Jake's Debut!

Jakob Reid Carter

August 14, 2011 at 23:07

3100g or 6lbs 13oz

50cm or 19.7 inches

Boblingen Hospital, Stuttgart Germany

Here's the short version of his arrival:

My water broke at home for once, as if trying to give Jake a hint that it was time to move on. But he was pretty content where he was. For the next 16 hours, my contractions weren’t strong, regular, or showing progress and he refused to drop into position. He finally made his debut 21 hours later with the help of oxytocin and a "walking epidural" that for all intents and purposes did no good in my book.

All in all, our foray into the German hospital system was a success and we were pleased with our experience.

He is simply perfect – the calmest, sweetest little guy! There aren't enough hours in the day for him to get all the adoring attention each person in our family has to give!

I apologize that my brain, our life since coming home from the hospital, and computer issues have conspired against me giving updates since Jake was born. Once school gets underway and my mom has to return home, I'll share more. Promise!

Sibling Summer

When I woke up this morning. Usually they're sprawled around the room separately wrapped in their own blankets but today they were snuggled together watching cartoons.

After school got out at the end of June and we took our trip to Provence the following week, I feel like July whizzed by in a blur of appointments and running errands with a few play dates. Then nesting hit me with something fierce. Point is, I haven't arranged many outings or play dates for the kids this summer, just let them be. Does anyone else feel like the busy-ness of the school year steals time away from their kids' friendships with each other? I do. Easton would enter the van each day after school worn out and wanting some solitude while McKay and Morgan vied for his attention.

Our recent weeks seem to float by in a blur of the kids playing board games, building Snap Circuits, helping with and learning new chores, dressing up in costumes for make believe, watching movies, riding bikes, jumping on the trampoline (heavenly!), visiting the library and so forth. It hasn't been very warm this summer so we've only been to the pool twice! In Virginia, the boys were so little and we were at the pool at least 2-3 times per week for my sanity to break up the day. But this summer has been different.

It's a golden time. The kids are still so young and close enough in age to be good playmates. Innocent. I often feel like I'm clinging to it. As they snuggled on their dad's "man chair" this morning, I saw Easton turn his head and give Morgan a kiss on the cheek just because. A few minutes later she nuzzled him and he gave her a hug. I'm holding on to those moments this summer.

Not to worry, they're normal. Two hours later and every other minute someone is screaming, fighting, or whining for something to eat. Hello real life, so nice of you to drop by.

Soon the baby will arrive, my mom will be here to help for a couple weeks and then school and soccer will start. For now, we'll just soak up what we have like last night. We played Ticket to Ride a couple times with the boys and snacked on brownies and popcorn until 10pm because we could. I sure love my little life and the people I get to share it with!

Nesting Validation

The past few weeks have seen our house in various levels of chaotic upheaval while I am nesting. As I uploaded pictures of Easton's teeth tonight and saw the past couple weeks' worth of pictures and videos, I was part horrified and part validated. Horrified at the state the house was immortalized in and validated because it's been largely remedied. Phew!

I've been on a mission to rearrange each room to suite our growing family in this little three bedroom apartment in the land of no closets. Ryan did his part by keeping his eye on the yard sale site, getting us some great deals on pieces that worked better for our spaces, and hefting or assembling as my need arose. Poor guy! It always took me a few days to figure out the arrangement I wanted so he was always on call. And the kids? They've had to patiently endure being cooped up with a distracted mom who is ever grateful for that trampoline saving her sanity and theirs! We finally got some sun this week so they could turn on a sprinkler and bounce away.

But back to the video evidence - it's real and not pretty! There's one of McKay after a bath in his underwear and red cape running the length of the apartment to show us how his cape flies behind him because he's so fast. Morgan had to join in on that one, of course. Or the boys flying their paper airplanes around the living room. But there was odd stuff in their way the entire time. You can imagine how those real nice sweeps of the entire apartment in all it's disheveled glory distracted me to the core as I watched! A desk or wardrobe in the hallway obstructing either the bathroom or the laundry room; a dresser or two on the patio waiting to be carted off or painted; a couple large book cases in the entry awaiting final resting places; a stack of papers awaiting action or filing; and always two to four loads of laundry on or near the couch waiting for me to sit down that evening to fold.

Most days I've exhausted myself puttering around finding large and small places for all our things or getting rid of them. It's felt good to be reminded of our progress tonight, but Martha Stewart or any design star won't come knocking on my door any time soon!

Toothless

Easton's dangling tooth and it's neighbor finally let go tonight! They've been torturing Ryan for months now - yes, I said RYAN! Just about every day Ryan would ask Easton if he could pull the dangler and it would end in either Easton's quick retreat or a holler of fear as Ryan would wiggle it for him.

The neighbor, not the dangler, came out first. Somehow knocked free as Easton and McKay were bouncing on the trampoline. He doesn't know how it came out, just that it did!

Hey you Guys!

Just kidding, but the gaps on either side of the dangler just did me in! Couldn't pass up the Goonies reference!

Ryan and I kept trying to convince him to let dad pull the dangler but Easton was too scared of it hurting. Then I saw him in Morgan's room throwing a stuffed bear over and over. When I asked what he was doing (because I thought he was trying to hit the ceiling fan and really make the bear fly), he said he was hitting himself with the bear to knock the tooth out. Morgan knocked one of his teeth out before this way on accident. Apparently hitting himself was preferred to dad's method.

After a search in vain for string while I got dinner on the table and much cajoling, Easton let Ryan "wiggle" the dangler once more. Out came the dangler!

So how much does the tooth fairy pay these days? I laughed out loud at Ryan's suggestion because it was over the top. But now I feel cheap and deflated. Oh what to do?!