Welcome Andrew David Storer!!

Our friends Micah and Kim had their baby boy on June 26th at 7:30pm. He is a cutie with tons of hair! Kim was awesome and delivered him all natural! What a trooper! Andy and Jack are exactly 3 weeks apart in age so it's going to be so much fun seeing the boys grow up together. Congratulations Micah and Kim!!!

Fun in the sun!

On Friday I aired up Owen's Elephant pool that Grandma Martin bought him. He went in it last year, but he was too young to really play in it yet. This year is a totally different story. Owen loves the water in general. When I got it all aired up I put water in it from the hose and I thought we would wait for it to warm up before Owen went in it. No, no, no...Owen decided he should play it in right then. I had to hurry up and strip him down before he went in with all his clothes on. He was so cute. I kept his diaper on since I don't have any of those Little Swimmers diapers yet and by the time he was done play the thing weight 10lbs since it soaked up so much water. Owen had tons of fun though and Jack was just chillin' out in the Moby Wrap fast asleep.

Bath Time!

On Thursday we decided to give Jack his first bath at home. Even though his umbi had fallen off a few days before we still wanted to wait a couple more days to make sure it was really all healed up. We used the little bathtub that we bathed Owen in when he was a baby. Jack did really good, he didn't cry at all. Owen screamed during his first bath. But that's Jack, he's just a very mellow guy all around. Since Michael and I were focusing on Jack we didn't want Owen to feel left out so we put up the new Johnny Jump Up so Owen could play in it. He had a great time!

My Boys!

I love this Old Navy outfit that Jack is wearing. It says, "Caution: Extremely Cute"!
It's amazing at how quickly you forget how small they start out. I remember looking at Owen a few days before Jack was born and thinking how tiny he was. He is still small for his age, but now in comparison to Jack he's HUGE!!!
This is the first time Owen actually got to hold Jack. He wouldn't put his arms around him, but Jack is leaning on Owen's legs.

Into EVERYTHING!

Owen is such a messer. He really is getting into everything now. In fact today he just started climbing up on the couch all by himself. Oh boy!!! This last week I decided it would be fun to have apples dipped in caramel for a snack. It turned out to be more like Owen dipped in caramel. Owen has also decided that he should use Jack's bouncy chair more than Jack does. He loves to turn the music on and off. At least it keeps him busy while I'm feeding Jack.

Sleepy Boy

Last Monday Owen wasn't feeling very good. We think his I teeth are trying to come in. My Mom came over and we ran out and did some errands. On our way home Owen just couldn't stay awake any longer and he just conked out. This was one of the first times he's fallen asleep in his car seat since we turned it to face forward.

Super Soaker

Owen had so much fun soaking himself!

Recovery

This time around it's taking me SO much longer to recover from my C-Section. I remember with Owen I felt pretty great after just a week. Jack is almost 3 weeks old and I'm still hurting quite a bit. The other day I drove with my mom to Sam's Club and I was dying by the time I got there. She ended up driving home. When Michael got home he told me I wasn't suppose to drive for 6 weeks or so. I thought I could once I was off my super strong pain meds. It's amazing at how you really do use your stomach muscles when you drive. Seems weird!!! Today is my first day with no friends or family here to help me, that is until Michael gets home tonight. It's been so great having the help, but I am excited to develop a routine for just me, Owen and Jack.

My Real Life

I saw this on someone else's blog and thought it would be fun to share...

My frig...stocked with food that friends and people from church brought over and the weird looking gallon of milk that Costco has now. Does anyone else hate the way that new container is shaped???

My sink...no I didn't not clean it before hand knowing I would be posting these pictures. I'm weird...I actually really enjoy doing dishes! I try to do them everyday after breakfast. I think it's something about the organization of it all.
My shoes...organized in our awesome walk-in closet that is in our master bathroom. I so enjoyed putting this closet together when I was pregnant with Owen.
My laundry room (closet)...the washer and dryer that came with the house were as old as the house and I refused to do laundry in them so Michael let me go out and buy these front loaders at Sears.
My toliet...in the master bathroom. You can totally tell we have kids since there are nursing pads on the back of the toliet, a safety latch so Owen can't splash around and if you look real close you can see that we actually had to remove the handle part that you flush the toliet with because Owen was flushing it over and over and over. No worries though we can still flush it it just takes a little more work though.

Bye Bye Umbi

Last night Jack's umbi finally fell off. It had been hanging on by a thread for the last couple of days. I've was a little worried that it was taking so long to fall off because Owen's fell off when he was exactly one week old and Jack is over 2 weeks old now. My how time flies!

