Bubbles..

I bought a Princess Bubble wand at Target the other day for Jayna. Something we could do when we had no plans. By the way I love Target. It is my favourite Department store. Auntie Kathy was hanging out with us last Saturday (June 21st) and it was really nice out, so after dinner we went for a walk right by our condos where there is a big pond and a nice path. Jayna trying out her bubble wand...and there are no bubbles haha

Then she saw a doggy and got sidetracked...

Jayna is loving getting to know her Aunty Kathy who lives in Edmonton. Jay really loves water and exploring, it would be fun to be little with her and explore the world with tiny hands. She is not afraid of getting dirty, although sometimes I wish she was lol.

When we got home, we had to clean up! Look at this dirty face. At least she enjoys washing her hands! haha

I sure love my little Jayna girl, with her strong personality, tender heart and love for life.

My kids...

I am still getting used to saying " my kidS"...Andrew and I have two kids now. Whoa! Exciting! The Million dollar family, people say. I had never heard that term before, but I've had a number of people say it to me! When I was pregnant with Julian I really didn't feel like it was my last pregnancy. And a few weeks ago when I was changing him, I had a strong feeling that he wasn't our last, that we would for sure have more kids. One at a time right, because we all know we have days where we feel that any children is too much. ha. This morning Jayna said about Julian :" He's so cute. He's my best friend. " Wow, my heart. I really hope they grow up as best friends. Like a mini Ashley and Josh ( my brother and me ) We are best friends and always have been. We went through a lot together growing up, and we were always close. I love my little brother so much, and I am so grateful for our sibling relationship, it is so special! Having a brother or a sister is so awesome, and such a special relationship! Jayna sure loves her little brother. From the first time she met him at the Hospital she loved him. I cried, it was beautiful to see her face light up with love and curiosity for this new little baby. She has had a few incidents where she kicked his stomach, threw a slipper at him and I while we were sitting on the couch. She has pulled his hair a few times, and poked his eye or face. She's put her finger in his mouth (today), and sat on him a number of times. Pushed him too high in his swing, and put a blanket over his face. She has splashed him with water, and poked his cheek with my curling wand ( it was unplugged ). But she has held him, and kissed him, and hugged him, and rubbed his hair and face, and patted his back, and ouuu and awwweed over him, and just plain stared at him saying how cute he is. Sibling love. It is one of a kind. It is a special gift.

In the photo above June 4th 2014, Jayna was holding Julian's hand. She says to me in the car : " Mom! I holdin Baby's hand! " So dang cute.

Julian Charles Forin, Welcome to the World Son.

I have loved having a daughter, my sweet Jayna Joy, and to be honest I was not as excited to have a boy. I know that doesn't sound very nice, and now I don't know why I ever thought that! I LOVE having a baby boy! It is a different relationship and bond, and I am so grateful that Julian is now in our lives. He is such a sweet baby. Even when he was in the womb, I felt he was a calm soul, so far he is. Jayna has always been loud and fun and crazy, it will be interesting to see what he is like as he gets older. So I have been wanting to write a post but I feel like I am so behind and there are so many things I could do I just didn't know where to start. But I just decided to start something! It is definately hard to find time with a toddler and a newborn. I am usually just wiped once I get them to bed. But tonight, this post is going to happen, and I know I will be grateful for it later. So Julian Charles...my little baby boy. He is just about 7 weeks old now. Every day I look at him and try to memorize his face and examine all his features that are slowly changing. It gives me a sad feeling inside that they grow up so fast! Time just passes and there is nothing I can do about it but enjoy each day. Here is his first 7 weeks through pictures... he was born at 1.36am in the morning of March 31st, 8lbs 13oz and 22 inches long. Labour and delivery was just over 7 hours from start to finish. Our first photo with our brand new baby boy. Welcome to this world Julian Charles Forin, you are going to be one loved baby boy!

About 12 hours old:

Some very purple newborn feet:

Our First family Photo all together!

Ready to leave the Hospital, we left in the evening around 7pm:

We knew we had a newborn in the household when he peed off the change table, Andrew took him to the bed and he pooed that nice tar meconium poo all over him, he caught it in his hands, and stood up and he did it again! Ouuuu, we were laughing pretty hard. Luckily none got on the floor, just in his hands and all over him. This was late at night after we brought him home from the Hospital.

April 2nd, 2 days old.

April 3rd, Jayna getting to know her little brother:

Our little Bear cub 6 days old:

One week old:

Midwife appointment. We sure love our midwife Ashley Kruse. She also was our midwife with Jayna. We were sad however because she missed Julian's birth by ONE DAY! He came 5 days early, and she was off for all of March. He weighed 9lbs 1 oz on April 8th, 8 days old.

April 10th, Awake and asleep, the life of a newborn:

16 days old. Kisses from Jay Jay:

This is an old man sweater shrunk to fit a baby lol:

I always like to look at myself holding a baby in the mirror because you forget just how tiny they are until you see yourself holding them. I never want to forget this age...:

April 17th, Jayna says " The baby hold me! " (she wants to hold the baby) lol

April 18th, 18 days old. My sweet sleeping babe:

Day 20: He is so cute!

