Christmas Past

Linnea's first Christmas has come and gone. It was a blast watching her open numerous gifts and revel at the noises that so many made....batteries were included, thanks to grandparents and great grandparents. We really didn't have to buy her anything she would have been happy with the paper, ribbons, and bows that adorned the packages. Here are some pictures from the days of festivities.

10 Down 2 to Go

Linnea is now ten months old! It is hard to believe in just two months we will be celebrating her first whole year of life. She has been such a blessing to our entire family, yes this includes all you grandparents, great grandparents, and aunts and uncles too! The only one not quite so excited about Linnea is Kitty Ka-too.

Well Linnea had her 9 month well check today at 10 months...the doctor is a little busy when it comes to well checks. Linnea was upset the minute she saw the nurse, as this is the nurse who has given Linnea 90% of her shots, and who had to prick her toe and give Linnea her second flu shot today....and Linnea didn't really want anything to do with Dr. Norby either.

The doctor said she is doing great physically and is on target developmentally. So the moment you have all been waiting for.... The Stats....Linnea weighed in at 16 pounds 7.5 ounces, that puts her in the 5-10% range. She is 29 inches long, 75% and her head is 50%...at least something is average. The Dr. once again said, "she is long and lean but we already knew that."

Because of her length we will be needing to change her car seat soon as her pumpkin seat is only recommended for babies up to 29 inches in length. I have a strong feeling she will be sitting backwards long past her first birthday as I don't foresee her gaining 3 pounds and 8.5 ounces in two months; but we will see. The Dr. said we can start giving her whole milk and more "people" food whenever we want to start, it's our decision to make.

Linnea is still waiting on her first tooth but I have a feeling we will be seeing more than one in the near future.

Thanksgiving in Wisconsin

We traveled to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving at my sister, Ellen's home. Her and her husband put the three of us up for the majority of our stay. Ellen's husband, Dan, enjoyed the football game with us, way to go Packers.....Linnea had fun too. She is a true cheese head!

Other than just hanging out with family,Ellen and I performed in an alumni choir concert. We rehearsed for about 2 and a half hours Saturday afternoon and performed a 14 song concert that night. We had a great choir director in HS which made this all possible....she says the next alumni concert won't be for another six years; but many of us think it will be sooner. It was a lot of fun to be singing again, especially with people who can read music...or at least follow the notes up and down.

After a great visit it was time to travel back to Ohio. Our trip North was smooth sailing, being that we left on Tuesday afternoon. The same cannot be said of our trip back on Sunday with the roads full of holiday travelers...the 9 hour trip evolved into 11 and a half hours in the car. Needless to say Linnea was tired of being in the car after 10 hours so the last hour and a half was brutal. We made it home safe and sound and Linnea recovered from the trauma of a really long car trip in the following week.

Linnea is Nine Months Old!

I hope you enjoyed the pictures, although she is becoming more and more difficult to keep still for pictures we always get some good ones....and being that she is sooo cute they all look great.

We went to the doctor for her ear recheck - she had a double ear infection three weeks ago- she weighs in at 15 lbs. 12 oz.. I didn't get any other stats and will have to wait until our well check appointment in December to find out more. She also got her first flu shot today and will get her second at the December appointment.

The Great Pumpkin

Our little "Punkin" went as a pumpkin this year for Halloween. Chris had to work late on Halloween so I took Linnea to his parents where she got us a nice goody bag....well she got Cheerios out of the deal and Chris and I got some candy! I then picked up Chris's grandma, she went with Linnea and I to do reverse trick-or-treating at his office. Linnea was dressed in her costume and passed candy out to the six or so people that were there still working.

The owner's dog was also there...an Irish Wolfhound, it's back standing up is 35" from the floor and he weighs about 160 pounds, if he stood on his hind legs he would be over 7' tall. Linnea was excited to see the dog, and Chris's grandma was even more excited. I thought we would never get her back out of there...she loves dogs, and talked about it most of the way home.

Linnea went to Boot Camp!

Much to her Aunt Heather, Aunt Ellen and Uncle Dan's liking Linnea has begun the Army Crawl. Go Army! Linnea had been scooting and rolling around for some time but she is becoming more organized in her movement. She wasn't very happy when I put her back down to shoot this video but you get the idea.

