1 month

Such a big boy already. But to put it in perspective here is a picture that I didn't zoom in with the camera. He has grown 2 inches in a month. Another basketball scholarship perhaps? Today my baby is one month old. It seems like just yesterday we were in the hospital having him but at the same time he feels like he's always been apart of our lives. Its funny how when Colin turned 1 month old I cried because he was growing up so fast. And it seem like Joel has hit his one month even faster. When Colin was born all I did all day was stare at him. And now I have two kids to take care of so the days go by even faster. And while I am sad that Joel is now one month, leaving the newborn stage and is now in the baby stage, I also feel like we've finally figured out how to care for two. Its still a balancing act and overwhelming at times but we've all (including Colin) adjusted well and I feel like I can breathe a little again. Joel is such a joy and a huge blessing to us. I just love him so much and wish he wouldn't grow up so fast. He is starting to smile at us which just melts our hearts and even cooing a little more each day. We all just love to hug and kiss him and he gets that from all of us - especially Colin. Its fun to see his personality come out more and more each day. And there is nothing greater than having your baby fall asleep content in your arms. I just wish we could stop time a little. We are truly blessed with two wonderful boys. Hugs and kisses from his big brother

harvest time

287 - The number of snowpeas we picked and ate

1 Gigantic Sunflower - too hot and way too many seeds to count (we did have another sunflower but the squirrels ate that one) Colin and Brent are enjoying eating the seeds a few at a timeCountless tomatoes - we didn't count these since they went straight into dinners, lunches, or Brent's yummy homemade salsa. This is the best salsa I have ever eaten. He has worked for the past few years to perfect it and I think he finally did it. Everything in it is from our garden, our neighbors garden, or my parents garden. All but the onions and garlic - those we bought. I only wish we could figure out how to can it without losing any of the flavor. That we need to work on.
We just got more tomatoes from my parents garden so tonight we will be feasting on this: The best part is the fun Colin has had watching everything grow. Our cucumbers didn't do well, our peppers and tomatoes are the best. The corn didnt make it either. But our basil patch is overflowing. The pumpkin died and so did the watermelon. But we do have I think 2 cantalope growing so hopefully they will be good to eat soon. Fresh veggies are so good. Nothing compares to 'real' tomatoes picked from the vine.

playdates!

Today Joel had his first playdate with Lucy, RJ's sister (and RJ and Colin played together too) Remember this blog? Well poor Kelly didnt have the baby that night and instead was put in the hospital for 3 weeks until she finally had Lucy. So we really won with the baby race. It was great to get out of the house and Colin and RJ play so well together. They had a great time and Lucy is so sweet. I always have a great time with Kelly so its great that our boys love each other too.
Joel is growing up way too fast. Its hard to believe he'll be a month old in a few days. He loves to look around and unfortunately still thinks that nighttime is a great time to be awake. But we're hopefully working on that one. Colin has also had a few rough nights as he's been waking up with nightmares. Colin loves TRex and will tell you TRex eats meat...unfortunately I think he finally figured out what meat was since the past few nights Colin will wake up crying "TRex is trying to eat me!" haha poor guy. Joel is a very sweet boy and has smiled at us a few times - mostly at Colin. Colin loves him so much and loves to tell me what Joel's cries mean. "mommy I think that cry means he's hungry" or "that cry means he wants to be picked up" He is such a good big brother.

Arrr Matey!

