If Mary Never Leaves...

...Brian and I may be able to handle being parents of three. She has been a miracle to us and is probably the main reason none of us are in the insane asylum yet. She plays nonstop with Jake, takes early morning feedings with Faith, and dotes on Tanner- not to mention keeping Brian and I well fed. She is currently making homemade cinnamon roles with Jake. The real test will be what happens after Mary leaves on Tuesday. Yes, THIS Tuesday. We will go it alone. In reality I have no doubt we will be just fine, but it sure has been wonderful having Grandma here to help us ease into our new reality!

Faith is almost a month old already. She is getting bigger all the time and is already out of her newborn diapers- this is a silly "milestone" that made me sad with both the boys and with her, too!
She is sleeping better now and has actually gone a few times for 3-4 hours without eating. Sleep, for me, is still elusive and is taken in 1-3 hour increments, but I am feeling much better and more and more like my old self. 2AM feedings are made much more enjoyable by watching the second season of Grey's Anatomy. LOVE that show! Faith is alert for longer periods during the day and now that I have more energy I am looking forward to taking her out more often and showing her off.

Tanner. What can I say about my Tanner? He is a pure joy right now. He has gained 5 pounds since Christmas and now resembles a football player so much that I just look at him in his little "letterman jacket" and can see him thundering through the door when he is 16, wearing his football gear and heading straight for the refrigerator (hopefully still sweet enough to stop and give his old mom a kiss on the way!). His teacher at school told me that in the last month he has changed drastically. He goes to anyone now, willingly. He walks and runs everywhere and is so happy all the time. She said that he eats like a horse there, too, and bums all the teachers lunches off of them by batting those long eyelashes and rubbing his tummy (this is how he says "please"). He is a tank. And such a love. He often stops to give his sister kisses, cover her with her blanket, and bring her the binkie. He gives everyone hugs. He thinks the word "No" is hysterical and is definitely starting to be mischievious. Seriously.... pure, unadulterated joy. I plan to enjoy it while it lasts!!!!

Jake. Jake, Jake, Jake. So far "four" is a challenge. (I love you like nobody's business, Buddy, but "unadulterated joy" are not the two words I would use to describe you right now. "Challenging" and "Lucky to be alive" come to the tip of my tongue.) I think having the baby sister has exacerbated some of his personality traits- both good and bad. He is more sensitive, more needy, and more loving. He is still on our floor. In fact, he hasn't even been in his bedroom for a month. I keep reminding myself that there are millions of children that have survived having siblings (and millions of parents that have survived having four year olds) without ill effects. Luckily he does seem to love his sister. He wants to hold her, play with her, and just look at her. He still loves his school and it is more and more apparant each day how much they love him. My qualms of "too many worksheets" go out the window when I see the kind of love he he gets from his teachers and watch how he is thriving there.

On another note...Baseball season starts tomorrow!!! Go GIANTS :)

"I'm Cookin' With Gas Now, Baby!"

The title refers to Jake's enthusiastic statement as he was playing Bingo the night before his birthday. He was on a winning streak and that is what came out of his mouth. We all just busted up. That little guy definitely keeps me laughing.

My Jake... four years old already. This was the first year he really understood about his birthday and he looked forward to it for weeks and weeks. I think we started the countdown at 7 weeks and continued until there was only one day left. He was practically beside himself the night before in anticipation.

The party was definitely a success. He had such a great time. Since Faith was just born we did it the easy way: paid someone else to do all the work. He had his party at a place called KidVenture Island- a big play yard made to look like a pirate ship. He invited 6 school friends and they had the run of the place.

Here are some of the little things I want to remember about Jake at this age:

- He loves to listen to "his" music- this includes Bruce Springsteen, Brad Paisley, Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow, Willie Nelson, and lots of others. He loves Buffett's new album and sings along loudly to "Dukes on Sunday", "Breathe in Breathe Out", and "Bama Breeze". I do feel a twinge of mom guilt (and Parrothead pride) as he belts out the lyrics to the latter, "Jimmy got caught smokin' a joint out behind the bar, sittin' in his car, and they took him to jail. The tip jar paid his bail." Very funny to hear.
-He is very loving and kind. Everyday when I was sick with morning sickness and then when I was recuperating from the C-section he would crawl up on my bed and offer to rub my back and give me saltines to eat. He would kiss my head and tell me it was OK.
-He LOVES baseball and is a very talented player (if I do say so myself!). Forget T-Ball. This kid is into straight pitching and can hit a large percentage of the pitches dad throws to him- many going out of the yard and over the fence. He loves to act like Babe Ruth and point over the fence before hitting a ball.
- He is a great big brother to both Tanner and Faith.

I could go on and on, but since this is for public viewing, not only my own personal diary, I will keep it short in order not to bore others with my stereotypical mom braggings.

In any case... Happy Birthday, Jake. We love you more each day and wait eagerly as we continue to watch you grow into a wonderful little boy.

The Best Birthday Present Ever

Jake's Auntie Sue, as many of you know, is one of his most favorite people in the world. Ok... who am I kidding? She actually IS his favorite person in the world. For his birthday Auntie Sue decided to fly out to Boise to surprise him. When he got home from school on Friday we told him that a large package had arrived in the mail for him. It was waiting in front of the fireplace. Actually, that's Auntie Sue in there, just waiting for Jake to "open her up". He walked up to the bag, started patting it (her head) and pulling on it (her hair). At that point I warned him that it may be breakable. I helped him get the bow off and lift up the bag...and boy was he surprised!!!

