Jake's 1 month stats

can we say "off the charts" and really mean it, literally?!? jake went in for his one month check up and i was blown away!!! here are his stats:

12 lb 9oz

24" long

35cm head circumference

almost outgrown 3-6 month clothes

he gained 4lbs in ONE month!!! and grew 2 inches!!! what kinda kid does that?!? william wasn't that big or grew that fast ... wow. then again, this little boy sure does know how to eat. it seems like i feed him every hour in the mornings and evenings with longer stints b/w feedings in the afternoon when he's napping. but what a cute little boy he is!!! i like 'em round and fat! my little butterball ... i could just eat him up when he talks, makes those baby coo's, smiles, and makes funny faces when his brother plays and kisses him. ahhhh, these days are passing by to quickly.

diaper bliss!

after some tweaking i have successfully made some cloth diapers that i am thrilled with!!! here are the specs:

waterproof PUL outer
butter suede inner lining
plastic snaps
pocket style diaper with zipper on the outside back avoiding all solid waste
hemp & microfiber terry cloth inserts
one-size (fits 8-40lb babies)

all thanks to mom's viking sewing machine & a diaper pattern by nykibaby. i'll be making more diapers for several reasons ...

cost savings in the $1000's

enviromentally friendly ... go green!

rash eliminating

skills developing

great for emergency kits & storage

here are some great pics of my little creations ... go cloth diapers!!! everyone should try 'em!

even a little fun & decoration!

i love you guys

exercise time

these cute little boys usually end up sleeping by the time i'm done with my walk or jog. it's the most adorable thing ever! will doesn't even try to get out any more ... he just loves his juice bottle and the view wherever we go. gotta lose the baby weight and get healthy again to keep up with my active boys. i can do it! anything is possible with a schwinn double jogger stroller with optional swivel front wheel. hahaha!!!

a look back at the Easter Holiday

We celebrated mostly on saturday with will's first egg hunt & coloring eggs. we hid some eggs in the living room since it was raining outside a bit. he found the first, opened it to find some nerds, and then wasn't interested in any of the other eggs ... only his nerds!!!

coloring eggs was fun because we used spray bottles instead of cups to hold the dye. it was so cute to see will squirting the eggs (most of the time) and having so much fun! you'll see ...

growing too quickly!

Jake is growing so quickly ... Will too! but it's more noticable w/jake. he is now in size 1 diapers and can fit into the small setting of will's bumgenius diapers; i think he's somewhere around 10 lbs and 23 in (began 8-7 and 22").

i thinking & researching about making my own cloth diapers rather than purchasing them again. my sewing skills have greatly improved along w/my confidence to sew the diapers. the diapers i want - grasshopperdiapers.com - are just so stinking expensive! about $23 PER DIAPER!!! multiple that by 23 diapers (10/day and 3 extras while i'm washing the others) and it's quite a bit of money ($523)even though it's still less than buying disposable diapers for 2 years worth of time.

grasshopper diaper
i found this pattern on Nykibaby.com and am contemplating purchasing it to try it out. i love the cloth diapers i have now but wish they had a couple of changes. velcro wears out, so i'd like to replace it w/snaps. microfiber absorbs relatively well, but hemp, bamboo & zorb are better for the inserts. cloth is better on my budget, the planet, & my kids' bums ... less diaper rash. i'll let everybody know how it turns out.

current diaper

bumgenius

AI2 one-size snapped up to smallest size

possible future diaper
nykibaby one-size AIO

all done

will uses sign language instead of talking right now. he was "all done" holding Jacob after just a few seconds!

Jacob Michael Huss

as i promised ... here's the rest of the story.

thur 18 mar i went in for a check up and told my midwife that i had been having real contractions that morning but they were very mild and inconsistent. she suggested that i check-in at the hospital soon b/c it was probably gonna go very quickly. i called matt, told him i was getting a bite to eat from dairy queen and that we should meet before we checked in. so we did.

1130 check-in & walk the halls

1230 have to stop and focus on relaxing during contractions

1330 standing thru every contraction as they come 2 or 3 at a time, one on top of the other

1400 talking to myself and jacob to help with each contraction ... hilarious as heck! but it worked this time around better than just using a deep chanting oohhmm. had a million people in the room observing or helping - nursing interns, OBT, the RN, midwife, doula, and anybody else who wanted to see a natural birth. poor matt wasn't allowed to leave my side and had a great arm workout rubbing my low back & sacrum ... my hero!!!

(extra TMI for some - i yelled "don't touch me" to the RN and everybody moved away so i had to tell the midwife "you can touch me" ... funny stuff. and when i said "he's coming! he's coming!" the midwife told the RNs in a teaching type moment "when she says 'he's coming' the baby's coming. but if she says 'i need to push' that could mean a lot of different things." funny stuff!)

