Work Bench Progress

The first stage of the work bench is to get the frame together and put a smooth board on top to make it work as an out feed table for my table saw.  Over the Thanks Giving break I was able to put quite a few more hours into it.  The next step is to glue and screw the verticals into the top horizontal frame which is just clamped on right now. Here is my progress.

What the Kiddos Are Up To

Rachel:

Rachel is still my fiercely independent, energetic, sweet preschooler.  She is intelligent and loves learning.  We are probably homeschooling her for a couple years and then will reevaluate.  We started this year with preschool so that I could get us both in the habit and establish a routine.  She loves school and learning.  She is one smart cookie, picks up concepts very quickly, and is quite articulate.  When I gave her her preschool pretest earlier this year I was surprised how much she already knew.  This year we are using ABC Jesus Loves Me.  It is a bible based curriculum that includes pretty much everything I need.  I like that I don't have to pull together materials from multiple sources. 

She loves to dress herself and I am learning to let her even when things get a little crazy for my taste.  My style tends to not stand out.  I wear a lot of darker solid colors and tend to accessorize very little.  Rachel loves bright colors, especially pink, mixing prints, and hats/crowns.  We do talk about how to match clothes in terms of colors and patterns and there are some rules like clothes must be weather and venue appropriate.  For example I was raised you dress up for church, and so Rachel follows the same rule.  Dresses/Skirts for church.  You do it because you love and respect God.  You bring him your best.

Rachel just finished up a six week gymnastic session.  She loved it, and we will continue the class in January after the holidays are over.  She does a great job trying to do everything and listening to her teacher.  We figured gymnastics would be a good fit for her because she is high energy, loves bouncing, somersaulting, going upside down, swinging, twirling, running...

Joel: 

Joel is just about 5 months.  He is improving his muscle tone and is now able to lift up to his hands on his tummy and hold himself upright with minimal slouching when being carried.  At his last well baby we found out he is pretty weak in his upper back/shoulder muscles.  He has been working out with extra tummy time.  We got the jumper down for Joel, and he loves it.  Within the last couple days he has figured out how to jump in it.  The toys are also fun to spin. 

Joel is a social guy.  He loves people and hates being alone.  He has learned the crib means he will be left alone to nap and now if I put him in it for a minute or so to say wash my hands after a diaper change he almost immediately screams.  Needless to say nap time is still challenging.  Other than the whole nap and crib thing he is pretty happy and mellow.  It is still easy to make him smile and laugh.  Sometimes all we have to do is look at him and we are rewarded with a big grin or a little giggle.

Well, that is what the kiddos are up to.  I hope you enjoyed the update.

Life at 4 Months

 Life at 4 months is pretty fun for Joel.  He loves to suck on his fingers, put toys in his mouth, grab anything and everything within reach, and play and hang with his family.  He sleeps 11 hours straight at night but naps are another story.  He gets lonely and wakes up sad after about 30 minutes at best in his crib.  When we go in to pop his binkie back in his mouth he grabs our hands as tight as he can, closes his eyes, and drifts back to sleep for another short while.  Some days I count going up and down the stairs multiple times over two or three naps my exercise.

Joel's Stats:
Size 3-6 month clothes
Size 2 diapers
Weighs 15lbs 7.7oz (48%)
2 feet 1 inch tall (70%)

Yes, life at 4 months is pretty great and exhausting.

Apple and Pumpkin Picking

We headed up to Apple Ridge Farms and Denver Dans in Apple Hill again this year.  Rachel got brave this year and petted the goats and donkeys.  She even asked to feed the goats.  She loves to talk to the animals, telling them what she is up to and that they should come over to the fence and see her.  I think if we let her she would spend all day with the animals. 

After taking some pictures in the cutouts and seeing the animals at Apple Ridge Farms.  We headed over to their pumpkin patch.  Yes, the pumpkins are a little bit more money than at the grocery store, but we decided we were paying for the experience and made sure to get our moneys worth making Rachel walk through the whole little patch to find the perfect pumpkin.  To her the perfect pumpkin is the current one she has found, so Brian helped to pick out the final pumpkin. 

After pumpkin picking we went to pick apples at Denver Dans.  The apples were a little sparse this year making apple picking a treasure hunt.  We managed to find enough apples to make apple butter and have some just to eat.  Brian lucked out this year because the Granny Smiths were ripe, and Granny Smiths are his favorite.  It was a day full of fun and we all enjoyed a good nap when we got home.

