Fall is coming....

One of the events that marks the end of summer is the Colorado Springs Balloon Classic over Labor Day weekend. We made it again this year making it our 3rd annual and Jillian's first time.

Jillian and me when we arrived right before 6:00am. Jillian has such a sweet smile in this picture, we love it!

Jacinda loves to play in the dirt now, so she was perfectly happy to sit in Daddy's lap and play during the lulls in the balloons. There was a breeze that held some of the balloons back. They were not allowing new pilots to go and sending the seasoned pilots at their own discretion. Some literally blew away! ha ha

Jillian finally saw a balloon that was overhead.

In other news, Jacinda is POTTY TRAINED!!! Woohoo!

We just finally told her that there were no more diapers and if she stayed dry for a day I would take her to pick out her very own big girl panties. She picked Ni Hao, Kai Lan, one of her new favorite shows. Which means we're all learning Chinese now! haha

And, Kim is getting married in 1 1/2 weeks! This was at one of her bridal showers. Kim with Mom, Grandma and Bethany. We are so excited for Kim and Bethany and so happy to welcome Bruce to the family!

Stay tuned for wedding photos....

4 Months Old!

Jillian is now 4 months old! Wow, where did the time go? She is changing so much right now. She is so sweet and cuddly, I love it!!

Jacinda nursing her baby. They are no longer bottle fed! haha

Awww...

Smiley!

So happy!

Reading her book, she loves it already!

Jacinda playing hide and seek. We found her!

Sharing a flavor ice.

Enjoying some time outside in the exersaucer.

What a face! She cracks me up!

Sisters watching Backyardigans together.

Jillian was so excited to play in the Jumperoo! She really likes looking around now.

Trip to the Royal Gorge

Sweet Girls

First Tooth at 3 mo old!! Pretty good photo catching her dimple too.

Our trip to the Royal Gorge was very hot, but very memorable.

Jacinda loved the carousel and the little train. That's all she talked about the rest of the day.

Daddy and Jacinda on the train.

The girls

On the carousel

Running to catch up to Mommy who was just trying to get Jillian out of the breeze. It would take her breath away, so she did not like being on the bridge. Jacinda LOVED the bridge.

Looking down at the river looking for rafters. She'll tell you she saw fish.

Part of our group standing by the Colorado flag and sign... coincidentally everyone that was in our car.

Jillian at the start of the day when she was still happy.

Jacinda wanted to give her story:

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Jillian had her checkup last week and she now weighs 11lb 6.5 oz and is 25" long. She is in the 99% for height and 51% for her weight. So, she's tall and skinny! When Jacinda was 25" long, she was 4 months old and weighed 15 lbs, so yes, Jillian is about opposite of Jacinda. Cracks me up! Jillian is now laughing and holding her head up really well as you'll see in the pictures. She rolls to her side and I think if she got a little more momentum she would roll to her tummy. She's already cutting her first two bottom teeth, silly girl! They should pop through any day now. Can't believe that she'll be 3 months old next week. Wow, time flies!

Jacinda is being just as cute and busy as ever! She remembers lines and songs from her favorite shows, so when she's playing we'll often here her saying them to her baby dolls or blocks or whatever. Super cute! Her imagination really amazes us. But, she is now having nightmares which I read is very common for her age. She woke up the other night screaming, "Swiper's coming, Swiper's coming." It's cute and sad at the same time. Hard to be serious and comfort her when it's just so darn cute! Sometimes when you ask her questions she'll put her finger to her lips and say, "Hmm... what can it be."

Update.. finally!

So, I got on here 3 weeks ago to update and forgot to publish it and add pics, so below is what I wrote. I also had trouble uploading more than 1 photo at a time, so you get a slideshow this time. :) So, Jillian is now 10 weeks old and we have her 2 mo well baby check up on Thursday, so I am excited to see what she weighs and how long she is. She seems to be cutting her first tooth! You can see the white under her gum and feel the little lump. This morning she was drooling a lot, so not sure if that was from the tooth or just a coincidence. She smiles all the time now and even has a little laugh starting. The last few days she hasn't wanted to sleep more than 30 min at a time, which is hard when she'll take 4-5 hr naps on most days, especially at KidsLife. So... it is a miracle when I actually get stuff done around here.

Jacinda has had a bad cough since Thursday, so we're at home again today, which is how I have time to update the blog. The worse she's been was on Friday in which she had a fever and watery eyes and runny nose on top of the cough. I don't like when she's sick but it is worse in the summer when it is 84 degrees in the house and she's burning up and just wants to be held. :(

Hmm... what else have we been up to? Not much, just caring for a newborn and trying to figure out how to handle a 2 1/2 yr old that is acting out towards her mommy. I think it comes down to just trying to get some attention from me and so I think this weekend Jacinda and I will need to spend some quality time together. I think she has had a hard time adjusting to mommy not being able to read to her and put her to bed. Poor girl.

