Four Years Ago...

Four Years ago, in the early morning, my third baby boy came into the world. It had been a long process. A hard pregnancy and a hard labor. But he was finally here. Jacob, my sweet baby, was here.

And a sweet baby he was. Wow! So content. Such a good nurser (the only one who "got it" from the start). He came into the world sick at first but was a star NICU patient. He rarely cried. Slept almost the entire time and gained weight like a champ! We were instantly in love.

How that day seems so long ago, yet not that far away at the same time. He has changed so much over the years. Jacob. What do I think of when I say his name? I think goofy, smiley, challenging, snacker, sleeper, loving, energetic, crazy, mischievous, funny. At four years old some of Jacob's loves are his family, Cody (one of our cats), Blue Blanket (which has to be folded just right so he can lay his head on it to sleep) Lego Star Wars on the Wii (he will ask for this all day) SNACKS (he will ask for these about every 2 minutes or so...not joking!) swinging, "my Hoops" (our friends), Mac N Cheese, Chick-pa-lay (Chick-fil-a), "Pirates" at Disneyland, puzzles, paper airplanes, Chicken Stars (What he calls Carl's Jr), gymnastics, cottage cheese, Spider Man and all things Star Wars.

Jacob is a strong force in our family. He makes sure you know he's there! He goes through waves of being super challenging to super sweet and agreeable. He adores his siblings and has become a wonderful big brother to Alexis. He takes good care of her, bringing her toys and helping her when she's upset. He loves to be just like his brothers and will imitate everything they do...good and bad! He loves spending time together, doing a puzzle, swinging, riding bikes or playing the Wii. He has the biggest smile and a silly grin!

Happy 4th Birthday Jakey! I love you so much! You will always be my baby boy.

Alexis at 8 months

Baby girl turned 8 months Sunday night. Going. Too. Fast!!! She is so much fun, so adorable and so sweet we don't want her to "stop being a baby" as the boys would say. She is full of smiles, babbles and funny noises. Here's Lex in a nutshell at 8 months old.

*I was able to drop her late night feeding this month. Was feeding her before we went to sleep to help her get through the night. She now eats around 8-8:30 and sleeps through the night! Hurray! She still occasionally wakes up a few times and just needs her paci to get back to sleep. She wakes up at different times in the morning and depending on when that is, will sometimes going back to sleep after eating.

*She is nursing 5 times a day, eating solids twice. Trying to fit that 3rd feeding in and drop one of her nursing times. She is enjoying her baby food much more now.

*Just last week she cut her very first tooth!! You can't really see it but during one of my times checking her gums, I felt that tiny sharp point on the bottom right side. It took so long to show up and I'm still sad about it. Just another sign that our baby is getting bigger! (Plus mommy is not fond of babies with teeth...well my babies anyway...because I am not fond of being bit with said teeth!)

*She is getting around the house now. She's not really crawling...more like rolling, flopping, flipping and scooting around! She gets up on all fours, moves forward a bit and then falls over. We will find her stuck under a chair or grabbing a cord...she's really going to keep us on our toes!

*She LOVES playing with toys! The Weeble house we have is a favorite. She has a toy bin near my computer and she likes to get over to it, pull up on her knees and go through it trying to pull out what she can. It's so cute and she looks so tiny next to the big bin!

*She loves eating her Gerber puffs and has learned to pick them up and sometimes get them in her mouth! I often find them stuck all over her high chair, hands, and clothes instead of in her mouth! She has also been learning to drink water out of a sippy cup. Still learning!

*She still needs to be swaddled. Crazy I know. She wins the prize for needing to be swaddled the longest...out of anyone we know! Maybe next month we will be able to report that has changed!

*Still spitting up a lot and on medication. Thought that was supposed to be getting better. Can't wait until it does!

*Still uses her 3-6 month sleepers and onsies! My little shorty! I'm happy with that though because her clothes are lasting longer!

We are holding onto every minute with our little Joy! We are so proud of her and love showing her to the world! We usually don't go anywhere without someone noticing her and commenting on how sweet she is. Last night at Chick-fil-a a woman must have been watching her and when I walked by said, "I just want to take her and hold her for hours!" Another day a woman walked in and just started fawning all over her, touching her, even kissing her head. Very sweet but made us a little nervous to have a stranger love on her that much. She just draws everyone in! She sure has all of us smitten!







Look at how happy she is with her brothers!

Quote of the Day

Hearing Alexis on the monitor Jacob was eager to go get his sister. When I picked her up though he exclaimed, "She pooped!" I said, "How do you know that?" and he replied, "Cause I know things. I know everything!"

Oh boy!

A New Challenge

I have been meaning to write this the past few weeks. As things usually go, it takes a lot longer to actually get done many of the things I want to.

After the weight loss challenge ended, I kind of had that "What am I going to do with myself now?" feeling. Many of my friends have taken up running or have been running for a long time. The day before the challenge ended I thought, "What the heck, I'll give this a try". Now mind you, I have always hated running. Truly hated it. I can clearly remember back to Jr High when we used to have to run a mile weekly. I think it needed to be completed in 15 minutes or less. I would usually power walk it, walk, maybe jog...and barely make the cut off. So as far back as I can remember, never a fan.

So back to the first run. I threw on my shoes, told Craig I would be back in a few, and started out on my pre mapped 1.3 mile run. Run! A friend had challenged me to try getting out there and doing a mile without stopping...and I did not stop once!! I was so amazed....and completely out of breath! It took me quite awhile to cool down with the combination of that being my first run ever and not pacing myself all that well and going too fast. But I had done it. I hated it and yet, I was somehow intrigued. Could I do that again? Would it get easier?

That was a Saturday. On Monday, I set out again. Same route, only it didn't feel as hard to recover after. And then I ran again. And again the day after that. I decided I wanted a way to track my progress. I wanted to know exactly how far I was going, how fast, what my pace was and my calories burned. I had heard the Nike Plus system was good and decided upon that. The first week after the challenge, I ran 5 out of 7 days! 5 of those were in a row and then we went to my parents for 2 days and I didn't get the chance to run while there. Craig told me he was really surprised I had kept the running up. That he thought I would run the one time, and be done with it. He said he thought, "She's not a runner." Thanks Hon! But really, I know what he meant and I felt the same way about myself. But I just wanted to see what I could do. I've surprised both of us!

Another thing that helped motivate me to run, and is really the main factor, is keeping the weight off. I don't have a lot of time to work out in this stage of life. Knowing that I can just throw my shoes on, grab my itouch and run around my neighborhood in 20 minutes, burning about 230 calories is great motivation! So far my fastest mile is 10 minutes 6 seconds and longest run is 2 miles. I'm hoping to increase that length soon but fell last week and really did a number on my knees. I have been frustrated at the delay that's caused and am worried I will lose the progress I have already made. While I still greatly dislike running, I am eager to get back out there and keep that metabolism boosted!

And, I'm excited to have a new challenge! Next challenge, an actual race! ;0)

Before and After

I didn't take any "official" pictures before I started the weight loss competition. I wish I had but these are what I came up with. Pictures that I look at and think, "Ugh! Glad I did something about that!"







And here are the "after" shots. Happy to see an improvement! All the hard work was well worth it!!