All about Josh

There are so many things Josh says that are either funny or very insightful that I don't want to forget so I am going to write them down here and eventually print the blog.

He will repeat everything but here are a few of our favorites.

I asked him if he needed more milk and he told me as he was drinking "Just a minute"

He quotes almost the whole "It's a Meaningful Life" veggie tales movie. His favorite lines are "6 more points", "It's do or die time", "318 Waggle Right", "Buckle up, It's gonna be a bumpy ride", "All aboard", "There's gotta be somebody here", 110% song, and there are more that I can't even remember right now.

He types on our computer and finds his name "J-O-S-H", finds the Q, R, T, L, M, N, P and probably more but those are his favorites. If he doesn't know where they are, he will say "It's around here somewhere". He says "Jeff" and "Tiff" when you ask him what our names are.

He loves to go night night still. We are having a hard time keeping him up past 7:30 at night.

When you ask him what we do, he will say:

Daddy-coach

Mommy-Pharmacist

Nana-Secretary

Papaw-Engineer

Maggie-Teacher

Papa Jack-Doctor

And here's a video of Josh

One Week Old

It's so hard to believe but Caleb is a week old today! It has gone so fast already. He left the hospital on Saturday at 5 lbs 14 oz (never thought I would have such a small baby) but was up to 6 lbs 4 oz on Monday! Nursing is going great. I think it's just easier the second time around. Although he has been eating every 2 hrs today. He's been a great baby so far and I am thankful! We are blessed!

A few pictures (FINALLY!)

Here are a few pics from the first couple days. Enjoy!

Hi Mommy!

Our first picture with just the 3 of us

The whole family

Josh wanted to hold Caleb at first but it didn't last long :) He has been great with him so far! Comes up to him and says "Hi Baby Caleb!"

Right before we left for home.

Josh giving all his puzzle pieces (thank you Beth!!!!) to his brother.

Jeff got the stomach bug the night we got home from the hospital. As did my mom who stayed with us. So needless to say, yesterday I was taking care of 3 people and myself. It was not a good day. But the Lord was gracious and gave me the strength to make it through the day. Thanks for everyone's offers to help. Jeff is better, Josh is at Tracey's today and I'm off to take a nap. And I finally got 2 hours of sleep in a row! Hadn't had that since last Tuesday night. Literally! And I failed to mention yet that I am a hormonal basket case. I cry thinking about the fact I didn't get a belly picture before I left for the hospital. I guess Caleb won't care.

Thanks for all the prayers!! I hope we are all on the mend.

Welcome Caleb Jeffrey!

Well as the Lord would have it (and I think Dr. Seward somehow knew!), Caleb Jeffrey Clark was born yesterday, December 8, 2011, at 11:06am. 6 pounds 6 oz, 19 inches long. Here's the details:

I went to the Dr on Wednesday for a regular check up at 36 weeks and 2 days. I was 2 cm dilated and the head was down low. I thought for sure I would have a few more days. Dr. Seward said "probably within a week we might see fireworks". Great! I have a week to prepare. As he was leaving the room, he jokingly said "See you tomorrow." I laughed out loud and basically said I sure hope not.

That night, I went to our small group Christmas party by myself. Jeff was gone to a game and my mother-in-law watched Josh for me. He had thrown up the night before so I figured family was the best bet for watching him in case it happened again. Thankfully it didn't. At the party I was eating tons of food including a spicy artichoke jalapeno garlic dip. I definitely overate and at 11 that night, couldn't sleep well because I thought I was either going to be sick like Josh was or it was indigestion from all the food I ate! Thankfully I made it to 3am without getting sick. At 3, I started having different contractions. I had been having braxton hicks since about week 20 but these were different. These were sharper and lasted longer. I didn't think anything of them because they were irregular and I went right back to sleep after I had one. But starting at 5:30, I continued to get them and now they were every 4 minutes apart. I laid in bed for a half hour debating what to do. Finally I got up and went in the shower. They continued to come every 3 to 4 minutes. I called my dr at 8 and he said he was up at the hospital on call so come on up and get checked out. I got there having 3 contractions on the way...yuck!

Got to the hospital at 9 and was 5cm dilated. I think I would have rather been 8! But at least I was making progress in the last 3.5 hours. I labored on the birthing ball and standing up until 10:20 when I got checked again and was 8cm. Dr Seward broke my water then just hung out with us until about 10:50 when I told him I was feeling pressure. I started pushing at about 10:55. Seriously, the worst pain I can remember. I don't know if I just blocked the pain out with Josh, but I yelled several times "Get this baby out of me!" I truly felt and can still recall the "ring of fire" that felt like it lasted the entire 10 minutes of pushing. At 11:06, Dr Seward told me to reach down and take my baby. At that point, I again yelled, "Get him out!" as I was pulling him out. I don't think I cared at that point who was getting the baby, I just wanted him out. So Caleb came at 36 weeks and 3 days. Totally unexpected for me. Although physically I was prepared (Christmas shopping done and wrapped, house cleaned and clothes washed), mentally I was not! But praise the Lord, he is healthy and doing great! Nursing is going pretty well too!

