These few months are pretty crazy for us. Just about every life-changing event that exists is happening to someone in my family. I had a baby, two of my brothers graduated from college, my other brother graduated from high school, my dad is getting ordained, and one of my brothers is getting married. All that in a span of three months!

We are going home tomorrow for the ordination, which is on Saturday, and also to have Noah's baptism, which will be on Sunday. My dad is going to baptize him, which will be so cool. He is also going to marry my brother and his wife later this month. Anyway, my hair is looking pretty ratty so I really wanted to get it cut and highlighted before this weekend. I made an appointment for tomorrow morning, and I'm kind of nervous about it. Steve is going to hang out at a nearby shopping center with both kids so he can bring Noah to me if he needs to nurse. The whole thing won't even take two hours, but Steve has not been alone with the kids before, and Noah has not been away from me before. Hopefully they can just hang out at Borders and read books the whole time.

Kids are awake. Wish us luck tomorrow!

Steve took the entire holiday weekend off, and it was wonderful. It was the first weekend he didn't work in probably seven months. We went to a Royals game, watched several movies, ate out a few times, and basically just hung out all weekend. After watching The Pursuit of Happyness on Thursday night, he decided he wanted to solve a Rubik's Cube so we went to Target and bought one. Sure enough, yesterday afternoon he actually finished solving it. Nothing like putting vacation time to good use, right?

The little guy is two months old today. As he gets older and is no longer in that sleep-anywhere-anytime phase, things are starting to get a little more difficult. It's more difficult to go places (although that's mostly because of Emma), and it's near impossible to get any housework done. I used to think it was hard to get stuff done when it was only Emma - what on earth was I doing???? Now that it really is hard to get things done, I can't believe I didn't take advantage of having only one kid and keep my house spotless all the time. Now there is absolutely no chance of that happening. Sigh.

Last week Steve and I decided to take a vacation to Yellowstone in June. We started to get excited about it and even went out and bought a new tent. I haven't been to Yellowstone since I was 11 or so, and he has never been there so it seemed like a cool idea. Today, however, I thought of a new plan so we may end up scrapping the Yellowstone idea. Neither of us have ever been to Boston and we've both always wanted to go. I've never been to the northeast at all past Ohio, but have already made many trips across Nebraska and Wyoming. The Royals play in Boston in mid-July, and it would be awesome to go see them play at Fenway Park! Boston is a 23 hour trip, versus 18 hours to Yellowstone, but when you're already driving that far anyway, what's five more hours? Besides, who wouldn't want to spend 46+ hours in the car with these two?

Ugh. So the other day on our walk Noah decided he didn't want to be in the sling anymore and, because it's impossible to push a stroller with one hand (unless you just want to go around in circles), we had to sit on the curb and wait until he was ready to go back in the sling. After that I resumed my search for a good double stroller, and I'm now pretty certain that one does not exist - at least one for less than $350. Today I drove across the whole bloody city to look at one I saw on craigslist, and I ended up buying it. We went on a walk today, and it's clear that I made a mistake. It was SO hard to push and it kept veering to the right and by the time we were halfway through our walk I thought my arms were going to fall off. So now I have to try to sell that dumb stroller to some other unsuspecting sap, and continue to look for one that will work for us.

The other day I mentioned that Noah outgrew all his small diapers that I sewed for him. I unpacked our old Wonderoos, which Emma wore forever and they are working great for him. They are one-size-fits-all, but Emma outgrew them sixish months ago and we've been using disposables for her since then. Today I was thinking that she seems a little leaner, so I tried one on her and it fit! I'm happy about that because, although her not being potty trained is still a nuisance, at least now it can be a free nuisance. Well, sort of. I need more diapers if they're both going to be using them so I just bought a whole bunch more today from various places. I will have 20 diapers coming in the mail in the next few days. I can't wait! I love getting diapers in the mail!

Awhile ago I got a subscription to Vegetarian Times, and I am loving that magazine! In every issue there are a bunch of recipes that sound really great, and everything I've made from there so far has been fabulous. Lately I think I've been cooking something from there just about every day. Today Emma and I made some Chocolate Chip Spelt Cookies that are really good. I was skeptical because they are vegan and I've never made vegan cookies before, but even Steve, who always complains that I ruin cookies by trying to make them more healthy, liked them a lot. Mmmmm!

