Some days are diamonds

Well, life pushes on.

Kraig's been working morning shifts this week. That means he's gone by 7:20am (like most husbands) and home by 5:00pm instead of the noon to 9pm shift. I appreciate him being home in the evening so that he can help wrangle the children into bed. They appreciate not having mommy do everything too.

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Joshy's potty training. I was convinced that Josh would never be potty trained because I was too tired before Thomas arrived and just plain exhausted after Thomas got here to put forth the effort. But this precocious little boy proved me wrong again. One morning last week I was too tired (and lazy) to go down stairs to get a clean diaper for him, so I let him put on a pair of big boy under ware that was in my room and the kid stayed dry all day! He even took himself to the potty numerous times. Granted, every day since then hasn't been as successful, but I'd say he's got an 85% success rate. Not too shabby.

.**Josh took himself outside after using the potty and "forgot" to put his underware and pants back on, but thankfully remembered his boots. What a nugget!

Thomas is getting bigger and bigger every day, it seems. He's more alert and awake than he was 3 weeks ago, and we are all loving it. He makes the funniest faces and I swear all of his smiles aren't gas related (although he is a Webb boy, so they quite possibly could be;). Of course I can never catch these heart melting smiles on camera, but trust me: They're great!

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Kraig was off work today so we were able to go to church as a family. I was nervous about taking Thomas, but thankfully people admired from a distance. It felt nice to have a reason to shave my legs, put on a skirt and blouse instead of a t-shirt and jeans, and "fill by bucket," so to speak.

3-21 National Down Syndrome Awareness Day

Unfortunately, I had no idea there was a day to celebrate my son.

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Fortunately, we're celebrating him every day.

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Here are a few recent photos of Tommy.

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Trying to get the jaundice down. He looks pretty good with a tan:)

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I wish I could say that we're sleeping a lot more than we are. The last few nights have been rough, but we're pushing through. Thank heavens for Kraig's middle-of-the-night help.

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I can't believe how big Joshy looks next to Thomas.

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Andrew and Joshua certainly won't be outdone by this little boy. They dote on him like all big brothers should.

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And a few random photos...

A week full of miracles

Thomas was born at 8:13am Monday, February 22nd, 2010 at the Parker Adventist Hospital. Here are a few photos of our little guy's first few hours and days.

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Me getting prepped for the c-section. I woke up at 4:30am to shower and do my hair and makeup. I cried all the makeup off before they made the first cut and sweated my hair flat by noon. I would like to say I should have slept for 30 more minutes, but I was awake anyway. It gave me something to do to keep my mind off the surgery.
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Kraig all ready to come into the surgery with me. He looks good in blue.

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First few minutes out of the womb. Although we're still waiting for his genetic panel to be completed, the nurse practitioner confirmed in the first few minutes after birth that he does have Down Syndrome.

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Meeting Thomas for the first time.

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Kraig getting some snuggle time.

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Meeting Grandma and Grandpa with the Cookie Jar in Japan for the first time via Skype. Praise technology! It was well after midnight in Japan, but Mom and Dad stayed up to meet their newest grand baby.

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Meeting his big brothers and Grandma and Grandpa in Colorado for the first time. The boys can't get enough of Thomas. I'm sure that will wear off once we're home and he's crying all the time:)

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A proud Grandma.

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A proud big brother. Andy already has a very reverent, respectful and protective love for Thomas.

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Joshy's love right now is very attentive. So attentive (and smothering), in fact, that we had to give him something to be in charge of with Thomas. So, if you come and visit be sure to ask Joshua where Thommy's binkys are. He'll know.

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Getting to know Grandpa for a few minutes.

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Andy and Joshy, Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Fuzzy, Aunt Brenda, Stacy and Autumn all came to meet Tommy and to celebrate his birthday, Grandpa's birthday, and Uncle Fuzzy's birthday. Everyone got to each birthday cake. Oh wait. No. I didn't get to. I was on a clear liquid diet. Phooey. But my mom did bring me a piece the next day.

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Thomas, apparently, is under house arrest and has to wear an ankle monitor. Neither Andy nor Joshy had one at our little hospital in Heber.

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During his audiology test. He passed with flying colors! Hearing loss is often associated with Down Syndrome, so that was one of our little miracles that his hearing is perfect right now.

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Heart defects are also common in Down Syndrome children, so an echo cardiogram was ordered. Another miracle was that his little heart is PERFECT, no defects or murmurs.
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So. We'll bring Thomas home with us tomorrow. Another miracle. Every nurse and doctor that examines Thomas comments how great his muscle tone is (Downs usually presents low muscle tone), what a good nurser he is (we're still working on it, but he can do it if he wants to), and generally how good he looks.

We love Thomas! Welcome to our family, my boy!

Lighting up the darkness

I've been very spoiled the last few weeks. I've felt an outpouring of love from my husband, my family, and my friends--all for which I'm extremely grateful. And, lucky me, all of it has involved beautiful flowers to brighten my home.

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First, Kraig and I celebrated our 5th anniversary. It was Kraig's year to plan the celebration and he really outdid himself. We had dinner at two fantastic restaurants, stayed the night in a ritzy hotel sans children (Thanks, Mom and Scotty for helping us with childcare), and basically just spent two days being together remembering why we love each other so much. He also had this beautiful flower arrangement delivered to our table the night of our anniversary. It was a wonderful surprise. Our anniversary is January 28th and today, February 12, the flowers are still in bloom and beautiful!

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Second, my wonderful girlfriends threw me a surprise baby shower. The theme was "Jacqui's about to Pop!" and everything--from the invites, to the food, to the games and decorations--revolved around things popping. It was fantastic. I felt spoiled and loved. I have the best friends in the world.

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Third, one of my friends gave me a little spot of peace for my home. Since our home is small and I don't have a place to dedicate to my meditation and study, I placed this beautiful vase and flowers where I can see them from my bed (where I'm spending a lot of time these days). It warms my heart each time I look at them. I remember that even though the winter is dark, spring is just around the corner. I feel the peace she intended with the gift and truly feel loved.

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I'm a lucky girl.

Give a Day, Get a Day

The Webbs are headed to California in June for a family vacation. To help cut expenses, Kraig and I participated in Disney's new "Give a Day, Get a Day" program. Basically, as Miss Piggy explains on the commercial, you give a day of service to an associated charity and you get a free day pass to Disneyland. Count us in! We are all about free!

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The charity Kraig and I chose to support was Project Linus--they take donated homemade blankets to hospitals and shelters. Kraig and I each had to make 2 blankets. In my preparation for the baby's arrival, I had already sorted all my fabric, so I just found a piece big enough for 4 blanket tops, found scraps to coordinate 4 backs, and bought $11 worth of batting to go between them. Not bad, considering we'll save over $140 on our tickets to Disney.

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Kraig sewed his blankets himself. I just gave a few pointers. I wish this photo showed him sticking out his tongue--he does that when he concentrates :) So cute.

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I know I've raved in a previous post about my Kitchenaid mixer, but let me say a few kind words about my Bernina sewing machine. LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT! Just like with my Kitchenaid, it was a little pricey, but worth every penny. I've loved and appreciated my machine from the moment we bought it 4 years ago, but I love to let Kraig use my machine and listen to him rave about it too. He never fails to call it the "Cadillac of sewing machines." It makes my heart happy.

I just can't get enough of this kid

Kraig took Andy's training wheels off last week. It's been pretty tough getting Andy to want to practice riding his bike here at the house (and not enough patience from mommy), so Kraig had the genius idea to take him to the soccer fields at the park down the street. Watch and enjoy!
I laughed harder and harder at each of his attempts on the grass and as he made a few tries on the sidewalk. What a kid!

If you can, be sure to notice the look of terror on Andy's face right before the video ends. It was a pretty bad crash, but he got right back on the bike and tried again.

A pregnancy confession

At my OB's office, each woman is responsible of weighing herself and reporting that weight to the nurse during intake. It's not so bad, except that I've put on a lot of weight this pregnancy and I've stopped wanting to know what my weight is. It's usually around the 34/36 week appointment anyway that I turn around on the scale and don't look at my weight go up each week--I let the nurse quietly write it in my chart. It just depresses me too much.

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I had my 34 week appointment this morning. This appointment wasn't any different than the last dozen I've been to; I weighed myself and found out I'd gained 1 pound/week since my last appointment. That's perfectly normal for this point in the pregnancy. The only problem is that now I know where my weight is. I'm 9 pounds away from weighing as much as my husband. EEeek!

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I dated a lot of scrawny light-weights in college. I'm not a petite girl, so I always felt like a mammoth around these losers because I knew if I gained 3 pounds or grew an inch I'd be the heavyweight in the relationship. I could also out-eat them. Therefore, those boys had to go. When I met, dated, and married Kraig, I was so excited for so many reasons, but for once I felt petite around a boy, he was tall and solidly built, and he could definitely out-eat me. All qualities I wanted in a husband. I also knew that at my heaviest pregnant weight, Kraig would still outweigh me. Really, I had those thoughts and they were important to me (I think it's a side product of my education).

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So here I am, 10 pounds away from claiming the heavyweight champ roll in our home. I've asked Kraig if he wouldn't mind working harder to gain a few pounds in the next 6 weeks--you know, sympathy weight gain for his growing wife. Or maybe a little emotional eating to match my own. SOMETHING so that I don't reach that magic number on the scale above his. We'll see how it goes. I might just have to swallow my pride (along with all the food I cram in my body) and accept that it's just how it's going to be. Phooey.

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Me after dinner last night, filled to the brim with steak, mashed potatoes, and asparagas. Definitely a content mama!

Winter Wonderland

We had a few photos taken at Christmas time to update my parents' bragging wall. My sister, Robin, does a fantastic job. I love how they turned out for a few reasons:

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#1 you can't tell I'm pregnant

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#2 my face doesn't appear to reflect the 25+ pounds I've gained (although it does in real life)

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#3 Andy looks like he should be a model for Gap Kids

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#4 Joshy's nap hair doesn't look half bad (except the cowlick caused horn on the left)

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#5 We've never had a winter photo shoot done and I love the snowy background and trees

#6 It was so cold Christmas day, the shoot lasted about 10 minutes and we got tons of great family and individual shots.

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Thanks, Robin!

The truth is out

Kraig and I left the boys at my parents' house last night while we went out to dinner (to a fantastic Japanese restaurant, but that's another post).

I finally found out what really happens when the kids are at Grandma's.

Grandma, Grandpa, and Fuzzy said both boys ate a really good dinner before they indulged on the donuts, but come on. What's the point of going to Grandma's if you don't get to eat dessert first!

What have we been up to?

Here are my excuses for not posting: I'm tired and pregnant. And I've had family in town. Sorry, Ash.

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Here's a brief recap of what our holiday consisted:

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My brother and sisters and their families were all in town for the holiday. Kraig had to work at 8am Christmas morning, so we woke the kids up at 5:45am so we could open gifts and get ready for the day before he had to leave for work. Be sure to note the big bags around Andy's eyes. I'm not entirely sure (it's kind of all a blur, no pun intended), but I think there were definitely Christmas Day naps.

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Kraig spoiled me at Christmas. It was wonderful. I loved all of his gifts, but the one that got the tears were the two pine benches he and my dad and brother had made for me for my kitchen table. I've scoured every furniture store in a 10 mile radius (and online) for benches to match my now-discontinued dining set. The benches are more beautiful and match more perfectly than anything I would have found to purchase. They're perfect! Thanks, honey!

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A large part of my Christmas preparations were spent in my sewing room working of projects. I made the boys matching suits this year. I'm so pleased with how they turned out. I took some liberties with the patterns and was amazed when the finished product looked how I had planned. I think the kids look so handsome.

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We had a few friends and family over for games New Year's Eve. It was lots of fun and even ended at the decent hour of 11pm. Kraig and I rang in the New Year by ourselves (Ok. Ryan Seacrest was there too). I can only imagine what this new year will bring, but I'm so grateful I have Kraig by my side. I can weather any storm with my best friend next to me.

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Kraig worked New Year's Day (no surprise), so when he got home we took the kids sledding. Correction. He took the kids sledding, and I sat in the warm car and read my book. I did step outside to snap a few photos documenting the event. I had to laugh when I came upon my boys riding the sled as if it were a roller coaster. These little boys have the same thrill seeker in them like their father. Heaven help me!

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As a cute side note, Andy gave the scripture again in Primary yesterday. This video is for his grandparents who couldn't be there: