Gardening

Izzy and I decided to finally plant the tomato and strawberry plants Nanny (Sean's mom) gave us. She's been learning about plants at school so I thought it was the perfect time to enrich that lesson. She loved mixing the water and the soil and dropping in the tiny seeds.

Here she is showing off her fruits and veggies atop her playground set. She thought they would get the sunshine they needed way up high.

Just another perfect Saturday

Today was one of those perfect Saturdays. The weather was ideal, sunny and breazy. We took full advantage of the day by spending most of it outdoors. While Sean and I busied ourselves with work such as mowing the lawn (which I love to do by the way), wash cars or clean out at least part of the garage, Izzy and Luke found ways to entertain themselves. Izzy enjoyed popping the balloons left over from Sean's birthday party. The anticipation of the loud pop seems to intrigue her. Fortunately, Luke (seen in the background) didn't seem too phased by the sound--don't worry, he was far enough away to not hurt his little ears and Izzy only had two balloons to pop. And yes, that is a Snow White costume. Sean picked it up for a quarter at a community yard sale. She loves it and wears it often. She has just about every princess dress made but this is the only one that doesn't "itch" her.

While Sean and I attempted to clean out some of our garage, Luke hung out in his bouncer seat and watched the leaves on our palm trees sway in the breeze. I was amazed at how long he stayed awake during this time and didn't fuss for quite some time. I was most appreciative of the time to get some work done. When Sean and I bought our house, we swore we'd never let our garage get so full with useless stuff that we couldn't park our cars in it...well, along came Luke and out went the cars. Everytime I'm forced to enter the garage, which isn't too often since our cars no longer fit in it, I'm a little disgusted at just how much stuff we have. Makes me feel so materialistic. It also reminds me to appreciate all we have.

After working outside for awhile, Izzy, Luke and I retreated indoors to cool down a bit. Izzy asked to hold Luke again. Before I even had a chance to remember that I might want to capture this moment on film, Izzy asked if I would take some pictures of the two of them. She's becoming quite the little model. She loves having her picture taken. Such a ham!

Luke has been very generous with his smiles since the beginning, but seems to always get stingy with them when I have the camera in hand. Finally today, I was able to catch a smile on film before he spotted the camera and started to study it intensely. Just can't get enough of that smile.

Mommy notes

Just a quick note while I'm in the blogging mood. I have soooooo been enjoying my maternity leave with Luke. I feel like I'm able to savor every moment with him. I was so nervous when I first had Izzy and definitely much more sleep deprived so her first few months were a complete blur (actually, her first year). Izzy was up just about every hour whereas Luke will give me at least five hours of uninterrupted sleep at night. I also had post partum depression after having Izzy but have had quite the opposite experience this time. Pure baby bliss! At times I really feel cheated out of this experience with Izzy but the bond she and I have now is as strong as they come...on a cosmic level. I'm just so thrilled to be lucid enough now to enjoy these early months with my Luke and so grateful I have my Isabella to experience it with me.

As for Luke, he amazes me every day. Unlike his demure sister, he seems to have a very asserted personality. He will definitely let me know when he's unhappy. He'll cry so loud and hard his face will turn red and for a few seconds, he won't take a single breath. It sounds horrible but actually it's quite endearing. He is also such a talker. He seems to have so much to say and shares the cutest little sounds in his attempt to talk to me. And don't get me started on his smiles. He's been smiling on request for weeks now. He's such a cheeky monkey. He's even giggled a few times and I swear he says mama already (more like mum mum). It's hard to believe just how much love one person can feel...I'm so lucky to have so many to love, especially my beautiful babies (including my biggest baby, Sean--ha!).

Boy, this blog sure is sappy but bliss will do that to you I guess.

Big sister cuddles.

Yesterday, when Izzy got home for school she asked if she could hold her baby brother. Of course this was a perfect photo op. Looking at these pictures you can see just how big Luke is. After a few minutes she commented that "Baby Luke is heavy, mommy." His arms are thicker than Izzy's! Too funny. The first picture here is my favorite because he's smiling. Izzy is so good with him. He loves to watch his big sister. She has an amazing knack for calming him when he's fussy. I think they're going to be very close. Big smiles!

Sean's Birthday

I threw Sean a surprise birthday. Fortunately I have some spirited friends who agreed to dress up like one of Sean's favorite bands, The Ramones and perform one of their songs for him (Blitzkrieg Bop). It was the highlight of the party. They even did research and got all their moves down perfectly. It was the funniest thing! Sean LOVED it. Thank you, Ramonas!

Luke's Room

Just a few shots of Luke's room. We went with a Monkey theme. Somehow we knew he'd be a "chunky monkey" and his room fits his personality so well.







He loves to look at the monkeys above his changing table.

One month old

At one month old, Luke already weighs more than Isabella did at four months! He has already just about outgrown his carrier seat. Looks like Sean and I are going to have to go shopping for a new car seat for our big guy. Mommy milk does a body good!