Jacob Russell

Our sweet baby boy sure took his time in coming.  I was so sure he'd be here early, but he waited until I had to be induced a week after his due date on August 13th.  At least I got to see Steven go to his first day of school on the 12th!  I can't believe he is already in 1st grade!

 

After seeing Steven off to school the morning of the 13th, these 2 cuties gave the baby in my tummy one last hug before he would be born.  Then Adam and I were off to the hospital.

 



After taking so long to come, cute Jacob was sure born in a hurry!  We started Pitocin at 10:20, and by 12:20 I was 4 cm.  We thought we were in it for the long haul, but at 1:20 I thought I needed to use the bathroom but they told me it was actually him--ready to be born!  I pushed for the most excruciating minute of my life (so grateful it was so fast) and then they placed my sweet boy in my arms!  He was a whopping 9 lbs. 1 oz. and 21 inches.  Of course my biggest baby was the one I did naturally, ouch!  Still, we are so glad he is here and would not trade that for anything.

The kids were sooo excited to come see him in the hospital.  We decided as a family to name him Jacob.  Daniel had actually started calling him that the day before he was born and it just felt right to all of us when we met him.  His middle name Russell is for my mom's dad whom I, sadly, have never met.  He passed away before I was born, but he sounds like such an amazing man.  I hope Jacob aspires to both of the great names he has been given.  We all love him so much and already cannot imagine (or even remember) life without him.

First car ride--on the way home!

Daniel was so excited to "read" to Jacob after church!

He looks big next to Adam's tummy--I can't believe he was
just inside of me!

The kids loved helping me give Jacob his first bath!

This precious baby is so lucky to have so much family so close to come visit and be there for him throughout his life.

 

Our House, In the Middle of the Street!

 

We have had a lot of crazy and wonderful changes this summer.  The first one was moving out of our house.  We had decided to wait at least a year or two before buying a new home, but back in March I saw a house I was interested in and it started a snowball effect--now we are in a new house (not even the one that started it all) and loving it!  We soooo miss our old ward, but we also love our new one and we are grateful that, for once, we actually did a move that has kept us close enough to still see all our old friends.

 

I did not include before pictures, but let's just say it was really sad.  The previous residents had smoked for years, and I would put money on the idea that they never vaccumed.  After a TON of work--HUGE thanks to our families for their immesurable help, we just love it!  We still have some pictures to hang, a few boxes in the master bedroom, and our loft isn't put together, but it is home.  The kids are especially excited to have a fireplace and stairs.  It's the little things that make life great.  

 

My favorite spot to sit is here on the couch because I can see
into the kitchen, play room, library, and dining area.  Plus I can
talk to Steven when he is upstairs working on his legos.

I LOVE that the sink is right in the corner by all those windows
so I can see my kids outside while doing dishes/making dinner.

Steven: hard at work to organize the playroom.  He definitely
spent all his time this weekend organizing this room--even said
he wanted to do that instead of playing.  I don't know what I
would do without this sweet, happy boy.

(Pre-Organization by Steven)

 

Daniel lives for his puzzles!  There are usually about three out
at a time that he is working on or has finished.  He is really good!

She is saying, "Oh, my gosh!  Too many pictures!"

Steven's secret lego room.

Still got some work to do out here...can't wait to have it finished!
We are planning on lots of fruit trees and  Adam is currently
working on setting up our new trampoline!

We will remove that spa top (the spa is already gone) and put
the tramp right there.  :)