Big Sister

Dylan has really been super sweet to Penny ever since she arrived. Any confusion or unhappiness she has felt due to Penny's arrival and introduction into our family has been in the form of crying or throwing a small fit when she can't be held when I am holding Penny. She will hit Penny one day, I know, but for now it is very nice that she hasn't been aggressive. In fact, she's been very loving and sweet. She will come up to Penny in the car seat or bouncy seat and say "hello penny" or "hello baby" and then show her a toy or offer her something to eat or drink. she doesn't ask to hold her anymore, but she does interact with her every now and then.

we had a super fun christmas. we spent early christmas morning with nonny, pop, GGP (great grandpa), Josh and Annie. then we headed over to the Job household and had fun opening presents with uncles, aunts, cousins and mimi and papa. then, we spent that evening at Nan's with the whole Job crew. it was a busy day, but such fun to be with lots of family. Dylan had a great time all day long - penny was mostly out of it, but next year will be a different story. what a blessing it is to have such wonderful family all around us. we missed having our cousins sea and sky here for the holiday, but we are looking forward to seeing them sometime in the spring hopefully.

well, here are some recent pics of Dylan trying out some new christmas presents.

--sarah

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! We are staying busy here trying to keep up with an energetic toddler and a growing infant. Penny changes everyday (as does Dylan). I have been trying to journal as much as I can so that I can remember these precious days. Penny has been a little smiler from the beginning. She is pretty even-tempered for the most part until the evening. She gets a little fussy but eventually gives up and falls asleep some time between 9pm and 10pm. This gives Charlie and me about 30 minutes to hang out (depending on how sleepy I am).

Dylan had her birthday on Tuesday - can't believe she is two already. We actually had her party on Friday with the grandparents (and uncle Josh). We tried to keep it low key since she is still so young - but I think she, as most toddlers do, got a little tired and overstimulated by the end. We had a fun time though. On her actual birthday (Tuesday) she got a fever in the evening and had a pretty rough night and next day. She is feeling better today though. Hopefully Penny doesn't pick it up.

Here are some recent pics of the girls. Hope everyone has a great Christmas!

--Sarah

Welcome Penny!

Penelope Quinn Job was born this morning at 4am. Sarah's water broke at 1am and we arrived at Lisa Ross Birthing Center at 2:15. After only an hour and three quarters the baby was born healthy and strong. Penny was born at 8lbs 3oz and 20.5in tall. Sarah was a power house! She stayed calm throughout the contractions and then gave it her all when it came time to push. It was awesome to watch her. We are home now and everyone is doing well. Dylan was very sweet to Penny when we got home. Hope to see everyone soon.

-Charlie

Things are going pretty well lately. I'm getting closer to my due date. I'm pretty comfortable throughout the day - but at about 5pm I tend to lose some steam and the belly feels pretty stretched. Charlie has been working pretty regular hours and has not had to travel since August - so that has been nice. He's still trying to find a more interesting job though.

Dylan is growing and changing by the hour. She continues to learn new words and she's a maniac at the playground. We generally head to one of the nearby parks at least twice a week. She loves slides and, as always, the swing. Just lately, when asked what is in mommy's belly, she says "baby." I know she doesn't understand the full consequences of that truth, but it's fun to hear her say it.

Well, that's about it. Our lives are about to get a little bit crazier and sleep will be in short supply for the next few months, but we're excited about meeting the new little one. Here are some recent pics of Dylan.

--Sarah

Long Time No See

Sorry for the long hiatus in posts. It's been one busy summer. A lot has happened since our last post. I (Sarah) quit my job in mid June, we went on our first family vacation to Charleston a few days after my last day at work, Charlie went to Portland to visit his sister Valerie, Charlie started his job in July and Dylan and I went to Tulsa, OK to visit my sister Jenny and grandparents in early August. Oh, and one more thing -- I am getting pretty big with baby #2 still in the belly. Wow, huh? Now perhaps you see why there haven't been any posts.

Unfortunately, Charlie has had to work some long days here and there and some weekends. He has also had to travel a bit which leaves a lot of us lonely. Dylan has started talking up a storm. A lot of the words can only be understood by mommy and daddy, but it is still some pretty impressive and cute stuff. She loves Miss Piggy from the Muppet Movie and the mean cat from Cinderella. So, apparently we are moving down the road of liking the most annoying movie characters. She still loves swings and is taking quite a liking to slides - especially the twisty ones. We have been playing with playdoh a lot lately. We started off making snakes (just long, skinny rolled pieces) and doughnuts. However, we have moved on to making stars and hearts and love decorating a rocking plastic dragon that we inherited. Oh, and we are pretty good with identifying colors now. I think purple and yellow are my favorite words that she says. It's pretty darn adorable.

Baby #2 (gender still unknown) is kicking up a storm but not keeping me up too much at night. We will have a doula this time at the birth - which is very exciting for both of us. It will be nice to have another person there who knows a lot about comfort techniques. Also, Charlie will be able to take a few breaks here and there to keep people informed about our progress.

