First Love

Could it really happen?!! Could River fall in love with my bestfriend's daughter? Would that not be high school bestfriends' dreams come true?! Yes, I know Emi Kate is 2 1/2, but as they get older - she could be a "cougar." Or will their new baby due in January be the one that steals River's heart? I'll have to pin my hopes on Emi Kate because that's all I have to work with now.

Amanda, Heath, and Emi Kate came up for a visit a couple of weeks ago. It was so much fun to have my bestfriend from high school and her family hanging out with us. We had loads of pure enjoyment watching River interact with Emi Kate. It was like he knew...she's a tiny human like me. He thought everything she did was funny. She would roll a ball, and he would crack up which would lead her to do it more. They were very entertaining! I loved watching the spawns of the dynamic duo (Amanda and Kari) playing together. There were times where I could see us in them.

I quite enjoyed having them here, and it made me miss the Ashworth family even more. Here are some pics...

"Shhhhh, Baby!"

"I think she's into me."

"Will you be my girl?" HIGH FIVE!!

"I'm going in for the smooch."

"She likes to cuddle."

Blog Neglect. River Update.

Ok,
We have been crazy busy lately! Therefore, our blog has suffered the consequences of neglect.
So, just to fill in the blanks, here is a little update of River.
He is wonderful and he is growing like crazy! That just about covers it.
He wants to crawl but can't figure it out. He wants to walk, but can't keep his balance. He talks in baby talk all day long and is getting louder and louder the older he gets.
He loves to play and be tossed around and tickled alot...who doesn't?
He loves his mama, but is getting around to wanting his daddy a bunch to play.
He doesn't know physics yet, but he is eating alot of people food. We (meaning mostly Kari) put veggies and fruits in the food processor and turn them into mush and then freeze it in these ice trays. When it is time for him to eat, we just throw a couple cubes into the pot and warm them up...voila!, baby food. He loves it. He grunts and growls and kicks and yells when he is eating. I think he is trying to say "GIVE ME MORE!". I am teaching him to say please and be patient. I'll let you know how that goes.
We go to the doctor next week for his 9 month check up. Hopefully everything charts out as normal.
Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure;

A River Photo Update

We have a ton of pictures of River that we need to show everybody.
But first, some developmental updates...
He can't quite say the entire alphabet yet, but he can goo and gaa most of the phonetic sounds, most even with a pacifier in his mouth.
He loves to play and swing his arms and kick his feet. He will wake up before us in the morning and lay in his crib and play by himself for a long time, just singing and throwing his paci around and kicking around in circles. It's really cute.
He is sitting up really well and reaching for everything. If he gets his hands on something it goes directly into his mouth. I have had to use the "no" word a few times with him already, even though he doesn't know what it means.
He has two teeth and bites Kari while he is feeding. He also is eating avacado, green beans, and peas now. We just buy veggies at the store and put them into the food processor to make some baby food. It's much much cheaper so far.
The result of those additions in his diet is a change in his poo! It's quite stinky now and there has been a magical change in consistency. I have to say that the cloth diapers are working wonderful though!
He's heavy, at least my arms think he's heavy. I can't hold him as long as I used to. He is 16 lbs. and is 26.5 inches long.
Now for a load of pictures.

River and Uncle Choyer relaxing

Cowboy River!

The cutest picture of all time! This is his new sleeping buddy.

Grammy and River on the porch.

Pappy's 70th birthday.

Hey ya'll

"Do I have any buggers in my nose?"

River the Water Baby

River had his first trip to the swimming pool a few weeks ago. We are just getting around to putting some pictures up.
He seemed to enjoy it, or at least it didn't scare him. He was very calm and quiet the whole time. We think it was because he missed his afternoon nap and was very tired. Towards the end of the adventure he was falling asleep on our shoulders.
We only kept him in the water for 10 minutes or so at a time and we only stayed 30 minutes all together. The internet said that was the safe way to get them started in the pool.
And like most people, after a day at the pool, we came home and River took a loooong deep nap. There is something about the sunshine and water that just wears you out.
Here are some pics:

I added the shark for some danger effects

"Take me home mommy!"

