Three Months (a little late)

My little man is 3 months old.... 3 months!!!!

Where has the time gone?  I have no idea?

This is more than likely our last kiddo, so I am trying to savor every minute I can.  And no matter how hard the time is still flying by.

This little guy has stolen my heart.  He's such a mama's boy and I just can't get enough of him.

He loves to smile and talk to us all the time.  He's trying so hard to laugh but can't quite get there, but I know it's coming any day.

He is sleeping through the night.  8:00pm- 7:30pm.. He's actually been doing this for the last month, but I didn't want to jinx myself, but after a good solid month of this kind of sleeping, I think it's safe to say he likes bed time.

Naps are still a little spotty.  He snoozes off and on through out the day, but really needs at least 2 solid QUIET time naps.  (Having a big sister (who is pretty loud) makes napping anywhere in the house a little difficult)  He takes 1-1.5 hour morning nap, and then a 2.5-3 hour nap in the afternoon.  In the last couple of weeks the napping has improved quite a bit so hopefully we're on to something.

Eating... yeah he's a champ eater.  In fact, I'm a little nervous about what that says when he gets older.  I have a feeling my grocery bill might double.  :)  I mean look how much weight this boy has put on.

Newborn

One Month

Two Months

Three Months

It's just so crazy to me to see how much babies change in the first few months!


And me, well I finally feel like I'm getting into my groove with motherhood.  Days are still exhausting and chaotic at times, but my heart is full.

Family Pictures

In an attempt to make amends for failing miserably the 31 day challenge I am giving you some pictures that will just make you smile with delight.  (one can hope)


These were taken when Mr. Jaxson was 3 weeks old.
Little Miss is quite the little model and loved every second of this shoot.  (if you can't tell)

Enjoy folks.

Nothing Can Prepare You

When I was pregnant,  everyone always warned me how difficult it was to go from one child to two.
I thought I had mentally prepared myself for the switch.  After all, being the oldest of 4 kids I knew how chaotic life could be.
But nothing could prepare me for the one to two switch.
I mean.... Wow!

No child is bad.  In fact, Jax-man is a pretty easy baby and outside of the normal toddler behavior, Blake is a very good child.  It's just the fact that I have 2 little people to take care of.

Two mouths to feed.  Two kids who need mommy.  A baby I'm trying to get into a routine, and a toddler who craves outing and adventures.  Thank goodness I only have one diaper to change.  Mom's with 2 in diapers.... my hat's off to you!  You are my heros!  I have no idea how you do it.

I'm pretty lucky to have my hubby home for 8 weeks.  Yes, 8 weeks!!! I realize that is a luxury.  As much of a transition as it's been, it's also been just as wonderful to have so much family time.  I love my kids.  I love watching my husband be the amazing father he is to two children.

I may fall into bed utterly exhausted at the end of the day, but oh man, my heart is full.

And that my friends is the crazy world of parenting.  The hardest job you will ever do, yet the most rewarding.

Introducing Little Man

I'm pretty sure that about half way through my pregnancy, I officially stopped blogging.
After being a wife to a hunk,  working, being a mommy to Little Miss and a attempting to keep up with the house, blogging always lost!
I just didn't have the peppy energy to write.

But then this magical thing happened....

Jaxson was born!!!!
I'm feeling good (a little sleep deprived) but overall good.
And bonus... I'm no longer pregnant!  :)

So allow me to introduce you to my Little Man.  He is the perfect completion of our family and a perfect little partner for Little Miss.

We are incredibly blessed.

Jaxson came two and a half weeks early.  He made his entrance much like his sister.
My water broke in the middle of the night.  Hubby was working, hubby had to come home and rush me to the hospital.

By the time I got admitted to the hospital (at 2am), my contractions were pretty consistently every 3-4 minutes apart.  I got the epidural (which once again did not work on my dear lady parts) and when it came time to push it HURT!!!  I screamed bloody murder, yelled at my husband a few times, and am just glad I only pushed for 20 min instead of 2 hours like Blake.  I have officially lost hope in all epidurals.

But we made it through.  He was born at 8:27am and weighed 6lbs 14oz.  With a weight like that, I'm just glad he came 2 and a half weeks early.
Perfect Little Man if you ask me!

He looks EXACTLY like his daddy!  EXACTLY!
Same facial expressions, same everything.  Caleb has a mini-me!

And the Baby is a......

So on Monday, we went in for our 20 week ultrasound.
And as you can imagine we were so excited to find out if baby was a boy or a girl.
I fought the urge of doing an earlier ultrasound after several of my friends had the gender "change" on them so 20 weeks could not come fast enough!

Well we are proud to share that Baby #2 is......

Yep, a boy!  I don't think I have seen my husband so excited.
He probably would have hugged the tech if he hadn't been so busy trying to explain to Blake that "Baby Sister" was actually going to be Baby Brother.

So please allow me to introduce you to

Jaxson Dale

(named after my little brother, with different spelling, and Caleb's Dad)

And here is Caleb's favorite shot of the baby.

He finally gets his boy.

Most importantly, Little Man is healthy and growing beautifully.
We are so blessed!

The Dreaded Day

Every year, us police families go through a major upheaval.
Ok maybe it's not like that in every department but here at Aurora PD we experience a yearly life change.
And well, today is that day.
The ever dreaded day........

BID DAY

Our guys go in (or wives) and have to bid for their shift.  Guys/Gals pick their shift in order of seniority. The old guys kick off the day with their posh pick of M-Thurs day shift, and by the end of the day all that is left is graves shift with Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday off.  To organize this process a beautiful white board with every shift listed by days off, time, district and Sgt. is listed so the guys know what is left when it is their turn to bid.

