Things I Love

I just felt that tonight I needed to list all the things I love about being a mom...specifically Jack's mom. Due to teething and general crankiness, today was a harder day that usual, but now as Jack is sleeping (and his little snores are music to my ears) I can't help but say all the little things I love and I want to remember always.

I love his little happy dance he does when he sees me after waking up. He's such a happy morning person. I love how he holds on to my shirt, hair or sweater when I try to put him down...it makes me feel wanted. I love how when he cries, his little bottom lip starts moving and he starts doing this cry that sounds like he is saying Mama...it makes me feel needed. I love his laughing fits and how I'm the only one who knows his super secret tickle spot. I love his chubby little hands that are covered in slobber, even if all the slobber gets on me. It just means he is holding onto his mommy. I love how he stares at me with those big blue eyes when I'm talking to him like I'm the coolest person he knows. I love his little shy smile he gets when I'm changing his diaper and announce that he is 'nakey'. We both get a giggle out of that. I love his toothless smile and how fascinated he is with his own tongue. I love how happy he gets when I grab his toes and tell him I've got his piggies. I'm sort of loving that he is proving to be a daredevil... sort of hating it.

But most of all I love the time I have to sit and cuddle him, listen to his rantings and soak in all those little, special moments that can be so hard to remember after a day like today. And when he finally crashes for the night, I love that he still cuddles up on my chest and hides his face in my neck...feeling safe and secure in my arms. 

I'm a lucky gal...even with spit up, slobber and some pee on my clothes. 

I wear it with pride.

Country Livin'

So we are official Northern Californians.

We are still transitioning and getting settled, but so far our little Jack is proving to be a country boy at heart. 

(except for the long car rides into town he hates)

Mike is finishing up things in LA and visits for long weekend every other weekend which totally stinks! You don't realize how much you rely on your spouse till they aren't there!! 

Lesson learned! Now I just need him here with us full time...October can't come soon enough. 

But, besides missing Mike like crazy, my parents cannot get enough of Jack...and he knows it! He is becoming a little charmer and knows right when to show his coy smile. He is loving all the extra attention and new friends. Wonder where he gets that from...

Chubba Wubba Cheeks

I don't know why I thought moving would be easier after pregnancy but we are sloooowly unpacking everything and Jack is "helping" best he can. I have a feeling we will be unpacking right up to the day we pack everything back up and move. Ha!

His Ladies Man smile

On the Jack front, he is almost 3 months old and I can't believe it! Where did my little infant go? 

Well, I use 'little' loosely since he was in 3 month clothes after just a few weeks old. Tall Boy! Now his 3 month jammies are getting too short. Poor guy is forced to bend his legs while he sleeps. I just don't want to let go of his little jammies!!

He is laughing, blowing spit bubbles, sitting and standing with help and smiling almost all the time. We have a happy boy. He still loves naps next to or on Mommy, tummy tickles and music, music, music! This boy loves to hear anyone sing and sometimes tries to sing along with his coos. It's beyond adorable.

He still hates his car seat and that's about it. 

 

Nom Nom Nom

I've been juggling being a new mommy, unpacking and starting a new business from home which is proving to be a good fit with my new mommy role. It's been a little hectic, but I'm loving it all. Especially since I have the cutest co-worker in the world who happens to be a snappy dresser...

Case and point...

I dare you not to fall in love with this face... Can't be done!

All in all, life is good, chaotic, stressful and very very blessed.

xoxo

Sunday Afternoons

Sunday afternoons are my favorite.

 We all have Family Nap Time...which is much needed!

I usually bake something yummy while the boys hang out, so our house smells amazing

I get a chance to chat with my parents

Then we follow it up with bath time, extra cuddles from Jack, and some relax time with Mike before our whole hectic weeks starts again. 

Our Sunday afternoons are needed more than ever now since we are up to our eyeballs with packing, prepping for our move to Northern California at the end of the month. 

And it's so hard to pack when I have the cutest distraction in the world!

Pictures

Last week we had Jack's first photo shoot and the results were pure adorable!

I'm sure when he is 20 years old, he will totally hate me for all the naked pictures, but I don't care. I mean, I can't handle how cute his bum is and all his cute little rolls. Heaven!

 

Just lounging around

This picture reminds me of the old man from UP!

Our little explorer

Our future missionary

His bear hat

His blessing suit

My little monster

I can't help but ooh and aah over all his pictures...and trust me, there are quite a bit! 

He was a little stinker the whole shoot and he didn't want to pose at all...plus he pooped on everything, including me, but it was all worth it!

And the icing on the cake...we tuckered him out so much, he slept for 7 hours that night. 

It was amazing!

Namesake

A few people have asked about Jack's name and where it came from. 

