Hello Little Man

Well, it's almost fall, but more importantly it's almost Jasper's birthday!  So hard to believe he's turning one next week!?  He definitely has been looking and acting more like a little man and everyday a little less like a baby.  (Sniffle)  I went ahead and started a new photo album for fall so folks can see the festivities and the hilarity that he is right now.  Enjoy!

Behind the times

Well, clearly I am not running on all cylinders as I just looked back and realized I never technically published my spring blog post that had a link to all of our Spring 2018 pictures.  Sigh.  But it's up now!  And here is our Summer album.

Since that time, we have friends come and stay from the VIs, Wade and I started working a different shifted schedule since we don't have a lot of sitting help this summer (which has gone fairly well), the pool has gotten warm enough to swim finally, Clementine has started to enjoy paddle boarding with me, and we just celebrated Wade's birthday. 

At the end of June we took a fun road trip to visit all three sets of grandparents in 3 different states (GA, NC, VA) and 2 national parks (Great Smokies and Shenandoah)!  We were able to see my step-sister and her family for a day at our usual summer campground (Cataloochee) - except they were the only campers this year while we joined them for a day of playing in the creek, rain, and cooking food over the fire. We look forward to getting back to camping there next year!  It was a big trip and we even checked out Charlottesville, VA as a potential relocation site for us.  We saw our first black bears, deer, got some hikes in, and saw fireworks.  It was too much time in the car though because we all came home sick in a way we haven't been before.  Jasper and I are the last to get over it and it's been brutal.

Next week we fly to Indiana (where I was born) for my Grandma's 90th birthday party which will also be like a family reunion.  It will be a lot of fun to see my birthplace again, show it to Wade and the kids, and to see all the family so everyone can meet Jasper. 

Jasper just started crawling and weighs 25lbs now - he's officially a chunk when you try carrying him.  He's a sweet, funny little dude, who loves to flirt and coyly work a room.  He's a lot of fun right now and if you say "yay" will almost clap on cue.  He's also a pretty socially sensitive little guy - he looks to be acknowledged when someone enters and leaves a room and he cries too when his sister has one of her meltdowns.  I've been posting pictures fairly regularly to our photo folders so that's the easiest way to keep up.

Hope everyone's having a great summer - where has the time gone?!  

Wow

So I haven't posted since December?!  Whoops!  I started a new photo album for spring so I popped on here to update the link - unfortunately I still haven't figured out how to share all the albums we have like we did on the old picture site (ugh, Google) so I have to do them one by one for now.

The winter album of photos and videos is filled with our first Christmas as a family of four (complete with matching Christmas jammies), a freezing camping trip to Ft. Desoto for my birthday, lots of family visiting and meeting Jasper, a growing sweet baby boy, a magical trip to Anna Maria for our anniversary in February, and it ends with photos of Clementine's birthday.  She had a real party this year and requested tie-dye (she's really into painting and color right now) and it was so much fun and turned out beautifully.  There's also videos of Jasper slowly turning into a bouncing boy who doesn't sleep much during the day but is always smiling, singing, and watching his sister.  He just started sitting up for C's birthday and is an absolute delight.  He is also in the midst of teething so we'll see how he handles it (I think about 4 teeth at once are going to pop out).  Thankfully, like his sister, he also loves water so any time spent in the pool makes him a happy bub.  (For the record, at 6.5 months, he's currently 28" long and weighs a little over 22lbs - he's practically off the charts, wearing 12-18mo or larger clothes.  We think he's said Mama twice when under duress, which isn't often.)

The spring album starts with Easter and a visit from Wade's parents who finally got to meet Jasper.  We had such a wonderful visit and were sad to see them go.  Jasper also got his first turn on the swing at the park which he enjoyed, but his eyes were always watching for his sister.  We find ourselves living more in the moment than we did the first time and have to remind ourselves to get photos when things are happening.  Same goes for the blog, it's harder to find time to get on here and write, but I've been doing fairly good about uploading pictures regularly so you can usually see what we're up to there, even if something hasn't changed here.

Hope everyone is having a spring as wonderful as ours!

