Happy birthday to us!

Our family turns 6 today. That may seem like a strange way of saying it's John and my anniversary, but with a small baby practically attached to me all day due to feeding demands, our anniversary is much more of a family affair this year than it has been in the past.

The first three years, we didn't have kids yet. Year four, we left Evelyn with a friend and stayed in a hotel here locally for the night. Year five, my sister watched her while we went to Montreal together for the weekend. This year, even a long dinner at an expensive restaurant alone isn't all that practical. We are going to sneak away for a short, early dinner, but we didn't want that to be the extent of our celebrating, so this morning we all got dressed up and went to brunch at Norma's together as a family. It was sort of fun. Hyrum was a doll baby the whole time and Evelyn loved her pancakes, so even the adults came away relatively unscathed. Maybe the anniversary family breakfast will have to become a tradition for those years we don't go away together.

Burping, a lovely family-friendly past-time

Evelyn's hair has grown out enough from her last cut and is now long enough for pigtails

"Don't take my picture!"

Birthday Bash

Last month, I packed up both kids and, with the help of my aunt, flew to St. Louis, then on to Keokuk, IA (near Nauvoo) to celebrate my mom and Grandpa's birthdays---July 17, 1960 and June 7, 1930, respectively, which made this a big year. My little brother Lawrence's birthday is June 6, 1990, but since he's in Argentina for two years, we decided to celebrate with him in abstentia.

Unfortunately, Evelyn picked up a little virus at the pediatrician's office when we went for Hyrum's well check the day before we left. She was so chipper about it and so excited to be with everyone, we didn't even realize she was sick until others started also coming down with the same symptoms, violently so, on the morning of the big party. Every. Single. Person at the family gathering ended up getting this bug (13 of us, I think, which might explain the problem?). I came off the luckiest, semi-confirming our hypothesis that it originated in New York and I had been previously exposed. Since the worst symptoms seemed to last only 12-24 hours (except for Evelyn, who was a little sick for almost a week), the massive amounts of pork Mark slow-roasted all day Saturday did not go to waste.

Other than the bug, we had a very lovely time. We got to see Careen and Mark's new house. Evelyn got to go swimming in the fabulous new Keokuk city pool (unfortunately, I had to abstain; fortunately, this means there are no pictures of me in a bathing suit). Everyone treated us very well, holding the baby, entertaining the toddler, cooking for us, etc. Careen even let us use Bun's brand new crib, carseat, and stroller (Bun is due in early August). Hyrum gave rave reviews to all three.

If we hadn't brought Nonna home with us for two weeks, we would still be crying over how sad it was to leave everyone. We've decided to try and encourage a repeat gathering in 10 years, when the birthday boys and girls born in '30, '60, and '90 will be turning 90, 60, and 30. I volunteer to bring the cake!

Evelyn the movie star princess at the airport on our way out. She is, as you can clearly see, too cool for school.

Charles and Evelyn

Evelyn and Laurel

Careen, Evelyn, and Laurel

Hard at work making the birthday cake (with Careen and Mark, thankfully)

A much smaller Hyrum, who really had a rough week between thrush and the stomach bug, poor guy

Grandma, Evelyn, Hyrum, and Grandpa

Thrilled to be helping Careen sew a crib sheet for Bun. No, really.

Cindi and Mark

Waving at the only person dumb enough to come to a pool when she's not allowed to swim

Waterslide

Seriously, this pool was awesome.

Proof that I did spend at least some time with my children while we were there

Hyrum thinking, "Man, looking at all these photos when we get home will be exhausting!"

Staring contest?

Grandpa and Hyrum

Grandma and Hyrum

Evelyn and Poppa

Mark, multitasking; I give him an A+ and wish him luck when Bun arrives in a week or two

Birthday dinner

Are we done yet?

In no particular order

1. Hyrum had his two-month well check today. He is over 11 pounds (almost 50th percentile, up from 5th percentile at birth). He has gained exactly 5 pounds from his birth weight. In 2 months. Proportionately, that would be like like me gaining around 110 pounds. He now outweighs Evelyn at that age despite the fact that she started out almost a pound and a half heavier. He has also grown almost four inches and is now 22 1/2 inches (around 25th percentile, up from 5th percentile at birth). He is, clearly, no longer a peanut. John's reaction? "Guess I need to learn the rules of football."

2. My dad is in town for business and coming over tonight for dinner. I'm so excited for him to see the new place, especially since he saw it back when we originally made the offer. It's come a long way since then.

3. In related news, we may finish our renovations TOMORROW. I could clean my floors!

4. The fact that what I most want to do right now is clean my floors is pathetic.

5. John has to go out of town next week. It's only 30 hours, but I'm freaking out a little. I told him, "They better pay you a lot of money at the end of the year." One can hope, right?

6. Our anniversary is Saturday. We are planning to leave both kids for a quick dinner around the corner. I'm not sure if Hyrum will take a bottle. I think I should throw a quick prayer up for our babysitter. She will have her hands full.

7. Whoever came up with the name "Bumbo" for a baby seat anyway? Hyrum pondered the question on his first (short) attempt but came no closer to an answer than I have.

Nap time

Hyrum is on his second nap of the day. The first nap was almost 90 minutes. In his crib. By himself. With no intervention required during that time.

Evelyn and I:
-Folded a week's worth of laundry
-Changed sheets on two beds
-Made, ate, and cleaned up after breakfast
-Read 4 stories
-Went to the bathroom 3 times
-Played with the dollhouse and the barn.

After that, we sort of just sat and looked at each other and wondered what to do until he woke up. Which happened within 30 seconds.

Later, I took a chance and let him watch Evelyn play in her room while I made a couple of very quick sandwiches.

***

The second nap was much shorter, but long enough for me to change out of my pajamas and put makeup on. I am getting a glimmer of how people do it with 2 kids.

"I am making dinner. It's pineapple. No, I am making sausages. Should we make some pasta for dinner? OK. Here you go."

Hyrum has learned that sitting up is hard work. Charley Bear has known this for a few years now. Hopefully Hyrum can figure it out a little more quickly than that.

So far

My mom left about 4 hours ago.

So far, we have survived, although I have cried briefly twice and Evelyn is on her third pair of big girl panties for the day, not including the diaper she's currently wearing for quiet time.

The idea of starting potty training was a lot more appealing with two adults in the house dedicated to full-time child care.

In case you're wondering

I have not posted pictures of our new apartment yet because it still looks like this

and this

and this

and this.

I spared you pictures of my bedroom, which currently houses pretty much everything that will go in our bathroom. I think it takes up more space in my bedroom than it will when it's in the bathroom. Silver lining? I have a BEDROOM big enough to fit an entire bathroom's worth of stuff in it! And still have room to get into and out of the bed. And open all the dresser drawers. For those who saw our bedroom in our last real apartment (10.5 by 11 feet), or the little alcove of the living room we had up in Washington Heights, you can understand how happy this makes me.

So, in the meantime, I will continue to post pictures of my children, mostly without any real story or unifying theme to accompany them.

Evelyn hard at work

Capturing a baby's first smiles is sort of like getting a picture of the Loch Ness monster, I think. At least he can never say I didn't even try.

Getting dressed

Is serious business around here.

Sometimes getting dressed can be stressful; it's nice when Dad is around to help you calm down afterwards.

And the answer to the question in your mind is, "Yes, yes, I often do look at my husband and think, 'Wow! That is one good-looking man.'"