Baby It's Cold Outside

Once again we have been stuck inside due to the frigid temps here.  School was cancelled two days again this week, and the temperatures have been below zero with wind chills around -25 to -35!!  When will it ever end!!  We've been keeping ourselves busy playing the Wii, baking cookies, playing games, doing some group exercise, playing Stack the States (thanks to Facebook friends suggestions), and reading lots of books.

The positive to this horrible Polar Vortex...for two days in a row I was able to take long hot showers without interruption because Jeff was home and could watch the kiddos!  It's the little things!

The boys love to go outside and shovel, which has been awesome considering all the snow we've gotten this winter.  These pictures of course were NOT taken on these cold days, but on one of the MANY days we've had significant snowfall.

Swim Team

Jackson started swimming on the COHO team in December and he is loving it!  I think his dad is loving it too! :)

He had his first meet this past weekend.  He swam the 100 medley relay (freestyle leg), 100 freestyle relay, 25 backstroke, 25 free, and 25 fly.  He was exhausted at the end but he had a blast.  He was super excited about finishing first in his backstroke heat.  He flew down the pool!  The butterfly on the other hand, well, let's just say it needs some work.  :)

His times..for my own record
25 fly -- 57.63
25 free  -- 39.34
25 back -- 31.6

Ready to cheer for Jackson.  Grandma Lori and Great Grandma Norma were able to be there too.

The littlest fan!

Cheering on his teammates

His typical stance on deck...he says its freeeeezing!

So serious....ready to race!

It's blurry, but can you see that smile??!

Daddy, the starter for the meet

Our Christmas

For the first time ever we stayed home for Christmas.  We typically travel back to Iowa to spend Christmas with our families, but with Cal being so little and weather being unpredictable we decided to stay put.  We were able to go to the Birthday Party for Jesus at church this year and Cal played baby Jesus in the production.

Jackson singing on stage

Mary and baby Jesus

We also were able to go to Christmas Eve services at our church for the first time, and once again, Cal played baby Jesus.  We had to sit in the front row, which I was very nervous about since the boys are not used to sitting quietly during a one hour service (they usually go to Sunday School while Jeff and I go to church).  I was pleasantly surprised at their behavior.  They were good to sit, sing along, and listen to pastor Mike's message.

Waiting for church to start

My handsome crew!

When we got home from church we had one gift the boys got to open that was for the family.  Everyone got new Christmas pjs and the movie "Elf" was in the box.  We all quickly put on our pjs and we enjoyed pizza while we watched (and laughed our way through) the movie!

It was so fun to wake up in our own home Christmas morning and not have to pack up quickly to get anywhere.  We spent the day in our pjs, opened gifts in the morning, had a delicious brunch, and spent the rest of the day playing with new toys.

Playing MarioCart on the new Wii that Santa brought for them!

Although it was nice to be home, we definitely missed being with our families for Christmas. We were able to FaceTime with my family and talk to Jeff's mom on the phone, but it wasn't the same as being able to be with them.  We'll see what we decide to do next year.

Homebound

The weather outside is frightful!  We are having a winter like I have never experienced before.  We've already had inches upon inches of snow.  We have huge piles of snow in front of the house and icicles as tall as the boys, well as tall as Cal for sure, hanging from the front of the house.  School was canceled both today and tomorrow due to the frigid temperatures.  Today's high temperature was -11, yes that's right 11 BELOW zero!  The windchills were as low as -40 degrees.  Brrrrr!

Our house buried in 15+ inches of snow

So with all this time stuck inside and three energetic boys, and a 2 month old baby, what is a mommy to do??  Keep them entertained using any means possible!  Jeff has discovered some new educational websites for them to play on, we've played hours on the new Wii, played games, built puzzles...and took silly pictures using Photo Booth.  The boys and I had lots of laughs with this.

First Lost Tooth

Jackson lost his first tooth at the beginning of December.  He had been talking about his "loose" tooth for months even though it wasn't really loose at all.   Then one morning he woke up early to go to the bathroom and told Jeff his tooth was really wiggly.  He went back into his room and came out one minute later exclaiming, "My tooth just came out!"  I came running out of our room to see what was going on and sure enough he had the tooth in his hand!  He pulled it right out, no tears or anything.  It was quite an exciting morning at our house!  The tooth fairy came that night and left him $1 with a note saying he should put the tooth in his baby book and she would be back for his next tooth. :)

Jackson has been such a helper and great big brother since Cal was born.  He is maturing and growing up right in front of our eyes.  He is your typical first born, likes to be in charge and tell everyone what to do, but he has a kind heart and LOVES his baby brother!!

Watch Me Grow!

Cal was two months old yesterday!  How did that happen!!  I know it sounds so cliche but time is flying by.  I just want him to stay my baby forever, but he's growing so fast.

