1 Week Old!

I can't believe it's already been a week since I looked like this, and I can't believe how much I've returned back to my normal self just within one week. I am so thankful the birth went well and I am recovering much faster than I did with Mallory.

From above to here. Wow.

I had already packed the camera so I didn't get a going home picture, but here is a going to the store the next day picture.

Here are some pictures from Jared's first week.

Here is his 1 week old photo. Daddy was so proud of this outfit.

Overall, Jared was very nice to us the first week. He pretty much slept 20 hours of each day and was really only awake to eat and get his diaper changed. He was content sleeping pretty much anywhere and hardly made a peep. Week 2 has begun now and he is awake more often and is starting to get more personality and more picky with what he wants. I knew not to get fooled because Mallory was the same way for the first two weeks, and well, you all know we just got her sleeping through the night. Now that I am done with school for the summer, I can work on birth announcements, returning phone calls, and thank you cards - so just in case you thought I forgot, I didn't, it should be coming soon. Have a great week!

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Our Family

We haven't really had any opportunities to get good family photos, but here is the one we do have.

Here is Daddy holding Jared just after he was born.

Unfortunately when you have a water birth, the first pictures with Mom are not appropriate for posting, so here is one with Mommy after we got home. I don't know why the coloring of Jared is so red - it's the mystery I've been trying to figure out with the camera.

Last, here is the necklace Eric got me. It is two adults and two children with Jared and Mallory's birthstones in there. This was so thoughtful and I couldn't be more thankful for such an amazing husband and Dad for our kids.

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First Bath

We finally gave Jared a long overdue first bath at home. We did it on the back porch because I thought since it was nice and humid he'd scream less since he wouldn't be cold.

He did enjoy the heat.

But he did not enjoy the bath.

Drying him off on the swing.

And content again.

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The Little Things

The first few days after birth are chaotic, but after that, you start to stare at your baby for many hours of the day and you notice ever bit of detail about them. In the first week, here are some of the many little things I've noticed about Jared.

1. He has the cutest dimples that I can't seem to capture on film. I am not sure where he genetically got these from, the mailman? It's the same thing with Mallory's tongue tie -a mystery I must say. I am so thankful Jared is not tongue-tied. It has made nursing so much less painful and easier.
2. He has the same little stork mark on the back of his neck where Mallory has one.
3. He has "alfalfa" hair that sticks up on the top of his head.
4. He has really long fingernails, fingers, and toes.
5. He has detached earlobes and the left one sticks up a little bit, especially when he gets really mad.
6. He has the skinniest little legs.
7. I know every baby has this, but their skin is just too soft not to mention it.
8. He has a hair colic right at his widow's peak (and a receding hairline that makes him look like a little old man sometimes).
9. He has peach fuzz all over his cheeks. So cute.
10. Most of all, he hates diaper changes. The rest of the time he is pretty content, but man he'll put up a fight when it comes to changing his diaper.

We also noticed this the other day, he has a tiny little bit of cradle cap, but it happens to be in the shape of a J - so it's a sign he was meant to be a Jared all along. It's hard to see in the picture, but I promise it's there.

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Mallory and her "Baby Brother"

Mallory is slowly adjusting to having Jared around. The concept of quiet doesn't exist in the world of a 2 year old. You don't realize how loud they are until you are trying to keep it at somewhat of a reasonable noise level. We finally have her to where she'll walk on her tippy toes so she doesn't sound like a heard of cows while walking on the hardwood floors. Luckily, Jared hasn't been phased by too much noise, but I can tell he is slowly becoming more sensitive to it.

The first week was rough for Mallory. She was not on board to the idea of sharing her nursies, her daddy, or her mommy. I try and think of how she is feeling and I can imagine it's similar to Eric coming home saying he now has a new wife and we are going to have to share him. I can see where this isn't all that exciting to her.

She wants to be picked up every time Jared is being held and has reverted to a stage of disobedience when it comes to listening. I have resorted to anticipating it and distracting her with a different activity because time outs don't seem to phase her - in fact she likes it because we have to put all of our attention into disciplining her. However, as we have started into week 2 she is doing much better, although she still does not like to share her Daddy. She is such a sensitive child that her feelings get hurt so easily, which makes it even harder.

On a more positive note, Mallory loves to hold and kiss Jared. She asks all day and night if she can hold him and anytime we are holding him she has to give kisses on the head and the nose. She loves all his different movements and noises -she thinks it is really funny when he has the hiccups and when he fills his diaper.

Everyone keeps asking if they look alike, here is a picture of Mallory and one of Jared, so you can decide.

Laughing at one of his many noises.

I was so proud of myself for this one.

Lots of kisses.

She does not like her picture taken, so it's hard to get good ones.

She likes to lay with baby brother, which often starts a little to close to/on his head.

More kisses (on the nose this time).

I am not sure what the fascination is with the nose. She also has one for picking his hair, which we have had to be very on top of so she doesn't pull it out.

