Jonah - month 8

It's almost impossible to believe that Jonah is 8 months old already! It seems like just yesterday that I was pregnant and preparing for his arrival.

Drugged up and getting ready to head into surgery.

Amazingly, Jonah remained very healthy this month. We were not battling any ear infections or even pneumonia like we did last month. In fact just yesterday, Jonah had surgery to have tubes put in his ears. He did great! Dr. Adam, his ENT, said that there was a lot of thick fluid in his ears that he had to suction out and that it was a breeding ground for infection. Additionally, he said that it is very likely that now his hearing will improve several decibels. I am so glad that we did it! Stella had tubes as a baby as well because she battled 9 ear infections within an 11 month period. Needless to say, she hasn't had a single ear infection since and as far as I'm concerned it's the best thing we did. Here's to hoping that Jonah has the same relief and outcome as well.

Jonah still hasn't quite mastered crawling. He gets on all fours and just rocks back and forth and even moves backwards. He loves to roll around on the floor and if your not paying close attention you'll look up and he will have rolled all the way across the room. He loves his toys and of course he still loves to go after the remote and my cell phone.

During Jonah's bout of pneumonia last month his blood showed that he was anemic. He is now taking iron drops. They smell foul and I can only imagine how horrible they taste as well. The first time I gave them to him I just put them directly in his mouth and well that didn't go over so well. Not only did he give me a mean and dirty look, he essentially spit it all out and all over me. Since then, I now put the drops in his rice and banana cocktail that he gets each night before bed.

Daddy & Jonah napping- their favorite past time!

Jonah is trying new foods daily. He is now eating stage 2 jars and likes just about everything except the beef and chicken varieties. I can't say that I blame him because if they taste anything like they smell well, then that's just gross! So if I am ever forced to feed him a beef or chicken variety I mask the taste by blending it with one of his favorites like sweet potatoes or apples sauce. I still loves his little puffs which are made by Gerber and are essentially little puffed snacks that dissolve as soon as they hit the saliva. Every once in a while he will hold his own bottle but he still mainly depends on one of us to do it. I broke out the sippy cup a few weeks ago and we've been working on getting him used to the sippy cup and how to drink out of it.

Teta and her babies on her birthday!

Jonah is getting bigger everyday. He weighs 21 pounds and 13 ounces. He's now wearing 18-24 months clothes and is eating me out of house and home. He would eat every hour on the hour if I let him. His hair is blond like Stella's but its begun to get curly in the back. I LOVE THE CURLS! It is really quite funny because it is straight and soft in the front and course and curly in the back.



My Curly-Q!


Probably the biggest change for Jonah this month was his daycare provider. Since Stella was 12 weeks old she has been going to Kids R Kids Daycare which is conveniently located right at the entrance of our neighborhood (it doesn't get much more convenient than that). We liked it because not only was it close to home but we loved the staff too and we had the ability to log onto the computer while we were at work and look at the kids because they have camera's in all of the rooms. However now that we have 2 kids, Kids R Kids was considerably more. Stella only goes after school but Jonah was in the infant room full time and it was quite costly. Thus, earlier this year Todd and I  struggled with what to do about our daycare options!?! Do we continue to pay  LOTS (almost the cost of 1 year of college) each year in daycare expenses and remain at Kids R Kids and then in turn let the kids pay for their own college or do we shop around and find a home care provider at a fraction of the cost and save that money and pay for their college educations (like both sets of our parents did for us). Since we were accustomed to the quality of care and education that we've received over the past 7+ years at Kids R Kids, I knew that the process of finding a home care provider would be difficult. We asked around and interviewed several candidates including folks that even lived so close by, they could be considered walking distance. Although, we had a long wish list our primary requirements were the following: low child to adult ratio (state of Ohio requires 5:1 with infants), location (close to home or work), care takers education/degree's/certification(s), someone that reported their income (because who knows, I might want to run for public office one day!) and most of all someone that both the kids and us would like and be comfortable with. After meeting several candidates, we opted to go with a lady named Ginger that watched my niece Sophia for 3+ years. The good news is that the kids LOVE her! Because she is located in our school district, Stella takes the bus to her home everyday after school. By the time we pick her up she's had a snack and finished most of her homework. What Stella loves the most is being able to spend time with Jonah (something she wasn't able to do at Kids R Kids). Additionally, she lives 1 street over from Gido & Teta (my parents) and because my dad (Gido) often used to pick up Sophia from there he is familiar with the location and Ginger and able to help up out when we are in a bind or time crunch. Finally, Jonah loves it so much there that sometimes when we pick him up and it's time to leave, he will fuss and cry. Nothing gives me more comfort then knowing that the kids love Ginger and love being at her home. What a relief we found a great person to watch the kids and we are now able to save a ton of money each month for the kids college and do as our parents did for us (pay it forward) and provide the kids with a college education.

