Maryland!

This past weekend we had the chance to go to Maryland and visit our good friends that we met while Daryl was in Seminary in Texas. We had a great time! We had not had a chance to hang out with them for over a year and a half. We really miss them. So, we decided to go before our frequent flier ticket expired and Nathan turned 2 (we have to buy him a ticket then). Both boys did well on the flights. The planes were not full so we were able to have some extra seats to spread out.

Our friends have twin 10.5 year old girls and twin almost 2 year old boy and girl. They were born one day before Nathan. The little ones had a great time together except for the normal 2 year old moments, of course. Here is a collage of pictures from the weekend...

4 Months Old!

Jacob had his 4 month well child check up today. He is doing well. He weighs 16 pounds, 2 ounces and is 25.25 inches long. Nathan at the same age was 1 ounce heavier and .25 inches taller. So, looks like right now they are even. At 2 months Jacob was one pound heavier than Nathan was at the same time, so it looks like Jacob's growth is slowing down a little bit. He got 3 shots and an oral vaccine as well. Here is a picture of his poor, chubby legs...

Weather!
Well, the weather has been great for the past few days and Nathan has enjoyed being able to get outside and run around and play on his slide. Apparently something else he missed doing was eating sticks...

Today Nathan, Jacob and I all went out to run a few errands. After we were done at Target, it started to rain VERY hard. So you can picture me pushing the cart with Nathan in the front, Jacob in his carseat in the basket and all of us getting soaked. It was not very fun at all. Nathan thought it was funny though.

Here is a picture of my mom from this past week with her three grandsons...

Jacob is getting a lot stronger now. Here is a picture of him practicing sitting up.

Moved In!
Well, we are in and getting used to our new place. There are still a few boxes left to unpack, but we are mostly there. Today I ordered new window treatments for the house. JCPenney is having a good sale online if you need any. There is a free shipping code out there as well. Let me know if you need it.

Jacob is doing well. He slept last night from 7:30 to 7:30! We'll see how tonight goes. Nathan is really babbly. I think he is going to start talking any day now. I have learned his favorite show is Wheel of Fortune. He loves to hear and see the letters.

Here are a few pictures from the last few days...

Jacob's Appointment
I just got back from Jacob's urologist appointment. All went well and we got him fixed up. He is sleeping now. He didn't cry too much and only bled a little bit. I am glad we have that taken care of. If you aren't sure what I am talking about, check out this past posting.

House Painting
We are coming along on the painting. Most all of the house has at least a coat of new paint, most of the room have two. It is looking good and will be nice to have most of the painting done before we move in. Thanks to my mom and step-dad for all of their hard work!

Daryl Update
Daryl returns this evening. He has been gone since Monday to Dallas. He was visiting Fellowship Church in Grapevine. They developed a software program that Daryl uses at Southeast so he went there to get a better handle of the product.

House
Well, we closed on our house this past Friday. There was some paperwork that didn't make it in time, but we still got possession. My mom, step-dad, and Daryl spent the whole weekend painting. They painted all of the ceilings, all of the trim, and the living room, kitchen, dining room, utility room and living room. Those rooms were all a tan color. It looks really good. We have the paint for the other rooms as well and we will try and get as much of that done as we can before we move in on Saturday. Thankfully it is supposed to be warmer. Hopefully the rain will hold off for us. It will be nice to get all of our stuff back and be in our own place again.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Comparison

Here is a similar photo of Nathan and Jacob at similar ages. What do you think? Are they starting to look alike or not? They both got the cheeks, that's for sure!

Ice Fishing

Today Daryl and dad went ice fishing. Nathan tagged along for a while and ran around on the lake. Here are a few pictures of that...

Videos

The other day Jacob played cars with Nathan here is a video of that. Nathan has found his favorite hiding place here at the hotel. Here it is. I was looking at some older videos of Nathan the other day that are of him at the same age as Jacob is now. I found one that reminds me a lot of Jacob now. Check it out.

Here is another random shot of the boys the other day. Nathan decided to climb up in the chair with Jacob. It looks like Jacob is enjoying this more than Nathan.

Great News!
My dad went in this week to get an update about his cancer and to find out the results of his chemo treatment. The good news is that the treatment was successful and he is in remission! The treatment for the future will probably be for him to go in every 3 months or so and have some chemo to prolong the remission. Thank you so much for all those that have been praying for him. I appreciate it and I know he does as well.

Photography Fun
I have been playing around with my digital camera and Photoshop trying to learn some new tricks. Here is a photo I came up with this morning. It's an early attempt, but I think it still looks pretty neat. I had to use Jacob as a model since he is less squirmy than Nathan!

Friend Reunion
This past weekend we were able to hang out with some college friends. They were two bridesmaids from my wedding and their families. We all are married and have sons now. Nathan was the oldest boy and Jacob was the youngest with their two in the middle. We hadn't seen them in about 4 years. Although we didn't get a picture of all the kiddos and hubbies, here is a picture of the gals...

Jacob's Appointment
Well, I took Jacob in for his 2 month appointment today. He is doing well. He was 23 inches tall and 13 pounds, 13 ounces! That is a pound more than Nathan weighed at the same time. He is a turkey! His height is 50% and weight is 90%. I guess Daryl and I just make some big babies. We were big as babies/toddlers as well so they come by it naturally.

Here is more information than you probably want to know, but Jacob was referred to a pediatric urologist because when he was circumcised, there was a little bit of skin left on. It is a cosmetic deal, but they will probably go ahead and remove that now before he can remember.

Jacob got 3 shots today and an oral vaccine. He obviously didn't like that, but he did really well with it and now he is sleeping it off.

