Sunday, December 23, 2007

Happy Holidays!

Here it is, Christmas Eve Eve.
Where has this year gone? At this time last year we were closing on our house, finishing up our first few months at new jobs, and finishing up the last minute wedding details. Again I ask, where has this year gone?

I finished up our Christmas shopping yesterday. Jayden was gone for the weekend and Jeff is working nights, so it was me and Julianna out braving the crowds. When we headed out it was about 9:00 and half of the sky was practically pitch black with clouds. We made it to two stores and were in Academy Sports when all hell broke loose from the clouds. It was one of those rains where you can hear it even inside the store. Jules was in her seat in the stroller, we had one small bag...and no umbrella. I was very close to asking someone to watch her while I ran out and pulled the car up, but she has a waterproof covering in her carseat and a canopy, so I was really the only one that would wind up getting wet. So off we went into the downpour -- which had let up a teensy bit. By the time I got her seat in the car, pushed the stroller to the back, opened the back, folded the stroller, threw it inside, and walked back to my door to get in, I was soaked. Opening the back door provided a covering for a second so I closed up the stroller in partial dryness, but it doesn't do much good when the rain is being blown from an angle. After all that, Jayden's Rockets jersey better fit!!

Speaking of Jayden, he and Jeff had their first hunting expedition this week. They left early Tuesday morning to meet Grandpa Mike so they could all go hunting together at the lease. All went well on Tuesday, but Wednesday they ran into trouble. See, Jayden has never been camping before and has never really had to go to the bathroom outdoors. He's tried before, but I think he gets performance anxiety because nothing ever happens. So he tried to go Tues night and couldn't, tried to go Wednesday morning before they headed to the stand and couldn't. It hit him about an hour into their sit in the stand, right when two deer showed up and Jeff had them sighted in the scope. Then, apparently, Jayden freaked out and started screaming, "I have to potty!! I have to potty!!" Naturally this scared the deer away for at least a week, and when Jeff looked over at poor Jayden, he was sitting in a puddle. It was early in the morning and cold, so he'd been wearing both pairs of pants, and the puddle lead to a trip into town and a visit to the laundromat. When pretty much the same thing happened later that afternoon they decided to call it a trip and head back home. Poor guy. I guess anytime he needs to go to the bathroom we'll have to make him practice going outside.

We're all excited about our first Christmas as a family. I think Jayden is most excited because he'll get to open all of Julianna's presents, which means he gets to open double his normal amount. Unfortunately, Jeff has to work Christmas Eve so he won't get to play Santa with me. I'll probably leave a little bit for that morning so that he can at least have a small hand in getting stuff ready. I bought the stuff for my stocking, so he can stuff it to pretend like he got it for me :)

We're having Christmas day here in Houston and having Christmas dinner at Jeff's mom's, however I'm making three dishes that are staples in Kennedy Christmases, so I'll have a little piece of home with me on Christmas day. My mom allllways makes broccoli casserole for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I'm going to inherit that recipe and responsibility when she's not with us. Also, my aunt makes Eagle Brand Cherry Pie (or Cherry Cheesecake, whichever your prefer) and Jeff loves cherry pie, so I'm making my first attempt at that. The last thing is a tradition with my family -- we always have Monkey Bread on Thanksgiving and Christmas mornings, so I'm making that for my family now. It is soooo delicious and I can't wait to eat it! Hopefully everything will taste delicious...hopefully.

Yesterday was Julianna's 3 month birthday -- that seems impossible! She is sooo big, practically as big as a 5 or 6 month old now. At her 2 month appointment she was about as big as a 4 month old (12.3 and 24 1/4 inches) and she has filled out even more! She's wearing her 3-6 month clothes now and they're almost too small! We'll have to get some new pajamas for sure because hers are tight on the torso, especially if her diaper gets wet, which it inevitably does when she's sleeping. Here are some things she's doing now:
  • If she's on her stomach she can push up with her arms and raise her head and torso.
  • She's SO CLOSE to rolling over when she's on her tummy. Her body will get practically sideways and she'll start kicking her legs.
  • She's also very close to rolling over when she's on her back sometimes. If she gets her legs going back and forth, she'll get her lower body sideways.
  • Her legs and arms are always kicking and trying to go places.
  • She LOVES to smile and laugh at everyone and everything.
  • She'd rather be held up on your shoulder than lying down in your arms. She loves to see the world!
  • She's found her hands and tries to eat/suck on them all the time. This usually leads to a huge drool spot on your shoulder, so watch out!
  • If you move something from side to side in front of her face, she'll follow it with her eyes and turn her head to see it.
  • She loves it if you make silly faces and talk to her. I like to say "La, la, la" in a singsongy voice -- she thinks it's funny and sometimes she'll put her tongue on the roof of her mouth and click it like she wants to make an "L" noise.
  • If you talk, she'll try to look around and find your voice and to see where it's coming from.
  • She has 99% complete control of her head. She's been holding it up literally since the day she was born, and now she's always up and alert, looking around.
  • She's sleeping about 6-7 hours a night, usually from approx 9:30 pm - 4:30 am. She defininately got those sleeping skills from her dad, he's a master sleeper!