Pink Bunny Parachutes

Baby Giggles

A Very Hungry Party

We had a Very Hungry Caterpillar play date party to celebrate Rachel's 3rd birthday.  I love the Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, and I had a great time decorating for this party.  We had caterpillars lining the walkway, a giant caterpillar made from balloons (we forgot to take a picture of this before taking it down), and a birthday banner.  The food was things the caterpillar ate.  We served  apples, pears, plums, watermelon, salami, cheese, and pickles.  Since we were having cheese and salami I also included crackers.  Like in previous years I made cupcakes for Rachel's birthday.  I think cupcakes are a great way to go for kid's parties because they don't require cutting and serving.  I made the caterpillars for the cupcakes using  m&ms for the body and chocolate frosting for the antennae.  It was super easy and super cute.

Since the party was a big play date I didn't plan any games.  Planning and executing organized games is not one of my strengths. We did have lots of fun toys to play with.  Rachel's friends could run around inside or outside.  Outside we had all her backyard toys including chalk, slide, sand table, and water table.  Inside her kitchen, play doh, and dress up box were big hits.  I love seeing how she has blossomed over the years.  She is so sweet and good at sharing her toys and taking turns especially when given gentle reminders to make sure her friend has a turn.  She really enjoys playing with her friends.

 

By the time the party was over and we cleaned up I think we all felt like Joel.  We all had a lot of fun and felt blessed by all our friends who came over to help up celebrate our special little girl.

Almost 3 Photo Shoot

We had grand plans to do Rachel's 3rd birthday photo shoot at Capital Park, but the weather had other plans.  It rained almost all day.  In between showers we dashed down the street to the park instead.  We got some cute photos and a little play time in before the sky opened up again.  Here are some of our favorites:

The Pictures You Have Been Waiting For

Hello Everyone, Brian Here.

Things are finally slowing down a little bit here. At least enough for me to finally take some pictures. And guess what? Joel smiles quite a bit now so we finally got some good smiling pictures.  So here they are. Enjoy!

Joel loves his Mommy!

Something is wrong with the camera, it makes the back of my head look as if there were less hair there.

Peek A Boo!

He's a happy baby.

There's his tongue.

He's all smiles.

2 months and Loving Life

Joel is now 2 months old.  It is amazing how fast these 2 months have gone.

Weight: 12lbs 12.3oz (55 %)
Height: 2 ft 0.25 in (89%)
Clothing:0-3 months
Schedule: Joel takes a couple hour morning nap shortly after Rachel wakes up and afternoon nap during Rachel's nap.  He also catnaps in the evening in between fussing.  He has recently started eating every 3-4 hours instead of every 2 1/2.  He eats his final meal at 10:20pm and sleeps from 11pm until anywhere between 5am and 7:30am.   
Likes: He loves sucking on his pacifer, being cuddled, and rocking in the chair.  His favorite songs include "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," Jesus Loves Me, and "My God is so Great."
Dislikes: He hates to have a wet or dirty diaper, waking up alone, and wild play (like being lifted high and fast in the air).

Joel is such a joy to have in our family.  Rachel loves him and is adjusting to sharing mommy's attention.  She likes to help bathe him and change his diaper.   I am learning how to balance 2 kiddos and housework especially now that we started home school preschool.  I have to be intentional with how I spend my time be it unpacking boxes (we have less than 6 left!), cleaning the house, cooking meals, playing with Rachel or Joel, planning and carrying out our preschool lessons, and and making sure I get a little me time.  Sticking to a schedule and planning what I need and want to get done the night before really helps.  It gets a little easier to balance it all everyday.

Just Keep Swimming

 Rachel loves the water.  She took 2 sessions of swim lessons this summer.  Because she is still 2 I signed her up for Frogs which is a parent child class.  She did great in the class and was so comfortable in the water her teacher suggested we move her up to Guppies even though she is a little young for the class.  Guppies is for 3-5 year olds and the first class that is without a parent.  Rachel's session consisted of 3 other students and 2 teachers.  She did great!  By the end of the summer she demonstrated she could blow bubbles, go under water, kick and scoop, and jump in with assistance.  She still can't jump out to an adult, but I think that is a developmental thing that she will get as she gets older.  The only kid in the class who could do it looked to be about 5 years old.  Because she did so well, her Guppies teacher recommended signing her up for Minnows next year.  I am one proud mama!

