More Milestones...

First laughs - 2 months, squealing laughs
Sleeps through the night (8+ hours) - 2.5 months... continued for a glorious month until teething started
First giggles - 2.5 months
Rolls over (front to back) on soft surface - 3 months
Rolls over (front to back) anywhere - 3.5 months
Grabs toys and brings to mouth - 3.5 months
Tries to hold bottle while eating - 3.5 months
First rice cereal - 4 months and loves it!
First fruits in meshy food eater (sucks out juices) - 4.5 months.... cantaloupe, watermelon, apple
First fruit and veggie baby food - 4.5 months

Annabelle is such a little character right now! I can't believe she will be 5 months in one week! She is very noisy and talkative; full of squeals and has discovered her tongue and the "la la la" noises. She is always moving, kicking her legs, reaching and grabbing and chewing on EVERYTHING. She is teething and drooling like mad. One tooth is just starting to break through, but it's very slow going... she's been working on it for at least a month. She FINALLY likes riding in her stroller! She is becoming quite attached to her lamby blanket. She loves any attention that anyone will give her, such a social little thing :). She is working on sitting up... she can sit in the boppy pillow or between our legs. She can scoot all over her crib and ends up in odd places and positions all the time.

We love her to death and just can't get enough of her!

Our Little Peanut is Growing!

One Week
One Month
Two Months

Three Months

Four Months

Blogger Failure

I thought I would do a much better job than what I have done so far in keeping up with my blog since the baby. I just have not been able to find the time! It seems we have had constant visitors or been gone for the entire summer and now we go back to work next week already! I will try to update you on some highlights of our summer and on Annabelle's growth during it before the busyness of school begins. I only have a few minutes now because Annabelle is taking a long nap for once! I uploaded a bunch of pics to facebook, and now I am getting started on here. I sure do miss having more than 30 min-an hour chunks of time to get a task done!

Grace and her boyfriend, Mike, came to visit us for a week. They flew into San Fran, and we picked them up and spent the day there. Mike hadn't been there before so we wanted to show him around a bit. We went to see Golden Gate, Pier 39, and Alcatraz. In all the times I've been to SF, I have actually never been to Alcatraz, so that was especially fun for me :). I was a little disappointed that I couldn't go walk on/in the old buildings surrounding the prison that they go on in The Rock, but oh well :-P.

They came back with us to our house for the week. We mostly hung out, but we did have a picnic one day at a park, and spent one day in Yosemite. We took Annabelle on her first hike! She loved being in her moby wrap and looking around at everything, but of course, she spent most of her time in there sleeping. We had a great day, but the worst car ride home ever! With stopping several times to calm Annabelle down or feed her, construction, and park traffic, it took us about 4 hours instead of 2 to get home, ugh. Annabelle has decided not to like the car very much, so that made for some long, loud drives.

I will try to add some pics on here later, but the baby is awake now, so here is a link to the facebbook album that has some pics in it for now.

Underground Gardens

When my parents were here, we went to these cool underground gardens in Fresno on Memorial Day weekend. This guy dug all these tunnels and rooms underground (in his spare time) to stay cool in the summer (can you imagine living in Fresno with 100-115 degree heat in the summer and having no AC?) and pretty much live in. He was a citrus fruit grower before he came to the US, so he wanted to experiment with growing citrus trees "underground"... meaning in underground courtyards that had sky lights or were open on top to let the sunlight in. He did it though; pretty impressive to grow citrus trees 15 feet into the ground.

Other pics from when my parents were here...

Milestones...

First time in her Bumbo seat. It says it's for infants who can hold their heads up (which she does really well for a little while...), butt apparently it's also for tiny little peanuts who can use the backrest as a head rest!

One week old

One month old!

Practicing that head holding

She started with a few smiles at 3 weeks... but now at 5 weeks, she has lots of them!

Annabelle and Mommy and Daddy love the Moby wrap to put her to sleep or just to hang out in while getting things done around the house!

