sarah's preschool thanksgiving celebration...11.18

more sweet moments...11.14

just for aunt jodie...

my aunt jodie has commented that we SAY we have 2 dogs, but there is NO evidence of such on our blog!!! so, here's some proof...

thanksgiving outfits...11.9

jacob's first pacifier...11.8

apparently, we are breaking ALL the parenting rules this time around :) i guess i should clarify that statement...we are breaking all OUR proclaimed parenting rules!

baby jacob is sleeping in a bassinet in our room (NO WAY i'm running upstairs in the middle of the night to check on him/nurse him!!!)...we were in a 1 story house for the first two kids. much easier to have them sleep in their own cribs from day one. the first 2 weeks, i wasn't even supposed to go up and down the stairs after the c-section. yeah, that would have worked GREAT to have him upstairs :)

we gave jacob a pacifier when he was 8 days old! i don't think we gave sarah a pacie til she was 8 weeks old, and drew got one at around 4 weeks. i was terrified of messing up sarah's nursing so i followed the "rules" and didn't introduce one til we were out of the "danger zone". we were a little more lax with drew. now, wow...we were plugging up that little booger in a little over a week! but, jacob is a natural pacie sucker...he keeps it in his mouth forEVER by himself. very handy!!!

i know there are several more things we have been laughing about doing differently this time...but i can't remember them right now!!! surprising, huh?!? well, we are definitely more laid back this time around and trying to enjoy every moment as much as we can! we were so hesitant and nervous with our firstborn, then we were SO busy with a 17 month old and a newborn with our second born, so we are finally getting in our groove with our third born...i keep saying i wish all of my kids could have been my third born!!!

sarah's fall preschool program...11.8

notes:

1. sarah is wearing her VERY FIRST pair of blue jeans. yes, she is four years old!

2. our preschool does a fall program that just the 4s and 5s participate in. so this is our first year to do this!

3. jacob attended his first preschool function at one week old. he was very impressed :) he slept through the whole thing...including a celebratory treat at TCBY...

4. sarah's partner for the "itsy bitsy spider" song was a little boy in her class named jacob. apparently, she has had a sudden interest in him since having a little brother with his name :)

5. of course sarah wanted to pose with her BFF griffin after the program...

6. sarah was hamming it up throughout the whole performance. if i were to really torture you, i would upload the entire 30 minute performance for your enjoyment. you're welcome :)

poppy meets jacob...11.6

november 6th was a very special day for baby jacob. he finally got to meet his poppy bill! my dad had to leave on a trip (he flies for fedex) on october 31st...he was able to come to the hospital while i was checking in, and then had to leave town. so sad. so, poppy got home from his trip on thursday and headed STRAIGHT to our house to meet his 2nd grandson. it was a very special meeting. we have been able to see lots of poppy since then to make up for the first 5 days of jacob's life :)

big brother and big sister...11.6

my friend, deana, made these AWESOME shirts for the kids to wear in their official roles as "big brother" and "big sister". i LOVE LOVE LOVE them! the kids wore them at the hospital and then to school on the thursday after jacob was born. they took photo albums that day as well as rice krispy treats announcing their new status with jacob's info for take home favors. as you can see, drew was not feeling the love for the camera that morning...but what else is new?!?

a daddy and drew-boo date...11.5

on the wednesday after we brought jacob home from the hospital, tim took sarah to school and then headed off with drew for a big day!!! they went to the zoo, had lunch together at the park, and then played on the playground and flew a kite! it was such a special day for daddy and son!

great deal!!!...updated!

edited to add: the carseat is listed as "out of stock" as of 9:58pm CST. i think either target realized that they TOTALLY screwed up the price and were GIVING them away...or enough people actually saw the sale price and bought them out! i was watching people on facebook saying they were buying 3 and 4 at a time!!! so much for the steal of the century :(

this is totally random, but i just found the britax marathon carseat that sarah and drew have (well, not actually the same color...but same seat!) on sale at target for over $200.00 off! just thought i would pass along the great deal any way i could! its a wonderful seat and fits kids up to 65 lbs! click here for the direct link to the carseat...also has free shipping! what a steal!!!

you might be a redneck if...2nd edition...11.4

yes, my children were playing in the back yard without shirts on...there was actually a reason! they had both worn white shirts to preschool that i took off of them before giving them popsicles!!! see, i was being smart :) and, NO! it was not cold outside that afternoon!!!remember the last time we were rednecks?!?

