100th day of school....already?

Today Anna celebrated her 100th day of kindergarten. It's really flown by. She had been so excited and reminded us every day that she would be having a party in her classroom to commemorate this grand occasion. We had to complete a "100-day" project and there was even a "100th-day" super snack where each child brought in 100 pieces of something (i.e. marshmallows, cheerios, butterscotch chips, etc.) to mix together. However, the whole thing turned out to be anticlimactic. We picked Anna up from school and asked her how her day was expecting her to tell us about concerts, fireworks, pizza....you get the idea. Her response was, "It was fine." I said, "Well, what about the party? How was it?" She responded, "Okay, we didn't really have a party." Oh well, so much for the fanfare. I still wanted to share a pic of her with her project. I thought it turned out super cute. Doug drew the grid on a piece of foam board and she glued all the buttons on herself. I actually thought it was cute enough to hang in her room on the wall. It inspired me to think about other similar projects we could make and display.

Olivia

I'm so sad because one of my very best friends is moving!! Julie (Life, Love, and Veggies) and her family are headed to Mississippi at the end of February. We're going to miss them so much. I was very happy that I got to have a mini-photo session with little Miss Olivia. Isn't she beautiful?? She has her mommy's flawless skin! She was the best little model and it only took a small amount of bribing on Julie's part...I think it only cost her $1.25. :) I'm hoping to be able to take some family pictures of them as well before the end of Feb. Here are a few of my favorites.

What's in a name?

Even though he’s barely a month old Jacob already has a ton of nicknames: Captain Jack, Jake Jake, Jakers, Gus Gus, Grunting Gus, Little Guy, Baby Doug, Popeye, Buddha Belly, T-Rex, Triceratops, and Jake Brakes. They all seem to fit his sweet little personality. The last four fit him particularly well as he is a grunter. He spends a significant amount of time during the night making noises that sound eerily similar to a semi jake-braking, the T-Rex from the end of Jurassic Park, or the little Kota Triceratops that Lauren received for her birthday. These names just pop up without much thought or effort. However, finding the name that would stay with him through his life was a bit more difficult. When we were pregnant with Anna, almost 6 years ago now, we both easily agreed upon the name Jacob. In the interim, the name Jacob rose to the top of the “popular names” list. Even though we didn’t want to give him the same name as everyone else, we felt it was already ours and already meant to be his. We had a tougher time with his middle name. Initially I wanted to give him my maiden name Rhoad. Unfortunately, that would have given him the initials JRK and we all know how kids can be. We went back and forth and finally decided on “Augustus”. People’s reactions to this name have been quite amusing and not always positive. Responses have ranged from, “Oh, really...huh.” to “Oooo-kay.” Otherwise, we’ve just been met with blank stares. The nice thing about this name, however, is that it is different and even better than that it’s a family name. You know how much I love genealogy and it’s fun to think that he has a name that belonged to one of his grandfathers. So, even though it may not be a popular name, we think it’s a fine name and are quite pleased. :)

I do realize that I have two other children and I promise to start posting more pictures soon. It's just been a lot of fun taking newborn pictures. He's growing so fast that I have to get them all in as he's changing so much each and every day. Thanks for humoring me!

Picture inspired by the talented women at "barebaby" but we're not even close to touching their fabulousness (is that a word??:)

Nature Baby

A babe in the house is a well-spring of pleasure, a messenger of peace and love, a resting place for innocence on earth, a link between angels and men.
Martin Fraquhar Tupper

A few things I'm lovin'!

Two weeks ago we rented a macro lens from borrowlenses.com out of San Fran. I fell in love with it and Doug ordered one for us. It just came in yesterday and I must say that I'm lovin' me some macro!! Here are a few pics I took using our rental macro.

I'm lovin' the natural light coming in through our playroom window...

and the growing bond between fathers and sons.

I also can't get enough of my new baby wrap from lovey duds. I can't believe how well it works!

