Visit to Indiana

John David took his first plane ride last week to Indiana to visit the Isenhour's and Fuchs'.  He did so well on both flights, despite a little delay on the return.  He enjoyed visiting with Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Alison, Great-Grandma Isenhour and the Fuchs side of the family.  John loved sitting on Grandpa and Grandma's front porch in the rocking chair.  We listened to the birds and watched Sam and Chance (the dogs) play.  Despite the stifling hot and humid weather and lots of rain he had a great first trip.  

More pictures....

Sorry it has taken a while to post these but here are a few pictures from the 2 month photo session that we had a while back. 

3 Months Old!!!!

John David turned 3 months old on Friday!  He continues to be a sweet and adorable baby boy who is such a joy to be around.  He has been sleeping through the night for almost a month now for 9 hours straight and still takes a great nap in the afternoon along with shorter naps throughout the day.  His Mom and Dad are incredibly grateful!  He is a very happy baby, smiling and laughing out loud. Just in the last couple of days he has started "talking" to us and he has the most adorable little voice.  He can hold his head and torso up on his own really well and he loves to stand and sit, with a little assistance of course! We take 2.5 to 3 mile walks in the stroller each morning, now without the car seat, which John and Mom equally enjoy (Mom is happy to no longer have the extra 10 pounds of the car seat to push around).   John can now reach out and grab toys, fingers and whatever else he can get his hands on.  He loves to stick these same items in his mouth!  He loves his Angle Dear Monkey "Mikey" (http://www.angeldear.net/cuddle/1133_dark_monkey_c.php) that Aunt Meredith gave him and it promptly calms him down when riding in his nemesis, the car seat!  He loves when we sing "Old McDonald" (I have had to come up with more than more interesting animals for him to have on his farm). We continue to be immensely grateful for our precious baby boy and hope you enjoy some of the pictures below from this past month.    

Sleeping on Mom and Dad's Bed

When he is pouting he sticks he lower lip out and it is so cute!

What a sweet face...

Self-portrait (at least John looks good)

Singing "Old McDonald"

Sitting in his new "Bumbo" chair

Playing with his toys

Tummy Time!

John David has a love hate relationship with tummy time. One moment he is hamming it up with lots of smiles and giggles and the next we are in full meltdown mode.  I have a few recent cute tummy time pictures I thought I would share.  Enjoy!

  

 

 

 

Gotta love the drool!

My New Favorite Things

Since becoming a Mom I have found there are a few items which have become essential to our "new normal," making our lives so much easier. 

Itzbeen Timer
From the day we brought John home from the hospital the Itzbeen Timer has been one of my favorite baby items.  With just the touch of a button you can track feeding, naps, diaper changes and I used the miscellaneous button to track my pain medication.  It seems simple and maybe even a little frivolous but it is amazing how easily you can lose track of those things when you are sleep deprived.      

Moby Wrap

I have to say before I had John I was unsure how much I would use my Moby Wrap (http://www.mobywrap.com/).  It seemed a little granola and socks with Birkenstocks for me but it has been an absolute lifesaver.  I use it at the grocery store, Target and around the house when I want to have both hands free.  It is great for times when a stroller is inconvenient or not practical.  John loves it because he is held snugly next to me and promptly falls asleep within minutes.  There are many different ways to wear the Moby and the styles change as baby grows which is unique.  I do get some strange looks when I am wearing it with a lot of double-takes but I cannot tell you how many moms come up to me and say "Isn't the Moby great" or "don't you love your Moby" and I couldn't agree more!

BOB Revolution Stroller

I absolutely love my BOB (http://www.bobgear.com/) it is the most amazing stroller!  We go on at least one walk a day sometimes two (especially now that I am trying hard to lose my baby weight).  This is a jogging stroller but now we are mostly using the car seat attachment (left) until he gets a little better head/neck control.  Once we get the ok from John's pediatrician we will start running together but that wont be until he is at least 5 months old.  The BOB is spendy but it is so well made and versatile it is worth it for us plus we will be doing a lot of walking in Brussels!      

Miracle Blanket/Swaddling Blanket

John has been swaddled every night since he came home from the hospital and he sleeps amazingly well.  Initially we just used large (40x40) receiving blankets to swaddle him but eventually he got strong enough to pull his arms out and wake himself up and we had to upgrade to the Miracle Blanket (a gift from Aunt Meredith who swears by it).  I will admit that I was skeptical at first but it really does work and John sleeps great in it and wakes up happy and well rested (and so do Mom and Dad).  This is a picture of John right after he has woken up in the morning in his Miracle Blanket.  We now have to "double wrap" him in the Miracle Blanket and the Adan +Anais muslin blankets (as featured in a previous post) and he is still sleeping like a prince!

Bravado Nursing Tanks 
My friend Susan told me about Bravado Nursing Tanks (http://www.bravadodesigns.com/product.asp?ID=18) and they are by far the best nursing tanks on the market.  Super supportive, cute and they hold up really well in the wash.  I wear one literally everyday and have them in assorted colors.  They are a little spendy but when you think about how often you wear them they are practically a steal. 

There are a few other items like my breast pump which I could not live without but we have more of a love hate relationship and I don't think it deserves its own section.  John also loves his activity mat and his mobile and we expect them both to get more and more use as he gets better at entertaining himself.  Of course I doubt John loves them as much as the ceiling fan in our bedroom, which brings loads of smiles and giggles.  I find that the above items just make my life easier and because of them I am happier and thus a better mom and wife.

The Happy Faces of John David Mark

We recently had a particularly great photo session and I couldn't help but post these cute pictures of our adorable baby boy all smiles and giggles!