Author Archive
Posted on June 13, 2010 - by jaime
too long
this just in…we do still have a blog! it’s just that we’ve done a poor job keeping up with it. lo siento.
we’re enjoying the building process, living with Grammy Jai, transitioning to me being a full time momma & watching Bowman grow, grow, grow! perhaps with a bit more time at home, this whole blog thing will receive some more attention.
peace.
Posted on March 6, 2010 - by jaime
4 month old baby Bowman
oh, sweet sugarbear. this month, your first nicknames began to emerge. beezer, the beeze, the beezie, sugarbear, love. we are so blessed to be your mom & dad. what fun you are! so, what happened this month?
mom returned to work 4 days a week. what a blessing to be able to return when you were 15 weeks old! and to have daddy, grammie & grandma who get to care for you. wow! although it’s hard for momma to leave every morning, i’m glad that you get to spend quality time with family in your home environment. because of that, momma leaving doesn’t seem to phase you (yet!).
the side roll…you love to roll to your left side.
babbling…we eat up all your coos & even the other evening a “trill”. you’ll be saying “tres tristes tigres tragaban trigo en un trigal” in no time. momma works to intro all the sounds you need for el español.
joyful disposition…
bathtime…it’s official, you’ve decided that you like it! yeah! and your cradle cap seems to have only lasted 2 or 3 weeks. dial soap & gran gran’s facial brush have been a good solution. the other night, you kicked in the sink so much, that we had to dry grammie’s floor.
schedule king…i’m not holding my breath, but this month you were all about your 3 hour schedule, eat, play, sleep. you even would time it to sleep in on the weekends & on sundays, i would walk into church, swaddle you & you’d sleep through the service. we’ll see what next month holds!
the nightly trek…not every kid grows up with their grandparents so close. perhaps we are already starting to say goodbye to our house as it seems like our nightly routine involves taking food over to grammie’s for dinner, giving you your bath & last nap while mom and dad catch up on the olympics, lost or modern family. then you eat your last meal, are swaddled & we head home for bed. it’s a cold trek & one we’re looking forward to not doing for much longer. it seems we may start to build our new house before long!
above ALL, we pray fervently that our family would bring glory to our Heavenly Father. we praise Him for revealing more of His love for us as we experience our deep love for you, Bowman Cruz. how wonderful that your name reminds us of His sacrifice to know us intimately.
note: doctor’s visit wed. march 3rd, you are weighing in at 14 lbs 14 oz & are 26 inches long (90th percentile!). we’re a bit late posting this update & hope to post pics soon; our excuse…we’re in the process of moving out of our house. the salvaging begins in full this monday—2 days away!
Posted on December 18, 2009 - by jaime
Bowman is 2 months old!
We celebrate Bowman’s life! His second month highlights are:
- Being dedicated at church. We chose Isaiah 26: 3-4 for his dedication, “He will keep your mind in perfect peace as you trust in Him. Trust in the Lord, for the Lord, the Lord is the Rock Eternal.” We pray this for Bowman every day & are so grateful to dedicate him in a community that will raise him to know the fullness of life in Christ.
- āyí Esther visits for Thanksgiving. That’s Aunt Esther in Chinese. While we didn’t like that she had a hurt ankle, it did slow her down to get lots of love time with baby B.
- Growing boy! I’ll post the stats after his 2 month check-up next week, but he’s sporting a cute belly, rubberband wrists & his legs just keep getting longer! We think he’s at least 24 inches & on his way to 12 lbs by our home measurements. I never understood parents’ excitement with their kids’ growth, but it makes total sense now as I am his food source & like to see that it’s working! :)
- Sleeping in his crib. We made the move from the bassinet beside our bed to his crib around week 5. It’s probably only 10 more steps away, but it’s still an accomplishment! Now his room really feels like his room. He absolutely loves his gazing at his 2 mobiles (yes, we’re crazy & hung 2), mirror & bedding. He frequently tries out his whale-like language with the giraffes on his bumper.
- Laughing, smiles, gazes & vowel sounds. It may change some day, but Bowman loves to talk with us as he gets his diaper changed. He is fascinated with anyone who wants to talk with him. So sugary sweet.
- Mom & Dad learning lots. We bought a Miracle Blanket, sound machine & are working to perfect the perfect soothing hold. We now know to put Bowman down to sleep while he’s just drowsy. We even discovered socks that will stay on his feet. And of course, our days are pretty much eat, play, nap, repeat. We love taking care of our little man.
