Jackson - 1 month old

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Warner has already attended more football games than his parents have in the past few years. He got to tag along with Buddy & Kissy this weekend and meet up with all the other Rayners for our 2nd annual Rayner reunion. It was very quiet around our house!! He had the BEST time and I'm so glad my parents were up to taking him. He's a busy little boy and hard to keep up with!

Buddy with Laurel & Warner

Is she not the cutest thing?

These are my 1st cousins - Sydney & Cole (Warner's 2nd cousins). Warner had the best time playing with them. They brought him breakfast in bed both mornings!

Can't wait til next year!!

3 weeks old

Technically, he is 3 weeks and 4 days today. He is growing so fast and changing so much everyday. He has a bad case of baby acne - poor thing! Chris thinks I'm not washing his face - hated to tell him it has nothing to do with how clean he is. From what I keep reading on the Internet it should clear up in a few weeks. He is such a sweet, sweet baby. Eating every three hours during the day and going for some 5 hour stretches at night. Last night was a great night! He ate at 9, 2:30, and 6:00. He is still in the bassinet in our room at night, but he started napping in his crib during the day last week. He loves his bath - no pictures of this yet - usually I am bathing Jackson while Chris is bathing Warner. I told myself that I was going to take just as many pictures of Jackson as I did Warner - well, I've already failed!!

He is definitely a much better eater than his big brother was. Warner barely opened his eyes for his first month of life. Feeding him was a major task- I would have to do anything and everything to keep him awake for a full feeding. Jackson eats like a champ! He eats too much actually and has started spitting up a lot. I just knew Jackson wasn't going to have reflux since Warner had it so bad.

The stuffed elephant was Warner's gift to his baby brother when he was born. Warner sleeps with his own elephant every night and he wanted his baby brother to have one too.

Warner LOVES his baby brother!!!! Loves him too much sometmes. Every time I change a diaper, I hear him pulling his chair down the hall so he can stand on it and watch me. While my mom was here, Warner overheard her say she was going to change Jackson's diaper. Warner beat her to his room and when she got in there he said, "I got it all ready for you Kissy!" He had opened the alcohol bottle, the diaper rash cream, and the vaseline and had it all set out for her. He is a mess!!

I will survive!!

It was a sad sad day on Saturday when our Kissy left us!! My dad came on Friday afternoon and took her home on Saturday morning. Waking up that morning was a little rough...how was I going to do this on my own?? It actually wasn't that bad. It really is just a juggling act - tend to one, then the other. Warner is having to learn a lot of patience. He wants to be right where the baby is and usually right in his face - we are washing our hands a whole lot around here! He wants to know at all times, "where is my baby brother?" It's pretty cute until he wants to wake him up!

Thank you mom for all you did for us the past 2 weeks. I'm so thankful for you!!! Come back soon - we already miss you!

Jackson is 2 weeks old!!

We went for Jackson's 2 week check up this morning and his 2 week stats are:

8 pounds 11 ounces - he has gained a pound since birth

21 inches long - grown 3/4 an inch since birth

he LOVES to eat!

loves to be swaddled

and my mom has been calling him a dream baby - I'm scared to say that because he may hear us.

I am so in love with this baby boy!!

He looks a lot like his big brother - I really didn't think that until I started looking at Warner's baby pictures.

Going from 1 to 2 has been a little challenging. Warner doesn't always understand that I can't come right when he calls or do something right when he asks. He is not jealous of the baby at all, but I think he realizes he is not getting as much attention as he did before. Therefore, he is doing other things to get attention - if you get my drift.

It is amazing to me the things Warner has learned in only 3 full weeks of school. He won't really tell me much about his day, but I will catch him singing a new song or reciting a little riddle. On Fridays he brings home a folder of all the projects he has done for the week - it's all I can do not to want to frame every little thing. I'm sure by the end of the year I'll be throwing half of it away! Here is a little peak at some of the sweetest things he has learned...

Jackson update coming soon. He is 2 weeks old today!!

GO DAWGS!!

On his way to see the Bulldogs play!!

what do you think?

http://www.brandyjaggers.com/

Scroll down to see some beautiful pictures of my boys!

Jackson's birth story

Just like his brother, Jackson surprised us and entered this world 2 weeks early. It's actually kinda weird how they both were exactly 13 days early, and they have a very similar birth story. I guess my body only stays pregnant for 38 weeks and 1 day...

Early Thursday morning (3am) I got up to use the restroom and I thought "did my water just break?" I was telling myself there was no way...so I come in the living room and get on the computer and google - "how do you know if your water broke?" (My water broke with Warner, but that was 3 years ago so I was just making sure.) I still wasn't convinced, so I went back to the bedroom and thought about waking Chris up. The I decided to get in the shower just in case. About that time I was FOR SURE that my water had broken. I woke Chris up and we started throwing all the last minute things in our bags, calling our parents, and trying to figure out what to do with Warner (who was still asleep).

We waited for Chris' parents to arrive to stay with Warner and then we headed to the hospital. I was a little nervous about getting to the hospital since it was about an hour and a half to two hours away, but Chris put the flashers on and put the petal to the metal and we arrived at the hospital doors in a record 1 hour, 5 minutes.

When we arrived at the hospital I was 3 cm dilated and having some contractions. When I got to my room they started me on pitocin, and I decided to get my epidural right away instead of waiting like I had done with Warner. I knew I was going to get it anyway so why not get it sooner rather than later. And with Warner the first epidural did not take and I was not wanting to go through that again. Right at about the time I started really feeling the contractions the anaesthesiologist came in to give me the epidural. Soon after that I was already 5-6 cm. We had a little trouble with his heart rate dropping during contractions that really scared me to death, but once they turned off the pitocin those problems went away pretty fast. The pitocin was working too good. Then pretty quickly after that I was 9 1/2 cm, but his head was still really high. The nurse came in and said the doctor wanted me to get in the pretzel position to bring his head down. The first thing I thought is there is no way I can get into any position - I was so numb!! It was really nothing more than turning on my side and bending one leg. Very soon after that I began feeling a lot of pressure, so I called the nurse. She came in a checked me and said you are fully dilated and ready to push. She said she wasn't even going to get me to push at all until the doctor was in the room - that's how close I was to having the baby. A few pushes later and Jackson entered this world - screaming!!

The first thing I said when I saw him was "he's so tiny!" My doctor assured me he was a good size and then I said "well, I guess I am comparing him to a three year old!" He was absolutely perfect!! My heart immediately doubled in size the second I held him. He was definitely an answer to many many prayers and totally worth the wait.

I am loving being a mommy to two boys. I'm not saying it's easy, but it is such a blessing to be able to care for this little baby. The difficult part is trying to give them both my equal attention. Thankfully my mom is here for 2 weeks and that has been wonderful!! I don't know what I would do without her! She has cooked, done the laundry, chased after Warner, and anything & everything that I have needed. She's the BEST!!

Right now Jackson is such an easy baby - eating great, sleeping in between feedings, and just so content. He is changing so fast and doesn't even look like the same baby from day to day. We feel so very blessed to be given this gift. God is so good!! Praise God from Whom ALL blessings flow!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I posted several pictures below.

1st days home

visitors

big brother present

more hospital pictures