 We've always loved the name Jack and it seemed to fit him perfectly. 

 His middle name is a little more sentimental since we named him after my brother. 

It was the perfect namesake since my brother is amazing and is the best big brother in the world.

Plus, he totally looks like Adam...take a look!

 

Jack - 1 month

Adam - 1 month

So, since they share a name, we also hope Jack gets Adam's sense of humor, protects his little siblings and has a passion for adventure...just like Uncle Adam!

Sneak Peek

It was a busy day for us today.
We finally did Jack's newborn photo shoot and he was a trooper.
He didn't give us any smiles, but his pensive looks were totally Jack and completely adorable!

Here's a little sneak peek:

Luckily I found Mike's missionary tag right before our shoot and I'm pretty sure it was one of my favorite props of the day.

More pictures to come

Ninja Skills

New moms have crazy ninja skills...and for good reason. You need them all the time!
I now use all my limbs for random tasks...even my feet and toes for grabbing things, rocking things, etc.
I can eat breakfast/lunch/dinner in seconds flat...especially when Jack starts to cry.
I can pump milk, rock my baby to sleep and talk on the phone all at the same time.
I can change a diaper and swaddle my baby in seconds flat.

And my most impressive, newly-acquired skill you might ask?
Transferring Jack from my arms to the bassinet without him waking up!

A few people have asked if I miss my old life, work or social life and I can honestly say that I don't. I was so ready to be a mom and I was lucky enough to stay home throughout my whole pregnancy and enjoy my last few months as a non-mom and mentally prep for what was coming. So, now that Jack is here, I love spending my days with him, even if he has some fussy days.
I mean, who wouldn't want to spend their days with this adorable little man?

Things to Remember

There are just a few things I want to always remember about this crazy time period as a new parent...

Jack always gets the hiccups after he eats...even in the womb I'd get a little hiccup session from him after every meal.

When he is really excited for food, he shakes his head and has this "Nom, nom, nom" look that makes us think his is attacking his food instead of just eating.

He flashes us a few smiles each time he is about to drift off into La-la Land.

He has to have his hands near or on his face when eating...or at any time throughout the day. We are guessing he is trying to help during feeding time, but we usually get into a mini arm wrestling match until Mike or I give up.

He is unusually calm right before he nails us with a pee stream when getting changed.

He likes his afternoon naps on my chest and no where else.

He recognizes my voice when others are around.

He gets a kiss on each cheek after getting changed and I always see a flash of little smile each time.

He loves lifting his head up and looking around, especially when we are having tummy time.

He loves back rubs and he always wraps his little arms around my arm when we are having Superman time (aka: he lies tummy down on my arm and I rub his back). It's like special hugs from him.

And the best thing so far, I would always sing him 'Golden Slumbers' by the Beatles when pregnant since it is the only song I could remember all the words to, and now it's the only song that calms him down for bed time.

I'm tired, always guessing what he wants and just constantly praying that I can be the best kind of mom that he needs, but it makes everything worth it when it's just me and him for our afternoon nap time.

Best. Job. Ever.

Updates

Yesterday we had our first doctors appointment and everything went peachy!

Jack is right around 10lbs and 23.5 inches and the doctor pretty much confirmed that our baby is perfect. He was even calm and quiet during the rectal temperature reading which - as you can imagine - isn't that fun.

Other than that, things have been smooth sailing this week. We are getting use to our new sleeping, changing and feeding schedule which is becoming our whole world, but how can you say no to that face?

On my end, there have been little things that seemed like distant memories that now have come back into my reality...like the fact I don't have to run to the bathroom every 5 minutes, or sleeping on my back, no swelling in my feet...or even being able to SEE my feet. I forgot what it felt like to see my unswollen, cute feet! It's the little things that make this new momma happy.

So, we are riding high this week people with unswollen feet and the most cuddly baby in the world.

(I should add LONG, cuddly baby as you can see our fancy measuring tool gauging his height in this picture when Jack was a week old.)

Houdini

Jack is proving to be a little escape artist...especially with his socks. I don't know how he does it, but I turn my head for a second and I see these free little toes taunting me.

Other than being an escape artist, Jack is just an amazing little baby. He sleeps in 4 hours chunks and I'm slowly learning to nap when he naps and just let the dishes or laundry stay dirty.

He doesn't really cry too often, but he squeaks to get my attention which just adds to his adorable factor.

He is slowly getting his baby tummy and some little rolls on his long, long limbs. I just can't stop kissing his tummy and chubby cheeks!

My absolute favorite part of the day is when he wants to nap on my chest with his long legs tucked up underneath him and he just sleeps in this little ball. It makes me feel so blessed to be able to stay home with him and take care of him.