B.J. flashback #4...gbc pumpkin party...halloween...10.31

i think it took more planning to prepare for the big kids to be taken care of while tim and i were at the hospital than it did to get me, tim, and baby jacob ready to go to the hospital! between dance class, church, preschool, and halloween, i was making A LOT of lists and leaving lots of piles of clothes out for the grandmothers!

i was REALLY upset that i was going to miss halloween with the big kids...i'm sure they didn't even notice :) when tim and i headed to the hospital on halloween, nana and pop pop kept sarah and drew at our house for naptime and then the gbc pumpkin party. nana and pop pop got both the kids dressed in their halloween costumes, got them to the party, and chased them around the whole night while snapping these pictures for me!!! looks like all 4 of them had a great time! nana said the only hiccup in the whole night was when drew wanted to get his fingernails painted when sarah did :)

tim and i are extremely grateful that nana, pop pop, and mimi helped out SO MUCH when we were in the hospital...(poppy had to leave on a trip on halloween-sad!). from saturday morning on, nana and pop pop kept drew at our house and mimi kept sarah at her house--so at least no one had both kids!!! i know they were totally and completely exhausted when we took the big kids back from them...but, it was so wonderful for both tim and me to be able to give jacob a few days of undivided attention while we were in the hospital.

this post concludes the B.J. flashback series...from here on out, i will again be blogging chronologically (and in an organized, OCD fashion!!!)...

sibling certificates...11.4

sarah and drew came home from their first day of preschool after jacob was born with certificates saying they were BIG SIBLINGS! they were both so very proud of their signs. sarah also got a crown which she was allowed to wear ALL DAY at school. big stuff :)

B.J. flashback #3...sarah's preschool harvest party...10.29

a bunch of GREAT news...

*on friday, we took sarah to her routine 3 month follow up appointment at dr. byrd's (pediatric ophthalmologist). we went a few weeks early since sarah's glasses were broken and we wanted an up to date prescription when we ordered new ones. sarah's right eye is now 20/30!!! hallelujah! so, sarah now has 20/30 corrected vision in both eyes! we are SO SO SO excited! we are slowing backing off our patching time...we are now going to patch for 3 hours a day/7 days a week. dr. byrd says that we will continue decreasing patching time as long as we are still testing at 20/30. she said that sarah will have to patch until she's 10 (that sounds SO far off), but that at 10, our patching may consist of 1-2 hours/week! so, it sounds like we will be through with the heavy duty patching before sarah has to start elementary school! if she's just patching 1 hour/day by kindergarten, i won't make her wear her patch to school. that's one huge praise in and of itself. i really didn't want sarah to have to deal with the "baggage" that comes from being different in school. so, hip hip hooray! GREAT news at the eye doctor.

*and then we headed over to dr. mormon's to pick out new glasses. we pretty much let sarah choose. she picked a purple pair with flowers on the sides/ear pieces. now, when i say purple, don't freak out. they are as purple as the current pair are pink, and i'm pretty sure most of you didn't even realize the current pair were pink :) the glasses are from the barbie princess line, so OF COURSE, they are the ones she wanted!!! they look super cute on her. i will post pics once they come in. oh...the good news...she doesn't have to have the ear piece that curves all the way around her ear anymore! the glasses tech said that if sarah keeps her glasses on when she is supposed to, she is "mature" enough to have regular glasses now! sarah is very conscientious about her glasses and only takes them off when its rest time, bath time, or bed time. the tech said the glasses we picked should fit well enough that they won't fall off during normal 4 year old play. he did mention that we could get one of those head strap things to wear during dance/gymnastics if she has trouble keeping her glasses on there. so, that's great news too! the only part of sarah's current glasses that ever broke was the extended ear piece part. they just got so much wear and tear when sarah took her glasses off on her own. so hopefully, we will have even fewer problems now!!!

