Ka-chow, Ka-chow!

Jayden seems to be growing up overnight. First the potty and now a "big boy bed"! While we were on vacation in Florida (I'll post about that trip later) he climbed out of his pack and play one morning and was so proud that he "got out by myself!!". He didn't climb out again until yesterday at nap time. I heard him when he woke up and went in to get him a few minutes later and he was already standing on the floor. Then he wanted me to put him in his crib so that he could climb back out by himself over and over. I had already been thinking about switching him to a toddler bed so we decided to go ahead and do it last night. Jason got home and converted the crib to a toddler bed and then we went to Target to pick out some bedding. Jayden chose Lightning McQueen cars bedding. He was so excited after he picked it out that he was showing all the Target employees what he had and telling them about his new bed. On the way to the checkout counter he kept saying, "I tired, I sleepy, I need to go to bed". I was worried that he might not stay in his bed after I put him in it but he only got up one time to ask for some water! It was sweet to have him come into my room and wake me up this morning. He said, "Mama, I got up by myself!!". When I put him down for his nap he got up twice before he went to sleep. Once to use the potty and once to ask for some medicine (he has a molar coming in). Tonight when I put him to bed he didn't get up at all!
The potty training is going really well! The only times that he hasn't made it to the potty today were when he was sleeping and when we were at K-mart. The K-mart thing was probably my fault. I didn't remind him to go because I didn't want to have to deal with the public bathroom when I was by myself with two kids. But we did go out to dinner tonight and he told me that he needed to use the potty and made it without even wetting his pull-up! I have been very proud of him. We bought his first pair of big boy underwear this morning and he has worn them around the house. They are Bob the Builder underwear. I got the smallest size they had (2T) and they are about to fall off of him. My skinny boy!

Big boys now...

I'm in the process of posting about our trips to the lake and the beach but in the meantime I wanted to write about my boys accomplishments. First of all, Jayden has officially started using the potty! He went naked from the waist down most of the day yesterday and used the potty what seemed like about 500 times. He even went twice all by himself when I was feeding Brody! He still doesn't make it every time but he is doing really well!

Yesterday was also a big day for Brody. We moved the bassinet out of our bedroom and he started sleeping in the crib in his room last night. I am enjoying having our room back but I am also waking up more often than I was when he was sleeping right beside me because I feel like I need to go check on him. He is sleeping at least four hours at a time now, sometimes longer. We seem to be working towards a schedule and that makes me very happy!

On a different note, I got a call from Jayden's preschool teacher today. He will be going two days a week for three hours a day starting in September. I have been dreading it because I know it is going to be a difficult transition for him. I felt a little better after talking to her because she sounds really nice and she seems like she might be one of the "fun" teachers. I'm hoping it will be a good experience for him and something that he will eventually look forward to, but I'm expecting those first couple of weeks to be hard for both of us!

And then there were four...

It is so hard to believe that we have been a family of four for three months now! Brody Clay Jones was born May 9 at 4:10 in the morning. I started having small contractions on Thursday morning and got progressively more uncomfortable as the day and night wore on. I decided to call my parents early Friday morning so that we could go on to the hospital. We got to triage about 6:00 in the morning. They checked me and I hadn't made any progress since my doctor's appointment on Wednesday (I was still at a two). So they had me walk around for an hour and then checked again. There was no change so they gave me a shot of pain medication and told me to go home and go to sleep. The doctor told me that I should be able to get a few solid hours of sleep and that if I woke up and the contractions were gone that it was just false labor. The medication took the edge off the pain but that's about it. I got about an hour of fitful sleep and then the pain started getting worse. I labored all afternoon and the pain was getting worse but my contractions were still not in a regular pattern. Finally, around 10:00 that night I couldn't take it anymore. By the time I got to the hospital the contractions were unbearable. I wanted to get in the hospital and get hooked up to my epidural as quickly as possible so I told Jason just to drop me off at the door so that I could go on in and he could go park the car. Sure enough I got a contraction before I even made it to the door of the hospital and I had to go through it all by myself with people walking all around me. Apparently, a woman crying out in pain and hanging on to a cement pillar for dear life outside the doors to the maternity ward is not as common as one would think. People were coming up to me like I should be going to the Psych ward instead! I group of guys walked by first and stopped and asked if I was okay. Very nice of them but unfortunately I was in too much pain to answer and really wanted them to just go away. About that time an older lady starts hollering at me from across the parking lot: "Honey, are you alright??". I finally got inside and walked into triage and the nurse told me to have a seat in the waiting room and that they would come and get me when a triage room opened up. I wanted to jump across the desk and shake her. Luckily, a contraction started about the time she started talking and I just laid across her desk and moaned and groaned until it was over. She decided that I didn't need to go through triage and went ahead and put me in a labor & delivery room. Brody was born a little under 5 hours after I got to the hospital. The doctor almost didn't make it into the room! I had been telling the nurse for a while that I was feeling a lot of pressure and that I felt like the baby was about to come out. She kept telling me to wait because the doctor was with another patient. When the doctor finally came in and they put my legs up in the stirrups they saw that the baby was already crowing. They helped me slide my bottom to the end of the table and his head came out! I barely pushed one time and he was out! Brody's birth was much more painful that Jayden's but it was 10 times easier.

Brody is the best baby! He is very laid back and easygoing. Jayden has also been a great big brother. He loves his baby brother and is always checking on him and giving him kisses. Life has been hectic with two kids but I am loving every minute of it!