Catching up

Beau is two weeks old and is looking fat (10lbs, 7oz.) and grumpy for the most part. It would seem that he doesn't like the food I eat as much as I do, and he'd rather sleep in longer stretches during the day (understandable, he's avoiding his crazy siblings), and wake up every hour at night (again, understandable, he likes the pleasure of my company.) So, I thought I'd take a brief minute to catch up on all the fun things that have been happening in the shadow of Beau's arrival...

1. July 4th...Jacob loved/hated the sparklers

2. Amy came to visit! Bekah and Sarah are best buds.
3. Bekah's 4th birthday...she got a new "baby doctor" barbie and a basket and horn for her bike.

The most adorable thing ever...Bekah's bike up there with Rus's. He took her on a bike ride for her birthday.Jacob loves Beau...he's always asking to hold and "pet" him

Daddy and his boys

Welcome Beau Payne!

Beau was born Sunday, July 6th at 2:13am, weighing in at a grand 8 lbs, 14.5 oz, and 21 3/4" long! He was instantly wide awake, apparently completely in awe of finally being able to match faces to voices. He has lots of brownish-blonde hair, big kissable cheeks, eyes of a undetermined color, big hands, a very large head, and two adorable yet slightly misdirected feet. He is one of the three most beautiful things I have ever seen.

Rus is recovering well from labor with just a few backpains (attributed to his oh-so-comfy fold-out bed in our room). He is completely in love with his boy, despite the fact that Beau has already made him change at least six poopy diapers. (Way to go, Beau!)

I'm "doing good" (code for "I've been split in two, but I'm optimistic that I won't feel this way forever"). I'm loving kissing Beau's cheeks and talking to him and especially getting those newborn baby cuddles that are unlike anything else. I am completely in love.

Here are some more pics for you to enjoy...

It is possible to hold three children at once...The girl on the right is my niece, Sarah. I'm not sure why Bekah is making that face. Jacob's serious face is because he is especially possessive of Beau and didn't really like Sarah touching him.Here's Beau looking so small in his carseat. The drive home from the hospital in Rus's jeep put him right to sleep. Notice his left foot, which is much more turned than his right foot. And his cute long toes. :)The nurses who gave Beau his bath also gave him a nice mohawk. I thought it was adorable, but he didn't like me showing him off.

The never flattering but necessary post-delivery pic...Rus and Beau getting acquainted...My mom and Beau. Isn't my mother beautiful? And completely amazing.

You don't look pregnant from behind...

Well look at me up there...Does that really matter?! I am definately pregnant!! Large and in charge, fat and sassy, whatever you want to say, the belly says it first, guaranteed...
So, in the words of the Kung Fu panda...
SCADOOSH!

No baby...

Nope, no baby yet. Last week Rus thought there were plenty of occasions where he would be benefited by me having the baby. At night he'd say, "Keri, I have a horrible, long meeting to go to tomorrow, and the only way I'm going to get out of it is if you have the baby." OR, "Keri, I'm really tired. Maybe can your water break at about 5 or 6am, and then I'll sleep in a little longer, and then you can have the baby?" Then he got desperate. "Keri, we're having dinner with my parents tomorrow night, and if you want to get out of it, you have to have the baby." Then he'd rub my belly in a downward motion, as if it was possible to show the baby the correct direction and then he'd naturally follow.
Talk about pressure! So then instead of just praying for me to have patience, I decided that maybe I'd pray for Rus to have patience, too. That, in addition to a couple of meltdowns that I have had when I've woken up and still found myself pregnant have basically cured him of subscribing to my "labor services" to get him out of things. Don't get me wrong, there have been numerous times in the past week that I have thought, "I'd rather be at the hospital having a baby than doing this." Like when I've had to go to Walmart, or another dr's appointment, or church on Sunday with everyone saying, "Mmm, Keri, you look like you're done. When's that baby going to come?" I just tell them I like being large and uncomfortable so much that I think I'll hold on for another month. Fun, fun!
So here I am. Drumming my fingers. Checking my watch. Watching my belly. Mentally weighing the pros and cons of going for a 10 mile walk or 4wheeling down a bumpy road or going to my friend's house to use her trampoline...

Baby Blankets

I'm thrilled that the color brown has had such a better reputation ever since it got renamed "chocolate". Who wouldn't want a chocolate-colored-anything? I saw this fabric at Walmart of all places and decided I needed to dust off my mom's sewing machine and take a stab at actually sewing. I don't really like to sew. I've tried to like it, and I'll admit that I love looking at fabric and envisioning all sorts of cute things, but really when it comes down to it, I'm good for a small simple blanket and not much more. I'm lucky that Rus's family still loves and accepts me despite my lack of interest in the quilting/sewing area. Anyways, these blankets were fast and fun and they're just fabric on fabric, so they should be nice and light for the summer. Wahoo! Project Accomplished! Now I just need a baby to wrap up in them.

A Man With No Belly Button

Okay, so the man at the gym today without a belly button looked NOTHING like this guy. He was old, with a big, albeit firm looking belly, and I swear he had NO belly button. Nothing. Not a scar or line or dot, just a belly with no button. How is that possible?! I don't know, but it's gotten me looking on the internet for an explanation, and after 5 minutes of looking and reading random people's opinions on the subject, I have come to the conclusion that no one really knows anything. All I found out was that if you do want work done on your "imperfect" belly button, it's called an umbilicoplasty. That's it. That's all I know. Well...that and that there is really at least one person out there that I have seen with my own eyes who is neither an innie or an outie. Strange.

Potty Training!

Here he is, the man of the hour, the toddler exraordinaire who can now make his parents happy by simply going in the toilet. "MOM! PEE PEES COMING!" are my new favorite words. We started about two weeks ago and I wasn't sure if it was really going to be successful. The only reason I even tried was because the Thomas the Train underwear was so cute and Jacob actually wanted to wear it, and I had a pack of pullups a friend gave me, and I found a potty seat with tractors on it (Bob the Builder), which Jacob was really excited to sit on...So now here I am...I haven't had to change a diaper for two weeks and that in and of itself is success for me! He's even been waking up in the night to tell me he has to go. It's amazing how much more you love your children when you don't have to change their diapers. Really, I like Jacob much more now than I did before, if that's possible. :) So here are some fun pics...Jacob is just like his daddy...always needing good reading material (Nicole you'll have to show Clint, it's Petersen's 4Wheel Drive, won't he be proud?!)
For some crazy reason the toddler underwear industry has decided to put big huge graphics on the bum of their underwear. I think it's hilarious, this little bum with a huge train on it...even better is the one with Spiderman and his big hand coming out to shoot a spider web...or the one with the huge Hulk on it. Ummm..just slipped this one in here...there's me at 35 weeks. Definately tired of being pregnant, but still not so ready to have a newborn. Hmm, guess I have to get over that fast, huh.
Oh, and have I mentioned that Jacob does not have a bum. So while his diaper did the job of holding his pants up, lets just say that underwear doesn't do as good of a job. I've actually left him downstairs fully dressed only to find him upstairs later with a naked bum, and a trail of shorts and underwear on the stairs. I can't expect him to hold his pants up and climb the stairs, can I?