Jayden is doing all those things and more :) He's the smartest 4 1/2 year old on the planet and getting smarter every day. He still LOVES being a big brother and absolutely adores his sister. I figured by now she'd be old news to him and the jealousy and boredom would have set in, but it hasn't at all! Really the only time that he gets annoyed is if he wants to go outside and she has to eat. But she's about to switch to bottles full-time, so even that won't be a problem any more! He's just the greatest kid and we're so lucky and blessed to have such wonderful children!

I better get to bed because I have a busy day tomorrow -- I have to finish the pie, make the casserole, finish wrapping presents, take the kids to get their pictures taken, go to Christmas Eve service, and be Santa!

Everyone have a Merry Christmas!!

Saturday, December 8, 2007

It's Nice to Share

Country Crock is donating a meal to a family in need for every "story of sharing" one posts on their website.

Please visit www.spreadthesharing.com and share a story of a time you have shared with others. It takes about 30 seconds and you'll help feed a family in need! Also, you can post as many stories as you want!

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Been Awhile

Pictures are shown from newest to oldest. Click on the picture to make it bigger.

10 1/2 week old Julianna after her bath.



In San Marcos last weekend.



All bundled up to look at Christmas trees:



Thanksgiving Day 2007:


Cuddling at bedtime (Julianna is 8 1/2 weeks):



Jayden playing frisbee:



Jules playing in her cradle:




Jules had her 2 month checkup Friday. She was 12.3 pounds and 24 1/4 inches -- about 2 1/2 months old and as big as a 4 month old! I'll try to write a "real" post tomorrow -- Jeff is on nights and between working and the kiddos, I'm beat! Jayden's 8:30 bedtime is Mommy's bedtime too!

Monday, November 19, 2007

Mr. Mom

Today I am watching Jules while Jennifer is at work. I have a sneaking suspicion that she would rather be here with us. Am I right babe?

Taking care of Julianna is pretty easy most of the time even without the user's manual (she didn't come with one!) There are just a few things that upset her, and apparantly most other babies have these same issues. That's helpful because I can research these issues in books or on the internet and come up with unique solutions to solve whatever might be bothering her.

In no particular order, here is a list of the most common things that piss Julianna off.
  • dirty/wet diaper
  • hungry
  • tired
  • uncomfortable

The first three issues are pretty simple to solve, and I have become adept at the skills necessary for resolution. I can change a diaper. I can warm up milk and put all the pieces of the bottle together (I'm good at puzzles). I can set her down to nap in her bouncy chair or in the cradle. It's all very simple actually. The challenge comes when there are multiple issues going on all at once. I've noticed on more than one occasion that Julianna might be tired, hungry, AND have a dirty diaper! Whew. It makes me tired just thinking about it.

The last issue on the list is the most vague, which tends to make it the most difficult problem to solve. Is she cold? Hot? Does she need to burp? Is she tired of being in her carseat? Tired of being in her bouncy chair? I DON'T KNOW!! At eight weeks of age she STILL doesn't have the tools necessary to communicate her wants and desires to me. So basically, if she's still upset and crying after I've already changed her diaper, fed her, and set her down to sleep, then I am in no man's land. That's when it gets frustrating for me. Oh well, she should be talking any day now right? Then it'll be a piece of cake.

I'm noticing something else about Julianna. I think sometimes she likes to play games with me. Just kinda mess with me ya know? For example, I'll set her down in her chair and give her a pacifier to calm her down. She will look me in the eyes, spit it out, and then start to cry again. At first I thought it was an accident, but occasionally she will spit it out half a dozen times before she finally keeps it in her mouth. I don't know what's up with that, but I'm starting to think that she finds it very amusing.

On work:
I have to work on Thanksgiving Day this year. To be accurate, I will actually be working from 2 p.m. until 6 a.m. on Friday morning. I'm only scheduled to work from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Thanksgiving night, but two people just took vacation at the last minute. I sorta volunteered to take the 4 hours so that someone else wouldn't be forced to work. Aren't I a nice guy? This will be my first holiday to work while being employed by ExxonMobil. Turns out I'm going to make quite a bit of $$ on Thanksgiving. That also might have something to do with why I took the extra 4 hours. But I am still a nice guy.

On Houston sports:
The Astros are making trades and signing players right and left. However I have no idea if they'll be any better than they were last year. I would say, "They can't get any worse," but that's a jinx if I've ever heard one.

The Houston Dynamo won the MLS Championship yesterday! That makes them back-to-back champions, which is only the second time in MLS history that has happened. This team has been in Houston for two years and they have won the championship both years. Before they moved to Houston they were located in San Jose where they won the championship in 2001 and 2003. People, that is FOUR championships in seven years. Call it the Dynamo Dynasty, because that is what it is. Go Dynamo!!

