Date Night, Partying, and More Ear Drama...

How is it Monday morning already? Will someone tell me how to slow time down? It's increased since Will was born. I can only imagine how quickly Michelle Duggar's life is flying by! Whew!

Here are a few pictures from April 19th that I neglected to post:

On Friday afternoon Cacky and Anna came to pick James up for a little spend-the-night party at Mom's house. James was SO excited. I was SO excited, too, because little boy had been in bed with me every night last week. The monsters were after him for a couple of days in a row and I was ready to strangle some monster throats! Those "stare-y" things need to stay out of my house!

After James left, Will and I carried on to After-School Bible School. It was the last day and there were cupcakes and a bouncy and plenty of wild little children running loose. So fun!

My plan was to leave church and head to Old Navy where I had a few hundred items to return. I called Eddie at about five minutes after five and discovered that he was WALKING IN THE DOOR TO MY HOUSE. Unheard of.  We usually don't see him until 6 or so. So I changed my plans and Will and I headed home to pick up Daddy so that he could go with us. He reluctantly left his lawn-mowing behind and we visited Tractor Supply, Target, and Old Navy before heading home. Oh! And we picked up a movie and pizza.

Eddie and I NEVER watch movies. He's not a movie-watcher. My ideal job would be to review movies. Okay, maybe not my TOP ideal job, but it's on the short list. I LOVE to go to the movies. Eddie does not. However, I purchased a Groupon a few months back for some Blockbuster Express rentals and we needed to use them up. We rented "Just Go With It," with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston and we LOVED it. It was predictable, but so cute! So glad we chose that one. And then, with James gone and since we didn't have to do a bathtime/bedtime routine, we were asleep by 11:30. Early for us, folks.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early and headed to Tifton for a sweet friend's 5th birthday party. I cannot believe that child is five years old. GA had her party at the gymnastics place in Tifton, so I was eager to see what Mr. James would do. He's gotten to be a little bit hesitant about trying things out (as evidenced by the trip to Monkey Joe's) so I was concerned he wouldn't do anything. And for the most part...he didn't. He hated the foam pit but spent most of his time wandering around and looking in the mirrors and telling me he wanted "...to go in there!" Not another room, child...just a mirror. Finally, he worked up the nerve to walk up to the guy running the show and swing out on the rope over the foam pit. He did it one time, pronounced it "stare-y," and went on his merry little way! Ha! He also chose not to eat his strawberries during the party because he "wikes Cheetos more." Oh my goodness.

We spent the rest of the afternoon napping at Cacky's, visiting half of the Bargerons (James and Will stayed at Cacky's and we visited with the awake half of the Bargerons - Lori and JM were napping while we were there), and playing at Grandmama's house.

A little concert on the way home on Saturday evening.

Saturday and Sunday night, Will joined us in his high chair at the table. I thought there was going to be a throw-down over who got to sit in this high chair (which has been UNOCCUPIED in our kitchen for MONTHS and James hasn't said a word about it) but it was resolved quickly after it was mentioned that Will could sit right next to James.

On Sunday the big boys went to church and I tried to get our house back in order. It's a never-ending battle, isn't it? After the big boys came home and we had lunch, James took a FOUR HOUR NAP. I finally woke him up at 4:30 because I was worried he wouldn't sleep when it was time for bed. That has NEVER happened before. Someone was worn out! Eddie and I sat outside and read while both boys were asleep and I got a little fried. :) Apparently 25 minutes in the sun at 1pm is too much for my lily white skin. Whoops! The rest of the day was spent doing some laundry, some television watching, some grocery shopping, and some running.

I LOVE this boy's fuzzy hair! It makes me laugh!

Our week isn't *quite* as busy this week. I'm waiting on a callback from the doctor's office this morning. I'm certain we'll be going in for a possible ear infection. James is down to two-and-a-half weeks of schools. We're having dinner with a friend on Wednesday night. And Will has 3-month pictures on Thursday night. Not *quite* as busy as last week, but still a LOT to do! Thankful for the busyness, though!

Show Us Your Life: Willow House

Hi, Kelly's Korner readers! Welcome!

