Jacob - How I Love You

I love this little boy!I love his red hair! (And his smile)

I love ALL the ways he sleeps!

A First For Gabi

The fair is a big deal here. Okay, so it's a big deal in a lot of places I've lived. Just not always for the same reason (unless you count the rides).

Here, though, there is a category for nearly anything and everything you can think of - which you can do, make or whatever - and even the youngest of kids can enter. So, as a first, Grandma Nielsen helped Gabi make a family cookie / bar (family because I understand it's been past down for a few generations) - it's rocky road fudge (although I'll say it's more like a brownie and doesn't have nuts). Very yummy.

It was entered in the youngsters food, cookies and bars category... and would you believe it (okay, so Grandma expected at least one of these) she won first place and best of show! Let's just say she was very excited. And no, we didn't get a picture before the bars were entered and there were only two left on the plate - but we thought you'd enjoy seeing them anyway.

Needing Mommy

As is typically, we've had our baby and kids are acting out - okay, they started before Jacob came when I was not so available to do things with them. They need one on one mommy time. Most have even told me so. (It's nice that I don't have to guess at such things in my over-tired state of mind).

Yesterday Peter was having an especially difficult time. I had decided I need to go to the store and pick up potty treats again - I just can't handle the constant "accidents" which I know are part of his response to the baby and the time away from himself. Knowing that we were going to the store, Peter, in his hysterics, told me that he wanted to go just him and me. That he didn't want Jeremy, or Beth or Gabi to go with us.

So I asked "what about Jacob? Can he go with us?"

Without hesitation, Peter said "Yeah. I want it to be just you and me and Jacob."

At least he loves his little baby brother enough to not want to push him out of the picture - that will certainly make this fall much easier - when the older three are in school.

Too Hot

We have a limited number of fans - and we use them all during the night to help draw in the cooler air. The hope being that the house will actually be somewhat cooler in the morning thereby making it more difficult to reach the high 80's or even low 90's in the house. Normally this works well. There have been a few weeks worth of nights where the temps outside weren't dropping nearly enough and in addition, there was little to no breeze to help things along.

The master bedroom usually gets plenty of breeze and often feels cold because of this throughout the night. Because of this, we don't normally use a fan in our room. We did, for a few nights, after Jacob was born because there was no real breeze and the room was too hot for us - let alone a newborn baby.

Tonight, with Bob on a backpacking trip, Peter was going to bed in my room (a special treat for him). He knew that we sometimes would bring the fan in there and thought tonight needed to be such a night. When I told him the room was cool enough for now and would get much cooler as the night went on without a fan, he replied:

"It's too hot in my eyeball."

WOW!

This may seem a bit like bragging - for that I apologize. But you'll understand my excitement if you keep in mind this is a first - a first in 5 babies!

For every other baby, I was lucky to loose between 10-15 pounds within the first 6 weeks postpartum. That would be ALL I would loose until after I stopped nursing.

One week after having Jacob I had lost 21 pounds! From last summer - through the move and then the pregnancy - I gained 33 pounds. Now this is about average for my pregnancies - although higher is certainly not unexpected for me.

I was huge - I really ought to post pictures - big enough that with extra large maternity clothes the elastic on the pants was cutting into my belly - and you can see it in the pictures! I was able to keep moving throughout my pregnancy - but that last month nearly did me in, and I wasn't moving much. (I'll try to get someone to take a picture of me today and I'll try to post that and the pregnancy one - which was a week and half before I had Jacob- side by side.)

Anyway - I was thrilled to see I could wear my "big clothes" right after coming home from the hospital, but figured I would be stuck there for a while - at least during my nursing stage. That would have been the lowest I would get (if we look back at other pregnancies).

I had noticed over the last couple of days that the "big clothes" were kind of loose... not hugely loose, but loose. So, for "fun" - I tried on my "normal clothes" (normal as of before this baby, not before getting married) and I could actually wear them. Snugger than before the baby, but they weren't biting in. I was excited. I did not, however, look in the mirror - I figured all those rolls left from big belly would be obvious.

Tonight, in the bathroom I went to open a window and I happened to glance in the mirror on the way by - and I had to stop. I actually looked good! I was thrilled. I look great - and it's only been 2 weeks (today)! I have no idea what my weight is today verses last week, seeing that we don't own a scale. I will know what my weight is next week - when I take Jacob in (cause I'll weigh myself waiting for the doctor). I'm not toned up - but I don't look flabby through my clothes - and I've yet to start any kind of exercise - being that I've been kind of restricted with my recovery this time around (and that includes walking).