And finally, the Houston Texans beat the New Orleans Saints yesterday to make their record 5-5. That's the best record the Texans have ever had after 10 games in the season. If Andre Johnson hadn't gotten hurt and missed the last 7 games, I feel confident that we would be at least 7-3 right now. Oh well. At least they are improving. They are starting to become a fun team to watch, and that's no minor victory.

Well, I had better get back to being Mr. Mom. I can't wait to see everyone this coming weekend. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

p.s. Leave a comment if you read this blog. It'll make us happy.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Halloween

Here are the kiddos on Halloween!

Jayden was Jengo Fett -- a character from the newer Star Wars trilogy -- aka Boba Fett's dad. Jayden has worn this costume almost daily since Halloween and has worn the mask 100% daily since Halloween...at least we're getting our money's worth! If anyone needs Christmas present ideas, he LOVES costumes!

Julianna was Curious George-ette. I was out of town and unable to secure a good Halloween costume so I put Jeff in charge of that the Wednesday before Halloween. I politely recommended that he go before Saturday because everyone and their dog would be out on their day off getting last minute costumes. Jeff declined this polite recommendation and went Sunday night. Alas, Curious George was all that was left. I snazzed it up with the big bow and girly bib (not shown here) and transformed her into George-ette. So Jules, when you get older and want to know why you were a monkey instead of a cute lady bug or little butterfly...it was your dad's fault :)

If you've ever watched Zoolander with Ben Stiller, notice Jayden's perfect Zoolander face under his mask.






Smiles Galore

I tried to post these pictures yesterday but for some reason the picture posting application was not working, so let's try again!





What a cutie! She is growing like a weed and smiling so much now. Jules is a great baby just like her brother -- she really only cries if she needs something (diaper/food) or has a bubble in her belly. She's developed somewhat of a daily routine: Breakfast around 6, go back to sleep, brunch at 8:30 or 9ish, play, lunch about 11, long nap from about 12 - 2 or 3 and eat when she wakes up, play, eat about 5, play, eat about 7, nap, eat at 9:30, then sleep until 3 or 4 am. She goes to the doctor the 30th for her 2 month visit and I swear she'll have gained at least 2-3 pounds and have grown at least another inch!

I went to the doctor today for my first post-parturm checkup. With Jayden I'm pretty sure that I had a 2 week PP checkup, but not with Jules. I've lost most of the baby weight (but definitely not all the bellyjelly) and everything checked out with them. Since my doctor didn't deliver Jules, this was the first time Dr. got to see her -- she thought Jules was beautiful, naturally.

Jeff is almost finished with his first week as an Exxon employee. I know that he is ready to be done with this week of sitting and paperwork and explanations and ready to get back into the lab and actually doing something. He's working some overtime this weekend so he'll be working his first days with his new pay rate and overtime rate -- woohoo! I still haven't received my disability check and being without my income isn't fun...that extra money will be a blessing!

Speaking of work, I start back to work on Monday. I'm ready to go back and I'm not at the same time. Anyone know of some good work-from-home ideas? Anyone? Bueller? Well, before I go back to work I have to have some lessons planned out for my kiddos, so I better get busy with that. Everyone have a great weekend!

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Touchy Touchy

I know babies are cute and you just want to pinch their chubby cheeks and kiss their tiny hands...but please don't touch my baby.

While I was pregnant I had endless questions from strangers about when I was due, what was the gender, was this my first, etc etc etc...but I only had two strangers who randomly touched my belly. The first Jeff and I refer to as the drive-by toucher -- we were at a restaurant waiting to be seated and a Hispanic lady that works there reached out and rubbed my belly as she was passing by. A drive by. The other was a lady that works at Shipley's -- I was getting us donuts one morning and she asked when I was due (3 weeks) and if she could touch my belly (uh, sure?)...but at least she asked.

A few weeks ago at Target, Jules and I were in the checkout line. We had made it through 80% of my grocery list before she started getting fussy, which I consider quite an accomplishment. The checker was scanning/bagging my groceries and I went around to the front of the buggy to put the bags in the cart and get ready to pay when Julianna's paci must have fallen out because she started crying again. I turn around to find that the lady who was in line behind me was taking it upon herself to reach into my baby's seat, find her paci, and give it back to her, not to mention the fact that she was all up in Jules' face cooing at her. As I stepped back to the front the lady backed away and I gave kind of a smile/grimace in the lady's direction, then checked on Jules. I went back around to finish paying and the lady stepped BACK up to be right beside Julianna! What is this lady doing? I thought to myself. I finished paying and pulled the buggy forward so I could finish putting the bags in it. By this time Jules was really riled up (she doesn't like being in that seat in the first place and certainly doesn't like it when she's hungry and strange people are all up in her business) and there was another lady in line who was a bit older. She asked me how old "he" was and I replied that "SHE" was 3 weeks -- hello?! she's dressed all in pink with a pink blanket! At least she didn't touch.

