shoulders

lily's after church, post-nap request...

eat string cheese on dad's shoulders.

Neighbors

We said goodbye to the North family this morning.

They were our downstairs neighbors and some of our very best friends.

Lily absolutely adored their three girls and they loved her.

Before they left, I got to take some pictures of their darling family down at Baker Beach.

They turned out beautifully!

I'm sure they're not going to miss Lily's running back and forth down the halls,

but we're sure going to miss them!!!

3 Months

This kid is 3 months old, I can't believe it.

Noah is 22 1/2 inches tall and weighs 10 lbs, 

which is 18th percentile adjusted and 1st percentile for his age.

He's on the charts, baby!

He's giving us coos and smiles which makes the 

endless hours of rocking, cuddling and bouncing so much more rewarding.

I can usually count on him taking a solid 2-3 hour nap in the morning and afternoon, both in his swing.

Overall he's a happy baby, most content when he's being held.

When he's not sleeping in his swing, he's usually hanging out on my front in the Moby.

It's a magical wrap with magical happy baby powers.

Night times are still tough...

We've successfully transitioned him to sleeping in his bassinet at night,

but he's still waking up every 2 hours, with the last stretch usually lasting about 3.

I never thought 3 hours of sleep at a time could feel so good :)

Lily is still obsessed with her baby brother.

She calls him Mr. Noah, has tabs on his doings and whereabouts at all times.

and loves to hold him, for about 10 seconds at a time,

Happy 3 months, Mr. Noah.

We love you.

Run baby run

Joe and I went on a run this afternoon

and Lily wanted to come with.

She went into her room looking for running attire

and came out looking like this...

Awesome.

Lily's Wall

The wall above the twin bed in Lily's room was looking a little blah.

Soooo... I turned to Pinterest for some darling printables.

I painted the frames white, used the lettering my mom gave Lily her first Christmas

and a hand-me-down butterfly mirror from a friend.

I love the way it turned out.

I am a child of God

Love is spoken here

ABC silhouette 

Temple

Bunnies

TGIF

I'm glad this week flew by.

Joe has been gone.

I'm exhausted.

It seems as the week went on, Noah slept less and less.

But today was a good day.

The sun was out.

I got a new pair of pants.

Joe gets home tomorrow.

...And I took pictures of my cute kids.

Noah has mad skills when it comes to eyebrow control.

Lily wanted in on the action...

Sneeze!

New pants.

Happy Friday :)

Privacy...

Lily knows nothing of the sort when it comes to using the bathroom.

She wants to watch you while you go,

inspect the toilet before you flush,

and insists that anyone and everyone who passes the bathroom 

while she's on the potty "come on in".

Hence the room full of my family while we were home visiting last weekend.

because i am a mom.

Because I am a mom...

Door slamming, fire engines, car alarms, doorbells and phones ringing

all seem a million times louder when my children are napping.

My daily reading now consists of picture books...

sometimes the same two books read over and over and over again.

My guilty pleasure tv time has been replaced by PBS shows.

My nights and days are usually a blur.
Car rides with the windows down and music blasting
have been replaced by listening to the Tangled soundtrack on repeat.

After a run, my arms are just as tired as my legs

from pushing a double stroller up hills,

around lakes and through parks.

Showers are quick. My hair hardly ever gets done.

Makeup is usually an afterthought.

And my purse is always filled with snacks,

crumbs and pacifiers.

My hands are no longer my own,

but instead they rock babies, wipe noses,

clean up messes, change diapers, hold chubby hands,

give baths, rub backs, hold bottles, wash dishes and snuggle.

But my ability to love has grown one hundred fold.

My reliance on the Lord has become more important than ever.

And my prayers are filled with the most heartfelt gratitude and pleas for strength.

How grateful I am to be a mom,

for the things my children teach me,

for the incredible mother I have

and for her patience and love and wisdom.

Happy Happy Mother's Day.

undies.

Lily keeps us laughing.

Always.

Like her getup this morning.

Or how when I don't respond right away to something she says,

she looks at me and says sternly "did you hear what I said?"

Wonder where she got that?????

Or how she prefers to go commando, so she hides her undies in obscure places

to keep us from finding them.

But look at the bum.

And that little wedgie.

Makes you just want to pinch it, right?

sleep

For some reason, taking pictures of a sleeping baby

makes me feel a little better about all the hours he's not sleeping.

Alone. In his bed.

Also, please note the cheeks and the double chin.

That's my baby :)

Beach day

Yesterday was the perfect beach day.

 Aren't these two adorable?

It's too bad they don't have any fun together :)

I found THIS picture of Ben & Lily 

back in the day when we could all fit in one car and one cart on a Costco trip.

Ahhhh. They grow up fast, I tell you.

Noah's Blessing Day

This little man was blessed yesterday, 

surrounded by his dad, two grandpas and great-grandpa.

