Jacob is 4 Months

Jacob turned 4 months old today. Like always, it's been a month of changes. Just when things seem to get figured out, they change and we learn to adapt, and then it happens all over again. This month, I have adapted to being up about every 2-3 hours during the night. At first, I thought it was teething or a growth spurt, but then just realized that's his schedule for now. It was like this with Curtis and Judah too. I just keep telling myself I will get to sleep eventually, one day when the boys are older :) I really look forward to that day. For now, I get up with him, snuggle him, nurse him, fall asleep watching whatever show on Netflix and then rewind it when I realize I've missed half of it, then repeat about 2 hours later. Thankfully, the older boys usually sleep through the night, although Judah has learned he can get out of bed and around 4 most mornings, we hear him at the gate in his room wanting to watch tv. This morning, I think I put him back in bed 3 or 4 times before he went back to sleep, hopefully he'll be out of that habit soon. 

The most fun about Jacob this month is how smiley and talkative he is. He smiles with his whole body, his face lights up, he legs kick and his arms flail. He gets so excited when he sees Isaac on FaceTime. Some nights when Isaac is gone and Jacob is fussy, all I have to do is call him and Jacob calms down. For the most part, Jacob is a calm baby. He just sits back and watches the chaos of our life. He seems to really like how loud it is, has a calming effect on him. He loves to be outside and I've learned that I can put him in his chair, sit him outside and he'll hang out for quite a while so I can get some work done. I'm sure things will all change again, but for now, I am loving this stage of his life.

Here's a few pictures of our month, Thanksgiving at my mom's, decorating and re-decorating the Christmas tree, and 4 month pictures. 

Judah is super excited for the "big muffin", the panetone bread that we used for French Toast

 Isaac is singing his less creepy version of Rock a Bye Baby to Jacob

This is our norm for now, and I'm having to learn to be ok with it. They re-decorate the tree every time they see it.

He's pretty fascinated with the lights

 This picture is curtesy of Jacob being awake around 5, not wanting to go back to sleep, so why not take advantage of the dark and get some cute Christmas light pictures?

 I love this smile! It makes the hard days and sleepless nights worth it :)

No Longer 3 Under 4

Last week, we reached a big milestone in parenting. I no longer have 3 kids under 4 years old. I now have a 4 year old. Curtis, my first born, my rules follower, my justice child with a tender compassionate heart, is now 4. These years have flown by that I've been a mom for 4 years plus 9 months. He is such a fun kid. He loves to laugh, knows he's funny. He picks up on so much and says some of the most hilarious things, like all toddlers do. He's smart, although I'm sure I'm biased. He loves his brothers, helps take care of them, is learning to protect them, learning to love them and help keep them safe. He reminds Judah to have "walking feet" around the fireplace and rocks Jacob in his rocker when he starts to cry. He loves helping me with anything that he can. He loves his daddy probably more than anything else, loves to play with him, help him and learn from him. We do have hard days, he definitely is a 4 year old, learning to be his own person and trying to figure out who that is. I'm learning to embrace him for who he is, although some days, it can be very hard. I've learned to live in the loud, in the mess, in the chaos, in the movement. I'm trying to learn to let him be, not to dictate everything he does, but to allow him creativity, as long as he isn't hurting anyone or destroying my house. This part can be hard, because I definitely have my own way of doing things, but I'm learning that he does too, and that's ok. I'm so thankful for this little boy that God has blessed me with. 

Also, last week, Jacob turned 3 months. Every month things are changing with him. I forgot how much that happens with newborns. Nothing ever stays the same. Once you have something figured out, something new comes along. I had actually allowed myself to get used to him sleeping through the night. I laugh when I think about that, thinking that was going to last. This past month, that has not happened. As I write this at almost 2000, I've been up since 0200 because he did not want to be put down. Every few nights, this is my norm. I think he's teething, or at least I'm telling myself that because I feel like I need a reason for my lack of sleep, but it could just be that he's a baby who wants to know his mama is near. I know that's normal, I know him wanting to nurse through the night is normal. And since he's probably my last, I'm trying to not wish these days away, although that part is hard. In the midst of my sleep deprivation, I'm learning to cry out to Jesus. I don't do it often enough. More often than not, I think I can do these days by myself and then I wind up frazzeled, getting upset at the boys for being boys/children, and/or crying because I just don't feel like I can do it anymore. Then I see Jacob's sweet face as he falls asleep nursing, or I see Curtis rocking him, or Judah laying down beside him and hugging him and remember that God gave me these boys to love and to teach and to train to be men of God, men who will change the world. And I have to remind myself of that job, and remind myself that I need Jesus daily, hourly or more if I am going to do that job well. It's a struggle, but I'm learning to struggle well. I'm thankful for these boys God has given me, thankful for his grace every day as I raise them and thankful for new mercies every morning to get a new start.

My silly Curtis, he had a lot of fun with pictures, but then said, "Ok, I'm done now".

