I can hardly stand it

Oh, the sweetness.

sponge bathing

We gave River his first sponge bath last night. It was a hot day, and our house was uncomfortably warm...which meant it was just right for stripping him down and washing him up.

He seemed to really enjoy the whole experience.

All clean

the sandbox

On one of the afternoons before he went back to work, Gabriel helped Liam build a sandbox for the backyard.

Liam was a great helper. He even pulled the trigger on the power drill to screw it all together (he has a very trusting Daddy and a Mama who has learned to just not watch while they are building things together...).

He is loving the sandbox. When they first finished building and then filling it, Liam wasn't sure what to do; but as soon as Gabriel started digging in it with a shovel, Liam caught on quickly. He kept saying fun, fun, fun!

He wakes up asking to go dig outside. It has been a great diversion for Liam, and a sanity-saver for me.

You may be wondering, why no pants?

We are still working on the potty-training. If he has a bare bottom, he goes on the potty every time, without any assistance. But as soon as I put any kind of anything on his lower half, he forgets all about the potty.

Just letting him run around au naturale from the waist down is making the day that much easier...

No diapers to change, no messes to clean up. Maybe someday he'll figure out how to stay dry in his underwear, but until then, he's going native at home.

first week and first day

Yesterday marked both River's first week with us and Gabriel's first day without us.

Like all milestone days, this one was bittersweet.

the sweet

River had his one week check-up with the pediatrician, who pronounced him still healthy. He weighs 8 pounds, 3.5 ounces (just an ounce-and-a-half shy of his birth weight). Considering his initial feeding issues, this weight gain is great.

He is now waking every 2 hours, wanting to nurse, and sometimes even more frequently. Since he is doing so great with the daytime feedings, if he wants to sleep for a 5 hour stretch at night, I have been letting him.

Liam loves to hold River (with lots of assistance on my part...), and is still reminding me often that he is the big brother. He seems to genuinely enjoy River's presence and likes to say Hi and I see you, River.

the bitter

I woke up with a hideous monster of a cold sore on my lip, a parting gift from the mild cold I picked up at the hospital. This is really more of an annoyance than anything else, but it really doesn't help with my post-baby body blues...

And then I stepped on a nail in the backyard. A big framing nail. It went straight through my gardening crocs and into the sole of my foot. Getting the protruding nail out of the mulch, convincing Liam that we had to go inside, and taking care of River while trying to clean my injury was not a fun experience. And now I'm hobbling around like a gimp while trying to carry a newborn and take care of a toddler. Still not fun.

And then the crowning moment: I was sitting on the couch, holding a sleeping River while Liam napped, when I noticed a snake slithering across the living room rug. It was just a small prairie ringneck, harmless, but still it was a live snake. Thank you, Coleridge.

I grabbed the broom and whisked it out the front door.

Let's just say I was not calm and collected super mom by the time Gabriel came home from work.

But we made it through the day, a lovely friend from church brought us homemade bread and potato soup, and we barely made it through the latest episode of Lost without nodding off.

savoring the Daddy time

Yesterday was Gabe's last half-day at work before going back full time. We decided to make the most of it and spent the afternoon at the park.

River zonked out strapped to my chest while Liam played on the playground.
While Gabe entertained Liam on the playground, River and I crossed the creek to the library for some perusing sans toddler. We came back and discovered the guys down at the creek. Well, with Liam actually in the creek...

He had a great time throwing rocks, splashing, and throwing more rocks with Daddy.

Later that evening, we had a family movie night, complete with pajamas, popcorn, and the three of us snuggled on the couch in front of the computer (River was cozy in his bouncy seat beside us). Liam watched Disney's Cars for the first time, and seemed to really enjoy the whole experience.

We were all sad for Gabe to go back to work today, although he probably saw it as a relief after so much Liam-duty.

little zoolander

Strike a pose

Add a little flair
Camera love

This was one of the rare moments today when River was not sleeping. I never thought I'd say this, but our newborn sleeps too much.

The first few days home from the hospital seemed like an endless cycle of trying to persuade our sleepy little boy to wake up and eat. He is finally starting to nurse every 2-3 hours without me having to undress, tickle, and talk him into it.

It's a huge relief now that he often wakes all on his own ready to eat.

from market to garden

This morning, we went to the Farmer's Market in Fayetteville and came home with tomato seedlings for our garden.

This has become our Mother's Day tradition, and this year we ended up with a cherry tomato, 2 heirloom beefsteaks, 2 paste tomatoes, and a yellow pear tomato. We're hoping for enough tomatoes to enjoy over the summer and a surplus to can for later in the year.

Liam helped Gabriel plant them in the garden, sprinkling the surrounding area with marigold seeds, and rounding out the bed with some cantoulopes to vine in and among the other plants.
Our early spring plantings are really starting to take off, and most of the greens are ready for us to start thinning/eating them.

Mustard Greens and Garlic

Arugula
We also set up two new rain barrels. This collects rainwater off of the shed, and the other one is back in our pond garden to collect rainwater off of the side of the house.

The black raspberry vines we brought back from the farm in Iowa last spring are really taking off now. We're hoping for lots of berries later in the summer...

River enjoyed the afternoon under the shade of the mulberry tree.