A VERY Long Family Update...

I have gotten SO much grief about not blogging that I thought I should take some time out to update everyone this weekend. I've gotten emails and phone calls both, so all of you "complainers" better leave lots of comments!

On January 20th, 2009 at 12:42PM, we welcomed Jilian Cate Rogers into the "J-Rogers" family. She came into this world at 6lbs. 6oz. and she was 19.6 inches long. Just two weeks prior, the sonogram showed her to weigh 6lbs. 5oz., so obviously that was not right! (The picture above is the most recent as of a few days ago.) Jilian weighed exactly what her brother Jacoby weighed. Jacoby was 15 days early, and she was only 5 days early.
With this being my 3rd baby, it took Dr. Spurdon a bit longer to get her out because of the scar tissue. There was a lot of tugging & pulling, and I remember telling her during this time that "My insurance approved lipo!" which got a roar of laughter from everyone in the operating room. After a few minutes, Jilian was out and of course, a loud cry followed. This brought tears to my eyes, and my husband's lips to mine. He was very excited as was I! He immediately got up - already knowing the drill - and went over to her to watch them weigh her, cut her umbilical cord, etc. Then they brought her over to me, and I kissed her a million times. After making sure that she was alright, Dr. Spurdon asked me 54 times if I was sure I wanted a tubal...tough decision, but it was time. Three kiddos is plenty! So 20 minutes later, my baby-making factory shut down. I had mixed feelings about this at the time, but after being home for a week, it was a GREAT decision!

Jilian has changed daily since we arrived home on Thursday, the 22nd. (Yes, even after a c-section I was able to leave after only 2 nights at the hospital. They call me "Supergirl" and all of the nurses loved me and remembered me from my last delivery.) She is developing a cute little face, and no longer looks like the swollen newborn alien. Clothes that didn't fit her last week already fit her this week. She is doing really well at home. The only weird part about having a girl has been the diaper changing. You know, all of the "front to back" action as not to irritate her. ...and let me tell ya she HATES to be changed! She bawls until that fresh diaper is on. She wakes up the second #2 touches her backside. I've got a hoity-doity one on my hands already. Neither brother EVER cared that #2 was on their backsides!

As of yesterday, she is drinking 4 oz. of formula with no problem. She's chugging away which is great. My dad rented a breast pump for us for a week, and that didn't work out. I pumped and pumped, latched her on every once in a while, and no milk. My breasts got quite swollen and I leaked through a shirt one day, but that was the extent of my milk production. I tried for days to pump and couldn't get a thing out. It figures that I want to breast feed (well, bottle feed with breast milk) my child this time, and I don't succeed. I didn't try nearly this hard with the other two, but that's okay. Like I've told everyone, if the only thing that goes wrong with my pregnancies is that, I cannot complain. I only gain 12 lbs. I never get morning sickness or get sick, I heal quickly, and my babies are healthy, so not giving them breast milk is nothing to complain about, right? Thank God we never went and bought a pump. $$$!

Her umbilical cord fell off late last night, so we'll be burying that today. Now I feel more comfortable about the diaper changing because you don't have to be as careful.
Last night, she got fed at 10:45, she woke up at 1:15 because she had gone #2. We took advantage of her being awake and went ahead and fed her again. She fell back asleep at 2:00, then she slept until 7:30! Five and a half hours is NOT bad for a 10-day old baby, huh? Of course her older brothers, Jaydon and Jacoby, woke up at 6:15 and 6:45 respectively, but that's okay...just the joys of parenting!

Jeremy and I are taking things day-by-day. My 78-year old grandparents have been here all week, and they have been lifesavers. Basically, their being here allows me to nap during the day which is MUCH needed as to prevent sleep deprivation and bad moods! Jeremy is an angel. You don't have to ask that man to do a thing. He wakes up at night when he sees that I am taking a long time to get up, he comes home and knows that he has to bathe Jacoby since I can't lift him for another few weeks. He vacuumed for me, he has put laundry away, mopped, and is just being the A-1 greatest Daddy ever! My grandma also took it upon herself to do a load of laundry daily this week so we have no dirty laundry at the moment. She cleaned all of the blinds in the house, and fixes dinner every night. I'm spoiled I tell ya! Jeremy is currently napping since he did all of the feeding last night.

I ended up bruising VERY badly just above my incision because of all the tugging and pulling to get Jilian out. Some of you saw pictures but for those of you who didn't, it was NOT (still isn't!) a pretty sight. I went to the doctor twice last week to make sure that it was JUST bruising and nothing else. Thank God that's all it was. No infection, iron was fine, so I can't complain. Thank God there will be no "hanky-panky" for a few more weeks so Jeremy doesn't have to look at it. It will take a good month for all of the bruising to completely go away. I was VERY swollen too, but that has started to go down a lot. In fact, I had gained 12 lbs. with this pregnancy, and I'm down 6 lbs. LESS than where I was at before I got pregnant, so I can't complain! Now I just need to lose 25 more pounds, and I will be completely happy. (I will NOT be losing weight this next week with my grandparents still being here, and my grandma cooking nightly!)

Jacoby is doing okay. The poor baby got his 5th ear infection this past week. He was on antibiotics all week long and here at home with us. Usually, he would go to my mom's, but I couldn't send him there like that. He's better today, but this 5th infection made our minds up that tubes are in his very near future. We cannot spend the next year with another baby worrying about ear infections. Jaydon had tubes and as scary as the whole 3-minute process is for parents, it is WELL worth it at the end when you know that your child isn't in pain any longer.

