Field Trip gone BAD

With Cole being out of school for 9 days, us all having passed around the flu, and the crazy weather - we were going a bit stir crazy around here. Last summer I had purchased a Groupon for 5 admissions to the Magic House in STL for $20 (a great value really) and it expired 12/31. My Dad was on vacation this week so we decided to meet up on the interstate & take the boys for a day out.
The last time I was at the Magic House (2-3 years ago) Cole had a blast. It was busy, but they have expanded about 3x the size - so I figured it wouldn't be near as bad this time. (needless to say...I forgot that ALL of STL schools are also on Christmas Break right now!!) For the most part, things were fine at the Magic House (or the Fun House as Cole calls it), we only had a hard time getting him out of the 3 story climbing thing ... which equalled that either me or my Dad ran up & down 3 flights of stairs for an hour keeping an eye on him!
When we left we went to McDonalds, they had an indoor play area, which is a real treat since our McDonalds got rid of theirs. Cole ate his food & went to play -- promising that when it was time to leave, he would - in return, I would get him the Baukugan toy he wanted at the counter ($1.70 is a small price to pay for the ease of a trip out the door). Well, time to leave came...and went. Cole threw a HUGE fit in McDonalds ... like a 2 year old tantrum. My Dad had to carry him out kicking & screaming. Some older man made a terrible comment about Cole, and, by this time I had literally had it -- so here I stand, in McDonalds, holding my 5 week old baby in his carrier, 5 year old screaming at the top of his lungs in my Dad's arms...and, yes, I told the old man off. (I felt absolutely terrible the minute we left, no he shouldn't have said that about my child, but, I shouldn't have fallen to his level either).
We get in the car, travel the 20 minutes to drop my Dad off at his car, and finally we are ready to make the trip home. By this time, it's 5pm, pitch black & FOGGY. I have an hour+ travel time home with just me & the 2 boys. Of course, minutes after we get on the interstate Jacob begins to cry (yep..we are pushing the feeding time...why didn't I remember that before we left my Dad?!), I ask Cole to find the paci & get it in his mouth. My VERY cranky 5 year old gets mad that I interrupted his video game & tosses the BRAND NEW DSi to the front of the car. Grrr...Jacob calms down, and, for the sake of my hour drive, I give the DSi back.
We make it to Litchfield, Cole has to pee...I can't very well haul everyone out of the car in the dark, by myself...so I pull over in a lighted lot, open the van door & make Cole pee out the door (yes, I know, terrible). We get back on our way..only 30 minutes to go! Yep..Jacob begins to cry again, I ask Cole ... well, forget it. I pull over in the only lighted parking lot (the Packaged Liquor store..ugh) get out, come around, find the paci, soothe the baby & we are back on the road again.
10 minutes from home Jacob is crying again...Cole gets irritated at me for asking again, & wings the DSi AGAIN. That's it..I've had it - you have lost the DSi for awhile son.
Pull into the drive way - Cole can't find his shoes or socks - he walks through the snow barefoot before I can stop him, he's now crying because his feet are cold...well DUH!
We come into the house - I send Cole to his room for punishment & begin feeding Jacob. Cole comes down & tells me he's sorry. We prayed together, he asked forgiveness - then he called Big Papa to ask forgiveness from him too & say he's sorry.
8pm everyone's going to bed - and we did!
Daddy is the key to successful trips I think...no more Mommy adventures on our own for a long time :)

Life...an hour and a half at a time

Well, we experienced our first major catastrophe since Jacob arrived...a stomach bug that we passed back & forth for like 10 days. It was terrible. I always thought it was hard when I got sick just having Cole....well, let me tell you, it's nothing compared to having a newborn that needs to eat every 2 hours & BOTH parents are sick :(

Needless to say, that 10 days threw me into an anxiety ridden state. I started to feel stressed an anxious about everything - keeping up with the house, being ready for Christmas, spending time with Cole...it was all stressing me out. Fortunately, with a TON of help from Jason & my dear parents, I'm not nearly as stressed now.

BUT, I have succumb to the fact that at this time, my life is lived in hour & a half increments. That's very hard for me. I have to-do lists, projects & time frames that my "type A" personality needs to meet & follow. Not being able to plan my day the way I used to makes me feel anxious - even out of control. I hate that...but, there really is nothing I can do about that right now. So...I'm doing my best to do as much as I can in the time I have - and, then really utilize the time when Jason is home. (It's REALLY hard having a husband gone M-F!!) God is helping me learn that it's OK...but, It's a hard lesson I will tell you :)

This week Jacob turned 5 weeks old - I can't believe how fast the time has gone. He's really growing - his cheeks are getting so chubby...which makes sense with all the eating this boy is doing! I'm still nursing, but, it really doesn't satisfy him so I almost always have to follow it with formula to fill his belly.