Sometimes she decides she wants to be a big girl and face out to see everything, but then mommy has to help when her little neck gets tired of holding her head up :)

Visitors

Life has been a whirl wind around here! Matt's family was here for the week last week, and we had a great time with them. Annabelle got endless Grandma and Grandpa cuddles, that's for sure! We took a few excursions; one to visit more family in Visalia, one to a winery a little over an hour away, and one to Yosemite for a day. Annabelle did great in the car each time. But that

Cuddles with Grandma Kathy

Uncle Josh got a few cuddles in here and there... when he could get her away from G & G

4 Generations

Annabelle's first trip to Yosemite

Cuddles with Grandpa Mel

Click here to see more pics...

Introducing... Annabelle May Jonkman!

This post is long overdue... but here it is anyways :).

On Monday, May 16 (my due date!), the usual contractions that I had been having throughout the day each day started to get a little more uncomfortable. They were coming more regularly, so I started timing them around 3 pm and they were about 10 minutes apart at that point. By 5:30 or 6, I was having to get up and walk and breath through them as they were getting a lot stronger. We ended up going into the hospital around 7 when the contractions were 4-5 minutes apart. I was still only 3 cm, but 90% effaced and at zero station. So, pretty much, the baby had already been really low (we had known that for a while from our last few doctors visits), but I just needed to dilate more. She came really fast for a first baby because she was here by midnight (12:01, to be exact). We had a few bumps along the way with her head having trouble getting around my pelvic bones and her heart rate dropping during contractions, but all in all, she came out healthy and perfect. She even started crying all on her own the instant she was out!

Stats: Born 12:01, May 17, 2011... 7 pounds 6 ounces, 20.5 inches, dark brown hair (I am SO happy that she has hair!).

We instantly noticed her beautiful big lips and chubby cheekies :). We later noticed how much she looks like her daddy! She is the most beautiful little girl ever and we absolutely adore her!

Lookin a lot like Daddy here!

At our hospital, they normally like first time moms to stay 48 hours after giving birth... however we managed to get them to OK us to go by late morning on Wednesday (instead of Thursday morning).

Leaving the hospital

Oh, and my mom got here on Saturday the 14th, just in time to do some shopping and visit with me before the baby and then she got to be here for Annabelle's birth. And am I ever glad that she was there! She was the best help we could ask for... from helping me with breathing during contractions, to cooking, cleaning, and even doing sewing projects for me! Not to mention helping with Annabelle and giving me extra sleep; what a blessing! My dad came on the Thursday before Memorial Day and was a big help with Grandpa time as well.

Annabelle is doing well... we are still working on getting her birth weight up, but she is otherwise very healthy and more and more alert everyday. She is sleeping more and more at night also! She has gone from 1-3 hours at a time for many days, to 2 nights of 3+ hours, 2 nights of 4+ hours, 2 nights of 5+ hours, and now one night of 7 hours, wow! I hope this keeps up!

Quick Update

A quick update before heading to bed to rest up for my last week of work... that's right, whether she's here or not, I won't be working past this week. I know I have most things in order, but I still feel like I'm leaving my class and my kiddos hanging! I'm sure once Annabelle comes I won't hardly think twice about it though :). The nursery is set, last minute paper work and plans are done for school, and now we are just waiting. The doc didn't have much news for us last week, he said this coming week he will check me to see how things are looking. But baby is down and those "practice" contractions are coming more often, so it can't be too long now, we hope! It was an exhausting week last week with 80s and 90s every day also, but this week is already looking cooler, which is good news for me.

Here is a picture of the bird mobile that I made for Annabelle's crib. Well, I didn't really make the whole thing. I bought the mobile (which included that green fabric for the arm), took off the attachments, and made these birdies out of felt instead.

Matt made shish kabobs for me today!

I finally crocheted something for Annabelle, not until the last minute, but better late then never!

Green Light

Dearest baby Annabelle, you have a green light from mama to come anytime now!