Aside from the infection, we finally realized what had been causing Jacoby's tummy to get upset...MILK! Yep, our little guy can't hold milk down which completely shocked the nurse since he was on a milk based formula. We switched him to soy milk yesterday and he LOVES it and he isn't spitting anything up. SUCCESS! So now we have to buy soy milk and yogurt for him, but it's well worth it if it means no more spitting up!

Jacoby is not adjusting very well to having Jilian here. Surprisingly, he is the one who wants attention more so than Jaydon. He throws himself on the ground and bangs both fists down when he doesn't get his way. Yes, at 12 months he's already throwing tantrums - something that Jaydon NEVER did! He is loving towards his sister, but doesn't really like it when we cuddle with her or take too long to feed/burp her. Hopefully this gets better with time. He is Jaydon's shadow though and wants to follow his big brother everywhere. He is walking everywhere and won't crawl anymore at all. He stands up on his own without holding on to anything anymore, so he's well on his way to "toddler hood". Overall though, it hasn't been bad. The hardest part will be making sure that I don't have to feed Jacoby & Jilian at the same time. We are going to have to get into a routine here soon.

Jaydon is adjusting well...but not as well as when Jacoby arrived. I think he's realizing that he's no longer an only child. He's had a few slight meltdowns, but nothing major. He's very emotional, and we just have to remember that when we get onto him for something. He's not jealous like Jacoby though.
We still haven't heard back as to whether or not they accepted him into the EXCEL program (accelerated learning program) at school. We are hoping to find out soon.
Last week while we were at the hospital, my dad took care of him. His spelling words come home on a small sheet of paper and my dad didn't notice them. He read to him nightly, and did everything except for help him study his spelling words. Well I freaked out when I found out that he hadn't studied them. We got the test back and of course, Jaydon got them all right. He's 5 for 5 on his spelling tests. Pure genius I tell ya! :) He is also doing well with all of his school work and has gotten a green dot every day for the past 6 weeks. He got an "E" for conduct this past six weeks and got a perfect report card too.
We are looking to start him back up in baseball this season. That should start in a couple of months. We are still debating whether or not we want to coach. Jeremy will coach, but I cannot do the mom thing...not with 2 babies. We just need to find someone that can play the role of assistant coach and/or team mom. We found violin lessons for him but financially, that will have to wait until fall. We WILL put him in lessons because he needs another activity to keep his little brain occupied.

Today, I have to go to Party City to buy decorations and paper products for Jacoby's birthday party next weekend. Then I'll go to Creative Memories - the BEST cake place ever - to order his birthday cake. (If I had $1 for every person I have referred here, I would be rich!) I have to tell you that my grandparents being here has been a God send. Wait, did I already say that? They are paying for his decorations and cake, and my mom and them are paying for the food. (Rice, beans, guacamole, chips, empanadas, barbecued meat, barbecued chicken, soda, and pizza for the kids.) This means that all we had to pay for were his invitations. What a blessing!!! They also spent $200 on groceries for us last weekend when they first arrived. They won't let us pay for ANYTHING!!!

Today, they are going shopping with my mom to buy her a new stove and refrigerator. We are ALL spoiled by them!
Jeremy and Jaydon will spend the day cleaning up the back yard. They are going to buy some flowers for the 2 flower pots out front and fix those up nicely as well. It's supposed to go up to 71º today, so I think this calls for our first walk outside with Jilian. She'll still get bundled up of course, but she hasn't left the house in 9 days, so it's about time for a breath of fresh air for her. The nursery is almost complete, and as soon as it is, I will post pictures.

We bought new 12'' letters - JCR - to hang up. Jeremy will spray paint those today, and we should have them hung tonight. Then, all we lack are the french memo boards. The Linder's have been VERY nice to me and they are going to cut the cork boards (well, Brian is going to cut them) sometime soon. Then Andi should be over to help me make them. We had all of our supplies ready to go, but come to find out yesterday, the cork boards we bought weren't sturdy enough, so our little project had to get postponed. Little does Andi know that I had bought cinnamon rolls, I had some yummy ice cream with caramel sauce, some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, and I had frozen thin mints for us to snack on. Maybe THAT will get her over here! (LOL - kidding Andi - love ya!) We will make them soon enough, and I know that I can't wait for the yummy snacks too. It's nice to have "girl time" every once in a while!
Oh, and Aunt Pam came over to measure for the cornice board, and I finally decided on a fabric. That should be up in the next few weeks too. I can't wait to see my long awaited finished nursery! :)

We have gotten an outpouring of gifts all week long. Aside from the million gifts at my baby shower, I also got more stuff this week. Three sets of neighbors brought over outfits and blankets, then a couple of people at Jeremy's work got us gifts as well. It's so nice to feel loved!

My cousin Lyann (she's 21) arrives tomorrow. She will be here for a week. She & my grandparents will return to Miami on February 8th. I can't wait to see her as I haven't seen her in 4½ years!!! She's one of my fourteen girl cousins.

Have I given all of you enough information now to keep you off my back for a few days? :)

Have a GREAT weekend!

PS: There are no pictures of Jaydon because I take pictures during the day while he is at school. I will have to take some of him in the next few days. He's still our first born "best boy" and quite the spoiled one - no worries there! :)

She's finally here!

Look at those long feet!!!

Already lost in thought...

Brother chilling at home watching TV.

Snuggling with her Daddy...she LOVES to cuddle with him and won't do the same with anyone else!

Messing around with the camera at home some more...

