These Days...

An entry to remember how life is these days...

Mark and I:

 

Catching up on Sleep...Jake, is that comfortable?

 

 

Life at our house hold is kind of different these days. I’m working half days from home and half in the office, which is working out great. We put the kids (still weird to say kids) to bed around 11pm. Jacob stays asleep till about 2:30, at which point I feed him, put him back to be till 4:00, feed him again and place him back to bed till 5:00am. Jacob wakes up and it’s Marks turn to put him back to sleep so I can rest till I get up for work at 8am. Once I’m awake, Mark gets to sleep (or do what he'd like) till I leave at 12:30.  

 

Mark is trying to find ways to still keep his life as close to his pre-two kid life as possible, but it is proving very difficult due to sleep deprivation. He knows, if he does not keep to the schedule and decides to go to the gym at 8:30AM, that will mean a loss of three hours of his sleep time. And then he will have to be awake and alert from 1 till 5:30 when I get home from work.

 

Mark is getting a little taste of the ‘Stay at Home dad life’.

 

The other morning, I woke up around 6am to Jacob crying in the other room. I waited to hear what Mark would do. Mark speaking to Jacob, ‘Please go to sleep! We’ve been doing this for two hours now, WHY WON’T YOU SLEEP?!’ So, I got up to help him out. Picked up Jacob, walked around the house with him and then fed him. He fell asleep shortly after. Mark was not amused…but it made me feel needed J

 

Mark has been doing so well watching the kids in the afternoon. But I can tell it’s difficult for him. Since we are not used to being home so much, when both kids are sleeping, we are munching and watching TV. It has proven difficult on the waste line. Mark comments that he is becoming a fat house wife. Though it has given him a deeper perspective on what stay at home moms go through. He says he will never undermine stay at home moms ever again, because it is a lot of work! I love that he is having this opportunity.

 

Mark is used to being on the go all day. Now that he is finished with school, has two kids, I work and his job does not start until October, he finds himself bored out of his own will. I feel bad, but it is what we need right now till we move. This experience is teaching us how to adapt to change. Though it’s not what we want for the long run, it’s what we need now.

 

I'm however, just as paranoid as ever. The paranoia these days? SIDS. Two different friends of mine have friends whose less then 4 month olds died of SIDS...just this week alone! It makes me so sad to think of this happening to Jacob. Again, another thing out of my control. I don't remember worrying about this with Lily...but I am with Jacob! Why can't my mind just rest and stop worrying about the, 'what if's?'. Tiring!

I stress myself out, way too much. Which is why I need exercise. two more weeks till I can return to the gym. I CANNOT WAIT! I've also created my 'Run' playlist for me to start running again. My new goal? To complete a SPARTAN race in phoenix. I'm excited.

We are planning to go next week to Phoenix to scout apartments. We decided to find a large apartment versus home, and sign a short lease to make sure the job works out and we like the area we are living. We are aiming to live in either Gilbert or Chandler. Whichever has the better apartment. I'm sick to my stomach thinking about moving...not looking forward to leaving Tucson. We just need to pray it'll all work out for the best.

 

Lily:

 Lily is doing wonderful, as always. She is not able to attend the 2015-2016 PreK school year due to our move, so we bought a subscription to ABC Mouse. She is having a lot of fun with it. We are trying to wean her off of the pacifier, since it's socially frowned upon at age 4.

She has the craziest personality and is such a character. Lately she enjoys pretending she is Peppa Pig and will speak with a British accent, 'mummy'. She does very well! Must be the years of listening to her Ammas accent.

 

Jacob:

He is now 2 months old! He had his 2 month well baby appointment today. He is 48th percentile for height (23 in), 60th percentile for head circumference, and 16th percentile for weight! I thought I should be concerned about his weight (10.9lbs), but he has been keeping a steady pace. According to his doctor, Jacob is just a petite little guy. Never in a million years did I think my child would be considered petite....but looks like he's got the Vilugron genes like his uncles :) 

 

Jacob is so sweet. really...he is the sweetest little thing ever! He is now Cooing and smiling. We have frequent conversations, he loves to cuddle and he is so patient with his sister who likes to wake him every time he falls asleep. Mark is enjoying dressing him up in any sports onsies we have (which will never be enough) and takes a lot of pride in his boy. He is already watching football with his daddy. Kissing his bald little head is the highlight of my day when I get home from work. LOVE MY BOY!

