ok you can now ask me to take a picture of anything in the new house. it will hopefully be a nice before/after photo meme. so forgive me if it takes a while for some of the pics. but please begin asking away any time you want! all you do is in the comments box, say ‘jenn, i’d like to see a pic of your bathroom’ or something like that. have fun!!!!

it’s been a while since i’ve written to you. you know it’s not because i don’t love you as much, or because i don’t have as much to say to you. it’s because mama has been really busy. but still, i’m so sorry sweet boy!
you are so amazing, and become more and more wonderful every day.
your hair is SO long and gets so cute and curly when it’s wet! i’m finally glad i decided not to cut it. your eyes are still a very deep, lovely blue. everyone who ever sees you comments on your pretty hair, your beautiful eyes and your adorable smile. your smile really does light up a room, and with your four and a half teeth it’s even brighter!
you are not content sitting anywhere anymore. you hate being penned in your playpen, in your walker or in your exersaucer. all three are like prison to you. which has been hard for mama when i’ve been working at the new house, where it’s unsafe for you to be crawling around freely. you still love crawling, but really enjoy cruising more lately. i think you will be walking soon. but since you’re such a fast crawler, who knows! you may stick with what you know for a while. either way, you’re a real go-getter and are always on the move!
you have cut out your nighttime feeding and now sleep through the night. for real. i nurse you, brush your teeth and put you to bed at about 930 every night and you don’t wake up calling me (usually crying still, but i’m trying to work on you waking up happier!) anywhere from 730 to 830 in the morning. (this means you don’t want to go back for a nap after nursing tho, so mama needs to start going to bed when you do!!) after you nurse for about 30-45 minutes, you and i get up to play. you play for about 10 minutes or so until it’s time to eat breakfast. you eat fruit and cereal. mama usually lets you try to help feed yourself now, because you’re still in your jammies! then we play more and you get dressed for the day.
you like to listen to music and do a little shoulder/head bouncing thing that i call ‘dancing’. you like to pound on the keyboard to make your own music as well. it’s SO cute! and i always hear you talking in a very sing-songy voice. i hope you love music as much as mama does!!! will you sing like mama? will you play music like your grandpa gigowski? no matter what, i hope you love music, always, and praise the Lord with song.
you are still about 20 lbs and almost 29 inches but you seem so much bigger to us all. you fit comfortably into 12 and some 18 mo clothing & wear size 4 diapers.
you get annoyed during bathtime now. you don’t enjoy it as much as you used to! you want to stand up, and scare mama because i always think you’re going to fall and hurt yourself. needless to say, bathtime is much shorter now! and after bathtime, when i’m getting your diaper on and dressing you, goodness you throw a fit. you are such a whiney-butt sometimes! as long as i make sure you have something in your hands to play with, you are fine, thankfully.
you know what ‘no’ means. unless mama says it in the firm voice, you think i’m playing tho! and when i DO say it firmly, you get all upset. normally you burst into tears. but mama assures you that i love you, and you are fine. until you try it again. LOL. i know you’ll get it eventually. you’re only 9 months old - you have a while to get it down pat.
you still amaze me with the words you say. you have said ‘gamma’ and ’stinky’ on several occasions. tho i still haven’t interpreted the word ’stinky’ like gramma has. hehe. you of course are a pro at saying ‘mama’ ‘dada’ ‘dog/dog-dog’ ‘duh/duh-duh’, etc. you are signing ‘more’ for mama now! and when you don’t want more of something, you wrinkle up your nose, pucker your lips and turn away. LOL. it’s one of your cutest faces!
you are such a loving boy. you give hugs and nuzzles, and the wettest kisses! you love your mama and dada and gramma and grampa so much! i wish everyone who loved you could spend more time with you, so that you could feel their love and also learn to love them.
i am so thankful for you baby boy. you are a wonderful, amazing child and i’m so in love with you. God made such a beautiful, precious, amazing child when He created you.
i love you!!!!
love, your mama

carpet is down! and it’s lovely!!! hopefully tomorrow i’ll get some pics!
shellie - to answer your question, yes i think abortion is wrong. PERIOD. an ectopic pregnancy where the baby is uncapable of being saved is the ONLY and i mean ONLY time i would consider it, because that is also life-threatening to the mother. other so-called ‘life-threatening’ situations i don’t really buy. tell me one and i’ll see what i think.
i have even run this through my head personally, what would i do if i had an ectopic pregnancy? i wouldn’t want to kill my baby, but my husband tells me it would not be a wise choice for me to die for no reason - considering the baby will not make it even to the first trimester. it would not be a responsible mothering choice, because my son needs me. and my husband needs me as well, so it would not be a wise choice in any case.
babbling because i am TIRED. sorry if i’m not explaining my beliefs well….

