Boomer Sooners!

Josiah just wanted everyone to know that he's will be cheering on the Sooner's tonight in the Big 12 Tournament.

Last weekend, Josiah got to hang out with dad on Saturday while Mom and Aunt Steph went shopping. He enjoyed watching the basketball games with Daddy. Daddy said that he was happy during the OU game, but when KU came on he started crying - seriously! He is also a Wildcat at heart, but we don't have any KSU gear that fits him yet.

3 months old

We can hardly believe that 3 months have nearly gone by since that snowy Tuesday in December. Our precious little boy is growing... we don't know how much until we go to the Doctor in a couple of weeks... but he is growing. He had finally left behind the newborn sized diapers and clothes and is working his way through the size 0-3 months clothes. And finally, he is fitting into the wonderful cloth diapers! After a little trial and error with the inserts, we are well on our way to many loads of dirty diaper laundry. It really isn't that bad now that we are in the swing of things... and it is certainly helping out the bank account.

Not a lot of new news, Josiah is doing great. Sleeping after his 9:00pm feeding until at least 6:30am sometimes longer. He is pretty scheduled on his eating and will let you know if the time is getting close. We are now working on a nap schedule.

Here Josiah is taking his Sunday afternoon nap...

Here he is sporting his hooded bear jacket - thank you Angela, Tina, and Krista.

The photo at the beginning of the blog and below are a couple of recent pictures that my friend Angela took while we had our big cousin's weekend photo shoot. If you need pictures of your little one, your graduating senior, your wedding, or family, be sure to give her a call. To see more of her work go to www.joplinexpressions.com.


Cousins, cousins, cousins... from left to right Zach (age 2 months), Josiah (age 2.5 months), Simon (age 5 months), Calvin (age 2 years), Emerald (age 4 years). I wonder when the next time we will be able to get a picture of all of them sitting together... might be a few years!

11 week old burrito - unwrapped

Here is our 11-week old burrito being unwrapped. Enjoy!

What a blessing

Everyday I grow to love our little boy more and more. Everyday I think I realize what a complete blessing he is. However, earlier this week, I spent an evening with my sister-in-law Steph and my nephew Zach who is still in the hospital. (Warning Steph - this will most likely make you cry.) Zach was suppose to be born any day now, but instead came 2 months earlier and instead of Josiah and Zach being 2 months apart they are a little over 2 weeks apart in age. Zach is doing really well and is just working on keeping his stats up while he eats so he can go home soon.

As I spent some precious time with Zach and Steph, while daddy watched Josiah, I was overwhelmed with the realization of how I have taken some much for granted with Josiah. I had a complication free pregnancy, except for the last day. I had a complication free and short labor and delivery. I had a complication free nursing experience so far. And for the most part a pretty complication free baby and praying that it stays that way. After spending the day working in the office and then the evening at the hospital with Zach and Steph, I came home and just stared into my little boys blue-gray eyes with a new sense of love and realization that he is such a blessing. That I shouldn't take every moment with Josiah for granted. There is so much I could miss out on if I did. In a way, I what to say thanks to Zachary and his mommy for helping me realize this. I always knew this but came to realize it more fully after my evening there.

Well it is 6:30am, yes that's right AM - I am becoming a morning person with Josiah new schedule and I had better get some work done before he wakes up again. Here are few pictures of the "Faces of Josiah." He has begun smiling at us quite often and his daddy and I can MAKE him smile now too! However, we haven't been able to capture the heart melting smile on camera yet... so here are a few of our attempts.

So many changes every day. Every day to be thankful for the blessing God has entrusted to us!

Josiah's Baby Dedication and Stats

On January 18, our little Josiah was dedicated at church. We are so thankful for our families that were able to be there in person and for those who wished they could have been there. We are blessed to have so many people in Josiah's life to help him not only in his physical and mental development, but most importantly in his spiritual development. It was a fun day for our family. Here are a few photos.

Pastor Tom dedicating Josiah. As soon as Pastor Tom was done, Josiah decided to loudly fill his pants!


Grandpa and Josiah hanging out in the blue shirts.


Mandy was able to come down for the dedication and spend some time with J-man.

Uncle Caleb enjoyed playing with Josiah's cousins Emerald and Calvin. He can't wait until he can play like this with Josiah!


STATS!
We finally have our little peanut's stats as we had our 6 week doctor's appointment yesterday. (Josiah was actually 7 weeks old.) His weight was 8 lbs 13.5 oz which is is only in the 5th percentile. His head circumference and length were in the 25th percentile. Dr. Brunner wasn't worried about his weight since he is a very content, happy, and alert little boy. He also got his first round of shots and had 3 band aids on his little legs. All the nurses just think he is adorable and enjoyed spending time with him while mommy had her checkup. Synopsis - everyone is happy, healthy, and doing well.

Going back...

These are just a few of our favorites from Josiah's 3-week photo shoot with my dear friend Angela. She does wonderful work and if you ever need a photographer I can get you her info. Check out her blog, www.joplinexpressions.blogspot.com and her website, www.joplinexpressions.com)

Thanks so much Angela - we love the pictures of our precious little boy!





Well our little guy is over 6 weeks old... hard to believe how fast he has grown. The 6 week mark also meant it was time for me to head back to work - part-time. I started back on Monday and am trying to adjust to the new schedule of working in the office from 9-4 Mondays and Wednesdays, and getting a few hours in at home on the other days. It was a bit of challenge but I think after a few weeks we will get the hang of it.

I am truly blessed to have a very generous and caring boss that allows me to have a flexible schedule. After working for him full-time for 5 1/2 years, it was refreshing for me to get a 6 week "break." Some people may not view delivering and caring for a baby as a "break," but for me it was. As I headed back to work this week I was excited to be creative again, to use the gifts God has given me to design and create. I missed that aspect of work a lot. I feel refreshed creatively and much less burned out. However on the flip side, over the past 6 weeks I have grown accustom to being stay at home mom and taking care of our little Josiah. So, I think as every mom does, I feel a bit guilty leaving him in the the wonderful care of a friend 2 days a week. So going back to the office was bittersweet, but at the same time very refreshing.

God has blessed Jeff and I so much through the healthy pregnancy, quick deliver, and contented little boy Josiah. He has provided for us financially through jobs we both enjoy and someone to care for Josiah while I am at work. We just thank God for the amazing things He has and will continue to do in our lives!

First Christmas

Finally we have gotten around to updating the blog with some Christmas photos. We did a lot of traveling for the holidays, only being home a total of 2.5 days from Christmas Day through the Saturday after New Years. Little Josiah handled it all very well. Above is our first family photo on Christmas Eve. We were home for Chirstmas Eve and were able to go to Christmas Eve service at our church.

Christmas morning Josiah got to hang out with Pop-pop until we headed over to Skip and Steph's to open presents. He seemed to be pretty comfortable sitting on Pop-pop's lap.


Great Grandpa Pankratz didn't miss too many opportunities to hold his Great Grandson.


Josiah - you better watch out for your goofy Grandpa... always seems to find a way to do something silly with the bows!


Uncle Luke flew all the way from Germany to meet his nephew and a get a little practice in for being a daddy come June. Josiah just curled up and slept on Luke's chest.


"Aunt" Mandy FINALLY got to meet our little guy. She was pretty excited and Josiah initiated her by spitting up on her - twice and missing the burp rag on both occasions.

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday. We are trying to get into a routine around our house but we will see how that goes.