3 Months

Here we are, another month has flown by. I don't have his weight yet, but I'll update when I do. He is growing out of three month clothes. He has "found" his hands and is very entertained sucking on them. He also enjoys being on the playmat and is very successful hitting the toys over head. His head control has improved quite a lot and he does well holding his head up during tummy time. He has rolled a number of times from his tummy to back. He will coo and talk with us and it is so cute! So are his smiles which are much easier to get now. He really likes his checks and toes kissed. He is also blowing bubbles now. Though he has a pretty rough cold right now, he is pretty miserable, at least he looks miserable. Our routine is waking him up at 8/8:30 to nurse then nap at 10/10:30, nurse at 11/11:30, nap at 1/1:30, nurse 3/3:30, nap 5/5:30, nurse 6/6:30, and then asleep for the night around 8. He will then wake up around 9 to nurse and goes straight back to sleep and then usually will wake once during the night to eat, occasionally he has slept all the way until I wake him. With the other kids I would nurse them right before laying them down for the night, but for Ethan that seemed to wake him up and then he wouldn't go to sleep for sometime. Every kid is different right? It is fun seeing him grow more and seeing him enjoy his siblings. They really love him, as do all of us.

For fun, here is a comparison of the three kids at three months.

2 Months

Ethan is growing! He now weighs 12lbs 4oz. He is pretty happy and content. He will fuss when he is uncomfortable of course and he will some nights going to sleep. Ethan seems to have similar sleep patterns as Micah did, all that really means is as a baby Micah wasn't a super sleeper and Ethan seems to be that way too. There will be some evenings he will be awake for four hours before he finally gives in and falls asleep for the night. He wakes up one to two times a night so I'm still feeling the effects of lost sleep. Ethan is getting strong and gaining more control over his head. He really enjoys being on the playmat kicking his legs and batting at the toys over him. He will track us or toys but not for very long there are some many things going on around him he gets distracted. His cute smiles are still hard to come by, we  have to really work for them. Naturally he will stop smiling as soon as a camera comes out. He is beginning to coo as well. It is so fun watching him grow and change. And it happens so quick at this age I am trying to cherish and store up memories of Ethan.

1 Month

Time truly flies by with a baby, and they change so much. Here is a quick summary of Ethan and what he is up to at one month old. He is much more alert compared to when he was first born. No smiles at me yet, but apparently other people have gotten small smiles from him. He is beginning to coo, not a lot though or consistently yet. We are up about two times a night and during the day he nurses every 2.5 to 3 hours. At times he struggles going to sleep at night but other then that he is pretty content. He will be awake for 1.5 to 2 hours but half of that time is spent nursing, which means he is dozing a bit during that time. He seems to like tummy time, a few times he has almost drifted off to sleep on his tummy. Babies drifting off to sleep is always the cutest thing. The saddest "first" we have had this month is Ethan has had a cold and been quite congested. It is so sad to hear him be all stuffed up. He has still been able to nurse but has had to sleep propped up a bit to help with drainage. Ethan has been growing, he weighs 9lbs 11oz. He is still in newborn clothes but they are getting small so he will probably be moving up sizes in the next week. Why do they grow so quick! Trying to store up memories of this boy being a baby despite the busyness of our house.

