Family Pictures Nov 2014

So I know I haven't updated this blog in over a year, but I have good reason!  That reason no longer exists so hopefully we get back to at least quarterly =)  But I thought I should start by updating our family pictures.  We took them at the very beginning of November 2014.  Originally they were scheduled for October - the colors were SO pretty this year - but the very morning of our photo shoot, I pinched a nerve in my back and quite literally, sat on the couch the next two days.  Aside from being humbling and quite painful, we missed the colors.  I was bummed.  However, my friend Melissa did such an amazing job it basically made up for no colors.  Don't be deceived, we don't really look like models -- we just happen to in these.  In following posts, you'll see how I really am looking these days.  Of course, the boys are always beautiful, so their representation is very legitimate.  I definitely get the better end of the deal -- I get to look at them all day long.  And they...love me for me =)

I get asked fairly regularly if they are twins -- and I've figured out that it is when they are sitting down together and you can't see the height difference because here it is pretty clear.

 This is one of my all-time favorite pictures -- these boys are so delicious and Jon Jon really does laugh much of the time!

I love this picture -- James really is a very loving, protective brother.

This was our Christmas card pick

And He Made It - Jonathan Porter!

Jonathan Porter 1 day old Jared, Hilary and James (18 months)

Well...to state the obvious this post is a long time coming.  I put the initial pictures together several months ago but figuring out how make things work with two kids completely preoccupied my time.  Looking on the bright side, better late than never right?  And better something than nothing, which I've had to learn since having kids.  My bar for my projects has come down oh so slightly =)  So, here he is, now 11 months old my giggling ray of sunshine.  I can't imagine life without him.  None of us can.  He and Little Man are best buddies and he smiles more than any baby I've ever met.  But more on that later.  These are his first few days of life...

So after I'd been overdue for a week, my doctor was afraid the baby would get too big and I reluctantly scheduled an induction for the next morning, June 4th.  I was emotional anyway (it comes with the territory), and was disappointed to be marching into the hospital to give birth if my baby wasn't done cooking.  However, it turned out to be a very positive experience.  The senior resident who had been assigned to me didn't believe in starving anyone so here I am, eating my little heart out during the early stages of Pitocin.  Food and I have always been buddies so that was a great start.  Labor was only six hours (as opposed to 24 with Little Man James) and I had the epidural 45 minutes before Jonathan was born.  I like to think I could have done it naturally but let's be honest, I was VERY happy to see that blessed anesthesiologist.

He was beautiful and so perfect!  I got to hold him right away.  He was not small - 8 lbs 14 ozs - I hate to think of what would have happened had it been two weeks later.  How do people always look so perfect right after giving birth?  I like to think I keep it real.  Everything went really well and the recovery was much quicker and smoother the second time.

 

At first he looked a lot like James, but very quickly began do develop his own look. 

He was born at 6:00pm on the dot.  My wonderful Mom flew in but the baby was here before she landed!  Sweet J went home and brought them back the next morning.

I was a little nervous of how James would react to him, but it was awesome - he loved his baby immediately and I knew they'd be best buddies. 

We tried the whole 'look-what-the-baby-brought-you' tactic, but for now it turns out that Jonathan himself was enough for James.  We were glad.

James loved his time with angelic Grandma.  They spent hours reading books, doing stickers, and taking walks.

A few days later we went downtown to the art festival.  Like I said, this recovery was a LOT faster.

This sweet boy has an angelic face as you can see.

A few days later J's fantastic parents arrived. They were so sweet with James and he loved his time with them too.

He was introduced to CARS --

 Grandma and Grandpa took Farmer James down to the farm store and bought him his dream tractor.

You can't tell from the picture but he LOVES his tractor.

It's a good thing we live in Iowa where there are tractors a plenty to be seen from the road.

Here James is watching a New Testament video with Grandpa and folding his arms because he is just that reverent.

Our sweet angelic Jonathan.

So beautiful.

He liked practicing karate in his sleep - the Asian pull is strong in this one...

Off the bat he was smiley,

sweet faced,

playful,

pleasant,

peaceful and snuggly.  We couldn't ask for a better baby.

James willingly modeled tummy time.

