Oh my! What a hot one today. Trystin's friend Chloe stayed overnight last night. I decided to swing by Ashby Park before we took her home. The water in the splash pool was nice at first, but after a few minutes it didn't feel quite as refreshing anymore. Jack tried getting out to play on the toddler equipment, but the rocks burned his feet and he wasn't ready for shoes yet (because that would mean we were going home). Max got heat rash - his poor face is all broke out. Everyone was exhausted after just 30 minutes.

Yeah! We finally have interet again. During one of the storms a couple weeks ago, an electrical surge came through the cable line and took out a bunch of equipment. Curtis (aka Mr. IT) thoroughly inspected our home network, and got to work. Unfortunately, each time he fixed or replaced something, he discovered another piece needed fixed or replaced. So with a couple trips to Mediacom and special orders from NewEgg, we are finally back in business. I never realized how much I rely on email and this blog to stay in touch with the outside world.

So....what's been happening around here? Well....

• Max is stretching out (his limbs are SOOOO long and skinny) and starting to show us his personality. He loves his daddy - smiles whenever he hears Curtis' voice. Last night Max only woke once during the night!!! It was really nice to get a 5 hour stretch of sleep instead of just 2-3 hours.
• Jack loves to dance. I'll try to add a video I captured of him - he does the funniest thing with his hips. Whenever Curtis asks him if he wants to go to the "tool store" (Lowe's), Jack runs to get his shoes. His favorite phrases are "Where'd it go?" and "Wait!"
• Happy 10th Birthday Trystin! We got a DQ ice cream cake Thursday to celebrate. He spent today watching his Ben 10 Season 3 DVD and playing Hulk & Ironman on the Wii. Tomorrow we go for pizza and bowling.
• Happy 3rd Anniversary to Curtis & me! Yes, it has really been 3 years. Curtis brought home the most beautiful flower arrangement ever for me. And I must say, he looks extrememly handsome in the new polos I bought for him. We are going to try to go out to Red Lobster one of these nights. But with 3 boys and the addition project, who knows how that will work out.
• As for the house, Curtis will probably start shingling this weekend. I'm hoping I have enough Gatorade mix to keep up with him since it's supposed to be in the 90's with high humidity. It'll be so nice to have the roof complete so we don't have to worry so much about all the rain we've had this season.
• Speaking of rain, our yard is a swamp. We've developed a low spot by the driveway that constantly oozes water. Several spots in the field cannot be mowed because we can't get the mower through the soggy ground. And about a week ago, the creek flooded for the 3rd time this summer.

For the fans of our pictures and videos, I'll get those added later this weekend. So stay tuned - I'm back on the net!

Will our water woes ever end? Last night we were up until about 11:30 trying to stop the rain from leaking in the attic over the kitchen. Curtis kept calling for bucket after bucket until we ran out of buckets and had to start handing any container we could find - coolers, tupperware, cut up milk jugs.....Curtis stayed home from work today to patch up holes in the roof. He thinks he got most of them. Fingers crossed we don't have to re-roof the whole thing, which is what it was looking like we would have to do last night.

Max's bilirubin is still elevated, although not enough to require more time on the blanket. We went to the doc Mon, Wed, and Fri this week. We go back again Tues. I think his problem is that he just doesn't poop enough. When he finally does poop for the day, we've started cheering for him.

Wanda got a haircut this week. I don't have a picture yet (she's is so NOT photogenic), but trust us - she's adorable once again. No more dreadlocks.

Yeah! Max is off the bili-blanket! It's so nice to not be attached to an electrical outlet. However, we still have to go back to the doctor on Monday to get a new bilirubin level and weigh him just to make sure he's really doing well. But I can live with that. Today I took him outside several times to get some natural sunlight - anything to make sure we don't go back on the blanket.

In construction world, the 2nd story walls started to go up. Curtis built the walls in sections so installation is going easier than expected. Of course, after 2 trips to Lowes for the day, we still don't have quite enough 2x4's on hand to complete the north wall. Oh well - maybe Jack will get to go tomorrow. He loves the tool store! Curtis's dad also got the stairs installed. I tried walking up them, but they're not enclosed yet and the boards for the steps are only temporary. My fear of getting to heights (not a fear of heights - just a fear of getting to them) kicked in and I had to go back down before making it up the full flight.