Jacoby's First Haircut

Well, we finally did it. We thought we would never get the courage to do it, but it was much needed. Jacoby got his first haircut on Sunday! He looks so handsome! We didn't have Kari (the hair lady) take much off, but you can definitely see a difference. It really makes him look older. Kari was SO sweet - she only charged us $6 for his hair cut. She moved so fast that Jacoby didn't even know what hit him. I love her! He really behaved well for his first time around. We were SO proud of him! Here are some before and after pictures, along with a short video...please excuse the blurriness on some of them, but we all know that the Rogers' need a new camera. A new camera IS on our "must buy" list for 2009, so don't you worry!

Cute little curls! :)

What a cool cape!

WOW - a new man!

Kari & Jacoby after the haircut...

I will put this card in his baby book...once I get around to STARTING it!

Today, I went in for my pre-op appointment at the hospital. It was exciting to say the least. Let me start at the beginning...
The appointment was at 10:45. We got there at 10:30 and they sat me right down to do the paper work. I was happy that things were moving so quickly. Then after I finished, they gave me a pager because the pre-op nurse was not ready for me yet. This was at 10:42. Finally at 11:12, she was ready. We waited a whole 30 minutes for her - not fun! So we get back there and there is tons more paperwork, then vitals, and a blood draw. Nothing has changed since one year ago when Jacoby was born, but I know it's procedure so I just had to do it all over again. They take 6 tubes of blood - one for the state, one for the hospital, one for my thyroid, etc. etc. It really is 6! Oh, and the best part is that since the phlebotomists can NEVER find my veins, they always have to end up using a butterfly (the one used for infant blood draws) and it takes FOREVER! Thank God I'm used to it already and I actually have to tell them where to poke me. Let me back track a bit...
My dear sweet husband has a weird brain. He can't stand the sight of blood, but he can sit through two c-sections and look over the sheet to tell me that he sees my insides with no problems. W-E-I-R-D-O! So they finish drawing my blood, get me bandaged (Why do they insist on putting bandages on you for that? Do they not know how much it hurts to pull those off when you are hairy? UGH!) and the phlebotomist starts to leave. All of a sudden, Jeremy says that he starts to feel weird. I look over at him and he has passed out...COLD! I immediately stand up to hold his head up and tap on his chest. The nurse runs over to get cold wash rags and smelling salts. (ammonia) At this point, I am cursing at him asking him why he has to do this. (Deep down, I'm trying to hide the fact that I'm scared to death!) I continue to hold his head as the nurse rips open packet after packet of the ammonia. At one point, Jeremy snores and that totally freaks me out...BUT, at least I know that he is breathing which is definitely a plus. Seeing your husband turn the same color as the walls in a hospital while his eyes are rolling in the back of his head is not a pleasant sight...ESPECIALLY the day before you are due to have your last child together. After about 2 minutes, (I'm NOT exaggerating - it was a good 2 minutes!) he finally comes to. He wakes up saying, "I feel better - I'm fine." The nurse had called a "code 4" (not sure on that one) and another nurse had shown up. We have Jeremy get up slowly and he sits down on a recliner. He keeps insisting that he's fine, but they won't let him move. They made him sit in the recliner for 15 minutes. He was so clammy, but he finally got his color back. They took his blood pressure and all was fine - thank goodness! Lana, the pre-op nurse, told us later on that in her 15 years of being a pre-op nurse, that this was the first time a patient's HUSBAND had passed out. Way to go Jeremy!!!
This is not the first time Jeremy has done this. He's had an EKG, a blood test for diabetes, a full physical, and they always say that he is just fine. In fact, he had just finished eating some popcorn and about half of a Coke, so it couldn't have been his blood sugar. He also had yogurt and Gatorade for breakfast. This is now the 3rd time this has happened since I've known him, (we met in January of 2001) and I still think that something is not right. Come to find out earlier tonight, his mom said that he used to do this a lot as a child. I didn't talk to her, but Jeremy said that she wanted to tell me that I was lucky that he didn't pee on himself. WHAT - he used to piss on himself when he passed out, and that didn't FREAK you out!?!? So I'm making this funny because I don't want to worry myself the day before my c-section, but really & truly, we will be going to get more tests run sometime next month. I cannot continue to worry about this with him.
So the nurse that got called in for the "code 4" says to us that she didn't think Jeremy should sit in for the c-section tomorrow. Uh lady, this isn't our first rodeo! We tell her that this is baby number three, and she is amazed that he can sit through that. I tell ya - my husband is weird!

Well after all of that excitement, we went to lunch at Logan's Roadhouse and enjoyed a good steak and tons of yummy bread. Jeremy had lobster too. Then I had a brownie with ice cream for dessert. This was courtesy of Amanda & Ameet's Christmas gift to us. :) We always have a steak dinner or lunch the day before our kids our born so we continued the tradition today.
After Logan's, we went to Babies R Us to see about renting a pump. I have tried to breast feed my 2 other children, but lets just say that in my mind, boobs are made for my husband, (was that TMI??) not for my children, and I can never get them to latch on. No further details will be given, but even our first lactation specialist had a hard time trying to help us and she was a 20-year veteran! I always wind up giving them some breast milk for a few days, but that's about it. So this time, we swore that we would pump. Little did we know that a good pump costs $300+! That's a big purchase to not know if it's going to work out for you. Renting a pump costs $80 a month plus an initial $50 for a starter kit! That means that if it DOES work, after 2 months we could have bought our own good pump. What to do, what to do?!?! We still haven't decided, and the baby is arriving tomorrow. We went to the hospital after lunch and they rent them for $75 per month, but they also do a $30 per week thing. So, we may do that for a couple of weeks (literally 2) and then buy one if it's working out for me. This sounds so bad, but at this point, I'd almost prefer to buy formula - it's cheaper! Those "La Leche League" women hate people like me, but I was formula fed, and so were both of my boys and thank the Lord we are all just fine. Anyway, we will continue to discuss our options tomorrow morning...