*sarah and drew are both adjusting well to little brother. they are getting used to him being around. of course they both still have their moments, and need a few extra hugs and kisses...but i don't mind doling those out! they are both very gentle and careful with jacob. so sweet!

*get this...jacob has slept at least 7 hours straight for the past 3 nights! crazy! the first night i thought it was a complete fluke when he slept from 11:30-8:00 without waking up. i remember sarah and drew having a random good night here and there in the early weeks. but, then he did it 2 more nights. we are getting so spoiled! now, i'm not naive enough to think we don't have more sleepless nights in our future, but i am enjoying it while i can! i'm fully expecting him to be up all night all next week since tim is going to be out of town :( but, silver lining, mimi is moving in with me for the week! so, all 4 of us will be getting spoiled by some mimi time!

just wanted to share all the great news that we have had lately! i'll keep the pictures coming though...i know that's what keeps you all coming back for more :)

family time...11.3

B.J. flashback #2...halloween costumes...10.29

i was getting the feeling that i wasn't going to be able to spend halloween with the big kids, so we decided to dress the kids up in their costumes before halloween to snap a few pics. drew was a fighter pilot (just like uncle andy!) and sarah was tinkerbell. i was SO sad that the kids didn't coordinate this year, but i let each of them pick their own costumes so this is what we got. i guess both of them technically fly, right?!?

B.J. flashback #1...sarah...10.26

i still have some B.J. (before jacob) pics that i am going to squeeze in over the next few days...this blog has become my only documentation of our lives, so i want to make sure to remember the last few days as a family of 4!!! sarah was being silly one night before bed in her halloween pj's so we snapped a few pics. what a sweet girl!

coming home...11.3

the arrival of the franklinton crowd...and jacob meets jacob...11.2

on sunday afternoon, granny merle, papa vick, aunt angela, and my cousin jacob arrived at the hospital to meet little jacob harrison. they drove up from louisiana to see our newest family member. that in and of itself was pretty awesome. but, it was also baby jacob's first time to meet his great grandparents AND his namesake, jacob adrian mcvea. it was an emotional meeting for all of us. as i've mentioned before, we named our little jacob after my cousin jacob. it was amazing to see jacob adrian holding jacob harrison. such special memories!!!

morning pics at the hospital...11.2

precious moments...11.2

can't you guys read my mind?!?

apparently not...

so, i have unintentionally left out a lot of details about our newest family member! i am so sorry! i wasn't trying to be suspenseful or anything! ok, on to the good stuff...

JACOB HARRISON WOODARD

was born October 31, 2008 at 5:57 pm

weighing in at 8 lbs 13 oz and measuring 21 1/2 inches long.

he was born via c-section as planned. the whole experience was very surreal. it was quick, painless, and super easy on my part. the surgery, that is...

he was smaller in weight than anticipated (although still a good size baby), but he was MUCH longer than thought. when the doctor pulled him out, the nurse anesthetist said, "oh my goodness...he's still pulling him out!"--which of course made no sense to me since i couldn't see anything. i seriously don't know how he was so squished up inside me! when i hold him to nurse him, he wraps 1/2 way around my body! he's SO long!

we were in the hospital from friday through monday. while i was there, the doctors had orders for me to wear TED hose to help with my circulation since i was bed-bound over the first night as the spinal wore off. those are the white tights on my legs that apparently looked like i was bandaged up! didn't even notice those were in the pics i posted...ya'll are very observant!

we are all doing well! as you can see from the pics, the big kids are enamoured with their little brother! they have been extra hyper the past few days. i'm sure it'll take a while for them to settle into our new routine/family of five. jacob is a sweetheart. still at the stage where he eats or sleeps all the time. he has started being awake for a few minutes every once in a while. the kids LOVE when he has his eyes open. i also got some really cute videos of the big kids singing to jacob. priceless. i will post them when i get a second.

i am feeling really really good. i know i'm only 5 days out, but as of now, i would definitely say the c-section recovery has been 10 times easier than "the other way". i am not having any incisional pain and i think i am moving around a whole lot better. i think some of it may just be the fact that its my 3rd recovery period. its less of a mystery :)

ok, i really need to be sleeping since little man is sleeping. i'll post more pictures tomorrow!!!

jacob...one day old...11.1

jacob's arrival...10.31