Visit with Nana

We had such a wonderful time during my mother's visit. We were all sad to see her go. I think she should just give up her business and come stay with us for months at a time.....how 'bout it, Mom? The girls loved sleeping with Nana every night. Jacob loved Nana's singing and "magic bounce" that always managed to elicit one of his ever elusive burps followed by a drift into a fitful sleep. His mommy apparently needs to take some notes from the master! We're looking forward to the possibility that Nana may be able to come back in May for Anna's birthday. We love you and miss you, Nana!

Some days you're the windshield....

some days you're the bug! Yesterday, I was the bug. I wonder who I need to petition to extend a day to 36 hours as opposed to 24. There's just not enough time to be everything to everybody before the day ends. Especially when your 4- year old is on a mission to drive you nutty. I think I definitely need to find more time to spend with Lauren. Perhaps she's just adjusting to life as the big sister and not the baby. She was especially "busy" yesterday, enough to warrant a new nickname given to her by Doug. She is now known around the house as "Taz". Just in the 14 hours she was awake, she

1. Found a book of matches and hid them in her room.
Matches are always kept well out of reach but a box was apparently not put away after the b-day party on Saturday. Fortunately for us, Anna is very diligent about letting us know whenever anyone around the house is out of line and so a possible disaster was averted.

2. Hid under a blanket in her closet to avoid washing her hands after going potty.

3. Took the phone into the water-filled tub with her to talk to Nana.

4. Dressed herself by pulling all of her drawers and the clothing they contained out of the dresser and onto the floor.

5. Had a marble in her mouth.

6. Put stamps on her feet and drew on her back with marker.

7. Dumped all of the new, unburned CDs out of their container into a pile on the floor.

8. Told me 15 times to "Just get me what I want" even though I told her 15 times that we didn't have what she wanted and would have to go to the store to get it.

9. Poured a cup of coffee into one of my wicker chests and in the process wet a stack of children's books...."The Shy Little Kitten" had to be retired as it was too far gone to be saved. All the others I managed to clean up with only a few coffee-stained pages as a reminder of the trauma.

10. Gave the dog a "bath" with windex and paper towels.

Some days I honestly just don't have an idea how to respond. She usually tells us that whatever it was she did was a "mistake" or she did it by accident. Doug explained to her today the difference between "mistakes" and making bad choices. Other recent "mistakes" include marker drawings all over the doors and walls, stickers stuck to furniture, and worst of all picking Jacob up and carrying him to the couch. I'm not sleeping much and so my responses to all of these "accidents" probably would not win me the "mother of the year" award. I think it's definitely time to pull out my "Power of a Positive Mom" book again and start taking notes! If you have a moment, say a little prayer for us and our Tasmanian Devil/Sweetheart!

Happy Birthday Lauren!

It's hard to believe our baby is now 4 years old. It seems like we just brought her home from the hospital. She's still such a joy although she keeps us on our toes each and every day. As most of you know, she's our little tomboy. So, instead of a princess or fairy birthday party, we had a plank-walking, cannonball throwing, musical island pirate party. I'm so thankful for my talented mother. She made all of the pirate t-shirts for the kids at her shop in Alabama. She also made Jacob's little pants and embroidered his onesie. Once she arrived here in CA, she sewed up the sashes and bandanas. At the party we played "sink the pirate ship", "fill the treasure chest", and "musical islands (our version of musical chairs)". I was worried about the kids being upset if they didn't win while playing musical islands so Doug (Thank you, Honey!)made a real plank that everyone got to walk once they were out of the game. At the end of their walk, the kids received an eye-patch just like "pirates of old". I guess it was a successful ploy as there were no tears. However, noone wanted to stop playing after getting their eye-patches and started sitting two to an island! :) All in all, we had a fun time and were so happy to spend the afternoon with such good friends. I must say a big "Thank you" to Trish Larsen and Tracy Cook. It was so nice to have both of them here at the party and I appreciate all of the wonderful photos they took of the afternoon. Enjoy the slideshow!

The things we do for our children

You never really know how much you can love another human being until you give birth to one...or three. You try your best to always put their needs before your own and even though you try to convince them that the earth really doesn't revolve around them....deep down you know that it does.

When Anna was born, my world changed. I was immediately and helplessly in love. I nursed her for almost a full year and it was such a rewarding experience. Lauren came along and again, my heart was filled to overflowing. I tried to breastfeed her as well but after about 12 weeks we switched her to formula because of what we were told was a milk protein allergy. Jacob arrived and I find myself just giddy over him. I know that sounds a bit silly but I seriously am "giddy" when I know it's time to pick him up from a nap and nurse him.

Unfortunately though, he has been exhibiting a few signs that he might be headed the same direction as Lauren. As a preemptive measure, we decided I would go ahead and cut dairy out of my diet just to be safe. Then I read about all of the other foods to avoid while breastfeeding and now I've cut out everything but range fed turkey, sweet potatoes, brown rice, zucchini, squash, and pears. This is based on advice from the Dr. Sears' website. After a two week period, you gradually begin adding back one food at a time, a new one every four days until you determine to what he may or may not be allergic. Doesn't sound too bad, does it? I would like to think I am a strong-willed person but after only 2.5 days I am currently craving chocolate cake, bread, cereal and everything else I'm not supposed to eat.

This could, however, all be for nothing as I also read an article about foremilk/hindmilk imbalance. Apparently if the baby isn't spending enough time on each side, he may only get the foremilk which can cause gas and other intestinal issues which may then be misdiagnosed as an allergy. So, I'm attempting to ensure Jacob gets to the hindmilk during his feedings.

We've also discovered that he seems to get caught up after spending the night on his back. Doug has this problem and since Jacob is basically a mini-version of his Daddy, we thought it could affect him as well. Doug took him at about three this morning (the time when Jacob normally begins his "grunting") and put him upright for a few hours until his next feeding. No more grunting.

So, the questions arise....am I just crazy? Am I depriving myself of chocolate cake for nothing? Is it an allergy or only a foremilk/hindmilk issue? Could it be that neither of these things are a problem and he just needs to be more upright when he sleeps? Would love some feedback from you guys!

Our sweethearts

Conversations with the Peanut Gallery

Anna was smelling Jacob's hair and said, "Mommy, it smells so good. It smells just like honey. I can't "exist" it.

Doug will be headed back to work on the 1st of February. Lauren asked him if they were going to have a band for him.

Lauren got "Biscuit", the fur real dog, for Christmas. It obeys your voice commands and responds to touch. Lauren loves it and keeps telling him to "Sit up and bag, boy. Sit up and bag."

Anna and I have huge "debates" every morning about clothing selection for school. She comes downstairs in summer dresses and sandals all the time. I've been trying to explain seasonal clothing to her. I try to get her to wear sweaters and pants. I usually compromise and tell her she can wear a dress but she has to wear a long sleeve shirt and tights underneath. I warn her over and over that she'll be too cold if she dresses in the clothing she prefers. She always responds that she'll be just fine and not cold at all. Yesterday she came home and said, "Mommy, Mrs. Warren (her teacher) told me to tell you that you need to dress me more warmly because I was cold today."

Arrrrgh...It's a Pirate Party!

It's birthday time again and I love planning birthday parties for the girls. Lauren will be 4 on the 16th of this month and we're having a pirate party for her the following day. This morning I asked her what she wanted for her birthday and she told me she needed a "real" sword. Oh my. We'll have to see about that one. We're super excited because Nana is flying out for the party and to see Jacob. We can't wait! Here's a shot of Lauren's invitations that we handed out yesterday.

PPE and Baby TV

I've heard a lot about postpartum depression but is there such a thing as postpartum elation? Whenever I look at Jacob or hold him close, a sense of peace, calm, and happiness just wash over me. I spend a lot of time just sitting and staring at him. In the past, my Dad and I have called it Baby TV. You could just watch for hours with no desire to change the channel. It's going to be a while before the grandparents get to meet Jacob for the first time. I thought they might enjoy a little Baby TV until then. The video is a little long but like I said before...I just find it hard to change the channel.

New photos

Here are a few photos of our precious new bundle. He's so sweet and I'm just ga-ga over him.
I'm so appreciative of these shots courtesy of Trish Larsen. She's super talented and there's a link to her website on the left.