theMores

Jacoby turned nine months old on the 16th.  Yep.  Nine months.  He has no officially been on the outside longer than he was in the inside.  It’s actually hard for us to believe that nine months have flown by as fast as they have.  I mean, we really can’t be starting to plan his first birthday party already, can we?

I love the nine month mark.  It’s the point where babies stop being babies and start showing glimpses of their toddler selves.  At his nine month check up, Jacoby weighed 19 lbs. 10 oz. (30th percentile), measured 29 inches tall (75th), and his head was in the 95th percentile.  Yep.  Tall and skinny with a big head just like his brother.  Colton’s measurements at 9 months were almost exactly the same… the only difference is that Colton weighed a little bit more.  But the most striking thing about his appointment was when the doctor told Jacoby, “I’ll see you in three months at the strapping age of one year.  You’ll probably be walking by then and should be able to say one or two words.”  And even though I’ve been through this before, I looked at Jacoby and thought, “where is my little baby going?”

At nine months, Jacoby proves to be just as mobile and rambunctious as his brother was… maybe even more.  He is simply ALL over the place.  He started army crawling around 6 1/2 months and really took off with his traditional crawl around 7 1/2 months… and hasn’t stopped moving since.  Pulling up.  Check.  Cruising around furniture.  Check.  Climbing to the top of the stairs when we aren’t looking.  Check.  And that personality I was talking about?  Well, it is just as sweet as it ever was.  Grins from his toes.  Chats all the time.  Cuddles in to your arms at bedtime.  Simply perfect.

Here is a snapshot of a few of his likes and dislikes:

Food: bananas, sweet potatoes, and puffs.

Mode of transportation: crawling or walking by pushing the stool.

Activity: watching Colton play baseball… he claps the whole time.

Toy: anything Colton has and trucks… he also loves to take a ball and crawl with it, making him sound like an old man with a cane as he crawls/thumps across the hardwood floors.

Noise: babbling and the Chewbacca (sp?) sound

Hates: being out of the action and when Colton takes his toys away.

The next three months should be fun as he moves on to walking and starts to communicate more verbally.  This was one of our favorite stages with Colton and we can’t wait to see what Jacoby has in store for us!  Happy nine months, Bubby!

~Kristi

P.S. Welcome to the world Baby Cohen!

This story took place shortly after Father’s Day weekend… a weekend that we spent confined to the house as all four of us battled a nasty, nasty stomach bug.

It’s never a good thing when the phone rings and the daycare caller ID pops up.  It usually means I have to go pick up a sick kid.  And in light of the fact that we had all just recovered from that stomach bug, I was nervous when I picked up the phone.  Here’s how the convo went:

KM = Me   CB = the assistant director at daycare

KM – Hello (tentatively)

CB – Why are you answering the phone like that?

KM – Because a call from you usually means I have a sick kid.

CB – (Laughing)  Well… I did think that Jacoby was going to puke all over me earlier.

KM – Oh great.

CB – But he didn’t.  Just a couple of big spit ups… the second one was into his paci that I thought was going to be followed by a projectile vomit all over me.  He didn’t though.  But he seems really tired… not smiling at all.

KM – Oh great.  It’s not good when that kid isn’t smiling.

CB –  We’ll see how he is after his nap.

KM – Sounds good.  He did get up really early this morning and had a lot to eat.  Maybe he’s just too full and really tired.

CB – Maybe.  But… and this is a weird question… did you put a diaper on Colton this morning?

KM – Yes….

CB – So you sent him to school with a diaper on?

KM – Yes.  In fact it was one from school, with his name on it.  Why?

CB – Cause he isn’t wearing one now.  His shorts are on but no diaper.  And there is poop all over Miss Tara’s room.

KM – (Laughing).  What?

CB – It’s all over the floor… kids have stepped in it…

KM – (Laughing harder).

CB – … and it’s on Morgan’s blanket and she is FREAKING out.

KM – (Laughing hysterically).  I’m sorry.  I don’t mean to laugh.  But that’s funny.

CB – Oh I know.  It is funny.  But the funniest part is we can’t find the diaper.