 The closest to a smile I could get, for some reason he doesn't want to smile for the camera yet

 The boys wanted to keep him "warm and safe". This was when our AC was broken if you can see Curtis' sweaty head. He didn't need to be warmer, but it was cute.

 Sometimes he enjoys his crib, but not often

 Loving the leaf pile

 Isaac's parents visited last week. Nonno had the magic touch to put Jacob to sleep, it was wonderful :)

 Judah eating a birthday donut

 Playing with legos

 And my least favorite toy, although they love it

 Batman blowing out his candles

 Spiderman got a gift too

 My superhero boys, I love these 2 so much

 The party people

 Real Life, but first picture of all of us

 Finally got a smile, he loves his papa

 My beautiful niece, so glad she and Reegan got to come celebrate with us

 Love my 4 year old

Jacob is 2 Months :)

We are several days into this month, so Jacob is really 2 months and a week old, but I am learning that I don't really get to be on my timeline most of the time these days. This has been one of the most challenging months in our parenting journey of the last 4 years, but I'll talk more about that in a minute since this is Jacob's post :)

Jacob is a delight to have in our family. He is such a happy baby. And a calm baby. It has been interesting to see the different demeanor even from birth that he has from his siblings. He sleeps, I've never had a baby that sleeps. I even asked the doctor to make sure him sleeping through the night was ok, because I didn't know a 2 month old could actually do that, but many nights he sleeps until at least 3 if not 4 or 5. Getting that much sleep is amazing considering the other 2 were up every 2 hours for at least 18 months. And thankfully, the doctor said as long as he's gaining weight, the sleep is fine, so I am thankful for every night of sleep I get. He does eat, all. the. time. Which helps with the sleep at night. I feed him almost every hour while he's awake. We've officially given up the bottle as it was too stressful for me to hear him screaming, much like the other 2, they do have that in common. And since I'm not working, there's no reason to push the bottle when I can just as easily feed him. He's getting to where he has good awake time and loves playing with his brothers, or at least loves having them around :) He smiles at them and coos at them. Both the boys love when Jacob has floor time so they can play with him. They both love to shake toys in his face. Curtis loves to make silly faces at him and Judah loves to snuggle with him. Judah will often climb in my lap and ask if he can hold Jacob, which always melts my heart, so of course, I let him hold him and Jacob usually does well for as long as he can with a 2 years old holding him. It's so fun watching these 3 every day, seeing their growing friendships, their tender hearts towards one another and watching them learn how to be brothers.

Like I said earlier, while it's been a good month, it has been incredibly challenging. It started off with Judah getting his first set of stitches. He slipped in the tub and cut his chin on the metal where the glass doors used to be. And notice I said used to be...the next day, Isaac spent the afternoon taking the glass doors down and making the tub a little more Judah proof. So he now has a scar on his chin which Isaac tells Judah the "chicks dig it" since Isaac is now a country music fan. This fall has made me a little overly cautious when it comes to Judah. He really has no sense of self preservation. Before the fall, I let him, within reason, explore his world without too much worry, and I hope to get back to that. But I am fearful of all that could happen. I hope to get over that but for now, I am very protective of my fearless middle child.

A few days later, Jacob gave us a scare with a high fever and 3 days in the hospital. When a newborn runs a high fever, it tends to scare the doctors because it's usually unclear as to what's causing the fever. Because they can't be vaccinated that early, the fever could be any number of infections or viruses so they test for everything. Thankfully, it ended up just being a virus, but it was still sad seeing him in the hospital hooked to an IV, knowing he was sick, knowing something was causing him pain and not being able to do anything about it except hold him. Thankfully, he is well now, no sign of a virus or anything else.

This month has also brought lots of travel for Isaac. That may be the most challenging thing this month. I am learning, even more to rely on God to help me through these days. The days Isaac has been gone have been difficult. Many of them have been filled with cranky children, discipline, yelling, crying, and early bedtimes. I've had to do lots of apologizing for words said and hurtful tones. Thankfully God has given grace for me to leave the room several times rather than yelling or disciplining out of anger. I am learning to love my boys for who they are and trying to embrace how different they are from me. I am learning that I can't expect my boys to behave all the time and act like Christians because they aren't Christians. It's my job to teach them about Jesus, to teach them to love each other, to teach them kindness and self-control and to ask God continuously for his Holy Spirit to change their hearts. I'm also learning through these days how amazing my husband is. While God is teaching me that he cannot be my god, I can't rely on him like I tend to do, he is also showing me exactly how blessed I am to have him as a husband and father to my boys. When he's gone, I have to be mommy and daddy. But when he's here, he is definitely not the sitcom dad that this world tries to portray fathers to be. He changes diapers, he gets the boys up many mornings and gets breakfast for them. He handles many of their meltdowns. He does bath time, and bedtime. He makes the coffee, turns off the lights, takes care of Baxter and so many other things. He's an amazing man and Super Dad. I am so thankful for all he does and through him being gone, really now see all he does. I love him so much and am grateful to be his wife.