I was going to do something cute for my blog, but I need to try and sleep, so it will just have to wait. Tomorrow is a big day! We have to get to the hospital at 10:30 for a 12:00 c-section. Jilian may arrive right when they inaugurate Mr. Obama! I can't eat after midnight so I'm about to chow down (it's 11:30) on one last treat before tomorrow. I can't believe I have to go 12+ hours without eating - UGH!!!

Please keep our family in your prayers tomorrow. I'm not nervous, but I am quite anxious. I've done this twice before, but you still get antsy and worried.
I can't wait to hear Jilian cry for the first time! Most of you will get an email with an update & picture after she is born. If you don't, I will blog this weekend. I anticipate getting released on Thursday afternoon.

12 more hours to go...
Have a great week!!!

Belly Shots

This is only 7 of about 60 pictures. Some are too personal to share, but I hope that you enjoy these works of art...

Jilian Cate, in my tummy, on Sunday, January 11th, 2009

Activity-Filled Weekend

As I promised, here I am blogging on Sunday night. This blog won't be too interesting, but probably very long. I'll share weekend details with you...

On Friday, I worked until 2:00, and then went to pick Jaydon up from school. Mark, the young man (he's 13) I pick up from school as a part-time job, has been sick all week, so I didn't have to pick him up. He went to the doctor and they thought it was viral. They gave him a test for meningitis and they haven't gotten the results back. Hopefully it's not that!
Anyway, we went to Bedford to pick Jacoby up from Aba's house. Then I took Jaydon to Chick Fil-A for dinner. That boy eats like an adult - the 12-piece meal with fries, and a Sprite...unreal! Both of my boys eat SO much, and they are lucky they don't have my metabolism. They just pack away the food and don't have any fat! NOT FAIR! My goal was to get to Target on Friday night to buy a gift for a birthday party...but that didn't happen. Once I got home and waited for Jeremy to get there, I didn't want to go back out again. So I promised myself to wake up early the next morning and go...
(THIS is where the non-stop day begins!)

So Saturday morning arrives, and I'm "up and at 'em" at 6:30. I give Jacoby a bottle and get myself ready. Then he decides to go #2, so I change him and get him washed up. By this time, Jeremy & Jaydon have woken up. The brakes on my Honda have been squeaking pretty badly, so we knew we needed to take them to get fixed. Little did I know we had to have the car there by 9:30AM in order to get it back the same day - UGH! So Jeremy and Jaydon get ready, and then we go to get donuts - sausage & bacon rolls for me. We drive to Riverside & 4th street (in the GHETTO!) to drop my car off. The guy says he'll call us when it's ready. Then we go back home so I can drop the boys off and head out to the store. I head to Wal-Mart to buy some groceries and a birthday gift. I get home at 11:15. I spent way too much time at the store, but I kept forgetting stuff - so frustrating! Here's the issue...we are having friends over for dinner in the evening, and I want to make a homemade cheesecake for dessert, BUT, the birthday party starts at 12:30. I just start the cheesecake and tell myself that I'll see where I'm at as it gets closer to leaving time.
At 11:45, Jeremy feeds Jacoby lunch, and makes sure that he's ready to go to the birthday. Jaydon was already dressed and ready to go. At 12:20, I look at the timer on the oven and there are still 13 minutes left before my cheesecake is done. Then I have to take it out, put the topping on it, and put it back in the oven for another 10 minutes, then take it out to completely cool before refrigerating...DILEMMA! This means that at the VERY best, I will be ready to head out the door at 12:50 which puts me to the birthday at 1:05. That's not good! So I leave for the birthday at 12:30 with both boys, and Jeremy stays at home to finish the cheesecake for me. I HATE having to go out with both boys while being pregnant because it's so hard to manage Jacoby, but I gotta do it. I wasn't going to be THAT late, or completely miss Addyson's first birthday - NO WAY! We make it to the party at 12:45...perfect. Jaydon plays with the kids, and I walk around the house behind Jacoby like stink on shi*. He is non-stop! A couple of people ask to hold him, but they don't know that Jacoby will not be held. He's a mover & a shaker folks, he does not like to be still! Near the end, I finally gave up and allowed Ally (Andi's twin sister) to help me with him because my back was killing me. Addy - the birthday girl - was so cute in her little flower dress, and even though she got over-stimulated and cried, it was still a great birthday. :)
At 1:50, I hear my phone ring but don't think anything of it. At 2:05, it had now rung 2 more times and I go check the voicemail. It's Jeremy, and he is calling to tell me that the car is ready, and WE HAVE TO PICK IT UP BY 3:00 BECAUSE THAT'S WHEN THEY CLOSE! WHAT - 3:00!?! So I put it in high gear, leave the birthday (Addy had already opened gifts and we had already sung Happy Birthday so I didn't feel TOO bad) and get home to pick Jeremy up.
Problem...the gas light has now been on for a bit and we NEED gas. When it rains, it pours! So we get gas and while we are there, Jaydon starts complaining of a headache. I knew what was happening - he hadn't eaten lunch and was getting light-headed! A-ya-yah! Next stop...Jack-In-The-Box...the closest thing around. He only eats chicken, (he eats all sorts of meats at home, but only chicken when we go out ot eat) so we order that and wait 10 minutes for it to be ready since they make it fresh. We haul booty to the car place and get there at 3:00 on the dot. PHEW! Had we not gotten there, we wouldn't have gotten our car until Monday after 9:00 and we couldn't do that! Mind you, we are having friends over for dinner at 5:00, and dinner hasn't even been started...but the cheesecake is done! (Typical fat girl thinking of dessert first, right?)
We get home and start dinner...chicken Parmesan with spaghetti noodles and a Caesar salad. We bought cocktail shrimp as an appetizer. I start thawing shrimp and Jeremy starts the chicken. At one point, I had to feed Jacoby and pick some stuff up around the house. Amanda & Ameet call and say they are running a little late - PHEW! They get here at 5:30, and we don't eat until 6:30, but it was all fine. They ate the shrimp and we talked, so it all worked out well. They cleaned their plates, so they were either famished, it was really good, or both. We exchanged Christmas gifts and talked some more. They got Jaydon a scooter, Jacoby a Tonka push toy truck, and they got us a gift card to Logan's. We got them each a 1-hour, in-home massage, and we got Ava an outfit, diapers, and a book. They left at 8:30. They brought little Ava over and she is so adorable. I told them this, so I can blog about it without feeling badly, but they are holding her WAY too much. I know they say that you can't spoil a child, etc. etc., but that little girl already knows when she isn't being held at just 3 weeks of age. It's their first, so I know they want to cherish every moment - I just hope that it doesn't make things tough for them when she goes back to work and the baby goes somewhere. Anyway, off my soap box, but she is such a cutie! :)
Oh, and the cheesecake was TO DIE FOR - it was delicious which made me feel good since that was the first cheesecake I've ever made completely from scratch.

