One Month old

Look at those big eyes! Nathalie was a month old yesterday! At her 2 week appt she was already 9 lbs and she definitely has gained since then. What a cutie!

Mary, Mary quite contrary...

Our garden is growing! The top picture are our greenbeans. I forget what we planted in the big yogurt containers. Then we have a hanging strawberry bag and the last picture are our onions. The stalks on the onions have a delicious green onion flavor. When I go to my in-laws this weekend, I'll get to see how our squash and cabbage are doing.

Here's a picture of a precious moment today. Being a mom to two little girls is hard. Some moments are precious and a lot of moments are chaos. Only having 4 hours of sleep makes it harder. Here are some things I've learned/experienced since Nathalie joined us.

1. Sleep--you thought you were sleep deprived with one child. You thought you couldn't function with less than 6 hours. You were wrong.

2. Housework--when the baby is sleeping, you divide your time between your older child and housework. And when it's time for housework, you speed clean. It's the same level of cleaning, only you are super duper fast.

3. Laundry--one load a day keeps the nakedness at bay.

4. Precious moments-- find them and enjoy them or you will feel like your life is out of control. I am learning to find the precious moments with Emily, because I either feel like I'm frustrated with her or occupied with Nathalie. It's hard to find them sometimes, but I'm working on it.

Emily loves the chickens. I was sitting on the swing with Nathalie, watching Emily chasing the chickens. She went into the chicken coop and was playing on the ramp up into the coop. I looked away for a minute, and when I looked back, Emily was gone!! So I got up and went over to the chicken coop. I heard some noises coming from inside the coop so I opened the side door. Turns out Emily climbed up the ramp into the coop and was spreading chicken feed all over the coop and ground for the chickens. She was unhappy when I took her away from helping the chickens.

The top picture is her covered in chicken feed.

e-i-e-i-o

Matt chose to go to his parents for a few days as our "vacation" in between semesters. While we were there, he got to play farmer. We planted some things (that's a garden, not a grave), cleaned out the chicken coop, and rode the "tractor". I'm pretty excited about the garden. We planted red and green cabbage, and spaghetti squash. At out house we're planting onions, strawberries, green beans and some more spaghetti squash. Hopefully it grows!

Handyman

This bench had rotted wood, so Matt cut, planed and stained the new slats. He gave it to his mom for Mother's Day.

He didn't built this house, but when his parents got it, the house didn't have siding, a deck, needed painting, etc. Matt finished the little house, making it really nice for the grandkids.

After the original frame broke on this swing, Matt built a new, sturdier frame.

This is my in-laws' chicken coop and chicken run. Matt built both of these from scratch.

Matt has a talent for building things. I knew I married someone who was a handyman (that was one of the things I wanted my husband to be able to do), but not only is Matt a handyman, he is able to create beautiful things. Right now, he is staining a cradle for Nathalie. After that, he is going to make a crib we found into a toddler bed. (We found the crib on the side of the road. Free is great!)

Happy Mother's Day

I didn't go to church today, but Matt did and brought me home these. Apparently he snagged two extra ones because I'm "extra special". I love him. Mother's Day didn't get off to a good start. Lack of sleep and sickness kept us up most of the night. But Matt helped me clean up the house, made meals for me, watched Nathalie so I could spend time with Emily and coddled me. Here are a picture of the flowers.

I also want to say how grateful I am to my mother. Second only to Matt as my best friend, she always has time to listen to me. She is honest and caring and I can't wait for her to come in a few weeks. My mom is wonderful.

My mother-in-law is also wonderful. She's taken care of me post-partum and is always generous of her time (and food) with me and Matt. I couldn't ask for a better mother-in-law and I'm very grateful.

Here's to all the wonderful moms who are patient, loving, firm, hard working and righteous. Happy Mother's Day!

Nathalie has eyes!!!

Finally, I got a picture of her with her eyes open. She is a great sleeper.....during the daytime. We're still working on night.

Pretty

Today Emily and I took a walk while Daddy watched the baby. Two people stopped me and told me how pretty she is. I thought so too. I love her curly hair (where did that come from?!) and the way her lashes touch her eyebrows. Watch out boys!

Yogi?

Emily loves yogurt. Not only is it good for the tummy, it is good for the hair and skin. Very enriching!

YAY! Done with the semester!

Matt finished the semester! He gets about two weeks off from school before he starts spring term. I'm excited for family time.

How do I...

get anything done? It's a miracle if I can get through a shower without one of the girls crying. I have been able to keep up with the dishes, sort of keep up with the laundry, but I am not able to keep up with cleaning the house. How am I supposed to do all this and be a mom to a newborn and be patient with my toddler and have time for Matt and .....?

Quick

Both girls are sleeping so this will be quick. Emily loves "Na-a-ni" as she calls Nathalie. She's concerned when Nathalie cries, wants to "holdie baby" and help change diapers. She's offered food to the baby, given her lots of kisses and loves to count the baby's toes to make sure she has 5 on each foot.

We love baby Nathalie too. I am incredibly grateful that I have two healthy, beautiful daughters.

Emily and Nathalie

Here are some pictures...

I will upload more this week, but I just wanted to post these two pictures. One is of Nathalie and one is of Emily. They look different to me, but if they don't look different to you, can you guess which one is which?