Standing Queen

Okay, so this post is just 2 shameless minutes of Jenna videos, but hey, pretty much the sole purpose of this blog is to post shameless Jenna stuff :-) This video isn't too different from the one below, but it's so cute watching how determined she gets to pull up!!



She's gotten even more accomplished at standing/crawling, etc, since this weekend when these videos were taken. It's hard to believe how grown up she seems! I was looking at a picture earlier today where she was cuddled up asleep in our arms... there's no way that would happen anymore. That stage of her life is over, gone for good. And I missed it. I mean, I didn't miss it, I relished it and enjoyed every second, but I blinked, and now it's gone. How does that happen?

As I walked up the stairs to post this blog, I looked at the doorway to her room, right next to the office. I tried to remember what it looked like before the nursery... the old trundle bed was in there, along with a closet full of my clothes. I'd go in there to dry my hair, and toss clothes on the bed that I didn't feel like hanging up. It was the "junk" room. But I can't remember that. I can't picture it. It's just Jenna's room. That's what it's always been. When we moved here and we had to repaint every room in the house, I fought Josh to paint that room a very pale pink. My dad laughed when I told him... I was never the "pink" girl growing up, the girly ballerina... it just wasn't me. He was shocked when he found out I suddenly wanted a girly pink room in my house. I never questioned why I wanted it, I just knew I did. It was Jenna's room. It was always meant to be Jenna's room from the moment we bought this house. I know I sound silly, and maybe I'm just waxing nostalgic and feeling sentimental tonight, so I guess I'll stop.
Can you tell I'm upset about having to leave her for the first time this weekend? I blame the emotions on that :-) (even though I know she'll be perfectly happy with her grandparents for the weeken!!)

I have tons of 8 month pictures, but no time to go through them, so I promise, more to come in the upcoming days/weeks! Until then, g'night!

Daredevil

Not only is she fully crawling everywhere, but she has decided that the steps in our sunken living room are no obstacle for her! boundaries shmoundaries, nothing will keep Jenna down!! Here she is scaling the step to freedom...

8 Months!

I'm 8 months old!! Mommy will post more pictures and stories later... but for now:

Pulling up!

I have a better video of Jenna pulling herself up from earlier today, but I'm working and too busy to post, so this one will have to do for now. Ignore her way too big pants... I usually dress her in clothes that fit, but this outfit was so cute!

This was one of the first times she did this... by the end of the day, she mastered it and was doing it all over the house. I swear, sometimes it looks like she's just going to stand up and walk away!! More pictures from this weekend, and from her crawling-up-the-stair antics to follow later!

Cheering on her 8 month birthday!

She decided it was a good time to clap on camera. She's also been pulling herself up like crazy today, AND crawling up the steps in our sunken living room. What happened to my baby!? Videos of her pulling herself up to follow...

Pull ups

It's hard to believe Jenna is going to be 8 months old tomorrow!! Her latest tricks are getting to a sitting position without assistance (she's been sitting for a few months now, but usually just if I put her there... now if she's laying on her back or stomach, or on all 4's in a crawling position, etc, she can pop right into an upright sitting position) and her latest; pulling herself up to a standing position... Which means that way before I'm ready for it, she'll be running around the house!!

Here's a progression of Jenna pulling herself up this morning... sorry it's from behind, but when I tried to get in front of her, she was too distracted by the camera!

She was in a flat sitting position before this shot... I didn't grab the camera until I realized she was going to stand.





YAY! I made it!! FINALLY I can see all the cool gadgets on this thing!! (her Leapfrog table is the ONLY thing she will stand up for!)


All that standing and playing was hard work... So I decided to forgo the fun and take a nap on the blanket mommy put around me in case I fell while I was standing.

comfy!

Fun with Grandpa!

Grandpa is back in town for a few weeks, and I had so much fun playing with him tonight! Mommy picked me up from daycare early, around 4:30, and we went straight to grandpas. I played outside on the grass

then Flurry and I cautiously checked each other out... (unfortunately this is the only picture grandpa actually made it into... he's in a cute video my mommy took, and she said once it's done uploading she'll post it, too)

Mommy! I don't think this is for me, get me out of here, please!

