James and his sisters

I love this one of Joanna.  Natalie looks spaced out and James is crying, but Joanna just looks so happy and big-sisterish!

James’ first ride in the Moby.

We need to do some practicing with our sling and Moby wrap.  I need to get the hang of it again so James feels comfy.

The girls LOVE to hold their brother!  Natalie is doing the signs for Twinkle, Twinkle here.  They also love to sing to him.

Again, looks like just another car seat picture, but it James’ first Sola Gratia rehearsal!

He did sooooooo good!  He slept for most of it, woke up and ate, then snuggled for the rest.  Perfect!

Here he is Friday morning posing with the girls’ pumpkins from school.

Yesterday Natalie crawled up on the couch at noon (I thought to watch Ellen with me) and fell asleep!

James was already crashed in my arms so I had two sleeping babies up there with me.  It was pretty blissful.  Joanna took this picture for us.  After a little while, I leaned back and caught a few zzzzs myself.  I’m pretty sure Natalie ended up getting about an hour and half of sleep.  At some point she even readjusted and slept some on the Boppy.  Oh, she’s so cute!

Thursday at School

Joanna got to wear a costume to preschool on Thursday to go trick-or-treating and have a Halloween party!  Gran picked the girls up these ladybug costumes this week. 

She was so excited!  I put her hair in pigtails and added black pipe cleaners for an antennae look.

 

Then just for fun we added her rain boots!

Natalie must be helping her with the wings here.  I think Joanna’s favorite part were her spots.  :)

We saw Anna the cat inside the school!

And her sister Emma – another ladybug!

Poor Natalie couldn’t wear a costume to school, but she was happy just to get her picture made. :)

Baby James was there too.  So far, he’s been very good about falling asleep in the car seat and staying asleep!

I snuck into the office to pass out candy with the staff.  I saw Anna…

And my Joanna

Isn’t she just precious?!

I also saw Paul David the football player, but I didn’t get his face.

And our friend Aiden!

It is always so cute to see the kiddos trick-or-treat through the office.  This was Joanna’s first year!

I snapped this one when I was picking up the girls at the end of the day.  Usually Natalie is just waking up when we get there, but she was still crashed this time! 

She was also COVERED in dirt from outside.  Apparently she had a lot of fun rolling around in the dirt and rocks on the playground.  Whatever kid!

When we got home and I realized there really was sand in EVERY crevice of Natalie, it was time for a bath.  :)  My mom even commented that the girls smelled bad!  Playing is hard work!

All Clean!

James hasn’t had a ton of baths yet, but he had one earlier this week, and he did pretty well!  Here he is modeling his super cute doggie bathrobe.  :)

And how about a doggie onesie now that he’s all clean!  He’s also wearing some Baby Legs – love ‘em!

Oh, those feet!!

Isn’t he a handsome boy?!

If I remember correctly, it was not too long after this that he had explosive poo in my lap.  Bye bye doggie onesie.  :)

Tooth Owie

Even though this looks like just another picture of James in the car seat, it’s really his first trip to the dentist!

Fortunately it wasn’t for him.  :)  I started having pretty serious tooth pain over the weekend, and Tuesday morning I about woke up in tears.  I called my dentist and they got me in after we dropped the girls off at school.  My mom came with and held/showed off James while I got worked on.  The pain is from a tooth that I got a crown on last year.  We were hoping that the pain was a result of the bite being off, so Dr. Bozzo adjusted it and took an x-ray.  The x-ray didn’t show an abscess, but he said that sometimes pain starts first before the abscess will show up on the x-ray.  He told me the pain would either get better (because the adjustment worked) or it would get worse (because it was abscessed) and I’d need a root canal.

It didn’t get better, and I’ve been on antibiotics and pain meds since Tuesday night.  Unfortunately they’re not really helping either.  The pain meds take the edge off and allow me to function, but I’m thinking it may not be an abscess if the antibiotics haven’t made the pain go away yet.

I took a picture of my daily meds.  I can’t believe everything I’m taking!

Just today I decided to stop taking the pain pills.  They were making me very woozy and I’m a little worried they were affecting James as well.  I switched back to plain ‘ol Motrin, and it seems to be working about the same.  I have an appointment with the root canal guy on Tuesday morning.  Even though I’m not sure that’s actually what the problem is, he’ll be able to tell.  I’m really really NOT looking forward to having or paying for a root canal.  My biggest concern is that I’m not going to be able to nurse James while I have the anesthesia in my system.  Needless to say that made me cry for a while this morning.  But then I sucked it up, got out the ol’ breast pump, and started prepping!  Hopefully he and I will adjust to a day off from breastfeeding and then adjust back with no trouble.

Whatever it is, I hope this doctor finds the source of my pain and fixes it!  A mommy with tooth pain is no fun for anyone!  I am thankful this doctor was able to see me next week.  The other one I got a referral to couldn’t see me for two weeks!  If the antibiotic was working, I could wait that long, but I can’t be in pain for two weeks, nor can I take pain meds that long!  You know that scene in Castaway where Tom Hanks’ character knocks his tooth out with a rock?  I get it.  Thankfully I shouldn’t have to go to those extreme measures.  :)

I Love my Mommy soooooo much!

