Christmas Pictures

This past weekend, Aunty Tiff Tiff (my AWESOME and LOYAL friend Tiffany) came to our house to take Christmas pictures for us. She came over, even though she had a splitting headache. Bless her heart! She used her super-nice, professional-quality Nikon camera. We got creative, as we used curtains and gift bags as our backdrops. We even took some of the pictures outside on our back porch (over-looking the river) and some in our front yard, near some bushes. Hey, it works, right?! About a month ago, we had pictures taken at PictureMe Portrait Studios and didn't have a whole lot of success. The pictures of Jeremiah were cute (of course!), but our family picture was terrible! So Tiffany came over to take some better pictures. She took about 300 in just two hours! She's incredible! She really captured some precious moments! The two pictures of Jeremiah in the striped shirt of from PictureMe Portrait Studios. All the others were taken by Tiffany. (Tiffany-we love you!)

Jeremiah's First Thanksgiving

We celebrated Jeremiah's first Thanksgiving last month at my sister Chasey's house in northern Virginia. We were blessed to be able to spend five days there! We had a great time and we think Jeremiah enjoyed his first Thanksgiving. Since he was just 6 1/2 months old at the time, he didn't get to have "real people food" yet, so his "feast" consisted of bananas and sweet potatoes, which happen to be two of his favorites! He had a great time grabbing the spoon from me and trying to feed himself. He made quite a mess, but it was cute! Jeremiah also saw his first Christmas tree, as we helped my sister and her family decorate for Christmas while we were there. He loved sitting under the HUGE tree and looking at all of the lights with his cousins. Memories!

Jeremiah's First "School Picture"

As mentioned previously, Jeremiah is able to be cared for in the staff day care each day while I teach first grade. When it came time for school pictures this year, my school allowed me to take a picture with Jeremiah , after taking my official teacher picture. He was about five months old in this picture (taken in November). I will cherish this adorable picture forever. Doesn't he look precious?! I was actually having a good hair-day that day too! So that's always convenient!

Fall (September-November, 2008)

This fall has been a time for growth. Jeremiah started out as kind of a skinny baby, but as he started eating rice cereal (in September) and then baby food (in November), he has really filled out. He is quite chubby now, which I LOVE! At his six-month appointment, he was 17 pounds, and that was almost a month ago, so I'm guessing he's probably about 19 pounds by now. Big boy! Jeremiah has also really started to enjoy books. He actually pays attention to the pictures now, which is fun! One of the highlights of this fall was when my sister Chasey and her kids (Taylor, Boston, and Madison) visited us here and we were able to take them down to the beach and ride a huge bike together on the boardwalk! Jeremiah also dressed as Tigger for his first Halloween, which he celebrated at Hallelujah Harvest (our church alternative), his day care party (staff day care at my school), and by "helping" me distribute candy on Halloween night. He was so cute in his little costume!

Summer (July/August 2008)

The rest of the summer was tons of fun! Since I am a teacher, I had the summer off! Jeremiah and I were able to spend lots of quality bonding time together. Other highlights of the summer included Jeremiah's first swim at Indian River Pool, visits to the beach with friends, and traveling back to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin to visit Grandma and Grandpa Stults, and also to meet Uncle Jake and Aunt Calle for the first time. Before we knew it, Jeremiah was three months old, which meant that it was time for more pictures (PictureMe Portrait Studios) and it was also time to start my third year of teaching first grade at Atlantic Shores Christian School. Going back to work after being off for three months (with a baby this time!), was a huge adjustment. But with the help of God, a very gracious and loving principal, and lots of compassionate friends/colleagues, the transition was relatively smooth.

Meeting Grandma and Grandpa Gerdes (and family) for the First Time (June/July 2008)

When Jeremiah was exactly a month old, Jeremy's family (Grandma and Grandpa Gerdes; Uncles Caleb and Gabe; and Aunt Jessi) came to meet Jeremiah for the first time. Of course they all fell in love with him! Soon came July, which meant fourth of July fireworks in the Outer Banks with Aunty Tiff Tiff and Alia (Aunty Tiff Tiff is my friend Tiffany and loves Jeremiah like family, so she's basically like an aunt to him). This was our first little trip with our little guy! Just a few days after that, we celebrated my birthday and went out on our first date (dinner at Chili's) since Jeremiah was born. Aunty Tiff Tiff watched Jeremiah for us and I couldn't wait to get back home to my baby, even though it had only been two hours. That was the longest I had ever been away from him in this first two months of his life. I was ready to see my baby again that night!

First Month (May/June 2008)

Here are some pics from Jeremiah's first month. What a cutie! Everyone that saw him commented on his hair!

Meeting Grandma and Grandpa Stults for the First Time

My parents, "Grandma Nan" and "Grampy" Stults, drove all the way from Wisconsin to meet Jeremiah for the first time. We arrived home from the hospital on Saturday around noon, and they were there just hours later. They fell in love with Jeremiah right away! They stayed for the next week cooking, cleaning, and helping us recover after almost 20 visitors. Fun times!

The Day Jeremiah Came into the World

Jeremiah Daniel Gerdes was born on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 at Chesapeake General Hosptial at 4:38pm. He was delivered via c-section, because he was breech (butt down instead of head down). He weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces and measured 19 inches. He had a full head of brown hair! What a precious baby boy! My life changed forever that day as one of my deepest dreams and desires came true! It took us a while to decide on his name. We knew we wanted the initials JD because those are the same initials for my husband, my dad, and my brother (Jeremy Dean, Jerry Dennis, and Jacob Douglas). Cool coincidence, huh?! But we just couldn't decide between Jeremiah Daniel and Jordan Daniel. It took us three days to decide, but we finally chose Jeremiah Daniel. Both names are Biblical and describe character qualities that we pray our son would grow to have (tenderhearted, follower of God).

Introduction

Thank you for visiting this blog! We are the Gerdes family (Jeremy, Courtney, and Jeremiah) and we currently live in Chesapeake, VA. I am a first grade teacher at Atlantic Shores Christian School. Jeremy is Nuclear Engineer at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. God blessed us with our son, Jeremiah Daniel, on May 14th, 2008! We would like to dedicate this blog to both sets of Jeremiah's grandparents, since they live 20 hours away in Wisconsin and want to know every detail of his life all the time. Is that adorable, or what?! So here's to you, Grandma Stults and Grandma Gerdes!!! As Jeremiah's mother, I am embarassed to admit that he's already 6 1/2 months old and I am just starting this blog. Oops! Life is busy! The following entries are a very quick "recap" of the first six months of Jeremiah's life.