Back to Work!

February 21st.  The day I dreaded since clocking out for the last time December 22nd.  The day I went back to work...

Well that was Tuesday and it actually hasn't been nearly as bad as I thought.  I spoke with my boss and she said as long as I am getting all my work done, it's alright if I don't meet the 40 hour/week requirement (at least for now).  What a relief!  I have been so blessed and have been able to get things done quickly.  I know the work will start to pile up here soon, but I've been able to get more than enough done in about 6 hours/day instead of the typical 8.

I'm also lucky in that I don't have to leave my little man with anyone else- working from home has it's ups and downs, but that is the biggest "up" there is.  I actually have a pretty good schedule down and work during the late morning until dinnertime (which is when he is most sleepy) with a few breaks for feeding him and changing his diaper- with some play time mixed in there.  He usually wakes up around 7pm and spends most of the evening bright-eyed and bushy tailed, which I have come to love.  I feed him for the last time at 10pm and he's been pretty good at falling asleep when he finishes at about 10:30.  Andrew and I have also been extremely blessed in that since I've started working again, Jake has slept a million times better.  He was still waking up every 3-4 hours with an occasional 5 hour stretch, which we would jump for joy about just last week.  However, he's now doing about 10:30pm-6ish am.  It's only been for a few days now, but I sure hope that keeps up.  What a blessing!

Here's where Jake spends a lot of the time that I'm working

I love the funny faces he pulls- he is always experimenting with moving his face around, and it is so fun to watch!

I feel very blessed to be able to work from home- it's the only way Andrew and I will make it through all this school without student loans.  So far so good- we each have a bachelor's degree, he has his master's, and only a few more years until we're done with school for good :)  I'm excited for the poor college student stage to end and have a real income someday, but I am loving every moment of it right now.  Life really is great!

the BIG two-five

On Valentines Day I turned 25!  I'm actually 2 1/2 weeks older than Andrew, so March 4th he'll join me in being a quarter of a century old! This is the first birthday I've truly felt like an adult: 25, married for about 3 years, graduated from college for a few years, and we have a baby! I can't believe how fast life has happened, but it's been a great 25 years so far!

Andrew got me a dozen beautiful roses!

I also received a number of cards (and Jake and Andrew too for Valentines day)- we love getting mail.  Jake got a whole Valentines Day package from his Grandma and Grandpa Olsen, including socks, pacifier's, a new cute church outfit, shoes, and books.  I thought it was really cute that Andrew had Jake give me a birthday and Valentine's day card.

We had a pretty relaxing morning and then went out to a late lunch/early dinner at Chili's.  That was Jake's first time out to eat, and I'm pretty sure he never even realized we were gone because his eyes didn't open once.   Andrew and I had fun, though!  Then after that we went on a quick birthday shopping trip- I wanted a new shirt because my old one's still aren't fitting the best after having Jake.  Andrew pushed him around in the stroller, and again, I'm not sure our little guy even realized we left our apartment.  I found a good deal at New York and Company and ended up with 2 shirts using some of my birthday money.  It was really nice to just get out of the apartment.  I REALLY like where we live, but we haven't left much for fear of getting the baby sick.

Andrew and I are currently in the middle of a Harry Potter movie marathon, so we watched number 5 and snuggled with baby Jake. 

I'm not really a cake person, so Andrew surprised me with ingredients to make chocolate covered mandarin oranges and strawberries instead- SO much better!

I had a great birthday and have had a wonderful 25 years- life keeps getting better and I can't wait to see what the next quarter of a century holds!

6 Weeks Already?

Thursday our little baby will be 6 weeks old already!  I cannot believe how fast the time is flying by.  Today he had his first doctor's appointment since the original one right after he was born.  He's up to 22 inches long (50th percentile) and a whopping 10lbs and 2 oz (42nd percentile).  He really has bulked up because when he was born his weight was only the 25th percentile.  He's growing like crazy!  He also had the second Hep B shot today.  The poor little guy screamed for a second and turned bright red (a true Buckeye baby) but luckily has been fine since.  It's rough to see him get the shots, but I am so thankful for modern medicine and the fact that he can get these shots to prevent potential serious issues and illness in the future.

It has been fun to watch him become more alert as well.  He loves looking around and often fixates on something he finds interesting.  He loves the mobile above is bed and the one on his swing as well.  He usually picks one of the animals and you can watch his eyes follow it around as it spins.

He has also started to smile more and more.  I can't get over how much I LOVE that gummy grin.  He's eating about 3oz of formula every 2.5 hours (unfortunately I haven't been able to breastfeed, which was pretty traumatic to learn but I've come to terms with) and is making it 4.5 hour stretches during the night.

My favorite new trick of Jake's is laying him down in his crib wide awake and him falling asleep on his own.  He is definitely a night owl.  Most nights he wakes up at 8 or 9pm and is WIDE awake until about 1am.  Yikes.  That has not been working with my schedule at all.  He's awake a lot during the day too- about an hour to an hour and a half with each feeding (and I'm doing 2.5 hours from the beginning of one to the beginning of another).  He's just a very awake little guy.  I've been moving up the time a little each night that I lay him in his crib, and last night about an hour after I put him down I looked on the monitor and he was still moving all around, clearly awake, but quiet and happy as a clam.  That's seriously the best skill I could have picked for him to learn!

This past Sunday we took him to church for the first time.  We were up in Wadsworth (my home town) visiting my family, so we took him to the ward I grew up in.  He slept like a champ through the first and last part and was really only awake enough to eat in the middle.  I stayed in the room to feed him for awhile, but then he was squeaking too much and eating so loudly that I passed him off to Andrew to take out in the hall while he finished his bottle.  That was probably a wise choice considering how loud he burps a lot of the time.  All in all it went well and we'll definitely take him back again next week- this time in Columbus :)

Andrew and I have LOVED being parents and can't get over how much we adore him and melt when he grins at us.  We are definitely enjoying being a family of 3 :)

Grandparents Visiting, Blessing

The first couple of weeks of Jake's life have been exciting for him.  He has spent a lot of time with both sets of his grandparents.  A few days after he was born, my mom came down to spend a few days with us to help take care of both me and Jake.  After a few days on our own, Andrew's mom and dad came to spend a long weekend at our apartment with us.  I have loved having help caring for this little boy!  For how little he is and how much he sleeps, I am surprised how much he consumes my time and how much work he is.  Good thing he is so darn cute and that I love him so much.  I am so grateful to be his mom!

Andrew's parents with Jake while they were here visiting from Utah

 Andrew and I with little Jake

While Andrew's parents were in town they bought us a really nice swing.  I don't know how I survived the first 2 1/2 weeks without it- what an awesome invention!  Jake loves it and so do Andrew and I!

While Andrew's parents were at our apartment, Andrew and I both came down with the flu!  So much for the flu shot, washing our hands like crazy, and buying Walmart out of hand sanitizer!  We were both SO sick.  I threw up for the first time since middle school- which made me extremely grateful for not getting very sick during pregnancy.  Our many prayers were answered and thankfully baby Jake didn't get what we had.  It's interesting how my perspective has changed since becoming a mom.  I used to feel so bad for myself when I wasn't feeling well, but this time instead of feeling sorry for myself, I was just thankful it was me and not my baby. 

We were so fortunate to have Andrew's parents here when they were.  I'm not sure how we would have taken care of poor little Jake when we couldn't even get out of bed.  Once we were feeling a little better, Andrew braved holding Jake and doing some homework in the same room as him, but with some extra precaution.

BLESSING DAY

In our church, when babies are born, they are given a blessing, typically by the father.  We really wanted both my parents and Andrew's parents to be able to participate in Jake's blessing, so this Sunday when everyone was in town Andrew was able to bless Jake at our apartment.  Usually we would have done it at church, but Jake is only 2 1/2 weeks old and we didn't want to expose him to that many people and germs yet.  My parents and grandparents came and we had a nice dinner and his blessing was beautiful.  Again, I feel so lucky to be this little boy's mom!

Here he is wearing his blessing outfit- the same one Andrew wore for his blessing when he was a baby.

Jake with his parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents

Andrew and I have loved every minute of being parents.  It is crazy how fast he has grown.  He's not quite 3 weeks old yet and I can already tell he is getting bigger and bigger!

I cannot believe what a miracle it is to become parents and to love someone so much that you would do anything for them.  Andrew and I adore little Jake and are so happy to have him in our little family!

Jacob Andrew Olsen

Andrew and I were happy to welcome our little son, Jacob Andrew Olsen, into the world 12/29/11 at 11:12pm.  He weighed 7lbs 8oz and was 20 1/4 inches long.

My family came right after he was born to see him in the hospital, and then the next day my extended family make a long trip down to meet him for the first time.  This week Andrew's parents will come from Utah and stay with us for a few days, which we are very excited about.  My mom stayed with us for a few days this past week and my dad came down for one night to spend time with all of us as well.  It has been fun introducing our bundle of joy to our families.

My parents and baby Jake

My sister Kim and her husband Darrell, who were here from Utah on Christmas break- I was so happy he came before they left!

Today our little baby is 10 days old!  In some ways the time has flown by, but I feel like I haven't gotten a good night's sleep in forever (probably because the last weeks of pregnancy I didn't sleep great either).  I can't get over how much I love and adore this little guy. 

It has been so fun becoming a mom and I have really enjoyed watching Andrew become a dad.  He is so sweet with little Jake and I don't think I've ever loved him more than when I am up in the night feeding the baby and Andrew comes in just to say he loves me and to keep me company for a few minutes.  I am so happy and blessed to have such a kind, supportive husband and little Jake is so lucky to have a dad who loves him so much!

Here are Andrew and Jake dressed and ready to go home.  What a scary thing- leaving the hospital!!! 

In his car seat homeward bound

We got home New Year's Eve and weren't quite sure what to do with ourselves, or with a baby!  We were awake at midnight, but didn't even realize it until about 12:06 am when we happened to look at the clock to figure out what time he was eating.  I am certain this will be a happy new year for us- definitely a new adventure!

First bath

Sleeping in his crib

He has big, dark blue eyes which will probably turn brown.  His eyebrows are an exact replica of Andrew's!

Soundly sleeping on my lap

 
I am so happy to have a child of God in our home.  He truly is a gift and I am so thankful that Heavenly Father has entrusted him to our care.  It has been fun getting to know his personality more and more each day.  Andrew and I are so glad to be little Jake's parents!