The project

Bret designed and built this at the cost of his back and much sleep over the last year. I can't believe it is finished. I had to stain it and I did a terrible job. But we both figure for our first, and likely last time ever, building furniture, it will do. My mother always said handmade us more valuable and mistakes show it is handmade. Now to finish loading it and organizing the basement! 

Sucker

This kid never stops sucking. when he loses his toy he sucks on the bumbo. (sorry, original bumbo sucking photo is lost) Fingers, forearms, shoulders whatever he can get his mouth on.

Sleep

This photo is about a month old but I love it. These babies love each other. Joyce does tend to poke him in the eye like she does to her dolls and pull his hair like she does to herself so he lives in a constant state of flinching. But when they see each other they smile and get excited. In some ways I am convinced they really are like twins. I have begun to notice they wake up at the same time. Ward can sleep through all kinds of noise but it seems when he hears his sister he wakes. At 5 this morning she began to fuss. Good husband was snoring like an engine and then I heard Ward babbling to himself. I took care of her first, then fed him, and then gave up on sleep since there is no stopping the snoring easily. One night I tried plugging his nose (like dad used to do to wake us up) poked him in the side, drummed his belly, whatever! Finally, moving his arm to make him wave at himself did arouse him enough that he chuckled and took a break from the noise. 

HD bathroom

We were in the home depot this morning when I had a nursing emergency. I left home without a pacifier and Ward would not be content sucking on the burp rag I did have so I resorted to nursing him in the bathroom. A nice employee even pulled in a chair for me to be comfortable. Joyce passed the the eating Cheerios and making faces at herself in the mirror. 

My babies

sometimes this is how I spend my mornings. Feed them at the same time or just relax with them at the same time.

3 months

I want to take a more formal picture, but today is his real birthday so I snapped this for the blog. He spent the day in his pjs. We even spent an hour at the park. It was a good day for all. The scratch in his head is probably from me protecting him from Joyce. Poor kid.

Family!

This was one of our attempts at a family photo. Joyce was the x factor. She has become the ultimate wiggle worm.

Happy!

You may not be able to tell, but I was getting lots of smiles this morning. This is mid yawn. I too am smiling because I tried on my old Jeans this morning and they fit! Possibly not as loose as before but they are comfortable enough to wear today. 

Progress

John (aka ward) is growing. He looks chubby around the middle now. I had my 6 week check up and found out I am only 4 pounds from my first check up weight. Hooray! The inches haven't dropped, though. In fact the doctor said my uterus is bigger than it should be. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since they persuaded me to get a csection by saying I had a tired uterus and it would have trouble shrinking. I get to see the Dr again in a month. 

Tired

Not surprised he is yawning. We only slept about 3 hours last night. Bret says he has my mouth. 

Back seat

Just getting cozy in the back seat with my babies. Joyce refused to nap on schedule. John, however, napped extra long. He only woke when he had to get naked at the doctor's. He is up past his birth weight - now at 9'5". Height is up to 22" and head is 38 cm. 

Sibling love

Joyce just can't get enough of her new brother. Last night they even coordinated their middle of the night wakings. Only once did they overlap so much that I needed Bret's help. That was because John was not going back to sleep easily. Instead he decided to fill two diapers right in a row. 

Rest

My new baby is sleeping. Which means I can sleep now. He is officially a week old. Nine o'clock last Wednesday night he "sprang from my womb." As I like to describe the 24 hour labor resulting in a c-section.

spitting

Joyce's latest talent (and I guess mine since I've never uploaded a video before). I should admit, though, that I didn't take the video - my sister Laurie did. I'm not quite that talented yet. Baby steps.

Pre-spring

we took advantage of the spring like weather and visited the park this morning. We were on our way home from getting a flu shot and it seemed like a good reward for enduring the shot. She only shed one tear and her cry lasted less than ten seconds. We both loved the park though. This was her first time on a swing. I loved hearing her laugh. 

Woobey

Joyce got a new toy from her friend Maggie (Plewe's daughter). She loves it. So does Bret for that matter.

Soy yogurt

(photo lost, sorry)

I finally made soy yogurt! I also made coconut yogurt. That one does not taste or look as good, though. I am happy to have yogurt back in my life!

Guayaberas

(sorry, photo lost. they are green and tan)

Today at play group my friend kiirsten gave me two guayaberas for baby #2 who should be here in a month. I was especially touched because my dad used to wear them and today is his birthday.

New room

(sorry, photo lost. it is gray.)

We finally put in flooring and are able to set up Joyce's new room before number 2 comes. Not sure when she will move in but she will have a bed.

WWWW tour

This is the only photo I took of our annual girls' weekend. The truth is it was rather low key. We stayed in Kristin's dead grandma's old apartment and took turns in the fancy chair. I have to say it sure helped getting up. My belly is getting bigger each day and bending over gets harder each day.