Two Kids, Really?

People often ask me if it's been harder to go from one to two or from zero to one. I think if you're comparing the actual having a baby part then I'd say it's harder to go from zero to one. When Andrew was a baby I questioned everything and worried about sleeping and eating habits and whatnot. I just had no idea what I was doing with the baby, and I was in charge!



But if you're talking about lifestyle, like being able to do things like your makeup and laundry and leave the house, then I'd have to go with the transition from one to two.

And those of you who have more than two, well, you're my hero! I can't even imagine most days.

See, when Andrew was a baby he slept some. And even if he didn't nap well, he was generally content and I could leave him happily playing on the floor while I emptied the dishwasher or folded towels or read a blog post. Sometimes I even watched a TV show while he was sleeping!

But now, as soon as I have the baby down for a nap I have to do something for Andrew. I mean, he expects me to get him dressed and make him lunch and play with him!

And I really can't let Caroline play on the floor unless I'm right there because she lives with Andrew and you just can't trust that he won't jump on her to show her how much he loves her.



Throw my impatient, barking (but loving!) dog in to the mix and at the end of the day all I want to do is sit down and have a glass of wine, and maybe go to the bathroom all by myself.

Photo Challenge - Bust a Gut!

We had such a wonderful weekend full of giving thanks with family.

While we were all together I took family photos to use for Christmas cards this year. I also had a newborn shoot for some good friends of ours last week so I have, oh, roughly a million photos to edit in the next few days.

But I wanted to pop in and say hi and show you my entry for the I Heart Faces challenge this week: Bust a Gut.



Hi happy Caroline!

I would like to remind y'all that she weighed in at 6 pounds 14 ounces when she was born three months ago, and she's now pushing 15. Whoa milk! I didn't know a breastfed baby could chunk up this much; I'm pretty sure she gets chubbier by the hour. :)

My Nana loved fat babies so much. She would have been very proud of this baby girl and her chins!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Today was cupcake making day!



I'm not much of a baker, but I had a cake mix to start with which made things much, much easier. I don't usually post recipes here because, well, I don't have too much recipe expertise, but I think these turned out pretty well so I thought I'd share.

Pumpkin Spice Carrot Cake Cupcakes

1 box Carrot Cake Mix from Betty Crocker
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup water
3 eggs

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl beat cake mix, pumpkin pie spice, oil, water and eggs on low for 30 seconds and then on medium for two minutes.



Pour the batter into your cupcake trays, filling the cup about 2/3s full. (I use an ice cream scoop.)

Bake 17-22 minutes. Test your cupcakes with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, they're ready!

I then used the Buttercream Frosting recipe from Joy of Baking.

I'm so not skilled with icing cupcakes, but they taste great even if they look a little wonky.



And Andrew sure had fun helping me!







Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

I have photos for the Scavenger Hunt this week! We spent some time at my parents place out on the lake so I had lots of opportunities for pretty pictures.

{Mainly One Color}



I love this little outfit.

{Around the Home}



Legos, legos everywhere.

{Reflection}



A tree in the window at sunset.

{Writing}



This wasn't what I had in mind for this prompt, but it will do.

{Water}



So beautiful, and this is SOOC!



Next week's prompts are:

Waiting
Foliage
Candid
Knife, fork or spoon
Rule of Thirds

Reunited

He's back!

Brian was out of town for a couple nights and then had a few super busy days of work and school.

So Andrew, Caroline, the dog and I packed up and headed to my parents for a few nights. We had such fun and my mom was a huge help.

But we sure were happy to see Daddy today!





P.S. I took my 10,000th photo on my Canon 7D this week. I've had it for just over a year. The numbering on my photos rolled over and started back at 0001. I was so surprised!

Thankful

It's the Thanksgiving month and I'm tempted to just skip over it and go right to Christmas because the music! the santas! the parties! But that's pretty sad isn't it? I have so much to be thankful for I should jump up and down, ready to celebrate it all.

So I thought I'd take some time to write what it is I'm happy for this Thanksgiving season.

My husband. Seriously I couldn't imagine doing this life without him. We just celebrated our anniversary, and I'm happy to say that we've had a pretty wonderful seven years together. He's the best dad and helps me out so much around the house. These days when he's not at work or school he's at home with us. And I love that about him.

Drive-thru coffee. I'm pretty much on a constant caffeine drip right now and the fact that I can get an iced non-fat latte without leaving my car makes me insanely happy.

My mom. I really can't say enough about how much she means to me. Not only does she love to help me with my kiddos and spend lots of time with them, she also likes to spend time with me. She's a great friend and I'm so blessed that we have such a firm, happy relationship.

Andrew's Mother's Day Out. They're teaching him great things and they work off lots of his energy and I get to spend a few quite hours two days a week with Caroline. It's a win win for all.

Online shopping. This one might be a blessing and a curse. I love that I can have a case of diapers delivered to my front door within 24 hours. Or new shoes or dresses for Caroline. As much work as it is to get out of the house with the kids I love, love love online shopping.

Photography. This little hobby of mine brings me such great joy! I love taking pretty pictures of Caroline and Andrew. I love pushing myself and watching my photos improve. I love that there is always something new for me to learn.

So this is just a snippet. I'm sure I could go on and on. My life is happy and full and I am so very thankful for it all, even the wild and crazy exhausting days.

