Happy Fathers Day (a little late post)

Well, what can I say hon. I try to tell you at every moment how much we love you and always hope that you feel it on a daily basis. I adore you and always have. Why else would I marry you so quick! I have done lots of good things in my life and our decision to have kids is one of them. I still stand by the fact that marrying you was the best thing I ever did. EVER! I have had many wonderful surprises as we learned to compromise and work as a married unit, but discovering your natural ability to lead and be at father (because of your fathers example) has been one of the sweetest to me. I am so proud to have you as a husband and as Jakie says (and Rickie soon will), I love my daddy! I miss him every time he is not here. You never hear that part because it is said seconds after the van door shuts as we drop you off at work, but since he could speak, that is a sentiment that Jacob has expressed freely. I know that Ricky will feel the same, and I must confess, I miss you all day too. I love our time together as a family and love you so much. Thank you for being the boys best daddy possible.

*Here is a picture that says it all. Rick has looked like this from the moment either of his boys were born. He is devoted, attentive, excited, enthralled, hands on, and stable. Everything our boys could ever hope for!

P,S.

Thank you to our fathers that contributed to our family (and moms too). What is a daddy without a mommy?? Mom, Dad (both Hutchins and Shumway) We love you both too. Thanks for being great examples that we could learn from on both sides of the family. We love you and wish we could be there to share this day with you both!

Being Big Brother:

BEST BUDDIES! Since the day that we told Jacob that he was going to be a big brother he has been excited. He used to kiss my belly and say "hello baby, it is me, your big brother Jakie". He always asked to kiss my "big sweet belly" and asked for his brother to come each day from about month 7. We told him that the baby was still baking and when he was all done he would come to our house. Somehow this made sense to him and he waited patiently. It was not until he got to the hospital after the baby arrived that he considered that he might have competition. He was a little nervous but still excited to meet his little brother.

Rick said that he asked if we were still going to love him now that the baby was here and of course, our hearts broke. Ricks reply and mine to the subsequent inquiries of our love have always been "of course we love you. How could we ever not love our little Jacob bean"!! Over the last week Jacob has loved the baby with enthusiasm, but privately made inquiry into our love. Usually it was at a time that he wanted something and could not have it. Is he a smart little booger or what. He tries to manipulate us as any smart child would (I sure did with my parents!), but he can only get so far because we know that game. He has acted out a few times in funny ways, but mostly, he just wants our attention. We have tried to shower it on him and love him double. In any case, we sure hope this photo is a sign of the love, bond and friendship that is sure to come!

All in all though, I am surprised. I expected for there to be a major break down or some serious incident in which Jacob freaked out and unleashed repressed feelings. Luckily, that has not been the case. Mostly I just find him kissing, hugging, and cooing at little Ricky. He wants to hold him, laughs when the baby gasses (he does that a lot!!), shrieks when the baby spits up and laughs about all of his little faces. He seems as in love as Rick and I are with the little guy. I cant wait to see the friendship that could form between them. I know that Jacob will be such a good big brother! He has such a true love for babies, mommy, daddy, and of course his new best friend Ricky.

BATH TIME BABY!

This was not his first bath, but he seems to have a routine with them: First, he decides that he does not like being exposed or wet.

Then he realizes that he is getting a nice rub down with warm water and relaxes.

Next he relaxes into the rinse down and rub down with lavender lotion.

Snugly towels and kisses always follow the bath and this is where he gets on board.
Finally, a full belly of warm milk and a buff nap in his towel follow before his diaper and dressing routine. I love the whole routine! If a happy boy napping is the result, It just warms mommy's heart

Good Bye To Grandma Hutchins! We Sure Miss You!

Thank You For All That You Did Grandma (MOM)! I Put You On The Plane And Cried All Of The Way Home. We Are Okay On Our Own, But It Sure Was Nice To Have My Mommy Here! Well, so ends another successful birth/visit from Grandma Hutchins. Last time we had her for 3 weeks but felt lucky to get her for these 2 weeks considering she had to use PTO for it. There will never be anything like your mommy coming to town and attending to your every need. She made beds, cleaned, washed, organized, tended Jake, fixed dinners and just did anything she saw that needed doing. I tried to get her to just relax, but alas, that is not the mission of my mother. She is a doer! She actually seemed to enjoy keeping the house going while I was out of commission and we sure appreciated it. I felt loved, cared for and secure just like I did as a child. Don't worry, the cord is cut, it is just nice to be cared for. Not that Rick does not care for me, I just mean the way a mother cares for her child. Anyway, once again the highlights were:


- sitting and talking (that was about all I was good for considering the situation),
-seeing my mother hold my children, hearing Jacob say that he loves his Grandma Hutchins,
- seeing my mom get uptight as things needed to be done (I always get a kick out of her moments of neurosis)
-watching her face read exhaustion as Jacob smothered her in all of his energy,
-seeing Rick eat properly for the first time in 7 months without having to cook it himself, and of course,
-just getting more time with my momma!


*Here are a few pictures we got while out for the 2 times we left home.

Mom and I up on Mnt. Washington overlooking the city where the 3 rivers converge.

Mom with the kids at the same point. Wish we got one with Rick in there!!!

Well Momma, we sure miss you and invite you home here with us anytime you want to come. You wont have to take care of us that way hopefully for you, but we would love more time with you whenever you feel like coming to visit. We all love you and appreciate you more than you will ever know! I wish every member could visit and be with us as many of the favorites are favorites of each that we love. Somehow, it is just extra special when it is your momma.

I Just Could Not Resist!!!

We just wanted to share a few of the new little faces that Ricky has made over his short 5 days on this earth. Of course, as you go through, you will see that we could not forget our little Jakie either. He may not be a tiny baby, but he sure is

still cute!

Welcome To The Family Little Ricky!

