monkey see, monkey do

5 months

Jovie is 5 months old already! She has been rolling over for several weeks now. Cohen did his best Jovie impression the other day, he laid down on Jovie's blanket in the living room and did two full rollovers. Too funny, that one. Jovie continues to be a great sleeper. Erin just moved out the other day, so Jovie will move in her own room soon. I will miss having Erin around, but am excited to get Jovie into her own room and decorate her nursery. Erin signed on with Mayo Hospital here in Phoenix starting in January so she'll be in town a bit longer!

Cohen's vocab has really taken off now! He repeats a lot more words after I say them now. It's so neat when he surprises us by saying a word that we've been saying to him for so long, like car, boat, and the other day he said Erin for the first time! And I was on the phone with her and Cohen said it into the phone! How special! For the last several months, I'd say "Say Erin" and Cohen would say "huh?" every time. So it was pretty neat that he said it! His pronunciation of Jovie has evolved as well, she is now "Foo-vie." Cohen loves going to the park and playing on the playground. He likes the swings and the slides and is getting brave with climbing on the playground.

Joel is currently on a gyn rotation that keeps him beyond busy. They do a few surgeries each day. He has been working till 8 or 9pm, and still starting at 530 in the morning. This past week was an exception though. One of the surgeons was out of town so there weren't as many surgeries scheduled. Joel was home by 6-630 almost every night! It was awesome to have him home for dinner. His next rotation starts after Thanksgiving and he will do 12 weeks of nights. Not really looking forward to this either. He has a week of vacation coming up though, and Thanksgiving off! I am very thankful for this. Also, Amelia is coming next week and we are excited for her to meet Jovie and hang out! I am starting to study to take the state licensing exam. Most of the jobs I am interested in require me to be licensed so I need to do this before I can think about working. Right now, I'm having a great time staying home with the kids!

Happy Halloween

What boog?

Jovie had a fairly impressive booger that escaped her nose. I went to get a tissue and when I came back with it, the boog was gone. She got pretty excited when I asked her "where's the boogie?" (I later found the boog on her sleeve).

Voo-vie

Cohen has started to repeat many of the words I say. His Jovie sounds kind of like "Voo-vie." Also, Jovie is now giggling. It's really cute and funny.

Two

Nancy and Neal visited us in August. We had a great time swimming, going to Sedona, and celebrating Cohen's birthday while they were here.


Cohen's birthday cake. I got a bit tired at the end, so the frosting job is a bit sloppy. But Cohen didn't mind :^)

Carrot cake. Sneaking in the veggies :^)

Playing soccer with Uncle Mike

Cohen got a lawn mower that blows bubbles for his birthday. Pretty awesome.

We went to Sedona with Nancy and Neal. Jovie went on her first hike! We didn't get too far though, the heat is pretty intense. Such beautiful sites though. I can't wait to do some more hiking there (maybe without kids someday).

Jovie Marie

Jovie Marie was born on Sunday, June 13, 2010. She weighed 7lbs, 13oz and was 19.5in long. She has lots of straight, dark brown hair. She is now one month old and is a chubby little monkey! She is a super happy baby and sleeps well (minus a few growth spurts here and there that keep her up and hungry at bedtime).

Cohen is doing really well at his new role as a big brother. The first week and half after we brought Jovie home was really hard for him. And me. He brought out every toddler behavior in the play book. Hitting, biting, spitting, and crawling out of his crib were all brand new for us. The worst though, was the screaming fits that would last an hour, where he wouldn't let us comfort him. He was also sick when Jovie came home and we were trying to keep him away from Jovie, which didn't help with his need for attention. Thankfully, these things passed, for the most part. Now we just say that Jovie brought out the toddler in Cohen.

8/1/10

Joel is in full swing in his residency program. He is learning a lot and seems to be very happy with the challenges of it all. And he works A LOT of hours, so I'm sure happy he enjoys it. Erin has been staying with us, which has been great fun. She stays for a few weeks and then flies back to San Francisco and elsewhere to work and travel. When she's here we usually do a lot of outings that would be a lot more difficult without her help. Erin and I have also been cooking up a bunch of tasty and healthy meals. I really enjoy it! I am also looking forward to Nancy and Neal visiting us in a few weeks and Cohen's birthday after that. Joel will have a week of vacation in September so we are hoping to go to San Diego for a couple of days. I would love to get to the beach while the water is still warm.

Chasing airplanes

We made it to Phoenix! We've been here for over 2 weeks already and are getting quite settled. There are only a few more boxes left. We are loving the house we are renting. It is nice and open and has lots of cupboard and counter space, which we love!

