I've been sick this week, just a head cold but miserable all the same. It's so different being sick with a baby. Kevin's on nights this week so Friday night was just me, Jonah, and my cold. It was a terrible night - I'll spare you the gory details. Last night Kevin called out so that he could take care of the baby and I could get some sleep, which made a world of difference. I feel so much better today. We took a nice long family walk this afternoon. It was a gorgeous day; the temperature was perfect and the leaves are beautiful right now. We're trying to get all the sun we can before winter sets in.

In my last post I spoke too soon about the bedtime thing, of course. Jonah sleeps better some nights than others. He's less cute at 3am screaming, but still cute enough that we haven't put a For Sale sign on his forehead.

It's a little scary to me how soon I'll be on my own as a nurse practitioner. I think I know a lot, but there is so much to know that a lot isn't very much. I've been thinking lately about what kind of job I want to look for when I graduate. There are so many options in geriatrics! Primary care, long term care, assisted living, home visits... There are pros and cons to everything and I guess it all kind of depends on what's available close to Tempe. I've been trying to soak up all the resources while I'm here so I can be the best I can be at whatever I end up doing.

This little guy has been keeping up on our toes! I can't believe how quickly he's growing. I'll be gone for 12 hours at clinical and I swear he looks totally different when I get home! We've been dealing with bedtime a little this week. When he turned three months old we decided to try to teach him to fall asleep on his own. We expected it to be hard, and the first night was, but since then he's been pretty great about it. He might cry for a couple of minutes, but if I come in and tell him I love him and give him his pacifier, he goes right to sleep. And he sleeps right through the night! Maybe I should erase that so that I won't jinx it! He changes all the time, so next week might be a completely different story.

I've always thought that if I had a baby, I would be able to see my own bias. For example, I would say I had the cutest baby but I would know that I really didn't have the cutest baby, that I just thought so because he was my baby. But seriously, I have THE CUTEST BABY.

He's only three months old! He's going to be an early walker, like his cousin Miguel.

He loves to read.

He's going to be sitting up soon!

Everything here is ok. I'm extremely busy between parenting and school, especially now that Kevin's back to work. I knew it would be a little crazy but this is just nuts. I'm making it through, though, one day at a time. Just don't look at my living room - it might blind you.

It's been very busy around here lately. Next week is midterms, which means lots of papers are due. My clinical was canceled on Tuesday which is stressful since it means that I'll have to make up hours at some point, but the good part is that I have that whole extra day to write papers.

Quick Jonah update: His new skills include eardrum shattering squeals of delight, almost turning over, reaching for toys and sucking furiously on his first two fingers. He also has started sleeping through the night (I almost hate to type that for fear I'm jinxing my good luck. Good luck, please don't go!)

I thought you might like a picture update, since I don't have much energy to come up with words. I narrowed down the 300 (!) pictures from Grandma Annie's visit.

Jonah on his three month birthday (or thereabouts) clutching his new favorite bear toy

Grabbing onto his toys like a big boy

sucking on his fingers, trying so hard not to fall asleep

at Silver Sands beach

We've had so much fun with Grandma Annie in town! The time is really flying by. Jonah gets along great with his grandma. They play and sing and he does a lot of laughing. While I've been in school, Kevin Mom and Jonah have explored the city on foot. They take pictures so I can see how everything went and it looks like a good time is had by all!

If the weather is nice, I think I might skip my afternoon class tomorrow so we can all go to the beach.

I'll write and post pictures of Grandma Annie's visit soon. Right now it's too late and we are too tired from all the fun!

Hove Family Vacation - Maine

Our first family vacation was a nice trip. Jonah is a very well behaved little guy, even in the car. We are so lucky! He was fascinated by Maine. We walked along the water, ate yummy food at restaurants, and poked our head in Bar Harbor's quirky little shops. He flirted with all the nice ladies that came up to talk to him, smiling and giggling and showing off. They called him "flawless" and "gorgeous" and "perfect." The women in Maine won Jonah and I both over in seconds.

We came home pretty tired, all three of us. The change in beds and routine took it's toll and we spent the next day resting up. Then I had to go back to school, where I was a tiny bit behind on homework from my weekend away. I've worked very hard this week, though, and I'm all caught up. Kevin's been great about watching the baby so I can get work done. He goes back to work October 10th and I think we're both kind of dreading it. If only he could stay home all the time! He's an ideal cook/babysitter and very handy to have around!

Isn't Maine beautiful?! It's worth the all day drive.

Jonah is finally feeling better - and just in time! We're leaving Friday for a weekend in Maine. It will be our first family vacation. We're all really excited. I'm not sure how seven hours in the car will be with Jonah - but there's only one way to find out!

I did not fall asleep at clinical this week, although I wanted to on several occasions. My exhaustion did affect my work performance - I definitely wasn't at the top of my game the last two days. The good news is no one was killed or injured in my line of fire (as far as I know) so I am free to go back and try to do better next week. Like my dad says, they call it practicing medicine. I remember when I was learning piano and tripped and stumbled over all the notes as I practiced. I had to take even simple songs painfully slow until I learned them. That's how I feel at clinical sometimes - missing notes and going painfully slow. But eventually I will learn the song, right? Just got to keep on practicing.

