Too Tired to Think of a Title :)

Phil went back to work this past week I realized just how truly wonderful it had been having him around to help all day, every day! Emmett also decided this past week (coinciding nicely with Phil going back to work) that now was as good a time as any to switch from being sweet easy baby to baby that wants to be held ALL.THE.TIME. Yes, I know that I asked for a snuggly baby and I do appreciate the time that I get to spend holding him, but it would also be nice to be able to set him down for a few minutes (without hearing him scream) to make Jackson lunch, take a shower, use the restroom, drive the car, etc. I'm hoping that this is just a phase. We can't seriously have had two babies that desperately hate the car seat, can we?? Maybe we need to switch car seats. I'm trying to remind myself how quickly this newborn time passes and to enjoy the time holding him now, because I'm going to blink and he'll be 17 and annoyed with everything I do.

On the plus side, he is terribly cute, is sleeping better (some three-hour stretches instead of two), and I think his gas situation is better. He is quite a little chunky monkey, too! It's hard to get pictures of him as often as I'd like because I'm usually holding him, but here are some recent ones (we love the googly-eyes!)...

I am so very thankful for how well Jackson is still behaving. It makes having to hold Emmett all the time so much easier. He plays pretty well by himself during the day and hasn't had any issues with me being so preoccupied with the baby. He is such a sweet boy. The other day we were leaving the house to go to a playdate and Jackson was eating some Cheerios. I had Emmett in the car seat on the floor getting ready to load him in the car. When I went to pick up the seat I noticed that there were two Cheerios on the blanket right by Emmett's face. Jackson had put them there for his brother. Too cute!

One of the people who brought us dinner last week also brought some plastic golf clubs for Jackson. He loved walking around the house with one in each hand trying to hit the golf ball. I wish you could have heard the squeals and screams of delight that went along with these pictures. I should have taken a video! He also loves whacking the walls, doors, couches, etc. with them. At least he's not whacking us. :)

J got a pretty big boo-boo today when he tripped on the patio and scraped his chin on the concrete step. We tried to get a picture of it (great parents that we are), but he was pretty upset. Dad's lap, a cookie, some milk, and his blankie helped ease the pain.

This One Actually Takes a Bottle...

Hooray! J wouldn't take a bottle until he was almost 6 months old, so this is quite special for us. I was able to have an almost uninterrupted three-hour stretch of sleep from 4:00 A.M. to 7:00 A.M. this morning because my sweet hubby got up and fed E from a bottle. It was glorious!

In Emmett news, he had his two-week checkup this past Thursday. He's been a little fussy and gassy after feedings lately, so I was anxious to ask the doc about that. I was a little concerned, too, that he wasn't eating enough, because he only nurses for about 7-10 minutes at a time. It turns out that he's actually eating too much! He weighed almost 9-1/2 pounds at this appointment, and the doc said that she thinks the gassiness/fussiness is being caused by his getting too much milk at each feeding! Go figure. I've been trying a few things that she suggested to help with the milk overload and they seem to be helping a little bit. He's sleeping a little better at night now - he will at least fall back asleep after most night feedings, but he's still waking up every two hours to eat. Ugh. He has trouble falling back asleep at the 4/5:00 A.M. feeding, too. I keep reminding myself how quickly this newborn time will go by - I know it doesn't last forever! Here's E almost zonked out at the doctor's office...

He was pretty fussy this afternoon for some reason. I like to try to have him nap for at least a little bit while Jackson is napping so that I can nap, too, but today he was not giving in. Phil and I shuffled him back and forth for about three hours trying to settle him and make him happy. He finally fell asleep around 5:00 P.M. in the Bjorn (baby carrier) at Fred Meyer (we decided after J woke up that we had to get out of the house for a little while). Here he is fighting sleep but being sweet...

Whew! Newborns can be rough! This helps Phil and I settle down, though...

Jackson is really doing great. He's being such a good boy - playing with his toys at home, tolerating not leaving the house as much, being sweet to his brother, etc. He's listening to us really well and hasn't had many tantrums lately. I am so thankful for how well he's behaving! It really makes things easier. The only thing we're having a little issue with is hitting. He's figured out that it feels great to hit someone when you're frustrated and things aren't going your way. He schwacked a one-year-old at our playdate the other day for no apparent reason, and he sometimes hits Phil and I if we don't let him do what he wants to. We've been trying to be consistent and nip this in the bud and it seems to be getting better. I hope it's just a phase. Has anyone else dealt with something like this? Any advice? He's really such a sweet boy other than that! Here he is being silly with his friend, Katherine...