Thankful

Thanksgiving was a lovely affair this year, smaller in some ways, but bigger in others.  It was a really enjoyable day (we precooked a lot the day before so Poppi and Granzie came to help) and weekend really.  Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday - a four day weekend, and quality time with family and friends while making tasty food.  I was happy to get to host again this year, which made it easier since we had an 9 week old baby in tow.  He has been mercifully patient so it was pretty easy to work around him and still do what we needed to, despite his lack of interest in napping (sleeping at night yes, napping during the day, not so much).  C enjoyed helping some in the kitchen, but she was having more fun entertaining Granzie by far (she's really into doing ballet shows for us, complete with a tutu and some interpretive dance moves).

I also think I finally cracked my Thanksgiving breakfast dilemma with this Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal casserole - I loved it so much I made it again last week and it's super easy to make it up the night before.  Mmm....  I can't recommend it highly enough.  Might just have to do it again for Christmas... hehe.

We also finally managed to get family photos on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend with our friend Heidi.  It's something we've been putting off and I really wanted done while Jasper is still in his little squishy baby phase (he's already in 6-12mo clothes!).  I also wanted photos to put up around the house to reflect that we're a family of four now.  Heidi was great about working with C's dramatic streak and picked a great location - the park right behind our house - so it was a fun afternoon.  We had tried the previous weekend but did not adequately prepare C for the event which resulted in a banshee-like wailing choke-sobbing meltdown (I don't want to go to this new and strange park!  I hate all the 5 dresses I normally love that you picked as options for me!) and last minute cancellation.  So this time we started much earlier - picking out clothes the day before and talking about taking photos all week long.  The Saturday after Thanksgiving was perfect so I had inspiration and we took C to the park to walk around and ask her for some ideas for where we could take photos (so the park wouldn't seem like a strange place ahead of time).  That prep work paid off, although I did almost blow my top when she ran to change the agreed upon dress (she had many options we both agreed on) as we were literally walking out the door.  She came back wearing a beach coverup our friends in St Thomas had sent her last year along with a dress up headband.  And in that moment I realized we could either have family photos and remember her diva streak humorously when we look back on these pictures or we could not have photos since it was clear she was going to lose it again if we made her change (and taking the pictures naked wasn't an option).  So we rolled with it.  It was hard to let it go, but when I realized I hadn't even remembered to put on make up I just kind of threw up my hands and hoped we'd get some family photos we like that we all looked remotely happy in since our last family photos C didn't smile at all.  (Classic example of shifting expectations as second time parents perhaps?  haha!)

We managed to take advantage of our lovely weather this past weekend to get to spend a day down on Anna Maria at Poppi and Granzie's to see their Christmas decorations, play at the beach, and swim in the pool.  It was a lovely day and the sunshine was just what we needed - it was my first time in the water since Jasper's birth and his first time in the pool and at the beach.  He took it all in stride, so hopefully that means he's going to like the water like Clementine does.  I started a new Winter photos folder that has the pictures and videos from the sunny day.  And we're still adding some photos to Jasper's baby folder but I'm starting to roll him into the seasonal folders I do instead.

I can't believe it's December already... I'm having a hard time truly motivating for Christmas and am more excited about the Winter Solstice and our annual camping trip for my birthday.  With the variety of hospital bills we're getting from Jasper's birth, it's hard to get excited about buying gifts (we're having flashbacks since my ovarian cyst/miscarriage surgery was about the same time last year and also brought gifts of hospital bills).  So, we're trying to see what we can make again this year and how to be more modest and thoughtful in how we do gifts.  Now that we're coming out of the baby bubble my favorite thing is just being able to spend quality time with friends and family and getting outside (I was starting to feel like a hermit!).

Butterball

So the little man has his 2 month appointment last week and the pediatrician laughed and called him a Butterball when they measured him - 15lb 10oz and 24.25" long!  It wasn't a total surprise as he's already rolled over and is in 6-12mo clothes.  He's solid, but looks like it's in proportion if that makes sense?  Clementine had lots of cute baby rolls, and while Jasper has some rolls, he's just a big baby in height and weight.

I started back to work part-time last week which was not a welcome change, aside from the paycheck.  I'm genuinely enjoying time with the little bub and he's a pretty chill baby so far.  He's trying to talk with us quite a bit, smiles easily and frequently, loves music, seems to be trying to laugh, and is very curious and observant.  He travels well in the car and the stroller which has been a fun surprise.  I might even be able to start daily walks with him which would be nice!

