Memorial Day Weekend

Jimmy worked this past weekend so we didn't do too much.  Parker is being a lot more affectionate with Esme.  He likes to put it face close to here and on her tummy.  His version of giving kisses is putting his cheek to your face, so this is him giving Esme a kiss.  She wasn't loving it at that moment.

 

My parents stopped by on Saturday to help with a leaking sink valve and Nana had to get her grandkid snuggles in.

My brother and sister-in-law also stopped by to meet Esme.  Uncle Sean was a bit disappointed that slept most of the time.  He seems to have forgotten the infant stage.

Sunday was the first time I needed to get the kids to church by myself.  Despite a last minute dirty diaper we made it on time!  I am pretty proud of myself.  We headed to my parents after church.  It was a gorgeous day!

Parker got lots of rides in the twister and we went asparagus hunting with grandpa.

Jimmy went home, but I spent the night with the kids.

We had a blast playing with Grandpa and Nana.  We are also so grateful for those that have given their lives so we can have the freedom we do today.  I hope you had a great long holiday weekend as well! 

6 Weeks and Children's Museum with Grandpa

I am officially halfway through my maternity leave, which makes me pretty sad.  Esme gained 6 more ounces this week and is 8 lbs. 5 oz.

 We "celebrated" by going to the Children's Museum with Grandpa.  He gave Esme her bottle before heading out.

 Parker showed Grandpa all of his favorite things, like the gear wall.  I had Esme in my Ergo carrier, so she didn't get in any of the pictures.  I haven't tried any solo outings with both kids and it was really nice to have my dad's help today.

 We haven't been on a weekday yet and usually have to fight for space at a lot of the exhibits, especially water works.  It was nice to have access to all the fun.

 We all needed an engineer to figure out how to get the ball up on this one, good thing we had Grandpa!

 I had either missed the Earth Works exhibit on our last visit or it was closed.  It was built to be like an ant hill, with a big ramp leading to caves and a spot to overlook the whole room.

 Grandpa and Parker got to hone their super hero power with a fun green screen exhibit.

A couple of studs!

Esme slept through the whole visit, but got a bit cranky on the drive home so we skipped out lunch plans.  I think I could be ready for a solo trip now!

First Post-Baby Date Night

Jimmy and I had our first date night alone since Esme was born on Friday.  Hopefully I won't get mommy-shamed like Chrissy Teigen did!  We got to my parents house about an hour before my mom was home, so we took a ride in the Twister!  It was Esme's first ride (don't worry, we went slow.)

We went to the neighbors to see the cows and got to see some new kittens.  Parker wasn't quite sure what to think.

We went to Red Lobster for dinner.  I am a sucker for the coconut shrimp and it was delicious as always.  I even had enough left over for lunch today.

We split a dish of ice cream at Cold Stone followed by a quick stop at DSW burn a coupon and gift card.  It was the perfect little date. The kids did great, but my mom said she will have to get used to wrangling things for them both at the same time.

On a side note, Esme was 5 weeks on Thursday.  She really packed on some weight this week (13 oz.) and is just shy of 8 lbs now (7 lb. 15 oz.)!  I absolutely love this lady bug outfit.  They were a favorite of Jimmy's grandma, who shared her middle name.

One more day of beautiful weather for us in Minnesota, then the storms roll in.  Hope you make the most of it!

Playdates and Family Time

I have two girlfriends that recently had babies as well.  Allie's cutie, Carter (middle), is about 2 months old and Bethany's beauty, Bria (left), was born the day after Esme.  We got together on Monday for a stroll and chat through Fish Lake Park.  It will be fun to watch these little ones grow up.

 I have been loving all the family time we get since I have been home.  Parker is becoming more curious and helpful by the day.  He really likes to help bathe Esme, but isn't always careful with wear the water goes.

 He hasn't tried changing a diaper yet, but does like to stand on a stool next to her.  He has been obsessed with belly buttons since first seeing her cord stump.  He will lift up his shirt everywhere and say "bo bo."  He won't stop until we say "belly button."

