1 month, 16 months, 27 months

Josiah & Grammy - one month

Josiah enjoys the motion of the swing

And so it goes... our children and their cousin Greyson all share the same birth day - the 8th - so they all have "monthaversaries" on the same day. I wouldn't normally celebrate a "monthaversary" after the age of 2, but it's really not fair to Michaela that Josiah and Greyson get to celebrate, and she doesn't.

Josiah turned one month old. Time seems to be flying by... and as far as developmental milestones go, he continues to eat, sleep, make dirty diapers, grunt, and cry. He also engages in some eye-opening exercises, and a few neck raises. We sometimes call him "wiggles" because when he is awake, he can be very squirmy and difficult to hold, threatening to jump out of your arms. He's completely grown out of newborn size clothes and is well into the 3-month size. I'm speculating that at the rate he is going, he will be out of the 0-3 month clothes a bit before his 3-month birthday.

Getting cuddle time with Great-Grandpa

We spent a few days this week up at Adam's parents, enjoying Grammy's back-up support while Adam was out of town, and playing with cousin Greyson. Michaela's missed 2 consecutive days of napping, which really wasn't good for anyone involved, but we did get to do some fun things. Michaela also had the milestone this week of sleeping on a big girl bed with no rails! I sat downstairs after I'd put her to bed, listening for a sickening thump on the floor and hoping I hadn't made some terrible mistake, but it turns out she slept like a rock and didn't once get out of bed involuntarily (several times voluntarily, however.)

Our fun activities included:

playing in the leaves while Grammy had a doctor's appointment

Letting Grammy do Michaela's hair (oh, so that's how I do it!)

Modeling a new jacket from G-Grandpa

Going out for frozen yogurt and wearing it on our faces

and hoping there's still more frozen yogurt in there!

And sleeping in the car seat at the frozen yogurt shop.

Playing at the playground

And crying in the car seat while others play at the playground.

Fall!

Much more than Halloween treats, I love fall in general. The crisp mornings, the colorful leaves, chipmunks running along our back fence as they gather enough food for the winter. Now that we have kids, it doesn't seem like fall is complete without a trip to the pumpkin patch. "Patch" might not be descriptive of the place we went last weekend, but there were pumpkins. And goats. And ponies that children could ride for $6 a pop. You won't find any pictures of us engaging in that activity here. But we did buy some of the farm-fresh pumpkin (or were they apple-cinnamon?) donuts. Yumm!

We went with some families from our church to Lee Farms in Tualatin. It was a sunny afternoon and a great excuse to get out of the house.

Not into posing with the pumpkin pile.

Pondering her next mischief.

"I have conquered this pumpkin!"

We're pretty sure this is our first family photo with Josiah. It was his 3 week birthday.

Trying to reach the pedals was a challenge.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Because she was trick-or-treating, of course!

And, after hitting a few houses in our cul-de-sac, finally enjoying the spoils...

P.S. - Josiah spent his first halloween evening strapped to my chest in the Moby carrier, sound asleep. He was unimpressed by the lights, sounds, and sweets. Give him a few years.

First Bath

You know, they say baths are supposed to be soothing...

post-bath-trauma stupor

faux hawk

comb-over

Two Week Check-In

For one of my first "mega-mom-moments" I took Michaela and Josiah all by myself to Josiah's two-week doctor's appointment. My analysis: parenting two young ones is totally doable, it just takes about 3 time the time it takes to have one child. The math doesn't somehow pan out, but that's how it is. It's a good thing we started preparing to leave for the appointment a good 40 minutes ahead of schedule, because even so, we were about 2 minutes late to the appointment. (The doctor was significantly later than that, but apparently there's nothing we as parents and/or patients can do about that particular issue.)

Michaela had been going to my OB appointments with me toward the end of my pregnancy, and she does very well at the doctor's office. Give her a snack and a sticker, and she's a happy girl. Josiah, on the other hand, was not a big fan of having to be the one getting naked, weighed, and measured. But it was worth it. We knew Josiah has been eating like a champ, but at his two week appointment he was a full pound over birth weight, weighing in at 9 pounds, 3 ounces, and measuring 21 inches long (growth of 1/2"). This puts him in the 66th percentile for height and the 67th for weight. The doctor said that - should this actually happen! - if Josiah sleeps for 6 hours at night, I should let him without worrying about waking him up and feeding him, because he is obviously growing well.

Here are some cutie-patootie pics from week 2...

All our baby dolls

Michaela's first time 'holding' Josiah

Hanging out

Never a big fan of getting strapped into the car seat

but a fairly big fan of sleeping in it.

Our Baby is Born!

A week ago this morning our son Josiah Adam entered the world. Happy One Week Birthday Josiah!!! (Having two children seems to keep us significantly more busy than one, as this is the first we've had time to blog about our new son.)

 Josiah came blasting into the world at a much faster pace than his older sister did. I spent 20 hours in labor with Michaela. With Josiah, I labored at home for about 4 hours, and then checked into the hospital at 1:15 am on Saturday. Josiah was born at 3:54 a.m. He weighed in at 8 pounds, 3 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. It was really an amazing experience and I still can't believe that 9-10 months of pregnancy resulted in such an adorable little guy. It feels surreal to be the parents to two children, but Adam and I are so thankful to the Lord for a healthy delivery and for bringing us all together.

Yes, folks, we have a Timbers fan!

A tired Daddy and a cozy baby. On a not-so-comfy hospital couch.

Michaela holding her new baby doll, and Grammy holding her new baby doll.

Loving the hair, anyone?

All dressed in new duds to go home.

Enter - the carseat. May it be a long and pleasant relationship.