Montana

Luke's extended family is real great- they get everyone together every two years and have really fun family reunions. This was my third Schow reunion- it's Luke's mom's side with her mom and siblings and everyone's kids/grandkids. So it's not a huge group but each reunion has gotten bigger and it seems the grandkids are just about outnumbered the adults now.
Anyway, so it's been a lot of fun in the past and a great way for me to get to know Luke's extended family and so this year they held the reunion at Lakeside, Montana for the second time. Unfortunately Luke was unable to attend since it was the first week in August and Luke is always busy with "month end" the first week of every month so he just couldn't take off those days. But I was lucky enough that Luke's mom was able to help me fly standby into Montana with the kids so that I could still go.
I was a little worried about being alone on the first vacation since Blake was born and having a crazy 2-year-old and 6 week old newborn to handle on my own, but everything worked out fine. They were both great on the plane (Blake slept the whole way in my front carrier, and Jacob slept the first half but then played quietly and kept entertained the second hour which was great) and people were surprisingly helpful and friendly at the airport, so that was a good start. Then Luke's dad picked me up at the airport and after we finally found each other, we left the airport to realize we had a flat tire- so that was fun.
But we finally made it to the lake houses Sunday afternoon. We had four houses between us, one house for each big family, and they sit on a tall hill right on the lake. We all share one dock that sits in a private cove and has this pretty view. So pretty much every single day, we'd wake up, have breakfast then start getting ready for the lake. Then we'd make the long walk down the hill- and I usually got some help with Jacob which was nice- and then we'd all sit out on the dock, and people would go boating, water-skiing, wake boarding, or just playing in the water. Luckily Jacob loved playing at the edge of the water and could keep himself entertained while I handled Blake.





The three little babies taking a nap together down at the lake- adorable! Finally I got Jacob a boat ride by Wednesday. He was a little nervous when we were going really fast but he seemed to enjoy it has has been talking about "riding on a boat" ever since.


So I would usually be down on the dock for about 2 hours or so until Jacob would beg to go back up and take a nap. I never really liked leaving so early and always had intentions to get back to the lake when Jacob woke up, but every day he took 3-4 hour naps! So at least it was still nice to relax at the house, read a book, and just hang out with Blake.
Every night we would do something fun all together. The first few nights all us girls watched the Bachelorette finales together, another night we played minute-to-win-it games, and one evening I took Jacob down to the dock with a few others to do a little fishing.

Jacob's cousin Christian caught his second fish!

And Grandpa helped Jacob fish too, so cute :)

Another night for dinner was a fiesta and so everyone got to wear mustache's and sombreros and later the kids hit a pinata and danced, everyone had fun!

Blake with his great grandma Betty

Blake even got in the spirit and sported a uni-brow for the night, haha

Jacob taking a swing at the pinata

mad dash for the candy One big reason I wanted to make it out to the reunion was so I could see the other babies too! Two of Luke's cousins had their babies the same week as Blake- they were often referred to as Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Blake was born Monday June 20, Emerson was Carrie's baby born the 22nd, and Jennica's baby Savannah born June 24. Although they're so close in age they still vary a lot in size but are all so sweet and adorable! On Thursday, we took a little side trip with Luke's family to Big Fork and poked around the downtown shops for a bit. Jacob spotted this little fountain and spent awhile playing in it and getting completely soaked!

Thursday ended up being our last day too since I needed to be able to catch a flight that night. So it was a day or two earlier than everyone else, but that was ok since we all had so much fun and did everything we wanted to. Jacob is still talking about seeing his cousins, riding on the boat, flying in the sky on the airplane, swimming in the lake, and seeing Grandma and Grandpa. Even though he got in a couple scraps with his younger cousins and was a handful at times, he obviously had a great time, and so did I.
I am just grateful that we were even able to make it out at all, even if Luke couldn't come. And even without Luke, I am so grateful to everyone who was sooo helpful with the kids. Everyone was so nice to help me keep an eye out for Jacob (who loved more than any other kid to run away!) and everyone was more than willing to offer a hand to hold Blake, which I loved just as much as he did.

Thursday night, after we left, Grandma Betty had put everyone's name into a drawing to win a quilt that she had made. Turns out Blake won the quilt! People had previously joked with me saying I deserved the quilt this year just for coming out to Luke's reunion without him, so I almost thought they had it rigged when they told us later we had actually won. So if we got a quilt out of it all, then I guess the trip really was worth it! Haha, either way, we had a lot of fun and are looking forward to going (together!) to the next reunion in two years!