I'm Lauren and I am a consultant for Willow House (formerly Southern Living at HOME). I became a consultant over two years ago, just after my first son was born. I was a new stay-at-home mom and was looking for a way to earn some extra money and get me out of the house every once in a while. We were also trying to get our house decorated (something I've realized never ends!) and becoming a consultant for a company for interior accessories just seemed to fit!

Because y'all have been so sweet to stop by, I'd love to offer you a little prize. If you'll visit my Willow House website by clicking HERE and flip through the catalog or browse the online store and then come back here and leave me a comment telling me your favorite product, I'll put your name in a drawing for a fabulous prize! I'll enter your name a second time if you'll email me to be added to my email list. In addition, if you purchase anything by emailing me - fresh{dot}lauren{at}gmail{dot}com - I'll enter your name for every $5 spent - good through May 4th. I can only do it if you email me your order (I'll send you a PayPal invoice for secure payment). I'll give away the Star Spangled Door Bucket in time for Memorial Day and the Fourth of July!

Those of you who are regular readers, feel free to play along!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please let me know if you'd ever be interested in having a catalog sent your way or if you'd be interested in hosting a party!

Snippets from the Week...

We've had a pretty busy week. I have a few pictures and videos to post but it needs to be quick so here's a list of things we've been up to:

1. James' allergies are killing him. He sounds pitiful but hasn't run a fever, had a runny nose, or lost any energy. He has a cough that won't quit, though, and has had it for about three weeks now. He assures me that he feels fine but then says, "Oh no! I sick! I needa see Dr. W." He loves Dr. W. Ha!

2. Question for you mamas out there. The other day I panicked because I thought Will had had an allergic reaction to something. When he nurses he gets a red "mask" on his face. See the picture below. It's not hives, it's not raised at all, it just appears while he's nursing and goes away almost immediately after. Anyone else experience this?

3. We've hit the "pretend all the time" phase of childhood and I LOVE it. While there have been lots of conversations about "monsters" lately that I don't really love, we've also done a lot of pretending that "I'm a kitty cat!" or "I'm a puppy dog!" And yesterday he walked into my room and told me he was "Mis-tah To-mah!" (Mr. Comer, a friend who is a volunteer firefighter.)

4. When I suggested after breakfast yesterday that we read some books, James VERY enthusiastically asked if I would get out his tent so that we could read in it. :)

5. We've been doing after-school Bible School all week long at church. It's been a fun (short!) afternoon with singing, games, and crafts. James is ALL ABOUT the Bible School CD from last summer. He knows all the words to all the songs and that's almost all we listen to in the car. So Tuesday and Wednesday at Bible School I sneaked him out of the nursery to participate in the music part for just a few minutes. He can hold his own with the big kids and is having the time of his life!

He's such a nut!

6. Before I know it he'll be driving off to pick up his friends:

7. And just in case you wondered, Will is the HAPPIEST baby in the world. He is an absolute delight and an angel!

Recipe of the Week: Saucy Chipotle Barbecue

We had a DELICIOUS meal last night. I can't toot my own horn on this one because it was totally the crockpot working its magic, but it was SO good.

Ingredients:

2 tsp dry mustard

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground red pepper

1 (4- to 5-pound) boneless pork butt roast, cut in half (I used one that was just under 2 pounds)

2 tbsp butter

1 large onion, chopped

1 (18-oz) bottle spicy original bbq sauce

1 (12-oz) bottle Baja Chipotle marinade (Lawry's)

1. Rub first three ingredients evenly over pork. Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork; cook 10 minutes or until browned on all sides.

2. Place pork and onion in a 5-quart slow cooker. Add bbq sauce and marinade. (Note: because I used a smaller butt, I did NOT use the entire bottle of either sauce.)

3. Cover and cook on HIGH 7 hours or until pork is tender and shreds easily.

4. Remove pork to a large bowl, reserving sauce; shred pork. Stir shredded pork into sauce. Serve as is, over a cheese-topped baked potato, in a sandwich, or over a salad.

This was DELICIOUS. Eddie asked me to be sure to hold onto this recipe! Ha!

