Jackson's first blog post - birthday pictures!

Well, at long last here they are! Super thanks to Lynsey for getting these available for my blog to share w/ family & friends long distance. ;) I am so grateful that we hired a birth photographer - it all happened so fast that these really help me to remember that special day. Jackson Brian was born 8/29/09 at 9:17am, after a 4 1/2 hour labor! We had our VBAC waterbirth and it was amazing. He was 10 lbs, 11 oz and 21 1/4 inches long - a whole 1 lb and 1 oz bigger than Kate and a quarter inch taller - he's our linebacker! They're a little bit in reverse order, but I don't know that I have the time or energy to reformat this goofy blog! :) Hope you enjoy these...





Introducing Kate to her little brother

Nana meets Jackson

Three generations of Atwell men

Cute little button!

Our midwife is checking him out, feeling his head

Measuring him

Breakfast in bed was so delicious after the birth!

Grandad meets Jackson

Love Kip's expression when he sees how much his son weighs!! Ummm... am I reading this right?!

Sucking his thumb in our herbal bath afterwards

Cuddles with mama

Relaxing in our bath

Our wonderful doula Camron

Holding Daddy's hand

His feet are so big and yet still so tiny!!

Looking at mama

Immediately after birth

Daddy got to cut the cord after it was done pulsating

Starting to hit me that even though I feel awesome I am kind of tired!!

Holding mama's hand

Kind of a Kate-face here - pretty funny!

Feet and umbilical cord just after birth

Our first really good look at him

Right out of the water into our midwife's loving hands!

Kip supporting me while pushing

Jackson had a Gentle Beginning, thanks to a little bit of hard work, lots of love from his midwives, and an enormous amount of grace from God.

Thanks for all your love and prayers!

Ok, now THIS is my last post before Jackson...

Kate got a wild streak today running up and down our hallways w/ her 2 balls in her PJ's - future soccer star! :)

Last blog before Jackson...

Well, here it is folks. My last blog before Jackson's arrival. And yes, I clearly did NOT spend much time on putting it together in some semblance of order. My apologies in advance, but I am a bit busy these days!

Kate at the midwife's office - she plopped down, picked up my chart & a click pen & got to work. Future midwife... cool.


Like Mommy was - wearing her Daddy's doc martens. Combat boots are always a stylish look w/ a dress. ;)

Yes, she wakes up like her crank-pants mama. This is her after a nap, she has pulled every single object into her bed that isn't strapped down, including her box of shoes and box of musical instruments.

There's that sweet-pea face!

The beautiful yellow cake w/ chocolate fondant frosting that my friends made for Jackson's shower. Homemade & delicious, it was awesome for breakfast the next morning. Fell off the pregnancy-diet for a minute & binged on cake. oops!

Friends from the shower & their kiddos - Esther w/ son Curt, Kristin w/ Alec & Kate in her lap, Sherri w/ Lily, and Anna w/ Lauren and Ava are behind the camera. Kristin's other son Kyle is asleep in the other room. It was wonderful!

Kate vs. the lasagna

She's really into pulling all sheets, blankets, pillows, toys, etc off her bed and hauling them out to the couch to make a new bed.

Kate vs. the noodles

Here she has pulled every linen and stuffed toy out of her room into the hallway. Now she is commanding me "Mama! Sit!" in the hallway. Do you know how hard it is to sit in our narrow hallway at 39 weeks pregnant & get up & down off the floor?!

Kate vs. the macaroni & cheese

Part of mothering a toddler is learning to let them do things for themselves, feeding included. Ugh. So many baths & wet wash clothes! She takes a few bites w/ her spoon or fork & then gets down to business w/ her hands. At least she won't starve when Jackson arrives. ;)

Swim lessons

Here are some pictures from our most recent swim lessons - she was happy most of the time! Some of the frowny-faces are due to the sun being excruciatingly bright.


This is her sweet little buddy named Lily. To give you an idea about how high on the 'height' end of the growth chart Kate is (97th percentile!) - she is approximately 5 weeks older than Lily but stands a whole head above her. She is much taller than most of her friends close in age.

A true Katie-boo moment - her favorite skill that she acquired at the pool seemed to be the high five. Now she demands them from strangers at the grocery store, throwing her hand in the air exclaiming "FIVE!" with a bright smile. ;)

She loved learning to get out of the pool, but wasn't happy that I wouldn't let her run away - the point was for her to get back in w/ mommy. That was less fun than running away!

Practicing her back float - her least favorite skill & the only one I'm good at!