2 Months

Micah is 2 months as of the 8th. Gotta love the man boobs- hopefully they will go away before he is in Junior High! He loves to smile and talk. The other night I was rocking and singing to them- he was talking on and on- it was like he was trying to sing with me. He is really starting to watch Laekin and smiles at her. Laekin is growing in her love for him and will not go to bed without kissing him goodnight. They took a bath together the other night and she loved trying to wash his hair and rinse it over and over with a cup. So cute. It is so fun watching them together and I can imagine that it will just get better!

Elfyourself

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Dicso Wheelers

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My not-so-little peanut anymore...

The smiles are here!

Cheeks

My friend just asked me the other day- "Where did Micah get those cheeks?".
Here is the answer- this is me (Jen) when I was 3 months old.

Present.

Today was kind of a blah day. One of those days that you wish you could do over. I was home all day and preoccupied by things I needed/wanted to do: get my online Christmas shopping done, return phone calls, make appointments, make my to-do list, take a shower, and some other time-sucking things. My kidos were wanting me and I was not "present" for them today. As Laekin and I sat down for dinner I realized what my day had entailed as she told me a couple times "Mom- look over this way" wanting me to look at her, make eye contact with her, be present. Micah needed me too today... and was tired of me picking him up and then setting him down. He was finally content tonight as he layed in my arms as I rocked him to sleep.

After dinner I finally shut everything else out and bathed them, read "Just The Way You Are" by Max Lucado, and held them. As I read Max Lucado's book it was a good reminder to me to slow down and spend quality time with my kids. The book is about 5 orphan kids that get wonderful news that a king is going to adopt them. They all desire to please the king and they work really hard on their talents. They each have a different talent- wisdom, creativity, carving wood, and singing. One of the girls has a difficult time knowing and finding her talent and she goes to her brothers and sisters asking them to teach her a talent but none have the time for her. She on the other hand spends time in the town talking with people, taking care of animals, and just being there for people. One day she meets a man that comes into the town and she helps him take care of his donkey. As they talk and get to know each other the girl finds out that he is the king. He has come to adopt the 5 children, but 4 of them turned him away as he sought their time. They were too busy "working" on their talents. But the girl with "no talent" was there to listen to him. She was the one that was present and gave the king the best talent she had which was her time and he loved her "just the way she was." This book spoke to me tonight in a few ways. God desires us- He seeks after us-He wants our time. My children reminded me of this Truth today as they sought after me and I was "too busy"-they just wanted my time. I am grateful that God's mercies are new every morning and I look forward to a new day and another chance to be PRESENT.

1 Month!

Micah is one month old today. We are having lots of fun with him. He is Mr. Chill Baby and loves to snuggle. Here are some pics (don't look too close... he is going through the fun baby acne stage).



MICAH (above)

LAEKIN - thought we'd show you Laekin's 1-month picture too!

Halloween

Laekin's Medley

Laekin has been a bit of singer lately. In the car she is always asking for "church music" and once it's on, she says "youder! youder!" (louder) and tries to sing along. On this video she gives you a medley of her bedtime songs.



For those who need an interpretation:
Nighty night, yes its time to go night night. Mama loves you too, daddy loves you to..
Twinkle star how we know why...
wheels on the bus round and round all through town, move on back! move on back!

Bro & Sis

So far we think that Laekin is a big fan of her brother. She calls him her "baby brother" most of the time or she chants "Mi-cah Mi-cah" (that she picked up from daddy). Here are a few pics... that's all for now... too tired to write much more.




Laekin holding Micah's hand

My Son

Little Micah is already over a week old. We are taking it all in every day and enjoying having a son. I continue to be so grateful for the gift of pregnancy and childbirth. Though pregnancy and childbirth can be long, uncomfortable, and painful, I am humbled that God gives us moms the experience of birthing our children into this world. My birth with Micah was so beautiful and greater than I would have imagined. I was able to labor in the tub and give birth in the water. Micah was born at a birth center in Whittier with the incredible support of my husband Jeremy and midwife BJ Snell.

Micah James

Our little guy was born on October 8th at 2:49am. He weighed 7 lbs. 15 oz. (just under 8 lb. like mama was hoping) and measured 21 inches in length. Here our some pictures of our cutie.





1st Dodger game with dad

Is today the day?

Well today is my "due date". We are all ready to meet our little boy and trying to be patient in the waiting. I thought for sure second baby would come before my due date but apparently not. I should know better! We will keep you all updated.

In the meantime- a shout out to 3 of my friends that have birthdays today. Happy birthday to Kelly (my great friend since 4th grade), Trish (my past co-worker) and Megan! I hope you all have a wonderful day and we will see if our son would like to share his birthday with you! Love ya!

40 weeks

"Nastics"

Laekin and mommy just finished a month long "Mommy and Me" gymnastics session. Throughout the month, Laekin was talking about "nastics" and attempting somersaults in the living room. She has also been teaching her favorite stuffed animal, Curious George, a few routines. She tells him "hands down George", "somersault", "good job George". It's pretty funny. Here are a couple of videos from last week.

Bittersweet...

We await with excitement to welcome our son into our family within the next couple of weeks. I think that Laekin is realizing that it is coming soon as she has been helping me wash his clothes and get all the "baby" stuff ready. She picks up his clothes and says "so cute...baby brother." I had her feel my belly the other day and she felt him move- then a couple hours later she saw my bare belly (as he was moving) and pointed to my tummy and said "baby brother moving!" I asked her yesterday when her brother was coming and she said "soon." So fun. I cannot wait for her to meet him and love on him.

It is also somewhat of a bittersweet time as our lives are about to change a lot. It will never be the 3 of us again and we are taking in all the time that we have together these last few days. It is similar to when Jeremy and I had Laekin and we realized that it would not be the 2 of us anymore. Yes bittersweet. God blesses our lives with these "little people" that impact us deeply- more than we could ever imagine. I am so grateful.

I love these pictures that my friend took while at Taco Tuesday the other day. It encapsulates my thoughts.

Last day of Summer

We had a great BBQ and picnic together with some friends last Sunday. It was the last day of summer... always a sad day for me- i love the summer, but we had a good time at the park with some yummy food and fun! Here are the pics!

Love and Hate

Here are the pics from the good days with Laekin and her cousin Silas- the days that they loved each other! These two could be hugging and kissing one minute and then pushing each others buttons the next. It was great to have so much time together this summer to spend with my sis and her family.

Happy Birthday Girlie!

Today our Laekin Joy turns 2! I can't believe that 2 years have gone by already... but then when I really think about it it seems like Laekin has been a part of our lives for a lot longer.

Happy Birthday Laekin- Thank you for being you, for keeping us running after you, for making us laugh, and for all your hugs and kisses. It is an honor to be your mommy. Love you peanut.

Too much fun with PhotoBooth

This is what we have been doing in our spare time. It makes us laugh way too hard (as you can tell from the last picture)!