Tonight we went over to the Burley's house for dinner and had a great time seeing Angela's extended family that we hadn't seen since their wedding. (Angela is my sister-in-law) Colin LOVES pirates and we play pirates all the time so he was VERY excited when we arrived to find this in their backyard.Colin and Benjamin had a blast playing in the pirate ship and then went into the pool where Colin swam around for almost 2 hours I think. Afterwards these two curly haired boys shared cake.
And where was Joel while we were being invaded by pirates? This is what Joel was doing all night and was very content in everyone's arms.We wish James and Angela could've been there but it was fun hanging out with Angela's family. But I must say, James and Angela have the three cutest nephews I have ever seen.

blueberries

This morning I loaded up the boys and we ventured out to Pungo to go blueberry picking. Colin loves blueberries and keeps asking when we're going to the farm to pick them. He remembers picking them last year at my grandparents farm. And since we weren't getting to the farm anytime soon I was excited to read in the paper about this blueberry farm not far from our house. I had only been out of the house one other time this week (5 minutes away to go grocery shopping) and that was a success so I figured we'd try it. Both boys were perfect. Colin loved it. Joel slept in the carrier the whole time. None of the blueberries that Colin picked ended up home with us. On our way to go pay for them I looked in Colin's basket and he had eaten them all. So we went to another part of the farm and loaded up his basket with blackberries. (Colin's favorite part was finding a HUGE spider. He made me take a picture of it. He wanted to bring it home with us but I convinced him the spider liked blackberries and wanted to stay there) Its been easy taking both boys places since Joel can't move yet and I know once he becomes mobile it'll all change but its been a breeze so far and Colin has been a big help. It'll be fun to start venturing out more and more these next few weeks. Eating blueberriesLooking for the biggest ones. We came home and made a blueberry pie. YUM!And we had to include more pictures of this cutie. This is a typical Joel face as he studies someone.Sleeping babies are so precious. He actually grabbed this blanket until it was up close to him. Not sure if it was on purpose but still so cute The baby whisperer? Perhaps. Joel was crying and Brent tried everything to calm him down when Colin said "let me hold him." Brent said ok but he's going to cry and Colin sang to him and Joel instantly fell asleep. What a proud big brother.

weekend fun

Sunday we headed over to NN to take Colin to a birthday party and spend time with my parents. My friend Linda's daughter was turning 4 and had her birthday party at the Bounce House. Its pretty much a warehouse filled with inflatable slides, moonbounces, obstacle courses. And it just opened up near my parents house. Linda and I have been friends since 2nd grade so its really fun to get together and see our kids grow up together. We left Joel with my parents and I took Colin while Brent went to Trader Joe's. Colin had a blast and I had fun playing with Colin. He wanted me to go down the slides with him and it was fun to be able to just play with Colin (and also go down slides - things I haven't been able to do in months. The first time I went down one Colin's face was priceless and so excited to have me there going down with him. We had a lot of fun and look forward to going back to the Bounce House again. Brent even got in the action and stopped by (he dropped us off and picked us up since I haven't driven since having the baby) The only bad part of the day was when Colin's eye and another boy's elbow met and now Colin has a big black eye. Battle wounds :)Colin thought that he should help in blowing the candle out.

Joel enjoyed being held by grandma all afternoon and loved being on the swing with grandpa. Joel was fascinated by something he saw above him. (Colin and my dad used to swing like this too)
Today I took this cute video of Colin singing and rocking the cradle while Joel slept. We put him on his side (since he hates being on his back to sleep) and he wiggles until he is on his tummy. Scares me at night since they warn you of SIDS all the time but I guess if he's strong enough to wiggle down he'll be ok. I'm not as nervous this time - with Colin I was constantly checking on him in the middle of the night to make sure he was still breathing. Please excuse the mess in the corner. It was laundry day finally at our house :) Its hard to hear since there was a huge thunderstorm but so sweet to see him singing to his little brother.

This boy...

