I've been bad....

...about blogging that is!

I'm so sorry it has taken me a month to post this blog! I feel like in my spare time I'm working online and trying to catch up around the house.

Where to start???? Well, we celebrated Jeff's birthday on the 15th of November and Gabriela and I made him a shirt. It didn't turn out quite as good as I was hoping for, but he loves it. We went to Granddaddy Linger's house and had a nice dinner with him and Brenda as well as Carrie and Sam (oh and Ella too!).

The weekend of the 21st of November we went to NJ to celebrate Thanksgiving early. We visited with Great Mom-Mom, Grandmom, Steele, Carrie, Sam and Ella. We had a nice time like always. We also celebrated Thanksgiving with Abuela and Grandpa on Thanksgiving. Of course we have more to be thankful for this year!!

On the 5th of December we celebrated my birthday. Jeff and I went to dinner and Abuela and Grandpa came over to watch Gabriela. It was a very nice dinner and of course Abuela and Grandpa had a great time with Gabriela.

On the 7th we celebrated Abuela's birthday (a day early). I made some soup and carrot cake (tasted great but looked god awful!). Good time as well. I feel like I've been baking for forever!

As for Gabriela, she's still sitting up and happy as can be. She is rocking back and forth on all 4's so we think she'll be crawling soon. She already crawls backwards and of course rolls all over the place. She says "ma, ma, ma" and "da, da, da" and seems to know that she is calling/talking to her mommy and daddy. Gabriela is also starting to wave bye-bye. She likes to wave to herself so she can see her hand and fingers moving back and forth. Too cute!

Thanks to everyone for our birthday cards/presents, you are too much!! Visit webshots for more updated pictures! Love to all!!

Great news!!

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share some good news with you all. For the past 2 nights, Gabriela has been sleeping through the entire night. With a little whimper here and there, she goes right back out. We've been working hard the past week trying to get her to fall asleep on her own. It's been painful for us since we don't like to hear her cry. We didn't do the "cry it out" cold turkey method because we could only handle letting her cry for 10 minutes at a time, but we didn't pick her up. For about 4 nights, Jeff and I would rub her back and sing to her whenever she woke up crying and couldn't get back to sleep. Let me tell you, it usually took 30 minutes of rubbing her back and singing nursery rhymes. Jeff sang "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" about a million times. We can't complain though because it works!! I can't tell you how nice it is to sleep a whole stretch of time.

Two days ago I noticed her two bottom, front teeth were popping through. The left one is completely through the gum line but the right one is still just below the gum line; though you can see it. She's still gnawing on everything, but it'll be cute to see her with her two bottom teeth soon! She's liking her rice cereal more and more and her favorite foods are sweet potatoes and butternut squash. She doesn't mind carrots, but absolutely does not like green beans, apples and pears.

Gabriela also has a new trick. She's sitting up and she loves grabbing her toes. We think she can finally reach her toes because she's gotten a little (not much) leaner. She loves to "talk" more and more and we wouldn't be surprised if she's an every talker! We gave her her first hair cut this past week as well. She's also rolling like crazy. To put it simple, she's ALWAYS moving, even when I feed her, she's still moving her legs. We're going to have our hands full when she gets moving.

Kisses to you all!

November get together

Yesterday we got together with 2 couples that were in our birthing class. We've keep in touch and once a month (we try at least once a month) we get together. Yesterday we got together at our house. The girls dressed up in their Halloween outfits for a quick picture and the adults got to compare stories. Naturally Oliva and Charli have been sleeping through the night for months now and Gabriela is the oldest. In the picture, you have Eeyore (Olivia), and chicken (Charli). Olivia was born May 13th and Charli was born May 9th.

Earlier in October we got together at Nicole's (Olivia's mommy) house. The girls don't do a lot of playing with each other yet, but it will be nice to see them grow together.

Check out webshots for more pictures!

It's been a long time!!

I'm sorry it's been so long since my last post. It's been a hectic, yet funfilled month! First of all, I started working Oct. 1st. My new job is teaching online. I'm still teaching Spanish, although it's more grading than teaching. The only time I work is when Gabriela is sleeping or napping; which cuts down on my free time to blog and scrapbook!

The month of October was packed full of visits. We had our Sister-in-law, nephews, Grandma, my Brother, Cousin Mike, Jeff's Mom and Boyfriend visit this month. We also went to a pumpkin patch with the Grimes', Brenda and Thomas. We also visited with Jeff's day, Granddaddy, Grandmommy, Aunt Aletta, and Uncle Bob. I'm sure we did more too, but I can't remember!!

Gabriela had her 6 month appointment this past Wed. She now weighs 18 lbs. 5 oz. and is 25 1/2 inches long. She is louder than ever and seems to want to talk really bad. She can roll from back to front and front to back; though she rarely rolls front to back. Gabriela also sits up pretty well but she's not at the point where she can position herself in that position. We have to put her in the sitting position.

We just started her on some solids and she's a little slow at getting the hang of it. I'm making all the baby food and I'm really enjoying it, not to mention it's really easy. She's tried rice cereal, apple sauce, green beans, bananas, and butternut squash. Her favorite is butternut squash which gives her gas apparently so I have to not give it to her as often.

