Meticulous Caleb!

While Caleb is my carefree child, he can also be very meticulous. It's hard for my boys not to be like this when they're with their OCD mother every day!=) You'll see what I mean in the pictures below!

On Wednesdays, we go to Kindermusik at a preschool down the road from us. Caleb attends from 10:30-11:15. Afterwards, we all eat a picnic lunch outside on the school's playground. From 12:00-1:00 Stephen attends Kindermusik by himself while Caleb and I play outside or read books (Jonathan chills in his carrier). This week, Caleb was obsessed with the dump trucks and tractors. He was so proud of how he'd lined them all up!

I love this hour with my "baby Caleb." It's hard to see him as an older brother now and not my youngest. Time really does fly!=)

17 Hours Old!

Just wanted to say that the picture of Jonathan in his Daddy's hand was taken at the hospital when he was only 17 hours old! I am super in love with this little boy!=)

Our Night with the Durham Bulls!!

Last night we decided on somewhat of a whim to go see the Durham Bulls play. Stephen had been asking to go all summer, but it was just too hot! Last night was a championship game and possibly their last if they didn't win. All tickets were $10, and hotdogs and popcorn was only $1. The game started at 7 and at around 6, as we were loading up the car with 2 fussy little boys (not Stephen...he was super excited!), Jeremy and I both looked at each other and said, "Should we even try this?". It was too late, though, because Stephen was bouncing everywhere ready to go!

We headed out, all 5 of us piled into the Kia. The reason, by the way, that we all crammed into the Kia was because we had heard that Kia owners got a special, free parking place. It was worth a try (convenience is more important than money right now!).=)

When we got there, the parking attendant saw our Kia and immediately directed us to a special parking place. It was literally right in front of the ballpark! Yay!!! We got the stroller and all 3 boys out and headed to the field. Our seats were good but not convenient for our stroller, so we moved to another section of the ballpark where I could sit right beside Jonathan who was sleeping in the stroller. Jeremy, Stephen, and Caleb sat in front of us.

We enjoyed the game and some yummy popcorn, hotdog, and a funnel cake (not good for my weight loss efforts!). One of the Bulls' players even threw Stephen a ball, which he will not let out of his sight! Caleb got a little bored halfway through, so we read books I had brought along. Jeremy also took them to play on the playground at around the 5th inning, and Jonathan took a bottle and slept. Stephen and Caleb both gave Wool E Bull high fives and danced around to all the "ballpark music."

The weather was absolutely perfect, and believe it or not, we stayed til the 9th inning and got to see the Bulls win. We didn't get home til after 10, and the boys were pooped. Stephen and Caleb both went right to sleep, and Jonathan stayed asleep in his carseat til almost 2 this morning. It was his best night yet! Besides one night feeding and an early morning one, we slept in til 10:00 this morning! It was wonderful! I'm so glad Jeremy is home today to help out!

So, yes, we did the crazy thing and took 2 little boys, along with a 2 and a half week old baby to a baseball game last night. And yes, we stayed til the very end! But...it was worth it! That's one thing Jeremy and I have learned. You only live once...make it count!=)

Stephen...so proud of his baseball!


Super excited!

Jonathan slept through most of the game...he was oblivious!


Stephen was wide-eyed (like it was his first time)!!


Caleb (before he got bored!) =)


Both the boys when we got there


Love it!=)

Thank God for Little Boys

I love my little boys! Seriously, I am so blessed to have 3 of them! I can't imagine life any differently. Playing outside in the sunshine today reminded me of the precious of gift of Mommyhood! As crazy as it gets at times, it's worth it in the end! I love it!=)

Some More Pics of the Little Guy!

I snagged some of my Mom's pictures off facebook tonight to put on my blog! Jonathan is 10 days old now and really growing. It's amazing how much they change in so short a period of time. He's still eating about every 3 or 3 and a half hours. At night, though, he takes his bottle and goes right back to sleep. I'm usually only up maybe 20 minutes or so at a time. We're "loosely" doing Babywise like we did with Stephen and Caleb. They're both great sleepers, and I credit the ideas in the book for most of that. Admittedly, I feel like Jonathan is being a little more spoiled by me, though. I'm not completely sure why. Anyhoo, we're all doing great...just adjusting to life outnumbered by our kids! Love it!=)

Hospital Pictures Have Come A Long Way!!!

