G sings to his new little sister, just a day or two after she was born.

First bath

This was quite a while ago now, but here's a snapshot of L's first bath. Ahh...

There's always room on the lap

Lola's "guess date"

Today was Laurel's "guess date" — March 4. If anything, I thought we'd go past her guess date and that she would be birthed well into March (and that much closer to a much-anticipated spring thaw).

Surprise! She was a February baby! Firmly born in winter...

In celebration of her early arrival and almost 2-week-old birthday, I'll share these photos of our midwives making footprints for her birth certificate.

xo,
A, J, G & L

Keeping it simple

A friend and fellow mom recently advised me that the best way to make it through this first year of raising two kids is to "keep it simple." Jeff and I keep going back to that phrase. So, while we had planned today to go to the zoo, midway through the day we were already exhausted, so decided to stay home. Keeping it simple.

While Lola napped soundly amid the chaos that is entertaining an almost 3-year-old, G and I played with Play-doh and a box. Two boxes, actually. One was big enough for Graham to fit inside. After the lid was closed, I spun the box around three times on our wooden floor and pretended to mail him to the destination of his choice.

"Want to go to Hawaii?"

"No!"

"To China to visit Uncle Fun?" (My friend Greg)

"No!"

"To New York to visit Uncle Greg?"

"No!"

"Um, how about the beach in Florida?"

"No!"

"Want to be mailed to Iowa? To the farm?"

"Yes!"

Then he would pop out of the box and say, "I'm in Iowa!"

We used the second, slightly smaller box to made a robot head, complete with rolled up tin foil for antennae. We took turns wearing said robot head, talking like a robot, and chasing each other through the house, acting like robots.

Meanwhile, Jeff napped (or attempted to) upstairs. And yes, my dear husband let me sleep in this morning (a life-saver!) and was owed a well-deserved nap. We'd like to give a shout-out to the folks at MPR who sent us a basket of flowers that were delivered in the box that later turned into a robot. So many uses for a simple box!

xo,
A, J, G & L

First family-of-four-outing

Lola is 10 days old today and we thought it about time we had a fun family outing. So we hit a local favorite, Izzy's Ice Cream for some scoops and smiles. It felt like an ice cream kind of day since it was sunny and a balmy 40 degrees! The first family outing was a success.

(Nevermind the epic, 40-minute-long temper tantrum G had later when Jeff took a bite of the pizza they were sharing. G wanted Jeff to spit his bite back out and "give it back." Jeff swallowed. G's fury was unleashed...)

Aside from being the expected sleep-deprived parents, we're holding our own so far and doing our best to give Graham the space to express his feelings and frustrations. Mostly though, he's pretty smitten with his little sister.

xo,
A

Welcome, Baby Laurel!

I've been woefully remiss about posting to this blog. I know, I know. And honestly, I can't promise that I'm going to get any better at it. But I am going to try, even if said posts include photos only.

Now on with the big announcement! Baby girl turned one week old yesterday.

Her name is Laurel. Her nickname is Lola, because that's how Graham says Laurel (those Ls and Rs are tough for a 2.5 year old to say!). Lola has stuck with me. Jeff pretty much calls her Laurel. I love both.

Here she is! Born at home in the water; 7 lbs, 3 oz; 20 inches long.

xoxo,
A, J, & Big Bro G-man