Welcome 2014!

Well we made it through the first week of 2014. So far it has been cold and snowy, kind of like the end of 2013. Imagine that :) Jacob and I have spent way too much time inside and I'm getting cabin fever. At least we went for a walk yesterday while it was above freezing and the sun was out. Better than nothing. Plus I want to get my money's worth out of my new stroller!

Daddy has been busy at work. They are installing one of his new machines this week and it will continue for the next month or so. Unfortunately that means he'll be working longer days than he has been. Today he's actually working a spit shift, so he'll be home during the middle of the day and then off to work again this evening.

This week Jacob is trying to learn how to sleep in his crib, instead of the bassinet. It has been a slow process. He did great the first two days, sleeping in the crib twice those days. Then the next two days, he wouldn't go to sleep in it. And now it's been hit or miss if he will go to sleep or not. I think it's just big and lonely and isn't as snug as the bassinet. We will get there eventually, it just takes time and getting used to.

Jacob is still trying to master his hand-to-mouth coordination. He tries to suck his thumb and fingers and often is successful. Other times, you can see him concentrating on his hand and trying to put it into his mouth...only to hit himself in the face, poke himself in the eye or smash his nose. It's kinda cute to watch :)

We are also getting more and more used to the carrier that Aunt Val lent to us. Jacob used to scream bloody murder when I tried to put him in it, even if he was dead asleep. Now if I see he's getting sleepy I can put him in it and he falls asleep on my chest. I'd like to be able to put him in it while he's awake so I can grocery shop or whatever, but we're working up to  it :)

I think that's it for now!

2013: What a year it was!

Well I can't believe that 2013 is almost over. Just a few hours left and we'll be onto the next exciting year. We had a very nice Christmas and saw a lot of our family. Some of the extended family got to meet Jacob for the first time and we spent lots of time with both sets of Grandparents. I wish I got a few more photos during Christmas, but I was more focused on being a Momma than being a photographer this year :)   We are very excited to see all that 2014 will bring including two new cousins and I'm sure countless memories and firsts for Jacob! 


Thank you to all of our friends and family that made this Christmas so special. It was really nice to have a weekend with Grammy and Grampa at the lake and see all of the George family at Corinne and Bill's house. We also loved having Grammy Sue and Grumpa come to our house on Christmas eve and spend the night. Having Aunt Kim, Ma and Maureen over on Christmas day was very special for us too. 

I tried to start some Christmas traditions with our family, but the only one that really was completed was making an ornament for Jacob. I would like to do one each year for him to hang on the tree. I'm sure we'll find other traditions for our family as the years go by. 

Jacob's newest trick is he is trying to suck his thumb. Sometimes he misses his mouth completely, pokes himself in the eye or sometimes he gets the thumb in the mouth, with a finger, or two...or his whole fist. It's very cute to watch him try to figure out exactly what he wants to do. Lately he has also been laying on the floor and entertaining himself by looking at the fan. Lexie is VERY good and knows she is not allowed on Jacob's blanket on the floor. I am pleasantly surprised how well she is adjusting. 

At Jacob's 2 month appointment last week, he was 10lbs and 9oz and 22 3/4" long. He is growing right on track! Keeping with the 25th percentile on weight and 50th percentile on length. He's a long skinny baby :)

Jacob and I went to a Mommy and Baby fitness class in Portland just before Christmas. It was a great class and I wish it was a little closer, or I'd go all the time! There is also a Mommy and Baby Yoga class there....although I prefer fitness (cardio and strenth) to yoga. We have been meeting up with other babies from time to time including my friend Sheanna who had her boy, Jude, the day before Jacob. I am also in the process of setting up a "volleyball mommies from 2013" meet up for all of the girls I have played volleyball with that had children over the past year. There are 7 of us! Very crazy. Jacob will get plenty of social time, and so will Mommy :)

I'm usually sad to see Christmas go, but this year I'm just glad to get back to focusing on being Mommy and not worry too much about presents and wrapping and preparing food and cleaning my house for guests. It was fun, and very special but the best part of all was having Jacob here!

