Big thanks to Mom who came to help for TWO WEEKS. My recovery was going pretty well until the family plague of mastitis hit. I was miserable and very grateful that she was here. She was my hero. Jon was a great help too, but had school. So really, she was a life saver for all of us. Thank you, Mom. AND not only did I have a baby on Mother's Day (and her due date), but I had my Mom here all to myself in Mexico. Happy Mother's Day to me!
Anna's second day - coming home
Several weeks ago for FHE the girls picked out some welcome-to-our-family-gifts for Baby Anna. It helped the girls be a part of Anna's arrival and made her coming home an official celebration!
Well they let us have her now, so here are some better pictures. There is also a video for your viewing pleasure.
Anna Rebecca Jenkins
Anna was born this morning at 7:00 (not sure the exact time)am. She was 8 lbs. 5 oz. and was 19.6 inches long. She is a beautiful little girl. I am a very happy father!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (of three little girls) Unfortunately she is in that little incubator looking thing for the next four hours so I will get better pictures of her in a couple of hours.
I thought for those of you who thought I might not be posting because I have had a baby might like to be informed that NO - we are not so lucky! Actually, at this point it's better if she doesn't come yet because my mom's flight comes in Thursday afternoon. All is well. I thought for sure we were heading to the hospital last night. I wasn't sure how excited I was about it though, I kept having visions of Rissie screaming after us as we left her at our neighbors. For that reason - I really hope Mom gets here in time! Oh yeah, and I am sick - might be tricky pushing out a baby while I am hacking up a lung. Good news though, it's getting better. :) I have an appointment today, which I think I am going to cancel. I see no point in paying fifty dollars for someone to tell me I am still pregnant (...maybe Friday). Jon may need to be told again that we ARE actually having ANOTHER girl. Around here, if your belly grows forward instead of out it's a sign that it's a boy. I've had complete strangers ask me if I was having a boy because of the shape of my tummy. I think it's giving Jon false hope! :)
A couple of days ago I started getting a bag ready for the hospital and came across a little cap that I knitted for Marissa. I've made a couple of little hats for Lauren too, so I thought why not hurry and make one for Anna? I pulled out my yarn and found a little bit of baby pink left and got started. It's been a while since I had knitted anything so it took me a couple of times starting over to get back into my groove. No big deal. Well, my little bit of baby pink didn't last near as long as I hoped and ended up stopping my project until I could find some more. Finding is a key word here when you don't have a Joann's, a Robert's, or a Michael's polka dotting every city. Rissie has been guzzling milk lately so I took advantage of the unscheduled trip for milk and picked it up on the other side of town where I hoped to find some more yarn. HORRAY it was a success - other than it wasn't the same baby pink. So last night I started a new cap in the color that would certainly last me three more caps and then some. I left my project on the couch...BIG MISTAKE!! Rissie found it. Rissie took my four fabulous bamboo needles and shoved them into the hole of Jon's subwoofer to his surround sound never to be seen again. Sigh. By sheer luck, we found a little store in the little mall in Plaza Mexico up the street. They had one kind of needle - ONE, which I am sure the connective circle thingy is too big. So we'll see if buying three (for 75 cents - no kidding) will work if I just cut off the connector. I am determined to make this cap now - even though I started it on a whim. Hah! Crazy pregnant lady!
I am a little embarrassed about my last post after receiving so many kind compliments. I had to ask Jon if my post sounded like I was searching for them - I assure you I wasn't! There is nothing like a great confidence boost when you feel big and puffy - So THANK YOU. I must admit though, after I posted the pictures I noticed that the prego girl in the photo has a much thinner face than in real life. (How often does that actually happen?) AND THE BATHROOM SHOT - okay that is pretty funny. This I didn't realize until after I posted it either, but as small as my bathroom really is, there is a bit of an optical illusion. I didn't take the pictures at the same time and one shot is more zoomed than the other - so next to each other I look like a giant, especially if you were to put the zoomed me into the empty bathroom shot. (Notice where the doorknob is?) My next appointment is tomorrow - SO I am hoping to hear those magical words where the doctor tells me, "Oh wow! This baby is ready. We better get you to the hospital RIGHT NOW!" In real life though, there are depressingly no outward signs that this baby is close other than I don't think my skin has room for ANY more stretch marks. My poor tummy looks like a big red and purple spider web. I sneeze and can feel a tear. OUCH! As for the pictures being fake (TODD), I think you overestimate my abilities in photoshop. I wouldn't even consider myself a beginner yet!
So we went to the doctor today. She told us no more than one week or two. Jon's big test is a week from Tuesday, so really she can't come until then. BUT anytime after that and he can help me until my mom comes! We took a tour of the hospital after our visit. It was NICE, ten times better than any hospital I've seen in the States! No kidding. Of course we'll be taking lots of pictures and will post them when the day arrives. As usual I have "taken too much weight". I had lost weight at my last visit from being sick and dehydrated and she STILL scolded me when the baby was too big in the sonogram. After that I decided to stop trying to avoid her scolding me and just relax. Since that decision my visit wasn't as dreadful even though I still got lectured. (Little does she know that I am a dietitian and, despite what she thinks, know that among several other contradictions vitamins don't make you gain weight!) I am starting to get carried away. Can you tell this has been an issue?
I can't fit in my bathroom anymore! How funny is that? Our bathroom is seriously so small that you can rest your head on the roll of toilet paper and you have to walk sideways to get out of the shower...both of which, I can't do anymore. It's occupancy is ONE. Ask Jon. My belly has bumped him into the sink many times.