Then Daddy got there!!! (and I got to come inside and away from the dirt. That always makes me happy!)

Then, during dinner, Mommy let me have a piece of American cheese. Needless to say, I LOVED it. I was so excited and happy and smiling like crazy that most of mommies pictures turned out like this (because I wouldn't sit still!)

But she managed to get a few cute ones in the rare moments when I stopped moving!

Finally!!

Okay, it took me a while to update, but now I have lots of pictures! Here is the link to all the recent pictures that I haven't posted, but I'll post a few in here as well:

Someone's going to be a very shy ballerina one day!


But she sure can be a ham in front of the camera!


We took her to the park last weekend... she was NOT interested in playing on the grass...


Putting a hat on her did not help matters


Miss Priss would not smile until she was off the grass!!


We had a wonderful seder at cousin Lois and Scott's house with a large number of Josh's cousins and family members. I was nervous that Jenna wouldn't do well because (1) the seder started at 6:30, her usual bedtime, and (2) how was I going to keep her quiet while we sat there at the table going through the seder motions?? She was a total champ!! I convinced her to take a late nap that afternoon, and she sat quietly all through the seder service portion of the night (as we casually stuffed her full of peach puffs!) She stayed up until 9:30, which she hasn't done since she was a newborn! It was nice having time to spend with her for a change (on weeknights it's a rush to get her home from daycare, feed her, bathe her, and give her a bottle before she demands to go to bed!) Here's a pic of the three of us from seder, after we changed her into her pj's, just before we left.


It was wonderful to spend time with family and Jenna enjoyed her first seder, even if she didn't particularly love the taste of matzoh!! she did enjoy eating the grown up (read: not pureed) sweet potatos off mommy's spoon, though!!

I can't believe she's going to be 8 months old in a few days. Sometimes I still feel like I have a little baby, but then I look at her and realize she's turned into a little girl. When did that happen? She's growing up so fast!!

Now... if only someone could convince her to just say "Mama!!" Every word out of her mouth is "da da da da da" (or ga ga ga or ya ya ya). Still no "mama" She knows it, too. When I go through the motions of trying to get her to say "ma ma. ma ma. mmmmaaaaaa mmmmmaaaaaa" She just laughs at me. Like, "yeah, I know what you want me to say... and yeah, I'm not going to say it. haha" I can already tell that she's going to be trouble once she really can talk... you know what they say about red heads!! we're going to have our hands full with this one!! and I wouldn't have it any other way!!

Coming Soon!

I've been chastised for not updating since Saturday. I promise, I have lots of pictures from the weekend, the park, seder, etc, and stories to share. It was a busy holiday weekend, but I promise to get to uploading pictures and stuff tonight! Check back late tonight or tomorrow. If nothing is up by then, feel free to send me an email slap on the wrist for motivation. I hate when real life gets in the way of blogging!!!

Indoor Baby

Josh and I came to the realization that Jenna might be an "indoor baby." We took her to the park today, it was absolutely beautiful out, and she had no desire to be amidst nature. Granted, it was very sunny and she didn't have sunglasses, so she wouldn't really look up, and to be fair, she didn't take much of a nap this morning, and was extremely tired, but be that as it may, I still think we have a miss priss on our hands. I'll upload pictures later, but don't expect to see any smiles!

A Day in Pictures...

Jenna... Will you marry me?


Of Course, Max!! I'm the luckiest girl alive!


The happy couple holding hands after getting engaged...


And posing for their engagement announcement, coming soon! (okay, "soon" = about 25 years or so... by then Josh should be letting her date!)

Daddy's Girl.

Confession. I am a daddy's girl. Always have been--with the possible exception of a few teenage years. I, of course, always recall being a daddy's girl. My dad recalls a few of those teenage years (when, like all kids, I did not want to be seen in public, or worse yet, be seen *gasp* HUGGING my parents). In my mind, however, those years did not change things. My recollection reconvenes with my dad's somewhere during my mid-late college years, and there is no disputing that I've been a daddy's girl ever since.

