Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Aunt Lisa comes to visit

My sister is in town.   She will be acting as doula for a friend of hers, and she couldn't wait to meet Jacob.  So last Monday, she came over, she sent the girls to Kidz Depot on the way, and just came on her own, she just couldn't stand  the wait any more.  


And she fell madly in love with Jacob.  


Of course, who doesn't?! ;)  Just kidding.  Well, sort of.  Actually, I wonder if he's seriously imbued with some sort of magic special sauce that makes uteruses flip and people fall in love just from seeing, or touching, or smelling his head.  He's so soft, I just want to pet him.  I think his hair is falling out, not because it's the age, but because I keep petting him and kissing his head.  


Li and I were joking about that, and she decided to show me what Jake will look like with hair.  
In other news, and goodies.  My sister brought me my birthday present.  It just looks like a groovy casserole dish.   But it's So Much more than that.  Some time ago, I was telling her that I found This Web Site, and that I decided, I really wanted to collect vintage pyrex.  I know, it sounds so super random, but I find that vintage pyrex reminiscent of days gone by, of  visits to Michigan with family, of yummy homemade meals.  There was just something that Called to me, about those stacks of pastel pretty pyrex.  Alas, the goodwill in Brownsburg is about as far as I've been able to hunt.  I have the goal of hunting further.  Someday.  Hunting with yahoos that have no respect for fragile items hasn't happened much.  Well, Someday.  However, Lisa brought Someday to my door by bringing me this piece of fun for me from El Paso.  She found a deal at the Base equivalent of Goodwill.  And I get to be the recipient.  :)She thought I was weird being thrilled for this birthday present, she went on about how she didn't have much, wanted to do better.  Frankly, this is Perfect.  My idea of a perfect present is one in which someone says randomly, I want X and that loved one remembers, and is able to find it.  Doesn't matter if what it is, for me, it really is the thought that counts.    I was so excited!  



My First Vintage Pyrex! 
She started my collection!
*I think the pattern is called Butterfly Gold*


 Then this weekend we got to see everybody again, when we went down the south side to have lunch at Brozzini's with Daddy and MB.  The girls got to meet Jacob, and they were absolutely enchanted.



Lisa is eager and willing to borrow Jake (or J-Zeke) as she likes to call him, anytime he's available.  
But the surprise of the trip was when Charlie was begging to hold him. 


When she got to hold him, she was so proud, so happy, I haven't seen her that happy in a while.  
Jake on the other hand, was in a quandry, with his What are you doing to me? face.  


Still he gets lots of love.  

This little boy does not get neglected when his Aunt Lisa comes to play.  
I got to go up to see her this week too, and once again the littles were enchanted.  


And as great as it is to have Jake be spoiled by his family, it just does my heart good to spend time with my sister.  She gets me.

Monday, May 20, 2013

When I couldn't take anymore of the screaming...

Asked for 5 minutes alone under a shady tree in a hammock.  It rejuvinated me!  


And it really did only last for 5 minutes...for then I got company.  

But I'll take it. :) 

Monday, May 13, 2013

Happy Mother's Day to Me!


This weekend was a blur, a crazy wild blur.  And I overdid it.  But it felt So Good to overdo it.  

What a Wonderful Mother's Day weekend.  


This Momma had too much to Celebrate, So Much to be Grateful for..

My Three Sons.  


It feels really good to say that.  It was an answer to Prayers for us to all be healthy enough to go to the Zoo this past weekend. I'd been itching to go for months, I especially hated being home in the spring, not being able to get out and into the flowers at the Zoo Gardens.  But Eric's company was hosting a party on Saturday.  And I really wanted to go.  It's intriguing that it's like the third Mother's Day in  We arrived at the zoo, and I walked all the way to the dolphin pavilion before the pain set in.  We thought we'd find Eric's group there, but they were back up by the front. With all that walking, I no longer had energy to do much.  Luckily, Eric's group was providing lunch and goodies for kids, like sunglasses and ice cream.  (Though it was way too cold for ice cream.) 





I only asked that we stop off and take pictures in the gardens before we headed out.  The boys wanted to see the butterflies too.   So we did.   I couldn't resist the Butterflies.  


 I wasn't up to my usual photographing standards, still feeling owie, but still managed to snap a few. 
I think these are a Julia (above) and a Blue Morpho (below) butterflies.


Then we went outside into the gardens, and I snapped a few flowers.  


Wisteria were blooming. 


And the Bleeding Hearts were going strong in the shade gardens. 


But most important to me, was this picture we got of our Family of 5. 
:)


Meanwhile, the next morning, I got to spend Mother's Day with my sweetboys.  Jacob gave Daddy and I the gift of 2 1/2 hours of solid sleep from his crib.  I felt like a new woman.  Guess I've been tired.  Eric made us all honey flakey biscuits for breakfast, which thrilled the boys.  And I was given a lovely hanging basket of white petunias, and cards from each of my boyz.  Christopher had got me 'forever flowers', he'd taken a picture with a bouquet of flowers, and put in a special card for me at school.  


So many goodies, they don't even all fit on the table! 


