Naps and Ruined Surprises

Sometimes Ben thinks he's old enough to give up naps. Sometimes I think he could be, but I'm never quite sure. So today, after two hours of hearing him read in his room instead of sleep, I gave up and let him out to play. (That makes him sound like a caged animal. He kind of is during nap time.) He thought I was mad at him for not napping and kept apologizing, saying, "I'm sorry Ben wasn't tired today" and "Are you sad that Ben didn't nap today?"

He's really into talking in third person lately.

A couple hours later I needed to run a quick errand. A very fast errand. We weren't in the car for longer than 10 minutes. Both boys went out like a rock. This boy would not wake up:



Apparently he's not ready to give up naps yet. But we tried.

In other Ben news, I took the boys Christmas shopping this morning so they could pick out something for their dad. While I was at the store I decided to call John and see if he wanted to go to lunch later. John asked what we were up to and I told him we were shopping at a top secret location getting him surprises. Of course, at that very moment, Ben screams, "Let's go look at mowers!" giving away hints of where we were at (the Home Depot).

On the car ride over to pick up John, I told Ben he couldn't tell dad what we bought because it was a Christmas surprise. I had been debating whether or not I should even mention that to Ben, but I knew he'd tell John if I didn't say anything. It was a stretch to think Ben would keep quiet, but I had to give it a try.

Sure enough, the second John opened the car door, Ben yells, at the top of his lungs, "SURPRISE! We got you a -" At that very second John yells over him, "HI BEN!" trying to block out what Ben was saying. It was so funny. John loves Christmas surprises-unlike me-so he was trying not to hear what Ben was saying. Unfortunately, Ben wasn't giving up. Right after John got the words out of his mouth, Ben was saying again, "We got you a -" and John said "HEY!" over him again. They did that a few times before John gave up laughing while Ben spilled the beans that he bought him a special tool belt. It was pretty stinking funny.

Thankfully, Jake didn't spill the beans on what he got his daddy. But only because he can't talk. It's only a matter of time before he will though and then John will never get another surprise again. Sad for him.

Wasting Time

Some days I can get both of the boys napping at the same time. Other days I can't. On those days, we sit on the couch with the camera and go a little picture crazy.

Jake usually starts out looking very serious. He's a very serious baby.



Until I start playing peek-a-boo. Then he gets a little excited.



Then he stops to show me his tricks. He just learned how to blow bubbles.



Then I really get him laughing with the How Big is Jake game.



I love how his eyes squint up so tight when he smiles. They've got a little twinkle in them, don't they? The bit of them you can see...

We do this over and over for a good half hour until both of our cheeks hurt and he's finally ready for his nap. Just in time for Ben to wake up.

Big Red, Rusty, Peaches and Cream

Dear Jake,

How in the world are you already almost three months old? Seems like just yesterday when I very, very, very painfully pushed you out of my body. How is it that you've already doubled your birth weight and can fit into big boy 3-6 months clothes? How did you get so big so fast?!



You are still my baby though and I'm glad for that. You're probably (most definitely) my last baby, so I'm enjoying every moment. Every cuddle and hug. You don't give them out very often. You're only three months old, but boy do you know what you like and don't like. You don't like to cuddle. You also don't like to be ignored. You're preferred position is sitting on the end of my knee, looking out, knowing I'm right behind you. Not ignoring you.

You're a killer nighttime sleeper and a horrible daytime napper. You love your family so much. You smile your big, goofy grin every time you see one of us. But let's be completely honest- you love me the most. You know where your next meal is coming from. You seek me out in a room when you hear my voice. You cry for me to hold you- but not for a snuggle. I sneak in snuggles anyway.

You're skin is the exact definition of baby skin: smooth and creamy and slightly translucent. I can't stop kissing those chubby cheeks of yours. You're feet are just as irresistible. You love when we kiss your toes. You giggle and laugh like it's the funniest game invented. You adore playing peek-a-boo. You love all toys that sing or squeak. You don't see the appeal of toys that rattle. (I don't either.)