I started messing around with my blog template and now I kind of hate it but I'm way too tired to fix it. It looks weird, doesn't it? Maybe I'll change it again later...

Jonah has been so fussy the last few days. It can't still be from his shots, can it? We don't know what's going on, but we're really starting to fade over here. I'm not getting a lot of sleep and it's hard to be smart and remember things when I'm this exhausted. Diabetes? What's that? Blood pressure? Am I supposed to take it? Eat it? Feed it to some one? What's going on?

Tomorrow should be an interesting day at clinical. I'll probably fall asleep while I'm pumping and end up with my own milk all over my shoes. That will inspire confidence in my patients, won't it? I can't hold up a breastpump without falling over, but here - let me manage your 14 medications. No problem!

Jonah Laughing

I am obsessed with this baby. Can you blame me?

Jonah had his two month appointment today. He's such a big boy! At 15lb, 10oz, he's off the growth charts for weight. He's 63cm long, which is the 95th percentile. The pediatrician said he was one of the healthiest babies that he'd seen and that he was very advanced with this developmental milestones. While I realize that he probably gushes like this to all new mothers, it didn't stop me from beaming with pride and falling madly in love with him. He's obviously a great doctor if he can see how beautiful and smart and perfect my son is!

Jonah had to get his vaccines today (three shots!). He cried big fat crocodile tears that made my chest hurt. He slept all afternoon and is now running a fever of 101. He's a little grumpy and extra cuddly and you can just tell he doesn't feel very good. He's got his hot little head pressed against my cheek now. Kevin made fun of me for checking his temperature every 5 minutes all afternoon, but once it crept up past 101, he was the one that insisted on going out to get infant Tylenol. I guess we're both a little protective of our perfect, healthy, advanced little boy.

Jonah Met Grandma and Grandpa Hove!

I've been busy this week trying to figure out how to juggle classes and being a mom. It's going even busier than I thought it would be but I like being back at school and being out in the real world again. I love being Jonah's mom but when I'm home all day with him, I become a zombie milk machine. Now I come home and really treasure my time with him. It's hard sometimes being gone all day but it's so nice to come home to my two favorite boys.


He's really turning into an ideal baby. He's eating and pooping as well as ever, but he's not nearly as fussy as he was his first few weeks. He's sleeping much better, only getting up once during the night now to nurse and he goes right back to sleep. He sleeps very well in his crib until about 3am, when he wants to eat, and then he usually ends up in our bed again if we want to sleep til morning. But it's kind of nice to be all snuggled in together as a family.


Kevin's parents are coming in tonight. We're looking forward to them meeting Jonah. They've seen pictures, but now they will finally see in person how amazing our little boy is!

Jonah Talks More

My first day of clinical was today. I was terrified going in. I'd never been away from Jonah for more than two or three hours. I had no idea what my preceptor was going to be like or what would be expected of me. And I was pretty sure I didn't remember anything about anything I learned last year.

It turns out clinical is very much like riding a bike. I needed to do a complete physical. I jumped right it and it all came rushing back to me. I wasn't exactly in top form all day, but it went a lot better than I anticipated. Another surprise: I really loved being back. I missed Jonah terribly, of course, but oh my I love what I do here. I had been a little worried about it, but I think I will be just fine as a working mom.

My preceptor was nice and supportive of the whole pumping thing, which was another thing I was nervous about. She offered one of her exam rooms for me to use whenever I need to pump. That makes my life easier, especially considering that she keeps such long days. We worked 10 hours today and she was still going when I finally left.

I was away from home for 13 hours today (the site is a 90 min drive each way) and Jonah and I were very happy to see each other when I finally got home. It was so nice to be out doing something I loved all day and then come home to my little family at night. I have a sweet baby sleeping on my chest and I feel very content, like all the pieces are fitting together just perfectly.

Picture Update

asleep at the park, with socks on his hands to keep them warm

asleep at home

wide awake on the changing table

with his godfather, Skyler

with his godmother, Mary

Jonah has been getting so big so quickly that it's hard to keep up with him. It seems like I'm constantly putting clothes back into the "too small" box. We bought 6-12 month socks last week and he's already outgrown them. How is that possible!? He's not even 7 weeks old.

We took him to the pediatrician to assess a rash he got on his chest. While we were there, we asked to weigh him because Kevin and I had bets going on how much he'd gained. (I thought he was around 12 lb, Kevin thought 15). Jonah is 14lb, 5oz!! I thought Kevin was crazy for thinking a six week old baby could be 15 pounds but he wasn't too far off! We have ourselves a big baby boy. He's cute, though, right? He's so happy most of the time, always cooing and giggling. He can really entertain himself, now, too. It's nice because we can put him on the playmats for a while and make dinner or pick up the living room and he'll just play with his rattles and talk to his stuffed animals. It's very cute (and convenient!) . We took him to visit the nursing home where I had clinicals last semester and I have to agree with a nurse there: "You make good babies. You need to make more."

Jonah is so awesome I can actually contemplate having more babies at some point, although not anytime soon.

Jonah's New Noise

Jonah Laughs

Jonah was a little angel at the play last night. He didn't fuss once, even when he woke up. Today's another good day. Jonah's all smiles and coos and giggles. He's so cute I almost can't stand it.