Pre-pregnancy weight is not likely (seeing that I'm nursing and well, let's just say there's a bit of top heaviness that automatically goes along with that) - but I'm curious if the weight is shifting as fast as the hips and belly! (And I'm hoping this doesn't mean I'll put on weight as soon as the nursing stops!)

Cocoon Baby

Not too long ago (sometime this past week) I took some pictures of Jacob. I am determined that I will not go three years without a picture of Jacob on my wall. Yes, I was a terrible mother about wall pictures for Peter - it wasn't until we moved out here that I finally got him on the wall (with the family) and the individual pictures of the other kids that are up are from when I was pregnant with Peter. It's not that I didn't take pictures. It's not that I didn't have pictures that were cute enough. I just never seemed to get my priorities to settle on choosing one and getting it printed and putting it up. Terrible, I know. And I'm determined to change that.

So, I have some beautiful pictures of Gabi in her baptism dress. That same day, Bob took some cute ones of Beth too. I really like the picture of Jeremy in the tire swing - totally unplanned - but it shows him smiling and having a great time. It's all his personality. That's what I love in a picture. And Peter... well, he's next on my list, again. It seems that I never can get the "right" picture of that kid. I have ones I love, just not enough to put on my wall. I think my most favorite "recent" picture of him is when he's wearing the sweater I made him. That would not be a big deal, but his hood is up and I really would love to see his beautiful red hair in the picture.


And seeing that the last two family pictures included Jacob in my stomach (one much less obvious the other), that's also on the "next" list. A family picture with Jacob in person. When I mentioned this to Bob the other day he said "Already?" Jacob isn't even two weeks old yet and I'm bugging Bob for a family picture. I understand he'll be "cuter" in a family picture when he's older and holds himself a bit more. In fact, if I hold out a bit, we might even have a good chance at capturing those incredibly cute and deep dimples with his wonderful smile! The smile that seems to be reserved just for mommy and Peter, but not when the camera is present.

So... here are a bunch of pictures I took of Jacob one evening. He's in my current favorite cocoon pattern - it might have something to do with the color. It's the second one I designed and knitted for him - using a diagonal slip stitch. Most aren't what I would put on the wall, but there are a couple that I really do like. Can't wait to get pictures organized, up on a walls, and out to family!

Peter's Bike

When Aunt Hannah was up, she came over and "played" bikes with the kids before we all went to the lake one morning. Up until then, Peter didn't ride a bike (his choice). But when Aunt Hannah asked if he was going to ride his bike (he had his helmet on and was sitting on a bike) he said "No. I don't know how to."

A little while later, he decided to take the bike - or have Aunt Hannah push him around. When I went out to take a couple of pictures, I was excited to see him begin to pedal. He was pretty excited about it too. After that little experience, it didn't take him long to figure out how to get started on his own. Now he just goes - fast, slow, racing, games, and he can stop all by himself. He loves to ride his bike.
I took tons of pictures - Jeremy insisted he needed some too - and I also took a video (which is way to long, so I'll just keep it for us to enjoy). The video was really cute, though, since Peter was dictating everything he was demonstrating.

A Little Cuteness

Just thought you'd like to see some cute pictures without all the swelling. If you look back at the arrival pictures, you can see just how swollen the eyes were. His whole face was pretty swollen - although the general idea of what he would look like was obviously there.

I love this little guy. He's happy and loves to be around people. At dinner time (one of the times he tends to be awake) he'll fuss when we all leave the room to go eat. When I come to get him, he's happy - so generally, he'll sit on my lap and look around while we eat.

Jacob also loves his bath. His first bath, in the hospital, he didn't like. I think it was all too much because the bath was basically the same as how we do it here. Until yesterday, the cord stump was still attached, so he would love the beginning - then I would lift him to do his back and set him back on the bath sling (which was then cool because it wasn't in warm water itself). He would scream for that moment, but love being rinsed off. Into his nice, fluffy, soft and warm towel to be wrapped and he'd calm right down, and just lay there completely relaxed. Yesterday, he was happy to skip the cool bath sling part as his stump was off and he could enjoy more of the warm water.

Cream Anyone?

At one week and one day, Jacob weighs 10 lbs 6 oz. He's up a whole pound from his birth weight! He also grew 3/4 of an inch - he's now 21 1/2 inches long.

Bubble Art

We had cubed potatoes last night for dinner. One of the kids (I think it was Beth) said something about not knowing we could cube potatoes and make them so cube-like. To which Bob (being silly) mentioned something about Pablo Picasso.