I will post a picture soon when I get my camera photos uploaded. He is a sweetie :) Josh just basically ignores him. But I think he will get used to him quick. Thanks for everyone's prayers!

Fall Activities

Ughh..this blog thing. I can't seem to update it often. I just don't think about it as much and with another baby coming, I doubt I'll have more time :) But I'll do my best. Here's a quick recap of the last few weeks. We have been to the pumpkin patch to get pumpkins for all 4 of us. We also went trick or treating with the Tonagels. And have been playing outside as much as possible before winter comes. Josh is doing great. He was 35 pounds at the doctor this week. He also loves eating mushrooms right now. Tell me how it's possible he wants mushrooms but refuses to try jelly on his toast?!

Baby boy is doing well also. I was measuring a little small at my appointment last week so we will see how everything looks at my next appointment on Tuesday. The picture below is at 33 weeks. I am feeling pretty good. Just occasionally achy and pretty much always tired :) Josh loves to show baby brother how to do things. He wants to see my bare belly and then play with the screwdriver or take batteries out "to show brother". I think it's awesome and I think he will adjust better than I have been thinking.

Enjoy some pictures

Josh was a dog for Halloween thanks to a friend at work who loaned me a costume.

These two hunters had a lot of fun too!

On the tractor ride at Campbell's Pumpkin Patch.

Love these two!!

Is it bad that I steered Josh away from choosing this green pumpkin??

And Josh loved finding this rock instead of looking at all the pumpkins :)

And flash forward 4 years when Josh is going to school. Love him with a backpack!

Love this big boy!

Have a great week!

I wish mine was as good...

I wish my memory was as good as my son's. He can read a book with me once and memorize phrases for anytime we read it again. Pretty cool. I can't even do that. So here's a couple videos of Josh and us reading some of his favorite books. The books are Llama Llama Red Pajama and Me and My Dad. He loves them both and wants them read to him at night. Right now his favorite is Me and My Dad and he would prefer Jeff put him to bed (Jeff tells more exciting stories than I do!) But he still lets me put him to bed. I am thankful that he is becoming Jeff's little buddy though. I know it will be needed when #2 comes. Sorry for my filming of the first one. I was moving all around trying to get him in the picture. In other baby news, baby boy continues to grow right on track. I went last Wednesday for an appointment and everything is looking good. I'm still having Braxton Hicks contractions on a daily basis and other than being super tired all the time, it's great! I am waking up a lot at night to go to the bathroom or switch sides. Trying to mentally prepare myself for the frequent nighttime awakenings that are coming. Can't believe it's November and most likely I'll have the baby next month! Unless I go the full 40 weeks. Who knows :)

Some new pictures

Here is what happens after 9pm...I go crazy tired and do silly things like this picture. (I am 28 weeks and 3 days).

This is what happened to Josh on Wednesday. He fell off of a chair face first outside. :( Poor baby. But he's a trooper. He didn't let us put ice on it or anything.

Last week, my grandparents came to visit. Josh still talks about Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Peggy. He loves them!

This is how I found Josh after I got out of the shower one morning. He must have been super tired. He slept like this for 2 hours!

He loves to put momma's jacket on and run around the house.

He discovered how to get in and out of the laundry basket. He is probably pointing to some veggie tales character in this picture.

And he did this all on his own. I was so proud.

18 Month Check Up (at ~ 20 months)

I switched pediatricians to a doctor in Muncie and LOVE him. The office staff was super friendly and I really enjoyed the doctor. He was very thorough and took his time with us (talked to us for about 1/2 an hour while I drilled him with questions I had brought with me :) but it was very worth it. He answered them all and never made me feel rushed. Josh checked out great. His height (35.5 inches) and weight (32 1/2 pounds) were above 95%. And his head (?? I think 20.5 inches) was in the 98%...large noggin! I can't buy 2T/3T hats because they are too small. He loved the doctors reflex tool (can't remember the medical term) and wanted to play with it the whole time we were there. The doctor was really nice and let him play with it while he checked the rest of him out. His tubes are still in (praise the Lord!). He got 2 shots and they put Spiderman band-aids on him and he immediately wanted them off. He hated the band-aids. Kind of funny.

