Asher 11 Weeks

Not exactly a normal time to write an update, but here we are. Asher buddy, you are everything my heart needed and more. I have a hard time imagining babies as people until they start to get a little bit of a personality, sit up, etc., but I can already tell that you are going to be so silly and sweet. Just like your sister, except this week, when she is acting like a total (almost) threenager. You are usually so, so happy, and really only cry when you are tired or hungry. I know it's early and so much can and will change, but I genuinely think you're going to be the sweetest little guy.

You have literally doubled in size since birth, going from the six pound range to the twelve pound range in just two short months. You have the chunkiest little face, huge blue eyes, dark hair, and the sweetest smile. You're an incredibly cute baby and I know you will be the apple of my eye. I always thought of your sister as my best friend, more like a sidekick. I know you will always be the baby. At this point I am 99% confident in saying that you are our last child, and it really feels like you're the perfect completion to this family.

You definitely get less physical attention (being held, rocked) than I'd like due to how crazy our schedules can be, but it's probably teaching you a little independence, and we are sure to get plenty of snuggles and cuddles when we can.

You LOVE your mobile, swing, rock and play, baths, being sung to/talked to, mirrors, and being outside. You don't love tummy time, but will tolerate it. Honestly the only things you hate are being hungry or tired, which is all babies, and all people really, so who can blame you.

You met all your milestones at your two month appointment as far as gaining weight, tracking light, etc. Still measuring on the smaller side of things height and weight wise, but you look like a "normal" size to me, so I'm happy.

N on the left, A on the right. Two months. Near twins!

You are taking roughly 4 naps a day, and eating about 5 times a day, and 2 more times in the middle of the night. I think your sister dropped her night feedings all together around this time, so I am hoping you'll drop down to at least one. I know all babies are different through so trying not to expect you to do what she did. Breastfeeding is going much better with you than it did with her and we hope that continues. You sleep in your crib at night, but we've been using the swings for naps. That is honestly because it works and mom is too lazy to deal with another transition right now, but we plan to institute crib naps at three months. Or try to at least.

We love you buddy!

Fall Pictures

These pictures are old news, but I wanted to share them just to have included in the blog, and also because I LOVE them. I found this photographer randomly on Facebook, and cannot wait to use her again down the road. These photos served as our 2016 fall family pictures, as well as maternity pictures, and Norah's two year pictures. #threebirdsonestone. These are also what we used for our 2016 Christmas card. Here are some of our favorites.

Cannot get over the beauty in this child!

what we've been up to

For today I thought I'd share a few things I've been up to since basically disappearing from the blog world.

1. getting involved

The past year(ish), I've been involved with our city's Junior League, as well as our neighborhoods parenting group. Both have been so rewarding, and really helped me fill my time with meaningful, adult activities, without being too much of a strain on my schedule.

I love Junior League because service and giving back is extremely important to me, and it doesnt hurt that so many amazing women are a part of the organization. I am truly in awe of most of them. The parenting group also has service opportunities, puts on a Christmas event for our town, hosts several other family events throughout the year, and has a lot of social opportunities. It's been great to always have something on the calendar to make sure we're creating lots of traditions and memories for our kiddos.

2. working smarter not harder

Or so I like to think. We not rely on Green Bean Delivery, Click List, and Amazon Subscribe and Save for a lot of our grocery and household items. I actually don't hate taking two kids to the store. What I hate, is lugging 20 bags of groceries into the house, while managing 2 kids. And then putting them away, when it's usually lunch and/or nap time. Hard pass. These services have been a God send. Honorable mention to the OrderUp app which has provided me many a delicious meal when I was too lazy or too tired to prepare anything for myself after handling the kids.

3. date nights

We aren't the type of couple who never goes out, but we certainly aren't the type of couple to do weekly dates or anything like that. Lately more than ever Will and I have both realized we were never spending any time alone together. When the kids were asleep we'd be doing separate chores, or one of us were asleep. So for 2017 I wanted to make it a point for us to go on AT LEAST one date night a month, with no kids. So far this year we've managed to watch a basketball game to gather at a bar, go out to dinner to Sotto, have lunch at Yard House, and we have tickets to go see a play at the Cincinnati Shakespeare company later this month. Hoping we can keep this tradition going all year.

4. friend nights (or days)

Another thing I wanted to make sure we started being mindful of this year was maintaining friendships. I am pretty good about scheduling girls nights, lunches, etc. I actually even have a girls trip on the books in April (hallelujah). I really believe that a) it takes a village and I truly value my friendships and b) parents need time to have fun in order to continue to be good parents. Will however is more selfless and always sacrifices his weekends to do what I want to do, work in the yard, etc. I told him to make a point of scheduling time with his friends as much as he can, even if it's just a quick lunch while the kids are asleep on a Saturday. He's listened and I think it's something that will really improve our lives if we can keep it up.

Terrible picture, but the only one we've captured from any of our dates. 

5. two two and under

Parenting two kids is NO JOKE. Two sets of diapers to change. Two baths. Two bedtimes. Two times the crying. Luckily both my kids are generally pretty happy, and I have help most of the times I truly need it. All I can say is I've never been more humbled by an experience in my life. You think you are a level headed, in control person? Come take care of a toddler and a newborn alone for a few days and then talk to me. An entire post on how we've been doing in this arena soon.

Happy Friday! Linking up with Smidge of This.

Kitchen Renovation: The After

Disclaimer: I am terrible at taking pictures, but you'll get the idea.

The after! I am so, so happy with the way this kitchen turned out. Lets get to some details. I linked as many things as I could remember throughout the post. Before post HERE, and during post HERE.

I mentioned previously I would consider changing two things if I could go back in time. One is the depth of our farm sink. I wish it was deeper so it met the cabinets underneath, rather than there being several inches of space between the cabinets and the sink. We also could have just made those cabinets higher, as they were custom. That was a miscommunication between myself and the builder.

Our dishwasher is Bosch, and we love it. I especially like that it has a red light that shines on the floor when it is running, and that there's no obvious handle or buttons for little fingers and hands to be tempted by. The pendant light above the sink is from Shades of Light. The faucet and sink are Kohler. Our floors are an engineered hardwood, and they look great, along with being very appropriate for a house with dogs who ruin everything. Our countertops are quartz, and the backsplash is a Bianco Carrara marble tile.

The paint color is Sea Salt by Sherwin Williams. 

The eat in area light fixture is also from shades of light. I love how this little nook turned out. Norah loves eating there and looking out the window at the squirrels and birds.

Open shelving from Ballard Designs. I think this really adds to the room, and provides much needed storage.

Our cabinet knobs are from Amazon and the drawer pulls are from Restoration Hardware. Artwork by Norah ;)

Lets talk about this refrigerator. It is a GE Cafe series, and has a built in Keurig. You heard that right. All products I am mentioning are linked, but I recommend specifically checking this link out to see how amazing it is. It also lets you "brew" hot water for tea, cooking, etc. This has been a huge space saver for us on the countertops, as our Keurig was huge.

Our microwave and range are also Bosch. The other thing I might change is how high our microwave is. Not sure how it rounded out to be this high, but people always comment on it. Will is 6'2 and I am 5'11, so it doesn't bother us. But it might be an issue for a smaller person. I like these appliances too, but it drives me slightly insane that the microwave makes such a loud closing sound when you shut it. This is probably just me being paranoid because there's always a sleeping kiddo somewhere in the house.

 

And that's about it! Happy to answer any questions if you've got them. 

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