Sweet Husband

Seriously one of the nicest things Paul can do for me is offer to cook dinner or take us out. I don't hate cooking dinner, I just get tired of it night after night. So he calls this afternoon and says he wants to make dinner tonight which was so thoughtful. He said he was going to stop by SuperTarget on the way home and I thought he'd just pick up some steaks and that would be that. So an hour and half later he gets home with flowers, a Whole Foods bag and a cake!! We'd gone to a birthday party last month where they had a Whole Foods cake and I told Paul I really wanted one after the baby came but I really didn't think he'd remember. Apparently he did remember and he'd wanted to get me a cake for yesterday when we got home from the hospital but it didn't work out. But he got it for today and then got dinner from there. He prepared the dinner and mostly cleaned up the kitchen which was so helpful. He also picked up the new Nicholas Sparks book (one of my favorite authors)for me at Target. I think he's feeling a little guilty for all the long hours he's had to work the last few weeks but it was very thoughtful and sweet anyway and I'm very, very thankful for him.

Jacob's Name

In case you were wondering about where we got Jacob's name...

First some backstory: when we were pregnant with Julia we didn't know if she was a boy or a girl so we had the name Ryan picked out if it was a boy. If it was a girl Emma picked out the name Julia. We don't know where she got it from but the whole time I was pregnant she insisted we were having a girl and her name was going to be Julia. So, when she was born and it was a girl we felt like we should name her Julia. And so it was.

This time around we asked the older girls early on if they thought we were having a boy or a girl. Lily replied a boy named Jacob. So from that point on I wanted to name the baby Jacob. Paul wanted to stick with Ryan, the unused boy name. Charles is after Paul's grandfather so we agreed that would be the middle name. So we debated back and forth for months between Jacob and Ryan. I really wanted Jacob since it was Lily's first choice (don't know if she remembers that but we'll tell her) and Paul finally agreed about 2 weeks ago. So that's the story of his name...in case you were wondering.

Jacob Charles

My Birth Story..by Jacob

I have to say I was pretty comfortable in Mommy's tummy...rolling around, using her bladder as a trampoline and eating all the good food she's been feeding me lately while she was enjoying the last few weeks of being pregnant with me. She went to bed late on Friday night after watching the debate then all that other boring news about the debate. She couldn't sleep well because I was really excited and wanted to play so I kept kicking her. I must have kicked a little too hard because I made her water break - oops! I think that was about 12:55am. She woke Daddy up and they called the doctor and the doctor said to come on to the hospital. I wasn't in a hurry to get out so there were no contractions coming but it was time to go to the doctor. Thankfully our neighbor, Mrs Belinda was able to come stay with my sisters. Mrs. Belinda ran down - she's so good to us!


We got to the hospital about 1:30am and at first I don't think the nurse believed Mommy that her water broke. Mommy was getting frustrated because she knew it had. They hooked Mommy up with all that medicine and she tried to rest. Mommy kept hoping and hoping the contractions would come but I wasn't ready. I wasn't supposed to come until October you know. Finally about 6:30am Mommy told the nurse she wanted to get me moving and out of her. I think Mommy was getting tired of being pregnant with me. She kept saying she was ready to meet me. Anyway, Mommy got her epidural and they gave her some medicine to make the contractions start. The nurse kept telling Mommy everything was going to happen fast but I had other ideas. I was in no hurry to get out. The epidural made Mommy really sick and from what I could overhear that never happened to her before. Her blood pressure got really low and they had to give her medicine to help. But, the nurse was really good and helped Mommy. About 9:30am the contractions were getting really hard for Mommy. Even though she had the epidural it didn't seem to help much. She was feeling very tired and in pain. The nurse kept telling Mommy it would be soon but I wasn't so sure. I wasn't ready to come. I was feeling bad for Mommy though because she was in a lot of pain. But not bad enough for me to drop down to come! Finally at 10:30am I decided I was ready and Mommy started to push. There were only a couple of nurses in the room and they yelled for the doctor to come. When I decided I was ready there was no stopping me. Mommy pushed for a little bit though I'm sure she felt like it was an eternity and then I just came on out. I kept hearing Mommy say it was hard and that she was tired so I tried to hurry out. Well, turns out the doctor didn't quite make it in time for my arrival..the nurse got me out! The doctor walked in right after I was born. The doctor looked surprised that I was already here! The nurses took care of me and got me cleaned up...that did not make me very happy. The doctor took care of Mommy and her all fixed up. I heard Mommy say that I was harder to get out than Lily or Julia and that her labor was much worse than she expected. I don't think her epidural worked very well. But it's all OK now because I'm here and I'm doing good. I guess it is better on the outside!!