KM – You can’t find the diaper?

CB – No.  We’ve looked everywhere… both the trash cans… everywhere in her room.  And his shorts are on.  And there’s no poop on them.

KM – Could he have taken it to his classroom? (He was actually in the preschool room when this all happened and it’s an unfamiliar room to him.)

CB – Maybe.  We’ll check.

Tara – (in the background) Found it.

CB – We found it.

KM – Where?

CB – In the next room… behind the shared wall.

Tara – (in the background) There’s no poop in it!!!

CB – (to Tara) There’s no poop in it?  (to me) There’s no poop in it.  It’s his diaper.  His name is on it.  But there is no poop in it.

KM – (Laughing… again!)  Maybe he took his shorts off, took off his diaper, pooped in the corner somewhere, pulled his shorts back on, and tried to ditch the diaper.  (To be fair, in our pre-potty training, he does throw his own diaper away at home.)

CB – (Laughing).  Maybe.

KM – Sorry. (laughing again)

CB – And all this happened while I was giving a tour… to people you probably know.  (We found out later that we share two sets of mutual friends with said family… and they live around the corner from us.)

KM – (Laughing hysterically again).  Good thing you didn’t introduce me to them this morning. (I saw them at the start of their tour as I was leaving that morning.)

CB – Yeah… good thing.

KM – Sorry.  Maybe Colton’s finally ready for potty training.

CB – Maybe.  But I don’t know about you and your boys, Kristi.

And that, my friends… is our new life.

And we love it!

~Kristi

About half way through my pregnancy with Jacoby, we soon began to realize that things were going to get pretty cozy once the newest More arrived.  Now Erik and I were both raised in families with more than two children and at some point in both our childhoods, we shared a room with our siblings.  Shoot, I shared an entire one-room, second floor with both my brothers.  So we felt a little indulgent in saying we needed more space  But the kicker for our situation was my home office.  Most of you know that I work full-time from my home and therefore need a fully functioning office set-up… big desk, computer, printer-copier-fax combo, white board, TV with C-SPAN on in the corner, yadayadayada.  That left only two bedrooms for our expanding family of four… no room for the baby and more importantly very little room for the antics of two very young and very energetic boys.

So, we started keeping our eye on the housing market here in Folsom and it was pretty hard to ignore the deals that were out there.  We consulted with a realtor (an absolutely excellent one if anyone needs a referral), explained our needs (which were pretty stringent… four to five bedrooms, open floor plan, island in the kitchen, safe and functional yead, option for an office, dining room, and a good school district), and started our search.  We were pretty picky and often faulted houses for the littlest things.  But we had taken our time finding our first house and were waiting for that “we just walked into our new home” feeling.  We finally found it in a custom house that had been neglected in what we would soon learn was a long, bitter, and drawn-out divorce.  The price was right.  The neighborhood was Wisteria Lane like (but without the sluttiness and cat fighting… or at least we hope).  And  that feeling?  Well, it hit me the minute our realtor opened the door to give us our first tour.  So we took the leap and submitted a low ball offer.  The response was a big fat decline and the buyers chose to go under contract with another couple.  Oh well.  So we kept looking but it was hard to get the house out of our minds.  Then our realtor called.  The original deal had fallen through.  Our back-up offer had been accepted.  We were under contract and set to close escrow 45 days later.  I remember laying awake in bed that night and asking Erik, “Can we really do this?” He assured us that we could and we decided to forge ahead.

I will save the drama of our escrow experience for another post… or a happy hour or two… that’s the kind of story it is. Let’s just say that just about everything that could go wrong, went wrong.  But the one thing that remained was the feeling we felt every time we walked into the house.  It just felt like home.  From the wrap around porch in the front, to the tri-level deck built for entertaining, to the custom features in the boys room.  We had the house inspected up the gazoo and all the experts verified that the bones of the house were solid and that it just needed a little TLC.  It will take a few long weekends, vats of elbow grease, and a lot of hardwork, but we are confident this house is our “forever” house.  The house the boys will grow up in.  The pool they’ll share with friends… the driveway where they will learn to ride their bikes… the porch they’ll kiss their girlfriends good night on.  And in the three short months that we have been here, we all call it home and know we made the right decision.

