jeremiah and i have both been a bit icky. i think i’m worse off than he is though. my throat hurts. i have a cough. my ears hurt. i’m soooo exhausted! i hope it’s over soon - i’m supposed to sing at church this sunday. (i’m singing ‘how beautiful’)
jeremiah has been giving me lots of kissies. and it’s sooo cute, when i mention it’s time to get his diaper changed, he smiles! he likes to have a clean bottom and a fresh diaper. when he sees me whip out the breast, he smiles this huge smile and turns his head towards it, mouth wide. when he sees us shake a bottle in front of him, he smiles big too. he’s so sweet and smart.
well that’s about it. big old hugs!

that title doesn’t really fit. i just thought of it and wanted to use it. no reason.
last night was the fourth night in a row for jeremiah to lie down, awake, in his crib, and fall asleep on his own. woooohoooo! usually he has to be rocked to sleep, nursed to sleep, held to sleep, etc, but now he’s doing it on his own! we have been wanting him to do it on his own for awhile now, but when we put him in his crib when he was awake before, he would bawl his little heart out. i can’t let him do that - i can’t let him cry himself to sleep. so we would always get him out and (see above lol). but now when we put him in, he either talks himself to sleep, or he does a few cranky noises here and there. no more pitiful tears! i’m so proud of him!
this morning, while we were having a nice little conversation, he started his morning stretches. they are very cute - he’ll put his arms above his head to stretch them, and he’ll straighten his legs all the way out. well, he stretched his legs, then suddenly went “ah!” really loud and pulled his legs back in. i laughed and he turned to me and grinned really big. it was so cute!
he looks SO long when he’s all stretched out. my little baby just keeps growing and growing!
i love him so much. i just look at him and wonder how on earth i ever deserved such a precious miracle. he is amazing!
i want to thank everyone once again for all of your prayers before jeremiah was conceived. you are one of the reasons my little boy exists. thanks so much!! :love:

while i was in the shower this morning, and jeremiah was in his bouncer waiting for me to finish so he could take a bath with me (how is that for a run-on??), he was batting and pushing woodstock, to make the bouncer bar play music and light up…
well, this is truthfully no biggie, since he’s been doing that for a while now, so i’m not as impressed anymore ;). and every now and then, he’ll giggle here or there, and he always smiles at it lovingly (since it is his best buddy snoopy). but today, here i am in the shower, and all the sudden, he BURSTS into a fit of giggles, laughing almost hysterically in fun at the thing! it was soooo cute!!! since i hadn’t heard this kind of laughter at anything other than people (papa, me, gramma and grampa) i had to check to see he was ok, and he was just laughing and smiling away. it was too precious!
speaking of too precious, i’m trying to get some pics uploaded. i finally got the new camera batteries so i could take some new pics. his next album will be quite full!
another one of his cute things lately has been giggling when i type. he just does a little giggle along with the tap-tap of the keys.
and he snuggles into our chests when he’s sleepy, or just feeling especially loving.
well, big hugs!

yes, it is either the 25th or 26th of April that marks my baby’s conception birthday!
i can’t believe it’s been a year since then! and imagine, we never knew until may 22 that i was pregnant with him!
anyway, he’s my precious boy, and i love him SOOOOOOOO much. thank You, Lord, SOOOOOOOOO much for my precious, sweet miracle baby. i am so thankful to You for my blessing.
i LOVE you, jeremiah thomas!!
love,
mama

jeremiah got his 3 month wal-mart portraits taken on the 22nd. see the sidebar for link.
he was not his normally smiley self, but he still smiled a little and took CUTE pics.
hugs!

i really haven’t thought about the tax thing anymore. oh well.
just wanted to post that i have been feeling very inadequate as a wife and even a mother sometimes. i feel if i’m not spending almost all my time with jeremiah - teaching him new things, talking to him, etc, that i’m not being a good mother…at least not the mother i wanted to be to him. but if i do that one day, i feel guilty that nothing else is getting done. i need to find an even balance between mothering, housework and computer time. it’s also hard because my grampa is getting weaker and weaker, so i am helping him ALL the time now. it’s almost like i have two kids. i don’t mean to be disrespectful to him, because i love him a lot. it’s just he’s actually MORE work than jeremiah is sometimes. very draining. when jeremiah is asleep is usually the only time i have to work on here, or work on his scrapbook, and if grampa sees me doing anything other than holding the baby, he assumes i’m not doing anything important.
please pray for me. i’m trying not to let it get to me, but i’m really stressing. and jerry does so much, with work, and helping grampa out even more, that i feel badly in putting any more work on him at home.
hugs and blessings!

well pictures didn’t happen the other day…
jeremiah was in good spirits all day, until we got to walmart. he wasn’t cranky or grumpy, but he just wouldn’t smile for anything. he was looking at the picture lady like, “yeah, right, like i’m going to smile for YOU!”. he wouldn’t smile for jerry or for me either. until jerry held him in his arms, and that was when we were leaving. i think he was just so tired. SO we decided not to settle on non-smiling pics, and will be going back today or tomorrow. he smiles ALL the time, laughs out loud as well, so having a non-smiling picture wouldn’t show the real him, and that’s what the monthly pictures are supposed to do.
yesterday i got to talk to jen and hear adriana. so sweet! and jen, manda and i got to msn together! it was fun. while doing this, jeremiah decided to show off his typing skills. it was quite funny. jerry got a few pics of it, and i will be posting them when we get a new camera battery. :rolleyes: it died when i was taking pics of jerry lifting jeremiah up high. jeremiah was giggling his little head off! it was totally precious.
while chatting with jen and manda, we were looking at scrapping layouts together. it was fun. got some good ideas.
i am slowly but surely getting one of jeremiah’s pages done. it’s his one-month page. it’s not super special or anything, but it will be cute. how can it not be - it has my baby’s picture in it! i’m thinking of having every “month” page the same in style, but different in color, depending on the outfit jeremiah is wearing. the one-month is a dark teal and a light teal-blue. i can’t wait until it’s done.
well, instead of talking about it, i’m going to go work on it right now!