I went with my parents to watch my sister cheer at one of her college football games. Afterwards, we went to eat at a Mexican food restaurant. Julianna was starving, so I decided to go feed her in the car. My dad had just gone to the restroom and he had the keys so I went up to the front lobby (near the restrooms) to wait on him, holding Julianna in my arms. The hostess asked how old Jules was, told me how cute she is (duh), then asked if she could hold her. I'm sorry, you're a stranger, at work, I have no idea who you are, and you want to hold my baby? I politely declined blaming Julianna's cranky attitude and hungry belly.

I just don't understand how random people want to touch and hold random babies? It just doesn't make sense to me...no matter how cute, I couldn't imagine touching/holding some strange kid. You can admire from afar, but if I don't know you, please keep your distance!

Monday, October 29, 2007

Some Pics From MP

Jennifer sent these pictures from Mount Pleasant. Her momma took them. I thought they were good so I figured I'd share them.
I miss my girls!

Isn't Jayden handsome? What a stud.

Have I mentioned how much I miss them?

Sunday, October 28, 2007

New Job

As some of you may know, I currently work as a contractor at the ExxonMobil Refinery Lab in Baytown, TX. My current employer is Kelly Scientific, and I work as a lab tech along side of the Exxon lab techs.

In August I was invited to interview for a lab tech position with Exxon. I did well enough on the first interview to be invited back for a second round of interviews. Well, in late September I was offered the job! I accepted of course. The hire was conditional upon completion of a background check, pre-employment physical, and drug test.

Last week I received a letter in the mail confirming that I had met all the pre-employment requirements and that my start date will be November 5th! Yeah!!

So as of next Monday, I will no longer be a contractor with no benefits and low pay (not that low actually). I will be an employee of ExxonMobil! The company with two consecutive years of record-setting profits of $36 Billion and $39.5 Billion. That's pretty good.

Anyways, I just wanted to let everyone know my good news. Have a good Sunday and everyone root for the Texans!

-Jeff

Saturday, October 27, 2007

For the Record

I wanted to clarify something that's been bothering me. The set of links to the right of the page says "Our Favorite Links". That's misleading. I have only willingly visited two of those five links.



My two favorite websites are the Houston Astros Homepage and the Houston Chronicle. I want no part of those other three. Jennifer is crazy if thinks I want to be associated with that garbage. heh.

Ok, ok. I don't really have a problem with the Word of the Day site. I enjoy words. But it is by no means one of my favorite websites.

The other two are still lame.

Friday, October 26, 2007

@ the hospital

So where was I? We arrived at the hospital safe and sound (I drove more carefully this time), and checked in at the Emergency Room desk. They quickly got Jennifer loaded into a wheelchair and wheeled us up to the baby station on the 3rd floor.

*Disclaimer* - The details are going to be fuzzy in parts of this story for several reasons. The MAIN reason is that my head was spinning from nervous excitement. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

So they get us into one of the birthing rooms, and I start to breath again. I notice that Jayden has deposited himself onto a little loveseat against the wall. I think he was nervous too, but probably less nervous than me because he had been to a Big Brother class a few weeks prior. If I remember right, the class was in a room almost exactly like the room that we were in that night. So he was at least comfortable with the surroundings, and he probably had a decent idea of what was about to go down. Regardless, I was very proud of him for being so well-behaved.

The next thing I noticed was Jennifer getting hooked up to all the monitors and IVs and whatnot. The nurses were having a pretty difficult time getting a loud heartbeat from Julianna, and that was stressing me out a bit. They told us that she was just in a hard to hear location, but I wanted to hear that strong, little heartbeat! Jennifer didn't seem too worried so that calmed me down a bit. As a matter of fact, Jennifer was my support through the whole thing. I know that sounds backwards since I was supposed to be there to "coach" her, support her, and comfort her. Oh well! I had the best intentions going in to do just those things, but without her calm demeanor I would have been totally useless.

Right about that time is when my mom and John showed up to take Jayden to their house for the evening. At that point we had absolutely no idea if Jennifer was even going to go into labor that night so it made no sense for Jayden to hang around.

That reminds me...Jennifer wasn't really having contractions until awhile after we arrived into the delivery room. The nurses first had to decide whether her water had truly broken, and then whether or not they would have to induce labor. Well it turns out that she started having natural labor contractions very soon after that first examination.

So now it's just me and her in the delivery room; trying to stay comfortable in between the increasingly painful contractions. It didn't take long for the pain to really start bothering Jennifer. She asked for something to make the pain go away, Demerol I think, and so that she could maybe sleep for a bit. At this point it's around 1 a.m. Whatever they gave her kicked in VERY quickly and Jennifer was knocked out. I thought this would be my chance to finally get some sleep (remember I had been up since 4:30 a.m. that morning!), but no such luck. About every 10 minutes Jennifer would mumble/groan and try to hold my hand through one of the contractions. It was pretty funny actually, because she wouldn't say much at all. She would just reach out her hand and sorta wiggle it at me and moan. Luckily, I am a smart dude so I figured out what she was wanting. I don't know how, but holding my hand apparantly helped.