Linnea also likes to pull herself up on her gym and dance to the music!

She is such a BIG GIRL!

Renaissance Festival

A day at the Renaissance Festival with friends what better way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Chris, Linnea, and I met up with Tom, Katie, Greyson, and Cameron at the Ohio Renaissance Festival a couple weekends ago, it was a lot of fun for all.

We did have a slight run in with a parrot that a lady was carrying around. She propped the parrot on Linnea's stroller and it decided it was a good place to use the bathroom....parrot poop on one of her favorite toys...into the trash that goes!

Jousting

Royalty?!

Come on you all know I am a queen!

Knightly Linnea!

Daddy knighted Linnea and gave her a great helmet to wear she only needs some armor and a sword her size now!

A flirting 3 year old

Greyson was trying to hook up with my 23 year old sister who was with us. He broke a few of the rules to impress a girl...he was picking his nose while winking at her and then grabbed her chest, not that he completely understood why he wasn't allowed to do that; but it made for a good laugh at dinner.

Linnea's Baptism

Linnea was baptized September 30th. Our church will do either infant baptism or dedication depending on the desire of the family, although our pastor does believe infant baptism is more appropriate.

We had chosen to read Psalm 121 and give Linnea a charge of Micah 6:8; but in all the excitement somehow Chris misplaced his marker and read Psalm 125 instead, oh well!

Following the baptism the pastor walked Linnea down the aisle for the entire church to see and charged them all to treat Linnea as a member of the covenant community; praying for her, teaching her and holding her accountable.

The service was beautiful and the party that followed was a lot of fun too, thanks to all who attended.

Linnea was the life of the party!

Linnea's dress was supposed to be for Easter, which was in April, but as you can see it fit great in September. Chris's mom made the dress in the smallest size the pattern said, supposedly fitting babies 7-14 pounds, Linnea is about 15 in the picture. Thanks Grandma Doughman!

Go Pack!

Last year around July 4th Chris and I took a trip up to Wisconsin to see my family. While we were there Chris wanted to go to Goodwill and see if he could find any "cool" t-shirts. Chris looked through the racks and racks of t-shirts while I headed over to the baby section just to take a gander, as we did not at that time know what we were having. Well where better to find Packers gear than in Wisconsin, so we bought this sweatshirt and a pair of socks. I found the socks in the drawer today and could of put them on her feet yesterday. The sweatshirt is supposed to be a 12 month but if her head keeps growing I don't know that it will fit at 9 months.

Legos!

For those of you that don't know Chris has an obsession with Legos. He collected them as a kid and has bought huge lots on Ebay. We have been collecting our Pampers points for a little while and Chris wanted to see what we could get with them, well you can guess it, we got Legos! We have two sets of baby Legos; one is a train and one is a shape sorter. Baby Legos are even a little different than Duplos, they are a little bigger and piece together easier. Linnea has enjoyed playing with the Legos almost as much as her Daddy.

Pumpkin

Chris and I have a lot of nicknames for Linnea but the majority of them include the word pumpkin. For example, "Punkins" and Pumpkin Pie. Here is a great picture of Linnea, courtesy of Daddy.

When Mom is away Daddy will play!

Last night I left Chris to feed Linnea the rest of her dinner while I got her things ready for a bath. Needless to say Linnea is not too fond of sweet potatoes and turkey. Daddy says she was already a mess he just helped her spread it around.

Chris has been hard at work on the deck here is a picture to prove it!

Sitting and Such

Linnea has been sitting for awhile so I thought I would take her 7 month pictures of her sitting like a "big girl" Isn't she just adorable?

Cheerios!

We have been trying to get Linnea to drink from a sippy cup...she didn't really want anything to do with it at first but is getting the hang of it now.

Linnea and I have been busy nannying these last three weeks. Linnea loves the social interaction. We are watching the twins, who are now 17 months, three days a week and a 2 year-old and 10 month-old the other two days.

