Jacob Paul Mastin

On Sunday, May 13th (Mother's Day) I woke up early after having a restless night of contractions.  Throughout the morning and lunch, I had contractions on and off but I knew that they were more intense than the Braxton Hicks contractions I've experienced since being about twenty weeks pregnant.  I was scheduled to go in on Monday morning to be induced, so while I was pretty sure it was the beginning of labor, I wasn't sure if the contractions would ever get regular enough for us to go in on our own.  I was fine with being induced, but I was really hoping Jacob would come on his own.  That afternoon, they became more consistent and when they were about four minutes apart we decided it was time to go in.  We got to the hospital around 5:00 and they decided to keep me.  I was only 2 1/2 centimeters at that point, but my contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart and things were progressing quickly.  When Celia got there I was 3 cm and she broke my water, which she said felt like it was close to breaking on its own.  Shortly after that I was 4 cm and then the next time they checked me I was 8 cm.  Celia decided to check me again in thirty minutes and when she did, she said we were ready to roll. Seven minutes and three pushes later, at 10:21 p.m., he was here!

 7 lbs 5 ounces

21 inches long

 Proud daddy!

Poppy and Cissy were sweet to keep Miller while all the action was going on, but the other sets of grandparents were there that night to meet Jacob.

We had to get a snapshot of Jacob's sweet little feet.  They seem really long, but we haven't had a chance to compare them to Miller's footprints.

We are so thankful for his health and sweet cuddly self.  The Lord has truly blessed us with his little life!  More to come soon on the rest of our hospital stay.

House Update 1

We broke ground on our new house today!  {And by "we" I mean our builder and his crew.  No need to search for the big prego girl in the pictures.}  I've decided to keep things simple and post our house updates under the same creative title: House Update.  I am currently open to suggestions for a cuter title, but that's the best my hormonal brain could come up with at the moment.  I may even get really fancy and group them together on one page if I can figure out how to do that exactly.  Tips on that are welcome as well.  : )

Our builder was so sweet to text me these pictures today.  We drove by our lot last night and they hadn't started anything, so I was excited to see that this house we've been talking about for so long has finally begun!  It's just the footing, so nothing too exciting, but we are thrilled to begin this process and thankful that the Lord has blessed us with the opportunity to build! 

38 Weeks

I feel like I have totally dropped the ball as far as documenting this pregnancy goes.  Hopefully I'll be much better at keeping up with Jacob's development when he gets here!

I am 38 weeks and 2 days pregnant today {but who's counting, right?}  Here's a baby bump picture to prove it.

Miller was born twelve days early and we passed that mark today.  I must admit, I've had it in the back of my mind that Jacob would be here any day.  I went to the doctor today and, sadly, I haven't made much progress yet.  I'm only about 50% effaced and 1 cm dilated {which I've been for the last three weeks}.  He has dropped a little since last week though.  He could always surprise us, but it looks like I'll be making it to 39 weeks at least.  I'm trying to remind myself to enjoy the last few days/weeks of this pregnancy as it could be the last one I experience.  I don't KNOW if it will be, it's just that you never know and I am thankful to have experienced this twice.  That being said, I sure am uncomfortable and ready to hold sweet Jacob :)

Miller seems excited about Jacob's arrival, but I think he also has a premonition that mommy is about to have to be shared.  He has always been a daddy's boy.  Always.  That is until about three weeks ago.  Now he does not want Bryant to do anything and he wants me to do EVERYTHING.  He throws a serious tantrum when Bryant does something and he wants me.  We're not exactly sure how to handle this, but we're just trying to stick to what we've always done and both take turns helping him do things even if he kicks and screams.  Anyone else experienced this?  Advice?

I have my camera packed in my hospital bag and I refuse to take it out for fear of leaving it whenever I go into labor.  So, here's a few recent iPhone snapshots of Miller so you don't forget what he looks like.

The grocery store we go to now that we moved has this carousel outside.  Miller spotted it right away.  It did make for a good bribe incentive as we shopped, but I was hoping he wouldn't realize it was supposed to do anything.  He did.  Looks like I'll need to keep some quarters handy when we go each week.

Bryant took Miller to one of his construction sites on a Saturday.  Needless to say, he loved it.