Also, I need to give a shout-out to Babies R Us and Carters for being so helpful with returning girl clothes and equipment. I spent all week deciding what girl stuff to keep for a possible future girl and what things to return. Luckily we found a good medium and we were able to get some boy stuff. Jack has definitely helped teach his planner mom a new "go-with-the-flow" attitude.

On my end, I'm healing well after the c-section and bouncing back quickly. Luckily Mike is taking care of me and being an amazing support. The fact that we are parents now is still weird for us, but we are loving every second of it...even the 4am feedings.

happy boy

This is one happy boy after lunchtime. He was holding his belly and giggling for a few minutes...

Just long enough to get a quick picture, but not enough to video tape.

Sneaky little guy.

We are also legit parents of a baby boy. Our initiation into the Baby Boy club took us by surprise when little Jack-jack peed on us...two separate times. It's like he was waiting to fire at us...holding a reserve of pee till just the right time.

We couldn't stop laughing ourselves.

So far we have a quiet little guy that gives us lots of sleeping time and the cutest expressions that show us his personality slowly. We've also been blessed with friends and family sending us boy clothes so quickly and helping us man-up his world. We had to use a girl sleeper once and the poor guy barely fit into it! It looked like he was wearing a capri sleeper since it stopped at his knees.

I'll keep updating and posting pictures of our Dapper Man. And since I'm completely and utterly addicted to him, the pictures will come in droves!

xoxo

Jack Adam Pless

If you haven't heard, I had a baby!!

And if that isn't shocking enough, it turns out instead of getting a girl, we had a little shock and found out we have a strong baby boy!

I'm so proud to introduce you to our perfect son...

Jack Adam Pless

So, here is how it all went down:

Our due date was June 26th and when that day came and went without a baby, I was so sad. Call it hormones or whatever, but I felt as if this baby was never going to come.

Well, Wednesday at 2am I woke up feeling really uncomfortable and quickly realized I was having contractions and then I starting wondering why I was so sad the day before! Boy did those suckers hurt! I woke Mike up and we waited an hour until we headed to the hospital at 3:30am to get checked out. We were only 2cms dilated, so we walked up and down the hospital halls for hours until finally we were admitted at 6am. I cannot express how bad contractions feel, but I finally realized why the hospital has hand rails in their halls. I would walk and then clutch those rails for dear life while a contraction was happening.

Once admitted, I called my dad to tell him this baby was coming and to start heading to Southern California with my mom.
I was in so much pain through the contractions and just pleading to Heavenly Father to give me strength to get through them...then my prayers where answered by what's called an epidural! I was so freaked out at first about getting one, but the anesthesiologist calmed me down and I barely felt it. Oh how happy I was once I was drugged!! That stuff is pure gold. They asked me if I felt that back-to-back contractions I just had...and just looked at them and said, 'What contraction?' I owe so much to my labor nurse and anesthesiologist! They were joking with me, explaining everything, showing me what they were doing, the whole nine yards. They were such a blessing.

After getting the good drugs, I was one Cloud Nine. I couldn't feel anything and even napped! I woke up to my mom and Mike by my side and just felt so safe and secure. My dad was running errands and getting ready for when we would be discharged. Having my parents there was definitely reassuring. After 16 hours in labor and 6 hours on petocin, the doctor informed us that I wasn't dilating enough for our big baby to labor safely, so we were going to be prepped for a C-Section. I (being a hormonal mess) was scared to death when consent forms came and they were explaining all the complications that could occur. Mike gave me a blessing and we were wheeled into surgery shortly after.

They prepped me for 20 mins, then let Mike in to sit next to me and calm me down. Then after feeling people tugging and pulling and pushing on my numb body (and my awesome anesthesiologist giving me blow by blow) Mike stood up to get pictures of our baby girl. the doctors said, "Okay, here is your baby gir....oh wait...it's a boy!" Mike just sat there shocked and while laughing, turn to me and said, "It's a boy! Not a girl. He's perfect!" I just sat there shocked, waiting for someone to tell me they were joking. Then the doctor brought him to my side of the curtain and said, "See, it's a boy...these are boy parts!" Everyone was asking me what I thought and I could only say, "I hope he likes pink!" and then with tears in my eyes I just said he was beautiful.

No one in the waiting room believed Mike when he texted them that we had a son, not a daughter. And with all the pranks and jokes Mike has pulled over the last few decades, why would anyone believe him? He's the boy that called wolf a few many times. But, once they realized we weren't joking, they all sent our texts and emails and updated Facebook with the news and assuming his name would be Noah, since that has always been our first choice for a boy's name. But after surgery, when Mike, Jack and I were all together for the first time, we kept calling him Noah and both felt that wasn't his name. So, we called him our second choice which was Jack and it just seem to fit so much better. So, we tricked our family with the gender AND the name.

