2 months

Well my sweet boy, you're already two months! I can't believe how big you have grown! You're into size two diapers and starting to bust out of the seams of your 0-3 month clothes! You have quite a few rolls on your upper thighs and your double chin is the perfect spot for hiding all sorts of lint and gunk. Boy do we love your 12 lb 11 ounces of goodness!

You continue to be an incredibly smiley, happy baby. You are so alert now and will look to find my voice with your big wide eyes. You almost always respond back with all kinds of sounds.

                                        

Your head is getting really strong and doesn't wobble very much when I'm holding you without support. I don't get you on your tummy very often because we are so busy and your awake times are so short, but you don't seem to mind it too much. You spend a lot of time being content in different places. You hang out on your play mat (always accompanied by your doting sister), in your rainforest bouncy chair (where you love to look at the red frog going up and down), and wherever else I set you down for a quick minute.  Much to my delight you do really well in your car seat! Not to say you never cry, but it's not constant wailing every time we go somewhere.

You still fall asleep pretty well in your car seat and I transport you to the snap and go quite a bit. You've tolerated park outings, school drop offs, play group days and all of our other activities so well. You don't love being in the ergo as much as your brother and sister did, but you tolerate it decently. You usually take 2-3 cat naps in the morning , about 30 minutes each, and usually do a long nap (3+ hours) in the afternoon . So amazing!! You mainly sleep in the Rock and play next to our bed, but you also like to sleep with your head propped up on a pillow in our bed . I'm sure you'll transition to your crib great, I just don't want to go that far during the night yet. Your nighttime sleep is getting better, but it's still exhausting. You've had a couple nights with only one wake up, but most of the time you're up 2-3 times a night and usually take a while to go back to sleep after at least one feeding. I'm so tired I usually just keep sticking your binky in over and over until you finally pass out. You love to be swaddled and love to burrow your head into a blanket to go to sleep. We haven't had to do any sleep training yet because you usually fall asleep really easily in the middle of all the chaos around you!

You are a pretty good nurser, although just in the last couple of weeks you've started flat out refusing one side . I've been pumping twice a day to keep my supply up, but you seem to be content with just the one side. You poop and pee all the time so I know you're getting enough, but it's just weird mr. Man. You very rarely spit up, I haven't even really used burp rags this time around.

I am so thankful to have the gift of raising you my little boy. I can't wait to see who you become as you grow up. I joke with daddy by saying "can you believe this cute boy is going to cause us trouble someday!?" We all love you so much. Happy two months sweet boy!

February fun

February was jam packed with family birthdays literally every weekend. We had a lot of fun last month!

I've driven by this random rock and gravel yard a few times and every time I remind myself to bring the kids. There are tons of different tractors, old railroad stuff and endless exploring! It was a super cold morning, but we really enjoyed ourselves. It reminded me of our old adventure days.

The weather looked like this a lot

                                          

We met up with my dear friend Sam and her two kiddos, Harlow and jack. We had a great time playing in Edmonds.

                                  

We started the potty training adventure with Maddie and after a few days, she totally rocked it. Proud of this little lady! We are still working on getting those #2's in the toilet and not in her pull up at night, but I know it's only a matter of time.

We watched this smiley guy one afternoon while Kelsey and Austin went to a basketball game.


                                              

The weather was absolutely gorgeous one night, so we took advantage and met up with my mom and
the Heavilands for pizza at the beach

I've had so many great times with this little lady during colter's school. We usually stop by the little cafe at the school after drop off. She likes to pick out a little sucker and I always get a chai. She climbs up on these tall stools and always wants to talk. We love to explore different parks together. She was so proud that she climbed all the way to the top of this play structure .

We've seen so many beautiful rainbows in the past month.

                                    

And the sickness came again. Seriously. Colter had some sort of virus that knocked him out like this for a few days. Poor guy

                                          

We celebrated Maddie's birthday at a tea house with some of her sweet little friends. I'll blog about her birthday later.

                                     

On Maddie's actual birthday , I took her on a little date to Barnes and Nobel and to get her hair cut. She takes hair cuts very seriously. She sat so still all the way through. Of course she wanted a frozen braid to top off the look!

                                                  
                                                  

The kids have been really into riding their bikes lately. I'm loving having a flat cul de sac for them to play in.

Adelle is my adventure partner even though we're both very pregnant. We decided a ferry ride in the rain was a good idea , but we were totally blessed with sunny weather for the time we were there. It was such a fun day.

Ben and I got a special night away while my mom watched the kids. We spent the night at the same place we did for my girls weekend. Fairhaven is such a perfect place to explore . We drove up the chuckanut highway and it was so so beautiful! There were little waterfalls everywhere !

                                    

We ate lunch at a burrito shop that Ben has been wanting to try for a while. The size of the burritos were actually ridiculous , but tasty.

                                         

After such a heavy lunch, we went for a great walk around beautiful lake Easton. It was a lot like green lake and perfect for the sunny afternoon.