Pa's Birthday Party

Tonight we were at a friends house celebrating my Dad's birthday. It was nice to get out and see everyone. Owen of course was into everything having a good old time. Pa showed him how to splash in the fountain that was in the backyard. We even roasted some little smokies and marshmallows around the fire. Owen kept saying, "Hot"! Jack slept away most of the day like he normal does and we finally had a family picture taken with all 4 of us.

All Finished

The fence is all finished now! Michael was able to finish staining it a couple days ago. Today he laid down rocks around the front and back side and it looks really nice. Now the next step is to go buy topsoil for the yard.

Brotherly Love

Owen loves his baby Jack!

Smiler

He is just precious!

Stair Master

Owen loves to practice the skills he learns over and over and over. Sorry about the neck ache you'll get from watching this.

Nicknames

We are big about nicknames in our family. We had a ton for Owen and still do. The most common one is still monkey though. My newest thing is to add a word after monkey and it doesn't matter what it is...my new favorite is monkey noodle. Who knows how I come up with this stuff it just comes out.

So far our nicknames for Jack are...Jack Jack (If you've seen The Incredibles this makes sense to you) - Jack Attack - Jack Man. Jack Man is my personal favorite. Owen doesn't know how to say Jack yet, but he did learn how to say baby. It sounds like...BAA BEE. It's his first new word in a really long time as most of the time he just says UUUUUUUUUUU!!!!

Father's Day

Father's Day ended up being more like Owen Day instead. We slept in until 9:15 which was so awesome! After breakfast we got ready and went out shopping. I was so pleased to get out of the house for something other than Dr's appointments. We to Target and got a few necessities, Toys R Us to get Owen a couple toys and Babies R Us to get diapers. We also went out to Applebee's for lunch. Owen's lunch was pretty odd - half a Nutri Grain bar, one onion ring, half a piece of bacon and about 20 french fries.

Owen took a nap when we got home and then we played with his new toys. He got squirt guns and a bubble gun to play with outside and then he got a whole Home Depot Power Tool set to play with inside. We had so much fun playing with him! It was a great Father's Day!





Can you see Jack? This is my new Moby Wrap I bought. It completely contains him. He loved it! He slept in there for over an hour. In fact I ended up getting too hot and had to take him out. He wasn't too happy about that!

Close Ups

I love that sweet face of his!

Mommy's Milk

On Saturday I decided to give my breasts a break and pump for Jack instead of nurse. Jack didn't drink all the milk I pumped so I set the bottle on my nightstand. The last time Owen had a bottle was the night Jack was born so it's still fresh in his mind. A little while later Owen came in the room and he grabbed that bottle so fast and started drinking the milk. I was sure he would get a gross look on his face since Mommy's milk is not the same as cow's milk, but nope...he just kept on drinking. He drank a whole ounce! Michael and I were cracking up!

Brown Bear

We have a Hope Chest in our spare bedroom that my parents bought for me back when I was in high school. It holds a bunch of old toys of mine like my Cabbage Patch Kids, Glo Worm, Light Bright and my Brown Bear. I think I got this bear for my 2nd or 3rd birthday. I opened up the chest the other day in hopes of distracting Owen for a few minutes so I could be on the computer. He immediately went for my brown bear and carried it around hugging and kissing it for quite a while. It was cute to see him play with something that I cherished so much as a child!

Pancakes

Owen LOVES pancakes! He can actually eat three 6 inch pancakes for breakfast. The funny thing is no matter how many wipes you use or how long you scrub his face with a washcloth he will smell like maple syrup all day if you don't give him a bath afterwards.

Hmmmmm... so many decisions!!!

Should I poop now and eat later or eat now and poop later!

"Jack" Time

We have been trying to let Owen touch and love Jack as much as he wants. We don't want Jack to become a "no no". We want Owen to be involved with Jack. We don't force him, but when he shows interest in Jack we either let him hold him or we'll hold Jack and let Owen snuggle him. Yesterday Owen tried pulling Jack out of his bassinet so I got him out so Owen could have some "Jack" time. He just kept flopping all around Jack on the bed playing with Daddy's phone and then stopping to kiss him and then pat him on the head or point to his eyes. Later that night Jack was in the swing in the dining room and Owen had got behind the swing and was REALLY patting Jack's head, but Jack just made a face and I told Owen to be gentle and he stopped and all was fine.

Second Time Around

It amazes me at how relaxed I am this time around. With Owen I was always paranoid that he was going to stop breathing if I left the room or he was going to starve if I didn't feed him exactly 3 hours after his last feeding. This time it's so different. Like right now Jack is in the other room on our bed fast asleep and I'm sure he's just fine. Sometimes he eats after 3 hours sometimes after 4. It's no big deal. I also remember thinking I should put Owen down because I don't want him to be spoiled with me holding him all the time. What was I thinking!!!! I love snuggling Jack and having him sleep on my chest. This is time is too short and too precious to miss out on those things. Now don't think that I didn't hold Owen and snuggle him I did, but I remember just being a little more strict about it than I am with Jack. It really is nice taking it easy and just enjoying this time.

