Introducing our Incredible Baby Boy....

Jack-Jack!

Prompted by a perfect suggestion from a sweet rose in the Cottage Garden, we have decided that our little guy's blog alias is indeed Jack-Jack. Unlike Dash who never stops moving/kicking/running (even in utereo), Jack-Jack is a laid-back sweetheart the vast majority of the time.
















At least he is until he gets mad....really mad. Thankfully, Jack-Jack only turns into a lip-quivering fireball when he is cold or is having his diaper changed. We look forward to getting to know the smallest member of the Incredible family and sharing his life with you!

In The Words of Dash....

BOOM!

This is what our oven looked like this week, leaving me searching our pantry and fridge for meals that don't require cooking, but not yet brave enough to take both kids to the grocery store to buy more food. The glass front of the oven literally exploded into a million pieces. Thankfully, no one was in the room at the time. Mr. Incredible and I were sleeping with the baby when my mom came into our room and said she needed Mr. Incredible's help. I didn't even see the mess, which is definitely a good thing, because it pretty much covered the first floor of our house.

The simplest of all meals--frozen pizza with salad-in-a-bag--was off the table, so we ate a lot of left-overs and cereal. On Friday morning, much to Dash's pleasure, a big truck showed up in front of our house and unloaded the new range.


The installers thought Dash was a riot, with his running, if unintelligible, commentary on the progress. They didn't even freak out when he started playing with their tools.


In order to avert a potential nervous breakdown by an exhausted wife, Mr. Incredible offered to let me choose any range that my heart desired. So we now have a 5-burner gas cooktop with a double oven. This is the only style that has the gas controls on the top, which was very important to me since Dash has managed to bypass almost every childproofing device in existence. I can barely get those plastic things out of the electrical sockets, but Dash has no trouble. He just hands me the plastic with a look that says, "you need to find a bigger challenge for me, Mom." Here is the new beauty...

The installers were even happy to let Dash keep the box that he can almost stand up in.

The box was later converted to a fort in the game room. Even Grandmom and Dash's aunt got into it!

Peace

Yesterday was my first solo day with the two kids. No grandparents, no husband, no sweat. Everything went so very smoothly. The boys were perfect, napped well, I managed to do dishes and fold laundry. Dash was taking an interest in the baby and not jealous when I fed him. As you can see, he wanted to make a close inspection of the little guy.

Mr. Incredible and Dash have chest colds, but they sound worse than they are and both are in good spirits. Before bed, I commented to Mr. Incredible what a blessing it was the the baby (Blog alias to be unveiled soon) and I were not sick.

Then, at a 5am feeding, I felt terrible and decided to take my temperature as well as the baby's. It was over 101. Just a pure case of the flu. My mother-in-law couldn't come in today, because she is sick, too. So it was just a very sick Mommy and the babies. Some of the newness of the the baby has worn off for Dash and he was not nearly as tolerant of me feeding him today. While Dash was taking a (much shorter than normal) nap, I fed the baby at the computer and caught up on some of my favorite bloggers' posts over the last 10 days and read that today is the optional memorial for Our Lady Queen of Peace. I didn't know that this Feast Day even existed (acutally, I don't even know what day of the week it is right now and Mr. Incredible put the wrong birthday for our little guy on the first draft of the baby announcements, which I only caught at the very last second after reading it several times), but the fact that it fell today and not yesterday made me think. Yesterday seemed so full of peace to me compared with today, if by peace you mean not stressful or full of trials. But to be at peace does not mean the absence of trials or conflicts, but rather depends on how we respond to the crosses of everyday life. Can a post-partum mommy have interior peace through flu, fatigue, fussy babies and an oven that died? How did Our Lady find peace as she fled with her newborn to Egypt? Let's just say that there were many aspirations offered to Our Lady Queen of Peace this afternoon...and having a wonderful husband helps a lot, too.

What's Going On When You're 5 Days Old?

Finally showing us his baby blues....

Snuggling with Grandpa...

A Strong Grip...

Some Mommy love...

Dash's commentary on the little man's crying...

Presenting...

Our newest little Incredible boy from God...

January 15, 2007
1:04pm
7 pounds, 6 ounces
19.5 inches

All are healthy...more to come

Plenty of Houseguests...

But no baby boy yet! You would think the blog hiatus would mean, quite literally, the fruits of labor, but not quite yet! Instead, I was graced with the presence of 5 of my dearest friends in my very own home, all of whom travelled from various parts of the country for a reunion. The one who made the weekend happen was "Aunt Weesie" who drove to another city so that she could take a friend's 19-month-old on a 4 hour flight as a lap child. Can anyone believe that is has been 5 weddings, one engagement, 8 babies, and too many cities and jobs to count since college? Last weekend was truly a gift since no one thought I would make it until 39 weeks (now going on 40...). We have been together for so many wonderful celebrations, events and births, but what we needed was a weekend with precisely nothing more than each other. We had a delightful wedding/baby shower last Saturday for which the certified cake decorator slacked off and made the guests of honor decorate their own cakes. Other than that, we talked, ate, and talked some more.





Dash, who has yet to learn the art of chivarly, let his sweet friend push him in his wagon. He did treat her to a lovely breakfast in his learning tower, though.


After the girls left, I had my first "false alarm" that led to my mom flying in from St. Louis. She has been stranded here because of the ice storm in the midwest while my father is at home with no power eating soup heated over a camp stove and sleeping by a fire. Momo being here this week is the best blessing...she has insisted on my taking at least 2 naps a day while she cooks and cleans and helps with Dash. Since our weather here has been no picnic, we are breaking into some of the Christmas presents that Dash never opened since there were so many it was overwhelming. So we spent part of the day in our new tunnel.

Happy Birthday Papa!

Happy Birthday to one of the two best grandpa's in the whole world! Despite some pressure that the best birthday gift would be sharing his birthday with his second grandson, it looks unlikely that this wish will be granted. Though early this morning when Mr. Incredible realized he had a completely flat tire, he was sure it meant today was the day I would go into labor. But before 9am the insurance company had sent someone out and his car is good to go. I *may* have mentioned over the phone that I was having a baby any day now, which could have speeded up the process!