BIG BRO AND LITTLE SIS:

See any resemblance here between Jett and Joss in their newborn pics?  Mema gave us the owl hat when Jett was born.  Then she gave us the bow to use in case we ever had a girl.  

Jett is getting into having a little sister more than I expected.  I sort of just expected him to ignore her or be jealous of her but that hasn't really been the case.  Each morning the first thing he says is, "What is Jossi doing?"  He loves giving her kisses, patting her, and occasionally holding her.  The other day he saw her wearing these pajamas and said, "AWWWW CUTE!"

He's also been pretty helpful.  He tries to calm her down in the car and the other day I was putting a load of laundry in the dryer and I heard him say "OH NO!"  When I ran back to the living room he was pointing at Joss to let me know that she had spit up.  I'm not sure if there are many things that make me happier than seeing the two of them together when they are happy!

I'm finding that I'm going to have to adapt to going back and forth between dealing with a 2 year old and a newborn.  I find myself saying things like "JOSS...STOP IT" when she's crying like I would to a two year old who is throwing a tantrum.  And it's so strange when we are driving in the car and she is crying and my first reaction is to want to give her a toy, book, or try to reason with her and I can't.  I just got so used to being able to distract Jett so it is different to have to go back to the age where sometimes you just have to listen to the crying.

A little update on Joss.  I took her in for her 3 week checkup last week and she's doing great.  She is now 8 1/2 pounds which is 1 1/2 pounds up from her birth weight.  She is 20 1/2 inches which is 1 1/2 inches more than her birth height.  So she is growing which is always a good sign.  She has been awake a lot more in the last week which makes things a bit more challenging.  I remember this with Jett but it seems like newborns don't really know what to do with themselves at this age when they aren't eating or sleeping besides fuss a little.  I feel like I'm a lot more tolerant of it this time because I'm used to a "louder house."  Luckily it is the type of fussing that is consolable and she does really good in her bed at night so most of her awake time is during the day or early evening!

Here are a few pictures from lately.

Milk mustache:

Jett getting excited to eat one of his favorite treats:

Joss with Grandma and Grandpa at Addie and Mason's 4th B-day party:

Jake and Jett's pool day!

Jett's favorite thing: Heavy machinery

Joss:

And here are a few photos with some of our visitors from the past few weeks. 

FAMILY PICTURES:

We had family pictures taken when Joss was 5 days old and Jett was one day shy of turning 2.  Even those who are not on Facebook (Grandma) can view the pictures by going to this link:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.510130051068.1073741830.293700001&type=1&l=2cc7d7577c

The pictures were taken by Barbara Carnahan with B. Gallery Photography.  Here are a few of our favorites:

VIDEO OF JOSS'S FIRST DAY OF LIFE:

This morning I finished up a video of Joss's first day of life!  You can view it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30sqPJY-EJY

Monday was the official start of maternity leave since Jake went back to work.  Of course I miss having Jake here but I do like the fact that there is more food for me to eat when he's at work.

Joss and I have been getting into a little bit of a routine.  I'm sure it will change a little from week to week.  She is usually pretty sleepy in the mornings mainly just waking up to eat.  She is up on and off through the afternoon (about half the time).  Then we have about an hour and a half of good awake time at night when Jake gets home from work.  I feed her every two hours during the day.   We started putting her in her crib at night on Saturday and it is going pretty well.  I have been feeding her around 10:00 p.m and putting her to bed.  Then she usually wakes up every 3-4 hours to eat through the night.  So technically I'm just getting up twice and luckily she only takes about 15 minutes to eat and has been going back to sleep after.  Then she wakes up each morning right around the same time as Jett (7:00 a.m).   We'll see how this changes as she grows up and gets a little more alert.

 Some photos of her 2nd week:

A few quick stories about Jett who has really been cracking us up lately.  The other day he pooped in his swim diaper when he was out in his pool.  Jake got him out and was trying to get him cleaned up outside.  He pulled off the diaper and told Jett to bend over so he could wipe him.  So Jett was bent over with his butt in the air and his hands on the ground and he said (completely on his own), "Ready...set...hike!"  

Also, he has been starting to tell us that he NEEDS things instead of wants them.  And he really emphasizes the word NEED.  For example, "Mom, I NEED a beef stick!"

It has been such a beautiful week (especially for July).  On Monday night we went on our first family walk to the park.  The only downfall was that there was a huge puddle on one of the slides and Jett's shorts got soaked.  So we were the people at the park whose kid was running around in a diaper.

THE NEW NORMAL:

Joss has been in our lives for just over a week and I thought it would be a good time to summarize what life at home has been like so far.

Going back to Sunday(the day we got home from the hospital), I totally overdid it (of course). I made about 30 trips up and down stairs to try to get things organized and by the time evening rolled around I was so sore that I could barely get off the couch. I have felt great every day since then though.

Sunday was also the night that we were reunited with Jett. It was great to have our family all together but I could tell immediately that Jett wasn't quite acting like himself. For one, he was talking way louder than usual. He was also just repeating mama and dada over and over again almost like he was just checking to see if we were paying attention to him. The hardest part for me is that I'm not supposed to pick him up or carry him because of my surgery. And of course those first few days he kept reaching up for me and saying "hold you." Pretty sure we both started crying a few of the times that I had to tell him no. After those first couple of days I think Jake and I just started getting used to how to handle certain situations with him. How to distract him from noticing things that he would potentially get jealous of and how to get him a little more interested in his little sister (without being too interested of course). We've also been trying to make him feel important with his new "big brother" role. Doesn't he look HUGE in this pic?

Joss has been easy like most newborns are at this sleepy stage. Last time it was a shock to the system to have a newborn and have such a lifestyle change. But now that we've already adjusted to that by having one kid, it's not a big deal. It just puts it all into perspective. I also think that as second time parents we just feel less overwhelmed by everything and don't worry or question things as much. 

Our biggest adjustment has simply been trying to spread our time and patience between two kids instead of one. It still seems a little weird to have two kids. There was a moment today where we got in our car to take Joss for a weight check (she's back to her birth weight, YAY) and I was putting Jett in his seat and Jake was putting Joss in her seat and we locked eyes from across the backseat and I said, "We have childREN!" 

Jett has been enjoying the daily visitors at our house.  I'm pretty sure he thinks everyone is there to see him!

We are loving this time and getting into a routine. Now if only we could both stay home all the time:).  Jake and Jett have had a blast together this week!