Noah has already outgrown all of his small diapers and his 0-3 month clothes. I was feeling sad as I packed those things away yesterday. He's not even a newborn anymore - how could that have gone by so fast?

Steve is, of course, still working this week even though he was supposed to be off. He was home for dinner both nights this weekend though, and that was really nice. Both nights we actually ate at home instead of going out, which was also nice. I'm looking forward to doing more cooking than I've been doing in awhile. When I was pregnant I could never think of anything that didn't sound gross, and now I'm finally back to where I can look through some recipes and actually see things that I want to make. Various things on today's menu: Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Mocha Chocolate Cake, and Asparagus Quiche. Yum.

Emma has always been a binky kid. We have the rule that she only gets it in bed and in the car, but she still sometimes cheats and will convince me to give her one if she's sad or whatever. I wasn't going to give one to Noah in order to avoid having another three year old who won't give up the binky, but the guy isn't that great about riding in the car these days. Basically, if he's awake, he's crying. I keep having to stop the car and calm him down, but then he just starts crying again when I go back to my seat. Today I brought one of Emma's old newborn binkies with us and when he started to cry, I reached back and put it in his mouth. Silence. And then more silence. I guess he is hooked. I think I'm only going to give it to him when we're in the car, though.

I bought a set of bunk beds at a garage sale today. Since Emma has suddenly become all knees and elbows when she sleeps, I'm getting pretty excited for her to have her own bed. Of course, first Steve needs to finish the bedroom that he (barely) started for the kids a couple months ago. This is supposedly his last week of work for awhile so now that may actually happen at some point.

In a couple weeks my dad is getting ordained as a deacon of the Catholic church. It's a pretty huge deal, and there has been a fair amount of discussion at my mom's house lately about various religious events and things. Emma, who likes to play games where she starts off by telling me that she's the princess and I'm the prince, apparently has been listening carefully to the goings-on. Last night she asked me to play with her and when I said I would, she said, "Okay. I'm the princess and you're the Archbishop."

Placenta

Emma, Noah, and I are at my mom's house again. We came in to attend a shower that my mom had for my future sister-in-law on Saturday, and are staying until Tuesday. Today was a really nice Mother's Day, although I'm a little sad that we didn't get to be with Steve.

Yesterday evening we buried Noah's placenta (which has been in my mom's freezer) and planted a tree over it. We said a couple prayers and the whole little ceremony was lovely. At least I thought so. Afterwards I sort of jokingingly asked my brother if he got choked up, and he said, "No, but I did gag a little bit." Even though my brothers and my dad thought it was lame, I think it's cool that Noah will always have a special tree in their yard.

The placing of the placenta:














The new tree:

I've decided against weaning Emma, at least for now. She clearly still has a need to nurse, and also I really don't want her to start resenting Noah. I did tell her that I'm only ever going to nurse one kid at a time anymore, and that helps a lot. I can tolerate her nursing by herself much better than when she's elbowing her way in while I'm trying to nurse Noah. Nursing them both at the same time was just too many bodies on me at once.

Emma seems to take forever to do anything these days and I often find myself annoyed by her dawdling. Yesterday I came to the realization that I'm being way too grumpy and I should just get over it and let her be. We were at Wild Oats and she was pushing one of the little kid sized carts around while I shopped. I secretly wish they didn't have those little carts because the trip always takes literally five times longer when she has her own cart (and therefore refuses to ride in mine). She stopped (for the millionth time) at the area with the plants, and proceeded to lean over and smell every. single. individual. flower. I said, "Come on, please. We don't have all day to mess around." She ignored me and kept smelling the flowers and I realized what a dumb thing I'd said. We don't have all day to mess around? Really? I'm staying home with my kids so I actually do have all day to mess around with them, and if she wants to smell flowers then why am I not right there enjoying the flowers with her? So I walked over and asked her which ones smelled the best. She showed me her favorites, and as I sniffed them, she told me we should hold some of them up to Noah's nose while he slept so he could have dreams about flowers. After hearing her say that, I would have happily spent the rest of the day smelling flowers with her.

This morning we tried to go to the farmer's market but on the way there it started to rain. Emma was really disappointed so we went to the mall instead of just going back home. I actually managed to try on and buy some clothes while we were there. Noah slept in the sling and Emma had fun being "that" kid (who I'm sure all the store employees despise) playing in all the racks of clothes.

I want this. I really really really do. If only I had $550 laying around.

