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baby, Family, growth, milestone, photography, Pictures, rainbow baby, weekly

4 months old!!

May 9, 2018May 9, 2018by Sheridan JohnsonLeave a Comment

4-months

Image credit here

So somehow we have made it to 4 months already!? That is crazy and I love how much growth has happened over these last 4 months! From literally just eating/sleeping/pooping and peeing all day to now being so talkative, belly laughing, rolling over, trying to sit up by himself, and eating from a spoon (and still drinking milk/sleeping/pooping and peeing, haha)!

I am just amazed at laid back he is, how much he still loves to be cuddled up against us when he is napping/ or just sitting wanting to play and sit on your lap to watch everyone and how much joy he brings to the entire family.

It’s so precious that each one of kids are developing such a unique and special bond with him, that they are going to carry with them for the rest of their lives. Brielle loves to feed him, cuddle him, and make him laugh (around 100 times a day), Joseph loves to play with him on the ground and just talk to him and introduce him to new toys, and activities. Luke loves to laugh (and in return malachi laughs back) and loves to sing “twinkle, twinkle little star” to him to calm him down, and Gracelynn LOVES to say “kai kai” and show him all of her toys and she has started to sing him to him as well and loves to see him laugh!

So even though his doctor appointment isn’t until next week, I am just going by what we have taken here at home!

Weight: 15 lb 6 oz pounds taken at home scale

Length:25 inches (taken at home)

Likes:

-To be held! It’s so adorable how much he LOVES when we are holding him!
-To be talked to and play “peek-a-boo”
-To eat! He just tried baby food for the first time today and ate the ENTIRE bowl!! He loves food (just like his parents).
-To sleep! He has woken up past two nights 1 time for a feeding but before that we had a good stretch of sleeping ALL.NIGHT.LONG! Hallelujah! I just wish we could pass on the great sleeping to the girls in the house (including me).. but we are getting there!
-He loves to be hot! He loves to be pressed up against someone when he is napping!
-His carrier! He literally falls asleep in it almost instantaneously. We have now introduced the sling carrier as well and he has done amazingly well!

Dislikes:
– Clipping his nails! Though he is finally tolerating it a bit now!
– Changing his clothes. He absolutely hates it now!

Teeth: None! 🙂 Though, the drooling has caused increase in spit up, so that’s fun! 🙂

Language:
I swear it’s like he is responding correctly to what we are saying at times! His cooing is incredibly adorable and his laugh literally melts my heart every time!

Milestones: Rolling over back to front on both sides now, trying to sit up on his own, and eating his first baby food!

Upcoming:

MD appt: 4 month appt May 14th

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks and today’s monthly picture!

Thank you all for following along his journey and growth! I believe crawling and sitting up on his own is surely going to happen in the next few weeks!

Book club, Book review, Pictures, weekly

My picks this week Vol.3

September 27, 2016September 27, 2016by Sheridan Johnson1 Comment

my-picks-of-the-week-1

Alphabet Under Construction by Denise Fleming– this book was so cute because it rhymes while teaching the kiddos the alphabet. Great fun, letters, and graphics for the kids!
First words by Roger Priddy– This book is an english/spanish book and is SO fun! It’s great for a one year old, but is also great for my three year old to learn basic words in Spanish! I even learned a few new ones.
Nuts to you by Lois Ehlert–This book is so cute, and creative and tells a story about how this squirrel is looking for food and just wants to eat nuts. It’s all about his journey, high and low to find what he is looking for. Love the images and how well the blended in the squirrel so the child has “to find it”.
There was an old lady who swallowed a fly by Simms Taback–This book is SO FUN! And it’s a bit long for my 3 year old to understand how the story keeps going..and going.. but I loved it! It teaches her learning, how to use her memory, and how to follow along to the story!
Yellow by Sara Schuette –This book is about ALL things yellow.. and it’s so fun for color practicing and for identification of real life items that are yellow that are all around us!
Ocho Monitos by Steve Haskamp–This book is all spanish. I picked this one because Brielle knows this song by heart in English and I thought she would LOVE to read about this in Spanish.. and she did! So fun!

What are some of your favorite books that you have read lately? Would love to hear!

foster, Uncategorized, weekly

Baby girl sees her parents!

August 21, 2016August 21, 2016by Sheridan Johnson7 Comments

visitsitation

I remember when we were in the hospital signing initial paperwork, the CPS lady started telling Shane and I that we had to also take baby girl to see her parents weekly due to court orders, and I started thinking, okay I have two foster kids, two weekly visits, and a ton of appointments to have to make (6 doctors in total) for baby girl.

So logically I scheduled for both kids to have the same time (1:30-2:30) every Tuesday at the same location, to make it easier for everyone. We still have to drive an hour there and an hour back, but it seemed to work best.

Well, it turned out that baby girl had her first follow-up eye exam (see more about that in my post here) in San Antonio, and so we just met at the CPS location that her legal worker was at, to make it easier for both parents and us and it worked. The parents waited until the appointment was over, which actually caused the first visit to be over an hour late, but we all were patient and make it happen.

The difference between our foster childrens legal workers (what a major tongue twister!!), is experience and professionalism. Baby girls legal worker is very professional and seems to know a lot of what he is talking about, and he tries to communicate with both the parents and Shane and I as much as possible. I am so glad to see the right way of how things should be done.

This time, we don’t actually get to meet the parents. I am assuming that is written in court documents, because her legal worker makes sure that we go in one door on one side of the building, while they go in the complete opposite way. Given the history of both mom and dad, I think this the best option, but one day I would like the chance to meet them and let them know that baby girl is in great care, and that we are here to help in any way possible.

After the first visit was over and her legal worker brought baby girl back to me, the parents had changed her outfit, and bought her a lot of clothes that they said they wanted to give to us to take home and use for her. It was a nice gesture of them.

The second and third visits are relatively the same, but after the second visit the legal worker state that the parents wanted to know what they could help us with (if anything at all). I told them that her diapers are her biggest expense (she goes through about 8-10 a day), and that we pretty well stocked on everything else (clothes, formula, wipes, bottles, etc), but I thought that it was nice that they asked. At the end of the third visit, the legal worker brings us back 2 packages of newborn diapers, more clothes for the baby, and a box of wipes. It was very nice to see how much they love and care for their baby girl.

I am not excusing anything that they have done to put them in the position that they are in right now, but forgiveness is so important throughout this journey, and it’s so good to know that they truly do love their child. It makes everything that much easier, knowing that they know they might never get her back, but are going to love her and cherish the moments that they get with her, every week.

I hope that throughout these next few months, with whatever the court decides should happen with this case, that the parents remain this involved in the case and attend each weekly visit, as scheduled. I know it means a lot to baby girl to hear familiar voices and know that she is loved by them as well.

She does appear to be a little fussy after each visit, but nothing that cannot be calmed and soothed by a little rocking and love.

I will definitely keep you updated on any major hearings that could change the route that this journey is going, but for now… please pray for both baby girl so continue to grow and heal and get stronger every day, and for her parents to lean towards God in this difficult time and know that whatever temptation that may come in their way, that they can resist it.