what to do?

 

Those of you who know me well, know I've been agonizing over a big decision... to send Jonathan to Kindergarten or wait another year.  Still not fully decided, but after hearing from his preschool teacher, his Sunday School teacher - who both have many years of experience with this age kiddos, and Jacob's kindergarten teacher, who so awesomely agreed to give Jonathan a screener... we decided to go ahead and register the big boy for BIG K.  Oh. My. Goodness.  Honestly, I may still change my mind in August, but I really think he's ready.  He did awesome on the screeners and academically is totally ready.  I don't want him to be bored if he waits another year.  He just seems so much more vulnerable than Jacob was.  I don't know why... I guess it's the second born syndrome.  Or the fact that he had all those medical problems when he was two.  Probably, it's the fact that he still has crying fits and home and acts like a total baby sometimes.  Yep, that's what I worry about the most.  Of course, everyone says he acts totally mature and responsible in other settings.  And of course we still have 4 months.  :-)  I love that little guy so very very much and I want the best for him.  I pray that he loves school and he is happy and has good friends.  I pray that he will not be led by the wrong kiddos. I pray that he will be salt and light in a dark world.  I pray that he has awesome teachers.  I pray that the speech stuff he has going on won't be a big deal and that he won't get made fun of by his peers. Y'all, this parenting thing is no joke.  I know this is the first of many many tough decisions.  :-)

Here he is on Kindergarten registration day!

who says dressing boys can't be fun???

Happy Easter from our little family to yours.  We had a fun-filled weekend with family, friends and sweet worship at church.  Thank you Jesus for the ultimate sacrifice - may we never ever forget! 

 

five months old already? You can't be serious...

Hello everyone!  I'm five months old (actually, 5 1/2 but who's counting?)... I love being 5 months old.  It's way better than being 4 months old.  See??? I get to hang out in this really cool toy.  It lets me sort of stand up, which I think is awesome because it's more like what my brothers do.  I can also see them better this way.  BUT, I only like it for about 5 minutes at a time.  I am a diva after all - what does that word, "diva" mean anyway??? My mommy and daddy call me that sometimes.  I mean who wouldn't want to go potty as soon as you get a dry diaper on?  Mommy and daddy are so silly. 

 

I also get to hang out with super cool people like my Grammy and Pa and Mamaw and Papaw.  Here I am in the awesome and strong arms of my pa.  Did you know that I'm named after him? 

 

 

My mommy also finally remembered to put my number 5 onesie on for my famous photo shoot.  I'm getting so big.  Do my legs look big to you?  Hmm, they do to me.  I guess my mommy's doing a good job feeding me.  I love my life.  I have so much fun.  I have a couple of new tricks - I can totally grab my toes and I can roll over both ways.  I'm also getting really good at grabbing things and playing a little with my toys.  I even grab things I'm not supposed to like mommy's hair and food off their plates.  I'm so cool!  Oh and guess what else???  I can blow bubbles and squeal really loud.  Hee hee.  Don't be jealous!  I still eat five times a day and am only getting mommy's milk so far.  They keep talking about cereal or something, but I haven't tried it yet.  I am one happy happy boy.  I smile all the time.  I like it a lot when mommy or daddy play peek-a-boo with me or smell my feet and say "shoooooweeeee."  Sometimes they make me laugh so much I get the hiccups.  I also laugh a lot when mommy wipes my bottom.  It shouldn't be funny, but it is to me.  :) You know who else makes me giggle?  My big brothers.  Goodness, they are funny dudes!  I love them so much and can't wait to get big enough to play.  I love to watch them play basketball and cards and superheros and well, anything really.  They are really great big brothers. 

 

 

Well, I guess that about wraps it up for my 5 month update.  Life is good from my little eyes.  I am one blessed little man. 

Snow Day Fun

(ps - I'll add pics later!)

I love snow days!  Maybe not in March, but I love them, none the less.  I used to love them as a little girl too.  Now, as a parent, I couldn't wait to watch the news to see if SCPS was cancelled.  Even though I know we are signed up to get a "one call" from the school system telling us they are cancelled, I still like watching the news to wait and see if it comes across the bottom.  Weird?  Probably.  But oh well. 

So, yesterday, we had a snow day.  Only the second this year, and I hope the last, since this momma desperately needs some SUNSHINE!!!  But, since we had a snow day, of course I wanted to make the best of it.  Our day was fun - Jacob even said, "this is the best snow day ever!" several times.  :-)

So, to start, we had an epic game of Life.  Yep, the boys love board games and so do I!  I won, but hey, who's keeping track, right?  Then, after consulting Pinterest, we made a list of several must-do projects. 

