As I mentioned in an earlier post, my family recently lost my grandfather.  I talked about how my grandpa always used to say how blessed we were to have the family that we do.  I always replied to him that we had this family because of him (and grandma!) They both are an amazing example of the kind of people to be, how to treat others and how to live life.  My grandpa was part of the greatest generation that served our country and that alone made him a pretty remarkable person.  Some of the best memories I have of grandpa are from all of our travels together.  He was a planner and you could always count on him to have a detailed itinerary to follow and a video camera in hand.  We traveled Europe visiting relatives and learning about our family heritage, we took many RV trips around the United States and spent countless weekends boating at the river.  I’ll always remember grandpa’s hugs.  He would come up to me at any given time and give me a hug and tell me he loved me and that he was proud of me, not just for hello or goodbye, but just because.  On top of the hugs he would also randomly start massaging my shoulders, not because I asked him to, but just because he knew it felt good.  He did this to everyone in the family, he was a strong man with a huge heart for his loved ones.

The family got together the night before the funeral at my aunt and uncle’s house for a German feast.  My grandpa was born in Germany and we have always enjoyed family recipes of delicious German dishes.  It was hard since it was the first family gathering without grandpa, but in keeping with his passion for family it was exactly what he would have wanted.  On the other hand, it was also a fun night since Jacob got to meet the extended family for the first time! He has so many aunts, uncles & cousins who adore him and little cousins to run around with when he gets older.

The next day was the service at the church my grandparents belonged to for years.  It was a really nice service filled with family and friends, some who we have not seen in a long time. The service was followed by a reception where we were able to visit with everyone.  It was so great hearing all the stories about grandpa and seeing all the people there who loved him.  Jacob was a trouper and let everyone pass him around and get their turn to hold him.

First up was Justin’s sister Stacey

Then my brother and his family
My parents with all 3 of their grandsons
My best friend Stacey
My cousin Mark has 2 little boys of his own, it has been a while since they were as little as Jacob

After the reception was the grave site burial.  The grandsons and the husbands of the granddaughters were the pallbearers.

There was a beautiful flag presentation done by the Air Force.

It was a day of celebrating Grandpa and family.  Thank you Grandpa for the example you were, for creating this family, your hugs, massages and memories.  We love you and miss you.

Today is a bittersweet day…my grandpa passed away last night, our family gained another guardian angel to watch over us.  I am so thankful that I had all 4 of my grandparents at my wedding and that I knew them all well into my adulthood, since then we’ve lost 3 of them.  It is hard when you have to say good bye but I cherish the memories I have with them.  I remember praying over the years that my grandparents would be around to meet our kids and I am so grateful that my dad brought my grandma and grandpa over to meet Jacob that first week after he was born.  When we were coming up with names for Jacob we wanted his middle name to tie in both sides of our family, Carl is Justin’s middle name, his grandfathers name and my grandpa’s middle name.  My grandpa was a wonderful man who served our country, worked hard and together with my grandma created an amazing family.  He always talked about how lucky we were to have the family we did and I always told him that we had this family because of him.  We love you grandpa and you will be missed.
On another note, Jacob is now 6 weeks old!
In Jacob’s 5 week post I mentioned that he had been fussy for a while and thanks to some advice from seasoned momma friends and a book I am reading, I learned that during weeks 5 and 6 fussiness and crying peaks.  Whew, I was so glad to hear that!  I kept wondering what was going on, was I eating something that bothered him, was something wrong with him, should I call the doctor, did we have a colicky baby on our hands??? It was exhausting, if he wasn’t sleeping or eating he was crying and it was almost impossible to soothe him.  He wanted to eat much more frequently, I was feeling like an open bar!  With the exception of nighttime sleep, he wanted to take all of his naps on me, which meant I wore him in the Moby wrap everyday so he could do so.  Truthfully, I really didn’t mind that part, I love the Moby and it is a great way to snuggle with him without putting the stress on your arms or back from holding him for hours on end and it made me feel like I was pregnant again (as much as I love having Jacob here, I do miss being pregnant).  This phase went on for 4 days, then it was like a light switch, he woke up happy, smiling and back to his normal self, and so far so good (at least until we hit the next growth spurt). I am hoping I haven’t spoken too soon 🙂

Another thing we did this past week is bottle feeding. We got a bottle ready with a number 1 nipple (the smallest size) and Justin and Jacob got comfortable and Justin started feeding him.  Jacob took the bottle really well and ate the first two ounces without any problems, then…he started crying and fussing and wouldn’t take any more.  So Justin stopped, calmed him down and I was racking my brain trying to think of why in the world would he freak out like that, I knew he was still hungry because I know he takes way more than 2 ounces when he nurses.  At first I just figured it was part of his fussy phase, then I thought, maybe we should try a bigger nipple.  So we put on the number 2 size and Justin tried again.  Problem solved!  Jacob ate the rest like a champ.  The next time we tried we started with the number 2 nipple and he took the whole bottle with no problem.  It was so sweet to see the bonding between Jacob and Justin as they were feeding, Jacob was gazing up at Justin and it warmed my heart!  At the same time it made me sad that I was not feeding him, that is such a special time and I love it.  But I do want Justin to have that connection too and I want to be able to get away or enjoy a glass of wine once in a while and this way someone else can feed him when needed.