The only thing Josh does now that is slightly frustrating is that he wakes up early every morning (6:30 or before) and comes in our room and just stands there looking at us until we realize he's there. haha The only way we know he's out of his room is that his door makes a loud noise when it opens so we know he has "escaped". It doesn't shut tight but hopefully that problem will be fixed by next week and then he won't be able to come out until we go get him. I It's not that I have a problem with the early waking (although I would rather him sleep longer). I just don't like the sudden awakening I am having and then instantly he is begging me to "get up" and "go play". It takes me a couple minutes to really wake up so if I can hear him awake in his room, I feel like I'll be able to slowly open my eyes and adjust to the early hour. Not sure how I'll (and Jeff) will handle this early rising when we have a newborn. But he is doing great in his big boy bed and is falling asleep on his own now which is wonderful. So we are on the right track.

I go tomorrow for my glucose test/regular OB appt. I'll be going every 2 weeks from now on. Which is crazy! I have been having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions. I am hoping that I do not go earlier than I did with Josh. And I'm starting to get a little anxious about labor again. I honestly don't remember how painful it was and that scares me! What if labor is longer and worse?!

Anyways, everything is going well though. Jeff is busy with basketball season. But we are enjoying this wonderful weather! We love playing in the leaves.

I'll post a belly pic soon I hope (at least whenever I take another one :)

Apple Orchard

We went with our good friends, the Tonagels to McClure's Apple Orchard in Peru, IN today to pick our own apples. We had a great time. Josh was a bit tired since he only got a 15 min nap on the way over but eventually perked up and had a lot of fun. We got to see some farm animals, Jace and Will rode a horse, picked our own apples and played outside. It was a beautiful day outside and perfect for apple picking. I will post more pictures soon but here's a couple for right now. And I'm off to bed...

Do we look similar?

Here's a quick post on my belly (that is growing rapidly!)

I am 23 weeks and 5 days today. Here's a picture from my pregnancy with Josh at 23 weeks and 5 days

.

And here is from today. I feel like I look a little rounder than I did the first time. Hard to believe I am over halfway.

My grandma Rachael comes down with my mom occasionally to play with Josh. Josh calls her "gammaw Rachael". So cute.

And we are letting Josh get used to feeding himself. This was what happened when he ate spaghetti. Pretty cute but pretty messy!!

Here are a few things that Josh says and does that are really cute that I don't want to forget:

- "momma push you"= momma push me

- "see you next day" = he says this to anything that goes "bye bye" (cars driving down the street, the water in the bath tub, people that leave, etc)

- "Josh hide" = Josh plays hide and seek but he comes out before you even get close to where he is "hiding" and says "Here he is"

- he repeats anything and everything you say - kind of scary :)

- "momma hold you" - momma hold me

- "happy birthday to Jace"

- "dear Jesus, thank you food, momma, daddy AMEN!"

- "bye bye water"

- "golfish" - goldfish

- he says "casserole" often when he sees our dinner plates even if there is no casserole

- high knees = raises one leg significantly higher as he walks

- weeeeeee - turns in circles

- he walks backwards at random times and on his right tip toe

- he loves his teddy, lambie and pooh bear

- runs down the hall with daddy says "ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

- looks at a bunch of his books on the bookshelf and says "ummm" before selecting one

- wants to shoot hoops often

- if I ask him who he played with recently, he usually always says "Anna" - our friend's daughter who he loves to play with

- Always wants to go to the "gym" if we go by it

- Loves to look at the guys new "lotter room" aka locker room

- if you ask him which way something is, he will point and say "dat way"

- "Josh do it" or "by self" is a frequent phrase

- likes to say "gentle" while hitting baby brother pretty hard - not sure that he grasps that concept

- told Jeff "love you daddy" a couple weeks ago - so cute

He is developing quite the imagination. Today, he put pooh and teddy in a toy and said"teddy driving" and "poohs in the car seat". I asked him where they were going and he said "Amy's house"

He is sleeping in his big boy bed most of the time. Occasionally he wants his crib but hopefully he is getting used to the big boy bed.

Ok, I think that's it.

Happy birthday to our sweet buddy Jace Tonagel who turned 3 today! We love you!

Summer Vacation

We had a wonderful vacation this year up near Traverse City, MI. We stayed at a family member's house and it was fantastic. Jeff had just gotten back from the Dominican on Tuesday and we left again on Wednesday. But he was a trooper :) My sister and her boyfriend came as well as my brother and his girlfriend. It was a blast being together. Josh got a lot of time with everyone. Here are a few pictures from the trip.

This is everyone. Jeff, my brother Justin, my dad, and Mo (in the back row).

He loved being by the rocks and throwing rocks into the water.

He had a lot of fun with his Uncle Justin.

He loved hanging out with daddy throwing rocks of course! :)

And he LOVED the slide.

This is the same toy he was on last year when he turned 6 months. This time, he turned 18 months!

We went up to Charlevoix to see a lot of fun boats and to get some fudge.

He has a little leftover sunscreen in his hair and it made for a cute hairdo :)

And he absolutely loved the water. You could see to the bottom everywhere. It was beautiful.