First, we took an ordinary bar of Ivory soap and put it in the microwave.  Y'all, if you haven't ever done this.  Do it.  Now.  It is really cool.  Messy, but cool.  It grows into this big ball of white fluff.  So, we used it to make snowy scenes.  (caution - if you are weary of messes, probably not the project for you!).  We glued little pieces of the fluff on blue paper and then created snowmen to go with it.  Then, we jointly created a story titled, "The Snowy Day."  Each of us got to work together by adding one sentence at a time.  We even illustrated it.  It was quite entertaining.  Especially since the house smelled like ivory soap and each time you breathed or moved, little white flakes of the fluffy stuff would fly around.  Cute story.  Weird illustrations.  My kind of fun. 

Then, the boys wanted to play outside (which I detest by the way - I hate being cold!) so I wasn't sad at all that it was time for the boy to eat.  So, I sat in the warmth, fed the boy and watched as they frolicked and threw snow on each other.  Then, they piled all their warm clothes in a heap on the kitchen floor and we had hot cocoa. 

Then, we did an experiment with magnets and pipe cleaners.  Also pretty cool.  No too messy and super easy.  It kept Jonathan occupied for quite some time.  Jacob liked it okay, but it didn't entertain him as long.  Joshua was just along for the ride.  :-) 

For lunch, I made grilled cheese sandwiches and cut out the shape of a snowman - pretzel arms, peanut eyes, ketchup scarves and teenty tiny cheeze-its for snow flakes. Yep, I did that all on my own.  Without Pinterest.  :-) 

After all that, this momma was exhausted and the house was (and still is) a disaster.  So we had some quiet time, which wasn't really quiet - they are boys, after all.  Momma chilled and watched my guilty pleasure - 90210 reruns on SOAP.  We then did some crafty cards for the father-in-law's birthday and called it a day.  I have to admit, I'm always super glad when Daddy walks in the door in the afternoons, but I was REALLY glad yesterday.  I was pooped.  Messy house, smiling kids and a momma still in her jammies to prove it.  Guess what???  I wouldn't have it any other way.  I am blessed. 

Will you be my valentine?

I love holidays.  All of them.  I love little traditions we are creating with our family.  Fun stuff.  This year, Jonathan had to make a box to take to school to collect his little valentines from his friends.  Of course, I consulted Pinterest (any statement that starts there is dangerous!) and Jonathan decided he needed a monster box.  So, a monster box we made.  It was so much fun!  Jacob made one too to have at home.  I love creative projects with my boys.  :-) 

The night before Valentines Day, I made a sweet little mobile to surprise the boys - it was hanging down from their door frame and surprised them in the morning.  They seemed to like it.  :-)  Joshua also had some hearts on his door too with reminders of our love and God's love for him. 

I was so glad to get to go to Jonathan's little party at school and Daddy got to go to Jacob's.  I'm so glad we are flexible and available to do these things.  I wouldn't miss it for a second. 

And finally, let's talk about  my sweet Valentine.  So glad he gets to "be mine" forever and ever.  I am blessed.  I love you honey! 

Time is just moving too fast!

Can't believe Joshua is already 4 months old.  Actually, he's almost 4 month and a week old.  Here's some things about this age that I just love.  I'd forgotten how sweet this age is.  I LOVE it!!! 

He's becoming so interactive.  I love the fact that I walk in a room and he immediately finds me and follows me.  He smiles like crazy.  He is starting to beat his hands on anything around him. He also folds his hands together a lot - looks like he's praying.  He does it every time he eats.  So sweet.  He kicks his feet and laughs at his toes.  Really - it's so cute!  Especially if he has some type of animals on the feet of his jammies.  He is so happy and so content.  He slobbers a lot and likes to suck on his fingers.  He's trying to be a thumb sucker, but sometimes misses and its really cute to watch him try to stick his thumb in his mouth.  It looks like his whole face is hiding though because he doesn't make a fist, he has all his fingers straight out.  Oh his smile - would melt anyone's heart!  Love love love that gummy sweet grin.  He loves his brothers so very very much.  Jonathan loves to hold him, but will quickly say, "I'm done."  :-)  Jacob loves to talk to him and it's very very sweet.  He's much more interested than I ever thought he would be. 

