The newest addition

The newest addition to the ever growing Stank family arrived yesterday. Katie gave birth to Reid Thomas Arnold at 2:32pm. He weighed in at 7lbs, 14oz and is 19 1/4 inches long. As you can see, he has a head full of dark hair (just like his brother, Pierce, did).

Even though Katie was 5 days past her due date and we were all getting very impatient, I believe the timing of his arrival was perfect. Katie did not want to be induced nor have an medical interventions (epidural, pain meds, c-section) and, thankfully, she was able to get through it just the way she wanted it to be.

(Side note: since I just had a baby 4 months ago and I feel like it was the WORST pain I have ever felt...and I only got to 5 cm dilated and had an epidural and a c-section....I give props to people like Katie who can go through the entire thing without any pain meds. Wow!!!)

We were able to meet Baby Reid last night at the hospital. It was definitely harder to be there with Jacob since he can't go past the check-in desk (they only allow siblings to be in the maternity rooms). I had to stay with him in the waiting area until Keith arrived and then we switched off. I finally got to hold Reid for just a minute before we needed to head home. Hopefully I will get a chance to see him again today, and if not, I am sure we will be spending some good quality time together once he comes home!

Here is a picture of my parents (Mimi & Papa) holding their newest grandson.

Even though I guessed that Katie was having a girl, I am super excited that Jacob and Reid are so close in age and will grow up together. I look forward to seeing them running around together (with Pierce as the ring leader, I am sure!).

Congrats to Shaun, Katie & Pierce! We love you and we can't wait to spend more time with all of you and your newest addition!

Pulling My Hair Out

Ok, I am not really pulling my hair out....it is just falling out! Sometimes in handfuls. Yuck!

Everyone knows the usual pregnancy symptoms and what happens to a woman's body when she is pregnant - weight gain, heartburn, fatigue, breast tenderness, nausea & vomiting, frequent urination, food cravings, and all the other not-so-fun things. But, did you know that when a woman is pregnant her hair is affected? Yes, according to what I have read, due to hormones, a pregnant woman's hair is in a "resting state". This means that fewer hairs fall out when you are pregnant which makes your hair seem thicker and fuller. After delivery, your hormones return to normal levels and your hair returns to its normal cycle. Sometimes the hair that you didn't lose during your pregnancy all falls out at once. I can't say that I actually noticed that it was staying in more when I was pregnant, but boy am I noticing it on the other end now!

For as long as I can remember, I have had thick hair and some has always fallen out when I am washing or brushing my hair. But, these days, washing, blowdrying, brushing or just running my fingers through my hair can cause it to come out. It seems to fall out the most when I am washing and brushing my hair, but sometimes just touching it causes a few loose strands to fall out.

This is all very annoying to me for numerous reasons:

First, I am finding pieces of hair everywhere in my house - on the newly swept & washed kitchen floor, in the kitchen sink, in Jacob's crib and sometimes in his little hand (where he has probably touched my hair and "grabbed" a piece).

Second, I had to buy a drain cover for our bathtub because my hair was going down the drain and causing it to get clogged. Now, I have a "cover" of sorts over the drain and when I am done showering, I have to use a kleenex to grab the gob of hair out of the tub....gross, but I guess it's better than clogging up the drain!

Third, it is very annoying and distracting when stray pieces fall onto my shirt - or worse, down my shirt! Yesterday when I was at church, I knew there was a piece of hair down my shirt between my boobs (sorry if this is TMI) and it was so annoying and uncomfortable. I kept trying to get it out without looking like a complete idiot by sticking my hand down my shirt in the middle of the service! Eventually, I was able to nonchalantly move my hand in just the right way so I was able to get it out. Have you ever had a piece of hair on your face or shoulder or stomach or between your boobs? If not, be glad...because it isn't pleasant!!

And lastly, no matter how often I vacuum the bedroom (where I brush & blowdry my hair), there always seems to be hair! And, the vacuum cleaner is so full of hair, that I have to sometimes "unravel" it from the roller. Again....gross!

Thankfully, from what I have heard, I am at the peak of the falling out stage right now. It seems as though 3-4 months after delivery is when you lose the most hair, and by 6-12 months, it will be back to normal. Thank goodness! I am certainly getting sick and tired of it and thinking about getting pregnant again just so I can keep my hair from falling out. Ok, just kidding!!! It would be easier just to chop it all off. I guess I will settle for neither at this point and just look forward to the days when it decides to "rest" again. I am sure that before long, I really will be pulling my hair out as Jacob gets older.