This boy...Surprises me all the time with how smart he is and how curious he is about things. He always wants to know how things work (he took apart my vacuum cleaner one day just to see how it worked - good thing he could put it back together!) He can tell you all about dinosaurs and what they like to eat. (he loves to tell you that triceratops eats "poop plants" They actually eat fibrous plants but he wanted to know what fibrous plants were and poop plants came out. It does help him eat more veggies) My favorite dinosaur that he says is "broccoli-saurus." It makes me laugh each time. He also knows all about space and can tell you the planets and our solar system. One day soon we want to take him to the air and space museum. He also remembers random facts like "mommy you know snakes smell with their tongues" He never forgets anything and his favorite books right now are a set of encyclopedias for kids that we bought when Colin was born. I never thought we'd be reading them this soon but he loves them and doesn't forget any of the fun facts he learns. Colin has also discovered mazes and loves to do any and all mazes. I got him a book of mazes for kindergarteners and he he did it all in an hour. He calls the dead ends in a maze "door knock" haha its so fun to watch him with his marker and go "oops - door knock" He is such a joy and its so much fun seeing him learn new things and also teach us things as we are learning them together.


And this boy...Loves to eat and sleep. He smiles in his sleep all the time. He also loves to be held and talked to. He loves being on his stomach and is already trying to lift his head up - have to keep up with his big brother. He loves to be cuddled like his big brother which we hope will continue. He sleeps best when there's noise or when other people are in the room which is good because Colin only has one volume - loud. And has the perfect cheeks for all our kisses. We are all very much in love with him.

And these boys...Sometimes vent their frustrations out at the same time

2 weeks

The past 2 weeks have gone by so fast. Its hard to believe Joel is only two weeks old as we can't imagine life without him - but at the same time he seems like he was just born yesterday. This week was my first week taking care of both boys on my own. One day I even managed to get them both napping at the same time. Its only happened once but we're starting to get on a consistent schedule which is nice for all of us. Colin has done amazing and has been so patient. Joel is just cute and besides loving to be held all the time loves to sleep (we aren't used to a baby that likes to sleep since Colin NEVER slept this much) Joel also loves to look at his brother and Colin loves talking to him. In fact I hear all the time "mommy wake baby joel up. I can't see his eyes!" and each time Joel looks at colin he shouts "he's looking at me. He loves me!" So sweet. I love this picture of these boys and hope this is the beginning of a close friendship between them. This week has actually been easier than I thought and time goes by so fast between feedings, diaper changes and just playing with both boys. Its been nice to be able to get on the floor now and play with Colin since my huge stomach isn't there :) Its been a balancing act at times when both boys need my attention - who do you help first? But each day gets more structured for us and I'm loving every minute of it. Our friends Pete and Ashleigh were vacationing in Williamsburg last weekend so we ventured out to meet them - and to also get out of the house. Colin LOVES doo-danna (susanna)we also stopped and saw my grandparents on the way home. helping daddy clean the guitters
just plain cute

Poor unsuspecting boy

I was taking some pictures of Joel yesterday while he was wide-eyed and looking all around when I noticed a little fireman figure climbing up the boppy in the background towards Joel's head.Today T-Rex was placed just so Joel could stare at him. It didn't seem to faze him at all until T-Rex fell and his mouth was eating Joel's hand. The abuse already!But Colin has been a wonderful big brother. More than I could hope for. Our only problem now is that he wants to pick up the baby all the time and also tries to feed the baby little pieces of whatever he is eating. I think he already snuck in a few graham cracker crumbs. He loves being around the baby and wants to help and is a huge help to me. He is very patient when I'm taking care of Joel even when he wants mommy time at that moment too. I hope that patience continues! Today he helped give Joel a bath and when Joel is crying it seems right now that the minute Colin starts singing to him he calms down. And whenever Joel is awake Colin has to be right there with him playing with him. The flash is very bright in this picture but what a cute little face.

My son...... the lumberjack!

This is a rare post by "the dad!" I must say that it really is my proudest moment since being a father! But I also warn you before you go further, there is plenty of potty talk in this one. As Abigail has been saying, it has been a struggle to get Colin potty trained. There is nothing I want more than to be done with diapers (oops, there goes that thought Joel!) Anyways, I had just given up the idea that Colin will be potty trained any time soon and realized it will only happen in his timing. Abigail and I have heard too many stories where parents tried to "take control" and it only made the kids more fearful!