too tired to really post - i am bushed!
speaking of bush, check out this link: if you know me, you know i’m very very VERY prolife. clicke here to view a video about where the candidates stand on abortion. (not graphic or anything.)

well we picked out the carpet today! we found three remnants at almost the exact size! yay! plus they are at a pretty cheap place. i only wish we knew someone who installs carpet - if we did we would be saving a bundle. as it is, we’re still doing better than all the other places we looked at.
jeremiah has been feeling so much better. although he still gets really grumpy when we’re at the new house. he hates not being right with me at all times. plus all the driving we’re doing. aye-aye-aye! and did you know gas is like 2bucks or more a gallon?!?! is that not criminal?!?!
he is also getting in his top left inscisor. did i mention that? it seems to be pretty painless compared to the others. which is good!
i got lost today. i went to get lunch and made a wrong turn. jerry was so upset and worried by the time i got back. i was gone more than an hour. :0 anyway, the good thing about me is, once i make a direction mistake, i never make the same one again! anyway grrr to me.
i need to remix some of the burgundy paint tomorrow. there is still a bit of wall that doesn’t look well-covered and all the paint i’d mixed is gone. i hope i can do it well! thankfully tho, it’s at the bottom, so even if it isn’t perfect, all will still be right with the world.
well i’m off! i’m going to see if i can work on a new layout. i’m sure everyone is tired of my wedding pics up there!
God bless!

well the pic is up in the photo album under the 7-12mo professional pics (last folder). i didn’t think it would scan in since it’s a 10×13 but it only trimmed a bit off the sides. NOTE: i fixed the photo album problem. it’s viewable again (with password).

i painted the living room’s two and half walls burgundy (i have been spelling it burgandy…LOL) today. i had to mix colors (of two mistints) to make it right. i really like the way it turned out. i really like mixing colors - it’s very artsy. i hope i won’t have to do too many touch-ups tomorrow! we need to paint our bedroom and the office walls tomorrow so that we can get carpet laid. mom and i found some remnants for quite a good deal today. tomorrow jerry and i will be looking at them more closely and also looking for one for our bedroom. they didn’t seem to have any good blue, or enough of it. our room, not counting the closet, vanity area and bathroom (with just a tub and toilet) is 21×14. larger than a lot of the remnants, at least larger than all the blue remnants there! i still think it’s funny that our living room is a bit smaller than our bedroom. LOL. it’s 21×12.

ok on to the anemia. yesterday at jeremiah’s dr’s appt i was told 9mos is when they test for anemia. we were sent to the nearest hospital since our new insurance won’t cover in-dr office blood tests. (grr) anyway, he handled the blood draw really well. only cried for half a second when they put the needle in, then was very calm, just staring at the nurses as the blood went into the vial. the results came in today - he has a very mild case of anemia. normal for his age is 11 and his is 10.6. this is not surprising, since my mom has severe anemia (tho it’s better since she used to have iron injections or something like that) and i am always worried about my own anemia. anyway, the dr prescribed an iron supplement in drops. i guess it’s normal for breastfed babies to be low in iron. they said it’s nothing to worry about and he’ll get it checked again in a few months. sigh.

well i want to check out a few sites before i go to bed. i am so tired, and tomorrow we’ll do the same thing all over. i am really excited to have it all done - it will be soooo great. it’s slowly but surely taking shape, and i’m very impressed so far. we are doing well on it, and it already means so much knowing that we are doing it ourselves.

ETA: i used to have a link on the blog to this site about a precious little boy named luke who nearly drowned. he is now recovering. i would like to ask that you pray for this little boy and his family with me. i lost track of the link and sort of lost track of him with being so busy, but i don’t think his healing is something i should ever forget about. i want to be reminded daily to pray for him. i added his site to my blogroll just so it never happens again. God laid it on my heart to mention it here because as we all know, He hears our prayers and the more prayers being sent up for luke’s healing, the better. // end edit

God bless!!