Jacob in motion...

After many attempts at capturing video of Jacob to upload on here, I have FINALLY done it. I am still not able to move video from our videocamera to the computer (the firewire that I bought at Best Buy a few weeks ago didn't work). But, I am able to use the camera on my computer to get some good video shots of the cute things that he does! It's not the easiest way to capture video, but it works.

I spent an hour or so yesterday reading a tutorial of iMovie, which is the software that is on a Mac computer which allows you to edit video. Once it is edited, I use youtube to get the video uploaded to the web. It isn't really hard to do, it just takes time. I hope I can use it to produce many more videos to include in my blog posts.

For now, here is my first attempt.....

I'm baaaack.....

I have recently taken a hiatus from blogging. Not on purpose really, I just have been a slacker about getting on here and typing up what has been going on with us.

Well, now I am back! I have a few posts in my head that I am going to type up in the next few days and I FINALLY have video of Jacob to share! It has taken me forever to figure out how to post a video and now I finally have one. Unfortunately, you will have to wait until tomorrow to see it!

I am leaving in a little while to go to the U2 concert at Scott Stadium. I am not a huge U2 fan but Keith wanted to go. His birthday is next week so this is his birthday present. My friend, and former co-worker, Roxann is coming over to watch Jacob for us. I am anxious about leaving him, but I know that he will be in good hands. I need to run now to get things ready for her.

Be on the lookout for new posts in the near future......

Bouncing

Jacob experienced a new thing yesterday....bouncing! Well, he didn't really bounce except for the times I moved him up and down just a little bit.

I decided to get the Jump Up exerciser out even though it says that babies should be 4 months old to use them. Jacob seems to have really good control of his head and neck and I wasn't going to let him use it without my supervision, so I thought it would be ok.

He wasn't really sure of it at first, but then he started to get used to it. Right now, I lowered it so that his feet just barely touch the floor. This way, he could get used to having his feet touching without any weight bearing down on his little legs.

This picture cracks me up! It's like he is saying "Hey Mom, Look at Me!"

I think over time he is really going to like this. I am excited that he is getting big enough to use more toys and things that will help him get stronger and stronger. I am going to borrow an Exersaucer from a friend of mine in the next few weeks, so we will see how he does with that.

Jacob's first football game

Last Saturday, Keith and I had the opportunity to go to the UVA-TCU football game. Since it was an afternoon game (versus a night game) and the weather was supposed to be nice, we decided to take Jacob along with us. I was really excited about him going to his first game at Scott Stadium, since, of course, the UVA football program has been such a huge part of my life for the past two years. For 37 weeks I carried him around (on the inside) while I worked there, so I am convinced he was born to be a Cavalier fan!

I found this orange & blue oufit at Babies R Us back in August and he looked so cute sitting on the couch while Mommy & Daddy packed up our things to go to the game.

We left our house a few hours before the game started so that we could make a stop at the library on the way. Keith wanted to introduce Jacob to one of the graduate students that he works with that only works on the weekends. Since we have to walk past the library to get to the stadium from the parking lot, this was a perfect opportunity for Omer to meet Jacob.

Speaking of walking from the parking lot to the stadium....that is a hike!! I have been spoiled for the past two seasons as I was shuttled over to the stadium on game days because I was working. This time, we had to walk about a mile, up hills, carrying a close-to-15 lb baby and a stocked-full diaper bag. Thankfully Keith offered to carry Jacob and we had the opportunity to use the front baby carrier that we got as a present before he was born. Here is a picture of Jacob and Daddy after the game (we were running late to get to the library so I didn't get any pictures of us walking to the game).

It may look like Jacob was not enjoying himself very much (he was really tired when this picture was taken), but I think he really liked being in the carrier. He was looking all around and taking it all in both on the way to and from the stadium. We tried to put him in the carrier facing Keith so that he could sleep on the way back if he wanted, but he cried when he was positioned that way, so we moved him back to forward facing. As you can see from this picture, he was happy to be able to see the world around him.

Once we arrived at the stadium, we settled into our seats before the game started. We were blessed to get free tickets from my contacts in the Football office and they were seats that were in a covered section. It didn't end up being that hot that day, but I was glad that we didn't have to worry about having Jacob in the sun. It actually got a bit cool up in our section and we thought it might rain, but thankfully it didn't.

