Grandma Quillen

My mom came to help with Jake last week, and it was SO NICE to have her here. She took all the night feedings while she was here, which was amazing. If she had done nothing else the whole time she was here that would have been enough, but of course she did a million other things too. She made dinner every night as well as freezer meals for later, hemmed some curtains for me, finished Jake's quilt, did a lot of chores for me, let Jason and I go to the temple one night, and was a fun grandma to the other kids. We want you to come back!

Bull's Fan

Logan has become a Bull's fan lately--and by that I mean he likes to wear the clothes and draw the Bulls logo on things rather than actually watching the games. But it still makes his dad proud:)

Eli holding Jake

I've taken a lot of pictures of my kids holding Jake since he was born, but this might be my favorite!

Sidetracked

The other morning Ali was walking down the stairs reading a book, and she must have gotten to a good part because she stopped on the stairs and read there for quite awhile. I finally invited her to come down and find a more comfortable spot:)

Playing with Jake

For the most part, the addition of Jake to our family has hardly seemed to disrupt the other kids' lives at all. He still sleeps a lot, and so he is often easy for them to forget about I think. But it is sweet to see the ways they have found to interact with him in rare moments he is awake:

Here is Logan introducing him to some of the baby toys, Jake's favorite of which is the dog that sings. He watches the dog very carefully and waits for the kids to push the buttons that make him sing.

Ali likes to read to Jake.

And here is Eli showing Jake the joys of dress-ups! Now he just needs to teach him to say "Ahoy, Matey!"

Trampoline

The kids got a trampoline from us for Christmas, and the weekend before Spring Break it was finally nice enough to set it up. I have been loving it! The kids play out on it for at least an hour a day, often more. It's amazing!

Auntie Lianna and Korrali come!

One of the best parts about having a baby is that is becomes a great excuse for people to come visit you:) My wonderful sister-in-law Lianna took the excuse and came with her daughter the day after Jake was born to help out for a week. And boy, was it helpful! I am SO grateful she came and she is welcome back ANY time!

Korrali loved holding the baby.

Ali and Korrali made a fort out of the pack-and-play and Lianna got this great shot:)

And one of all the cousins.

Target Practice

The boys got some water guns from the Easter Bunny and they took them and this home-made target Logan had out in the back and had fun doing target practice:)

One Week

I realize it has only been one week, and so it could all change in a moment, but so far Jake is a truly great baby. He is calm, not bothered by excessive noise (a plus in our house), doesn't cry unless he needs something, sleeps really well between feedings, falls asleep on his own, sleeps in his crib or anywhere else without a problem, and absolutely darling. He's a keeper.

Reading snuggles

Jason's smile here is because he knows I can't resist a photo opp of him and our kids reading:) 

Meeting Baby Brother

The kids got to come see their new brother the day after he was born. They decided he was a keeper:) Logan kept saying, " He's so so so cute!" over and over.

Of all the day in ones' life to have their camera break, the day after your baby is born is probably one of the worst. I've never been so thankful for a camera phone. You can tell some of these were done by our camera before it called it quits and some with the phone, but I am just glad to have them at all!

Welcome Baby Jake!

April 7, 2015 started with us being an excited family of five!

Jason and I arrived at the hospital a little after 7am. By about 8:30am they started me on pitocin and we started the countdown!

The contractions didn't do much until around 10am when my doctor came and broke my water. By 10:45am I thought about about asking for an epidural and at 11am I did. Finally at 11:30pm the anesthesiologist came. Unfortunatly, but then I was in way more pain than I wanted to be and even more unfortunatly it didn't work very well. It took the edge off the pain, and the pain was for a shorter amount of time, but it wasn't what I was hoping for. It finally took away most of the pain by 12:30. At 12:45 a nurse checked me and told me not to laugh or the baby would come out and she went to get my doctor. I pushed through two contractions, about three pushes total, and Jacob James Eldredge was born!

He was 7 pounds 2 ounces, 20 inches long and born at 12:57. He was perfect.

We're totally in love!

Happy Easter

We enjoyed a happy Easter today. The Bunny brought fun baskets and then later we hid eggs out back and enjoyed finding them. We also spent the weekend watching conference; I love it when Easter and conference fall on the same weekend!

My Buddy

I have really enjoyed having so much one-on-one time with Eli these last two years. I never got that with Ali and Logan, of course, and it was really special to have it with Eli. He is such a pleasant boy to be around when it is just the two of us. He happily plays most of the day by himself, inviting me to join him occasionally. He likes to help me with the things I am doing. He is a patient and happy errand buddy; I often enjoy an errand more with him that I would without him--a rare statement from a mom indeed! I am trilled we have another little man coming to join our family, but I am grateful for all the time I've had to develop this sweet bond with my Eli while I waited for the time to be right for our new addition.

Happy 7th!

Seven years ago these two made a me Mommy, something I had wanted to be for as long as I can remember. For me, being a mom is one of those rare things that is even better in reality than in expectation. I love all my kids, and was grateful on Ali and Logan's birthday for an excuse to remember exactly how much they really mean to me.