Santa Claus is Coming to Town...he's been here and left!

We had so much fun with Little Ron the past few days. I have been off for the week (boy do I love being an educator :) so I've had time to enjoy being with the little guy that I don't normally get.

As most babies do, Little Ron was more into the paper than the actual gifts. I think he does like the gifts that he did get and plans to play with them in the near future. As for mom and dad, we are enjoying our Wii. It is definitely a good time and I must say that I have beat Big Ron several times in Big Brain Academy. I will challenge anyone!

Little Ron has also starting to "cruise." He is now crawling on all fours and loves to pull up on things like the pictures show. He sometimes thinks he can walk! He hasn't produced any pearly whites (teeth) yet but they are so on their way...he drools so much!

Other than that, Ron only has one more semester left of school and then comes the big bucks! Oh, and more quality time with dad! Little Ron and I are excited to finally have him all to ourselves. We have already started planning our summer trip to Holland! I am not teaching this semester so that Ron can buckle down with his studying so he can pass his boards in June!

In a little more than 4 months, Little Ron will be one year old! Ron will be graduating and we will be starting a new chapter in our lives!

Our Christmas Gift

Thanksgiving Update

We've got a scooter on our hands! Little Ron has been making the motions of a crawler but not quite there yet. He was going backwards for about a week and has now changed it up a bit. Big Ron says he's crawling while I think he's scooting.

We put up our Christmas Tree on Monday night. Little Ron was amazed and just kept looking at the lights. We also bought his X-Mas presents Monday too. Yes, he was with us but to this day, he still has no idea what they are!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving break as we had the chance to visit both families! This time we tried to relax a bit more so instead of eating at two houses, we just did one. Then, we went back over to Ron's family's house on Friday and ate. We plan on switching it up for X-Mas and eating with Ron and his family and visiting with mine afterwards.

(This was an old blog I wrote but when I was trying to post a few weeks ago, Blogger was not working. New blog with new pics to come soon!)

Everywhere!!

The Taylor's and 2 Baker's (including a former Taylor)
Me and Daddy!

It's Been A While

Hello,
Dad here. Everything has been going great. Lil Ron is now 6 months old and is about 14 lbs. He is at the bottom of the percentile charts from the doctors with his height and weight but he seems and appears to be doing just fine. I think that his parent's genetics are getting the best of him. (With him being so short). During the doctors visit we also found out that the lil guy has eczema (thanks mom!), so more lotion for the lil guy and as mom says more "baby massages." I wish I got some of those. Anyways lil Ron is eating great and can't get enough of his baby food. It's so cute to see him smack his face on his lil baby fruit, sweet potatoes, or carrots. Thank goodness he is sleeping much better through the night and is making the night sleeps in his own crib (thanks to Dad)! As far as Gianina and I, Mom is loving her job at Richland and I can't wait to get done with school. May is getting closer and closer. I have decided to take a job in Champaign, so the Baker family will be moving to Champaign next summer. We just took our first trip to visit open houses. I was very exhausted however I think that Gianina is getting excited over us buying our first home in the near future. Both grandparents are having a blast with the lil guy as he is definitely more interactive with smiling and making sounds and picking up different toys. Well enjoy the picture and until next time. I can't believe that I almost forgot this lil Ron has a new favorite toy. His bounce, bounce (aka his bouncer). It's crazy to see him go nuts just bouncing in his lil bouncer. Well, that all for now folks
The Baker's
PS-Lil Ron wanted to tell mommy that "I really do love Alicia Keys. No one, no one, no onee ughhugh.....)

Our Trip to Valpo!

About a month ago, the three of us went on our first road trip! Ron wanted to meet up with his old roomies from Millikin and what better place than Dave & Jen's new house! We stayed Friday night in Chi-town with Ron's bro, Dwayne, and then got up on Sat. a little later than planned and headed over to Indy. Dave and Jen were wonderful hosts. It was so much fun hanging out with everyone that we hope to make this a yearly thing. Ron and I are hoping to have it at our new house next year wherever that may be! Hope you enjoy the pics!

A Perfect Fit!!

Amaiyah, Lil' Ron and Daddy!
Just chillin'!
Look at the rice cereal on my eye!
Boy was Little Ron mad!
Isn't he so peaceful now?

Well, hello!! Little Ron has officially turned 4 months old and is lovin' life! We wake up to smiles from our "Little Man" every morning and end every night with play time. Ron and I often comment on how "perfect" he fits into our life. I guess I should restate that. Ron and I fit "perfectly" in his little life! Since Ron and I are constantly on-the-go, he is able to keep up with us and sometimes even outdoes us! He has also calmed us down as we are in the bed around 10 on Friday and Saturday nights! We definitely don't mind it though!