Sunday morning arrives bright & early, and I have to get ready for my big photo shoot. I get up, wash my hair, put make-up on, and Andrea arrives around 11:00 with Ashleigh. Jay & Ash go play, and we begin the shoot. Andi has 3 million ideas brewing, and I can see her mind at work as she's taking pictures. I don't know how many pictures we actually took, but I know that she was very detailed about how and where she wanted me, lighting, my hair, etc. We tried everything and after being here for 2½ hours, she had to go. We didn't even get everything done that we wanted to! I just hope that some of them turn out. My stomach isn't exactly a great stomach for pictures because: A) I have stretch marks, and B) I'm not that big. Overall, I think they will be perfect, and I'm just glad that Andrea was able to capture this for my last pregnancy since I won't be having any more children. Ashleigh, her daughter, was a great helper and picked a few poses and what flowers she wanted me to use. It was incredibly adorable! :)
I will post some of the pictures when I can. My husband was SO helpful with the pictures too - thank you, honey.
Oh, and somewhere in the time that Andrea was here, my mom came over to take Jaydon to Chuck E' Cheese's, so I had to stop taking pictures to get him ready to go. He was gone for 4 hours, so I know he had a good time.

Then a little while ago, Amanda & Ameet came over to give us the rest of our Christmas gift. (TOTALLY UNNECESSARY!) They have been wanting to buy us the double stroller, but it was discontinued, so they ended up having to give us a gift card to pick another one instead. Those two never cease to amaze us with their generosity at Christmas and other special occasions. We try to do the same for them though. They are really & truly two of our closest friends, and we are glad to have them.
We asked Ameet to be Jilian's Godfather last night, (Amanda is Jaydon's Godmother) and he was pretty excited, so that made us feel good.
Oh and speaking of, we are going to baptize all 3 children at once on June 27th. That's the "planned" date right now if the church approves it, so everyone "Save the Date". :)

I have blabbed and blabbed and blabbed some more, so I better wrap things up and spend some time with my 6-year old who is almost ready for bed and wants me to read him some new stories.

I will post belly shots when I can, and blog again soon.

Only 8 more days until Jilian gets here - WOO-HOO!

Have a GREAT week!

Sonogram & Spelling Test

I went to the doctor today for my 37-week, 4-day check-up. Everything was perfect! Jilian's heartbeat was 144, my amniotic fluid was perfect, all of her measurements were great, and I'm still scheduled for my c-section on January 20th, at 12:00 PM. I am currently at 11 lbs. weight gain. Nice!
The semi-shocker was that she was breech. She was turned completely sideways with her head still way up at the top. This means nothing since I have c-sections, (Thank God for that since she's breech!) but it explains why I can feel movement on both sides at the same time- it's her little feet! :) ...and let me tell you that those little feet are pushing WAY down and causing some nasty pressure!
My doctor said that at my stage in pregnancy, 96% of women have already had their child turn, and ready for birth. I'm in that small 4%, I guess! Again, thank God for c-sections!
The REAL shocker today was Jilian's weight. As you know by now, both of my boys were on the smaller side when they were born. Jaydon was 6lbs. 10oz., and he was born 4 days before my due date. Jacoby was 6lbs. 6oz., and he was born 15 days before my due date.
Well, Miss Jilian Cate was at 6 lbs. 5 oz. today! Yep - she is more than likely going to weigh more than both of her brothers! She "should" gain about 12 more oz., (1 oz. per day) so that would put her at 7 lbs. 1 oz. at birth. Sonograms can be off by +/- 1 pound, so we shall see. I guess in all actuality, all 3 of my children will be no more than 1 pound apart which is pretty close.
For those of you who haven't voted yet, there is a poll up above. (Although I pretty much just gave away the answer, but you never know!)

