Jonah is Four Months

Hello!
Jonah is now 4 months old! He is growing so fast. He just had his well baby check up last Friday and he is doing great. He is 15 lbs 13 oz and 27 3/4" long. Basically he is a tall and slender boy. He is at the 100% range for his height and 65% range for his weight. He did well for his vaccinations. He did run a low grade fever that night and was fussy.
He has his bottom tooth just about all the way in too :) He loves taking his finger and feeling his tooth. He is also loving solid foods. We started him on rice cereal last Friday and he gets so excited to eat. This week we will try oatmeal... But Jonah is feeling pretty special sitting in his high chair at the table eating with big brother. We have pictures and a video of him eating his solid foods for the first time that I will post soon. We just had his four month pictures taken yesterday and will get them back in a few weeks. He was a very photogenic baby yesterday just smiling for every shot. They turned out great :)
On developmental milestones Jonah is holding his own bottle, rolling, saying mmm when he eats, almost sitting by himself (he topples over after a minute or so), and liking bath time (finally!). That's all the momma bragging for now, at least ;)

Jonah 8 weeks on Plane

Kami, Jonah, Kim and Canaan

Jonah and Canaan

Wow! How Time Flies

Jonah is getting big. He is almost 4 months old. I am back at work and have been for almost two months. Work and taking care of a little baby and family has me busier than I have imagined! I barely can get on the computer and *gasp* sometimes can not check my myspace :0 or e-mail for weeks to a month at a time, LOL. so much has happened since I last blogged in December.
Before I went back to work Jonah and I went to Georgia with my mother in law to visit his cousin Canaan(born in October) and Uncle Gabe and Aunt Kim. Jonah had his first airplane ride to Georgia at 8 weeks old. He did great on the plane and slept almost the whole time there and back. He loved playing with his cousin and seeing his Aunt Kim and Uncle Gabe for the first time.
Jonah is cooing and babbling up a storm! He loves to talk! He even starts his talking at 3 am :) He is a really good baby and we are really blessed to have such a healthy, happy baby. Jonah is rolling on his side now and loves turning the pages in his big board books that we read before bed. we definitely have to entertain him when he is awake or else he gets very bored. Last night was the first night that he just woke up for one feeding :) :) He was waking at 12am, 4am, and 7am for feedings. I am hoping he will just wake up for one feeding again tonight. It felt great to get the extra sleep.
I will post more soon, but I have to go for now.

Jonah Smiling

Jonah has been smiling for about a week and we finally were able to capture it on camera. We were opening gifts at Aunt Teresa's house and Jonah was just smiling and smiling. That was the most he has smiled. It was so cute! This morning when he woke up I said, "Good Morning Jonah" and he gave me another big smile!

Jonah's Doctor Visit and More Great News!

We had Jonah's weight check today. I tried breastfeeding Jonah for the first week and had more trouble than I ever thought I would have. Jonah ended up losing weight he went down to 9lbs 5 oz and finally three weeks later he is 10lbs 9 oz. Jonah was just a really big baby and according to the nurses wanted food to just drip in his mouth and not have to work for it, so after being sore and bloody and not getting any sleep from him eating every hour on the hour, I gave him formula (very lucky the hospital gives you a can to take home with a diaper bag) and it was a night and day difference. He was so much happier and now gets up every two hours to eat about 2oz of formula. I am much happier too, although I was quite sad I couldn't breastfeed this baby, at least I tried it for a week and he received all the health benefits.
At almost three weeks old, I am getting to know Jonah's cries. He cries when he is hungry and when he has a dirty diaper, but he also cries when he is bored and wants to be read to or to play on his play mat, or swing. He will be crying and then you read him a book and he just stops and looks at the pages of the book and seems very intrigued. Oh yea, speaking of dirty diapers, I have already been blessed by Jonah. He has peed right on me (lucky I was wearing my glasses) and has pooed right on my hand while changing and wiping him... the many blessings of motherhood :) Has this happened to daddy? Why no of course!
Some other exciting news! Brendan is now officially a Ruppert. Judge Hall signed the adoption papers yesterday for us, so we wouldn't have to wait after Christmas. We are all very happy and excited and this will be our family's first Christmas as the "Ruppert" Family. Brendan had the biggest smile on his face when they gave him the adoption certificate and called him "Mr. Ruppert."

Christmas 2008 Pictures

Making of Jonah's room

Jonah birth to 1 week old

Jonah is Here!

Jonah Kingston Ruppert was born on Wednesday, December 03, 2008 at 12:39pm. He weighed in at a whopping 10 pounds 5oz and 23" long. Yes, he really is 23" long, the nurse had to measure twice because she could not believe it!

The delivery and labor was way better than expected. Josh and I went in at 8:00 am to have my water broke and start the induction (because of his weight). I was only in labor for about 4 hours and it was really not too bad until I hit about 7-8 cm, but I had him totally naturally and was very lucky to have only needed to push for 15 minutes :) He was born healthy and the only thing sore on me was my tail bone. It popped or is out of alignment and I can hardly sit or lay flat, but it is slowly feeling a little better.

Brendan is very excited to be a big brother and has been a big help to mom, bringing diapers, water, etc. He is going to be a great big brother.

