Marshall at 2 Weeks

2 1/2 to be exact, but today was Marshall's 2 week doctor's visit. I was very anxious to go and see just how much he's grown. Since I breastfed Jack, I'm pretty comfortable with the concept of if they're having plenty of dirty and wet diapers then you know they're getting enough milk and believe me, this kid is going through the diapers! I still like the reassurance of a weight check. The night before we left the hospital, Marshall was down to 6 lbs 14 oz. Here are his birth stats v/s today:

At birth (38 weeks):
7 lbs 4 oz
20 1/2 in

Today (2 weeks, 4 days):
8 lbs 12 oz
21 in

We are so pleased that everything looks great and he doesn't have to go back until 2 months for his first round of shots. Now, for comparison purposes, here are Jack's birth and 2 week stats:

At birth (39 weeks, 3 days):
8 lbs 5 oz
20 1/2 in

2 weeks, 1 day:
9 lbs 4 oz
21 1/2 in

Looks like he's following in big brother's footsteps.

Speaking of big brother, Jack went along for the second round of the H1N1 shot. I couldn't have been prouder that my little boy didn't even flinch when she stuck him! Mom and Dad are back in town to help and Mom went in with the boys and me to see the doctor to help with Jack. The entire time Dr. Ellis was checking out Marshall, Jack was saying "He needs to do me now." At one point when the doctor was talking to me about Marshall, Jack was making as much noise as possible. He has also started doing this at home when I'm shushing Marshall to calm him.

Here's my latest favorite Marshall quote from Jack. Their pediatrician is in Collierville, so after the appointment, we went to the Collierville mall. One of us stayed in the car with Marshall at all times, so we didn't have to get him out in the weather and Mom was the only one to go into the first store. Jack did not like this at all and I kept telling him the next stop was the store with balls (a sporting goods store), so he was overly anxious to get to it. I was feeding Marshall and Jack kept saying he wanted to go to the store with balls. I told him I had to finish feeding Marshall first and he said "Marshall is driving me trazy (crazy)!" Marshall wasn't making a peep, but Jack couldn't stand having to wait on baby brother.

My Bama Babies

My family is ECSTATIC about Bama's thrashing of the Gators and berth to the national championship game. Both boys dressed the part for the game, so I had to get a picture of them together. Marshall's Bama sleeper was the one Jack wore for his birth announcements and Marshall is filling it out pretty well. Yesterday was his official due date, by the way. I'll be anxious to see how Marshall matches up to his big brother as he grows up. My latest favorite Marshall quote from Jack came this afternoon when I told him I had to wash my hands before doing something with him. "Marshall pee on you?" he asked. That kid doesn't miss a beat!

Just a few of my latest favorites

Took these last night of the kids. So weird saying the kids in plural. Jack truly loves Marshall, but he terrifies me around him. He's so rough and tumble and that behavior doesn't change no matter how close his baby brother is. He is holding him more and actually trying to pick him up more than I would like. I also think Jack is having a few Mommy issues. We have had family here helping every day but 2 since Marshall was born and he is 2 weeks old today, so Jack isn't lacking attention. Apparently, he's just lacking Mommy's attention. Yesterday I wanted to take a hot bath and read a book, just something to unwind. My mom was here, so I thought he would be entertained by her and Marshall was sleeping. Well, Jack decided to join me for my bath, not in the tub, but in the bathroom. Evidently, since we wash him, he thinks we need help being washed in the tub as well and pretty much the whole bath was spent with him dumping buckets of water on me to rinse me off. He also "washed" my hair and then "dried" it when I was out of the tub. At first I was annoyed, but then when I realized how much he thought he was helping and enjoying every minute of it, I put my annoyances aside. This morning he woke up at 4 am screaming my name. I was so out of it that I woke up confused as to which child was crying and finally it dawned on me that since the voice was actually saying "Mommy", it had to be Jack. When I asked him what was wrong, he said "I no find my mommy!", so it must have been a nightmare and I let him join us in the bed. He really is a big helper though. He's already learned so much of Marshall's routine, or I guess my routine with Marshall. When I change his diaper, he pulls a chair up to watch and hands me the diaper rash cream, Vaseline for his circumcision and alcohol swabs for his umbilical cord. When I feed him, he makes sure I have a burp cloth.

As far as sleep goes, I'm not getting a lot. Marshall's days and nights get mixed up. He's waking up for more periods of time each day, but when it comes time to go to bed, he's wide awake and fussy when put in the bassinet. The kid never cries otherwise. Well, other than when he's hungry and I'm choosing to change his diaper before feeding him. So this morning at 4 am, I had Marshall on my chest, Jack between Travis and I, and both dogs somewhere under the covers. It's humorous really to think about, but honestly, as tired as I was, I was in Heaven.

Marshall's Story

Some people are interested in labor stories. Some are not. If you are not, then skip this post. No gory details included, just a timeline of the crazy day that our second born arrived. Emily was here visiting and we started our day at Target finishing up my Christmas shopping before she left town. Travis was keeping Jack, so I also stopped by a yard sale on my way home and then as Travis puts it, went crazy cleaning on the house. I had been couped up in the house with a sick kid all week long and I was nesting like a mad woman!

At 4:40 while Jack was still napping, I finally sat down and told Travis to check his watch because I was having a contraction. Nothing painful, but still, I knew what it was. 6 minutes later, another one came. We continued this pattern until 5 when I called my mom, who luckily, was shopping only an hour away in Jackson with my sister. I told her to stay put until I figured out if I was really in labor and by 6, she was on her way.

