The 6 month, veggie-loving, ferberized, water baby, Janey pants

Jane is asleep. It's so nice when she is doing that, but honestly, I kind of miss her when she is asleep. I get so excited to get her out of bed!

Jane is almost 6 months old. I can't really believe it. I super like the stage that she is at right now and constantly find my self telling Kinzer that I wish these moments would freeze and we could soak EVERYTHING up before time goes on.

Jane is loving her solids. She is an awesome eater! Must get that from me :) So far she loves all veggies (sometimes sketchy about peas), and after every bite she says, "MMMMMMM". We haven't started fruit yet. But if she loves veggies so much, I think she'll go crazy over fruit.

Jane has been "ferberized". I never knew that there was such a thing as sleep training until I married into the Kaupert fam. One word about Dr. Ferber's sleep training method: AMAZING! She responded so well to it and I haven't slept so well since she was born. She goes to bed at 7:30 PM, wakes up at 4:30 AM to eat, then goes back to bed until 7:30/8:00 AM. When we put her down for a nap she fusses for 10 seconds, then starts talking to her self until she falls asleep. When we put her to bed at night there is no rocking involved and (this is the awesome part) no pacifier. We give her a kiss and an "I love you" then put her down. She rolls to her side and dozes right off. It's so incredible. I loved being able to rock her to sleep and have her stay up with us and I had a little bit of anxiety the first few days because I felt like I wasn't giving her enough attention (because I get an extra 3 hours to myself every night now). But I love even more the fact that she loves her bed, and the fact that I get to hangout with just Kinzer for a good 3 hours before we head to bed. One day we woke up after an amazing night of sleep and the first thing I said was, "I have a testimony of the Ferber method!!!" I really do. If you want to know more about the Ferber method you can get the book from the library (or buy it). There are 2 editions. We actually didn't use the book at all. We read a lot online, and this website explained things well and the writer has a really funny approach to the whole thing.

We took Jane swimming yesterday. She loved it. She loves the water, and couldn't stop splashing. It is going to be such a fun summer with the pool. She loves to be outside and has spent a lot of time outside since she was a born. We take her out every chance we get. Thank you California weather :)

She is growing and learning every day. As much as I love this time we have and I try my hardest to soak it all in, I look forward to seeing the little toddler that Janey will be. I love hearing her sweet squeals and screeches, but I'm excited for her to speak words. When I talk to her she really stares deep into my soul, trying to make sense of it all. I love her.

Here she is with hands clasped. There's a lot more where these came from.

We wanted to take advantage of the beautiful spring blossoms. So we turned it in to a very early Easter shoot.

Solids

Swim baby

Easter was fun. The only picture I have of Jane in her dress is the bottom one of the Kaupert Family. It was such a poofy thing and so hard to hold her in it. Jane loved sucking on the Easter Eggs she received and the little kids in the family LOVE Jane. They can't get enough of her. I can understand that:)

The cheeks!

Jane Darl

Hello blogging world! It's nice to see you again.

It's been a really long time since I blogged. And you know what the great thing is? I don't feel guilty about it. Nope I don't. I decided that I just can't be a wonder mom that blogs at least once a week. It's just going to have to be once a month. Maybe twice if you're lucky. Or maybe not even once if you're unlucky :)

These past 4 months of my life have been LIFE CHANGING. I mean, I just had a baby. No biggie. Just another human being to take care of. And let me tell you, when I say "take care of" that is an understatement (if that's possible). I don't really take care of myself anymore. Well, that's not true, I try really hard everyday to brush my teeth, eat 3 (or 1) meals, exercise for at least 20 minutes [just dance: wii], and shower. I can accomplish these things much easier than I could a couple months ago.

This is the hardest job I've ever loved.

Jane Darl Kaupert entered our lives on October 19th, 2012 around 5 AM. Weighing 8 lbs 3 oz, 21.5 inches long. I can't quite find the words to explain how perfect she is. She just fits so well into our life. It's the best. The very best.

I'll spare you the whole birth story and mention some of the bigger points:

- I was 9 days overdue. In the 100 degree Fresno weather. Awesome.

- Jane's heart rate dropped so I was induced and had to lay in one position and let the contractions hit me like a ton of bricks.

- Because of the afore mentioned contractions I got the epidural. It was a beautiful thing :)

- I was in labor for 18 hours. Pushing the last hour.

- When she made her entrance my whole life stopped. The water works were flowing, and I blurted out, "Best day of my life!!!"

- Kinzer is the greatest man. I will love him forever for everything, but especially seeing his sweet face at that moment and the tears in this proud father eyes.

- Giving birth may be the most spiritual experience I have ever had. It was tough, but I tried so hard to focus on the beautiful gift of life. Just incredible. Complete bliss.