She was able to sleep for about an hour and a half before the nurse came in to do another exam. Before the pain medicine, I believe Jennifer was dilated about 4-5 cm. When the nurse came in around 2:15 she was at 8 cm!! I was shocked, and apparantly so was the nurse. She mentioned something about getting ready to give birth as she was leaving so I thought I should start trying to wake Jennifer up. That was not an easy task.

As Jennifer was coming to, she mentioned that she had to go to the bathroom. She already blogged about this, but I'll cover it again from my point of view. The nurse and I help her to the restroom, and I stepped inside with her. I HAD to because she was still pretty much completely out of it. Almost as soon as she sat down she mentioned off-hand that she had to poop. I figured that the nurse might want to know about that so I stuck my head out and told her. I wasn't expecting the reaction that I got! "Oh no you don't!", as she ran past me into the restroom. She told Jennifer that if she felt that sort of pressure down there that it meant she was ready to have the baby. Jennifer said, "No, it means I have to poop." hahaha. It was pretty funny, but I felt sorry for her too.

So the nurse takes her back to the bed and examines her again. Meanwhile all sorts of equipment starts showing up, brought by other nurses. Our room was really starting to buzz with activity. This is another time when my head started spinning so again, the details are fuzzy. The next thing I remember well is the nurse saying, "Hold this and press the red button when I tell you to. The doctor will come when you press that button." Then she tells Jennifer that she's going to try pushing and see how it goes.

The nurse tells Jenn to push whenever she feels a contraction coming and Jennifer says, "Right now." So she starts to push and about two seconds later I hear, "Push the red button!" I pushed it...hard...twice. This was about 2:30 a.m.

The doctor came in pretty much immediately so she must have been close, and this is when I found out that I was gonna get more than I bargained for. The doctor told me grab Jennifer's foot with my right hand and hold her back with my left so that I could help her push when the next contraction came. Well, it came before I was mentally ready, but who was I to hold her up?

I don't know how many times that Jennifer had to push, but if it was 20 times I'd be suprised. I got severely reprimanded only once during labor. I was leaning towards Jenn, telling her over and over again that, "it'll be ok...you're ok." Jenn grabs me and says, "You can say anything else you want, but STOP telling me I'm ok. Because I am NOT ok." Yikes! I think I switched it up and told her that she was doing a good job, and that the baby would be here soon, and yada yada. Whatever I was saying must have been better than "you're ok", because the next push provided the biggest shock of the evening.

I saw half of a head come out! I remember pretty vividly telling Jenn that she can't stop now because the head was only halfway out. It looked to me like she was about to go on break, but I could tell that one more push was gonna do the trick. Sure enough she pushed one last time, screamed maybe just a bit, and saw Julianna Elizabeth Fountain for the first time!

I remember that I could see her mouth moving, but no sound was coming out. Then she was out of sight for a bit, and then my body was floating towards the doctor as she held out the scissors to cut the cord. I think I did a good job (Jules has an innie belly button!), and then they laid her in Jenn's arms.

I am decent with words, but I haven't been able to describe how I felt seeing Jenn holding Julianna that first time. I am a softie, and usually I cry very easily when I am happy/proud. This was different somehow. I was choking up one second, and almost laughing the next. I think the emotions were so powerful that I actually wasn't able to do anything. That's the only way I can explain it.

Well, I have typed enough for today...some would say too much perhaps. I'll write just a bit more tomorrow about what went on after she was born. I bet you can't wait! Stay tuned.

-Jeff

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Nosy Neigbors

Jennifer, Jayden, and Julianna are out of town. They've been in Mount Pleasant since...actually I don't know when they left. I should know that, but I don't. I have been working pretty much everyday (both nights and days), and my internal calendar is all messed up. I had to ask Jennifer about a dozen times when she was leaving and coming back, and I still have no idea. Well, I do know that she's coming back either Sunday night or Monday. But since I don't really know what today is I don't know how far away Sunday or Monday is.

Our neighbors are throwing a little Halloween party on Sat. night. I'm supposed to go. They are all going to be asking me where my wife is. I have a plan though. I'm going to mess with them. I'm just going to say, "She left....", and leave it at that. Let them assume that she's left me or whatever they want to assume. I swear sometimes that we live on a poor man's Wisteria Lane. All of our neighbors are so incredibly nosy! I wonder if Jennifer has told any of them about this blog. If so, I mean that you are nosy in the nicest way possible. heh.

-Jeff

Friday, October 19, 2007

Pre-Hospital

I've been a bad, bad blogger. I don't think I've posted anything in weeks. However, this is similar to a tree falling with no one around. Does the tree still make a sound?

