Caleb 6 weeks and Allison 2 years

Growing like a weed!

The kids playing together :)

What the church sent when Caleb was born

Caleb will be 10 weeks old this week and Allison is growing every day! She learns new words and is forming sentences. She makes me laugh all the time. Today she sang "Jesus Loves Me" all day, but the only line she actually knows is, "Fo Bible" (for the Bible tells me so) She is such a hoot! Here are a few pictures of my little weeds.

Jason getting a turn to feed Caleb

She loves her brother, I usually have to ask her to stop kissing on him!

We went to the cabin for the 4th and Allison didn't hate the sand! That's a first for her.

Here she is in her Donkey pool. Back story-she went to Tennessee with Jason's parents and there was a donkey next door to where they stayed. She talked about it and how loud it was. When we were at Wal mart she got to choose which float she wanted and out of the hippo, penguin, and donkey she smiled and picked the donkey. On the front of the package was someone playing in the pool so she knew that's what it was for. So she called it Donkey Pool. She asked to play in it for days and finally here at the lake she got to!

I've taken up bread baking, it's so easy and super yummy!!

We have a two year old!!

Allison's birthday was exactly a month after Caleb was born. We had family over to the house, grilled hot dogs and hamburgers and had a great time. Allison didn't know what a party was, but she sure had fun!

Blowing bubbles in her birthday outfit

Cute Shoes

She loves balloons!

Opening presents

Her favorite present, a Bike!!

Caleb's arrival

Well I figured I'd better get this written down before any more time goes by or I won't remember how it all went down. (trying to do it 8 1/2 weeks after the fact is going to be challenging enough!) And of course as we speak the children are waking up. sigh.

April 24 came and went. (due dates are so disappointing!) I took off from school on the 20th and Benjamin was my sub. I spent that week with Allison enjoying her and trying to get a few last minute things done.

Tuesday night we went to Life Group since it would hopefully be the last time for the semester. We went home afterwards and went to bed. I woke up around 2am with contractions. I had a contraction timer on my phone so I started using it. They were about 10 min apart. They continued for about an hour. I was hot and then cold so I went downstairs on the couch. (I didn't wake up Jason at this point since I wasn't sure if it was real labor or not and contractions weren't too strong) The contractions spread out to about one every twenty minutes. I slept downstairs for a while but then went upstairs until morning. When Jason woke up I told him I had been having contractions. So he called in to work (I mean called my Dad) and stayed home with me on Wednesday. I continued having contractions every twenty minutes or so all day long. I was nauseous, lethargic, and just ready to get the show on the road! Jason finished decorating the house (since it had been on our list of things to do for months and all of a sudden there was a real deadline!) and was on hand in case things got going. A few little things happened that said labor was continuing, but it was still dragging. Allison went over to my parents for the night. We let the midwife know what was going on and made sure things were set up for Caleb's arrival.

We went to bed Wednesday night a little disappointed. At around 2am the contractions started getting stronger and a little closer. I went down stairs and with a renewed sense of energy I started walking around the house trying to move things along. Jason joined me downstairs and he napped while I worked. :) Around 4am we called Ann (our midwife) to let her know we were close to needing her help. I was having a bit of a hard time deciding if I wanted them to come yet. I was afraid that things would be like last time and I didn't want them sitting here all day. But we decided at 5am to have them come to our house. Ann, her apprentice and Cindy all arrived around 6am. Contractions were still about 10min apart but they were definitely stronger and I needed some encouragement to get through them.

Ann checked my and said I was at a 5, but then said she thought I was only at a 3. NOT what I wanted to hear. So I got in the bathtub for a little bit, then labored on our bed, then decided to get on the birthing ball. The contractions started double peaking but were still 6-7 minutes apart. I was getting really worried at this point. I was having a harder time staying ahead of the contractions and I starting wondering how far it was to the hospital and thinking that maybe it wasn't so bad last time. I didn't know how much longer I could do this! Cindy started giving me some hip resistance through some of the contractions and I started to feel Caleb move down to a different part of my pelvis.

Cindy suggested I try and empty my bladder so I went to the bathroom. I had a contraction and my water broke! (all over her new shoes, sorry Cindy! :) ) Right away I had another contraction and the urge to push came. Ann came and checked me and I was complete! I said, "Praise Jesus!" (she also said there was a bit of a cervical lip but it disappeared when she checked me. This was also something I was afraid of since this is what prevented Allison from coming last time) I was sooo relieved and we made our way back to our bed.

