Month: January 2009

Jonas is as easy going as he looks in this picture.  

His new things lately are:  waking up pretty consistently at 6:00 am every morning with a big smile on his face…flirting with the sunlight, kickboxing, and vocalizing in twenty different expressive ways; averaging anywhere from five to eight hours of sleep at a stretch at night; shoving his little fists in his newly drooling mouth; staring at his hands (he just started doing that today); protesting tummy time and coming awfully close to rolling over onto his back in the process; talking to the baby he sees in the mirror on his bouncy seat; laughing at his Mommy and Daddy in their fumbling attempts at teaching him sign language; and delighting in his farm animal musical mobile.

He is truly a joy…we are having so much fun with him!!!

Jonas and I had so much fun hanging out today on the set of the Marty Stuart Show, listening to Grandma and Pops do their magical musical thing!!!  (Jonas was mid-yawn in this picture, as he had just woken up from a nap, all cozy during the show in Mommy’s arms and lullabied by the beautiful country music.)  🙂  Words cannot express what a blessing it is for me to be able to share with my son what it feels like to grow up around music…

OUR LITTLE BUDDY IS DEFINITELY A MORNING BOY.

Here is Jonas in the onesie Dreemer gave him for Christmas.

Jonas-“Hey dog, have you got a tongue like me?”
Dreemer- “Sure right here.”
Jonas-“I like you.”
Dreemer-“I lke you too.”

How thankful are we for such a beautiful little spirit?

Jonas has smiled and laughed since he was born (and, no, I don’t think it’s just gas).  🙂 Lately, he has been smiling and laughing a lot and finding his voice with little coos and even a very distinct, attention-getting, little baby yell.

As I was nursing Jonas on New Year’s Eve, my heart was full of thankfulness for my husband, my baby boy, and my life, when I heard fireworks and thought how good and right it was to celebrate the end of a banner year with that sound and feeling.

We hung out with Grandma and Pops on New Year’s Day…Jonas was eight weeks old.  (A beautiful picture that Uncle Kerry took, of Jonas napping with Pops in front of the fire, is forthcoming.)  

Here is Jonas’ acting debut…he was baby Jesus in the Seyfried Family Christmas Pageant…also starring Lindsey as the narrator, Lily as the angel, Kaitlyn and Andrew as Mary and Joseph, Audrey and Sam as the shepherds, and John and Peter as the wise men.  

Jonas very much enjoyed his first road trip to Virginia to spend the holidays with the Seyfrieds.  Here is a group shot.  (From left to right and back to front…Aunt Mary, Uncle Tim, Aunt Tree, Cousin Sam, Uncle Dave, Jonas, Mommy, Daddy, Aunt Sherri, Uncle Rich, Grandma Jackie, Cousin Lindsey, Cousin Kaitlyn, Cousin Lily, Cousin Andrew, Grandpa Phil, Cousin Peter, Cousin John, and Cousin Audrey.)

Jonas was seven weeks old on Christmas Day.  Here he is in the AMAZING stocking that Grandma Jackie made for him.  🙂  (Thanks to Aunt Sherri for the idea of putting him in it for a picture.)

This is Jonas’ Godfather, my brother-in-law, David Paccassi. I met Dave when he was a freshman at George Mason University, where he met my sister Teresa. They married in December of 1998 and have four beautiful children. Dave has been a wonderful example of how to live Catholisism everyday of the week, not just Sunday mornings. Jodi and I know that we can always count on Dave to keep Jonas in his daily prayers and that Jonas can count on him for strong love and sound advice. It was very sweet when we asked Dave to be Jonas’ Godfather, via web video-chat, he could only smile and nod because he was so moved. We love that Dave has always worn his emotions on his sleeve, and we hope that Jonas can learn much from him.

I met Ben Jonas the summer of 1999 when I first moved to Tennessee. I was renting a room in a house, as was another man who was a painter. That man had hired Ben to do some work for him and we met at the house. Ben was a train hopper (one who jumps on freight trains and rides them long distances to get somewhere, or just for fun) at the time and that was something I had always wanted to do. He agreed to take me on my first train hop and I was hooked. For the past nine years, Ben and I have always kept up with each others’ whereabouts and happenings. I have been to his family’s home in northern Idaho twice now. Once for about three weeks helping to cut and bring in firewood for the cold winter. I was welcomed as a member of the family and certainly see where Ben gets his strength and faith. His mother, Ann, has strength not seen in women since the pioneer days, and his father’s faith warms their whole house.

While Ben’s humility will not allow him to say this himself, he is truly the most Christlike man I know. We are all human and born into sin, and certainly not perfect. Benjamin Jonas is not perfect, I would guess he has his struggles like all of us; however, I know no one who better lives the way Christ has called us to live. It is an honor to call our son Jonas Benjamin Seyfried, and we hope he will grow up to be close to the kind of man Ben Jonas is.

We were so excited to have Uncle Kerry home for Christmas from Taiwan (for the first time in a year and a half) and to meet up with him for breakfast at the Cracker Barrel before leaving for our Seyfried Family visit in Virginia for the holidays!!!  (From left to right and front to back…Uncle Kerry, Aunt Julie, Grandma Connie, Aunt Jeanne, Daddy, Mommy, and Jonas.)  

I love this picture of Meme and Jonas…it reminds me of the day we spent at Meme and Papa’s.  Sheri, Jonas and I were hanging out in the kitchen making peppermint bark.  At one point, I stepped away, and when I walked back into the kitchen, Sheri was holding a sleeping Jonas on her shoulder and laughing. She had picked him up, as he had started to fuss a little bit, and was amazed, as she continued with her cooking (crushing candy canes with a mallet) while holding him, that he fell asleep.  HaHa!!!  

How blessed we are to have three generations of Seyfried men…

That’s my boy!!

**VIDEO OF JONAS PREDICTING HIS FIRST GAME**