It is with no shortage of pride that I now watch my baby girl blossom into a daddy's girl all her own. When I see pictures like this

where she looks so much like him it startles me, or when I see her become enraptured whenever Josh walks in or out of the room; her eyes diverting from whatever had previously held their focus, her little head darting in his direction with a smile plastered to her face... I look at this little girl, who, at not yet 8 months old, looks at her daddy with the admiration I recognize from my own childhood eyes, and realize how lucky she is to have a daddy who loves her back just as much. There's nothing better in life than being a daddy's girl... except, perhaps, growing up to marry the man who will look back at that baby girl I love so much and do anything in the world to protect her.

Jenna's a lucky girl. I'm a lucky girl.

Josh + Jenna = No Sleep

When I was home alone with Jenna, she slept great! 13 hours straight at night, without a peep. Since Josh has been home, she's been sleeping horribly!! last night she went to bed at 6:30 and woke up at 11. She didn't fall back to sleep until 1, and that was after Josh and I collectively fed her an extra full bottle to bribe her to fall back to sleep! (we took turns getting up with her, much to Josh's dismay... he gets up 1 in 20 times and paints himself as a martyr!)


Where did my sleeping boo-ty go? I'd like her back tonight, please!

Maybe if I post a picture of her sleeping soundly, it'll bring back good luck! I put her down normally but she winds up in this position. If you see the camera on the top left of her crib, I think you'll understand why. She knows I can see her, so she likes to scoot to the very top of the crib to be outside the camera's reach. She doesn't like being watched while she sleeps. Tricky little thing!

Mondays.

I hate them. Jenna and I had such a nice weekend (with Josh, too, once he got home last night). It is so hard to say goodbye on Monday mornings! she clearly gets used to being home. She was happy and smiley when she woke up, and was enjoying playing with her toys while I got her daycare bottles ready. When it came time to leave, though, I pulled her coat out of the closet, and as soon as I put one arm in, it was like it suddenly dawned on her... "Wait? she's taking me out of the house this early? we must be going back to daycare! WAHHHHH" She was not happy to leave this morning, but of course she was fine once she got there and started playing with her toys. Who is in charge? I need to petition for one extra day in the weekend... 2 just isn't enough! Oh well, hopefully she'll have a good day, and hopefully I'll stop watching the clock and missing her!

For now, I'll just picture this goofy little face to help me get through the day!

Phew.

In case you were concerned (though the general consensus was that most people -- other than me-- found it funny) we are no longer locked in our house. $200.00 later. Stupid locks. Once Jenna wakes up from her nap (did I mention she slept 13 hours again last night, played for a while, took a 2.5 hour nap, and is now an hour into her second nap of the day? I want this kid's life!) we'll get out of the house for a while!

Locked IN!

What a "great" way to cap off a great weekend... Back when Jenna was first born, we had a baby nurse stay with us the first few nights to help out. On her last morning with us, she said goodbye, said she'd show herself out, and the next thing I know she's standing next to my bed... She broke our lock. She had somehow turned the deadbolt while the door was still open, and then slammed it shut, jamming the deadbolt open. So a locksmith came out, fixed it, and it's been fine ever since.

When Jenna and I got home from our walk in this beautiful weather earlier this evening, I dead bolted the door. Once boo was soundly sleeping, I decided to go get the dry cleaning out of my car. Only... the deadbolt wouldn't open! I went out through the basement, ran around the front, and tried to unlock it... to no avail. We're stuck in!! Needless to say, I had to try my hand at being handy, by unscrewing the lock and seeing if I could tinker with it (knowing nothing about this stuff) and I of course made it worse. I spent the next hour running back and forth around to the front of the house to try and push the lock back together. What a night. The locksmith is coming tomorrow and hopefully won't have to remove the whole door!

For now, boo and I are safely tucked away inside the house... where we're obviously staying until our situation improves :-)

Tennis, anyone?

Please excuse my squinting, it was sunny outside!! Click this link for more pictures from this photoshoot!!

Award Winning Sleeper!