Jane is named after her her great great grandmothers. Jane Brown was Kinzer's great grandmother who he had a great relationship with. And Susie Darl McGhie was my great grandmother, who I never knew, but her middle name, Darl, is short for darling.

We love having Jane around. She has such a personality and is growing so much everyday. She is at such a fun stage right now. She's got such big eyes and since day one arches her back and turns her head from side to side to see what the heck is going on. Many people say she has a pensive look. She has a furrowed brow a lot of the time. Even when she is sleeping. She clasps her hands together all the time, especially when she eats. It's like she's saying "Oh goody"! She is so the best. I could go on and on, but I wouldn't know where to stop. So I'll leave you with some fun pictures of Jane's life so far in this big big world.

Hello world!

First bath

11 days old on Halloween

We caught this smile during a feeding at 2 am.

She has always loved to arch that back. I can't believe she was that little. *tear

We couldn't wait to use the bumbo. This is her at 5 weeks and she has loved the bumbo ever since.

Visiting with Santa.

Christmas Card 2012

This is Jane's great grandma Cavell.

Hanging with Grandpa Larry

Fell asleep while I was clipping her finger nails :)

I just loved this face. And I love cuddling with Jane in bed.

First time at the park on the swings. Such a happy baby.

These two... my very most favorite people.

Can't get enough of those cheeks!

She loves to gum her fingers.

Just for fun.

Walking on West Cliff, Santa Cruz, CA. Beautiful!

The sand was so messy, but I let her go to town. I found the evidence of swallowed sand in Jane's diaper the next day...

First time touching the Pacific ocean. She's a California baby.

Happy family.

So tired that she fell asleep in the tub. She loves her bath time.

Sunday best.

Thanks for stoppin' by!

A baby update

Well, it has come to my attention that unlike other blogging moms-to-be I don't update about the progress of this little dancing queen in my belly as much as I should or as much as I want to. Partly because everything has mostly been going well and partly because I don't think people read these posts. Are you out there? Oh, hi mom and Ab!

My visits are now every two weeks which really excites me because it means that the time is drawing near and things are starting to set in. The visits are usually about 5-10 minutes long: I go to the bathroom in a cup (which I am pro at), get weighed (which usually ends up with me hanging my head in shame), get my blood pressure taken (it's "looking great" every time), lay down and get measured, then get goop squirted on my hairy stretch marked belly (sorry if that's TMI and yes, I have stretch marks and I'm embracing them) and hear that beautiful beat. Then my midwife asks me if I have any questions which I usually don't (but I remember a list of about 5 things I wanted to ask on my way to the car to leave...pregnancy brain), then we schedule our next appointment and we are on our pretty little way. Let me mention that my sweet Kinzer has come to every appointment with me. At first I didn't expect him to care either way, but he really really wants to be there and I am thankful that he is every time. Plus, him and the midwife and ultrasound technician have some great conversation (can you say best friends?).

A couple weeks ago when the midwife was measuring my uterus with her handy dandy measuring tape she said, "wow, what are you growing in here"? uhhhhh...I started laughing a little bit, then total fear set in, my face got hot, and I thought in my head "Hopefully only one baby"!!! She continued on to let me know that my uterus was measuring larger than normal and they would need to do an ultrasound just to check things out. I don't know why but neither Kinzer or myself said anything like, "should we be concerned"? or "could something be really wrong"? We just went with it and kind of got excited that we were going to get another ultrasound, since they told us our last ultrasound was going to be the one we got at week 20. So we had to wait for 2 days to meet with the ultrasound tech. That means we had 2 days to think about why I could have been measuring large and 2 days to look on the internet at what could possibly be wrong. Google is so awful...I mean, I just have a love/hate relationship with it. I started reading about people who had twins but didn't learn about one of them until week 30. I read about babies having massive growth spurts that pushed their due date up a couple weeks. Gestational diabetes could be a factor (but I passed that test). Some women are just big in their pregnancies (gee thanks!). If you measure large it could be because you have a greater amount of amniotic fluid, which can mean that your baby has a disability or deformity. I was really starting to panic. Everything has been going so well with the pregnancy and if you know me, you know I am a worrier so I worried in my head that it was only a matter of time before something had to go wrong. I hate that I think like that.

The couple days came and went (they were very long days, by the way) and we went in for the ultrasound. I never thought I wouldn't want to see my child, but I was so afraid that the tech was going to tell me something I couldn't handle. I was shaking and sweating. I'm so happy Kinz was there. The tech went over all the measurements and said "Well, everything looks fine. The baby is 2 lbs. 4 oz. and right on track". The final verdict is that the baby had a big growth spurt within a 3 week period and I'm just blessed to have a large uterus which means I'm going to be (if not already) a big pregnant woman. Oh and our due date may be a few days earlier than we thought. They are going to give me another ultrasound around week 36.

I can't believe how much has changed since we last saw her! I'm thrilled that we were able to get another ultrasound. We even scored some 3D images of her cute squished face and puffy cheeks. I don't really know who she looks like. To me...well, she just looks like a baby. What do you think?

It's kind of hard to see, but this is a profile of her face. Eyes, nose, lips, and I love those cheeks!!

Sleepy gal. Again...the cheeks.

 I think she's pretty stinkin' cute, but I am biased I guess.

Some other random facts about the pregnancy so far:

* She is a mover and a shaker, especially when it's time for me to go to bed. I'm not going to lie. It's amazing and all to feel her, but after about 3 round house kicks to the ribs (had to throw in some Chuck Norris commentary), it's kind of annoying. Love her though. Promise!

* The heartburn is killer and gags me until I throw up. Tum tuh tuh tuh TUMS!! And I hate to say it, but I'm pretty sure french fries help my heart burn.

* I'm craving peaches all the time. There is such great produce here in the valley. The pitted fruit is so incredible!!

* I have been spending lots of time at the pool. I go walking every morning before it gets to 100 degrees, then I hit up the pool almost every day and swim laps. It feels like the best exercise, and you weigh 90% less in the water, which feels great to me and my large pregnant woman bod. I just wish it was acceptable to skinny dip in mid day in a public pool.

* I feel really ugly, but Kinzer told me I was sexy today. It made me feel so good. He's nice.

* We have started looking into birthing classes, we found a pediatrician to discharge the babe, and we get to go on a tour of the hospital in a week. I think being familiar with the hospital, will ease my terrors.

Things are really starting to set in. I am getting more and more excited to meet her. Still scared though. Any advice is so appreciated!

23 weeks

Swimming pool

29 weeks. Cute outfit, I know.

Utah: Part 2 [ Pinning Ceremonies, Boy Bands, Black cars, and Birthdays]

I have been away from the blogging world for so long that it feels like I don't really know how to blog anymore. Bear with me. [I just had to google whether I should use "bear" or "bare". Turns out that "bare with me" means get naked with me, FYI. Please don't. Unless you're my hub]

Okay so more of Utah. I'm kicking myself, because this vacation was 2 months ago and the fun memories are slipping my mind.

A huge reason we went to Utah was to be able to celebrate my awesome sister, Haylee's, graduation from nursing school. She worked super hard and after 3 long years and a bagillion cold sores (our family knows stress and cold sores), she finished! Good job Hay!! She also took her NCLEX, passed, and scored an awesome job. I'm really just so proud of her:) I can imagine what a relief it is, and it just keeps getting better - She is engaged and getting married in exactly 6 weeks! Yes, that means we will be back out in Utah when I am 34 weeks pregnant. Sorry Haylee and Craig, but I'm going to ruin your wedding pictures. I am so happy for this couple. They are so great together. I am super excited to have Craig as my new brother-in-law.

I was able to go to her pinning ceremony. It was really neat. I especially liked the part when a boy from her class was giving his speech and then at the end he started singing Josh Groban's, "You Raise Me Up." It was a shocking change after his really hilarious speech. WTG Sis!

My super talented brother-in-law, Dave, produced a documentary about Alex Boye. It's very good. While we were in town the DVD came to the shelves. There was a showing at a local movie theater to kick off sales. Alex even started the night off with a few of his songs. Did you know that he was in a boy band? He was singing songs about being a citizen of the U.S. all while he did some real fancy boy band moves. It was pretty rad. At one point he even called me, my sister, and a couple other ladies down and sang to us. He sang us Happy Birthday...boy band style. :) He has a very inspirational story. Check it out it's called Frontman:The Alex Boye Story. Thanks Heidi and Dave for getting us such great seats. We really enjoyed it!

Nice glasses!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cgovv8jWETM

Watch this video! Alex Boye made it along with "The Piano Guys". It was one of the songs he sang at the beginning of the night. The video is really amazing, and I love Coldplay! He commented on John Schmidt's hair being the same color as the southern Utah red rock. So funny!

It was my birthday while we were in Utah. My sister Heidi has a birthday a couple days later. I went out to lunch with my sisters at Cafe Rio. And after we ate we all sat there talking and freezing our little tooshies off. We decided to go out to Heidi's black car and continue the conversation. I tried to capture the moment. Hahaha, it was funny.

Please don't hate me for putting these up. P.S. I love my mom in picture #2, no joke :)

I was able to go get lunch with some buddies and doggies. It was so nice to catch up. I love these people to death. And did I tell you that Amy is engaged! Getting married a week after Haylee, so I will be in Utah for her wedding as well. I'm so happy about this, and so happy for Amy and Cesar. He is a lucky duck! They are a great couple.