 He has been helping burp her the last few days.  I noticed he kept thinking it was funny, so I showed him how to gently, but firmly pat her back and he has been doing a great job.  I just hope he doesn't take it as a license to hit!

 Esme is having more and more awake time each day.  She spent a lot of this even looking in the direction of Parker.  I know at her age she can't really see him, but I think she can tell someone is bopping around.

It would be nice to always be home, but I will just have to cherish the time while I have it!

Esme June - One Month Old

Esme is one month old today!  It still astonishes me how quickly the time goes by, so I just have to savor it!  Some points of interest for myself to remember later.  She is still wearing all newborn size clothes and diapers, but the clothes are actually starting to fit well!  She is drinking 2.5 oz of formula every 2.5-3 hours, but usually has a time in the evening where she only makes it 90 minutes.  The longest stretch she has gone is 4 hours, but that is still very rare.  She usually has 2-3 longer awake times during the day that last 1-2 hours.  She likes to watch her brother bop around the living room and loves hearing daddy's voice.  We do tummy time every day and she usually tolerates it well.  She really likes to fall asleep in that position, but I make sure to keep a close eye on her.  Here is a video of some awake time the other night, she also gets the hiccups a lot! 

We had our first day without dad today and it went pretty well.  Jimmy has been letting me sleep in, so it will be an adjustment to get up with the kids on my own.  I did have both of them fed and dressed (in real clothes, not the pjs pictured below) by 8:30 today.  We will have to work our way up to being ready earlier once I go back to work.

Here she is at 1 week and 1 month.  I tried to scale them as closely as possible, but you can easily tell she has been growing!  1.5 pounds makes a big difference!  We will see if that onesie still fits at 2 months!

Happy 1 month my Sweetie Bear!

Jimmy's Last Week Home

This is Jimmy's last week home.  It has been so great to have him around to help out with both kids and will take some adjusting to do it on my own.  We got back to our small group this week and Esme got picture with her birthday buddies, Vicki and "Grandpa" Chuck.  I scheduled my c-section before I even knew it was their birthdays too!

 We made another trip to the Mall of America this week as well since it has been rainy again.  Parker got a caramel sucker and really enjoyed it!  He would have made a huge mess if we let him eat it all.

And because it is all about the food with us, Jimmu got a fried chicken sandwich at Melt Shop.

 I got to try out the new Disco Fries and got fried chicken poutine.

Esme hit a fun growth milestone this week as well.  She now weighs 7 lbs. 2 oz., which was Parker's birth weight.  Parker was up to 8.5 lbs by 4 weeks, but I think she is doing great.  I can't believe she will be a month old on Saturday already!

Mother's Day 2016

We had so much to celebrate this weekend since I am now a mom of two!  I will be honest, I have claimed Mother's Day as MY day!  I think everyone should have a day just for them.  Since Jimmy and I share a birthday I wasn't able to claim that.  I didn't even realize how much Mother's Day meant to me until my first one didn't go as I thought it would.  Jimmy now knows this about me as well and gave me the perfect day!  On a side note, the weekend started with Esme's cord stump finally falling off!  It took 22 days and we thought it would never come.  This meant she finally got a real bath on Saturday.  I think she will like baths as much as Parker does.

Jimmy let me sleep in until almost 9:00!  I got woken up with a a card, gifts, and kid snuggles.

 My favorite gift was an addition to my necklace.  I knew this was coming since I had to tell Jimmy where he could get it.  A co-worker gave me the orange stone and "Parker" tag for my first Mother's Day, so it seemed like a good idea to get one for Esme.

We did a simple craft for the grandmas as well.  I am so happy with how well Parker did with the hand prints.  Arts are not his favorite activity, but he has been very good about participating as school when asked.  Esme was half asleep, so she didn't mind too much either.

Parker even danced with me in the kitchen before heading to church!

 We had lunch with Jimmy's parents and headed to mine after.  It was a gorgeous day to just hang out on the patio.

I am so proud to be Parker and Esme's mom and I hope my mom is proud to have me too.  Happy Mother's Day to moms of every kind out there, it all starts with you!