New Title: Same Blog

Clearly with Jacob's birth I needed to update the title of our blog since our happy family has grown to six! I'm keeping the same web address though to keep it simple!

It Really IS a BOY!!

This morning at 10:39am we welcomed our newest addition to our family. It really is a boy and his name is Jacob Charles. Jacob weighed in at 7lbs, 10oz and is 21 1/2" long. He's just a beautiful, perfect angel! I can't believe how in love with him I am. We are so, so, so blessed to have him here!

Here's a picture of him and I'll post his birth story tomorrow!

Superheroes

Last night Spiderman came to our gymnastics gym. Aren't we so lucky! Turns out Spiderman had a birthday yesterday..just turned 3 and all of sudden wears a Wonderpets cape but he's very cute. I so love when I see little boys in superhero costumes at random times of the year. I've seen Superheroes at the park, grocery store, preschool pick up and at the mall numerous times. I'm sure you have too. Here's what I love about seeing kids in superhero (and princess) costumes at random places: both the kids and the mom have the confidence not the care what other people think. Before I was a mom I didn't understand why a mom would let their little boy wear a superhero costume to the park. But, now I get it. It's what the kid really wanted and the mom just didn't care or didn't want to fight it..you pick your battles you know. I also think it takes a special mom to let her kids wear superhero costumes out and about. A mom who is confident in who she is and doesn't care if she gets disapproving stares from strangers.

As I was thinking about this last night it made me remember a bunch of things I didn't understand before I was a mom like:
1. Why do little girls always have a sprout on top of their heads? Well, duh..it's not long enough to back any further and the only way to keep hair out of their eyes
2. Why don't moms make more of an effort for their children to match? Again..you pick your battles and some moms chose not to fight ones that involve clothes, hairbows, tights or shoes
3. Why do moms ply their children with food in the grocery store? Because if we didn't we'd be asked to leave because of the screaming/crying/whining that would take place and our families need to eat
4. Why mom cars have stickers all over their car windows? Because some "nice" person gave your 2 year old a bunch of stickers thinking they were cute and your 2 year old stuck them all over the car window and now you can't get them off.
And that's just to name a few....

Random Tuesday Thoughts

I have a lot on my mind today and none of it is really related so I thought a Random Thoughts post was in order:

1. As I Twittered: The longer this pregnancy continues the grouchier I am getting and everything is getting on my nerves..

2. I am thankful for my mom today who called and offered to take us out to dinner. I'm so over cooking dinner right now. And lunch for that matter...

3. There are a lot of really bad drivers. Really, almost everyone on the road when I am, except for me. And what makes people think they do not have to follow the rules about turn signals, stoplights, no passing zones, school zones, etc...seriously is there a "no traffic rules for the day" award I missed somewhere?

4. This is scary: I went to Super Walmart this morning and it was nice...clean, organized. And they had new carts...AND I didn't have to wait forever in the check out line...maybe we are in the end times..

5. Perhaps all the candidates (local and state included) could help the economy by not running so many freaking expensive ads and put all money that into Wall Street. Oh, and stop asking me for money..I think the amount of money spent on political campaigns is sickening...

6. I have seriously been on the waiting list at the library to read "sTORItelling" (I know...I know) for over 3 months..there are really that many people in Wake County wanting to read it too.

7. Halloween costumes in the stores get more cheap looking and more expensive every year.

8. Exciting News: Lily has learned to pump on the swings. She uttered those glorious words yesterday: Stop pushing me..I can do it myself! Love it...2 down....

The Case of the Missing Bead

I'm fixing dinner tonight and Emma comes downstairs crying and very distraught. I ask her what's wrong and she tells me she thinks Julia choked on a bead (back story: she got a friendship bracelet kit at a birthday party and she was making a bracelet for her friend Bailey at school). Julia was standing beside me, drinking milk, so I know she did not choke on a bead so I calmly ask Emma why did she think this. Emma replied, while crying, that she was working on the bracelet the bead fell on the floor and now it's missing and she's pretty sure Julia ate it and is choking on it. She's very upset and I'm thinking it's so sweet that Emma is so worried about Julia. I pick Emma up and hug her as she's really upset and tell her Julia is fine..she didn't choke on the bead. Emma then looks at me and says "I'm not upset about Julia choking..I'm mad she ate the bead!"

So much for sisterly love...let the baby choke..I want my bead!

