Happy Holidays!

I know I have a lot of catch up to do before 2010 comes to an end.  But before that - I just wanted to wish everyone a happy holidays.  Have a safe and cheerful Christmas!!

Fall Catch-Up Postponed...

I promise to post a fall catch-up soon - complete with pumpkin-picking and Halloween photos.  But before I get to that, I just want to ask that you keep Graham in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow.  He'll be having an outpatient surgery to correct a minor birth defect, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I was nervous.  It's a 2 hour procedure, and he'll be under anesthesia....  I'm sure everything will go according to plan, but I'm still worried and nervous for my sweet little boy, and concerned about the pain level after the procedure.

So, please keep us in your thoughts...  and I'll post much happier photos and stories soon!

Pictures!

So, it's been a while since I last posted, and I'm not sure I have too much to say.  Life is extraordinarily busy, but also incredibly fun and rewarding.  Graham is now sitting on his own and very, very close to crawling.  Any day now and he'll be crawling all over the place... 

During September we went apple picking and I took photos of Sophie for her 3rd birthday.  Here are some of the results!  I also recently took photos of Graham to document his 6 month milestone.  Thanks Grandma Charlotte for helping with that outing!  

Updates in photos

Not much to say, just wanted to post some recent photos.  Graham loves playing in the exersaucer and Sophie is a dancing fool!  I'm completely in love with Graham's leg rolls -- baby fat is so cute!

Hey mom!  I want that ball!!!

Reason #1 I think Graham will be crawling within the next month.  He can get that butt in the air and knees under himself...

Sophie pre-dance classes... We'll have to see how her technique improves after ballet and tap classes ;o)

She loves to twirl around in her Dora-inspired Fiesta dress...thanks, Grandma Diane for replicating the dress!

First night away!

Graham spent his first night away from home on Sunday night.  Allen's parents generously kept Sophie and Graham for an extra night/day, giving us all day Sunday to ourselves.  Word is, Graham did great.  But, 36 hours without kids in the home was kind of sad.  By yesterday evening, both Allen and I were missing them lots....

Grandma Diane

A couple weeks ago my mom visited us from Texas.  Sophie was so excited to see Grandma Diane and really enjoyed the visit.  Even though I had to work a lot of the time she was here, we were able to sneak away to the botanical gardens on Friday and watch Sophie play with some of the interactive displays there.  Grandma, Sophie, and Graham definitely had fun together.  Thanks for visiting mom!!  We wish you lived closer!

Here are a couple pictures from a few weeks ago.  I especially love the second photo.  Graham kept putting his head down, and knowing that I wanted Graham to look at the camera, Sophie gently pushed his chin up.  I love Graham's expression -- could my kids be any cuter?

M.I.A.

Yes, I've been completely absent from this blog for over a month now, and it perfectly corresponds to my return to work on June 7th.  I enjoyed 12 amazing weeks off of work after having Graham, and the return has been much more difficult than I was ever expecting.  Sophie is at such a fun and entertaining age, and I truly enjoyed having her home with me all the time.  I feel like we accomplished a lot in those 12 weeks - potty training, recognizing her letters, Spanish, etc.  And, I just wish I had her home more to continue to work on these things and just to have lots of time together!!

Anyway, I went back to work on June 7th and for the first 3-4 weeks I was feeling completely overwhelmed. I don't know how other working moms do it all -- cooking home cooked meals, cleaning, working, parenting, and finding more than just 15 minutes of quality time with their kids each and every day.  I was feeling really sad and a bit lost and anxious.  It seemed (and still seems) like every time I looked around there was one more thing I "needed" to get done, but all I really wanted was to read to Sophie or just sit in awe of her as she recited books to Graham or played with her toys.  I've slowly been feeling like I've found more of a routine, although some days are better than others.

Two weeks ago, I spent the entire week commuting back and forth to Lansing (about an hour drive) for fieldwork for a large MDOT project.  I (and a colleague from our Austin office) was spending 10 hours a day in the field and driving home at night to nurse Graham and put them both to bed.  Let me just say - pumping while working in the field (read - gas station, fast food bathroom, or the car) is incredibly frustrating and completely sucks.  I hate pumping, in general, which is why Graham usually only goes to daycare one day a week and stays home with me while I'm working the rest of the time.  But, to have to pump on the go and then store the milk in a cooler with ice packs until getting home at 8pm is inconvenient and annoying.

So, my return to work has been a constant battle between trying to stay focused on work and my wish to spend my days with my kids.  When in college, I never would have guessed that I would so desire to stay at home rather than work.  But, now that I'm blessed with two beautiful children, I find myself longing for just that (and a little side business in photography as a creative outlet).  I'm still trying to find my way through this new life, and I hope that soon it will get easier.  In the meantime, I'll try to do a better job of updating this blog, at least with photos of the Sophie and Graham.