Now if I just had enough free time to actually finish unpacking…

~Kristi

07-15  My dad’s birthday.  He had a clever trick to ensure that we would all remember the day he was born.  I can’t tell you what it was though.  If I did, I’d have to kill you.  But it’s a trick he learned from his dad and for that reason 06-11 will also forever be engrained in my mind.  Smart men.

So, as I said, today is my dad’s birthday.  A day to celebrate everything there is to love about him… and I assure you there is plenty to celebrate.  He is one of the sweetest, toughest, most caring, hardest working old cowboys I know who completely melts… I mean melts… in the smiles and laughter of his grandchildren.  I watch him with the boys and I find myself wondering, “did he look this happy and content when he hung out with me at that age.”  And then he’ll turn and look at me and the pride in his eyes assures me that he did.

Here’s to you, Daddy!  Your strength as a father and a husband led me to the man I love and serves as an example of the men I want to raise.  I love you.  (Kisses on forehead, chin, cheek, cheek, and nose).

~Kristi (and Erik, Colton, and Jacoby)

At least for now.

No seriously, I have way too many blog entries half written in my head about the tales of our move (yes… we bought a new house), going back to work, Colton’s crazy antics, and Jacoby’s sweetness. It’s time to get them on paper.

So stay tuned. We’ll be here if you are.

~Kristi

We know, we know… we’ve been absent for awhile.  Life has just been too much fun lately and we just simply run out of time (energy) to post regularly.  If it makes you feel any better, we constantly have “post worthy” moments but just never follow through on actually posting the stories.  I feel guilty when so much time spans between updates and feel like our audience (limited as it is) deserves a big update.  So… in an effort to get us caught up… here is that big update.

Colton: Colton turned two in January and moved on up to the “big kid” two-year-old room at school.  And boy has it made a difference!  All of a sudden, he is turning into a little boy and seems to be growing further and further away from his toddler days.  He is talking all the time now… and we understand him about 90% of the time… and is pretty much a non-stop ball of energy.  My favorite words of his are “ooorrrangeeee”, “me-oooowww”, and (most recently) “Daddy” instead of just “Da”.  (I’m still Ma but we’re working on it!)

Jacoby: Seriously, could a kid be any cuter!  Jacoby has a way of smiling from his chubby cheeks all the way down to his toes and it just melts your heart!  The fussy, gassy days we battled for the first couple of months have faded and he has turned into a mild-tempered and happy little baby.  Like his brother, he rolled over early and now loves to prop himself up, play with his toys ,and watch the world (a.k.a. his big brother) go by.  He has quickly become one of the favorites at daycare.  I don’t know what it is, but our boys have a way of wrapping their teachers around their little fingers… it must be their Daddy’s flirt gene.

Here’s a few shots of the boys over the last couple of months:

Aside from battling multiple cycles of this winter’s nasty cold (one round even landed Jacoby in the ER for breathing issues… he’s fine now) our life has pretty much been about chasing after Colton and basking in Jacoby’s giggles.  Can you tell how much fun we’ve been having?  How could we not, right?

~Kristi

P.S. Welcome to the world Baby Tucker and Baby Weston!

Ten years ago to the day, I woke up and began to get ready for the biggest party of the decade… the ringing in of Y2K in a little place called Angels Camp.  The parents of my college best friend were throwing a down-home, backyard, in-the-middle-of-a-pasture New Year’s Eve Party in the hope of protecting their three cherished daughters from falling victim to the inevitable demise of the world when the computers failed to roll over into the new century.  Okay… so I’m exaggerating a bit… but Danny and Shannon threw one heck of a party that night complete with a ring of hay bales haloed with lights, troughs full of ice cold beer, and a tower of wood palates that would serve as the party’s “Time’s Square Ball Drop” when it was lit afire at midnight.  Little did I know, that my life would change forever that night.

