4 weeks old

Caleb is 4 weeks old today. It is so hard to believe how fast the time as gone. Definitely faster than the first time around! Josh has been so good with Caleb. He always wants to know where he is or who is holding him. And he loves bringing him toys. I finally feel like this is our new normal. It took me a little while. It still felt kind of foreign to have 2 kids! But I love having 2 and I love having boys! Caleb is a sweetheart. Hardly ever cries except when he wants to eat. Nursing is going great. And I love having a newborn that isn't sick! I love his sweet little face and can't wait to see what kind of personality he will have. I call him my fighter though. He fights all outfit changes and when he spits up, he always looks away from the burp cloth as if he doesn't want to help me out! :) But he's a great baby. Eats every 3 to 4 hours and goes back to sleep really well at night so far. We love him dearly! Here are a few pictures of the last few weeks.

Josh helped me make banana muffins on Tuesday. He loved it! I think he is going to be my little assistant.

Here he is putting the streusel topping on. Do you like the sticker he has on? He found it under a couch cushion. It's a barcode sticker from when we first got the couch. :)

Helping me mix the topping.

Here is Caleb a few days ago.

This is Caleb at 3 weeks old.

The other morning while I was getting ready, I put a movie on for Josh and I came out to check on him and he had an apple in his hands! I asked him where he got the apple and he told me "the fridge". 10 min later when I came back out, I was looking for the apple but couldn't find it. So I asked him where it was and he said "the fridge". He had put it back in the drawer where he found it :) Such a good boy!

Some glasses my grandma got everyone this Christmas.

Auntie came home for Christmas! I couldn't have been more excited!! Caleb arrived in perfect timing (thank you Lord) so my sister and her boyfriend Mo could meet him!

Don't they make a cute couple :)

Josh loves Caleb. I got him to smile by saying "Show me your teeth" haha.

That's all for now. I am off to do dishes. My sink is overflowing! And both boys are still sleeping (amazingly at the same time).

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 :)