This one cracked me up, Christopher made it for me at school.  I wish I was 30 pounds, but he's right on, I miss being able to exercise...not sure I "like to" but I know it's good for me, and if he thinks I really like to exercise, then I'll take it.  

After breakfast at home, we all got ready to go to church.  I hadn't been in months, and it felt Good to go.  They were having a "Muffins with Mom" brunch at the church for Mother's Day.  The boys gave me a flower, and Christopher helped wait on me.  It was so nice.  Totally topped off by the fact they behaved!  Jacob slept through the whole service.  



After church, I didn't have the energy to go anywhere fancy, so we ate lunch at home, and I got to come home and take a 2 hour nap in my bed by myself.   
Afterwards, I was feeling Pretty Good.  So we decided to go to dinner at Golden Corral.  Being on bedrest for 5 months, one of the things I've missed is going to a buffet and getting my own food.  I took for granted being able to fill my own drinks, or to put my own choices on a plate, and how much I'd like of them. Don't get me wrong, Eric's been wonderful, he's been a saint when it comes to waiting on me, feeding me, taking care of us.  But I wanted to take care of myself. 
So we went.  But it was Wicked Crowded.  We had to wait in line, by the time we were seated, I was near tears.  I only filled my plate once, then waited until I felt up to making a dash for dessert.  The boys on the other hand surprised me, they had a simply wonderful time picking out what they wanted.  Sam got 2 helpings of macaroni and cheese, and Chris ate chicken wings and chips.  But they both got dessert.  And Golden Corral has cotton candy and a chocolate fountain in which you can dip things like marshmallows and strawberries.  That makes it worth it right there.  


The boys got all sugared up, and had a wonderful time.  Christopher declared Golden Corral to be his "2nd Favorite place to eat!"  High Praises because it was Second only to McDonald's. As exhausting as it was I had a good time.  It was really nice to act like a normal family, and also wonderful to just get out of the house.   I don't need a ton of pampering, just some sleep, snuggles from sweetboys, and maybe some flowers.  And that's exactly what I got for Mother's Day.  It was all I needed.


Friday, May 10, 2013

All My Sweetboys


The boys just chilling playing on the floor this evening.  

It's the Simple Things.  

Worth every minute. 

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

The Products

Have you wondered who Jacob looks like? 

Does he look just like me?  


The Above photo is me, when I was in the hospital, and Below, from when I was two weeks old.


Or does he look like Eric?


This Above photo is Eric from when he was 2 weeks old, and Below from a few weeks after that, I don't have a date on this one. 


These next photos are Christopher:


Above is Christopher on the day he was born. 


And these two are after Christopher was moved out of the NICU at Riley, so he was about a week and a half old in both of them.  But you can get a good idea of how he looked while he was sleeping, the looks on his face, and how dark his head of hair was etc.


And then came our Sam! 


From the beginning, Above, he was more alert than Christopher, his eyes were the same dark blue.   Chris's eyes eventually turned to a melty chocolatey brown.  Sam's eyes are now hazel.  I say hazel because they change colors.  With green shirts (his favorite) they look green, and with brown shirts they look blue, and with blue shirts, they look brown.  Frankly all my boys have Beautiful eyes.  


But sleeping their faces are so similar.  Sam's hair was lighter than Christopher's, but not as dark as Jacob's.


And now Here's Jacob! 


From the profile he looks so much like Chris! 


But then he also looks just like Sam!


But his expressions are much more hysterical.  He's SO expressive.  Both the elder boys had a few expressions, but Jacob keeps us hopping, and laughing with the looks he can get on his face...already.  
We're going to be in Trouble. 


Asleep they all look alike. 


Who or Whom does Jacob look like?  


Just Like his Big Brothers.  

As Eric said, "He's got Chris's face on Sam's head."  
As our friend Cathy said, "You had triplets...over 7 years."

But I think our friend Kristin put it best when she said, "This is the Product we Make."

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Moo.

If reading about nursing or the technical difficulties bothers you, please don't continue reading.  I was initially hesitant to post stories about my boobs, because you know, that stuff is so way Personal.  But then I got to thinking, that maybe my issues might be able to help another Mom having similar technical difficulties.  If it works or doesn't work for us, maybe that will help some other mother.


When Jacob was born, everything was great.  He nursed like a champ from the very beginning.  In the hospital with both older boys, I had to call for Lactation Consultant Reinforcements on multiple occasions.  This visit, apparently, Jacob and I were "the easy ones".   They told me they saved visiting me for the end of the days, because we were easiest, and didn't have to do much. By the third, it comes easier, so they said.   And Jacob was a natural.  It just so happened, each and every time the Lacation ladies came in, I was nursing, and they'd look at his form and leave.  He had great form.  They'd make sure he had the nipple in his mouth and his jaw/ear were working to indicate he was getting enough to swallow.  He was Right On every time. Like I said, Jacob is a natural. 


