Merry Christmas!!

Well we are here down in Glide at John's parents spending Christmas with them..... we almost didn't make it out of Portland with the crazy amount of snow and the absolutely horrible roads- mainly due to the lack of the city actually taking care of them.  Long story short- what normally takes us just over 3 hours to get from our house to the Grahams ended up taking 5 hours the first day, an unexpected night in a hotel in Salem and then another 3  hours the next day.  It was scary and not fun to do with a 2 year old and a newborn.  So that is as far as we are going unfortunately.  No California for us this winter.  We are just happy to be safe and in a warm home for the holidays.   Here's some pictures of the snow at our place:

 Christmas was very relaxing and fun this year.  Jackson of course had a blast opening presents- he got a radio flyer trike, a fun elephant game that shoots out butterflies to catch, Toy Story 2, cars, a little helicopter and airplane set, clothes and a sweet tunnel tent set and a few other things- he basically scored, thanks in part to 2 sets of grandparents who love to spoil him! He sure is lucky!  John and I both got some clothes, a digital photo frame, a pedicure and makeover including some new makeup for me, new bike tires for John, and a gift card to eat our at a nice restaurant which we got to use last night- the Grahams watched the boys for us and it was such a special treat to be able to got out on a date alone and actually take our time to  enjoy a whole meal complete with some super yummy desserts!  The rest of the time we have been here we have just been relaxing and watching lots of holiday movies!  It's been a nice break.  We are planning on heading home tuesday as long as the roads are clear enough.  We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a happy New Year!  Wish we could be with everyone during the holidays, but it doesn't always work out that way.  We love and miss you all!!!

my favorite christmas present this year

Baron's First Week at Home

Hey everyone! As demanded, here are some more pictures from the past week.  Baron is doing great! He sleeps at night really good, and in his own bed!! This is amazing  to us since it took Jackson a month to sleep on his own and at night.  Baron seriously hardly ever cries, except when we change his diaper..... he really hates that for some reason.  He is a really good eater and just can't get enough, which is good because the doc wanted us to feed him a lot to get his jaundice to go down and its working!  Jackson of course has had a ruff week and has been throwing little temper tantrums here and there and demanding lots of extra attention, especially from me, but he is getting better each day, and he is always really nice to the baby.  And he is also a really good helper!  He especially loves to help change the baby's diaper and give him a bath.  We think after the initial shock of having a new one join the family and once things get back to more of a routine, he is going to love being a big brother!  So that's the short version of an update, and here's what you really want..... more pictures! Enjoy! :)

he loves being bundled up and he loves his swing

Cuddle time with Daddy

He loved his first bath at home!

And Jackson was really excited to help out with the bath even though he pretty much just played with the water, but he also liked brushing Baron's hair- even though he doesn't have much!

All bundled up and warm again- he slept for like 4 hours after his bath!

I love how little he looks in his carseat

Getting all bundled up for his dr.'s appointment- Did I mention it's been snowing?!  The weather has been crazy- very cold and lots of snow for Oregon.  The roads were scary and not fun to drive on since they don't really have the resources to keep them all plowed and people here do not know how to drive in snow, but we had to take Baron into the dr.'s a couple of times to check his jaundice level. Church was even cancelled last Sunday because of the snow! And sadly, John's family has yet to meet the little guy due to the bad weather :(  ..... hopefully it will all melt soon!

Days 2 & 3

Here's some more pictures from the hospital.  Wednesday Jackson got to meet his new baby brother and he did pretty good.  He kept saying to everyone, "Baby sleeping," and he loved to point to Baron's eyes, nose, mouth, ears, etc., and he loves to try to put the pacifier in Baron's mouth.  My mom flew in Wednesday night and has been of course a lifesaver...... i really don't think we can let her leave.  She stayed with Jackson Wed. night so John could stay with me and the baby and take us home the next day.  And ever since she has been cooking and cleaning and entertaining Jackson while I feed Baron who eats like crazy!  This kid is going to be pushing around his older brother before long..... he just can't get enough to eat, and he is really strong already.  I was looking at pictures of Jackson when he was first born and they really do look so much alike, but Baron is definitely bigger- he has these cute chubby cheeks and looks like he is already like a month old! We sure are enjoying having him around!

So the new beanie that matched the outfit that I had gotten for Baron ended up still being too big, so we went with the same one Jackson had at first...... it's still way cute i think :)

Me and my boys eating some dinner together

Here's Jackson trying to give BJ his plug as we call it- Baron loves it

Grandma getting to hold her new grandson for the first time

What do you think.... twins?  See what I mean about BJ having chubbier cheeks though and just being bigger all around?

This one's for you Dad- the classic clock picture

He's Already Here!!

