Lately I have been finding less and less time to sit down and do things like blog. I didn't even realize that I went the whole month of January without writing a single one. Well now its February and there's no sign of things slowing down. Throughout January we have had such nice weather over here! We had numerous days weather its was at least 70 degrees out; so we all took advantage and spent the time outdoors. We made so many trips to Home Depot for yard tools and other things to do projects outside that I have lost track, so many in fact that Steven now asks every time we get in the car, "We go to Home Depot now?" lol, he loves that store just like his daddy. He never gets bored or complains about it; he is just amazed by all the stuff and constantly asks what everything is for and we have to explain. Ever since I can remember he has been such a big helper; he definitely has a servants heart. Everyone says that you can learn more from your children if you just watch them and let them teach you, and its true. I have already learned so much about being a cheerful servant and Steven's not even 3! Anyways, he amazes me every day. He loves to work in the yard with Richard. He even has his own rake and "helps" Richard rake up the pine needles and then stomp them down in the yard waste container. We spent most of January cleaning up our new backyard which has clearly been neglected for a very, very long time. When he's not helping clean up, Steven is usually outside playing when its nice out. If its a bit cold he will still go out to play but then eventually he'll get cold and come inside where he will play trains for hours. It is getting increasingly difficult for me to get down on the floor to play with him but he is doing a great job coping with my inability, which is also amazing to me. It's almost like he actually understands that I just can't bend like I could when there wasn't a baby in there. He is already such a good big brother. He loves to try to feel the baby kick and his eyes gets so wide and bright when his little brother cooperates and kicks his little hand. Steven loves it so much that he pretends that there is a baby in his own tummy. After he feels my tummy, he lifts his shirt and says feel my tummy mommy. Then once you put your hand there he will thrust his little belly against your hand and say "baby's kicking you!" It is so hilarious.
Also this month we have started to introduce potty training to him. He has been able to go pee on the toilet for a while now but he doesn't do it on a regular basis, usually just before bath time. We went to the library and got a few books for him to look at about potty train. There is one that he is obsessed with now; it's called The Potty Train and is about a little boy riding the potty train. Right now we are just talking about it with him and getting him used to the idea of it before we try to actually tackle the subject. He is already starting to tell me that he went pee pee or poo poo which I guess is a step in the right direction. At least he is noticing that he went instead of just doing it. I'm really hoping to have him pretty much potty trained before Jonas is born in May but we shall see. I'm not really set on it so if he doesn't want to or shows any resistance its not going to be a huge deal. It will happen when it happens and I'm alright with that.
Richard went on another mission in the middle of January for about a week. Then he was home for about 2 weeks and he left again. He is still gone and will probably be gone until at least next week sometime. Last time he went to the same places he has been before, Germany then down range ("to War" as he likes to say) and then back home. This time he has spent about a week in Germany just waiting to begin his mission. I don't know, nor could I say if i did, all the details but he gets to go Greece this time! I'm just a tad jealous about that; I have always wanted to go there. Luckily he got his own digital camera for Christmas so he should come back with some great pictures which I will post when he returns. It probably sounds weird, but I think I'm actually more busy when Richard is away then when he's home. I can get so much more done when he's not around. Don't get me wrong, I would much rather have him home but it's so much easier to just do what I need to when it's just me and Steven to worry about. When Richard is home all I want to do is spend time with him because he doesn't have to work much. I love it when he's home, but I think the Lord know us best. He knows I need Richard to be gone so I can get stuff done. Richard's job really is the perfect job for him and for us; it's definitely not for everyone but the Lord has led us here and He has delivered on His promise that He knows us better then we know ourselves. I really do miss Richard to death though! Well I think that's good for now. Thanks for reading my blog :)
So this is the story of how Jonas came into the world and our family. I went in Tuesday morning at 0530 for my scheduled induction feeling very ready. They started my pitocin around 0800. Over the next few hours I didn't really progress much but I was having very close and intense contractions so I decided to get an epidural. I didn't really want one but I was only at 4cm and he was still very high. I was at 3cm when I arrived and had been on pitocin for over 4 hours already. So they gave me my epidural around 1400 (2:00pm) and came back to check me around 1530 (3:30pm). The doctor broke my water then and Jonas was born at 1618 (4:18pm)!I went from 4cm to 10 in about a half hour. Jonas beat out his brother Steven in every measurement. Jonas weighed 8lbs, 2.9oz; Steven was 8lbs, 0oz. Jonas was 21.5 inches long; Steven was 21 inches long. Jonas was 4 days early; Steven was 9 days late. LOL We are so glad that Jonas is finally here and that my labor was relatively uneventful as far as complications go. When Steven was born his heart stopped and he wasn't breathing. Jonas didn't have any of those complications and was born with bright eyes just looking around the room, not crying a bit which after having Steven born the way he was kind of scared me a bit. The doctor reassurred me that he was fine. He just made a little squawk and that was it and he hasn't cried much since. He is an awesome baby just like Steven was. Although he didn't have any complications at birth, after doing lab work they found out that he has a reaction to my blood called ABO incompatibility. Basically he was exposed to antibodies that my body made in reaction to his blood type. This causes his red blood cells to die off and he becomes anemic and gets jaundice. So they kept us an extra day to watch him and then decided that we could go home as long as we came back the next day for a blood test. We came back for the blood test and his iron was up (which is good) and his bilirubin (which causes jaundice) was also up( which is not so good). Since it was only up slightly tho they decided it just needed to be checked in two more days. So on Sunday morning we headed for the hospital to get his blood test done before church. His bilirubin level had jumped a lot so he had to be re-admitted to recieve phototherpay. 
I was so sad 
and disappointed to have to come back to the hospital. Basically he had to lay there with only a diaper on under a blue light for 24 hrs. I couldn't hold him unless he was eating. It was so hard seeing him just lay there but he didn't seem to mind a bit. He never fussed! Only when it was time to eat did he even make a peep. He did amazing and his level dropped considerably so we got to come back home yesterday! This morning we had to come back for yet another blood test. This time it was great news! His levels have pretty much stabilized which means he's doing better and making his own red blood cells. We don't have to go back for 3 whole weeks!!! Yay! We are all home now and doing well. Steven absolutely loves having a baby brother. He hasn't shown any jealousy yet at all. He always wants to know what Jonas is doing or where he his. He even kisses Jonas' feet! LOL. 
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