What ARE these things?

Aunt Laura came to visit us and spend some time with baby Abe, who has recently made a BIG discovery. Can you tell what it is?

I hate February

Well, we've just ended the worst. month. ever. It included Ben having multiple colds back to back for WEEKS, Abe having RSV and then pneumonia while Ben was sick, Joel having a 3 week long cold, and me FINALLY getting sick at the end of the month while taking care of 2 sick little boys. I'm glad spring is coming.

Here are some random pictures. We didn't take too many this month because every time we did, at least one person in the picture had bloodshot eyes, dark circles and a runny nose.

Here's Ben chillin' out in his undies, doing some shopping and talking on the phone (calculator.) By the way, neither Joel nor I have EVER EVER held the phone that way while talking. I have no idea where he got that idea. Another thing that happened this month? Potty training! Ben has had a little potty for a few months now, and we would have him go on it before naps and bedtime but he never really took the initiative. And then one day I just woke up and decided I was tired of having two in diapers. I put him in underwear and that was it. He had 4 accidents in the first two days and then he was fine. And we're done! I hate to say it, but it was pretty easy. Maybe because we waited so long?

How cute is Abe? This little half smile is my favorite expression of his. I can't believe he'll be 4 months next week!

My precious little almost 3 yr. old. He's been having a hard time lately. Abe is taking most of his attention and we especially didn't have too much to spare with all of the sickness. Lots of tantrums going on, but we'll get through it.

Abe's eyes are still blue and his hair is getting blonder. It's so much fun seeing him change from day to day.

I'm gearing up for sunny weather and spring projects. Things to do this month include:

paint front door

weed and mulch front beds

plan Ben's 3rd birthday party and send out invites

build back patio--or maybe have someone do that for us?

install new shower fixture, since, um...it actually broke off in my hand yesterday

spring clean the porch and touch up the paint where Ladybird has scratched it off

I re-painted my kitchen cabinets last weekend so that's not on the list anymore. It's pretty exciting to actually get something done!

Abey Baby

This is what my baby boy does when you point a camera at him....

He looks like he's laughing in that last picture, doesn't he? I know they say babies don't start to laugh for another few months, but I swear Abe is laughing right now. Whenever he gets really excited and has that big smile on his face, he makes some little staccato "heh heh" noises and I know it's laughter. What a happy little guy.

Abe is 2 1/2 months right now and he brings so much joy to us and completes our little family. Right now his main interests are mama, mama and mama, but he lets daddy hold him quite a bit. Even though we have a co-sleeper right next to our bed Abe usually starts off there and ends up right next to me by morning. I've never really been into bed sharing, but for now it's enabling us all to get the most sleep possible. I'll probably wait another 3-4 months before transitioning Abe to his crib since he and Ben will be sharing a room. We'll see how that goes:) Lately I've noticed that Abe likes to have a lot of LOUD ambient noise around when he's drifting off to sleep. Put him in a darkened room with a white noise machine and try to rock him to sleep and it takes FOREVER, but if I just nurse him while Ben is running around screaming and the dog is barking and the tv is on then he's out like a light.

Abe got out of the harness at 6 weeks and everything looks great with his hip. He still keeps his legs in a frog position though! We had a little disappointment at his 2 month appointment because his weight isn't up to speed. He weighed 8.3 pounds, which put him in the 3rd percentile. I don't know exactly why this happened, but I'm pretty sure part of the issue was a hindmilk/foremilk imbalance, plus a sleepy baby. Somehow we got into a pattern of nursing where he would stay on the breast for only 5 minutes (meaning he probably was only getting the "skim" milk) and then drift off. Instead of stimulating him and making him eat, I just assumed he was full and would put him down to sleep. And because Abe is so laid back, instead of being fussy because he was hungry, he just slept more. As this pattern continued he was sleeping longer and longer and nursing less. Basically, he was content to starve. I started to get pretty concerned around week 6, but because he was never fussy I convinced myself he was fine. The good news is that he had a weight check on Thursday, and he gained a WHOLE POUND in two weeks! That means he gained an ounce a day, which is perfect. Our pediatrician said he couldn't expect more than that. I'm glad I was able to figure things out and put us on the upswing. Abe is a new baby since I started forcing him to nurse for longer periods. Almost overnight he started sleeping A LOT less (ahem) and became more demanding about food. Now I think he's well on his way to being a chubby tubby!

Speaking of...looks like baby Abe is up AGAIN. Gotta run....

SNOW in Wilmington!

Playing in the snow is fun....

...but it's even better when you come inside your warm house, drink homemade hot chocolate and eat marshmallows with a spoon.

Christmas....finally

Some Christmas highlights....

We made Christmas sugar cookies, but I totally phoned it in this year and bought sugar cookie mix AND ready made frosting. You know how much a little tube of red frosting costs? $2.99! At Wal-Mart! Ridiculous. If I hadn't been completely sleep deprived I would have made my own for around 10 cents, but at the time the thought of doing any sort of extra work beyond changing diapers and nursing made me want to cry.

I summoned up some energy and made these amazing cinnamon rolls as Christmas gifts for friends. Seriously....if you love gooey, buttery, sugary, maple-y, melt in your mouth goodness, then make these. But not if you still have 20 pounds of baby weight to lose. *Ahem* Recipe here.

Christmas day was nice and relaxed. We stayed in our pajamas all day and played with presents. Mimi and Poppy came over and it was nice to spend Christmas with them. Just like last year, Benjamin received 3 presents and a stocking from us, or Santa. Here he is looking at his new book from Grandma and Granddad. Since Christmas morning, no other book has existed in our house except Richard Scarry's "Biggest, Busiest Storybook Ever."

Playing with his new train table and train set. We bought a set from Plan Toys and I LOVE it. Everything is made of non-toxic rubberwood and sized perfectly for chubby toddler/preschool hands. The designs are so clever and it's definitely something we'll be keeping for our grandkids:)
Here he is in his cool Star Wars apron from Uncle Aaron. Now whenever Benjamin helps me cook he feels like he needs to have his apron on or else it's not official.

Abe is absent from these pictures because he slept all morning, so he didn't really participate too much in the festivities. How exciting to think that next Christmas I'll have 2 little boys opening presents!

Maybe we should get up earlier?

We received a package yesterday from Aunt Annie full of delicious homemade Christmas cookies. Coincidentally, a certain little boy decided to make his own breakfast this morning before mommy and daddy were up. He ate several, but thoughtfully decided to leave this one for us.

Um...thanks.

Brothers

Ben is slowly warming up to having a baby around the house. Whenever Abram fusses or cries, Benjamin pats him and says, "It's otay baby Abe. Don't cwy." What a sweet big brother!