There are so many times in life that we hope for a certain reaction from the people we love, only to be disappointed when they are less than thrilled by a surprise we have arranged or a present we have bought. This was NOT one of those times. He was shocked, yelled excitedly, then ran to daddy laughing hysterically. He threw his arms around Auntie Sue and just hugged and hugged. When we asked him what he thought might have been in that big bag he said, "A chair!".

The two of them have been playing nonstop since.- baseball, basketball, golf, soccer, on the playground, Trouble, Bingo, sword fighting, hide-and-go-seek, and a myriad of other things. Poor Auntie Sue is on her last legs and she has two more days to go!

I think Jake will remember this surprise for the rest of his life: the year he got an "Auntie Sue" for his birthday :) If only all children could be so lucky.

Glad to be Home

I can't believe it is Tuesday already and Faith is a week old. Time flies when you are having fun...

We arrived home from the hospital on Friday afternoon. After showing Faith around her home and settling back in, we had a few hours to rest before picking the boys up from school. That's when the real fun began! Both boys, understandably, were needy and wanted nothing more to do with The Grandmas once mom and dad were back in town. Tanner, especially, was having nothing to do with either Cori or Mary and only wanted DADDY. Since I am unable to pick him up (a little heartbreaking for me, yes) he cried everytime Brian left his sight. Jake- sensitive and emotional in the best of circumstances- tried his best to "behave" but was close to tears anytime anyone looked at him wrong. We spent the weekend trying our best to balance out attention to the two boys and Faith. Luckily it was a gorgeous spring weekend and we got to play baseball outside both days. Tanner was the ball boy, Jake alternated pitching and hitting with Brian, and Mary and Cori were the umpires/Tanner patrol. You guessed it... Faith and I were the loyal fans, cheering from the "bleachers" (a lone lawn chair on the patio). It was just what I needed to push through those initial baby blues and worries of chaos overtaking my world.

Faith seems to be the hungriest of my three babes. Unless I am remembering wrong, the boys didn't wake up that frequently at night to eat. This little girl is up every 1/5-2 hours. She, like her mama, likes her food! She is a doll and I love to watch her sleeping or look at her wide awake eyes as they scan the room, trying to make sense out of this new world she has found herself in. I have to admit I am loving the pink outfits and am getting over my shock each time I change her diaper and find something other than boy parts down there. As trite as it may sound, we are truly blessed by this surprise baby.

Tanner continues to charm with his easy disposition, his expanding vocabulary, the pure joy he exhibits when playing games such as "Throw the Baby Aspirator" and "Monkey Toss", and his wonderful ability to sleep for LONG stretches at night :)

Although Jake continues to vex us with his unwillingness to sleep in his own bed (our room now consists of our bed, the dog's bed, Faith's crib, and Jake's mat) and his sleeping hours now mimic ours: bed at 9, wake up at 7:30 (except he doesn't have to get up with Faith all night long!), we still think he's a keeper and are hoping he won't still be on our floor the night before high school graduation. He is so excited about his birthday party this weekend. He has no idea, but Auntie Sue is showing up for a surprise visit in order to be at the party. The real question is: Will he play with his school friends or only have eyes for his Auntie Sue?

Mom had to leave on Sunday, but it was so nice to have her here while we were in the hospital and for our first two days home. Mary is taking great care of us all as I recuperate. I am actually feeling really good... tired and sore, but good. Thanks to everyone for your well-wishes. We miss you all and can't wait to introduce you to the newest (and last!) member of our family :)

At long last......TANNER WALKS!!!!!

In an event worthy of it's own post and not being lumped in with his sister, Gooey's has finally decided to walk. We have had a sneaking suspicion that he has been able to do this for awhile now, but wasn't for some reason.

Well, the night before we went to the hosiptal, he decided to get it over with. Whether it was the impending homecoming of his sister,and him wanting to make sure that the event was not lost in the shuffle, or, as I believe, he didn't feel that his immediate family was a grand enough crowd for the event and wanted to wait until the grandma's got here to unveil his skills, he now toddles all over. None of the two or three shakey steps for our man Goo....he is off full speed across the living room, Mom's hospital room etc.

It's like the quote from Forrest Gump, " From that moment on...anywhere I was going....I was RUNNING." Off to the races Tanner Man...we love you!

Have a little Faith...

Faith Wilder Alan was born on Tuesday, March 6, 2007 @ 9:29 AM. She weighed 7 lbs. 3 oz and was 21" long. Both Mom and baby are doing fine and resting in the hospital. I am just home for a shower and change of clothes and will be heading right back. It looks like we will be coming home tomorrow sometime. As you can see she already loves her big brothers. Jake has held her each time he has come to visit the hospital and always asks how she is doing.

The boys are having a great time with "the Grandma's" and are both doing fine. We will get some other photos up and somemore tidbits this weeked. We are not allowed to use cell phones and the hospital does not have high speed wireless access, so this has been our first chance to get some pix out. We'll send some more out his weekend once we are home.....