Wednesday

Joshua didn't sleep all that well last night.  Now, Ben and I weren't getting up and walking around with him, but I was getting out of bed every 30-60 minutes.  Sometimes to just try and put a pacifier in...the act of trying, even if he doesn't take it, seems to calm him down.  But I was still rather tired in the morning.

But we survived!  It was my first day without any extra people around to help.  We went to the fabric store for our outing...it went fine.  It was a fast outing, but we still did it.  We weren't able to leave the house until 10:20 again; it amazes me how long it takes to get everyone ready.

Nap time went a bit better today than it has in the past.  Joshua woke up once, but I was still able to get two small naps in.  Then we had picture time.  Joshua was awake a lot more today; I'm hoping that he'll sleep better tonight.

Isaac took pictures with his camera too.  But he doesn't quite understand the whole concept...especially of being more than two inches away from what you're taking a picture of.

Isaac also took pictures of all his "E-Ooos"

Isaac and Joshua attempted to play together...but Joshua can't hold anything yet, so it makes it rather difficult.

Isaac is a bit better at taking pictures with my camera.

Zonked out during dinner.

Playing in the sand. I had also given him a haircut since the above pictures.  We're having professional pictures taken next week and I wanted a bit of time to see if there were any places I needed to fix up.  It still isn't perfect, but if I muss his hair up just a bit it will be hard to see the problem areas.

"Cheese!"  It's a bit funny because when Ben and I tried taking his picture with his camera in the morning he would cover his face and say "no cheese me!"  (To cheese equals to take a picture of in Isaac speak.) But he's fine with having his picture taken by my camera.

Tuesday: playground

Today was the first time i've taken both boys out by myself.  We were meeting friends at the playground at 10:45...this sounded a bit late to me, but that was fine.

It was a good thing it was that late.  By the time everyone was fed, dressed, a small lunch was packed, and we were ready to leave it was time to leave.  I'm not really sure where the time went.

We stayed at the playground for quite a while, but Betsy and I had a nice time talking and the boys got a lot of running done.  Well, the older boys.  Joshua had a good nap.

Overall, the outing was a big success!
And one more picture of the boys after dinner.

Monday: 1 week

Here are the one week pictures!  Joshua nicely stretched out for them...ok, at least for the first.

Sunday: busier than expected

Today ended up being busier than expected, which was nice.  It just meant that I didn't get a picture of the boys with their matching crab socks.  But I have more chances.

Today brought Isaac stepping on his to-be quilt fabric.  (One reason I like quilting is that fabric is washable and ironable, so who cares if you step on it or wrinkle it?)

Joshua's only picture of the day was with Larry.

Saturday

Tummy time.

Outfit of the day...although the hat was only on for a minute.

Our sleepy child.  He was on Ben's chest for about three hours...a sleeping record for him.  Also notice the outfit change.  This kid loves to do his business without a diaper.  I saved his pajamas three times last night, but let my guard down once today.  It was a big mistake.

Since I took a picture of Joshua, I needed to take a picture of Isaac.  I ran out of chicken nuggets tonight so we supplemented with chicken patties...which Isaac heard as patty cakes and was super excited to eat.

The boys.

Friday: doctor appointment

Last night went better, but I was also more tired.  We had a few 2-hour intervals of sleep.  But Isaac had a few nightmares too...one wasn't too bad and resolved on it's own, but the other one was worse...it made me jump out of bed.  I got into Isaac's room and he said, "Mom eat?"  So I don't know if he dreamed that I ate without him (he does always seem worried that I won't feed him) or if he was scared that I was being eaten (perhaps because of nursing?)

This morning we had Joshua's doctor's appointment.  Everything is going well and so we don't have to go back for two months.  Besides being very happy that there are no problems I'm glad that I can stop monitoring every feeding and diaper.  I can monitor it well enough without the dumb app.

Instead of eating lunch, Isaac wanted to run.  Ben or I had to say a random number that Isaac told us to say and he would run to something.  This went on for about a half hour, but I was happy to say numbers so that he would tire himself out.

Isaac's been enjoying playdoh lately.

Joshua still sleeps a lot.  His favorite spot is Ben's chest.

We cleaned Isaac's room.  There have been a lot of changes lately, so I thought I'd share some pictures.

I gave Joshua his first at home bath.  He didn't enjoy it, but he didn't hate it as much as I was expecting.  I was hoping it would tire him out a bit, but I'm not sure it worked.  Although he was always awake at 11pm while I was pregnant, so hopefully that is the problem right now and he'll sleep better the rest of the night.  (Here is Isaac's equivalent picture.)

I'm sure you've all been wondering, how did the first night alone go?  Well, it went ok.  Much better than our first night with Isaac.  I was up about once an hour...usually to feed but sometimes to adjust the swaddle.  The good news is that Joshua usually went back to sleep quickly, so that was very nice.

Look...a tiny person is in the swing again.  In many ways, it's kind of sad that we're expecting this to be our last child.  The littleness can be a lot of fun!  But I'm sure that soon I will also remember why it's nice when they're older.  And I keep finding Isaac to be more and more enjoyable, so I expect I'll do the same with Joshua and not look back.

I finished Joshua's quilt over the weekend.  It had been very close for a while, but i put the finishing touches on.  So we now have a baseline picture at 3 days old.  hmm.  it seems like he's been around longer than that (in a good way).  The hospital distorts time a bit.

Isaac and Joshua.  As I was getting Isaac ready for bed I was struck at how much bigger he is.

A short tummy time.  Joshua had a dirty diaper.

Wednesday: home and pictures

At the hospital!  I think this is after the epidural, but I'm not sure.  Except for the contractions I felt in pretty good spirits, and with the contractions so far apart I was mostly in good spirits.

We have one like this from Isaac too.  (Yes, we did that on purpose.)  I felt as though I was sitting up more than it looks.

Joshua is born!  It was interesting how having the two kids at different times of the day changed things...we got some different pictures due to it.

Isaac came over and read a book with me.  The lift the flap books are awesome.

First family picture.

Another family picture.

Joshua at night, holding onto Ben's finger.

Leah and Joshua.  Leah is two months older than Joshua...and what a difference it made!!

Day 1 - Joshua

Day 1- Joshua and me.  There was more down time in the morning so I took some extra pictures.

New room.  You can see Ben in the bathroom mirror. :)

Our Congratulatory dinner.  And poor Joshua, the guest of honor, didn't get to eat any.

Isaac getting to hold Joshua for the first time.  It went pretty well.

Going home!  He is so small in the car seat.

Isaac wanted to get us some flowers.

Ben's first time looking after the two boys.  He did an awesome job.

Tuesday: day 1

Today was Joshua's first full day in the real world...I think it went well. We had a relaxing early morning and then the influx of people started...for about two hours it was one person after another.

Around 1pm I was asked to switch rooms because they had an influx of six people coming in and were running out of delivery rooms. That was fine with me. They transferred me out at a brisk pace. They weren't running, but they were far from dilly-dallying either.

We had our celebration dinner at night...and poor Joshua didn't get to eat any of it. Isaac showed up after that; he had been having too much fun at Grandma's house to be bothered to come any earlier. He did well reading the books for about thirty minutes and was then ready to go. He did help me read "dear zoo" to Joshua and that was fun.

We also had several visitors throughout the day: Betsy and Leah, dad and Pat, Jon and Nicole, and Derek, Julie, and Abby. Just the right amount to keep the day interesting but not overwhelming.

More pictures to follow...I don't have a good way to get them on the ipad anymore.