Jacob-3 Months!

Our sweet baby boy is 3 months old already! He's growing so fast. He's smiling and laughing a lot! I have to hold this boy quite a bit-he is definitely a mamma's boy right now. If he's fussy, he usually wants me. He still gets reflux once in awhile and has screaming sessions. I can usually calm him down pretty quick though :)

Jake is not sleeping thorough the night yet... Right when he turned 8 weeks, he started sleeping for 7 hours straight, but that only lasted a few nights. He went right back to the 3 hour schedule... and he's still there. Sometimes he wakes up after 2 hours... makes for a long night for me. We go by the Babywise schedule pretty well, but the nighttime thing just isn't happening yet. Thankfully he only eats for about 5 minutes and then he goes right back to sleep. I try holding the paci in his mouth, but after 10 minutes of that, I just give up and feed him. I should probably start letting him fuss it out longer.

Ben just started building our new garage! SO excited.  It will be 930 square feet, plus 930 square feet upstairs for storage. So much more room! Can't wait to move all of the stuff out of our back bedroom and move Claire in there so we can move Jake into the nursery. I know I will struggle again moving him out of my room... but he will probably start sleeping better once we do.

Ben is working in Clare right now, so we have been able to go stay down in Harrison with him during the week. It has been great! Lots of packing and unpacking for me each week, but it's worth it.

Oh... we bred Haley too! Should be getting a litter of puppies at the end of November!!!

Jacob 3 Months

Claire- 18 Months!

Our sweet little girl is 18 months! She is growing up so fast. Life has definitely been busier with 2 little ones in the house!

Claire is such a blessing and a wonderful big sister! She is so nice to Jake (95% of the time) and loves to give him kisses. She always gives me his paci whenever she finds it :) She has only acted jealous a few times when I went to nurse him... but most of the time she just goes off and plays with her millions of toys. She's a great eater... has been trying to use forks lately. Also just started using plates, which she does very well with! She loves to wipe whatever is in her hands into her hair... makes for some fun hair-styles :) She loves wearing my shoes around the house (Ben's occasionally too)... so fun to watch... Especially when she wears my high-heels! We have been transitioning into using a sippy-cup, which results in melt-downs once in awhile. I still give her a ba-ba in the morning.

She's learning new words constantly. It's funny how I will know what she is saying but anyone else would have no clue. Like Gum-Gum= Grandma. Boo-Boo=Blueberry. Ca-Ca=Cracker. She's getting good pronouncing Thank You (Take-You) and Please (Pease)... and of course Mama and Dada. Whenever she sees a cat, she yells, CAT!!! Cracks me up. When she sees a dog, she goes Ruff-Ruff! It's incredible how fast they learn. She's also a great little dancer when music comes on :) She loves to tackle Dada and laughs so hard when it's tickle time :) She can point to most body parts when you ask her to. She's a great sleeper and asks to go Nu-Night. Whenever she asks for something, she says Pease? and then gives me a kiss.... makes it impossible to say no! Thankfully so far she only asks for baba's, cups, and ca-ca's. She really enjoys tearing apart all of her books... and I was going to share a diaper story here, but I'll leave that for when she's older :)

It's impossible to explain how much love I have for my sweet girl. Sure, sometimes she will throw a screaming fit while the baby is also screaming and definitely test my patience.... but thankfully those instances are rare. She is so full of love and happiness, and I feel so lucky to be her Mama :)

Claire and Jake

Jake, Claire and Dada with his 275 lb bear!

Jacob: 2 Months

Our sweet little boy is already 2 months old! He is a great baby. 11 lbs 7 oz and 24.5" at his checkup :) 90% for his head as well, of course. He gets acid reflux once in awhile, but he is pretty consolable most of the time. He also has pretty bad cradle cap, but we are working on it! He loves laying on his little jungle gym and grabbing at the toys. He also loves napping on momma... especially at 5am :) That's ok with me though, because I now know how fast they grow! He was sleeping 7 hrs straight for 3 days in a row right when he hit the 8 week mark, but he's back to about every 3.5 hrs now. Hopefully we can get back to the longer stretches at night soon! He smiles a lot and squeels with happiness, it is the sweetest!!

Jacob- 1 Month!

Our sweet boy is one month old already! Seems like yesterday we were coming home from the hospital. He is a great baby. He is usually content and very consolable when he cries. We are usually up every 3 hours at night to feed, but last night he went 4 hours and was only up twice :) Let's hope that continues! He weighed 9 lbs 6 oz and was 21.5" long... 40cm head circumference which is in the 90%! Go figure :)

Claire is also doing great! She is adjusting well... give baby kisses all the time! She has only tried to smack him a couple of times... so far. She is still very busy and always is getting into something. 2 nights ago I had my first minor crisis... Ben is back to work so I'm on my own. Jake was pretty fussy (which is rare) so I gave him a little gripe water and was nursing him. He started to calm down... just as Claire pinched her finger in the pantry. I jumped up and put him down real quick (started screaming immediately) and went and grabbed her. Her diaper was leaking... so I went and changed her real fast since Jake was screaming pretty hard. I just put her diaper on and left the onesie off. I grabbed him and resumed nursing. All was well.... until I turned around and Claire was standing there butt-naked waving her diaper in the air while dancing to whatever commercial was on TV. Good times!!!

