Merry Christmas!
Lincoln wouldn't cooperate & put his Santa hat on, so that's the best we can do right now. :)
The Letter Of The Flaw
18 hours ago
Monday, December 12, 2011
We wish you a
Lincoln wouldn't cooperate & put his Santa hat on, so that's the best we can do right now. :)
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Pain
Last night Lincoln burned his finger on the electric griddle. This was after my millions of warnings that it was hot, moving the step stool away from it, him moving it back, etc. I looked at him just as he put his finger on it, and Oh. My. God--the look on his face as the pain hit him was something I'll never be able to forget. He started crying, I grabbed him and headed to the sink to run his finger under cold water.
Maybe it's because just a couple of months ago I plunged my hand into just-boiled water (forgetting it hadn't cooled yet) to grab a spoon and I remember VIVIDLY the ensuing half an hour of pain, crying and thinking I might just die that I felt Lincoln's pain so keenly. Maybe it's because I'm super-sensitive and emotional anyway. Maybe it's because I'm a mom, and I probably love my boys so much that my heart aches every day that I have to be at work away from them.
Regardless of the reason, it was all I could do to keep from freaking out as well. I didn't--I stayed stoic and as calm as possible, trying to sooth him and get him to calm down enough to be coherent. It seemed like he wailed forever, but he eventually calmed down and was able to eat, although he had a difficult time eating left-handed while keeping his right hand in a bowl of cold water!
He would occasionally start wailing again when burning in his finger flared , but would calm down after I hugged and kissed on him for a few minutes. It was after supper, when he thought about taking his finger out of the water so George could bandage it that he really melted down.
Eventually we got the bandaging done (it involved bribery with a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup) and even more hugs and Link determined he wasn't going to die, but would, in fact, be OK. Even after both boys were in bed, I didn't have a meltdown--I wanted to, but who has the time when there are eight thousand other things to be done???
But oh, my gosh. I feel Lincoln's pain so keenly that I can't imagine how I can go through years and years of watching my boys hurt, physically and emotionally. I'm just not strong enough for that! I've managed to get pretty stoic about my own pain, but theirs? It cuts me more than anything else in the world. I'm not sure I have the strengh to watch them get hurt, make mistakes, fall down and screw up over and over in the coming years; I'm just not that strong.
It was an exhausting, emotional night, and that was just a little burn on one finger! Imagine if it had been something worse...except, no, I can't start imagining worse because I WILL break down. All of the dangers, problems, temptations and evil in the world make my head spin, and if I think about it, Lincoln and Jackson will never leave the house!
Miss Kathy, my old Sunday School teacher, commented on Facebook that God starts mothers out comforting and healing the little hurts to ease us in to comforting the healing the bigger hurts that are down the road. She is so wise, and that totally makes sense.
Still. I'm not sure I can handle the big hurts.
Are you listening, God? Charmed, safe, full lives for my children, would be GREAT.
I know this is every mother's prayer. I know every mother hurts almost beyond words when her children hurt. I know my love for the boys is not in any way unique. It's just that this is the first time I've really experienced such major pain in one of my kids (colds and skinned knees don't have the same effect!). Lincoln is fine--he is already recovering and will be fascinated when the blister falls off. He'll forget about it completely in a few months, although let's hope he doesn't forget the lesson of never touching a hot surface.
But learning lessons is painful, and I never realized how painful it would be for me as well as my boys.
Still, I wouldn't trade being a mommy for anything.
Maybe it's because just a couple of months ago I plunged my hand into just-boiled water (forgetting it hadn't cooled yet) to grab a spoon and I remember VIVIDLY the ensuing half an hour of pain, crying and thinking I might just die that I felt Lincoln's pain so keenly. Maybe it's because I'm super-sensitive and emotional anyway. Maybe it's because I'm a mom, and I probably love my boys so much that my heart aches every day that I have to be at work away from them.