Joe blessed him with strength and the ability to recognize truth

as he puts his trust in the Lord and is obedient here on earth.

It was such a beautiful day and a great reminder 

of how perfect each and every child of our Heavenly Father is.

  

Friday Letters

Dear Lily,

I finally got up the courage and worked on potty training you this week.

You had two accidents Monday morning when we first started, but since then you've been accident free.

And while you haven't had a stitch of clothing on all week long, you're doing it sister!

You're awesome. 

I love you.

Love,

Your mom who gets to buy 1 fewer box of diapers each month.

Dear Joe,

You're taking the GRE tomorrow.

I'm excited to get my husband back.

And my dining room table that is currently covered in books, flashcards and more books.

You're going to do awesome. Like always.

I love you.

Love,

Your wife (of four years and two days)

Dear Noah,

Get excited - we're moving you from sleeping in your bouncer to your bed this weekend.

You're not going to like it.

And I'm sorry.

But you've got to learn to sleep eventually.

I love you.

Love,

Your mom (who will love you even more once you start sleeping longer)

Dear Weekend,

I'm excited for you to get here.

And for your promising warm weather.

We're blessing Noah on Sunday and a lot of our family is coming to visit.

You're going to be a good one, weekend.

Thanks.

Love,

Me.

A Happy Day

Today we get to celebrate this sexy man turning the big 2-7

AND our 4th wedding anniversary.

Joe gets to celebrate by going to school

and I'll celebrate by potty training a two-year-old.

But tonight... tonight, I tell you.

We're going on a hot date.

All. By. Ourselves.

I love you, Joe.

Happy Birthday.

Happy Anniversary.

Today is such a special day. 

And will be forever and ever.

2 months

This little man is 2 months old.

Now someone please tell me how that happened because most days I feel like we're still winging it.

Noah weighed in at 7lbs 9oz and is 21 inches tall.

He's not quite on the charts for weight and height yet, although they predict by 4 months he'll catch up.

But his head is 54 percentile, not adjusted... big head. big brains. 

We're still not getting much sleep over here.

Some nights he'll give us a stretch of almost 3 hours 

(after which I sing and dance for the extra few minutes of sleep I got!)

but most nights he's up every 2 hours or so.

And he sleeps in his bouncer. Don't judge us. You got to do what you gotta do.

Babies do learn to sleep eventually...right???

I'm quickly remembering how much I love front carriers of every kind...

carrying him around in that thing is basically the only way anything gets done.

Dishes? No problem.

Grocery store? Sure.

Dinner? Why yes.

He loves it. I have two free hands. Everybody wins.

Happy 2 months, Noah.

We love you.

Then & Now

Lily rediscovered one of her favorite things from a couple years ago...

I still can't believe they can go from so little to so big in only two years!

And the weeks are flying.

Is it just me, or have the last couple of months just flown by?!? Is it really almost May?

Maybe it's because our days and our nights seem to stream together like one endless day.

Or because spring is here and we're spending our days outside instead of stuck in our house.

Or because it feels like we're still winging this being parents of two kids things.

Or because Joe is just weeks away from being done with his 3rd year of dental school.

Or maybe it's because our birthdays are just around the corner and I'm told time speeds up as you age...

So, in an attempt to slow down time...

Here's what 8:30am looked like at our house this morning.

In this picture Lily is saying, "Noah. Stop crying. I love you."

face paint

Lily's new favorite thing to do is purposely make a mess on her face,

then run to the mirror, and giggle at her masterpiece.

Not my favorite new phase, but makes for a lot of great messy face pictures...

which are pretty much a requirement when you're two.

Big Sister. Baby Brother.

Lily takes her role as big sister pretty seriously...

she makes sure that she is present for almost every diaper change (declaring ewww grosssss, if it's poopy),

is quick to gently shove put the pacifier into Noah's mouth when he's crying,

always asking to hold, burp, rock, etc.,

likes to know where he is and what he is doing at all times,

doesn't miss a beat in ordering us to "go get him" when she hears him waking up from a nap,

and smothers him in hugs and kisses all day long - some soft, some not so soft.

This morning after both kids were awake and diapers were changed,

Lily and I sat on the floor holding a very content and alert Noah.

She pointed out his hair, eyebrows, eyes, lashes, nose, lips, cheeks, chin,

the monkeys on his pajamas and even his eye boogers.

And I had one of those awesome mom moments...

where the tiredness and perpetual headache of only getting a few hours of sleep each night disappeared

and all I could think about was that we made these two perfect little humans.

two of them! and they're our kids. forever.

on the cob

Lily loves corn on the cob.

And by loves I mean I make four for dinner. She eats two.

And then cleans up mine and Joe's, making sure not a single kernel is left.

No kernel left behind. It's her cob eating motto.