1 Month Old

How is it possible that our baby is already one month old?!? I don't know where the time went. Although this month has flown by, it almost seems like Jack has always been a part of our family. He fits right in, and we've all adapted really well. Before, and even somewhat during the time that I was pregnant, I wondered how I would have the capacity to love another child as much as I already loved Hannah. It just didn't seem possible. However, I guess that's the wonder of how God. I love him more than I could have ever known, not that it takes away at all from how much I love Hannah. It's so hard to describe, but I love both of them more than life itself. It truly is miraculous. I suppose that's just a tiny glimpse of how God loves us as our Heavenly Father.

Here's what Jack's been up to in his first month outside the womb:

*He continues to be a great eater. I'm not sure how much he weighs, but he's definitely putting on weight and filling out. He eats about every 3 hours. We're pretty much in the routine of sleep-feed-wake, so when he wakes up from his nap, he definitely lets you know that he's ready to eat. The boy has lungs!

*He is a good sleeper. He takes great naps and sleeps well at night. I routinely feed him at 10:30. We're usually up at 2, 5, and then I lay him down until about 8. He seems to think that 5:00 is wake up time, but even though he stays awake when I lay him back down, he thankfully doesn't fuss too much so I can catch a few more z's before we're up for the day.

*He is currently sleeping in our bedroom in the cradle, which is a change for us as Hannah slept in her room pretty much from the first week we brought her home. I'm contemplating putting him in his crib in the kids' room, but I'm afraid that I'll have 2 kids up in the middle of the night if I do. We may give it a try after we return from vacation.

*We've gone lots of places and done lots of things considering he's only 1 months old. He's gone to his first parade, visited Frankenmuth to see family, met all 5 of his great-grandparents, had a play date with our friend Claire, explored West Michigan in Saugatuck and Grand Haven, and made a few trips to the park in East Grand Rapids to watch Daddy go out for rides in his boat. That's the nice thing about the second child. I have much more confidence taking him places than I did with Hannah at this point. Of course, the warm summer weather helps!

I'm planning to document each month with a picture next to the bear that I used in Hannah's pictures. Taking pictures of a 1 month old, especially with a 2 year old around, proved to be a bit more difficult than anticipated. A few of my takes below:

Just not having it this day.

Looking a little bored, but not bad.

Ok, now REALLY bored.

Whatever.

Of course, big sister had to join in.

Scheming perhaps?

That's my handsome guy!

Pictures

A few weeks ago, we had a newborn and family photo session with our favorite photographer Amy Oonk. Unfortunantely, neither child was having it that night, and after 2 hours, we'd all had enough. Amy graciously agreed to let us come back for another session. She now has both sessions posted in our proofs online, and I think they turned out great! Now that hard part - deciding which ones to order!

http://everydayjoyphoto.com/index2.php
Client Proofing: JackDavis

The Funny Things She Says

Hannah is so talkative these days, and so much of what she says cracks us up. For example, Hannah's had a thing for thunder lately. Not scared of it but fascinated by it. Last night, actually very early this morning, we had a tornado warning, so we got the kids up and took them downstairs until the warning was over. This morning, when I got her up, instead of asking about Jack first thing like she normally does, she asked about the "shunder". Our conversation went something like this:

Hannah: "Where go shunder?"
Me: "Where do you think the thunder went?"
Hannah: "Home."
Me: "The thunder went home?"
Hannah: Nodding her head, "Schnack."
Me: "Oh, the thunder went home to have a snack?"
Hannah: Nodding her head again, "Cheese."
Me: "The thunder went home to have cheese?"
Hannah: "Uh ha"

Then, tonight after dinner we took the boat over to Reed's Lake in hopes of Jason and Hannah taking the boat out for a cruise while Jack and I waited in the park. Hannah LOVES boat rides! When we got there, I got out of the car to go feed Jack in the park. Unfortunately, as Jason and Hannah waited and waited for a spot to open up at the boat launch, he decided that it was just too busy to get it in tonight. They temporarily parked the car and came to meet me in the park. Unfortunately, Hannah didn't realize they weren't going for a boat ride until we got them back to the car without putting the boat in. She cried almost the whole way home. (I think secretly it made Jason happy to see his little girl as disappointed as he was about not getting to go for a boat ride tonight.) The only thing that made her stop was Kenny Chesney's "No Shoes. No Shirt. No Problem." She's recently learned that much of the song, and as it came on tonight, we could hear her own version of it coming from the back seat "No shoes. No shuht. No shoes. No pwobwem." Ah, life is good after all :-)

Happy Father's Day

I am so thankful for the amazing father that Jason is to our children. So many men seem to be absent from their kids lives, but Jason really makes our family a top priority. He's growing more and more in his faith and role as a husband and dad. I love him so much for that.

He is such a great role model for Hannah of how a dad should love his daughter and how a husband should treat a wife. He loves her so much and makes a point to tell her. I know that she will grow up knowing how much her daddy loves her and will have high standards to measure future men in her life against. I already know that he's going to be a great example of a man for Jack as well. He's already so involved in his life. He's thrilled to have a son to share all of those "manly" things with. Jack will not ever have to doubt his dad's love for him either.

