6 weeks old!

Charlie is now 6 weeks old and adorable. He's just starting to show his first smiles--so rewarding!!! He's also just starting to make some cooing noises too--I love them. He's added so much to our family already! Luke is having a blast as well. He adores his little brother and wants to be with him ALL the time (like when Charlie is napping--I remember loving watching my little sister sleep too)!

I was telling a friend today that in some ways I absolutely can believe it's been 6 weeks (the nights can be long and little sleep stinks), but in other ways, it seems like time has flown by! Before he was born, I had some friends tell me that having 2 kids is so much easier than having 1, and some friends tell me that having 2 kids is harder than having 1. I'm definitely on the fence between both camps right now. I need a little more time before I decide which camp to join--catch me after Charlie starts sleeping through the night--I'll be in a better frame of mind! :)

Little Charlie is 6 weeks old!

An example of Luke wanting to doing everything with Charlie--tummy time!! Additionally, we don't just let Charlie bury his head in the ground normally!

Luke--showing me he's smiling and Charlie just chillin' with his big brother!

I might be crazy. . .

Today was the first day of my training for the Memphis Half-Marathon in December. Hold on, I now need to kick myself for writing that last sentence. It scares the heck out of me to say (so boldly on my blog) that I will be doing this. What if I chicken out? What if I can't find the time to train with a newborn and toddler at home? What if I just can't physically run 13.1 miles?? Or is it 13.3?

Anyway, I just got off the phone with my sister, and after trying HARD to convince her to start training with me, she's opting not to. Darn it. I think I need a running partner, but most of my friends in town either already run--and would be WAY ahead of me in training, or wouldn't run for a thousand dollars, or can't find the time (I don't think I can either, but I'm going to try).

So, my motivation is my fear that I've put this out here for all of you to hold me accountable!! Okay, but that's probably not a healthy motivation. Maybe my motivation is that I've always wanted to so something like this. Back when we were in Indiana, I did a 3-Day breast cancer walk in Seattle. I walked 20 miles a day for 3 days. It was rough, but I felt great accomplishing it. This half-marathon would be a HUGE challenge considering I've never run more than 4 miles in my life and I'm way out of shape after just having had baby Charlie. Hopefully, that will be enough to keep me motivated!

Here's to Day 1 of training (I'm starting by walking--if you are interested). We'll see how far I make it! Anyone who potentially wants to be a training partner (even my out of town family and friends) feel free to comment. Encouragers feel free to comment. Those of you who think I'm totally crazy--keep your comments to yourself!! :)

becoming artsy

I'm trying to set some goals for the summer. One of them is to be more creative and crafty with Luke. I've been terrible about being artsy with him---we do lots of other things, but craft time hasn't really existed at our house. The closest thing to artsy that we do is color with crayons or dot markers or play with Play-Doh.

Recently, however, I came across Kids Craft Weekly , which has some wonderful crafty ideas in their newsletter and great links to other art pages. It was inspiring! So, I headed out to Hobby Lobby with Luke and purchased some inexpensive "tools" so we can start an art supply box to have ready for the summer! Our first adventure was to simply paint our back patio using paintbrushes and water. Luke had a blast painting shapes (and begging me to paint trucks, cars, trains, etc.) on our back patio. I was hoping for 10 minutes of entertainment for Luke and got 45 minutes of sheer excitement!

As you can see, I'm not promising much, but if we do produce anything picture or comment worthy, I'll be sure to let you know. In the meantime, if those of you with kiddos have any arts and craft ideas up your sleeve, leave a comment!

Our new adventure begins. . .

Okay, so I'm new at this part of blogging, but I had fun creating this montage of our first month as a family of four. Hope you enjoy and turn up the music!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I am thankful

"Thank the Lord, because he is good. His love continues forever." -- Psalm 107:1

I am thankful for everything the Lord has given us. He has blessed us tremendously.

I am thankful for my husband, who amazes me with how supportive and loving he is to me, and is providing for us, so that I can have the best job in the world!

I am thankful for my 2 precious, sweet and adorable boys, who have made me a Mommy, a dream I have always wanted, but never knew could be this wonderful.

I am thankful for our families, who have shown us love and given so much of their time and energy over the past 4 weeks. We couldn't have welcomed Charlie home in this way without you!


I am thankful for my friends, who have called to check on us, sent sweet cards and encouraging emails and have been providing meals for our family. Every bit of your thoughtfulness means so much to us!

straight from Luke's mouth

Obviously we have had lots of change going on around our house since Charlie has been born. As a result of having some new things/people in our house, Lukey has made some funny things to say . . .mainly surrounding breastfeeding!

For example, one day Luke came downstairs and saw me (not nursing, for once) and exclaimed, "Mommy's wearing her shirt!" (Normally, that might not be so funny or unusual, but due to nursing, Luke has learned LOTS of new things.)

Let me set the scenario for this next one. I'm sitting on the couch, giving Charlie a bottle for one of the first times. Luke walks up and says, "I want Mommy to feed baby Charlie!" I tell him I am feeding baby Charlie. He responds with an urgent tone, "No, I want you to feed him!" (with a big emphasis on "feed"). It then hits me that he doesn't realize that I am feeding him with a bottle since he's used to me feeding him boobs!

Additionally, Luke thinks the breast pump is the coolest thing other than his cars. We've heard "Mommy, will you please pump?" on multiple occasions. While I haven't exactly felt comfortable pumping in front of Luke, it's not easy to find times without him around. So, he's learned about that too!

And finally, though there have been many, MANY more hilarious quotes, I have to share this one. It doesn't relate to Charlie eating, but it happened at our dinner table the other night. Chad's parents were in town and his mom prepared us some edamame beans. Chad has eaten them, but Luke and I have never tried them. We sit down to dinner and ask Luke to try them. Just in case you don't know how to pronounce them, it's eh-da-MAH-me (so it sounds like mommy on the end). We tell Luke they are edamame beans and he starts calling them edadaddy beans, edaLukey beans, edaCharlie beans, edaNana beans, edaPoppy beans, edabutter (for brother) and edasister beans. It was adorable!!

Happy Mother's Day!

I had a very special Mother's Day! All 4 of us made it to church (Charlie and I made it for the first time since he was born) and it felt good to be back. We, of course, kept Charlie with us since he's not even 4 weeks old yet. We had to give him a bottle during Sunday School and he is such a loud drinker!! He guzzled down his bottle, smacking the whole time! :) After church we had lunch with my parents and sister--grilled burgers and homemade milkshakes--yummy!! We then went home and took much needed naps and my family headed over to our house for dinner. Chad, my dad and sister made dinner, while Mom and I relaxed and watched Luke play in the backyard. What a very special day! I am so incredibly thankful for my mom and I hope I can be half the mom to my boys that she has been to me!!!

Our first photo as a family of 4!!