I got the recipe out of Southern Living's Slow-Cooker Cookbook.

Lazy Days

I didn't mean to skip posting our Weekend Update yesterday, but we are BUSY this week. We have school, of course, but we are also gone in the afternoons for a thing at church, and then we have our usual naps, run errands, feed children every ten minutes. :) Bear with me!


We had a fun stay-at-home-and-do-nothing weekend here! I wrote last week about how James and I had a little bit of a hard time. Friday was more of the same, really. He got up really early on Friday morning (I am NOT a morning person) and I was just exhausted by the end of the day. Eddie swung by our favorite Mexican restaurant and brought supper home for us so we could "have a picnic in the den" as James calls it when we eat supper and watch tv. :)

Saturday morning I slept in (James was up WAY too early again). By the time Will and I got up at nine the big boys had already had breakfast and played Hi Ho Cherry-o! Ha! Saturday we spent the entire day at home with nothing on the agenda and it was SO nice. We picked up around the house a bit and Eddie did work in the yard for just a minute, but it was nice to just walk out in the backyard and sit and blow bubbles or do whatever we wanted to do! No other priorities!

We went out to eat on Saturday night to Longhorn. James has been a restaurant challenge lately, too. He just has so. much. energy. I dropped Will and Eddie off to wait and James and I went to Hobby Lobby so that he could be restrained in a cart and kept moving. Ha! He loves to go "shopping" so that's what we did. Eddie called when he was seated and we hurried back. James behaved as much as any 2.5 year old, probably. He bounced from coloring to eating bread to singing to talking to coloring to watching Netflix on my phone to throwing crayons, etc. etc. Ha! So. much. energy.

Yesterday we went to church and Sunday School. We had a visiting preacher whose message, to me, is always a blessing.

After church James, Will, and I took naps and Eddie worked on a closet reorganization project that had been put off for a while. Our master closet is TINY and I take up most of it. Before kids, Eddie used our guest bedroom's closet for his out-of-season clothes and would just rotate back and forth. Since we have three bedrooms and two kiddos, he's lost his closet space now. :) His clothes have just been sitting in our room with nowhere to go so he went through them yesterday and pulled things to donate and things to store in tubs like I do. I need to go through all of my clothes, too, and do the same thing! Since I haven't worn "real" clothes in almost a year I don't really know what I have. (And by "real" clothes I mean my normal size clothes. I WILL get back in them!!!)

The big boys ran to the grocery store last night and we had another picnic in the den for supper.

It was such a nice weekend not to have anywhere to go or anything to do! I thoroughly enjoyed it!


A few random pictures:

I *think* this was Friday morning.

Yesterday, James pitched a fit around 11am. I sent him to his room and told him he could come out when he calmed down. This is how I found him 15 minutes later.

It's almost May and this is what James wore to play outside yesterday. Ha! Mickey wants to know where Spring is! (And yes, I'm aware that it will be almost 90* here on Friday!)

The boys took their first "bath" together last night. James had the BEST time. Will just sat back and took it all in! After Daddy bathed Will, I took him out so that James could take a real bath.

And here's Will in Eddie's baby gown. It's from 1977 and I used the 1977 function on Instagram! Ha! Eddie didn't think it was funny, but I thought it was pretty clever!

Travels...

Just a random little post in the middle of the weekend. I'm curious...

If you could go ANYWHERE in the U.S. for about 4-5 days, where would it be? It can be within driving distance or a place you'd have to fly to see. 

OR what's the best vacation in the U.S. that you've ever taken? 

Leave me a comment with the place....

We're chatting at our house about places to go (sans kiddos...not in the near future...just at some point!).

James at Two-and-a-Half.

This boy. What can I say about him? He wants so badly to be independent. He is a comedian. He is very, very bright. He remembers everything. He is stubborn to the bottom of his toes. He loves his brother. He wants to be just like his daddy. He has a soft spot for a snuggle. He loves technology...and can work it better than some of his grandparents. *ahem* He has more energy than he knows what to do with. (He has WAY more energy than I know what to do with!) He is all boy.

At two he was 28 pounds, 34 inches. Today he is 31.8 pounds, 36 inches.

