Jonathan is 3 months old!

He has been a blast to play with these past few weeks. He has started "talking" to us, making funny and sometimes loud noises. He has also become fascinated with anything that can reach his mouth. I am pretty sure he is in the early stages of teething since he loves the feel of a frozen teether toy on his gums.















He has also been getting so much stronger. He holds his head up all the time now and can sit very well on our laps facing any direction. His vision has been getting better, too. He has started noticing the cat, who was just a big, blackish blur up until now. Check out Tiger stalking him.















He follows us with his eyes, then his head, then his entire body as we walk around the room. Also for some reason, he is fascinated with something in the kitchen. Below is a picture of what he sees as he cranes his neck over my shoulder for a better look. From the angle I am guessing he either wants to be a florist (flowers on cabinets) or a chef (the refrigerator). Personally, I am hoping it is a chef so he can cook for us since neither Chris or I love cooking! As a side note, we keep asking "What are you looking at?" and his response is "At!" which we are taking to mean "That! Duh, Mom!" so he really isn't any help at all!















He has been enjoying his tummy time more, as some of you may have noticed in the pictures on schaefers0630.shutterfly.com. Thank you for all of your suggestions! We will have some professional pictures taken next weekend so check back then to see the whole family!















We started putting him on his side to sleep in a sleep positioner because we noticed that his preference for turning his head to the right was making his head lopsided. Now, even without the positioner, he wiggles and kicks until he gets on his side, then falls peacefully asleep!















These are just pictures of how cute he is!















On November 4th, we are participating in Arizona's JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes. A friend of ours has a 14 month-old daughter who was diagnosed 6 months ago with Juvenile or Type 1 diabetes. This is the second time this devastating disease has struck someone close to us. My cousin's daughter was also diagnosed about a year ago. Chris and I are walking as members of "Grace's Gang" and would love to have your financial support! Please visit http://walk.jdrf.org/ to find out more on how you can help!

Some new pics!

Jonathan went in for his two month appointment last Friday and gave us a shock. He shot from the 50th percentile in height to the 90th (from 22 inches to 24.5 inches)! He also gained 37 ounces in 31 days (from 9 lbs 13 oz to 12 lbs 2 oz)! He only needed to gain an ounce a day to be on track. The doc said he looked great and then thye loaded him up with immunizations. Since he had to get 4 different shots, 2 nurses came in and did them two at a time which meant he only had to cry for about 30 seconds! He did really well with them, only running a small fever for the rest of the afternoon. Chris stayed home from work that day and it was great having all of us together for a long weekend.

Last week we were also battling a little cold. Both of my boys were not feeling the greatest, but luckily I stayed healthy and could take care of Jonathan while Chris had to fend for himself.

This is Jonathan's newest and most favorite toy. We call it his jungle gym which I’m sure will mess him up for life when he learns what a real jungle gym is :). It plays all kinds of jungle sounds (he loves the elephant’s trumpet) or calypso style music while it lights up. I searched for it at 4 or 5 Target stores before finding it at a one I stopped at on the spur of the moment. Go figure! At least he loves it so it was worth all the effort!

He is getting so coordinated now when he reaches for his toys! I was trying to capture a smile and got this pose instead. We call it “What up, Homey”.
If we needed proof that he is indeed my son, look no further than this picture. He isn’t even three months old and he has the thumb sucking technique mastered!
This is his reaction to Tummy Time after about 3 minutes! Any suggestions from you more experienced moms on how to make it more fun and less traumatic?
These are some pictures of Jonathan hanging with Daddy. Chris can coax a smile out of this kid like no one else. However, I am a half second too slow in my picture taking so we have yet to capture his absolutely dazzling smile on camera. You really have to see it in person—it is impossible not to smile back. This first one is after Daddy's magic touch calmed him down late at night. At Grandpa and Grandma Schaefers' house!Check out the two of them seriously pondering whatever it is in front of them!
He likes to reach out and touch your face as you talk to him.
We think his tummy is his most ticklish spot!

I am 2 months old today!

Here is what I look like a mere 61 days after I was born. First there is one of me at just a few days old to compare!
This is me leaving the hospital.
Here is how I spent my 2 month birthday. First Mom and I ran some errands. Then I was just hanging with my ducky friend.
Later, yawn, I swung along while Mom cooked dinner.
Finally, I just crashed for the night!













This definitely doesn't go down in the history books as an exciting day, but as you can see I sure am growing up quickly!

Fun Pictures

These show just a snapshot of what our days are like. I hope you enjoy them!
Chris and Jonathan watching sports. (Check out Sage's depressed look.)
Just chillin'
I don't think he meant to look this silly!
Someone wants a hug!

He is getting so big!

My first smiles!

This is me and my mom just hanging out.
My first smile that my parents caught on camera,
followed my this one minutes later! (This was on Saturday, Sept. 2.)
Then I really showed off a couple days later with these two huge smiles!
There is just something so funny about Daddy's face! I always smile when I look at him!

Growing So Fast

Well, the first six weeks are over and I survived! Here is what Jonathan has been up to these last two weeks, told from his point of view.


















I went in for my shots on the 15th and weighed in at 9 pounds 13 ounces and measured 22 inches! I am putting on so much weight Mom says my face changes daily! (In case you can't tell the Band-Aid has Snoopy on it and my shirt is the same one they brought me home from the hospital in.)


















I am now big enough to fit in those adorable sleeper PJs and I love them! I let out a big sigh and relax my arms and legs once it is all zipped up. A few minutes later, I am usually sound asleep. It always helps when Daddy holds me!


















Mom and I took a nap together one afternoon and Daddy thought we looked so cute he had to get a picture of us! Mom said she didn't like the way she looked so she wouldn't let me include her in the picture!


















In addition to trying out smiles on Mom and Dad to see how they react, I decided to warn them about things to come by trying out a mischievous look, too! For now, Mom is glad the mischief is confined to a look.


















My most recent accomplishment is taking an interest in those funny flying fish above me. ( I also have bears and these oddly colored zebras and horses to entertain me.) They are very interesting but very confusing. Nothing else in my world moves in a circle above my head!

One month down, Many more to go

Well, I survived my first month as a mom! It was great, in retrospect, and I cannot believe how fast he has grown. His birthday gift to me this weekend was the wonderful feat of holding himself up on his hands long enough for us to get lots of pictures! He just looked so cute! He did need a little help sometimes from Granny Mary, but what else can you expect from someone only a month old. :)















We have had more adventures outside the house now. First was PetSmart, then Aunt Kirsten's house, then Target and finally to the Kattelman's for home group. All outings have been successful - in that we all came home in one piece and not crying! It has been fun getting out with him though because he does so well sleeping anywhere - as long as it is in his car seat! :)





(Aunt Kirsten)








These are some pictures of Jonathan getting in some Daddy time and enjoying being all clean after his first real bath!

Some Four Generation Pictures

My mom and grandma came out for a week to help out and we had professional pictures taken. It is hard to believe he is only 2 weeks old in them! These are a few of my favorites!






















Hi- Yah!























Already thinking of ways to solve the world's problems!















Mommy and Jonathan



















And this is my favorite one of all!

Our New Addition!

After 18 hours of labor, Jonathan Edward Schaefer made his entrance into the world at 11:28pm on July 6th. It is now almost three weeks later and I cannot believe how the time has flown! For a while there I had no concept of day or night! I saw 2am as often as I saw 2pm. But he is here and he is healthy! All that neurology stuff created some lively debate among the doctors but the final result was "Take your kid home and enjoy him. He is perfectly normal!" Unfortunately, while they were discovering this, Jonathan had to stay in the NICU on another floor which meant for the first 24 hours, I had to drag myself into a wheelchair, travel upstairs, and scrub up every two or three hours to nurse him! That was not fun.





In Mom's room, in her arms, FINALLY!









Chris has been a wonderful Dad and Jonathan responded to Daddy's voice within the first 20 minutes of his life-- That made Chris's year I think! We have had tons of help from friends and family (Thank you!) so we have been able to keep relatively sane.







Proud Grandpa (Papa Randy)








Jonathan is getting so much stronger and bigger! The other day he was on Chris's chest and lifted his head up for quite a while just to get a better look at Daddy's very interesting face! He has already put on a pound (up to 8lbs 2oz now) and has no intention of slowing down!






Aren't they cute together?








He is currently sleeping in his car seat at all times because he has an aversion to laying flat on his back. For now we are just saying "Whatever works!" and we will solve the problem of getting him to sleep like a normal person farther on down the road.







Ahh, this is cozy!







Overall I would have to say this whole Mom thing is hard but SO SO SO worth it!

He's Coming!

Well, Jonathan gave us a week to get our act together! At my doctor visit today, some of the results of the ultrasound were not as positive as we would have liked. The amount of fluid was low and he had not gained as much weight as expected. His heart rate and oxygen intake were fine, but the doctor doesn't want to risk him going into distress at a later time. So with that in mind, we are headed to the hospital tonight to be induced. We both feel comfortable with this decision as I have sensed that my body is ready to introduce this little guy to the world within the next few days anyway.

Please pray for us as we have many decisions to make in the next 24 hours and we will be tired, overwhelmed, stressed and about a million other things! We are trusting that God has put us into the hands of the doctors He thinks are best for Jonathan. However, we are still feeling anxious (in a good way) and unsure of how all of this is going to play out. We will be making phone calls and sending emails as we can tomorrow so keep your eyes out for new information!

P.S. This is me at 38 weeks!