My little baby is three months old! And I'll say it again, time keeps moving way too fast! And I know I'm going to be saying this every time I post here! :) But it's been so much fun watching him grow and learn new things!
Jacob is becoming much more vocal, cooing at us, blowing bubbles, laughing and giggling, buzzing his lips and making random noises. And they are just the cutest things I've ever heard. I could sit and listen to him "talk" to me all day! Especially when he smiles when he talks! He's also getting much better at tummy time, not getting as mad when we put him down but sometimes even enjoying it! He's doing great at pushing himself up on his arms and looking around. And he's even been getting better at rolling over more quickly to his back! He has also rolled from his back to his tummy a few times, although he normally can't get that one arm out from under himself. But he likes to roll to his side a lot and then back to his back again.
Jacob also loves to put things in his mouth, or try to put things in his mouth! He loves to chew and suck on his own hands. But his coordination is getting much better as well! He can pull some things towards him like blankets and certain toys, which he'll then try to put in his mouth. You can also see that he's trying to reach out and grab at toys around him. Sometimes he'll get them and others he'll just bat at them. We have a little activity chair for him that he's really starting to enjoy sitting in and play with the toys around him.
He loves to move around all the time - laying down on his play mat, sitting on the couch or even while you're holding him. He will just kick his little legs and swing his arms all around. He's got some great strength in his legs too and is getting better at putting his weight on them when you hold him up. He's definitely going to keep us busy once he becomes mobile!
Overall, he's become much more aware of everything around him and a very active baby! He's a lot of fun to interact with now too because he'll interact back with you! We've decided he's becoming quite the charmer! Everyone who meets automatically falls in love with him! And it's easy to see why! :)
In other news, Austin is keeping very busy at school. He's doing a fall musical and he's decided to do "Annie" this year. Rehearsals have started and performances are the first weekend in November, so they've got a lot of work to do. He's working with someone from the community to help with some of the drama so he can focus on the music side a little bit more, which is nice. He's also still learning about his students and they're trying to find a groove that fits together. The choir is very different from his choir at Riverside and so there's a learning curve. But I know, with time, they're going to find something that works and he'll be just as successful at D-NH, if not more! I think he's also enjoying teaching the third and fourth graders but would much rather be teaching middle school so he could build up the program more. We'll see if that's something he'll be able to do next year.
And in case you haven't heard, I'm officially back in the workforce! I've started my new job as the Marketing Coordinator at Maple Manor Village in Aplington, Iowa, which is a nursing home and an assisted living home. A quick overview of what I'll be doing is of course all of their marketing (posters, ads, newsletters, etc.), event planning within the community and working on inquiries and referrals. This will actually be a good mix of my past two jobs - marketing, like I did at Kruger, and then going out into the public and being a face for the company, like I was for UNO. But this is in a totally different industry which means I have a lot to learn. But I think it's going to be a great new and exciting challenge and I'm really looking forward to working here.
So this also means that Jacob has started daycare. We found a great in-home daycare in Dike, just two blocks from the school. It's run by a husband and wife who are both super nice. We love that it's so close to school, not too many kids, at someone's house but also still structured. I was having some pretty bad anxiety about having to leave Jacob at daycare for his first day, for a number of reasons. I had been able to spend three amazing months at home with him and those are days that I'll treasure forever. So it was going to be a big adjust me for me not to have all that time with him! I was also worried because he had been fighting sleep and would only fall asleep in my arms most of the time and I knew that was something he wouldn't be able to do at daycare. However, the first drop off wasn't nearly as bad as I originally thought. And of course Jacob did great! He's a champ! And all the other kids just loved him! They swarmed his carseat as soon as we got there! :) He's pretty much the center of attention! And daycare has been great for his sleeping habits!
Like I mentioned, Jacob was having a hard time going to sleep. He would be obviously tired but would fight it really hard. He would not fall asleep on his own, he would just cry and cry and I couldn't stand listening to him cry so hard, so I'd always go pick him up. So we tried swaddling, shushing, rocking, singing, walking, bouncing, going outside, putting him in a swing, opening the freezer door for a cool breeze... I tried it all. And it would take a combination of some of these. And then as a last result, I'd give him a little bit of gripe water and that would almost always calm him down enough for me to get him to sleep. But then I would hold him while he slept, if I tried putting him down, he'd wake up and cry. Even after just a couple of days at daycare, Jacob has been doing better. At daycare, they told me he'll cry for a little bit and then put himself to sleep! So I thought, okay, time to try it at home! Up until this point, Jacob had still been sleeping in our room too. So, the other night, I put him down in his crib while he was still awake, shut the door and waiting for him to start fussing. I expected him to fussy some, but he did nothing! He just fell asleep! I was amazed! The next night, I put him down again while he was still awake. This time he did cry for a bit, but eventually fell asleep again! We've even been putting him down in there for his naps over the weekend and it's been working out pretty good.
I have noticed that since putting Jacob in his crib, he's been waking up more often to eat but I don't know if the two are related. I've read about the four month sleep regression and he's also had a bit of a cold so who knows what exactly is waking him up more often. But we're making progress in the right direction! And that's all that matters! It's been great having him in his own room finally too. We don't have to be quite as quiet when we're getting ready for bed and can stay up a little bit later, although we're almost always in bed when Jacob goes down!
So, life is definitely changing and we're adjusting to a new life as two working parents. But I think it's all going well and we're going to like our new life. And it's so much fun watching Jacob change every day! I'm looking forward to seeing where life leads us! But it feels like things are starting to fall into place and we're finally getting some answers to our prayers, which is a great feeling. God is good.
Showing posts with label Dike-New Hartford. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dike-New Hartford. Show all posts
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Two Months Old
Jacob is officially two months old! I'm not really sure where the past two months have gone but they've gone quickly! We've finally settled into a routine here in our new home and that makes things easier with Jacob. There are certainly days that are still hard because Jacob is changing and growing every day! But we're learning to adjust better.
With Jacob being two months old, that means we were back at the doctor for his two month check up! This was our first appointment with our new pediatrician and I think we're really going to like him. The great news is that we were told we have a "perfect baby"! Everything checked out great with Jacob and he's right on track. He weighed 12lb 9oz, which is in the 55 percentile. His height was 60% and his head a whopping 100%! Big headed little guy! :) The bad news about this appointment is that Jacob got his first shots. This was probably harder on mommy than it was for Jacob! Luckily the nurses were great and it was over fairly quickly but when they stuck him, his eyes shot open and he was crying so hard he couldn't catch his breath! It made me cry! Austin told me I'm not allowed to watch Jacob's face the next time he has to have shots! But once they were done and we fed Jacob, he was just fine. He was a little fussy the next couple of days but nothing too bad.
Jacob is definitely growing and changing every day! Towards the beginning of August, when he was around 7 weeks, he rolled from his tummy onto his back for the first time! He did have to have a little help from mom and dad because he was on the edge of a folded up blanket and couldn't get over the little bump. And he hasn't rolled over since then either because he's not a fan of tummy time (as you can see from videos on our vimeo site!) and I can only listen to him cry a little bit before having to make it better! He has also rolled from his back to his tummy once as well! This was recently, at 9 weeks old. I put him on the ground to change his diaper, went to the bathroom quick and when I came back he was on his tummy! I was very impressed and I think Jacob was a little startled and not sure how he got there! Haha!
Jacob also loves to sit up so he can look around at the world. We often prop him up on the couch or hold him on our knees so he can see everything around him. We did buy him a little seat with an activity tray but he's not a huge fan of it yet I think because it doesn't have a full back like he's use to having from sitting on the couch. He's also interacting more and more with us every day! We get a lot more smiles out of him and every time I see one, it literally melts my heart! We haven't gotten a full giggle from him yet but it's probably going to happen very soon! You can tell he wants to laugh!