You're hair is orange. Both your eyelashes and eyebrows are orange. I laugh every time the light hits you. Whenever people notice your hair color for the first time, they always look at my face to see my reaction, to see if I'll be offended that they noticed you're a redhead. I love it. I love that somehow we ended up with a fire orange baby. It makes me so happy. It also gives us a wide variety of funny and endearing nicknames to call you (see blog title (I promise we'll stop calling you Peaches and Cream when you start preschool)).

You're a little pill sometimes. You have the best mad-dog glare and you use it often. Every evening, to be exact. You and evenings don't mix well. That's when bath time intervenes. You loves baths. The warmer the water, the better. You could sit and soak for hours, I'm sure. You also love the baby massage that comes after bath. You lay on your changing table and stare at me, so, so quietly while I lotion you down. I take extra time, just to keep you happy and content. The second the lotion is rubbed in and the clothes come back on, you're back to your fussy ways. I live for bath time. It's one of my favorite moments of the day.



Ben loves you just as much as John and I do. You love him equally as much. I always get frustrated and annoyed when he tries to climb in your swing or bouncy while you're in it. I tell him over and over that he's going to squish you, but judging by the face-splitting smile you have when he does this, you don't seem to mind. He always talks about the many baseball games you guys will play when you grow up. He points out all the office buildings you work in when we're driving in the car. He insists on helping me change your diapers. He yells for me every time you smile so I can see it too. He just loves you to pieces.





We all love you, Jake!

Ghost of Christmas Past

We blessed Jake yesterday. It was a very sweet day. The prayer was beautiful, my baby was beautiful. I decided to go with white this time around. When we blessed Ben, we didn't do it in a church so we just dressed him up in a nice, spiffy outfit. I thought that since Jake was being blessed during church, and since I didn't get to dress Ben in white, I wanted something special for Jake. I know, it's not really a big deal, but it was to me! John didn't want white, he wanted something Jake would be able to wear again. I have to admit, after it was all said and done, I was sort of regretting spending so much on an outfit he wore for an hour. Oh well.

The other thing I wanted to do this time around was take some pictures. I only have one picture of Ben when he was blessed. One! And he was my first! How did that happen? I meant to make up for that yesterday, but things got busy and it didn't happen. Thankfully, I took some pictures before church.

This is my favorite. Both boys are smiling! Jake sort of looks like Popeye, but still, I'll take it.

I couldn't believe Ben was sitting still and smiling for these pictures. He was super crazy yesterday morning, so it's extra unbelievable. I love it though.

Ben giving a little love to his brother. Precious.

Me, with the second human I grew in my body and then pushed out.

I'm sad we didn't take any family pictures. Let's not think about that.

Isn't Jake getting so big? Doesn't he look like the Ghost of Christmas Past? You almost can't tell where his face ends and his clothes begin. I love it. He was blessed with my pasty-white genes. You're welcome, Jake.

In true Mormon style, after the blessing we skipped the rest of church and threw a party. It was great fun. My dad was extra entertaining (he's a little nuts). I didn't take any pictures of that either. Funny that I take pictures of everything unimportant, but I get too busy to take pictures of what really matters: my dad going after the cheesecake with a hint of crazy in his eyes. Good times.

I love my little family (my big one too, I guess) and I'm thankful we were able to bless Jake. It really was a great day.

Fall Pictures

What is this, my week to blog? Sorry for the post overload. But like a lot of other moms, this is sort of my journal/scrapbook. Blogging is about as scrapbooky as I get. Feel free to not read this. Although you'll miss some killer cute pictures...

A couple of weeks ago my sister, sister-in-law and I headed to the farm to do (what's turning out to be) our annual fall pictures. I love Wheeler's Farm in the fall. It is beautiful. And the day we went the weather was perfect: warm and crisp and very fall-like.

These are my favorite pictures from the day (these are the unedited version-I was too impatient to wait for the edited ones). There are a ton!

My nephew and niece, Zeke and Lucy. Also known as Ben's other siblings.

My buddies and me.

No trip to the farm is complete without feeding the ducks.

Or showing a little affection.

Trying for a pose.

We got him to sit still and we got him to look at the camera. Asking him to smile would have been too much.

Sometimes it's a good idea to check out what's on the bottom of your shoe.