1440 almost felt like his head and then his brawny shoulders got stuck, but i kept pushing and finally jacob was born!

he's healthy, no problems at all. 8 lb 7 oz and 22in long. shy about eating and pooping in public/at the hospital but has no problems doin' his business at home! all day long.

william just loves his new "toy" and is constantly poking, petting, pointing at, holding, and kissing jacob. he's a great little helper and big brother. the joy of having 2 kids is so much greater than just having one. the dynamic of our family has changed drastically for the better. the Lord is merciful and gracious to let us have another choice spirit in our home.

HE'S HERE & more to come

quick stats...

Jacob Michael Huss was born March 18th at 2:20 pm in Jeffersonville, IN ... a Hoosier baby. He weighed 8 lb 7 oz and was 22 in long (i called those specs) with a couple of blonde patches mixed into his dark brown hair. i'll post pics tomorrow, but i just had to post a little note to let everyone know he's here, he's healthy, and he's a COMPLETE doll!

38 weeks & counting

i'm now 38 weeks along and getting very excited for Jacob Michael Huss to arrive! he's due 26 Mar but when i went to the midwife on the 11th she told me I was 4cm dialated & 80% effaced ... so Jacob could come quite quickly.

i feel so huge like Jacob has no more room to grow, but i'm sure he will in the next 12 days. i'm guessing that he'll be around 8 1/2lbs and 22in long with tons of black hair. we'll see soon. i'm all packed and ready to go to the hospital whenever the contractions begin.

last week i made a fleece bunting bag for Jacob since i couldn't find any that i liked completely for a reasonable price. i found the pattern and followed the instructions as best i could - sometimes i had to rip out all the stiches and re-sew - but it turned out better than i thought and i learned a few new skills. i learned to insert a zipper & elastic in casing, sew in lining, & create bound buton holes. it's brown with little bear ears on the hood and teddy bears on a white microfleece lining. i can put Jacob in the bag & easily put him in and out of his carseat without him getting cold. i'm so proud i could learn something proficiently that benefits my famly directly. i'll have pics when Jacob uses it.

2010

the past few months have been bittersweet. so many things have happened.

my granny passed away dec 19th. i had talked to my dad the day before who told me that aunt cesear thought it didn't look good for granny and that her older brother VC passed away that day. i thought it rough that granny was 1 of 2 survivors of her family and seen 4 of her children and husband leave her behind in mortality. I prayed that the Lord would be quick and kind to granny, and He was. after having mom pass away in may 2008 i've learned much more about the plan of salvation for the ETERNAL destiny of God's children. i was happy that granny was now able to move on and enjoy the company of those whom she has been seperated from for so long; she is free from the ailments of this mortal tabernacle; and she has progressed in her journey back to our Father in Heaven, one step closer.

i joked with family that every time i'm 6 months pregnant someone in the family dies ... first mom and then granny. so they had better watch out the next time i'm prego, but that won't be for another 2 years. hahaha ... one comes as another goes ... hahaha we weren't able to make it to granny's funeral and missed not seeing all the family, but we thought much of granny ever since we heard the news.

christmas was wonderful and quite. we stayed here in KY and had dinner with the Huss' and enjoyed the simple company of family. we're simple people who only need the company of family to have a splendid time. gifts, decorations, traditions ... they mean little without family and the love they share.

for new years many family members were tired or working, so it was uneventful.

and on the 18th we had another great checkup at the CNM and an estimate that little JACOB is around 4 - 4 1/2 lbs right now and likely to be around 8 - 8 1/2 when he's born. no gest. diabetes, preeclampsia, anemia, etc. clean bill of health.

my birthday was the 20th and we celebrated by having a family get together on friday with lots of food and team trivial pursuit. earlier matt took me to costco to buy the food for the party, then to red robins burgers - btw i love the campfire sauce with their amazing bottemless fries, and finally to the movies to see Sherlock Holmes - love the movie!!! 5 stars!!! and william got to stay with his lula all day long - it took a couple hours to de-brat him after that. but it was nice to have a date with matt and reconnect, just the 2 of us.

matt has applied and is the only person so far to apply for an on-site sales position now available in the area. matt's been doing this job for 18 months without the title or compensation and has been promised any open position in salaried sales ... so we'll see in the next couple of weeks how things go. if he gets the job we'll get the internet at home and i'll be able to blogg and use the internet more :)

sorry for no pics. next time.

so lots of good and bittersweet events through the last months. but the Lord says all things are for our good ... so i guess it's all good.