The Metamorphosis

Okay, I know that I am VERY delinquent in blogging about our family...and before the week is through, there will be a very long blog about the latest and greatest at our house. But, right now, this is the most important news at our house (according to Kendyll and Carlie): WE HAVE BUTTERFLIES!!

About three weeks ago, we got a box in the mail from Grandad and Grankay, with two cups and some little crawly black worms. Luckily, there were also instructions and an explanation for what this surprise would turn into. Grandad and Grankay had included a beautiful message about the transformation that caterpillars experience as they become butterflies. They talked about how this is just like us, as we are created new through Jesus. It was their Easter treat for the girls. It was the most special way to explain to these girls what a "new creation" really is!

And, it has been a fascinating few weeks for them since that day. Besides Abby Kate, this has become their new obsession. After they say good morning to the baby (and cover her with kisses), they go immediately to their "caterpillar jars" to see the latest changes that have happened since the day before. And, every day, there is something new to see!

They came as larvae, changed into caterpillars, grew big and fat, and then crawled to the top of the cup to hang upside down in their cocoon (known as a chrysalis). Kendyll has now learned every scientific word for what happens in a butterfly's life span. It is SO cool to watch her learn by watching this process happen right on our kitchen counter!

Caterpillars enter their cocoons!

The only catch (and the reason I waited to blog until I had actual results to share) was that we had to transplant the cocooned caterpillars to their new habitat called "The Butterfly Pavilion". This is a large net house for the butterflies to hatch out of their chrysalis form and fly around in. I was so nervous that I was going to ruin this whole process during the transplant. There were pretty specific directions on how to do this....and Mark and I are not known for our ability to keep things alive around here. :) But, lucky for us, this is a natural process that happens outdoors all the time. So, it worked--despite our clumsiness.

The transplant was successful---the caterpillars hang in their new habitat!

Two days ago, Kendyll came screaming into my room, saying "Mommy, Mommy, you won't believe this!!" She grabbed me by the hand and pulled me to the kitchen to show me her surprise. There were two butterflies!! Mark and I were both just as excited as she was! After waiting for weeks, it was like our babies had been born! (Okay, maybe not THAT exciting.) She immediately wanted to call Grandad to tell him the news...which we did do at the end of the work day. :) Then, she wanted to take pictures of them and give them a name. The first one was a girl and she named it Beautiful. The second was a boy and his name is Stripey. By that evening, we had three more butterflies (which remain unnamed) and as of today, we have EIGHT! (There should be ten, but one didn't make it during his exit from the chrysalis and one is still "cooking" in the cocoon.)

Our first butterfly---known as "Beautiful"

The next thing we did was start feeding our butterflies. The pamphlet that came with these larvae told you exactly what they love. Sugar water sprinkled on flowers at the bottom of their habitat, along with freshly sliced oranges. So, we bought pink and purple flowers (of course!), as well as some big, juicy oranges for them. And, we have spent the last two days watching them drink and eat from their feast.

This has been the coolest experience for our whole family, and we can't wait to watch as we release our butterflies into the backyard at some point soon. I'm hoping to keep them until Easter Sunday, and release them then. As long as they are still looking happy, we will do that.


So, I wanted to blog about our "metamorphosis", first of all, to say THANK YOU to Grandad and Grankay for the coolest present ever. Secondly, I wanted to remember it someday when I've forgotten. And, third, I wanted to share with all of you parents out there, the website and information for you to get your own!! The company is Insect Lore and their website is www.insectlore.com. I'm telling you---it's so amazing to watch and to learn from! And, I'm proud of Kendyll for now knowing the complete life cycle of a butterfly, from larvae to "Painted Lady Butterfly".


Thanks, Dad & Kay, for a wonderful Easter present---it has made our month!

The Sweetest Smile

Some say it is gas, but we say it's Abby Kate's sweetness....