Jillian is now already 7 weeks old and I have started back to work. I have mixed feelings. It's good to get back into a schedule again and Jacinda gets to see her friends, but yet hard because Jillian is just still so young. Last week we had Jillian's final appointment with our midwife and that is always sad. Jillian is now 10lbs 7oz and is 23 3/4" long. So far it seems like Jillian may be opposite of Jacinda and outgrow her clothes length-wise instead of width, but we'll see! She is a very good sleeper so far and I love it because Jacinda wasn't. Jillian has been sleeping from about 10:30pm to 5:30am straight pretty consistently, so I just hope that it doesn't change, unless of course it is an even longer stretch. She also has started smiling which is such a precious gift, I can't wait to hear her first laugh! She seems to be a little more verbal than Jacinda was, which is just so adorable. I love her little coos!

At 4 days old, Jillian had her first chiropractic adjustment.

April 24, Jillian's first bath. The first photo is courtesy of Jacinda Mason, she is quite the photographer!

Not a bath person yet...

My first faux-hawk!

To get Jacinda to leave Jillian's pacifier alone I let her have all the ones we had when Jacinda was a baby and never liked. Yes, folks, that is 3 pacifiers!!

Jillian meeting Great-Grandma. She also got to meet her Great-Uncle Gary that same day too.

Jacinda taking care of her little sister. She wanted Jillian to cuddle with her on the couch... for a minute anyway. :)

Announcing Jillian Makayla!

So, I should be sleeping since Jillian is asleep and Jeff and Jacinda ran to the store, but alas, I have decided to update my blog for you and tell you my birth story.

April 17, 2010-
I woke up at 2:15 am with contractions that were pretty strong. I started timing them and they were about 7 minutes apart. Jacinda happened to stir about that time and so Jeff went to check on her and when he came back I let him know the news! So, he got back up and started re-inflating the birthing pool and then started filling it. We continued to time the contractions for another hour and they started coming a little faster. At 4:30am I decided we'd better call our midwife, Laura, and then my mom to have her be ready to come pick up Jacinda. Laura arrived a little after 5:30am and started prepping. My mom arrived at about 6:30am to get Jacinda. A little later my contractions were getting even more intense and closer together so I moved to the birthing pool. About 4 contractions later I started pushing and within about 4-5 pushes our little Jillian was born at 7:17am weighing 8lbs 13.5 oz, 21 3/4" long. She was born "in the caul" as they say, which means she was born in the amniotic sac. Since I was group strep B positive, I believe that this was God's way to protect her from infection. In the hospital they start antibiotics right away, so there is a risk at home even though we did have other measures to prevent infection. It was really amazing to see how gentle she came into the world, being in her water born into water. Being born in the caul happens only about 1 in 80,000 birhts and is very rare mostly because doctors will break the water rather than letting this happen. She didn't even cry for about 5-10 minutes after birth, she just looked around. The placenta was another amazing thing to see as you could clearly see the "tree of life." We love joking with the midwife about how it is amazing that Jillian wasn't poisoned and is thriving even though she was born in the caul and we let her cord blood pulse all the way through. I am just so blessed to have had another wonderful birth. My recovery has been amazing and I feel great!

Jillian has been a very good baby so far, but was a challenge for the first few days as she wasn't waking up by herself to nurse. I say a challenge just because I had a hard time waking for nighttime feedings too. She seems to have quite a little temper, but overall pretty laid-back when she's awake. Jacinda loves her little sister and is doing very well with the transition. We've only had a few jealous moments, but once she has some mommy time then she's back to being herself. The second morning Jacinda and Jeff were out in the living room and when Jillian cried I heard Jacinda say, "That's my little sister. She's crying. She needs Mommy's milk." I about cried! It made me feel so much better about the transition to come.

Minutes after birth

Nursing before we even got out of the pool.

The "Tree of Life"

Getting her footprints for her home birth certificate

Jacinda meeting Jillian

Loving on her little sister

Helping to calm Jillian, "sshhhhh..."

Zonked out in the swing

Mommy and her girls

Morning of Day 3... we were a bit more tired that morning, so Jacinda was running around a little more independently than normal. lol

Daddy and Jacinda cuddling on the couch watching a show.

After a few days of gorgeous weather, we ended up waking up to snow on April 23.

Jacinda LOVES being outside, so Daddy didn't get any rest from playing even when it snowed.

Some pics from before Jillian

Jacinda watching some videos of herself on mommy's phone.

Jacinda filling her wheel barrow with leaves.
Easter after egg hunt #1

Egg hunt #2.

With cousins Hayley and Christian