One Month

Blake is already one month old! And for comparison, I put together this picture of Jacob and Blake each at one month in the same outfit- I think it's amazing how much they actually look alike now! They have a few differences of course- Jacob has his distinct cleft chin, and you can tell Blake is slightly bigger, and perhaps has a bit darker hair. And although you probably can't tell, I think Blake's eyes are a brighter blue than Jacob's were, so I'm hoping his stay blue, unlike Jacob whose eyes turned brown after a few months, but we'll see. But since Blake was born he has reminded me more and more of Jacob.
All these other pictures were taken when Blake was 3 weeks old. And since everyone has been asking how things are going- they're going good and getting better/easier. Blake has started to fall more into a sleep schedule and it's nice that he usually falls asleep when we put Jacob to bed at night and also sleeps during at least a part of Jacob's naps during the day too. So it's nice to also have some breaks from both of them during the day and get alone time in the evening when Luke's home too. And although he does still sleep a lot, unfortunately it's usually not for very long at a time- or at least that's how it feels!
And the nights aren't too bad- I think I still end up feeding Blake every 3 hours or so but I feel like I'm usually getting enough sleep, so it's terrible. The only annoying part is when Blake decides he's not tired for about an hour usually around 4:30 am, and even worse when it's because his stomach is upset. But once he's been changed and burped enough, my solution is just to hold him in bed with me and once I fall asleep I'm sure he must fall asleep too. So it's still not perfect, but not bad, and I know it will get better soon.
So other than that, here's some other things about Blake:
*At 2 weeks Blake was 9 lbs 7 oz and 21 inches
*At 3 weeks Blake was 9 lbs 10.5 oz- growing great!
*He likes to be held and rocked- a lot. Especially by me.
*Swaddling calms him down when he's upset or tired and this is about the only time he'll take his pacifier too.
*Doesn't enjoy diaper changes.
*Loves taking baths.
*Usually cranky getting into his car seat but then is calm once we start driving.
*Currently experiencing a load of baby acne :(
*Gets fussy when he needs to burp, often has stomach pains, and spits up a lot too.
*Enjoys his swing and will sometimes fall asleep there- but only if he's swaddled and it's quiet.
*Happy being carried in my baby carrier- thank goodness, because my arms are permanently exhausted.
*Doesn't mind running errands (as long as he's not extremely tired, or else he'll scream...)
*Always waves his arms like he's punching something in the air.
*Seems to like music and being sung to.
*Beautiful bright blue eyes, dark hair and skin, and a perfect amount of chub.
*Even if he is a little bit more demanding at this stage, we still love this little guy!
And although Jacob has gone through a few phases since Blake has been born, he's doing a little better now. Jacob at first was showing a little aggression and developed his "angry face"- when he sees Blake he tends to ball his fists, show his teeth, and roar and scream. We can't really leave Blake to lie on the floor with Jacob around, and even when Blake is in the swing Jacob thinks it's hilarious to bang it back against the wall and laughs when Blake gets startled and his arms fly out. So we tend to be constantly reminding him to use his "happy face", not to be screaming, and to be nice and gentle with him. And so I would say half the time Jacob still is rambunctious around Blake, and the other half he's curious and tries to be gentle. He likes to lay down next to Blake and will smile and wait for him to do something funny- like spit out his pacifier, or sneeze 4 times in a row. Sometimes I just wish I could fast forward to when they'll be good friends :)
And Blake aside, Jacob has really grown up a bit in the past few months as well and I haven't really updated, so here's what Jacob's doing now:
*He's speaking in small sentences and is good at telling us what he needs- although he has become a bit more whiny lately too.
*He can say and identify most of the alphabet, can count to 10 but usually makes a mistake on at least one number still, and is practicing his shapes and colors but hasn't quite got them down yet- but he's constantly asking us what color things are.
*He's also gotten really good at singing songs with us and loves to sing fun songs with me, and helps sing songs at night when we put him to bed.
*He's good at playing by himself and keeping himself occupied, at least for a little while.
*He's learned to get water by himself at the fridge, climb up on the bathroom counter on his own to wash his hands or get things out of the cabinet(not good), and insists on sitting in a big chair now at dinner.
*He loves to play with his friends and always asks to play, or at least to go to the park or get out of the house.
*He still loves his Cars and Elmo movies, but now is also big into Toy Story, Ice Age and practically any movie that he can get his hands on.
*He likes to try and get dressed by himself and whenever we change his diaper he asks to sit on the potty too- but nothing yet.
*He's also backtracked on bedtime- he used to always stay in bed and go down really easily, but now he gets up a lot always saying he needs something, so that's been a bit more frustrating.
*He's gotten in a little bit more trouble lately as he's been testing us more, but then he laughs when he's in trouble, which is even more frustrating! But even though he can get on my nerves sometimes, overall he still really is a good kid and we try to make sure he knows he's a good boy and we still love him too!

Happy 4th of July!

How cute are they?!

First thing that morning Luke had to take my mom to the airport at 4am, and then he decided to go into work for a few hours to get caught up even though he had the day off. But he was home by 11 and then that afternoon we hit up the pool together for the first time as a family this summer. Even better, it was free resident day! The pool was filled to capacity when we got there but only needed to wait about 15 minutes until we were let in. It was worth the small wait, Jacob had a great time. This pool has lots of splash zones and a little water slide that he just wanted to do over and over!

