A River Photo Update

We have a ton of pictures of River that we need to show everybody.
But first, some developmental updates...
He can't quite say the entire alphabet yet, but he can goo and gaa most of the phonetic sounds, most even with a pacifier in his mouth.
He loves to play and swing his arms and kick his feet. He will wake up before us in the morning and lay in his crib and play by himself for a long time, just singing and throwing his paci around and kicking around in circles. It's really cute.
He is sitting up really well and reaching for everything. If he gets his hands on something it goes directly into his mouth. I have had to use the "no" word a few times with him already, even though he doesn't know what it means.
He has two teeth and bites Kari while he is feeding. He also is eating avacado, green beans, and peas now. We just buy veggies at the store and put them into the food processor to make some baby food. It's much much cheaper so far.
The result of those additions in his diet is a change in his poo! It's quite stinky now and there has been a magical change in consistency. I have to say that the cloth diapers are working wonderful though!
He's heavy, at least my arms think he's heavy. I can't hold him as long as I used to. He is 16 lbs. and is 26.5 inches long.
Now for a load of pictures.

River and Uncle Choyer relaxing

Cowboy River!

The cutest picture of all time! This is his new sleeping buddy.

Grammy and River on the porch.

Pappy's 70th birthday.

Hey ya'll

"Do I have any buggers in my nose?"

River the Water Baby

River had his first trip to the swimming pool a few weeks ago. We are just getting around to putting some pictures up.
He seemed to enjoy it, or at least it didn't scare him. He was very calm and quiet the whole time. We think it was because he missed his afternoon nap and was very tired. Towards the end of the adventure he was falling asleep on our shoulders.
We only kept him in the water for 10 minutes or so at a time and we only stayed 30 minutes all together. The internet said that was the safe way to get them started in the pool.
And like most people, after a day at the pool, we came home and River took a loooong deep nap. There is something about the sunshine and water that just wears you out.
Here are some pics:

I added the shark for some danger effects

"Take me home mommy!"

Virginia is for Family

River made his first trip to Virginia last weekend to see family. I had a rare 4 days off in a row and Kari and I mulled over sitting at home and relaxing for a change or trying to make the trip to Virginia to introduce River to my side of the family.
It had been 3 years since I visited VA. Life's business got the best of me. So we decided to attempt the 8 hour car ride broken into two days and make a little speed visit up north.
River did wonderful in the car ride. Each day was around 4 hours, give or take some. He only fussed the last hour of the last day on the way home.
I don't think he has ever been passed around so much. I almost put him in a little football outfit and just handed him off to everyone that passed by. Play-action River. (that's a football term)
It didn't seem to bother him too much that he was getting tossed around like a hot potato either. He just went with the flow. I guess he knew it was all just family.
So here are some pics from our little jaunt to Virginia.

This is my parents garden. We helped pick some luscious veggies to eat.

Great Aunt Susan

Cousin Brandy, Cousin Sadie, Great Aunt Kim, and Grandma

Cousin Sadie getting some practice for her baby sister coming soon!

Cousin Reed

Some evening relaxing time with Grandma and a nice book.

The next morning we went to the locally famous Blue Collar Joe's Doughnuts. My mouth is salivating right now just thinking about them!!

Great Maw Maw

Great Paw Paw. This is where River got his middle name Morgan!

Aunt Jody and Cousin Morgan

Cousins CJ, Morgan, and Mikey

Uncle Chris looking like a seasoned pro

Meeting my Grandpaw J for the first time

Aunt Haley

Grandmaw J

The Teals New Home 2

This is the second installment of the Teals New Home updates.
Kari and I stopped by the house yesterday evening to check out the finished product. I think they are coming into town this next week to have a walk through inspection and then close the week after that.
The house looks great! I think they made alot of wise choices with it. Here are some pics that we
took and promised them we would put on the web for their viewing pleasure;

6 Months Already

River Morgan Jenkins is 6 months old already!! It's hard to believe. We wanted to give a little update, and of course pictures of our growing boy.

River is almost sitting on his own. We've really started to work with him. He'll get it for a few seconds but prefers to fall over and laugh right now. It won't be long. I just know it.

He enjoys standing. If I would sit there all day and hold him up, he'd be perfectly happy.