Ted hose for my swollen ankles - they look more like prosthetic limbs with my capri's and are especially great at keeping the heat in during these Mexican "summer" months! Aren't they pretty?
See what a great job they do? This is after wearing them all day. I'll have to post a pic of this ankle when I am NOT using the hose!
I suspect that some of you may think I have nothing more to blog than my children. Although I love them dearly and love blogging them, I do in fact have more (though not much) on my mind than my little ones.
This is nothing profound, but still amusing enough to share. Jon and I have found another somewhat Americanized grocery store not far from us that we've been visiting the last couple of Saturdays. Not knowing my way around as well I found myself searching for the flour. It's easy to miss as they only sell it in one pound bags and in a small section of baking needs - separate ISLE from the sugar, baking powder and soda, or vanilla, etc. I finally solicited Jon's help and he took it upon himself to ask for directions (impressive, is it not?). He found a store employee and asked him in his improved Spanish where the orina was. He asked a couple more times and still all he got was a funny look. Not far behind, I approached the employee and asked where the harina was. He immediately pointed to the isle, we thanked him and headed for the flour. Jon, confused, couldn't decipher what the difference was with what I had asked for and for what he had asked. At the flour he suddenly started laughing and explained that what he had asked for was actually URINE!
The kids put this together in Bear Lake for the Jenkins Annual Snowmobile trip. Our poor kids...when we unloaded the car of our suitcases Lauren asked,"Do we live HERE now?"
Where's the fire?
Jon's dad tried to change the fire alarm but with it linked to the security system the fire department was automatically contacted. So after five minutes of obnoxiously loud alarms going off the truck showed up. Oops
Date with Daddy!
Jon took Lauren to Hollywood Connection for some one on one time together. It was a hit. :)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANDSOME
September 17th 1978
Where does it hurt?
3/14/05 Lauren's cough continues, and after her heartbreaking cries of, "I don't like my cough." I asked her where it hurt, thinking it could be either her throat or her chest. She said, "Right here." Then mouth wide open she pointed to her throat with her entire hand in her mouth and her finger at the back until she gagged.
2/19/08 This morning, we are eating breakfast when J interrupts the brief silence with a small basement burp. Without missing a beat, Lauren says, "What do you say, Daddy?" He excuses himself, then still in her motherly tone adds, "We don't fart at the table do we?"
Junk Food
9/16/08 Yesterday Lauren learned the difference between junk food and healthy food. So this morning, when she saw Rissie with a piece of candy, she said, "Mom, can I please have some junk food?"
2/9/08 Today Lauren asked me to redo her hair because it was "falling off!"
2/27/08 Lately L. has been insisting that I call her Cinderella. Sometimes I can hear her upstairs call for CINDERELLA. in a mean "step sister" tone, then in a sweet voice will answer, "I'm coming." She failed to pick up her toys when I asked, so I tried her new name and it worked wonders.
2/29/08 So L. is watching her old favorite and after Dory explains to Marlon that memory loss runs in her family, Lauren says, "It runs in my family too, Dory."
Cookie Dough
L: (in her sweetest voice) "Mom, can I have some cookie dough please?" M: "Sure." L: "Well," pause, "do you think you can get it from the fridge so I can like it?"
4/20/2008 So Lauren got some gum (not a fan) for being a good girl. Later, Jon asked her if she had swallowed it. She said, "No." Then he asked if she threw it away. She said, "No." So he asked her where it was, she told him it was in her throat.
Anna two months
L. and R. have been singing and dancing to their new piano that plays fun tunes. L. has been learning them and singing them around the house. A few days ago I overheard her sining, "Mary had a little sheep, little sheep, little sheep,...
Finding the Moon
Lauren shouts, "Grandma, there is the moon!" She started singing Twinkle Little Star, but in the mean time we had turned the corner and she soon discovered it was gone. So she tells Grandma, "We need to find another moon." 01/13/08
Lunch on the "patio"
Lauren has a new fascination with cokewatches. What's a cokewatch you ask? It's Lauren's word for Cockroach! :)
L is lounging while watching our tennis match...this is the trike that ate me.
Kids are the best source of laughter
I was getting dressed and L happened to be there and as I reached for my br_ she asked, "Mom, you put your b__bs on?"12/07
R had gotten in trouble for something, then after some reflection L said matter of factly, "Well, she's learning."12/07
L just told Jon to look at her stomach then lifted her arm, pulled down her sleeve, and showed him her armpit.12/07
Story came to play
These three happy girls just finished spinning in Daddy's chair. What kid doesn't LOVE that? When Story's mom came to pick her up she gave me the door prize she'd won. It was a full hour massage at a spa in town. It was HEAVENLY! Thanks Brooke.
L"s Nursery Teacher and friend Lesley
Sunday doesn't come fast enough for L. to go with her teacher to Nursery. She will scout her out in S.M. and wave to her the rest of the meeting. She loves her.
Who's Here?
Rissie's Birthday
Lauren Louski Lou
Hello Marissie Maroo
A. Missy & Hrma Malia
Loved the visit!
Ready for Church
Rissie"s stuck
She yelled for help and I grabbed the camera
Rissie"s NEW look
Ponytail Girls
L"s B-Day Party @ Gma J"s
She"s done it again!
You'd think she enjoys getting it untangled with that grin.