My friend Kyle was the first to introduce us.  He casually introduced me to the friend of a friend and as I shook Erik’s hand to introduce myself, I experienced one of those sappy, sentitmental, “I just met my future husband” moments you only read about or see in a Meg Ryan movie.  But it was true.  I felt an immediate connection even with that first handshake.  I also remembered that he looked damned good in a low-slung baseball cap.  For the rest of the night, I kept bugging Kyle to casually “drop me off” near Erik any chance I got so I would have a reason to talk to him.  It must have worked because we ended up being each other’s New Year’s Eve kiss.  And I still remember exactly the way his hand felt when he held it for the first time that night – strong, worn, and safe.  To this day, I think our hearts knew we would eventually end up together, it just took our brains a few years to figure it out… his a little longer then mine.

After three years of friendship, two years of dating, and six months of engagement, we were married in a down-home, backyard, in-the-middle-of-a-field ceremony on my parents’ ranch.  There was no bonfire that night (unless you count the one our friends started in Tent City) but the trees were ringed with lights and there was still one heck of a party.  And I still remember the way my hands felt in his and we stood under an alter my little brother built and exchanged our vows – soft, loving, and safe.  The judge who married us that day talked about how we met, about how our friendship slowly blossomed into love, and in the spirit of our meeting, he wished that angels would always be camped out in our lives.  They are… one sleeps down the hall from us and the other at the foot of our bed.

This morning I woke up to the sweet wimpers of Jacoby, played catch with Colton and his new favorite OU football , and kissed Erik good-bye as he left to drop Colton at daycare and then go to work.  If you would have asked me ten years ago what my day would be like today, I’m not sure I would have known how to answer.  But  it is comforting to know how I will be celebrating each new decade fron here on out… and whose hand I will be holding.  I love you baby.

Happy New Year everyone!  May the next decade bring you all the love and happiness you deserve.

~Kristi

P.S. Thanks Danny and Shannon…

Many of you have asked us how we decided on Jacoby’s name.  Here’s the scoop:

Jacoby (Ja-Co-Bee)  - When I was pregnant with Colton, Erik suggested the name Jacoby after seeing Jacoby Ellsbury play in the World Series for the Red Sox.  I shot the name down almost immediately and despite Erik’s persistence, the name never made my top three list.  About half way through this pregnancy, Jacoby began to grow on me.  When we discussed using the nickname Coby, it pretty much sealed the deal for me and Jacoby quickly rose to the top.  We also contemplated the name Brandon and really didn’t make a final decision until about an hour after Jacoby was born.  Jacoby just seemed to fit him better… spunkier and spirited… a perfect fit for our “flipper.”

Thomas – I grew up at the base of a magnificant mountain in the High Sierras named Mt. Tom.  Our kids second names honor my history and since Erik and I both love the Owens Valley we wanted to incorporate it into Jacoby’s name.  Tom is a little bit awkward sounding as a middle name so we decided on the more formal Thomas.  (And no matter what Colton and Jacoby’s Uncle Tom says… we didn’t chose the name after him… even if Jacoby’s original due date was his uncle’s birthday.)

Kaleokani – Erik honors his Hawaiian heritage by chosing a Hawaiian name for each of our kids.  For Colton, the choice was easy as we used Erik’s Hawaiian name.  But this time, we got to start from fresh.  Erik really liked the name “Kaleo” which means “the voice.”  He asked his mom and cousins to help expand on that a bit and they suggested adding “kani” which means “joyful and sweet.”  Combined, Jacoby’s Hawaiian name translates to “the sweet, joyful voice”.  We’ll keep that in mind when he’s screaming at the top of his lungs in the middle of the night. 

More – That’s a given, isn’t it?

And that is how Munchkin got his name.

~Kristi

Our good friend Megan Wilkinson is a photographer and spoils us with her talent in capturing great images of infants and children.  She came over to the house last Friday for Jacoby’s newborn photo shoot and clicked away at all his cuteness.  And despite a very excited Colton, she managed to get some great shots of the boys together.  Check out the teaser here… http://www.meganwilkinsonphotography.com/blog/ 

Thanks again, Megan!  We can’t wait to see the rest of the pictures.

