Oh baby!

Things continue to go pretty well around these parts all things considered: Charlie appears to be a boob man so I'm getting to experience all of the joys (bonding time with a snuggly baby) and frustrations (bad latching, ouch) that come with exclusively breastfeeding a newborn.  My body seems to be healing pretty well even though my mom and Captain Husband have to remind me several times a day to take it easy and not overdo it.  Having a surprise c-section kind of threw a wrench into how I expected things to go once Charlie and I came home from the hospital, like having to send my mom out on an emergency underwear run because everything I owned managed to hit right at my incision (I currently have a love-hate relationship with my giant granny panties and will probably have a party the day that I no longer have to wear them); plus there's the whole not-being-allowed-to-drive thing.  But other than that, things couldn't be better--well, they'd be better if I could figure out a way to get Sammy and Charlie to nap at the same time, but that might be asking for too much.  I'm going to cut back on posting for the next few weeks while I continue to recover and get into a rhythm with the two boys, but hopefully I'll be posting at least once a week; after all, I have two cute kiddos to photograph now!

Ooo, pretty flowers!

Sorry guys--it was a late night and I'm brain dead.  So here are some pretty flowers on a lantana plant in our backyard (I've named it Carlos).  See you all next week!

Wordless{ish} Wednesday: When Sammy met Charlie

{Charlie and I came home from the hospital yesterday and we've slowly been integrating into family life.  Sammy is very interested in his little brother, or at least as interested as the average two-year-old can be; he even brought some of his cars over to Charlie to share them with him.  And in other news, pain killers are my best friend right now.}

Say hello to Charlie!

Guess who decided to arrive at 11:26 am yesterday?  My not-so-little little boy Charlie who weighed in at 8 pounds, 14 1/2 ounces and 21" long.  He and I are doing well, although it's going to take me a little while longer to recover than I had expected as I had to have an emergency c-section.  With any luck, we'll both get to go home on Tuesday--I can't wait to have all of my boys together!

Baby on a budget

Yesterday was my official due date and there's still no sign of this baby arriving any time soon.  Le sigh.  So since I don't have any cute baby photos or updates to give you, I decided that I'll regale you with what we've managed to set up for baby #2 once he decides to grace us with his presence.  The plan for right now is to have this kid set up in the master bedroom with me and Captain Husband for the first few months before we move him in with Sammy--hopefully giving everyone a chance to adapt to one another without too much pain and suffering involved.  So far I've managed to get just about everything I need for this baby second-hand (thanks to hand-me-downs from big brother Sammy and the generosity of family and friends), which translates to super savings that I then get to spend on fun things, like cloth diapers.  (Sorry for the cruddy photos, guys--the batteries in my speed light died last night and the lighting in my bedroom is just plain awful.)

I've owned the vintage wall lamp for a few years now and had been waiting for a reason to dig it out of the garage (it also helps that my mom was able to rewire it for me while she's been here); the shade is one that I thrifted and spray painted in Petrol Blue (using leftover paint from the chest of drawers in Sammy's room).   I found the wall hooks and vintage metal shelf at my favorite thrift store and painted them in Petrol Blue, too, just so everything was nice and cohesive.  My plan is to use the hooks to hang the baby's diaper covers to air out in between changes--plus it will also be a handy place to keep a spare outfit or two or a toy for distractions during diaper changes (like the vintage Fisher Price Happy Apple that I picked up for a song at an estate sale).  My friend gave us the awesome changing table as a gift, which meant all I had to do was outfit it with a changing pad--my mom sewed a few custom covers following this tutorial using jersey fabric and a sheet that I had thrifted earlier this summer.  All in all, I'd say that I spent around $50 for everything, including the changing pad, which isn't too shabby all things considered.  I've also made sure to run everything past quality control, too, just to be on the safe side:

I think if she had opposable thumbs, she'd be giving me two thumbs up.

Worldess{ish} Wednesday: Just hanging out

{Some days you just really have to let it all hang out.}

Time for some fun!

It's amazing how nice it can become outside once the sun starts to set in El Paso--I swear, it feels like the temperature drops by about fifteen degrees once the sun starts making its way towards the western horizon.  Since Sammy still had a lot of energy to burn after dinner the other day, I suggested to my mom that we take him to White Spur Park to run around for a bit.  It's been awhile since we were last there and I was pretty surprised at just how more adventurous Sammy had become in the interim--he even tackled a rope bridge all on his own and without any hesitation; that was kind of a big deal for my typically risk-averse toddler.

After he had his fill of climbing and sliding, Sammy asked Gramz to push him in the swings; he flew up into the sky, laughing and smiling the whole time--I was pretty glad that I had thought to grab my camera as we made our way out of the house because he was totally cheesing it the whole time we were at the park.  We all had a healthy dose of fun and then it was off to cool down with some ice cream and then head home.  I hope your weekend was as fun-filled as ours was!

High-flyin' fun

As I was driving along I-10 the other day, I noticed a new billboard on the side of the road advertising the War Eagles Air Museum in Santa Theresa, New Mexico.  I made a mental note to check it out online as soon as I got home, because I knew a certain little boy would probably love it.  Turns out I know Sammy pretty well...if you look closely at the photo above, you can see the exact moment at which Sammy's mind was blown--he spent most of the time exploring the giant hanger and saying things like, "Whoa!" and "Oh, wow!"

Sammy was in complete and utter heaven and on his best behavior the entire time.  Even though he wanted to touch all of the planes, Sammy did a great job of listening to me and my mom and managed to look only with his eyes.

In addition to a huge collection of vintage aircraft, the museum also had a really nice display of classic cars from the 1920s through the 1970s.  Sammy had a great time pointing out all of the "fast" cars (i.e. any of the red ones) and telling us the different sounds that they make.

The highlight of the entire trip, however, was the one and only helicopter on exhibit.  Sammy kept walking back o the corner where it was displayed and saying, "hi helicopter!" and then making helicopter noises.  He would get rather upset when we walked around the hanger and he couldn't see it anymore--I think we probably did a total of four laps around the 64,000 square foot building just so he could see it over and over again. 

I'm pretty sure that this week's visit will be the first of many trips that we take to the War Eagles Air Museum--this is one obsession of Sammy's that I have no problem indulging.

Wordless{ish} Wednesday: Baa, baa, black sheep

{Some of you may remember that my oldest and dearest friend, Aubree', was expecting a baby boy this summer--well, I'm pleased as punch to announce that she and her husband welcomed their not-so-little bundle of joy on Friday; baby Andrew weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs, 14 oz and was 21 1/4" long!}

{I knew that Andrew's nursery was going to have a lambs theme, so I used some of my time while on bed rest to make him a mobile based on this adorable tutorial.  And in true procrastinator's form, I didn't have the whole thing done until Andrew made his arrival on Friday--so much for being on top of things!}

{I hope Andrew, Aubree' and Sean like it--it's so cute that I'm starting to think that I need to make one for my own little guy, who is more than welcome to make his arrival any day now, hint hint.}