murphy (summer vacation part 1)

We took a marathon three-week trip up the east coast this July-August, covering over 2900 miles, so we could take the boys to visit all of their grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Obviously this trip will take several posts to detail, so stay tuned for more! We made two important purchases before we left, this being one of them:
The second was a portable DVD player. Believe me, a steady stream of Curious George and Little Einsteins is a good antidote to looks like this (which are often accompanied by pleas of "OUT!")
Benjamin, fortunately, slept during a large portion of the driving, although only occasionally did he fall asleep with his fingers in the rings hanging from his carseat. Mike and I both became pros at reaching behind us to blindly replace the pacifier in his mouth. Really, though, they were both great travelers.
We began with a stop to visit our friends Holly and David and their adorable boys Matthew and Ethan in Winston-Salem. Unfortunately, I completely forgot to take any pictures during our overnight stay! We did have a great time visiting with them, and Benjamin had probably his best night of sleep to date while borrowing Ethan's pack-n-play (I threatened to move in).

From there, we moved on to Raleigh where Mike was attending a conference. Not too many pictures from that part of the trip, but I did capture one of this notable first in Daniel's life - in our hotel in Raleigh, he got to sleep in a Murphy bed! Really, how many 2-year-olds can say they've done that?

rock 'n' roll

We have a roller!

Tonight I was getting Benjamin ready for bed, and left him on his tummy in the crib for a minute while I went to wash my hands. When I returned, he was on his back! We've been expecting him to roll over any day now, and when he finally decided to do it, no one was there to see it!

I flipped him over again and he proudly gave us a repeat performance, earning a round of applause from Mom, Dad, and big brother.

Also, it seems that we officially have a thumb-sucker. He still likes the pacifier too, but has found that his thumb works pretty well when he can manage it.

i'm back!

Finally back, after a long blogging hiatus while we adjusted to being a family of four, attempted to get some sleep, and took a 2900-mile trip up the east coast. I really intended to blog sooner - I told Mike at least once a week that I was going to do it. But sleep always was the priority, and before we knew it, three months had gone by and here we are. I do plan to go back and catch up, but for now I'll just do a quick update!

Benjamin is now a chubby, blue-eyed three-month-old, still with a head full of dark hair - most of it on top, giving him kind of a mohawk effect. He is a great napper, and his nighttime sleep has definitely improved (knock on wood) - it was rough going for awhile there! He is such a content, smiley baby - all you have to do is look at him and say hello, and he just smiles and giggles and coos.

Daniel turned two about a week ago - my baby definitely isn't a baby anymore! Now, he is a wonderful big brother, always making sure Benjamin has a pacifier and is covered with a blanket. He has handled the transition better than I ever could have expected. He can definitely be stubborn (wonder where he gets that) and challenging like any other two-year-old, but he is also full of joy and personality, has the best laugh in the world, and gives fantastic hugs.

introducing...

Benjamin Joseph
May 9, 2009
1:06 AM
9 lbs.
22 in.

The last pregnant picture of Mom!
First photos with Mom & Dad


Wondering what the heck is going on
Meeting Papa for the first time
Sweet sleeping boy
Getting some love from big brother Daniel

Ready to go home!

first easter egg hunt

On the day before Easter, we went to a neighborhood Easter egg hunt. Despite a cool, cloudy day, we all had a lot of fun. Daniel got to meet the Easter Bunny... however, this was not his favorite part of the day.

He pretty quickly got the hang of hunting for eggs! Luckily, the egg hunt was split into different sections for different ages, so Daniel didn't get run over by the big kids and he managed to snag several eggs.


He was pretty excited to open the eggs and see what was inside, but he really had no interest in eating the candy (which was lucky because most of it was chocolate, which we're trying to stay away from because of his milk allergy). We brought a few decoy eggs full of Teddy Grahams and raisins, and he was much more eager to get into those!

Daniel also had the pleasure of meeting Buzz, the Georgia Tech mascot, who also stopped by the egg hunt. The Easter Bunny shouldn't feel bad, because Daniel was no more a fan of Buzz than he was of the Bunny.

Guess we'll have to stay away from oversized fuzzy creatures for awhile!

daniel's new room

With a new little one on the way, we decided to move Daniel up to a "big boy" room, complete with big boy bed, and let his little brother take over the nursery. Of course, we couldn't make this easy so it also involved moving our office (I won't show the before-and-afters of that adventure). Fortunately we were able to enlist the assistance of Papa Joe and Grandma Rita, otherwise we never would have finished (thanks guys!!).

After all the moving of furniture, the next step was painting! We decided to have a little fun and let Daniel get in on the act. He has kind of an abstract, modern art approach.

He's a very hard worker, though!


Daniel also delighted in helping assemble his new furniture.



Here's the final product. We still need some decorations, but overall we think it turned out great!


Daniel has adjusted pretty well to his new bed and the new-found freedom of being able to get in and out of bed himself. We've had a few battles of wills (i.e. putting him back to bed 15 times before he finally fell asleep), and most nights he still gets up once or twice before he nods off. But he seems to like all the space, and has an ever-growing collection of "friends" that he brings to bed with him (currently his dog, snake, and frog are the regulars). He's definitely turning into a big boy!

go duke!

In honor of tonight's game...

Go Duke!