Photo Blast

Since you voluntarily visit our blog (as opposed to Facebook, where someone might not come seeking photos of me or my children, in particular) I feel like it's okay to post a bunch of cute photos once in a while. And since this is my second blog post today, I don't have much to say, except to explain in captions why these photos feel worthy of a photo blast.

Actually, I should say (since this is my first post since Nate went back to work) that life with three is way better than I expected. We're in a routine and I'm not making very elaborate meals. It also helps that Peter loves his pacifier and is a pretty easy-going 10 week old. Knowing that he likely will be my final little baby, I'm able to appreciate his sweet cuddles...slowing down to study his eye color and encourage him to smile. You are loved, little Peter boy.

He's a big boy...weighing in at 14 lb 7 oz at 2 months

Helping mom with the laundry

Peter's interpretation of tummy time, under a blanket from Grandma Joanie

Smiles in an 9-month sized outfit from Aunt Grace

Roses from Karen's garden, shared for our Easter dinner

A lovely latte I enjoyed last week when Nelly was with the kids

She thought you could just put stickers on the paper for fun, without earning them

Looking like a big girl with her new haircut

Cora prefers hats to hair clips and ponytails to keep her hair out of her face

The Dollar Tree mermaid lost an arm, but Louisa had a quick fix

Family Time in Tahoe

During Nate's last week of paternity leave in late March, we drove to Tahoe City, looking for snow. This post won't be chronological in relation to the our other posts, but I wanted to save some memories and photos before they slip out of my sleep deprived mind forever...

A few weeks before our trip, I searched for a vacation rental house on VRBO. We needed a place that allowed dogs and had at least 2 bedrooms. Our preferred location was the north side of the lake, because we had heard that north Lake Tahoe was more laid-back and outdoorsy. Surprisingly, this search only brought up 3 options in our price range, but one looked fantastic, so I booked it right away.

Because we were traveling with a newborn, almost-2-year-old and almost-4-year-old, we kept our expectations for the week low. The cottage and the lake was enough to make the trip fantastic. I had heard that Lake Tahoe was beautiful, and it is! Gorgeous, blue and still.

A small beach, just a short walk from our cottage

Ries can no longer see the beauty around her, but she can pose in front of it

On the first day, we took a gondola ride up to Snow Camp at Squaw Valley. This was the only time we touched snow in California. I don't mind, but Nate probably would say that it made him miss Wisconsin. The girls had a blast throwing snow balls, making snow angels and a snowman, and we enjoyed a picnic lunch in the heavily carpeted, brass accented ski lodge on the top of the mountain.

On day two, we went to a great park downtown Tahoe City, where the California drought was oh-so-visable. Nate packed another picnic lunch for us that we enjoyed near the lake after playing on the playground and before heading off to CVS to buy coloring books for evening entertainment. The cottage had a hot tub which also provided entertainment (and relaxation)!

The last day, we went for a tame hike near Emerald Bay. This excursion really made us question why we haven't made it up to the mountains way more often while we've been living here. Such perfect weather (sunny and 65 degrees) for hiking and gorgeous views.

Taking the hike very seriously and keeping her hands warm

A family photo in front of Emerald Bay

Fancy Louisa...hiking in a dress and beads

Hipster Cora sportin' the slouch hat style accidentally

Teaching how to age a tree. I like my man in pink

A silly highlight of the trip was the HGTV shows we watched each night, dreaming about the day we can renovate (read: afford) a house...

Sleep, Precious Sleep

All of my children are sleeping right now. I feel amazing. Well, amazing except that I have a lingering sore throat and probably could do with more sleep at night. I was talking with a couple of different pregnant friends about pregnancy-induced insomnia versus the lack of sleep that you get with a newborn. I've decided that if I had to choose one, I'd pick the latter, because at least going to bed earlier pretty much guarantees that you'll get more sleep, whereas not being able to fall asleep is so frustrating.

In an earlier post, I said that people were more often asking about the two-to-three transition than about Peter's night sleeping. Well, scratch that. All of the sudden, it's all about his sleep. So how is it? Not terrible, but not great. He wakes up around 1:30 am and then again around 4 am. I'm trying to just accept it, but since I have the book on my shelf, I'm going to take a refresher course in sleep training. Specifically, I want to know when it's okay to let our sweet baby Peter cry it out a bit.

So while they sleep, I'll sooth my throat with hot water with lemon and honey and read my book, wearing my Badger shirt, of course!

Not long into my study, I read that babies less than 12 weeks old don't know how to self-soothe, so there's my answer!

This post is a bit disjointed. but while I'm here, I share a couple of photos from Easter, which was lovely. We enjoyed a breakfast potluck at church before the service, then came home to prepare a scrumptious feast that we enjoyed with our pastor and his family, Megan and Ty and their family, and Melissa and her son. Nate did double duty cooking all the food and entertaining kids with cookies to decorate and eggs to hunt. I guess I can tie it all in and wrap this post up by saying that the weekend was wonderful yet exhausting, so no wonder everyone is sleeping so well!