Julianna is nearly one month old. She'll be one month old on October 22 at 2:45 a.m. Is that even possible? Weren't we just at the hospital last weekend? This time lapse is going to keep happening to me isn't it? You parents out there will probably tell me that it's just going to get worse. Awesome.

Seriously though, I had planned on coming straight home from the hospital and blogging about Julianna's birthday to give my side of the story. I guess I've been busy although I can't really think of anything that I've done. Strange isn't it? Well, even though it's nearly 4 weeks late here is my version of the events leading up to, and including, Julianna's birthday.

We'll start this story on Thursday, September 20, 2007. I arrived home from work at the usual time (6:30ish), and Jenn is telling me that she thinks she's been having "practice" contractions since that afternoon. I think she told me they were about 30 minutes apart, and they weren't really very strong or anything. I said, "Ok.....and?" That sounds rude doesn't it? I didn't mean it rude. I just meant, "Ok, so what does that mean exactly? Are we having the baby tonight?" Thinking back, I probably should have just said that. Hindsight is 20/20 right? Right. So anyways, Jenn tells me no, she doesn't think that she's in labor. We just kinda sat around that night and waited for something to happen. Nothing happened. When we went to bed around 10 p.m. her contractions had completely stopped. I got a good night's sleep and went to work the next morning.

So now it's Friday, September 21 and the events of the previous night have completely left my brain. That happens to me alot. Friday was going to be a fun day because Charlie Fojt had invited the Fountain family to his house in Mont Belvieu. We were just gonna look at his shop, drink some beers, and play with his two miniature donkeys, Brutus and Checkmate. Sounds like fun huh? Well, the event then evolved into more of a guy only thing because two other guys from work were gonna come over too to help drink the beer. So Jennifer politely declined to attend so that I could go hang with the guys. Isn't she sweet? You ARE sweet babe.

So here's where it starts to get exciting. I decided to drive home to Pasadena first to change clothes and buy some "fancy beer" to take with me. When I got home I spent about 2 minutes getting dressed and about 15 minutes looking for my phone. Should I be completely honest here? Ok, ok. I spent about 2 minutes changing clothes, 14 minutes playing on the computer, and 1 minute looking for my phone. That was my BIG mistake.

I arrived at Fojt's shop sometime around 7:30ish and popped the cap on a bottle of Saint Arnold's Amber Ale. Ahhhh. It was going to be a nice, relaxing evening. Wrong. I soon found out that you don't get invited to the Fojt shop unless you are ready to work. Zach and Kevin cranked up the blowtorch and started cutting off the firebox on Charlie's new barbeque pit. He put me to work trying to troubleshoot his widescreen tv. I'm good with electronics ya see. He kept trying to get me to pull the starter on some boat he had just bought. I don't know where he got the idea that I was a boat mechanic, but I'm not.

Then I got the grand tour of the Fojt mansion (he's got a nice setup over there), and we decided to go raid his bay house for some food to cook up. Now THAT is a nice setup. That bay house is perfect for entertaining. Sits right on Trinity Bay, and has just an incredible view. I was a little jealous. Just a little. After the second grand tour of the night we head back over to the shop to "work" some more and cook some dinner. The next thing I know, Charlie is standing in his boat trying to show me where the starter is, and he stops to look at his phone. He makes some face like, "Huh, I wonder who the heck this could be?"

I swear time froze for me at that instant. My mind immediately flashed back to when I arrived and I told myself, "Self, you need to call Jennifer from Charlie's phone so that she has a number to call in case anything happens." Did I ever call her from Charlie's phone? NO! Argh. Time unfreezes and I see and hear Charlie say, "It's for you...it's Jennifer." I knew right then I was in trouble, but it was confirmed when I put the phone up to my ear. "WHY THE F WOULDN'T YOU TAKE YOUR PHONE WITH YOU!!!" I had no good excuse ready so I just asked her what was wrong. "I think my water has broken and we have to go to the hospital right NOW!"

I don't remember what I said to Charlie, Zach, and Kevin, but I know that I high-tailed it back to Pasadena as fast as I could. I was breaking the speed limit, but I won't tell you how fast. You'll just be disappointed in my decision-making yet again. Needless to say, I made it home safe and sound, loaded up the car with Jayden, luggage, and Jennifer. I made SURE not to forget Jennifer. That would have been the final nail in the coffin I'm sure.

Well, that's my version of the events leading up to the hospital stay. I'll try to finish the story this weekend. I'll also try to put up some pumpkin carving pictures from yesterday. Our first family pumpkin! Stay tuned!

-Jeff

Friday, October 12, 2007

Update!

I agree with Lauren, we do need more updates!!

This week has seemed like a loooong one. Jeff's car has been acting up lately and needs to be checked out, so I've been taking him to/picking him up from work each day...no biggie right? Well, when it involves waking at 5 am, getting two kids out of bed and into the car, and driving about 40 minutes (roundtrip), it isn't so fun! Hopefully we can get it checked out and fixed soon!