To celebrate this special day, we let Jason decide where the day would lead us. He decided that we should take a drive and head down to Saugatuck after church (which we almost didn't make it to, but that's our life right now!).

Walking along the dock, checking out all of the big boats.


We stopped for ice cream as we strolled through town.


Our attempt at a nice father's day picture with the kids - take 1.


Take 2


Ok, how about just Jack and Daddy?? Hmm... not so much there either. Oh well.


This is what's it's all about.

I also want to wish our dads a happy Father's Day as well. We were both so blessed to have wonderful dads growing up who are now wonderful grandpas to our kids. They both helped shape who we are today and are very happy and proud to have these men in our lives. We all love both of them very much.

Summer Time Fun

We enjoyed the beautiful weather outside in our yard earlier this week.

We continue to love the water table!

Jack loves hanging out in the shade. Note that he's buckled in, even though we weren't going anywhere. Big sister has a tendency to push down on the front of the car seat. Without being buckled, I fear he'd be catapulted right out!

Taking a break in her very own chair. Actually, that chair has had some use, as it used to be mine. I can't believe it held up after all of these years and the abuse that we put it through. They don't make them like they used to anymore!

Happy Birthday Daddy

In honor of Jason's birthday last week, Hannah helped me make Jason a birthday cake.

Chocolate cake, in case you can't tell,...


With chocolate frosting and peanut butter filling...

Decorated with M&M's. Can you tell what it is??

He liked it very much!

Happy 5th birthday, Daddy (better than 31!)!!

Tummy time x 2

Brother and sister time

Makes my heart smile :-)

Master Gardeners

Jason recently planted a garden in our backyard. I pretty much have a brown thumb, but Jason seems to have inherited his grandpa's green thumb. Hopefully Hannah takes after him. So far, it looks like she's got potential!

Great-Papas and Grandmas

Last weekend, we traveled to Frankenmuth to pay a visit to my grandparents. We're so blessed to still have all 4 of my grandparents with us, and it was really important to me to get Jack over to see them while he was still little and new. I know that they were anxious to see Jack and Hannah as well.


"A pair of Jacks" - This is how my Grandpa Cramer referred to he and Jack. We named Jack after him and Jason's grandpa, also named Jack, who passed away a few years ago.


3 generations - my dad, the kids, and Great-Grandma and Great-Papa, as Hannah calls him. I wish I would have thought to get in there myself! Oh well.


My grandma loved holding Jack but wasn't so sure about his name. My grandpa asked her why, as it's been fine for the last 60 years! They are actually celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary this summer.


After visiting with my Grandma and Grandpa Cramer, we stopped over to my Grandma and Grandpa O(berholtzer)'s house. Great-Grandma couldn't wait to hold Jack.

Great-Papa O was excited to show Hannah the new toy he made for her and the other great-grandkids. It was a really cool push toy where you sit in the seat and pump the handle bar to move it. I'm sure she'll have all kinds of fun on it when she's a little bit bigger.

Great-Papa checking out the first great-grandson who shares his middle name Owen.

After our visits, Jason and I snuck away for a little while to check out the Bavarian Festival. I hadn't been to the festival in years, so it was fun to walk around the grounds and even get a good 'ol chicken dinner! I couldn't manage to talk Jason into polka dancing. Maybe another year. That evening, my cousin Brett and his wife Emily stopped by, along with our good family friends (Grand) Julie and Rich. It was good to see all of them.

Sunday morning we went to church with my parents. It was nice to have the extra hands to get the kids ready. Papa kept Hannah occupied with cartoons while we got ready. This is one of the few times that my dad actually got to hold Jack. Hannah pretty much occupied all of my dad's time. At one time, my dad went to hold Jack, and Hannah tried to push Jack away. I think she was a little jealous sharing her grandpa time with her brother. She's going to have to learn that Hannah's Papa is also Jack's Papa!

I honestly wasn't sure how the weekend would go, with Jack being so little and traveling so far, but overall it went very well. I'm really happy that we were able to get over and see everybody.

27 months old

Miss Hannah is now 27 months old. She seems to have grown up so much since bringing Jack home. Here's what she's up to:

*She is Jack's second mama. She loves to give him kisses and hugs. When I feed him, she brings me burp cloths and even puts them on my shoulder. When he was crying today, I saw her gently patting him like I do to calm him down. Every morning when I get her up, the first thing she asks is "Where go baby Jack?"

*She is getting more and more into imaginative play. She will put her baby in her shopping cart, puts on a pair of my shoes, and grabs her purse and throws it over the handle. When you ask her where she's going, she says either the store or church nursery! It's also common to find her playing in her kitchen and feeding her baby in her high chair.

*She is obsessed with Veggie Tales Hair Brush Song. She "sings" (screams) "Hair brush! Hair brush!"right along with it. She was very disappointed when I took the DVD back to the library. I guess being 2 weeks overdue was worth it! (Who knew you could only check out DVD's for a week!?!)