So here I am anxiously awaiting the hubby's courtesy call to find out which shift he's going to take it.
Side note:  any good police husband calls to check with his wife before officially taking a shift.
And wives learn to wait for that call to make sure they bid what the family needs.

He'll pick his shift and then begins the switching around of my work, appointments and child care.  Which is one of many reasons why Police Wives rock.


Wish us luck!!!  Let's hope it's a minimal upheaval this year.

When Mama Goes Down

Today I'm out! Like knocked down, dragged out kind of down.
This doesn't happen very often, but when it does, it's well, MISERABLE.

About a year ago I wrote about Male Sickness, so today I decided to write about Mama Sickness.

What the heck do you do when you are to sick to do anything?
Now if you are like me, most of the time you get sick and you just keep on keepin on.  But there are those rare times where it's just to dang hard to keep at it.
So here is my advice on how to handle Mama Sickness.

  Ask for Help and ACCEPT that help!

Today my husband took off work to help me me crawl from bed to couch out with Blake (and be the most attractive nurse I've ever seen).  This is awesome until Little Miss starts to cry for "Mama" and I instantly want to jump out of bed and go to her.  See, I can't quite seem to flip off the mom mode.  Instead I have to remind myself that Daddy is just as good as Mommy and I try to tune out the cries and sleep.  After all, hubs didn't stay home to yell at me for not resting.  

So yes, jump off your high horse for just a little bit and ask for help and then accept that help!

Rest when you can

Go back to the newborn mantra of when they sleep, you sleep!  Let the laundry pile up, the house get dusty and just rest!  All that stuff will be there waiting for you when you feel better.  But sleep!!!  It's better to take one-two days of solid rest than weeks of crabby, blah feeling mom mode because your body can't heal.

Play doctor with the kiddo

Lay on the couch, let them take care of you.  You might get a plastic fork put in your ear or a plastic hamburger rubbed on your belly, but hey, you're resting and kiddo is entertained.  Who cares!!

And when all else fails.....

MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE

I'm not a huge advocate of letting the TV babysit your child, but when you are at your wits end, then Mickey Mouse will become your best friend!  I don't know what it is about this show, but any and every kid loves to boogie to the "Hot Dog Dance"- this will buy you at least an hour before your help arrives!

Well there you go, that took all of my energy, so I'm going back to sleep now.  Wish me luck!

Pictures Brought to You by Groupon

I love Groupon!

And here is why.....

Family pictures at a super fancy (aka expensive) place for super cheap!

Can't wait to show you the rest of them, but for now, enjoy these two.

And then make sure you check Groupon regularly for any more amazing deals... I sure am!

Growing Together

I always knew this would come.

In fact, I was so excited for it.

Now we're here.

Parenting has become so much more.

It has become more than feedings and sleep schedules.

It's now guiding.

Showing her how to act....

 Temper tantrums are not okay, 

Please and thank you are nice to say,

Potty training (oh yes), 

Meals are meant to be eaten not fed to your best friend, Zorro (Husky #2)

Sharing is good,

God loves you,

Use your words, not your screams.

This is just a brief run down of what my life consists of.

I had a moment where I just got plain scared.

My thoughts were screaming...

I only have ONE shot at this.

ONE - that's it.

What if I mess up?

What if I teach her something bad on accident?

What if we let her down?

Luckily our God is big enough to handle our fears.

Luckily He is great enough to let us learn to trust Him.

I will mess up.

I won't be perfect.

That's reality... I wish it wasn't.

She will mess up.

She won't be perfect.

But together we will grow and learn to trust our God.

Cheers to My Sis!

Yesterday my dear sister turned 26.

I guess I never thought I'd see the day that my little sis grew up.

Part of me always thought that we'd dream about our future for forever.

But now we're actually living it.

She's grown up and married.

I'm grown up, married, and have a kiddo.

Yep, our dreams have come true.

I love my sister more than anything.

She drives me absolutely nuts, and I do the same to her.

But she's my sister and that means we love each other despite the nuts part.  

And I'm the only one that can say she drives me nuts.

See that's the thing about the Jacobs' kids. 

We can yell and scream at each other, but an outsider says and ill word about another, and then we will all turn around and yell and scream at you. 

Consider yourself warned.

It's quite a beautiful thing, really.

I love all of us Jacobs' kids.  They are the best group of siblings I could ever have.

But God sure blessed me when he gave me my sister.

She's challenged me and made me grow in areas no else can.

Happy Birthday, Hooker!

I love you!

Now in honor of her birthday, here is a picture tribute to her.

(Please no judgement of the 80's hair do's)

You know you rocked the same hair proudly!

 Disney World... riding It's a Small World for the millionth time because that's Jacey's favorite ride.

And still is.... 

 Mama made us dress up in these ridiculous matching clothes.

Jacey loved it, I hated it.

But now, it's kind of cute... I always knew she wanted to be just like me.

Just kidding

 Welcoming Kaleb to our girly world.

 This would be the first of many kayak/canoeing trips.

All of them don't end so well..  

But they make for some great stories... maybe I'll share sometime.

Me off to college.

Leaving the good ol sis behind.

This day sucked, but then it became cool to have sister sleep over in the dorms.

My wedding day.

Only sister could get me all gussied up.

And was there when Blake made her arrival.

She hasn't missed a Big Moment in my life.

And I pray that I never miss one of hers.

And here is the Fantastic Four!

Jacey graduated and well what do you know.

It called for our standard picture.

Kade holding me, Kaleb holding Jacey.

What can I say, we're cool!

JB, I love you!

Thanks for always being there.

Proud of the woman you are!