Jumpin' JP

For Christmas, Grammy gave JP a jumper and I think it may be his favorite thing to do (after naked baby time, of course)
We keep the jumper hanging in the doorway of the laundry room. It's the perfect place for it because I can see him from the living room and from the kitchen and JP is quite entertained by our new front loader washer and dryer. He will jump and bounce for about 45 minutes and then will usually pass out. It's so cute to watch him slowly get drowsy. He'll bounce a little bit, close his eyes, his head will droop and and he just hang there in the doorway...Then he'll startle and immediately start jumping again as if he hadn't drifted off. It's ADORABLE!!!

In this first video he's in a fantastic mood. Jumping and smiling. Josh noticed that he likes to jump really high then lift up his feet so he just bounces around for a bit.




This afternoon, our good friends Coitt and Kristi Kessler hosted a party at their house for our pipe band, the Emergency Service Pipes and Drums Association. They started the party off with a friendly game of paintball on their several acres of land just outside of Bastrop. The rest of the guests arrived a few hours later and we had the opportunity to just hang out and not worry about practicing our instruments. It was an opportunity for our family members to gather with us. We spend so much time with each other fine tuning our band that it's important that we give our families a chance to get to know each other and spend some time with us. It was a great party. Josh and I had to leave just as things were getting fun since we wanted to get JP back to the house to put him to bed. It's a 45 minute drive from our house to theirs.
Coitt had the brilliant idea for us to bring JP's bouncy swing since their daughter (just 3 weeks younger than JP) has the exact same model. These kids are adorable together. We're convinced they will date each other as they grow up. I'm also pretty sure that Izzy will break JP's heart...and also beat the crap out of him. Coitt will no doubt teach Izzy how to take down and pin an individual with great prowess.
At any rate, here are our precious babies bouncing together. This is so damn cute!

JC opening the Christmas gift from Hell

Josh posted the video of JC receiving this Christmas gift...I thought I might post the video of him opening it :)

Huge Video Update! Christmas, presents, smiling, and more!

Since starting the blog, I'm gaining a newfound respect for all of the blogs that I read every day, and the bloggers that write for them. Posting stuff up here with any regularity is HARD.

But enough whining. We had a fantastic christmas with the family, JP has learned some new tricks, and we're just one big ol' happy family. Enjoy some more videos.

Let's go in rough chronological order. Our first christmas party in Houston this (last) year was at Ruthie and Chris's place, as per tradition. The fourth video down is my favorite from the event, as JC opens his christmas present and makes an awesome discovery.









Later that night (christmas eve), Lyzz, JP and I went over to Ali's new place near Rice Village, to spend christmas eve night and christmas day as one big Donelson family.











And to finish, here are some videos we've taken around the house since then. JP LOVES his jumpy-swing-thing, and is really working hard on reaching for toys, crawling, and discovering his voice.

Rolling Over

JP rolls over just about every time we put him down now. It won't be long before we're chasing him all over the place. Last night I put him to bed on one side of his crib and at 3am when he woke for his first meal he had rolled over 3 times and was pressed against the far wall. He did it again at 7. I think this is his way of asking for a King size bed. "I need room to roll, Mom!"

Back to Work

My goodness 4 months has flown by. I cannot believe our little boy is already 4 months old, sleeping in his own room and spending his days away from the house!
JP spends his days with Louisa, a wonderful caregiver who also kept an eye on Mary Mae for her first couple of year. She lives just down the street and we really trust her. Every time we drop him off we are reassured by her choices and concerns for our son. What a blessing!
Yesterday was my first shift back at station 6 after a full year off. My last shift was January 5th, 2010 and I was then reassigned to AFD's Education Services where I sat at a desk, studied for my promotional exam and entered data for Post Incident Reports. It was a long 8.5 months. As I said, yesterday was my first shift back and our first call of the shift was a working Hi-rise fire. Possibly the most demanding type of fire scene. Think 70 lbs of gear and many flights of stairs and that doesn't include the tools and equipment that is carried up to the necessary floors. Thankfully, we were not one of the first in engines so we were assigned to the Resource Division that stages 2 floors below the fire floor. We didn't end up doing much, but boy is it clear to me how much work I have ahead of me to get back in better shape.
All that's well and good, but the most important part is that Josh, JP and I all survived the 24 hours juuuuust fine. The boys had their first (of many) Boy's Night at the house and did wonderfully. JP has a bit of a cold complete with runny nose and the occasional mild fever of 99.5 so he isn't sleeping as well as he is capable but aside from that, the evening was great. I, on the other hand, was up all night making calls on E6. At one point I mentioned to my crew that I get more sleep at home with my 4 month old. Here's hoping for a slightly slower shift on Thursday. :)

After I got off today, I went over to Louisa's to pick up JP. He was in the middle of an epic nap (since he didn't sleep so soundly the night before) so I went home and caught a few Z's myself. At 2 I brought him home, fed him and found him to be in a very good and quite talkative mood.

This was a great afternoon. I look forward to many more like it :)