Clementine started back to school this week, which she wasn't thrilled about (who wants to give up being a couch potato and getting unlimited attention!?), but it's good for her and for us.  We also discovered she's had a huge growth spurt while she was out because none of her school shoes fit and we quickly had to order new ones!  It's nice to be able to finally have a little quiet one-on-one time with Jasper.  We've been letting her watch Daniel Tiger (the modern cartoon version of Mr Rogers!) and she's a little obsessed right now.  It has covered a number of helpful topics she's going through (sharing, new baby, feelings, etc.) so the little lessons and songs have actually been helpful.  It's been a rough transition for her not having 100% of us anymore, but she's very sweet with "her baby" and only rages at Wade or me if she doesn't get what she needs.  Thankfully Jasper seems to have almost endless patience right now, even when she's raging.

We had a good Halloween with the family theme picked by Clementine this year - Moana.  She was Moana, Jasper was a Kakamora (crazy little coconut man), I was Te Fiti, and Wade more a Maui t-shirt.  It was a fun night and she enjoyed walking around despite her almost refusing to at first.  And we really enjoyed our neighborhood, everyone was friendly and festive. 

Jasper's hair continues to be a source of hilarity - it's lighter than air and has a mind of it's own so he continues to have Zoolander hair that also seems to be getting longer in the back (baby mullet?).  It gets comments no matter where we go and Clementine loves to tell everyone about it. hehe.

We're hosting Thanksgiving this year and I'm hoping with the long weekend I can finally get to my thank you notes (appropriate I think).  We have so much to be thankful for this year and I'm looking forward to having friends and family aorund to share my favorite holiday with.  I am also thankful for vegan butter since I'm off dairy again for Jasper - that makes baking for Thanksgiving a bit easier!

And if you're looking for cute baby photos and videos, here's Jasper's folder, and here's our general fall family pics.  I also realized I'm way behind on getting a birth announcement for the bub, so we'll likely be doing a combined birth announcement holiday card because I just don't have time for both.  Sigh, the plight of being the second child I guess?

Getting to know the Bub

So far my leading nickname for Jasper is Bub.  Not really sure why, other than I have noticed I call the cats that too, so maybe it comes from there?  lol   Otherwise, like Clementine, I prefer using his full name because I like it so much.  (These days C has me on an approved-only nickname basis which she has whittled down to Sweet Pea, Sweet Cheeks, or Lady Bird, and she sometimes lets us get away with Teeny or Teen - which are short for Clementini, like the drink we invented in her honor.)

But here are some things we're learning so far about the little guy:

1. He was just shy of being back to his birthweight after 1 week, so he's eating well.  He is also already in 3 mo clothes, yikes.
2. He smiles in his sleep a lot.
3. I think he might be ticklish as he responds to kisses in his neck as if he were ticklish, including smiling a few times.
4. He seems to be pretty chill and doesn't startle from much of anything, including some of the pretty intense jealousy-fueled shriekfests C has had.
5. When he's awake he's very bright eyed and seems to look around as if pleasantly surprised by everything he sees - he has a surprising amount of head control/neck strength so he really does look around.  During his hearing test the woman remarked how very "present" he was for such a little guy.
6. He loves being sung to, particularly when I'm trying to put him to sleep.
7. He will turn to try to see Clementine when he hears her voice, particularly when she sings to him.
8. He enjoys walks around the pool/outside to see the trees and listen to the birds.
9. Unlike his sister who only had one kind of cry, I can already tell his hungry cry - which actually starts out sounding like a cat's meow (seriously, it does).  He actually doesn't cry a lot, just if we let him go a bit too long before we feed him, or if someone hits his umbilical stump by accident then you can tell it's a pain cry.
10. So far we can get him to sleep on his own in his bassinet or lounger in our bed (hooray!), but, like his sister, does seem to enjoy sleeping belly-to-belly with me (or on one of our shoulders).  He also seems to sleep at night (waking to feed every 2.5-4 hours then going back to sleep) and having nice long awake periods during the day, but the last two mornings has seemed to be taking to early morning wake ups (5:30) like his sister, ugh.
11. He seems to enjoy photo shoots as much as his sister does, which cracks me up.  His outfit above was a gift from one of Wade's coworkers, so we had to get pictures before we outgrew it!

I try to remind myself it'll all change and we don't know what he has in store for us, but for now, he's been breaking us in to the 2 kids lifestyle very gently.

