Jayten William

Do they much cuter than this? Yes, I know we're partial, but really isn't he perfect?!. We arrived home at 11:40 Tuesday evening. Jayten ate at 1 a.m. then slept until 7 a.m. It was great. He slept all through last night too, but tonight I have to wake him up and make sure he eats more. Tomorrow (Friday) we have our three-day check-up at the birthing center. Wednesday we went to see his pediatrician. She said he was perfect. He weighed 7 lbs. so he'd only lost 4 oz. Still measured 21 inches long. (Never know if they'll measure the same both places). 

Carla had taken MJ to school and Josh picked up both girls then took them to lunch so I could rest. They were very excited to get home. Emma was much more excited to see Jayten and kept saying, "My baby." She can even say his name or a pretty good attempt at it. Before when we were trying to decide on names she couldn't say any of them. I guess we picked the right one since she seems to say it now. We had narrowed it down to three, then to two on our way to the doctor Tuesday. We wanted to wait until we saw him. We came up with Jayten on our own. Had never seen or heard it before. The more we said it, the more we liked it and after seeing him, we just knew it fit. 

We  had gotten the girls a few things from their little brother. MJ received a disposable camera so she could take pictures. She just loves it, and a couple 1st reader books. Emma got a new baby boy doll, bottle and a stroller. She was so excited. She immediately started playing with them and they have kept her really entertained. She seems to be doing pretty well adjusting, although we know two-year-olds can be unpredictable. She might have a love/hate relationship with little brother for awhile. We're just trying to be patient and take each day moment by moment. 

That's what a new baby does though. Their arrival makes you stop and take notice of the little things. I want time to stand still right now (I always do, but I'm much more aware of actually living each moment now that we have this new life with us.) I hope I can keep this perspective of taking life slower for quite some time.  

Our Family of Five

After he arrived, we had some wonderful time together, just the three of us. That's my favorite time after delivery. Just getting to spend time with my new baby, feeding for the first time and just taking in all the newness and wonder of a new life. 

We called family after a couple hours and they stopped by: Nana and Barth, Jared and Stephanie, Mark, Carla, Mich, Matt, Zeke and the girls. 

Mackenzie and Emma were so cute when they saw their baby brother. They both climbed up on the bed with me and looked at him. Emma just kept smiling at everyone and looking at Jayten. She was a little in shock like what is that? MJ was very excited and talked a lot about him and told me about her day. 

Finally, before the girls were getting ready to leave (they stayed with M&C the first night), Emma warmed up enough to give him a kiss. MJ asked to hold him a couple times. She already wants to be so helpful. 

We feel so blessed with our little family and all the family and friends around us. Thanks for your thoughts, prayers, well wishes and e-mails. We appreciate it. 

More updates/photos to come! 

Tuesday-February 3, 2009

Knowing there was a chance we may be bringing home a baby, I decided to get a few parting shots with the girls on Tuesday morning. We made sure we had everything packed and loaded. The girls went to my friend Lisa's so she could get MJ to school. I still thought we may be coming back home, but just in case...

My doctor checked me at a 4-5 and said we could have a baby or I'd probably go on my own in a few more days. We decided because Emma came very fast and unexpectedly early, it might be better to go ahead. We went to Walmart to get snacks and a few last minute baby items, called some friends and family, and ran a few more errands. It was dejavous from when we had Mackenzie. We went to the birthing center around noon. My doctor broke my water at 12:30. For the next 3 1/2 hours I was totally bored, thinking, "Why did we do this? I could be home working or something?!" I had some contractions, but really was not in "labor." At 4 p.m., I took a pill to get things moving. Within 15 minutes I was in active labor. And at 6:33 p.m., our beautiful baby boy was born. 

Headed to appointment

I have an appointment at 9:15 a.m. Maybe we'll have more baby news...

There's still time!

There is still time to place your baby stats guess. There's still a baby in my tummy! I really thought we would have a new Malson by now. I guess because my doctor said the baby would come early (like by Saturday) and because Emma was two weeks early. I'm not even to my due date, so I really shouldn't be so concerned. It's just when you start thinking it will be any day, you expect it to be any day! I really wasn't expecting to make my third work deadline, but I just might! I guess I better keep working to pass the time.

This weekend I worked on journaling some scrapbooks from when Emma was born! Yes, I know that was almost three years ago. I thought I better get the story down before I have a new birth story to write about! At least all the photos were already in the album. I just had to get my thoughts down on paper. Maybe one day I'll get caught up again?! I guess that's why I blog; so I can at least have some sort of journaling done on time. :)

Baby Stats Contest

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Keep those guesses coming (see contest post below)

Despite more back pain and contractions last night (the most I've had so far), everything was calm again this morning. It was hard falling asleep, but I feel well-rested now. Our plan for the day is to lay low, enjoy some snack food and watch the Superbowl. I hope that all these little pangs are doing something and I'm not still at a 3 on Tuesday when we go back to the doctor. 

Baby Stats Contest