A Hint of Spring

Today was gorgeous! This is the spring weather that I have been waiting and waiting for. Our apricot trees are in bloom and the air is alive with the chirping of birds and the buzzing of insects (which I don't mind as long as they leave me alone).

I finally got to hang out my first loads of laundry to be air dried.

Brenda and Alyssa came over to our house after their prolonged absence (due to sickness and our new baby). Apparently getting up close and personal with Ephraim is something that is not restricted to Jacob:

I guess Ephraim is simply irresistible. The kids wanted to share their toys with Ephraim, which was adorable. And who wouldn't want to share with a boy this cute?

Jacob loves his little brother

After initially ignoring Ephraim all together, Jacob has decided that he likes his little brother after all. He seems to be fascinated by Ephraim, and constantly puts his face right next to his little brother's. Of course that is only a problem when one of your kids has been sick. It was quite a task to keep Jacob away from Ephraim while he had the croup. Now it's not such a big deal, but we do have to tell him to back off when he gets a bit too friendly.  Here is a picture of Jacob "holding" Ephraim:

It has been an adjustment for Jacob to have to share Mommy with Ephraim. I have tried to make this easier by reading with Jacob or singing him songs while I feed Ephraim. Jacob LOVES for me to sing songs so he can do the actions. He is so enthusiastic that it makes me laugh. 

Jacob's vocabulary amazes me. He isn't even two years old yet, and he can already speak in 4 to 5 word sentences. Some of his phrases are so cute that I smile every time he says them. Whenever he gets hurt Jacob tells me, "Mommy, tiss (kiss)  it better". Whenever we get out something that he doesn't like or is afraid of (ie. the nose bulb or scary cow flashlight) he will say, "Daddy, put it away". Today I was working on the laptop computer and Jacob wanted me to play with him. He told me to "Mommy, turn Tuter (computer) off.... put it right here" while pointing to the piano bench. He is one smart cookie!

Sleep in Heavenly Peace

I have the best baby ever! Last night I fed Ephraim at 9:30 p.m. and then put him to bed. We went to bed shortly after that, and I fell asleep pretty quickly. I woke up in the middle of the night when Ephraim started to cry. I looked at the clock, and can you believe that it was 3:00 a.m.?! I was so excited. I ended up feeding him then and again at 6:30 a.m.  Now if only Jacob hadn't woken up at 5:30 a.m. to come tell us that he was starving! :o)

I can't believe that Ephraim is doing so well with sleep so young. I just hope he keeps it up. Someday (hopefully in the near future) we will achieve the ultimate wonder and every new mother's dream... sleeping through the night. 

Speaking of sleep, I took the most adorable picture of Jacob while he was napping the other day. Isn't it just precious? Sometimes I don't know how he sleeps in such strange positions.

Here is a photo of my two boys that I took last night. I have to say that Joe and I sure make cute boys, don't you think?

Well, Ephraim is one month old today. Can you believe it? Right now both of my boys are napping. Here is a picture that I just took of Ephraim:

He is getting so big! He is a really good baby, and we are lucky to have him in our family.

Sick of being sick (and of the weather too)

The past week has been a bit crazy at our house.Sunday (March 30th) after we put Jacob to bed he woke up in the middle of the night with a fever and a nasty sounding cough. He was crying because his cough was "owie", and we gave him some Motrin and it took a while to get him to bed. He had a runny nose for a few days before that, but I wasn't sure if he was sick or just getting his 2 year molars. I guess my question was answered. So on Monday Joe stayed home from work in the morning and took Jacob to see the doctor. Turns out he got the croup. They gave him a steroid to help him get better, and he slept most of the day.

The next couple of nights were pretty rough. Tuesday night when we tried to put Jacob to bed he got so upset that he started crying, and then coughing... he coughed so hard that he threw up all over himself, his bed, and me. Then Wednesday night it happened again... twice. We finally got him to sleep at around 11 p.m. after all the trauma and clean up. The good news is that my mother came to visit on Wednesday, so we have had someone to distract Jacob from being sick the rest of the week. We ended up taking him back to the doctor on yesterday, and they gave us some cough syrup to give him at bedtime so that he can sleep instead of cough. Thursday night he went to sleep without incident, which was wonderful.