I always knew I wanted our future kids to LOOK like Josh... After all, he's cute :-) I guess I never thought about which other traits they would inherit from each of us. I must say, though, I couldn't be happier that Jenna has inherited one specific trait from her dad -- his sleeping ability!!

I'm sure by posting about this, I'm jinxing it, and she'll be up all night tonight, but so be it! I'm too proud not to brag just a little. When I picked Jenna up from daycare last night, she (of course) hadn't napped well there (she never does) so I knew she'd need to go to bed early. What did that mean for me? I was going to be up early on Saturday morning! If she goes to bed at 6, she's going to be up by 6!

Down she went, around 6:30 last night. The weather looked ominous and I was sure thunderstorms would have her up crying all night. I went to bed on the early side myself, with Josh out of town and a weeks worth of sleep to catch up on. Imagine my surprise when I rolled over (waking up on my own for a change) and saw the alarm clock read 7:45!!! And she was still sleeping!!! 13+ hours!!!

My little rockstar wasn't even moving. I decided to try and take a quick shower, but of course as soon as I turned on the water, I saw a tiny little hand move on the video monitor. I turned off the water and went in to check on her. She was just hanging out, smiling, up on all fours playing with a tiny little teddy bear that I didn't even know was in the other side of her crib. After feeding her, I built a wall of pillows on either side of our bed, and left her there with lots of toys and a baby genius video on TV. Clearly, you can tell, she very much enjoys getting 13 hours of sleep!! (picture from this morning)

I'm allowed to be excited now!

Jenna's boyfriend (and by proxy, his parents) are moving back to Baltimore! Well, I guess I technically shouldn't say Max is moving "back" to Baltimore, since he's a Virginia Beach native, but that means Kim is moving back!

Kim and I went to middle school and high school and hebrew school together, but while we always knew each other and were "friendly" we weren't "friends." Thanks to the joys of the internet, however, I learned we were pregnant at the same time. Kim announced her pregnancy on myspace, and I subtly (or so I thought) sent her a message asking where she got the "Baby" tank top she was wearing. She apparently saw through my innocent question and knew I was pregnant, but I was 4 weeks away from being able to share the news.

We became fast friends during our pregnancies, going through the same things at the same times; same excitements and fears and questions over which carseat was best and which decorative crib bedding would best suit our unborn babies. Actually, scratch that... Kim had a glorious pregnancy while my head was in the toilet 24/7. She even turned a gestational diabetes diagnosis into a blessing, because it kept her from gaining the mass amounts of weight I piled on towards the end (and have thankfully lost, whether it looks like it or not!). Now, rare is the day that I don't talk to Kim more than I talk to... well, almost anyone else!

I'm so excited that they'll soon be living close by, and Max and Jenna can play together all the time!

I'm sure it's totally normal that I have a whole post dedicated to the Fine family relocating to baltimore!

Girls Weekend

Josh is going out of town this weekend... to AC for the bachelor party of his last close friend to tie the knot. I'm sad because I know we'll miss him, and Jenna's favorite (ok, ONLY) words are "da da da da da" so I'm worried she'll be looking around for him all weekend, but at the same time, I'm excited at the prospect of 48 uninterrupted hours with the boo!

If she was old enough, this would be the type of weekend where we'd paint our nails, go shopping, etc, but for now I think I'll settle for cuddling in bed with lots of smiles and giggles (though she's not known to cuddle for more than a few minutes at a time... independent little thing!)

I've never been alone for a whole weekend, just me and Boo, so it should be fun! I can promise you one thing, without Josh around to complain, there will most likely be a lot of Boo-centric photo shoots! Check back often for new pictures!

Progression of a Bath

Okay, so if you frequent Kim's blog, you know I stole this idea from her... but it's a good one, so I have no shame. Here is a progression of Jenna at bathtime... (I have a few from her first bath at home, but I promised myself no nudity on this blog, and none of them were decent enough to post!)

Bath at 1 month old (and with really bad baby acne, though she was still perfect to us!)

Bath at 2 months old... when she had a LOT more hair!!