sigh, my baby is now three months old…
we went to church again today (yay!) and everyone was commenting about how big and how adorable he is. it makes me sad at how big he is!!
i need to weigh him today, and when i do i’ll post it. i know he’s gained quite a bit. my dad keeps joking that he weighs 20lbs, but i know that’s a bit of an exaggeration! LOL. it’s funny though, because i was 100% breastfed, and i was only 18lbs on my first birthday! so he is definately taking after his papa.
he seems to be having a bit of stranger anxiety, though not enough to stop him from finally smiling at strangers.
he loves to smile and laugh.

BBS

a few hours, a few naps, and a few feedings later, lol, and i am back. actually, i got off to nurse jeremiah for a little while, and while i did, jerry asked if he could use the computer. he JUST NOW got off, after i asked to get on for a few before bed. MEN!
i just wanted to share a few pics: clicky!
we are getting his 3 month pics taken tomorrow at walmart. wanted to do it today, but they were busy. this time we aren’t buying the disk, because jerry says it’s not worth it just to have the pics if they aren’t high-quality, and they aren’t. so you will only see the ONE pose after we get it and scan it. oh well.
well, nighty night all!
jeremiah,
you little sweet man, i can’t believe how wonderful you are! you get cuter, smarter, sweeter and more lovable every day. i can’t believe i ever lived without you in my life.
i love watching you and your papa play together. your papa loves you so much, and it’s obvious you love him just as much. i’m so glad! i love hearing your infectious giggles when he makes funny faces at you, or sings a silly song to you.
i love how you smile up at me with those deep, thoughtful, loving eyes. i love when you snuggle into a perfect hug. i love when you babble at me, and we have a nice little conversation. i love seeing your eyes light up as you discover something new.
you are amazing and i love you so much. i thank the Lord every day for you. my little miracle. my precious blessing. my baby boy.

love,
your mama

1. Do you do your taxes yourself or do you have someone do them for you?

jerry does them.

2. Do you have them efiled or mail hard copies?

so far, hard copies, but i may have talked him into efiling next year’s!

3. Do you usually have them completed ASAP, do them whenever or are you a last minute kinda person, maybe even needing an extension?

usually a few days or a week before they’re due.

4. Are you getting a refund this year or do you owe?

we are getting a refund. (never owed)

5. When you do get a refund, do you put it away into savings or some other investment vehicle, or do you look at it as a bonus and go shopping?

half and half usually.

6. Do you try to net your yearly taxes to 0.00, as they say you should so the money stays in your account or do you claim less or pay extra to ensure a large lump sum payback?

hmmm we would rather get it back in the end than have money taken away.

7. Do you think the taxes should be changed so that those with huge salaries must pay a significant larger portion or do you think there should be a flat tax where everyone pays the same % no matter how much they make?

flat tax, no matter how hard it is for us po’ folks…otherwise it would NOT be fair.

8. Finally, it’s been argued that income tax should be replaced with sales tax. Therefore we would keep our total income and only pay higher sales taxes when spending. Supposedly this would be more fair because those with higher income spending capabilities would be paying more of the taxes and those with lower incomes less. Would you support a change from being taxed on your income to being taxed on goods and services?

sounds good to me. haven’t thought about it deeply, and it’s kind of late and i’m tired, so i’ll have to get back about it when i’m more clear-headed.

nighty night!

i always have so much to write about BEFORE i get on here!
then it seems i don’t remember what i was going to write. sigh!
jeremiah is such a sweetie. he gets sweeter, cuter, and more fun every day! he can hold his bottle now. not every time, but most of the time. he LOVES watching the fan - even when it’s not on (he likes the brass shining in the light). he has a new mirror toy that sings abc’s to him and he LOVES it. it’s so fun to watch his face as he looks at himself, or pushes a button to make music play. he’s such a smarty-pants.
jen and i were discussing the irony of our pictures. that the photos you see of our babies do NOT do any justice to their real looks, and everyone still thinks they are adorable. funny, eh?
today, i wondered if jeremiah wanted to nurse, or if he wasn’t hungry at all. well, i offered my breast to him, and he looked at me, mouth shut tight, then looked away, and glanced back at me out of the corner of his eye, mouth still tightly closed. he had this little half smile look on his face too. i laughed, and asked and offered again, just to see if it was a fluke, and he did the same thing. LOL. he is just so funny!
feeding him by breast or by bottle has been quite a challenge lately. he likes to look at everything around him, so he’ll lose the nipple half the time. even though it’s a longer process to feed him now, i wouldn’t miss all the new things he’s discovering.
does every baby have a major fit when they get burped? he acts like he’s being murdered when he’s burped! it’s so sad, because there are real tears but sometimes we almost laugh because he’s so pitiful. i think he has a bit of an actor gene in him. no idea where he gets that dramatic side!
i am finally working on his scrapbook! yay! and i mean for real this time. i have layouts sketched out and everything. now i just need to put them together lol. i want to scan them in when they are done too.
edited to add: jerry was holding and talking with jeremiah a minute ago and jerry yelled, “MAMA!” i turn and jeremiah had his glasses in his hands. he’d pulled them off jerry’s face. LOL. i slipped them back on, and jerry said “you think you’re big stuff, huh?” and jeremiah smiled and laughed loudly. LOL. it was priceless. if only we had a video camera running at all times.
well i need to get going now. hugs & blessings!