Our First Outing

Yesterday was our "Spring Break in a Day". This week has been spring break from Sunshine School, and I was feeling really bad that the girls were spending alot of their week in the house, especially with this beautiful weather we're having!! Plus, Abby Kate and I were also feeling ready to be outside a little bit too. So, we went through the options of places to visit. I wanted something where I wasn't walking all day (the zoo or the mall) and a place with as little shared community germs as possible (children's museums, play lands, etc.) We gave the girls a few different choices and they decided on the "flower park" (also known as the Arboretum). Really, the only times we ever visit the Arboretum is to take pictures for fall and spring, and is usually with our church group of friends. It is rarely ever a trip just to hang out and enjoy the outdoors without me saying "Girls, smile! Girls, stand here!". But, yesterday, we just enjoyed every part of the place and stayed for hours. It was so much fun and gave us all a great taste of spring!

Kendyll, Carlie, and Daddy went shopping for picnic supplies yesterday morning and packed a huge bag of lunch for all of us. We loaded up the red wagon, the stroller, the diaper bag, the picnic bag, the blanket, the frisbee, the boppy (for Abby Kate's lounging pleasure), and the family, and finally drove away from the house. Whew! That is some major work with three kids and so many different needs for the day! But, it was definitely worth it.

Here are some of our stops during the day:

A delicious picnic, with sandwiches made by our expert, Kendyll...she has even decided to set up a "sandwich stand", similar to her lemonade stand from last summer. :)

Lots of relaxing....

And even some napping....oh how sweet it must be to sleep outside when you're 8 days old...without a care in the world. :)

Fun at the fountain...(except for when Kendyll fell face first after running in the water! Oh, the drama.)

Gathering of sticks....along with weedlike flowers, dirt, grass, and rocks....it was quite the collection.

Posing as butterflies in the beautiful pansies...They had wings of every color!!Lots of time in Frontier Texas! We had never stopped there before and this was by far the favorite activity of the day. It was SO cool and I found myself getting into my "nerdiness" of teaching Kendyll all about Texas in the old days. Very fun. We'll definitely go back there.

The fun day ended with a trip to Sonic for ice cream and cherry limeades. What could be better than that? They were all three asleep before we got home, which was also nice for family naptime!

The only bad part of having a fun day with the whole family is that they're expecting it again today! So, I promised at least a trip to the playground later...hopefully, that will be good enough, since this mommy is worn out after one day of fun!

Our Family of Five

Our first family picture home from the hospital

Sweet Abby Kate


Abby Kate modeling her blanket made by her biggest sister!

Well, we're still here, although we haven't been blogging for a week now! Thank you, Aunt Cassie, for putting up an "announcement" blog for us while we were in the hospital....and thank you to all my sweet friends and family for your comments of prayer and congratulations!

Abby Kate -- 3 days old

We are just eating up every moment of our new family of five---and really haven't spent time doing much else! Abby Kate is pure sweetness and has been such an easy baby so far. (Of course, I think it helps when you've done it twice before as the mommy and daddy! But, still, she is a great eater AND a great sleeper, so I give her all the credit. :) We realize that she is most likely our last baby to experience these "first days" with, which has made each moment that much more special. And, watching our two sweet older girls experience sisterhood with Abby Kate has been absolutely priceless.

I can't even begin to share all the moments we have been blessed with by these three girls in the last few days. And, I can only begin to dream of the ways we will be blessed in the coming months and years as parents. God is SO good. And, we are so thankful.

Kisses from her sisters...

Here's a little more about our time in the last week:

Last Wednesday, we had a slow morning at home before heading to the hospital with our "contractions". Kendyll was still a bit under the weather and was very clingy to me, which made it hard to actually leave, even though I was greatly anticipating meeting Abby Kate. We ate breakfast together, gave them their Big Sister bracelets, talked about the day and what would happen, and then started finishing up the packing and cleaning to get ready. Kendyll was finally okay with us leaving when her Gammy told her that they would be making a special trip to Target to pick out treats for the hospital and a present for Abby Kate. She also got her camera ready, and set her presents for AK by the door.

But, still I was hesitant to leave them! I was finally convinced it was time to go when my doctor called my house wondering where I was! I explained that Kendyll had come down with a stomach virus and was still not feeling well and that the mommy in me was having a hard time getting out of here. She completely understood and then told me to leave and come soon because the L&D floor was slow and quiet and she knew she could get me right in. At that point, I literally jumped in the car and was ready to go!