I think he's also starting to want to reach out and grab at things, he hasn't yet but I think he wants to. He'll hold on to certain toys or blankets if you help him. He also wants to put things in him mouth, again toys, blankets and his fists or fingers! :) Every day it's something new and a different adventure. And I love it all!
I still don't have a job but I've had a good number of interviews so hopefully something will work out here soon. As much as I know I need to go back to work since we need the money, I really wish I could stay home with Jacob. I'm not sure I'm ready to leave him yet! But I've been fortunate to have been able to spend so much time with him!
Austin, on the other hand, is in full swing at school. Last week was a little different because the school had early outs every day due to extreme heat. So while it made things a little difficult because Austin didn't have full class times, it might have helped with the transition of starting school again. He's busy learning what his 100+ student choir is capable of and helping students determine their voice parts. He's also getting adjusted to teaching 3rd and 4th grade again, something he hasn't done since student teaching. And finally, starting to get ready for the fall musical. So he has plenty to keep him busy! He has also realized how much work this year is going to be since it's a new school and a new program. Like anything, it's going to take time for him to find his pace but soon I know he'll have a success program on his hands, like he did at Riverside.
A couple of weeks ago we were finally able to make it down to Tipton and introduce Jacob to most of Austin's family. We had a big birthday party on Saturday for his grandma and a family reunion on Sunday. So we were definitely busy! But Jacob did great. Although he is at that stage where he's recognizing faces so it is taking him a while to warm up to people. He might be a little use to his mommy as we spend the most amount of time together. :)
This past weekend we went up to Minnesota for another family reunion. Again, we had a great time and kept busy. Jacob did great, once he got use to all the different people. :)
Jacob's grandparents (on both sides) are definitely loving all the time they get with the little man! And we love making sure he has time with them! And it's been awesome being back so close to family, or at least closer than we were! It's made things easier too, especially when we've needed some help babysitting so I could go to job interviews.
I think that's about it for us at the time. More later!
With Jacob being two months old, that means we were back at the doctor for his two month check up! This was our first appointment with our new pediatrician and I think we're really going to like him. The great news is that we were told we have a "perfect baby"! Everything checked out great with Jacob and he's right on track. He weighed 12lb 9oz, which is in the 55 percentile. His height was 60% and his head a whopping 100%! Big headed little guy! :) The bad news about this appointment is that Jacob got his first shots. This was probably harder on mommy than it was for Jacob! Luckily the nurses were great and it was over fairly quickly but when they stuck him, his eyes shot open and he was crying so hard he couldn't catch his breath! It made me cry! Austin told me I'm not allowed to watch Jacob's face the next time he has to have shots! But once they were done and we fed Jacob, he was just fine. He was a little fussy the next couple of days but nothing too bad.
Jacob is definitely growing and changing every day! Towards the beginning of August, when he was around 7 weeks, he rolled from his tummy onto his back for the first time! He did have to have a little help from mom and dad because he was on the edge of a folded up blanket and couldn't get over the little bump. And he hasn't rolled over since then either because he's not a fan of tummy time (as you can see from videos on our vimeo site!) and I can only listen to him cry a little bit before having to make it better! He has also rolled from his back to his tummy once as well! This was recently, at 9 weeks old. I put him on the ground to change his diaper, went to the bathroom quick and when I came back he was on his tummy! I was very impressed and I think Jacob was a little startled and not sure how he got there! Haha!
Jacob also loves to sit up so he can look around at the world. We often prop him up on the couch or hold him on our knees so he can see everything around him. We did buy him a little seat with an activity tray but he's not a huge fan of it yet I think because it doesn't have a full back like he's use to having from sitting on the couch. He's also interacting more and more with us every day! We get a lot more smiles out of him and every time I see one, it literally melts my heart! We haven't gotten a full giggle from him yet but it's probably going to happen very soon! You can tell he wants to laugh!
I think he's also starting to want to reach out and grab at things, he hasn't yet but I think he wants to. He'll hold on to certain toys or blankets if you help him. He also wants to put things in him mouth, again toys, blankets and his fists or fingers! :) Every day it's something new and a different adventure. And I love it all!
I still don't have a job but I've had a good number of interviews so hopefully something will work out here soon. As much as I know I need to go back to work since we need the money, I really wish I could stay home with Jacob. I'm not sure I'm ready to leave him yet! But I've been fortunate to have been able to spend so much time with him!
Austin, on the other hand, is in full swing at school. Last week was a little different because the school had early outs every day due to extreme heat. So while it made things a little difficult because Austin didn't have full class times, it might have helped with the transition of starting school again. He's busy learning what his 100+ student choir is capable of and helping students determine their voice parts. He's also getting adjusted to teaching 3rd and 4th grade again, something he hasn't done since student teaching. And finally, starting to get ready for the fall musical. So he has plenty to keep him busy! He has also realized how much work this year is going to be since it's a new school and a new program. Like anything, it's going to take time for him to find his pace but soon I know he'll have a success program on his hands, like he did at Riverside.
A couple of weeks ago we were finally able to make it down to Tipton and introduce Jacob to most of Austin's family. We had a big birthday party on Saturday for his grandma and a family reunion on Sunday. So we were definitely busy! But Jacob did great. Although he is at that stage where he's recognizing faces so it is taking him a while to warm up to people. He might be a little use to his mommy as we spend the most amount of time together. :)
This past weekend we went up to Minnesota for another family reunion. Again, we had a great time and kept busy. Jacob did great, once he got use to all the different people. :)
Jacob's grandparents (on both sides) are definitely loving all the time they get with the little man! And we love making sure he has time with them! And it's been awesome being back so close to family, or at least closer than we were! It's made things easier too, especially when we've needed some help babysitting so I could go to job interviews.
I think that's about it for us at the time. More later!
Saturday, August 10, 2013
A New Job, A New Baby, A New House, A New Adventure
This is a summer of "new". First, Austin accepted his new teaching position at Dike New Hartford, which starts next week already! He's finally been able to get into his office to start organizing and getting ready for the school year.
Next, our new baby. :) It's certainly been an adjustment with Jacob around but I think we're really getting the hang of things as new parents. It's crazy how quickly he seems to be growing too! He's a big boy and just keeps getting bigger! He's had more awake time too and really enjoys play time on a couple of his play mats. He's quite the vocal baby and I just love listening to all the different noises he's making. Austin even caught a sound on video the other day that sounded like the start of a laugh! Too cute! I love that he's becoming more playful and responsive. But I don't want him to grow up too quickly because I'm still really enjoying my cuddle time with the little man!
Then, last weekend we moved into our new house. We found a cute two bedroom home to rent in Reinbeck, just ten minutes south of Dike. While the house is a little small, we couldn't beat the price for a two bedroom house with washer and dryer and a single stall garage! I actually hadn't seen the house before we moved on Saturday - Austin was the only one to make it over to see it before we signed a lease. So when I first walked in, I was a little nervous about the size. But now that we have our stuff in and pretty much all unpacked, I'm loving it more and more every day! We left a lot of stuff in boxes and in storage in the garage since we don't plan on being here long. If Austin thinks this district is a place where he can see himself long term, we're hoping to really save up some money this year and hopefully look into purchasing a house of our own next year.