Regardless of the reason, it was all I could do to keep from freaking out as well. I didn't--I stayed stoic and as calm as possible, trying to sooth him and get him to calm down enough to be coherent. It seemed like he wailed forever, but he eventually calmed down and was able to eat, although he had a difficult time eating left-handed while keeping his right hand in a bowl of cold water!
He would occasionally start wailing again when burning in his finger flared , but would calm down after I hugged and kissed on him for a few minutes. It was after supper, when he thought about taking his finger out of the water so George could bandage it that he really melted down.
Eventually we got the bandaging done (it involved bribery with a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup) and even more hugs and Link determined he wasn't going to die, but would, in fact, be OK. Even after both boys were in bed, I didn't have a meltdown--I wanted to, but who has the time when there are eight thousand other things to be done???
But oh, my gosh. I feel Lincoln's pain so keenly that I can't imagine how I can go through years and years of watching my boys hurt, physically and emotionally. I'm just not strong enough for that! I've managed to get pretty stoic about my own pain, but theirs? It cuts me more than anything else in the world. I'm not sure I have the strengh to watch them get hurt, make mistakes, fall down and screw up over and over in the coming years; I'm just not that strong.
It was an exhausting, emotional night, and that was just a little burn on one finger! Imagine if it had been something worse...except, no, I can't start imagining worse because I WILL break down. All of the dangers, problems, temptations and evil in the world make my head spin, and if I think about it, Lincoln and Jackson will never leave the house!
Miss Kathy, my old Sunday School teacher, commented on Facebook that God starts mothers out comforting and healing the little hurts to ease us in to comforting the healing the bigger hurts that are down the road. She is so wise, and that totally makes sense.
Still. I'm not sure I can handle the big hurts.
Are you listening, God? Charmed, safe, full lives for my children, would be GREAT.
I know this is every mother's prayer. I know every mother hurts almost beyond words when her children hurt. I know my love for the boys is not in any way unique. It's just that this is the first time I've really experienced such major pain in one of my kids (colds and skinned knees don't have the same effect!). Lincoln is fine--he is already recovering and will be fascinated when the blister falls off. He'll forget about it completely in a few months, although let's hope he doesn't forget the lesson of never touching a hot surface.
But learning lessons is painful, and I never realized how painful it would be for me as well as my boys.
Still, I wouldn't trade being a mommy for anything.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
5 months old!
Jackson is 5 months + 1 day old!
And he is a happy, smiley, hysterical, FUN baby...when he is awake.
Asleep, it's a whole other ballgame!
He loves to sit up in the boppies:
And is starting to sit up on his own, at least for a few seconds
before he topples over. :)
He'll be SUCH a happy boy when he can sit up on his own without falling over!
He weighs about 16 pounds, according to the "weigh myself, then stand
on the scale holding Jack and subtract the two numbers" method.
WHY won't this child sleep???? After sleeping 8:30 PM-4:30 AM by around 2 months, and then 8 PM-7 AM at 3 months, WHY are we back to waking every few hours at night? Why, why?
I'm not feeding him in the night; I'm not about to go backwards, and plus he doesn't need it. But he wakes up every few hours and has to have the pacifier to go back to sleep. He's still swaddled, so I thought maybe he wanted to be unswaddled to suck on his fists. Well, one arm out makes no difference, and unswaddled completely is just a nightmare.
I moved the swing up to his room, but it doesn't help him stay asleep for naps, so I haven't even tried it at night. I. AM. EXHAUSTED. Because guess who it is who gets up every few hours when Jack cries to stick the paci back in his mouth? IT AIN'T GEORGE!
Jack's naps have been short (30-45 minutes) since I stopped putting him in the swing to nap around 1.5 months. So really, we have 2 sleep problems: night and naps.
Teething is having an effect, I know, because the poor kid gnaws my finger off and chews on anything he can find. Plus he's a waterfall of drool every second of every day. No sign of teeth yet. PLEASE, God, let the teeth break through!
I'm going to start Jack on cereal this weekend and am praying that it helps him sleep. Again, PLEASE God!
