Bumbo Seat

I was planning on posting these at some point, but was motivated to do it right away after reading Michelle's comment on the last post.

When Keely was 3 months old we were in the States for Thanksgiving. I looked at the Bumbo Seat and really wanted to get on and really thought Keely would like it because at that age, like Jordan, she liked to sit up. However, Jacob convinced me that we didn't have room in our bags to get one back with us. My cousin sent us a list of baby gear she had that we could borrow and I was so excited to see she had a Bumbo Seat because I had always wanted to use one! Jordan seems to really enjoy it. However, I think she looks funny sitting in it. I can't really put into words what it makes me think...but she enjoys it and I think it makes Keely feel like she is more involved in playing with her too. Of course Keely likes to sit in it too!!




At meal time we put in a kitchen chair so she is at our level. This afternoon she sat with Jacob on the sofa and watched college football!!

Jordan at 3 months

Jordan will be 4 months in about 10 days -- so I better get her 3 month pictures up, huh?

Jordan's 2 month appointment was 1 week before she turned 3 months and she was 10 lbs 14 ozs and 22 3/4 inches long. Her check-up went well.

When Jordan was a few weeks old we noticed her belly button was looking odd and after reading What To Expect The First Year, we decided it was probably a herniated belly button.
This appointment was her first one to get it checked out. The doctor said it may be the umbilical was herniated and it should go back at least by the time she is 5. The doctor said it may be another kind though that she would need to have surgery...she hopes that by her next appointment in October she'll be able to tell better though she doesn't think this is the type she has.

The doctor also pointed out that she seemed to be favoring her right side (turning to the right) and so we have been trying to help her look and lean towards the left more.

Jordan has less fussy days these days and I seem to know more what I eat that bothers her. Things with lots of MSG (like Chinese food), garlic or tomatoes makes her fussy for a fully day or more. Dairy seems to give her extra gas, but I think her system is maturing and it doesn't bother her as much as earlier on (and I didn't realize that Dairy was causing it).

She is independent like the rest of us in our family and has never been real consistent on how long she would sleep at night. She'd sleep until 6:30 am for a week and then she'd start waking at 4 am. But this week she seemed to no longer want her late feeding at 11 and started sleeping til sometime between 7 and 8 and is eating 5 times instead of 7. She just made a huge leap in one week!!

That's our daughter!! She is a sweety and loves to smile at us and watch us. Her new favorite thing is to sit in the bumbo seat my cousin lent us. Both our girls definitely keep us on our toes!!

Getting Caught Up

Where have we been for so long? We went on vacation for 10 days (4 of those days were driving days - 15 hours with 2 young children (lots and lots of fun!! lol)). We were then home 3 full days and then Jacob went for a conference for 2 1/2 days. And then my days are so completely full with just the normal duties of a mom and wife that here it is Thursday and I'm forcing myself to sit down to the computer while I have a minute of quiet (and lets hope it'll be more than just 1 minute!).

The vacation was wonderful. Yes, still lots of work when you have little ones and one that wasn't quite sleeping through the night at that point (that's another post), but we haven't taken a full week of vacation in a long time and it was good to get away. My expectation of when we got back to the States was that it would be relaxing right away, but it's still life-- still need to clean, do the laundry, got to the grocery store and take care of the kids. For Jacob he still has work e-mail (and a lot of it!) and two classes he is enrolled online. So vacation was really good and Jacob and I even got to go to a FSU game. That was fun!

Jacob's conference went well even though he says it was weird to not have any of us with him. I agreed that sitting in church by myself was really weird too! He found someone that is interested in helping with IT at our meeting in January so that is exciting. And the people at the conference really blessed us and the girls with some neat things.

Hopefully I'll get us caught up in the next 10 days because then we leave again for 2 weeks!!

Lovely

Here is our precious little Jordan. She is smiling and cooing a lot these days, and just makes the cutest faces and sounds.

Smile Keely

We often ask Keely to help us make Jordan smile. When we do, this is what she does, and guess what, it works!

Vacation

We're on vacation in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida. We're enjoying the sun, the sand, the waves (courtesy of Ike, who is nowhere near us but making lots of waves come our way), and the pool. Keely is loving her water wings (freedom in the pool) and playing in the sand and having the waves crash at her feet. Here's a picture from today after a bit of a walk on the beach.

