So sad

My computer won't turn on.  I am using Mike's lap top right now.  This has happened before.  I have had computers die before.  I've lost pictures before and dealt with the sadness that goes with all of that.  I still mourn for the loss of November 2007 pictures that I'll never get back.  Just last week, I was talking to the gals at book club and feeling bad for Natalie whose computer died and took all their data down with it. 
I have 3 external hard drives.  So right now, I should be sad that my computer is dead, but I shouldn't be sad about lost data...yet, that is not the case.  I haven't backed up my pictures in 3 months.  I haven't ever backed up my videos.  So if I can't get the data off this computer, it will be as if Nate never existed in video.  It will mean that Jason's birth and all the cute pictures I have taken since then will never be seen by anyone.  I have made a few blog posts, so those pictures should be somewhere.  But I am so sad about all the other ones. 
I took pictures of Jason in a pumpkin.  He was so cute in it.  I deleted those pictures off my camera the day before the computer died.
So far, I have tried not to think about it too much.  I'm not going to flip out until I take the computer somewhere and find out if it's dead for sure.
I am also holding out hope that my sister in law's program can recover the deleted pictures off of my memory card.  She's saved the day before...I hope she can do it again.
Anyway, I have time to write some blog posts tonight, but obviously I can't do anything about it until I get the pictures back and things are up and running again.  So it might be a while till you get any cute pictures of these kids. 
So sad...

Heavy lifting

One of the hardest things about c-section recovery is that I'm not supposed to do any heavy lifting.  This kid right here is considered heavy lifting.

So when he throws a big fit in the parking lot, I look like a pushover mom.  I offer him treats to get up and move.  I beg him to be a "big boy" and follow mom.  I try to "reason" with an unreasonable kid instead of throwing him over my shoulder and marching off to my destination.  The throwing over the shoulder way is much more effective.  He'd be crying, but he'd also know who is boss.
Some of the other times where lifting comes in handy is getting him in and out of the highchair, lifting him up to the sink to wash his hands, and in and out of his crib. 
I am not about to give up the crib.  When Allie was Nate's age, she had mastered the crib escape, but luckily Nate is still trapped in those four barred walls for naps.  He's even happy about it.  So when Jason came along, I put a step ladder in his room.  He is generally good about climbing up the ladder to get into bed.  He'll bring a few books and toss them in and then go in himself.

Sometimes he decides that he isn't going in for a nap, but for the most part, he goes willingly.  Today, I found him playing in there on his own.  It was awesome.  I was worried because I hadn't seen him for a few minutes and the house was quiet.  I searched his usual haunts and then found him reading in his bed.  So much better than a mess somewhere!

Anyway, he takes a great nap and when he wakes up he calls out "Mom!  Dad!  Addie!  Out!"  I usually leave him in there to play until it is convenient to get him out.  But if I hear "Ewww!  Kuk!" or "stinky" then I go in quick.  That means there is poo.  Poo can't be left unattended with my friend Nate. 

So, when it's time to get out, I stick the tummy tub in there and he climbs right out.



Sometimes, rather than climb out, he becomes bucket head.  It's pretty cute.  He likes to walk around with this thing on and it makes all of us laugh to see him bumbling around with a bucket on his head.

Anyway, I just thought I'd show you the way we work around the heavy lifting thing.  There are times that I have had to pick him up, but for the most part we have found ways around it all.  I remember it being difficult when Jake was this age too.  It's hard for Nate to understand that I can't pick him right up when he gets hurt.  Instead, I take him by the hand and walk to where I can sit down and snuggle him.  But that's a long walk for him and it breaks my heart.  It will be nice when the 6 weeks are over and we can get back to our normal routine.

The candy caper

When I was a kid, our dog Lacy got into my bag of Valentine treats from school.  She ate them all.  Tore through boxes and left the place looking like a crime scene.  I was so sad about it.  I loved candy and was sad for days and days. 
The same thing happened to Jake this year with his Halloween candy.  This time, it wasn't a dog, but Nate. 

I wish the picture showed it better.  Nate was sticky and slimy and every package had been eaten through.  Such a little turkey...

Thanks Mom!

My mom is awesome.  I called her at 2:30 a.m. the day Jason was born and she was on the road and here to help.  Then she got to work.  She made sure the kids were fed and happy.  She chased Nate around and became his friend (no small feat).  She cleaned and did load after load of laundry. 
In fact, here's a laundry story for you.  I came home from the hospital and was sitting on the couch with Jason while Mike was in Nate's room getting him dressed.  I heard him talking to Nate and thought it was pretty funny...
Mike: "Should we get you dressed?  ...here are some pants...hey, you wore this yesterday.  Wow.  Really? Grandma is sure on top of the laundry!"
I think he's used to waiting the normal 7-10 days for things to make it from the laundry basket and back into the drawer to be worn :)  A 24 hour turn around is unheard of unless my mom is in town!
On the last day she was here, I had to take Jason to check his bilirubin levels.  I left and when I got back she had mopped the floor, cleaned two bathrooms, and vacuumed.  This was all with Nate around!  I couldn't believe it.  It actually made me feel like a pretty big slacker.  I don't think I've ever had such a productive morning.

