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Everybody Back Where They Should Be

Whew! This was a quick (fun!) weekend for us. Eva came home on Saturday morning, and she brought Grammy and Grampa with her for a little visit too. They stayed for the night and gave Sully lots of snuggles, then headed back home late Sunday morning...just in time for our little family to attend a birthday party for a sweet two-year-old friend.

Eva had tons of fun with her Grammy and Grampa, and she's just bubbling over with stories of the things they did together (The top story being the one where she slipped in a mud puddle and got all dirty. Fun!) But I think she's happy to be home. The first thing she did, after giving us hugs, was run around yelling "It's my house!!"

Yep. The temporary quiet was nice. But we're so happy she's home now to liven the place up again.

Happy Weekend Everyone!

I had so many things I planned to get done during these days that Eva's away...but I keep getting distracted by this sweet little guy instead. As one of my college professors was fond of saying: What a happy problem!

Just me and the little guy.

Sigh. Yesterday, my dad drove all the way to our house, collected my daughter, and brought her back to his house for THREE WHOLE DAYS! Eva's been missing her Grammy and Grampa badly (she hasn't seen them since Sully was born--an unheard-of amount of time), and we thought she needed a "big kid" vacation (Sully wasn't allowed to go), so we worked out a little visit with my parents.

She left yesterday afternoon, and they're bringing her back on Saturday morning. And, in case you missed it, that's three days. Three.

!!!!!!!!!!!!

This will be the longest time we've been away from her. Ever. In her whole life. Sure, Mike and I were gone for three days when Sully was born--but she came to visit us every single day, so at least we got to see her a bit.

It makes it a little easier, however, to know that she's probably having the time of her life with Grammy and Grampa (quite possibly her favorite people in the universe). And now I have a little time to enjoy this little guy without having to simultaneously keep up with a three-year-old.



Still.
Three days.

sniff

Silly Daddy.

Mike (as Eva wooshes past in her fairy dress): Hello little fairy!
Eva: I'm not a fairy.
Mike: You're not?
Eva: No. I'm just a kitty in a dress.

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Also, yesterday we had some very special visitors. Here's Sully bonding with his cousin Sebastian, swing pusher extraordinaire:

You can see a few more pictures from their visit here!

Sampling

Polishing off a carrot from her very own garden:

One Month

Sully in his first week:

Sully at one month old:

Update: Sully had his one-month check up this morning. Our big boy weighed in at 12 lb 4 oz and is 24 1/4 inches long. For those of you keeping track, that means he gained almost three pounds in the past month. Yep, I'd say we've got the nursing thing down. He totally blew his sister's first month out of the water.

Not that it's a competition or anything. I'm just saying.

Babysitting

Enjoy your weekend!

Play-Doh Cookies!

Oh, we had fun!

A special cookie, just for Daddy:

Play-Doh Cookies

3/4 cup butter, softened
3 ounces cream cheese
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour (We swapped in whole wheat flour for half the amount--if you do this, you may need to add a bit more flour to get a dough consistency you can work with easily.)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Assorted colors of food coloring

In a bowl, cream together butter, cream cheese, and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until smooth. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Stir until a soft dough forms. Divide dough into fourths, and tint each with a different food color. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours. (Naptime!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Meanwhile, begin creating! You can roll out the dough and go the classic cookie cutter route, or you can totally embrace the Play-Doh aspect and go free-form. We did a combination of both, and they all turned out great! Place the cookies on a lightly greased (or parchment-lined) baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes (or longer, depending on how thick your creations are) until they are lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack to cool. Or gobble them up right away. Enjoy!

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In other news: Cute Baby!

Taking Care of "Sully"

Eva recently decided that one of her dolls (formerly "Duck Baby") is now named Sully. And she spends a large portion of her day changing his diaper (Eva informed me that he has special cloth diapers that you just wipe out with your hand and then put back on. Innovative.)

Our Little House

Lately, Eva's been rediscovering her "My First Little House" books, which, if you're unfamiliar, are short storybook versions of some of the tales in Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series. She loves these books (we all do, actually), and usually spends a good hour or two after reading one pretending to be the family's "good old bulldog Jack."

Yesterday was different, though. Part way through the afternoon yesterday, she announced that she was now Laura. And...Sully was Baby Carrie. She then proceeded to correct me every single time I used Sully's real name--or referred to him as a he.

Poor Sully is only four weeks old, and Eva's already "in charge" of him...er...her.