I can't believe it's Friday already of our break, but I have to say that I am feeling pretty accomplished with my to-do lists! My sub plans and lessons are in order, my classroom is tidied up a bit and desks are rearranged for one last time, all of my grading except for one last thing (which I should get to this weekend) is up to date, and I got a fair amount of my paper work / professional documentation type stuff out of the way also. At home we have Annabelle's room as ready as it is going to be (all it needs is curtains, which my mom will probably be making when she comes out in a couple of weeks! and birdies for her mobile, which she won't be using for a while anyways), the carpets are cleaned, thank you notes are written, the car seat is in the car, birthing classes are finished, and the hospital bag is packed (or as packed as it can be aside from adding in a few last minute toiletries and items that I still need in the next couple weeks). So a couple small school items, and I am not quite as far on crocheting as I'd like to be, but other than that, I have conquered the to-dos and am now feeling good and ready for Annabelle to come whenever she wants :).

We went to the doctor on Tuesday but left with little more info than we had before. He hadn't received the report from the ultrasound yet, so he went off of what we told him and then did a quick check on his ultrasound also. He measured the amniotic fluid on there and said it was lower also, but just fine. He didn't really say a whole lot else or give any indication of her coming soon. I am hoping he does an internal exam to check me next week and give us something more to go on.

I am definitely more and more ready for her to be born! I don't have too much to complain about; I know that I have it pretty easy. I am not super big, don't have much swelling or water retention, I haven't been hardly sick at all, and can move around relatively well yet. But still... I am ready to be done peeing every 2 seconds, waking up several times a night to pee some more or hoist myself to turn over because my hips are sore, and having my ribs jabbed (so much sometimes that it wakes me up!). And I know, I know... please don't tell me, "You'd better get used to the not sleeping," because really, who gets used to that? And also, I would much rather get up to feed and cuddle my little girl than for no good reason at all :-P.

I am hoping to relax a bit more this weekend before school starts up again and soak up a little sun while I'm at it :). I sat out in the yard a little bit yesterday, and was going to today, but it was super windy! We had nearly 30 mph winds with gusts up to almost 40 mph... all with clear blue skies and beautiful sunshine... rather strange weather if you ask me! It's supposed to die off by tomorrow though.

Spring Break!

37 weeks, almost there!

I FINALLY made it to Spring Break! It felt like it was never going to come! Now I am in serious preparation mode... getting everything ready for Annabelle at home, and lessons and instructions in order for after break and for my sub at school, yikes!

Especially after our ultrasound last week, I am feeling like I need all my ducks in a row, and fast. Annabelle looked great; she's growing just fine. I was measuring small because I don't have a ton of amniotic fluid and because she's already very low and ready to go on my cervix. They estimated her weight to be 6 lbs 4 oz right now, and although that measurement can be up to a pound off... she said usually ultrasounds measure about half a pound big... putting her around 5lbs 12oz. The ultrasound tech thought 1.she won't be super big and 2.she will more likely be early than late with her position on my cervix. We see the doctor again on Tuesday, so we will see what he says about that all then, yikes!

Anyways, I have quite the To-Do list this week for home and school, and if I can just get through it all then I will be good and ready for baby to make her appearance anytime :).

Showers and Decorating and Doctors, Oh My!

It seems everything in our lives is already revolving around this baby girl :). OK, I guess I am still rather occupied with school a lot of the time, but everything outside of school, at least. On Saturday, my friends Rachel and Pam through the most adorable baby shower for me! They went off of the birds and flowers theme from my crib bedding and decorated with birds hanging from ribbons from the trees (it was outside) and birdcage centerpieces. We had the yummiest food, most hilarious games, and wonderfully generous guests :). Oh, and it was a beautiful 70 something degree, sunny day.

Pam and Rachel

Tee hee hee, so cute!

Yum!