(You see, the reason I said "contractions" earlier was because my doctor was basically inducing me without calling it that....We knew the hospital would bump me to another day if given the chance, so she decided that I should just show up claiming "contractions", be hooked up to the monitor, then she would come in and break my water and admit me. It was a plan that made me SO nervous, because I didn't like lying to the poor intake nurse, who kept asking me for every last detail about my contractions that didn't really exist!)

About an hour after we arrived and got the paperwork and question & answer session over with, the doctor came in, admitted me to L&D, broke my water, and I immediately began contracting every 5 minutes. She then gave me my blessed epidural, and I spent the rest of my time talking with Kendyll, Carlie, Mark, my mom and my sister. We even busted out the Snow White video for the girls which someone had accidentally left in our VCR. All the time, I was contracting like crazy and not feeling a bit of pain. It was wonderful! (I hadn't done it this way before, so I liked this "no pain" version of labor! My nurse even called it the hospital's "Princess Plan".)

So, my water was broken at 12:30, my epidural was in place by 12:45, and I was ready to push by 3:45. After pushing for 4 or 5 contractions, we met sweet Abby Kate at 4:10. It was by far my fastest labor, and my easiest in many ways. The only difference was the fact that I actually had to push this time----Kendyll & Carlie made that part much easier on me and didn't require a push at all! So, after Mark and I both received oxygen at some point during pushing (yes, Mark almost passed out from the trauma of it all!), we were happily congratulated by all the family and especially by two very proud and excited big sisters.

Daddy and his three girls (shortly after she was born!)

Mommy & baby before we headed home!

The two hardest parts of the hospital experience came later that first night, when we realized that Kendyll had a fever, once again, and had relapsed into the virus that we hoped was gone for good. I worried and cried over the fact that she had been around the baby, and knew also that she would not be able to come back to visit us again for a few days. That broke my heart, because she had been waiting for this moment for so long and this changed so many plans for all of us. She handled it like a trooper, though, after a few shed tears....and she is now making up for lost time with her precious baby sister.

The other difficulty that I absolutely did not anticipate was saying goodbye to the older two when it was time for them to leave after AK's arrival. First, I did not expect their emotions---Carlie was crying and saying "I need you, Mommy! I need you, Mommy!" and Kendyll kept saying "Please, please, can I stay here with you and Abby Kate?" They were both very concerned about me staying in the hospital and not coming home with them. I also didn't expect my own emotions to take over. Although I loved this baby with all of my heart already, my other two babies needed me too...and one of them was sick. So, it was all I could do not to take them home myself and tuck them in bed. Luckily, Mark did it for me, after seeing my tears and knowing it was killing me to watch them leave so sad. He decided to drive them home, do bedtime with them, and then come back to me and Abby Kate when things had settled down.

But, now, the adjustment is over, and they are the happiest two girls around. Every moment they are awake is spent hugging, kissing, holding, and talking to their baby. Each morning they wake up and come right to her bassinet to tell her good morning. And, each night, they help me tuck her in "snug as a bug". They have given her baths, read her stories, rocked her, made welcome home cards for her, and taken many, many sister pictures with her already.

Oh, the blessings of these three girls to Mark and me. This blog would be too long to publish if I continued on about how wonderful this week has been. (Well, except for the "healing and recovery part" of motherhood! But, even if that is worth it when you know it's your last time to do it!!)

So, I will close with another huge thank-you to everyone who has helped us welcome our baby Abby Kate with calls, cards, meals, and excitement for our family. A very special thank you to our parents, who have been right beside us, taking care of our kiddos and helping us with this adjustment to five. And, of course, we are most deeply thankful to our Faithful God who has carried this precious girl straight to our arms. We are truly blessed. And, so, so, very thankful.

Abby Kate Jacobs

Abby Kate arrived on February 28th at 4:10 in the afternoon. She weighed 8lbs 5 oz. and was 20.25 inches long. Chelsea described her as "round" (a little chunky) and said she looks like Carlie. They are both doing well and both big sisters are elated!