On my own...

Well, folks, I am officially on my own as a mom of two! Yesterday morning my wonderful mother-in-law, Margaret (Maggie to the grand kids), headed back to Denver. It was so great to have her here and I am so thankful for all of her help! But now it's back to waking up when Max does and doing my own laundry and making my own meals and cleaning my own house. (Actually, Ty made dinner last night.) Now I know why people have nannies. :) Just kidding - today has been fun and it's nice to get into our own little routine and see that I can totally handle this. I can't believe that I had two full weeks of help. I am one lucky lady. And it's not over - my parents are BOTH coming this weekend and we'll be blessing Kelly on Sunday. My dad is super anxious to come and hold our new babe and we are so excited that we get both him and Grammy so soon!Today I took Max and Kelly to look for a blessing slip at a kids consignment shop and then we headed to the mall so that Max could play on the toys. I felt like such a mom driving my minivan with my two little people in the back! I loved it! I talked to my good friend, Janet, who said that she felt this great after her third but at about 6 weeks she felt really tired. So maybe I should settle down a bit. I already want to go and exercise and have been on some good walks. I feel like I could start training for the triathlon I'm doing in June! But I was often reminded by both my mom and mother-in-law that I need to keep taking it easy so that I can continue to feel great. I will try to remember and heed their advice.

Kelly is adjusting to the world very well. She is a really great baby and only fusses when it's time to be fed. She sleeps well and smiles a lot (we know it's not in reaction to anything yet; it's just super fun to see what she'll look like when her face does light up on purpose!). Man, she is just so cute! I'm trying not to get too attached to her hair in case it falls out like Max's did. But I'm sure lovin' it for now. I love her eyes and her tiny mouth and tongue. She's got really long fingers and toes and feet and a long torso...gotta be from her dad! Ty told Max that Kelly may be taller than him someday which could possibly be true since the Maxster seems to be taking after his mom in that department. Let's hope not, though! Anyway, she's so much fun and we LOVE having a newborn in the home again!I keep trying to get a really good picture of her hair, but none of them seem to turn out. The pictures don't do it justice. My mom and MIL said the same thing when they tried. But here's an okay picture of her curls.Max continues to be a great big brother. He gives Kelly lots of kisses and hugs. One problem has been that he really wants to play ball with her. :) He's tried to throw her a football and a basketball. Today he kept bringing her toys and laying them by her head saying, "Here, Kelly!" I feel lucky to have him be so good to her and not having to worry about any meanness. Max is such a sponge! We are so amazed by what he learns and remembers. We've had these foam alphabet letters in his bathtub for a long time and occasionally we'll spell words with him during his bath. Well, we started to realize that there were letters he was remembering. When he saw an O or an R anywhere he would point them out and say the letter. Well, we've been kind of teaching him a little more the past week or so and the other night Tyler went through all of the letters to see how many he would get - he got 22! What in the world?! Ty would just hold up the letter and Max would say what it was. He must have a mind like his daddy because that sure doesn't come from me! The other day Ty was looking for something he needed but wasn't finding it and he said, "Doggone it!" Ty left the room and a few minutes later I hear Max across the room saying "Doggone it!" in his cute little voice. He has so much energy and changes and seems so much older all of the time. I love being his mom more than I can express!

Master tower builderThis is what you get when you tell Max to smile - as of a week and a half ago. Love it.