Today, Jaydon had his first spelling test. I cannot tell you how excited we were when we opened his folder, and saw that he had gotten all of his words right - even the challenge word! They had to spell 3 of the 4 words, and then the challenge word. Then the teacher dictated the sentence which he did really well at.

(Click on the image to enlarge!)

I honestly think that Jaydon lost focus because when we went over it with him a little while ago, he knew how to spell everything in the sentence. (Mrs. Goolsby wrote the sentence down after their test.) We'll have to work on sentence dictation at home.

Jeremy was SO proud of him, and he wants to frame his first test. What a sweet Daddy! :)

Jaydon - we are so happy that you are such a good student. Nice job, son!!!

I spent my whole day off cleaning today. I must say that the house looks so nice. It's such a good feeling when your house is clean!

I took lunch to Jaydon at 10:40, and he wanted me to go to recess with him, so I did. I like that my son still enjoys time with his mom. This is my 3rd time to eat lunch with him this year, and I'm glad that I can do that.

After we finished eating, we got in line to go out to recess and the little girl (cough, cough-BRAT!) in line behind him says, "We don't need adults at recess." I ignored her, and she said it again. Jaydon says to her, "Don't be ridiculous." She says it again with more attitude and looks right up at me. I squatted down and said, "You will ALWAYS need adults, even when you are grown. Please don't say that again." She says, "I can if I want to." So I ask her if her mom has ever come to eat lunch with her, and she says no. As we walk off, I think to myself: Yeah - you can tell your mom has never been here, you NEED attention is what you NEED...little brat!

I know kids say things and sometimes they don't understand what they are saying, but this little girl KNEW what she was saying and she had an attitude. I'm glad that my son at least made an attempt to defend me.

When we get outside, Jaydon says, "Mom, she's not nice. She got a yellow today." It was so cute.

All of the other kids in the class absolutely love me. They always say, "Hi, Jaydon's mom" or "Hi, Mrs. Rogers". Some of them even run to give me a hug - so sweet. :)

I have a very busy weekend ahead, so I'll blog all about it on Sunday.

Enjoy your weekend, and the beautiful weather...

Update & More...

We went in for Jacoby's 1-yr. check-up today. He officially weighed in at 22.4 lbs., (JUST what I weighed him at last week) and he was 30.5 inches. Last week, I measured him at 29.5 inches, so I was off by an inch. I made sure to watch the nurse as she did the length measurement and he was definitely 30.5 inches. He is in the 75th percentile for height, and the 50th for weight. I thought that was rather strange because I think he is so short, but maybe he's really not. His head was also in the 50th percentile at 18.5 inches. So, my boy is right at average. :)
They were supposed to give him 4 shots today, but we only got 2. He will get the other 2 in two more weeks. I cannot stand that he even has to get 2 at once, but I wasn't going to do all 4 - no way. We always split his shots up.

Yesterday, we got a few notes from Jaydon's school...
We got his monthly calendar showing what they are doing each week, and then we got a letter saying that starting this week, they will have weekly spelling tests every Thursday. WHAT?!? A spelling test in KINDERGARTEN?? So I read the rest of the letter and see the 4 spelling words for this week, and then a "challenge" (bonus) word. They will also have a sentence that the teacher will dictate to them and they have to try and write it. They don't tell you the sentence, the kids just have to see how well they can do that day. WHAT - no practice on the sentence?! So I freak out! I'm sure all of you know by now, but I'm a perfectionist. I won two spelling bees in elementary school, so this is definitely my forte for sure! I never ever got a "B" until junior high. I always made straight A's and never missed a day of school until junior high. YA - OCD even at that age!
The four words this week are: LIKE, IS, HAVE, ME, and then the "challenge word" is: BLUBBER. So I pull out Jaydon's wood letters and a notebook & pencil. I ask him to spell the first word with his letters, then to write it- he gets it right. We go through all 4 words with ease - PHEW, my boy is taking after me with spelling - THANK GOD! Then we get to the challenge word and he spells it "bluber". He sounded it out on his own - I'll take it! So I correct him, and he gets it right the 2nd time around. Today, we go to practice the words again and he's got them down pat. I'll tell you what - I have a SMART boy on my hands. I'm so proud of that child!
On top of the weekly spelling words, they also have to read 20 minutes every night, and then they have a homework poem to read and answer questions about. The poem is due every Friday. I cannot get over how much they are doing in Kindergarten! It just makes me wonder what in the world he is going to learn in the years to come?!?

We got Jacoby his first pair of walking shoes today! Let me clarify - ABA bought Jacoby his first pair of walking shoes as a gift for his first birthday. She gave us cash, and begged us to get him some "good" shoes...off we went to Stride Rite at the Southlake Town Centre. She BEGGED that we get him Stride Rite walking boots. We passed on those, and opted for a more modern shoe. Those white boot things are SO ugly! We got him a pair of size 5-wides. He was ALMOST in an X-WIDE, but the lady said she thought the wide fit better. I couldn't believe that he measured at a 5W! They are super cute, and some people would die knowing that they were $49...BUT, they were on sale for $34.95. (Which again to some people is too much for a pair of shoes for a child.) The lady says that at this age, we should get about 3 months use out of them.
These shoes are made to mimic walking in bare feet - "just right" for the beginner walker. We shall see...
Then, I also opted for a 6-pack of new socks. You can't get your first pair of real shoes without some comfy new socks, right? So I check out, and the total is $54.22. I don't think about it until I get to the car and look at the receipt. Yep, the shoes were on sale for $34.95, but the socks were $15! I couldn't believe it! Thank God for Aba's cash because even though I don't mind spending that on a pair of good shoes, that was a little outrageous for socks. Oh well, you only celebrate a first birthday once, right? Thank you, Aba! :)

Here are the shoes:
(Yes, I'm a dork for taking pictures of them. I cannot wait to get a GOOD camera because my digital is SO outdated, and the flash sucks!)

