.11 weeks.

It's hard for me to believe our little guy is almost 3 months old! These weeks are flying by, but in a lot of ways, it's hard for me to remember what our lives were like before Daniel was part of our family. I think I'm finally feeling like life is settling into a new "normal." I certainly feel like life is easier now than it was a month ago. Daniel started a nice trend this week of sleeping 7-8 hours at night, which has allowed me to feel much more rested during the day (I'm hoping this trend lasts!!) And as he's settled into a fairly predictable nap and eating schedule, I'm finding myself with a good chunk of time in the afternoons with both kids sleeping.

I'm starting to get used to the "juggling" of having two kids; things that would have ruffled my feathers when Daniel was first born don't seem like that big a deal now. And with Daniel smiling more and more, it's fun to see his little personality starting to come out. It's so fun to see him looking for one of our faces when he hears voices, then break into a huge smile when he makes eye contact. He seems to really watch us and gets upset if he's left alone for too long.

I love how he stays all curled up when I wake him up- we call him our little Bowling Ball. I love kissing his soft cheeks and fuzzy head. I love how he coos and smiles. I love his big blue eyes. He is such a gift to our family, and we are very grateful for him! Here are some recent pics:

.playing.

One of the things I love about having a two-year-old is watching how her little imagination at work. She's suddenly VERY into taking care of her "babies." She gets her babies up, feeds them breakfast in her highchair, wipes off their face and hands, gets them (Daniel's) pacifiers, puts the babies in Daniel's swing, then puts them to bed, telling me that I need to be quiet because her babies are sleeping. It's fun seeing her imitate the things that I do with Daniel as she's playing with her dolls. In fact, several times I've done a double-take, finding one of her babies somewhere, thinking it's Daniel!

Setting the table for "tea," another favorite activity.

.charleston beach trip.

We just got back from a great vacation at Isle of Palms (near Charleston) with the Seavers and Lechners. This is only our second vacation with friends, and we loved it! The drive down there was not very fun...we actually both wore earplugs for a good deal of the time, since Daniel was screaming for about an hour (he still is not a big fan of his carseat) and Kathryn was crying because she couldn't fall asleep. I think about 2 1/2 hours into the drive, we were both thinking, "And just why are we doing this??"

But the driving time aside, we had a wonderful time with our friends. We were a very short walk away from the beach (right across the street from the beach access), which made going to and from the beach a breeze. And we practically had the beach to ourselves, which was wonderful.

Thankfully the drive back went much smoother, since I decided to sit in the back with the kids (a little tight between the two carseats, but it was worth it!). I think Kathryn loved having so much of my attention the whole ride back, and I was able to hold Daniel's pacifier in his mouth, which kept him happy. Here are a few pics from the trip:

The Swans, Seavers, and Lechners

My men

Me with my peeps

My three favorite people

The "Little Ladies"- Sarah Evelyn, Alathea, Emma, Kathryn, Abigail

Did you know a group of girls is called a gaggle? I think this qualifies!

Kathryn's not in this one, but I loved how all the girlies were dancing around after we had our official photo shoot.

Looking for shells

Kathryn LOVED the beach and was totally fearless in the water. This was really a fun age for the beach, since I didn't really have to worry about her being knocked down by the waves, and she loved playing with the other girls in the sand.

Daniel was a bit unimpressed by it all

2 month stats

I took Daniel to the doctor for his 2 month well-check yesterday, and he's certainly growing!

13 lbs. 11 oz. (90th %)
23 3/4 in. (75-90 %)

Up two pounds in two weeks! At least he's proportional. :) I'll post more of an update on life around here next week.

.little man.

I just love the double chin...

...and these blue eyes melt my heart.

.simplify life.

As I'm slowly getting back into the swing of life now, I think I'm seeing more and more the value of trying to simplify life. I think two things in particular have stood out to me as I'm evaluating this area-

1. Have less stuff
2. Have a place for everything.

I have a tendency to accumulate stuff, and I am the queen of thinking, "well, I might need this someday." These are dangerous thoughts when one lives in a small home. :) So I started asking myself, "do I really need this?" Nick has always encouraged me that less stuff means less to clean up, less to take care of, less to worry about, less clutter in general. And he's totally right.

Do I really need 5 strollers, a Snap n Go, and 6 baby carriers?! (How did I end up with all of those, anyway?) Things have a way of accumulating unless I'm proactive to give them away. Nick's philosophy has been that if we're running low on space, the problem is that we probably have too much stuff, not that we don't have enough room. In comparison with lots of people, our home is very comfortable for 4 people (all I have to do is think about some of the apartments our friends in New York City live in!)

The other thing that, I believe, keeps life feeling simpler is trying to keep things generally organized. You know the old saying, "a place for everything, and everything in its place." I am certainly not an expert in organization, but I do think this is a good goal to strive for. I love the feeling of an uncluttered house, and it really helps when everything has a "home."

.hem your jeans like a pro.

I recently bought a pair of jeans that I really liked from Goodwill, except they were too long. I had never hemmed jeans before but thought it couldn't be too hard. So I googled it and found this website with very helpful step-by-step instructions, including pictures. It was very simple to do, I discovered, and now a whole new world of shopping is opened up to me! :)

.smoothie time.

I kind of forgot how much I like smoothies until I bought the ingredients for them this week. Here is a smoothie recipe that I love because it's so easy, the consistency is just right, and it's super healthy too. I don't really measure the ingredients, but this is about what I use:


Banana-Berry Smoothie

1/2 c. fat-free vanilla yogurt
1 frozen banana
1 c. + frozen berries (I use the frozen mixed berries from Aldi...I think it has blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries)
1/2 c. milk

Kathryn LOVED it, as you can see by the excitement on her face! :)

Kathryn informed me this morning that "Mommy takes me on dates to Starbucks to get creamer" (the last time we went I put some half n half in a cup for her to sip), and "Daddy takes me on dates to McDonalds to eat french fries." :) I thought it was pretty funny.