At his four month check up, he weighed 14 lbs 14 oz and was 25" long.  (50th and 75th percentiles respectfully.)  He hasn't fully recovered from the RSV episode.  He continues to have a nagging cough and is congested.  Is that just the way it'll always be for him??? I sure hope not.  He is a great sleeper.  He goes to sleep completely on his own, without rocking!, at about 8 or 8:15.  He sleeps until 7 or 7:30.  YAY!!!  Occasionally, he wakes up at 5:30 and I change his diaper and he goes right back to sleep.  He hates to be wet.  :-)  Sometimes, we have to go put his paci in to settle him, but overall, he is an awesome sleeper.  He is taking two decent naps a day (about 9:30 and 1:00) and a catnap sometime in the evening between 4:30 and 6.  He eats like a little hoover.  hee hee.  He's eating 5 times a day -  6-7 ounces each time.  Sometimes, with his congestion and all the snot, he throws up.  It is scary and I don't like it one little bit.  That has gotten better too, the more distance we get from the RSV episode. 

Oh sweet Joshua, I can't imagine life without you.  You are soooo easy and sooo good. Everywhere we go, people say, "is he always that good?"  Yes, yes you are.  You are a total go with the flow little dude and so flexible.   You add life and energy to our family and we love everything about you.  I pray that you will understand the deep love of Jesus and will surrender your whole heart and life to Him.  XOXOXO

RSV (really... sucky...virus!)

Welp, we've had quite the couple of days here.  Several "firsts" for our little family.  Not firsts I'd like to repeat, mind you.  For starters, Joshua had his first sick visit to the pediatrician on Friday.  He was pitiful - coughing, choking, feverish and wouldn't eat.  Y'all - he's serious about his milkies, so I knew he wasn't feeling well.  He was diagnosed with RSV (i know the technical name, but to us, it will always be known as the really sucky virus...explanation later.)  That night, as was expected, we had a rough night.  The first time actually in a long while that baby boy hasn't slept through the night.  Saturday was actually a pretty good day.  He still felt crummy, but was mostly comfortable and rested okay.  Saturday night though... another story.  For the first time in his little life, he flat out projectile vomited several times after eating.  Scary stuff. And.he.did.not.sleep (at all) Saturday night, hence, neither did we... Sunday was even worse.  Nothing really helped him feel better - he just wasn't comfortable unless we were literally standing up holding him.  His breathing was labored.  He looked sad and worried.  It was pitiful.  He perked up a little during the afternoon, but by evening, his breathing was even worse.  I knew the warning signs, but my mommy intuition was just confused.  See, our pediatrician told us on Friday that he was 99% certain Joshua would get through this without hospitalization.  Here's what we were told to look for that would indicate a need for hospitalization:  breathing more than 60 breaths per minute (Joshua was breathing about 65 or so) and oxygen levels at or below 94 (Joshua's were at 94 or 93).  Also, we were supposed to look for retraction at the ribs during breathing.  Well, he was doing a little of all these things, but no so severe that I just knew he need to go in...  Our friend Sherry, who is a nurse and awesome momma, came over to take a look and she said he was "just on the fringe."  Well, several hours later, and after a call from our pediatrician, we took our first trip to the ER - for Joshua anyway.  We've been there once with Jonathan.  We went to Kosair at Brownsboro Road... awesome facility by the way.  Joshua got some tests run, chest x-rays and the suction.  OH THE SUCTION.  (That's why we will always call RSV the really SUCKY virus).  You will understand if you've ever seen or heard anyone have to get "deep suction" done.  Y'all - we had to leave the room - went way down the hall and we could still hear the awful suction sound and the screaming was almost more than I could bear.  Seriously - if (I pray no one ever has to experience this!) your child ever needs deep suctioning - RUN out of the room as fast as you can!! Anyway, even with oxygen, he was unable to keep his oxygen levels to an acceptable level, so we were told he'd need to be admitted.  So, we took our first ever ambulance ride to the downtown Kosair Hospital.  My little man was all hooked up on the stretcher and I about lost it.  I rode with him and Billy followed close behind the ambulance.  By this point, it was about 2 or 3 in the morning and Joshua was still awake.  Despite all the trauma, he was still smiling.  My precious precious little guy.  So sweet.  So, we got to Kosair and into our room and finally got settled at about 3:30 am.  When we got there, the deep suction had to happen again.  And again.  And again.  Oh my word y'all - awful.  But I know it helped him so much.  Gross, I know, but you should have seen the gunk they got out of him.  Poor baby.  He got oxygen through the night and up into the day on Monday.  He began to make some progress and decided the oxygen tube was just so NOT cool, so he helped take it out of his nose.  :-)  The nurse was willing to let him try without it, and he did well.  He still had to be suctioned a bunch of times that day.  The criteria for going home was 12 hours with no oxygen and 12 hours with no deep suctioning.  So, we were hopeful to go home the next day and thankfully, we did. 

