Ocho. Acht. Eight.

Eight was the magic number for Alexander and sleep.
It only happened once.
But I'll take it.
It gives me hope for the future.

Chunky Boy

The theme for the last week is...EAT! This kid must be hitting a growth spurt because he is ALWAYS hungry. He also LOVES attention. And if your attention is diverted...he whines. I thought second children were supposed to be more independant. I guess we have time to get there.

He's still a good baby. And growing like a weed. Very smiley.

His "red" hair is filling in slowly.

Alexander likes car rides, as long as the car is moving. But he isn't crazy about his carseat or sitting still.

He's doing great at 10 weeks!

Easter Fun

Because I am always a few days behind, here are the Easter pictures.
Nicholas coloring eggs for the first time. He was interested for a whole 15 minutes.

I got one good smile out of him.

Look what the Easter Bunny brought!

Oooooo....candy.

Alexander and his basket. He was excited.

Alexander with Grandma

Nicholas and cousin Abbey hunting eggs.

Hunting eggs with cousin Noah.

Hangin' with my cousin Abbey.

That's all folks. Hope you had a great Easter too.

Birthday: Part 2

So after Hibachi and a short nap. We got to enjoy cake after dinner. Joe and Nicholas made my birthday cake. It's the first cake Joe has ever made. And about the millionth Nicholas has made. It went very well.
Here they are stirring it up.

Icing it.

And adding sprinkles.

The finished product and me with my boys.

It was a very nice day with my family

Rainy sunny day

It's rainy and windy and cool today.
But we have sunshine in our home.
Today is my birthday.
Forever 22.
I love birthdays. I think they should be celebrated and made special no matter how old you are.
Nicholas & Joe made me a cake ( pictures to come).
We went out for Hibachi. Yum! I got salmon. Yum!
And the day isn't over yet.
I've got presents to open. Eggs to color for Easter. Cake to eat.

Idol Toughts

I am not much caring this week about Idol. I am tired.
But I do like Casey and Stefano. I think Casey could win.
I still like Scotty and Lauren. But they were predictable this week. I do think we will hear them on country radio in the future. Duets maybe? They have nice duets.
I still could do without James and Jacob. I just don't care for their styles.
My thoughts.

Not just a coffee break

We have this coffee maker. And on Sunday, it died.
So I gave it to Nicholas to play with. It has a dispenser as you can see in the picture. It was fun. We had a little water party on the deck.

Now we have this coffee maker, see below. We hope this lasts longer than the other one which lasted less than 18 months. But we like the dispenser, carafe-less design. I ordered it from Walmart on Monday (with 97 cent shipping) and received it on Wednesday. Can't beat that.

Alexander: 2 Months

Yes, my baby is now 2 months old. And I love it. He's smiling and reacting more now. I am excited about this. His reactions make all the hard work seem like a distant memory. Well, he's still a lot of work. He cluster feeds in the morning and evenings. Takes a good nap in the afternoon, usually. He still wakes up a lot at night but lately he's been going right back to sleep with no fuss and laying on his own. (two nights after I write this, he is up for 2 hours in the middle of the night.) Sweet! Now all this is subject to change at any given moment, of course. Because the only thing predictable about babies is their unpredictability. But I feel we are moving in the right direction. We are closer to sleeping longer and playing longer too. He's just the cutest thing. And even if we've had a hellish night, his morning smile makes me smile. How can it not? He seems to say, "I know you Mommy. Good morning." So let's see. His stats: He now weighs 10 lbs 9 oz. Almost 4 lbs above birth weight. Yay! And has grown an inch longer. His doctor check up was excellent. He seems wide to us. Little fat rolls on his upper legs. He's out of his size 1 diapers and filling out his 3 month clothing fantastically. Nicholas was such a small little guy that this is fantastic to me. Then again I never fed Nicholas like this. I thought he couldn't be hungry an hour later and would hold him off. But with Alexander it's eat eat eat. He loves to lay and kick and look around. He'll crane his neck around to look at what Nicholas is doing. He likes his rainforest music thing on his crib. I can see him being a lot of fun when he gets older. Nicholas says Alexander is going to grow big like him. And he's going to play with him. Because right now it's all about playing with Nicholas. Okay Picture Time!

Alexander napping in the living room. Yes he sleeps on his belly. Go ahead gasp, I'll wait. Moving on...I was trying to get a picture of him in his Patriots outfit including hat.

He looks like a little piggie in this one. I like this outfit. It's just nice.

Another cute hat. He was not amused.

Brother hanging out. Nicholas doesn't like to look at the camera and he's still all of about a milisecond.

Alexander is looking up at Nicholas. I love that face.

Being a good big brother.

Some propped up belly time. Again not amused. He looks so different in this pic too. His hair is slowly growing in on top of the head. And he's got some red hair. That's going to be interesting.

Looking like a little man in a collared shirt.

Love this smile!!

Me and Alexander. He was a little grumpy. It was the end of the day.

Again a great face!

He was groovin' and smilin'.

Look how big!

Okay until next time.

Roast Chicken

I LOVE roast chicken. It is super easy to make. It tastes great. It's healthy. And with the leftover meat, I can make numerous dishes all week long. Like soup, casseroles, sandwiches, the list goes on. I'll even eat it cold...for breakfast.
If you think you can't do it, you totally can. Buy a bigger roaster that has a pop up timer and it's that much easier. You don't have to temp it or be afraid it's under- or overcooked. I am telling you, you'll love it.
The hardest part about it is picking all the meat off the bones.
You can even make broth from the bones. I usually don't do this but you can.
So roast yourself a chicken tonight. Impress the spouse.

The Bottom Three

My Idol vote for the bottom three:
1. James
2. Jacob
3. Haley

Sleep

Alexander slept in his crib all night. We've had him in the bassinet in our room since his birth.
We weren't planning to move him yet but his bassinet sheet was in the dryer when we went to bed so I put him in his crib.
He woke up to eat but otherwise did really well all night.
Yay!
Here's hoping for another good night.

(that is not him in the pic above)

Crazy Boy

My crazy first born son. He is both amazing and frustrating. But the pictures below capture the amazing. This is Nicholas after licking the beaters from the red velvet cake we made Joe for his birthday. Here is Nicholas helping with the candles. He loves cake. Or should I say the frosting. He gets so excited about the whole process. But mostly eating it. Here is Nicholas with his breakfast. I'd like to say he ate it all but he didn't. He ate the yogurt, sausage and some of the blueberries. He left the toast. He's not a big fan of toast. He'd rather have plain bread.

Oh my! You never knew the many uses of the boppy pillow until you give it to a toddler. He loves this pillow.

Balancing an infant and a toddler is challenging. Entertaining the toddler everyday all day...what to do? I sent Nicholas on the deck with a container of water and a bunch of cups. I then added some food coloring to the water. He had so much fun. It kept him busy for well over half an hour. And I love that it's free. It's not some expensive toy. And we can do it again and again and change it up too. Kids love water!

He Did It

Finally, Alexander smiled for the camera. He's been smiling for a couple of weeks now but he wouldn't do it while I had the camera on him. But I got him today. So precious. Those smiles sure make all these weeks of hard work well worth it.