Happy Birthday Jack!

I made it through the weekend with Eric out of town so we headed to the hospital Monday morning to have Jack. Here we are on our way to the hospital. I was nervous and excited. Eric was a super star husband and dad all week and I was grateful for his loving attention and care.



This was our hospital. We were very impressed with the care we received here. We were fortunate to have a large room and the food was a lot better than we expected.



Everything went smoothly and it wasn't long before I got to meet my son for the first time. When I heard his first cries I fell in love immediately. He wailed for several minutes which was music to my ears. Eric stayed with Jack while my surgery was completed.



When I saw Jack I said, "He's so tiny," and the doctor said, "No, he's not tiny," which is true at 8 lbs 8 oz! He seemed tiny compared to EJ as he was two lbs less than EJ was at birth. Jack has less hair and EJ had bigger cheeks but other than that, Jack looks just like EJ!



Eric got to do Jack's first bath and put him in his outfit.




My parents and EJ arrived while I was in the recovery room. They were so excited to meet Jack! EJ did a great job. He kept saying that he wanted to kiss his little brother. He was so gentle and sweet with him. The next day his preschool teacher asked him what Jack looked like he replied, "An egg." It's a great observation as a newborn swaddled in blankets actually looks like an egg!

Welcome Baby Jack!

John Andrew Newman was born March 19th at 12:35 pm. 8.8 lbs and 20.5 inches. He's doing great! More pictures when we get home from the hospital later this week.

Update

This is the last day of my pregnancy! It’s gone by so fast, which is the beauty of finding out you’re expecting when you are so far along. I have cherished this time in my life and despite some slight anemia and severe cramping here and there I haven’t had any troubles. My doctor said I’ve had great blood pressure, gained 17lbs between weeks 17-40, and I’ve had no swelling so this has been a completely different experience then I had the first time around. With E.J., I had high blood pressure, immense swelling and was on bed rest for several weeks. I don’t know how much weight I gained with that pregnancy since I switched doctors when we moved, but I know I had to lose 40 lbs to feel good again so that’s my best guess. I don’t know why the pregnancies were so different. A very busy 4 year-old might play a role, though. Thankfully, he will still take naps so the days when the anemia was bad we took some great naps together. I love snuggling with him and I hope that we can still do that from time to time when Jack gets here.

EJ is very excited to meet his little brother but he has no idea how much his world is about to change. He adapted so well to all of our travel over the years and he was a super star during our move to San Diego so I think he will do fine but I don’t think he will like “sharing” me. We are very close so it might be tough on him to not have my attention on demand. Thankfully, the first few weeks he will have my parents and Eric’s mom to keep him occupied.

Eric has been very busy with his new team. He likes his job but it requires long hours, seven days a week. I told him it was important to me to have him stay in the hospital with me and Jack so he has made arrangements to honor my wish even though he’s in the middle of the baseball season. He’s in San Francisco with his team this weekend and we only had one slight scare when I went through a series of contractions. They subsided so he didn’t have to come home early.

Thankfully, my parents are here and we kept busy with projects. My mom made a beautiful car seat cover and my dad has done several things between baking several batches of peanut butter cookies to satisfy my most recent sugar cravings.

I am trying to finish some work projects and keep up with the online classes I’m teaching. My students know that I will be unavailable while I’m in the hospital but I’ll be back to work when we get home. I won’t be taking a maternity leave as I can do my work while EJ is at school and the baby is sleeping. I’m still working on my dissertation at a snail’s pace but I haven’t given up yet.

A new name in our lives and to the blog is “Bob.” Bob Botsford is the pastor of the church we’ve been attending. His teaching speaks directly to my mind and my heart. His most recent teaching gave me a great perspective as I head into a new chapter in life. He was talking about the problem that happens when miraculous things get misrepresented. I have been experiencing that on a consistent basis as I’ve shared the story of my pregnancy with people over the past five months. Whether it’s an acquaintance or a stranger at the grocery store many times the person will diminish the fact that Jack is a miracle from God and give credit instead to “good timing,” “relaxing,” or the “stars aligning.” The reality is that I have a very thick medical record, a diagnosed disease and an “X” factor all attempting to explain why I have had such a hard time getting pregnant. Timing, relaxing and the universe don’t fit into that explanation. I am not sure if God has healed me physically or made the impossible possible, but either way it’s a miracle that points back to the Truth that God is full of mercy and capable of anything.

Bob recently said that “The signs, wonders and mighty deeds that God does in our lives are to signal to the man behind the miracle. We should not worship the “created,” instead, we should worship the Creator.” In other words, the meaning of miracles is to prove the Truth—the truth of God’s existence and love for us. The most important miracle has already been accomplished on the cross by Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. God conquered sin and death to give us eternal life and that is the ultimate and most satisfying enough. I am going to try to focus on that as I enter this new chapter in my life. In the next few weeks it will be tempting to focus only on my newborn and surviving the first few months with little sleep but I am going to try very hard to remember to keep my focus not on the miracle itself but on the miracle giver—God. I’m so thankful for God’s most important miracle for mankind and for His most recent miracle in my life. May He get all the credit and glory.

