Waiting for the Frost to End

We had a wonderful weekend here.  On Saturday we spent some time at a friend's birthday party at the local state park.  Samantha had a great time with her friends on the bounce house, eating cake, and walking the trails (including throwing sand in the river). 

Following the party, we went to the opening of a new brewery in town.  It was very busy and the tasting room is great.  However, Chris' beers taste better than what we tasted.

On Sunday, Chris spent some quality time in the garden with the tiller.  Now we just need to wait for the last frost to get the plants in the ground.

Speaking of plants, our seedlings are doing quite well in the sunroom for now.  We hope that they will prosper this year because our vegetable loving toddler can't wait to eat fresh from the garden items!

Even the strawberry plants are doing well.  Hopefully this year we'll get to eat some in addition to Samantha (she was a little strawberry thief last year!).

Joshua is growing like a weed.  He's already about 11 1/2 pounds at 3 weeks old.  He is such a good baby - and he doesn't mind his sister's rough treatment (too much anyway!).

 We think he's a very adorable little boy but we are a little biased!

Chris' parents were here this week and Samantha had so much fun with them.  One of the things we did was go to a "Mighty Machines" event at a local day care center.  They got to see a police cruiser, ambulance, fire truck, bucket truck, and snow plow.  It was hard getting a good picture of the kids but it was fun.

We got to go to the science center.  It was fun but Samantha didn't want to nap afterwards so it was a rough day.  It was very nice to have the help on a day like that!

Here's a picture of the kids with Nana and Pap. 

Even though there's still some rough handling, Samantha really does love her brother!

This week is expected to be rainy most of the time so maybe we'll get more accomplished upstairs (if we're not too sleep deprived!).

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter (a little late)!  This will be a picture heavy post because we had a week full of egg hunts and photo shoots. 

Here are a few pictures from Josh's first week that I wasn't able to post before.  Samantha is getting better at being gentle with him but there is still some "aggressive loving" from time to time.

She really does love him and is so happy that he is here.  She's a big help singing to him when he cries and holding his hand during diaper changes.  

Since we've had the camera out taking pictures of the baby...

...Samantha has had to get in on the picture taking action.

 

Samantha got to go on five egg hunts this year - by the end she got very good at it!  Here are some pictures of the various hunts.

 

 

At one of the egg hunts, Samantha discovered the wonderful marshmallowy goodness of Peeps.  Since this discovery, we decided to start using that as potty training incentive (and I just bought a bunch on sale to keep us stocked).  Two days in and we're already through a sleeve and a half so it's working so far!

 Samantha was very excited about Easter this year.  She had a good time dying Easter eggs.

We ended up getting a decent after church picture - and Samantha didn't even make him cry!

She had fun finding and opening her basket.

We've had family visiting the last couple weeks and we're still getting used to having two kids (and the lack of sleep that comes with it!).  Chris is also still working on the upstairs so we're keeping quite busy around here!  Hopefully soon we'll be able to post some progress shots of the work we've accomplished.  We hope everyone had a great Easter!

Spring Has Sprung!

Spring has finally arrived here.  We have a lot of flowers and trees blooming.  Warmer days means that we can get outside to play and do some yard work.  Unfortunately this means that the upstairs renovation has been put on a temporary hold while we work outside before it gets too hot.

Over the weekend we were able to clean up the flower beds, organize/clean the sunroom and garage, transplant some tomatoes, etc. to bigger containers, start tilling the garden, and general yard cleanup.  There is still plenty to do but we did accomplish quite a bit.

Of course the other reason there was a lack of work around here was the arrival of Joshua.  He has been home for a week now and altogether is a pretty easy baby.  He won't sleep anywhere but next to me so I'm a little tired but overall feeling well. 

We were able to get out and about a couple times this week and had his newborn portraits taken at the house.  It will be a couple weeks before we get all the photos but here is one that was sent to us already.  We think he's very handsome!

Samantha has been great with him so far.  The worst I can say is that she "loves aggressively" since she constantly wants to be holding/touching/hugging/kissing him.  She has been a big help with getting diapers, holding his hand during changes, singing songs to him when he's crying, etc.  I think she's going to be a great big sister! 

We have a lot more photos from the week on our good camera but I'm too tired now to go get them.  Hopefully I'll post some more next week. 

It's a Boy - Welcoming Joshua Steven!

We are very pleased to announce the arrival of Joshua Steven.  He took his time getting here but we're glad he arrived safely.  He is a big boy at 9 lb. 2 oz. and 21 1/2 inches long. 

Samantha is already so excited to have a baby brother. 

 

Everyone is doing well (if a little tired!).

Just Waiting (and Mudding)

We're still just waiting for this baby to arrive.  Samantha and I have been visiting with friends for play dates and she's very excited to see their new babies.  I hope this means that she will be a great big sister.

Chris has been working to finish up the mudding of the upstairs (there is a lot of surface area up there and he's doing a very thorough job!).  Once that's complete, we can prime and paint everything.  Then it's down to installing doors, trim, and stair railing.  We'll hire someone to install carpet.  The bathroom will still be awhile (but that part is not as urgent).

Hopefully the next post will be all about a baby (unless this one is very stubborn!).