So - first up - photos from the Fourth of July.  Allen was in Seattle for Paul and Meredith's wedding during the holiday weekend, so I had the kids to myself for about 3 days.  We went to the Northville parade on Saturday and then to our neighborhood picnic on Sunday the 4th.  On Sunday evening, I decided to take them to the Ann Arbor botanical gardens to walk one of the trails I hadn't yet visited and to explore the historic red barn at the end of that trail.  Sophie is still talking about the parade on the 4th - especially the "silly clowns" and the sirens on the fire trucks and police cars.  Lucky for me she didn't find the parade scary, in the least.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day, Allen.  Sophie and Graham are so lucky to have you as their daddy.  Thank you for being such a wonderful father (and best friend!).

Milestones - Graham

1.  Smiling - Graham is really starting to smile and show his personality.  His smiles range from this sweet little one below, to a full open mouth laughing smile (two below).  He's much more aware of his family and quickly smiles for us.  He also loves his play mat and will readily "dance" when the music and lights are on.  

2.  Head and Neck Control - Graham is starting to lift up his head more and more and turn it from side to side.  It's still tough work, but he's getting more control over his head and neck.

3.  Hands -  Graham has discovered his hands and loves to suck on his left hand and fingers.  I think he may end up being a thumb sucker, because he definitely prefers his hand to the pacifier.

4.  Sleeping - Perhaps most excitingly, Graham has started sleeping through the night -- yay!!  We lucked out with Sophie because she started sleeping through the night at 8 weeks, and I was thinking Graham wouldn't be doing that by the time I go back to work (which is Monday, June 7th).  But, low and behold, Graham started sleeping through the night (8-10 hours) during our trip to San Diego.  I thought maybe it was a fluke or the result of jet lag, but since returning, he's slept through the night every night.  So, at 10.5 weeks he's sleeping through the night.  He goes to bed between 8:30 and 9:30 and will sleep until 5:30am.  After nursing at 5:30, he'll go back to sleep for another 2-3 hours.  It's wonderful, and perfect timing since my return to work is quickly approaching!

Here's my current favorite picture of Graham -- I love the hat, the look in his eyes, and very slight smile.  So cute!

Happy Mother's Day

As Mother's Day rolls around again, I am so thankful for my two beautiful children. Some days I still find it hard to believe that I'm already a mom, but there is nothing in the world that I would trade for Sophie and Graham. Yesterday, Sophie was sitting on the couch with me and Graham, and she said, out of the blue, "I love you Graham... big sister loves you." My heart was so full in that moment. No matter what little trials we have throughout the day, I feel so lucky that Sophie and Graham have each other, and that Sophie has fully embraced being a sister. They truly light up my life.

I think these two photos tell it all -- just look at how much Sophie loves Graham. She is like this most days. She imitates what I'm doing with Graham -- she'll sing to him, play with him, kiss and hug him, hold his hand. And, today I noticed she's also very protective of him. We dropped Sophie off at the church nursery before church, and another toddler came up to Graham's car seat to look at him and try to touch. Very concerned, Sophie tried to block the other little girl from Graham.

And, because my mom has been requesting more photos of our growing boy, here are two from about a week ago. In the first one, we were outside playing, and Graham was hanging out in the car seat. How cute is that bucket hat??

I haven't quite caught a full smile on camera yet, but here's a very subtle smile. He's really starting to respond to our facial expressions with smiles and other cute faces.

Regression

Regression is the name of the game~

Sophie -- after several weeks of being completely potty trained, including multiple long outings with no accidents, she has regressed to not pooping in the potty. We've now had over 1.5 weeks of consistent pooping in the panties, much to my dismay. To say that I am frustrated is an understatement. I'm not even sure how to work on this with her. When I ask why she pooped in her panties, she says " 'cause I want to." How do I argue with that answer?

Graham -- after a week of sleeping up to 6 hours straight at night, he is back to waking up every three hours to nurse. Plus, he is back to having extreme trouble returning to sleep after his 2am/2:30am nursing. I am now sleep deprived again, which I am also sure is not helping with Sophie's potty training/accidents.

And because no post is complete without a photo - here are a couple from weeks ago. Graham is 3 weeks old in this photo. I'll try to post more when I get the chance, but right now, I'm finding it incredibly difficult to work on my own photos.... Did I mention that Graham and Sophie are nowhere near the same schedule, so when she naps, Graham is awake... ugh.

Photos of Graham

Yes, he's now three weeks old (very hard to believe), but here are some belated photos from his first photo session at 1 week old! With lots of family in and out of town, I've gotten a bit behind on the blog and posting photos. I'll try to catch up soon!