Firsts (and seconds)....

Today (actually yesterday Wednesday, I started this post but didn't finish it until now) was Scott's first day back to work since Jacob was born, and my first whole day on my own with three kiddos. So, I guess it is fitting that we had some other 'firsts' today.

• Jacob's first doctor visit. At exactly two weeks old, he's 8lbs. 15 oz. and 21.5 in. long. He still looks a little yellow in the face, so he got to do another bili check. Of course he didn't appreciate being disturbed, but at least he's a good bleeder so it didn't take very long- I have some nice blood splatter on my pants to prove it.


• First (and second) diaper blowout for Jacob. The first one was in the bouncy chair, so I had to put that through the wash. The second one wasn't so bad, more of a 'leak' than a 'blowout'. Ironically, he hasn't sprayed us nearly as much as Andrew did (yet).


• First (and second) time Eden answered the door while I was nursing Jacob on the couch- both times to strangers! The first was a JW who kindly dropped off her magazines and left when Eden told her "my mommy is busy right now", after which I had a talk with Eden about not opening the door unless she recognizes the person on the other side. The second time it was a kid (maybe 7 or8?) collecting donations "to save the animals"??? When Eden told him I couldn't come to the door, he said "OK, I can wait" Why do parents let their kids loose on the neighborhood like that?!?! A few days after Jacob was born, Andrew let some neighborhood girls in (we only had the screen door shut at the time) while I was in the bathroom, and they invited Eden to a birthday party for a cat who belongs to a girl she doesn't know! (We really don't get very many knocks on our door, only when it is MOST inconvenient.)
  
• First time I made freezer jam. I 'crushed' the fruit and mixed the pectin/sugar in with my blender. Maybe that's cheating, but it was super-fast, and Eden and Andrew prefer the smoother texture. I found out that a completely full blender jar of strawberries makes 4 cups of crushed (just the right amount for the packet of pectin I had). We all love it!

And now here's what you all really come to our blog for, the pictures. Here are a few from the last couple weeks:

this sign says "no dads", I'm not sure what that was all about...

O.B.D. Phase II- Jacob is home!

Brand-new Jacob (although he didn't have a name yet when these pictures were taken):



Scott brought Eden and Andrew to visit the next morning:

Here are pictures while we were waiting to get discharge papers on Friday:

Andrew decided to try on Jacob's hat, maybe that's why its too big for him in the next picture (or maybe its because his head is still pretty narrow on top):

Getting ready to go home (finally! the kids ended up having to wait a while, good thing they put TVs in hospital rooms):

So far Jacob sleeps almost all the time that he's not eating or having his diaper changed, but we're starting to see more and more of his eyes, so we'll have to post more pictures soon.

Operation Baby Drop - Phase I completed

Well, he's here! Jacob Verl Olson was born on 11 Jun 08 at 5:10 pm at Rapid City Regional Hospital. Sorry I don't have pictures. The camera is at the hospital with Lani.

Jacob was 8 lbs 13.7 oz and 21 inches long when the nurses weighed and measured him right after he was born. He was five days early and about one pound heavier than both Eden and Andrew were at birth.

I will leave most of the details up to Lani except for one. Before the baby was completely delivered and at the point at which an already tired and hungry mom was thoroughly exhausted, the midwife and the nurse thought it would be a good idea to assure Lani that the baby was certainly much bigger than either of our first two kids. This was the last thing she wanted to hear. I was sitting next to the bed. If you knew, as Lani does, that I was 10 lbs 6 oz. when I was born and if I had time to explain the reputation of the hard, abnormally large, Swedish-stock cranium typical of Olson males you would not be surprised at all at Lani's response... more details that I choose to leave up to her. Let's just say I think I know why it's a good idea to deliver babies in hospitals; it has less to do with the mother and baby than it does with quick access to top quality health care for the father.

Anyway, Lani and Jacob are doing fine. She chose to stay one extra night in the hospital and I plan to pick them up tomorrow around 10:00 am. (that will be Phase II of the operation). We really do have some great snapshots and I will try to post them tomorrow.

Oh, and though thirty years have lapsed I would like to say... thanks Mom! Sorry for what I put you through. Love, Scott

About Memorial Day Weekend- better late than never!

Memorial Day Weekend actually had pretty lousy weather around here, but we managed to take advantage of Scott's 4-day weekend and have some fun together anyway. On Friday we drove through the rain and some pretty intense fog to a Glow-Putz mini-golf place. It took me a while to figure out what setting to use on the camera to get the best shots, and now I can't even remember for sure which one worked best! I think the first one was with the flash. And the second one of Andrew was the "night scene" setting, it actually turned out kind of cool, even though I had no idea what I was doing. The kids really enjoyed themselves, although they didn't really understand the whole waiting/taking turns aspect, they just kept hitting their ball until it finally went into the hole, regardless of whose turn it actually was. And of course they (Eden) also had a good time dancing to the music (sorry there's no sound- I still haven't figured out what the problem is, but I suspect its our camera).

does anyone know how to rotate this after its loaded onto the blog?

its not the greatest, but that's Eden dancing around on the right, Andrew's in the middle, but you really can't see him at all

We also made it to Sylvan Lake, in Custer State Park, on Monday I think. It was wet and cold most of the time, and Andrew protested in true 3-year-old tantrum fashion for the first 10 minutes (I almost turned around to sit with him in the van), but we made it all the way around the lake and the kids really enjoyed exploring the rocks with Scott. On the other side of this huge stone wall is the lake.

On Saturday morning, the weather was actually pretty nice and sunny, so we attempted to visit Old MacDonald's petting farm since we had paid for, but hadn't yet used our season passes. When we got their the sign said said "closed due to inclement weather" (a rather common phrase around here, even in the middle of the summer!). So, we headed back to town to Storybook Island. It was a little wet and muddy, but the crowds weren't bad. Andrew really didn't understand the whole 'posing' thing for this picture. Right about the time we were getting ready to go home for lunch, the "inclement weather" rolled in and they closed the park (lucky for us, not so much for all the people who had just arrived). All in all it was a great weekend!

Denver Trip Highlights

Eden just loves her new cousin, Reese. She was especially proud that Reese fell asleep in her arms two times. She was so happy to be a big helper for Robin while Scott and I went to the temple. I'm glad Robin thought it was as nice as Eden did.

Andrew and Shaun (Reese's 2-year-old brother) had a good time together too. I'm not sure what Andrew is doing (or about to do? to Shaun), but Shaun's going in for a hug.

(hope all you belly-shot-hungry folk got a good look, I don't plan to post anymore photos with the belly!)

We also rode the rapid transit ("train" according to the kids) downtown to the 16th Street Mall. It was fun and the kids actually did pretty well with all the walking (thanks to Robin's Sit-n-Stand stroller, I think my kids used it more than Shaun- thanks for sharing Shaun!). We ate at a Johnny Rocker's where they had such a great time with the ramp and handicap-button door right by our table, that they were "not hungry anymore" until we left the restaurant.

We took a little detour off 16th Street to find the Fire Department Museum, which turned out to be closed. We tried to get a picture of the kids anyway, and this is the best we got (notice Eden "helping" Andrew stand still for the picture). Robin tried again at the zoo the next day, but we just didn't have much luck getting a really good shot of three kids ages 5, 3, and 2- these two really are the best between two sets of pics.

We all had a really great time and are so glad we were able to get the trip in before I was any more pregnant! Thanks Robin & Fred!!!