Peter asked "Bubble Castle?"

The Arrival of Jacob Paul

Okay - so.... Jacob Paul. (This is the birthing story - more or less - if you're not interested in that, just look over the pictures and ignore the rest)


This was a very different pregnancy for me - as those who have been following already know. It was, like-wise, a very different labor. I've never been aware of any contractions leading up to full blown active labor with my first four. This time, I've had plenty here and there - nothing that hurt though. Well, throughout the week of the family visit, I was really hoping something would happen. It would have been nice for Jacob to make his appearance when the family was around to welcome him here, but apparently he was too shy for that.


After that week, with random contractions here and there, I awoke Sunday morning for my normal nightly trip to the bathroom. I realized I was having contractions 4 minutes apart. But they were light - not hard at all. Still, they were consistent so I got up did some laundry and washed the kitchen floor - what else would you do when you can't seem to go back to sleep? Later in the day - after discouragement again, because I wasn't noticing the contractions any more - contractions were noticeable at 20 minutes apart, then 15 and then 10. But then they became less noticeable - though still 10 apart. Monday was between 7-10 but still light. By Tuesday I only felt crampy and backache - unless I was laying down I couldn't tell that anything was happening at all.


After a suggestion that I call the doctor, I laid down again and realized that the cramping was feeling more like a contraction again (light) and they were now 5 minutes apart. I went in to see the doctor and I was at the point that I should have been in what I knew was active labor. It was decided I would go to the hospital and have my water broken. It took longer to get to that point because I couldn't be found in the computer (apparently I was registered for a month later), and then it took four tries to get the IV lock in. Needless to say, it was 8pm before we started to break my water.


The membrane was so thick that it took 15 minutes to break my water (that's NEVER happened before). And because Jeremy was a two hour speedy deal after breaking my water, it was thought that I would "go quickly". Not so.... Contractions took a while to get going and even then they never got closer than 5 minutes apart. They weren't really hard either - I could feel them very low, and I knew the top of my uterus was tightening, but that was it. I walked and talked through all of them until I was a 9. At about that point, things started to "feel like labor" but were still 5 minutes apart, one would be long and hard, the next short and light. It was weird.
When I was all but a 10, I told the nurse that the last time I was told something like that the nurse never made it to the door - but that I didn't really think it would be that way this time. Sure enough, she got the doctor, he came in - it was determined I could begin to push... two hours later, nothing had changed - Jacob wasn't progressing either. At that point, the contractions got a bit closer together, I finally decided on pain meds (and was allowed), decided to breathe through four and was told it was time to push again - amazingly, everything had "taken care of itself" (which is not usually how things work with pain meds... usually that slows things down) - two contractions later, Jacob made his grand arrival. All together (from the water actually being broken) it was 8 hours. Still not bad, not my longest, not my shortest.


We love having Jacob here. He looks like Peter - in fact, that one picture of the "wink" is exactly what Peter looks like in a picture of his own arrival. The difference, Jacob is shorter (Peter was 22 1/2 inches long... Jacob was 20 3/4 inches). Jacob weighed 9lbs and 6 oz (the same as Jeremy). He has red hair - slightly darker than Peters. He has grandpa's hands and my eyes. And yes, as the pictures show, he found his thumb nearly immediately! He'll take a binky (some times), and doesn't put his thumb in his mouth much... he prefers to just be. He's happy, sweet, loves to be with people, and nurses like a charm. He was a little upside down with his schedule, but it's only been a week and I think we've got it figured out!

So welcome, Jacob Paul! We love that you're part of our family!

Remembering - Honoring

Bob's brother passed away when they were kids - that's quite a while ago. We used his name as a way to remember and honor him in our own family with one of our boys. Marie and Adam have done the same (at least I think this is why they used the name). I believe it was this that encouraged the trip to his grave.

In any case, the kids each picked out two flowers from grandma and grandpa's back yard which they took (all except Jeremy who decided he could go another time, so he could stay and keep grandpa company). It was neat to watch the kids place these flowers in the vases.

A Little Hike

Thursday that week was my doctor's appointment. The family kindly offered to take the children with them on a little hike for the day (just in case we got lucky... which we didn't). The kids had a great time - and though I really enjoy a good hike, I understand there are a few good reasons I was not there. The first, of course, being that I really couldn't have hiked in my pregnant condition. The second was that there was a lot of "open" in which one could see a far way down. I don't do well with that - heights are not my thing. (It actually makes me nervous when Bob and the kids go to the "edge" to have a look).