Then came our last day.  My milk started coming in, I could feel the Swell.  I told the Lactation Consultant as much when she came in.  She began to ask a few questions, and I answered.  To sum up, she 'diagnosed' me as having Over Active Letdown.  I had never heard of such a thing!  Apparently, it's possible to make too much milk and have it come out too fast.  Well, if there were bosoms that were too big, or could make too much, they certainly would be mine.   The wild spew that would come on when I nursed the boys, apparently can be too much too fast for the little ones.  Also, breasts can make more, the more children you have, so like my body is good at it...a little too good.  So, we discussed it.  
She told me not to pump.  Pumping this early in the game can bring on a larger supply.  As much as I wouldn't mind producing enough to be able to donate again, like I did with Sam, I've got to get Jake on a good routine First.  So I agreed to not pump.  Not Pumping is hard when I'm feeling full, or sore.  When the letdown comes on fast and strong, I can catch with towels or boob pads, so that's something.  A hot shower also helps, now that I'm healthy enough to take them.  The other, most logical, thing to try to establish a reasonable supply is called Block Feeding, where I nurse him off one side for an extended period of time, I don't think she said an amount of time, but I came off thinking it was to be all day.  So I came home with the notion to nurse 12 hours on one side and 12 hours on the other.  But after the first day I wanted to explode, and cry.  It hurt so bad.  And my milk wasn't even fully in yet, so we skipped that.  I kicked it down a notch and tried nursing 6 hours on each side.  So from 12-6 on right, 6-12 left, etc.  That has worked pretty well all week.  We are lucky I think, that we caught it early before my milk was fully in, so I've been better able to control the supply.  Still it's a painful process, though.   It does lead to me being able to tell time by my boobs, I get a bit achy about 5 and 11. So 6 hours is pretty extreme.  Lucky for me, Eric is around to help me out so much this week while we work out the kinks.

This morning, I woke up with a Sore boob.  Like sore enough I could tell it was developing into a Plugged Duct.  So I nursed the crap out of Jake on that one side....for longer than the pre-requisite 6 hours, and then did both sides so the first one didn't explode.  It seems to be helping.  






Thursday, May 2, 2013

Happy Brootday to Me!

Happy Birthday to me!  

I feel like singing that song, "I've got Plenty to be Thankful for..." by Bing Crosby.  

Christopher asked me earlier this week what I wanted for my birthday.  I couldn't think of a single thing.  I had what I had been Praying for over the last 6 months, a Healthy Baby.  And really, we'd been praying for him for 2 years....what I got for my birthday didn't really matter to me.   I was kind of speechless.  However, in spite of my speechlessness, my Boyz took very good care of me.  
Jacob, Eric, and I were up a good chunk of the night, but I had just come off of a nice 2 hour chunk of sleep to Christopher announcing that the Pig had come.  I had him bring my present in to me, because I'm not quick about hopping up right now.  Apparently, 5 months of not moving plus a little belly slash makes for me to not move quickly.  So Chris brought the pig gifts to me:  a loaf of Texas Toast and a couple hunks of Fairoaks Farms Sweet Swiss.  That sounds obscure until you know how MAJORLY I've been craving a Sweet Swiss grilled cheese sandwich!   The boys were stoked too, they dig grilled cheesus too.  
When we hobbled downstairs, Eric had whipped up honey flakey biscuit egg sandwiches for us all for breakfast.  And a chilled bottle of limoncello from Eric, and one tiny box from all my boyz.  When I opened the box, it was a pair of Real Diamond  earrings.  I'd never had real diamond earrings.  But I knew Eric had been on the prowl for a good birthstone gift for the birth of Jacob.  April is an expensive birthstone month. ;) So my boys got me 2!  1 for Jacob and 1 for my birthday.  Reminds me of the year that Lisa and I boxed up earrings for my mother, each wrapping one earring separately.  Seems perfect, it did feel like I have been Blessed with Jacob for my birthday.  
Christopher made me a birthday card.  This is a drawing of me holding of Christopher's hand, and he says that Sam is holding Baby Jacob on the bed next to us.  :) 



After breakfast, I got a nap, a lovely 2 hour nap while Eric bounced around with the baby.  When I woke up, I'd had a call from Eric's Mom.  She wanted to kidnap me and take me to lunch with her and Kaylee.  Well, I felt it was too early to sneak away from Jacob.  I was iffy about going out without Backup.  But then we all decided to meet up at Applebee's just around the corner.  That way if there were any problems we were close to home.  So we did.  We packed ourselves all up and left the house, in the span of less than half an hour...can I tell you it had been MONTHS since I'd been able to pull that off? 


It was Jacob's first adventure out!  And he slept through the whole thing. 


Afterwards Mom and Kaylee came over to play a bit, and get their snuggles in.  


Jacob was doing his little smile thing.  I actually got a picture of it.  He kind of reminds me of Mona Lisa. 


When we arrived at Applebee's yesterday, I was thrilled to recieve Gifts from Mom and Kaylee.   They had gotten me a little Bath and Body Works Pedicure Pack!  I've been on shopping restriction from there for so long, I didn't recognize the new packaging.  And Kaylee, she picked me out flowers.  I'm such a sucker for flowers.   They got me a chrysanthemum plant in a tiny pot, that I can transplant later.  


So Pretty! 



Nothing better than Sweetboys Snuggling on my birthday.  I truly am Blessed.