Pooped after a long, fun day at Gingers!

The summer is quickly approaching and we can't wait for the weather to improve and have tons of fun with the kids. We're excited to take the kids to Kings Island, the pool and the lake this year. It should be a whole new dynamic with Jonah in the mix now. We've also got some fun trips planned and  several friends/family weddings quickly approaching; it will be a fun and busy summer for sure! It's amazing how fast time flies and that Jonah 1st birthday will be here before you know it!

Sarah Graduates!

I cannot begin to tell you how proud I am of my little sister, Sarah! This past weekend (4/30/2011) she graduated from Kettering College of Medical Arts with a Bachelors of Science in Human Biology. She has been looking forward to her graduation for quite some time now and believe me it was long overdue!

The Graduate!

The festivities began at L'Auberge, a French restaurant in Kettering. The regular crew (aka Teta, Gido, The Langley's and the McGowans) were present of course as were 2 of Sarah's friends, Leah Moon and Sarah Skrobot. Additionally, Tunt Sue, my moms sister flew in for the celebration. It was nice to see her as we hadn't seen her since Christmas. The food was delicious and the company wasn't so bad either.

Gido and his little buddy Jonah!

Mommy's little man!

The entire crew-part 1

The crew- part 2

Sarah & Sophie

Leah and her 2 biggest fans

Sisters!

Uncle Mikey's foolishness = happy Jonah!

After dinner, we headed to the Dayton Convention Center for Sarah's graduation. There were only 282 graduates so the ceremony wasn't too terribly long. The kids did great because they were occupied and armed with books and video games. Leah even came prepared and brought each of the girls a fruit snack. They loved it and devoured it in a matter of seconds! It's not hard to see or figure out why the girls just adore Leah.

Sissy and  2 munchkins!

I decided to take some photos while we were waiting for the graduation to begin!

Skrobot, Leah & Stella

Uncle Toddy and Sophie

No celebration is complete without these 2 little trouble makers!

The ceremony begins and we have the best seats in the house. Since we had Jonah's stroller with us and we couldn't sit up in the stands we had floor seats and were seated just a few yards from the stage and from where Sarah was sitting.

YAY, Sarah receives her degree!

There it is in print (see below) Sarah Shenouda McGowan receives her Bachelor of Science in Human Biology and she even graduates Cum Laude (an incredibly awesome and honorary distinction)!

Funny story: Stella didn't know what cum laude, sumaa cum laude or magna cum laude meant and about half way through the ceremony Stella asks Todd "Daddy, why does everyone have the same last name?" It was so funny! Later when Todd explained to her what each of the distinctions meant she assured her that she would graduate too one day with one of those distinctions.

a page from the ceremony program

Teta and 2 of her munchkins!

Jonah and his Godparents!

Teta and Gido with the Graduate!

Gigi & Breanna attended too!

Sophie is so proud of her mommy!

Cool caricature card that Gigi had made for Sarah.

Whole fam!

Notice that Jonah is in his pj's below. He did so well for his first Graduation ceremony and slept thru about half (as did the rest of us). :)

Jonah and Daddy!

Teta and her baby!

And just like that we are celebrating yet another family milestone. Sarah is beyond excited to receive her degree and to begin the next chapter of her life. She's worked really hard to get where she's at and to do so with honors while managing a household, working, a wife and a fantastic mother is no easy feat! I cannot begin to express how excited and proud I am of her. Anything my sister puts her mind to she not only accomplishes but conquers! Cheer Sarah, we love you! xoxoxo

Easter 2011

I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. John 11:25-26

Easter is a pretty big deal around here! Sure we enjoy all of  the Easter chocolate, Easter baskets and even anxiously await the arrival of the Easter bunny...but Easter is 55 days in the making for the Orthodox religion. It begins with 1 week of preparation, 40 days of Lent and 1 week of Holy Passion week (the week between Palm Sunday and Easter).

This past weekend, like every Easter, was jam packed with church activities and family festivities......

Friday we attended Good Friday Services at our church. It was both very moving and emotional. During the Crucifixion re-enactment I became very emotional just remembering the sacrifices He made for us. Stella saw me tearing up, she hugged me and said "mommy, I know you're sad because Jesus died, but it's ok because he goes to heaven." It's living these moments and seeing them through the eyes of your children that make it all worthwhile!

After the Good Friday services, it's tradition to go to Teta and Gido's house to devour fool (fava beans) and falafel sandwiches. We had such a great time and were in good company! My cousin Emad, his wife Mary and their daughters Marina and Olivia were in town from Lima for  the weekend and were staying at my parents house and were there too and we had a wonderful evening with them. We even were able to Skype with some family in Egypt (Emad's parents) and they were able to see Jonah how big Jonah had grown.

