It's A...(bunch of) Boys!

We have a bunch of new little boys in our lives and wanted to give them a blog shout out. The first was Shelley's son Landon, who was born on her birthday October 17th, and looks so much like his dad Brian. I think he will be a mama's boy, though - Shell was so into girl stuff and I think we finally converted her to at least be impartial!

Will (aka Mini-Mize) came next, born November 17th to Jason and Elizabeth Misner out in San Fran. He looks so healthy and perfect, and we think he looks like a 10 month old in these pics! Way to cook 'em, guys:)

And last, but certainly not least....Jamie and TJ are having a little boy! Yep, Thomas Kavanaugh Schwedler - who will be called "Kav" - is scheduled to arrive in April. I just knew it was a boy, I'm not sure why; and it sure does make me feel better about hand-me-downs with all of the stuff we are buying and Jackson is growing out of. We tried to convince them to change the spelling of Kav to Cav, so that we could buy all kinds of UVa gear, but that wasn't a strong enough argument (they are both lawyers). I am so freakin excited about the newest little man that will join our family in spring - and thrilled that he looks healthy!!

Back to work...

Well, I did it. I have now made it through 2 full days back at work with not one tear shed - at work, at least! I did cry tonight when I got home and Jackson woke up from his nap and just beamed at me. I swear this kid is gifted. This is a short week so the transition has been great; I arrived at work at 8 am on Monday and by 9 am we were off to the client site to do work already so there has been little ramp up time, but that prevents me from looking at the clock too often anyway. My colleagues and the partners at work have been great thus far in terms of understanding my needs, so I am very thankful for that and for them!! Here are a few of the recent pics I brought into work of our little one - he's about 3 1/2 months in these. And yes, I did put him in a shameless "Mommy Adores Me" shirt for my first day back at work. I didn't want him to forget! And I wore the necklace Shelley gave me with Jackson's monogram.

Happy Birthday, TJ! And Happy Thanksgiving everyone - if you are on this blog, then we are thankful for you in our lives :)

Labor is the easy part...

I have been preparing all week to head back to work on Monday, right before Thanksgiving, and am having a really tough emotional / mental time with it all. I feel like it is an identity crisis, where I'm going from being his whole world to something else that isn't yet defined. And we are thrilled thus far with the nannyshare we are doing, so I trust that he is in very good hands, but am sad that those hands aren't mine. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and reclaiming the career part of my life, but not ready for his newborn-hood to be over. So my advice to all my pregnant friends who are terrified of labor -- that is the easy part! It's the emotions that I suppose I'll have the rest of my life that are the kicker.

The Case of the Disappearing Paci

Kevin and I put Jackson down every night with a pacifier nearby for those 3 am wake up calls where he's in between sleep cycles and just needs to be soothed. After the bath he was upset and we gave him the paci while we were getting him dressed in his pjs, and then I nursed him. But before I put him down I realized I couldn't find the paci. So, picture the scene: Jennie holding a 17 lb sound asleep Jackson, Kevin on his hands and knees searching every inch of the dark nursery for about 45 minutes using the monitor as a flashlight, emptying the trash, rummaging through drawers - and nothing. Luckily we found a spare, and Jackson slept soundly for 9 hours. This morning I woke up my happy son and changed him out of his jammies, only to find...a paci in his armpit! Poor kid must have been sacked to sleep through the night with that thing in his clothes:)

Rocker Baby

Hey there world; no real news to share, just sitting here on a rainy day and wanted to give a shout out to Jackson's rocker style. We're pretty sure he's going to be a rock star, given his inclination towards music, that lady-killer smile, and his parents' God-given abilities (insert sarcasm here).

My maternity leave is winding down, so no promises on more posts before next spring, but we've really had a great time together. Lately I have alternated between sadness that his newborn-hood is drawing to a close, fear of how I'll get everything done, relief to "just" have to go to work, and restlessness to use my brain for things beyond calculating exactly how much time I can spend in a store before he'll need to eat again. But I have to say, I think I'm finally ready to go back, and Jackson has refused to take his second nap two days in a row - coincidence? I think not. It is times like these when I realize exactly why God made babies so darn cute! PS, as I wrote this post, my adorable son puked on me - he has great style AND perfect punctuation to my confluence of emotions!

My First Halloween!

Our little lion had a great time for Halloween. He tolerated the costume for most of the night, accompanied by his trusty sidekick Bodhi, aka Dog-u-la or Drac-u-dog. Opa also came in to celebrate with us (mom was out of town) and tried his scariest lion face out on the kids. It was great to have Kevin home on time and fun to think of Jackson running around for next Halloween!

Jess and Carson Take DC...

Our great friend Jess was in town in mid-October for a 3 week tour of the east coast while her husband completes his 3 month tour in Iraq. As I went to the polls last Tuesday to exercise our freedoms, I explained to Jackson that we were only able to vote due to brave people like Chris protecting our freedoms! Jess came with 9 month old Carson in tow, Kelly came in with Maddie, and the kids all had a great time getting to know each other. Here are a few shots from the trip - trying almost in vain to get one good shot of us and all the kids, hanging out in the neighborhood (I especially like the shot of Carson checking out Jackson's luxurious locks!), visiting the Capitol, and enjoying our rare time together. We miss you Jess! And we missed Shelley and Sarah, too, who couldn't make this trip thanks to a baby Landon and a busy schedule - we can't wait to see you guys:)

Pumpkin Patch

We've been a bit behind on updates, but have really enjoyed the nice warm but crisp fall weather we've been having in Virginia! We recently went to a pumpkin patch with our friend Frederique and her 2 kiddos - Lucas and Chloe - in prep for Jackson's first Halloween, and got local apples, a hayride and afternoon in the pumpkin patch, and back to mama's country roots...