JocelynRemington.com

After a lot of research and long hours I’ve finally redesigned my page and added a Blog. For those of you who don’t know what that means- a blog is like an Internet diary. It is something I can write a quick entry in updating everyone about what’s going on here in NC without all the complications I had on my old page. Plus, the blog saves all my old entries- so next year you’ll be able to look back and see what I wrote about Gus, Ellie and I a year ago! Pretty exciting, huh? Now that it’s set up it’s so easy that even Gus can add entries if he wants- though I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you.

I’ll still be adding pictures to the family page- since I know that’s what you all really come to see. This will just be a faster, more convenient way for me to keep everyone informed in between picture updates (which I hope to do no less than once a month).

I hope everyone likes what they see, and if you have any problems with the pages or if there’s anything I forgot to update please email me and let me know!

Well, it’s official- we’re going to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving. We bought our plane tickets tonight. Gus took the whole week off work to visit his family so Ellie and I will finally meet the whole Remington crew November 19th.

I’m actually pretty excited about the trip. I’ve never been to Oklahoma before. His mom has come to North Carolina to visit us and we had a good time, so the trip should be fun… I’ll see Gus in his natural element.

My only concern is Gus’ brother. I’ve been told he’ll feed my daughter bad foods, let her watch scary movies, and teach her dirty words. Luckily, she’ll only be 4 months old so any damage he does will be minimal at this age. My plan is to just observe and see if all the bad things I hear are true; if they are we’ll just take a picture of Uncle Duke and Ellie can look at it everyday while I tell her never to do anything that man tells her to do. In fact, maybe I should tell her she should also ignore her Daddy while he’s under the influence of Uncle Duke

However, I’m not taking the trip with any prejudices against Duke. For all I know he’s a wonderful man and his family is just out to get him. (Did any Remington’s laugh out loud when they read that sentence? Let me know.)

Ellie will be exactly three months old tomorrow. I know all babies develop at their own pace, and all parents think their baby is a genius- and I’m no different from all parents I really feel like Ellie can do a lot of things other babies her age can’t. She sits up pretty well, she’ll even pull her body up so she’s not leaning against anything and sit on her own. She’s super-alert and has been smiley for several months now. She has baby talk down- she could be a baby news commentator she’s so good at talking! But she still hasn’t really laughed yet. Once, Gus got her to giggle a little when he tickled her but I didn’t get to hear it. It’s the milestone I’m waiting for now and I feel like she’s taking a long time to do it. I mean, we’re funny people, so why doesn’t she think so?

Ellie and I have been happily home again for a week now. We had a good trip and it was nice to see my family, but we really missed Gus and it was nice to be home. I guess it’s just good to be someplace where it’s ok to watch TV in your underwear- though Ellie has no problem doing that anywhere.

We were able to go to Indiana because we got a really cheap round trip ticket from US Airways but they lost my luggage going to Indiana and then they lost it again when I got back to North Carolina. My layovers were in two different airports so I just have to believe that US Airways is a horrible airline and I will think very hard before I fly with them again. It was especially bad because I had to check Ellie’s car seat and that meant I had to have a loaner car seat just to leave the airports. One was for an older baby and Ellie had to sleep all hunched over the whole way home from Indianapolis. The other was an infant seat but it didn’t have a base so we just had to buckle the carrier into the seat. I guess the point is- I don’t like US Air anymore.

But we are home now and Ellie is finally on a good nap schedule. But in one week we’re leaving for Oklahoma and then two weeks after that Ellie and I will head to Georgia to visit my friend Amanda and her new baby girl, Annabelle. And then a couple weeks after that it’ll be Christmas and we’ll be traveling again. So by New Year’s Ellie is going to be a well-traveled, tired little baby. But it will be worth it to see everyone over the Holidays.

Ellie had her four month check-up Tuesday. This time I knew what to expect and was able to keep from crying, but it was still an awful experience. She had to get three more shots and she cried and cried and cried. She only stopped crying for a second when I picked her up so she could give the nurse the dirtiest look I’ve ever seen a baby give. Even the nurse stopped for a second and said “Did you see that look she just gave me?” It was funny, but not funny enough to make the appointment less awful. Someone should buy me a present for having to go through that.

She weighed 13 lbs. 8oz. and was 24 inches long. The doctor says she is right on track when it comes to weight gain and she’s a healthy baby in all other respects as well. I was also given the green light to start feeding her baby food. So yesterday she had her first meal- squash. She didn’t really seem to like it, but we’lltry it again today. Maybe it’ll grow on her… not just get all over her.

Yesterday she was fussy and had a fever all day. She has a couple white spots on her bottom gum and so I’m pretty sure a tooth or two is trying to break through. She’s miserable and grumpy and that makes me pretty miserable.

So far this morning things seem fine. She doesn’t feel as warm and seems to be in a better mood. We’ll have to wait and see what the afternoon will bring.