Cole is still doing awesome as a big brother! He's been on Christmas Break from school since the 20th, and, we are both a little stir crazy. It will be nice when they go back next Tuesday to give him someone to play with for a few hours a day :)

Here's our most recent picture...and our only full family picture to date...my how things change with #2!!

3 Weeks Old Already!

Merry Christmas from the Lenczycki's!

Wow, what a year it has been for our family!

In March we found out that we were expecting our 2nd child ! We were sooo excited. Unfortunately, I ended up extremely sick (AGAIN!) even worse than I was with Cole. It was a long 14 weeks until I was feeling good enough to actually function normally again. In the meantime, several things transpired at my job – all leading us that God was paving the way for me to stay home with the boys. This was such a scary thought to me..giving up an entire 2nd income?! But, we took the leap – and, I absolutely love it. There is no more rewarding job than caring for my precious gifts – and we are seeing the fruits of our labors daily!

On November 22nd of this year we welcomed our Beautiful Baby Boy, Jacob, into our home & our hearts. His birth was quite dramatic to say the least (would you expect anything less from me?!), and, he spent several extra days in the hospital to regulate his breathing – but we are all home now & loving our new life as a family of 4!



Cole is in his last year of Pre-K  and will move onto full day Kindergarten next year. Mommy is having a very hard time coping with that! He continues to receive speech & occupational therapy at school – but has show tremendous growth in the past year! We are blessed by the teachers & supports we have in place, and, are so thankful that he is LOVED by each & every one of them 

We have been amazed by the love that Cole had instantly for his baby brother. He is the best big brother! He takes his responsibilities very seriously too – on several occasions Jason or I have been in trouble for letting Jacob cry when Cole is away.


We also joined the church we have been attending for the past couple of years. I am very involved in Moms & Children’s Ministries and am so thankful to be able to still use my gifting in this way. Cole LOVES the church & begs to go all the time. Wednesday & Sunday’s just aren’t enough for him  We are thankful God is helping us instill this love of Jesus in his heart.

Jason’s love of bass fishing lives on – and, he has really had an awesome year! He & his partner have won several tournaments and consistently place amongst the top each time. I’m completely blown away by his dedication to this sport. I mean, seriously, who gets out of bed at 4am – in the winter – to go sit on a boat & freeze all day?! He has also begun to pass this love of fishing along to Cole. Although Mom is still pretty scared to let him go in the boat with Dad by their selves, Cole loves to go fishing with his Dad. These are such special times for them 

As we finish this year, and, look to 2011 – I know that our lives will be filled with many “firsts” for both of our boys. We are excited to see what God has in store for us 

God’s Richest Blessings,
The Lenczycki’s: Jason, Jenny, Cole & Jacob

Jacob's First Bath

Just like his big brother...Jacob is not fond of baths :(



He was very happy when he got in his soft, warm ducky towel & got his paci back :)



Cole was a huge help giving Jacob a bath! I wonder how long that will last?!

A picture is worth...

A thousand words? Or maybe great behavior if he thinks I may show this to his future girlfriend when he's older?!



Jason & I walked into the living room to find this. He was dead serious & asked "Mom, do I got milk?". We both cracked up! (I laughed so hard my incision from surgery hurt all evening)

When I started nursing Jacob we decided that we really need to make this just no big deal so that it wouldn't freak Cole out. There really is no way for him to never see me nurse, so I wanted to just start from the get-go with the natural aspect of it. The first time he saw Jacob nursing he covered his mouth & said "I think I'm gonna be sick". It was humorous. But, the breast pump has brought much more comedy into the house!

Cole fondly refers to me as "The Milkenator", and, he calls my breast shields for the pump "Mommy's Milkers".

I'm certain at some point this will come up in public - which I am going to have to figure out how to address without turning red in the face (you know...like with the Pastor at church!!), but, for now it's cute :)

Maybe we should just put a sign in the yard: Lenczycki Dairy Farms :)

Snow Day!

We were so surprised to wake up this morning to our entire deck & yard covered with a light snow covering.

The first thing out of Cole's mouth was "YES, it's a S-N-O-W Day!!" (with his hands appropriately placed in the "rock out" symbol. Well....he was a bit crushed when I told him that no, it was not a snow day :(

Thankfully Grandma Hosie (Grandma Rosie) took him to the bus & threw snow balls on the way out -- that helped him decide it would be OK to go to school. Now...I wonder if he will get in trouble at school today for throwing snow balls when he gets off the bus at school...?!

Welcome Jacob Paul!

I experienced the most drama filled 6 hours of my life a week ago Sunday night - Monday morning. Wow - what a crazy story you are about to hear :)

Most of you all should know I was scheduled for a C-Section on Monday morning at 8am to welcome our second son, Jacob,into the world & our family. This was supposed to be a planned, calm, uneventful birth that would be easier on both the baby & Mom. Well, if you know me at all - you would guess that this was none of the above, and a completely "Jenny Drama" filled arrival.

Sunday was a wonderful family day. We had a great worship service at church, had my pre-ops done at the hospital and went home & enjoyed a great day - just the 3 of us. Jason even treated me to an M&M Blizzard that night...my favorite :) Well, around 9:30 I started feeling a little crabby - but, knew my nerves were likely picking up and I was probably worried about surgery. By 10:30 I had a slight indication that something wasn't quite right and called the hospital to just ask them if this was normal - to which they said yes - and would see me at 5:30 am unless something happened in between. By 11:30am I was suspecting more regular contractions -- but wasn't concerned since I have been having Braxton Hicks for quite some time. Well....at 12am we figured we might as well just drive onto Greenville & have them monitor the baby - we could sleep there the same as home, still planning on a 8am C-Sec. At 12:20am we were in the car & on our way. Jason decided he would try to maybe time the contractions and see if they were regular at all -- again , we thought these were fake contractions. A few minutes later we realized they were only 3 minutes apart! We called the hospital - told them what was going on & they said get right there. We pulled into the hospital around 12:55am, went right back to OB and was put on a monitor - by then contractions were 2 minutes apart. They quickly varied between 1.5-2 minutes apart & were growing with intensity. They attempted 2 shots of a medication to slow them down allowing us all a bit of sleep before the scheduled section. Neither worked :( Within an hour or so I was really feeling the intensity & hoping for an epidural - even if we would be waiting until 8a for the surgery. Yeah, well....needles to say I went from a 4 to a 10 in about another hour (ladies will understand this) - that's when things started getting a little crazy :) They rushed to prep me for surgery & called the team in. As I was being wheeled into the OR my water broke & I was pushing pretty hard (not by choice!). Poor Jason was running to get into scrubs! When we got in the room - they found that I was complete (again, a woman will understand) and the baby was ready to go. They put an epidural in while I was trying to stop pushing and minutes later my awesome Dr had Jacob out & rushing to the nursery -- 4:18am! My surgery was finished & I headed to recovery by about 5:30 I think.(yes, all this coming from the girl who wanted an epidural at 8 months "just in case"...needless to say - there is truth to that whole 2nd births happen faster than 1st!)

The saddest thing was that our dear friend Jennifer Kershaw & our Midwife Liz didn't get to be here for the birth because it all happened so fast :( I felt bad for both of them since they had been with us since day 1!!

We ended up having to stay in the hospital for a full week as he was born with Meconium (sp?) so he has struggled with a rapid respiration rate since birth. They have determined there is no infection, & nothing remaining in his lungs - but it was quite a bit higher than it should have been so they monitored pretty closely. Since we have been home we have already seen the pediatrician and the respirations are steadily coming down. We are confident that it's going to be just fine....after all - he really is perfect :)

I am healing wonderfully & blown away by how awesome the surgical team was. They took a really stressful situation & handled it so well, and, made me feel completely comfortable! I really can't believe how much easier this recovery has been than with Cole - I honestly thought the surgery itself would equal a much harder recovery ... not so! Of course, it helped that the worst of my recovery happened in the hospital since we stayed so long.

Cole is absolutely in love with his new baby brother. He came to visit him each day, and, told him how he loves him & will take care of him each time. It's the most adorable thing! Since he's been home, he has taken great responsibility of being "in-charge" of Jacob...he even tells me when he needs to potty & asks me if I can watch Baby Jacob. Once he even asked if he "could count on me" ;)

So...to wrap this all up, who else in the world could have two scenarios like this. Pregnancy #1, delivered on due date - nothing scheduled, just awesome timing! Pregnancy #2 we have a scheduled C-Sec, and, still end up delivering on that exact day -- but definitely with no assistance! I suppose my boys are going to be just like me with that control issue :)

Jason & I are so thankful that God has given us these 2 wonderful, handsome boys now to complete our family :) We had a wonderful experience in the hospital & will miss our new friends here....but are so excited to get home & begin this new phase in our life.

I will try to get more pics posted soon! Needles to say, we missed videotaping or getting any pics during birth - Jason literally walked in, in time, to see Jacob jump out :) However, we have captured some beautiful faces in the last two days - we will be excited to share with you!

Thank you again to everyone for your prayers - they mean so much to us :)

Jason, Jenny, Cole & Jacob :)