How gorgeous is this?! And now Annabelle has one in her room!
I am a happy camper :)

We have SAT standardized testing for the first have of the day, each day, this week. But that meant for a lot less lesson planning on the weekend! So I enjoyed my shower, got all of the new goodies put away, ran errands, did 6 loads of laundry (including a load of teeny tiny Annabelle clothes, sheets, burp clothes, etc...), got some grading done outside in the sun, AND finished the decoupaged artwork that I have been working on for above her crib! I LOVE how they turned out! I used scrapbook paper coordinating colors with her nursery, then cut out bird and flower shapes, along with other angles and curves to put on a wood art painting square with mod podge glue. I made some last summer for our bathroom on art canvass, but this worked WAY better.

With all this sun and beautiful weather, my body is definitely reminding me that it is pregnant! With allergies being way worse due to all of the mucus membranes and sinus passages being extra full, to my fingers and toes getting hot and swollen (OK, I am truly blessed, they don't look very swollen at all, you can hardly tell... but when it's hot, I can definitely feel it by the end of the day!), to Annabelle living in my ribs on one side, to uncomfortable sleeping at night.... whew! Good thing we only have 4 weeks (give or take, of course...) to go! And good thing my husband is so very helpful! I was completely exhausted this afternoon, so he made dinner for me, love that boy!

We went to the doctor today and he said I am measuring a bit on the small side... which means... we get to find out how big Annabelle really is! He's sending us in for an ultrasound on Thursday just to be safe and we'll get to see our beautiful girl and learn how big she really is, I can't wait!

A Productive Weekend!

It seems there is just so much to do all the time with school, the house, and getting ready for baby that even though I know I get a lot of things done, it still never feels like I am getting anywhere! This weekend was the first in a long time that I felt like I got a lot done and made some progress, instead of just treading water.

Matt had to proctor a practice AP test at school on Saturday morning, so once I got going (which is earlier than I like these days due to not being able to sleep well anymore...) and got my coffee, I got some schoolwork out and actually did it :-P. I got the errands run, laundry done, meals for the week planned, groceries bought, and we got a vinyl cling tree and wood letters for her name up on Annabelle's wall. Today after church I made a yummy lunch (tried my hand at a Thai peanut sauce over chicken, broccoli, and rice noodles), went into school for a few hours, made brownies for a BBQ tonight, cupcakes for a dinner Monday night, then headed to the BBQ with our small group! Whew! I also finished a hat and got started on booties for Annabelle over the last couple days. It's a good thing too, because these next weeks are only going to get busier!

Matt has something cool up tomorrow (Monday). He had an old Calvin professor contact him a month or so ago who is doing some research into how Calvin teaches education students to teach science. He has a grant money to go and visit and observe different Calvin grads teaching science across the country for the study, and asked Matt to participate. So he is coming all the way from Michigan to observe Matt tomorrow and then return again, crazy!

This week Friday we have "Grandparents' Day" at school, which means the kids do a program, grandparents can visit their classrooms, and then we get out at noon. Then next week is our standardized testing week. So this week is going to be a crazy week with extra practices for the program, and then reviewing and practicing for testing next week. Bring it on... 2 weeks until Spring Break!

Busy Week!

My schedule this week

Monday - Dinner with friends
Tuesday - Do staff devotions in morning, Doctor appt in afternoon
Wednesday - Do chapel at school, meet with parent after school, birthing class 6-9
Thursday - One night "free" to catch up on the week and get things together (including field trip details) for Friday (My chiropractor appt was thankfully cancelled this night!)
Friday - Field trip in the afternoon, planning for next week, then FINALLY some rest!

Yikes! Then we only have 2 weeks of school until Spring Break... time sure is flying by! The doctor still said everything looks right on track and average when we went on Monday. We got to see Annabelle's sweet little face again :). Her head is down and getting ready for the big day already.

Here is my 34 week pic, this is right before we went to an auction last weekend with some friends. I also chopped my hair if you didn't notice!

Ups and Downs

I feel like I am asked several times a day, how I am doing. I often think to myself, "Do you want the short version or the long version? Do you mean right this moment? Today? This week?" because those could each have different answers! In general I am feeling pretty good most of the time, although the exhaustion seems to be increasing each week. On a day to day and throughout the day basis, things are very up and down. I almost always get through my school day just fine, but once I sit back down and the kids are gone, it's a gamble if I have lots of energy left or am running on empty.

