family update and photo dump

it's been almost 3 months with 3 kiddos in our home! Time is going so fast, but so slow. I feel like i am finally coming out of the new born fog, and it's hard to remember what it was like with just parker and brooklynn to tote around.  here's a quick update on us all!

 a few days old, to 1 month old

 parker wore this onsie in our family pictures when he was 8 months old!

 we drove over to Idaho Falls and blessed Jackson over labor day weekend. 

 1 month to 2 months.

Jackson: He will be 3 months old in just a few days. It has gone by so fast. he really is such a good baby.  of course he cries, mostly when he is tired. I've got him on a pretty good schedule now. i cant complain about his sleeping habits.  He goes to bed around 9:30/10 each night and wakes up between 3-4am to eat then goes right back till about 7 when we start our day.  he has the cutest smiles and is starting to find his voice.  lots of squealing and cooing going on. he puts up with parker and brooklynn constantly being in his face. he is currently my easiest (and dare i say favorite right now?) child. he doesnt talk back to me, tell me no, or fight and tease parker or brooklynn. he weighed in at just under 14 pounds at his 2 month appointment a few weeks ago.

Brooklynn: oh where to start with this sassy, spicy, spitfire, big attitude little girl? she is something else.  she hates listening to me, loves to say no, isnt a fan or particularly likes other kids... in fact she can be quite mean to them, screaming no as they pass her on the play ground, or generally look in her direction ha! we are entering the terrible twos with her, and EVERYTHING results in a melt down and temper tantrum. it's super fun. she is loving minnie mouse, super why, and curious geroge halloween. she talks in complete sentences about 80% of the time. which is completely crazy to me considering parker didnt start talking till he was 3, and still at almost 5 struggles A LOT with his speech. she still has a hard time pronouncing different letters, like cat is dat. and she calls parKer, parDer. but yes, she talks ALL. DAY. LONG. her voice has 2 volumes, loud and asleep.  but we love her for it.  she keeps things exciting around here, and definitely keeps us on our toes.  

 he is an AWESOME big brother and loves to hold jackson.

Parker: He has started pre-school this year.  last year we did a co-op preschool, and rotated between different houses. it was a great start and helped him learn how to listen to other adults and interact with other kids. This year he is going to a lady in our stake that does a preschool out of her home. he goes on tuesdays/thursdays from 9-11:15. He is loving it and learning so much. he can now recite the pledge of allegiance all by himself. he has known all his upper case letters for a long time now and has been able to write his name with uppercase letters for the last year. he is currently working on recognizing lower case letters and learning to write his name with them, which is a little trickier for him.  im in total denial that he starts KINDERGARTEN next year. i feel like i have SO much to teach him before he goes. I would LOVE for him to know how to read before he starts, but i think he needs to know how to TALK before he can read? my goal is to get him to recognize his lower case letters and all the letter sounds before he starts. 

Me: Nothing exciting happening for me. still just trying to keep 3 kids alive, fed, and happy, while trying to keep my house clean. its a tough job but someones gotta do it! after a year and a half of being a cub scout leader, i was released (HOLLERRRR!) and am now back in primary teaching the 6 year olds. much easier, and way less stressful!

Jared: He has just hit his 1 year mark at work. and my how things have changed in the year that he has worked there.  he has gotten a new boss, and 2 new co-workers were hired to help with the work load.  after only being there a year, he has seniority over them and feels pretty confident when they come to him for help and questions. he basically rocks at his job. he is really enjoying it. he currently works with the deacons at church (12 and 13 year old boys)

life with 3 kids is definitely busy, but not nearly as awful as i was anticipating.  i feel like we are finally in our new groove, and though it's hard to get out and about by myself with 3, i dont feel like its impossible anymore. 

we are just counting down the days to halloween.  Parker is so excited for it, and all things fall.  this time of year is so exciting and busy! we've got halloween, brooklynns birthday, thanksgiving, parkers birthday, christmas, and jareds birthday all within the next few months! so stay tuned.... maybe ill be back in 3 months to give another update! 

Jackson Leonard Rucks

Jackson Leonard Rucks made his grand debut into this world 1 day before his due date on Tuesday July 7, 2015 at 1:49pm. Weighing in at a whopping 8, yes EIGHT, pounds even and was 21 1/2 inches long.

Parker and Brooklynn were both born in the cold winter months, so this summer pregnancy was kicking my trash. The temperature here in Boise was over 100 degrees for almost a week straight (the week before my due date) and to say I was miserable was a complete understatement. My whole body hurt and my feet and ankles were so swollen.  

Tuesday Morning, July 7, Jared woke up extra early (5:30am) to get to work early cause we knew baby was going to be coming soon, so he wanted to get as much work done as he could.... at 5:45am, i rolled over in bed, and thought for a minute that i had peed my pants.... but i couldnt control the liquid! I went into the bathroom and told jared i thought my water had just broke, but i wasnt 100% sure. so we waited a little bit... i wasnt having any contractions, so i just paced the house... around 6:15am my contractions started up. They weren't awful, just uncomfortable. 

The kids woke up around 7am so we got them going for the morning, all the while my contractions were getting stronger and stronger. by 8:30 i was very uncomfortable, my contractions were coming about every 2-3 minutes. I told jared it was time to go. parker and brooklynn were outside jumping on the trampoline with grandma, so we said good bye, as we were walking back through the house my mom asked if we could bring her cell phone outside, and good thing she asked for it, cause jared and i were about a mile away from home when we got a call from her saying we had locked them out of the house! so we had to turn around and drive back home to let them back inside. at this point i was pretty sure i was going to die from the pain. a bit dramatic? possibly.

after arriving at the hospital they took us back to an exam room to see if i was dilated and we learned that my water had indeed broken, and that i was dilated to a 4. I immediately asked for an epidural, we were whisked off to a delivery room and nurses started coming in from all kinds of directions getting me hooked up and set up. the nurse anesthetist showed up about 9:45am and by 10:30am the epidural had kicked in and i was finally numb and comfortable. i still have no idea how woman birth babies without one. it blows my mind. guess my pain tolerance is just not that high! it was by far the best epidural i have had. it numbed me enough to not feel the contractions but i could still move my legs and feel a little pressure for pushing.

after things finally calmed down i was able to take a little nap while we waited. by 1:00pm i was completely dilated. I was nervous for pushing because i've had to push over an hour with my last two pregnancies. plus i had a feeling this baby was going to be much bigger than my other babies. (I kept telling everyone he was going to be an 8 pounder) i started pushing at 1:20pm, and to my great surprise, Jackson made his grand entrance into the world only 30 minutes later! He did need a little help coming out so they used the vacuum on him. he now has a big bump on his head where a little blood has pooled under the skin due to the vacuum. the doctor said it could take a couple of months for the body to break down that blood and for the bump to go away. i wish it was a little bump, but im sure when we go out into public i will get lots of questions on it, especially the older he gets!

i am so happy that he made it here relatively smoothly and safely. and im so, SO happy to not be pregnant anymore. his jaundice levels were fairly high, so we had to stay an extra day in the hospital, but it seems to be clearing up. 

Parker is loving having a little brother. The day we came home he wouldn't leave his side, it was cute. Brooklynn really doesnt seem to have an opinion one way or the other. but eh, thats okay. she has taken a greater interest in her own baby dolls though.