As for her sleeping....well, she's still waking up about 3 times a night. The Pediatrician says that there is no reason for her to do so and to let her cry it out, but Jeff and I can't stand hearing her cry very long. I figure she'll sleep with due time! We'll see.

Halloween was fun! We went to Krystle and Andrew's, Joe and Esperanza's, Frenchie and Jerry's and my parent's house. We would have loved to go to Jeff's dad's house and many other houses, but we were short on time. At the end of our journey, Gabriela got really cranky which is to be expected since she was in and out of her carseat a lot in only a couple of hours.

Gabriela is 5 months old today!

Wow, it's been a little while since my last post. This past Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we went to NJ to celebrate Jeff's Mom-mom's 82nd birthday. Happy birthday Mom-Mom!! Gabriela rolled to her left for the first time; still only from back to front. Wednesday night she had a slight fever and was whimpering most of the night. All I could do was rock her and hold her. She finally slept for about a 3 hour stretch. I thought/think that she is teething, but no pearly whites yet. She still wakes up twice or three times between 9 pm and 8:30 am, but I'm used to that now. It'll be nice to sleep through the night whenever that happens!

This past Saturday we went to a cookout from one of the ladies that was in our birthing class. Her daughter Olivia was born on May 13th. Another couple also came that was in our birthing class as well. They have a daughter named Charli that was born May 9th. The three of them rolled around on the floor and us adults laughed and compared stories. It was funny, every time Olivia got near Gabriela, Olivia would start crying. At the end of the evening, all three of them were crying, it was amusing.

This past Sunday, Aunt Carrie, Uncle Sam, Grandpa and Abuela came over for dinner. As usual we all had a good visit. It's sad that we live far from family, but we have to make the best of it when we see each other. Speaking of family, next week, Aunt Robin, Uncle Juan Miguel, and cousins Brandon and Colin will be visiting for a few days. We're really excited about that and we can't wait to meet our new nephew Colin.

Lastly, some of you know that I applied for an online teaching job and was waiting a while to find out if I got the position. After thinking I didn't get the job, they finally called me to offer me a position this past week. So far I've filled out and read a lot of paperwork. The job will require me to work approximately 10-15 hours a week from home. I have to be online for 1 hour a week at the same time/day and the other hours I can work whenever I have time. Sounds good to me, but we'll see what it ends up being. I will be teaching Spanish, but they have not told me what level or how many students I will have either. Apparently I will be spending the next week training. There are some different software programs that I will have to use and become familiar with before I start the actual instruction.

Well, please check out webshots for more new pictures. Until the next blog!

Gabriela is 20 weeks old!

Hi everyone! Gabriela is 20 weeks old this week and weighs 16 lbs. 15.8 oz. Let's just say she's 17 lbs.!!! Of course she continues to bring joy to both her Dada and I. She appears to have the beginnings of "stranger anxiety". Whenever someone new is around her, she tends to clam up, although just briefly. She's still rolling over from back to stomach and working really hard to get from stomach to back, but has yet to master that skill. We've been trying hard to get her to take the bottle, but she's still winning that battle. As you can tell, she's not going hungry. I just bought her some 6-9 month sleepers because she's growing out of her 3-6 month ones.

This week cousin Mike and his girlfriend Agie came to visit. It was nice to see them and we even had Agie try to give Gabriela a bottle, but nothing. Not even for Abuela either! This is definitely going to be a challenge. Oh, back to Mike and Agie's visit. We also had my parents over for dinner with Mike and Agie and we all had a good time. My parents arrived from Spain safely thank god and Robin and the boys also arrived to Florida safely as well.

This Sunday Gabriela will be in a baby show, so pray that she takes first place, not that I'm competitive or anything, but I want her to win. Stay tuned for the results next week!

Gabriela is 19 weeks

Hi all! Sorry I missed last week's update. Well, I weighed Gabriela today and she weighs 16 lbs. 8.4 oz. She is of course growing nicely. Last Tuesday she had her second round of shots and they went much better; especially since I gave her tylenol earlier this time. The doctor said that she's at the 50th percentile for height (let's face it, she's going to be a shortie) and the 75th percentile for weight. She has reached her milestones and is doing more advanced skills as well, so we're very proud of her.

She has gotten the hang of rolling over more efficiently now (better than the videos show on webshots). This morning I found her on her stomach in her crib, which she hadn't done up until this point. She loves to roll over on the floor but we were surprised to see that she was sleeping on her stomach. She has also decided that she no longer wants to take an occasional bottle which makes things challenging for me. I've tried having Jeff give her a bottle while I was at the gym and I've also tried having my mom give her a bottle, and neither scenarios worked. I've done some research and I'm going to try a cup or a spoon and see if that works. I'll keep you posted!

Our trip to West Virginia this past weekend went well. Gabriela (and the rest of us) got to enjoy the beautiful scenary on our hikes and Gabriela got to meet her Great Granddaddy and Great Grandmommy as well. She loved smiling and cooing with her Great Grandmommy and Great Granddaddy, Great Aunt Aletta and Great Uncle Bob as well. It was nice for me to see the place that Jeff had such fond memories of as a kid. Now I can picture what he was talking about in his "camp" stories. It was also nice to have Granddaddy, Brenda, Aunt Carrie, Uncle Sam, and dog cousin Ella there too. We had lots of fun laughing and playing Scattagories not to mention hiking in the wilderness.

