Interesting times...

It's been a long, tiring week with work and Jakub, but there are so many wonderful, blessed moments that I'll try to mostly focus on those. These pictures cannot begin to show how loving and fun Jakub is and how much we are enjoying almost all of the moments we get with him. We're even enjoying the difficult ones because it's all a part of the amazing package that he is and he's growing and changing so quickly that we don't want to forget or take any moment for granted. We're being taught so much through these ordinary and extraordinary moments. Sometimes I wish we could slow them down and every-once-in-a-while I wish we could speed them up:) In the picture above you can see Jakub playing on the floor. He's really starting to lift himself up, push around with his arms, and kick his legs. He hasn't turned over recently, but I have no doubt it's coming soon and on a regular basis. He's beginning to become frustrated when he can't turn somewhere he wants to look, so that should be great motivation for him:) He's lasting longer on his tummy and will usually play for a full 15 minutes, maybe more, before wanting to play on his back again. When he does play on his back he's becoming much more coordinated at grasping with both hands the toys that hang above him or lay beside him. He's talking more to his toys as well, which is such a sweet noise. I have that on video, but that will have to wait until we have time to upload and edit them. (He also, obviously, still drools like crazy and the ever-present string of spit is hanging from his mouth in this photo!)


This is how I've been finding this adorable creature more and more in the mornings. He still occasionally cries himself awake- especially when he's waking with extreme hunger- but he's also discovered he can wake up and play for a bit in his crib. I love it! Two times this week I woke up around 7am (by habit now) and could hear cooing coming from his bedroom. What a joy to see this face and this reaction when I walk in to greet him for the day. I also recently got this on video. It makes you want this kind of moment to last for hours.


Here's a fun little picture of Jakub waiting patiently (with toys of course!) for his nightly bath:) On Thursday nights Josh works until 630-ish so he usually doesn't get home until close to or after 7pm. We usually do Jakub's night routine around 6pm so, on these nights, I get to do it alone- which makes for some special Mommy-and-Jakub time that I truly enjoy. However, this week, it was all I could do to keep going in the ways that Jakub needed me. I have to admit, the moments on Thursday could have passed a little faster in my book. The day started off great with Jakub waking up playfully (at 6am instead of 7am), eating and napping well, and being the usual, content baby that he is. I cleaned and cooked all morning because a friend was coming around lunch time with her baby to spend some time with us. Josh came home on his lunch break and gave me time to shower, which was perfect. I felt rushed all morning, but it was all going pretty well and I was looking forward to the afternoon visit. Well, after Jakub woke up at 145pm he didn't sleep again until after 5pm. He never makes it awake that long- and for good reasons because he can't handle it on the 30 minute naps he takes during the day. He was supposed to eat at 230pm-ish, but he refused. He was playing well and content, so I let it go. When he got hungry later I tried again. He refused. I tried and tried and finally had to pump and the moment I gave him the bottle he ate it all. It was 5 hours for him without food and my friend had to help care for both our babies while I pumped. He did the same thing again for the next feeding, which was at 7pm when Josh came home. He took the bottle then, also, so willingly. It was all quite strange and not like him. Have any of you other Moms had this experience and figured out a reason why? He didn't have fever, gas, or any other problems I could find. I checked for soon-to-sprout teeth- none there:) He went to bed well after that feeding and at 1am he finally was back on track with me again. He's been fine ever since. All I know is that I was exhausted physically and emotionally from the day and couldn't wait to go to bed and rest.


Here's one of Jakub after his bath. Before naps and bedtime he now likes to lay on his boppy and hold his stuffed elephant. It plays a soft song and he holds it like a big boy while I read to him or we look around the room. When he's ready to sleep he fusses just a little and I then wrap him up and hold him for a moment and kiss on him:) He's usually closing his eyes as I walk from the guest bed to his bed across the room. I can usually place him in his crib, whether he's asleep or not, and he'll go to sleep on his own now. He sometimes still fusses a little or needs the passy, but we usually don't have to pick him back up or rock him. It's great, but also a little sad for him to be growing up like this already. Mostly, though, it's great:)


Here's a picture of Thompson Keen. He's 5 weeks now and growing so quickly. He likely weighs about 7lbs now. He looks so tiny next to Jakub. I can't believe how much can change in 3-4 months. I look forward to our boys growing up together!


Picture evidence of how big Jakub looks next to Thompson. It's so neat to see them together! Sarah is recovering well and Thompson, other than some gas issues, is a pretty content baby and is sleeping pretty well.


We had a Christian program for the teenagers this afternoon and a fun-photo contest from which we made a slide show for the end of the program. Jakub and I entered for cutest photo. Every time he smiled he would move and snuggle in to me like he was being shy, so we couldn't capture a clear picture of him. Oh well, he's still cute. I don't think we won, but it's because having a baby with me was an unfair advantage for cutest:)


Josh decided to enter the contest with Jakub and aim for strangest photo. Again, an unfair advantage, but I think he should have won. Talk about alien... :) We had a lot of fun with the students. We're beginning a new discussion group on the basics of belief, the Bible, and what it all means to us. We had about 15 students tonight and we're praying they'll return, with friends even, for the next group session. Please be praying about this and all of our other work going on here. God is blessing it in many ways. He's blessing our personal lives as well and Jakub is such a huge part of that. This week was long, but there were so many very bright moments.