Jacob 1 Month

My little loves :)

Welcome Jacob Lincoln!

Our sweet baby boy finally decided to make his appearance on June 25th :)

I had an ultrasound and doc appointment on Monday June 24th, and all looked good. I was dilated to a 2-3 and was 80% effaced. We decided to induce on Friday if he hadn't come yet. Well, on Tuesday I took Claire for a stroller ride out back, and on our way back up to the house I had a couple of light contractions. I told Ben, and he asked if he had time to go get a load of dirt from my parents' house. I said oh yeah you definitely have time. That was at about 6:00... and from then on, contractions were every 5 minutes apart. They weren't really painful yet, but they were close together right off the bat. His mom and grandma were on their way up here already, so that worked out good for them to watch Claire. Ben got back, I jumped in the shower real quick... and we were ready to go! As we were headed out, I said that I wasn't sure if we should go so soon because they weren't that painful yet... and Ben's mom said I should go because they were so close.

On our way in, we stopped at BK... I was starving and knew I couldn't eat once I got to Munson. I just had a side of fries and shared a strawberry shake with Ben. We got to the hospital at 8:00 and got right into Triage. I was at a 4 already! They admitted me and got me into my room at 9:00. The Tigers were on and Ben and I were joking about if I could have the baby by the time the game was over (I think it was in the 3rd or 4th inning). When I got to the room and the doc came in, I was at a 6! Wow... Contractions were getting intense. The doc asked if I wanted an epidural... I told him that I was going to wait it out a bit longer. He said I should decide soon. I was still managing. Shortly after (probably about 10:00), I hit transition and was at a 7-8. WOW. I got the shakes bad and felt like I was going to puke fries and strawberry shake. I said, "OK, I want the epidural!!!" So the nurse ordered it and started an IV (Took 4 tries to hit a vein...). Doc came in a bit later and said I was at a 9-10 and by the time the epidural took effect, he would probably be here already. So... no pain meds for me!

At 11:05, we got to meet our precious baby boy! Jacob Lincoln weighed in at 8 lbs. 5 oz and was 20.5" long... and PERFECT.

I was shocked at how much faster he came versus Claire. 5 hours of labor vs. 21... The second one definitely comes faster! My recovery was better in all aspects, except for the after-pains which I did not really know about... They started on day 4 and lasted 3-4 days. I got these 15-30 minute cramps that were quite painful... I had to lay down with a heating pad for a couple of them because I could barely move. Thankfully those are over! Jacob is a great nurser and has quite an appetite! Nighttime sleep has been rough, but the past 2 nights have been much better. He has went 3.5-4 hours between nighttime feedings :) Let's hope he keeps that up!

We are so blessed.... Our little family of 4 is doing so great. Claire is adjusting well and loves giving baby kisses! God sure has blessed our family!!!

Jacob 10 days old

40 Weeks!!!

The due date has officially arrived! I'm actually writing this one day late :) Feeling pretty good! The sciatica is gone, so I am much more comfortable. Just the normal back pain when I sleep, which is tolerable. I've been having on and off contractions, but nothing major. We were really hoping to have him by this weekend so our Pastor (who was re-assigned) could dedicate him before he left... but it doesn't look like that will happen. Hopefully we get to make it to church tomorrow! Keeping this one short... come on baby boy, we are so ready for you!!!

40 Weeks

38 Weeks... Full Term!!!

Officially full term with Baby Boy!!! I am ready...

Still having back issues, but not quite as bad as last week. After my doc appt, they referred me to see a physical therapist. I just happen to know a great one, Stacey Walton :) so I got ahold of her and got things set up. She's been over 3 times to do exercises and stretches with me. I think he's been dropping, and thankfully coming off of my sciatic nerve. I'm still being very careful walking since my right side is still pretty bad. Waddling/limping around... but not as bad as before. Last week, I had many strangers run up to me asking if I needed help!

Ben's grandma came up this week to help me out with Claire. I'm not supposed to be lifting her... it has been really nice having her here to help! Plus I get to sleep an extra 30 minutes in the mornings :) I only have 1/2 day of work Monday and Tuesday, then I'm done... wow. Bittersweet. I don't know if I'll be coming back after my 1-year leave or not. I love this place and working here, but I have to do what's best for our family. We'll make that decision when the time comes!

Any time now, baby boy!