- Two more trips to Terra Tots, Bowman’s favorite store, and we’ve loved our bimonthly baby play dates with moms who had babies in september & october.
- And of course, meeting more of you! Here he is meeting his cousins Dalton & Madison. Thank you for loving our family.
Posted on November 20, 2009 - by jaime
mamás y bebés
mi amiga, emily just wrote this blog about our recent get together. it was a blessing to share together & we all plan to meet up again soon!
Posted on November 17, 2009 - by jaime
bowman’s first month
“see what kind of love the Father has given to us that we should be called children of God.” 1 john 3:1
we are so grateful to celebrate bowman’s first month of life. we have stuck pretty close to home as we hope to avoid the flu. despite that, this first month has been very full! here are some highlights:
- lots of visitors! the first couple of weeks, bowman was rarely put down. they say you can’t spoil a newborn & i’m sure bowman enjoyed being held by his friends & family. we’ve had lots of visitors from oklahoma, colorado, texas, d.c. & even spain! and our local community has outpoured their love with lots of food for mom & dad.
- aunt wendy made the trip up from dallas to give bowman lots of love…and clothes! she even organized bowman’s room–what a great help!
- 3 trips to the doctor. we saw dr. johnson when bowman was 4 days old & then again when he was 8 days old just to make sure he gained his birth weight back (7 lbs 13 oz). not a problem for the B who enjoys eating a lot! yesterday we had our first visit at nwa pediatric clinic for bowman’s 1 month appointment. he’s now 9 lbs 5 oz & grew an inch & a half, coming in at 22 inches.
- a bath in grammie’s sink. after losing his cord on day 18, bowman’s first bath happened on his 22nd day of life. he did great, but we made sure it was fast as our little man doesn’t like to be exposed too much.
- trips to the grandparents. we’ve ventured to grandma & grandpa millers twice now. it’s wonderful to have family close! bowman’s also been to grammie’s a couple of times while jason & i have enjoyed an hour away for dinner–ok, well maybe the first time i shouldn’t say “enjoy” as i mostly cried from missing b-man.
- switching to cloth diapers. we waited for his cord to fall off & then started experimenting with our cloth diapers. after a week of experimenting, i think we maybe have it figured out! we are using pre-folds with covers. jason & i really don’t like the smell of disposable diapers. they gross us out. cloth don’t stink probably because they require more diaper changes! :)
- mom & bowman’s first outing. on bowman’s 23rd day, we ventured to lindsey’s for lunch & then swung back by home to pick up grammie for a quick trip to terra tots, our local cloth diaper store. i learned the convenience of nursing on this trip as bowman ate his first meal in the car–stopped of course!
- to look forward to: pics from bowman’s photo shoot yesterday with the super patient & fun chris stinson, being dedicated at church this upcoming sunday & aunt esther visits from nyc over thanksgiving!
Posted on October 15, 2009 - by jaime
el 15 de octubre
my juice, it’s your bday today & i rejoice to celebrate you. te quiero porque…
1) me quieres
2) you are a worshipper. when i was in 6th grade, i knew i wanted to marry a boy who knew how to worship.
3) you make me laugh a lot.
4) you are highly allergic to cats, yet you stick your face in our cats’ faces daily.
5) in the middle of the night when i get up for the umpteenth time you gently say, “be careful.”
6) you’ve accepted el español as a part of nuestras vidas
7) i know you will be a wonderful papá as you have always cherished the moments with kiddos in our lives.
8. you admit your weaknesses to me as you have a sensitive heart
9) you don’t mind if i just need to cry for a minute & maybe remember my old pets, booster & rocket
10) you do the floors
11) you don’t do the silverware except recently!
12) you will be the best coach to me as we see our baby enter this world.
13) you are learning to be handy in this your 32nd year.
14) you put a high value on our relationships with others.
15) you are my juice, jesse, jookers, bougers, badge, rabbit…
here’s a new take on the archer original, “i love you the most best biggest & i beat you,” that we’ll teach our niños, ”te quiero lo más, lo máximo y te gané.”
happy birthday, amor.