Check out the address below to see Jonathan's hospital pictures. He was only 17 hours old when they came into our room and took these. It was an easy experience, and we had to limit what we bought! The collage at the end is our birth announcement! Hope this works!=)

http://www.photoreflect.com/scripts/prsm.dll?eventthumbs?event=1VRL000N

Jonathan Seth Pollard is Here!!!!!!!!!!

So, yes, the baby is here, and it was another precious, little boy! I'm pretty relieved...I can't imagine having a girl. I don't think I'm cut out for it!=) Jonathan Seth Pollard was born on August 30 at 5:58pm. He was 20.25 inches long and weighed 8lbs. 5 oz. He's got dark hair, chubby cheeks, and has little Asian-looking eyes! He reminds me so much of Stephen when he was born! Jeremy and I are in love all over again!

We came home today and are adjusting to life with a newborn before Stephen and Caleb come back home tomorrow. They've been staying with my parents, and I'm looking forward to having them back with us. They did come see Jonathan late Monday night. Stephen was all about it and "held" him several times. Caleb took one quick look then thought it would be more fun to explore my hospital room! He's pretty much oblivious (right now!) to there being a new baby in our family!

I'll give you a synopsis of Jonathan's arrival for those of you who like "birth stories!"...

After my "sent home" adventure last week, I was determined not to EVER have that happen again. Jeremy knew I was gonna wait til the last minute, and boy did we ever! On Sunday night, after taking the boys swimming, we all headed to bed. Around midnight, though, I began having somewhat intense contractions. They kept waking me up but were never consistent enough to time. I never even woke Jeremy up. Monday morning, though, after getting up, they began to come more often and stronger. Jeremy had already planned on taking the day off, so after showering, I went downstairs to fix everyone breakfast. About halfway down the steps, I doubled over with a super strong contraction. Walking around was definitely making things worse.

During breakfast (I couldn't eat), I told Jeremy we probably needed to get Sarah over to keep the boys, so we could head to the hospital. He asked if I'd timed anything yet, and I said no but that I would try. I laid on the couch, and we calculated 7 minutes between contractions (little did we know I had had 2 during that time frame!). I decided we should probably wait awhile. When the next contraction came, though, I immediately changed my mind. I told Jeremy I didn't care what the time was, we HAD to go soon.

Sarah quickly came over, and Jeremy and I headed to Duke. We were in a much bigger hurry this time than early the other morning! When we got there I managed to drag myself to the ER check-in desk. All I could say to the lady there when she asked me why came in was, "We're having a baby."

They quickly took me back in a wheelchair and into a small triage room. It seemed like an eternity before the nurse finally came in to see us. I kept telling Jeremy to see where they were. Seriously, I thought I would die!=) It's amazing how you naturally breathe through contractions without even being told. That was my defense and distraction, along with burying my face into Jeremy, until we were finally seen. The nurse could tell I was in pain and very quickly called a midwife in to check me.

I was totally not surprised when she said, "You waited too long on this one. You're at an 8, 100% effaced, and the baby is at a positive 1 station." My first words were, "When can I have my epidural?"! She said she doubted there was time, but they would see what they could do. Soon after, 2 amazing nurses came in and started my IV's. They were both from the Summit, so I knew we were being well taken care of. They encouraged me to tough it out if possible and go ahead and have the baby; that he/she would probably enter this world in around 30 minutes if I could make it. My wimpy was response, "No way!" I had 0 intentions of being in pain any longer and being "super woman!"

Thankfully they were able to give me the epidural, and I was able to relax some. Better yet, the epidural slowed down labor, and both my parents and Jeremy's parents were able to make it to the hospital. Even better than that, I was able to get 2 doses of the Strep B antibiotic, so Jonathan didn't have to stay longer in the hospital. It all worked out in the end, and I was more comfortable on top of that!=)

After waiting about 4 hours for the antibiotic to be given, Dr. Quinn (yep, that was her name!), came in and broke my water. About 30 minutes later we were pushing and Jonathan Seth entered this world! It was so exciting not knowing if we were having a boy or girl, and especially that moment when the nurse said, "It's a boy!" Jeremy was able to tell our parents in the waiting room that God has blessed them with another grandson!

We are so thankful for this little miracle who's now in our life! Right now he's snuggling with his Daddy, and we're hoping for a good night's sleep!=) Our family is super blessed!

Sleepy boy!


Wide-eyed Jonathan!


Big boy!


Our precious, new son!


God gave us awesome nurses from the Summit!


Jonathan's first picture!


Our amazing Dr.!


Now, a family of 5!=)