The move on Saturday went great though! We had a lot of help from family and we greatly appreciated it all! It took us only a couple hours early Saturday morning to load up the trailers (which everything just barely fit!) and finish cleaning the apartment in Oakland. We were on the road before lunch! We made it to Reinbeck early afternoon and started unloaded. Most of the stuff went straight to the garage until we could get the furniture moved in and then figuring out what exactly we wanted brought in the house. We also had to do some cleaning of the house before bringing too much in. That was a little stressful but nothing we couldn't handle!
I'm not quite ready to post pictures of the inside yet... still need to do some cleaning and organizing, but below shows the outside of the house. Not too bad! :)
Now that we're back in Eastern Iowa, we ready to start our new adventure. But I have to say that this has been a lot all at once and it's been a little overwhelming for both Austin and I. While Austin is trying to prepare for a new school year at a new school, I've been looking for a new job. Then we're trying to get settled into a new house all while taking care of a new baby and trying to figure out our routine. That doesn't sound exhausting at all, does it? :) But we're figuring it all out and every day it gets a little bit easier.
So just a quick update for now. More soon as we continue to get settled into this new adventure!
Next, our new baby. :) It's certainly been an adjustment with Jacob around but I think we're really getting the hang of things as new parents. It's crazy how quickly he seems to be growing too! He's a big boy and just keeps getting bigger! He's had more awake time too and really enjoys play time on a couple of his play mats. He's quite the vocal baby and I just love listening to all the different noises he's making. Austin even caught a sound on video the other day that sounded like the start of a laugh! Too cute! I love that he's becoming more playful and responsive. But I don't want him to grow up too quickly because I'm still really enjoying my cuddle time with the little man!
Then, last weekend we moved into our new house. We found a cute two bedroom home to rent in Reinbeck, just ten minutes south of Dike. While the house is a little small, we couldn't beat the price for a two bedroom house with washer and dryer and a single stall garage! I actually hadn't seen the house before we moved on Saturday - Austin was the only one to make it over to see it before we signed a lease. So when I first walked in, I was a little nervous about the size. But now that we have our stuff in and pretty much all unpacked, I'm loving it more and more every day! We left a lot of stuff in boxes and in storage in the garage since we don't plan on being here long. If Austin thinks this district is a place where he can see himself long term, we're hoping to really save up some money this year and hopefully look into purchasing a house of our own next year.
The move on Saturday went great though! We had a lot of help from family and we greatly appreciated it all! It took us only a couple hours early Saturday morning to load up the trailers (which everything just barely fit!) and finish cleaning the apartment in Oakland. We were on the road before lunch! We made it to Reinbeck early afternoon and started unloaded. Most of the stuff went straight to the garage until we could get the furniture moved in and then figuring out what exactly we wanted brought in the house. We also had to do some cleaning of the house before bringing too much in. That was a little stressful but nothing we couldn't handle!
I'm not quite ready to post pictures of the inside yet... still need to do some cleaning and organizing, but below shows the outside of the house. Not too bad! :)
Now that we're back in Eastern Iowa, we ready to start our new adventure. But I have to say that this has been a lot all at once and it's been a little overwhelming for both Austin and I. While Austin is trying to prepare for a new school year at a new school, I've been looking for a new job. Then we're trying to get settled into a new house all while taking care of a new baby and trying to figure out our routine. That doesn't sound exhausting at all, does it? :) But we're figuring it all out and every day it gets a little bit easier.
So just a quick update for now. More soon as we continue to get settled into this new adventure!
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
3 weeks old
My little baby is three weeks old already! I can't believe how fast time is going by - the weeks and each day! Every day seems to slip by me so quickly! Especially when I spend most of each day just staring at Jacob. Watching him sleep. Watching him during play time. Watching him watch me. I love to just watch him.
But a lot has happened in the past couple of weeks. Other than the fact that our little man continues to grow and change every day! Just after my last blog post, Austin left us for a few days. He headed over to Dike where he joined other teachers and administrators from D-NH to go to a conference in the Cities. He left on a Saturday and didn't return home until late Wednesday night. We've been apart before so this was nothing new, but this was the first time we'd be apart with Jacob around. And I have to say it was really hard to say good bye to him. Although I'm sure my extra hormones didn't help anything! I wasn't worried about having help with Jacob because my family was coming down to help. But it wasn't the same without Austin around. I didn't know how much I loved having him around and helping with Jacob until he was gone. Plus, I didn't want him to miss having that time with Jacob. If you were to ask him, he would probably tell you that it was hard for him too. Although it was good for him to go and meet some of the new staff he would be working with and conferences are always good for professional development, but we sure missed him around the house. We did skype every night so he could still see Jacob and so Jacob could hear Austin's voice. And we were glad to have him home again!
Once Austin was home again, Jacob and I each had our two week check-ups at the doctor. Jacob's appointment was first and he did great! Unfortunately his appointment was right around feeding time so he got a little fussy towards the end but it wasn't too bad. He's continuing to gain weight and was up to 9lbs 3oz! The doctor said he looked good and didn't have any concerns about anything! His next appointment won't be until 2 months and by that time we'll be over in the Cedar Valley so we're currently in the process of looking for a new pediatrician over there.
My appointment also went great, although Jacob kept stealing all the attention of the nurses and Dr. Platt! :) I was told I was looking good as well and was given permission to start lifting some heavier things, but not to over do it. After my c-section, Dr. Platt sent part of my placenta to get tested to see if it was infected and at my appointment we were told that the results had come back and it was infected. This would explain why Jacob had a fever when he was first born. It also means it was a very good thing we had the c-section and we did it when we did. Although this wasn't at all what I wanted, I couldn't be happier with Dr. Platt and we completely trust her judgement. She made sure that Jacob and I were both safe.
One of the things I was so nervous about having a c-section was the recovery time. But I believe that Dr. Platt did such a great job and because of this, my recovery has been easier than I expected. I have to remind myself that I did have major abdominal surgery! I would completely forget because I felt so great. I think it also helped that I had such amazing family and friends helping me out from the beginning, including Austin of course! I still get a little sore sometimes, but overall, feeling great! I also have to laugh because back in March when my dad broke his foot, I remember telling him to listen to the doctor and just take it easy! Stay off your foot, let other people help you out, etc. Well it turns out I am more like my father than I thought. :) I would try to do a lot of things around the house when we first got home and Austin had to "yell" at me and tell me to take it easy! I'm lucky to have a man who cares about me so much!
Jacob is now three weeks old. Every day he's growing and changing so much! And overall, he's been an amazing baby. We really have been blessed! His feeding schedule has been pretty consistent as well, which has been good. However, he's hit his three week growth spurt and has had some cluster feedings - where he'll get hungry every hour, hour and half. And he'll feed for a lot longer as well. I have to tell you, this has been exhausting for me. And it also makes me so grateful for his normal feeding schedule! He also seems to be a little more fussy during this growth spurt. Normally he's such a good baby that only cries when he's hungry, needs his diaper changed or has a bubble or something. But right now he's been harder to calm down. I'm hoping this will end with his cluster feedings! But even his fussy times now are nothing compared to what it could be, and for that I'm thankful. It does test your patience though! :) Last night was pretty great though as Jacob slept for six hours! Austin rocked him after I got done feeding and put him down so I could go to sleep and then was blessed with six hours of sleep! During a normal night, he'll feed two, maybe three times. As much as I loved getting those uninterrupted hours of sleep, I'm not sure I want that to continue every night. I think because of our time in the hospital with Jacob's low blood sugar, I get nervous if he goes too long without eating. I'd rather wake him up and feed him so I know he's getting food! Plus I'm afraid if Jacob doesn't feed more at night that it could affect my milk supply. If Jacob continues to sleep well at night, I'll probably try to get up at least once to pump to help my supply.