It's hard to get a decent picture of Lincoln and Jackson together--this is usually what we end up with. :)
Jack's 5-month favs:
The Exersaucer (SUCH squeals!)
Sitting up in the boppies
Lincoln, Lincoln, Lincoln. Jack adores him!
Grabbing/smacking faces
Grabbing anything--he has a very strong grip. It's kind of annoying sometimes.
Kicking and flailing
Smiling
Squealing, laughing and cooing
The baby in the mirror. He's so funny! Jack likes to smack at him.
Being tickled
Reading books/batting at the pictures in books
Pooping out of outfits. All. the. TIME!
5-month dislikes:
Sleeping through a 1.5 hour nap
Sleeping through the night
Teething. Ugh.
Not being paid attention to
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Happy Halloween!
Halloween was so much fun with our Lincoln-Dinosaur and Jackson-Tiger!
Jack was a tiger because that's the costume we had from Lincoln's first Halloween (only it fit him a lot better than Lincoln 2 years ago, probably because he's 5 months younger than Lincoln was and the costume size was mislabeled!)
Jack was a tiger because that's the costume we had from Lincoln's first Halloween (only it fit him a lot better than Lincoln 2 years ago, probably because he's 5 months younger than Lincoln was and the costume size was mislabeled!)
Lincoln was a dinosaur because when we went to get his lion costume--he'd been saying he wanted to be a lion for months--he saw a (super-expensive) dinosaur costume & decided he wanted to be a dino instead. Not wanting to spend $20-$30, my friend Janet suggested I try Kmart, which I did. Yes, they had a dinosaur costume. And yes, it was 50% off! Score!
We went to Trunk or Treat at church on Sunday night and trick-or-treating around the neighborhood on Halloween. Let me tell you, Trunk or Treat is ALOT easier than old-school trick-or-treating! I don't remember getting that worn out walking around as a kid, but then I also wasn't carrying a 16-pound baby when I was a kid, either. And I was 20 years younger.
We went to Trunk or Treat at church on Sunday night and trick-or-treating around the neighborhood on Halloween. Let me tell you, Trunk or Treat is ALOT easier than old-school trick-or-treating! I don't remember getting that worn out walking around as a kid, but then I also wasn't carrying a 16-pound baby when I was a kid, either. And I was 20 years younger.
Here are Lincoln & Jackson, George, and Dad and Mom at Trunk or Treat:
And here are the boys and me just before Trunk or Treat:
Both nights were a blast! Lincoln loves to wear his dinosaur costume every day, usually 3-4 times in an average day. Jack is not such a fan of the tiger costume. :)
Having kids makes Halloween fun again!
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Jack is 4 months old!
And I'm posting this less than two weeks later! What an improvement. :)
Jackson turned 4 months old on October 28. He is a happy, fun baby but has been having lots of trouble sleeping, both in naps and at night. His naps have never been great unless he was in the swing, but he's now down to only making it for 30 minutes before waking up and crying--and being next to impossible to get back to sleep.
Thankfully, his night sleep is starting to improve--just woke up twice last night, and again at 6 AM. Hopefully he made it until 7, which is his breakfast time.
The lack of sleeping at night is even harder because right about the time I came to work, he was sleeping from 8 PM to 7 AM! Even before that, he'd sleep from 8 PM to 4:30 AM and then go back to sleep until 7:30. So going back to night wakings has been even harder on us than if he had been waking up at night the entire time.
4-month favorites:
Sucking/chewing on anything, including but not limited to
4-month dislikes:
Jackson turned 4 months old on October 28. He is a happy, fun baby but has been having lots of trouble sleeping, both in naps and at night. His naps have never been great unless he was in the swing, but he's now down to only making it for 30 minutes before waking up and crying--and being next to impossible to get back to sleep.
Thankfully, his night sleep is starting to improve--just woke up twice last night, and again at 6 AM. Hopefully he made it until 7, which is his breakfast time.