Ethan Michael

Welcome Ethan Michael! He was born November 16th at 10:34p, he was 8lbs 2oz and 21". I woke that morning at 6:00 to get showered and ready for church. In the shower I noticed I had already had a couple contractions so I started to count, plus the were definitely stronger. They continued through the morning making us wonder if I should play piano at church that morning or not. But by the time we got down there they seemed to have slowed and remained that way through the afternoon. We could tell that labor was beginning so we did inform my parents and they came up that evening to stay the night. Sunday evening the contractions increased in intensity but were not becoming consistent in timing. They were bouncing around from 5 to 8 minutes apart. About 9:45pm after returning from the bathroom C could see in my face things had changed and decided it was time to head to the hospital. Almost as soon as we got in the car the contractions dropped to three minutes
apart and a could feel him bearing down. C made the trip a bit quicker. We got checked in at the hospital at 10:25 and things had really progressed. The walk to the birthing center felt rather long. As the nurse was leading us to a room C asked if they were ready to deliver a baby. They didn't think much of at right then and sent me to the bathroom to collect a urine sample. Once in there I was ready and started pushing. The nurses realized at that point the baby was coming now. C had to carry me to the bed where the nurses were quickly getting everything ready. A few minutes later at 10:34 Ethan was born, before the doctor had even arrived. Nine minutes at the hospital, I don't think we could have cut it any closer and actually deliver at the hospital in the birthing center. God's timing is perfect and we are so blessed to have another baby. Welcoming a new life into this world is nothing but pure joy.
Here he is now at 3 weeks old.

Reading Reading Reading

Micah has always loved reading. He will sit and read book after book after book until you say it is time to stop. Jane hasn't always been as interested but she is more now. She still mostly prefers to read by herself versus having one of us read to her, though that is beginning to change now. The one time of day she will always sit and have a book read to her is before nap. Right now she is going through a phase where she likes to read the same book everyday for what seems like weeks at a time. So far the books have been, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Very Busy Spider, The View at the Zoo, Green Hat Blue Hat, The Tooth Book, Doggies and now back to The View at the Zoo. Which means I pretty much have those books memorized. But it is these little things I know some day I will miss. Now we just keep reading and reading and reading.

38 weeks

Tueday I was 38 weeks which means the baby could come at anytime. We have the hospital bag packed and it is funny to think back to the bag we had for Micah's birth. It was probably at least twice the size we have packed now. I guess by the third time we have learned what we actually need and use while at the hospital. Though we have also learned that there will always be something different and something we weren't expecting.

At 38 weeks of a pregnancy that has been harder then the other two (though still easy compared to some) I am wondering if this baby boy will come early unlike the other two who were late. I have tried to by ready with all the practical necessesities for awhile knowing full well there will always be some project I wanted to complete that I didn't get to. At this point most the projects are ones that are sitting down which is good because at this point I can't be on my feet long. Thankfully for the most part I am still sleeping well. I'm usually just up once for the bathroom. I have had some insomina once back in bed, just wide awake unable to get back to sleep. Most nights I just stay in bed, one night I did take advange of the time and was up sewing in the middle of the night. Haha.

I am going to the doctor once a week and everything is looking good. This week I measuredat 38cm, last week was 39cm. The baby is definitely moving around and effecting those measurements a bit. He has dropped lower but not quite all the way down. My blood pressure is still great and the baby's heart rate is where it should be. At this point I have gained about 26 pounds. The next appointment is in a couple days and I always look forward to hearing the baby's heart and hearing him move around. I certainly feel him move!

Jane is 2

 Jane had her two year old check up on Thursday. She did really well, though not much talking and she refused to open her mouth for the doctor. She weighs 25.6 pounds and is 35 inches tall. I don't remember the specific percentiles but both were about average. 

Jane at two is so much fun and it is great seeing more of her personality come out. Some of the play she enjoys the most certainly show she is a girl, she really enjoys coloring and playing with her babies. But with an older brother she still likes to play with cars and trucks. She enjoys playing with Micah too. It is fun to start to see them playing together in their own pretend play or just chasing each other around laughing. We get a little moment of snuggling in the morning before Jane will ask for breakfast. She likes to eat almost as soon as she wakes up, which typically around 6:30. She will also take a nap at 1:00 for two to two and half hours and then bedtime is between 7:00 and 7:30. Jane is still just attached to her blanket as she has been. When she is tired she will hold it up to her face covering her mouth and nose. She likes to be involved in most everything I'm doing, as well as what Micah is doing and she does not like to be left behind. What fun she is and I can't wait to see her as a big sister.

Certainly love this girl.