Austin and I are also both learning what Jacob wants. We're learning what different cries mean, if he's just fussing or if he's really hungry. When he really gets to crying really hard, it has this quiver to it. Austin hates hearing it and wants to do whatever it takes to make it stop. I, on the other hand, find it a little amusing because Jacob just likes to be dramatic. :) It mostly happens during bath time which Jacob doesn't like. We're still doing sponge baths right now so maybe once we actually give him a bath where he can sit in water, it might be different!
Jacob's also getting stronger every day! He does great at holding his head up by himself at times and is able to do it longer and longer. We've also been doing tummy time, which he's awesome at! He does best at lifting his head when we have him propped up on the boppy or a pillow. He's even been able to lift and turn his head from one side to the other to follow our voices sometimes. When we put him on his tummy flat on the ground, he doesn't do the best at lifting his head, instead he tries to roll over! And I think he's going to do it before long! He can roll his top half to his side but he hasn't gotten his bottom half to do the same. But he's moving those legs so I know it won't be long! We've also been doing a lot of play time on a play mat that we have and he's starting to focus on some of the toys that are hanging in front of him. Or at least it looks like he is! He's also been really finding his voice these past couple of days. He likes to grunt and almost growl sometimes! But he's making other vocal noises as well and it's so fun to listen to! He also makes the best faces - both while he's awake and sleeping! I can't help but laugh at them sometimes, they're so adorable and funny!
In other non-Jacob news, we finally have a place to live! We found a cute and small two bedroom house in Reinbeck, Iowa which is just 10 minutes south of Dike. It's a very small town so we'll do most of our major shopping and stuff in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area but the price was right for a house! We're planning on moving the first weekend in August so if you're available, you can definitely come help us! :) Once we get over there and settled some, I'm going to start looking for jobs again. Although, if we could manage it, I'd love to just stay home with Jacob but we need the money! Austin starts school on August 15th with students starting the 21st. I think he's anxious and excited all at the same time!
Overall, I think we're falling into a great routine as a family. And we couldn't be happier. It has been a transition and we're still learning and still gaining patience every day. But we also couldn't be anymore in love with Jacob or with this new life. I love being the wife of an amazing father to my son and I love being a mother to the most perfect son! :)
But a lot has happened in the past couple of weeks. Other than the fact that our little man continues to grow and change every day! Just after my last blog post, Austin left us for a few days. He headed over to Dike where he joined other teachers and administrators from D-NH to go to a conference in the Cities. He left on a Saturday and didn't return home until late Wednesday night. We've been apart before so this was nothing new, but this was the first time we'd be apart with Jacob around. And I have to say it was really hard to say good bye to him. Although I'm sure my extra hormones didn't help anything! I wasn't worried about having help with Jacob because my family was coming down to help. But it wasn't the same without Austin around. I didn't know how much I loved having him around and helping with Jacob until he was gone. Plus, I didn't want him to miss having that time with Jacob. If you were to ask him, he would probably tell you that it was hard for him too. Although it was good for him to go and meet some of the new staff he would be working with and conferences are always good for professional development, but we sure missed him around the house. We did skype every night so he could still see Jacob and so Jacob could hear Austin's voice. And we were glad to have him home again!
Once Austin was home again, Jacob and I each had our two week check-ups at the doctor. Jacob's appointment was first and he did great! Unfortunately his appointment was right around feeding time so he got a little fussy towards the end but it wasn't too bad. He's continuing to gain weight and was up to 9lbs 3oz! The doctor said he looked good and didn't have any concerns about anything! His next appointment won't be until 2 months and by that time we'll be over in the Cedar Valley so we're currently in the process of looking for a new pediatrician over there.
My appointment also went great, although Jacob kept stealing all the attention of the nurses and Dr. Platt! :) I was told I was looking good as well and was given permission to start lifting some heavier things, but not to over do it. After my c-section, Dr. Platt sent part of my placenta to get tested to see if it was infected and at my appointment we were told that the results had come back and it was infected. This would explain why Jacob had a fever when he was first born. It also means it was a very good thing we had the c-section and we did it when we did. Although this wasn't at all what I wanted, I couldn't be happier with Dr. Platt and we completely trust her judgement. She made sure that Jacob and I were both safe.
One of the things I was so nervous about having a c-section was the recovery time. But I believe that Dr. Platt did such a great job and because of this, my recovery has been easier than I expected. I have to remind myself that I did have major abdominal surgery! I would completely forget because I felt so great. I think it also helped that I had such amazing family and friends helping me out from the beginning, including Austin of course! I still get a little sore sometimes, but overall, feeling great! I also have to laugh because back in March when my dad broke his foot, I remember telling him to listen to the doctor and just take it easy! Stay off your foot, let other people help you out, etc. Well it turns out I am more like my father than I thought. :) I would try to do a lot of things around the house when we first got home and Austin had to "yell" at me and tell me to take it easy! I'm lucky to have a man who cares about me so much!
Jacob is now three weeks old. Every day he's growing and changing so much! And overall, he's been an amazing baby. We really have been blessed! His feeding schedule has been pretty consistent as well, which has been good. However, he's hit his three week growth spurt and has had some cluster feedings - where he'll get hungry every hour, hour and half. And he'll feed for a lot longer as well. I have to tell you, this has been exhausting for me. And it also makes me so grateful for his normal feeding schedule! He also seems to be a little more fussy during this growth spurt. Normally he's such a good baby that only cries when he's hungry, needs his diaper changed or has a bubble or something. But right now he's been harder to calm down. I'm hoping this will end with his cluster feedings! But even his fussy times now are nothing compared to what it could be, and for that I'm thankful. It does test your patience though! :) Last night was pretty great though as Jacob slept for six hours! Austin rocked him after I got done feeding and put him down so I could go to sleep and then was blessed with six hours of sleep! During a normal night, he'll feed two, maybe three times. As much as I loved getting those uninterrupted hours of sleep, I'm not sure I want that to continue every night. I think because of our time in the hospital with Jacob's low blood sugar, I get nervous if he goes too long without eating. I'd rather wake him up and feed him so I know he's getting food! Plus I'm afraid if Jacob doesn't feed more at night that it could affect my milk supply. If Jacob continues to sleep well at night, I'll probably try to get up at least once to pump to help my supply.
Austin and I are also both learning what Jacob wants. We're learning what different cries mean, if he's just fussing or if he's really hungry. When he really gets to crying really hard, it has this quiver to it. Austin hates hearing it and wants to do whatever it takes to make it stop. I, on the other hand, find it a little amusing because Jacob just likes to be dramatic. :) It mostly happens during bath time which Jacob doesn't like. We're still doing sponge baths right now so maybe once we actually give him a bath where he can sit in water, it might be different!
Jacob's also getting stronger every day! He does great at holding his head up by himself at times and is able to do it longer and longer. We've also been doing tummy time, which he's awesome at! He does best at lifting his head when we have him propped up on the boppy or a pillow. He's even been able to lift and turn his head from one side to the other to follow our voices sometimes. When we put him on his tummy flat on the ground, he doesn't do the best at lifting his head, instead he tries to roll over! And I think he's going to do it before long! He can roll his top half to his side but he hasn't gotten his bottom half to do the same. But he's moving those legs so I know it won't be long! We've also been doing a lot of play time on a play mat that we have and he's starting to focus on some of the toys that are hanging in front of him. Or at least it looks like he is! He's also been really finding his voice these past couple of days. He likes to grunt and almost growl sometimes! But he's making other vocal noises as well and it's so fun to listen to! He also makes the best faces - both while he's awake and sleeping! I can't help but laugh at them sometimes, they're so adorable and funny!