well i don’t think anyone noticed anyway, but my wonderful record was broken yesterday. somehow i thought i’d posted when i hadn’t.
not much was done on the house yesterday. the flooring isn’t down yet. i got the dining room painted yesterday, and jerry and i got the living room painted today. the main project yesterday was the electrical stuff in our bedroom. it seems there was a very long screw that was going into one of the wires, which caused the circuit to blow every time it was tripped. or something like that - i’m not the technical kind. at least it was discovered by my dad, because i know an electrician would have charged us an arm, a leg and an internal organ, i’m sure. as it is, there are 5 medium-sized holes in our bedroom wall, and wires sticking out all over.
jerry got the baby gates put on the top and bottom of the stairs today. he also worked on some of the trim.
i, being either and idiot or an eternal optimist, scheduled TWO portrait settings at two different places. both in the mall, mind you, but still. i will NEVER do that again. the picture people and jc penney’s, for those in the want to know. i must say i wasn’t impressed with either. i know it’s all in the photographer so i can’t judge a whole business by one sitting. truth be told, the last time i went to the picture people, i thought the lady was better than the girl we had today. she was nice enough, and she seemed to like kids and babies, but she had three VERY annoying habits: ONE, she insisted that jeremiah smile, and when he didn’t she would TWO, yell in a high-pitched voice like a banshee or a native american ritual screeching sound. as if yeah, that will make a nine-month old smile. ??? jeremiah just looked at her like, what’s your deal, lady?? THREE, when I got him to smile, she didn’t take the picture because he wasn’t looking JUST where she wanted him to look. oh, and to top it off, when jeremiah wasn’t smiling but making cute looks, i told her to go ahead and take a pic, because he looked sweet like that, she wouldn’t, but screeched at him again. ARGH!! at jc penney’s, he had a guy as a photographer. i wondered how it would work, since he seems to be very wary, often even scared, of guys besides jerry and my dad. he didn’t seem upset by this guy at all. and the guy was nice. BUT. and this is a big BUT, the guy kept the exact same background behind him the WHOLE sitting, and pretty much needed me to coach him on what to do. jeremiah was wearing a shirt with a baseball, a basketball and a football on it. i had to ask HIM if i could have the basketball to use for a shot. (that was one of the poses i purchased - it’s really precious.) i don’t know if the guy was new or what, but i wasn’t impressed with him. i wasn’t the only one who said so either - i heard other people complaining too.
but anyway, his nine-month pics are done now. i can’t post the jc penney ones because they don’t use discs yet. but i will scan the picture people one as well as i can - i got the 10×13. i chose a pose that looks sweet - jeremiah isn’t smiling, but i think he looks cute. jerry thinks he looks like he’s been crying. (jerry wasn’t with me so how would he know? and no, he never cried, tho he did whine a little while at the picture people. i wanted to whine too, with all the girl’s screechin g that was going on!!)
i have come to the conclusion tho, that jerry will have to go to every other portrait session. he can get jeremiah to smile like no one else, and it’s always his sweet, genuine smile too. mama just can’t do it anymore. well, i got him to smile (both places) but neither photographer ever caught any of the good ones. so i guess i DO have to blame them, don’t i?

jeremiah’s 9mo checkup was normal. he is right down the middle percentile-wise. i am actually not sure what happened with this, because he is the exact same weight (20lbs 11oz) and height (28.5″) as last month . that doesn’t seem right to me. they said at 9mos babies taper off, because they aren’t having a big growth spurt. but to be exactly the same? that doesn’t seem right. especially when he eats (including nursing and bottlefeeding) so much. ?? his head is finally in the 55th percentile! i remember when he was born it was like the 42nd percentile or something and we were so worried about his little head! LOL.
they said his ears looked all clear. not great, but not bad either.
they said he is one smart boy and very advanced. and of course that he is such a sweetie and so adorable and they love him. i think it is true that he’s a little advanced - boys are usually slower in things, and he seems to be early in some stuff.
anyway, not a totally productive day, but a full one.
i’ll come back to tell you when i upload the pic. it will be in the photoalbums.
God bless!

hopefully this will be quick. i need to get to bed early tonight.
i mixed the mistinted paint to make the perfect match for the kitchen walls! i was able to do touch-ups and i think it looks really good! at least it looked good when i left. praying it dried nicely!
while i was painting, mom was watching jeremiah at my grampa’s house (it’s confusing with the two homes now, but from now on i’m trying to call this house my grampa’s, and our new house home.). she said she is sure he said ’stinky’ and heard him say ‘tawk’ for herself as well. after i was home, she was leaving the room and i heard him say something that sounded like ‘gamma’. how exciting!! he is such a talker!!
i’m afraid he seems to be getting sick again. he was acting better and now he’s all fussy. of course it could be all the changes going on in his little life. babies don’t have great coping skills! i hope it’s that and he gets used to the new home quickly. i would rather it be that than him be sick again.
did i ever mention i got him an appt with the ent? it’s november 2. it seemed like an eternity when i made the appt, but now it seems pretty close. i hope they have some news to help this chronic ear infection thing.
i found a ducky design i like for jeremiahs shower curtain at kmart! i saw ducks all over but they weren’t what i was looking for. ***i was looking online to show you a pick but i can’t find this design anywhere, even at kmart.com GRRR oh well you’ll have to ask to see that in the photo meme when the house is done! :)***
tomorrow we’ll be painting the dining room and hopefully the living room and putting the kitchen and dining room flooring down. my parents will be there and maybe my brother and sil.
while painting today, i took a portable cd player and played some of my newer cds. i listened to >telecast all the way through and am in love with them. they are awesome! you know, they are one of those bands that you love one song by, so you buy the album hoping you won’t hate everything else…i LOVE the whole cd. i highly recommend it!!! note: i just found out there is another telecast band. they are not the same as far as i know! lol - at least they sound nothing alike.
ok i’m going to bed now. hugs and God bless!

