jacob at 4 months

With our move to Africa approaching in just over two weeks, I don't really "have" time to post about Jacob's 4th month of life.  Yet when I take a minute to realize how quickly this precious baby is changing, and I remember how very soon our other little ones are becoming such big kids, I know that it's well worth it to "make" some time to record some of our family's recent memories.







Soon after Jacob turned 3 months, he celebrated his first Thanksgiving.  Because my parents were out of the country visiting family in India at that time, we spent the holiday with our friends in Houston.  It was a nice, low-stress time of giving thanks and relaxing.  The kids helped Kathi with some decoration and food prep, and I was in charge of baby Jacob and a brie...not a bad deal at all, I'd say.  Chris was busy on call the night prior, but made it home in plenty of time to enjoy a delicious meal with all of us, including this happy little butterball :)







Once my husband completed his work after that Thanksgiving weekend, we were given the gift of two weeks in a row with him at home with us.  What better to do with that kind of time than load up the whole crew and hop in the car for a cross-country road trip?!  Our trip to South Carolina deserves a blog post unto itself, but I will say that it was a wonderful time of reuniting, sharing, and catching up with many dear, dear friends.  Those days were full of so much joy and laughter, all made even richer because we were able to introduce our sweet Jacob to so many friends back at "home," which is what Greenville continues to feel like for me.
 

Before we went to Greenville, however, we spent almost a week in south Georgia, where we enjoyed a quality visit with Chris' parents.  It was a treat to hear stories of how much Jacob reminded them of Chris as a baby, as well as to watch our older kids' relationships with their paternal grandparents continue to grow.  

We enjoyed lots of meals together, a visit to a bookstore where Grandpa let the kids each pick a book for themselves, and some time outdoors enjoying the mild southern winter.

This time was especially meaningful for Chris and me, not just because of the connections between generations, but also because of the wholehearted support we received from both Grandma and Grandpa as we embark on our missionary journey.  It takes a whole lot of self-giving love to be able to say, "I'll miss you like crazy, but I'm so glad that you're doing what you feel you are called to do."

Since Chris' parents do not do much on the internet, we left with lots of hugs and promises to send handwritten letters at least once in a while.  This is a habit that I am so hopeful we will all adopt when we are overseas.  It's just too easy these days to dash off an email or text.  While terribly useful, and honestly almost indispensable, such communication is also fairly easily forgotten.  But there is nothing like receiving a piece of mail written just for you––no carbon-copying or forwarding or cutting and pasting.  No spellcheck or autocorrect.  Just a beautifully simple reminder that someone you love has taken the time to pause and share a bit of his or her life with you.

Once we returned to Houston in early December, the remainder of our time there was spent getting back into the groove of homeschooling (who was I kidding carting all those books with us on that trip?), and preparing for our move back to Louisiana.  We fell back into a pretty good rhythm, and Jacob has continued to enjoy the doting affection of all of his siblings.

Our youngest reader is undoubtedly the one who most enjoys sharing the gift of books with baby Jacob.

 And he loves every minute of it.

I really appreciate those of you who've sent well wishes, hoping that Jacob is sleeping better these days.  I wish I could say that he was.  Really, really I do.  In fact, on the morning of 12-12-12, I suddenly awoke with the realization that Jacob had slept a full seven hours and had not made a peep.  What a glorious feeling that was.  Rest!  Rejuvenation!  Normalcy!  And then he slept through the next night as well!  But I have been a mommy long enough to know that a couple of good nights does not a great sleeper make.  And we haven't had another long stretch of sleep since.  So yes, Jacob and I still greet each other once or, ahem, twice a night for a quick feed.  It's not ideal, but really, do I have any room to complain?  Just look at this face...  

There are worse things in the world than having to hug this angel baby a couple of times a night :)

And, just for memory's sake, he weighed in at his 4 month check-up at 16 lbs and 2 oz (apparently only 50th percentile?!), and measured 26 inches (which is at the 97th percentile!).  Yes, he does continue to wear mainly 6 and 9-month clothing and fits into it just fine, thank you.  He is getting better at rolling over on his own, is still babbling and cooing a lot, and has an amazingly sweet belly laugh.  And when you hold him, he loves to be held upright, where he can show off his awesome head control and reach right up to the nape of your neck to grab a nice handful of hair while you hold him.

I'm just sticking in the picture below because it is so typical of our lives right now, but I imagine that in years to come, my kids and I will look back and laugh at the fact that Jacob sat in his car seat, right on the table, while we enjoyed a meal at a (clearly rather casual) restaurant on our recent trip.

And while we're talking milestones, our road trip also provided Jacob with his first trip to Cracker Barrel.  While a stop at that country store slash restaurant may not seem like a big deal to most, it's been a bit of a tradition for our little family.



Ever since Joshua was an infant, my drives back home from Texas to Louisiana with our one, then two, then three kiddos almost always included a stop at the ole CB, where I knew I could get a good meal, a clean bathroom, and a safe, friendly place to take a break...Geez, I should get a commission for that kind of an endorsement :)

  
Anyway, it was fun to share a meal as a family of six at this favorite spot.