In other non-Jacob news, we finally have a place to live! We found a cute and small two bedroom house in Reinbeck, Iowa which is just 10 minutes south of Dike. It's a very small town so we'll do most of our major shopping and stuff in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area but the price was right for a house! We're planning on moving the first weekend in August so if you're available, you can definitely come help us! :) Once we get over there and settled some, I'm going to start looking for jobs again. Although, if we could manage it, I'd love to just stay home with Jacob but we need the money! Austin starts school on August 15th with students starting the 21st. I think he's anxious and excited all at the same time!
Overall, I think we're falling into a great routine as a family. And we couldn't be happier. It has been a transition and we're still learning and still gaining patience every day. But we also couldn't be anymore in love with Jacob or with this new life. I love being the wife of an amazing father to my son and I love being a mother to the most perfect son! :)
Sunday, July 7, 2013
The days after...
After Jacob was born, it seemed like we lived in that hospital. We were there for almost 6 full days. I wasn't sure we would ever leave! But a lot happened those days we were there.
Throughout that first day we started to try and breastfeed. This was something I really wanted to do for Jacob. All the books tell you that it can be difficult and it takes some time. And they were right. We were having a hard time. At first he was having problems even latching but then he got the hang of that, but wouldn't suck. We met with the lactation consultant who worked with us but without much luck that first day. After a while we started using a shield which seemed to help. We were told not to worry too about it too much because Jacob's stomach was so small right now anyway that he'd be fine.
My parents and sister stayed all day and got to spend some time with Jacob. It was great to have them there because while they were busy holding him, Austin and I got to get some sleep in! And boy, did we need it. Around noon on Wednesday, I was treated to a foot and leg massage by the massage therapist at the hospital and it felt amazing! And then, with much help, even got out of bed to shower! Those first couple of steps felt so weird! First off, I didn't have a big baby belly anymore. And second, I had been bed bound for a little over 24 hours! I was very wobbly at first! But the shower felt amazing.
Everything throughout the day was looking good. All of our checks and tests were great. Right after birth, Jacob scored a 9 in the APGAR test. I can't tell you much more about that first night because everything was such a blur!
On Thursday, June 27th, Jacob was scheduled for his circumcision that morning. We got an update before and after that everything had gone well. After his recovery, they brought him back in for us to spend some time with him. Before and during the procedure they give him sugar water and this caused him to be pretty sleepy throughout the day. It made trying breastfeeding difficult. We were having luck again using the shield but he would latch and only suck for a very short amount of time before falling asleep. Again, we were told it wasn't a big deal and that we'd keep trying.
Thursday night is when things started to get a little interesting. First we had to switch rooms because they had a full house at the hospital and need our birthing suite. Our new room was much smaller and didn't have the pull-out couch for Austin to sleep on. There was only a pull-out chair which wasn't nearly as comfortable. So Austin decided to head home that night and sleep there. We were keeping Jacob in the nursery at night and just having him brought in for feedings. I was still working hard at breastfeeding but I didn't feel like I was getting anywhere.
Around midnight the nursing brought Jacob in and hold me was a little jaundice so they had put him under the warmer for a while. I tried breastfeeding again but wasn't really successful. Over the course of two hours, Jacob only managed to suck around four minutes. He would latch, take a pull or two and then fall asleep. Luckily I had an awesome nurse helping me through all of this. At 4am, I hand expressed some milk/colostrum and we were able to feed it to Jacob by syringe. The nurse put her finger in his mouth and would wait until he sucked before feeding him - trying to make sure he would connect the two. This really seemed to help make things click for Jacob. After that, he was able to latch and fed for about 7 minutes - the longest yet!
A couple of hours later, the morning nurse came in to tell us that Jacob's blood sugar levels were low. They like to see a newborn's levels between 50 and 100. Jacob's was in the low 30's. So they had us feed him 17mL of formula. I wasn't too excited about this as I really wanted to just breastfeed, but I knew Jacob had to eat. Before our next feeding that morning, we met with the lactation consultant, Rita, again. She has much more patience than either Austin and I but helped us get Jacob to latch without even using the shield! And then he even fed for about 15 minutes! We were all very excited! We were so proud of Jacob at this point.
Shortly after he got done feeding, our pediatrician came in to talk to us about some concerns she had about Jacob because of the jaundice and low blood sugar levels. She wanted me to pump every two hours so that we could see exactly how much milk Jacob was getting at each feeding. But first, she wanted to give him some formula again because of the low levels. This happened right after we just got done feeding Jacob and the lactation consultant was still in the room with us. I was feeling pretty frustrated at this point because we had just had a great feeding with Jacob and I wasn't sure he needed the formula. I wanted them to check his blood sugar again to see if my feeding had been enough for the little man. I wanted the reassurance that I was doing my job. I could tell Rita (the consultant) was feeling the same way and she was vocal about it to our pediatrician. They really butted heads on it and it put Austin and I in a bit of an uncomfortable situation as new parents who really don't know what we're doing. That was extremely frustrating.
In the end, the formula was given to Jacob. I was going to be pumping every two hours, before each feeding, and we would feed Jacob with a bottle. If he wasn't getting enough with my milk, formula was going to be supplemented. They were going to be checking his blood sugar levels every hour and run some blood tests to see if the low levels were being caused by an infection or something. While I did have some concerns about Jacob going back and forth between a bottle and straight breastfeeding, I also like the reassurance of knowing exactly how much he was going to be eating each time. No parents want to hear that something is wrong with their baby so we were willing to do what we needed to do to help make him better.
So this is how our Friday continued. Jacob was getting his blood sugar checked every hour and I was pumping every two hours for feedings. The good news is that I was pumping more than enough milk for each feeding and we didn't have to supplement with any formula. The bad news is that when they would come and prick Jacob's heel to test the levels, my poor baby would just scream and cry. It's a horrible thing to have to watch and probably was more traumatic on Austin and I than on Jacob! He would calm down pretty quickly as soon as it was over and was able to cuddle with mom or dad. But every time the nurse came in and started messing with his foot, he knew what was going to happen and would start to cry again. Every blood sugar test they did however was great! His levels were never below a 50 so we knew he was doing great and getting enough milk!
On Saturday, June 29th, we were told they were going to use the day as a trial run. The feedings had gone so well all day Friday and through the night that I could stop pumping and go back to just breastfeeding. They were still going to keep checking his levels though to make sure he was getting enough. We were also still doing a strict two-hour feedings. So before each feeding, they came in to check his levels again. All day Saturday his levels were still great! Never dropping below 50. And breastfeeding was getting easier.
Later in the day, Austin's parents were able to come and visit, along with his sister and brother-in-law and their 7-month old. It was fun for the cousins to meet and I think they're going to be great friends as they grow up together! :) Again, it was great having family there and fun to watch them hold and interact with Jacob.
Also as the day went on, the blood sugar tests got harder and harder.They kept pricking his little heels and were having a harder time getting blood. Hearing his cries was absolutely no fun. Finally we asked if it was still necessary for checks every two hours since his levels had been so good and luckily the nurses and the pediatrician agreed. They still wanted to keep checking but it would be every four hours.
On Sunday morning we finally got the go ahead to get discharged! We were going home! Again, all of Jacob's levels checked out great and the blood work came back with no signs of infection. The pediatrician decided that the poor little man just probably didn't get enough to eat those first couple of days. We were glad to hear nothing else was wrong. As we got all of our discharge instructions, I was getting more and more excited to go home. We had been there long enough! One of the nurses walked down to our car with us to check our car seat and help us load everything up.
As soon as we were good to go and Austin started to drive away, I suddenly became very anxious! It was real. We were leaving the hospital. We had a baby. We had this other life to be responsible for. Such an overwhelming feeling, especially since I was still excited!