Virginia is for Family

River made his first trip to Virginia last weekend to see family. I had a rare 4 days off in a row and Kari and I mulled over sitting at home and relaxing for a change or trying to make the trip to Virginia to introduce River to my side of the family.
It had been 3 years since I visited VA. Life's business got the best of me. So we decided to attempt the 8 hour car ride broken into two days and make a little speed visit up north.
River did wonderful in the car ride. Each day was around 4 hours, give or take some. He only fussed the last hour of the last day on the way home.
I don't think he has ever been passed around so much. I almost put him in a little football outfit and just handed him off to everyone that passed by. Play-action River. (that's a football term)
It didn't seem to bother him too much that he was getting tossed around like a hot potato either. He just went with the flow. I guess he knew it was all just family.
So here are some pics from our little jaunt to Virginia.

This is my parents garden. We helped pick some luscious veggies to eat.

Great Aunt Susan

Cousin Brandy, Cousin Sadie, Great Aunt Kim, and Grandma

Cousin Sadie getting some practice for her baby sister coming soon!

Cousin Reed

Some evening relaxing time with Grandma and a nice book.

The next morning we went to the locally famous Blue Collar Joe's Doughnuts. My mouth is salivating right now just thinking about them!!

Great Maw Maw

Great Paw Paw. This is where River got his middle name Morgan!

Aunt Jody and Cousin Morgan

Cousins CJ, Morgan, and Mikey

Uncle Chris looking like a seasoned pro

Meeting my Grandpaw J for the first time

Aunt Haley

Grandmaw J

The Teals New Home 2

This is the second installment of the Teals New Home updates.
Kari and I stopped by the house yesterday evening to check out the finished product. I think they are coming into town this next week to have a walk through inspection and then close the week after that.
The house looks great! I think they made alot of wise choices with it. Here are some pics that we
took and promised them we would put on the web for their viewing pleasure;

6 Months Already

River Morgan Jenkins is 6 months old already!! It's hard to believe. We wanted to give a little update, and of course pictures of our growing boy.

River is almost sitting on his own. We've really started to work with him. He'll get it for a few seconds but prefers to fall over and laugh right now. It won't be long. I just know it.

He enjoys standing. If I would sit there all day and hold him up, he'd be perfectly happy.

We've started the solid food adventure. He's only had rice cereal so far. I'm still working out when to feed him, the temperature of the food and all that. We're still nursing, so he fills up on the milk and I'm trying to figure out when is the best time to feed him before he goes back down for a nap. My priority is to nurse for as long as I can, so that's my focus. So, I always nurse first. His tummy is so tiny and full that he only enjoys a small amount of the cereal...I feel like I'm cramming it in sometimes, and much to my dismay...it comes back up shortly. Also, I'm trying to do that at "breakfast." Well, he gets up around 6 or 7 and has a great feed and takes a nap a couple of hours later. I don't even usually get to the rice cereal until around lunch. I'm open to suggestions.

He loves trees. I can put all of his toys in front of him, and he'd much rather watch the trees blowing in the wind through the window. He gets totally mesmerized. Most times a quick trip outside will calm him down instantly.

He has worked so hard these last couple of months teething, and it may have paid off. There's one tooth. It's on the bottom, and we can feel it with our finger where its broken the gums. But he won't let us at his lip enough to get a good look. I don't think it's all the way through, but it won't be long. He's still going strong and chewing away.

Definitely, he has found his voice. Sometimes he "talks" from the moment he gets up until he goes to sleep. Nap Times are the quiet times. I wonder where he got that!

And River is no doubt a Mama's Boy at this point. I'm trying to soak it all in because I have a feeling when he gets older this Cuddly Snuggly Mama Love will morph. So, for now I'm soaking in all those moments he wants to nestle up to me, rub my hands, and sit on my hip.

Now, for some photos...

The Day of Reckoning!!

Well, it's August 1st...The Jenk Adventure's Day of Reckoning we're calling it. It's the beginning of our journey to become DEBT-FREE!! It should be a wild ride for sure.

Over the nearly 6 years we've been married, we have managed to get our debts down to one. One lonely but huge debt that we are about to tackle......those student loans.

Starting today, we're going to live on a TIGHT budget. Hopefully, we'll be able to live off of Ryan's income and use what I make to add on to the monthly payment. We thought we would let our family and friends know what we're doing for accountability, encouragement, and support.

Here are some of our ground rules...
1) We can only spend $30 a month on eating out.
2) Our gift budget has dwindled down to $30 as well. Sorry, loved ones!
3) The entertainment side of things...well, it has to be FREE!
4) My grocery allowance...every 2 weeks, I get it in cash and I can't use the card. So when we're out, well....we have to get creative.