                               

                                          

In the afternoon, we walked the boulevard to the park , and then had a super long dinner playing games and enjoying each other's company.

The next morning we set off for port Townsend, to celebrate my sisters Twins' 2nd birthday . We had such a wonderful time driving through whidbey island, stopping to check out all kinds of neat places . The weather was so fantastic . this day definitely reminded us of the incredible place we live.

My favorite part of our new house is the backyard. Colter spends so much time outside digging hole after hole, then filling them with water. There's constant catastrophes going on , but typically his stories involve a dam breaking , or a flood happening.

Little lady and I had a great park day while colter was at school. It's so fun to play princess stories and watch her imagination come to life.

                                                 

one of the top highlights of the year so far was when I got a video from colter's therapist at school. He has been pretty overwhelmed with chapel during the year, but on this day he made it through the whole thing and wanted to lead the prayer. It is so amazing to see the growth that has happened this year.


On colter's birthday, we had a great day at bothell country village , and then had some delicious ice cream later that night.

                        

I'll write about colter's science birthday party in another post , but it was a blast!

                                           

Whew, what a month!

weeks 3 & 4

Right after Ben went back to work, my next round of help arrived! Gigi and Grandpa arrived ready to help and boy did they deliver!

                                             

We started off their time with dinner at the creek we discovered the week before. The older cousins got right to work building a dam, and the rest of us kept watch on the little ones making sure they didn't fall in the water.

Colter asked to hold Levi for the first time unprompted. Made my mama heart happy.

                           

Maddie is still incredibly attentive towards Levi. She is always the first to rush to his side when he starts to fuss. She bounces his seat, covers him with blankets/stuffed animals, puts his binkie in, always wants to feed him a bottle, and always wants me to put him near her. Such a gift.

Levi continued to takeover Ben's side of the bed. I want my husband back!

                                              
A little bottle feeding time!

                                                

I went over to Adelle's house for some hang out time, while Mary and Greg took Colter to school, had some beach time with Maddie, and then read a book in Colter's class.

                                                



Maddie was so excited to push her baby in the stroller while I pushed Levi.

Play time with the kiddos. It is always tricky trying to incorporate both kids into a play story. There's definitely a lot of fast pace thinking to incorporate lego battles with barbies!

I want to remember how he sits when he plays. Somehow he manages to squat for SO long!

Levi loves a good snuggle. When I'm putting him to sleep, I usually drape a blanket over my shoulder, hold him sideways, and he burrows his head into the blanket. For naps during the day, I usually put him in the bouncy seat wherever we are playing, and then I put him in the rock and play in the afternoon. He usually takes a pretty long afternoon nap (2-3 hours), and takes a couple cat naps in the morning.

His legs started to get rolls! He seriously grows overnight! The sweater below was the last newborn outfit I put on him.. on to 3 month clothes!

Levi is starting to smile often, and seems to recognize my voice. 

He is overall a very content baby. He never really gets fussy for extended periods of time, and does a great job being hauled around everywhere. I'm so thankful for his long naps, his easy going demeanor, and his sweet sweet face. Soaking this baby up!!

We took a trip to the zoo, that was only successful  because Mary and Greg were there to help. This whole three kid thing is quite a bit of work!

Ben took his parents and Colter out on the wooden schooner, Adventuress. They had such a fantastic time! Mary and Greg realzed about an hour before the sail that they left the bag with all of Colter's clothes, snacks, and toys. Ben did some quick thinking and called me excitedly when he realized he had a homeless care kit in his car that had most things he needed. Colter rocked Gigi's jacket, tube socks on his legs, and had plenty of snacks. haha. Colter seems to really enjoy sailing.

Mary and Greg did so much work around our house, we were SO thankful! They did a lot of yard work.. they planted a flower bed worth of hostas, helped us plant three trees in our backyard, and trimmed back several trees. Greg installed a shelf in Maddie's closet, Mary was constantly doing dishes, laundry, making food, cleaning, and she even put some shelf liners in our kitchen drawers. So thankful for their hard work!

Mary and Greg left for a few days to Idaho, and I braved a few days on my own. Happy to say we survived! Just like with any transition, it takes a while to find a new rhythm. I'm trying to give myself grace, but it is easy to get frazzled when I'm putting the baby to sleep, Colter's asking me over and over to play with him, and Maddie is crying for some reason. Being sleep deprived doesn't help either!

They came back just in time to watch Levi so I could go with Maddie and Colter to the children's museum for Colter's school. We had to make a pit stop at starbucks before to gear up for that madness!

Not a lot of room for groceries ...

                                                       

Austin and Kelsey were shocked to find out they are having another boy! They were both absolutely sure they were going to have a girl. Quite the surprise when those blue balloons came out! We can't wait to meet their little boy in September!

I hosted a birthday breakfast for Ben. That afternoon we went out on a great date. We first went to eat dinner at Mammoth, and then had some ice cream at Bluebird Creamery. It was such a delicious night out. So happy this man is mine!

                                               

Happy One Month little man!