Austin's parents were there to help us get settled in at home and even let us get a quick nap in before they left. It was a great help, especially since we knew it would probably be a long first night at home. And it was a pretty long first night. We had bought a video baby monitor and Austin decided he wanted to set it up to watch Jacob in the bassinet, even though it was right next to the bed. I admit I made fun of him a bit at first but once it was bedtime, I was thankful for that monitor! It was an extra reassurance to be able to watch him sleep, otherwise I'm sure I would have been standing over his bassinet all night! But we survived the first night. And every day things get a little easier. We're learning as we go and Jacob is sure teaching us the things we need to know! :)
Since we've been home, we've had family and friends here helping us out. It's been great having them around and they've really been a huge help! It's making the transition easier as well. But soon, it's going to be just the three of us. But I think we're going to be okay. :) My friend Amanda came down for a couple days and cleaned our entire apartment for us! It was cleaner than I think it's ever been! Austin's parents came and helped us get a ton of things packed up before our move later this summer. My family also came down and is helping me around the house while Austin is away. Austin had the opportunity to go to a conference with Dike-New Hartford with some other teachers so he's currently in the Cities for a few days. It's nice to have family here so I'm not by myself.
We went back to the doctor on Tuesday for a 48 hour follow up with our pediatrician because of the problems we had in the hospital. Luckily, Jacob passed with flying colors. He had already gained back and passed his birth weight! He was 8lbs 7oz! The jaundice was completely gone and he looked great. It was a relief to hear and helped calm my worries some. I felt better after leaving the doctor.
And so here we are. Living each day as it comes. We've fallen into a pretty good routine. And Jacob's eating schedule is pretty good so far as well. He's a pretty content baby and makes things easy on us. Let's hope it stays that way! :) We also fall more and more in love with Jacob every day! And it's fun to see how much he changes every day! You can't tell much by looking at him, but looking back at pictures from his birth, you can notice differences. He's also just a fun baby to watch sleep. He makes the funniest faces. And the funniest noises! We couldn't be happier!
Throughout that first day we started to try and breastfeed. This was something I really wanted to do for Jacob. All the books tell you that it can be difficult and it takes some time. And they were right. We were having a hard time. At first he was having problems even latching but then he got the hang of that, but wouldn't suck. We met with the lactation consultant who worked with us but without much luck that first day. After a while we started using a shield which seemed to help. We were told not to worry too about it too much because Jacob's stomach was so small right now anyway that he'd be fine.
My parents and sister stayed all day and got to spend some time with Jacob. It was great to have them there because while they were busy holding him, Austin and I got to get some sleep in! And boy, did we need it. Around noon on Wednesday, I was treated to a foot and leg massage by the massage therapist at the hospital and it felt amazing! And then, with much help, even got out of bed to shower! Those first couple of steps felt so weird! First off, I didn't have a big baby belly anymore. And second, I had been bed bound for a little over 24 hours! I was very wobbly at first! But the shower felt amazing.
Everything throughout the day was looking good. All of our checks and tests were great. Right after birth, Jacob scored a 9 in the APGAR test. I can't tell you much more about that first night because everything was such a blur!
On Thursday, June 27th, Jacob was scheduled for his circumcision that morning. We got an update before and after that everything had gone well. After his recovery, they brought him back in for us to spend some time with him. Before and during the procedure they give him sugar water and this caused him to be pretty sleepy throughout the day. It made trying breastfeeding difficult. We were having luck again using the shield but he would latch and only suck for a very short amount of time before falling asleep. Again, we were told it wasn't a big deal and that we'd keep trying.
Thursday night is when things started to get a little interesting. First we had to switch rooms because they had a full house at the hospital and need our birthing suite. Our new room was much smaller and didn't have the pull-out couch for Austin to sleep on. There was only a pull-out chair which wasn't nearly as comfortable. So Austin decided to head home that night and sleep there. We were keeping Jacob in the nursery at night and just having him brought in for feedings. I was still working hard at breastfeeding but I didn't feel like I was getting anywhere.
Around midnight the nursing brought Jacob in and hold me was a little jaundice so they had put him under the warmer for a while. I tried breastfeeding again but wasn't really successful. Over the course of two hours, Jacob only managed to suck around four minutes. He would latch, take a pull or two and then fall asleep. Luckily I had an awesome nurse helping me through all of this. At 4am, I hand expressed some milk/colostrum and we were able to feed it to Jacob by syringe. The nurse put her finger in his mouth and would wait until he sucked before feeding him - trying to make sure he would connect the two. This really seemed to help make things click for Jacob. After that, he was able to latch and fed for about 7 minutes - the longest yet!
A couple of hours later, the morning nurse came in to tell us that Jacob's blood sugar levels were low. They like to see a newborn's levels between 50 and 100. Jacob's was in the low 30's. So they had us feed him 17mL of formula. I wasn't too excited about this as I really wanted to just breastfeed, but I knew Jacob had to eat. Before our next feeding that morning, we met with the lactation consultant, Rita, again. She has much more patience than either Austin and I but helped us get Jacob to latch without even using the shield! And then he even fed for about 15 minutes! We were all very excited! We were so proud of Jacob at this point.
Shortly after he got done feeding, our pediatrician came in to talk to us about some concerns she had about Jacob because of the jaundice and low blood sugar levels. She wanted me to pump every two hours so that we could see exactly how much milk Jacob was getting at each feeding. But first, she wanted to give him some formula again because of the low levels. This happened right after we just got done feeding Jacob and the lactation consultant was still in the room with us. I was feeling pretty frustrated at this point because we had just had a great feeding with Jacob and I wasn't sure he needed the formula. I wanted them to check his blood sugar again to see if my feeding had been enough for the little man. I wanted the reassurance that I was doing my job. I could tell Rita (the consultant) was feeling the same way and she was vocal about it to our pediatrician. They really butted heads on it and it put Austin and I in a bit of an uncomfortable situation as new parents who really don't know what we're doing. That was extremely frustrating.
In the end, the formula was given to Jacob. I was going to be pumping every two hours, before each feeding, and we would feed Jacob with a bottle. If he wasn't getting enough with my milk, formula was going to be supplemented. They were going to be checking his blood sugar levels every hour and run some blood tests to see if the low levels were being caused by an infection or something. While I did have some concerns about Jacob going back and forth between a bottle and straight breastfeeding, I also like the reassurance of knowing exactly how much he was going to be eating each time. No parents want to hear that something is wrong with their baby so we were willing to do what we needed to do to help make him better.
So this is how our Friday continued. Jacob was getting his blood sugar checked every hour and I was pumping every two hours for feedings. The good news is that I was pumping more than enough milk for each feeding and we didn't have to supplement with any formula. The bad news is that when they would come and prick Jacob's heel to test the levels, my poor baby would just scream and cry. It's a horrible thing to have to watch and probably was more traumatic on Austin and I than on Jacob! He would calm down pretty quickly as soon as it was over and was able to cuddle with mom or dad. But every time the nurse came in and started messing with his foot, he knew what was going to happen and would start to cry again. Every blood sugar test they did however was great! His levels were never below a 50 so we knew he was doing great and getting enough milk!
On Saturday, June 29th, we were told they were going to use the day as a trial run. The feedings had gone so well all day Friday and through the night that I could stop pumping and go back to just breastfeeding. They were still going to keep checking his levels though to make sure he was getting enough. We were also still doing a strict two-hour feedings. So before each feeding, they came in to check his levels again. All day Saturday his levels were still great! Never dropping below 50. And breastfeeding was getting easier.
Later in the day, Austin's parents were able to come and visit, along with his sister and brother-in-law and their 7-month old. It was fun for the cousins to meet and I think they're going to be great friends as they grow up together! :) Again, it was great having family there and fun to watch them hold and interact with Jacob.
Also as the day went on, the blood sugar tests got harder and harder.They kept pricking his little heels and were having a harder time getting blood. Hearing his cries was absolutely no fun. Finally we asked if it was still necessary for checks every two hours since his levels had been so good and luckily the nurses and the pediatrician agreed. They still wanted to keep checking but it would be every four hours.
On Sunday morning we finally got the go ahead to get discharged! We were going home! Again, all of Jacob's levels checked out great and the blood work came back with no signs of infection. The pediatrician decided that the poor little man just probably didn't get enough to eat those first couple of days. We were glad to hear nothing else was wrong. As we got all of our discharge instructions, I was getting more and more excited to go home. We had been there long enough! One of the nurses walked down to our car with us to check our car seat and help us load everything up.
As soon as we were good to go and Austin started to drive away, I suddenly became very anxious! It was real. We were leaving the hospital. We had a baby. We had this other life to be responsible for. Such an overwhelming feeling, especially since I was still excited!
Austin's parents were there to help us get settled in at home and even let us get a quick nap in before they left. It was a great help, especially since we knew it would probably be a long first night at home. And it was a pretty long first night. We had bought a video baby monitor and Austin decided he wanted to set it up to watch Jacob in the bassinet, even though it was right next to the bed. I admit I made fun of him a bit at first but once it was bedtime, I was thankful for that monitor! It was an extra reassurance to be able to watch him sleep, otherwise I'm sure I would have been standing over his bassinet all night! But we survived the first night. And every day things get a little easier. We're learning as we go and Jacob is sure teaching us the things we need to know! :)
Since we've been home, we've had family and friends here helping us out. It's been great having them around and they've really been a huge help! It's making the transition easier as well. But soon, it's going to be just the three of us. But I think we're going to be okay. :) My friend Amanda came down for a couple days and cleaned our entire apartment for us! It was cleaner than I think it's ever been! Austin's parents came and helped us get a ton of things packed up before our move later this summer. My family also came down and is helping me around the house while Austin is away. Austin had the opportunity to go to a conference with Dike-New Hartford with some other teachers so he's currently in the Cities for a few days. It's nice to have family here so I'm not by myself.
We went back to the doctor on Tuesday for a 48 hour follow up with our pediatrician because of the problems we had in the hospital. Luckily, Jacob passed with flying colors. He had already gained back and passed his birth weight! He was 8lbs 7oz! The jaundice was completely gone and he looked great. It was a relief to hear and helped calm my worries some. I felt better after leaving the doctor.
And so here we are. Living each day as it comes. We've fallen into a pretty good routine. And Jacob's eating schedule is pretty good so far as well. He's a pretty content baby and makes things easy on us. Let's hope it stays that way! :) We also fall more and more in love with Jacob every day! And it's fun to see how much he changes every day! You can't tell much by looking at him, but looking back at pictures from his birth, you can notice differences. He's also just a fun baby to watch sleep. He makes the funniest faces. And the funniest noises! We couldn't be happier!
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
My thoughts on our new adventure
Three years ago, Austin and I made the decision to move to Western Iowa when Austin accepted his first teaching position at Riverside. At the time, it was a huge decision for us. We were newlyweds, I had a great job and we were living in an area where we had been throughout our college years. We were comfortable where we were. In fact, you can go back and read old blog posts from that time to see how we came to the decision to move and what that all meant for us.
I'll admit right here that while there was some excitement over our move, especially for Austin to start his first teaching job, I was somewhat leery about moving to Western Iowa. After Austin had officially accepted the job, we came out here to start looking for apartments. I really wasn't impressed by what I was seeing and had some doubts about if this was the right decision or not. But we found an apartment we liked, in time I found a great job in Omaha and we started to make this our home.
Now if you were to ask me if I think we made the right decision three years ago, I would say absolutely. This is where we were meant to be at this time. We've developed some great friendships with people and have some very supportive communities that we belong to.
My co-workers at UNO became close friends very quickly and have made going to work for the past two years feel nothing like work. :) I've been blessed to work with such a great group of people and in an environment where we can have fun together both at the office and outside of work.
The staff, students and parents of the Riverside School District have also been of great support to us. They welcomed us into their community with open arms. Again, I say that we've been blessed to get to know many of them throughout different events and activities. We actually moved to Oakland after our first year out here and being a part of this district has been great. Austin has really been able to grow the vocal music program from the ground up over the past couple of years and that would not have been possible without the support of the community.
I would also say that we've been extremely blessed to be a part of the Grist Mill Theater community. After participating in the production of "Annie" last summer, we made some great new friends. This group of people is one of the best that you'll meet. Welcoming, supportive, fun. It was a great experience that left us with some great new friendships.
When we had family or friends come and visit us, many of them would say how great of a community we're apart of and how lucky we are to know such great people. And I would agree. Austin and I are both so grateful for all of these friendships and the support we've gotten over the past couple of years. It's meant a lot to us.
The one downside - and I mean it, there is literally just one - of living in Southwest Iowa is the distance to our families. It's a five hour drive to my parent's home in Minnesota and a four hour drive over to Austin's parents in Eastern Iowa. This has been hard for us as family means everything to both Austin and I. And I know I should feel lucky that we don't live any farther away than we already do! I think five hours is definitely my limit.
And so we've always said that at some point, we want to get closer to our families again. Especially when we decided we wanted to start a family. But deciding if now is the time to leave Riverside hasn't been an easy decision. We tried (unsuccessfully!) to convince our families to move here so we wouldn't have to leave! :) But in the end, we want to be closer. And with a baby on the way, Austin started applying for jobs.
I do want to say here that Austin wasn't going to apply for just any job. We weren't looking to leave Riverside because we didn't like it - nothing could be further from the truth. He was only going to apply for jobs that put us closer to family and that would potentially be in larger school districts. We were also looking for larger areas so that finding a job for me hopefully wouldn't be too difficult.
And there were some jobs that fit what we were looking for, mostly back in Eastern Iowa. He applied early and we didn't really think we'd hear back from any of them that quickly. Soon I had left for Minnesota for two weeks for work and that's when things started to happen.
On the Wednesday of the first week I was gone, I had a text from Austin saying that Dike-New Hartford had called him and wanted him to come interview Thursday - as in the next day! And while I thought "hm, that's really fast!", I was also excited. For those of you that don't know, DNH is located about 20 minutes west of Cedar Falls and Waterloo - where we lived before moving here. In fact, my old job at Kruger Seeds was actually located in Dike! So this is all very familiar territory for us. The Cedar Falls/Waterloo area, being just 30 minutes south of Wartburg, is about as close as we're able to get to halfway between our families. The drive is three hours up to my parents and just two hours down to Austin's.
So Thursday, Austin drove over to Dike for his interview and I anxiously awaited his call to hear how it went. Finally he called and told me all about it. He said he really like the people he met with, thought he could get along with them really well and thought the program would be a great program to come into. He also said that they were doing more interviews on Friday (the next day) but were hoping to have an offer out to someone by Friday evening. Well, in our experience, these things tend to get stretched out and so we weren't expecting to hear from them right away.
Well Friday comes and before the day is over, Austin is calling me telling me DNH has offered him the job. And that they want an answer by Monday. Well I'm not sure how Austin was feeling but I was a little bit shocked! That wasn't much time for us to consider everything and the worst part was that I was still in Minnesota while Austin was back here at home. Not being together to make such a big decision was frustrating.