Emad and Jonah

Due to all of the rain, Stella's Saturday soccer game was canceled. I can't say that I was too upset about that because we I had so much to do before we got the kids dressed and out the door for the Resurrection Liturgy that evening (8pm-12am).  I was able to tackle a ton of projects around the house that I have been putting off for months because we've been so busy and I haven't found a single Saturday to set time aside to do them. I am happy to report that the office has been cleaned/organized, taxes and important paperwork that was piling up are now filed, organized the kids closets (removed small and out of season clothes), pictures are framed and hung, laundry is put away, kitchen cabinets and pantry are purged and organized, dog is bathed and Easter baskets were assembled. Yes I completed ALL of these tasks over the course of an entire Saturday afternoon and it felt great to scratch all of these long over due tasks off of my to-do list! It feels so good being productive!

On Saturday afternoon, I had a little photo shoot with the kids. I bought Easter bunny ears for each of them and we had a ton of fun snapping some shots.  Although Todd was not all to happy that I put bunny ears on his son, I figured that there no better time to do so then when he is small, innocent and cute. Right? I must admit, I think I have the cutest little bunnies in town!

We also found time to color Easter eggs on Saturday afternoon. Stella and I had a blast doing this together (the boys were watching the OSU spring game together while we were coloring eggs). As you can see Stella made a "Jonah's 1st Easter"egg, a OSU egg for her daddy and she even took the time to make a "poop on Michigan" egg (Todd was so proud of this work of art). Stella loves to do craft projects and coloring Easter eggs was right up her alley!

After I completed all of these projects I mandated "nap time" for the ENTIRE family since we would be up so late for the Easter/Resurrection Liturgy and dinner at Teta & Gido's. After our naps, Nana and Papi stopped by to visit and give the kids their Easter baskets. We had a great time and as you can see Jonah and Stella loved their gifts and enjoyed their visit. Jonah especially loved playing with the tissue paper and tried several times to put it in his mouth.

Jonah enjoys the tissue paper

The Liturgy at church was wonderful and the Resurrection re-enactment was moving. The liturgy ended around midnight but the evening was far from over! We headed over to Teta & Gido's for a feast! It was so so fun and delicious. In typical Teta fashion, she cooked way too much food, had chocolate bunnies at everyone place setting and baskets for the kids. I over indulged as usual but the food was way too good to pass up. What can I say except that my mom is the best cook ever. I need to shadow her sometime in the kitchen and learn her recipes so that I can learn to replicate them and pass them down to the kids one day. Again we were in great company and amazingly enough although we were up until about 2:30 am, the kids did great!

Jonah sleeping at church!

Long lost twin!

3 Grandkids!

Gido & Teta with Jojo!

Auntie Sissy and her Jojo!



Epic Shenouda family feast dinner at roughly 1:30 am!



Sunday morning we slept in because we were up so late the previous night! We awoke to find that the Easter Bunny had stopped at the house and left the kids baskets. This year the Easter Bunny out did himself and increased the loot! Stella received very little candy since she recently had a palette expander put in her mouth and can't eat much candy or any gum; its amazing how the Easter Bunny is cognizant of these things! :)  Instead this year he brought her 2 Nintendo DS games, some Squinkies and a new lunch box and messenger bag. Jonah got a Fisher Price Turtle toy with shaped pieces that fit in his shell and a grocery cart/high chair cover for when we are out and about.



At the top of the stairs waiting to come down!



Jonah and his basket from the Easter bunny!



Stella and her basket!

After the kids took inventory of their loot and settled down it was time to head to church for the Egg Hunt and Easter morning activities. Todd took Stella and our niece Sophia and I stayed home with Jonah because he was a tad fussy. Nothing like being out in public with a fussy child, right?  The girls had a blast and were very appreciative that Todd took them.  A few hours later they returned home with more candy and loot. Needless to say that my kitchen counter looks like the Easter Bunny exploded. The kids received no less then 5 baskets each from family and friends and every year it seems to exponentially get bigger and they receive more and more...I will be forced to sort thru them shortly.

Finally Sunday evening was upon us and it was back to Teta & Gido's house for dinner; YUM. It doesn't take a whole lot of convincing or coercion to get us to go over to their house for dinner because my mom is a fabulous cook and usually has a HUGE selection of choices to please the masses. What can I say except that when it comes to cooking feast's, Teta NEVER disappoints! Mike's mom and sister, Gigi and Breanna, joined us for dinner too. They too brought the kids baskets too and we enjoyed a delightful evening and dinner with them. They hadn't seen Jonah yet so they were very pleased to meet him.

Teta makes a HUGE spread!

And just like that the weekend was over! In a blink of an eye Friday, Saturday and Sunday were over and now we're preparing to return to school and work and to return to the daily grind. This past weekend although it was jam packed and I found myself tired at times it was still so so FUN! We celebrated the Resurrection of our Lord, ate way too much and created everlasting memories with family that we will cherish forever. This is definitely how life should be lived!