All in all, it was only about 40 hours.  But it was a sleepless 40 hours and so scary.  I knew he was "okay" but it was still scary and sad.  I am so thankful for our amazing family and friends for the visits, the snacks, phone calls and prayers.  We are blessed beyond measure.  Glad to be back home, semi back to normal.  I missed my big boys!  Joshua is still sick, but so so so so so much better.  He is eating better , but gets choked really easily when eating now.  So it's still scary, but his breathing is back to normal and he is back to his smiling, sweet self. 

a fly on the wall

I there were a fly on the walls of the Stover house, here's what he/she might see...

* A sweet little three month old baby FULL of slobbery smiles and adorable goos and coos.  LOVE his heart!  He adds so much fun to our little family. 

* The same little three month old SLEEPING LIKE A ROCKSTAR!!!!!  seriously - so blessed!  He goes to sleep at 8 or 8:30 and sleeps until 8.  We wake him up for a "dream feed" at 11ish.  Daddy usually does that feeding.  He's eating 5-6 times a day and drains 5.5 ounces each feeding.  Getting some sweet trademark rolls on his leggies.  And those cheeks?  Yes, please! 

* Joshua must have the best kidneys on the planet.  He seriously pees about 12 times a day!  We are unfortunately doing our best to fill up a landfill with all the diapers.  I prolly should be doing cloth diapers, but I just don't think I could keep up. 

* A cute little six year old with no teeth.  Seriously - he lost another one this weekend - that makes 7 teeth lost.  unbelievable.  This one wasn't exactly supposed to come out right now.  It was a little loose, but was helped when Jacob was jumping in a bouncy house and somehow face-planted on the gym floor. 

* Two little spies.  Oh wait the fly wouldn't be able to see them because they are invisible.  They usually put on their jammies and run around saying "you can't see me."  It's very very very cute.  They say, "we are busy.  Don't come in our room." 

* Other really cool costumes as well - the other day, they were Captain Hook and Peter Pan with some make shift costumes. HILARIOUS!

* A little four year old who is slightly obsessed with Sonic racing play station game.  He would play it all the time if we let him, which we don't of course.  We generally let him play for about 30 minutes a day.  He even "pretends" to play video games. 

* Mommy is obsessed with the Ruzzle app on the iPhone.  I try to get daddy to join, but he's just not that into it.  :-) 

* Mommy is pumping my face off to provide yummy milk for "the boy."  It's working for us!  SO much so that there's a blue light special on breast milk in our house.  Seriously - can't even fit ice cream in the freezer right now.  Looking for places to donate the milk.  Any ideas?  Pumping is just a way of life for us.  And of course there's no privacy.  Jacob asks, "why doesn't he eat from your breath, Mommy?"  Yep, he says breath.  And it's cute.  And I haven't corrected him.  Lord help us if he goes to school and says mommy tries to breath feed but it just doesn't work, so she hooks up this weird system and milk drips into bottles from her breath."  Oh golly.  :-) 

* Daddy is loving the NBA package on Direct TV... there's always some game on TV. 

* The big boys are excited about playing Upward Basketball at church.  Actually, Jacob is playing and Jonathan is helping daddy "coach."  Cute!  The team name is Sycamores.  Jonathan says it like "sik -a-mo-uz"  in true southern fashion. 

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Man of Honor

Yesterday was a big day for our little family.  My sweet, amazing hubby was ordained as a Deacon of our church, Shelbyville First Baptist.  It's a big deal! I am so proud to be married to a man who is willing to love God and love people.  That's his utmost desire.  Our little family benifits from that in MANY ways!  Billy is honorable, loving, genuine, kind and consistent.  I can't think of a man more fitting for the job of Deacon.  His favorite verse (he even put it on his groom's cake at our wedding) is Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever."  During his testimony yesterday, he shared the impact this verse on his life.  In a world that is changing minute by minute, it's so comforting to know we serve a God who never ever changes.  He said that no matter where he is, New Year's Eve, on the basketball court, at work, at home on the couch or at church on Sunday, he tries to be the same person.  Ya'll - it is so true.  Billy is the most consistently sweet person on the planet.  What you see is what you get with him.  Well, me likely what I see and what I get!  :-)  I feel honored to be walking alongside Billy in this journey called life.  I feel honored that God chose me to be his mate.  I feel honored to support him in ministry and service.  I feel honored that I get an up close and personal look at this awesome man of God.  And don't get me started on Billy the daddy - y'all all know that I believe Jacob, Jonathan and Joshua are the most lucky boys on the planet becuase Billy is their daddy.  Seriously - I love my husband!  Thank you Jesus for the incredible man that he is and that he.is.mine.forever! 