The lack of sleeping at night is even harder because right about the time I came to work, he was sleeping from 8 PM to 7 AM! Even before that, he'd sleep from 8 PM to 4:30 AM and then go back to sleep until 7:30. So going back to night wakings has been even harder on us than if he had been waking up at night the entire time.
4-month favorites:
Eating! Yummy milk!
Lincoln :)
Sucking/chewing on anything, including but not limited tohis fists, toys, anyone's hand/arm/etc.
Smiling/squealing
(doesn't laugh as much as Lincoln did at this age)
Peeing everywhere with his diaper off. Must be the chill in the air!
The mirror. Such fun!
Batting at pictures in books/trying to turn the page
Grabbing at his feet--starting to try to get them into his mouth!
4-month dislikes:
Teething. Ugh!!
Shots at the doctor (but really, who likes those??)
Napping his needed hour and a half/sleeping through the night
Trying to sleep without the pacifier
Not having every whim catered to = screaming fits! :(
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Fun with Jack!
Jack is doing the "I've found my feet but don't always grab my feet;
instead I'll just do reverse sit-ups" thing:
He's not a huge fan of tummy time, but look
at how well he does holding his head up!
(slightly blurry, sorry)
The Cards are in the World Series? What?
GO CARDS!
Fun with Lincoln!
Lincoln had a good time eating his Nutella-banana sandwich
for dessert last night:
Yoda ears & Toy Story slippers! A perfect combo.
Look! Spiderman!
No, it's Darth Spider Yoda Man!
"No, it's just me, Mommy!"
"Me, who?"
"Lincoln Atticus Welch!"
He is so much fun!!
Friday, October 14, 2011
Pre-pregnancy weight!!
OK, I have to post this somewhere, and since few people read this, it seems like a safe place to be excited but not be seen as bragging too much!
I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight!!! I've been really close for over a month, and now it's official. Of course, most of this is flab, not muscle, but I'll take what I can get--and hopefully get back to more muscle later.
I'm just so proud of myself, and so thankful. I'm proud of myself because I worked my rear end off after my 6-week checkup, going to the gym 3 times a week until I came back to work. I wanted to lose the weight, and I did, through sheer sweat and pain!
I'm thankful because it is a huge blessing from God that the weight is off. If it hadn't come off, I would have to buy more clothes that fit (but that hopefully wouldn't fit long and would thus just be a waste of money--except that I can't come to work naked), and there is no money for that right now. This was all God!
So with God and sweat, I am blessed to be fitting into almost all of my old clothes. YESSSSS!!!!!
I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight!!! I've been really close for over a month, and now it's official. Of course, most of this is flab, not muscle, but I'll take what I can get--and hopefully get back to more muscle later.
I'm just so proud of myself, and so thankful. I'm proud of myself because I worked my rear end off after my 6-week checkup, going to the gym 3 times a week until I came back to work. I wanted to lose the weight, and I did, through sheer sweat and pain!
I'm thankful because it is a huge blessing from God that the weight is off. If it hadn't come off, I would have to buy more clothes that fit (but that hopefully wouldn't fit long and would thus just be a waste of money--except that I can't come to work naked), and there is no money for that right now. This was all God!
So with God and sweat, I am blessed to be fitting into almost all of my old clothes. YESSSSS!!!!!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
3 months old!
Jack is 3 months old!
And he is uber-smiley: 
Our baby boy weighs 14.01 pounds--a pretty big guy! I keep forgetting to measure him, so let's just say he's longer than he was a month ago. :)
Tummy time is getting more interesting, although it's still a challenge
for Jackson to hold his head up:
Lounging:
3-month favorites:
Sleeping through the night until 6:30 or 7:00 AM
YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!
Lincoln, Lincoln Lincoln. Jack watches him all the time!
Smiling, cooing and razzing. All the time!Eating. Jack is doing great switching between bottle & Mommy
since I'm back at work.
The baby in the mirror. Just today, Jack smiled at and
tried to bat at his reflection for the first time!