He wears a 2T on bottom and a 2T-3T on top. Little man has some short legs! :) Not sure how he inherited short legs from his long-legged mama!

We just bought him an 8.5 shoe. They're a little big, but not too much!

He's in a size 4 or 5 diaper. He can really wear both and it just depends on who buys them. (Eddie buys 4s because they're cheaper...I buy 5s because they aren't quite as short.)

He goes to bed between 8-9 pm (usually...as I write this he *may* still be awake at 10:45) and sleeps until around 6:45. I can still sometimes get him to nap twice a day for about an hour or once a day for 1.5-3 hours. I can always tell if it's naptime because the whininess increases by leaps and bounds.

He can count to 20 and beyond. Sometimes he still has trouble and we have to remind him of the beginning (thirty, etc.), but he's figuring out that the second part of the number (thirty-ONE) remains the same all the way up.

He sings the entirety of the alphabet all. the. time.

He's really ready for potty training. I just have to put my big girl panties on and DO IT.

He speaks not only in sentences, but in paragraphs as well. He told me an entire story about something that happened at school the other day.

He is a little caught up in body parts *ahem* and bodily functions right now. I blame it on the fact that I'm nursing and we talk a lot about going to the bathroom since we're sort of potty training. But it's incredibly embarrassing and I cannot wait for the day that he pulls out something he's learned and shares it with the church nursery girls. (Y'all just be aware...I am so sorry in advance!)

He loves, loves, loves Will. He wants to play with him all the time and cannot wait for the day that Will is big enough to wrestle on the floor with him. He's already trying to start that.

He still LOVES to go to school and counts the days until the next time.

Speaking of days, he's working very hard on learning his days of the week.

He does a pretty good job of feeding himself with a fork and spoon. We still have to remind him sometimes not to use his fingers, but overall, he's got it!


I mentioned yesterday that I sometimes wonder if we're living with a 12-year-old girl. Prime example: Last night Eddie put James in bed and he fell. to. pieces. He kicked and screamed and cried. When Eddie asked what was wrong he said he wanted to get into bed by himself. He then climbed out of bed, climbed back in bed, and went to sleep. Gracious.

He is such a little blessing (even in the challenges we know that!). We are so proud of him and learn from him every single day. I cannot wait to see what the next six months brings!

Toddler Tantrums...

I fully expected to sit down yesterday during naptime and be able to upload some cute little pictures and a video and blog all about the wonderful time that we had on our playdate at Monkey Joe's. But life is different than I expect sometimes and yesterday was a day from you-know-where. :(

I should've expected that yesterday wouldn't be all fun and games. James would not go to sleep on Tuesday night. He has a cough (remnants of the stupid viral infection + allergies + asthma = a cough that just won't quit). He couldn't settle down. He wanted Daddy, then he wanted me, then it was too hot, then he was too thirsty, etc. etc. I finally left him in the rocking chair with Eddie and I headed out to the garage to run on the treadmill. When I came back in at 10pm, he was still up. :) Awesome, no? So he slept from about 10:30-6:15. Not enough sleep if you're a growing boy!

We had plans to meet a friend and her little boy at Monkey Joe's at 10AM. James was whiny all morning and told me that he didn't want to go, but we'd INVITED THEM so I couldn't just call and cancel because I had a whiny kid. So we met them and James refused to play with P and he didn't really want much to do with the jumpies. I tried to kind of laugh it off and just enjoy being out of the house, but James was not well-behaved and I was embarrassed. James even had to sit in TIMEOUT at Monkey Joe's because he screamed at me because I wouldn't pay to let him ride the carousel again. I had one of those screaming, crying, laying limp on the floor kids yesterday. I wasn't sad when the other mother (whose child behaved!) said they needed to head home. She was probably ready to get away from us.

Yes, he is in timeout in the picture on the left. When Eddie asked him about it last night he said he "Sat in timeout and got to watch tv..." because there was a tv next to his seat. It sure made an impression, huh?