Merry CHRISTmas!

What a wonderful couple of days we've had!  There are some things I just never ever want to forget, so here's our Christmas highlights.  Hopefully, this will help when ONE day, I finally get time to sit down and scrapbook our wonderful life.  Until then, it's the electronic version that will have to do. 

 I love that these two cuties woke up REALLY early and were so excited!  I love that we read the Christmas story and prayed together as a family before the madness began!  I also love bed heads.  :-)

 I love that the big boys love and adore their little brother so much.  I also love that Jacob chose his own clothes for Christmas Eve with the Stover/Duncan family.  He wore his very loud elf hat too and looked in the mirror and said, "Oh my gosh I look so cute."  No joke... he really said that!

 I just love this.  That is all.  I mean how could you not??? 

I love that Jacob was so thoughtful and bought something for Jonathan at the Santa Shop at his school.  Even though it wasn't "his own money," it sort of was and it was totally his idea.  I love that!!!  He tried to find something for Joshua too, but they didn't have any baby stuff. 

I love that Joshua somehow had about 8 Christmas outfits to wear. We tried to give each one equal time. :-) Here's one of my favorites!

 

Some other highlights...

• I love Jonathan's expressions and his sincere words of gratitude when he opened presents... "I love that one.  I wanted that!  Wow, isn't that cool?  Thank you thank you thank you..."  On almost every present.  It was precious. 
• I love that our little family got to participate in the service at church by lighting the advent candle.  Jacob was such a big boy reading part of our script.  First service went great.  Second service... well, let's just say I cut out a whole paragraph of what I was supposed to read because Joshua was starving and spitting out his paci to scream a little hungry. 
• I love that we got to spend so much time with our families. 
• I love that I have eaten so very very bad the last couple of days.  Okay, that's a lie.  I don't love that, but I do love the food I got to eat.  Now, I need to get control and get my butt in gear to exercise! 
• I love all the homemade ornaments my kiddos make me at school.  I used to make fun of my momma for putting all the ornaments my sister and I made for her on the tree even when we were grown.  Now I know why she does it.  There is nothing better than a homemade angel or nativity scene to add the prefect touch to any tree. 
• I love love love that my hubby is home this whole week.  Yay! 

I love our little traditions we are creating.  It's hard to not have the "gimmes" at Christmas time.  We are no exception to that, but we try really hard to remind the boys of the best gift of all - the birth of Jesus. 

Merry CHRISTmas from our family to yours! 

two months old already???

Time just keeps going faster... with each child, it seems like time is just speeding along faster and faster and faster.  I know I've said this before, but sometimes I really wish I could freeze time.  Now would be one of those.  I'd forgotten how much fun 2 month old babies are.  :-)

Joshua weighs in at a whopping 12 lbs and is 23" long.  He falls right in the 50th percentile - so he may be a bit more petite than my other crazies, who have seemed to be in the upper 80s or 90th percentile most of their lives. 

Joshua is the easiest baby on the planet.  Hands down.  (Thank you Jesus - you knew we couldn't handle a high maintenance kiddo!)  He is so happy and content and seriously hardly ever cries.  And oh my word, he is flexible.  I suppose he has to be a go with the flow kind of dude with our hectic schedule. 

He is one happy baby!  No one can make him smile or talk like his daddy does and it is precious!  Though I will admit, I was secretly happy that his first smiles were reserved for me.  :-)  He and daddy have the cutest talks.  I love the way Joshua stares at daddy intently when he first gets home from work.  Love love love!!!

People constantly ask what's the hardest part of having three or what's been the toughest part?  Well, honestly, he just really fits in to our family so well, but the hardest part is getting him on a good schedule.  Thankfully, he's flexible, but I feel so bad for him.  He's constantly in and out of the car, which is interrupting his daytime sleep (and consequently he is not sleeping well at night either.).  I have to load him up to take Jacob to school at 720, Jonathan to school at 9, pick up Jonathan at 12 and then pick up Jacob at 220...  see??? Lots of transitions.  He is still getting up at least twice to eat - like clockwork.  I'm hopeful he will start sleeping through the night really soon... hint hint, sweet baby boy! 

Oh Joshua, how I love you.  I can't imagine life without you.  You are so special and you complete our family in the best way.  Your brothers adore you and will always be here for you.  They may overwhelm you at times, but I promise you, they would walk through fire for you.  So would mommy and daddy.  We love you so much!  I know God has a very special plan for you. 

