Yes! I started my own business! Josie and I fell in love with all of her many hair accessories, so we thought it was time to open shop! And boy, oh boy, have we had fun! It’s been a HUGE undertaking, to say the least, but we are now open and exploring all sorts of new opportunities to get our name known!

Josie’s Jewels’ product line includes boutique bow & flower headbands, feathers, beanies, clips, bobby pins & more! We get lots of fun packages almost every day, so please check in often as we gradually upload our new items. You will find most of our current inventory is made for infants, toddlers and kids, but we are working hard to expand our teen and adult product lines as well.

Visit our store at www.josiesjewels.com, and please stop by and “like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.josiesjewels.com.

Isn’t she precious?! I love red on her!

Josie’s “I Love Santa” Outfit with one of her holiday bows (12 weeks)

Josie with her giraffe

Josie (13 weeks) is holding the ball on her own and bringing it to her mouth to chew on for the very first time! Jack is very proud of his little sister!

Josie holding her ball (13 weeks)

Jack had a great first day! I called to check on him halfway through the day, and I was so pleased with the update I got from the director. Jack is enjoying playing on their huge playground, and he seems to enjoy his classmates. He has surprised us with drinking milk at school, although he won’t drink it at home. Some days he will eat pretty well there, and other days he barely eats at all. But that’s a 2 year old for you!

They cook for the kids and provide well-balanced meals, so he is in a low-pressure environment to try new foods, especially with the other kids eating them. He takes a nap on a mat and does very well with that, which pleasantly surprised me too. He seems fine as long as he has his Pooh Bear and ball blanket.

After a long day at school, he is ready for Mommy to come pick him up! Last week he told me that his teacher told him his mommy would come back, and he seemed so happy that I did. I always emphasize to him that I will ALWAYS come back, and he has been secure in that promise, so things are going very well!

We now have a “school cheer” that we do in the car on our way to school each time. Jack thinks it’s hilarious! HAHA! He will repeat what I say, and we clap and dance in the car all the way there. People think I’m nuts, I’m sure, but it keeps Josie from crying in the car and helps Jack look forward to his day, so who cares?! I love all of the silly things we do!

On a more serious note, I have noticed school helping Jack’s speech tremendously, and I know it will improve his social skills too! When I pick him up, he always talks in complete sentences and seems so grown up. *tears* I love my big boy! He amazes me every day with how incredibly smart he is and how fast he is growing up! I’m so proud of you, Jack!

Last week, Josie had her 2 month check-up with her pediatrician. She was 12.5 lbs and 23″ long. Her reflux medicines were adjusted because of her weight gain, and she is back on track with that now being under control. It’s a constant adjustment when they are growing so quickly. Since last month, she is smiling, laughing and making vocal sounds. She loves to talk and coo at you, and she often gives her daddy her biggest and best smiles. He can also get her to sleep the fastest, which makes me slightly jealous! Her favorite toys right now seem to be her stuffed animals – especially her pink tall giraffe from her big brother and the hanging giraffe toy on her playmat. Of course, Jack is thrilled that she loves giraffes – haha! She will tolerate longer periods of play time now and seems to enjoy her bouncy seat, swing and playmat. She sleeps up to 9 hours at night and will go back to sleep for 2-3 hours after her long period of sleep. I’m so proud of her sleeping! She is nursing very well and still exclusively breastfed. She eats like a champ and is a very healthy little girl. She is still not a fan of riding in the car and has screaming episodes still while in her car seat. However, she is getting a little better as the weeks go by, so we’re hoping that phase will soon be over. It’s nerve-wrecking for all of us! She is now in 3-6 month clothing and wears a size 2 diaper. We are all in love with her and can’t imagine our family without her. Jack is especially fond of her, and he is such an amazing big brother.

Jack hit a new milestone last week – he gave up his paci. Not by choice, of course, but I was so proud of how well he did with it disappearing one day at naptime. We had been telling Jack that he was too big now for the paci. We could see it had pushed out his front teeth, and his dentist confirmed it was causing some issues. His speech therapist also saw it affecting his speech, so we knew we had to make it disappear very soon.

How did we do it? After awhile, his paci’s would crack, and we would have to throw them away because he would bite them and pull on them all the time during naptime and bedtime. Once we were down to one, we told Jack that after that one broke, there would be no more paci because he was too big for them now. He seemed to understand, and he would repeat that he was too big when I talked to him about it. I thought it would be a harder transition for him, but he did really well. There were never any tears – just questions about where it was here and there. After a week, he seems to have forgotten about it altogether. It helps that Josie won’t take a paci, so there are none in plain sight.