The highlight of Monkey Joe's was the couple of times James climbed up the BIG slide by himself and went down. I also had to rescue him from an obstacle course at one point but he was just a little scared and it was fun to slide with him. (Maybe next time I should find someone to leave Will with and we'd have a better time? I dunno. It doesn't excuse bad behavior.)

So we go home and James is so exhausted that he literally fell asleep at the table. I moved him to his bed and he slept for 45 minutes. If you're a growing boy who only slept 7.5 hours the night before, a 45 minute nap is not going to cut it. And I knew immediately that it wasn't enough because Mr. Whiny himself showed up again. *Sigh* I tried to let him lay in my bed and watch a movie, but he just wasn't having it.

I will leave out the details of the remainder of the afternoon, but suffice it to say that toddler tantrums and defiance are in FULL FORCE in my house. I heard someone say the other day that at two they have all of these emotions that they're not sure what to do with and at three they've learned what to do with their emotions and they just try them out all the time. I really feel like I'm living with a twelve year old girl sometimes. Crazy mood swings here. :(

We talked about our bad behavior this morning on the way to school. (I say our because I, too, lost it yesterday.) We made an agreement that we're going to have a GOOD behavior day, we prayed about it, and we've talked about what we'll do after his nap if the good behavior stays. He's excited about the reward and I am, too.

Toddler rearing is NOT for the weak. Whew! It is a challenge and a gift every single day. Here's hoping our afternoon is better today than yesterday!

Cleaning and Christening!

Because I think he's SO handsome, a picture from Will's two month well-check on Thursday that I forgot to post...

Our weekend FLEW by. I just had to ask Eddie what we did on Friday because it seems so long ago! (We grilled hamburgers and stayed home...not exciting at all!)

Saturday the day was spent around the house. I had a mountain of laundry to be put away and floors to be mopped so I worked on that while someone *ahem* did NOT nap. Stinker. It's so hard to get things done with my helper awake but he hates napping on the weekends while Eddie is home. Eddie got some yardwork done. Poor fella doesn't have enough hours in the day to do more than mow our grass. I'm sure our neighbors love our landscaping.

Saturday evening YaYa came down from Atlanta to spend the night. She entertained James for a bit while we got ready and then we all went out to eat at Outback. Great meal, wild toddler. Ha!

James was done by the time we got home so he got a bath and went to bed. Eddie ironed...and ironed...and ironed for church on Sunday. Sunday was the BIG part of the weekend and Eddie ironed a shirt for himself, my dress, James' outfit, and three things for Will. Ha! Poor man! I'm so thankful for him!

Sunday we joined our church AND had Will Christened. We've been attending our church for three years now, so we thought it might be time to make it official! Ha! I requested that we do it all at once because I am NOT a fan of standing in front of a crowd. Thankfully, they complied.

This is Will's Christening gown...pre-iron. James wore it, too...as did Eddie's grandfather who would be 90 years old this year. I soaked it with OxiClean with James but after hanging in the closet for two years it was yellow again. I soaked it again for five hours and then washed it in a pillow case. There were a few spots on it and there's on tear, but it's in REALLY good shape for its age!

The whole family was in attendance but sadly I hardly got any decent photos. I think it would be in my best interest to purchase or ask Santa for a new point-and-shoot instead of having to rely on people to learn my big clunker of a camera on a whim. It's not easy to use and photos come out blurry. I'm depending on a few family members to send me good pictures for Will's photo album.

We had a wonderful day. We were accepted as new members, Will was "sprinkled," and we celebrated over lunch across the street at a great restaurant.

Anna wasn't grumpy...I think she just didn't realize I was taking her picture. But I liked it anyway.

There was a festival going on downtown when we finished lunch. James and YaYa paid $2 for 3 slides. Look at their faces! Ha!

Sunday afternoon was spent lounging and lounging and lounging. We all took pretty great naps and then the big boys went to Publix to buy groceries for the week. After breakfast for supper and catching up on a little television and reading, we're ready for another fun week!

Will at Two Months...

Well, Mr. Will is officially two months old. Eight and a half weeks have passed since I had him! I cannot believe it! (Eddie says he feels like it's been a lot more than eight weeks. Suffice it to say that he's had a different experience with two than I have...fantastic may not be his word of choice to describe the transition. And they've been WAY busy at work so that hasn't helped.)