That hits some of our basics. We'll keep everyone posted on our journey to have peace in our lives financially.

Since it is the Day of Reckoning, I've also started it as the Day I Begin Getting My Body Back....Stay tuned for a post on that later....

Birth Extravaganza #4

Well, here's the last birth story I have for now. My hats off to those of you who have actually read all 4!

Sarah and Chris: Should I call them my guinea pigs?!! Or am I theirs? Who knows. But I met this lovely couple at a Birth Fair back in the spring time. They contacted me about being their doula, but they were also interested in childbirth education. So, the guinea pigging began. I needed to teach a class as part of my mentoring program and they needed some preparation. I taught them my first 6 week Birthing From Within class series at their home. I enjoyed it, and I think they did too.

Sarah called after we had gone to bed to let me know her water broke. I suggested she get cleaned up and go back to sleep because she was going to have to do some hard and exciting work tomorrow. I went back to sleep expecting a call during the night or early morning. Around 7 a.m., she called and they were already at the hospital. I was a bit shocked and for a moment started second guessing my childbirth preparation ability. But whatever. They felt like they wanted to go, and so you just have to go with it. It's their birth story to unfold.

When I arrived that morning, she looked stir crazy and bored. Her body wasn't getting into a rhythm, and they pretty shortly started discussing Pitocin to jump start things. I felt like we needed some life in that room, so I opened the window for some sunshine and fresh air. It felt good!! Shortly, the nurse came in and told me to close it. "It makes the hall humid," she said. I thought to myself...Well, damn! I would hate for the hall to get humid. Let's close the window and make the laboring woman miserable and her room uncomfortable (can you hear my sarcasm from your computer?). Just one more reason I love birth centers, midwives, and home birth. You can even go out into that humid air if you wanted!

Anyway, they had tried some other means...a shower, some nipple stimulation, but they were ready for something else. Pitocin started and things started "happening." She wasn't bored anymore. We worked for some hours on Pit, and she started crying. It was super intense after the nurse taped over the Pit machine so she couldn't see how high she was turning it up. Sarah started to lose her confidence in her ability to give birth naturally. She began to look at the time and think about how things would be feeling later in the day. We tried talking with her, but she just couldn't get it out of her head. And the nurse, who was great at her job, didn't really encourage her to keep going either. That wasn't sarcasm. Her nurse was a great nurse, and at the same time, she felt like her "losing it" already was too soon for a natural birth, so she encouraged her to give up her ideal. I feel it's ok for me to share this part. We talked about it openly with each other.

Birth is what it is! You prepare, know it's going to be hard as hell, and that you can do it. A lot of it is mind over matter. You have to believe in yourself and the ability of your uterus. You have to trust your care providers and trust that they will support you the whole way! Take it one step at a time...knowing you won't explode and do everything to not think of anything else but getting through that one contraction you're feeling at that moment.

With that being said, I also have another philosophy for a laboring woman. You prepare for it (mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually), but you have no clue what nature is going to give you. So, you walk the path of labor ONE STEP AT A TIME. There's no right or wrong choice. You just have to walk your way through it. In every situation, a baby is born and a mom is born. Of course, you have your dreams or ideals, and most of the time if you put balls to the walls you can get it done...Like I said IT IS HARD WORK...a complete loss of control and inhibitions, an out of body experience to say the least. A thriller ride if you'd like. But you walk the path, take what nature gives you, and do your personal best. That's all you can do! However, it unfolds - it does...so natural, epidural, c-section...you don't lose your power or abilities, but there does come a point where you just do whatever it is you have to do to get your baby here.

So, for Sarah...she received the epidural. We talked through her decision and encouraged her to still embrace her baby's birth and her birth as a mother one step at a time. She still had some hard work to do pushing. But before she could even close her eyes, she had completely dilated. Maybe that's what she needed...the epidural to relax herself. Who really knows?!

Sarah pushed and pushed. Her doctor persistently offered her an episiotomy to get the baby out, but she kept declining. She would rather tear. The nurse I mentioned earlier looked at the doctor and told her to stop talking and massage her perineum. Loved it!! Well, she pushed and pushed and nudged and nudged that baby out....with only a skid mark...one tiny stitch.

And Edward was born on July 14th at 6:15 p.m.