Introducing:

       Baron James Graham

Born: Dec. 9, 2008  at 9:43pm

Weight: 8lb. 3 oz.

Height: 21"

So as you can see, Baron decided to come all on his own, and 6 days early from his due date!  He is doing great now and we are still in shock that all the labor and delivery trauma is over and he is here!  Everything just happened so fast yesterday (which is definitely the better way to go, trust me, i have done both!), and we are just here now in the hospital hanging out with our new little guy, who is sooooo good! So far he has not been much of a crier and is pretty easy to please.  And, he slept for 7 1/2 hours last night!! It was sooo nice for us to get some much needed sleep.  Baron gave us a shock at first when he was born- he was really purple and not breathing too good, but he colored up pretty quickly, and when they did the oxygen level test 2 hours after he was born, he got a score of 99/100, so he is doing great now and hasn't had any more problems!  We were a little surprised to see how big he was even though he was a little early.  He is a solid little boy who looks just like his big brother- seriously they look exactly the same as newborns, the only real difference we can see is that Baron is definitely a little bigger all over- Jackson had real skinny arms and legs.  They both have gotten their dad's long and narrow feet and big hands with long fingers, and of course the both have my nose and eyes.  

He's a little angry for being taken out of his comfy water home

John just went to go pick up Jackson and bring him back to meet his new little brother, so we will have more pictures of the two of them in the next post!

For those interested in how labor went, it was a real shock for me and totally caught me off guard by how much faster it went this time, especially the switch from beginning labor to active labor.  I started having mild contractions around 2:30 in the afternoon and called John at work around 4:30 and told him he might want to start heading home (it takes a good 40-50 mins. to get home) so he could help out with Jack.  When he got home we went to go get some food and were even thinking of renting a movie to get my mind off of the contractions (as you can see, since Jackson was 52 hours of constant labor, we really didn't think he was coming so soon).  On the way to get food, all of a sudden my labor switched up a whole notch and contractions started to really hurt and come 5 mins. apart.  So we quickly got the boys food and drove back home to get Jackson's stuff  so we could drop him off at Tom & Lisa's where he was gonna stay.  But by the time we got back to our place the contractions were coming 2-3 mins. apart and were getting pretty painful so we had to go straight to the hospital where Tom met us to take Jackson back home with him.  I just couldn't believe how fast it kept picking up! So when we got to the hospital I was at a 5-6 and they almost didn't let me get the epidural because it was picking up so quick.  Luckily my doc said I could get it if I did right away, so I did which was sooooo nice to have that relief since I wasnt really getting much rest or even time to breath inbetween contractions at that point because of how close they were together.  About an 40 mins. after that I was at an 8 and the doc. broke my water and an hour later I was pushing! I pushed 19 mins total (the first 10 were actually pushing him down further and getting me to go from a 9 to a 10) and once his head was there it was pretty fast and easy to get him out which I am so grateful because like I said before he was not breathing too good.  I didn't really get to hold him right away because they had to get him oxygen, but besides that everything went great!

For those of you who are following along......

Just thought I should post for those of you who are following along from other places- no baby yet, but he will be here before the end of the week! At my last dr. appointment, my doc decided that since i am totally effaced already and dilated so far and because he is so darn low- which is not comfortable in any way, trust me- if Baron hasn't come on his own by this Thursday, Dec. 11th, then she is gonna have us go into the hospital and break my water! Wahoo!  She thinks that will get things officially going because pretty much all the signs are there, even a few contractions here and there, just not actual labor ones.  So we should have a baby here by Friday at the latest! Wahoo!!!  I cannot even tell you how excited I am to get this kid out! And my mom is flying in Wednesday night, so Baron will be here most the time that she is, which will be so nice to have her help!  So that is the plan, and if anything changes, we will let you know!

Oh, and I have to also add how grateful and blessed I am feeling right now to my Father in Heaven for preserving our family right now from sickness.  Pretty much everyone that was in Glide, even those who were just there for Thanksgiving day, have been sick with a nasty cold, some even having RSV ever since. We have been so so so worried about getting it while having a brand new baby, especially knowing how dangerous it would be if he got it.  But somehow, even though we were just as exposed, John, Jack and I are just about the only ones who have been spared from getting anything...... truly a HUGE blessing from on high.  And I am sorry to those of you who are sick- feel better soon!!

Thanksgiving Fun!

Well we made it through the holiday and still no baby....... which we were glad because we had soooo much fun in Glide with the whole Graham fam., but we are definitely ready now for this little boy to come! I have a dr. appointment tomorrow, so we will see what he is up to then.  