We've started the solid food adventure. He's only had rice cereal so far. I'm still working out when to feed him, the temperature of the food and all that. We're still nursing, so he fills up on the milk and I'm trying to figure out when is the best time to feed him before he goes back down for a nap. My priority is to nurse for as long as I can, so that's my focus. So, I always nurse first. His tummy is so tiny and full that he only enjoys a small amount of the cereal...I feel like I'm cramming it in sometimes, and much to my dismay...it comes back up shortly. Also, I'm trying to do that at "breakfast." Well, he gets up around 6 or 7 and has a great feed and takes a nap a couple of hours later. I don't even usually get to the rice cereal until around lunch. I'm open to suggestions.

He loves trees. I can put all of his toys in front of him, and he'd much rather watch the trees blowing in the wind through the window. He gets totally mesmerized. Most times a quick trip outside will calm him down instantly.

He has worked so hard these last couple of months teething, and it may have paid off. There's one tooth. It's on the bottom, and we can feel it with our finger where its broken the gums. But he won't let us at his lip enough to get a good look. I don't think it's all the way through, but it won't be long. He's still going strong and chewing away.

Definitely, he has found his voice. Sometimes he "talks" from the moment he gets up until he goes to sleep. Nap Times are the quiet times. I wonder where he got that!

And River is no doubt a Mama's Boy at this point. I'm trying to soak it all in because I have a feeling when he gets older this Cuddly Snuggly Mama Love will morph. So, for now I'm soaking in all those moments he wants to nestle up to me, rub my hands, and sit on my hip.

Now, for some photos...

The Day of Reckoning!!

Well, it's August 1st...The Jenk Adventure's Day of Reckoning we're calling it. It's the beginning of our journey to become DEBT-FREE!! It should be a wild ride for sure.

Over the nearly 6 years we've been married, we have managed to get our debts down to one. One lonely but huge debt that we are about to tackle......those student loans.

Starting today, we're going to live on a TIGHT budget. Hopefully, we'll be able to live off of Ryan's income and use what I make to add on to the monthly payment. We thought we would let our family and friends know what we're doing for accountability, encouragement, and support.

Here are some of our ground rules...
1) We can only spend $30 a month on eating out.
2) Our gift budget has dwindled down to $30 as well. Sorry, loved ones!
3) The entertainment side of things...well, it has to be FREE!
4) My grocery allowance...every 2 weeks, I get it in cash and I can't use the card. So when we're out, well....we have to get creative.

That hits some of our basics. We'll keep everyone posted on our journey to have peace in our lives financially.

Since it is the Day of Reckoning, I've also started it as the Day I Begin Getting My Body Back....Stay tuned for a post on that later....

Eating from a spoon

River experienced his first cereal eating experience yesterday! Here lately he has taken a sip of water out of Kari's glass or a straw, but we decided to begin feeding him cereal at 6 months.
He did a great job and got messy in the process, just like he was supposed to. Here are some quick photos of the milestone;

There's Nothing Like Your Mama!

There's Nothing Like Your Mama....that's for sure.

My mom has been so selfless these last couple of months. I've had several births, and my mom willingly came to stay with us to help us out when I got "the calls." I wanted to secure some care for River, so I could assist these women in labor. The other day we were all in the car, and Ryan jokingly said to my mom that taking her on a picnic was the least we could do since she's been living with us for 5 or 6 months. HA! We all laughed. We ended up adding up the weeks she's spent with us, and it did come to about 5 or 6 weeks since the end of May.

She's been riding with The Jenk Adventure through some feats. She did the sell of the house with us and the move to the cabin in the woods. She's been loved by chiggers and bit by ticks. She's been a trooper with our mouse problem. She even eventually offered firmly to get back on the sleeper sofa after I demanded she sleep with me until the problem was solved. She helped unpack, clean, wash clothes, garden, cook, and on and on. She's slept on the "decked" out sleeper sofa for at least a month. She's had Grammy Time at all hours of the day and night. She lasted through the 54 hour birth I attended. She's listened to Ryan and me tease each other and discuss finances. She even went to a baby shower for someone she didn't know. She's helped take care of good ole' Chaco. And all the while bought a house of her own.

We have been so fortunate to have her here. I don't know what we would have done without her. I'm guessing we would have "survived," but I would have definitely been more stressed and probably shed a decent amount of tears. We are very excited that they are moving here to Tennessee to be a big part of River's life. He loves his Grammy! It's amazing to watch them. They are already developing their own thing, and I love it! It feels good as a mom to know that someone else besides his own mommy and daddy loves him and knows him well.

We could never repay her for her time and energy these last couple of months, but I did give her a massage and we did take her on a picnic per her request. Here are some snapshots from our picnic/playground date. Thanks, Mom! We love you!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com