Kids change so quickly in their first week and months of life.  Here are the latest pics of our sweet boy.

This month Jack had to deal with a third outpatient surgery and as usual, he handled it really well.  I guess it’s becoming sort of old hat to him.  He got excited about taking a ride in the bed and the first thing out of his mouth when he woke up was to croak, “I want to take a ride!”  In order to keep him from climbing, running, jumping, etc. (yeah, right…) in the week after the surgery, we needed to find quiet activites for him, so it was a blessing that he learned to use the mouse at just the right time.  I set the laptop up for him on the table and he played games (mainly on Starfall.com- check it out if you have little ones) for long periods.  We’ve played the games together and navigated through the site, so he had no problem getting around and it really appealed to his need to be in control of everything these days.  It was sort of strange- like he’d aged a year in just a couple of days. I’d go over there and he was in some other part of the site, doing something we’d never done before with no problem at all.

He’s begun learning Bible verses, and I’ve been trying to choose ones that we can talk about in relation to specific behavior, like “Be kind, one to another”, “Children, obey your parents…” and his favorite, “This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Ps. 118: 24.  We call that his “happy heart” verse. When he gets grumpy and whiney, or needs to spend time in his bedroom screaming all his frustrations out, we try and find his happy heart again by saying the verse or singing the song with those words.  It works great! Sometimes…

Wow… I just noticed how big his hands are!  Taking after Daddy again.

Not sure how old Mark was in this picture, but probably about David’s age.

It’s so nice when they finally start smiling isn’t it? Here are a few pictures I took this morning.  David is almost 6 weeks old and doing great.   He’s taking 4oz per feeding now, so I’m only having to get up once in the night with him, which is really nice.  He’s a great sleeper at night and in general an easy-going little guy.

When Mark interviewed for the job transfer within the big giant bank he worked for to move to Texas this Spring, he specifically asked if there were any plans for the department to be “offshored” to India, since part of the reason he wanted to transfer was that his current department was in danger of being offshored. He asked several times and they told him no several times. Well, guess what? They lied. In May, they told the department that it was going to India and that they had other jobs for them all to transfer into. That was the last straw for Mark though, and he began to look around to see if there might be another opportunity in the area. Within just a couple of weeks, God provided a new job which is SO much better than the one he had. The company is great (almost 0 turnover among their employees), his boss is a solid Christian and the job is a perfect fit for Mark. Right now he works very close to where he used to, but next summer they are moving to a building about 5 minutes from where we live now! We are grateful for God’s provision and it’s a relief for Mark to not dread going to work every day.

Jack has had an eventful month, and is handling all the changes in his life all right. He’s had his ups and downs, but he’s still really enjoying being a big brother and tries to be helpful where he can. He even wants to help change David’s diapers, which will last until he gets peed on the first time I guess!

We had a small birthday party at a nearby park, and everyone had a good time playing at the playground, fishing in the ponds and feeding the ducks.

I captured Jack singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on video recently. He can carry a tune sometimes… sort of…
Embarrassing moment of the month: The elders from our church were over at our house last week, and as they were getting ready to leave, Jack came in. We bowed our heads to close our time in prayer, and Jack was pretty quiet for a bit, and then suddenly yelled out, “They’re sleeping!!”

I tend to forget that my camera will record video clips, and it’s a lot easier than getting something off of our regular video camera. This is just a short video of David taken today. (I’m sorry, I couldn’t embed it- it’s goofing up my theme and I haven’t figured out the reason) Video captures what he looks like a little better than a photo I think. Take a look at these pictures of Jack at about 1 month old- you can certainly tell they’re brothers I think.

We started when Jack was born taking his picture every month with a bear, to keep track of how he grows as time goes by. It became confusing with all the pictures printed out to remember which month was which, so for David I bought a little chalkboard to take his picture with each month. I have started the “Watch David Grow” page - see the sidebar to the right. We tried very hard to get his picture with his eyes open wide, but it’s a challenge. Maybe when he grows into those cheeks a bit we’ll start to see more of his eyes!

David seems to be a more easy-going baby than Jack was and a better sleeper as well, which I am grateful for. He doesn’t cry much- only when hungry or uncomfortable. He puts up with Jack getting in his face and “handling” him really well.

Jack has been a big help with David so far. He is great at fetching things for me, and taking David’s diapers to the trash, and reminding me to pump even! He’s very interested in the breast pump and the idea that Mommy makes milk for David, though as it turns out, just like with Jack, it’s not enough and we’re having to mostly feed him formula. I was pretty disappointed, since I really thought the cause of my problem last time was Jack’s early birth and lack of early opportunities to feed him, stress, etc…, but it turns out it’s just how God made me. Who am I to complain to my Maker if he didn’t intend for me to breastfeed my kids?

Here’s Jack, demonstrating proper pumping technique:

If you missed it the first time I posted it, check out this video of a man testing out a breast pump.

I thought I would share a little more about my time in the hospital last week.  David was born at a great hospital, but definitely not as nice as the one Jack was born in. With Jack, all the rooms were private, but to get a private room for the stay last week, we would have had to pay $100 per night. So, we were in a “semi-private” room. At the end of the first night, I wondered how I was ever going to get any sleep in a place where there was either a nurse coming in and turning on the lights and talking to me or the other girl in the room as if it was the middle of the day, or a crying baby needing to eat.

Both people I shared the room with were rather unconcerned with the fact that they might be disturbing anyone as they left the TV running all the time, even through the night. The second person had at least 20 people come to visit, all talking loudly and at one point getting into a altercation with Granny. Apparently she had arrived at the hospital smelling of beer, and after an argument about whether she should be touching the baby, etc, there was a scuffle and some slapping and Granny was ushered from the room.

The whole experience would have been really difficult if I had not brought earplugs and a sleep mask. Thankfully, I could put those on and block everything else out!

David Bryant Clay was born on Monday evening June 30th!  They decided to go ahead and deliver due to several factors, and actually the timing worked out well with Mark’s work schedule and the holiday weekend.  The c-section went fine, but overall it was more difficult to get through than the one with Jack.  It seems like everything hurt worse than I remember.  The end result was worth it though!  Here are some pictures for now, and when I get a little rest I’ll share some more about this week.