Happy 3rd Birthday, Jack!

(Written in March.  Better late than never :))

Last week, our first born turned 3!  I will say this EVERY year until forever but I can't believe he is 3 already.

A Year of JACK

Every year of Jack's life has had its up and downs but I can honestly say that I have enjoy the last year the most.  He is no longer a baby or a toddler trying so hard to express himself.  He is now this amazing little boy who says the funniest things and amazes us every day with something new.  He is a sponge that soaks up every word, every action.  He displays incredible empathy for a 3 year old, he says please and thank you (most of the time!) unprompted and he is very social (which pleases his introverted mommy and daddy SO much!).

This year Jack became a big brother and he has made the transition effortlessly.  In 6 months there has only been one time that he pulled out "You don't love me anymore."  Broke. My. Heart.


He hasn't displayed jealously or anger towards us or Leo or life in general.  Instead, Jack has been loving, gentle (as gentle as three year old can be!) and genuinely concerned about Leo's wellbeing.    He likes to sing to Leo when he is upset and always wants to show off his little bro to his friends at school..."Hey guys, come see my baby!"




Jack at 3 years:

* He is potty trained!  I am not ashamed to admit that after trying several times and several methods we finally settled on bribery...and it worked!  Of course there are occasional accidents and night time is a work in progress but he is a diaper free dude =) (Update: 2 months later and he 100% potty trained day and night...YAY!!!  He lets us know when we are out and at home he just goes on his own, it's awesome And he no longer requires bribery!)
* Favorite show is Dinosaur Train.  He can identify several different types of dinosaurs and knows the differences between carnivore, herbivore and omnivore. (Update:  Literally within a DAY this changed.  His new favorite show is Octonauts.  Obsessed.  But on the upside he is expanding his knowledge of prehistoric animals to sea creatures!)
* Loves to sing!  His favorite is Old McDonald and I sing You Are My Sunshine :)
* Can count to 15, knows his ABCs and colors but not a fan of being "art-sy"
* Will NOT smile for a picture...even bribery fails.
* He is thriving in school!  In January he moved up to the Primary classroom (aka preschool).  I was nervous about the transition because the Primary class has kids ages 3-6, the class has more structure but also give the kids more independence (for example the kids are allowed to serve themselves their own snacks when they want and pick out activities they want to work with).  The thought of giving him so much freedom made me nervous!

(Jack's first teacher, Ms. Ginger, will always have a special place in our hearts.)

* Now that warmer weather has arrived we have been spending a lot of time outside which means we have entered the "bug phase" much to my chagrin.  Thankfully rolly pollies are his favorite and he loves to hunt for them.  During a recent catch he told the bug "It's ok.  I'll take care of you."  So sweet...unfortunately the majority of these unoffensive bugs will meet their demise in the hands of this 3 year old.
* Traveled to Seattle and Lake Cushman in Washington.  Hiked through the "jungle" and saw an amazing new place.

*Went to his first baseball game.

* Shortly after he turned 3, he entered a painfully shy phase.  Mainly it's only with unfamiliar adults and thankfully he pretty good at jumping right in and playing with new peers.
* He's very much a boy...he loves to play in dirt and puddles, gets super excited about every "stinky truck",  loader and airplane we pass, and he won't keep his hands out of his pants.  (Sorry, Jack at age 20...the last one is very true, xoxo!)

Some of the funnier moments from the year....

We had a big Dinosaur Train themed birthday party with friends and family, treats and bouncy houses.  A great time was had by all...under the age of 4 :).  Some of the big gifts this year were Mr. Conductor and a fish tank (with Dori, Huey/Dewey/Gooey , and Kermit) and the "hoopty" from Gramma H.

This year, we discovered that Jack has beautiful wavy blonde hair and for the first time haircuts are a regular thing or else this happens....

J calls it the "Phil Spector" look...we are still working on a specific hair style :)

Jack, sweet boy, you continue to push me further than anyone ever has and quiet frankly I will expect nothing else from you for the rest of our time together.  But in the end, when you look up at me and say with your sweet voice, "Mommy...I love you, " everything is washed clean and my heart is full with just the presence of you in my life.  

Love you baby, Mom

Leo 7 Months

(Written in May 2014)

Leo may be Jack's doppelgänger but it is appearance only.