We spent a lot of time on the phone that weekend, going over everything. The benefits of taking the job, the stress of moving with a newborn, me having to find a job, being closer to family, taking a look at the district and seeing if it's a place where we could stay for a long time... etc. It was a lot of back and forth. In the end, it's about putting it all in God's hands and letting Him guide us to the right decision. The only problem was that a weekend isn't a lot of time to try and listen for an answer.
In the end though, a decision was made. Austin called me on Monday and said he was going to accept the job. Looking at the position and the school district, he felt comfortable in saying that it feels like the right fit and a place where he can continue to grow professionally. And that's really all that matters. Everything else surrounding the move will fall into place in due time. I'm confident in saying that God will help us.
And so that's where we are today. We're moving back to the Cedar Valley. The place where we went to college, where we met, where we got married and where we started out together. We're both very comfortable in the area and that's helpful to us as we start to plan our move back. We'll be able to get involved in a new community with the school district and we're also looking forward to going back to a community that we were a part of - a community at Zion Lutheran Church. Austin directed the choir and the bell choir there for two years before we moved and we're both looking forward to being back to such a great church family.
We're excited. We're excited about the move, about the new possibilities and new adventures that will come our way. There's a lot to be nervous about it as well, but definitely a lot of excitement. But there's also a lot of sadness. Leaving this area is going to be hard. Maybe even harder than we're anticipating. There are going to be some hard good-byes. Some of which have already started.
Austin and I will both agree that we will treasure our time that we've been out here. We've grown as individuals, as a couple and professionally. I know that we were meant to be here for the last three years. We've learned a lot and done a lot. We've met some amazing people. It's been a great experience.
But now it's time we make that next step. We're starting a family. We're ready to start settling down in a place. We're ready for new adventures. And there are sure to be some adventures in our future.
I'll admit right here that while there was some excitement over our move, especially for Austin to start his first teaching job, I was somewhat leery about moving to Western Iowa. After Austin had officially accepted the job, we came out here to start looking for apartments. I really wasn't impressed by what I was seeing and had some doubts about if this was the right decision or not. But we found an apartment we liked, in time I found a great job in Omaha and we started to make this our home.
Now if you were to ask me if I think we made the right decision three years ago, I would say absolutely. This is where we were meant to be at this time. We've developed some great friendships with people and have some very supportive communities that we belong to.
My co-workers at UNO became close friends very quickly and have made going to work for the past two years feel nothing like work. :) I've been blessed to work with such a great group of people and in an environment where we can have fun together both at the office and outside of work.
The staff, students and parents of the Riverside School District have also been of great support to us. They welcomed us into their community with open arms. Again, I say that we've been blessed to get to know many of them throughout different events and activities. We actually moved to Oakland after our first year out here and being a part of this district has been great. Austin has really been able to grow the vocal music program from the ground up over the past couple of years and that would not have been possible without the support of the community.
I would also say that we've been extremely blessed to be a part of the Grist Mill Theater community. After participating in the production of "Annie" last summer, we made some great new friends. This group of people is one of the best that you'll meet. Welcoming, supportive, fun. It was a great experience that left us with some great new friendships.
When we had family or friends come and visit us, many of them would say how great of a community we're apart of and how lucky we are to know such great people. And I would agree. Austin and I are both so grateful for all of these friendships and the support we've gotten over the past couple of years. It's meant a lot to us.
The one downside - and I mean it, there is literally just one - of living in Southwest Iowa is the distance to our families. It's a five hour drive to my parent's home in Minnesota and a four hour drive over to Austin's parents in Eastern Iowa. This has been hard for us as family means everything to both Austin and I. And I know I should feel lucky that we don't live any farther away than we already do! I think five hours is definitely my limit.
And so we've always said that at some point, we want to get closer to our families again. Especially when we decided we wanted to start a family. But deciding if now is the time to leave Riverside hasn't been an easy decision. We tried (unsuccessfully!) to convince our families to move here so we wouldn't have to leave! :) But in the end, we want to be closer. And with a baby on the way, Austin started applying for jobs.
I do want to say here that Austin wasn't going to apply for just any job. We weren't looking to leave Riverside because we didn't like it - nothing could be further from the truth. He was only going to apply for jobs that put us closer to family and that would potentially be in larger school districts. We were also looking for larger areas so that finding a job for me hopefully wouldn't be too difficult.
And there were some jobs that fit what we were looking for, mostly back in Eastern Iowa. He applied early and we didn't really think we'd hear back from any of them that quickly. Soon I had left for Minnesota for two weeks for work and that's when things started to happen.
On the Wednesday of the first week I was gone, I had a text from Austin saying that Dike-New Hartford had called him and wanted him to come interview Thursday - as in the next day! And while I thought "hm, that's really fast!", I was also excited. For those of you that don't know, DNH is located about 20 minutes west of Cedar Falls and Waterloo - where we lived before moving here. In fact, my old job at Kruger Seeds was actually located in Dike! So this is all very familiar territory for us. The Cedar Falls/Waterloo area, being just 30 minutes south of Wartburg, is about as close as we're able to get to halfway between our families. The drive is three hours up to my parents and just two hours down to Austin's.
So Thursday, Austin drove over to Dike for his interview and I anxiously awaited his call to hear how it went. Finally he called and told me all about it. He said he really like the people he met with, thought he could get along with them really well and thought the program would be a great program to come into. He also said that they were doing more interviews on Friday (the next day) but were hoping to have an offer out to someone by Friday evening. Well, in our experience, these things tend to get stretched out and so we weren't expecting to hear from them right away.
Well Friday comes and before the day is over, Austin is calling me telling me DNH has offered him the job. And that they want an answer by Monday. Well I'm not sure how Austin was feeling but I was a little bit shocked! That wasn't much time for us to consider everything and the worst part was that I was still in Minnesota while Austin was back here at home. Not being together to make such a big decision was frustrating.
We spent a lot of time on the phone that weekend, going over everything. The benefits of taking the job, the stress of moving with a newborn, me having to find a job, being closer to family, taking a look at the district and seeing if it's a place where we could stay for a long time... etc. It was a lot of back and forth. In the end, it's about putting it all in God's hands and letting Him guide us to the right decision. The only problem was that a weekend isn't a lot of time to try and listen for an answer.
In the end though, a decision was made. Austin called me on Monday and said he was going to accept the job. Looking at the position and the school district, he felt comfortable in saying that it feels like the right fit and a place where he can continue to grow professionally. And that's really all that matters. Everything else surrounding the move will fall into place in due time. I'm confident in saying that God will help us.
And so that's where we are today. We're moving back to the Cedar Valley. The place where we went to college, where we met, where we got married and where we started out together. We're both very comfortable in the area and that's helpful to us as we start to plan our move back. We'll be able to get involved in a new community with the school district and we're also looking forward to going back to a community that we were a part of - a community at Zion Lutheran Church. Austin directed the choir and the bell choir there for two years before we moved and we're both looking forward to being back to such a great church family.
We're excited. We're excited about the move, about the new possibilities and new adventures that will come our way. There's a lot to be nervous about it as well, but definitely a lot of excitement. But there's also a lot of sadness. Leaving this area is going to be hard. Maybe even harder than we're anticipating. There are going to be some hard good-byes. Some of which have already started.
Austin and I will both agree that we will treasure our time that we've been out here. We've grown as individuals, as a couple and professionally. I know that we were meant to be here for the last three years. We've learned a lot and done a lot. We've met some amazing people. It's been a great experience.
But now it's time we make that next step. We're starting a family. We're ready to start settling down in a place. We're ready for new adventures. And there are sure to be some adventures in our future.
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