white picket fence

summer 2011

From maternity leave with a tiny baby, to back at work, to my exit from the workforce and the beginning of life as a stay at home mom. . . this summer brought a lot of changes to the family.

Look at little tiny Norah! About 2 months here. 

We played baseball. Like, a LOT of baseball. You know Malcolm Gladwell's theory about how ten thousand hours of practice is necessary to become legendary at something? Well, at the rate we're going, David's going to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame by age 8. 

We rode bikes in circles around the driveway. The practice paid off because yesterday David rode a legit tricycle all by himself yesterday. Yay David!

A cozy post-bath Norah. 

At the county fair. Look at this picture; which is the one that doesn't belong? Oh yeah, it's that giant turtle. Weird. 

This summer I discovered the Joy the Baker blog and proceeded to cook my way through her archives. This is the Cinnamon Sugar Pull Apart Bread you might have seen on about a thousand pinterest pins. It takes forever but is TOTALLY worth it. 

I normally don't get too into autumn-lust and try to hang on to summer as long as I can. But I can feel it changing now. The summer is coming to a close. 

I owe a lot of thank yous for the past 3 months. To my family. To my understanding boss and sweet coworkers. To my friends far and wide, old and new. To Josh Ritter, and Gillian Welch, and Johnny Cash's Unearthed collection. To Terry Gross and all the archived episodes of Fresh Air I listened to to get me through the long days at work and keep me company during quiet naptimes at home. To baby Norah's smiles and David's funny toddler thoughts. 

And thank you to you, too, for reading along with me. 

june 2011

A few family portraits and a little rundown of what we're all up to right now. 

Norah, 3 months. Around 14 lbs (!). Wears some 3 month clothing but mostly 6 months now. Sleeps through the night about 90% of the time. She's sweet and easygoing, but definitely more serious and sensitive than David ever was. She's happiest when being held and being around her brother. But to be honest, the thing she loves most of all is our ceiling fan. When she sees that thing her whole face lights up. I love it. 

David, 2.5 years. Around 30 lbs, in 2T clothing. (and I think at this point I've given up on dressing him in anything other than sports shirts. Sadly, there will be no toddler fashion features on this blog.) David is sleeping better but still wakes at night and ends up in our bed about half the time. How is it possible that our 3 month old sleeps better than our 2 year old? 

David is happiest when he's singing, drinking orange juice, and playing baseball. We drew bases in sidewalk chalk on our driveway and all he ever wants to do is play ball and run the bases. (I hear a lot of this: "Mommy! Runna bases! Put glove on! Mommy, hit the bat! Mommy! Play baseball!" Repeat this ten times and you've got a good idea of a conversation with David.) His behavior took an enormous turn for the better in the past few weeks and he's been super delightful to be around. Mike and I were just talking about how this is one of the best stages he's ever been in. It is an unbelievable relief/joy to have actual conversations with him, and for him to be able to communicate his needs and wants clearly. 

Katie, 31. After a few weeks back at work, I'm finally back in the groove and don't feel like I'm drowning in housework and keeping up with the bare minimum demands of life. We have regular meals, the laundry isn't piled taller than David, and I've even been able to make some art and work on my new summer project, making friendship bracelets again. I'm excited for some upcoming changes this next month and really working on staying in the moment and savoring the stages that the kids are in right now. 

Mike, 33. Mike is the rock of this household. He works hard, mows the lawn, pays the bills, and rarely complains about anything. Though he does make fun of my newfound interest in TV shows like The Voice. Yeah. I can't say I blame him, really. Mike still brews on a regular basis and even started to grow some hops in our backyard this summer. 

So that's us. It might be mundane but things change so much when you're living with two small people. I just wanted to capture a little bit of it.