You know I always save my favorite for last.

Thanks for the great pictures, Jeanette!

Comparing the Kids

Every couple of weeks or so I look through my pictures of Ben as a baby and put them side by side with pictures of Jake. I love doing this. I love seeing the differences and similarities in the boys. John was worried when I first started doing this because he thought I was comparing and having one child come up ahead. I promise that's not what's going on. I just love seeing how two kids coming from the same two people can be nothing alike.

Knowing Jake's 8 week birthday was today, I looked through Ben's pictures last night to see if I had any good ones of him at 8 weeks. I found the two below and told John that Jake was wearing the blue striped jumper tomorrow. Being indulged in my crazy ways, I woke up to Jake dressed and ready to go in the jumper. At first glance I could already see a big difference from when Ben wore it- it was two inches too short on Jake! Taking after his mom's side of the family (I've got tall brothers), Jake is a bit longer than Ben was.

I set up shop on the couch and tried to do a little recreating. Didn't seem all that difficult at first, but I quickly realized another big difference between the boys. We could not get Jake to smile! He's usually at his smiling peak in the mornings (which isn't saying much), but he must have known something was going on. Ben, on the other hand, always gave away smiles at the drop of a hat. You've got to really work them out of Jake. And even then, he usually reserves them for mom and mom only.

Here's what we ended up with:

(That top right picture with the fingers is of Ben and me working tirelessly to get Jake to smile. We weren't trying to poke holes in him, promise.)

I can see some similarities. They've got the same chin and hairline (courtesy of their dad). They also almost have the same nose; Ben's is just a big pointier, Jake's a big more round. If you get really nit-picky, they have the same bottom lip, but Jake seems to be missing a top lip. Other than that, they look so different to me. The biggest difference, I think, is their eyes and coloring. You're seeing things right- Jake is a redhead. We like to call him Big Red and Rusty (we come up with such flattering nicknames at our house). I do not know where the red came from, although I'm giving John credit; his facial hair tends to look more auburn than brown in the right light.

Another big difference to note is the amount of bleach I use when washing clothes. I should probably invest in better laundry detergent...

Anyway, I do love comparing my kids. They both seem to come up winners with me. (Ahhh...)

Cowboys and Indians

Halloween is my very favorite!

Friday night we carved pumpkins. Ben loved it. And by loved it, I mean LOVED IT. He has never in his almost three years of life sat in one spot for so long (almost two hours!). All it took was a knife for bribing and a small amount of supervision. I'm going to use knives to bribe him from here on out. "If you clean up your toys, I'll pull out the knives." Maybe not...


The finished pumpkins. Ben was so proud of them.



Saturday was the neighborhood Trick or Trunk. My mother-in-law and I have been planning costumes since July. We ended up deciding on Cowboys and Indians and once again she outdid herself making them. I tried to do a little photoshoot at home before we left, but Ben wouldn't look at the camera and the more I asked, the further he'd move his head to the side, so the pictures are what they are.

(I'm the mom so I probably shouldn't say this, but... doesn't Jake sort of looked stoned in these pictures? We laughed so hard when we uploaded them to the computer. He looks so out of it, but still smiling and awake. I think it's funny.)

Here is Ben at the event. They had games and a small parade. It was good times. When we got in the car to go home he said, "I was maybe a little too scared." We asked what he was scared of and he said, "My friends." It's understandable; baby elephants and clowns can be a little spooky.


Here's my favorite picture from the day. The backside of Ben with his gallon-sized hat and butt-less chaps. I love those chaps maybe a little too much.



My other favorite part is that I get to dress them all up again this weekend. I wish Halloween would last forever!

Family Resemblance

Today is Jake's six week birthday! Six weeks and I'm just now starting to feel like things are calming down. I've got the hormones under control, Jake's been sleeping great at night (knock on wood), he smiles all the time and cooed for the first time today, and I think we finally got the right medicine for his acid reflux. I think I might be able to handle two kids. Thank goodness, too, because neither one is going anywhere.