This is what you are doing at two months Cal:

Weight:  11lbs, 11oz

Length:  23 inches

Eating:  You are breastfeeding exclusively.  You had your first bottle around one month and had no problems with that.  You have about one bottle every week, otherwise you are exclusively nursing.  You eat about every 2.5/3 hours during the day.  At night you will go 7-8 hours between feedings, which means mommy and daddy are getting some much needed sleep.  Thank you!  You spit up sometimes but nothing like your brothers did as babies.  When you do take a bottle you eat anywhere between 3-4 oz.  

Sleeping:  You are sleeping 7-8 hours at night, woohoo!  Occasionally you wake up in the night but usually I can get you do to go back to sleep without needing to feed you.  You are sleeping in the pack-n-play in mommy and daddy's room at night.  During the day you sleep 30-45 minutes at a time.  You prefer to be held when sleeping during the day.  You are my snuggler and I love it, but it does make it difficult for me to get much done during the day.

Milestones:  You started smiling around 5-6 weeks and we love to see your gummy smile!  You light up when your brothers talk and sing to you.  You are cooing and making noises when we talk to you.  You have started to bear weight on your legs, you are very strong!  You don't mind tummy time, when we remember to do it.  :)  You celebrated your first Christmas and played baby Jesus at church on Christmas Eve and at the birthday party for Jesus.  You were so angelic and slept through your "performances."

Just for my own documentation here is his one month pic and stats

Weight:  10 lbs, 8 oz (12/10/13)

Eating:  Nursing only.  Eating every 2-3 hours during the day and 4-5 hours at night.

Sleeping:  All the time!  Only awake for about 30-45 minutes at a time

Introducing...

Cal Jeffrey

Cal was born on November 1st at 8:14 a.m.  He weighed 8 lbs 14 oz and measured 21 inches long.  He was a big big baby!  Jeff and I left for the hospital early that morning.  We had to be there at 5:30 AM!!  I didn't sleep much the night before with all the anticipation of what was to come, not only meeting our sweet baby but the impending surgery for me.

The morning felt like it went so slow.  I was so anxious to find out if this baby was a girl or boy, and with each passing minute I became more and more excited.  At 6:10 I was all hooked up to IVs and ironically I started having contractions.  I had been contracting for weeks prior to Cal being born, but it was kind of ironic that once we got to the hospital they became very regular (every 3-5 minutes) and started becoming quite intense too!   Like the kind where you have to stop talking and breath.   By 7:45 my nurse (whom I loved!!  she was so sweet!) walked me down to the OR to get prepped.  Everything went well with the c-section, and Cal was born at 8:14 AM.  The first thing the doctors said was, "What a big baby!"  I was waiting to hear, "it's a boy," or "it's a girl," but instead the first thing was how big he was.  I had been predicting all along that he would be a large baby.  In fact, our family took a poll to see who could come the closest on gender, weight, and length, and I WON! I had guessed he would be a boy, 9 lbs 2 oz and 21 inches long...I was only off by 4 oz, otherwise I was spot on!  A momma knows!

At 8:45 AM I was wheeled into recovery and felt exhausted!  I don't remember feeling that tired with the twins.  I just wanted to close my eyes and sleep.  At 9:00 Jeff and a nurse came into the recovery room with Cal to explain to me that his blood sugar was lower than it should be.  His blood sugar was 34 and they wanted it above 40.  He needed to eat and they wanted to give him a bottle.  But I asked if we could try nursing instead and the nurse agreed.  So imagine, here I am just out of surgery laying on my back unable to move and trying to nurse a brand new baby.  I thought for sure it wouldn't work, but wouldn't you know he latched right on and began eating.  How amazing!  Thirty minutes later they checked his blood sugar again and it was up to 42!  Praise God!  They monitored him for the next 24 hours and his levels continued to rise so he was in the clear.

By 10:15 AM we were all back to our regular room and by noon the grandparents were there to see Cal for the first time.  At 6:00 that night the nurses had me get up out of bed for the first time and ouch, did that hurt?!!!  But by midnight I could tell I was doing a little better and by the next day it was noticeably easier to get up and walk.

Jackson, Grant, and Cooper were able to come and meet their new baby brother the next day.   It was so fun to see the excitement in their eyes.  They loved Cal from minute one!  It has been amazing to watch the instant affection and love they have for him.  They just can't get enough of him!

Cal and I were discharged on Tuesday 11/5 but just before we were about to leave I started seeing auras.  I have never experienced that before and it was really scary.  It got worse and worse until finally Jeff went to get the nurse.  My blood pressure was elevated and they said I was showing signs of preeclampsia so I couldn't leave and we had to stay until dinner time to be monitored.   I was so ready to get home at this point I just broke down!  Thank goodness my vision got better and by 5:00 we got to leave to head home!  It was so great to finally be home and start settling in.

Here are some pictures from those first few days.

Leaving for the hospital.  So ready to not be pregnant anymore!

Our family of six!

I think this picture is hilarious!  Cooper watching Cal get his diaper changed.

Cooper wanted to know all about my needles.

Happy Mommy snuggling her new baby

2013

Our family had an exciting 2013.  I haven't documented anything for the past 6 months because I was either not feeling good or too tired!  Here is a quick recap of our amazing year.  Enjoy!