The first truly painful contraction came when we were walking into the hospital. We checked in at 7:43 and by the time I was checked for the first time I was fully effaced, dilated to 7 and in excruciating pain. Relief didn't arrive in the form of an epidural until 8:45, 15 minutes later the doctor broke my water and I started pushing and 15 minutes later at 9:15 pm Marshall arrived. I was only in labor for 4 1/2 hours and I cringe to think what would've happened if my water had broke at home. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to get all of the antibiotics for the Group B Strep, so Marshall had to be observed for 48 hours, but all is well.

We're doing great at home. Life with 2 boys is already exhausting, but fortunately, our families have been here to help and we're making it. Jack is a great big brother. He constantly says "I want to touch him." and then proceeds to poke him in the face. The other night, he held his hand during his bath, helped wash his hair and then put lotion on his chest. Life is so sweet right now.

Christmas Traditions, New and Old

Mom wanted to have some activities to keep Jack busy while we were in the hospital, so she bought him a gingerbread house. They made it the night I had Jack and Emily helped him finish it up a week later. I think it might be a new tradition for the kids because Jack really enjoyed it.

Before my family left Thanksgiving weekend, we brought down the Christmas decorations and Mom decorated our house for Christmas. I think it's the first year Jack has really gotten into it. He loved putting ornaments on the tree and occasionally we would find him taking them off as well. Now every night he'll point out his and Marshall's ornaments and still takes off 2 each night - his Baby's 1st Christmas Jingle Buddy (which we have to shake while he sings Jingle Bells) and his new "I'm The Big Brother" ornament.

For Jack's first Christmas, Travis's parents got him the neatest gift - Elf on the Shelf. This is the first year we thought he was old enough to grasp the concept, so it's the first year we got it out and introduced it to him. It comes with a book that tells the story behind the elf and a small elf doll. The story says that the elves go out to all the houses at Thanksgiving to spend time with the kids and see if they are good or bad. Every night they go back to report to Santa and return every morning in a different spot in the house. The kids can't touch the elf and he can only talk to Santa. He leaves on Christmas night and doesn't return until the following Thanksgiving. At the end of the story, you name your elf. Jack wanted to name his elf Jack Todd, but we went with J.T. for short. The first day, it worked great. He jumped out of bed, went to find J.T., pottied without complaint, ate breakfast without being remind, and got dressed without a fuss. Now each morning, we have to find J.T. first thing. Here's pictures of Jack the first morning when he found the elf.

The last Christmas that the Jostes family lived in Memphis the first time, we gave them an Advent calendar filled with small prizes. A friend of mine from Paris used to do this exchange with another family and I always thought it was the neatest idea. The next year, the Jostes' returned the calendar to us filled with prizes, we returned it to them last year and once again, it's our year to receive. It's all about the kids, just as Christmas should be, so Jack is really enjoying his daily prizes!

This picture actually has nothing to do with the post, but I love it, so I had to include it.

Santa's Workshop

On Saturday, we decided Jack needed to get out of the house, so Mom and Dad took him to Bass Pro to Santa's workshop. This is how they brought him home to me - in a coonskin cap with a bucket of cheese puffs bigger than Marshall. Dad has joked FOREVER about buying Jack that cap and I guess Mom finally gave in and let him. While they were there, Jack got hungry and I forgot to pack him snacks. The cheese puffs were the only thing they could find that he wanted, so what Jack wants, Jack gets.

Bass Pro has this great program going on called Santa's workshop. Every weekend Santa's elves do crafts with the kids and they have other activities as well. Jack made a Santa ornament out of a bobber, shot a turkey, colored and who knows what else, but the kid had a ball. This weekend they're going back to make reindeer antlers.

Happy Thanksgiving!

When we lived on Mud Island, neither Travis nor I were off the day after Thanksgiving. One year we decided to stay home and have a feast of our own and the Jostes' joined us. It became a tradition for the two years we all lived on the Island. We fried a turkey and believe it or not, the first year Liz was about to pop with Kate and the second year we announced our pregnancy with Jack. When we learned that Marshall was due the week after Thanksgiving, we decided to continue that tradition this year and once again, one of us was supposed to be pregnant. Marshall obviously had other plans. Here are some pictures of this year's feast. Mom and Dad were down here helping with the baby, so they joined in as well as Emily. I have to say, it might have been the best Thanksgiving ever. Jack and Kate have gotten to where they play so well together. Here they are playing Play-Doh.

And then they cruised around the house in the cars. Jack kept saying "Bye, Mommy! I'm going to Target to get diapers!" It doesn't take long for our little guy to catch onto his baby brother's needs!

Here's Daddy and his boys.

Here's Craig in the kitchen. Typical picture of Craig. I wish I had narration to go with it.

Maddie really liked my parents, especially Dad. At one point, she followed him into the bathroom!

When I caught a glimpse of this, I had to take a picture. It isn't the best picture of Jack, but I couldn't miss the moment. The more time that goes by, the more comfortable Jack gets with Marshall - a little too comfortable at times. Still, it brings tears to my eyes to see him talking to him and petting him like this.

This picture is for Mom, who hates the swing. I remember the first day we had Jack at home and Travis put him in the swing on the lowest setting. Mom was practically shaking saying he looked like he was on a carnival ride. Travis put Marshall in the swing on Thanksgiving and Mom slowly got out of her seat and went to sit next to the swing. When we weren't watching, she was stopping it. Everyone got a kick out of it.

Here are a few family shots from the night.