We have a house!
We put an offer on that house we liked and they made a counteroffer. They came back too high for us so we said we were no longer interested. The agent for the seller then came back and told us to make some sort of offer, so we did. The seller then came back with a good offer for us and we accepted. We were able to get the house for about 7% below asking price, so we were happy with that.

Here are some outside pictures of the place:

Here are some inside pictures:

The house has really pretty hardwood floors throughout, so we will have to get some rugs for sure. It has 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths with 1210 square feet. As you can see, there is a one car detached garage with a carport, an outbuilding and even a greenhouse. I guess I will have to break out my horticulture degree now! There are raspberry bushes, thornless blackberry bushes, a plum tree and a grape vine. That should be interesting. There is also an outdoor brick BBQ at the end of the carport.

We have still been looking at houses. I have probably seen about 20 or so total! There is one that we like the most. It is a 3 bedroom/2 full bathroom ranch. There is one wall in the kitchen that we would take out half of and it would have a nice, open feel. There are some updates we would like to do over time. We will probably make an offer in the next week. I'll let you know how that goes.

We are getting used to the area and learning our way around. Today we went to the science museum and let Nathan play. He had a good time. We have gotten together a couple times with some friends we have in the area and will do so next weekend as well. We have been to the new church three times so far. It is really large, so that makes traffic after service a little crazy.

That's about all for now. Have a good week!

Things are still going well for us here in KY. I have looked at several houses so far with a few more coming in the morning. There is one we are interested in, but it is definitely a fixer-upper. We'll call it retro style.

Here are a few pictures from Christmas.



For Christmas, we got Nathan an Elmo TMX. Let's just say Elmo won round one. Here is a video of their first encounter.

Here is an older video of Jacob.

We're Here!
Well, after lots of travelling, we have finally arrived in KY. The drive from TX took 14 hours, so that was pretty good. We arrived in Terre Haute at 4:00 in the morning. We had to stop every 3 hours or so to feed Jacob, but it went well overall. We tried out the DVD player in our van for the first time and Nathan was fascinated with that.

Our Christmas went well. We first were in Terre Haute for the Hunter Christmas then on to Nashville, IN, for the Weir Christmas then on to Scottsburg, IN, for my mom's side and then to Louisville for the Lloyd Christmas. Needless to say, we made a haul.

We are living in a 2 bedroom suite at a hotel. It is really nice and will work well for a few months. It is right next to the church where Daryl works, so that is convenient. We get to go there for the first time this Sunday, so we are looking forward to that and seeing what it is like and where we can get plugged in.

We are getting settled in and look forward to looking at housing to see what we can afford in the area. We'll keep you informed.

Doctor's Appointment
Jacob went to the doctor this morning and he weighed 10.5 pounds!!! That means in the past 10 days he has gained 2 pounds. Crazy! Well, I guess he is eating pretty well.


Labor Story
I guess I never really explained how Jacob's birth went. Here goes. It is a little long.

I woke up on November 18th with a few contractions. Nothing too serious so I just started watching them for a while. They were pretty sporatic at that point. I told Daryl after a little while and we were waiting. That night at dinner I told my mom and they started to get a little closer together and stronger. We finally decided to go to the hospital that night.

When we got there I was still 3 centimeters and my contractions had gotten sporatic again. They watched me for an hour and there wasn't much of a change. The nurse said that the doctor would probably have me go home and continue to watch them. She called the doctor on call and he instead decided to admit me. If there wasn't any change by the morning he wanted to induce. I was a little hesitant, but we went to the labor and delivery floor anyway.

The nurses there were getting me prepped and we told them we had a birth plan to be able to walk around and not be stuck in the bed the whole time. Well, they said the doctor on call doesn't do that. So, we decided to sign the Against Medical Advice papers and go home to labor more comfortably.

We got home and laid on the couch. Before long the contractions were getting really strong and close together. We decided to go back to the hospital after a couple hours. When we got there I was a 7! So, we went back upstairs and got hooked up. They wouldn't let me get out of the bed, so that stunk. Things went really slowly from then on. I think that is because I couldn't walk around. We cleared all this with our doctor, but I guess the doctor on call is a little old school in his methods. A new doctor came on call and I had him break my water at 9 centimeters.

Finally a while later I was ready to push. It only took like 10 minutes for Jacob William to arrive. We thought he was so small and probably like 6 pounds or something but he turned out to be bigger than Nathan at birth. That was funny.

I was able to go natural again this time without the use of drugs. The fact that it was a slower labor made it harder than Nathan's birth, but it still went well. Next time I might see if I can find a midwife to deliver so that there won't be any confusion like this time.

A few new pictures to enjoy...

SOLD!
Well, looks like we have sold our house already. We received 2 offers this past Tuesday and enacted one of them today. The offer is from an 80-year-old couple. They are paying cash and actually offered more than our asking price. Both people that put in an offer really wanted the house and were pleading their case to our agent. It was a good scenario for us.

So now this means we will be leaving on the 22nd of this month. The moving company will be coming around that time to get us packed up and we will head out. I can't believe that is only 2 weeks away!

2 Weeks Old
Jacob went in for a checkup today at the doctor. He now weighs 8 pounds, 12 ounces! He got down to 6 lbs, 3 oz at a few days old, so he is packing on the pounds now. Nathan was 8 lbs, 6 oz at 2 weeks, so Jacob has a few ounces on him. He is doing well over all.

Here are a few new pictures from the last few weeks of the boys.






Moving
Well, I guess we haven't officially announced our plans for the next month. Daryl has accepted a new position at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY. He will be a network guy again. His last day at work here is December 22. We wanted to get back closer to family and it has worked out. Our house is now on the market. We have had several people come look and a couple people have come back for a second look. No offers yet, but we'll see. So, there is a lot of stuff going on in the next few weeks. We'll keep you updated.