 

Now lots of pictures of the lil' guy:

love that double chin smile!

The tube top pant suit, totally in. lol

love my cuddle bug

He was having a conversation with me, the conversation went from happy to serious and back to happy again.

Skinnest little legs...'but look how tall I am mommy!'

 

Name and Blessing for Baby Jacob

Sunday 8.9.2015, Jacob received his name and blessing for the records of the LDS church.
It was a lovely blessing, Mark did not seem as nervous this time around as he did with Lily's. Jacob did not cry and was wide awake. He wore Marks old blessing outfit and looked just like him when he was a baby. We had family come in from Utah (Aunt Michelle, Uncle Jay, Jamie and Zane) and Aunt Teresa and Roger came down from Mesa with Kara. In the prayer circle were my dad, Jonathan Gardner and Uncle Roger. Jay was invited to be in the circle, but they arrived after the blessing was finished.
Some of the things mentioned in the blessing, of course spiritual and physical safety, health, education and ability to be a strength to others during hardships and difficult times.
I am grateful for Mark and his willingness to serve our family as a priesthood holder within the LDS church, to be able to give our children a fathers blessing, a special prayer that hopefully the lord will always be with them through their lives to help guide them. I think in a way the blessing is not only for our children, but for us as parents to listen to and understand better what our role is in helping them to learn and grow in faith.

Love my Little Family!

...and we love our extended family too :)

not a fan of his new hat

HOW CUTE IS THIS FACE!!

Mark was excited to put Baby J in his Vikings onsie...Jake however, was not. lol!

side by side of Mark on his blessing day and Jacob on his.



 

Feeling Blessed

After 10 very long months, finally had the gallbladder removed. I'll be honest, as silly as it seems I did not believe I'd survive the surgery. First time ever having surgery, kind of had me freaked out. Then again i also did not believe I'd survive childbirth the first time and look at me now. The surgery went very fast. Checked in at 6:45am, was out going home by 8:30am. Mark did not even have to use the bottle I prepared for Jake. The general anesthesia worried me the most, as I've never been put under. They wheeled me into the surgery room, the anesthesiologist put an oxygen mask over my face and told me to take a few deep breaths. I only remember breathing in three times before someone was waking me telling me the surgery went well and I was in recovery. I was confused at first wondering why I was there and then remembered I had just had surgery. Such a bazar experience...and really wished the surgery had gone longer the 20 minutes, cause I did not want to wake up from the nap! So far I've recovered well, just soreness in my belly button where the cut to get the gallbladder out and sore on the side where the gallbladder was. The first few days were ruff from pain and nausea, but I'm alive and doing better. Just pray I continue to get healthy. I am missing the gym SO bad. Can't do any intense exercise aside from walking for 4 more weeks. It's making me crazy to not be working on my physical goals, but  feeling blessed it is over and that I can have hope for a healthy life.
I'm pondering on my blessings as I sit here, nursing Jake in the mothers lounge at church. I have a lot to be grateful for. I don't believe God favors us over another. I believe most of the time life just plays harder on others out of no fault of their own. Stuff has happened to us that sucks, but I'm lucky so far with the cards I've been dealt. Just pray life continues to be good to us.
Now we prep to move in two months. Feeling nervous to move, but I know I just need to trust the lord that everything will work out for our little family the way it should.

I definitely get a little cabin fever when I'm stuck in the house all day...poor kidos have to deal with kookie mommy.

cute daddy! Jake is so cute in that thing..and so tiny!

Great Grandma O is out of the hospital and could finally meet her new great grandson!

Lily and her sweet friend Katy.

Some one is stealing cookies from the cookie jar while mommy feeds baby brother...