It's Henry Time

Jacob man made his acting debut this weekend.  He played Henry in "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" at the Shelby County Community Theater.  The play is absolutely adorable. 

 

Here's Jacob on opening night -getting ready to go to his first performance.  Mommy got to go help out backstage that night. 

 

 Night two - the audience was full of Jacob's biggest fans - mommy, daddy, little bro, Mamaw, Aunt Kelly, Uncle Bryan and Aunt Susan and some other family and friends. 

 Jacob's Papaw also happens to be in the play as a fireman - see below!  Papaw loves the theater and has been in a few shows and likes to be behind the scenes working on set, playing music, doing the lights, etc.  He encouraged Jacob to audition, and I'm so glad he did... Jacob has really enjoyed it. 

It's been a huge time commitment, but every second of it has been worth it.  Jacob did awesome in his little role.  He has one speaking line, but is on stage a lot.  SOOOO stinking cute!  The play is very well done.  All the actors did a great job.  If you haven't seen it, GO SEE IT!!! This weekend there are shows on Thursday through Sunday.  A great story about the real meaning of Christmas.  It'll definitely kick start your holiday spirit. 

Happy Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!!

Hello world... I'm one month old!

Cannot believe my baby is already one month old.  Time seems to be flying.  Here's what the cutie pie is up to lately...
* He weighs in at a whopping 9 lbs 8 oz and is now 21 1/2 inches tall.  (50 percentile for both)
* He is a super easy baby!  So chilled and relaxed.  Thank the Lord for that!
* He loves to lay flat on his back on his little play mat and look around.  He is so content!
* He's starting to kick his legs and move his arms like crazy.  I love that. 
* He has beautiful eyes  -they are steely grey.  I wish they would stay that color forever. 
* He's eating every three(ish) hours during the day and sometimes goes 4-5 hours at night.  Nursing has been frustrating to say the least, so I'm pumping my face off to give him breast milk.  It's hard, but it's working for us for now. 
* One of his nicknames is "super soaker" - seriously, little dude pees all the time and OFTEN pees right through his diaper.  I change his clothes multiple times a day. We've tried Huggies and Pampers - neither seems better than the others. 
* His other nickname is "the boy."  Even Jacob and Jonathan call him that sometimes. 
* He sounds congested a lot, especially at night.  He makes loud grunting noises and sounds like an old man.  Pediatrician says it is a slight form of reflux - no intervention necessary. 
* He naps in his crib during the day, but is still sleeping in our room at night. 
* I love love love the way he stares at and studies his daddy's face when he comes home from work every day.  It is precious! 
* He is fitting into our little family with ease.  The big boys adore him and are so helpful and wonderful with him.  They like to hold him, sing to him and talk to him.  Jonathan is constantly trying to give him things.  It's so cute.

I love having a newborn again.  It's a lot of fun.  Busy, but fun.  I am tired...all.the.time.  But I feel so  blessed and thank God for the amazing way he has blessed and redeemed my life. 

Life is good...at 6 years old

It's almost a month overdue, but here's a little ode to Jacob as he turned 6 years old on October 14.  Usually, I write a letter to each boy on their birthday, but I'm shaking things up a bit.  I interviewed my big boy... here's the unedited version: (Jacob's answers in italics)
1.  What's your favorite color? blue
2.  What's your favorite toy?  Batman's Batcave
3.  What's your favorite food?  cookies, no wait... ice cream!
4.  What's your favorite TV show?  umm, that's tough.  I know, the Brady Bunch
5.  What's your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  spaghetti
6.  What's your favorite outfit?  Batman shirt
7.  What's your favorite game?  Sega Sonic
8.  What's your favorite board game?  Trouble
9.  What's your favorite snack?  tootsie rolls
10.  What's your favorite animal?  tigers
11.  What's your favorite song?  The gummy bear song I learned at PSE
12.  What's your favorite book?  Bedtime Favorites
13.  What's your favorite part of kindergarten?  duh, recess!
14.  What are you most proud of?  Being in a play, "the Best Christmas Pageant Ever." 
15.  What do you want to be when you grow up?  Batman
16.   Who's your role model?  what's a role model?  I don't really know about that one.  Not sure I have one. 
17.  If you had a magic wand, what three wishes would you wish for?  To become Batman, to become Spiderman and to become Superman
18.  Who's your best friend?  (with a sweet smile) Jonathan and Joshua
19.  What's your favorite Bible story?  Jacob's ladder
20.  What's your favorite Bible verse?  Hebrews 13:8 - just like Daddy
21.  What's your favorite holiday?  Christmas
22.  How do you know mommy and daddy love you?  that's easy, because you tell me! 