One thing is for sure about my little Jake. He is his mother's child-in both looks and personality. It's crazy to have two completely opposite children. Ben is exactly like his dad, Jake is exactly like me. Ben was so easy going and mellow. Jake is more demanding and fussy. Ben was always busy exploring his surroundings and learning. Jake is good to sit and watch tv for an hour (at six weeks!). Ben hated sleeping. The only thing Jake loves more than sleeping is eating. That boy is so my child! I'm loving being able to experience both personalities.

Jake also looks exactly like me. Or exactly like my mom, anyway. Which, I'll admit, I was a little sad about at first. Not that I don't think he's handsome or anything, but during my pregnancy I was picturing another little John Mann. That's not what we got. We got a Grandma Lois (as we affectionately called him) instead. But he's rather grown on me, I must say.

I decided to break out some baby pictures to see the resemblances. Then I realized I don't have any baby pictures. I was child #6. The only pictures I'm in are family pictures (thanks, mom). I do have a killer family picture though. First, here is Jake:

He always looks like he's carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

And here is a picture of me when I was younger (not a baby-couldn't find one). I'm the boy sitting on my dad's lap.

Is this picture not the best? Being poor builds character. Being poor builds character. Being poor builds character...

Does Jake not look exactly like me? He does in real life, I promise.

While I'm at it... Here's Ben at about a year:



Here's John in a another killer family photo (he's the middle child):



They are so twins. I loved having a mini-John and I love having a mini-me. It's pretty fun. Even if he does come with my personality... (He's going to my challenging child.)

Jake also has a new cousin. My SIL (John's brother and his wife) had a baby September 30th. Amber and I were due 4 days apart. The boys ended up being born 4 weeks apart, with a three pound difference! Here's Luke and Jake a couple weeks ago:

Jake had a bad case of jaundice-don't mind the yellow face.

I can't wait for these boys to grow up so they can play a little more. And doesn't little Luke look a lot like his dad (the baby is John's family picture)? I love it!

Happy six weeks, Jake. I'm so glad we survived. Here's to six more. (We'll start small and work our way up.)

My Newborn

Let me just be frank here. This mother of two business is kicking my butt. Don't get me wrong, I love my boys to bits, but it's been an adjustment to say the least. Things were going so great Jake's first week of life. Then the stinker had the nerve to wake up. And I headed straight toward Meltdown City. I'm almost embarrassed to admit how much this second baby has thrown me for a loop. Millions of moms everywhere have multiple kids and handle it with ease. Why can't I? But between a temperamental milk supply, possible postpartum depressions (I know, TMI), reflux, and a busy two year old, it's taking me some time to adjust. I guess the important thing is that I still love all my boys. I haven't yet given the baby back to the hospital or posted an ad on Craigslist for an almost three year old. Not yet.

Anyway, here are the little one's two week pictures. Thanks to Jeanette for coming to my house during my biggest-to-date meltdown and calming me down with your camera. I think the pictures turned out more than great! And I'm sorry to every friend and neighbor who has caught me on a teary day. I swear I'm seeking professional help.

(I'm in love with is butt rolls in this picture.)

(My favorite.)

Details, Details

I had a baby, and you know I can't just push a human being out of my body and not share all the gory details, right? Well, here is Jake the Snake's birth story. It will involve a lot of TMI and way too much use of the word "blood". Be prepared.

But first I have to mention Ben's birth. Ben's birth was a dream. A very easy, surprisingly funny experience. I went in, I was given petocin, I was given an epidural, I pushed the epidural button a thousand times too many and couldn't feel the majority of my body, I pretended to push anyway (making the infamous face) and then I gave birth. A perfect labor if you ask me.

At the beginning of my pregnancy with Jake I told my doctor all about my first birthing experience (minus the part about lying to push) and said I'd love if we could do it all just the same. She said she'd do her best and, thankfully, wasn't against inducing.

A couple of weeks before Jake came I started dilating. I started at a 3.5, the next week went to a 4 and was 70% effaced. My doctor decided to strip my membrane. The next day I was out talking with my neighbor, telling her this baby wasn't coming until November, when John got home from work. We went inside and did the normal get-home-from-work routine (which involves tons of smooching-just kidding). After a minute I went to the bathroom and saw that I was bleeding. A lot. I ran into the hall, with my pants still down (I told you there'd be TMI) and said we needed to go the hospital. We grabbed everything we thought we'd need and called my sister to drop Ben off and almost 45 minutes later got to the hospital. We were laughing about how long it took to get there and saying it was a good thing it wasn't real labor.

