000!) and now we are getting what we wanted, but in a better neighborhood and a better layout. God has really given us the desire of our hearts. Also, when I am starting to feel bad for myself and what we have to decide here in the next week or so (what upgrades we want, how to save more, should we move in with my dad until the house is ready to save money, etc.) I'm reminded of how wonderful and smoothly things are for us. I have a family member battling cancer, I have a friend whose mom has breast cancer, another really good friend who wants to have a baby but is having trouble, another friend whose expenses are about to increase and they don't know where the extra money is going to come from...so many other, bigger things than my kitchen counter top dilemma. We serve a BIG God and He will help me decide if we should upgrade the kitchen counters or not, but I feel very selfish in my wallowing when I stop and look around me at the bigger problems that my friends have. I thank my God that He has been protecting us and growing Jacob and we don't have anything major to worry about. So I guess my point is, yes I need wisdom from God, but more than that...my deepest desire, when I stop looking at myself, is to watch Him work miracles in my friends around me. I have been doing a lot of thinking and my prayer today is "God, help me see around myself and please, please work miracles in my friend's life as it hurts me to see them hurt!"