First Well Baby Check-Up

On Wednesday Jack had his first check-up with his pediatrician. When we left the hospital his weight had gone from 8.06lbs down to 7lbs 11oz. It's totally normal for babies to lose weight in the beginning and really Jack didn't lose very much at all. At his appointment they weighted him and he had gone up to 7lbs 15oz. He's already in the 56% for weight so he's definitely schooling his big brother in the weight area. They also measured him and he is 19 1/4 inches long now. You might remember he was 18 1/4 inches long at birth so growing 1 inch in 6 days seems highly unlikely. The nurse actually measured Jack twice to be sure she was correct. We just figure that the nurse in the OR who measured Jack when he first came out didn't stretch him enough because there is NO WAY he could have grown an inch already.

Bedrest

So last night I asked Michael to look at my incision and see if it looked okay. It had been hurting a little more than normal on the left side. He checked it out and said it looked like it had a ridge where the skin might have pulled apart a little. So I called the nurse and she said I should come in and be checked out. So we drove into Seattle this morning for my appointment. Jack of course cried the entire drive in because I had the audacity to pump and feed him so he didn't get his snuggle time with Mom. He was upset and was letting us know it. The doctor who performed my C-Section checked me out and said that it didn't tear open, but it did look like an abrasion so she wants me to put Neosporin on it and she wrote me another prescription for pain meds since I'm almost out. When we got home I pretty much decided to put myself on bed rest for the day to heal since I need to take advantage of Michael being home this week. It was actually really nice. Jack and I took a nap together after lunch and then just hung out watching TV. Michael and Owen ate both breakfast and lunch together in the dining room without me today and I was missing them so Michael got Owen's portable highchair and brought it upstairs so we could eat dinner together as a family. Some friends from church brought over dinner for us that was super good. I ate while Jack was asleep on my chest. Owen later took the above picture of us with Daddy's help of course. Later on I couldn't figure out why I kept smelling french onion smell. I picked up Jack and smelled him and I swear it was his breath. I thought that I must have eaten something with french onions in it and it flavored my milk and it was his breath that smelled, however, when I went to feed Jack I noticed something stuck in the folds of his neck and it was a little onion. While I was eating dinner a piece of it must have fallen on my shirt and since he was sleeping on my chest he must have wiggled down and got it stuck in his neck. Too funny!

Blowing Kisses

We have been trying to get Owen to blow kisses for a while now and he just didn't get it. Most of the time he brings his hand to his mouth and slaps his face while making sounds. The other day he got closer to actually blowing a kiss. Now he brings his hand to his mouth and makes a MMMM sounds like he's kissing. He still doesn't getting the blowing part of it.

So thankful

I really had no idea how Owen would handle becoming a big brother at such a young age. He is such a precious boy and he is so loving towards us, but I didn't know if that would translate into being a lovely sibling because he would have to share us. He has totally amazed me in every way. He is so kind towards Jack. He wants to comfort him when he cries and he loves to snuggle him. We are so very lucky to blessed with two amazingly beautiful baby boys!

I see you!!!!

Nice scratch huh!!! Poor Jack scratched himself while I was changing his diaper. Later on I tried to clip his nails so it wouldn't happen again and his little fingernails started bleeding. Poor guy! Michael suggested that I try an emery board instead and that worked pretty good. For the most part he is swaddled so his little hands don't have access to mutilate his face.

Sleeping with Daddy

At the hospital Jack was sleeping in bed with me most of the time. He would actually let us put him in his bassinet which is something that Owen wouldn't stand for. Since we've been home he's been alternating sleeping with either me or Daddy. It's funny how you become so much more relaxed the second time around. When Owen was born I was so freaked out I was going to roll on him that sleeping with him involved me not getting much sleep. Last night we tried something new with Jack since I don't really want him to become too used to sleeping with us. I put the boppy in his bassinet and placed him in the middle so he would be snuggled and elevated a little. This is how he slept last night and he loved it.

Snuggling Jack

This is our first morning home as a family of 4!

Army Boy!

Aunt Kim and Uncle Ryan got these pants for Owen a couple weeks ago. I had been wanting to get Owen camo pants a while back, but I couldn't find just the right ones. These are so cute and totally versatile. They have a button so we can roll up the pant legs and he can wear them now and then when he gets taller we unbutton it and he can still wear them. Too cool! Owen loves trying on Daddy's shoes so Daddy helped him out and got these adorable pictures in the process. He is so darn cute!!!