Check out the bulk of the pictures on webshots.

See ya next week!

Gabriela is 17 weeks old and this Friday she'll be 4 months old

Hi all! It's hard to believe that Gabriela will be 4 months old this Friday. Time flies. Today she weighed in at 15 lbs. 13 oz. and I think she's beginning to taper off (hopefully). This week she has begun to make more noises and express them even more loudly. She loves talking to her dada the most (as you'll see in the videos on webshots). She grasps her links and other toys with her hands/fingers and of course, likes to put them in her mouth!

I have begun to research how to make my own baby food because in 2 months I will be starting Gabriela on some solid food. It seems pretty easy to do and I can't see giving her food from a jar that doesn't expire for 3 years! I know we were all given baby food from a jar, but since I'm staying home, I'll make her food for her.

As for the sleeping, she still wakes up between 2-4 am and then usually again around 6-7 am, although some nights she wakes up again between 4-5 am. So, there still is no consistency, but at least she goes back to sleep easily after eating.

Jeff is working back in St. Mary's County, effective tonight, so that will be nice. If he has time and is in the neighborhood, he can stop by for dinner or lunch and we can easily stop by the barrack if we are out and about to say hi.

One last thing. My brother, sister-in-law, and nephews are moving to Jacksonville, FL. This coming month. They just packed out and will be moving east early September. We are very excited to be in the same time zone and to be a lot closer! Hopefully we'll see each other more now!

Gabriela at 16 weeks

Well, Gabriela will be 4 months old a week from tomorrow! My how she's grown. Yesterday I took her to my mommy group (like usual) and she weighs 15 lbs. 8.6 oz. I thought her weight would be tapering off, but nope, she likes to eat too much. Anyway, she is becoming more and more boisterous and is really trying to turn over. She also loves the Olympics, and any other TV show for that matter. She is focusing on the colors and movements, so we now have to turn the TV off for her to sleep (no joke). She has also started drooling a lot, so I anticipate a tooth or more to pop up in the near future. She is still sleeping the first stage of the night in her swing; for some reason she only sleeps for 2 hours at a time in her crib. So, we'll see how long we'll be purchasing duracell batteries for...man those things are expensive when you use them so frequently.

Anyway, these pictures are from this past weekend when Abuela and Grandpa were over. She was watching the Olympics with Grandpa and then later Abuela was having a Gabriela photo shoot (check out webshots for more shots).

Check back next week!

Gabriela is 15 weeks old today!

Hi all! Gabriela is 15 weeks old today and she is doing well. She changes daily. We noticed on Sunday that her cooing has gotten louder and much more consistent. She loves talking/cooing with you. Yesterday we videotaped (check out webshots for the video) her doing her new trick. It's too funny. Of course Dada eats it up and encourages her! Everyday we thank God for how lucky we are and for how much happiness she brings us.

Check back next week!

Congratulations to Colin for his baptism!

Jeff, Gabriela and I want to congratulate Colin for his baptism. We were both honored to be his godparents and we are very happy to know we will be able to meet him soon. We look forward to seeing everyone.

All our love!

Crib sleeping?...Yea right!

After a week of trying the crib and staying home, I finally gave in. For some reason Gabriela would sleep 2-3 hour naps in the crib, but would not sleep well at all from 7 pm-1 am in there. Two nights ago, I put her back in the swing for the night time portion of her sleep (thinking she'd wake me up for her usual 3-4 am feeding) and then I would feed her and put her down in the crib. Well, the little princess woke up at 7 am! She slept for 8 hours in her swing. Last night I tried the same thing. I fed her, read her a book, rocked her and put her in the crib. She first woke up 30 minutes later, I rocked her and put her back down again. An hour later, up she was again! I rocked her, put her down, then picked her up, rocked her and put her down again. After 3 cycles of this, I finally put her in her swing again. Of course, she slept for about 7 hours straight again. I have no idea why she doesn't sleep for that long in her crib! I guess time will tell; we'll keep trying.

This past Saturday was our godson/cousin Colin's baptism. We hope all went well and we can't wait to hear the details. Once I get some pictures I will post a picture of him. Congratulations Colin, we love you all!

Welcome to the Linger's blog!

Hi all! I decided I better get with the 21st century and update everyone more regularly since Gabriela is growing and learning new things daily. Tuesday, Gabriela turned 12 weeks and she now weighs 13 lbs. 8 oz. She started sleeping in her crib this past weekend and we realized that she indeed needed a lot more sleep than she was getting. She is such a happy, content baby when she gets her required 15-16 hours of sleep a day. It limits our ability to go places, but...she's more important!! She still wakes up every 4-5 hours at night, but she eats and goes right back down with no problems.

Keep checking back, I'll try to post at least once a week! Love, Jen, Jeff and Gabriela

P.S. Check our webshots page for more pictures! http://community.webshots.com/user/TheLingers