At two months, Will is 23 inches long (50%)  and weighs 10 pounds, 12 ounces (a little over 50%).

I don't want to compare every single thing about them, but James was 24 inches long and weighed 14.5 pounds at two months. Ha! Big difference! Click here to see James' two month update.

Will is very much like Eddie in personality...and I have to admit that James is a lot like me. Will sits back and watches. He doesn't talk much yet unless we get in his face, talk to him, and wait. He doesn't get worked up unless he's overly tired, hungry, or has a dirty/wet diaper. He's just really, really laid back so far.


That being said, when he is mad, he is MAD. :) He is the loudest thing when he wails. I guess he bottles it all up! (Also like his daddy in that respect. Eddie NEVER gets mad...but if he is, he's MAD. He is so different from me!) Should've seen him when he got his shots yesterday. He screamed and SCREAMED.

Speaking of shots, they caused us to endure our roughest afternoon with him yet. Mama and I took the boys to Macon yesterday afternoon and Will started feeling bad when we got there. Little boy was screaming like he was hurting. It was so pitiful. Thankfully, he slept great last night and has just been a little fussy this morning. He's flashed us some smiles between cries. :)

Usually, he has his last feeding somewhere between 10 and midnight and will typically make it until 5 or 6 AM. So we've dropped one middle-of-the-night feeding. That's been going on for quite sometime. He eats around 5 or 6 and goes back to sleep until 8 or 9 AM. (Takes after ME in sleeping late...but takes after his daddy in that he can sleep ANYWHERE. Thank the Lord!)


He is very, very flexible with his napping schedule. I've honestly not gotten that into a routine, although I know that I need to. :\ Better work on that this month.

He's still in a size one diaper and may be for a little bit longer. We're actually out of ones, but I'm afraid the twos may be just a tad bit big. So I'll buy diapers this week (FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE HE WAS BORN...Hallelujah for the diaper shower!).


He has NEVER had to take Mylicon drops. He spits up, but not everything he ate like James did. Gas has never seemed to bother him much. He'll have a rough tummy moment every now and then, but it's not bad.

He's not a huge fan of a paci. He'll take it if he's especially worked up or sleepy, but otherwise he makes a face like it tastes horrible. And he can spit it several feet away. It's hilarious! He has found his hands in the past few weeks and he likes to suck on his thumb or his fists.


He still sleeps swaddled up on the Nap Nanny. I think I'm going to move him to his own room next week. Probably still in the Nap Nanny to begin with and then to his bed.


I told Mama the other day that Will just doesn't talk and coo as much as James did. Very quickly she reminded me that he doesn't have much of a CHANCE to do those things! If I talk to him and wait his face will light up and he will coo back...but he's not much for talking unless I start the conversation.

The top two pictures are Will.


He's still wearing a few of his 0-3 month outfits, but I've moved him up to a lot of his 3-6 month outfits, too. So sad.


This boy is just SO laid back and precious. We have thoroughly enjoyed every single minute with him! We're having him Christened this weekend because by three months James had almost outgrown his Christening gown (which is Eddie's granddaddy's - so it's almost 90 years old!)...but I think we could've waited another month! He's just so different from big brother! They're both so sweet and special in their own ways!

Hi There!

I linked up over at Kelly's Korner today for her "Boy Mama Blogs" linky so I thought I'd say hey! I'm Lauren - a 28 year old mama to two boys. James will be 2.5 next week and Will is 2 months TODAY. (Will's post - with pictures - will be up later today, family!) Time is flying by! I'm a stay-at-home mama but I taught middle and high school English before I got this job. ;) But don't check my spelling and grammar! Ha! Thanks for visiting! Leave me a little comment with your Boy Mama Blogs and I'll be sure to visit you!

Big Day...

Well, today is eventful for us and I didn't even realize it would be.