Soccer Saturday

We had Lily's second soccer game today and I'm happy to report it was much better than last week's "game." She was more excited to go today and actually ran to the field. They played against the Cheetahs today and the Cheetahs were much more competitive than last weeks team. I think Lily's team may a have won but I kind of lost track of the score. Lily never touched the ball but she did run with the pack the whole time! She played goalie for a little bit but thankfully the ball didn't come to her end of the field while she was back there. While she was goalie she played with the net and turned her back to the game to watch some older children playing in the open grass behind her but..it was all good since the action was on the other end of the field. I think she actually had fun..so glad for that! We were just so excited to see her actually running and moving today!

I'm also happy to report that it appears lice has not made it to our house (yet). Lily got a note home on Thursday saying that someone who "was involved with your childs class" had been diagnosed with lice. Needless to say I have been praying that we do not get it. I'm terrified of lice..I hear it's just the biggest nightmare. I suppose at some point we'll deal with it but please, not now. So, so far so good. Ironically my friend Amy in Hawaii got a note home this week that her kindergartner had a classmate with lice. Same issues everywhere...

We're in the 2 week countdown to my due date and really, really hoping it happens soon. We are ready to meet this little man. I'm on the hunt for any suggestions to help bring on labor so let me know if you have any ideas!!!

Product Endorsement #2 or How Ziplock Big Bags Cleaned Up My House

I haven't done a product endorsement for awhile and since Preschool has started back and the amount of paperwork and art projects coming home is enormous I thought I'd blog about something that works for me.

The problem all started when my oldest first started her Mother's Morning Out Program. She went every week and did at least one art project. Then we had church and Bible Study where projects were also created. We'd get home and look at the projects then they would find their home on the dining room table. Before you knew it the piles of paper on the table were overwhelming and disorganized. So I'd go through it - recycle some of the paper, send some to my great aunts but still there would be things left over that I wasn't quite sure of what to do with. You know the cute things..things that are special to your child or for whatever reason you just couldn't part with. And still my dining room table would be messy with piles of stuff. And then it all got worse when Lily started school too...

I tried a lot of solutions..plastic totes, paper bags, boxes, etc. But nothing worked as well as I'd like it too until I found it..the Holy Grail of cheap organization: Ziplock Big Bags.

The Big Bags (XL size) are perfect for preschool (and Kindergarten) papers and artwork. They are tall enough for the oversized sheets of paper that come home. They are wide enough for the 3-D projects and sturdy enough for the heavy ones. So now, when we come home we immediately sort through the papers putting aside the ones that daddy needs to see (and dating them) and recycling the ones that aren't so important. After daddy praises the work the project goes immediately into the Big Bag. Each child has one hanging on a coat hanger in the hall closet. The bag is dated with the school year and teachers name. The past 2 years all the work has fit into a single bag and after the school year has ended we just zip up the bag and put it in the attic (eventually I'll go through the bag and toss out a bunch more stuff but at least it won't be as sentimental to me as it is now). Now we have no more piles on the table and a little less clutter. And all the school work for a single year is in one place.

Ziplock Big Bags are great for all kinds of things - clothes, blankets, stuffed animals..and they are much cheaper than plastic bins and take up less room!

Live Blogging Lily's First Soccer Game

9:30am - Tell Lily..time to get your shoes on for the game...now..really...get your shoes, socks and shin guards..hair in a ponytail...get snacks ready

9:40am - We have got to go..game time is at 10am...everyone's in the car. Crap..forgot the camera...

9:41am - Pull out of the garage...off to the field

9:50am - Arrive at the parking lot...sunscreen all the kids, get the chairs, stroller, snacks...

9:58am - Finally get to the field...Panthers (Lily's team) are starting to warm up. We tell Lily to go practice. She s-l-o-w-l-y walks on the field and stands there

10:00am - Game time..but wait...where is the other team..the Bears??

10:05am - There are 4 Bears here..hmm..we need 6 to play and they have no coach...

10:10am - Lily's still standing on the field "warming up"...oh wait she just moved an inch...Still waiting on the Bears..our team is now offering them players

10:15am - Finally all the Bears arrive - there are 8 of them so the game can commence...

10:16am - Game On! Lily is playing on the front row, the Bears kick off and we get the ball. Two of the boys on our team run with the ball to the goal. Lily just stands there and does not move.

10:20am - Most of the kids are moving with the ball..not Lily...she continues to stand in the same place.

10:21am - Wait a minute..they have 8 players on the field..don't they know the rules say 6? Oh but 6 of the their players are not moving..guess that's why they have 8.