BRRRRR

Thanks to Hurricane Gustav we had quite a bit of rain and cooler weather a few days ago. After living in Thailand for three years with the very coolest days in the 70's, we were freezing! The first cool day was 70... we all dressed in pants but Jacob and I were still freezing when we were out. (We kept telling ourselves it wasn't that cold,but we were still freezing!) The next day we kept the pants and added sleeves when going out. Keely seems to not be a fan of pants though! She has probably only worn warm clothes two months out of her two years! The first day she cried when we tried to put her jeans back on after a diaper change and the next day she had her pants pulled up past her knees! Winter will be interesting!!

Things I (Jacob) Enjoy About the States

Here are some things I enjoy about being in the states.

1. Turkey Sandwiches

2. Time with family

3. Cherry Coke

4. Central air

5. All my email comes first thing in the morning and then again at night. I can handle it all at once, and not have it coming in throughout the day. This means less time in front of the computer!

6. Blueberries and peaches

7. Our minivan - we have room for the car seats and friends and family

8. Other restaurants such as Panera, McAllister, Olive Garden, Sonic Happy Hour, etc. etc...

I guess the states are not so bad, though I do miss the laid back lifestyle of living in Asia. :-)

Some of Daddy's Favorites

Here are some of my favorite shots from the last week.

Do I Have Your Vote?

So it appears that there is a grassroots effort to elect me as the next President of the United States. It'll be quite a career change, but if I win, then hey, I'm up for it. Do I have your support? Click here for more information.

Smiley Jordan #2!

We got a couple really cute pictures of Jordan smiling at us!

It's really cute when we ask Keely to make Jordan smile...she'll look at Jordan and say "Smile" while making a funny fake smile! It's really cute!

Are You Reading This?

We'd love to know who is reading our blog, as from the logfiles it looks like there are a number of folks out there blog stalking us. Shoot us a comment or email and let us know who you all are! :-)

Keely Is 2!

Monday Keely turned 2! Wow, does time sure fly by!! She seems to be learning and growing more and more every day!

We tried to make Monday mostly Keely's day (except for a family trip to Sam's). We went to IHOP for pancakes, played in the pool in the backyard, had chocolate chip cookie cake and ice cream, had homemade pizza and opened and played with presents! What a day!! (As you look through the pictures, you too can have hair like Keely's if you take a nap with uncombed wet hair!!)

Keely's Birthday Cookie

Keely not quite awake nor sure about this big cookie

Still not sure about what's going on

However, Keely is very sure about eating the cookie!!

Keely reading her new Elmo book
(she didn't want it read to her, but looked at every page and pointed out Elmo on each page)

Keely playing with her new Doodle Pro
(Kelley, glad you mentioned Kiran got one a few months ago..that made us check it out and Keely loves it!)

What a great day!

Princess Keely

A few weeks ago, Jacob was out of town for a week. The girls and I were hanging out at my parents' house, when Keely found a pink tiara and shoes in the toy box. My mom got out the matching princess outfit and put it on Keely. I thought it was about the most hilarious thing ever! When Jacob got home and found out, he wasn't too excited about us dressing her up! (He's funny about things like that! HAHA!) After that Keely would find the shoes and wear them around the house. The really funny thing is that she would tell me they were Mimi's shoes. I don't think my mom could wear those shoes...but sure they are Mimi's shoes.

Smiley Jordan

A couple weeks ago, Jordan started smiling and cooing consistently (Jacob was out of town when she started). I haven't been able to get a good picture, but this was about the best I have gotten so far. It's so nice to see her in a good mood every now and then. She still has rough times...normally late afternoon or evening...and sometimes a full day that is rough...but there have been more good times! And watching her smile and coo makes up for it!!

A Few Favorite Things

In my opinion, here are a few of Keely's favorite things about the United States:

Playing on the slide


Picking tomatoes with Papa and dead flowers with Mimi
(you can see their garden in the background)


Playing in the playhouse

Maybe she just enjoys playing outside and there are just a lot of things to do outside at Mimi and Papa's house!