 Cheesin' it up for the cameroon.

Oh puppy!

It was a great time in Utah! I miss it so very much. I love my family. I miss them. I'm so happy that I get to go back for weddings. Yay!!

XOXO

4 down

I know I still have a Utah Part 2 portion to write about. But until then, how about a little flash back?

That was a long day of smiling, but it wasn't hard for us to smile.

It doesn't feel like it's been 4 years. It really has been the greatest. I can't imagine my life with anyone else. Kinzer is the very best and my very best friend. And you know what's really exciting? Next time we celebrate an anniversary, we will have an 8 month old daughter! WOW!

Love you Kinz! Happy Anni!

Utah: Part 1 [Head lamps and Razors, Cheerleading, Dog youtube]

Well I guess the time has come for me to update (because I know that the 3 people that read my blog are DYING to hear how my Utah trip went...3 of which live in Utah). I just read a blog where the author quoted her nephew on a mission and he said something like, "It's important to show our gratitude to God by writing things down." I agree, and this post is in large part for me and my record keeping. Don't feel like you have to read it, even though it's going to be really really awesome and hilarious and you'll feel uncool if you don't, just kidding:)

I should start off by saying that this trip was the last time we will be in Utah this year. It was Utah's year for Thanksgiving, but I don't think traveling (driving) with a one month old during the winter months is a genius idea. Too stressful for this Mama. Sad, but true.

We always try to drive to Utah, because flying is a rip. Lucky for us, gas prices shot up 50 cents a couple days before we left. What are the odds? The drive to Utah was hard on me. Especially the part where we plugged my parents address into our GPS and it was set to take us the "shorter way" which was also the windiest way and through Yosemite. We actually got to the ranger station at Yosemite, laughed hysterically, then hung our heads in shame as we flipped a U-ie and back tracked 2 hours. Oh well, we learned our lesson. We just got Utah about 3 hours later than expected. Thanks mom for staying up until 12:30 to greet us! I had to get out and walk around every couple hours. My back was killing me. At least one thing has to go wrong when we drive, so we thought that the GPS mishap was it, but when we were about a mile away from Wendover I decided to change lanes so we could get off and get gas (and gamble, you know how we are *winkwink*). Of course right as I changed lanes a massive old shredded semi-truck tire was sitting RIGHT in the middle of the lanes. Aaaaand, you can see where this is going... a bunch of stuff got ripped out from under our car. Plastic and stuff. Kinzer looked awesome on the side of I-80 with his head lamp and razor cutting off the plastic. We just travel with head lamps and razor blades, no big deal. The Corolla was a champ and got us to our destination safely without his plastic under-carriage.

We celebrated Mother's day a week late because it worked better for everyone's schedules. This also happened to be the day of the solar eclipse. When the time came, we all gather outside with every pair of sunglasses we could find. I don't know what it is, but when I get together with my sisters and nieces I want to start making fun of cheers that I used to do in Jr. High (not a proud moment to be a cheerleader). We all stand on the front lawn and do some hilarious cheers, then Holli reminds us of "THE Kawasaki cheer"

Wet got pride, but we aint cocky,

Gonna run you over like a Kawasaki,

Vroom Vroom *clap* *clap*Vroom Vroom. *clap* *clap*

It's ridiculous and hilarious. And the actions are really the best part of it. Then everyone did jumps as I tried to capture them on camera.

4th time's the charm.

Then we do stunts. Our idea of stunts is a co-ed pyramid. See for yourself...

We hangout with the toothless dog, Henri. He's obnoxious, but his breath smells great!

Did you ever know how beautiful my nieces are? They go to prom and stuff now. It only seems like yesterday that I was doing their hair, playing dress-ups, and pretending they were my children. *sigh*

I went on some great walks while I was in Utah. Kinzer's old boss is so great and gave him work for the 3 weeks that we were there. I was able to catch up with everyone that I wanted to. I slept in, which I hadn't been able to do until we went to Utah. My sweet sweet friends threw me a baby shower. Thank you friends! I love you and miss you dearly. I'm glad that I get to be pregnant with a couple of you. That's fun! 

Here's a picture from the shower:

(Left to Right) Yoga woman Doroth, Sweet Steph, Engaged Amy!!, 3 pregs (Sarah and Abbie are about the cutest pregnants you have ever seen. The only thing growing on me are my ladies. Barely any belly.)

I'm going to call that a good enough and long enough post. I just want to finish with this picture of Abbie's awesome dog that watches dog videos on youtube. I love him, even though he is a tough guy.

Have a nice day!!!