Caroline is 3 Months Old

My baby girl is three months old today. Where has the time gone?



These have to have been the fastest three months of my life. I swear we just brought her home, no?



So, a little about miss Caroline at three months old:

She's big! She's in lots of 6 month clothes and weighs about 14 pounds. Lucky girl carries most of her chub in her thighs...surely that won't last forever, right? Ha!

She's still nursing every 2-3 hours during the day, but she's very specific about when she wants to eat. When she's hungry you better move fast, but if she's not hungry and I nurse her anyway she'll promptly spit up her entire feeding.

She's not a great nighttime sleeper. Her longest stretch so far has been six hours, from 9PM to 3AM. This wouldn't be so bad if I went to bed at 9PM too. Luckily she wakes up to eat and goes right back to sleep. But even still 2 - 3 wake ups a night are taking their toll on me.

She likes to sleep during the day and seems to be nice and flexible thank goodness. She'll snooze a bit in the car and still come home to take a nap. And she loves to be out and about. If she's awake she's looking around to see what we're up to.

She has the same serious face that Andrew had as a baby - it's seriously the exact same look. It cracks me up because everyone comments on it. She's just taking it all in. But she's also really smiley. It makes my day when she gives me a big grin.



She hasn't giggled yet, but we're working on it.

She adores Andrew! She wants to watch everything he does. She just smiles and smiles at him, even if he's poking her in the eye or petting her head like he does to Fenway.

She really likes her pacifier. This is totally new to me as I could never get Andrew to take one. She likes it when she's falling asleep or even when she's just restless. She'll be desperate to get her finger or her hand in her mouth and if I stick a pacifier in there she seems very relieved. So I wonder how long that will last?



She's such a good, happy content baby. I feel so, so blessed. While life with two kids is pretty wild and crazy I wouldn't change a thing!

Boys will be Boys

Little boys are their very own creatures.

I didn't really know anything about baby boys when Andrew was born. I have one sister and my cousins lived far-ish away so I just didn't have a chance to spend much time around boys when I was growing up.

Oh, what a treat they are!



Andrew is such a spunky, funny, loving, sensitive, strong, wild and sweet little boy. All that energy and personality packed into such a small package, it's a wonder it doesn't just burst right out.



We spent today with my parents and my sister and her family at a big, extended-family get together. At lunch I somehow sat Andrew between my parents while Brian and I sat next to the sleeping baby. We got the much easier end of that deal.

But I loved watching the way my dad interacted with Andrew. He's so patient with him and Andrew absolutely, 110% adores his Papa Jack. What kind of dad would he have been to boys? Who knows, but I'm glad he has these grandsons to love.

Ten on Ten - November

I decided to participate in Ten on Ten today. I've been inspired by Brooke's Ten on Ten posts before so I thought I'd give it a try and it was so fun to document our day.

The idea is to take a picture every hour for ten consecutive hours on the 10th day of the month.

I forgot to start early though so my first photo is from 11AM while Andrew was at Mother's Day Out.



Little Caroline photo shoot.



I was in a hurry to play with some of my new One Willow Presets.



In the Mail!



Picking him up from MDO.



A neighborhood tree.



Cupcakes with Andrew.



This guy's been hanging out in our kitchen all fall.



Studying her feet while brother takes a bath.



UPS delivery. A party invite I designed for a friend last week.



And they're in bed.

This was so fun! I'm definitely going to do it again next month. I need to remember to start a little earlier in the day next time.

Fall Color

My life is pretty focused on the little people in my house right now. But on a rainy Monday the baby slept and the toddler had some quiet room time, leaving me with just a moment to grab my macro lens and run to the backyard.



So fall around here is pretty green.

Our leaves just started changing this week, and even still there's not much fall color out there.

We've already planted our pansies that will last us through the winter.





I love pansies. I love looking out the back window and seeing all the pretty color even when it's chilly and dark.



But we do have some fall color.



This is the ivy growing over our back fence which is in desperate need of some mending. It makes for pretty pictures though. :)



Just a hint of fall, hidden in with summer.

All these photos were edited with new (to me) Lightroom presets from One Willow. I'm usually a Photoshop girl but I wanted to try some Lightroom editing. What do you think?

All About Sleep

I was in a funk most of the day. It was like it took me all day long to wake up. It was weird. I did lots of stuff, I just think I kind of slept through it.

I'll mostly blame it on the time change. And the other part could be the lack of sleep.

I know I'm tired, but at night, when I should go to bed, I find myself editing photos or reading blogs or putting away pretty, freshly washed clothes in Caroline's room.

When Andrew was a baby and still getting up to eat two or three times a night I would often doze during the day when he did. I'd sit down to feed him in the nursery glider and wake up an hour later. It was kind of glorious looking back on it.

Now I'm lucky if I get to stay seated through a full nursing session.

This is such a wild and crazy time in our lives. Toddler, new baby, Brian so busy with work and getting his MBA.

I love it all. I really do. But I'm sleepy.

This post was not supposed to be about sleep.

I was going to tell you about how Andrew and I made yummy cupcakes today and how I finally got my macro lens out to get some shots of the four red leaves in our backyard. And how I did five (five!) loads of laundry today and designed two party invitations last week.

But I guess I'll save that all for later. Because I'm going to sleep now.

Good night.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ..................