Y'all have a good week!
I'll blog again on Thursday night after my sonogram and check-up.

Tootles!

Funny Jaydon & Shopping

Just a couple of Jaydon funnies from the past few weeks:

#1:
I got to my mom's house last week to pick Jaydon up after work, and we were sitting in the back room where there is a large window that allows a lot of sunlight into the house. I looked over at Jaydon and said, "Man bubba, you have a unibrow. That's a lot of hair in between your eyebrows." Jaydon says, "Like you!"
My Mom cracked up and told me to wait a few years because the insults just get worse as they age.
YA - SCORE! Thank you son, for reminding your mother that she is hairy. Dear, sweet child...

#2:
Jeremy was wrestling with Jaydon the other day, and he squeezed Jaydon tightly and wrapped his arms and legs in a weird position. Jaydon gets really angry and says, "DAD, that's enough...stop twisting me like a pretzel right now!"
For that one, you just HAD to be there to see the look on his face as he said that. Nice metaphor though, right? :)

#3:
Today when I got to Jaydon's school to pick him up, there was ice all over my car from being parked outside at work. Jaydon stops and stares at my car and says, "Mom, what happened?" I said, "Oh honey, it's just ice. It's cold outside so the ice stuck to my car." He says, "Today is icy and cold outside, right mom?" So I tell him that he's right. A few minutes down the road, he says, "MOM, it's dying!" So I turn around and say, "What is dying?" He says, "The ice is dying!"
So to give Jaydon some credit, he has learned (after asking daily) in the past few weeks what death is. Technically, the ice WAS dying, but I taught him that ice melts and doesn't die. He caught on quickly because then he said that chocolate melts in the oven too when we make cookies, and insisted that he wanted cookies as soon as we got home. :)
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Yesterday, I went shopping at Addy's Closet. It's this small, home-feeling place in Saginaw. I got probably 60 outfits - not exaggerating - for FREE. I recommend that everyone check it out! It's located at...ha! Had you going there, huh?
I really went shopping at the Linder's (Andrea & Brian) home. Addy is their soon-to-be 1-year old daughter who was born 8 days after Jacoby. She has SO much clothes! Some of the outfits were 2nd and 3rd time hand-me downs, and some of them were brand new with tags or only worn once. I went through a stack of 100ish outfits and took about half. NONE have stains and hardly any have faded. It's amazing! I have clothes to last Jilian without having to wear anything twice until she is 9-12 months old - no joke!
I know, some of you are in awe, right? Jessica taking hand me downs? No way! Well, believe it! I couldn't pass them up. I know Andrea well enough to know that the stuff was coming from somebody who has a lot of the same tastes that I do, and that it would all be clean.
Jaydon never wore a hand me down, and has yet to wear any. Jacoby has had maybe 1 or 2 outfits that were hand me downs from friends. Even HE got all brand new clothing since we sold Jaydon's clothes at a garage sale a few years ago. So Jilian will be the "hand-me down queen", but I'm okay with that. I realize that I'm in NO financial situation to be buying clothes right now, and they grow so quickly anyway. Besides, she will still get new stuff for special occasions, birthdays, and Christmas, right? She got about 20 new outfits at my baby shower, plus a few outfits that I had bought, and then she got like 5 new outfits for Christmas, so she is more than set. However you look at it, all of my kids are spoiled rotten!
Thank you, Andi, for allowing me to borrow the clothes!!!
So to continue that tradition, if you or anyone you know is having a boy, I would be glad to offer Jacoby's clothes to them to be borrowed,too. :)

I have a sonogram & 37-week check-up on Thursday. It was supposed to be today, but I had to postpone it because of the weather. I didn't want to drive to Bedford, and then get stuck in traffic on the way back. I can't wait to see her in my belly one last time. Then that will officially be my last baby sonogram ever. Jeremy & Jaydon will both be going with me. :)
Only 2 more weeks until Jilian Cate arrives. We are in official countdown mode now!

Talk to you again soon...

Happy Birthday, Jacoby Cade!

WOW, WOW, WOW...today, my little man is officially a toddler. Today, my little man only lacks 4 years until he starts Kindergarten. Today, my little man only lacks 15 years until he gets a driver's license. Today, my little man only lacks 17 years until he graduates from high school. Okay, so I'm getting carried away, but seriously, today, my little man turned ONE at 9:18am!

1-Year Stats:
Weight: 22.4 lbs.
Length: 29.5 in.

You haven't grown at all since last month, but you haven't lost weight, either. I guess that's why they only do check-ups every 3 months. (The same thing happened to Jaydon at this age. Coincidental, or genes at work? I think this is what happens when you are a mover & a shaker so early on!)
...and just because I always look at their medical folders to compare, I'll fill you in. Jaydon was 21lbs. 8oz. and 31.5 inches at this age. They are pretty close, but Jaydon definitely has the taller genes. You boys were neck and neck until this month. It's time to start drinking Ensure, Jacoby!

Where do I begin? There are so many things that I could say right now, so I'll just type away from the very beginning... (Side note: This may get a little personal, so if you aren't interested, just skip on down to the videos and pictures!)