10:25am - First goal scored by the Panthers! Excellent! We're off to a good start. Lily's on the bench for a "water break" Guess all that standing made her thirsty...

10:30am - Panthers scored again - we have a little boy who is on fire. Bears still have 8 players on the field..hmm..

10:32am - Player down! A Bear has his hat covering his face and is laying on the ground...don't think he's hurt..Paul says he's pouting..apparently he does not like soccer?

10:35am - One of our players is playing goalie for the Bears and they still have 7 on the field (one Bear has left the game)..hmm...this is a comedy of errors. Oh and Lily found another little boy who also will not move. That little boy looks like he's trying to do a forward roll...Lily still standing but at least she's in the game.

10:36am - Lily ran down the field! Finally! But she's not really in on the action...

10:38am - Panthers score again. The poor Bears haven't even gotten the ball to their goal. Seriously all the action has been on the other side of the field.

10:39am - It's HOT out here! I mean HOT and if I hear Emma complain about being hot again I'm going to scream..

10:40am - Seriously, how much longer is this game..feels like it's gone on forever...Another Panthers score...Lily's on the bench for a "water break"

10:41am - The ball is out of bounds and the kids are still chasing it!!

10:42am - Wrong way Panther - our goal is on the other side...

10:47am - Game Over! Finally!! The Panthers "won" (we technically don't keep score)! Good job!!

10:49am - Hand out the snacks..seriously I think this is what half the kids were waiting for...especially Lily..all that standing around really works up an appetite!

Here's what Lily did the whole game....yup...nothing! Bless her heart..I'm just not sure soccer is the sport for her!

Missing New England

New England in the fall is great place. It's this time of year that I really miss living there. When we lived there it seemed that fall actually lasted a couple months as opposed to here in NC where it seems fall is shorter and shorter every year. In September the days are warm and the nights are cool. As September progresses there is a crispness in the air. It's a great time of year to be outside. There's NO humidity (Aghh...how nice it would be to be outside for more than 5 minutes without your clothes sticking to you).

There are tons of farms open for apple picking and then pumpkin picking. The leaves start changing and are so beautiful. It's just a beautiful time of year and I miss the New England fall....

Career Choices

I'm sure for the last 30+ years since more and more mothers have been going into the workforce the great debate over chosing to stay home with your children vs working outside the home has been full swing. In fact since I've been a mother and subscribing to all sorts of parenting magazines I think at least one a month has an article debating staying home vs not. With Sarah Palin becoming the VP choice it's once again a hot topic in the media. Every day I'm reading an article or seeing a newstory debating her specific choice to be in politics with 5 children at home. So, that's had me thinking. Then on Sunday I had an interesting conversation with a neighbor who stays home with her children for now but perhaps has other career aspirations at some point in the future. And that got me thinking.

When I was growing up my mother worked full time. It was never really an option for me that I would go to college, graduate then purse a career. My mother is pretty liberal in her thinking and I'm sure assumed that I would follow in her footsteps - she who taught me you can have it all...a career and a family. And women hear that a lot..of course you can be a mother and have a career (unless you don't like Republicans then, of course, Sarah Palin is the only mother that positively can not have a career and a houseful of children). I think too there are a lot of moms who are stay at home for now moms but when their children get old enough they will resume their careers or will start a new career. And you know what..good for those moms and for the ones that work and the for ones that stay home and for the ones that manage to do both.

My career choice, however, is to be home for my family. I hope that I will always be able to stay home. I have no aspirations to resume work outside the home (of course if I need to I will absolutely do that). Though it's tiring and frustrating sometimes to be with your kids all the time I love it. I love being able to do what I do with them. And I think that as they get older they will need me at home as much as they do now that they are little. But that's my opinion and my choice. Paul and I have pretty old fashioned roles around the house..I do most everything inside the house (the cooking, cleaning, laundry) and he does the outside (cars and grass). And that works for us. Those are our choices.

My point, I guess, is that I'm sick of hearing people make so many judgments about working moms vs. stay at home moms. Can you have it all? Well, I have no idea. But who are we to judge what someone else chooses to do that they believe is in the best interest of their family. Many families today have more non traditional roles where the husbands are home and the wives work and that works for them. Some moms work because they actually enjoy working and want to have a career and that works for them. I genuinely believe that most people make the choices they do because they feel it's right for their family. And though everyone isn't making the same choices we are let's give them a break! And for that matter, women who do chose to have a career outside the home shouldn't look down on those who don't. Women who chose to stay home shouldn't be made to feel as if their career choice is in any way inferior. It's just that..your choice. And your choice is yours and it shouldn't matter to anyone other than your own family.