Top Ten.....

Top 10 Things You Learn As a New Mom......

10. How to do everything with one hand

9. 3 hours of sleep in a row is "doing pretty good"

8. You can love something more that you ever thought possible

7. Having a puppy REALLY is nothing like having a child

6. You are now on baby time and nothing else really matters

5. How to get a workout AND hold a baby at the same time

4. Major diaper blowout = immediate bath

3. Sleeping more than three hours in a row concerns you "should I check on the baby??"

2. How to take the fastest shower known to woman

1. Showering, changing your clothes, dishes and laundry are actually all luxuries. They don't HAVE to be done today!

7 Weeks already

Tomorrow marks 7 weeks since Jacob was born. Wow does time fly. Right now I am feeling extremely thankful that I work for a company that allows me to take six months to focus on nothing more than being a Mother and will hold my job until I return. Of course I'm not getting paid for it all (about half) but I'm very fortunate to have the opportunity.

Jacob has been sleeping a little more at night, but not every night. He usually goes to sleep around 9:30 or 10pm and wakes up again anywhere between midnight and 2am. One night he slept until 3:30! However once he has his "long" sleep it's typically only 2 hour blocks from there on out. So if he's up at midnight, it's a three-feeding-night.  But if he makes it to 3am, then we're only getting up twice that night. And that has happened about 3 times in the past month. Overall I think he's sleeping well at night. I think we'll keep him :)

As many people know, I was convinced Jacob would be at least 8lbs, if not 9lbs. Especially since I went a week over my due date and the smallest baby in the George family was 8lbs. I was so convinced, I didn't think he'd ever fit into newborn clothes. I bought a size 6 month fleece winter suit, assuming it would be just the right size. Well.... Jacob had other plans when he was born at 6lbs 12oz. He might be around 9lbs now and he's just shy of 2 months old :) The reason I bring this up, is that his Halloween outfit was size 3 months. There was NO way it would even remotely fit on Halloween (a week after he was born). So I finally put it on him. And it's still too big, but much closer to fitting.

Lately one of Jacob's new things is giving Mom and Dad a HUGE wide-mouth smile in the mornings. When I get him in the mornings to feed him he's so excited to see us! It started about 2 weeks ago when Daddy got him up and he wouldn't stop smiling. Daddy had to come into bed and show Mommy and he smiled for her too. It's the most adorable thing. 

Jacob has been going Christmas shopping with Mommy too. He's been a little angel. Fortunately he loves riding in the car (this picture was from the day home from the hospital) and he usually is asleep while in the store. He has been to Cabela's, Bed Bath and Beyond, WalMart, Kohls, Home Depot, Craft Mania, JoAnne's Fabrics and Big Lots. I think that's about it. He has also been to the farm 4 (maybe 5?) times. Most recently for Aunt Kim's birthday dinner while Daddy sent Mommy to get a manicure and massage with two of her friends. That was her "push present" from Daddy. 


On Christmas Day Jacob will be 2 months old! Christmas is so much more exciting with a Baby around, even if he can't interact very much and won't remember it. It just makes it so much more special. I'm sure each Christmas to come will get more and more special. 

Short on words....

But big on pictures!!  Photo update. Jacob is now one month old!!  Time just flies......

Jacob's 3rd Week!

Jacob had a very exciting 3rd week in life. i guess at this age, every week is pretty exciting :) Some of the things that we did this week included visits from Bob, Allie, Moose, Mike, Aunt Pam and Grammy came back too! 

Mommy got sick from an infection this week, but luckily caught it early and got some anti-biotics to clear it up. Daddy brought her a dozen white roses and cooked an awesome Beef Stew. That helped Mommy feel a lot better!

