The company has been gone for almost two weeks now and we've actually done pretty well. Sure, there have been a few melt downs (from all of us) but they've been rather minor and we've pushed through. I think we're doing pretty well myself.

A couple of weekends ago it was Thunder weekend here. There was a big air show that we thought Jacob would just love, since he's so into airplanes. So, we packed the kiddos (yep, that's plural now!) up and headed to the river to watch the jet airplanes, etc. When we got there, Brad dropped me and the kids off so he could park while we headed to the river. Jacob enjoyed the walk. I thought, hey, this will be great!
Well, Jacob had other ideas (look closely at the look on Jacob's face, he's bravely saying cheese while deep inside he's screaming...take me home!). As soon as we got close to where the airplanes were and heard how loud they were, Jacob decided he wanted nothing to do with it. Immediately he asked to go home. Well, we figured with a 1 1/2 week old and a 2 year old who didn't want to be there anyway, why stay? So, we loaded everything back up (after our 1 1/2 mile hike back to the car) and went home. I'd say better luck next year, but we won't be here next year...

We've also had some really warm weather lately, so Brad and Jacob decided to get out the baby pool and have fun this past Saturday.

Joseph & Levi

Madelyn & Joseph; Jacob & Levi

We've had quite the whirlwind at our house this past week. My parents left on Sunday and Brad's mom got here Monday morning. It's been so nice to have someone around to play with Jacob while I'm resting or taking care of Levi. I'm sure next week will be a big shock for both Jacob and I!

Here are a few things we've been up to recently:
Levi's first FHE
It rained Monday, so after FHE, we went outside and this is what Jacob did:What's a puddle without a little boy, right? After he jumped in it, he promtly sat down in it.

Monday night Levi did a lot of this:
He actually slept 5 1/2 hours without waking up. Then he was awake eating and being changed for about an hour before sleeping for another 4! That's so awesome and I hope he keeps this up.

Levi had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday to check his weight. According to their scale, he's not quite up to his birth weight, but I'm not so sure I trust their scale. The first time they weighed him, they tried to tell me he weighed 6 lb. 6 oz. I said, "Are you sure? On my scale at home, it was more like 7 lb." So, they zeroed out the scale and weighed him again. This time they said 7 lb. So yeah, I don't really believe them, but whatever.

This is just another picture of what Levi has been doing this past week that I thought was cute. Hope your week was a good one too.

On Thursday we brought Levi home from the hospital. That night, Rebecca's parents drove in to visit us. Friday morning, Jacob awoke to Grandparents and some great entertainment! Jacob spent the day wrestling with Grandpa & even Grandma! They got to go on a walk and play hide-and-seek. Rebecca was so glad to have some help and was able to get in a nap while Levi was napping too.

Saturday we took a family trip to the Waterfront park. Grandpa, Grandma, and Brad were able to play with Jacob while Rebecca sat with Levi and made sure he had what he needed. Jacob sure enjoyed playing at the park and it was a nice little outing. By the end of this outing, Jacob was TIRED!Jacob loves diggers, so this was great!

Jacob sharing his digger with Grandma.

As many of you may know, Rebecca's due date was April 7. For those of you who know Rebecca, you will agree that she is a person who likes to be ON TIME. This baby was no exception. She gave birth at 2:44 pm on April 7 to a 7 lb 4 oz boy.

Levi Wade Jones

We had an appointment with our OB on Monday, April 6 and he told her that things were "favorable" for induction the next day if she were interested. Jacob was an induced birth and everything went so smoothly that we felt good about doing the same thing this time. The only problem was that when we talked to someone about scheduling the induction, we found out that things were really busy and we might not get in Tuesday. We were told to call the Labor and Delivery area at 5 am on Tuesday and see if there was an opening. We expected not to have a spot available when we called in the morning, but were pleasantly surprised when we were told to come in.

Luckily we have several very nice friends that Jacob likes to play with because we do not have family in the area. One of Brad's co-workers has a girl Jacob's age and they were kind enough to let Jacob stay the day with them. (Thanks guys!) We got to the hospital, went through some paperwork (probably more than you would think for being "pre-registered"), and were brought back to delivery room 12. Rebecca remembered immediately when we were told 12 that this was the room we were in with Jacob when he was born (she is sort of odd/very talented with remembering numbers years later). Actually, this was one of the nicer rooms with lots of windows, so we were very happy to be there again. And again, since everything went so well with Jacob's birth, we thought that it would be great to just keep everything the same.

This is us happy to be back in our lucky room 12.

This is a picture of Rebecca looking stunningly gorgeous in a hospital gown.

At 8:34, the pitocin began to roll.

At 10:30, she was given her epidural. Thanks Mr. CRNA guy that I don't remember your name. (Rebecca says it was Eli Murphy.)

Hey, no hard feelings about kicking me out of the room. You did your job well.

Right after that her OB came by and broke her water.

Things got a little more complicated as the baby's heart rate began to drop down during the contractions and we got a little worried, but the pitocin was turned off and she continued to labor well on her own and the baby did better.

At 2:44, our little son was born and he has been doing well. Rebecca seems to be recovering very quickly and so far is feeling better faster than when Jacob was born, which is good because I'm sure she will need all the energy she can get to to deal with twice the number of little boys on a daily basis as she has grown accustomed to.

Thanks to all those who have helped us out. It is very nice to have good friends to help out when family is not around.

With Spring in the air, it seems that everything around us is blossoming! We planted tulips last fall and guess what...they have finally arrived! We've never planted tulips before and we weren't sure if the squirrels were going to get to them before they had a chance to grow, but it seems that we were successful and all of the tulips we planted have started to come up. This past week though, a few of them actually got flowers on them!
Jacob loves to go around pointing to the flowers and counting them. I tried to get him to sniff the flowers, but he tends to blow out his nose while sniffing and he's not really a poser anymore, so this is the best we got.
Along with the flowers, though, it seems I am blossoming as well. I actually only have 6 days left until my due date with this next little guy (who is still unnamed). Here's an updated picture for those who are far away or for those who wish to make fun or whatever you'd like to do.
Definitely counting down the days and getting everything prepared for this little guy to enter our home any day now! His little room is all ready, I've pretty much got my bag for the hospital packed, we've got snacks for Brad for the delivery room. Yep, all we need now is baby! Isn't Spring great?