Worn out from playing with Poppy while I went to my doctor's appointment and ran a few errands.

Here's hoping that the next news I bring is of Jacob's arrival!

Our Weekend

Creative title, huh?  Last Friday Miller and I took a little road trip to Birmingham.

I had my 36 week appointment Friday and Bryant was going turkey hunting so we decided to stay the weekend with Poppy and Cissy.  In usual fashion, Poppy kept Miller busy with lots of activities.

Saturday night I got to go out for a girls' night.  It was full of good food, lots of laughter, and sweet friends. 

Thanks for a fun night, girls!  And thanks for giving me a little break, Poppy and Cissy!

Easter

We kicked off the celebration of Easter with Miller's Mother's Day Out parties on Wednesday and Thursday.

Friday we moved into our rental house.  Whew.  Thank goodness for Two Men and a Truck and all of our family that helped out.  That night Bryant and I went to the Secret Church simulcast our church hosted.  We kind of had to drag ourselves there since we were so exhausted, but once we got there we were so glad we went.  It was an incredible time of Bible study and we look forward to the next one!  If you ever have the opportunity to go, you definitely should!

The next morning {Saturday}, Mom and I took Miller to our church's Easter Egg Hunt.  Our children's minister, Melanie, had so many fun activities set up for the kids to do while they waited on the egg hunt.

Time for the preschoolers to hunt!

 

Miller and sweet Ella Kate

Melanie shared the Easter story with the kids using Resurrection Eggs.  Miller was the best listener. {Did you catch the sarcasm?}

Sunday morning it was time to worship our risen Savior!  We of course tried to tell Miller the Easter story, but given the fact he has no concept of life and death he was pretty clueless.  I look forward to the day when he will understand the amazing gift of Christ's death and the importance of His resurrection.  He was excited about putting flowers on the cross and kept saying, "I put flowers on for Jesus."  So at least he knew Easter isn't just about egg hunts.

After church we went to Nana and Papa Frank's house for lunch.  It was a feast and a wonderful change from the fast food we'd been eating for a week straight while we moved!

Sweet Malley in her Easter best

After lunch we had another egg hunt and enjoyed the beautiful day.

 

Poor Miller only found a few eggs.

 Last but not least it was time for Easter baskets from Nana and Papa Frank.

Easter this year was certainly hectic with the move, but it was special none the less.  I hope you and your family had a wonderful Easter, too!

Catching Up is Hard to Do

We've had so much going on that the thought of catching up on blogging has been a little overwhelming.  I cherish so much being able to document all of our family experiences though that I really want to try.  Obviously it will take a few posts, but I'll do my best!

A couple of weeks before Easter I got a note asking us to send cookies for Miller's school Easter party.  We were planning to move that week, so I knew that the logical thing to do was to just buy cookies from the bakery.  But what fun would that be?  So I decided to try making them ahead of time and freezing them.  I decided if they didn't thaw well, I'd go the bakery route, but at least I'd give it a shot.  My little assistant was so very helpful.  So helpful that after letting him cut out two cookies we decided it would be best for him and daddy to go play outside while Mommy finished :)

 The finished product...

{I'm happy to report that they froze and thawed very well!  I was so glad to see that this worked and will definitely be utilizing it in the future.}

The next week was Spring Break.  You wouldn't think Spring Break would affect us, but we had no school, no Bible study, and no Wednesday night church.  I decided to take Miller down to the lake to enjoy what could be our last lake trip for a while.  I'm hoping to squeeze in one more weekend before Jacob arrives, but we have lots to catch up on here first so we'll have to see.  This was Miller's first time on the boat this season and we were glad to see that he loved it!  It was also nice that he didn't have to wear a life jacket with a head support on it.  He was much more comfortable so we were all happier.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous and I was so happy to get a little sun on my pasty skin.  It was a nice little retreat before we returned to pack up and move!  More on that to come :)

Videos

I finally got around to uploading the video of Miller singing.  As always, the live version is so much better.  I need a hidden camera.

Bryant broke out the sprinkler the other day and Miller ran about 1,452 laps around it.  We'll definitely be using that a lot this summer.

Sorry for the short post {and the lacks of posts in general}.  We closed on our house Friday so we've been pretty busy packing and getting ready to move.  Be back soon {or eventually}!