He is here!! He is finally here. Well, after a long 9 months and years before that of waiting and wanting this little guy to arrive, Richard Jennings Shumway (that will be known as Little Ricky) finally outgrew his mommy. He was delivered 6/7/09 at 10:49am and weighed in at a whopping 10lbs 9oz. See, I was huge!!!!

I was praying on Saturday that Ricky would come within hours of Rick and Jakie getting back from Utah, as I was huge, miserable and in quite a lot of pain. I guessed it was the full moon that did it, but in retrospect it may have been my walking through Sam's and WalMart for hours shopping and trying to get labor started that did it.

My water broke at 3am and we got everyone up, took Jakie to a friends house and headed strait to the hospital. My doctor wanted me there immediately because he knew that this was a big baby and wanted to have the option of a c-section (I suspect). I got to the hospital at about 3:45am and that was almost exactly when the real contractions hit. I was dying as they got me admitted and by the time I was in my delivery room I was miserable. I thought I would be able to handle them better considering I did it for 11 hours with Jakie before an epidural, but nope. I was in full labor and though it took another 6 hours to deliver, the labor moved pretty quick. I got the epidural just in time and thank the lord for medicine. I bow to the ladies that do kids natural. I wish I had the strength but I didn't think that anyone blamed me since the little guy turned out to be not so little.

My doctor took me through the delivery with trepidation fearing that Ricky may not be deliverable without a c-section, but my body did it. I am amazed that I was able to do it now that I know that he was as large as they thought. I figured maybe 9lbs, 5oz. or so. Wrong!! There were some funny/scary moments when the doctor had the head delivered and the shoulders got stuck. He screamed at me to push and then with hysteria screamed for the nurse to get on me and push with me, and said push damn it!!! Yep, he said damn it. I had amazing doctors and I am so glad that we are with his practice. We were famous on the labor unit because we had the largest baby in months and the nurses said that they could pick Ricky out of a crowd because he was by far the larges there.

We got home on the 9th and I have just been recovering. There is a huge difference between delivering a 9lb baby and a 10.9oz baby! I am on the mend though and am actually more comfortable right post delivery than I have been since about month 6. I feel better and aside from minor aches and pains, the joy of having Jakie and Ricky in my arms is overwhelming! I am so grateful for the lord giving us another beautiful, funny, loving and healthy little boy.

I was afraid that after Jacob no one could compare but little Ricky is so much like his big brother in every wonderful way. He eats like a champ, he is calm and sweet, he loves to snuggle, and he seems content to let his big brother kiss and hug him all day. We will see what energy he has as he grows. Jacob got his energy going right at about 6 months and truthfully, I sure hope Ricky is a bundle of energy too. We will take him however he comes though.

Well, Jacob seems happy despite a few moments of concern for the attention shifting, but as we have gotten home and things are a little more normal, and mommy and daddy still hug and kiss him, he seems content and happy that Ricky is part of the family for good.

We feel so blessed and wish we were around to show him off so I will post tons of pictures to the blog often so that no one misses any of the growth of either of the boys. Thanks for the messages and calls, etc. from everyone that has heard already. We sent out picture texts to everyone in our roster on our phones so we hope they got through. If they did not, we will call soon and love you all!

Such a good Husband!

Well, I have to blog this so Rick still believes that I love him! I have been a bit of a beast this last few days. I feel horrible, but I have just been feeling so freaking miserable. I hate being pregnant and I hate being in pain. I am swelling now and having joint pain so I am wondering what the DR will tell me at the next appointment on Tuesday.
I tell ya, if I were not sure that this beautiful baby inside of me was totally worth it and if I did not love him with all of my heart I would have broken down a lot sooner.
Last night was one of many sleepless nights but definitely the worst. I seriously think the baby wants to come and he lets me know daily. I bet at this point he is over 7+ lbs and just so crammed in there. I have a body pillow that I sleep with, a pillow for my back, a pillow for my head and if one of those moves even a bit, I am in pain. Poor Rick has to rub my back every night so that I can just get to sleep, but with all the bathroom trips at this point, I get maybe an hour at a time. I hear about women that have great pregnancy's and are sad when it is over and they sound like aliens to me! I have already practiced my happy jig I am going to dance when I can get up after delivery. So the baby should be here in about 3.5 weeks, but I am sure hoping for about 2 weeks. He is already breathing with his lungs and circulating the amniotic fluid so his lungs are in great shape, he is big enough and by the feeling of his kicks, he is strong enough. I say, get here little guy (if it is safe!!!).
In the mean time, I am just preparing for our court case on Monday with our bum land lord. He tried to deffer the case for a week or two but the clerk remembered me and how hugely pregnant I am and knew that I was due soon. She spoke to the judge and he denied the continuance for the Jerk and said if I could get there hugely pregnant, no emergency for him should be harder! I love when people see through the bull and shoot strait. I am excited to face him in court and see what this judge says.
Aside from that, I am slowly, very slowly working on the house. Craigslist is my best friend. I have sold so much stuff that is just extra trying to get more room in the apartment. I am sewing curtains, crib stuff, doing laundry, matting photos, organizing our junk, etc. I am definitely in the nesting mode! Unfortunately for me I am slow and tired and I cant even get 1/4 of what I want done finished during the day. This weekend will have to be setting up the crib, putting out the clothes, etc. I am kinda excited for that. It makes it feel real and soon.
Rick leaves for 3 days at the end of the month for work so I sure hope that I am done with what needs finishing by then. I so don't want to have to wait until the baby is here to feel organized. I just want to rest and enjoy family and the baby once he gets here.
Wish me luck on the endeavors over the next few days. I cant wait to hold my children near and adore them with Rick! We love many things in our lives, but I definitely think that our children are the best parts of us and our lives!