See?  Look at his shirt!

Another diaper shot.  I’m enjoying using the prefolds, but I am also looking forward to when he’s big enough to use some of the one size pockets.

Yesterday the girls were gone – Christiana had taken Joanna for a fun afternoon, and Matt and Natalie went to Walmart – so James and I had a date outside to take the laundry off the line.

 

Maybe he’s going to be serious like his big sister Joanna.

Sleepy girls loving on James this morning.

And this was a total accident – I happened to be snapping a picture just as he gave me one of his dreamy smiles.  LOVE IT!!

I love how he has his arms crossed under his chin – oh he is so cute!

I decided at the last minute that James and I would try to join Matt and the girls at church this morning.  We left later and came back earlier. 

We sat in the way back so I could nurse the baby.  I was really hoping he’d crash in the car or in the sling when we got there, but…nope.  He was wide awake and grumpy about the Sanctuary.  I’m thinking it was a little too bright and cold in there for him (and me too!).

I didn’t want the flash to go off, but I just love the image of Joanna standing up and peering over the pews to look at the choir sing.

This afternoon Grandma came over to meet Mr. James!

She brought some oreos and some fried okra.  That, in case you were wondering, is a delightful combo for an afternoon snack!

(I took a picture of Joanna too, but the stinker had nasty mashed up okra in her mouth so I’m not posting it.)

Thanks for coming to visit us Grandma, and we can’t wait until the next enchilada night!

Not a great picture, but I had to snap this one of James’ latest “message tee.”

Ha!

Big Sisters

Baby James “played” in his crib for a little while today, listening to music and watching his mobile.  The girls spent a lot of time gazing at him.

 

Natalie wanted me to take a picture of her.  So I did.  Isn’t she precious?

James is 5 days old today.  We had a busy, fun day, and he and I even got some alone time in the house.  I am plum tuckered out and as soon as I finish my Cheerios, I’m going to bed.  :)  I have a feeling Mr. James will be up for a snack pretty soon though.

Rorschach anyone?

Though I’ve written about it a lot, this may be actually be the first appearance of poo on the blog.  It’s clean though.  :)

I took diapers outside this morning to dry/sun, and I snapped a picture of the stained prefolds.  I don’t know if the sun will have much effect on the stains, but I wanted a “before” to compare. 

Looking at it, I’ve decided that Dr. James has created his own little Rorschach test for you… poop blots. 

What do you see?

Most of Fridays Pictures are to Come!

We were very excited to have a real live photographer come to the house Friday morning for some newborn snuggly pictures.  I didn’t do this with the girls, and it’s something I’ve really wanted to do.  So we did.  Our friend Rachel Robinson from church is the wife of our youth pastor and also a great photographer who loves taking pictures of babies!  She spent the morning taking pictures of my sweet family.  So I didn’t take many pictures today.  I’m so excited to see what she got!

First thing today James simply had to have a bath!  With our crazy day yesterday, it just didn’t fit in, but he was a little grimy and ready for that FIRST BATH at home!

These pictures are pretty bad because it was dark, but you get the idea!

I couldn’t take all the sad crying, so he got his binky and I held him for most of the bath.  He doesn’t use the bink much, but he really can go to town sucking!

The official “I’m clean” shot with Mommy.  I have these from the girls’ first baths too.  :)

We had such a wonderful morning having Rachel take pictures.  Sadly, Joanna’s bandage was very prominent and very icky-looking, but I’m not dwelling!  The girls loved having their pictures made, and so did James, he just doesn’t know it yet.

This afternoon we headed outside for some bubbles!  Mamma gave the girls a new set, and they loved blowing bubbles outside. 

James and I joined them.  It’s so muggy and warm outside, but I guess that actually made it pretty perfect weather for a newborn.  It was pretty cloudy, too.

Isn’t this outfit hilarous?!  It’s from Aunt Mindy.

The back says “Daddy’s Little Monster.”  So true!  :)

And from just a few minutes ago, his tiny precious feet.

Man I love me some baby feet!

Well, now I’m caught up on the blog (makes me happy!) so I’m hoping to be able to pop in and make quick posts of our exciting times without thinking about what I haven’t posted yet.  It’s hard to blog out of order… feels like cheating. :)

Today was Matt’s last “work day” off from work.  Back when we were talking about it, it felt like he was going to have so much time off – it has FLOWN by!  He still has PTO available, so we’re planning on him using some in the coming weeks for when there are well check-ups and sick kiddos and other crazyness.  My mom is off next week, so I’m very thankful for that!  I’m pretty sure she’s also planning to hang out with us some, not just sit and home and call me and tell me she’s off work.  :)  I’ve gotta be honest: I can tell you right now I’m not ready to be home alone with two kids yet.  And thankfully my husband will be home every morning and every evening and all night.  Surely I can manage those few measly hours in-between, right?  I have actually felt pretty good today.  My back (and some other areas) are really killing me, but I know they’re continue to get better.  I was pretty active today, and even though I’m exhausted, I think that helped me feel better.  I have got to get my iron levels up and my tummy muscles working – then I think I will start to feel like my old self (or some version of it anyway!)

James is up, hopefully just for a little snack, and then we can all go to bed!

Night all.