The Muench Bunch

My parents wanted to celebrate Wade and I's birthday's by going to dinner at the Boxholm Café. We had all the kids there. Jacob was being silly and entertaining Alivia. Luke slept through it all. Dinner was good and Mom brought a cake. I have decided it is time to get Luke on a bottle and just nurse at night. I am having too hard a time with it all and I get so frustrated. Mark has been feeding Luke his 8PM bottle while I get the kids to bed, which is so nice.

Today was Allie’s 16th birthday. We sent her flowers and balloons to her school to surprise her. I can’t believe she will be driving. That is truly a scary thought.

Today was the Stratford tumbling meet and parents were required to help. I helped set up the night before. It all seemed so unorganized. Today Jayden and I had to be there by 9 and I had Luke with me too. My parents, Jake, and Mark came later to watch. It was challenging with Luke, he just turned amonth old. He slept really good and I had a place to myself to nurse him. Jayden did her routine well and got a nice medal. We didn’t leave until 2 and I was tired.

Mark has been so good with Luke. I think this time around, he is most comfortable. He has helped so much! He also gets the kids off to school in the mornings. I am so impressed. Jayden has been an amazing help too. She can clean and tidy up like a maid. Since Luke arrived she has done tons of laundry from sorting, washing, drying, folding, and even putting away. She is great!

Once Luke hit 3 weeks, he turned fussy and colicky. If he isn’t nursing or sleeping, he is crying. Mark and I pass Luke back and forth and just pace the floor. I really hoped nursing would work this time, but it is getting harder and I am getting more frustrated. Jayden doesn’t hold Luke as much now that he cries so often. Jacob pays little attention to Luke at this age. Allie came out to see him a few times, but the newness has worn off. I see Luke changing so fast. I want the newborn size to last. He is already getting so big. I took some black and white photos of Mark and Luke. I just love the sweet newborn skin and Daddy's big hands.

As I was talking on the phone I had to hang up quickly as I see our poor house cat Mikey covered in globs of hand sanitizer. Jacob sat quietly pumping globs of it on him. Jacob tol me he was giving Mikey a bath to get rid of his germs. During the winter Mikey had to spend a lot of time living in the garage as he was missing the litter box. After months of cleaning his messes in the basement, he is officially kicked out. We all love that cat, so it is sad.

Wade and Carina's little girl Alivia is exactly 9 months apart from baby Luke. It will be interesting to see them grow up together. I am so glad my brother has a family of his own. He is such a proud Daddy!

Jayden and Jacob had all kinds of cute Valentine’s cards from school. Jacob hardly eats any of his candy because his teeth are so sensitive now. Luke has been such a great baby. He sleeps so much! The nursing has been the hardest. This week I started giving Luke a night bottle to prepare him so we could take a night out. The last 3 nights, Mark has given Luke an 8PM bottle. Tonight Karen and Orrie babysat so Mark and I could go out on a Valentine’s date. We went to eat at Legend’s in Ames., It is a tall building with a sky high city view. It was nice to get out alone with Mark.

We were blessed with so many blankets that were made for baby Luke. These are just a few of the fun blankets he recieved. This photo is Luke in the little outfit that Jacob wore for his first Christmas when he was 2 months old. I don't imagine Luke will fit in it at 2 months.

Jayden got a new sewing machine for her birthday from Grammer. It has been a really long time since I have sewed, so I wanted to make sure Karen helped he r the first few times. Karen helped her sew her first blanket. She is very cautious about her fingers and Karen runs the fabric through with her.

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Jacob Loves to play outside in the snow. Won’t come in even when it is really cold. He gets pretty red cheeked. Still naughty, tries to throw the cats down into the deep window pit. He is a story teller, get him talking and he is on a roll and one thing leads into another and his storeis can go on and on. He has a huge imagination! He has been in love with his stuffed animals this winter and has to have every stuffed animal in bed with him. Usually around 15 critters, making very little room for him to sleep. In the morning, he either loads them in his dump truck or wagon and carries them all out to sit with him for breakfast, then watching tv, then computer. He literally sits on them in the chair. He is also very into puppies on tv and stuffed animal ones. He likes to have “the baby”, but doesn’t really care to hold him. He likes to mimick his sounds and says when Luke starts to cry he sound slike he is driving his race car. He likes to wiggly Luke’s arms and legs and likes to push

Karen & Orrie had their Anniversary party at the Boxholm Café. It was immediate family and the food was catered. It was a very nice party. I was embarrassed at Jacob’s behavior, touching food, talking during prayer, and crawling under tables. The owner’s Linde and Julie adore Jacob and think he can do no wrong.

Luke has had lots of family and Grandparent time in these early weeks. A special visit from Aunt Verna Mae and Uncle Lavern Weilbrenner.

Over the past 6 months, we have been dealing with Jacob and behavior problems,. He gets angry and throws big fits. He is very strong willed. I have been using time outs and Mark thinks we need to spank. Lately we have tried spankings and it seems I am always the one to do it. It breaks my heart.

I love to see the bond growing between brothers and sisters.

There is nothing more precious than a sleeping newborn. For Luke's first month, he slept in our room in this little cradle snug as a bug.

Knowing the weather would get bad, we spent last night in the hotel with Jake and Luke in order to be in Ames for Jake to have his dental work done. He had to go to the hospital for the dental work as it was so extensive. We were all very nervous for Jake. He didn’t know what he was in for. He was dressed in a gown and waiting on a bed when a nurse gave him liquid Tylenol. After some time, I realized he did not swallow it. He held it in his mouth for a long time before I could convince him to swallow. I got to go with Jake to the anesthesiology prep room. I held Jake’s hand and he was being very brave as he looked at all the equipment. Then the doc had to take Jake back alone. I was so sad I wanted to cry. Jake was holding my hand as hard as he could and didn’t want to let go. I told him I loved him and gave him a kiss. He was brave and did not cry. After 3 hours and 9 fillings, 5 crowns later, we got to see Jake. He was groggy and grumpy. I held him as he became aware of things. He wa

Luke’s 2 week check he is 8lbs. 9 oz. and doing great. Jake had to have a pre-op check for his dental work. Sadly our favorite pediatrician, Dr. Robert’s is getting ready to move. We have loved seeing her for 8 years.

Such a creative little thing. Give her some paper, scissors, and glue and she can come up with all kinds of things. She is also my little worker bee, she just goes and goes cleaning and working. She does all kinds of house chores. The one she does regularly is laundry. She unloads hampers, sorts, washes, dries, folds, and puts clothes away. She is amazing! She is great to Jake and helpful to Luke.

Luke got these John Deere boots for Christmas from Uncle Wade and Aunt Carina. Aren't they the cutest! Even big brother Jake has his own JD boots too.