The little one is asleep, and bit of a creative spark hit me. BLAM! This blog was definitely due a makeover.  Pronto. I changed the background and the colors, but I really like the fonts and the general layout of things.  I may play around with those later...if I get smacked with the creative spark again. The Husband likes it.  At least that's what he said when he handed me my cherry limeade (that I was secretly dreaming of earlier while nursing but hadn't said aloud--he totally read my mind!). What do you think?

Two weeks ago, when Jack-Jack was just four days old, he had his first photo shoot. Initially, we hadn't planned on having newborn pictures done.  The cost was prohibitive , and I knew that we'd be taking lots of pictures ourselves.  I just didn't see a huge need for it. But. About six weeks before his due date, a friend from work emailed me letting me know that the gal (Jana) who voluntarily and so generously took Hadley's beautiful and priceless pictures in the hospital for us was looking for newborn models to give her the chance to practice with some new props. I emailed her that day and volunteered our boy.  She accepted (awesome!) and told me the terms:  Jack would give her the practice she wanted, and we, in turn, would receive a free session and ten photos of our choosing.   Well, as you know, our boy decided to make his appearance earlier than expected, so I didn't know if the photo session would work out. But, it did!  She even invited...

Well, hello. I feel like I haven't posted anything in months.  But that could just be my lack of sleep and pure exhaustion speaking. We had a busy weekend and last couple of days, so I thought I'd post before my mommy-brain took over, and I promptly forgot everything that happened. Saturday, my parents drove into town.   Again .  Poor people.  They've gotta be so tired from the many trips they keep making here! They went with us to our friend Leah's wedding.  Here are the three of us about to leave. No children were allowed...but an exception was made for Jack :)  He was allowed to stay with my parents upstairs during the ceremony.  Here's what he did the entire time... Right before the ceremony started... ahem ...it's ok...you can say it. We know we look exhausted. P.S. The ceremony was all kinds of gorgeous! After the ceremony... Leah and her mom bought him this cute tuxedo onesie! :)  On our way to the ceremony......

   My parents have been in town since Friday evening. They were sooo helpful, with both chores around the house and with the baby this week!  They left after lunch today, but they'll be back on Saturday to sit with Jack when the five of us attend a wedding that evening. Now for a few Jack stats, mostly for my memory, haha. Jack weighed 6 lbs. 2 oz . at birth. The day before we left the hospital, Jack-Jack weighed 5 lbs. and 14 oz .  This past Monday, my parents, Jack, and and I went to Jack's first pediatrician appointment. He weighed 6 lbs. 6.5 oz !  In just four days, he gained 8 oz!  While there, they did a blood test to check his Bilirubin levels. In the hospital, he was a bit jaundiced.  Unfortunately, the levels came back a bit high-- 14.6 . So, we had to go back the next day to have them tested again.  If they were higher, we'd have to check them again the next day. If not, we'd be able to wait to check them at his 2-week ap...

Birth Day 1 Day Old For the life of me, I can't find any pictures from this day! How did that happen?? 2 Days Old 3 Days Old 4 Days Old 5 Days Old 6 Days Old One Week Old!

Here's a picture of the big guy catching some rays as I type. This blog post is sub-titled:   The story of how my birth plan was scrapped and then almost completely put back in place Or alternately titled:   How God answered my prayers over and over.  Why should I be surprised!  Or also known as:   The best day ever What a difference a week makes! Here is the account (or at least what I recall) of last Monday morning and the 21 hours that followed.  Although it won't be much, I would like to say here that I will be telling about some pretty gory stuff. My point is not to gross you out but to share honestly my birth experience.  It would have helped had I known some of this stuff beforehand :) A little before 4:30 that morning, I awoke to a gushing sensation.  I thought that maybe incontinence had finally struck, especially since I had been going to the bathroom 4 and 5 times a night.  I ran to the bathroom only to discov...