Thanksgiving was a blast! It was soooo much fun to see Nick and Christi and their cute cute girls, Reagan and Alice.  Thanksgiving day was full of lots and lots of good food of course and being together with everyone.  Friday the girls went to go see Twilight! (Edward was surprisingly really good!)  Saturday we all went and picked out and cut down a Christmas tree and brought it home to decorate, and then watched Oregon kick some Oregon State butt in the civil war game!! It was such a good game!  And Sunday we all departed and went our separate ways to go home :(.  I thought I would keep this brief because there are lots of pictures to share, and if I talk about everything fun we did, it would turn into a mini novel!  Some other fun highlights though were hot tubbing, Guitar Hero, opening some Christmas presents, staying up late talking and having fun with everyone, decorating Christmas cookies, watching Elf and listening to Christmas music!  I am so mad because we didn't get a single family picture of John, Jack and I, not even on Thanksgiving- the one day the boys got dressed up and looking nice! But here are some action shots from our time in Glide:

Playing some guitar Hero

Jackson helping himself to the desserts on Thanksgiving

Reagan & Jackson both just love their Aunt Heather

picking out a Christmas tree!

they are such good helpers!

Christi and Alice- the happiest and smiliest baby I have ever known! She is sooo darn cute and I had so much fun playing with her and cuddling up with her

just waiting for the boys to cut down the tree

they had an old fire engine out at the tree farm

Jackson trying to sneak into the truck

Aunt Heather set up the Christmas train for the kids and they loved it!

Here's a video of them being goofy

waiting to open Christmas presents

making cookies with Aunt Heather

of course Jackson just ate the frosting the whole time

and eventually he gave up putting the frosting on the cookie and just ate it straight off the spoon- i have no idea where his love for sugar comes from :)

the result- frosting all over the place!

  

So that's all the pictures we got! It was so much fun to have everyone there, and it was especially fun to have all the kids together, which between Nick and Christi's 2 girls, Jeff and Shalene's little baby girl, and us having Jackson plus Baron still in the oven, we had 4 1/2 kids under the age of 3! It was crazy, but lots of fun!  Can't wait for the next time we are all together!

Wahoo!!!

As Jackson likes to say when he is excited about something..... wahoo!!

Wahoo for:

1.) John passing the 1st section of the CPA test that he had taken back in October!! He just found out yesterday!

2.) Tomorrow being Wednesday and the start of our Thanksgiving break!! Nick and Christi fly into Eugene in the morning and we will be leaving here around 5pm after John takes the 2nd test and driving straight on down to Glide to be with all the family! 

3.) Making it another day without having the baby before all the important stuff gets done! 

Wahoo!!

Guess Who's 2?!?!

Yep, Jackson is now 2 years old! And..... I am also at a 2! Yesterday I went to the dr. and discovered that I am dilated to a 2 almost 3 already! Wahoo! This is a huge deal for me because even if Baron still doesn't come for another 3 more weeks, I am past a 1- it took me 2 days of constant contractions with Jackson to get from a 1 to a 2, so the fact that I am past a 1 already was the best news I have ever heard! So its looking like he will probably be an early baby, but you still never know! We just really hope he waits til after John takes the CPA on Wednesday and then it would also be nice if he waited for a couple more days after that so we could still be with family on Thanksgiving!

But back to Jackson! Yesterday was his birthday and he had a fun day! In the morning he got to play with his best buddy Jack while I went to my dr. appointment (Thank you Lisa!!), and then him and I headed over to Washington Square mall for some shopping and fun.  He got some new vans shoes, some jamba juice, which is his favorite, for lunch, he got to sit on santa's lap and get a candy cane from him, and then he got to play on the indoor play area for awhile.  After that we headed over to target to pick up a few things including a new train piece which he was very excited about, and then we went to party city to pick out a birthday balloon- he got a Thomas and friends one of course!

Later that night we had pancakes and hash browns for dinner because that is his favorite food, and then we sang happy birthday to him and he absolutely loves being sang to! He kept saying "Happy Day!", and when we finished singing and blowing out candles he would say,  "again birthday!"- so we ended up singing a lot.  After all that we all got our PJ's on and cuddled up on the couch and watched Kung Fu Panda.  All in all I think it was a fun birthday for the little guy! I cant believe we have a 2 year old already and are about to have another one! Crazy how fast time flies when you're busy and having fun!

   the birthday boy!

trying to blow out the candles

Jack decided that the cake needed more candles, so here he is adding more

the 2nd time singing with more candles!

Here's what the 2 year old is up to:

-He absolutely loves cars and now trains (Thomas especially)

-He talks so good now- it always surprises us when he repeats things he hears in a conversation

-He is 37" long- still in the 97%

-He weighs 28 pounds- 50%

-He loves to read books. His favorites are Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See and Go Dogs Go (he has them both memorized)

-He always has to sleep with his blanket and doggie 

-He loves playing with his "fishies" in the bath

-He loves nursery

-He absolutely loves to be outdoors running around

Thank you so much to everyone that called to sing to him yesterday and for all the presents which he absolutely LOVES! Jackson is very lucky to have lots of family and friends that love him and spoil him so much! Thanks again!

