Updates and Such.

I'm finding it harder and harder to post these days, so a list of what's been happening will have to do.

*Brett went back to work yesterday which meant it was my first day with the boys all alone. Jacob cried a lot and Ethan only had one meltdown, so it was a pretty good day. I was able to get some laundry done and cook dinner. I felt triumphant. 

*I've decided that I am not much of an infant person. Now this doesn't mean that I don't love my child, it just means that I want him to be a little bigger. I'm looking forward to him holding his head up, sleeping more through the night, crying less and not having to be held almost all the time. 

*Since Jacob likes to cry a bunch and I can't give Ethan attention all the live long day, he has been watching more TV than I would like. This TV watching trend will not go on for long, or so I hope, but at this point in time I don't care. It makes me not go crazy. 

*Hallelujah for baby carriers! I have two right now that Jacob loves, the Moby Wrap and Baby Bjorn. Without these two ingenious contraptions Jacob would not be content and my arms would fall off. I want to run up to the makers of said items in slow motion and longingly hold them. They have saved my life.

*I am utterly obsessed with Glee. If you do not watch, exit this screen right now, find some episodes on Hulu or YouTube, or run out and buy season one. This show is the greatest. I was a little late in jumping on the Glee wagon but I am almost caught up to season two. Ms. Brittney Spears is on tonight and I can't wait to watch. 

*I plan on getting out of the house a couple times this week, kids in tow. I've gone to the mall once with both of them and it wasn't a disaster. I have to admit that my mom and sister were there too so I wasn't completely alone, and I probably won't be this week either. I'll admit that I'm still a bit nervous to take them out by myself, but I know the day will come, and it will probably be to Target. 

*I miss going out on dates with Brett. We've had one since Jacob has been born and I'm hoping we have another this weekend. It's funny to think that we literally used to go out like five times a week. Oh those were the good old days. But what a waste of cash!

That's all for now...off to fold laundry. Exciting, I know.

Friday at the Park.

On Friday we went to the park.

It was Brett's last weekday with us before he had to go back to work.

We packed lunch, well bought Subway, and headed off to the park to play.

Jacob did a lot of sleeping.

Ethan did a lot of playing.

And Ethan tried very hard to wake up his little brother. 

Silly & Sleepy.

A Thankful Reminder.

For the last couple of days I've been having my own little pity party.

I'm tired, cranky, my house is a mess, I don't know the last time I washed my hair, I want to wear my regular jeans, I want my old schedule back. I've been mean to Brett for no real good reason and my patience has been short with Ethan on a few occasions.

I hear myself complaining and know that I am being foolish, but the words just keep coming out. 

I know my little pity party has a lot to do with the hormones raging through my body right now and my lack of sleep. But to be honest, it's unacceptable. I'm only making myself feel worse.

And then today I watched Oprah.

I actually think God wanted me to watch Oprah, yes, silly as that may sound. 

I'm not really a huge fan of Oprah, she scares me a little, but I sometimes will watch her show.

Earlier in the week I had seen the previews for her Friday show and I was interested. She was giving away ultimate dreams to deserving people and announcing the next book for her book club. 

I was most interested in the book announcement. 

When Friday came around I forgot to watch and didn't really think twice about it. 

Then last night when I was feeding Jacob around midnight I remembered that her show is run again at 1:30 in the morning. 

I decided to record it. 

(Trust me, this is leading somewhere)

So today while Brett and Ethan were outside and I was giving Jacob a bottle I decided to watch the show.

Her first guest was a woman that I will never forget.

A few years ago she went into the hospital to give birth to her second child. Everything was seemingly fine. She gave birth to a healthy baby girl, but unfortunately she had developed a flesh eating disease and the only way to save her life was by amputating both of her legs and arms. 

Over the next few years she had to learn how to care for herself, her daughters, and husband, all while trying to maneuver around a small cramped apartment that was not handicap accessible. 

To top it off, her husband had recently lost his job and was having a hard time finding work.

And this woman has a good attitude about life everyday. She has made due with what she has been giving and she has a smile on her face.

As I sat there watching, and crying of course, I felt so ashamed of myself and my sad little pity party. 

I have a house, a husband with a job, two healthy children, and for cryin' out loud all of my limbs.

And I'm feeling sorry for myself because I haven't taken a shower and I want some more sleep. 

I was being ridiculous. I was being selfish. I was taking everything I have for granted. 

I instantly changed my attitude. I stopped feeling sorry for myself. I prayed. I instantly felt lighter. 

My problems are not really problems at all. God has given me and my family so much to be grateful for.

I won't forget that woman and I hope the next time I'm having a little pity party, which will happen again I'm sure, she will pop into my mind and I will thank the Lord for what he has given me.

The girls.

I never posted pictures of the day the girls finally got to meet Jacob. 

We had all been talking about him for quite some time, obviously, and they wanted to see him badly. 

Abby was more than excited. She would have smothered him we let her.

Radley was a tad bit less interested. Later she told Amy, "too small". 

I don't think she's a fan of little babies, but she did touch his feet.

And I managed to get a horrible picture of all the kids sitting together.

This last picture cracks me up. It sums each one of them up pretty well.

Abby's "moomies".

I've been meaning to write about Abby and her "moomies" and it has totally slipped my mind. 

First of all, to clarify, Abby's "moomies" are her pacifiers.

Months ago, when I found out I was pregnant, Erin told Abby that when the baby got here she needed to give him her "moomies". Abby only used them to sleep and this sounded like a wonderful idea to her. She wasn't a baby anymore and the baby was going to need them.

In the months leading up to the arrival of Jacob, Abby would talk about giving away her "moomies" and she would even try to sneak them up my shirt and through my belly button. Priceless if you ask me. 

So the day came when Abby finally got to meet Jacob and give him her "moomies".

