Month milestone

Colin is one month old today! He celebrated by sleeping most of the day. Such a party animal. He is already over 10 pounds and growing up so fast...we are convinced he has smiled at us, but that's the kind of parents we are. I cannot believe how fast the last month has gone, especially compared to the final month of pregnancy.

Fun weekend

This past weekend we headed out of town. We drove one hour towards the beach to a county fair, where we ate funnel cakes and deep-fried Oreos and went on the rides. Ethan got to sit in this tractor and dream of driving it someday. He rode his first roller coaster.

And a pony.

He started to feed the goats.

Then decided he didn't want to get that close, so just chucked the food at them instead. After the fair, we headed to the coast. After a walk on the beach, we took Ethan miniature golfing. He loved it. Jason and I had a semi-friendly competition between us. I got 2 holes-in-one while he got ZERO. In the spirit of a fair and balanced presentation, though, I should disclose that he won overall. I owe him a 15 minute massage.

We spent the night in a hotel and both boys were champs...slept through the night (Colin only woke up to eat once). They owed it to us since they were both up most of Friday night. We headed to the beach the next morning and had perfect weather.

I would have more pictures of Colin to post, but this is where and how he spent the entire weekend:

We love the beach in September! The crowds are gone, the water is still warm, and the air has cooled a little. Jason took Ethan out into the waves.

Ethan had a great time playing in the sand, which is great since last year he wouldn't walk on it because it was "yucky and broken."

Ethan announced he wanted to stay at the beach "all night long" and was very sad when we had to pack up and leave. If things work out the way we plan, he'll have plenty more days at this particular beach the rest of his life.

After the beach, we went to a local aquarium for an hour before heading to Goldsboro. Jason has a job offer in that town (an hour southeast of Raleigh) and we are seriously considering taking it. We went to the home of an LDS family there (friends of a friend). They have 4 boys, ages 8, 6, 3, and 4 months. They invited another family over who have 3 kids, including a 3-year-old girl named Tennessee who immediately adopted Ethan as her new friend. The families were super nice and we had fun visiting them and talking about the realities of life in a small town. The boys were all dressed in camouflage and playing with toy guns, so Ethan will need a new wardrobe...and new toys...if we move there!

We had an amazing weekend and were sad to see it end!

The honeymoon is over

I have left the land of the spoiled rotten and entered the harsh reality of my new life. I had my sweet mother-in-law here with me the first week after Colin was born, cleaning up after me, entertaining my extremely active toddler, and cooking whatever I ordered. When she left, my wonderful mother moved in and picked up where she left off. Sadly, she couldn't stay forever, but luckily shortly after she left Jason came home for 9 straight days of paternity leave. I wish he didn't have to work! Although, considering how much money we spend when we have loads of free time together, one of us has to!! So far, 2 kids have been a breeze, but since we've been man-to-man for the last 3 weeks, I'm thinking it's not going to stay that way now that Jason is returning to work. And since a sleep-deprived Jason may actually compromise people's lives, I will be facing night duty alone, and then 2 kids during the day alone. I think I can...I think I can...

Super baby

Grammy and Papa gave Colin a "Bumbo" seat, which you are supposed to start using once the baby can support his own head (around 3 months old). Colin has strong neck muscles for a 3-week-old, so Jason popped him in just to see if he could sit there. He loved it! Don't worry...we won't be using it regularly until he gets a little stronger (and bigger...he's so little his neck is being supported partially by the chair itself!), but we had to snap a few shots for Grammy and Papa. Thanks for the great gift!!!

A little ego boost

After 3 weeks in my sweats, with my blow dryer gathering dust and my makeup tucked away, I decided to "do something" with myself yesterday. I am not quite back to my non-maternity pants but can fit in to some of my skirts, so I showered (!), blew my hair dry, threw on a plain brown skirt and a white t-shirt, and took the boys out to run errands. When we got home, Ethan looked at me and said, "Mom, you look beautiful in your dress. You're a princess today!" I'm thinking maybe I ought to clean myself up a little more often, since even my 3-year-old son noticed...

Cute boys

Here are a few recent photos of our cute boys. At some point I'll attempt to get one of Ethan not in motion..maybe even looking at the camera! This picture was taken at a farm that we went to when Colin was 9 days old. We all needed to get out of the house. This place had a great slide, a train to ride, tractor rides, a fish pond, farm animals to feed, a maze, and a moon bounce. A little boy's dream. Colin is already changing so much. It's fun to have a new baby around the house again! Ethan seems so grown up to us now. We just need to get the two of them to coordinate their sleep schedules. For now, they seem to have a sleep "baton" they pass back and forth. I think they overlap by about 4 hours in a 24 hour period. Ethan has really warmed up to Colin and gotten over some of his initial insecurity. The first morning I was home from the hospital, he came in my room and said, "Mommy, are you my mom?" I said, "Yes, honey, I'm your mom." He then asked, "Are you baby Colin's mom?" It broke my heart that he was trying to figure out whether Colin was an addition or a replacement!

Here we are heading home from the hospital with Colin. He's just 36 hours old here. We left the hospital, drove straight to Taco Bell, then rushed home to pick up Ethan, then left 20 minutes later for the airport to pick up Grammy and Papa. It was a little crazy, but it felt so great to get out of that very uncomfortable hospital bed!

New additions

We have two new additions to our family! First, Colin arrived on August 30, 4 days early (due to some serious begging on my part and a little Pitocin help from my OB). He is 3 weeks old today. To celebrate, I am finally starting up a blog, if only to satiate Grammy's need to see how fast our cute boys grow and change. I will do my best to post more than 3 times a year!