Also, each year, we try to get some pictures of the boys in one of daddy's white dress shirts to document how they are growing. Here's this year's photo shoot...

Happy Halloween!

Our new addition... the birth story

A little overdue, but I must introduce Mr. Joshua Mitchel Stover to the bloggy world.  Our third baby boy was happily welcomed into this world on Thursday, October 11.  Yep, that's right, his birth date is 10-11-12.  Pretty cool.  Apparently lots of people chose this date for c-sections and inductions, because the hospital was crazy crowded.  We didn't choose the date, it chose us.  :-)  It was our due date though, but I honestly didn't think he would come until the weekend.  But, we had a check-up with the OB that morning and an ultrasound to check on fetal movement.  Apparently, Joshua wasn't really cooperative and he only scored 4 out of 8 on his biophysical profile, so our doctor smiled and said, "looks like we're going to meet this baby today. Here's the plan.  You are going to walk down stairs, get admitted and we will see him soon - hopefully, he'll cooperate once the fetal monitor is on, but if not, we might see him REALLY soon."  So off we went.  I was really nervous.  I didn't want a c-section.  I just didn't intuitively feel like he was coming that day.  So much for mommy intuition.  We weren't even prepared.  We had driven two cars into Louisville that day.  I was planning on working that afternoon, for crying out loud.  I love it when God takes over and just does His thing in His timing.  That's what I had prayed throughout this pregnancy - that we wouldn't be given the choice to induce or not.  Well, that's exactly what happened. 

So, we got admitted, hooked up and off things went.  He was cooperating better, so there was no need for a c-section, thank you Jesus!!! Billy ran home to get our stuff and I got hooked up for monitoring and was given an antibiotic through IV.  I was dilated at 3 when we got there, but they decided to go ahead and speed things along with pitocin and breaking my water fairly soon after we got there.  My birth plan (all natural) kind of went out the window because of BACK LABOR.  OUCH is all I have to say.  I made it to almost 7 cm and finally asked for an epidural when I semi-yelled something like "this is crazy stupid" to Billy.  You know what??? I'm not sad about it.  At all.  I enjoyed the labor and delivery so much more after that little epidural.  I progressed quickly and the whole experience (leaving the OB's office to delivery) lasted only 7 hours.  And, can I mention that my OB is an angel?  She wasn't even on call that day and drove back to the hospital that evening to deliver our sweet baby boy.  She delivered both Jacob and Jonathan, so I'm just so grateful it happened the way it did. 







 I hate to make some mommas jealous, but I only pushed 3 times. (i think it's because I exercised throughout pregnancy and my body is in pretty good shape).   Seriously.  30 seconds of pushing and I got to hold my sweet baby boy.  His cord was around his neck, not tightly, thank the Lord, but apparently, that was the reason he'd failed his little tests that morning.  He was perfect from the start.  Great APGAR scores and just beautiful.  He surprised us by being smaller than we thought.  He was 7 lbs 10 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long.  He also had a bunch of black hair.  For some reason I thought he was going to be bald.  No idea why, but I was dead wrong!  Perfect is all I can say.  We enjoyed a little time with just him and his mommy and daddy.  What a precious few minutes. 

Oh Joshua - you are so loved.  Welcome to our world little man!  Your brothers are completely obsessed with you and hold you all.the.time.  You guys are going to be the three little amigos and it makes my heart happy knowing how much fun you guys will have together.  You have the best daddy on the planet.  Hands down.  He loves you so much.  He's quite the role model - watch him carefully and follow in his footsteps as he leads you toward Jesus.  I love you to the moon and back my sweet friend and even more than that.  You make my heart feel whole.  Love love love love you! 

Jacob-Man...

A little update about the oldest Stover kiddo... Jacob is doing great!  He is still loving Kindergarten and is learning a lot.  He really enjoys getting homework (go figure... he's a little like his momma.)  He is totally into writing little messages and he writes them every where.  My favorite lately has been: "Jacob is a cool kid.  He really is.  He is cool. He is fun"  His teacher has been encouraging him to expand his writing and he's now up to 5-6 sentences.  It's so cute.  He is reading like a champ and scored very well on the preliminary standardized tests at school.  I couldn't be more proud.  He loves (and even keeps me accountable!!!) the little notes I put in his lunchbox every day.  I started it the first day of school.  Lord, please help me never forget to put one in his lunchbox.  He would be crushed!!!!

Kindergarten has kind of mellowed him out. He loves to read and comes home and just soaks up our time together.  He is so sweet and a delight to be around most all the time.  He's also very intuitive.  A couple of times lately, I have been sad (my emotions have been crazy this whole pregnancy, but these were special times...).  My aunt died suddenly a few weeks ago and I had a really hard time with it.  After I got the news, I was laying down in bed and my sweet little Jacob came in and snuggled me.  Genuine, unselfish snuggling.  Nothing could have made my day more than that!   

He has really enjoyed playing soccer this year.  So cute!!!  He's pretty good - he's fast and seemed to "Get" the game.  He even scored a goal.  I wonder if he'll keep his interest??? Who knows. 

Drum roll please...Jacob man is going to be in the little community theater play this Christmas season.  He is so excited.  The play is "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever."  And Jacob is Henry the angel.  I can't wait.  His papaw is really into the play thing, so this is something the two of them can share.  I'll be his biggest fan - that's for sure.  This play thing is no joke though.  Lots of practices and lots of time commitment.  He is pumped about it.  :-) 

Lastly, and I can't believe I'm typing these words... He turns 6 next Sunday.  Holy moly.  This time six years ago, I was imagining what he would look like, smell like and act like.  Now, I'm doing the same for his baby brother.  Special times.  I can't believe he's almost 6.  The last 6 years have been wonderful.  I love being momma to Jacob.  He stretches my heart more than I ever imagined.  We had a fun "friends" party for him last weekend - I wanted him to have a special time before baby changes our family.  He is determined that he will NOT share his birthday with Joshua... i hope that for his sake, that's true.  Happy Birthday sweet boy. 

 

OH, Jacob, I love you to the moon and back.  You are such an awesome kiddo!  Can't wait to see how God uses you in your life.  Keep shining for Jesus!!!

september update

wow - time is flying.  Cannot believe it's already October, which means it's almost D DAY!!!  Excited to meet baby Joshua SOON SOON SOON.  So, just going to try to do a quick update on everyone one at a time.  :-) 

So, what's new for the youngest (for now) Stover.  My sweet little Jonathan had an eventful September.  Here's the highlights: 

He started preschool again - he's in the three day program at FBC and LOVES every single second of it.  His teacher is Mrs. Ashby, and she (like everyone else at FBC preschool) is fabulous.  He has several friends from last year and his buddy Walker in his class, so that's super fun.  It's hilarious... he gives absolutely no details about his day other than, "I rode bikes."  Well, alrighty then.  So, thankfully I know the questions to ask and I can pull out of him what he ate for snack or who he sat by or what songs they sang, etc.  Fun stuff.  Really! 

 
Jonathan also made his soccer debut.  You know what?  He really likes it.  I was a little hesitant to see how he would react, but he really hangs tough and likes it a lot.  AND....drum roll please... he scored a goal yesterday!!!  That may not seem like a big deal, but really, our team has only scored maybe 6-7 goals all season and one of those was by Jonathan.  Big bro Jacob also scored one during the first game.  :-)  Maybe I'll be a big time soccer mom one day??? 

Speaking of big brother, Jonathan has had quite the transition without Jacob around all the time since he's in kindergarten.  In fact, he's downright sad at the sitters sometimes because life just isn't as eventful without Jacob to play with.  I pray that God is using this time to help him be comfortable who he is and realizing just how special he really is. 

I think he is totally ready and excited to be a big brother.  He is so sweet... he always includes Joshua in his family pictures and he prays for him a lot at night.  He also is careful to kiss my belly.  He did ask the dreaded question today though... "mommy how did baby Joshua get in your tummy?"  Hmmmmm... well, I gave a nice vague answer and he was satisfied.  :-) 

Here's a few other tidbits about sweet little Jonathan:
* he insists that we hold hands when we pray at meal time
* he's into trying to figure out what letter all words start with
* he loves toys.  All toys.  He just really genuinely enjoys playing and it's precious. 
* He is very dramatic and can turn on the whine like no other.  I can't stand it, but he is responding much better to the limits I set with him! 
* he's a great eater and takes great pride in that!
* if Jacob ever gets in trouble, Jonathan is quick to say, "Am I being great???"  :-p
* he goes through phases where he doesn't sleep throughout the night and he's in one of those slumps now... really dude, you CAN cover yourself and your animals back up... I promise!  And your water???? DRINK IT ROOM TEMPERATURE DUDE!  :-)

* I love him more and more every single day and I can't wait to see how God uses him.  And that smile??? Melt my heart.  Seriously.  Love him.