Tired on a Tuesday

I voted! I drove over to Brushy Creek Elementary this AM to vote, and the line was wrapped around the damn building. Insane. So I went back around 1:30 after my MIL came over to watch the kids, so I wouldn't have 2 kids with me whilst standing in line.

I was in and out in five minutes, no line.

Nice.

So Winona is here watching the kids while I catch up on housework and such...AND...I am sitting here blogging.

I'm off to fold 5 loads of laundry. Bet you wish you were me.

Rock the Vote

Make sure you remember to VOTE today!

Pics of Jake

Here are some pictures that were taken yesterday by photographer Lila Armock. You can check out her other work at www.lilaarmockphotography.com and I'm sure you'll love her as much as we did!

Amazing.

It's been almost a week since I was on and blogging. That could be because I have an infant, could be because I am lazy. Who knows. All I know is that my life is pretty amazing.

I don't think I could ask for anything else.

I have an amazing husband. A husband who rubs my feet, who does the dishes, takes out the trash, takes care of the baby so that I can sleep, brushes our daughter's hair, buys me a new camera when daughter drops the old one on the floor...I love this man more than anything and I am so lucky to have him.

I have two amazing kids. Lindsey is a fantastic five year old now! Her birthday was last Tuesday, and unfortunately due to circumstances beyond my control, had to spend her birthday taking care of Mommy because Mommy got a uterine infection. She happily played with her new toys and didn't complain ONCE about not being able to do the things we planned on. She is so helpful with the baby, getting diapers, holding him, watching him while I am in the shower...I'm so happy that she is able to help me, not just for me, but for her. Jake is an awesome baby. He's soooo cute (cute enough to forget what my pregnancy was like...already!) and he's such a good baby. He only cries when he is hungry or when he is tired. He's up every 3-4 hours to eat. He still sleeps a lot, but we get about three to four hours a day when he is really up and alert with us for long periods of time. He has the most amazing blue eyes. He loves his bouncy seat and his swing, and wants to be held all the time, which normally, I don't complain about.

I have an amazing family. My family can't be here in person, but they are here in phone calls, in gifts, in emails...I miss them so much! My life is what it is because of my family, both my little family of four and my extended family. I have the best parents/grandparents/siblings/aunts and uncles/cousins...in the world. I am so blessed.

Finally, I have some pretty amazing friends. They have been so supportive in the past ten months, I could not ask for better people to surround myself with. I love you guys!

All in all, I am a pretty lucky woman, and I feel fortunate knowing that life can only get better as I watch my kids learn and grow everyday in the loving environment that we provide for them :)

Wow.

I had forgotten what it was like to have a newborn. Hence why I am blogging at 4:23 in the morning. Jake just had his 4am feeding and I am waiting for him to decide if he wants to sleep or be awake, so I figured I would come on here and update.

Jake is doing great. He is an amazing little boy. He isn't a crier at all, he only cries when he is hungry and when he is tired. He's a snuggler, he likes to be swaddled and held for hours on end. I'm breastfeeding, and that has gone really well so far. He's a good little eater, so I'm not super worried about how much he is eating.

I'm doing great too. Since I don't have any stitches or anything, I am healing REALLY fast. I feel fantastic! I've lost more than half of my baby weight, 13 pounds left to go. I'm taking at least one 2-hour nap a day, so that helps out a LOT.

Dan and I have worked out a system since I'm pumping---he takes Jake until 4 am and then I take him until Dan wakes up. It really is a great deal, we each get enough sleep and life is good :)

i'll post some pics soon, Jake has decided to sleep and I am going to crash on the couch!

He's heeeerrrrreeeeeeeee!

Announcing Jacob Daniel Young!
The Young Family
Daddy, Lindsey and Jake
Lindsey holds Jake for the first time
Lindsey watches over baby brother while he "warms up"

YAY!



Jacob Daniel Young was born yesterday, Tuesday, October 21, 2008 at 11:41 am. He was nine pounds, 2 ounces and 21 inches long.



Here's the story, brief as it is.



5:15-get woken to take a shower, change, etc.



6:00-get checked (1 cm), start fluids in IV



6:30-Pitocin starts, so do the contractions!



8:20-Dan finally wakes up.



8:30-Dr. Lebel comes in, checks me (3 cm), breaks my water (not painful--thank God!)



10:00-Dr. Smith comes in to see me. Checks me, 6 cm dilated.



10:45-My nurse Ashley checks me, 8-9 cm.



11:15-having pressure, fully dilated but baby is not down enough, so we start to push to get him down. They stop me after the first contraction. Apparently I am a good pusher, and they need to set up in my room!



11:41-with less than five minutes of pushing, Jacob Daniel arrives in the world! However, Jake wasn't breathing too well, so it ended up being a half hour before I even got to hold him :(



And now he is healthy and happy. He's been sleeping most of the time, he woke up twice in the night, once at 2 and again at 6. I can deal with that. I'm having some trouble with bleeding, but I should be ok.

The final Hurrah

We had an amazing final weekend as a family of three. We basically did everything that Lindsey wanted to do, and it was one of the best weekends in my life. I feel so blessed to have such an amazing little girl and a fantastic husband. I'm really a lucky woman.

Saturday:

We woke up around 10am, had some breakfast, showered, got dressed, lounged around the house, then went to Herdklotz Park for play and a picnic. I had some homework that I needed to do, so Dan and Lindsey played on the playground while my trusty ol' laptop and I kept eachother company. I finished all my homework and we sat and had lunch on the soccer field. After lunch, Dan and Lindsey played soccer for a little while, then we all laid in the grass and watched the clouds. It was awesome.

After the park, we went to the Halloween Highway on Pleasantburg Road and got Lindsey and Jake matching costumes...which you will see if you are patient! We had a good time walking around the store looking for costumes, and it gave us good ideas for next year as well.

Right after leaving the Halloween store, we went in search of the perfect pumpkin at St. Giles Church on Hudson Road. Some slim pickin's this year, but what do you expect with our drought? We found one that was "almost perfect" though!

Saturday night was spent playing the Wii, doing scrapbooking, and other fun stuff. We also carved the pumpkin, which Lindsey USED to be a big fan of, until she discovered that she is super girly when it comes to putting her hands in yuckiness (so am I, but I was TRYING to set an example!)

Sunday was pretty great too. Dan let me sleep in until 10am again, and we lazed around the house for a couple of hours. Dan and Lindsey played with the race track, I did some more scrapbooking, Linds watched her favorite show and she helped me make breakfast...eggs and toast, our favorite! When we finally got up and moving we went to Michael's to get the stuff to make Jake's birth announcements and Lindsey got a craft pumpkin to decorate. Then we stopped at Toy's R US to get in the celebratory mood for Lindsey's birthday. She got a crown, balloon, coloring pages and stickers, which made her day---even more, Daddy bought her a new Littlest Pet Shop!

We went home and took a nap, because SOMEONE was getting a little grumpy and for once it wasn't me (Though I took full advantage of that naptime!). After nap we went to Boo in the Zoo, which for those of my loyal readers who aren't in Greenville, that is a non-scary Halloween adventure-y thingie where you get candy.

HERE is my Lindsey with her fantastic costume on...

Like I said, it was a great weekend, but we are looking forward to TUESDAY when our little guy makes us a family of four!