Trying to scoop sand.

Well that's it for now. We had a great time but are glad to be back in our own bed. There's just something about sleeping in your own bed.

Baby boy is moving around a lot. I'm still feeling great except for a few annoying veins. But other than that, we are doing great. Josh is still a super sweet little boy. He told Jeff "love you" the other day without being asked. It was adorable! But he no longer wants to go to bed :( :( :( (nap or night time) and I have had to let him cry himself to sleep every time. Thankfully it's never for very long. Josh is starting to test the limits with everything and throwing little crying fits when he doesn't get his way. I have been praying SO MUCH MORE these days for wisdom to discipline and for grace. I know it's just beginning. But he does do so many cute things. He loves to pray at meal times and not just in the beginning. Randomly while we are eating he will say "momma pray" or "daddy pray" and we stop and say a prayer. His favorite thing to say is "dear Jesus", then Jeff and I will fill in the middle like "thank you for mommy, thank you for daddy, thank you for baby brother" and then he will yell "AMEN". He loves to say Amen. And he also loves to throw things and make messes. Anything he can do to make a mess and he will do it. And he loves to go on his big boy bed and throw the pillows off with daddy.

Ok, that's it :)

It's A...

BOY :)

Josh will be having a little brother. We are SO excited! We weren't sure we were going to find out. We had planned on being surprised but the night before the ultrasound, I really really really wanted to find out. It was so much fun finding out. But I think both ways are great. So when/if baby #3 comes, who knows what we'll do. But for now, we are excited to think of 2 little boys running around. My prayer is that they will love and serve each other and Jesus all the days of their lives. I pray they become best friends and Godly husbands/fathers.

We just got back from vacation on Monday night so I have a lot of pictures to post of that. Stay tuned.

Camping

Well I can officially say I've been camping. Although not in tents, we stayed in cabins with only a bed and a table (no bathroom) so basically the same thing :) We went with the Tonagels who have done this before. Greg cooked some great meals and the boys had a BLAST. I had a great time except for the night. It was a sauna in our cabin. I couldn't fall asleep until 2:30 when the rain finally came and cooled it off. But it was a great experience and I think I would do it again. Here's a video of our trip Jeff made. We had over 30 minutes of film and shortened it to about 8. Please ignore all of my narrating. I didn't realize I did that so much until I watched this video :)

Help Needed!

For everyone out there...not just for moms!

I was just recently informed that Indiana WIC (women, infant and children program) no longer covers the full cost of baby formula!!!!!! Mothers are coming in to one of our local food pantries/kitchens with water in their baby bottles to keep their babies from crying. I don't know about you but it made me cry! I know that there are needs all over the globe but to think that in my local community, babies are starving while my child is eating 3 meals and 2 snacks a day! It makes me feel so sad. These mothers want the basic needs for their babies as much as we do... food, clothing, shelter! St. Martin Community Center in Marion will be happy to take formula donations among many other things. But if you feel led or burdened to help out, please do!!!!!!!! And even if you don't live in Marion, maybe there's a place where you live that could use some help!

A few new pictures of summer

These are a bit out of order but I'll do my best to explain them :) We got Josh a froggy potty and he has gone in it a couple of times when we put him on it and distract him with veggie tales or a book :) It's pretty cute to see. I think he looks like such a big boy in this picture! It could just be his thick legs :) I am hoping to potty train him (at least during the day) before baby #2 comes. He knows both words "pee pee" and "poo poo" so hopefully after a lot of practice and getting familiar with it, it won't be that bad in a couple months to really start training. Any suggestions on how to do it with boys?

We have a birds nest in the tree right outside our front window. At first it really just annoyed me because every time I walked in front of it, the mama bird would dart out and fly right over my head! Scared me every time. But I knew something special would be happening soon and it has! The baby birds have hatched and they are so darn cute!!! I love how the one on the right has it's eyes closed and has this puffy section of hair on top. So sweet.

I have been trying to get Josh to not stand right by the TV when he watches Veggie Tales so I put him on the couch and this is the look he has when he sits there :) It's pretty funny. I told Jeff tonight he looks like Humpty Dumpty (with his mouth open and all)

We went up to Papa Jack and Maggie's lake house for the 4th of July and he had a great time with his cousins.

This is what happens when you throw boys in the mix with 2 sweet girls who just want to read their books. You can see Hannah trying to get them both off :)

We also got to see our good friends Mindy and Tony and their sweet little girl Avery.

She looks a lot like her daddy!

We spent the night at Maggie and Papa Jack's before heading up to the lake and Josh loved walking down their long driveway straddling the seam in the concrete.

I love this picture of Hannah running.

And my friend from college, Cassandra, and her husband Jay and little girl Grace came to visit for the weekend! We had a lot of fun talking about mommy stuff :)

That's it for now!