After we were settled, everyone came in to meet the baby they assumed to be Noah and we updated them that this was our son, Jack Adam. After hugs, tears and baby cuddles, we all went to bed...expect for me who had to try and feed him, cuddle him and watch him sleep in disbelief. After that, it was all by the book. I had no pain after surgery and was able to walk around on Thursday. We had some frustration with feeding him at first, but we figured everything out and seeing him full and happy just warmed my heart in a way I've never felt before. Plus just holding him is such an amazing experience, I just can't believe how much your heart expands with all this unconditional love for someone you just met. It is truly a beautiful process.

Mike was AMAZING through this whole process and helped me with feedings and the whole thing like a pro. And he has handled all the diapers while I've been healing. I'm so grateful to have a husband that is so helpful and such a calming influence for me and Jack. We are now an official family and couldn't be happier!

So now we are adjusting to having him all to ourselves with no nurses. But our families have been such a great support which makes everything so much easier. Plus, Grandma Pless brought Jack some boy clothes so he didn't have to leave in a pink sleeper! He left in style with blue elephants.

Jack has been the perfect baby so far. He sleeps so peacefully through the night and we actually have to wake him up to feed! He loves bath time and cuddle time with Mommy before bedtime. Mike even gave Jack "the talk" telling him that he was very special to us, that he is charged with being a peacemaker and a good example to his future siblings. Plus, he may have mentioned that the boobies were on loan...not his to keep.

A big thank you to everyone's emails, Facebook comments and to all those friends and family who have been sending and dropping off boy clothes. Jack especially appreciates that one!! We love you all and we will keep snapping pictures and posting updates.

xoxo

I know the feeling

When I saw this picture...

I could completely relate since half the pictures I find on my camera is similar to this one...

Or this gem...

Lucky for him, he's such a cutie...

Going Crazy

So... we have 8 days left till our due date and I'm going a little stir-crazy!!

The waiting game is so cruel...SO. CRUEL.

xoxo

My Dad

Since I can remember, I've been a Daddy's Girl and very proud to be one. He is been my rock in my life and it's no wonder why he has been my hero since I can remember.

I've always been proud to hear that I'm like him in so many different ways since he is the kind of dad that drops everything and picks you up from school when you are sick, who spends hours sewing your poodle skirt for a school play, who listens to his little girl talk for hours and hours about absolutely nothing of importance and who teaches his kids the true meaning of this life.

This is the kind of Dad who showed up at a Maturation Seminar when his daughter is in 5th grade and a nurse talks all about the changes coming to our bodies called puberty. He was the only dad there, and at first I was so embarrassed, but he never showed how uncomfortable he was, he was just there to show his daughter he loved her and now it's one of my most cherished memories.

I love that I crinkle my nose when I smile like he does and that I have his sense of humor, passion, playfulness and his mannerisms. I love that I have his business sense and his fearlessness when talking to crowds. But most of all, I love when he shares his testimony, he tears up because I do the exact same thing because he taught me how the Spirit can speak to us.

In college, when I was dating or had my heart broken, I talked to him on the phone. All my roommates thought I was so weird to be sharing that sort of stuff with my dad, but I'd always reply, "He's my best friend and that's what you do with best friends."

My Dad has been by my side through every phase of my life and has been one of my biggest supporters and cheerleaders. He continues to teach me how to be a better person and is ever patient with me when I stumble.

I feel one of my biggest blessings in life has been my dad. Through heart-ache and frustrations, through triumphs and joy, he has been ever vigilant at my side. All in all, I am his buddy and that is one of the best titles I've had in my life.

So, Dad, when you are reading this post, know that I love you more than I can express and I am so honored to be your daughter.

Happy Father's Day!!

xoxo

Dad-to-Be

We are just 9 days away from making this guy a legit dad...

Isn't he a stud? The answer is yes!
Mike has been giving Cookie little lectures about coming out early, but I guess her current accommodations are just so amazing, she is content where she is at.
So, in true Dad-form, Mike has been nudging and trying to shake my belly a little to annoy her enough to come out early....hasn't worked yet.

But, as a cool treat for him, we finally put a flashlight to my belly and waited for Cookie to push back and move.
And she did not disappoint.
She rolled over, kicked the light 6 times in a row (which makes Mike think she for SURE is going to be his Tae Kwon Do buddy) and my favorite, she pushed her little bum out pretty far until I put my hand on bum and she pulled it back in.

...Just her way of making sure I'm still there.

9 days till we are official parents and the suspense is killin' us!

xoxo