Joel's Photo Shoot

Joel is now 3 weeks old.  We have been busy taking care of kiddos and settling into our new home.  I decided to take a break today (from unpacking, not the kiddos) and take pictures of Joel during Rachel's nap.  He was an excellent subject.  I love how you can pose newborns and they sleep right through it. 

A Little Bedtime Reading

 

I Love Him!

 It is Never to Early to Start Playing With Legos

Cuddle Time With Baby Howie

The Arrival of Joel Brian

He's here, he's finally here!  After 3 1/2 weeks of contractions my doctor and I decided on inducing me 2 days before my due date.  My doctor has been super supportive and encouraging these last couple of weeks.  I was worried that he would make me wait till I was overdue but he didn't.  He said Joel was full term and I had progressed far enough so that he had no reason to believe that the induction would not be successful.  I think he could see how physically and emotionally tired I was (I had only had 1 good hour of sleep the night before thanks to contractions).  I may have agreed to the induction without a second thought, but that evening I did second guess my decision to have an elective induction.  I questioned whether I was being selfish and if everything would go okay.  Joel was perfectly content to stay in there and would come eventually.  In the end I decided that the fact I was so tired was a legitimate reason because I could see that my fuse was getting shorter and shorter with my family and people around me.  I was feeling anxious, depressed, and unable to cope with life.

We went in at 6:15am the morning after my appointment.  Thankfully contractions stopped again the night before so I was well rested.  A little after 7am I was all hooked up and pitocin was started.  My contractions had started up again that morning, so I already had a good albeit weak contraction pattern and I was 4 centimeters dialated.  I only needed a little bit of pitocin before labor took off and an hour and half into it I was ready for my epidural.  I did not have to wait long for it and lets just say I got a really good epidural.  My legs were numb before the anesthesiologists left the room, but I was still able to feel the pressure of every contraction.  My legs did not wake up enough to walk until after 9pm that night.

Around 2pm I was 10 centimeters and Joel was right there ready to make his grand entrance.  I pushed for about 10 minutes.  Silly Joel decided to try to come out sunny side up (face up) with the cord around his neck and needed a little vacuum assistance since his oxygen levels dropped into the 90s.  His poor head had a large bump for the rest of the day and he would cry if we touched it.  He was 8lbs 10oz and 20 inches long at birth.  We were shocked by his size especially since Rachel was only 6lbs 6oz and 18 1/2 inches long. 

Rachel is in love with Joel and has been a excellent helper so far.  She is so gentle with him and loves to hold him.  We are feeling very blessed and tired. 

39 weeks

 With showing the house we have not had a chance to take any more belly pictures, but I look about the same as I did at 36 weeks.  These pictures are from our outing to the Folsom Zoo over memorial weekend.  Check out Brian's fierce lion face.  Pretty intimidating if you ask me.  This was the first time Rachel willingly took her picture in a wood cut out.  She enjoyed sticking her head through and being a lion and bear so much we got a good amount of cute pictures of her.

How far Along: 39 weeks (39 weeks might actually hit tomorrow, but I figure it is close enough)
How big is baby: between 18.9 and 20.9 inches, the size of a watermelon.  My doctor played guess the baby size and guessed around 7 1/2 pounds.  Which was the size the doctor guessed Rachel was going to be when I went to deliver her, but that was about a pound too much.  We will see how close his guess is hopefully soon.  My doctor made my day when he was playing guess the baby size by telling me in a shocked voice that I really was all baby and tiny.  That is so nice to hear when you are feeling like a hippo.
Maternity Clothes: Yes
Sleep: Some nights I sleep fine and some nights I don't.
Best Moment thus far: Our offer was accepted on a new house!
Miss Anything: Not really
Food Cravings: None
Anything make you queasy or sick: No.  I was feeling sick from all the contractions I was having, but I have adjusted and am no longer feeling icky.
Symptoms:  Braxton Hicks contractions and some a fair amount of real contractions; however, the real contractions have yet to continue on to active labor.  I know all these contractions are helping me progress in the right directions because I am 3-4cm and 50% effaced.  Joel dropped really low almost a week ago now.  It seems like his next option is out, but he is hanging in there.  He has been a mellow baby in terms of activity thus far, so I suppose he is just happy to hang out a little longer.  I did pray for a slightly larger baby than we had with Rachel, so this will give him time to accomplish that.
Mood: Overall it is good.  At this point there are discouraging moments like when the doctor said probably within 24 hours after doing a procedure to jump start labor.  Here we are over 24 hours later and no baby, but I am having stronger contractions, so maybe I can still look at it as a jump start to labor.  I just keep reminding myself God is in control and sees the whole picture.  All I can see is one little piece of the puzzle.  His timing is perfect, so why would I want to push my own timing and agenda.
Looking forward to: Selling our current house and settling into our new house.  Oh, and being done with all the contractions.

Learning through Labor

I am now officially 38 weeks and have been experiencing what could be termed prodromal labor for the past week.  In a nutshell it is being stuck in early labor for a really long time.  I have times of regular strong contractions that match the description of real labor contractions not braxton hicks contractions.  For me these contractions have come at regular intervals and don't subside with rest or staying hydrates like typical braxton hicks contractions.  The longest run has been around 36 hours with contractions coming every 10 to 20 minutes.  The difficult part of prodromal labor is it does not progress like your text book labor where the contractions get closer and stronger until the baby comes.  With prodromal labor contractions can just stop.  Laboring like this is both physically exhausting and emotionally exhausting.  I have had had only intermittent nights of decent sleep because of the discomfort of contractions and as for as the emotional aspect goes I feel like a yo-yo.  Am I an labor am I not?  This could go on how long?  The OB refuses to intervene until 42 weeks unless baby is unhappy or my water breaks or something along those lines (in reality probably a good thing).  Maybe this time I will get a baby out of this discomfort? You get the idea of all the thoughts that run through my head.

The potential positive of laboring in this lovely fashion is for some women it means active labor can be a lot shorter  and easier.  That part sounds good to me.  Last time my active labor was about 16 1/2 hours.  I also can look at this as another opportunity to rely on God and turn to him.  Sadly like many people it is not something I do often enough unless life is uncomfortable, and let me just say right now life is pretty uncomfortable.  So instead of whining and crying I am going to make the conscious effort to stop and pray.  Not an easy thing to do, but God is bigger than my pain.  He will only give me what he can handle and he has handled way more than what feels in the moment like never ending pointless contractions.  So my goal is to paste a smile on (because sometimes when you force a smile you end up feeling a little better), to remember pregnancy is not a life sentence (Thank you God), to thank God that my baby is healthy, to remember there is a purpose to all these contractions and there is progress being made towards delivery (every day is one step closer), and to cry out to God in those oh so frequent moments of defeat and frustration.  I will muscle through contractions to keep my household running and make it a peaceful restful place for my family while balancing those efforts with adequate rest.  I will do this because I love my family and as a Proverbs 31 wife I will serve them to the best of my ability with a happy heart.  I will also remember that my current capacity for work is diminished, but that is okay because completing x number of things does not make me the perfect wife or mother.

If you notice lots of typos or sentences that just don't quite make sense keep in mind I have not really slept in several nights, so communicating my thoughts clearly has been challenging.

36 Weeks

How far Along: 36 weeks
How big is baby: between 17.2 and 18.7 inches, the size of a honeydew
Maternity Clothes: Yes, and sadly some of the shirts are getting a little short.  I really didn't realize how tiny my belly stayed during my pregnancy with Rachel.
Sleep: Great.  I had about 6 weeks of really rough sleep.  Pregnancy really exacerbates my asthma and for about a month and a half I was waking up gasping for air.  I was also really struggling to complete daily tasks until my doctors finally got me on the right meds.
Best Moment thus far: It is hard to pick just one.  Some if the highlights since my last update have been picking his name, being able to breathe again, seeing how excited Rachel is about her baby brother, and getting everything ready for his arrival.  In case you didn't notice in the picture we decided on the name Joel Brian Bjork.  Joel means "God be willing."  Joel was a minor prophet who wrote the book of Joel to warn the people of Judah about God's impending judgement because of their sin and to urge them to turn back to God.  Brian is obviously named after Brian, and in case you were wondering it means noble, strong, virtuous.
Miss Anything: Being able to reach my feet to buckle sandles or paint my toe nails.  Brian did an excellent job a couple days ago painting my toes.
Food Cravings: None
Anything make you queasy or sick: No
Symptoms: Overall I am feeling good, but I am starting to feel done with being pregnant.
Mood: Good
Looking forward to: Meeting Joel