My water broke around 9:15am and Caleb was born at 9:43am. I only pushed for 15 minutes!! It was fantastic. (well maybe not in the middle of it but now that's how I remember it) It didn't really feel fantastic but the fact that I pushed him out in 3 contractions and it was at home in our bed and it was over was fantastic. Jason got to catch him, although he almost didn't make it! Once his head was out and they said one more push and I would be done I wasn't stopping for anything! But since I was holding Jason's hand he had to run around the bed and get in the middle of them to catch Caleb. But he made it and then handed our son to me. I was so overwhelmed and relieved.

The first thing I noticed were his eyelashes, they were so long, just like his dad! After about 5 minutes he decided he was hungry so I fed him while Jason called the family. Mom, Dad, and Allison headed over right away to come see our newest little Jacobs. Jason cut the cord after the placenta was delivered. Everything happened so fast they hadn't gotten my herbs ready for my bath so we relaxed with Caleb and Cindy got my bath ready. Allison was very excited to meet her little brother and started pointing out all his little features. It was so cute.

I got in the bath with Caleb but he didn't seem to like it very much, he just wanted to eat! So I fed him and relaxed in the bath. Allison was running around showing everyone Caleb's room and playing with the birthing ball. She was so excited. After the bath Ann did the newborn exam checking all his little parts and joints. He was perfect! Jason dressed him and we all relaxed.

I know on that day I said how hard it all was, but I truly believe that part of natural childbirth are the hormones that help you forget all the pain and toil so you are willing to do it all again. Today I do remember it being tough, but the memories are mostly good and while I'm not ready to have another child just yet, I will do it again at home in a heartbeat.

Our little addition

Here's a few pictures of what's been going on here over the last week...

Caleb Jason Jacobs

Well everyone, he is here! Caleb finally came to meet us April 29th at 9:43 am. He weighed 7lbs 12 oz and was 20 1/4 in. He was born at home and we are loving all the comfort that provides! Birth story to follow but here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure!

Deja vú

April 25th

So how is it that almost 2 years ago exactly I was posting about the same thing? Waiting on a dear little baby to enter this world and commenting on how the due date is coming and going. Sigh. Well Little Caleb seems to be following in his big sisters' footsteps already and making us wait to meet him! I was due on Saturday and today is Monday and we are no closer today than we were then. Well I guess technically that's not true, but physically there are not any real signs that things are really beginning. So with that, I guess I'll catch up on a few things (since it has been over 4 months since I have posted anything! oops)

Well life has been quite busy here at the Jacobs house. Speaking of we are loving the house we moved into in September, and this last week we have finally gotten a few projects done that we have been trying to do since we moved in! A friend of mine described life as Triage this last school year and I couldn't agree more. With me working full time (and with teaching that is like time and a half!) and trying to keep with with Allison, all while cooking sometimes and keeping the house from being totally dirty and messy all the time, I don't really have much time for decorating, or even finishing unpacking the "extra" things from boxes! But with the emminent arrival of our newest little one Jason and I have managed to get motivated and get some things crossed off our list.

We did some beautifying of the outside with Jason pulling up some shrubs in the back so we could have some flowers (I'm really disappointed I didn't get a before picture, man what a difference!) and setting up a gazebo for us to have some shade this summer. Allison loves to be outdoors and this way Caleb and I can join her without us all getting sunburned!

Our Summer Shade

The Flowers out back

Jason cutting down the arbor out front

As far as inside goes we finally got some things on the walls in our room and the big project was pulling together The Texas Room.

Curtains and things on the walls really make such a difference!

Now for Allison. The one thing I can say is she is definetely not a baby anymore! She is such a big girl. She loves to help do things, and recently she has taken to playing with her baby doll. She loves to change her diaper and put her in the baby highchair. I bought her a set to play with when Caleb get here that will let her do all the things that I will be doing with Caleb. It has a changing table, a pack and play, a bouncy seat, and even a carrier. Here are a few (ha!) photos-We also had our pictures taken just a few weeks ago so some of those are mixed in here too.

Blowing bubbles at Grammy's house

Look at those curls!

Sporting the boots

Taking care of her baby

36 weeks

Eating some yummy crawfish!

What follows are some family pictures we had taken by a local photographer. I absolutely love them and can't wait to get them hung up around the house.

Allison and her "cheese" face. She always says Cheese when you take her picture, but that doesn't necessarily mean that she will be looking at the camera or smiling when she says it, but we got lucky here!
Such a big girl! She loves parks and playgrounds and begs to play anytime she sees a McDonalds or Chick-fil-a. This is at the duck pond by my parents house.

Wearing daddy's boots

Riding Tony

Her hair is so long in the back!

All bundled up and ready to go on one of the many FREEZING cold days we had this winter.

Crazy snow in February

Sisters

Listening to the baby

Being smart

Well there is the update, I'll post again as soon as I have some pictures of our newest addition!