Typically my lovely wife is the one who undertakes the responsibility of informing family and friends of the news in our lives, however today I've undertaken the task of sharing with you all a brief summary of the happenings in our lives of late.
Let us begin.
Towards the end of April I had Spring Break (gotta love teaching), so we took Abi on her first road trip to Delaware and Maryland. Ironically, even though she was incapable of sleeping at night when Heather and I wanted her to, Abionah had NO problem sleeping the 7-8 hours in the car on the way up north. It was a blessing she slept in the car, but I wish she'd learn to sleep like that in her bed. More on that later.
We had a wonderful time visiting friends and family as it was an opportunity to share this wonderful gift of life which God has given with our loved ones. Good times. We ate unhealthy, Abi was held all the time, she learned to suck on her pacifier non-stop, and gas was over $3.50. It's taken us a month to recuperate in all prior mentioned areas. In some areas we're still recovering (referring to Abionah mostly).
Although it's easy to look at the difficulties brought upon ourselves from the trip, it was totally worth it. Heather's family got to see Abionah for the first time, and my mom's side of the family got to see her. My Grandmother made Abi an incredible quilt and Abi was showered with other gifts from all sides (primarily clothes). If we get cold this winter, we'll just throw her clothes on a fire in the middle of our living room because she has plenty extra.
The return trip was pretty much uneventful. Apparently the only state around here that allows you to feed your baby out of the car seat while the car is moving is South Carolina. Go South Carolina. Way to be behind the times. Love it.
Since being back in NC I've been blown away with how quickly the end of the year is approaching. I'll be done my first year of teaching before I know it. Our garden is taking off and we're going to have tomatoes coming out of our ears. Oh well. We ate salads for lunch today and we used the lettuce and spinach from our own garden! Such a good feeling.
Abionah has taken up all our time when we're at home. Heather has a really hard time completing projects around the house because as soon as she begins a project, our daughter will begin screaming. People keep telling us our sleep will return. Abi's almost three months old, and we haven't seen much light ahead. A couple nights a week Abi and I will spend a few hours sleeping on the couch so Heather can actually get some rest. I thought about tranquilizers, but Heather tells me that wouldn't be good for Abi. I trust her. She's much wiser when it comes to how to take care of this little infant. I'm clueless. I do know how to change a diaper though, but that's not a skill they'll ask about on a resume'.
We're both excited about school being done. Classes are going well and I already have 56 signed up to take the class in the high school next semester. That means 28 a semester! That already would be the biggest class I've had, which is exciting in some ways but it's nice having a small class. Oh well, we'll see what the Lord does! The middle school is going well. Students are already starting to check out of school, especially the seniors in the high school. They're ready for the summer! And so are we.
This whole parenting thing has already proven harder than we could have imagined. Before we got married, people kept telling us communication is the most important thing. Well guess what, nothing's changed. Heather and I are two different people with two different backgrounds trying to raise the same daughter. Proves for an interesting day. God is incredible. He makes unity in diversity. We just get to walk by faith each day.
Towards the end of April I had Spring Break (gotta love teaching), so we took Abi on her first road trip to Delaware and Maryland. Ironically, even though she was incapable of sleeping at night when Heather and I wanted her to, Abionah had NO problem sleeping the 7-8 hours in the car on the way up north. It was a blessing she slept in the car, but I wish she'd learn to sleep like that in her bed. More on that later.
We had a wonderful time visiting friends and family as it was an opportunity to share this wonderful gift of life which God has given with our loved ones. Good times. We ate unhealthy, Abi was held all the time, she learned to suck on her pacifier non-stop, and gas was over $3.50. It's taken us a month to recuperate in all prior mentioned areas. In some areas we're still recovering (referring to Abionah mostly).
Although it's easy to look at the difficulties brought upon ourselves from the trip, it was totally worth it. Heather's family got to see Abionah for the first time, and my mom's side of the family got to see her. My Grandmother made Abi an incredible quilt and Abi was showered with other gifts from all sides (primarily clothes). If we get cold this winter, we'll just throw her clothes on a fire in the middle of our living room because she has plenty extra.
The return trip was pretty much uneventful. Apparently the only state around here that allows you to feed your baby out of the car seat while the car is moving is South Carolina. Go South Carolina. Way to be behind the times. Love it.