My big boy gets bigger and bigger every day! Our next big milestone will be potty training, but he is showing a lot of fear towards getting started with that, so we are waiting another month to see where he is at that time.

Good job saying good-bye to the paci, Jack! Mommy and Daddy are really proud of you!

At five and a half weeks old, Josie smiled at me for the first time. She had always smiled in her sleep or if she had gas, but this was the first intentional, social smile I had seen from her. It was awesome! It’s neat to see the first non-newborn action from your baby. They are no longer a “blob” – a cute blob, but they don’t do much and always look really serious – but now she is becoming a little person and developing her little personality. I was thrilled to see her smile!

At six weeks, Josie was smiling, trying to make sounds verbally, batting at toys hanging from her playmat, studying faces intensely, recognizing the mobile above her swing and smiling at it, sleeping in 3-4 hour stretches at night, and napping 1-2 hours at a time.

At seven weeks, Josie is learning to take her pacifier now but still doesn’t like it (often sucks on her fist), naps and sleeps in her own crib, seems to mold easily into more of a routine/schedule now, sleeps through the night with 5-9 hour stretches, coos and makes vocal sounds, and is more alert and awake now, especially starting to fight sleep when tired. Her reflux is now under control with two different medications, and I can tell a huge difference in her this week! She is much more comfortable, not vomiting nearly as much as she was and is sleeping much longer and more soundly than before. That is a huge blessing! She has moved into size 2 diapers and no longer can wear her 0-3 month clothes. She also is wearing SIX MONTH sizes in some things too, especially sleepers with feet since she is so long.

Jack:

At 2.5 years old, Jack amazes us every day. A few weeks ago, he started singing his ABCs and counting to 10 on his own. He dances a lot to music, makes up funny antics like punching a hole in his bread and looking at me through it, made sure to announce there was “goat poop” on the farm tour at Cagle’s Dairy, has “extreme manners” (often says I’m sorry, please and thank you) and displays kindness to others, is a good helper in getting things for me when asked, uses his imagination with his trains and farm animals (making up stories and situations) and talks to himself constantly when playing. Jack has been asking to try new foods lately. Although he may not eat them, he is asking for them and TRYING them, so that’s still a huge step forward. We also have worked with him on falling asleep on his own in his own bed, which has been an issue since he was a baby. Recently, he has done well taking to this and is now sleeping through the night! WAHOO! Go Jack, Go!!!!!!!!!!

Some upcoming things we will be facing is #1 – giving up the pacifier and #2 – introducing potty training. At his recent dentist visit, the dentist noticed his two front teeth being pushed slightly forward and narrowing of the top teeth behind the two front teeth. This is all caused my paci use. Even though he only uses it at bedtime, it is still negatively affecting his teeth at this point. We have been discussing the fact he is too big for the paci (it helps that Josie doesn’t use one), but he has been very resistant to giving it up on his own. So, I assume we will be taking the cold turkey approach in the next few weeks. We just got him sleeping for the first time in MONTHS, so Sean and I are NOT looking forward to this at all. We haven’t decided on the exact timing, but it will be sooner than later. As for potty training, he is not ready or showing signs of interest, but once the paci is gone, I will be introducing it in a non-threatening way. We will be reading books, have a small potty in every bathroom and will start working on him telling me when he is wet or soiled to help him recognize when he is going.

Sean and Jack searching for the perfect pumpkin.

Jack is still searching…

This one was just Jack’s size!

Jack with our two perfect pumpkins!

Daddy & Jack making the Cookie Monster pumpkin.

Sean & Josie with the Cookie Monster pumpkin. (Jack didn’t want to pose for the picture.)

Jack anxiously waiting as we stood in line.

Jack feeds a corn husk to a baby cow. (It licked his hand, and he giggled and laughed about that all day!)

Baby Cow

Jack checking out the chickens, roosters and sheep.

And the ducks too!

This is my dad in 10 years! HAHAHAHAHA! No, seriously! On the tour, one of the stops was Rosie’s Parlor where Mr. Cecil spoke about milking cows. I’m telling you, this man is my dad in older form! They talked alike, they had the same mannerisms, they both have the same mustaches and hold their mouths the same way, they both talk A LOT and in really super detail (especially when it comes to history), and they even both had a belt full of electronic devices. Not to mention they both wear pocketed button-up shirts. It was uncanny!

Josie and Mommy at the pumpkin patch.