8 is Great

I can't believe that I am old enough to have an 8 year old kid.  Alas.  Madison's birthday was today.  Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Dan were able to visit from Yakima, so she is pretty excited!  She and Hayes went swimming at the hotel pool this morning and then shopping with Grandma and Grandpa.  We went out to dinner at Red Robin, Madison's favorite place to eat.  

8 things about Madison:

*She loves being a big sister.  She is Hayes' bff and dotes on Pierce.

*She is awesome at reading and loves to do it.

*She makes friends regardless of where she is.

*Her favorite song right now is "Call Me Maybe."  She also loves parodies of this song on YouTube.

*If it is warm enough she LOVES to swim and is really good at it.

*Her favorite food is pizza.  She would eat it everyday for every meal.

*She is excited to get baptized next weekend.

*She is a sports fan and roots for all of her dad's favorite teams.

2 Months

This little guy is now over 2 months old!  At his doctor's appointment he was 15 lbs. 10 oz. and 25 inches long.  Month 2 was hard.  He had an ear infection and then was diagnosed with acid reflux.  Fortunately, the reflux does not seem to have any impact on his ability to pack on the pounds.  Now that he is being treated for acid reflux he seems to be feeling better.  He smiles and loves it when we sing to him.  Madison and Hayes continue to be such a great help.  He sleeps pretty good at night and finally started sleeping in his crib 2 nights ago!

 Here is a profile shot so that you can see he has been amply blessed with chins.

(Not so) Little Guy

Our little guy is already 6 weeks old!  It is going by so fast.  At one month he weighed in at 12 lbs. and had grown two inches since birth.  Curious, Joe and I weighed him again at almost 6 weeks and he was already up to 14 lbs.  It literally wears me out to hold him and carry him.  His super baby strength also makes him a handful.  He loves to arch his back and I worry sometimes that he is going to muscle his way right out of my arms.

Madison and Hayes are still big fans of Pierce.  It is nice to have helpers who will get diapers for me and hold him.  The big kids started school over a month ago and are loving it.  Hayes' teacher sent an email to us after the first week of school praising his obedience.  Madison is thrilled to be back with friends again and enjoys to read.

Joe is submitting his residency applications (only about 35) so we have no idea where we will be this time next year.

Now that I have had 6 weeks to recover, I absolutely have to finish my thesis, but I lost the really good momentum I had last year.  I am hoping that once I start reading about dams again my fervor for them will return.