I love the picture of Jeremy that was taken at the top - it actually looks like a photoshop job, but it's real. Anyway - Thank you so much, Marie and Adam, for taking our kids along with you that day! They loved it!

Horse Ranch

Another fun adventure was taking the kids to ride horses at a friend's ranch. A couple of years ago when we were just visiting, the kids had the opportunity to do this as well. I, unfortunately, was sick - so everyone went without me. I have some great pictures from their experience then, but I didn't get to enjoy it. This time I was well enough to go - if you don't count the "big as a house, ready to pop, pregnant and over-sized belly".

I loved riding horses growing up - and had I not be in the condition I was, I likely would have gone for a little ride myself. But it was especially fun to watch all the kids. Annie is a natural - though I've heard that's been said of her before. She really loves to be up there. Jeremy and Peter had never been on - the last time they just hung out on the tractors. They both did great.

I loved that Peter would tell me he was going horse back riding... actually, he would say "I want to ride a horse with Daddy. And you need to watch me." He did start out riding with Bob, but then (for the second time around) he did it by himself (aside from the paranoid mom in me making Bob walk beside him).

As you can tell, everyone had a wonderful time. My girls even told me they want to ride more... that probably won't happen much since they're both still doing dance. Extra-curricular activities are pretty pricey and add up - not to mention all the extra time away from family.

Water Fun

So, back to the family visiting....

Marie's family drove out - that's a really long drive, especially with four kids 6 and under... anyway, they wanted to do some things here that they don't do so much there - but they wanted to stay some what close too, so as to avoid putting kids in the car too long. This worked well for me (and I wouldn't be surprised if my condition played at least a minor part in the decision of locations).

We spent three days playing in water - okay, so I basically sat and watched and took pictures (except the day I forgot my camera) - but everyone else had a lot of fun. I did get out in the boat once - I figured the canoe was pushing my luck.

All the kids loved to be in the "boats", swimming, searching for life (they found a fresh water shrimp - and I know they went looking for crawdads, but I don't think they found one this year). Building a sand castle was fun, of course, except that there was always someone to knock it down and destroy it. That especially made Gabi mad - then it was decided to build two - one for her and one for the boys to destroy.

Fishing is a favorite pass time, at least for my kids! I understand that Haley especially loves to go "fishing" because of the snacks in the boat. However, this time around, she caught two fish - Gabi caught one, Beth caught two, Peter caught two, Jeremy caught two or three, and I think Annie might have gone out too. Everyone who went out caught fish - (I don't have these pictures yet, as this was when I forgot my camera - Marie, are these on your mom's computer?)

When some of the aunts and uncles would take the boats out, many of the kids would "push them out to sea" - hang on to the boat and walk out with it until they had to let go. And as they would come back in, they would swim out to meet it.

Marie and Adam took the older three girls (Gabi, Haley, Beth) out to jump out of the canoe. Bethie jumped first - unfortunately, no one had told her that when you jump into water with a life jacket on that you will initially go under the water. That freaked her out. But after being hauled back in, she would "slip" out of the boat instead. Gabi loved to jump out - and I think Haley slipped out after watching Beth's reaction. Bob and Cheri headed out in the other boat to "play life guard" with cameras - in other words, to take pictures! When they were done, the girls swam all the way back.

Later on, Bob decided to go gunnel jumping off the canoe. I was busy with one of the kids - likely it was Peter - and wasn't able to watch myself, but Marie was kind enough to take my camera and get some good pictures. It was almost like watching it in person. Looks like fun.

And what would water be without mud? Nothing! Annie, Haley and Gabi found some great mud and decided to become Mud Monsters. (Jeremy found the mud too, but decided a mud fight with Aunt Julie would be fun - though she wasn't interested and had her camera out... he forgot to ask her first). For my kids, this was a reminder of back in Maine when they would create mud pits in the back yard just to get covered - hey, it cool off pigs, right? Why not people?

One of my favorite activities to watch was Jeremy and Grandpa our last water fun day. It started as a little friendly tossing of sticks between Bob and his dad - then Jeremy got involved. He kept finding twigs and tossing them at Grandpa, then Grandpa would toss stick back. Grandpa was laying on the blanket to start with, but then moved to a chair where Jeremy began working behind and around him. They were having so much fun!

Though I was not in the water, it was fun to watch the cousins having so much fun. And it was fun to see the other activities around us too. And being out in the fresh air all day was certainly good for my emotions and my health.