Our Latest Ultrasound

Josh and I had our ultrasound to determine Jonah's weight. The doctor was thinking he was going to be pretty big with how I am carrying him and not gaining a lot of weight any place else. Well, he is just about 10 pounds at 38 weeks according to the ultrasound. Are we surprised? Not a whole lot. Brendan was 9 lbs 7 oz when he was born. We are a little surprised how big he is already. I am scheduled to be induced on the 4th if he does not make his "grand entrance" before then. I am getting induced to try to avoid some complications I had before with Brendan and having another large baby, but he will probably be over 10 pounds by the 4th anyway. I am nervous about the delivery because my delivery with Brendan was not a really good experience. Brendan was under distress, a week late, I hemorrhaged during delivery and after and was very weak. I am just hoping and praying this delivery goes smoothly and I have a lot better experience this time.

38 Weeks and Counting

We just have a couple weeks to go and baby Jonah will be here! I am thinking we will see him by Thanksgiving (a week early). I am having some signs that labor is around the corner. We are excited and still unprepared (but really who is 100% prepared). We have had a lot of changes. I just started a new job. I am now working in my degree field (social work). I am a full time Child and Family Life Educator for Heartland Community Services. I am a home visitor for pregnant women and children ages 0-3 years. I am excited to start my new career and have already had a full week logged in. Josh and I are also moving. We are only moving a couple blocks up the road, but to a much bigger house for our growing family. We will have 4 bedrooms :) I can not wait for all that room and our new furniture. We can move in on the 24th of this month, so close to Jonah's due date (maybe he will wait until he gets his nursery room finished).

30 Week Ultrasound

We had our 30 week ultrasound on Thursday. Everything looks good, the doctor will get the results next week. Jonah is in the head down position right now and he loves to tickle me with his fingers and feet. I was very curious to see how he was laying because of the tickling I feel way down low in my belly and we caught him on ultrasound moving his little fingers every where. It was great to see how big he is getting and some of his facial features are already looking a lot like his daddy :)

The Name

Josh and I have decided on a name for our baby...

Jonah Kingston!!

It was hard for Brendan, Josh and I to all agree on the name. I did get to use Kingston for the middle name at least. Jonah is a name Josh and I have liked for awhile, or at least since we watched Sleepless in Seattle when we were dating years ago. It was a name that we thought we could use for that one day we were blessed with a baby. I also like that the baby's name has our initials too- J.K. (Josh and Kami).

Brendan's Big Brother Class

We had Brendan's Big Brother class at the hospital this past week. The class is to prepare the big brothers and sisters for baby's arrival. The class was small, with Brendan and two other girls about his age. They each brought in a doll or stuffed animal to practice holding, diapering, and swaddling. Brendan was not that keen on bringing his Care Bear to class. Our "shy" Brendan was not shy at all for this class. The nurse would ask the kids questions and Brendan would be raising his hand saying, "I know, I know." He told the nurse that our baby was made with love in Jamaica when we first arrived there. The nurse asked the class where the baby is and where they come out of and our Brendan said the tummy sometimes and just when he was going to tell the whole class that the baby's comes out of the woman's private, Josh and I interrupted him and the nurse jumped right in and said yes the belly. I was so relived he couldn't finish his sentence. The nurse then asked what do babies eat. Brendan was of course eager to answer this one. The nurse tried getting one of the girls to answer and one answered soy milk, then Brendan said milk from the mom and soy milk. Josh and I were getting a little red in the face.
We are proud are son knows his stuff, but I did not want the poor little girls to be freaked out. So many parents tell their kids different things about how people have babies like the I swallowed a watermelon seed story.
Then the kids got a tour of the birthing center and were able to see a baby boy just 3 hours old. The kids were just in awe of seeing this little baby. It was very cute. At the end the kids watched a movie and received a certificate for completing their training. Brendan was excited and can't wait for his little brother to arrive.

Our 22 Week Ultrasound

Josh and I had our "regular" 22 week ultrasound a couple weeks ago at the hospital. It was great to see the baby and how much he has grown already. We went to the doctor last Friday for my check up and I am doing great and measuring exactly where I should be. The doctor is going to give me another ultrasound at the hospital at 30 weeks because the tech was unable to see the whole vertebrae of the baby for measurements and such. I am not too concerned about that because I have had so many ultrasounds from Ferris and we've seen the spine just fine. But, He had to make it a little complicated for the technician at the hospital to do her job, plus I think he wanted mommy and daddy to be able to see him again :) I am hoping at my 30 week ultrasound we will be able to get a weight estimate too or at least schedule one closer to my due date. I am worried I will have another 10 lb baby. I delivered Brendan just fine naturally, but I am a little worried if this one is bigger that I might have some problems. The pregnancy is getting more exciting and I can not wait to start decorating the nursery and shopping for more baby things.

Baby Ruppert Ultrasound Slide

Our Ultrasound

We had our ultrasound yesterday at the hospital and without a doubt Baby Ruppert is a BOY!! We are very excited and Brendan is elated that he will have a little brother.
Now we just have to decide on a name... I am hoping for Kingston :) We shall see.

A Little Saran Wrap and Oil

Yep, I woke up to a purplish numb ring finger. I fell asleep with my wedding set on and woke up to my fingers swollen. I tried getting my rings off, but created more pain. I soaked my finger in ice water, still swollen. Then I put lots of dish soap on my finger, still wouldn't come off. I was starting to get worried that I would have to get my rings cut off at the jewelers. I frantically searched on-line for ways to get rings off from swollen fingers. I came across a pointer to wrap your finger in Saran Wrap and pour oil on the finger and then twist the ring up over the Saran Wrap. I tried it and it worked on the first try! Yea! Very good tip to pass on :) So, needless to say I am not wearing my rings until after baby is born!