Life Is Good...

Not much breaking news to report on our end...Juliet is doing great, sleeping longer between feedings at night which is about the only milestone new parents really care about (or me anyway). She is already breaking all the rules, more on that later, but I can't figure out if it's because she is a girl, or because she is #2. Probably a combination of both, plus that little VSD thing made me think she was more fragile, which isn't the case, but certainly has weighed into her already lenient parenting.

In fact, now that I think about it, the whole house has pretty much gone on vacation since late Oct. Ben is sleeping in until 8, playing with the ipad and watching TV at least once a day. He eats all of his fruits covered in some type of confection (strawberries = Reddiwip; banana = nutella; apples = peanut butter). And last week he asked for candy from his Halloween bucket after breakfast.

Crap, I really need to get back on the clock.

Well, at least everyone is happy for the most part.

Hubby and I actually went on a date Sat night and were reflecting about how much easier it is the second time. A lot of which is b/c Jules is so good and Ben was colicky, but I don't want to kill my hubby and he has yet to find me crying in the bathroom with any screaming children so we're leaps ahead of our previous situation.

In fact, while I walked out the front door the other day to walk the dog with both of them yelling at the top of their lungs and I barely heard it over the breeze...I guess we've all learned a lot over the last two years.

In all seriousness, we hit mass on Sunday for the second weekend in a row. I think the last time we pulled that off was a Lenten season years ago when it was just hubby and me. With Juliet on one shoulder, Ben reading a book next to me, and hubby at the end of the pew, I nearly choked up thinking about how very blessed we are. Suddenly we are a family and a happy, healthy one to boot. With all we've experienced around us, it's hard not to reflect and be so very thankful for that, no matter what the season.

A couple recent pics - Ben showing Gigi (what he calls her, Polish for 'baby' and it's really stuck around here) what's up with her playmat, a pic of him at Lincoln Park Zoo before she arrived that I love with the skyline in back, and a picture of Juliet wearing her Super S shirt.

Enjoy! (and Happy early Thanksgiving to you all!)

Sayin' Is Believing

I'm really looking forward to how easy things are going to be this time around.

Now a confident mother, who isn't concerned she could potentially kill her newborn with one sideways glance, I won't need to keep vigil over the baby monitor minute after minute, night after night.

Having successfully kicked my old nemisis 'worry' out the door with no signs him returning, I won't feel compelled to work through every potentially morbid scenario and develop a plan of attack just in case.

Surviving a colicky baby and coming out on the other side with more love in my heart for my little man than I knew existed on earth in total, I'm now armed with every nursury song, swaddle technique and bob and sway known to womenkind, so I'm eons ahead of myself last time around.

And having mastered breastfeeding to boot...

How could it not be easier this time (she says with the blindly optimistic attitude she is known for)?

So with that, I've set my sights even higher.

I'm going to take advantage of having Paula here, and go to the gym the minute I'm cleared to do so. I'm going to sign up for classes to take with Ben: music and Bubbles and maybe even dance. I'm going to go out with hubby and get trashed, more than just one night every six months.

It feels liberating, and exciting, to welcome this little babe to our family...who still has no name, no room, no clothes, and potentially no ride to the hospital.

We've got it nailed this time, I'm sure of it :)

Thoughts brought to you by the soon-to-be-skinny, well-rested new mother of two...

Oops...still working out a few kinks on the iPad. Hence the blank post. Haven't had much time to play with it while online.

Photos to follow from Turtle Lake this weekend. Nice time away from the city and enjoying the outdoors. The three of us ran everyday, we're potentially on a 3 week hot streak excluding one sick and travel day, hilly WI roads (bonus credit). Lots of boat rides and Ben playing with his cousins.

Hope you had a great weekend and enjoy one more day of relaxing!

Home again...and then off

I'm electronically disorganized right now as I downloaded all of my moms fun Cleveland pictures on to my work laptop, yet am posting from the Mac so I currently have no photos to share but they are coming soon.

We had a great visit home, albeit it fast and crazy. Ben was literally too excited to sleep and took virtually no naps the entire time we were away. Even on the six hour car ride home where his only option was looking in the mirror, he opted to stay awake. So many hugs and kisses and squeezes from aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, dogs. He was the star for three days straight and loved every minute of it.

Off to Miami for a couple days and hopefully will have time to post while I'm away. Plus it will be a good Ben project to keep him close while he is so far away.

I predict he will turn over this week. He showed some serious potential yesterday afternoon and basically did it this am in his crib but the side wall stopped his full rotation. His legs are SO strong.

I miss him already :(