In the last two months his sweet disposition has begun to emerge and I can honestly say that he just a a happy baby.  Of course, like any little person, he has his good days and bad days but pretty much everyday he will offer up a huge gummy grin to any stranger who stops to say hi.  While out to dinner the other night, the owner asked if she could hold him (we of course obliged, who are we to turn down a free sitter even if for only a few minutes!) and he happily walked around with her for 10 minutes.


















At six months, I started him on solid foods and so far he has loved everything but his favorite it bananas with blueberries.

Bedtime is between 6:00 and 7:00.  He generally nurses around 3:30 am and back to sleep until 6:30 am.  Yes, he's getting up once a night BUT this I can totally handle ;)

In the last month, Leo has truly mastered the art of rolling and he doesn't stay in one place for long.  I don't see him crawling any time soon and after having one son that started walking at 9 months I'm okay if the second son takes his time on the mobility front!  He can also sit up unassisted for a minute or so before toppling over.  He's not in a hurry and I have found that this time around I'm not in a hurry either.

Despite the fact that he has been showing signs of teething for sometime, none of the little buggers have made an appearance yet.  And he continues to think his big bro is the funniest thing around :)



Lindsey

Leo 5 Months

(Written in early March.)

We have a routine!  God, I love it when we have a routine.

Everything about Leo's first few months of life reminded me of Jack's and that was beyond frustrating.  I so desperately wanted to have a different experience with Leo, it was difficult for me to truly bond with him because I kept reliving all of the battles I had already fought.  I was more relaxed but I also felt more removed.   I was sleep deprived (he was up every two hours to nurse or less to fight with the damn paci) and incredibly stressed.  I was starting to pull away from those closest to me and retreat inwards.  Everyday was pure survival mood...

(Jack in the photo at 3 months, Leo at 4 months)

Around 3 1/2 months (right around the time we took the house off the market...that's a whole other post!) I was finally able to figure out Leo's schedule and mercifully his colic died down.  I was finally able to catch my breath. And over the past month, our little lion man is starting to distinguish himself and we are figuring out how to be a family of four.

The biggest victory we have had thus far....LEO IS SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!

I am Leo's primary source of nourishment at this point but he generally has one bottle of formula a day.  We recently discovered by accident that he can polish off a 6-8 oz bottle easily (hard to gage when he's nursing) so we have been giving him a bottle at bedtime around 6:15 pm.  He wakes around 7:30-8ish to finish the bottle and then he's out until 6:15 am.  A few times he woken at 4:30 am to nurse but I can totally handle that!

I must say that it is an amazing feeling to have a baby, less than 5 months old, sleeping through the night.  Thank you, Leo!

Also in the past week, he has discovered his feet and had an all out laughing fit!  He has only rolled over a few of times and I think they were all by accident.  J is mildly concerned (I think because Jack was a freak of nature in the gross motor department- rolling both ways at 13 weeks, walking at 9 months!) and I just think he's lazy :)

We have had lot of visitor during the first three months of the year and Leo finally got to meet his Aunt Jen and cousins from Illinois.  It was great to finally have all of the grandkids together! 

Leo's thighs are ticklish, he loves chewing on fingers, loves being in the carrier,  he's not a great napper nor a huge fan of the car, his brother is very fascinating, my current nickname for him is "Mouth" and everyday I fall a little more madly in love with him.

 (Leo at 5 months)

 Lindsey

Good morning, son.

I was a little nervous about the whole labor and delivery process.  My first experience in this department had been a long and slow journey and I was fearful that my body just didn't know how to dilate on its own and that a c section would probably be in my future.  I had an appointment on Tuesday, Oct 1 and I was not dilated nor effaced. I totally assumed he was going to be late (because why wouldn't he be!)...boy was I wrong!

The newest man in my life decided to grace us with his presence (and end his mommy's suffering) a week early!  I have to thank my son for this small gift because I was absolutely miserable the last few weeks. I was seeing my SIL/chiropractor twice a week because my sciatic was bringing me to tears.   I was so over talking about pregnancy and I was running out of witty responses when people asked me how I was feeling.  Overall I was incredibly uncomfortable and starting to get crabby.

Monday, October 7, I got up to use the bathroom around 1:30 am.  When I got back in bed I started to have contractions.  I assumed it was false labor contractions because they felt like mestral cramps but this time I was having pain in my back as well.  After a few contractions,  I started to roughly time them…8, 8, 7, 6, 5, 5 minutes apart.  Again, I figured false labor because they weren't consistent.  So around 3:00 am I decided to go upstairs and bounce on the birthing ball to see if I could get them to stop.  Thirty minutes into the latest episode of Grey's Anatomy the contractions were 3 minute 45 seconds apart and lasting about a minute.  I started pacing the living room and at 3:30 am I felt/heard a pop, like a knuckle being cracked.  A few seconds later it became very clear that my water had broken.  I stood in shock for a second (I didn't experience this the first time!) and then rushed downstairs.

From the bathroom, I shouted to J and he groggily came running into the bathroom with a very confused look on his face. The plan was to labor at home as long as possible.  Again, the process with Jack was extremely slow so even though the contractions were coming steadily I felt very calm.  Since we had plenty of time before we would need to leave,  I casually hopped in the shower.  However, towards the end of my relaxing showing the pain from the contractions really started to intensify and I had to stop and brace myself to breath through them.

By 4:00ish am I was out of the shower and a down on all fours on the bathroom floor.  I remember J teasing me by asking if I was having an orgasimic birth (if you don't know what this is google it)…he should be a comdian.  My contractions were about 2 minutes apart and lasting about 90 seconds.  By 4:15 am I was telling J that we needed to get to the hospital…NOW!   I think he thought I was just being a pansy but he ran next door to wake our neighbors who had so graciously agreed to watch Jack if we were in a pinch.

We got to the hospital a little after 5:00 am.  I went from kneeling and leaning over the back of the car seat to the exact same position in a wheelchair.  I'm sure I was sight!  I remember the nurse saying "Well I've never seen anyone sit in a wheelchair like this!  Just please, please don't lean back."

The contaractions were coming fast and hard and they asked if I could make it upstairs or if I needed to stay in the ER to deliever.  I begged them to take me upstair and get me an epidural ASAP.

When I got to the room I kept asking for the epidural but they said the needed to get an IV in first and would need to check my dialation based on how close the contractions were coming.  I was at 6 cm.  I was shocked.

While waiting for the anastesologist, my body began pushing on its own (extremely strange sensation by the way!) and I remember thinking to myself "Don't say anything!  They'll never know!  You have to get that epidural, there's no way you can do this without." I kept my mouth shut but my strained face and grunting noises gave me away to the nurses and I remember hearing them say "She's not going to have time for the epidural.  She's pushing already."  Then I really started to get nervous and kept asking "Where the f@ck is he at?!?"

SHE finally arrived!  They checked me again, I was at 7 cm and they told me it was probably to late for the epidural.   I was very insistant that there was plenty of time and I would be able to sit still for the procedure.  My body continued to push during the contractions but my midwife was able to get me to breath through the contractions and focus and they were able to get the epidural in.  When I laid back down they checked me again and I was at 10 cm.

At the next contraction I began helping my body to push.  After four contractions, his head was out and his body with the next.

Baby _____ came into our lives at 6:21 am (this is what the announcement text read).  Leo remained nameless for about 6 hours!  Leo had been my favorite.  Jude had been J's favorite.  And the week before we agreed on Colin.  But at the time he was born we were back to undecided.  J looked at him after he was born and said "You know, he does kind of look like a Leo."

We found out later the epidural proceedure was finished at 6:04 am and 17 minutes later he was out.  Justin won't give me credit for a "drug free" delivery but trust me when I tell you that I felt everything.  Birth with an epidural doesn't hurt...this hurt!

I couldn't have asked for a better experience, it made me feel like Superwoman!  Never in my life would I have guessed it would have gone so quickly...I am beyond thankful for that!  If I were to do it again I would definitely go without an epidural...especially if you could promise me another five hour labor and delivery!  J got off really easy this time around!

The sun rose at 7:02 am that morning.  By this time all of the chaos had died down and everyone had left the room.  We were watching the sun rise and starting a new day with our son, the lyrics "good morning, son" kept playing in my head.  I asked J to play the song and as the music played I watched my husband hold our son and I felt incredibly at peace.

\

Lindsey (mama of TWO!)

He's here!

He's here! He's here! He's here!

Ok, actually as of today, he's been here exactly three months!

Leo Robert Voigts rocked our world on October 7, 2013!!!  After a speedy five hour labor and delivery (that story will be shared in a future post) Leo was born at 6:21 am, weighing in at 7 lbs 15.8 oz (if he hadn't pooped on the way out I would have been able to claim an 8 pounder ;)) and a mere 18.5 inches long.

*Leo Robert*

I'm a terrible mommy blogger but honestly the last three months have been a roller coaster and it's only been in the last week that a) we have started to get on a nighttime schedule thus giving me a free hour and b) the colic has began to subside.  Yes you read that right...colic =(.  Because it was so much fun the first time around, the universe decided that we should be challenged with a second colicky baby.

Jack's started at three weeks so when that week came and went and Leo didn't show any signs we breathed a huge sigh of relief.  At five weeks, Leo let us know we weren't going to get off so easily.  For the next seven weeks, he would start to get fussy at either 4:30 pm or 6:00 pm and go until 9:00 pm.  Unlike Jack who would scream for two hours straight, Leo was off and on inconsolable screaming.  I don't know which was worse.

In addition to the colic, Leo looks and sounds exactly like Jack did at this age AND he is a terrible sleeper...just.like.Jack.  It's like I have given birth to the exact same baby twice.  It's weird.

(Name that baby?!?)

Part of me is ok with that because Jack is such an awesome boy but there is part of me that is mad/sad that we are fighting the exact same battles that we struggled with when Jack was a baby.  I keep telling Leo "Be better than your brother!  Aim higher!"

With the colic behind us, I am starting look into what steps we took to get Jack sleeping better.  I am SO happy that I kept good records of our journey in 2011 because there are so many things that I have forgotten about those early months of parenthood.

Life is slowly starting to take on a new normal so I really hope that I can get back blogging.  Posts may not be long or witty or nicely decorated with pictures...hell I'm guessing until I start to get some sleep they may not even be fully coherent BUT I am making a promise to myself that I will be better about putting our successes and our struggles into words here on A Day In The Life...

Lindsey

34 Weeks

Almost every morning I think to myself "I need to get a blog done today!" but by the end of the day my mind is complete mush and all of my brillant thoughts have disappeared.  So I apologize to my still-unamed-unborn son for not being as diligent as I was with your brother's pregnancy blog.  On the flip side, let's be honest here, I will have two SONS they will probably never even read this blog!

(Jack left- BV2 Right.  Even though I feel huge I'm about the same, just lower.)

So it's been about 8 weeks since my last update and my body is no longer even remotely my own.  I started to get uncomfortable around 30 weeks.  I have been sleeping fairly well (on the nights that Jack sleeps well) but there is definitely a "science" to getting my pillows perfectly positioned.  My heartburn was terrible up until about 30 weeks and I was having a lot of pain in my ribs and sternum but he has since dropped.  Being so low in my pelvis has caused a lot pain in my pubic bone and hips.  Walking long distances is out as is sitting for too long as my sciatic nerve acts up frequently and my once sexy swagger has been replaced by very distinct waddle.  Anytime I change postions I have to pee .  And I have continued to have terrible shortness of breath and dizziness.

On the upside, slow and steady has been the motto in the weight gain department as I am sitting at +18lbs, my skin has never looked better and (while my husband may disagree) my hormones have been pretty even keeled thus far.  Don't get me wrong napping is a beautiful thing but I am REALLY looking forward to the day when I can make it through the day without laying down.  Ah the 3rd trimester exhaustion….

On a side note, I have had the strangest craving during my 3rd trimester….dairy.  I could count on one hand how many times in the last 15 years I have a had a glass of milk.  Nowdays, every morning the first thing I do is drink a huge glass of chocolate milk…ahhh it's so good!  And once or twice a day I will indulge in a bowl or Breyer's Vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce on top.  Again, I don't think I have ever bought a tub of ice cream unless I was serving it with a dessert for guest.  Cannot get enough dairy!

I FINALLY got the nursery painted!!! And over Labor Day weekend I was able paint and distress the dresser.  This week J will have to seal it and put on the hardware and then we are ready for baby clothes!

We had a little slap of reality yesterday.  Around 2 pm I started to feel strange. I was having a lot of pressure, cramping and contractions coming ever 10 minutes.  I laid down for a few hours and drank some water, thinking I had just over done it.  If anything I became more uncomfortable.  So we went for a nice long walk and fortunately on the way home I started to feel back to normal.  But J and I were a little freaked out for a few hours.  Now I am definitely sensing some urgency to get all loose ends tied up!  This boy will be here in no time…


Lindsey