The stroller earns its keep

This was big snowstorm #3 for the NYC area, and once again, our stroller showed it's worth. We've had 3 storms blanketing the city with 12+ inches of snow this winter. It made for some beautiful pictures, and we've had some fun trying to get around. This latest storm has dropped 16", which is incredible considering the warmth of the streets.

This picture was taken at City Hall Park on day 1, when there was only about 3 inches on the ground.


The picture below was taken on day 2 down at the South Street Seaport, with about 12-15inches of snow

100.7 The cold hits

We had our first trip to the Doctor today for a fever of 100.7. J has been battling what we assumed was just a cold and all that that entailed (runny nose, cough, congestion... the fun stuff). Doc took a look, confirmed the cold and gave a negative for anything more serious. The experience reminded me of how fragile she really is.

Listening to Joc fight to breathe through her nose, as snot runs down her face, is just heart breaking. It gives me a new found respect for parents out there that have to deal with severe health issues in their child- how do they face that every day?

Napping = Full Contact Sport

As a sleeper, J has been doing so much better these past few weeks. Her awake time in the morning is about an hour, and in the afternoon it's about an hour 1/2 to two hours. But recently, J has decided that napping is her enemy. She fights the good fight against her enemy, Mr. Sleep.

This entails yelling, screaming, head smashing, rolling, fighting and occasional scratching.
The good part is Mommy and Daddy find this all quite amusing (except at 3am) and will persevere.. we will win this fight against the 13 week old.. hahahaha (that is the sinister laugh)

3 Months

Love those rolls!


Hanging out with Gigi

Mima has both her girls!

Daddy had his first poppy diaper bathroom meltdown. J let it rip at the Starbucks and kept about 10 people waiting outside the bathroom while she had a complete meltdown. Of course, as soon as Chris took her out she was all smiles and coos !

Growth Spurts

Ahhh... growth spurts... or another way to put- a time to make mommy crazy. Just when you think you have it down pat, this little itty-bitty thing comes creeping up on you ( or smacks you in the face..) and turns your day upside down.

As Jocelyn goes through her 3 month growth spurt, it's teaching me to be flexible... to read her signals... to go with the flow..... it's like asking a brick wall to sway.

All the Children belong to him

I was putting J down for a nap and began to sing "Jesus Loves Me" to her, in part to calm her down, and also to drown out her cries of protest. I got to the words " Little ones to him belong", and it hit me, we have been given such a gift. The greatest gift the Lord could give us, but she is on loan to us. She belongs to God- she is one of his children. We have been given the joy of raising her, of loving and guiding her, but most importantly, we are raising her to know that she is one of God's children- one of the best gifts in the world.

Jersey Blizzard

We spent this past weekend visiting Nana and Grandpa down in NJ, and had a lot of fun watching all the snow come down! Almost 2 feet fell and while J stayed warm in Nana's arms, Logan had some "fun" playing in the snow (she's still not to sure if she likes this white fluffy stuff) Logan trying to figure out if she likes this stuff.... a little reminiscent of "The Christmas Story"
Nana with her two little loves!

J all snugly and ready for her big trip to NJ! Those are socks on her hands- keeps her hands warmer then mittens!

Settling Down - 2 1/2 months

Life is finally beginning to settle down in the Donlan household. The dark rings are diminishing from under our eyes, our conversations no longer resemble the grunts of cavemen, and we can think of things other then how soft that pillow looks.... Baby J is becoming manageable!

These last 2 1/2 months have been quite the roller coaster. As we look back on them, both Chris and I can say that it was some of the toughest moments we've ever had to face. There were those nights where J was screaming for hours on end, and Chris and I just passed her back and forth, tagging each other in after an hour or two. Or those phone calls I had to make to Chris saying only one word " help". He would come rushing down from work to give me a break from the crying. I remember one morning, around 4:30am, after a particularly rough night, that I looked at him and said " what time can we call the Grandmas, because if they want a grandchild, they need to get in here."

Without each other, I'm not sure how well we would have done it. It makes me really respect single parents, or those parents that have to do it without the support of their spouse. Chris has been amazing- and my love and admiration for him, both as a husband and as a father, has grown even deeper then I could ever have imagined.

But now that those times are (hopefully) past us, things are going much smoother. At the moment, J is taking a long nap (between 1-3 hours) in the morning, and then after each bottle, another 25-45 min nap. We have been putting her down at night to sleep around 7:30-8 (the putting down part can take anywhere from 1-2hours with her finally falling asleep around 9:30pm) and has been sleeping until 5-6am. We were able to cut out the 1am and 3/4am feedings by simply putting her Binky back in her mouth (and I say "we" loosely- she sleeps next to Chris's side of the bed, so it's really all him.)

Baby J's personality is also showing itself each day. She is smiling more often- esp in the mornings when I go over and pick her up. The other morning I was laying in bed just listening to her "talk" to herself for about 5 min. (it made my heart melt!) Then when I went over to her co-sleeper to pick her up and began to talk to her, she got this huge grin on her face as she recognized who it was (my heart melted further).

She has also discovered her legs about 2 weeks ago, and now loves "standing up" She is able to hold her head up almost completely, so she loves looking around, practicing holding her herself on her legs. J is still content laying in the swing and bouncy seat, but I don't know for how much longer- she gets antsy at times and wants to just stand and look around (and not at the 4 walls, thank you very much. Take her outside or onto the balcony so she can actually see people and things!)

My mom came for a visit yesterday and at lunch she was holding J so she could see all the people walking by us through the window- happy as a clam! When the people stopped walking by, she gave this little shriek to kindly ask them to keep entertaining her! What a pip!

We did a little photo shoot to follow up on the one that Karen did at 1 1/2 weeks. So amazing to see the changes!

J has just recently really found her hand. She seems to want to suck on her thumb or a finger, but can't figure out how to seperate it from the rest of her hand. So instead, she just sticks the whole thing in her mouth. Self soothing!

Love those rolls!

Smiling!


Loves to look at lights, windows, lamps....





Her sly grin

Enjoying her visit with Mima



Daddy is rocking the sling!

Our little Inuit ready for her walk