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Jump-O-Lene

Just before Jared was born I ordered this bounce pit for Mallory. We were going to order a trampoline but I didn't want to move it in the future or be outside when Mallory wanted to use it. It arrived a day after we got home from the hospital. I thought her bouncing in it for a couple of hours each night would wear her out, but it seems to just energize her more.

Her latest thing is jumping to the Justin Bieber song "Baby." She loves bouncing and singing along. She gets most of the lyrics, and there is a rap part in the song that she has started singing. We were in the kitchen last night and she was singing the song, then Eric and I just started laughing when she started rapping since she normally just stops after the chorus. I don't know if I should be ashamed or proud of my 2 year old rapping.

Here is a link to the video of the song in case you haven't heard it. When it gets to the part, just picture Mallory singing "when I was 13, I had my first love."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kffacxfA7G4

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Visit from Grandma

For the past few weeks we have the help of Eric's mom which has been really nice. Mallory just loves going for walks, cooking, and playing with Grandma. Grandma even went to Bounce U with her. Grandma tried taking her to daycare a couple of times but both times returned home - Mallory knew exactly what she needed to do to spend more time with Grandma :)

Every night she wanted to sleep with Grandma, which lasted all of about 10 minutes, then she'd be back in our room ready to go to bed. Never fail though, the first thing she would do when she woke up in the morning was "go see Grandma." Luckily, while we were in the hospital, between Grandma and Ryan, and the Barney DVD, she was able to spend her first nights sleeping away from Mom and Dad.

Grandma kept her so busy she often was wiped out come nap time.

Grandma even got her bike out we got her for Christmas to give it a try.
She started off just sitting on it.

Then ended up pushing it.

Grandma holding Jared.

Although the time seemed chaotic, we really couldn't have done it without her help. I don't think any of us would have eaten a meal and we wouldn't have gotten any laundry or other household chores done. We were so thankful to have her here.

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Jared Tyler Holway

Jared Tyler Holway arrived July 6th, 2010 at 12:01am. He was 8lbs 9oz and 20.5 inches long.

Could he be any cuter?

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Birth Story

Some people like to hear the details and others do not. If you are one of those that would rather not know, I would stop reading now.

On Monday July 5th I headed upstairs to finish up my final for my organizational management class.

1:30pm I started getting some contractions so I started timing them while I was writing my paper. At this point they were every 3-5 minutes and they were pretty strong. Since I was already 3cm and 50% effaced at my appointment a week ago and had had 6 hours of contractions last Thursday, I thought it was best to go in and get checked just so we wouldn't call it too close if they were actual labor contractions. We put Mallory down for a nap, threw a few things into the car and headed out to the hospital since my doctor's office was closed due to the holiday.

4:00pm We arrived at the hospital and I was 5cm dilated and 75% effaced. At this point we called Lisa, Eric's sister, to head down because you cannot leave the hospital once you are 5cm dilated. At this point the contractions were still every 4 minutes apart but were not very strong. They got my IV hooked up since I had to have antibiotics since I tested positive for Strep B.

7:00pm The contractions were still every 4 minutes but losing strength. I was still talking, walking, and laughing through them. I was complaining more about my IV hurting than the contractions but they couldn't take it out because I had to have a second dose of antibiotics around 8pm. The nurse checked me and I was 7 cm and 80% effaced. This was very odd to me because with Mallory from 5cm on the contractions were intense, so to be 7cm without any pain was making wonder if it was possible to have a painless birth (but don't you worry, it did get painful). The baby was still posterior at this point so the nurse suggested I do a lot of leaning on a birthing ball to get him to rotate.

9:00pm We went for a long walk to see if we could get the contractions to get a bit stronger but we had no such luck. I did however have about 3o minutes of nausea, tiredness, and shakiness. It was if I had progressed to the second stage of labor but without the contractions.

9:30pm The nurse checked me and I hadn't made any progress since 7pm so she called the doctor in to break my water.

9:50 The doctor broke my water. It was clear so luckily no meconium from the baby. He immediately dropped down and the contractions kicked into full gear. At this point I got into the bathtub and labored through the contractions leaning forward until I got the urge to push. At this point they leaned me up against Eric so they would be able to see the baby when he came out. During the first push, the doctor checked and I wasn't fully dilated, so he manually dilated me the last little bit. This is extremely painful if you ever have to have it done. After the next contraction I got a little speech from the doctor about how I wasn't letting myself push and I was preventing the baby from coming out (not really sure where that came from, but whatever). I continued doing exactly what I was doing after about 5 or 6 more pushes the baby's head was out. The doctor was really adamant about getting the shoulder's out right away so he made me push without a contraction, but at that point I was ready for him to be out so I gave one last push and he was out. There was not a clock in the bathroom so I don't know the exact timing of everything, but at 12:01 he was born (and no I did not wait on the pushing just so I could win the baby guessing pool).

12:01am They put the baby up on my chest and we waited for the cord to stop pulsating before Lisa cut it. They sent the baby off into the room with Eric while they helped me out into the bed to deliver the placenta. They also push on your stomach to get everything out and this is the second most painful part of the labor. The best news of all is that I didn't have any tearing, which I can only attribute to the water birth because he was a much bigger baby than Mallory was. Overall, 2 hours of pain for this little main was worth it. I couldn't have asked for a better birthing experience.