I'd started contracting regularly on the ride over so they hooked me up and monitored me for a few hours. Around 11pm they said the baby sounded fine, the blood hadn't stopped but wasn't hurting either of us, and the contractions weren't dilating me further so I could stay or go-it was up to me. Ben was at our house by this time with my MIL, saying he wouldn't go to bed until I got home. So I decided I'd just go home and call my doctor in the morning if I was still bleeding. Plus, my back had really started hurting and I thought it was because of the super uncomfortable bed I'd been laying on.

So we got home, I put Ben down (sometime after midnight), barely brushed my teeth and went to bed. My contractions were getting worse and worse and I was slowly turning into one of those women who moan and say things like "You did this to me!" with every contraction. John thought I was being way over dramatic and offered to draw me a bath just to get me out of the bed. The bath helped a ton and I told John I was just going to stay on the couch so I didn't annoy him all night with my dramatics. He told me to call him if I needed him. So thoughtful...

(Did I mention this story might run a tad bit long? It will.)

I tried to sleep a little on the couch but knew I'd be up for the night. It felt like my contractions were slowly going away only to be replaced by the worse back pain I have ever felt-and I've felt my share of back pain. It hurt so much I started throwing up, barely making it to the bathroom, not quite making it to the toilet. So I call John and said we're going back to the hospital. He calls his mom while I'm still on the bathroom floor moaning and he's cleaning up barf looking at me like I'm insane. It was a good moment for us.

The second my MIL showed up I was out the door. Two seconds later I felt the sudden urge to pee. I ran back inside hoping to make it the bathroom. Once I sat down I heard a huge "pop" and felt my water break.

The second time around, we made it to the hospital in record time and I'd started feeling so much better. I wasn't feeling any contractions and it felt like my back pain was going away. When we rolled into Labor and Delivery they were all frantic to get a room ready. I sat on the bed for a few minutes and said I'd really like an epidural. The nurse said the anesthesiologist was with another patient but he'd get there as soon as he could. The back pain was coming back at this point and so was the vomiting. Then the nurse told me to lay on my side so she could check me and that's when the pain was taken to a whole new level. It was crazy bad. I was dilated to an 8 and 100% effaced.

I laid there for a few more minutes while the room became packed full of people setting up the baby's corner and getting me an IV, when I felt the worse pain ever and screamed out, "I HAVE TO PUSH!" The nurse freaked out and got right in my face and told me not to push. After the contraction was over she checked me and I was fully dilated and the baby was crowned. She got on her little phone necklace thing and I heard her say, "She wants an epidural but she's not going to make it." I swear I almost started crying. After that I'm not sure how many contractions I had, but every single one was the worst pain of my life and the nurse was in my face yelling at me not to push.

Then I was suddenly rolled over and I heard a man say, "I'm just going to go by her scar" and I thought, I don't care if I'm paralyzed for life, just make this pain go away. A little dramatic. In the next second my left leg was completely numb and I was feeling a million times better. After that I heard the anesthesiologist say "hey, come look at her scar, it's the entire length of her back" and my backside was viewed by a room full of people, I was rolled back over and the rest of me numbed up nicely. Seriously, if I knew the name of the man who did that to me, I'd send him a Thank You card with a plate of warm cookies.

Three contractions later, little Jake was born. He was born head up which explained all the back labor. It was definitely not my favorite labor out of the two, but it was so short lived and Jake is so cute that it's all been forgotten. But not really.

He's now a week old and he's the sweetest little guy ever. He nurses like a pro, sleeps great and is giving Ben a run for his money on being the perfect infant.

I don't think Ben is 100% sure how he feels about "the babes" (that's what he calls him) yet. He'll give him hugs and kisses, but for the most part stays out of his way. Which is better than the smothering I'd thought he do. I did find the boys like this the other day, so I guess he must like him a little:



I'm now way outnumbered by boys, but I happen to like them all so things couldn't be better.