First of all, James has been on his allergy meds for over a week now. The doctor told us last week to get them into his system for at least five days and then try peanut butter. He didn't have school today and we didn't have any big plans so we could really watch him after we experimented. Well...we gave him a spoonful at lunch today and so far, so good! No anaphylaxis, no rash! Woohoo for so far! He's excited to be able to eat peanut butter with his daddy! (That being said, you caregivers that read...we made sure that our peanut butter said NOTHING about being processed in a plant that also processes tree nuts.)

And for the second big event of the day, James asked to put on big boy underwear on last night so I let him. He had two accidents almost back to back and both times I could tell that he'd just forgotten because he gasped immediately and yelled, "UH OH!" So, he asked again today and I said yes. I've reminded him that he's not wearing a diaper but I have NOT set a timer and so far, so good! He's even going all by himself and DOES NOT want me to help (much).

Here's hoping the rest of the day goes smoothly as well.

Life With Two: Big Brother, Baby Brother

Alas, the nickname "Baby Brother" has all but worn off. Too bad. I really, really thought it was sweet. :)

I thought I'd update how we're doing as a family of four or two, two and under. In a word: fantastic! Yes, we're tired. Yes, we're busy. Yes, our house is a WRECK. (And I'm not exaggerating that, unfortunately.) (I need to fire our maid, I guess.) But we're fantastic.

Life with two hasn't hit us as drastically and dramatically as everyone told me that it would. I keep expecting it, and it keeps flowing quite smoothly. I assume we'll hit a few bumps when Will becomes mobile and starts messing with someone else's toys. Until then, here's hoping we'll continue on this path!

James is absolutely the sweetest brother. He worries about where Will is almost all the time. He asks me when I'm nursing if I need a burp cloth. He tries to help me nurse. *Ahem.* He wants to burp Will. He wants to push Will's swing. He likes to kiss and hug and hold. I can tell the newness is wearing off, but he still just loves him. If you've been around the two in real life, you know that James is a tad protective. He will very quickly let you know that Will is his baby and that he will NOT be going home with you. James doesn't play about that. Ha! So far there hasn't been any jealousy or meanness (on purpose).

I did leave Will on the sofa for a quick minute the other day while I ran into my bedroom and when I came back James had crawled up so their heads were opposite and he'd placed his feet on Will's tummy. He's definitely a little more rough than he ought to be, but he's just two-and-a-half.

As far as how I'm feeling...just busier. I sleep from about midnight or one until 6 or 7 (usually) with no interruptions. I don't shower as early in my day as I'd like. I feel like I'm running in a few different directions. Everything takes much, much longer than it used to. And my house, as I mentioned, is a wreck. But I don't feel like I'm drowning like I did the first go 'round. I do feel a tad guilty because I know that Will isn't being doted on like James was...but Will is SO darn laid back about life. And it's lovely!

I've not actually gotten out into the world with both boys yet by myself much. For a few reasons - first, I hardly ever ran my major errands with James anyway. Eddie is usually the grocery store man these days (since the beginning of pregnancy when food was DISGUSTING...) so if I ever go to the grocery store it's just a quick trip in and out either by myself or just with Will while James is at school. I've also run most of my other errands while James has been at school. Second, my mama is here about once a week. So she loads up with us and the four of us get out and about. Or I go by myself like I did yesterday. Either way, I haven't gone out with two alone. I have learned to use my stroller a lot more than I did with James. I just put Will in his stroller at stores with stupid small carts and off we go!

With school ending next month we'll be going out a good bit more as the three of us. I've figured out (mostly) which carts I can put Will's huge car seat in and still sit James in the seat and we have the double stroller now, so that will help, too.

We're settling into this new normal and doing great. I couldn't have asked for it to go any better. (Unless, of course, I hired a new maid.)

Easter Weekend...Picture Overload!

We had another great, busy weekend! On Thursday afternoon, YaYa picked James up for a little two night spend-the-night party. We spent the morning getting him ready to go for that.

See if you can tell what I packed versus what James packed...