Since being back in NC I've been blown away with how quickly the end of the year is approaching. I'll be done my first year of teaching before I know it. Our garden is taking off and we're going to have tomatoes coming out of our ears. Oh well. We ate salads for lunch today and we used the lettuce and spinach from our own garden! Such a good feeling.
Abionah has taken up all our time when we're at home. Heather has a really hard time completing projects around the house because as soon as she begins a project, our daughter will begin screaming. People keep telling us our sleep will return. Abi's almost three months old, and we haven't seen much light ahead. A couple nights a week Abi and I will spend a few hours sleeping on the couch so Heather can actually get some rest. I thought about tranquilizers, but Heather tells me that wouldn't be good for Abi. I trust her. She's much wiser when it comes to how to take care of this little infant. I'm clueless. I do know how to change a diaper though, but that's not a skill they'll ask about on a resume'.
We're both excited about school being done. Classes are going well and I already have 56 signed up to take the class in the high school next semester. That means 28 a semester! That already would be the biggest class I've had, which is exciting in some ways but it's nice having a small class. Oh well, we'll see what the Lord does! The middle school is going well. Students are already starting to check out of school, especially the seniors in the high school. They're ready for the summer! And so are we.
This whole parenting thing has already proven harder than we could have imagined. Before we got married, people kept telling us communication is the most important thing. Well guess what, nothing's changed. Heather and I are two different people with two different backgrounds trying to raise the same daughter. Proves for an interesting day. God is incredible. He makes unity in diversity. We just get to walk by faith each day.
Here are some picture from our travels....
Scroll to the very bottom to see a funny video!
Scroll to the very bottom to see a funny video!
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| Uncle Stephen |
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| Abi sleeps wonderfully when she gets to sleep with someone else! |
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| Heather with our nephew Benjamin |
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| Uncle Joel, Cousin Benjamin, Grandpop and Abi |
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| Cambria and Abi |
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| (Great) Grandmom Parsons |
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| Uncle Darrel |
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| Pat and Abi |
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| (Great) Granddad Brown |
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| DJ (Abi's second cousin) |
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| He was very happy about holding a baby! But we couldn't get him to change a diaper... Hmmm.... I wonder why? |
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| Aunt Les and (Great) Grandmom Hagerman |
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| Second Cousin Bonnie |
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| Great Aunt Sallie |
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| Heather, Paige and Abi |
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| (Great) Grandmom and PopPop |
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| Uncle Steve |
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| Grandpop Parsons |
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| Grandmom Parsons |
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| Uncle Andrew and Tori |
Here are some picture from around the house....
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| One cold day we decided to try on Abi's jacket... It's more like a dress but hey, it keeps her warm! |
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| Easter Sunday |
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| We put baby oil in Abi's hair to try to help remove some of her cradle cap There was still oil, even after washing her hair... we have some fun! |
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| Slicked back! |
One evening we had about a 20 minute car ride home... We kept hearing a funny sound coming from the back seat. We new Abi has spit out her passy before getting in the car ...we couldn't figure out what it was. When we arrived home this is what we found. She has been doing this for over 20 minutes and was quite content to say the least.
She's so cute!
ReplyDeleteSleep will one day return, don't worry, but yes, it's tough. Every baby is different with their sleeping patterns, so it's a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants type of thing. :) We ended up co-sleeping because it was the only way any of us were able to sleep more than three consecutive hours.
And I sympathize with trying to start a project only to have the baby start fussing. It's like they know we're doing something not directly involving them. It's the same way whenever I try to eat - as soon as I sit down, Ben decides he needs me right. this. second.
Communication is very important, and I'm no expert, but it's a daily effort to stay on the same page, especially when our little ones throw us curve balls every now and then. Add in family advice, pediatricians, and the vocal stranger in Target, and you have a lot mixed signals. It's hard to figure out what to do, but trust your instincts and be confident in your actions.
Love the video of Abi! So funny and cute! :)
Nate said, "Mean old parents!" when he saw the video. When we returned from the states we were really worried about Maddy since she had stopped napping and only slept on people but when we returned we jumped back into the schedule and she adjusted. Children are amazing sometimes! I hope things are going better since last time I spoke with you. We look forward to meeting Abi in a little under 2 months. Jon, we are glad to hear that all is going well with school.
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