things to do at 4 a.m.

When you are awake anyway nursing a baby, you could...

1. blog
2. say "goodbye" to your husband who is flying out on a business trip
3. say "goodbye" to your mother-in-law who is also flying out
4. sign up for the up-and-coming Restoration Hardware baby catalog



5. email a friend
6. rock a baby back to sleep who has been very naughty tonight.

sugar overload

We took jack to our community easter festival where he got to play in the bounce house, hunt for eggs and decorate his own cupcake.

The cupcake decorating and the egg hunting were foreign concepts for jack. He did not understand the purpose of either event UNTIL he discovered that both involved CANDY...candy that he could munch on til his heart's content!


He kept grabbing the jelly beans in fistfuls and stuffing them in before dad made him adorn his cupcake. If he understood the cupcake was edible too, I'm sure he would have been loading it up with candy.


He didn't do much hunting in the easter egg hunt. Each time he saw an egg, he'd bend down, open it up, and shove the candy in - wrapper and all! He really needs to work on his strategy. I was trying to coach him to hunt and hoard now, then reep the benefits of a basketful of eggs later.


After the Easter festival, we decided to go to Sea World for a few hours. One admission ticket buys you a season pass, so we figured we ought to do it now while jack is still free. We had a great day. I thought Jack would be giddy with amazement over the variety of animals, but he was surprisingly apethetic.


While at the dolphin show, we had the pleasure of meeting this blogworthy "piece of work".

GET THIS: Here we are...family of four trying to find seats at the dolphin show. We had already been given the run-around by sea world staffers as to where we go with a stroller. Finally after being denied access, we grab the baby carrier, Jack, and the cameras and head up to the tippy-top of the stadium. Troy scans the audience looking for some spaces and kindly asks the aforementioned woman and her boyfriend if they were saving the empty spots between them. With a roll of the eyes, she shakes her head no and scoots over a WHOPPING 8 inches. So I proceed to sit down and KINDLY ask again if they could scoot down a little more for my other butt cheek....not to mention Troy's. (I didn't say that part...was thinking it, though) Her response to me....big sigh, then "No, I can't scoot down."

Me: "Oh, why not?"
Her: ( In a snotty, princess tone).."I don't want to be squished"
Me: (now irritated and thinking...is this lady for real?) I respond, "I'm sorry honey, but you're at an amusement park! I hate to break it to ya."
Then Troy chimes in from the aisle where he's still standing with baby carrier and Jack.
Troy: Lady, the only thing I'm sorry about is your personality.

BURN!

She then scoots down another few inches and what do I do? I scoot right up next to her leg. snug as a bug. oh...she was not happy. Even after all of that, we were still sitting with both kids on our laps when there was still room to spare! I have to admit...I felt a bit gratified after getting a photo of this woman for blogging documentation.




Sunday, Troy (or should I say Emeril?) whipped up his own homemade concoction for BBQ sauce that was absolutely out of this world. I kid you not, folks, when I say that it was the best I'd ever tasted! He also whipped up a green and potato salad. As you can see, I wasn't the only one anxious to get my hands on it.


For the first time I let Jack help me make some cookies. Here is how it all went down.


He's a picker like his momma!


Let's just say, if I show up at your house with a plate of homemade goodies, you may want to think twice about indulging.


....and....This is what happens when you turn your head for two seconds.

spring has sprung

To keep my sanity as a new mother of two, I decided that getting out of my PJ's, brushing my teeth and heading out of the house at least once a day is just what I need.

(Not to mention poor Jack who is bored off his rocker watching me nurse half the day away)

I have had my sights set on a few outings in our local area. First stop...the herd of sheep off the side of the freeway. I geared up with baby sling, snacks, and camera to make this trip successful. We trekked along this potholed, dirt road (lucy probably now suffering from shaken baby syndrome) to reach our furry friends. Jack hops out with excitement, points to the sheep, and what happens? They all run away.





Oh well. At least we tried. Jack was still satisfied watching from a distance and hearing the sweet hum of "BAAAA".



