Comparing I Am

Newborn pics

So, I know you're not supposed to compare children, but I just can't help myself. I'm pretty sure this won't leave them emotionally damaged, so I think I'm safe.

Right after Tralee was born, and they placed her on my stomach, I looked down at her and knew a few things right off the bat.

1. I knew I loved her instantly.

2. I knew she had her daddy's nose and head shape, my eyes, and a good mix of Jim and my lips.

3. Even though her eyes were that weird baby blue/gray color I KNEW they would turn brown. Sure enough, at around nine months, Tralee's eyes were brown.

While I was pregnant with Hunter I was SURE he was going to look like Jim. On his birthday, when they placed him on my stomach, I looked down at him and after the overwhelming feelings of love and awe subsided my only other thought was

"Huh, he doesn't look like Jim at all."

In fact, I couldn't really tell who Hunter looked like. I'm still trying to figure that one out. Hunter's nose is very different than Tralee's. That was one feature I was positive they would share. Nope. Wrong again.

Maybe when Hunter gets a little older he'll start to look like one of us. Until then, the only thing I can definitively admit is that both of my children are so stinken cute and loved that I feel like the luckiest mom in the world.

One week old pics

Just Beachy

Jim came home from his trip on Friday night instead of Saturday, so we took the kids to a little beach area near our house on Saturday afternoon. It's not the nicest beach, and the sand is more like dirt than sand, but it was still fun to get out of the house as a family.

As you can see, Tralee got into lots of things on our beachy outing. Hunter, on the other hand, did this:

I guess I didn't expect much more from my one-week-old.

When Daddy is in Charge of Bath TIme

Jim gave Tralee a bath and below is what he accomplished . . . besides cleaning our daughter.



Meanwhile, I was enjoying this little mug.

We're two lucky parents.

Doing Better

Hunter's bilirubin levels have gone down, and he gained 3 ounces, which means -- HOORAY! The doctor wants him on the bili-blanket for one more day, then he's free to pick up and hold whenever we desire to do so.

I realized yesterday that Hunter is already a week old. It went by SUPER fast! Crazy.

Jim was out of town for work on Thursday and Friday. I was a little worried about having two munchkins to deal with all by myself, but figured now was as good a time as any to dive right in to being a mother of two.

Thursday was the roughest day. Tralee was acting up quite a bit. She went to time-out a lot. First for coloring on our chair. Then for coming out of time out and coloring on our chair some more. I printed out some kitties for her to color on paper, which she did very well. Then she decided to color on our refrigerator. I made her scrub off the crayon by herself. When I was cooking dinner Tralee climbed up on the table and started throwing everything off of it. When I told her to stop, she gave me a what-are-you-gonna-do-about-it-look and kept on chucking things off the table. I sent her to time out for disobeying, and then made her clean up her mess. In case anyone is thinking I was too rough on her, don't be mistaken. I made sure she and I had lots of fun mommy-and-me time while Hunter slept. I gave her good attention as well, and praised her when she did good things. It just seems like that wasn't quite enough to satisfy Tralee.

Friday went SOOOOO much better. Tralee was an angel in comparison to Thursday. She didn't go to time-out at all. I had to give her some warnings, but she stopped acting up the first time I asked. LOTS of praise was given when she obeyed. Tralee also figured out that while I'm nursing Hunter, she's more than welcome to come sit by me and get snuggled with my free arm. I think she thought she wasn't allowed near me while Hunter was eating.

Jim came home last night, and we decided to go to a little beach area today and let Tralee play in the sand for an hour or so. We'll make it a family affair. It will be Hunter's first official outing that doesn't include doctor visits. The beach is right down the road, so hopefully it will all work out.

That's all folks!

Break Dancing

The other day Jim and I were watching Jimmy Fallon and he had a dancer on his show. Tralee loves to dance, so we showed her. She immediately started to copy him. Luckily the camera was nearby so we captured this video of Tralee. Tralee even starts break dancing at the exact moment the guy on TV does. We think Tralee is super talented and might have a great career ahead of her as a dancer, but see for yourself.

Need I say more?