Cohen has adjusted quite well! We have been keeping busy playing in the pool and going to splash parks. The temps have now reached over 100 on a daily basis. Joel and I joke about how bored the weather man must be, with sunny and hot being the daily forecast. Cohen's favorite and most used word is now "please." He pronounces it "peas." And he says it about 800 times a day! Such a polite little guy, I know right. Mostly, please means give me. We are working on our words everyday! He says about 40-50 words now! His newest words are "airplane" and "bird," which he's learned from seeing the two everyday in the backyard. Every night, there are a string of planes that fly high over the valley. Sometimes, Cohen will run across the grass in the backyard, chasing the airplane as it passes by. It's very cute. He also, now knows the word "baby," and I have fun explaining to him that there will be a baby coming soon that will be his sister.

I am now 37 weeks pregnant! Yay, we are now officially full term! And after the concern that she would come early, I'm now fully ready for her to come. ANY DAY. I had an ultrasound at 36 weeks and her estimated weight was 7lbs, 11oz! She is a growing champ! Joel will start orientation in two weeks and then start as an official resident on July 1st. Right now, we are enjoying the down time before baby girl arrives and Joel starts working crazy hours. It's quite nice!

My brother, Mike, and his girlfriend, Jonne, live about a mile down the road, so we get to see them often! My sister, Erin, is coming to stay with us in a few weeks. It will be great to have her around to help with the transition of bringing a new baby into the family! And at the end of June, my mom will visit as well.

My favorite thing about the new house is the backyard. We have a huge grassed area, which was really important to me when we were looking for a place. Here are a few pictures of the backyard. We we spend a lot of time outside, especially in the morning and evening when the temps aren't as extreme as the middle of the day. Check out hummingbird that visited our cactus flower! Also, we were especially excited to find out we had a lemon tree in the yard!

Cohen's favorite things

This season's highly anticipated list is below. Eat your heart out Oprah.

10. Handfeeding Amami (the golden retreiver) from his highchair.
9. When poppie (Joel) comes home from work.
8. Giving his stuffed animals a hug.
7. Pushing the button that shuts the garage door.
6. Pulling his shirt up to show you his belly.
5. Pulling your shirt up to show you your belly.
4. Dancing to his toys and to the Sirius Alternative Nation station.
3. Bathtime
2. Laying on his stomach during bathtime and cautiously dipping his face in the water.
1. Patting Amami vigorously (anywhere, anytime). He loves that dog! And she takes it=)

It's a girl!!!

I've been referring to the baby as a girl for awhile, and now it's true!..."She has been kicking pretty consistently," "I'll graduate in May and she is due in June," "she wanted a glider."

And now "she" is a girl!

Wii Mote

Cohen is now up to approx 23lbs. After not thinking about his weight for several months, I became a bit concerned again when he hadn't gained any weight from his 12-15 month appointment. Over the past several months, he'd been eating okay with a few bouts of minimal eating. At his 15 month well check appointment the doctor informed us that he hadn't gained any weight. He recommended putting ranch and mayo on everything. And so we did, all except for mayo in his yogurt, which is just plain gross Kelsey!

These last few months have also brought several ear infections for Cohen. We went to see an ENT and Cohen got tubes in his ears to drain the excess fluid. The surgery was maybe 10 minutes and will help Cohen to feel better and hear better! Tubes have also been known to help with hearing, speech, and mobility. Also, he won't be on antibiotics so frequently which is great! All these things should also help with his eating! Speaking of mobility, Cohen is walking! He's been taking steps for about a month now. First, we would send him back and forth from person to person and give him lots of encouragement. We would clap after he had made it a few steps. He'd then look around the room, wait for the applause and then start clapping. This was fun for everyone. For the past few weeks he's decided he likes trying to go places on his own. He's also experimented with going really fast on two feet. The other day he came stomping down the hallway. When he goes fast he falls quicker, but we know that soon he'll be as fast as us...if not faster.

Cohen has tons of recognizable words and items around the house. His favorites are tree, ball, head, nose, fish, and puppy. Cohen loves dogs. He chases Amami around constantly and loves to pet her. Our German Shepherd, Porter, recently went to live with Nancy and Neal in Kansas. Joel and I knew a country lifestyle with more room for running would be ideal for Porter while our family continues to grow. Sadly, he went missing during a cold snap, was hit by a car, found, and then died after he had surgery to help his broken leg and pelvis. He was a very special dog and will be greatly missed.

Things are going well this pregnancy! I am now 17 weeks along. My cervix continues to stay nice and long and I've just started the 17p hormone shots. Also, I've recently been feeling tiny baby kicks! :^)

Joel and I are busy once again with classes. I have two classes and comprehensive exams this semester and will graduate in May! Joel is done interviewing and has started his rotations again. We will find out which residency program he'll train at on Match Day in mid March!

This video shows Cohen getting his walk on! We lured him over to us using the Wii remote controller...