Celebration

We've been attending a Bible study at a friend's house the last couple months. At our last meeting, they suprised us with gifts and cake to celebrate Baby Jack. We were so touched by the thoughtfulness and generosity of the group.



The dessert was a bundt cake from a shop here called "Nothing Bundt Cakes." It was SO good!!

Beach Fun!

We've had some weather in the high 70's lately which has made for some fun beach days. One day after preschool we went to La Jolla Shores Beach with EJ's preschool buddy, Gabe, and his mom.

Gabe brought his boogie board to show EJ how to use it. They had fun in the water, chasing birds and playing in the sand.




We stopped for a shake at In-n-Out Burger on the way home. EJ is developing a fondness for In-n-Out...just like his mom and dad!



We had another beach day celebrating Lila's Birthday! Eric's cousin, Allison and her family recently moved to town from Oregon. It's been really fun getting to know them better. EJ loves both Owen and Lila.

Here's little Charlie, the son of Eric's other cousin, Lauren, who also lives here. He loved the balloons at the party! EJ adores Charlie and is really sweet to him.

Cupcake time! Lila with her mom, dad and EJ.

A Valentine Poem

EJ's sweet spirit was in full effect on Valentine's Day! Here's a video of him reciting a poem for me. He even took Grandma to buy me a rose plant for the poem! He chose yellow because it's my favorite color. He also cut out and finger painted a yellow heart for me. Such a thoughtful little boy. Made my day so special!

Valentine's Day

There was a lot of love flowing on Valentine's Day! It was a dog-themed Valentines Day for EJ this year-which happened unintentionally! He got the "hearts" Beanie Baby in a package from Andi, the white Hallmark puppy from Grandma Bobbie and the Lady and the Tramp dvd from me. He had a Valentine party with Grandma while Eric and I went to a dinner and swing dance at our church. Here's grandma and EJ opening presents.





Here's EJ giving Eric the Valentine he made for him.


Our church threw an amazing dinner and dance. The swing band was really good and there was lots of dancing. I even got out on the dance floor 9 months pregnant! We had steak and lobster for dinner and the wonderful desserts shown below. Here we are before we left.

SURPRISE!!!

I've been lied to...a lot!

I've been lied to by my friends and my family...a lot!

Alas, it was for a VERY fun reason. My amazing sister-in-law, Kellie, planned and exquisitely executed a surprise baby shower for me on the patio of an incredible restaurant near the La Jolla Shores Beach. I really had no idea which is so cool because Eric generally can't keep a secret. :-) Here's Kellie with one of the prizes for the fun game we played.



By vocation, Kellie is a marketing specialist which was obvious by all the sweet and amazing touches she put into the shower. She could be a professional party planner! She made delicious cake pops, beautiful decorations, a wishing tree and a diaper cake. The cake topper was a soccer ball "wee wee tent"--hilarious!










The guests included Eric's mom, aunt, and cousins, Kellie's mom and sisters, the other coaches' wives and my friend Charity. Kellie also tracked down friends across the country who sent gifts. Ali made the invitations that were in the form of a book telling a story about our love of reading and asking party goers to bring a favorite book. I was so touched by the outpouring of love.





Here is half the table of guests and some of the gifts that I received. I'll be sure to add pictures as I collect them from the other cameras that were there.









This is Oliva, her husband works with Eric. She has two boys who EJ loves hanging out with at the ballpark.

This is Christi, her husband also works with Eric and they host a Bible study that we have connected with. She also has two boys and a daughter EJ enjoys playing with.

Here's Grandma Carol, the Cox gals, Clark gals and Newmans. It's great living near all these fun family members! After the party I made the comment that having a sister is really fun! I'm grateful for all Kellie did to celebrate Baby Jack. I was so surprised and I felt really special!

Game Day!

It's our first weekend of play at UCSD. The weather was awesome! We had a great 14-4 win and some losses but overall a strong showing for a very young team. A side note for the photo above: The Scripps hospital in the background is where I will deliver Baby Jack on March 19 (if he doesn't come sooner on his own).


The pictures above and below are pregame warm-ups with some encouragement from the coach. Eric is #3 this season. He picked three to represent me, EJ and Jack, the three most important people in his life.

EJ loves going to the batting cage and hitting balls off the "t" but in his excitement he threw the bat and it got stuck in the netting. Thankfully, I was able to help the poor kid out so he could get back to batting practice.


All of the coaches have kids and they make up quite the "sandlot" after the games. They run the bases and play games waiting for their dads to finish up. I love how laid back the atmosphere is. It's a great place for the kids to grow up.

This was the only picture of the three of us I was able to get but EJ wouldn't move his hands off his face because the sun was in his eyes. That's life with a 4 year-old; if he doesn't want to do it--he won't do it.



We are so grateful for our new opportunity here in San Diego. We're hoping and praying not only for a successful playing season but for the opportunity to have a positive influence on the lives of those we interact with.