jeremiah very clearly said two words today. is it just a mama’s ears that heard it? could be! but i’m counting them anyway. when we were at the house, i was sitting on the fireplace (on, not in :D) holding him and the phone was sitting next to me.
he leaned over, reached for it, and said ‘tawk’. very clearly, he meant he wanted to talk on the phone. anyone could tell that, right? so we called gramma to tell her right away.
the other word was after he got out of the bathtub (which he isn’t too fond of lately - a big change from the bath-lover of days before). we were going to get him dressed and dipey comes first, of course. i said ‘lets go get your di-di on!’ and, clear as day, he said ‘NO!’ a very firm no i must say. i was like ‘no? you don’t need a diaper?’ and he grinned and giggled from ear to ear. well he didn’t giggle from ear to ear but you know what i meant.
speaking of giggling, tonight when he was eating dinner, i was doing signing with him (have been slacking off on it, but since he definitely knows how to wave hi and bye now, i decided it’s time to start it back up again). i said ‘do you want more’ while signing more. and he started laughing out loud, like i was tickling him! i gave him more and called mom. LOL he did it again when i was on the phone with her. he is so silly and so much fun!
you know how he loved it when we play ‘i’m gonna get you mi-mi’? well now he likes to get ME! he will chase me now when i say ‘come and get mama!’. yay! he is so cute and so fun. oh i mentioned that didn’t i? but it’s so true!!

ok the only photo question i got was from manda. she wants to see a pic of me singing. i know i have at least two somewhere. of my skinny high school senior year. i was in show choir then. anyway, i will have to find it and scan it. i could even try to either get the video copied or i could copy the sound from it. i love the song i sang.

well anyway enough about that. i’m tired. long day doing nothing at the house (well i got the oven cleaned and i fixed some light fixtures) because jeremiah will not let me put him down there. i don’t blame him - he is scared of being there because it’s so different. he can’t get down and crawl and play, he has to either be held or in his excersaucer or his pack n play. and honestly, mama can’t really do anything when he’s being held by mama. and he was even scared in his pack n play when he could see me. he was a bit whiny in the excersaucer in the kitchen with me, but he distracted himself most of the time. that’s the only way i got what little done i did. anyway, i repeat, i’m tired. why am i up? it’s an addiction i tell ya. i just HAVE to post every day this month. i’m almost there. i promise myself november won’t be like this, but this month can’t be broken so late in the game.

God bless!

wow very slim pickins visitor-wise lately. where is everyone?
i have been going through old entries from october of 2002. it seems so strange that i blogged back then. even tho it’s only two years lol.
i seemed to write a lot more back then. not as often, but with much more substance. is it because i don’t have as much time? is it because i get discouraged thinking no one is reading? i don’t know - could be both. but i should write even more now since so much is changing around me every day. my son is growing up so fast into a little boy. not a baby anymore really. i own a new home and am working on decorating it to my specifications. i have met a next door neighbor who is a Christian and seems really nice. my poor husband is working tons of hours and i miss him deeply. my grampa died and my whole family feels his loss. kc is just getting back to normal lately. poor guy - and now we’re moving to a whole new place.

got the electricity, water, phone and gas turned on at the new house. so we can start really doing some damage over there! yesterday my mom and i went to paint and stuff, and we could barely see the walls to tell what color we were painting. we’ve decided just to leave the walls the current color, only do touch-ups. except for my burgandy wall! thankfully the mistints i have, along with some of mom’s old paint, will be fine to use to mix. and i think i am going to nix the burgandy carpet. money-wise and practicality-wise, i guess it wasn’t the best idea. so i’m thinking of going with a dark tan or something else nuetral.

today was so stressful! went over the the house, the garage door doesn’t work. jerry put on new locks and one of them was still not working when he had to leave for work. had to rush to target to make it in time for jeremiah’s portrait appt. the lady was a trainee (which is why i got a good deal) and she was HORRIBLE. she couldn’t make jeremiah smile for anything, and when he DID smile because i got him to, she was trying to get the camera positioned right. ARGH. i got two free sheets and paid for one at 4.99 tho. i didn’t get them online this time, since i only liked two of them anyway, and they will be here around the same time as they would be online anyway. i will scan them when i get them. i still think i need to go to jc penney’s (free sitting, free 8×10, 3.99 a sheet) and the picture people (free sitting, free 10×13 or 8×10), since i can’t very well count those horrible things as his 9mo photos! the question is, when will i have the time?!?

well i’m extremely tired so i should get off here. if you’re reading this, i hope you’ll comment. oh and check out yesterday’s comment too - i’d like to know if anyone wants me to do the photo meme. hugs!!
God bless!