Fun at the Pool

We went to my Aunt Nancy's pool today. We really enjoyed it. Bennett loved the water, Cannon slept the entire time, and we had a nice little picnic lunch by the pool. We even got to stop at her garden and pick blueberries and raspberries for a snack before heading home.

The picture above is Bennett being 'cute,' but you'll have to pardon the showing of his true two year old self at the end of this one:

Overdue Update

It's been a while since I've posted anything here. I've been feeling a bit drained - physically and emotionally.

You know how when you're having a hard time but it looks like things are about to get better, you say "I can see the light at the end of the tunnel"? Well, we're in that tunnel. And we haven't quite turned the corner, revealing the light.

I'm not real interested in going into any detail about any of it, and I'm sure you'd appreciate being spared the sob story. But in a tidy little nutshell, Josh lost his job, our wonderful tenants are moving out, Bennett is back to having bedtime issues, and Cannon is nursing every hour and a half. There are other little things in there that add to the stress, but those are the four major stressors right now. And of course with Josh losing his job comes the loss of insurance coverage, something that comes in quite handy when you have young children, especially a newborn.

So it's been a tough couple of months... on top of the tough few months we had already been having. BUT - what doesn't kill us makes us stronger, right?

We are going to have superhuman strength before long.

I, very often, hear Dory's little tune from Finding Nemo in my head - "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming..."

Now, let me try to find something positive about each of those stressors. Josh losing his job could turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to him (other than me ;) ). He was miserable in his job anyway, and this is giving him a chance to find a job he will enjoy. And he's home most of the time now, giving us more Daddy and Hubby time. :)

Hmm... what can be good about the perfect tenants moving out of your rental property? Not much. But maybe we'll get lucky and find someone just as good.

And... what can be good about your son having trouble going to bed at night? The only thing I can come up with is how incredibly adorable he is when we find him stretched out across our bed when we come up for the night, and how good it feels to have him lie his little head on your shoulder while you carry him back across the hall.

And nursing every hour and a half - 'round the clock, might I add. Well, he's FAT! Which is a good thing. He's following very closely in Bennett's footsteps as far as the weight gain. At 1 month Bennett weighed 12lbs. 14.8oz. At 1 month Cannon weighed 12lbs. 6.4oz. Cannon was about 5 oz lighter than Bennett at birth, so that's just about right. I may not have superhuman strength yet, but I do have superhuman milk!

Anyway, we've been going to the lake a good bit - three or four times already! Bennett loves going on "boat wides,"

going "wimmin,"

and he loves to "hole haynes" with his cousin, "Chee-cho."

This summer he's been enjoying having "nulk-shakes" with Poppa,

and he's loving every minute of being a big brother.


Yesterday we were invited to a picnic across the street with the neighborhood kids. It was so much fun!

Bennett enjoyed eating and playing with the other kids,


while tub-a-lub enjoyed lounging in my lap.

It's less than two weeks before we go to the beach with Josh's family. I am so looking forward to that, even though we're preparing ourselves for mass chaos. 6 adults, 3 young children, 2 newborns and 2 dogs. In one house. I just hope the oil stays away!

My Best Looking Tomato Plant