~Kristi

P.S. For anyone who is local and considering children’s photography, we highly recommend Megan!  Not only does she do fantastic work, but she is extremely patient with the babies and kids which I think makes them comfortable enough to “perform” for her.  She also does weddings and senior portraits.

To say the least, Jacoby took us on a wild ride and provided us and the hospital staff with plenty of drama right up to the end.  After the doctor was able to flip him back around a second time, she actually said, “okay… I’m not sure what to do at this point.”  Any time she would take her hands off my belly, Jacoby would try to sneak back up.  Erik chimed in and said he could just hold him in place for the rest of the delivery.  Considering that I was only dilated to 4cm at that point, it would have been a pretty good work out for Erik.  Instead, Erik suggested that we roll a couple of towels up and wedge them into my belly with the pressure of the girdle thing.  The doc said, “I’m willing to try it… we’re pretty much out of the text books, now.”  Well, it worked and that’s how we kept him in place for the next 5 hours. 

At that point, all looked well and labor was crusing along at a nice pace.  But not to be outdone, Jacoby gave us a little bit more drama.  Shortly after the nurses told Erik and me to take a little nap, three of them walked into the room to announce they would ALL be taking care of us now.  Then they all just stood there and stared up at the screen monitoring my contractions and Jacoby’s heart rate.  The new nurse announced that she thought they should turn off the Pitocin (the contraction inducing drug I was on) and call the doctor.  Okay… not good, right?  Long story short, Jacoby’s heart rate was dropping and staying dropped during each of my contractions.  While it would pick back up after a contraction, the nurses and doctor were worried that the up-and-down pattern would wear his heart out.  They mentally prepped us for an emergency c-section and explained that if it came to that, a flurry of activity would result in a baby being delivered in a mere 2 minutes.  Yeah… that nap never happened.  Luckily, I progressed quickly and the doc declared that it was time to push even before I was the full 10 cm dilated.  I told one of the nurses that I didn’t care, I just wanted the baby out and breathing on its own.  She said, “we do too… we do too.”  After about three contractions and maybe 6 minutes of pushing, Jacoby was out and crying within seconds.  Yes… little boy, you took us on a wild ride, but it was well, well worth it!!!

After spending two nights in the hospital, Erik and I brought Jacoby home and we have attempted to settle in to our new life.  For the most part, Jacoby proves to be a very easy going baby… but we know it’s only been a week.   He took to breastfeeding like a champ and even allows us at least one 4 – 5 stretch of sleep at night.  We can’t complain about that, can we?  He is putting on weight and losing that “newborn” look.  We are pretty sure he wasn’t quite ready to be born yet… despite his antics at the end… so it’s good to see him fill out a bit more.

Colton has taken to his roll of big brother with much enthusiasm.  In fact, too much enthusiasm at times.  He welcomed his little brother home proudly by waving to us with Papa and Nana from the drive way.  He then made sure that Jacoby had his pacifier when we brought him into the house.  The gesture melted our hearts!  He is pretty excited about having a baby in the house and at times just stares at him as if he is anticipating all the fun they will have together.  Hopefully he will be patient enough to let Jacoby grow up a bit before the rough housing begins.  Right now, he doesn’t quite get how to “be gentle” and we have had to block Jacoby from a few overzealous head pattings from his big brother.  Oh… and he seems gigantic to Erik and me!!!  It’s amazing to think that the little bundle of joy we brought home a week ago will grow to be as big as Colton in just a short 21 months.

Jacoby’s first week was also filled with lots of love from Nana and Papa.  They both arrived early to watch Colton while we were in the hospital… one of the advantages of being “scheduled”… and left this morning.  But not before Tutu and Grampa could arrive to meet their second grandson and shower both the boys with love for the next week. 

Unfortunately, the gallery conveniently decided to break.  Yeah… perfect timing.  Erik has been working on it throughout the week but hasn’t been able to fully debug the issue.  Until then, we hope these shots of the boys tie you over…

 

Thank you everyone for the outpouring of love and support during and after Jacoby’s birth.  Hearing your comments kept us both going and makes us realize just how lucky we are to have such a strong network of friends and family.  Stay tuned for more updates on the lives of the More Boys.

~Kristi