Spring

At least it was Spring the last couple days, oh who am I kidding, it was summer. We were outside a lot. Brett loves it. He refuses to believe that a cold front swept through this morning. He is very angry we won't all go outside. So he has moved his airshow with his new planes from Arizona inside. Barrett has good and bad days, but more good than bad. And now these are definately smiles not gas. Guess where Mark works?? I appreciate the cute onesie sent to us.

Working Hard

What a hard worker. We have been working with Brett on a Thomas the Tank Engine website and he has become self sufficient. He can navigate the website, build puzzles, color pictures, and print pages. He loves, 'going to work' just like mom and dad. It is so cute. I'll have pictures of Barrett soon. We had a great 5 days and then a relapse. He is 7 weeks and I'm still looking forward to improvement at 12 weeks. I'm done trying to diagnose the problem.... and we are now seeing a chiropractor and it seems to be helping. So I have no pictures right now because when he is not crying and I have a minute unfortunately the camera isn't the first thing I grab. I got my new stroller for two and used it yesterday. Brett loves it and, well, who knows about Barrett, the poor guy just isn't very content. So for all of you who told me that my kids would be opposites, so far you were right.

My Boys

Well, Barrett was 6 weeks on Thursday the 15th, and that was our best day yet. The non-stop crying stopped that day and, knock on wood, salt over my shoulder, whatever, the crying has not returned yet. He has even managed to sleep in the arms of a few, how cute. However, he is now up every three hours through the night instead of a 4 or 5 hour stretch. Well I guess there must be a trade off for everything with this one, and as tired as I am, silence is great. He must have known I was reaching the end of my rope, because he has started to smile. He is struggling with dry skin, I've been using baby oil to help; any other suggestions moms? And don't ask me why Scooby is in the bath tub with Brett, although it is not the first time that has happened.

Theater

Mark is making progress. We are not ready for a screening yet but we are enjoying the theater for personal use. He has almost finished all the fabric panels for the top half of the wall and will then repeat the same procedure for the bottom half. The color on the bottom is a camel tan color. And we still need a second row of recliners or a couch; haven't decided for sure yet. It is a really cool room to view concert DVD's; it's like a live show in our home!

Reading Time

This is one of those sweet moments, reading to my boys. And yes those are bags under my eyes..... hopefully soon I will get some sleep and remedy that. Barrett continues to cry a lot. He seems to want to be an adult already and be up all day and sleep only at night. And that would be ok if he didn't act so tired and get so crabby, poor kid. He'll hopefully learn a nap is a good thing. He is starting to be up only once at night. So I'm getting that 4 hour stretch of sleep pretty regularly. We will get out for a walk today, I'm determined to enjoy the weather and maybe the fresh air will do him some good! Brett has been such a good boy. He kisses Barrett, brings him toys, and is very helpful to me. He is not ready to be potty trained yet but we will keep trying. Mark is frustrated with his slow progress in finishing the theatre. It's hard to get a lot done with all the activity in the house now.

Snowy Days

Finally, a picture of Brett illustrating the height of the snow bank. He is so helpful in the house and outside, he plowed lots of snow with his truck! And he loves Scooby, more so since Barrett came along. I think he is looking to substitue a little for my shared attention. And thank goodness she is such a great dog, very patient. Barrett is 5 weeks today and is going 6 hours between one feeding, unfortunately it is from 7 pm - 1 am. I'm really going to work on feeding him when I finally get to bed at 10 or so and maybe he'll sleep then until 4. I have managed a few 4 hour stretches of sleep, I can't imagine a 6 hour stretch! During the day he still eats every 3 hours or so. I have help from both my mom and my mother in law watching the kids a few days a week, and it is funny that getting out of the house consists of going to the gas station, the bank, maybe Walgreens, boring essential stuff; the joys of motherhood. Mark returned from his work trip late last night,and Brett was thrilled to see him when he woke up this morning.

One month!! and then some......

I can't believe it's been over a week since I last posted. Barrett is now a little over one month. It is a little ironic that I've posted pictures of him sleeping, well considering he rarely sleeps during the day. He does sleep well at night only up to feed twice and back to bed, and for that I am very grateful. However the only pictures I could provide from the day time are of him sleeping, otherwise he is eating or crying. I've read that babies under 6 weeks spend about 2-3 hours a day crying, and well lucky us, we happen to be in the 20-30% who spend more than that. At least I know he has good lungs. We know from the scale that he is getting enough to eat, and he is out growing clothes rapidly. I did buy an industrial size bottle of Tylenol for myself, and if there is any memory of this when I am done nursing, we will bring on the trough of margaritas! On a serious note I am looking for some babysitting/nanny help in my home. I am looking to hire someone, perhaps even a college student, 2-3 days a week. I think this will be temporary until summer but could perhaps last longer. If anyone knows of anyone, please send me an email. I only require babysitting experience, I will be home with the sitter and am just looking for an extra set of hands. I continue to be surprised at the snow we keep getting. Even Brett is bored with it now. Also all mom's, does anyone have the stand'n ride duo stroller from active gear? We are looking to make a purchase, and it is only on the net and in catalogs, I'm just looking for input. Sorry it took so long for an update. When he opens his eyes and isn't crying, I'll run for the camera.