Glow Baby Glow

I took Hunter in for his first doctor's appointment yesterday. The results? His bilirubin numbers were too high. The doctor called the nice people at Norco and they delivered a bili-blanket to our -house last night. Hunter must be on it as much as possible, and has to have skin-to-blanket contact. So, he's lounging around in a diaper, socks, and hat. He gets to leave the bili-blanket to eat and get changed. I take him back to the doctor tomorrow to have his numbers checked again. Hopefully they will have improved.

Hunter also needs to gain some weight. He lost about a pound since he was born. The jaundice doesn't leave him with much of an appetite, and he mostly just wants to sleep. So, we're working on making sure he finishes his meals before dozing off. Plus, my milk has come in now (sorry if that's TMI), so he's getting more to eat. Hopefully.

I have to laugh at my mom. After he was born she said to me, "I think he could fit into some of the outfits I brought him!" They were all 6 to 9 months. He's drowning in the 0 to 3's right now. He only has a few newborn outfits, because I thought he would be way to big to fit into any of them. Oh well. If he's anything like Tralee, soon enough he'll be in the 6 to 9's and we won't know what happened to our tiny little infant. I guess the whole clothing thing doesn't matter much right now since he needs to be as naked as possible on his glowing bed.

Other than our little glow-worm of a son, things are going okay around here. Jim and I are tired, but that's to be expected. Tralee's adjusting well to her little brother. She loves him most of the time and can't wait to hold him. However, she really struggles if she's tired and I'm nursing. She wants Mommy all to herself at bedtime. The other day she tried to take Hunter away from his "feeding device" by grabbing his head and pulling at it. She was quickly informed that that behavior was not okay. Today Tralee decided to dive off the couch and into my arms while I was feeding Hunter on a near by chair. I was caught off guard, but managed to take the brunt of the blow. Luckily Hunter is still in one piece. I'm trying hard to give Tralee attention when Hunter is sleeping. We've done some crafts, read stories, watched movies, cooked, snuggled, etc. However, I've noticed Tralee acting a little more stinkerish than usual. Hopefully that will pass when we've gotten into more of a routine. I also hope we all come out of this experience in one piece.

I'll leave you with this picture of Tralee wearing her Grandma Tricia's wig. Doesn't she look like one of those creepy pageant kids? Hear this now:

I VOW to NEVER put Tralee in a beauty pageant.

That's all for now.

May 8th, 2009

On May 8th, 2009 Jim and I became the proud parents of

Hunter Owen Jacobs

Jim and I woke up at around 2:45 am on Friday morning to head for the hospital. I was induced. About thirteen hours of labor, and two pushes later we welcomed our son into the world.



Note: I was in the middle of a REALLY bad contraction in the above picture. So what does Jim do? Picks up the camera, cracks a joke, and takes my picture. A few minutes after this I broke down and started crying. I think my exact words were, "I don't want to do this anymore." Jim set the camera down and transformed into the sweet sensitive man that only I am privelaged to see in these types of situations. When some of his family members and friends ask, "is he EVER serious?" I can assure you, when I need him to be, he is. He calmed me right down, massaged my back, and assured me all would be well. About an hour later I got an epidural and all was well. Jim was free to start cracking jokes again. And believe me, he did. :)

Hunter was born at 4:58 pm, he measured 20.25 inches long, and weighed 8.6 lbs.

Jim and I are amazed that Hunter doesn't look at all like Tralee. In fact, we can't quite figure out who Hunter looks like. The few names that have come up are John (Jim's younger brother), and my Mom (Jim sees her in Hunter's face, but I don't think so). No matter who Hunter takes after, we're so happy to welcome him into our lives.

Ten tiny toes and ten tiny fingers. Perfect!

Tralee couldn't be more thrilled and more protective of her little brother. All she wants to do is hold him. She's so gentle with him, and often puts up a fight when we take him off of her lap. Being the parents of two WILL NOT be an easy task, and to be quite honest, I'm terrified of the first day it's just me alone with my two munchkins. However, it's a task I'm willing to undertake. I love both of my children so much, and hope and pray I do what's right when it comes to raising them.

Tralee's first glimpse at Hunter. It was love at first sight.

I'm pretty tired now. So, I'm going to go sleep while the baby is still sleeping.

Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers.