It really amazes me how you can manage on consistently very little sleep.  Before kids, I thought I needed a good 7-8 hours to function... haha!  That literally makes me laugh out loud now.  If I get a few hours straight I'm doing good.  But it doesn't really bother me - I guess you can get used to being a walking zombie.

It's partly our fault though... we stay up late watching tv.  I know we shouldn't, but we enjoy that down time together to end the day.  We never got into the show Lost when it came on, but we decided to start watching it on Netflix.  Man... how did people wait a week between episodes??  The show is crazy addictive.  We're in season 3 now.  I can't wait till tonight... Kate and Sawyer just got away from the others, and I'm curious to see how everyone will react to their situation.  Ack!  Anyhow... we might get some sleep if we weren't addicted to that show. :)

Haley has started saying 'baby' (not 'buh buh' or 'baba' - 'ba-by') and 'uh oh'!  It's so cute. ♥ She said 'night night' once, with the N and everything!  She's consistent with 'dada' for Seth and 'buh buh' for me, and with yes ('sss') and no ('oooh').  If she's in the mood, she'll try to repeat anything we ask her to.  She has made remarkable improvements.  We'll have to get a new video soon - we're SO proud of her!  And Blake?  I'm pretty sure he'll be giving speeches by next week.

Some recent pictures...











We're about to upgrade their car seats, so I had to get a picture of them in these.



 

I've been thinking a lot lately about what I love about my family. Sappy, I know... But it is what it is.

I'll start with Seth. We've been together almost 12 years (married for 7). We were 15 and 16 years old when we started dating. That seems crazy young thinking back... my sisters and brother are that age now. I guess that's what happens when you get old - younger ages seem much younger. When you're 15, 30 is like 50. When you're 30, 15 is like 10. Or something like that.

So what do I love about Seth?

• He loves me. That's not an easy job I'm sure!
• He's an incredible husband. I can't even put into words all the things he does for me and our marriage. He just - is - a great husband. Period.
• He's so kind.
• He's a super daddy. I love watching him play with Haley and Blake, and the way they are with him - it's nothing but love.
• He's a hard worker. He's great at what he does, and he's passionate about doing it right and well.
• I could go on and on, but I think I got my point across (and I haven't started on the kids' lists yet!). He's a great man, and I'm so blessed to have him.


What do I love about Haley?

• She's SO sweet. I'm not just saying that because I'm her mother - she really has a very kind heart.
• She always makes her babies/dolls hug and kiss. Barbies, army men, Yo Gabba Gabba characters, farm animals, dinosaurs... they all have to hug and kiss. The ones with arms are best.
• She loves her brother and tries to include him. This morning Haley and I were kind of dancing, bobbing our heads to a song. She put her hand on Blake's head and carefully helped him bob along too.
• She's a great player. She sits with her toys for a long time and plays so well. She makes lots of noises with her sweet little voice - it's so fun to just sit and watch her.
• Sometimes at night she wakes up for no other reason than she wants one of us (Seth since Blake was born) to sleep with her. So sweet!


What do I love about Blake?

• The way he looks up at me when I'm feeding him... It's perfection.
• Sometimes he sucks his thumb. It's so cute!
• He's really talkative and animated. I could sit all day and talk to him and make him laugh.
• He's a pretty good sleeper at night. He doesn't sleep through the night - I don't expect him to. But he does sleep a pretty long stretch, and when he wakes up to eat he usually goes back to sleep very quickly and easily.
• When he's upset, I lay down to feed him. He cuddles into me and settles right down. That alone makes me so happy to be his mommy.


I could go on and on and on about all of them. They are my world, and I would not be who I am without them in my life.

That was probably mushy enough. How about a few pictures. :)



 





 













 

We wanted family portraits with each of our families. My brother was home from Afghanistan for a couple weeks, and Seth's brother is about to move to Savannah. It seemed like a good time to get a portrait with each family.

This is my family, minus my older brother.


This is Seth's family.


We're blessed to have such great family close by.

Random thought... Last night I dreamed we were ready to try for another baby. I must have ingested something toxic before bed. Ack!

More pictures? Sure! :)









Their eyes make me melt. ♥

It's hard to find computer time these days, hence the lack of blogging the past couple months. I'll try to keep this thing more up-to-date. I'm thinking about trying a photo blog type thing. If I do I'll add the link to my sidebar. :)

Blake is such a good baby. He got super fussy there for a while, and his pediatrician prescribed Zantac for him. That helped him a LOT, and after 2 weeks of that we decided to see how he does without it. He hasn't had it for a couple weeks now and has been fine. Seems like it was a temporary problem. He's not much of a napper... he cat-naps all day. But I don't' worry about it since he sleeps pretty well at night. He's such a talker, and he's so happy! It's really easy to get smiles and coos from him. His ability to talk reaffirms Haley's speech problems - she never cooed like he does. Another thing about Blake... he HATES riding in the car. That makes it pretty hard to go out anywhere. Haley hated the car for a while too, but she got better. I know he will too.

Haley's been seeing a speech therapist through the early intervention program, but we also got with another speech therapist who sort of specializes in apraxia. Haley's too young for an "official" diagnosis, but everyone seems to agree that it definitely looks like that's what she has. We've been working on different things, and she's made a LOT of progress! She can say 'dada', 'buh buh buh', and 'eesh' to try different words. She's doing so great and trying so hard. We're so very proud of her.

So how is it having 2 little ones? I won't lie - it's not easy. Housework and showers are luxuries that don't always happen every day. (Did I just admit that publicly? Ugh...) I spend my days changing diapers, feeding them, cleaning after them, helping Haley with mouth exercises, helping Blake learn to roll over, getting Blake to sleep, playing with either/both of them, watching Dora, dealing with tantrums, playing outside when it's not too brutal, etc etc etc... Does that sound fun? It doesn't to me just reading it. But overall I REALLY love staying home with them. Yes it's hard, yes there are things I'd like to do that I can't right now (start a photography business, take a random spur-of-the-moment trip, have a relaxing meal out, type with 2 hands, etc...). But I wouldn't trade my situation for anything. It's so fulfilling taking care of them. Before we know it they'll be in school and I'll miss the days of trying to appease 2 crying babies at once.

How about a "few" pictures? :)

Haley has made a few improvements in her speech, but she still isn't really talking. Her speech therapist thinks (and we agree) that she may have Apraxia. Cognitively she's right where she should be, but she has a hard time getting her mouth to make words. We're looking into options for her so she can get the help she needs. I read online that a lot of people have had success giving their apraxic kids fish oil, so I started that Tuesday. Hopefully that'll help her too. This video was taken yesterday, and you can see how she knows what to say but can't. She's really trying though, and she's so smart.



I spoke too soon about Blake not being a fussy baby. He's still much less fussy than Haley was, but he does cry a lot now. Not much at night, but a lot during the day and evening. He does have some awake happy times too though. He's actually pretty vocal already... he coos and 'talks' a lot. I don't remember Haley doing that. Maybe he won't have any speech problems.

Even with all the things we're dealing with with our babies, we still love them both more than life. They're so very sweet. Haley loves her brother and doesn't show any jealousy yet.

Blake had his one month appointment on the 21st. He gained almost 3 lbs in 3 1/2 weeks. :) His doctor said he had better head control than most one-month-olds. To quote her... "keep doing whatever you're doing!". :) We're so blessed to have two healthy and beautiful babies. ♥


A few pictures, 'cause that's what I do :)

3 weeks old





playing outside



4 weeks old



sibling love









one month old









swimming

Blake is such a good baby so far. Not that there are bad babies... just more difficult ones. Like Haley was. :) I really think she was colicky, especially after seeing how laid back Blake is. He doesn't cry much, and he sleeps and eats really well. Of course I'm not picking favorites and never will. I love them both more than life. But it's nice to have an easy baby this time!

Haley is sooo sweet with him, she really seems to love him already. She never acts jealous or anything. We're still working on teaching her that she can't play rough with him, but she's never mean to him.

I've had fun photographing him. I love photographing Haley, but it's even more fun with both of them. And it's really challenging getting them both in the same shot.




He was 4 days old in these:










First real bath, the day his cord stump fell off (1 week old):




Big sister:








These were taken on his due date (1 1/2 weeks old):






These were taken today (2 weeks 1 day old):



First tummy time:






Play time on the floor:

Wednesday, April 21, 2010 – 5:08 am

8 lbs 5 oz, 21 ¾ inches

I had some contractions over the weekend and Monday and Tuesday – nothing too strong. Tuesday they started getting more intense and somewhat regular off and on. When we went to bed Tuesday night I was able to relax through the contractions and sleep between them. Around 12:00 I couldn’t sleep, and by about 2:00 I couldn’t lay down and had a hard time relaxing through them. The pain was all in my back – he was sunny side up.

We called Seth's parents at 3 am (so they could come stay with Haley) and got to the hospital at 4. The contractions were VERY intense and close together at that point. I had decided I wanted the epidural by the time we got to the hospital (even though I was planning to try to go natural). I was 10 cm when we got there, so it was too late for the epidural. They got me into my room and got things ready. I could feel him coming down… I knew it wouldn’t be long. My water broke with a contraction, and then my doctor walked in just in time. It only took 3 pushes. The first time I freaked out and stopped. The second push was more productive. The last push got him out.. head, shoulders, and all. Such a relief!

He came out face-up, but he was perfectly healthy. I was able to hold him right away and nurse him. He didn’t have any trouble nursing from the beginning. He ate 3 different times within the first 2 hours, and then he slept most of the rest of the day. During the afternoon/evening/night he nursed great.

Thursday morning he had his circumcision done, and then we got ready to go home. We were home by 3:30. He’s been doing great... he’s not a very fussy baby so far.

We’re adjusting to our new family dynamic. We’re used to being able to help each other, and it’s different when Seth has to be with one while I have to be with the other. We’re doing really well though. I love love love having 2 kids. ♥

We had a great Easter weekend! Saturday we went to my sister's house for her son's birthday party. They had a blow-up jumpy thing, and Haley loved it! They also had a net set up and various balls to play with. Haley had to throw all the balls over the net and hit them with the badminton racket. She's pretty good at playing ball - she may have gotten all the sport genes that skipped Seth and me. :)







Happy birthday Cameron!



Sunday afternoon we went to my parents' for a meal and egg hunt, then we went to Seth's parents' for a meal and egg hunt (just for Haley). She did much better with it this year. Last year she was super crabby - she just pitched a fit and wouldn't do anything but throw a big egg (which was actually a decoration and not part of the egg hunt).

Just for fun... this is from her first Easter.


Last Easter...





And this Easter...







And just a few more cute pictures...

Blake is doing great! He has the hiccups at least once or twice a day, and he's very active. We had an ultrasound yesterday because I hadn't been gaining any weight. His size is right on target, and his fluids are great. During the ultrasound he yawned a few times and sucked on a couple of his fingers. :)














Haley's really been trying to talk more lately. She watches us talk and moves her mouth. We're getting there. :) I wrote down all the signs she knows - it was around 40. The quality is terrible, but you can see her trying to sing in this video.



Too cute. :) Just a few recent pictures...

Ok, so it's not *technically* Spring yet, but the weather has been so nice lately! We've had lots of good outside fun, at home and at local parks.