Here is big boy Noah. I sewed those wool pants for him while I was pregnant and Emma and I dyed them. I just made up a pattern for them, and at the time I apparently forgot what a baby looks like because they are about five inches too long.

Today started out kind of rough, but ended up being pretty nice. This morning I woke up to more rain. I was sort of feeling grumpy because of that, but started to feel worse as soon as I headed downstairs to let the dogs out. Our basement was full of water. I called Steve and he said he'd come home right away. He got here and quickly fixed whatever was wrong with our sump pump. I cleaned up the water and all was well. We went out to lunch, and then Steve stayed home for the rest of the day!

Tonight I measured Noah, and then weighed myself, then myself while holding him to get a general idea of how much he weighs. He is now 22 inches long and weighs 12 pounds, which means he's already added 3.5 inches and four pounds. Sniff sniff.

I have decided to wean Emma. I wanted to wait until she weaned herself, but she wants to nurse all the time and I just can't take it anymore. The wiggling and elbowing never stop. I decided this two days ago, and I've been thinking about it constantly since then, but I'm no closer to coming up with a way to go about it. Whenever I tell her she can't nurse, she really takes it personally and often cries. I'd have no problem with it if she only wanted to nurse five times a day or so, but it's much much more than that. Looking back, I wish I'd have weaned her when I was pregnant. I didn't like nursing through the pregnancy, but I kept holding on to hope that it would be better after the baby came. If Noah is still nursing when I get pregnant again, I won't make the same mistake. So anyway, I'm sure I'll be writing more on this issue as I decide what to do.

Last night, at the last minute, we decided to go to the ballgame. It was the best time at a Royals game I've had in awhile. Every time we went last summer, I spent half the game walking around the concourse with Emma while Steve got to sit and watch the game. Last night both Emma and Noah sat happily for the whole game. I was about to get all twitchy watching the amount of junk that Emma consumed, but I guess once in awhile is okay. There were fireworks after the game, and although Emma has been terrified of fireworks the last couple years, she proudly told us before the game that since she was three, she was "brave with fireworks" and would be happy to watch them. She did get a little nervous when the display started, but as long as Steve held his hands over her ears she was fine.

Since Noah was born, I've had no time to do all the stuff I really like to do. I haven't done a single scrapbook layout or sewed a single stitch. I have attempted to knit, and here is a picture of what I've accomplished. Are you ready for this?













That is the (very) beginning of an I-cord to go around the waist of these shorts that I completed before Noah was born. By the time I finish the I-cord, he just might be too big to wear them.













Emma found a pair of hose somewhere in the basement yesterday and has been having fun with her new "crazy hat". She even wore it to Target yesterday.

My birthday ended up being pretty great yesterday. Steve gave me a really sweet card in which he listed 28 reasons he loves me. He also said I should schedule a day at a spa to do whatever I want there so I could get a break and he would watch the kids. I probably won't actually do that for awhile because I can't leave Noah, but the sentiment was nice. Yesterday I made a Pear Gingerbread Upside Down Cake that I've been wanting to try, but he didn't think that sounded good so after dinner we went to Cold Stone for dessert. That, however, didn't stop me from eating plenty of the delicious gingerbread cake once we got home!

This morning I took the kids to garage sales and found a bunch of fabulous stuff. I just adore going to garage sales, but it's definitely more of a hassle with two kids than one. Still, every bit worth it!

Happy birthday to me! I'm 28 today, but other than the fact that Steve is coming home for dinner, today doesn't seem any different than any other day. Maybe tonight I will be able to take a bath all by myself. I don't think I could ask for a better birthday present.

For the first time, I'm having an issue with only having one bed in the house. If I can manage to get both kids to nap in bed at one time, that is great. However, no matter how fast I sprint back there as soon as one of them wakes up, by the time I get there the other one has been woken up too. Very frustrating. Although I'm not sure a second bed somewhere would make any difference because getting them both down to sleep at the same time in two different spots would be darn near impossible.

I'm implementing a new plan today in hopes of finally getting Emma interested in using the potty. I normally don't think bribes are a good idea, but I'm starting to get desperate. I bought a bunch of cheap little trinket things and wrapped them. Well, okay, I only had time to wrap four so far but I will do the rest soon. I put them in a bowl which I then set in the bathroom. When she asks about it, I'm going to tell her that she can pick one of those presents out every time she pees in the potty. I'm interested to see what she'll do.

Pics of the kids: