Jacob 5 days

We are really loving on this little guy around here!  He is really laid back and puts up with a lot of noise from his brother and sister, as well as tight hugs, toys dancing on his head, and Emily playing with his face (she likes to make him smile).  He is waking me up a lot at night, this kid likes to eat! And he needs his diaper changed about every 2-3 hours or he pees all over the place, I usually change clothes at least twice a day!

I took some photos of him when he was 5 days old, I just love that sweet little face!

My babies have each been skinnier and hairier than the sibling before them, but man they look a lot alike!  Here are Emily and Jacob, both at 5 days old.

And Andrew and Jacob, I think Andrew was 5 days old in these photos as well.

Baby brother!

We are SO happy to finally welcome baby Jacob Thomas!  He arrived on Tuesday January 19th at 5:22 PM, 7 pounds 12 ounces and 20.25" long, with a full head of dark hair!  He looks just like his sister did at birth and so far he is a sweet, laid back baby, who loves to snuggle.

We are all so thrilled he is here!  Andrew and Emily came to meet their new sibling when he was just a couple hours old.

And then they came back the next day to cuddle him.

Jacob and I had a blood type incompatibility, which I learned occurs mothers with type O+ blood (like me) have a baby with a different blood type. If mom's blood mixes with baby's blood stream during birth it can create antibodies against baby's blood.  Those antibodies attack baby's blood and put baby at high risk for jaundice, apparently Jacob's type B+ blood type is the worst to have.  So when he was 6 hours old, they started testing him for jaundice.  By Wednesday night, his bilirubin levels had gone too high and he had to spend the next 30 hours under the bili lights.

He FINALLY got to come off the lights this morning and we got to bring Jacob home with us today!

Christmas is coming!

We have been busy with lots of Christmas preparations around here!  Our Christmas tree went up the weekend after Thanksgiving, the kids and I had so much fun unwrapping all the ornaments and sharing memories from the last few years.  And we only broke three ornaments, which seems to be the standard, I think that is how many were broken last year and the year before that too.  We even got some lights hung up outside. I usually climb on the roof to hang lights but those have been skipped this year, instead we have some garland on the porch and the kids put some lights in the bushes.

Andrew and Emily decorated some gingerbread houses.  We found some kits where the houses came pre-assembled, they were great!  Both kids were able to decorate all on their own.

They decided to write letters to Santa and we had our elf Larry fly them to the North Pole.  Andrew's letter says "Dear Santa, Andrew, trains, transformers" He really just got straight to the point :) and Emily wrote her name and drew a map so Santa can find his way.

Today they went to visit Santa!  I made them take photos before we went, they looked so cute in their Christmas outfits!