Now, I'm no 4-H expert, but I think next time I will come equipped with some apple slices, carrot sticks, grains and nuts, or perhaps some left-over easter candy to persuade these guys to be our friends.

Our second spring outing was inspired by my parents and Ryan Southwell...a photo tour through the wild flowers. I called up some of Jack's friends to meet at the field at 8:30 am. Up the hill we climbed in search of some good photo opps with 3 toddlers and a baby. (thanks fitness queen Amy for taking my babe)


3 boys talking airplanes, sports and girls

Jack sampling the indigenous vegetation.

Honestly, we DO feed him!

Eat your heart out Julie Andrews.....the hills are alive....



and where was lucy all this time? oh...just precariously perched on a 60 degree incline.

finley....meet your match

I can't wait to see you in June. It seems we have a lot in common.

love jack

getting to know her

she is a nighttime dream...only one midnight feeding
loves to be cuddled next to mom
enjoys gazing at jack and other surroundings
hates cold wipes
gets hiccups after every feeding
has really sensitive, flaky skin
likes to be bundled in warm, fluffy blankets
easy, calm temperament



I finally found some motivation to get out my camera. For a zillion pictures of LUCY, go HERE.

dirt...a boy's best friend

the help went home...

and we are still managing to survive...barely.

My parents came for a few days to help out with the new baby. They cooked and cleaned, let me sleep, and most importantly...entertained a very active 19 month old.

They took Jack to the splash park.

They went on a hike to see the wild flowers and to bury a secret time capsule treasure.

Look closely...our house is down below!

They took morning baths together. SIDENOTE: If hairy, grown men over 60 in the bathtub bother you, then avert your eyes. I did get permission to blog this photo.

Now that they're gone, things are slowly returning to normal. Jack loves to steamroll over lucy. He is showing some signs of jealousy. He climbs on top of lucy while I am feeding her. He still kisses her A LOT and likes to test out her binky.

Jack is reverting back to his baby days. He likes to test out her bassinet, bouncer, and swing. Here he is in the swing mischievously waiting for someone to reprimand him. When his act goes unnoticed....well....

...he just makes himself comfortable.


important thing is...we are still alive!

twist my arm...

You'd be a FOOL to say NO to your incredibly talented, professional photog friend who emailed you and asked to take some free pictures of your new baby!

My friend Wendy from Blue Lily came over today with a carload of props, including a beautiful hand-knit cozy by Jana (refer to sidebar) and a garage sale bassinet find (pretty sure it is for a cabbage patch doll) to test out on Lucy. Aren't we lucky?

Wendy...they are gorgeous as usual! Thank you, thank you, thank you.

welcome lucy jayne

born march 3rd * 5:24 pm * 8 pounds even * 19 inches long



jack LOVES his new sister. he showers her with kisses about every 5 minutes. she is the first thing he looks for when he wakes up. he waves hello to her all day long, and gets giddy when she makes a noise. It is a parent's dream watching the bond between siblings start to form.

We may have to be watchful of him feeding her watermelon or other parts of his lunch, or him lovingly "shoving" her binky in her mouth, or shaking her legs and arms a little too much. He has also taken a KEEN interest in her feeding methods. He has come at my chest with mouth wide open a few times. I told him...those aren't for little boys. Just babies and big boys.

Other than that, we are having a great time with our new family. More pictures to come.

still waiting...

Only 4 days to go and still NO baby! I would love to say i'll keep you posted, but our computer is in the shop again and we won't have it for 7-10 more days. Great timing, huh? Just when i'll have 5 million pictures to post, I won't have my beloved computer. Oh well.

In the meantime, I am doing lunges, squats, running short sprints hoping that something will kick this little miss into action. any day now, right?

a dog for a day

Troy and I have both agreed...NO PETS!

We don't like the idea of potty training an animal, we don't like hair on carpet or furniture, we don't like slobber or the smell of our hands after we pet a stinky animal, and basically, we just don't want the extra responsibility.

UNTIL...jack came along. We have become softies. When Jack sees a dog, the excitement in his eyes is enough to make me want to buy him a pony, giraffe, elephant...anything he wants!

The other night, a stray dog followed us into our house. It was so scrawny, malnourished and sad looking that I couldn't help but take pity on the poor thing. We allowed her in, gave her some warm milk (is that what you give a dog?), and even made a bed for her in the garage, not having the heart to put her back outside. I couldn't wait for the morning so that I could present Jack with the biggest surprise of his life.

As expected, Jack just beamed with happiness as soon as he saw our new dog. So much happiness and so much beaming that I actually thought for a second, "should we keep her?"



All morning we played with her. The joy was bursting from the walls of our home. Then, the first red flag rose. Our joyous new canine was apparently menstruating. Yes, you heard me...on her "cycle". I guess I never chose to think about female dogs having a cycle, but they do. The proof was spotted on our carpet.

So, I took the dog outside. Then things really started to crumble. Jack melted down with the loss of his new friend. He sat at the window crying. Finally, I succumbed to bringing the dog back in the house for some more milk. I didn't know it would cause more meltdowns.

Jack wanted to do WHATEVER the dog was doing. When the dog was lapping up milk from the bowl, Jack wanted to do the same. When I told him, "No...Yucky" he just burst into the most pathetic tears I've ever seen.





Finally, the peace was restored when I gave Jack his own bowl of milk. Go doggy, go.




After a day of emotions, we were back to square one. We are not fit to be parents of a dog AND a child. So I called the animal shelter and by the end of the day she was gone. It was fun while it lasted, sad when it was over, but we are more emotionally stable and not needing a carpet cleaner!

pottery barn can do it...why can't I?

If you've been to my house, you know that it is mainly decorated in tans, browns, earth tones, more tans, and more browns. why is this? I envy people who can embrace color and splash it elegantly around their house. I guess I just live in this safety bubble of brown.



well, with showtime in less than 22 days, I thought I would try to finish up the baby room. In the latest pottery barn baby magazine, I noticed apple green was a popular wall color. The thought of a bright, fun color gave me the nervous sweats at first, then I decided to go for it. Off to Home Depot I went with a mission to paint Lucy's walls apple green.

I bought all the paint, came home, slapped it up, looked at it for 9 days, and decided that this neutral-safe girl just can't do it. Sixteen times a day I walk into the nursery, stare at the walls, and leave with the color green still glowing in my eyes. Can that be soothing for a baby?




So, yesterday I ran back to Home Depot in search of a more "soothing" green. Not mint chip, not apple, not grass, not seafoam...just NEUTRAL, soothing, EARTHY green. I have to say, I feel a LOT more comfortable with the color, but am I jipping my baby of a FUN entrance into life? Am I being too conservative?



Here are some samples of 3 of the 6 colors we've tried on the walls. None of them are true to how they look in the room, so it is very hard for internet viewers to help me out on this one. Maybe just some general suggestions would be nice. Vibrant or neutral? Fun or safe?

Or just send me a decorator in the mail. please.

showered me silly.

I'm so spoiled by great friends. Wednesday night Kelly, Heidi, and others threw me a baby shower. Every last detail was thought out from the invitations right down to the berry lined cake platters! What I thought was especially thoughtful was the cooshy chair they reserved for me to plop my swollen body in for the night. Nice touch.



Hostess of the Mostess chowing down (I mean, sampling) the variety of cakes. Double chocolate cake, brownies, red velvet cake and cheesecake. Talk about decisions. That's why I had to have one of each...PLUS a to-go platter!


Hostess of the Mostess II - making sure no detail is left unnoticed. Nice concentration on the lemon seed removal.


Flowers and candles to set the mood.


Here are the guests having a rip-roarin' good time...though this picture doesn't echo my claim.


Oh wait...here's one. Nope. On second thought, these guys look pretty bored too. I promise, judging on the volume in the room, everyone did have a GREAT time!


Thanks to all who came and showered me with ridiculously nice gifts. You guys are the BEST!