Here is a picture of Jacob and grandma:

So we have been a bit worried about Ephraim getting sick. So far he just seems to be a little congested, and hopefully that is as bad as it gets. Having Jacob sick was difficult enough! Lucky for us, Ephraim is a really good baby. He has only been getting up twice at night... once around 1:30 a.m. and then again around 5 a.m. It varies, but it's much better than it was the first two weeks! 

Ephraim at 17 days

Here is a cute picture that I took of Ephraim today with the teddy that he brought Jacob at the hospital. I plan on taking a picture every month just like this so I can see how Ephraim grows. Isn't that a great idea? I stole it from my friend Melinda, so you can thank her. :o)

2 Week Checkup

Today was Ephraim's first doctor's appointment. I love our pediatrician, Dr. Arnold, but apparently Jacob does not. The minute we headed back to the exam rooms he started crying and telling Daddy to pick him up. We tried to tell him that we were there for baby Ephraim, but that didn't seem to matter to him. He did finally settle down after a while.

Ephraim is doing great. He now weighs 7 lbs 1 ounce, and they said he is now 20 1/4 inches long. When we left the hospital he only weighed 5 lbs 15 ounces, so he is growing fast! 

They also did the PKU test, which made Ephraim mad. I guess I'd be upset too because it's basically like they are milking your foot for blood. No fun at all.

Jacob is our dancing maniac. Whenever there is fun music on the radio he tells Daddy and me to dance with him. One of his favorite songs is "I Don't Want to Be in Love" by Good Charlotte. It is absolutely hilarious to watch him get his little groove on.

Easter Ambush

Is it just me, or is Easter a little early this year? Isn't it usually in April?

With the new baby and all the changes we've been experiencing I guess you could say that the Easter Bunny managed to sneak up on us, knock us on our keisters, and then it hopped away laughing. We didn't plan anything fun for Jacob... no Easter egg hunt, no bunnies, nothing. I guess the good news is that he won't remember this Easter by next year anyway. He was so excited just to get a plastic Easter egg in nursery and at Wee Read at the library on Thursday. We had bought some Robin's Eggs because they are my favorite Easter candy, so we put some in his eggs and let him eat it. 

He also got an Easter egg shaped like a bunny's head when we went over to the neighbors house for dinner. The Websters invited us over, and we were happy to have somewhere to go. Jacob's favorite person ever (non-family) is Will Webster, so he had a great time playing at their house. As a matter of fact, he told us he didn't want to go home. He just wanted to stay and "play".

I don't know if I've mentioned that Jacob is quite the talker. He will repeat almost anything that you say to him... over and over and over again. Sometimes it is enough to drive you nearly bonkers, but he is an incredibly smart boy.

Ephraim's first bath on the day I was DUE

Today we gave Ephraim his first bath. I was expecting him to get upset and scream about it like Jacob did the first few times. Surprisingly, Ephraim didn't seem to mind the bath at all. See how calm he looks? He was practically asleep through the whole thing.

Here is a picture that we took today of my three boys. Aren't they a handsome bunch?

Ephraim is twelve days old today, which is funny because today is my official due date. The first week has been quite an adjustment. Jacob is finally starting to relax a little bit. For the first little while he wouldn't let Daddy out of his sight. I think he was afraid we were going to leave him again. I have been busy taking care of Ephraim, and Joe has been really great with Jacob. I'm sure it will take a while, but eventually we will get into a new routine. Until then, it has been really great to have Joe home for so long to help out.

Precious boy

There is no question that new babies are a lot of work. The first few days at home have been mostly sleepless and incredibly tiring for all of us. But you know it is worth it when you go check on your baby in the crib and find this:

Isn't he adorable? 

Every day things get a little bit better. Ephraim is starting to figure out that he should be awake during the day and asleep at night. Hallelujah!

Oh baby!

Here is the newest member of our family:

His name is Ephraim Joseph Devereaux.

He was born March 10, 2008 at 6:21 p.m. 

He weighed 6 lbs 4 oz and was 18 inches long. 

As you can see he has lots of hair, and we think he will have blue eyes. What a cutie!