Trackout and Speeding Tickets

Today is the first day of Emma's 3 week trackout. I was a little concerned on Friday about her being home for 3 weeks since she was complaining 30 min. after she got home from school that she was bored. However, today has gone surprisingly well. Lily is so happy she's home to play with this afternoon and it's been very peaceful for me. Now, I realize it's day 1 and the day isn't even over yet but...we are off to a good start! Maybe these next 3 weeks won't feel like the eternity I once thought...

Paul got a speeding ticket last week. He says I shouldn't care since this is the first one he's had since we were married (8 years). Right. My point in sharing this story is the unbelievable amount of law office solicitations he's gotten in the past few days. He got his ticket at 11:15pm on Wed night and Friday in the mail he got 7 solicitations from law offices offering their legal services. Today he got a few more. I think he's up to 10 now..I'm amazed this being the first traffic ticket either of us has gotten in many years...I had no idea law offices did that for speeding tickets..just crazy! I also didn't realize how expensive it could be to get a speeding ticket..court costs have risen in the years since I've had a traffic violation..inflation I guess...

Surprise!

I am feeling so overwhelmed and grateful tonight! I seriously have the best friends and neighbors ever..I am so blessed! So a couple months ago my friend, neighbor and fellow bunco player Ashley mentioned she wanted to host a baby shower for us. I was so touched by her offer and thankful. A couple other friends from the MOMS club had mentioned it too but I wasn't sure if it would all work out. In any event Ashley had said the shower was today 2:30 and my friend Belinda said I should stop by her house and get her on my way because her husband would be watching NFL opening day and she would need to leave at the last minute.

So I go down to Belinda's on my way to Ashley's..when I get there I ring the doorbell and Belinda says come on in I need to get my shoes. And once I walked in tons of my friends and neighbors are there! It was a surprise baby shower at her house! Those sneaky girls tricked me! Turns out all the awesome girls who offered to throw us a shower got together to plan this big surprise shower. It was so, so special. Like I mentioned tons of friends, neighbors and even my mother in law and sister in law were there. It was so great! I was overwhelmed with emotion. I just couldn't believe all the people there.

The afternoon was so lovely. The girls played some cute games and food was so, so yummy. The generosity of everyone was amazing - we got so, so much stuff for baby boy Potter (and no, we still do not have a name, really). Seriously I think all I really need to get are diapers! It was such a special, special day and I'm so thankful for all my friends!!

My friend Alyssa made this cake for the shower! Isn't it amazing!

Girl Power Rocks

So we bought this shelving system to use in the nursery to help store the new baby's stuff. It was a big decision for us for some reason and took us forever to decide what exactly we were going to do about storing his stuff. So we go to Target last Sunday and found these cute cubicles that can serve to store baby stuff for now and then can go into the playroom at some point for toy storage. So Sunday shelves bought and actually brought into the house. Good start. So the box sits in front of the nursery all week. Paul was off yesterday and thought he might get around to putting it together but no, he did not. And I really need the shelves put together so I can put baby stuff away. So this morning I start pondering whether I could put the shelves together by myself. I'm a fairly smart person, I can read directions, I can sort of use power tools why not I think to myself. Then I tried to lift the box to move it and decided I needed help.

So my good friend Belinda came to the rescue. She's very smart and I've heard her say before that she doesn't like to wait for her husband to help with such matters so she brought her kids over and we went to work on my shelves. Well...she went to work on the shelves and I was present in the room. I did help a little but she did most of the work. We had one minor mishap that doesn't need to be repeated but overall we rocked it. And, my shelves are done and put together and all ready for baby stuff! And Paul will be thrilled that it's done and that he didn't have to do it or listen to me nag him for another week until it's done. Yeah! Girl power rocks!!

First Day of Preschool

My Lily finally started preschool today! Yeah! It's been a long last few weeks of summer. She's been missing Emma a lot over the past couple weeks so it was nice for her to do something of her own. She said she had a great day and likes her teacher. I don't get much out of her. Contrary to Emma "The Talker", Lily doesn't talk about every detail of every day. So little by little this afternoon I've been getting parts of the story.

Julia and I had a fun morning. We went to Target, AC Moore, Trader Joe's, Staples and Food Lion. You can really accomplish a lot in 3 hours with only 1 child (especially when you are used to having 2 or more)! Two more days to enjoy time with just Julia while Lily is at school......

Yeah for Preschool Haiku

Preschool starts Tuesday
Oh the shopping I will do
Glad for 2 in school