Sunday, April 20th. Morning cuddles with her baby brother:

A little letter to my Son: Today was a very special day because you were given a name and a Blessing in Sacrament meeting by your Daddy. Heavenly Father blessed you with some pretty amazing things, one thing said that stood out to me was that "you have been blessed with an unshakable testimony." I just thought that was so amazing. After your blessing Daddy held you up for everyone to see you like in the Lion King, how the Baboon holds up Simba above his head under his arms, for everyone to see, lol. When Daddy came back with you and sat by me on the church bench we both were just staring at you with tears running down our cheeks. The Spirit was very strong and real, and we both felt how beautiful, special, strong, and valient your Spirit is. I know you will be a Leader in these Latter Days, and that you will bless the lives of many. It is amazing how you are only three weeks old, but we can sense this from you already. We love you so much Son.

Kind of a funny story: I spent hours and hours knitting Julian the white blanket in the photo above that he is lying on. Like literally a few months to finish it on my spare time. It was to be his Baby Blessing blanket, and then crib blanket after. It was a new stitch that I haven't done before and I totally just guessed on the size etc. It was taking me so long to finish, and I barely finished it in time! I took it in the car on our way to church and finished it just as we pulled up! haha. Andrew forgot to bring it with him when he blessed him! hahaha So much for rushing, oh well, he had something cozy to sleep on after. lol.

April 23rd: Julian was fussing, but for some reason stopped and feel asleep when Nana held him up like this under his arms haha. This is the second time he has done this, but only for Nana.

Jayna sure loves being a big Sister to Julian, she is so sweet with him:

April 29th, just about a month old:

Grandma Jane came for a visit on May 2nd, she hadn't seen him in a month because she was in Toronto helping her daughter who just had a baby. These pics are too funny:

May 4th with Papa. Julian is only the second baby that my Dad has held, Jayna was the first. My Mom kept bugging him to move Julian's head up more so his neck wasn't so cranked, but he kept moving it back to this position on his own! haha:

May 9th, Julian is just about 6 weeks old here. He has always been so good at holding his neck up, ever since 2 weeks old. He weighed in at 11 lbs 13.5oz at his 4 week check up and 23 inches long, he gains a pound a week, which is a lot!

We went to visit my Auntie Nee Nee once we got to Alberta. She is my closest Auntie and is so much fun, I am so glad my kids get to meet her and get to know her. These pictures were taken on May 9th as well.

I didn't know this, but 80% of babies are born with some kind of birth mark. Jayna doesn't have any, but Julian has three! What they call a stork bite on the back of his neck:

He has what they call an " Angel Kiss " birth mark on his left eyelid, and a few soft spots on his forehead:

And then he has like 4 small red spots on the back of his head under his hair. The Angel kiss is said to fade by age two. And the Stork Bite may or may not fade. I have come to love these little unique things about him. Here he is a day shy of 7 weeks old:

7 weeks old today, May 19th 2014: Auntie Kathy came to meet Julian for the first time. Glad she lives in Edmonton so she can visit over the next three months!

Well, this post actually took me over two weeks to complete, but I am glad I stuck with it, and I will be glad for years to come, that I have this to look back on. Julian is now 9 weeks and 1 day old, and his is over 14 lbs. He is a happy baby, and loves to smile and coo. He loves to be swaddled and held upright. He falls asleep in his swing in the day for a good morning nap while I work out, play with Jay and get ready, make breakfast, and sometimes into lunch. I like to nap with him in our bed when Jayna goes down for her nap. He goes to bed around 10 pm, and then wakes up around 1-2am. He isn't up for long, a diaper change and nurse and burp and he goes back to sleep. He wakes up again around 4am, then 6am, and at this time he is a bit more fussy and needs a good burping, but at this point I usually try to feed him in bed because I am so tired and he doesn't like to be lying down, so I drag myself out of bed to the living room and sit on the rocker burping him, or prop him up on my legs in bed and try to stay awake. lol. Then sometimes Andrew will take him so I can still sleep. And sometimes I can get him back to sleep and around 8-9am we get up for the day. Julian smiles and coos so much now and it is the most precious thing. It is amazing to see his eyes just light up so much when he smiles! I love it so much. He has chubby thighs, and I think he is going to be such a chubby baby, at the rate he is going, for sure he will be! He is a great nurser, ( obviously ) and has definately gone through some fussy crying phases that are starting to die down now. It is totally normal for a baby to cry an hour a day, and they cry more in the first three months of life than at any other time. I definately like having a baby in the house, to love and cuddle and tend to. Sometimes it is complete madness when both my kids are crying and I just think I am going to go crazy for that minute. But I really do appreciate what I have, and feel so blessed to have two beautiful, healthy children. The other day I had a strong feeling that we will have more children, that our family isn't complete just yet. Even though being a Mom is soo much work, I am looking forward to see who is born next into our family! I am just not so stoked on the pregnancy and birth part! lol. But I think I will have a few years before I have to think about that:)