Happy (belated) Birthday, Jake!

I can't believe you are already 3! You are the only one of our babies to be born in a state other than Arkansas. You are such a sweet boy when you want to be, but you definitely have a strong willed side. I can remember when I found out we were expecting you. Daddy had to go out of town for a funeral, and I was home with your brother and sister. I took a test in the morning, and I remember it was around 6 am--it looked negative, so I went back to bed. When I got up a few hours later it was positive. I quickly got everyone ready, ran to Walmart, and bought a digital test:-) It was positive as well. So I called your daddy and told him, and he of course told everyone there, even though I asked him to wait:-) We had just moved to Springfield, MO 2 months before finding out about you, so I didn't really know anyone or anything about the doctors in the area. God blessed us with a wonderful OB, the only problem was that he perpetually ran 30min to 1 hour late for appointments. It was exhausting:-) We had a lot of false alarms with you--the scariest for mommy and daddy was at 23 weeks when I started having contractions while we were at Celebration City. We headed to the ER, and were told I was just dehydrated. So I had to drink a ton of water and nana and papa actually drove up to stay with Emma and Caleb, so we just went out to eat after leaving the ER:-)

I went to the ER 2 other times, a few weeks before my due date with contractions that were 3 minutes apart, but you weren't ready to be born yet. My OB was on vacation for your 38th and 39th week check ups, which I wasn't real thrilled with, but as soon as he was back for the last one, we scheduled your induction for the 15th. Mom and dad were coming up the next day and we were going to shop a little and do a few more things before you were born. However, you had other ideas. My OB appointment was in the am, so I remember doing some shopping, then picking up Caleb from preschool, and Emma from Mother's Day Out. I was having contractions, but they got stronger around 4pm, so I called nana and papa to go ahead and come up. We left for the ER around 5, and I was finally dilating--I was a 5 when we arrived. Nana and papa arrived a little later ( your daddy was very happy to see them) and took them home. I had a very fast delivery with you--I pushed 3 times, and you were born! They had me waiting to push until they knew the doctor was in the building:-)

You were a really good baby, but you had to go in the hospital with fever at 2 weeks because you got the flu. We moved back to Arkansas when you were 1 month old. You love to spend time playing with your brother and sister, and right now your favorite things to do are play with your Geotrax, your Cars cars and legos, and anything to do with Toy Story.

I hope you continue to grow and learn in this next year. Mommy, daddy, Caleb and Emma all love you very much!