Jayden is still loving his little sister. He's SUCH a cutie talking to her and singing her songs. She hasn't been too impressed with riding in the car and he'll tell her not to cry and sing her the ABCs or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, plus he always makes sure her shade thing is pulled so that the sun isn't in her eyes. It's just too bad he can't reach her pacifier when it falls out!

Jayden's also sooo curious these days about how to sound out words. Anytime he sees something he'll ask what it says and lots of times he'll just throw letters out there and ask what it says -- "J...H...U...A -- what's that?" Just last night I was cooking dinner and heard him sounding something out; when I looked over at him, he was sitting on the floor trying to read a word on the big brown paper sacks the city gives us for trash. He sounded out "Pasa-" by himself then started to leave it. I asked him what the rest of the word said (there was crease on the bag so I think he thought that was the end of that word) and he sounded that out..."-dena. Pasadena!" It's so amazing to see him when he figures something out and reads a whole word because his eyes and whole face just lights up. He's so smart and curious, I just hope that next year when he starts kindergarten that he can get into a class that will help foster his curiosity keep him challenged. I understand it's "just kindergarten," but I want him to love to learn like he does now.

We took Julianna to the doctor yesterday for her 2 week check-up and she's still perfect. When we went in for a weight check two days after she was born, she had lost more weight and was down from her birth weight of 7 lb 11 oz to about 7 lb 5 oz. The doctor said to just keep trying the breastfeeding and if we felt she wasn't eating enough to supplement with formula. In the following two weeks I've been up and down and all over the place with emotions about breastfeeding -- with Jayden it was easy...when it was time to eat he wasn't playing any games, he was ready to eat. However, Jules wanted to eat a little here, fall asleep, eat a little there and I was constantly back and forth thinking she wasn't eating enough, I wasn't making enough milk for her, I should just stop being selfish and switch to formula so she was getting enough to eat, etc. Thanks to Jeff's encourgement, I just kept thinking that as long as she's satisfied, that's all that matters...nature takes care of the rest.

When they weighed her at the doctor she had not only gained her lost weight back, she had added almost a whole pound! She weighed 8 lbs 10 oz which exceeded the doc's expectations of how much she would weigh. So now I feel like a weight has been lifted and I know that she's definitely getting enough food. Not only had she gained a pound, she's already grown a whole inch! She's now 22 inches long, which explains why she can't straighten her loooon legs in her newborn foot pajamas (that are SO soft)! We go back at the end of November for her 2 month check up, when they start the first round of all the shots and vaccinations -- I hate that part!

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!
Happy early birthday to Lauren W! Enjoy turning 21!

Saturday, September 29, 2007

One Week?!

Julianna is one week old! Time is flying by already!

Thursday, September 27, 2007

A Birth Day Story

Thursday, September 20 I had a small contraction at 4:00 while still at work. Twenty minutes later, another. Twenty minutes later, another. I finished up putting together work and instructions for my substitute and went home, still having small contractions about twenty minutes apart. When I told Jeff what was happening we both got really excited -- surely they would start to get closer together and we would have a baby the next day! We ate dinner and I laid down about 8:00 to rest while he packed our suitcase and put all of our stuff by the door, just in case we had to leave in the middle of the night. The minute I laid down, I didn't have another contraction that evening, through the night, or the next morning. I know I was a little bummed when I woke up the next morning and nothing had happened, and I'm sure Jeff was too. Even Jayden asked why we didn't go to the hospital.

On Friday, Jeff had to work, Jayden went to school, and I went to my 9:30 appointment at the hospital for pre-induction blood/paperwork. No contractions or anything. I got Jeff his birthday present. No contractions or anything. I got a pedicure. Nothing. Picked Jayden up from school. Nothing. Had a little sigh of disappointment. Nothing. After getting so excited the night before it was a bummer that now there was no sign of anything happening at all!! Jeff's friend at work had invited us over for dinner, but it ended up being a couple guys from Jeff's work + me and Jayden so I told him to go hang out and have fun, nothing was happening for us tonight. Our neighbors came over to see if we wanted to go to dinner so Jayden and I went to eat with them -- yummy Mexican food.

We made it back about 8:00 and Jayden got showered and into pajamas ready for bed. We were about to get in his bed to read his book so I went to the bathroom real quick. Only problem was, as soon as I stood up I felt a trickle...so I sat back down. Still trickling and there was nothing I could do to stop it (kinda gross, I know). "Self," I thought, "is my water breaking?" I stand up, it didn't stop, so I sat back down. I immediately thought "I have to call Jeff...I wonder if he remembered to pick up his phone when he stopped by the house?" (He can't have his phone at work because it has a camera.) Jayden went to look on the computer desk, which is where his phone had been, and came back with it in his hand. Grrrreat. My water is breaking, Jeff is at this guys house, I don't have the number and he doesn't have his phone. After nothing all day, now this?! I call his work and get the friends number and call over there; naturally, as soon as the friend heard it was me he knew something was up. Jeff started racing home, I called the doctor who said to head to the hospital so they could check and see if my water "had a rupture," and called my parents. Thankfully, all of our stuff was by the front door so we just loaded it into the car and took off for the hospital, Jayden in his PJs and flipflops.