For example, on Wednesday, I quickly got things finished up at school, left at 4:15, got some Jamba Juice with Matt, went for a 2 mile walk with him and Samson, got my haircut, made dinner, then had a great phone conversation with a friend for over an hour. It was SO nice having energy and things to use it on, all in the same day, along with pretending that I didn't have a million things to do and enjoying myself.

Then came Thursday... I always have more work on Thursdays to start with to get ready for missing homework sheets and end of the week things for Friday, but I was also already exhausted by the time school was out. Then I was there until 6. Thankfully, my wonderful hubby made dinner, but then I still had a little more work to do, boo. One day (or even one moment) I have plenty of energy, but tears of exhaustion can follow all too quickly.

We finally got some amazing sunny spring weather this week! The only problem is... my body is truly realizing that it is indeed pregnant, and has let me off far too easy thus far. Which means this week has brought on hot flashes, sleeplessness, and hot, achy, swollen feet and calves. Still, I think its' a worthwhile sacrifice for the fabulous weather, even if I don't get to enjoy as much as I'd like at the moment.

We are planning to paint Annabelle's room this weekend, so hopefully things will get up on the walls and pictures will be coming in the next couple of weeks as well! I am definitely entering nesting mode... I just wish I had the time and energy to do all of the things I am dying to get accomplished. I really want to get her room mostly finished in the next 2 weeks before my big baby shower, when there will lots more stuff to find places for (but I can't wait!).

OK, time to put these swollen feet up!

Yes, I am still alive!

Wow, this is quite the record of non-blogging for me, almost 2 months! I feel like life has been a whirlwind since Christmastime... which is at least partly true ;). One word for my life right now is: BUSY. February brought me two long weekends; one was spent on catching up on schoolwork, and my parents came to visit for the other. I love, love, love, having people come visit and getting to relax and enjoy seeing them. We just had Matt's mom and sister here this past weekend as well. We don't get visitors very often, and the re are so many people that we are constantly missing that we really treasure getting to see them. However, I do NOT like how much work/time it is for me to get schoolwork and plans done for 2 weeks done and out of the way to make that happen. Oh well, it is very much worth it in the end anyways. We didn't really do a whole lot with either of our visitors, mostly hung out and visited. We went one day to the Monterey Bay Aquarium with my parents while they were here so I could check it out before taking my class.

That field trip was actually just this week... all in all, a very fun trip, but a very long day for a tired pregnant woman, phew! Anyways, with Kathy and Amy we did a little art project to decorate letters for Annabelle's name in her room (yep, Baby J has a name! No middle yet). We also went down to Visalia where Kathy's fam threw us a very nice little shower :).

I can hardly think of anything else that has gone on in the last 2 months aside from school. Um, we have been extremely blessed with all of the hand-me-down and new baby clothes and gear we have and will continue to receive in the coming months! Annabelle's room is coming together a bit more... we have the bedding, a vinyl cling tree for the wall, and are working out which shade of light blue to paint it at the moment. I will post pics when it is finally painted and everything. I am having fun with artsy projects and ideas for her room. The letters for her name turned out great. I have 3 wood canvasses that I am going to deco-podge with scrapbook materials, and I am hoping to find a cheap or used crib mobile that i can use the clip-on base of and make my own little birdies to hang from it. I am not sure where the time will come from for all of that, but eventually it will get done :).

I am definitely in count-down to spring break mode for school right now. 4 more weeks! Even though spring break will mean finishing end of the year things and getting plans in place for a sub at some point in May, it will still be a welcomed change of pace. And hopefully we'll have time for finishing up baby details also.

Well, that's all I've got for now... hopefully I'll post on here before 2 months go by again.... but if not, that's right about when Annabelle is due! I can't wait for her to come and summer to be here!

This pic is at 30 weeks