Daddy carried on our sleeping tradition

James continued to be a great helper-

inspecting the stairs,

washing the cars,

modeling church attire,

helping unload the dishwasher - see those dishes in the sink?  Yes, they all used to be in the dishwasher.

 

 So there you have it, 11 months later, our first few months with our new baby.  If we're really lucky, I'll document his 1st birthday with current pictures.

Happy Labor Day to Me! - Our Spring Update

Today is my due date, and I am still...here - as in, not at the hospital.  But regardless of how excited and anxious we are to meet this little man, he'll come when he comes and he'll be worth the wait, I am sure. 

However, it may be a good thing he's taking his time, so I can 'catch up' (what a loose term) on my blog.

This has been a weird spring for Iowa.  It has been cold until May, which made our visits to sunny LV and Kansas even better, but strange nonetheless.  It was sad to come home and realize it was still winter here.  And then it rained, a lot.  I didn't really realize how long it is to be indoors for an extended winter until you have an active toddler who thrives on sunshine.

It was great to see both of our parents!  Las Vegas was, as always, full of some of our favorite people, great weather, and lots of love.  We are always surprised at how quickly the time goes, but nice to know we'll be seeing them again soon when #2 decides to make an appearance. 

We spent Easter in Kansas and it was so much fun to see Little Man hunt eggs.  Once he got the hang of it he was all over it!  It's always hard to leave but so nice to be so close!

Happily, J finished with one of his worst rotations of the program and we are SO glad.  The getting up at 3:30am and getting home at 6-7 with going to bed at 8:00 six days a weeks was tough.  It made the 'we never see him' phrase take on a whole new meaning.  The people that actually work that department and those hours have my full appreciation and respect!  So now that he is back on a normal schedule of 7ish-6ish sprinkled with a  few days of call, we are feeling good about Daddy time.  Especially since Little Man has been doing things like getting up before 6, meaning he gets to see Daddy sometimes in the morning and at night -

My wonderful parents got to come up for Mother's Day and listen to my community orchestra concert.  I felt like a kid again - in a good way - having my parents come to my recital and it was so much fun to have them here. 

So there you have it - our spring in a nutshell!  Hopefully the next post will be announcing a perfect baby who has decided to sleep all night long within a week of being home from the hospital =)  But if that is not the case, I am sure he will be wonderful.

Some pictures of our adventures:

 Happy to be with Grandma in the sun!

 Like any good grandson, we did vehicle inspection to make sure Grandpa's truck was working well

 Found a friend at the zoo- he was just a few months older than Little Man and they started at each other for quite a while - it was super cute.

 Heading to the buffalos with Grandma - we loved the zoo!

 

 When he's not riding Little Man prefers to help me push the stroller which is so fun for both of us!  Yes, I am seven months pregnant here.  It kind of shocked me to see this picture - you forget sometimes how you look from that angle...

 Just taking it all in...

 Flamingos of course!

 I love his face in this picture - it pretty much defines his entire zoo experience - he loved the animals but it was a little bit of a shock to see them up close and personal.

 The construction behind our house was heaven for this true boy!  We went over and sat on the tractor pretty often until it left =(  It was and sometimes still is the first thing he asks for in the morning since we could see it from his window.  He LOVES tractors, diggers, cars - things that move...

 When they first started he would stand out on our deck for 20 minutes by himself just watching the diggers.  It was so fun to see how excited he was.

 Easter with his best cousin, Jack, only a six months younger.  As you can see, James's feelings of waiting for his food are clear...

 Did we mention it has rained a LOT?  This is the field behind our house.  There is a creek that runs to the left of our building and it overflowed, obviously.  I think we got 8 inches in 24 hours or something to that effect. Oh my.  Yes, we were flooded in half the day since it is not a through street, but amazingly, everything was clear by the time J came home. 

 This poor person tried to keep going and got stuck.

And yes, we finally got our garden in!  This is Little Man checking on our seedlings we started.  They were so beautiful!  Until they got blown off the porch by our monster strong winds here and fell two stories.  There were no tomato survivors =(  Maybe next year.  In the meantime, we bought some at the store - twice - since the late frost got some and animals got others.  It's been a rough go.  I think we're finally on our way, if only the sun will start to shine more.