Because of us leaving the house early to stop at the library, Jacob didn't get his morning nap (he did get a 20 minute cat nap in the car), so by the time we arrived at the stadium, he was super tired. Here are two pictures we took pre-game before he fell asleep, which was sometime during the first quarter.

After he woke up, he hung out with Daddy for awhile. Keith also fed him and he drank 6 oz! I had hoped that the 6 oz. of breastmilk that I packed would be enough for two feedings, but I guess our little man was hungry!

During halftime, I took him down to the section where I used to sit during home games. This is the section where the high school players who are being recruited sit with the football office admin staff. It was really nice to see my old co-workers and for them to see Jacob. I was glad that I got to visit with them for a little while!

Sometime during the third quarter, Jacob fell asleep again. It was really cute seeing him sleeping on my shoulder (and I was glad that he was getting some rest), but oh my gosh, holding him like that for an extended period of time really hurt my back after awhile. Thankfully, there was a wall that I was able to lean up against and because of where we were sitting, I was able to stand up most of the time I was holding him (which was more comfortable than sitting).

Anyone that keeps up with college football knows that the game didn't end up being a very good one if you are a UVA fan. We did score two touchdowns, albeit, at the very end of the game when it was clear that it wasn't going to help us win. It was difficult to watch the team play so badly, but I was glad that we were able to go.

I learned that attending a football game & attempting to pay attention to what is going on is much different when you take a three-month old with you. Between making sure he wasn't too hot or too cold, hoping that he would close his eyes and go to sleep so he didn't get overtired, and not yelling too loudly so I didn't scare him half-to-death (this did happen once!), it is definitely an interesting experience. But, in the end, I am glad that I got to share that with him.

I look forward to taking him to football games in a few years when he actually knows what is going on. This was just a trial run, and he did really well, but it will definitely be more fun when he is a bit older!

Labor Day cookout

This past Monday, we decided to have a cookout at one of the beaches here in the neighborhood that we live in. For those of you who don't know, we live in a neighborhood that it made up of houses surrounding a man-made lake. (We don't live on the lake, although there are houses that are waterfront.) We have free access to five beaches, all with swimming & picnic areas.

We have only cooked out like this once before and had a great time, so we thought we would try it again. Our friend Barb came with her puppy, Jelly Bean, who is only a few weeks older than Jacob. Katie, Shaun & Pierce also joined us.

Surprisingly, the beach was almost completely empty, except for one family who was swimming and another who were fishing. I am guessing the overcast skies and possible rain that was forecast kept a lot of people away. We were happy to have the entire beach to ourselves!

At first we thought the cookout was going to be a bust because the Matchlight charcoal (you know, the kind that is supposed to start up without using any lighter fluid) wouldn't light. We didn't buy any lighter fluid because we didn't think we would need it. So, I had to run to the nearest store - a CVS - and buy some lighter fuel (not fluid because they didn't have any of that). After about 30 minutes of lighting matches and using the fuel, Shaun & Barb got the fire going! It was quite an ordeal, but in the end it all worked out.

While Barb tended to the hamburgers and hot dogs...

Shaun & Keith played frisbee and Pierce ran around & played in the sand

Katie & I took turns holding Jacob

And, Jelly Bean took a little swim in the Lake & then played in the sand a bit.

Dinner was really yummy! We had hamburgers & hot dogs, chips, Katie's awesome potato salad, and watermelon.

We even showed our support of the Virginia Cavaliers with the plates we used

[Side note: they were left over from a party we had at our house

last year & they were the only paper plates I had.]

For dessert, Barb brought the fixins to make s'mores....graham crackers, chocolate and, of course, marshmallows! We brought some skewers and roasted the marshmallows over the fire after dinner. Even though we had such a hard time getting the charcoal to light at first, it was just the right temperature to make some awesome toasted marshmallows.

Pierce had never roasted marshmallows, but he soon learned quickly...

We had a good system going. Shaun, Barb & Keith would roast the marshmallows and Katie & I would put the S'mores together. They were really yummy!!

At the end of the evening, both "babies" were worn out

We only ended up being there for about 2 1/2 hours, but I think everyone had a great time. We haven't taken advantage of the beaches around here very much, but hopefully in the next few months, before the weather gets too cold, we can do something like this again.