Anyway, my mom has given all the kids their first bath when they get home from the hospital.  Even Sam.  It's pretty fun to have her do that. 
The funny story is that Allie and Jake were excited to see Jason get his first bath.  They begged and begged me to give him a bath all day and I wondered why they were so excited about it.  It was revealed that they remembered Nate's first bath when he peed on Grandma and they thought that it was just something that happens during a baby's first bath.  I told them that it probably wouldn't happen with Jason.  It was a pretty funny memory for all of us to see that arcing pee from Nate and I just couldn't imagine a repeat.  Well, Jason didn't let them down.  His pee was enough to rival Nate's for sure.  It wasn't the perfect arc that Nate had, but it was all over the place.  And as much as we were trying to be prepared, it still caught us off guard.

 When Nate was a baby, Grandma taught Jake that babies like to have their arms in close to them so they don't startle and flail out.  It's Jake's job to hold on to the arms.

 Here he is, all clean and in the outfit that all the other babies wore.  Pretty cute kids if you ask me.

And here's grandma.  We are so lucky.  Thank you mom!  You are a life saver.  Hopefully next time you come I can let you relax instead of work your buns off.  We love you!

Just because



Jason has been such a good baby!  We keep waiting for him to wake up and yell for hours.  He has had a few fussy spells, but nothing that a binky and extra love won't fix. 

He's still tiny and has trouble staying awake for feedings so we have been getting creative in order to keep him fed.

We all love him though and are so glad he's here.



Another Halloween post

Just one more...
We were able to do our Halloween feast this year.  I was worried that I wouldn't feel up to it, but we kept it simple and had fun.

We had mummies, boogers, brain, bloody bandaids, witches fingers, and mad scientist potion.

Nate loved all the "bloody" foods. 

The dry ice was a hit and we ended up with some left over to put in our pumpkins.  The kids thought that was pretty cool.

It was a fun night!

We carved pumpkins a few nights before Halloween.  The kids wanted to do their own, but we happened to buy the thickest skinned pumpkins I have ever seen and they needed lots of help.  They drew their own faces on though and I thought they turned out really cute.

Sadly, some punk kids threw the pumpkins at our door and smashed them to pieces a few nights after Halloween.  The kids were bummed when they woke up in the morning to find them gone.  Punk kids...I hope you're happy about making kids sad.

The Bilibed

Jason had to be on the lights for about 24 hours till his Bilirubin levels went down.  He was such a good sport and just laid there.  It made us all sad to waste precious holding time, but we were glad he wasn't on there long and now life is back to normal...as normal as it can be when you toss a brand new baby into the mix.  Anyway, I thought he looked pretty cute in the bed, so I had to share...

Halloween

I was so glad I was able to be back home and feeling great for Halloween.  I love Halloween.  The kids were pretty cute.  Nate threw a giant fit and didn't want to put on the dinosaur costume, but Mike won in the end and he kept it on.

Allie was pretty excited about her costume and I was thrilled with not having to buy a new one for her.

Jake's tank turned out to be funny.  He had people drop candy down the barrel of the gun and his bag was there to catch it at the end.

Jason snoozed his way through Halloween.  I put him in his skeleton jammies and thought he was pretty cute.

I stayed in this year and passed out candy. Allie and Jake went around the neighborhood with their friends and Mike took Nate. The report is that he just ate and ate candy the entire time they were out. He did come home with new words though..."trick or treat". He now expects to be given candy whenever he says that. His favorite are the suckers or "suckie".

 The kids ended up with a haul. Allie is living her life in fear that I will take her candy. I won't take it all!

 Nate picked all the suckers out of his pile and expected to be able to eat them for dinner.  Good thing I had Jason for a distraction and I was able to trade his suckers out for dinner.

It was a great Halloween! 

Conversation at the lunch table...

Allie:  Mom.  When can I hold Jason?
Me: You've got to finish eating first.
Allie:  Okay, I'm done then.
Me:  You aren't done.  Besides, I need to feed him.  Then you can hold him (as I finished the last of my chips).
Allie:  Okay.  Make sure you chew up that chip up really well so that Jason doesn't choke on it when it goes through your stomach and comes out as milk.

...I just about choked myself!