The Last Month

I seriously can't believe it's been a whole month since I last posted! We now have a 2 1/2 year old and 3 month old.  It's just crazy how time flies when you are so busy.  Anderson is now enjoying being a big brother.  Really, this means that he isn't constantly trying to hit Charlotte and he occasionally pays attention to her.  He talks constantly and loves to sing his favorite songs.  He makes us laugh all the time. Charlotte is now rolling over and laughing! Her smiles are infectious and she is the sweetest little thing.  We feel so lucky to have our two kids.

We just returned from a short weekend in San Antonio for spring break and now we get to enjoy the rest of the week doing fun things around Denver. Travel with our two kids was so much better than anticipated! The kids were great on both flights and for the most part, slept very well.  Our vacations are definitely different now.  We used to spend so much time researching restaurants, etc. when it was just the two of us.  We really packed our vacations full of stuff.  Now, we try to find quicker places to eat and really enjoy the small moments with our kids.  I'll do another post with vacation pictures but wanted to update the last month first.

Anderson watering our flowers.

Enjoying time at the park.

Playing in the toy room.  Anderson's dump trump and Charlotte are the same size.

Yummy frozen yogurt!

The chair goes up!

It wasn't so bad!

Sweet girl!

Push up (now she is rolling over)

We love her cute smile (she smiles ALL the time)

Chopsticks!

Enjoying our kids

Life has been so busy, but definitely good! I can actually say that after 11 weeks things are going great.  We are all on a routine and Anderson has been so much better.  He's been saying the funniest things and is trying to help with his baby sister.  She loves to watch him! 

Here's a couple snippets of conversations with him lately:

Me: "Are you excited to go to the aquarium to see sharks?" Anderson: "Sharks have sharp teeth.  Bite, ouch!"

After I had an accident with our garage (I'm not going to discuss further)  Anderson:  "Oh no, crash.  Garage broke.  Daddy fix." 

When we were driving one day and he saw the mountains, Anderson said, "Snow mountains, want to hike." 

He's also been pretending that there's a bear after him (from the book Going on a Bear Hunt).  

  

Besides taking care of kids, I've started training for the Portland half marathon that is in May.  I'm up to 7 miles and I'm glad I have some motivation because I want to lose the rest of the baby weight plus a few more pounds.  My friend Tresa wants me to do one in April, but we'll see how in shape I feel. I wish that I could snap my fingers and be in shape again! It's definitely more of a challenge to find the time for long runs but James is so good about giving me time for running.  :)

Enjoying the Denver Museum of Nature and Science on President's Day.

Anderson watching the fish with his friend Madison at the Denver Aquarium.

Watching the big fish and sharks.

Talking turtles.

After bath.

Reading a book.

Sporting one of her cute outfits.

Love that smile!

Happy Girl.

Tummy time!

James reading to our sitting swap little friends.

Got our Groove

Life has been busy but good.  We are finally getting a routine going for everyone and have a new sense of normal.  I went back to work on Monday and it went really well.  Our house is like a zoo in the mornings but once we all get out the door all is ok.

Charlotte is growing so fast and is sleeping so much better! Anderson is actually enjoying his sister some of the time.  He likes to help and doesn't seem quite as jealous.  James and I are feeling like we have a little more time to ourselves now that both kids are asleep at the same time each night. We also get a little bit of time kid free while they are napping.  Things are definitely looking up!

Someone has been very smiley lately!

Anderson playing his new harmonica.

What do I do with this much snow?

Enjoying wine while painting!

Fun!

The final products. They look better from far away.

Daddy with his kiddos.

Sweet Kiddos

Things are getting much better week by week.  It almost seems like there's something magical about having a 6 week old because that seems to be the age where things begin to get easier.  I guess it makes sense that many women return back to work after 6 weeks.  Here's a few updates on the kids:

Charlotte is starting to be a bit more interactive.  She is smiling and cooing now and it's adorable! She is on a little bit of a routine/schedule and is sleeping 5/6 hour stretches at night. We were having problems getting her back to sleep after the 3 or 4 am feeding but lately she's been going right back to sleep.  James is thankful that he hasn't had to make any late night drives with her.  We are loving having a sweet baby girl!

Anderson is such a little ham.He is talking up a storm and repeating EVERYTHING.  He has a great memory and loves pretend play.  He is starting to sing along with us and can say all of his ABC's.  He is always making connections with his favorite books and sometimes he says things and we wonder where he heard them.  Lately he's been talking about the dark and monsters.  We have no idea where that came from.  He is still very jealous of his little sister and we have to watch him like a hawk  He loves sweets (where does he get that from?). We made cookies one time and he says the word cookie a few times a day now.  He will even try to pull out the drawer with the pan and say, "Mommy, please make cookies."  He also loves Starbucks.  No, we haven't bought him his own hot chocolate or anything but one time he did get a hold of my empty cup and drink the few drops of chocolate from the bottom.  Every day he wants me to go to Starbucks to get a mocha.  That silly guy!

Let's just say that life is interesting and we love our kiddos.  Sometimes we get overwhelmed but then we just laugh and realize how lucky we truly are.

Having fun at Lollipop Park.

Big boy!

Sweet girl!

Construction zone (we ended up making a bigger one after this picture.

Sibling love!

So cute!

Love her smile!

Two Kids = Too Little Time

Things we've learned the last month:

1) Having two kids is more than double the work

2) No matter how much attention you give either of the kids, they always want more

3) Sleep is nothing but a long lost friend that we miss very much

4) Getting out of the house is an event

5) Babies love to be held and are super snuggly

6) Toddlers (especially ours) have a hard time being gentle

7) The house will never be clean

8) Car rides are like magic for getting babies to sleep

9) Nap time (the hour that both kids are sleeping) is amazing

10) Take out is our new preferred cooking technique