Farting. Pooping out of his diaper.
Having his nose sucked (most of the time). It's funny how much he smiles
and coos when having his snot suctioned!
Dislikes:
Being congested. For 3 nights last week, Jack woke up every 5 to 30 minutes
because of nasal congestion. NOT fun. He's still a bit congested.
Not getting to eat right when he wants to!
Being overstimulated
********************
On to month four!
Things are going well in Welchland!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
SHEESH
OK, Blogger is annoying me...somehow, Jack's 1-month update appears more recently than his 2-month update, which is obviously backwards. ARGH! So read the 1-month first, then the 2-month--and hopefully from now on I'll get his updates up on the actual date instead of one or two months later and not have this problem!!
Jack 1-month stats
Yes, I am behind the times. Whoops!
Obviously, Jack was 1 month old on July 28:
Link is an amazing big brother. The only problem is that he wants to love on Jack ALL the time, so we have to make sure that Jack isn't getting suffocated. :)
Obviously, Jack was 1 month old on July 28:
At 1 month, he weight 10 pounds and 14 ounces. What a big boy!
1-month info:
We got to skip Jack's 2-week doctor visit and don't have to go back until 2 months
because he is gaining weight so well! Yay!
Jack was frequently peeing/pooping out of his diapers (5 times in 6 hours one day)
until we moved him to size 1. Problem solved!
2.5 weeks after birth, Jack developed the worst baby acne I've ever seen--
it is on his face, his head, the back of his neck. I actually called the nurse for
advice, and she said it could be a combo of acne+heat rash, etc.
Hopefully it will clear up because right now I don't want to take him anywhere.
That's how bad it is! (at 1 month old)
He has started to smile! His smile is just as big and goofy as Lincoln's was.
Poops and toots are the smelliest EVER!
Lincoln LOVES Jack!
Link is an amazing big brother. The only problem is that he wants to love on Jack ALL the time, so we have to make sure that Jack isn't getting suffocated. :)Jack's 2-month stats
OK, so Jack is 2.5 months old now...but better late than never!
At 2 months, Jack weighs 13 pounds, 7.75 ounces, and is 23.75 inches long. He is a pretty big boy! He did great with his first round of shots, only becoming slightly fussier that afternoon; it didn't last long, thankfully. His cracked collarbone (from delivery) is completely healed.
2-month favorites/info
All photos from 28 August 2011
At 2 months, Jack weighs 13 pounds, 7.75 ounces, and is 23.75 inches long. He is a pretty big boy! He did great with his first round of shots, only becoming slightly fussier that afternoon; it didn't last long, thankfully. His cracked collarbone (from delivery) is completely healed.
2-month favorites/info
Jack loves:
to bear weight on his legs
his bath
to smile, smile, smile! And what a big smile it is!
Mommy, Daddy and Lincoln
Baby acne has completely disappeared (thank God).
Has been skipping at least 1 feed a night, often 2!
And I had to post this picture just because it's so hilarious. George calls it "the worst picture of our boys EVER." It's randomness cracks me up!
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Recent photos
Sort of recent, anyway.
28 July
1 August
Tummy time is awesome right now!
See how much Jack enjoys it? :)
7 July
15 July
28 July
1 August
Tummy time is awesome right now!
See how much Jack enjoys it? :)
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
He is finally here!
He was born on June 28, 2011 at 9:50 AM
after less than four hours of labor and four pushes (YES!!!)
7 lbs 12 oz
20 3/4 inches long
He is very healthy, and we are so glad he's here!
Lincoln is an amazing big brother and loves Baby Jack.
Jack looks VERY much like Lincoln and George and is adorable.
Although he has Mommy's mouth :) :
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Lincoln's "big boy" room
We finally got Lincoln moved into his new "big boy room" (my old office) and "big boy bed" (twin bed) a few weeks ago. And he loves it! Thankfully. These photos aren't great, and we haven't decorated at all yet, but you'll get the general idea.
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