Well, that's the update. Here are some pics. We'll try to post in a more timely manner next time.

--Sarah

Dance Party

Hello all you avid bloggsters, I know you've all been awaiting this update with bated breath. Where to start..... Well, I finally graduated with my Phd, errr my Masters, errr I mean my Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering. Yes I am indeed 29 and just graduating college, but I took a long break in the middle there. I've accepted a job in Clinton Tennessee out in the middle of nowhere, but the job shows promise and the money is good. I am grateful to finally be able to support my ladies. Sarah has resigned from her job and will be done on June 12 and then it's off to vacation for a week before I start work on July 6th. That's basically what we've been up to.

Dylan has been exploring the benefits of screaming for hours at a time at various times of the night. I think she's decided that 1-3am is the best time to wake up and scream, but she also likes to start the night off with a good hour of it sometimes. We've been trying to show her that it is possible to go to sleep and stay that way all throughout the night, but she isn't convinced. Besides the sleeping issues, Dylan has been a lot of fun. I'm throwing a bunch of pictures of her pestering the dogs and just being silly at the end here, and then an awesome dance video. Dylan LOVES the Beyonce song 'single ladies' and if you start to sing it she points at the computer and sais 'Moe' which means more.

Now you're up to date, I hope your lives don't seem insignificant compared to ours, but we can't all live the glamorous life of stay at home dads that are transitioning to working dads and working pregnant moms that are transitioning to stay at home moms. It's not all limosines and coctail parties... in fact none of it is limosines and coctail parties, it's more like baby seats and little turtle pools.

Word,
~Charlie

The beauty of language

Dylan is getting bigger and smarter by the second. Every day I'm amazed at the new concepts she grasps and how much she understands of what I say. In the grocery store the other day she was walking with me and she stopped to pull down some of those cylindrical salt containers. She pulled two of the containers down and I asked her to put them back. She tried to pick one of them up with one hand and I suggested that she might need to use two hands. She immediately picked each container up with both hands and replaced them on the shelf. What I'm really waiting for though, is for her to learn how to talk to me. She's been teething, sick and who knows what else over the last few weeks and it's incredibly frustrating for her not to be able to tell us what's wrong. She was waking up in the middle of the night and screaming for 2 hours unless we would go get her. When we would go get her she would immediately either want to get up and play, or just rest her head on our shoulder and basically fall back asleep (until we put her back down). I tried getting her, feeding her, changing her diaper and then putting her back down while rubbing her back and singing to her; however, she still screams at us for another 30 minutes after I leave the room. I must admit that part of the reason I want to be able to communicate with her better is so that I can say: "if you keep wining at me for no reason I'm gonna spank that little booty of yours", but mostly it's so that I can know what it is that is bothering her. Is she hurting or just mad that she's in her room; one makes me sad and the other a bit annoyed, but not knowing what the crying is for is worse than both.
I'm down to the last couple weeks of classes and I'm both panicking and excited. The nice thing is that it will be over no matter what in a few weeks, the bad is that I have an ass-ton (pardon my french) of work to do before then. On top of all the school work, I'm desperately trying to find a job in a market that just does not seem interested. Just to make the pressure a bit more real, Sarah is pregnant again which makes her more anxious about my lack of employment. For all of you Engineering employers reading this, give me a buzz.
Well, that's about it, I'm posting a couple movies that you should find entertaining. The first is Dylan performing all her best tricks, the other is of her doing self induced manual labor.

~Charlie

On the Go

Well - Dylan isn't actually walking everywhere on her own yet, but we're almost there. She can take about 10-12 steps all on her own, but she seems to prefer walking while holding one of my fingers. It's so fun to see her pound out a few steps with those tiny little feet. Dylan is getting another top tooth right now and isn't too pleased about the whole thing. She's been a little testy the last few days. She is waking up at 5:30am lately - which doesn't have me too pleased either. I'm hoping that we will soon revert back to our old schedule of 6:30am or 7am. I think everyone will be much more amiable at that hour.

well - we best be off. looks like nap time is coming to a close. Here's what you came for anyway. We love you all. Come visit in Tennessee if you get a chance! --sarah

Week of new discoveries

This week Dylan has just been doing more and more new things. From the last post you can see how much she liked the tutu on her head. Well take a look at the pictures below, she LOVES having stuff on her head. She'll try to put shirts over her head (and succeed), then she'll hand me pants to put on her head.
The other day, Dylan was holding on to the couch when Sarah clapped her hands; Dylan likes to clap her hands, so she did. She stood up all on her own for at least 20 seconds.
And then tonight at dinner Sarah introduced me to the fact that Dylan plays peek-a-boo. I'm posting tons of pics and a couple vids as proof.
Oh yeah, I just started my FINAL semester. Please keep me in your prayers as I look for a job this spring. If anyone knows about a well paying mechanical Engineering job, please let me know :)
-charlie