Gratitude

I have a lot of things to be thankful for these days.  Sometimes it's almost a little overwhelming how much there is to be thankful for so I wanted to make sure I make a note of how deep my gratitude goes so on the tough days I can look back and remember that I am not alone and that even the bad stuff can have a way of producing something wonderful if you're patient enough to look for it. 

And if you're looking for photos: Jasper and our Fall photos.



For a number of days (4 or 5?) we were faced with the real prospect of our house not being habitable after the hurricane passed.  It was a creeping horror that grew day by day and when we were put under a mandatory evacuation, with no way to protect the house (no shutters and the storm surge was projected to be up to our kitchen counter tops) we were at a loss for words.  So Wade did the best he could to move, cover, and raise what we could in the house and we had one night to seriously evaluate what we would take if we may not be able to come back for weeks, or longer.  So we each got to pack one bag, and we grabbed our most important files, plus a bag of baby-to-be stuff and his portable bassinet so he'd have somewhere to sleep when he decided to arrive.  It was a very strange process asking ourselves what would have to stay and what absolutely needed to go, but also a really important one to remind myself what was truly important in our lives.  It was also weird packing for two states of being - since we didn't know when the dude would arrive - my pregnancy clothes and some nursing clothes.  Once C had been moved to the first evac location with Granzie and Poppi, Wade and I came back for some last minute prep work and gathered a few more things.  Then we sat on the couch and finally gave ourselves 5 minutes to cry after having to keep our fear in check and hidden while C was around.  After that I had a sense of release - we had done all we could to prepare and it was out of our hands.  It was also a good opportunity to remind myself it was just stuff and all that mattered was that we all were safe together and I needed to stay calm to keep the bun in the oven until the storm had passed.

The other unexpected benefit of this was learning what kind of a support network we had.  A group of our old neighbors had started a text group a few weeks before and we were all checking on each other, helping, and informing one another, which turned into a support group of sorts during the storm.  One of our neighbors went so far as asking her parents who were out of town if we could use their house as our evac location, which was such a relief I actually cried since we had no idea where we were going to go.  The generosity was overwhelming.  One of our current neighbors who refused to evacuate was also kind enough to send us updates on the status of the house so we knew it was safe to come home, which made coming home quickly possible so we could be safely at home when Jasper arrived.  I have also been so grateful that Granzie and Poppi could be here to help Wade around the house and keep C company during this big transition (and during the chaos of the 2 evacuations) - when Granzie finally went home after 2 weeks, C was definitely not wanting to say goodbye as she had become accustomed to early morning snuggles and lots of playtime!  Another stunning show of generosity and support was a dear friend from college who rallied her fellow teachers for donations of used clothes for the kids when predictions were looking pretty dire for our area.  She also spent most of the night texting with me and keeping me company while we watched the storm's progress on the radar and while I wandered the hospital in Orlando wondering whether the Little Man would be born there and what we would go home to find.  The next morning it was clear we somehow were luckily spared the worst of the storm and she sent the 6 boxes of clothes along anyway knowing we could find other families in need down here who could use it.  This has gotten me thinking about all the other families who weren't as fortunate and to try and find a way to support and help them, particularly in the Virgin Islands, where we have friends and where we spent our Babymoon when I was pregnant with C.

And maybe it was all the insanity of the week prior to his birth that helped put things in perspective, but despite the trip to the hospital (again) after Jasper's birth, I am finding joy in these early days that I wasn't able to after C's birth.  C's birth was very difficult, I was extremely depleted so my recovery was long, and we spent a few traumatic days in the hospital after, all of which seemed to set the stage for my long struggle with post-partum depression.  All of that plus the fact that our learning curve with a first baby was painfully steep.  This time, it's all feeling much more relaxed and intuitive, and so far there are some little things about who Jasper is that make it a bit easier too (he nurses well and gives me long breaks, he'll actually take a pacifier at night when he needs to suck and isn't hungry, he doesn't need to be on me to sleep, and so far seems to be a fairly chill baby).  He looks so much like C did as a baby (and has even made similar faces and poses while sleeping) that it's been healing in a way I hadn't expected - I am genuinely enjoying this phase and it's sort of repolishing those early memories I had of C so the rough edges are being softened and recolored.  I know this phase of enjoying simple baby snuggles and the whiff of sweet baby smell won't last, but since I didn't really get to live it the first time, it makes it that much sweeter this time.

How cute are these kids??