Next month, or rather this month, hopefully will not be as challenging or exciting as September, but I know it will bring even more changes in Jacob and even more fun for our family.

Jacob's official 2 month picture

 One of his favorite places, hanging out in his bathtub, not taking a bath, while the older boys take a bath

 I'm so incredibly thankful for my mom and all the help she has given me, this past month and all the time. I couldn't have gotten through the pregnancy and these post partum days without her. 

 This little stinker gives me a run for my money, but he is too cute and I look forward to his hugs and cuddles every day.

 So thankful for this friend! Brenna not only was there when Jacob was born, but came and spent a day with us while he was in the hospital. And then came and celebrated my birthday with me. This is one of the best things about living in NC.

 He's learning to love Daddy, which I am so thankful for as it can be difficult when I'm the only one he wants most the time. 

 We went to the pumpkin patch with some friends from church. This is one of the boys most favorite fall things to do.

 And they love to pain pumpkins. Curtis was so proud of his.

 This is Judah. While he can be incredibly difficult sometimes, God shows me these sweet moments that give me faith that God will do great things through him. He is praying for Grandma Creed in this picture, she's recently been in the hospital. We were painting pumpkins, he put down his brush and asked to pray. When I told him Grandma was sick, this is what he did.

Jacob is 1 Month

We've kept baby number 3 alive for 1 month so far :) It's been a challenging month, although made much easier by having my mom here so much. It's been fun getting to know the newest addition to our family and getting to see how Curtis and Judah interact with him and how they are learning to love him. Both their reactions are different, but it's clear they will one day have a great bond with Jacob just as they do with each other. Curtis shows no animosity towards Jacob at all. He gets so excited when Jacob's eyes are open and he can see Jacob looking in his direction. He always exclaims "Jacob loves me!" because he thinks Jacob is looking right at him, which he probably is starting to do. He loves to give Jacob hugs and kisses, always tells me when he hears Jacob crying and likes to remind me that those cries mean he's hungry. Judah still has some difficulty with not being the baby anymore, but he still is showing he loves Jacob. He likes to help me pat his back to put him to sleep, and also loves to give kisses and hugs. He asks if Jacob can build something with him or read books, not quite understanding Jacob can't play with him yet. One day, they will all be good friends.

Jacob is doing well, weighed in at 10lbs 2 ozs at his 1 month check up. He loves to eat and does it often while awake. Some nights he lets us sleep, and some nights he is really restless and wants to be held all night. He definitely sleeps better on his belly so I'm looking forward to when he can turn over on his own so we can start putting him on his belly at night. I think that is when we will start sleeping a little more. He's beginning to be content being put down some while awake, which is really nice, to give my arms a break. He likes his little play mat and is beginning to like his swing. When he's on his mat, Curtis and Judah like to try and play with him, shaking toys in front of his face, giving him his pacifier. He naps really well most of the time, which has been nice to keep up with housework. He actually takes a pacifier, which is different than both his brothers, so I'm hoping that will eventually help with sleep as well. He seems to be a much calmer baby so far, but I know that means nothing for the future, a boy is still a boy and Judah was a fairly calm baby, then he turned out to be my wild child.

This month has been a great month, a month of difficulty and much blessing. We've seen God working in our marriage and our family. God is using all of these experiences to draw me closer to him and show me how much I need him to get through the days. There's nothing like having a newborn to remind me how much I rely on God. When I've gotten little sleep and all 3 children are crying, God is showing me how to slow down and have patience, although it's a learning curve, the patience doesn't always happen. There's been a lot of apologizing to Curtis and Judah on my part for my lack of patience. We've been blessed with mom and dad coming often to help with the boys so I can have time to bond with Jacob. We've gotten to spend some good time with some of our best friends and we've found a church who's kindness and generosity are astounding but much appreciated. This next month will be challenging as Isaac will be travelling quite a bit, but thankfully I have mom to help some and other friends who will come visit. I'm looking forward to seeing what changes this next month brings with Jacob.

I have my traditional monthly pictures of Jacob. This is the only one I got where he wasn't screaming

We went to Lucy's School Party a few weeks after Jacob was born. It was a lot of fun, we love Perez parties :) And loved celebrating with Lucy!

 Curtis is pretty infatuated with Lucy. He followed her around everywhere.

 They all loved Baby Jacob

 Possibly one of my most favorite pictures I've taken of Brenna

 Sweet sleeping baby, he does like his belly much more than his back...I'm that mom

 One of Papa's most favorite things

 Isaac went out of town for a few days, the boys helped me make gingersnaps for his return

 Spending the morning with Yaya drawing on their whiteboards

 I have a similar picture like this of Curtis around the same age, it must be a 2 year old thing

 Wide eyed and covered in spit up

 The best daddy ever

 Will double fisting the pepperonis

 So thankful for this sweet friend driving down for a visit. Jess time was much needed. We had so much fun catching up and I loved watching to boys play. Hopefully in years to come, they will become good friends

 Judah wasn't feeling good, so he needed a little rest by the tree