Blackberry Jam

We are so lucky to have these amazing blackberry bushes right across the street from our house.  For the last 3 weeks we have been picking handfuls of them and just eating them.  Papa Carter is in town and so is my friend Stephanie,  so we decided to do something special with the berries.  I have never made jam so we thought we would give it a shot.  We had so much fun and laughed a ton.  The jam turned out really good and our canning was a success.

I am excited to try and make a berry crisp and to do some more jam.  I wish Stephanie lived close, but we have really enjoyed seeing them over the last 2 weeks.  The kids have gotten along so well, and we have had a lot of good conversation and good laughs.

We both took pictures with my camera that day.  When I loaded them on my computer, between the two of us, we had taken like 20 pictures of the jam jars.  Hilarious!

4 months

It is SO hard to believe this sweet little girl turned 4 months already.  I wanted to give a little update on what she is up to:

-Smiles a ton

-grabs at everything

-found her feet

-can roll over from back to front, but her arm still gets stuck under her

-laughs, but is very guarded with them

-talks a ton, very loudly!

-sleeps from 9-5 or later consistently, eats then goes back to sleep til around 8

-naps 3-4x a day for an hour up to 3 hours, but always wakes up talking and happy

-still rarely cries

-likes to kick and splash in the bath

-loves to play with toys

-still isn't in love with the swing, but loves the bouncy seat still

-still is sleeping in the side sleep positioner

-likes to be swaddled to naps and bed with her arms free

-is easy on the go or at home

I took her to the Dr. last week for her 4 month check and she is

26" long (92%)

13 lbs. (25%)

The dr. was definitely worried about her weight because she dropped significantly in her weight % from her last visit.  I am supposed to take a lot more time and feed her for longer.  I have to bring her back in to have her weight checked in a month.  I have never had a baby that was small, so I was so shocked when the Dr. was worried.  It is such a terrible feeling thinking that your baby is so happy that she may be starving and just doesn't complain.  Hopefully her weight will pick up or at least stay steady and she will be fine.  She says that happens sometimes when babies are very content.  She wants me to try to supplement with bottles of pumped milk in the afternoon, but our first attempt today was a disaster.  Not only was she gagging, but when she did finally swallow a little of the milk from what came out while she was chewing on the nipple, she barfed every last bit of it up.  She is very funny that way! Oh well, I'll just keep trying.  

It was really cute because the Dr. asked me if a lot of people stop me over her.  She said she was an extremely beautiful baby and that's a lot coming from a pediatrician that sees sweet babies all day long. Overall it was a great visit, I just had to remember to slow down and make those boys wait a little longer for my help.