Jacob went out to dinner twice this week! Mommy, Daddy and Jacob went out to Mac's Grill with the neighbors, Tom and Terry on Monday. Jacob was a little angel, sleeping for the first half of dinner and then he woke because he was hungry. He got his bottle and went back to sleep. Then Jacob went out to dinner on Friday with Mommy, Daddy, Grammy and Grampa! We went to Cindy's Dockside. Jacob was really good there too, sleeping most of the time and waking up only to eat!

We also went on a visit to the farm this week. This was Jacob's second visit to the farm. Grumpa Bruce got to hold him for the first time and after we got home from the farm, Aunt Pam and Grammy were at the house! Grammy stayed until Sunday when Grampa came up with the long-awaited crib! 

Daddy also got Jacob's birth certificate this week and Mommy and Jacob went to a breastfeeding group in Auburn. It was a small group through La Leche League. Too bad there weren't more babies for Jacob to meet, there was only one other mom and she had a 2 year old. Thursday afternoon Grammy Sue came up and cooked everyone a Ham dinner. It was nice for Jacob to spend time with Both Grammies! 

For the most part, Jacob has been sleeping really well between feedings and at night. He usually is awake during the morning, but takes a few small snoozes and then take two longer (1-2 hour) naps in the afternoon/evening. Then he'll be up for 3 hours or so and then crash at night sleeping about 3 hours at a time until 6 or 7am. Most of the time he sleeps in the bassinet on the pack and play snuggled in with the blanked Great-Grammy Thelma made him. However on Thursday he was a little fussy and didn't want to sleep in the bassinet. It must be because he is growing!

On Friday the crib arrived with Grampa and he set it all up in the nursery. He also helped Mommy re-arrange the nursery for the 3rd time. Hopefully it's all set now that we have all the furniture in there.  

Jacob also got his second bath this week! He loves taking baths and feeling the warm water all over him. He didn't cry at all and really looked like he was enjoying it!

It was a busy 3rd week of life. So many people to meet and things to see!

Welcome Home Jacob Michael Richards!

Jacob was born on Friday October 25th at 12:16am. He was 19.5" long and weighed 6lbs 12oz. Mom was surprised, yet grateful that he was such a little peanut! 

We have now survived the first week with Jacob and learned so much about how to care for an infant. We are trying to figure out our 'schedule' and I do use that term loosely, knowing everything is subject to change. But at least we are trying to figure out the best times to sleep and the best ways to split duty between Mom and Dad. Fortunately for us, we had both Grammy Sue and Grammy Gail here with us for most of the last week. That has been a HUGE relief. But soon, we'll be a family of 3 and we'll be doing it all on our own. 

Jacob's favorite things to do include: sleeping, pooping, peeing on people and the wall and EATING! He takes after his Mama and could eat allll day long! In fact he was back to his birth weight only 4 days after he was born. 

On Monday (day 4) we tried out the swing. That did not go over well. 7 minutes of crying was all we could take. However, we tried the swing again on Saturday and he really seemed to like it! We are making progress :)

The first 3 nights out of the hospital, Jacob would only sleep in someone's arms. We would put him in the Rock and play or the bassinet and within 20 minutes he was fussing and eventually crying. So we split time between both Grammy's and Mom and Dad to make it through the night. We continued to put him in the bassinet during the day (as much as we could bear to put him down, he's too cute not to snuggle!!) and he got used to it. The past two nights, he has slept in the nursery in the bassinet between all feedings! 

Right now he eats about every 2 - 2.5 hours for about 30 minutes. 75% of the time, he goes right to sleep after feeding and 25% of the time he takes a little bit of coaxing. Singing, rocking, snuggling and rubbing his feet seem to be the best ways to calm him down. 

We've had a lot of visitors the first week including Grammy Sue and Grumpa Bruce, Grammy Gail and Grampa Pete. Aunt Val & Uncle Brian, Aunt Kim, Great Aunt Maureen, Ma, Tracy & Marc, Tom & Terry, Joe, Mike, Bob & Allie and Eric. It's been a busy week but there are still lots more people to meet!

It was a long 41 weeks and we are SO excited that Jacob is finally here!!