The twins love trying to put things in her mouth not that she needs help with that! They also love playing with all the baby toys that come back out when Linnea is over. They have even started giving Linnea hugs..it is cute! Linnea observes everything that they do...I am sure she is analyzing the movements as there are times she mimics them.

Labor Day was a day full of LABOR for Chris...I think he would of rather gone to work than do the work I had for him to do. We (mainly Topher) tore up our deck surface to replace it, as you could of gotten a splinter the size of a pencil from it. Here is a picture with the deck removed.

I will post a picture when the new one is finished.

6 Month Check-up

Linnea had her six month check-up yesterday...it was a little delayed due to the doctor's schedule. The doctor says Linnea is doing great, she hasn't gained as much between this visit and last but developmentally she is on target. She remains long and lean, just like her Daddy. Here are the stats: Weight 13 lbs. 14 oz. and Height 27 inches. Her weight has dropped a little below the 25th %ile and she is still in the 90th %ile for height. We are just glad she is happy and healthy.

Finally!

The Doughman Family
(Note my brother in law's shirt)

Well this post is delayed but I hope you find it worth the wait. We had a great time in the U.P.

Linnea was an angel in the car. She didn't cry at all on the way up and stayed pretty much on her schedule. We just stopped the two times to feed her and change her, other than that she was in her seat for about 9 hours. We played with her and read to her when she was awake...and sometimes she just wanted to play by herself. On the way home she got a little fussy but only for the last five minutes of the trip and that was with a cold!

Old Jake

Linnea's 1st Old Jake Story

Old Jake is a native of Cedar Campus...well that's what we tell the kids...he is really a member of our church that dresses up and shares stories with the kids each night at camp. The stories are very entertaining but are meant to teach the children moral lessons.

Mackinac Island Ferry

Chris, Linnea, and I went to Mackinac Island on out day. Linnea slept on the ferry on the trip over. Once on the island we headed to the library to feed Linnea...if you ever go to Mackinac with a nursing infant check it out. We spent the day just walking around, the weather was great.

All Smiles

Sleeping?!!!!!!!!!!

It sure doesn't look comfortable to me but Linnea was zonked!

The week went by rather quickly, as is normal with vacation. We had a great time and look forward to next year.

All Packed Up!

The time has finally come, my second most awaited event this year. The first being Linnea's birth, of course. It is time for Family Camp! Family Camp is held at Cedar Campus in Michigan's U.P. and is a group of families, most from our church, that play and relax together for the week. The playing or relaxing really just depends on your age!

This will be the third time for Chris and I to go together and Linnea's first real time (she was in utero last year). We will be traveling and staying with Chris's parents and his brother, Steve. It is bound to be interesting....five adults and one infant on a 9-10 hour road trip.

I am sure I will have a story or two to share when we return as well as some great pictures.

New Tastes

We have started Linnea on her vegetables!

We started out with green beans....

These were not a winner!

We have moved on to carrots and will try green beans again in the future.

But Linnea really prefers....

HER FEET!

Prayers Answered!

I know this is a long post so I will litter pictures in it....keep reading!

Yesterday was a whirlwind! In the morning Chris returned a call to the magazine company (Reach) he had interviewed with and was offered the job. Their offer was less than Chris had requested and the benefits were horrible. Their offer was for more than what he was making at the Enquirer per hour but due to high benefits cost we would be losing $400/month. Chris told the HR Rep he needed to talk to me, which was true, but he was also setting up a second interview with Settingpace.
Settingpace is a textbook design agency and a place Chris really wants to go. He had an interview with most of the design team last week, as the Creative Director was out of town. The design team gave him a thumbs up and the Creative Director wanted to set up a second interview. The placing agency left a message telling of the good news.

Chris was aware that the available times for the interview were Tuesday (Yesterday) at 9am, 10am, 3:30pm; Wednesday at 2pm or later in the week. Chris originally scheduled the interview for Wednesday at 2pm but after getting the offer at Reach he was in a little bit of a rush. Tuesday morning he called the placing agency to see if they could move the interview up. 9:00am...too late to get that one, 10:00am....placing agency was still waiting to hear back, 3:30pm...we got it! (this interview was confirmed at 1:15pm and Chris was downtown doing his part-time/freelance job) Linnea and I raced down to pick up Chris as he takes the bus downtown. He changed clothes quick and was off.
The interview was fairly short 20 minutes or so. Chris went over his portfolio for the Creative Director and answered a few of her questions, she asked if he had any questions and he said, "What is the next step?" She then informed him that they intend to hire him, but of course this all has to go through the placing agency, and had the HR Rep who was present go over some of their benefits.

