Jake News

The kids don't think we should call him anything besides Jacob, but I think I like using Jake for short, I guess we'll see what sticks.

Finally a baby who enjoys the swing!!! I know he's not smiling or anything, but at least he'll sit there for a useable amount of time.

And Jake still does well on his tummy! Sometimes a little too well- he sometimes falls asleep :) He's definitely getting stronger!

And the winner of our cloth diaper trial is.... bumGenius V3.0 one-size pocket diaper! We tried this one first, on recommendation from two friends who use them on their older babies. Then I tried these out as well. The bG's had the best overall fit. A lot of the others were just too big around the leg which caused leaks and/or wicking. I also liked the Fuzzi Bunz, but with those we'd have to buy more everytime Jake moves up in size. With the bG's, the size can adjust so supposedly it will fit until he's potty-trained. These will be our main diaper for now. My only concern is whether the aplix (velcro) will hold up, so I'm going to try a Blueberry Deluxe One-size (snaps are supposed to last longer which may be worth the additional cost if the velcro doesn't last). And if I can find diaper covers that fit around the leg better, we may add more of the traditional prefolds. Although they're not nearly as easy to use as newer style cloth diapers like the bGs, prefolds do a very adequate job considering the much lower cost. But I really need to find better covers before I would use them on a regular basis.

ARRRGH Matey!

I thought this series of pictures was so cute! Eden and Andrew were "hiding their buried treasure" when I got the camera. You can see how Andrew just thinks Eden is the coolest (at least sometimes)!

Ten on Wednesday

I like reading Emily's Ten on Tuesday, so I decided to steal that idea. Today's not Tuesday though... oh well, here it is anyway, Ten on Wednesday- Pilot: "In No Particular Order".

1. This morning Andrew woke me up with this conversation:

Andrew: "Can you help me find my Batman pajamas?" (Kind of whiny, he must have already been looking for the Batman pajamas he doesn't own)

Me: "You don't have any Batman pajamas, buddy."

Andrew: "YES, I do." (he then went to ask Eden to help him find them)

2. Yesterday marked the beginning of our official cloth diaper trial period. I'll post more about this later.

3. We had a huge hail storm today. The picture was taken a few minutes after it had stopped hailing, so the hail must have been even bigger when it first hit the ground. It didn't break any windows, but it did break the kids lawn chairs.

4. I wasn't going to renew our Sam's Club membership, but I'm reconsidering this decision because of these.

5. Jacob is starting to smile back at us.

6. Today Eden asked if we could move to college next time we move. I told her she had to be 18.

7. I ordered new pair of these the other day and can't wait for them to arrive. I have A LOT of work ahead of me.

8. We had a great time at our ward Pioneer Day celebration/picnic. There was a lot of water-fighting going on, and I got soaked even though I was holding Jacob at the time. I wasn't the only one with a baby to get wet- no one was safe.

9. Erin made this cool message board for me, and today I finally hung it. Thanks Erin!

10. I sometimes read or watch tv/movies while I'm nursing. I was pretty proud of myself for setting up a series recording for the new season of this on the DVR. Then for some reason it only recorded the first 10 minutes so I watched it a few days later on the internet. I love technology (at least in this situation)!

So there you have it, "Ten on Wednesday". "Ten on Tuesday" definitely has a nicer 'ring' to it. I even learned how to turn words in my post into links (finally)!

Jacob

I have been derelict in my blogging duties, so here are some updates:

Jacob was blessed last Sunday. Erin and Ryan were able to stay a few extra hours- thanks guys!

I actually took this picture (above) on Thursday because the blessing outfit got dirty before I got a chance to take any pictures of Jacob.

This is actually Jacob's third bath. It took that long before I remembered to have someone take some pictures.

And here is Jacob enjoying some "tummy-time." He actually does enjoy it, at least more than Eden and Andrew did.

Visitors!

It was so nice to have my Mom help us out for a whole week! (I only had a day and a half on my own between when Scott went back to work and when my Mom arrived.) She cooked and cleaned and watched the kids so I could take a nap every day. She helped get our basement and our food storage organized (actually she did almost all the work). And Scott and I even got to go out on a date! Thanks Mom! We love you!

On the morning that my mom had to go home, the doorbell rang at 7am. Erin and Ryan had driven all night from Utah to suprise us! It was so fun to have them here. They went to the fireworks at Mt. Rushmore that night with Scott and Eden and Andrew, while I enjoyed a quiet evening with Jacob.

We also went to Custer State Park and hiked part way up Harney Peak and saw Sylvan Lake.

Eden and Andrew had so much fun with Erin and Ryan. I must admit they are probably the current "favorite Auntie and Uncle" with Eden and Andrew (sorry to the other Aunties and Uncles).

After all the fun visitors, the kids were stuck with boring old mom this past week. Luckily, they started swim lessons on Monday, so they haven't noticed yet...

You should see the other guy!

So we decided to enroll Andrew in a preschooler fight club.....

OK, really he had two unfortunate events that unfortunately happened on the same day causing him to look like the world's youngest boxer (the pictures don't do justice). Friday morning, he was bothering Eden a little too much and she pushed him away. His face ran into the bed post of his bed. It didn't look that bad, I wasn't too worried about it because he hits his head all the time, but yesterday the bruise at spread into his eye. Still, that wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for Friday afternoon...
Eden and Andrew were playing some kind of peek-a-boo sort of game on the couch. Eden was on the couch and Andrew was standing on a kitchen chair behind the couch (this couch is not against a wall). Somehow Andrew lost his balance, tipping over on the chair, and smacking his mouth (I think on the back of the chair). His front left tooth was pushed up and back into his gum and the tooth next to it was completely knocked out. (It's kind of hard to tell in the pictures because he couldn't smile really big with his upper lip all swollen. We talked to a few dentists (thanks Bren!) and will be taking him to see a pediatric dentist tomorrow to have it x-rayed.
We put the knocked-out tooth in milk, but found out that baby teeth aren't put back in. The other tooth we'll probably just have to wait and hope it moves back into place. So, he'll just have a gap for a few years. At his last appointment, the dentist told us he has a crossbite that we'll have to take care of when he gets older, so I don't think this is going to add any more work or $$ to his future dental/orthodontic care. For now, he gets to eat whatever he wants.

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...