Ironically, it was 9:30 pm when we got to the hospital -- only 12 hours since I had been there doing blood/paperwork, thinking that we had two more days before we would see a baby. Jayden was so great on the way to the hospital and once we got there. He just sat on the chair, very patient and of course cute. I changed into my hospital gown and he was just kinda looking around at the room -- he took a "Big Brother" class that the hospital offers for siblings and had gotten a tour of the hospital and the rooms and stuff, so I think that really helped him feel at ease. Plus the fact that he was so excited about being a big brother! Jeff's mom and stepdad came up about 10:30 and picked up Jayden so he could go sleep at their house. We had talked about how he would stay with them while we were at the hospital, so he was ready to go -- he gave me hugs and kisses and gave Jules a belly kiss and I was thinking "How in the world is he 4 1/2?! I just was here the other day waiting for him to be born!" which of course made me teary.

The nurse did a test and sure enough, my water had ruptured. The doctor said that she wanted to wait and just see what my body did before they started any sort of drugs or anything to start labor. When we were on our way to the hospital I noticed small contractions again, and they definately started getting more intense at the hospital. Jeff did so great letting me squeeze his hand (off) and helping me breathe. I wanted a little pain medicine and about 12 am they gave me some Demerol. I knew from labor with Jayden that it would put me to sleep so I could sleep through some contractions, and it did its job. Apparently while I was sleeping my body kicked into high gear -- I definately don't remember much of what happened while I was drugged. Jeff will have to fill in the blanks there. I know he said the nurse came in to check progress and I had gone from a 5 to and 8 1/2 in that hour. I remember going to the bathroom and feeling like I had to push and our sweet little nurse was like "No no no!" I remember being back in bed (don't know how I got there though) and then I remember pushing. I remember Jeff saying, "Don't stop now, she's almost out!" so I pushed againg and she was on my belly!
Jeff and I were both almost in tears because even with all the gunk still on her, she was so beautiful and perfect! I held her for just a second before they whisked her off to get cleaned up and weighed/measured. Poor Jeff had to sit down -- in the picture he's up by my head in the clear zone where you can't see much, but during the delivery he was holding my foot, helping me sit up and definately got more than he had anticipated. As he sat there staring at me and the doctor I knew he was thinking, "Wait, I know we had to get baby out, but I didn't know about all this other stuff!" The drugs had worn off for me, so I was in the clear. I told him to go look at the baby not sit there and watch me, so he walked over there.

The next I looked at him, he had pulled a chair over and was sitting and watching them (a nurse took these pictures for use which was so nice!) mess with Julianna. A nurse wrapped her up and handed her to him and said "I'm a little light-headed." No one heard him but me. I told the doctor and she whipped around and the nurse swooped in for the baby. Our nurse, Colleen, was like, "You ok dad?" He hadn't had a chance to eat or anything and now all this excitement. He did fabulous.

So Julianna Elizabeth Fountain made her appearance on Saturday, September 22 at 2:45 am, only 5 hours and 15 minutes after we checked into the hospital. She was ready to see the world!

Daddy holding Jules in the delivery room about 3:30 am...

...and Daddy holding Jules in the post-partum room at a more decent hour that morning (around 10ish I think).


Two of the three sets of grandparents:
Jeff's dad was hunting in Bay City and got to stop by on his way back home, but we didn't get a picture! Sorry Mike!

Our first family photo on Saturday afternoon.

Having a baby is hard work.

Me and my babies!!

Going home Sunday evening.

At home that night in her bouncy/vibrator seat.
Now everyone is home and pretty much adjusted. We went in Tuesday for a weight check and she had lost a few ounces, but she had also just gotten the hang of eating. Believe me, I know by now she's put those ounces back on! Jeff got some batteries yesterday for her little seat and she will sleep foreverrr with it vibrating. Jayden is loving having a little sister -- he loves to just sit and look at her and try to talk to her and play with her. He can't wait for her to get bigger so she's awake more and able to play more. She's a pretty good sleeper in the night. She sleeps about 2 1/2 - 3 hours then eats. The only problem with eating is it usually is an hour long affair. She'll eat, fall asleep, burp, eat, fall asleep, burp, change diaper, switch sides to eat, fall asleep, burp, eat, fall asleep, burp. Jeff's taken over school duty for Jayden, getting up to get him dressed, breakfasted, and dropped off at pre-K while I get a little sleep.
So that's that! Julianna is here and beautiful. And now it's time for her to eat!