So a few days ago Colin had (well, in my opinion) his WORST blowout!!! I mean I was literally about to loose my lunch. And of course if I had asked Abigail (which I did) to take care of it, she only reminded me (yet again) of what she had just gone through! So with this experience fresh on my mind, Colin came up to me today and said he had to go poop!

I went in the bathroom with him and told him I'd read a book to him while he "attempted" to push (sounds like pregnancy all over again!). Anyways, we sat there and read and I knew nothing was going to happen, and it didn't. He kept wanting me to read more and totally lost interest. Hours later, I was in the kitchen cleaning up, when Colin runs in, "Daddy, I just pooped!" My face must have had a big scowl at that point as I assumed he had pooped on the floor (which has never happend.... yet). But then he says, "in the potty!" My next emotion was utter glee!!!! Yes, I just used that phrase. We ran into the bathroom together and sure enough. There IT was. I was SO PROUD!!!! I was praising him while giving numerous high fives! That's our usual pee in the potty celebration. I really was about as proud as could be as I never thought this day would come. Now I am keeping it all in perspective as I'm sure he will regress a bit, but this is the start of what I hope will be the END!!! ha

The other funny part was right after, Abigail had Colin call his Ant Ant and grandparents to tell them of his big accomplishment. The conversation with his grandpa went as follows: "Grandpa, I just pooped in the potty!!! I just waited and waited, and it came out!" Abigail and I were laughing so hard at this point. Aaaah, the little milestones in life are the most exciting thing going on right now!!!

Ma-Maa's visit

I do all my best sleeping during the day!Joel's reaction to bathtime

My mom just left and Brent has returned home. And we have wonderful news - Brent doesn't have to go to Charlottesville anymore! YAY!!! We are all so excited. This was his last week there. We had a great time with my mom being here. Colin absolutely loved it. I could always hear him giggling from anywhere in the house. He played firemen and firetrucks and really loved sitting at his project table as he calls it and doing mazes with Ma-Maa. It was really fun having my mom here and a huge help to me. And Joel loved all the cuddling and holding too. Colin is falling more in love with Joel each day. He wants to hold him all the time and doesnt like it when he sleeps. In fact at one point colin ran in from my room where the cradle was, told us Joel was waking up, ran back and Joel was indeed awake. Whether Colin woke him up or not we'll never know. When I took this picture I heard Colin telling Joel "I love you baby Joel"Being a big brother is awesome!

Today's pictures

Once again I'm waiting to feed Joel. He will either eat in half an hour to an hour and I know if he goes another hour then I'll be wishing I had slept but its almost worse to just fall asleep and then be woken up. We're still working on the sleeping at night but other than that it gets easier each day. Colin has barely stuttered the past 2 days which is such an answer to prayer and really loves baby Joel. Its so sweet to see him love on his little brother and makes all the anxiety Colin has shown worth it. Brent goes back to work tomorrow so we'll see how Colin does with that. He has loved having Daddy home so much to play with. In fact several times today Colin has told me "mommy you hold baby Joel me play with daddy" My mom will be here to help since Brents first day back he has to go to Charlottesville. I think he's looking forward almost to going since he'll get a full nights sleep tomorrow night! Colin and I are looking forward to Ma-maa being here. But here are some pictures we took todayColin loves to kiss and sing to Joel when he cries. He loves to sing "its ok its ok its ok" over and over when Joel cries. Entertaining Joel while we're getting dinner ready. Colin wanted to make sure his comfy heart blanket as he calls it was put there so Joel was nice and snuggly. And yes Colin is wearing a diaper. Clothes have been optional this week :) but after cleaning poop three times in a row (that part of potty training still isn't going well) Brent made him put a diaper on. Colin and I held Joel's hands while Colin prayed at dinner tonight and Colin thought that was the greatest.