*She loves anything to do with being outside and asks for her water table daily. Unfortunately, we haven't gotten outside as much lately, but we have had it out a couple of times since we brought Jack home.

*She continues to become more and more independent. She climbs into her high chair and buckles herself in at meal times. She also buckles herself into her car seat and stroller (when she's not insisting on walking!).

*Her fascination with the potty continues, so I got her a potty book from thr library. She seems very intrigued.

*We're really working on counting. She counts 1-2-3-2-5! She also has picked up on 8-9, but the numbers in between are a bit sketchy. She's starting to pick up on shapes a bit as well. We'll be working on these this summer, too.

I am really amazed at how much Hannah is now doing and saying. She's really shown us how much she is capable of now that we've brought Jack home. She makes being a parent so much fun!

2 week check-up

I took Jack in for his 2 week check-up this morning. Since he's been such a good eater, I was very curious to see how much weight he'd gained. The doctor and nurse were very surprised to see that he'd gained almost one pound over his birth weight! She said she's normally just happy when they regain the birth weight, and that he'd gained even more was great. I'm so relieved since I had such a hard time with Hannah. He's also measuring 21 1/2 inches long. No shots today, just a general check-up. Overall, he's doing great!

Update on us

I have been meaning to update our blog for the past few nights, but time just seems to keep running out. I'm amazed at how quickly my days fly by with 2 kids! A quick summary of things we've been up to:

My parents came over last Tues - Wed to help out when Jason went back to work. It was really nice to have an extra set of hands.

My dad helped give Jack a bath. Definitely not Jack's favorite activity, but got through it by finding his fingers for comfort.

Jack loves tummy time. In fact, I think he would prefer sleeping on his tummy to his back if we let him. Just like his mom!

Where's Jack?? A good friend of mine from work made Jack this beautiful quilt. We love it.

Hannah loves holding Jack. She has to hold "baby Jack" at least once a day. She actually does really well holding him. We're really proud of how great of a big sister she is.

Jason's mom came over to help us out for the remainder of last week. Again, it was nice to have the extra support. On Saturday, Jason's dad and grandpa came over to pick her up and pay us a visit. Here is Jack with his Great-Grandpa Ocedek.

Of course, Jason's family couldn't come over and pass up the chance to go for a boat ride on Reed's Lake.

While everybody was out taking turns in the boat, Jack and I hung out in the park. (The bonnet was Jason's!)

It's become a tradition in our family to go to GR's Festival of the Arts. I was a little concerned that we wouldn't make it this year, but Sunday turned out to be a great day to head downtown, walk around, check out some of the entertainment, and of course eat some of the delicious food!

This week, Jack, Hannah, and I have been on our own for the first time this week. Honestly, it's been really nice to be able to get into our own rhythm. So far, the days have been going really well. We've had a few meltdowns (for all of us), but we're figuring it out. Hannah's been so good while I feed Jack. It's nice that I can give her a lot of one-on-one attention while he's down for his naps as well. Tomorrow will be our first outing together, as Jack has his 2-week appointment. My good friend Sara is going to watch Hannah during the appointment, but I have to figure out how to get all 3 of us out the door by 9:15. Should be interesting!

One last thing - We had Jack's newborn pics and family pictures taken this week, and once again Amy did a fabulous job. She posted a preview here on her blog, and I am amazed at how great they turned out. We worked very hard for 2 hours trying to get a toddler and a newborn to cooperate. These pictures make it look so effortless! I can't wait to see the rest. http://everydayjoyphoto.blogspot.com/

1 Week Old

Jack is now 1 week old. He's really turned into such a good baby. The first couple of days at home with him were a little rough, but he's fallen into a pretty good rhythm. He is a great eater. We went to a breastfeeding support group today to get some tips and advice, and they told me he's what they call a "baracuda" latcher. No wonder I was so sore!! He's definitely getting enough to eat, though. He now weighs 7 lbs. 14 oz! We also went to a local baby store and got a new wrap. I'm excited to try out the different holds. Thankfully it came with a DVD for some good visual instructions.

We've had great support since we've come home. Since we came home from the hospital on a Friday, Jason was home with us all weekend. My parents then came over Tuesday and Wednesday this week and were a HUGE help! Jason's mom came over last night and is here now helping us out. It's so nice to have an extra set of hands.

We went to Reed's Lake tonight, and Jack and I hung out in the park while Jason, his mom and Hannah went out in the boat. As we were sitting on the bench, it really began to hit me how blessed we are to have these 2 beautiful children in our lives. Back when I was first pregnant with Jack, only 5 or 6 weeks along, I had some heavy spotting and thought that this baby might not make it. I would say coincidentally, but I know that it was far more than coincidence, that day in church, the pastor had us kneel on the floor to pray. I remember kneeling in the sanctuary, with tears streaming down my face, praying so hard for God to give us this baby, but for His will to be done. In the next day or two, we had an ultrasound to find a strong little heart beating away. As I look at Jack now, I have tears once again because this time I truly see a miracle. God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.