This morning Chris called the placing agency telling them what Settingpace had said. The placing agency emailed Chris a little later saying that they had received an offer for the job. Chris has accepted the offer and is hoping to start there next Monday.

Thanks to all of you that joined us in prayer!

23 Weeks

Funny how when I was pregnant I thought time went by so slowly. I continually counted the weeks in expectancy of what was to come, at 23 weeks we knew we were expecting a little girl. I looked forward to 17 more weeks knowing I was past the half way marker. This time 23 weeks marks the time Linnea has been with us and it has flown by.

She has more than doubled her birth weight and gained 7 inches, but more notably she has begun to develop a personality all her own. Linnea is a very content baby; she loves the outdoors, hearing herself, and listening to others talk to her.

Bath time has even grown on her.

We hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we do!

The Job Search

Chris had the interview with the library, although he believes he interviewed well he does not believe the job will be offered to him. During the interview they shared that 60% of the work would be producing signage and brochures for children, not that this would be a problem, but much of Chris's portfolio is adult focused.

Linnea has been helping her daddy in his job search....

Chris has also interviewed with a recruiting agency. This agency places employees in open positions and is paid by the employer, so no money out of our pockets. The agency appeared impressed with both Chris's work and test scores (Tests on programs that are commonly used in the design field). The agency believed there were two jobs that would be a good fit. One is full-time and needing someone quickly, this would be doing page layout and other design for textbooks and brochures. Chris is setting up an interview with them sometime this week. The other job is a start up and will not be beginning until October, Chris is hoping to have a job before then!

Chris also has an interview with another magazine company that contacted him about a graphic designer opening. Although Chris would like to do something different than the magazine business, it would meet our needs. This interview is Thursday, so please be praying.

Chris has been employed by a woman he freelances for part-time. He goes there on Monday and Tuesdays for about five hours a day. He has also been able to pick up extra hours when she needs additional assistance. The extra income is sure a blessing.

Thank you to all those who are praying for our family. God is faithful!

Interview

Chris has an interview with The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County....Yeah! This would be a great job because it has set hours and city/county benefits. The interview is tomorrow at 2:00. Please pray that God will give Chris the words to say and the confidence he needs to pitch himself. Thanks to all who are praying, we can't ask for anything more.

Laid Off!

Yesterday afternoon Chris was informed that the Enquirer was shutting down 2 of the magazines he worked on and that he would no longer have a job, effective immediately. He will receive five weeks of severance but needs to find a new job. Please keep our family in your prayers as we are assured God will use this for His glory.

Recap of May and Most of June

May brought my first Mother's Day. It was a great celebration with Chris's mom and grandmas. Not that I have to say, but the day was all about Linnea. Chris gave me a Willow Tree figurine, mother and daughter. Thanks Hon!

We also celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary in May. We enjoyed a nice dinner out and a relaxing night in. It is amazing to see how our love has grown over these last five years and Linnea is just a testament to this.

June has brought Topher's 26th Birthday and his first Father's Day. Both were celebrated with family. Linnea got her Daddy a Children's Bible that he can read to her for Father's Day.

Linnea's 4 month stats:
Weight - 12 lbs. 8 oz. (25th %ile)
Length - 25 1/2" (90th %ile)
Head Circumference - 16" (50th %ile)

June has also meant the start of cereal! We gave Linnea her first taste of rice cereal on June 22nd, she seems to like it.

Linnea is so much FUN!

Linnea's First Professional Photo Shoot

In May I took Linnea to J.C.Penney to get her three month pictures. The place was burning up which led to a fussy baby...she has the pouty lip down as you can plainly see. After trying to cheer her up I decided it would be best if we came back later in the afternoon. It proved successful and we were able to get a few smiles.