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Belly Cast

This past week I got the great idea to make a belly cast. I was kind of hoping by ordering it that the baby would come just so I'd have to send it back, but no such luck. I didn't know how much longer I'd be pregnant so Eric, being the wonderful husband he is, took the time to cast me during the middle of finals (which are now over! yay!). It's quite the process, but here is about 5 steps into it, just before the painting.

I honestly thought I'd never get around to painting it because I thought we'd have a newborn, but since he still hasn't arrived, I took the time to paint it today. There is still some information missing, but it won't take long to add it once he's born. I also still have to drill holes to put ribbon in to hang it, but overall for my first belly cast painting I don't think it turned out too bad. It also took much longer than I ever wanted to spend doing it.


Mallory wanted to paint too. We both were a mess when it was all over.

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38 weeks!

Yes, I'm still pregnant and yes, I'm about to "pop." I must just look huge because people can't help but stare.

As of last Monday I was 3cm dilated and 50% effaced. With those stats I really thought I would have had him by now, but I guess he is just too comfy in there (not sure how because I can't imagine there is much room in there these days). I had 6 hours of good contractions the other night and was pretty disappointed they stopped, so we'll see on Tuesday if I have made any progress.

I've been taking long walks and eating pineapple, but that is about all I've tried of the methods to induce labor. I'm not desperate enough to try the Castor or primrose oils yet. If I'm still pregnant a few weeks from now I may reconsider. It is just so amazing to me that you can spend one pregnancy doing everything you can to prevent labor and the next you can't induce it if you tried.

Although I'm uncomfortable, have to take back the Fourth of July outfit I bought him, and ready to meet the little guy, I am still enjoying being the only one to really know him and feel him right now. I am also really trying to make the most of everyday with Mallory as I know things are about to change for her too. I will say though, she is really excited and will be such a great helper.

She wanted to be in this picture just like Mom.

This is officially the last maternity shirt I own that is big enough to cover my belly.

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Goofy Kid

I will admit I am a sucker for letting Mallory get things at the store (within reason). It makes shopping so much easier if she is holding something she can get. This was .99 cents and it kept her content as she carried it around for hours until we could go outside and use it.

I asked her to draw a circle and she did...I didn't know she could draw on demand yet.

And this was from the other night. She was "hiding."

I found her!

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37 Weeks!

Well, there isn't much more to report this week other than a lot of contractions and pelvic pain and very little progress. At most I'm 2cm dilated and 50% effaced (and I think he just upped it a little bit from last week to make me feel better). I have now officially been pregnant 7 days longer than I was with Mallory. Perhaps this is an early sign of patience??? Blood pressure was still low (117/58), heartbeat still sounded great, and still lots of movement. I am now 43 inches around the biggest part of my belly, which seems crazy to be over 3 and 1/2 feet around. I have also gained 33lbs so far and my feet are not very happy about it (although I am thankful I still haven't started to swell yet).

Despite trying every trick in the book to help labor along, we haven't had any luck. I even took Mallory to the bouncy place to try and bounce him out, took a walk, and did lots of squats. We'll find out tomorrow if any progress has been made, but I am not hopeful. Eric has finals this week so as much as I want him to come out, it would probably be better if he just stayed put until at least Friday.

This picture doesn't really do justice to how big I'm getting, but none of my maternity clothes fit anymore and I'm too cheap to go buy more for the home stretch (and by stretch that can be taken literally too because my skin is officially stretching everywhere!) I know I am big because I can't go anywhere without some dramatic reaction from someone going "Oh my gosh you are about to pop!" For some reason people feel the need to say something. Some advice to those of you around pregnant people, silence is ok. Here's to another week of roasting the little man.

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Mallory's Latest Things

Mallory has been making us laugh so much lately. I swear the way the mind of a 2 year old works is pretty amazing. Despite thinking they can fit in tiny places and end up stuck, they are much smarter than people give them credit for.

Lately we've been playing with Roscoe a lot. She likes to throw it over the railing and make him run all the way down the stairs to get it.

She had a water bottle and a snack and when Roscoe brought his toy back up he went for her food. She thought about it for a minute and then did this so he couldn't get it. I thought it was pretty clever of her.

She is really into things that involve find motor skills. She loves stacking. Her other favorite things include doing alphabet and shapes flashcards, and she loves naming everything by color now that she has mastered those.

This is her new favorite bath time toy.

All of sudden we were playing and she stopped and said "take my picture." She stood up against the wall like I do when I take my pregnancy belly photos. I guess after 37 weeks of seeing me do it she decided that is how you get your picture taken.

This one doesn't need any words.

And most of all she loves to talk. She puts "Sooo" in many of her sentences these days. For example she'll say "I'm really hungry, sooo...I need a snack." A couple of funny things she has said are "I don't think so," and "Back off Roscoe."

And last of all, how do you respond to this? Mom: "Mallory, Don't eat your boogers, they are dirt and bugs." Mallory: "But I like it, it tastes good."

Have a great week!

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