He loved floating around in the shallow parts too since he can do it all by himself. It was a really nice afternoon. We had a small cookout at home that night and we all crashed pretty early so we didn't make it out for fireworks. But I was up with Blake when the fireworks went off just outside our neighborhood so I was still able to hear the music and watch them all from the comfort of my bedroom window! Happy 4th of July!

Adjusting at Home

These first two weeks have flown by- it's hard to find time to sit down and blog! Being home has been quite an adjustment and so I've just been trying to get used to taking care of two kids at home and managing both when we're out running errands too. It's been great to have my mom here to help though for these first two weeks, it's really helped ease the transition. For some reason I thought things might still be easy in the beginning since babies sleep so much, but they also need to eat and be held a lot too! And then I feel I need to compensate all my time that I'm away with Jacob by giving him lots of attention when Blake doesn't need me for the moment. But things are getting better and I'm getting more used to it.
The first several days were a little rough. I wasn't getting much sleep at night, not only because Blake would wake up at least every 2 hours to eat, but Luke was also up sick coughing all night the first week too. Jacob had also already been sick and then Luke got sick the night I had Blake. A week later Luke was still feeling awful and coughing like crazy so we finally took Luke to the doctor and found out he had bronchitis and a sinus infection. So Luke wasn't able to really help with the kids and even though my mom was here to help, I had been feeling like I still had 3 boys to take care of. So the beginning was a bit exhausting and having a baby feels overwhelming enough. I found myself often wondering how I'm ever going to manage it all on my own once my mom leaves, but now that everyone has been feeling better lately it's made things a little bit easier.

Jacob was going through the adjustment as well and it was obvious at first that he still wanted his attention. He hasn't necessarily been acting out but every time we hold Blake he wants to be held too sort of thing- as you can see...
But he's still very sweet with Blake and is always very gentle. He likes to hold his hands and name all his body parts. When Blake cries Jacob will jump up and say "I'll get it" and will try to beat us to him. Jacob always likes to follow me around with him whenever I go to feed Blake or change his diaper, or give him a bath- he likes to be in on the action and comment on everything I'm doing with Blake. And I love how Jacob always whispers and calls him "cute baby" or will just say "aww", but it's cute to hear him say Blake's name too. 'Blake' was actually the only baby name that Jacob would say before he was born and officially named too. Jacob has been big into "doctors" since all my visits, so here he is playing Doctor with Blake and checking his heartbeat, haha.
Giving his brother hugs, so sweet. Jacob's been a great big brother so far.

Blake 4 days old

Here is Blake after his first bath at home. Check out his crazy hurricane cow-lick in the front!
Doing some posing on the blanket his Grandma Cheri crocheted for him. Blake is 5 days old here.


Luke's parents were also able to fly in that first Friday to come see the baby and stayed until Saturday evening. We had a good time mostly just visiting around the house, but also went out to lunch and did a few other little errands. They also went with Luke on Saturday and took Jacob to go see the movie Cars 2 at the theater. It was Jacob's first time at a movie, and he did ok but lost interest by the end and ended up hanging out more at the arcade. Apparently it wasn't nearly as interesting for young kids like the first movie. So we were probably more bummed by this than Jacob since he's soo into Cars, but it seems he still had a fun time.
Here's Grandpa John and Grandma Brenda with Jacob and Blake

our first attempt at a family picture

and a picture of us with my mom

Besides running a few basic errands to the grocery store, library, and Target, we didn't do too much with my mom outside of the house. But towards the end of the second week, we took Jacob to the park one day- and even though he has a sour face in the picture he had a great time and loved hanging out with Grandma. And then on one of the last days that my mom was here, we took the boys to the pool. Blake was great and slept the whole time (I do love that about young babies) and Jacob had a blast swimming around in the pool. It felt good to get out for a bit and finally do something a little more fun!

On Saturday we went down to the outlets to shop for a bit, and then stopped by the Denver Temple to show my mom on the way home- and attempted another family picture...

A random close up of Blake one day shy of 2 weeks old, just blowing bubbles- or spitting up. This kid spits up soo much!

my sweet boys ready for church- Blake's first day

All of us ready for church on Blake's first day- July 3. These are my two favorite family pictures so far :)
And one last picture of Grandma Cheri with her 2 grandsons. My mom had to leave early on July 4 but we were so grateful to have her help for these first 2 weeks. I'm going to miss having dinner made for us every night, the dishes always done and the house kept tidy, the extra arms to help with the boys, and of course her company too. Jacob misses having her around too. Now I'm kind of on my own again so I'm hoping I can start to get more sleep soon and get in a routine so that I can handle these two! As much as I worry though, I'm doing pretty well, and so far so good!