I was so proud of her and she was so proud of herself. I really didn't think she would be able to do it.

The funny thing is that I don't have the heart to throw out her little bucket of "moomies". I just can't. She's been fine without them but they are sitting in the closet waiting for her just in case she needs them.

Ten on Ten.

A few months back I stumbled across the blog, Ten on Ten. 

On the tenth of every month you take a photo for ten consecutive hours documenting your day and the beauty of life around you. 

I love this idea and I have been wanting to participate, and for some strange reason I remembered today.

So here is my first stab at Ten on Ten.

8:00am

9:00am

10:00am

11:00am

12:00pm

1:00pm

2:00pm

3:00pm

4:00pm

5:00pm

So that was our day at home. I look forward to doing this again next month. 

To see more Ten on Ten's click here.

A Week Later.

It seems impossible to me that a whole week has already gone by.

On one hand I feel like I had Jacob yesterday and on the other I feel like he's been a part of our family the whole time. 

So far things have been going rather smoothly and better than I had anticipated. 

When we had Ethan our life was turned upside down and we were not prepared. We were stressed out with his feedings, his sleep schedule, and everything else that new parents feel. We didn't handle it very well and we didn't work as a team.

This time around we are helping one another more than ever. We both pitch in to get things done without asking the other to do so. We are tired, but we aren't getting on each others nerves. We are working toward the common goal of making our family work. It feels good. 

I have come to realize that juggling two kids is not going to be so easy, not that I thought it would be, but I really want to make sure I'm giving equal time to both of them. Right now it's hard and Ethan is feeling it but I know it will get easier. 

Ethan's been doing a great job as a big brother. He wants to help feed Jacob, change his diaper, and he wants to smother him. Literally lay on him and smother him. We have to watch how rough he is with Jacob but so far there has been no major damage, just a couple of eye pokes. Ethan has also been behaving pretty well too. I was afraid he would act out a whole lot but so far we've had only a few meltdowns. Plus, he's two and wants to be very independent which adds to the craziness I'm sure. 

Well that's the run down of how things have been going and he's some pictures from the week.

1 week old.

Jacob is 1 week old today.

I think he looks more like a 3 week old. 

Ethan finally let me take his picture with Jacob today. 

And he was such a ham about it. He kept saying, "again, again."

Could this picture really be any cuter? I love them!

In The Hospital.

Jacob and I had several visitors during our brief stay in the hospital. 

Papa and Gee were so excited to meet him.

Do you see me shoving my face with food in the background? I was starving. 

Proud Daddy.

Jacob meeting Mimi and PopPop for the first time.

I love the look on Aunt Emily's face.

I didn't get pictures of everyone that had stopped by, but I'm so happy for all the visitors we had.

But the most important visitor of all was the Big Brother, Ethan.

At first when he walked in the door I thought he was going to cry. 

I'm not sure if he was worried about me or the realization of what was about to happen to him was sinking in. Whatever it was, the look faded quickly and he was interested in the little person laying in the crib. 

Our first family photo.

Ethan was very sweet to Jacob and wanted to kiss him over and over again. He was also a tad bit hyper and kept jumping on the bed. He was really very sweet and loving, which made me very proud. 

After a busy day of visitors and a little bit of rest that night, we were ready to go home. 

It was definitely a very eventful two days, to say the least.

Jacob Nathan Lewis.

He's here! 

Jacob Nathan Lewis was born on August 31, 2010 at 6:41am. 

He weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces and measured 22 inches long. 

The action started the evening before when I started feeling contractions around 5:30pm. They were pretty strong, but 6-8 minutes apart. I thought I would ride it out for a while and see if they progressed. Brett was supposed to leave around that time for a concert. I told him to go, since I thought they were just going to stop again like they had done in the days before, but Brett decided to stay home. Good choice on his part. 

After about an hour, and Brett making a frantic call to my mother, I called the doctor and she said to go to the hospital. I called Aunt Pam and she came over to stay with Ethan, and Brett and I were off to the hospital.

The car ride over was not fun. The contractions started getting stronger and I was getting extremely uncomfortable. I was checked in around 8:00pm and my contractions started getting really intense and extremely close together. By the time they had moved me into the labor and delivery room they were a minute apart. Crazy!! 

By this time I was dilated to 4 and 50% effaced, and I said, bring on the epidural. The nurses had a heck of time administering the IV and every time they would my vein would collapse due to the contractions. It took them 5 tries to find a good vein. I don't like being poked that much. During that time I was in so much pain from the contractions I couldn't believe it. I have no idea how people do it without an epidural. I'm not as tough as I thought I was.

Once I finally did get the epidural, things slowed down a bit, but I was still progressing nicely. At some point, I think around 2:00am I was dilated to 8, the contractions were a few minutes apart, and then I just stopped progressing. After some time, they gave me a small dosage of pitosin to get things going and that did the trick. After having my water break about four times, throwing up, having the chills, and getting a few naps in, I was ready to push.

Lovely hair on my part, I know.

The nurse said she wanted to do a trial push before my doctor got there just to make sure we were headed in the right direction. So she told me to push as she counted up to 10. We made it to 3 and she told me to stop. Jacob was definitely on his way out and she wanted my doctor to be there for the delivery. As soon as my doctor got there, she had me start pushing, and 4 pushes later, out came Jacob. They couldn't believe how quickly it all happened. I couldn't either really. I mean the kid is huge! How on earth was I carrying so much baby in me?

Not the best photos, but it's what we've got.

From that point on everything has been going smoothly. All of Jacob's test came back great and the pediatrician said he looked wonderful.

We were released from the hospital the next day and life as a family of four has begun. 

When I have more time I will post more pictures from the hospital, plus post pictures of how life is different around these parts.