It took us 15 months to conceive Jacoby. With Jaydon, (and Jilian now, too!) Jeremy literally took his shoes off and he was conceived, but we won't go there.
We started trying to conceive Jacoby in January of 2006. Day after day, week after week, month after month...nothing. It was such a disappointment to us not knowing what was going on.
In January of 2007, after one year of trying, we went to see my OB/GYN, and she said that I was officially considered infertile. What? ME!?! No way! She said that she would start me on Clomid, and she would also give me a prescription for another "ointment". We went to pick both prescriptions up, and the lady at Wal-Greens says, "That will be $735." I barfed in my mouth a bit, hyperventilated, and finally regained enough strength to say, "How much?" She explained that the Clomid was covered by insurance and it was only our usual $5, but the other ointment was not covered, and it was $730. I will NEVER forget that day. We said that there was NO way we were paying that much money for medicine and left. I took the Clomid for all of one week and then stopped taking it. We just decided that if it was meant to be, it would happen. We are not terribly religious, but we thought that God did things for a reason, and we just needed to be patient.
At the time, I was working full-time in North Dallas. I was driving 40+ miles each way, and I was gone from 6:15am-6:00pm daily. By the time I picked Jaydon up and got home, I had been gone from the house for 12 hours. My job was very stressful, and one day I'd had enough and quit. That was in March of 2007. At the same time, I also decided to start losing weight. I have never been a huge person - I'm big-boned, but not huge - so I knew that I needed to do something about the way I was looking. Going from a toned body and a size 6 to a size...never mind, but I was big! I joined Weight Watchers with a dear friend, and we both started losing weight. Within 8 weeks, I had lost 23 pounds!
Guess what? 4 weeks after I quit working, and 4 weeks after I started losing weight, we were pregnant! I honestly think that the stress from my job and the fact that I was so heavy was not allowing me to get pregnant. The girls that I worked with at the time kept telling me the same thing. The other thing was that I had been on the depo shot prior to that, and I have also been told that sometimes, it takes up to 18 months for that bad boy to clear your system - talk about potent!
Needless to say, however it happened...we were pregnant, and quite ecstatic! :)
So Jacoby, we tried very hard to have you. Out of the 3 kids, we honestly consider you the little miracle.

In the past year, you have really turned our house upside down, Coby. Going from 1 to 2 children after only having 1 child for 5+ years is a big change...but we wouldn't have it any other way.

You have achieved so many milestones this year:
You have smiled, rolled over, sat up, crawled, stood up, grown 8 teeth and ½ a molar, waved hi & bye, understood the meaning of your name, said "Ma-Ma & Da-Da", and of all things...you are walking!!! Yep, you started walking a few weeks ago, and haven't stopped since.
The kitchen cabinets are child proofed - something we never had to do with Jaydon. We find you in the weirdest places...under the dining room table, under the coffee table, opening up drawers and lifting up on your tip toes to look inside, and in the kitchen pantry (prior to child proofing). You love to explore! You refuse to play with any of your toys, but the second one of your brother's toys come out, you snatch them from him and laugh. You are very reserved with your laughing and hardly ever do so except when you are with us. When you see your mom, dad and brother all together, that's when the laughing begins. We can already tell that you are very family-oriented. What a plus! You suck your thumb when you go to sleep and have never taken a pacifier. You have a temper like me and honestly, I kinda like it. It just means that you won't take lip from anyone! :)

You have also gotten quite handsome - if I do say so myself. You have a cute little round face, and big brown eyes. Oh and that hair is still light brown with some honey colored highlights. You could have gotten a hair cut already, but I think your Aba and half of my friends would chop off my left boob if I gave you a haircut. They all just love the curls that are forming in the back.

So enough babbling...I don't want to bore all of my blog readers with how proud I am of you.
You are now going to be the middle child Jacoby, and we just want you to know that being in the middle is actually a cool thing. You are the cream in an Oreo, the bologna in a sandwich - and who would eat either one of those things without the middle? :)

Jacoby, we have tried to capture as many things as we can on video or in pictures. I have to admit though that some of the best memories I have of you are those that are in my mind, and in my heart forever.
Thank you for bringing such joy to our lives in 2008. Your daddy is a changed man because of you. He has learned that all children are different, and is becoming more patient because of it.
We know that you will be a great big brother to Jilian when she arrives.

Also, please know that we didn't forget your birthday. We are postponing your birthday celebration until February 7th. There is just too much going on right now, and we don't want the focus to be on anyone but you.

Happy 1st Birthday, Coby-Co-Co!
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I got so overwhelmed that I forgot to take pictures with the #1 candle in his cupcake. The video wasn't that great either, so I didn't add it. Oh well, that's what February 7th is for!
Please enjoy and don't forget to watch the 2 videos at the bottom...

Jacoby & Jaydon on January 2, 2009

Jacoby loving the cupcake with extra icing!

The new thing is pulling off his socks & shoes...SO annoying!

Exploring...

One of those weird places...

Yesterday, (New Year's Day) we went to Liberty Park in North Richland Hills. This park is really neat. It has tidbits of history all around. We are going to make this a Spring picture spot for some family pictures after Jilian arrives. I have some ideas brewing about things I want to do there. We are going to try our best to get a new camera - a GOOD one - with any tax money we get back next year. Enjoy the pictures from the park, too!

A quote at Liberty Park

The cutest baby at the park that day can be found on this flag...

Bound & Determined...

I'm a walkin', folks...