Jack had a visitor today - Alex! He has her wrapped around his little finger. They spent most of the afternoon with Alex carrying Jack, and Jack pointing where to go next. He has a tooth that's bugging him, so he had to take a cartoon break for a while to let the Children's Motrin work its magic. But once the medicine kicked in, he was back to normal Jack.

Max is glowing green! I took him for his first doctor's visit yesterday afternoon, and his bilirubin count was at 14 (should be less than 10). So he's hooked up to a bili-blanket, which is basically a light pad that gives him a constant exposure to UV rays which break down the bilirubin. It's the modern day version of the old wives' tale of sitting the baby in the window. We had tried keeping Max near a window and short walks with him outside before his doctor visit, but with the high heat and humidity, it was difficult to get him out there enough. Now we're trapped inside and can't be too far from an electrical outlet. Hopefully we hear from the Home Health nurse soon about when they will be out to get a new bili level and see how quickly we can take him off it.

Here's Trystin helping give Max a bath yesterday morning. Well, mostly he just stood there and watched. But he was a good big brother. Last night he was a good helper for dad, too. He picked up loose screws. Curtis has the garage area pretty much enclosed - we're just waiting for garage doors, need to install 2 windows, and start building stairs and walls for the laundry room. The flooring is all screwed down, so he will be starting to build walls for the 2nd floor. Roof trusses have been ordered and will be here next week, if not by the end of this week. It's going fast now!

And Jack is still all boy. Here he got a hold of daddy's hat before heading to play in the dirt. Yesterday he got a hold of Trystin's shoe, managed to put it on correctly (well, not the right foot, but had it on his foot nonetheless), and walked around the living room like it was no big deal. He's been very entertaining. Every once in a while he gets a little upset that mommy can't always pick him up, but he's very happy to have Grandma Elaine's as a back up. He likes to check on baby Max in the basinet. The little booger is so strong he can do a pull up on the basinet without any assistance - nice show of strength, but unfortunately for him something that gets him in trouble!

Welcome Home Max!!

Jack finally got to do some w-o-r-k!

4 generations: Mommy, Grandpa Den, Jack, and Great Grandpa Ed

So Max decided to show us who's boss once again. Monday evening I started having contractions that wouldn't stop no matter what I did, so we decided to get checked out, thinking Max was still breech. When the nurses did their initial exam, we were delightfully surprised to discover Max had flipped over at some point in the evening and was now ready to be born on his own - no c-section! So the nurses started monitoring and we waited. And waited. And waited. Every time we thought the contractions were starting to pick up, they would stop. And just when we were convinced the contractions were totally done and it was time to head back home, the contractions would start up again stronger than before. Finally late Tuesday morning, Dr. Morgan ordered an ultrasound after a brief concern that Jack was not handling contractions well. Max was just fine (he had just been taking a cat nap in the womb), but we all decided today was the day and we weren't going home. Dr. Morgan broke my water to encourage things along. Once again though, my contractions were strong but didn't progress. So around 1pm or so doc ordered the lowest dose of Pitocin. And things finally started taking off. Max took his first glimpse of the world at 4:31pm July 1. He weighed just barely under 6lbs and stretched out 19 1/4 inches.

So yea! No surgery required. We were able to deliver just the way we wanted. No pain killers - just ibuprofin afterwards. We are looking forward to seeing what kind of person Max will become. So far we think he's going to have an "I'll show you" attitude. Why do we think that? Well....

• I didn't think I was pregnant in the first place. Curtis made me take a test anyway, and well, Max showed us!
• We were convinced we were having a girl. But Max showed all boy at his 21 wk ultrasound.
• He made us go through the whole breech situation. Yes, it was fun to see him with the extra ultrasounds, but the idea of c-section had us really anxious.
• Everyone said we would never make it until July (due date was July 15). Max showed us by coming early but of course he waited until the first day of July to prove everyone wrong.

Trystin and Jack have each had a turn to visit already. Trystin held him for a while and then asked for his Big Brother present. Unfortunately we had forgot it at home in our rush to get to the hospital Monday night. But he understood and is looking forward to finding out what kind of book he'll get once Max is home. Jack was also thrilled to meet his brother. I know he doesn't understand the concept of baby brother, but you could tell he knew Max was special to our family. Jack gave Max the sweetest kiss to welcome him.

We'll add pictures once everyone is settled back at home. Thank you to everyone who's sent us messages!