And here he's helping Mom open the package from Aunt Betsy...

In other news, our minivan is officially broken-in. We foolishly bought J a warm chocolate milk when we went to get coffee the other night. He's had this before in the car and has done fine with it, and we figured he deserved a treat. Well, we got sidetracked and forgot that he had it, and when we went to get him out of the car we discovered that he had chucked it on the floor. Yes, warm chocolate milk went all over the floor of our brand new car. At least it was almost the same color as the carpet. Phil did a bang-up job cleaning it up.

And then yesterday on the way home from Medford we almost hit a deer! I saw it running toward us at the last second and Phil was able to swerve around it so that it only brushed the back side of our van and didn't do any damage. We surely had angels watching over us yesterday, because that could have been really bad. The deer was huge!

We've been really blessed to have had 11 people from our squadron volunteer to make new baby meals for our family. We've had a delicious meal delivered to us every other night since Emmett was born. You can't imagine what a huge help that is. Today the daughter of the woman who brought us dinner and her friend made us this cake for dessert. It was so cute that I had to post a picture of it. I guess they love watching the cake shows on Food Network (as do I) and are really into making their own cakes. Aren't they cute?

"Mommy"

Tonight was one of the best nights of my life! Jackson finally looked at me and called me "Mommy". I totally cried - it was wonderful! Of course, we had to get a video of it.

New Car and Sweet Boys

Well, we did it. We actually got rid of our Volvo. This was a very emotional experience for me, as she was my most favorite car ever. Also, we've had lots of good memories with her... we bought her right before we left Alaska, she brought us back to the lower 48 from Alaska via the ALCAN Highway, we took many road trips in her, we brought Jackson home from the hospital in her, etc. We just really felt she was getting too cramped for us with the second baby (and a third in the future). I had a good little cry when we drove away from her for the last time, but I hope she makes some other person as happy as she's made me. She did let us know that we were making the right decision in selling her, though. Two days before we got rid of her the radio stopped working, which would have cost about $1500 to fix. That really sealed the deal for us. Here are the last pictures of me with Mulva (that was her name)...

Yes, I was giving her a kiss goodbye in that last picture. I really loved her. :( Phil promised that we can get another one someday.

On a lighter note, here is our fabulous new car - a Honda Odyssey! Yes, I know it's a minivan and minivans aren't usually called "fabulous", but she's pretty awesome. I think she looks pretty sharp in black!

Oh, the bells and whistles on this thing are so great! The two side doors and tailgate open with the push of a button and Jackson can crawl up in there all by himself. I never thought I would own a minivan, but I'm totally a believer now.

We've all been doing pretty well since coming home from the hospital. Emmett looks a little orange in these pictures because he's been a bit jaundiced. I took him to the doctor to have it checked out the other day, though, and she says he's fine. It seems to be getting better every day now. He's still having trouble getting back to sleep after his feedings in the middle of the night, but hopefully he'll get the hang of it soon. He's really a pretty good baby, though - eats well, poops well, and isn't too fussy. Jackson loves him, too. He's being such a sweet big brother! Here are some recent pictures of the boys...

Lately Phil's been taking Jackson on very slow drives up the street in his Jeep. You can imagine how much J totally loves this! My snuggly baby... just what I wanted!

Emmett's umbilical cord stump fell off pretty quickly, so we're able to give him tub baths now. Here are some pictures of the first one...


Oh, how I love my two sweet boys!!

More Baby Pics

Where on earth did this come from? That's a lot of crazy, dark hair!

Here's a picture of Jackson on his birthday. His hair was a little lighter and he didn't have nearly as much!


E has really been a good baby so far. He slept a little bit better last night and is very content during the day. He either sleeps or just sits and looks around and makes cute little noises. He loves to be snuggled and cuddled, too. J was much different - he was not a snuggler and was never content to just sit around! Granted, this is only E's first week of life so things might change, but I hope not!

Phil is such a great dad and husband. I just wanted to give him a shout out for being so helpful and supportive. I don't know what I would do without him! Jackson just absolutely adores him, and I can tell that Emmett will, too.

Jackson is being a very sweet big brother. He loves to stare at Emmett and touch his feet, head, arms, etc. He really likes watching him in the swing. Today I had E in the swing without the swinging motion on and J went up and pushed it for him. :) That last picture is J giving E a kiss on the leg.