Bath at 4.5 months old

And finally, bath at 7+ months old (tonight)

"Mom, I'm confused by this big bath tub... what am I supposed to do?"

"Wait... you mean I get to eat my duck?!?"

"I think I'm gonna like it here!"

(You should totally click on this picture to blow it up, only because I think it's the sweetest picture and deserves to be viewed full size!!)

Boo-ing

I miss Jenna. On days like yesterday, when she didn't sleep well, and I know she's going to be cranky, I'm thankful that I work outside the home and while I of course miss her, I'm happy for the adult stimulation.

Most days, like today, though, when she wakes up so happy and smiley... I'm sitting here doing work, but all I can think about is that smiling little face and how much I just want to smoosh her cheeks in my hands and give her a big kiss.

I'm "boo-ing" (a term Josh and I used before Jenna was dubbed Boo, just means you're sad) cause I miss the boo. :-(

I promise to have some new fun posts this weekend with all new pictures and videos!!

Sweet Relief!!

If you read yesterday's post, you learned that Jenna hasn't been sleeping well the last few nights. Turns out she was really saying, feed me!!! She had been eating 21oz per day of formula, and 3 small solid meals (breakfast- baby oatmeal, lunch- a fruit or veggie puree, dinner- yogurt or a meat/veggie puree). Yesterday I read in parenting magazine that babies her age need closer to 24oz per day of formula. So, we upped her ounces, and miraculously she was back to sleeping 12 hours straight last night. She woke up with the biggest smile on her face, like, "Mom!! Thanks!! It felt so good to sleep last night, and I didn't even wake up hungry! I love you!!!" She's back to being the world's best boo.

7 Month old Newborn

Normally, *knock on wood* Jenna is a great little sleeper. In fact, she would make a great substitute for an alarm clock if you had to catch an early flight. She typically goes down at 6:30pm (though we fight to keep her up until 7-7:15), and wakes up at 6:30am. The last two nights, however... totally different story. The night before last was somewhat understandable. Josh missed his little girl around 10pm Sunday night, so he "tip toed" with very heavy feet, purposely hitting the squeaking floor boards, into her room to "check on her." Not surprisingly, she stirred, and Josh took that opportunity to say she was awake. He brought her into our room to play, then decided he was tired, and left me to deal with the wide awake baby. Last night, however, she gets the blame all by herself. She went to bed as usual at 6:30... she hadn't napped well at daycare, so it was a struggle to keep her up that late. At 8pm she woke up screaming, and things just went downhill from there. I fed her, changed her, rocked her, sang to her. Nothing worked. Finally, after pumping her full of more food than I care to admit, she fell back to sleep around 10pm. I was so wired from my efforts that I didn't fall asleep until 1am. At 4am she woke up screaming again. Although unlike her, she will normally fall back to sleep after a quick ounce or two from a bottle, or a quick diaper change. Not this morning. This morning she stayed awake, screaming till her face was purple. She would calm down for brief intervals if I brought her in bed and held her tight, or held her like a newborn and gently bounced up and down like I used to do when I would lull her to sleep in my arms before sneaking her in the crib. As I stood there, delirious, at 5am, gently bouncing my little girl, I had serious deja vu to the days and weeks after we first brought her home from the hospital. Then I looked down and saw that my little baby is now a 17lb child, and no longer the little baby I used to rock to sleep. Normally I would have been sentimental, but all I could think was how quickly we forget how hard it is in the beginning, and take for granted how much easier it gets as they grow older.

My 7 month old newborn finally fell back to sleep around 6:30am, just in time for me to shower and get ready for work. I think Josh took her to daycare sometime around 8:30 or 9. Yesterday I sent my brother an email saying that think I love my baby more than any other parent loves their baby. This morning he called to agree with me, and after last night I (jokingly) almost rescinded that statement!!

I have to say, though, as much as I hated being up with her during all the screaming and crying, it was fun having the extra few hours between 8-10 to play with her. I can't help but wonder what's causing this shift in her sleeping habits. Perhaps it's her newfound mobility and desire to explore at all hours, or her growing little body needs more food to sustain her, who knows. I'm definitely accepting suggestions!!