My plan was to leave and run errands as soon as James left and be home in time to go to our church's Maundy Thursday service. Well. Laura got stuck in traffic on her way down and wound up being a little late to pick James up so that pushed us back just a bit. Then, as soon as Will and I stepped into Target, the bottom fell out of the sky. We got what we needed and then wandered around (we could hear the rain and thunder through the roof at Target) for as long as I could make Will tolerate. I stood in the jewelry section for a while watching the rain through the doors with Will SCREAMING. Finally, I decided I had to make a run for it. Will hadn't eaten well and I didn't have a paci. And since it was raining we really couldn't go anywhere else. All that to say that with the bad weather and Will's eating schedule being off, we wound up NOT going to the church service. We were a little pushed for time and I would've had to get up halfway through to feed Will. :(

Instead, we went out to eat late and Will took his first trip to Lowe's! I'm a little amazed it took that long to get him there! Ha!

Friday Eddie was off work and we were BUSY. Eddie got up and left around 8 to take my car to have the brakes seen about. The place that changes my oil said they needed to be changed but Eddie was a little unsure about it. He took it to another man on Friday and, lo and behold, he says I have several thousand miles left on them. Hmmm.

I picked Eddie up from the car place and we went and had breakfast out. That was a fun treat! We spent a good bit of the rest of the day rearranging and organizing our office. We had (have) stuff just stuffed in there and it's out of control.

I also spent part of the day looking for an Easter dress. I'm not sure about your experiences with post-birth weight loss, but even if you lose all of your weight (and I lost it within a week or two), that does not mean that anything FITS. I was so discouraged this weekend when I was shopping. It is FRUSTRATING. So...a friend and I set a mileage goal for the week and I'll be walking/running that. :)

Friday we'd planned to go out but realized we had way too much to finish at our house. Instead, Eddie picked up from a restaurant we love but we can't eat there anymore because it's Asian and they have several cashew dishes. Since James is with us 99.9% of the time, we can't set foot in there with him! And then we stayed up until 2 working on cleaning the office. Fun times.

Saturday we continued the clean up around the house. I didn't even get to do any real cleaning because we were working so hard on other projects. James will be having another spend-the-night as soon as we have a break in weekend plans. Papa and YaYa brought him home around 2 on Saturday and I'm not sure he was thrilled to see us.

Here's what James was up to while he was in Roswell:

Saturday evening we went shoe shopping for James. That was a fun experience. I was so frustrated and worn out when we left that shoe store! But...he has two new pairs of shoes...one that fits now and one so that we don't have to go back when he outgrows these. :)

After we got home James and I dyed Easter eggs outside. This was the first time we'd done this and it was fun but I sort of rushed through it since we didn't even start until 8pm. :) It'll be more fun next year and we'll be able to be a little more creative.

Sunday morning we went to church and Sunday School. The Easter Bunny visited our house while we were gone to church. I sure wish he could continue that tradition every year, but something tells me that once James knows a little more about it, he'd be disappointed if he arrived at church and everyone else had already gotten their Easter baskets. James and Eddie both had a basket (although the Easter Bunny was supposed to put a new book in Eddie's basket and he{she} forgot to pick it up at the Post Office) and Will had things that wouldn't fit in an Easter basket so his were just wrapped. The Easter Bunny brought me a few fun things as well that he {she} picked up at Target on Thursday. :)

It wouldn't be Easter without some pictures like these, right?

2011

2010

We all took excellent naps after lunch and during the Masters. (How about THAT, by the way? Go Dawgs! Eddie was pulling for Bubba the whole time while I stuck with my typical, Phil. I was very pleased with the outcome, though! Another lefty!) James woke up from his nap in a GREAT mood. He even snuggled with me instead of kicking Will out of Eddie's chair like he normally does. (He got TWO spankings before church so we weren't sure WHAT his attitude would be like.) Then the Trains came over around five for the bigger babies to hunt Easter eggs. It was a pretty uneventful egg hunt (they were way more interested in playing with the Easter grass...) but it was so nice to sit outside and catch up with them since we hadn't seen them in so long. James and Anne Margaret played better together than they ever have before. I think they're finally figuring out how to play together.

I hope Lauren got some good pictures because I only got the tops of their heads as they reached for eggs. Apparently I was too busy talking to take decent pictures. Except this one (and decent is debateable...):

We have a few doctor's appointments this week, school is back in, and we have another BUSY weekend coming up. Looking forward to it all!