Posted on September 26, 2009 - by jaime
preparándonos
pregnancy is a funny time in life. it’s the only time that you’re glad to have a big belly. sometimes i totally forget that i am pregnant & jason brings me back to reality as he laughs (at me) while i dance to the music on house hunters international.
jason has been more than loving during this journey, he has been my great helper & encourager. we’re so “all in this together.”
so now that i’ve had such a smooth pregnancy (¡gloria a Dios!), it looks as if i may have this fun pregnancy skin condition. it’s just like me to get something like this; my skin has always been funny & i attribute that to the fact that the Lord really wants me to be a bilingual female Native American dermatologist. (i’m only half-way kidding).
basically, i thought i had poison ivy, but now i have “itch like mad” bumps everywhere. it’s glorious. but you know what? i think all we go through is for a purpose & there is something to be said for barely sleeping a wink right now. Dios está preparándonos for a baby who will probably not sleep too much at night. His purposes are good, but funny.
if you suffer from PUPPPs during pregnancy, here’s what i’ve done so far (since my self diagnosis this morning). drank dandelion root tea (spiked with some peppermint tea to enhance the taste), taken a cool bath & lathered up with Grandpa’s pine tar soap (smells like it sounds) & discovered the cooling relief of Sarna lotion. aww. only feeling a bit of relief, but doing something about the itch feels better than nothing at all. oh & don’t worry, i’ll talk with the doc on monday.
i’ve refrained from blogging about the funnies of pregnancy too much, but i just had to share this new fun since we’re so close to the end. the cure for PUPPPs? deliver the baby. ¿estoy lista? sí, estoy lista.
Posted on August 25, 2009 - by jaime
loving baby Miller
a couple of saturdays ago, we were blessed by our amigas with a super fun shower for baby miller! many thanks to my lovely friends who hosted…
and thanks to all who blessed us that day! from cloth diapers to neutral onsies, can you believe that i don’t have to take anything back!
to welcome baby miller, i involved all mis amigas in a fun art project. see, i’m a big word person, so we painted over 100 letter tiles for a magnetic message board. it will be perfect for the nursery.
here are some brave painters…
and some creative letter tiles…after drying, put magnetic strip on back…
and this past saturday, we completed the project with a piece of sheet metal from lowes & handy 50% off framing from hobby lobby. so far, we’ve changed the message for baby miller every day. me gusta mucho.
Posted on July 28, 2009 - by jaime
in process
life is always in process. well, or maybe that’s how this summer feels. it’s a good thing though. as my friend kathy has taught me “the press of life” is something that we shouldn’t shrink from because of the lessons learned while in the press.
romans 5:3-5 “we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” beautiful hope in the midst of uncertainty.
our house reno: waiting for banks & builders to get back with us
our baby: kicking away at 28 weeks
summer: slowly slipping through my fingers
fall plans for CG: constantly turned over to the Lord who’s already got it worked out
if you are still reading this, we are grateful to have you to go through this life with. thank you for being in process with us. i think it may last until eternity.
oh & in the background of this photo, you can see a famous expectant couple that are in our birth class. Jason is so sneaky. forgot to also mention that we switched docs/hospitals at 24 weeks–¡somos locos! but at peace with where God has us now.
Posted on June 15, 2009 - by jaime
stoltz chicken salad
carrie arroyo stoltz made us this delicious cool summer meal. it’s her mom’s recipe. she served it over crisp fresh greens; jason desired bread today, so we picked up at loaf at our local bread shop. this may be a start of a summer series. if you have any favorite summer time meals that require minimal heat & are healthy, send them my way & you may just see your name on the title of the next post.
stoltz chicken salad (6-8 servings)
1/2 can of crushed pineapple (drained)
2 cans of cooked chicken (drained)
1/2 bag of almond slivers, toasted (watch ‘em close or they will burn!)
1 cup grapes, halved
1 cup mayonnaise
salt & pepper to taste (you will need ‘em)
I am totally guessing at those measurements because I didn’t measure anything! In a large mixing bowl, break up chicken with a fork. Add a bit of pineapple & grapes; mix gently with fork. Add more pineapple or grapes as you see fit. Then add as much mayonnaise as you desire. Finally mix in toasted almond slivers. Taste. Add salt & pepper. Serve on a sandwich or over salad greens.
Next time: Millers will add green onions and/or parsley.
Gracias, Carrie, por esta receta. Te quiero mucho, mi amiga.