Happy Girl

She's really just such a sweet, happy, playful baby!

Left Handed Thumb Sucker

I've long wondered where Jenna picked up her habit of sucking her thumb on her left hand... no lefties in the immediate family. Then I stumbled across this old picture of Josh and his sister Jessica as little kids. It's small and grainy cause it's a scan of an old photo, but if you can tell, they're BOTH sucking their left thumbs! Guess it runs in the family!

Sleeping Boo-ty

A few weeks ago, Jenna woke up in the middle of the night and simply would not go back to sleep. I fed her, changed her, etc, and nothing would calm her down. It was NOT like her at all. Finally, I took off the shirt I had been wearing all night and covered her up with it. She immediately fell asleep. When she stopped napping well at daycare, I brought in the t-shirt I'd slept in, and the daycare ladies told me she slept 100% better. They asked that I keep a recently worn shirt in her crib... they send the shirt home on Fridays with her sheet and blanket, and I always send in a freshly worn one the following week. I've made a habit of doing it at home, too... but I usually put it off to the side of the crib where it's not really near her. So tonight, I put her down normally, tucked the t-shirt I slept in last night in the far corner of her crib, and a few hours later, I turn on the video monitor and see she's in a strange position. I went in to check on her, and saw that she had found my shirt from its corner on the other side of her crib, pulled it under her face, and was sleeping in a much different position than usual, with her face laying right on my t-shirt. I know it might be silly, or even gross, but it melts my heart that she's most comfortable when she feels close to me. **note, I'm sure she'd do the same with Josh's t-shirt, we've just never tried! Fortunately the flash doesn't wake her up!!

Teeth hurt!!

Here is Jenna showing off her teeth. I swear, I thought the tops of teeth were supposed to be flat. Hers are dangerous!! She has these sharp little knives in her mouth. She loves to gnaw on my fingers, but it's starting to draw blood!!

The Many Faces of Boo

Yesterday, while waiting for Aunt Sarah to arrive, Jenna and I had an impromptu photo shoot. In just a few short minutes, she showed me what a multi-faceted personality she has!! To see all the many faces of Jenna, click here. Warning, I'd advise that this album is for family only... it's just a bunch of pictures of Jenna, and nothing exciting. If you know her, they're cute, otherwise you'll probably be bored :-)

Here's an example...

Innocent

Goofy

Our other photo shoot of the night was once Josh got home from work. There's nothing like the love between a daddy and his little girl. Well, the same could be said for the love between a mommy and her little girl, I'm just the one who knows how to work the camera!! Click here for some really sweet pictures of the little boo...

Again with the examples...

I love Josh's post. I really do. I think it's adorable and incredibly sweet. I also think it's somewhat hysterical. Am I the only one who thinks it implies that he was getting up with her in the middle of the night when she would wake up? Ha. :-)

"Boo" is Born (Josh's Post)

I thought all of our loyal readers deserve to know exactly how and when Jenna became a boo. It all started months ago when Jenna was about 3-4 months old and just started to sleep through the night. Up until that point, Liz and I were so conditioned to Jenna waking up at some point in the evening, we would almost look forward to the prospects of being entertained by her a bit more that day. When Jenna stopped waking up, we'd look at each other and wonder, "Now what?" It was a messy transition at first; while we'd do our best to tip-toe silently into her room to catch a peek, inevitably the floors would squeek and Jenna would startle. Still, the new parents that we were, desperate to see our baby, we adapted and began watching her even more on the video monitor (aka Jenna vision). And as we'd watch her sleep it was so peaceful that you just couldn't help but say, "she's just a little boo." So there you have it--boo is born and here to stay.


**from now on, if you see posts in white they're from Josh!

It's almost weekend!

That's all... nothing too exciting to say today, I'm just really excited that it's almost weekend!! We have nothing planned, which is even better. I hate weekends that are so jam packed that you wake up Monday morning and realize you need a weekend to recover from your weekend before going back to work. These days we find that, because we're so busy during the week, we just want to spend our weekends relaxing with Jenna. I'm hoping for good weather!! (this yellow post is in honor of the sun I'm praying will be out all weekend!) Who knows, maybe we'll take the boo on another trip to the park.

