The pugs were so snuggly, I couldn’t resist snapping some of them as well. Whisper LOVES to sit on laps. She is so smooshy.

Stamp’s a punkin too.

Then on Labor Day, we laid low and John took Miles down the road to the Painting Fun Spot to paint some pottery. Miles has not put his guitar and peace symbol (you can’t call it a peace SIGN, it’s a peace SYMBOL) down since he brought them home.

Well, that’s just another little peek into our life. I’ve been so sleepy lately that I don’t have a lot of time to do blog posts with very much meat and potatoes to them. Tomorrow, preschool starts, so I’m excited to hopefully have some more time and perhaps a bit more energy to do some fun blogging. For now, it’s time for bed. Nighty night!

Here we are. See, even Whisper is sleeping behind us:

We have no labor day plans this weekend other than to clean around the house. (Truly a labor day for us.) I have been itching to get out and do a little shopping, so John took us all out to the mall and out to lunch today. (BLESS HIM!) I have to say that I was able to be out for a nice long trip because of this wonderful thing. I really wish I had one when I had Miles. (I was lucky to get one for free a while ago and it’s since been my go-to baby item next to my hotsling.) But I digress.

I figured it’s once in a blue moon that I actually put normal clothes on and do my hair, so a photo was in order! We had been running around so much packing the diaper bag and getting two kids ready that John and I were sweating while he took this photo, so half way through his snapping I was like, “I’m burning up, we’re done!” So next time I’ll try to get a photo where you can actually see Jocelyn. What IS it about getting kids ready that makes me feel like my house is suddenly 100 degrees? I’m so glad we got a photo of me and my two kiddos though. I don’t get in front of the camera very often and I want to make sure when I’m old and grey (ahem…when I stop coloring my hair…) that Miles and Jocelyn have some pics of me with them.

Oh and I’m telling myself RIGHT NOW to go buy some new earrings. I wear these WAY too much. They are my security blanket I think. (I love window light. When it works, it can be so pretty, like having a softbox right in your living room.)

Shopping went great today. Jocelyn slept in the stroller and Miles did a great job tagging along. The only thing I bought for Jossy was one little pink baby hat. I’m still so overwhelmed by girl stuff, I’m so ridiculous! I got Miles two shirts and a fall coat though. See, boys I know! Oh and I HAD to pick myself up a grey knitted hat for fall. That’s the one thing I LOVE about cooler weather. I can start hiding undone or dirty hair under floppy knit hats. YIPPEE!

Pretty soon it will be time to go on our nightly walk, which I’m really looking forward to today. Last night’s walk happened pretty late so it was almost totally dark by the time we got home. Jocelyn looked so snuggly and squishy in my sling that I still had to try to take a pic with what little light we had.

Look at this little muffin!

She LOVES riding in the sling. This thing has been a MIRACLE worker for us. When she gets fussy, we just pop her in the sling and go for a walk. If she is REALLY fussy, I just turn on the Roomba at my feet and she gets extra soothing power. If only I could ride in the car like this, our life would be perfect. (Yes, she’s still crying bloody murder in the carseat…sigh.)

The whole time John was taking photos he’s saying, “There’s no light Bets. I’m not getting anything.” I just kept saying, “Just keep trying!” I know I must drive him insane when I ask him to take photos. I had spent the whole walk looking down at this precious face and I wanted a photo of it, even if would be grainy!

Oh and btw, her outfit says, “I love the nightlife.” Ha!

Ok, it’s 10 till 6 and the boys are STILL cashed out napping. I need to go wake them up because this day is too beautiful to sleep it away. Have a great weekend!

CORRECTION:  John just reminded me that I did buy some things for Jocelyn at Macy’s. Holy cats, yes, I got some crazy sale stuff! I bought four things, three which were less than $3 each on sale.  My point here is that if I only bought three items and they were THAT cheap, you can tell I’m seriously a shopping rookie!

I don’t know if it’s the rain, my cabin fever or all the tv and internet surfing I’m doing while nursing, but I was just a big ‘ol bag of nothing today. Around 3:30 PM I plopped down at my computer with no goal in mind. Hmmmm, Twitter? Facebook? Online shopping? I had two napping kiddos in their beds, had just polished off a 3 Musketeers bar (thank you John for buying our secret stash of candy bars) and the online world was my oyster. I ended up deciding to work on blog post that was totally frivolous and non-earth shattering. To say I’m ready for the structure that fall brings is an understatement. I’m very excited that pre-school starts next week. I have loved this summer and did a lot of neat things with Miles, but summer has been my time of being very pregnant and of course in that newborn fog. There are things to love about both of those experiences and I don’t want to wish them away, but I’m definitely ready to start working towards fall and all the busy-ness that that time brings. Oh and once preschool starts I’ll need to start pulling myself together somewhat with at least an attempt at hair and clothing instead of looking like a deranged sleep walker all day.

I will say that even though I felt like I got nothing done today, Miles got to rummage through the craft box and did about 16 different crafts today and my laziness meant I let him watch a video, complete with popcorn, which barely ever happens. He was in HEAVEN. One woman’s crappy day is a child’s jackpot.

So here’s my blog post, written when I should have been folding clothes, organizing my office or cleaning one of the 9 million dirty surfaces of my house. Oh and to be honest, I should have napped. I have been over doing it a bit these days and I need to remember I’m still recovering from surgery. Opps!

Anyway, all of that aside, blogging was way more fun to do than any of the chores above. Even better than napping. So here ya go.

Going back in time before Jocelyn was born, we grilled some shrimp for dinner one evening. Both the kabobs and shrimp tails proved to bring us much entertainment.

Before he popped the shrimp on the kabobs, John showed us how animated he truly is:

John, I love you. All 56 different sides of you.

Miles wanted to give it a try. Doesn’t he look like cousin Oliver from the Brady Bunch?

Then after dinner we let Miles play with his food a bit. The shrimp tails on his finger tips were totally grossing me out, but it was cracking us all up, so I took one for the team here.

ROAR! Miles felt ferocious with his new claws!

…and a bit evil drumming his long finger nails together.

Then, if you want to drain all the creativity out of your child, say, “Hey Miles, hold up your hands so I can take a picture.” So this is what I got. Yea, note to self, Betsy: Just shut up and let your kid do what they want for the camera.

Nighty night everybody. Thanks for popping by!

We did end up getting a shot for the birth announcement, though I still haven’t gotten a photo of Miles and Jocelyn together. Of course, I’m not going to post the announcement photo yet, though the cards I created should be here soon. I’ll blog them when I can. However, I do have a couple photos from that night, so I thought I would share them.

Here’s Miles, goofing around with his own pretend camera for Daddy while I nursed Jocelyn.

A good friend of mine gave Jocelyn this awesome headband so I was hoping to get some cute shots of her in it. Well, by the time we got the headband out, she was over the shoot. I managed to get one though.

I’m still figuring out the whole girly girl wardrobe thing, so I may not even have it one her right! I’m loving all the cute outfits and hair things people are sending my way. I’m pretty overwhelmed with the idea of shopping for a little girl right now. Shopping for a boy is so easy. Either that, or our choices are so much slimmer. I tried doing a little shopping a couple weeks ago. I stood in the baby girl section, looked around and left with nothing. It’s hard to explain, I suppose it’s kind of like standing before a dessert buffet. It all looks so good, how do you narrow your choices down to what you are actually going to eat? Yep, that’s me in the baby girl department. (That’s also me in the baby hat department of etsy.) I’ve been so thankful to get some hand me downs and clothing gifts from generous friends and family. They have helped me to ease my way into girl clothes and see what is out there and what other mom’s have found to be their favorites. This is when finding out the sex ahead of time would have been helpful. I suppose the four months of extra shopping time without an extra kiddo in tow would have been nice. Oh well, I’m still ok with trading the shopping time for that one amazing moment of finding out right when she was born and the continued shock and excitement that we have a sweet girl in our life now.

So wish me luck on figuring out the whole new world of having a girl and feel free to send along any advice (and hey, while you are at it, any hand me downs! Ha!) you may have.

By the way, can I just say that carrying a newborn around the neighborhood, or out and about to the small number of places we have gone with Jocelyn has been so much fun. Miles was born in the dead of winter and I was so ill after he was born that I don’t recall getting out much. But with Jocelyn, we are out a bit more and its so much fun hearing all the “ooohs” and “ahhhhs” and smiling faces of passers-by. It’s like being a walking baby announcement! The most fun has been walking around the neighborhood seeing everyone who watched my belly grow as I walked this past spring and summer. Of course everyone is so kind to remember Miles and ask him how he enjoys being a big brother. I honestly think he has enjoyed all the swag that has come his way the most. I think that any memories he has of when his little sister being born will be trumped by all the sweet toys he has gotten. Hey, it’s all good and happy memories, so I’m cool with that. Good times all around.

She’s expecting her first baby this winter (YIPPEE!) so I’m OVER THE MOON thrilled that our babies will be so close in age. Yes, I’m already fantasizing about our kid’s lives together. If she has a boy, I’m dreaming that they will fall in love and get married. (But not until after college and they have both traveled the world on their own.) If she has a girl, I dream that they will be BFF’s too and the four of us can have movie nights, snuggling up in our jammies eating popcorn while watching The Parent Trap. (Actually, Amy, how’s next weekend sound to do just that? Anybody else want to join us?)

Regardless of whether our kids get along, I’m so excited that I get to raise my kids alongside Amy. She has been there for me through some of the biggest challenges of my life so I know it will be awesome to walk alongside her as we navigate this crazy thing called parenthood.

First things first, I need her to move back to Fort Wayne! Oh and yes, I’m already dreaming up her baby shower in my head. Stay tuned for those photos later this fall.

I’m still working hard to find ways to keep Miles busy and feeling loved during this time of transition into our new life as a family of four. The latest project we worked on together was putting together a solar system kit. He was in HEAVEN working away as he had begged and begged me all morning to let him make it. So I ignored the piles of laundry waiting to be folded on the couch and got into solar system mode. (Miles needed a haircut badly, and finally got it cut last week. However, until then, I just gave up taming the bedhead. Hair is not a big priority in this house lately.)

He knows all of the planets and what order they are in, which is more than I can say for myself. (Somewhere my dad is cringing that the info from my nights stargazing as a child with him didn’t fully stick in my brain.)

The solar system turned out to be so cool that I was hoping he would let me hang it from his ceiling in his room. He did for a few hours, but of course he wanted to play with it instead.

So the solar system is now a pile of sticks and balls that Miles uses to create different “sculptures,” as he calls them. Oh well, it was a solar system for one weekend!

So where was Jocelyn while all this was going on? Sleeping. Yes, contrary to what my Twitter account would say, she does sleep.

Some nights she will sleep all the way through the night, and other’s, not so much. We are still early in the game here so not too many days look alike. She really is a good and easy baby who loves to held and snuggled. Our only complaint is she is a carseat screamer. BAD. We barely leave the house because there really isn’t much worse than being stuck in a car with a screaming baby when there’s nothing you can do about it until you get home. It’s pretty much left us on house arrest around here. Miles was the same way though. His first six months of life I barely left the house because it just wasn’t worth it. The bonus of that? I took A LOT of photos of him.

Speaking of photos, here’s our sweet little car seat banshee. The poor thing has really bad baby acne right now, bless her little soul. I’m really hoping that goes away soon. It’s allllll over her face and head. Oh well, anyway, she loves to lay on a blanket and stare at Miles’ stuffed bee and I hold it over her and watch her follow it with her gaze. It’s the simple things these days. By the way, I sewed that blanket she is laying on in that photo when I was pregnant with her and didn’t know I was having a girl. Do you think based on the pattern I chose that I must have subconsciously known? I remember that the only fabrics I was drawn to were these girly ones. So funny…

Miles had another Lowes Kid’s Workshop this past Saturday where he got to make a school bus that has rocked his world. He wouldn’t even stop playing with it for me to get a photo of him with it.

Speaking of things that rocked his world, a fellow photog and friend of mine sent us a care package and it included this AWESOME car for Miles, an Automoblox Mini. (How sweet is that?)

He FLIPPED for this car and he hasn’t stopped playing with it since it showed up last week. It’s a car you can take apart and put back together and even mix and match with other cars, if you collect more. If you need a great gift for a little guy in your life, check them out. They are a super cool gift. The next one Miles wants is pink. He said that someday Jocelyn can play with it. (What a sweetie!) The most amazing part of all is that he hasn’t lost any of the pieces. He is currently sleeping with it right now.

So that’s been the latest. Things are going well and I’m learning new tricks every day to help me gain my sea legs as a mom of two. The biggest stresser in my life is that I have ZERO time to clean between nursing what feels like 24-7 and keeping tabs on Miles. I’m still recovering from my c-section, which is going so much better than last time, but only because I have really abstained from vacuuming and mopping. The more I start to add to my plate, the ouchier I feel. So I’m trying to still chill out when I can. Oh and of course, I haven’t done my hair in ages which makes me feel gross. (Can you tell from that last paragraph that I had a LONG day today?)

It’s been killing me not to blog more. I have had so much on my mind, but I’m barely ever at my computer. This blog post was actually written over the course of two days because my time at the computer is so sparse. Also, my computer time has been committed to designing Jocelyn’s birth announcement, which I FINALLY finished last night. So my next task is cleaning up our address list and getting that in order, which after getting a ton of returned cards after our Christmas mailing, I realized I haven’t updated addresses in a while. So that’s my next project. (fun…fun.)

Gotta run, it’s 11 PM, time to feed the baby! She slept all through the night last night so let’s hope for NO WHAMMIES tonight! Come on Jossy, sleep, sleep, sleep!

Here’s Miles, soaking in his bath. You have to give that guy plenty of time for his bath because does this look like a kid who wants to get out anytime soon?

Meanwhile, while Miles is having story time with John, Jocelyn gets her bath and once on the towel, I couldn’t believe what I saw. Look at this little punkin, not even a month old and holding that head up high! Had to grab the camera, even if she was in the dark.

I kept my camera close by that evening, hoping to capture some elusive Miles/Jocelyn time, but Miles is WAY too fast (and was too close) for me to catch it. He didn’t want to give her kisses for the camera, he was too busy trying to show her a toy.

Just as Miles was giving up on showing her the toy, she was ready to check it out.

She certainly has eyes for whatever Miles is doing, and I guess that is only the beginning. It’s going to be so amazing to see how much she learns from Miles. Miles was raised in this totally adult environment. I mean, heck, he watches CBS Sunday Morning with us and gets REALLY excited about it. (Yes, he’s a 3 year old that loves watching the NEWS.) However, Jocelyn is going to be raised in a world with another child in it. That alone is going to make her world so much different than the world Miles started out in. So much more noise, more mess (A LOT more mess) and all the whimsy that Miles’ imagination and energy brings to his surroundings. So it’s just interesting to me to imagine how that will create two different little souls, with different outlooks and personality.

Ok, I really probably don’t have enough sleep to be writing this much and expecting it to make sense. (Though honestly, Jocelyn is pretty much sleeping through the night now, so I can’t use sleep deprivation as an excuse much longer for air-headedness.) I’ll shush. Gotta go work on dinner while the kiddos are napping! Thanks for stopping by.

Our latest find? The free Saturday morning workshops that Lowe’s holds a couple of times a month. Miles was SOOOOO excited to go build something with dad and bless his heart, he even asked if mommy could come next time. (Well shoot, if that won’t get me dressed and up and at ‘em on a Saturday morning, what will?)

When Miles came bounding through the door after last week’s workshop my heart just about exploded when I saw him in his cute little apron. He was beaming with pride to show me his bug box that he made with daddy. (I heard he pounded the nails all by himself!)

Here’s the info on Lowe’s kid’s workshops: CLICK HERE for Kid’s Workshop Info. The site tells you that you have to sign up, but our Lowe’s is very laid back. You just show up and do it, no commitment necessary.

Gotta run! I have no business blogging with all that I should be doing right now (including resting) though I can’t stay away from my blog.

I need to keep my words to a minimum, as I need to go to bed, but these photos speak for themselves anyway. Miles is the sweetest big brother in the world. It’s going to be amazing watching Jossy and Miles grow together.

Thanks for stopping by!