A little story about the playhouse... Since it is outside it tends to collect spider webs. Every week or so I try to go out and clean off the spider webs. The other day, Jacob was playing with Keely and I was on the porch with Jordan after I had cleaned off the playhouse. Keely found something and wanted Jacob to get it. However, after Jacob had an encounter with a spider when he was little where he an allergic reaction he isn't real keen in getting personal with spiders. So, Jacob tries to convince Keely to go play on the swing set instead...Keely comes running out of the playhouse calling, "Mommy." It was pretty funny and she knew who to get to take care of her problem! Come to find out it was just a piece of paper though!

Wake Up!

We went to a fun place to eat today that had a toddler inflatable play area. We played for about an hour after we ate, and we are all exhausted (since Keely is still small one of us had to play with her). The past couple days nap time has gotten messed up...one day she fell asleep on the 10 minute ride home and then didn't nap when we got home and the next day she fell asleep while on a walk in the stroller. Today I turned around to see her about to dose off and woke her up. During the rest of the ride home, we worked really hard to keep her awake. It was pretty funny--and tiring!! But she took a good nap!!

Fun in the Sun

I've been enjoying the time I have had with the family while we are in the states. Yes, it has been a transition (and still is) to go from being in an office most of the day to being home with the kiddos all day, but it has been good. Here's a picture of some play time outside with Keely.

Jordan

Hello all, here is a picture I took today during some play time with Jordan. Enjoy!

Libraries

There have been some books I have wanted to look at but didn't know if I really wanted to buy them so I have been waiting for the wonderful world of libraries. We went to the library a couple weeks ago for story time but that just didn't seem like a good time to search for some books. I had seen something about their catalog online and checked it out. What a wonderful tool for a mom of young children! I remember their online catalog when I was in high school...it was really difficult to navigate through and it was DOS based. Now you can hold books, select where you want to pick them up AND one of the libraries near us has a drive-up window! We drove up, gave them our library card and they handed us our books! How cool is that?!

Slow Down and Wait

There are two things that we are having a hard time getting use to: driving so slow and waiting at restaurants. We didn't realize the traffic moved so quickly in Chiang Mai until now when there are no cars around and it feels like we are going at a snail's pace! In Chiang Mai if a restaurant is full (which doesn't happen real often) you go somewhere else or they make room for you. In the past two days we have experienced full restaurants 3 times (in 2 meals) and we have chosen to go somewhere else but we may have to get a new mind set! Ironically, we have also been feeling very isolated-- Chiang Mai is a medium city but there are people everywhere! Where are all the people and why do we only see them when we want to eat? We think if we moved back to the States we'd have to move to a LARGE metropolitan city because this is just too weird!

Keely

Jordan

Sara and Jordan

"Tricky" Vibrator Seat

We have a really interesting vibrator seat that my parents found at a garage sale. First, it sits up really straight and I didn't think Jordan liked it very much at first. Second, it has music that plays as well as the vibration. We discovered the first day we used it that it turns off every few minutes. It got annoying because we had to keep going over to turn it back on. We then realized that it had a switch that said voice or manual. On voice it turns on when there is a sound...like when Jordan cries or even just moves. Keely hadn't realized this yet and kept turning off the music and it would come back on almost immediately. This video doesn't give the moment justice, but it was really funny to watch until she finally just gave up. (FYI-- At the same time, Keely is sharing her crayons and colored pencils with Jordan)

So Peaceful

Jordan sleeping peacefully on the play mat my cousin loaned us.

Reading Time

If you have been reading our blog very long, you are very well aware that Keely loves books! I'm loving Jacob's new camera as well, and loved these pictures of her enjoying her books (the few we brought with us).

Keely "reading" a book on her own

Keely and I reading a book together (she sure looks intrigued like it was the first time we had read it instead of the 100th)

Playing with cousins

The first Saturday we were here, my mom invited my nieces (3 and 6) for pancakes and to play with Keely. My younger niece had been sick the day before and couldn't come that morning, but the older one did. It took Keely a little while of watching her to get comfortable with playing, but after that they played hard outside on the swing set and in the pool. They had A LOT of fun!

Our niece putting holding her breath under water.

Keely thinking about putting her face in the water too.

"Yeah, I don't like that so much!"

Everything in its place

Keely is very serious about things being put back where they belong or where she thinks they belong. While at my parents' house today, Keely decided to help Mimi and Papa out and arrange their remote controls. They have several under their end table and Keely put them all together in a row. In my old bedroom, the tv has a remote control and when I went to nurse Jordan I went to get the remote and I couldn't find it. I looked around that room and the other bedroom and didn't have a clue where it was. Where did I find it? In the living room with all of the other remotes! Of course!!

Sara and Jordan

This was taken this past Saturday. Aren't my girls beautiful?

Trip to the U.S.

We have been home almost two weeks, but our trip back was so eventful that I have to still blog about it! We didn't have a leg that wasn't full of excitement and obstacles!

It all started from the very beginning-- when we checked in in Chiang Mai. Several of our friends met us at the airport and helped us through security with all of our bags, which we actually only checked five of the eight we could have checked! We went to the international ticket counter and were told that United didn't renew their contract to allow us to go through immigration in Chiang Mai. We were allowed to check our luggage all the way through, but couldn't go through immigration and therefore would not be able to spend the evening inside the airport area where we had reserved a day room (our flight from Bangkok left at 6:40 am). We all went to the domestic check-in area to check our luggage and then went back to the international side to see if immigration would let us go through, which of course they didn't. Our flight got delayed and we were afraid the United office would close before we got to Bangkok so we called. They didn't really understand our dilemma (that we really needed to stay inside the airport so we could stay in our day room). We did find out that their office would be open until 10 pm. Our other problem was that we needed the bulk head for Jordan's car seat because it needed to be reclined. When we got on the plane, we were not in the bulk head and Jordan's car seat didn't fit...but it was a short flight so it didn't matter. Once we got to Bangkok, we hurried out to get to the United office. It was "hidden" and had to be pointed toward it but finally got there to find it completely dark! Lufthansa was next door and we asked them if they knew where they were and we called and had her talk to explain our problem. We find out they actually are inside but in the back! One of the ladies calls the day room hotel and finds out that they have a hotel only 10 minutes from the airport and we can use our reservation there. They arrange for us to be picked up and we trek back down to the meeting point in the airport. We finally get to the hotel and get some sleep...but about an hour less then we would have if the original plan had worked out and we hadn't had to leave the airport. We get back to the airport the next morning 15 minutes before the counters were suppose to open to check-in. (They opened early but we were still one of the first to check-in). At first we didn't think they were going to give us the bulk head, but Jacob was very patient but firm with the agent and he finally put us in the bulk head but says he can't over ride the computer for our flight from Tokyo and we'd have to work on it when we got there. That flight was 6 1/2 hours and wasn't too bad, our request for a child's meal got lost so Keely didn't really eat much but she did take a 2 hour nap. In Tokyo, the agent didn't have much sympathy for us but did agree to put in a request for 2 seats in the bulk head but couldn't guarantee it and told us to check at the gate right before we boarded. They did have a wonderful play room in the airport and Keely played hard on the slide there and ate a McDonald's hamburger (she didn't eat on the next flight either). At the gate, they wouldn't let us board as early has they normally do but when they finally did let us board our boarding passes beeped when they went through the machine and we found out they moved two of our seats and Jordan and I had the bulk head and Jacob and Keely were about 6 rows behind us. We got on the plane and Jacob got Jordan and I settled and by that time the family with the 3 seats next to us arrived (it was a family with a college age daughter) and we presented our story but didn't think they would switch seats but they did! That flight was very difficult (and was good we were all together for the moral support needed to get through the flight)! During our first meal, Keely was really restless and I let her get up and was walking in circles between our seats and the bathroom while Jacob ate until we hit turbulence! Keely had no understanding of this and couldn't understand why we were trying to get her back in her seat and she had a melt down (which included screaming). We tried hard to calm her down but couldn't and she screamed for what seemed like 10 minutes (it may have only been 5, but we have no idea). About a minute after she calmed down she fell asleep...only to be woken up less than an hour later! Keely can gain a lot of rest during a cat nap and we knew we were in trouble!! Jacob and I kept dosing on her but she just couldn't fall asleep. Finally we took Jordan out of the car seat and set it up for Keely and put her in it and gave her some stickers to play with and Jacob and I dosed off again. I woke up hearing Keely look at Jacob and say, "Daddy" and look at me and say, "Mommy." I closed my eyes and when I woke up again she was asleep! She slept the last 4 hours of the 11 hour flight until we got to the gate in Chicago. Our last flight thankfully was uneventful!! What a trip!! I'm sure glad we won't be doing that again for a few months!

2 Months

Jordan turned two months August 6th. Boy does time fly! She is such a sweet little girl, even when her belly seems to be hurting as bad as it has seemed to be lately! We are all looking forward to these next few months when life is calmer (hopefully) to just "hang out" and watch her and her little personality grow and develop!

Sweet Moments

Father gave us some sweet moments to hold on to today-- especially for those hard days! About a week before we left Chiang Mai, Jordan started getting fussy more during the day then just during her late afternoon fussy period. The day before we left and the day we left she was particularly fussy-- so much so that I had to put her in the sling a few times both days in order to do things. She continued to have longer fussy periods--all afternoon and into the evening and sometimes in the morning too. We have been very blessed though that once 8:00 or 8:30pm comes, she falls asleep pretty easily and sleeps pretty well and when she does wake in the night to eat she falls right back to sleep. I have tried taking out all kinds of things in my diet and we have given her gripe water that has ginger and fennel in it, but nothing has helped a ton. But I have been blessed to have Jacob home to help entertain Keely during these times. HOWEVER, today has been a very good day for Jordan and has been fun to see her awake, alert and happy! She still had her late afternoon fussy period, but she had really good wake times. One time after she ate, she sat in my lap and just followed Jacob has he walked past and of course he came back in the room and walked back and forth in front of us for awhile! (It's the little things!) Keely was more interested in her since she was happy today also. One time stands out when she wanted to hold her hand. Later in the afternoon she wanted to hold her, which she hasn't really wanted to much in the past. First she sat next to me and held her and then she sat in my lap with Jordan in her lap. It was really sweet. Thank you Father, I needed that today!

Keely tickling Jordan's tummy

FINALLY

...we have consistent internet! It has been a long process getting it set up and we are in the United States! I guess things aren't just long and tedious in other countries! What's really sad is that I didn't even know Jacob posted a preview 2 month picture of Jordan until just now! The house we are staying in belongs to a local fellowship (that is actually just 2 doors down) and we were told we were responsible for paying the phone bill, but when we tried the phone it didn't work and we just assumed it had been turned off between families staying here. Jacob spent all last Monday morning trying to get the phone and DSL set up and finally had to get the phone set up first before we could do DSL and it wouldn't be turned on until Friday. Thursday my parents get a phone call (that was our contact number) wondering why we wanted a second phone line and come to find out the phone hadn't been turned off but the line had been cut outside! Jacob got that reconnected and we finally had phone! The next day he went to talk to the secretary at the fellowship and found out we had DSL but we didn't have a modem and of course we didn't bring ours with us. Jacob ordered one that day and it arrived to FedEx this morning but wasn't scheduled to be delivered until tomorrow. We decided we had waited long enough and went and picked it up from the FedEx office this afternoon and we finally have a local phone and internet!

We have been busy with celebrating Jacob's 30th birthday, getting settled, me getting sick and going to Tulsa for a surprise(ish) welcome home party for my cousin who is a marine. All of us only struggled with sleeping through the night for a night or two (besides Jordan) but it has taken this whole time for our bodies to really adjust. A two-year-old helps you realize that! Today seemed like the most normal day so far!! We all have needed that! I'll try to get pictures from Jacob tonight and start posting more regularly from now on!!

Jordan - Two Month Preview

New Photo Blog Site

I have decided to start a photo blog site. This is where I will post images that I have captured. You'll still see some on here, but if there are some that are not family related, then they will only appear on the photo site. The link is http://jacobfranklinphotos.blogspot.com.

Playtime

Today we took Keely to the library for story time. This was her first time to a library. I think she enjoyed the books and toys more than the story time.

Our Little Helper

Ok, so ever since we returned to the states, I have been having a GREAT time with my new camera, a Canon 40D, with a 50mm f/1.4 lens attached to it. Here is a picture I took tonight. You can see that Keely is quite the helper, making sure Jordan's diaper is quickly and efficiently disposed of.

We Made It

As the title says, we made it back to the states. We have no internet yet, so bare with us for a while until we can get some posts up. The girls did as well as could be expected on the way home. The 11 hour flight was the toughest, Keely was so tired that she couldn't fall asleep until the last 4 hours of the flight. It made for a long flight for us all. Anyways, we're home, and all are doing well. Pictures, updates, etc, coming as soon as we can get internet at the house.