Next weekend Josh is going out of town, so it'll be just us girls!

Army Crawling

Here are a few examples of Jenna "Army Crawling" from last weekend. She's gotten better at it since then, and has started actually pulling herself up on all fours, but this was the first time she really understood that if she was across the room from something, she could get to it by using her arms and legs to pull herself around!

More Jenna and Max

Here's a cute little video from their playdate. Is he not the most handsome little boy!?

Fabulous Family

I often get very sad and emotional about how small Jenna's immediate family is, and how she will never get to know the wonderful family environment that I was fortunate enough to experience growing up. (**note, I am just referring to her IMMEDIATE family. Jenna is very fortunate to have a very large extended Greenwald/Broyhill family with whom to share holidays and family traditions... the thoughts in this post relate primarily to my feelings over what she will miss from my previous family traditions). Though I'll tell her stories of her Grandma Diane, and Great Grandma Sylvia, and Josh will share stories of growing up with his Grandparents Rose and Elmer, Jenna will never experience the Mandy family thanksgivings, passovers and other random holidays that were so precious to me as a child... running around Brigantine or Baltimore, eating those gross kosher fruit-slice candies and waking up to the smell of fried matzah, eating either brisket or baked chicken at grammy's house (and it was ALWAYS either brisket or baked chicken) before walking across the street for services, and commiserating with cousin Ashley about trying to have our meek voices heard in a family of VERY loud Mandy/Kern men (though I'm sure Jenna will learn to grow up and pick on Uncle Greg with the best of them!).

Thinking of these things never fails to upset me... But then I remind myself how lucky we are. Today, Jenna's Mom Mom and Aunt Jessica are picking her up from daycare. Not because Josh and I have to work late, but because it's been a few days, and they miss her and love her and want to spend time with her. Cousin Andrea makes a point to call on her Sunday visits home to stop by and visit, while Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Gary catch up over emails and random run-ins at Wegmans on a given Saturday night. Grandpa Richard calls me from his far away vacation and asks first not about life in general, but about Jenna, how she's doing, how much he misses her, and what little trinkets he has picked up for her along the way. Aunt Sarah, also realizing the pain and significance of the losses our family has felt, and also eager to keep alive traditions that have meant so much, drove all the way down from Philadelphia to celebrate a beloved Rabbi and stayed to have breakfast and crawl around on the floor with Jenna. When Uncle Greg and Aunt Jessi came to town a few weeks back, Jenna's Great Grandma Claire, Great Uncle Michael, Great Aunt Becca, and cousin Sara all came over for a big family breakfast, reminding Jenna (and me) that while my mom is no longer with us, we're so lucky to have her wonderful loving family surrounding us to help raise Jenna in the presence of her memories and spirit. When I think of all these things, I'm reminded that it's not the quantity of family that matters, but the quality. And while we may be fewer in numbers and greater in distance than I would prefer, I know that one day Jenna will reflect on her childhood and know how lucky she was to have been surrounded by such a wonderful family. (obviously these are just a few examples--I'm not intentionally leaving out anyone, but I could go on forever if I talked about every wonderful relative individually!)

Proving my point... In this picture is a blanket that from first glance might look like any other blanket. Instead, it's really the impetus driving this entire rambling post. Rather than pick up a blanket at a baby store, Aunt Jessi spent hours upon hours learning to hand knit this beautiful blanket, complete with attached hand knit flowers not pictured here, for her baby niece. Jenna hates sleeping in her pack and play, but every once and a while I try to force a nap so she will be used to sleeping there when she stays with Mom Mom and Pop Pop, or we attempt a family vacation. Usually I put her in the pack and play, and no matter how tired, she claws the sides trying to get out. On this occassion, though, I put her in, covered her with Aunt Jessi's blanket, and fast asleep she fell... At such a young age, she clearly knows the the difference between being wrapped up in life, and wrapped up in love.