Since Ron has read our friends', Katie & Jeff, blog, he went out on a mission to get Little Ron to sleep by himself. The first night, Ron let him "cry it out" but it didn't work as he ended up crying for almost 2 hours!! I wanted to go and get him but Ron wouldn't let me. There after, he was sleeping in his crib from about 8 or 9 p.m. to 2 p.m. He would wake up for a bit and then fall back asleep until 5 or 6 a.m. where I would then let him finish the morning in bed with me. I am told by Grandma Tina that this is not good b/c he needs some consistency. This is coming from the same lady who let me sleep with her and my dad for quite a while!! Anyways, last night was horrendous as he would not stop crying so he slept with me. He did really well over the weekend and I hope we can get back to some kind of schedule. Dad is on the road again as he is back and forth to Pekin the next couple of weeks. In February, his rotations will stop and he will be permanently in D-town until May!

Oma and Opa just got back from Holland on Sunday and brought all sorts of goodies for Little Ron. His family in Holland certainly have been thinking of him and must truly love him! Little Ron wanted to go over there and personally thank all of them but I told him he had to wait until next year!

Well, Little Ron has his four month shots on Wednesday and I promised him I would take the day off! When he had his shots the last time, luckily he went to Oma's house afterward so she took special care of him. We also plan on picking up the pictures on Wednesday that Little Ron took at Sears after a difficult and tiring experience and it wasn't Big or Little Ron's fault either (If anyone wants to hear the story, let me know!). I am still teaching on Tues. and Thurs. nights plus I work late on some Wednesday nights. Teaching is great and I am definitely enjoying the experience.

Hope you enjoy the pics--more to come!

More pics!

At Oma and Opa's house
Alaina, Little Ron and Mommy!
Uncle Dwayne and Lil' Ron!
Boy do I love me some rice cereal! Tastes like chicken!
The cutest baby in the world (no offense to other cute babies!)

A Friend-Filled Weekend!

Hello blog fans! It's been awhile since we've posted but so much has been going on! A couple of weekends ago some of our friends stopped by to meet Little Ron in person! I hope they liked him!

Little Ron has now been attending daycare for almost a month! Everyone at the daycare loves him and he is very well taken care of. Everytime I go and nurse him during lunchtime someone is always holding him and he's not even crying! As a matter of fact, they all think he is such a good baby and is now smiling and flirting with the ladies. He has them wrapped around his fingers too!

Everything with Little Ron has been going great! He has not had thrush for the past three weeks (knock on wood :) so hopefully we are done with that. His next doctor's appointment at 4 months is in a few weeks which is crazy!! He has also been to mom's work where everyone absolutely adores him. They want to play with him so much that they forget they're at work.

Little Ron's Oma (grandma) and Opa (grandpa) are off to Holland this weekend for a few weeks and he certainly will miss them. Oma has promised to bring back all sorts of goodies! We can't wait to get over there ourselves! In the meantime, Mom and Dad are getting used to the hectic life again :( Ron has started class again and has been studying like a madman but we're getting closer and closer to graduation (May '08). I have been busy at work since it's registration time and have volunteered to teach another class, The Study of Substance Abuse, which I am totally excited about. It means more work but I really do want some in-class teaching experience.

Well, I hope you enjoy the pics and keep looking for more stories from the Baker family!

Shot time!

All done with my shots!!
What did they just do to me?
Whew! That was rough!

Yep, that's right. Little Ron had his first round of shots. Actually, he did have a Hep. B shot when we were in the hospital but neither of us saw it, thank goodness! I was a bit nervous taking him because I wasn't sure how he would react, but he did very well! The nurse gave him his first shot in his left leg. He was calm before the shot and then as soon as she poked him he let out a wail. Then, she stuck him again real quick with the second shot. After about thirty seconds, he was done crying and I was trying to get revved up for the last one. So, the nurse wiped off his leg with alcohol while I was holding his hands and stuck him again. He cried hard again this time (I saw tears :( ) and then stopped again after thirty seconds. After she was all done, I picked him up and told him what a good job he did and we went on our merry little way! Soon after, I went and bought him some baby Tylenol before taking him to grandma's house. The next two days he slept constantly and even almost through the night. He only woke up once Thursday and Friday nights! The doctor also said that he weighed 11 pounds 0.4 ounces, was 21 3/4 inches tall and his head circumference was in the 25th percentile. His height and weight was in the 5th percentile which was no surprise to Ron and I. We're definitely not the tallest in our families!