Just a Boring Update

So we finally got the internet back- we haven't had it all week and it was driving me crazy, but it was kind of fun to get behind on looking at everyone's blogs because almost everyone had something new!  As for us, I wish I had something more to post about right now, but as it is, not much is going on.  Jackson woke up yesterday with yet another cold- i cannot wait for cold season to be over!! He is pretty miserable since he can't breath too well.  John is once again using every spare second to study for the 2nd CPA test which he takes the day before Thanksgiving (the 26th).  Jack and I are literally going to pick him up from the testing center after he finishes and head straight on down to Glide for the holiday weekend, which is now less than 2 weeks away!! We are pretty dang excited and John is especially happy to be able to have a vacation from work and studying.  As for me, the baby has already dropped quite a bit, which makes it even more uncomfortable...... i feel like i am constantly going to the bathroom and waddling around the place. (TMI?)  I wish I could be all excited about him dropping early thinking he will be coming early, but Jackson dropped a month before he was born too, so it could still be awhile!  Apparently, my kids are just like me and get over anxious and like to be prepared way too far in advanced.  On a good note, I had a dr.'s appointment Wednesday and I only gained 2 pounds in the past 3 weeks, Halloween and all! That is like a miracle because I sure had a lot of candy!  Next Wednesday I start the exciting once a week appointments where they see where you're at, so stay tuned!!

He knows his pregnant wife....

So I have done a lot better with this pregnancy than I did with Jackson in not gaining as much weight, not eating as much junk food and working out more and for longer into the pregnancy.  Last night however, I had a major break down.  I had been having all these strong cravings all day, and when John got home from work I was telling him things like, "You know what sounds really good right now? A shirley temple.... no Dad's root beer....... and some mini butterfingers, or just a big piece of milk chocolate."  After dinner, John, being the amazing husband that he is made a quick trip to the store.  When he left he asked what I wanted and I just said butterfingers.  Then, while he was gone I kept thinking, I really want something to drink too and some other chocolate, but I decided not to call him.  Luckily John knows me all too well while I am pregnant and came home with this:

Isn't he just the best??!  And don't worry, I didn't eat it all- I actually only had a little of each and that was plenty to satisfy my cravings. :)

Last night I had the 2nd dream in the past month of baby Baron being here.  I could see his little face so clear and knew exactly what he looked like- he was a little cutie! His hair was lighter than Jackson's was when he was born, and he had a little more of it too, with a cute little bald spot right on the back top- that part was kind of random. He looked a lot like Jackson, but with more of John's eyes than mine, though he still had really long eyelashes (which I don't know why he wouldn't since John and I both have long lashes)  He was super smiley and cuddly and I love having these dreams, but it also is making me more impatient just to have him here.  So I gave him the pep talk again this morning.  This is what it is:

"Baron, I would really appreciate it if you came early.......... however, just make sure your arrival doesn't prevent:

1.) Us from going to Glide for Thanksgiving to see Nick and Christi and their girls and eating a super yummy Thanksgiving meal

and 

2.) Me from getting to see Twilight with the Graham girls the day after Thanksgiving

-Besides those 2 things, you are good to come whenever!"

Halloween

We had a very fun Halloween!  During the week we went to a couple of Halloween story times where they did puppet shows and sang songs about pumpkins and fall and all that fun stuff.  All the kids wore their costumes and they were so cute, my favorite being Superman of course (aka Jackson).  Wednesday night the youth in our ward had a Halloween party for mutual and the adults had to dress up, so I threw together a Bee outfit, complete with duck tape stripes. :)  After I got all dressed up and was leaving for the activity, Jackson said to me, "Bye Bzzzzzz!" - that's what he calls bees- bzzzzzz's.  He thought it was pretty funny that I was all dressed up as a Bee.  Friday I got Jack dressed in his costume and we rode the Max into town to eat lunch with John and get some very yummy and warm carmel apple spice cider from Starbucks to warm us up since it was cold and rainy during the day.  That night we took Jack trick-or-treating to some of the members houses in our ward and around their neighborhood, and he absolutely loved it!  At first, after the people would put candy in his bucket he would say, "Thank You!", but then he would just stand there and wait for them to put more candy in.  Eventually he got the idea and would run up to each door and knock until someone came and then throw on the charm :) They all loved him, and I have to admit he was pretty darn cute in his costume complete with Lightning McQueen rain boots that he insisted on wearing.  We didn't really get the best pictures cuz we made the mistake of waiting til that night to take them, but here's the ones we did get:

and here's my costume

complete with wings and a stinger