This past weekend was also Ron and I's first anniversary as a married couple. We left the little one at home with my sisters and took a trip! It was definitely a nice getaway but we looked forward to coming home too! Everywhere we went we saw a baby that reminded us of Little Ron. We kept taking out our pictures and looking at them. In fact, we kept playing the game, "Who am I?" but we kept using the same person, Little Ron. Sounds like fun, huh?? As I was telling a friend that life is different. We now have someone to come home to and we love it. When we woke up Sunday morning, we tried to rush so that we could get back home to see and play with him. A lot different from a year ago!





Next week, Little Ron leaves his grandmas' houses and will start daycare. I am a little nervous but excited. I want to see how he acts around other little babies! If he's anything like his dad, he'll be the hit of the daycare!

Summer is just beginning!

Fun in the sun!
I love my kisses!

Doesn't he look so much older?

" Wait 'til they get a load of me!"

The last month has been a blur!! Little Ron is getting bigger every minute! I finally went back to work part-time last week and full-time this week. It wasn't too hard to leave "Little Man" (one of our nicknames) with his dad last Monday and it wasn't too hard today. I just don't want to miss him do anything new! "Scar" (another nickname for him since he likes to scratch his face) has had a couple of episodes of thrush the past few weeks. I took him to the doctor and they painted his mouth purple (see pics above). Luckily it hasn't affected his feeding at all. He's still a healthy baby boy!

Other than that, things have been pretty quiet on the homefront. We are all trying to get used to a routine at bedtime which includes Ron Jr. getting to bed a bit earlier than his usual midnight time. Little Ron has been sleeping with us since he's been home. Dad's a bit scared because he's such a deep sleeper but hasn't managed to roll on top of him yet :) Luckily, Mom's a light sleeper and can sense when Ron Jr. is going to put his arm on top of Ron III and snatches it before it hits him! He's been sleeping for about 4 hours at a time during the night and then up every couple of hours. These past couple of nights he's been recording a 5 hour slumber period which makes me really happy! Soon we will try to transition him to the bassinet and/or crib. He has taken a few naps in his crib and on the couch.

Thanks to Oma and Opa, Mom and Dad were afforded a night out on the town! We went to a friend's wedding a few weekends ago. Little Ron was so good that Oma didn't want to leave him. One of our friend's, Gena, is getting married in August so we'll be leaving him again! Hopefully he's just as good too!



We also have taken Little Ron in the pool. First at Fairview (a public pool) and then to Ron's parents. Although he did cry a bit, he had a bit of fun too! Pretty soon he'll be a pool rat just like his dad!



That's about it for now! We are looking forward to the coming year and hopefully get the chance to plan a vacation far away! We want to visit in Holland next year so that we can see Ron Jr.'s Oma and the rest of the family.

Some fun (and not so fun) pics!

Our happy little guy!
His crying face!!
So content.....
Daddy put me in the dryer!

Well, little Ron is now four weeks old and still growing!! He sleeps about 4 hours in the night, wakes up and is up for about an hour or so and then finally goes back to sleep! However, when Dad leaves for "work" he is up at 6:45 a.m. almost on the dot, therefore, Mom does not get much sleep! We've been going on walks in the park in the late afternoon and sometimes I take him on a walk to the Post Office or local gas station (what fun!!). Little Ron is definitely getting heavier but I am not sure how much he weighs! Dad wants to take him to the pool this weekend so we'll see how that goes! That's it for now! Stay tuned!

Hello everyone! I've finally put up some more pics from his first week of life (scroll down). Ron III is now three weeks old as of Monday. He's changed a bit but it's hard for me to see just because I am with him everyday! I am adjusting to being at home. Some days it is quite boring but Ron and I have had our little excursions. I am not adjusting to his time schedule though. During the week, I pretty much am on night duty since Ron has to wake up early for "work." On the weekends, I get a bit of time off but not too much since I am nursing. Lil' Man (as Ron Jr. calls him) is staying up a bit more in the day and is starting to focus on things, like me. I actually saw a bit of tears today!

We had a great Memorial Day weekend. My youngest sister graduated from high school and my middle sister was in town from Louisiana and finally got to see and hold Ron III. Even though Ron Jr. had to work on Saturday, he still managed to have some fun as he had Friday and Monday off.

As for other news, Ron III has a daycare! Since he can't go until July 23rd and I am going back to work before that, Ron's mom is going to watch him during the day. That will definitely help out a bit! Well, folks, that's all for now. Keep checking back in as I will be sure to post pics as they become available especially now that I know our family in Holland keeps checking us out! Hope you're having a great day :)

Random pics