we played in the sprinkler...

... and we got a new camera.

That's right, folks. After many months of beating around the bush, I got me an SLR! It was a gift, and I didn't think I'd use it; I didn't think I'd love it. But I do. Oh, I do.

And speaking of love... Lyndon has fallen in love with the sprinkler.

Sometimes I feel bad, even a little guilty at the (relatively) limited resources we have when it comes to entertaining our kids. Our yard is the size of a postage stamp, and most of it slopes downhill; our house doesn't have a playroom, so we don't have a lot of toys; Lyndon's tricycle was a freebie, and it's a little rusty, and so on. I envy the moonbounces, the finished basements, the pool memberships, thinking how much happier my children would be if they had access to these things.

And then I see the magic that happens when a little boy discovers a sprinkler. A basic, inexpensive gardening tool. And I realize that we have more than enough in the way of entertainment. We have a 2 year-old. We have imagination.

What's more entertaining than that?

Lyndon sings his ABCs

I had a little party when I realized he knows the entire song, then decided I had to record it. Enjoy!

hard

Having a second child is hard.

I know those of you with more than two children are shaking your heads, thinking about just how much harder it can get.

But for me, two has been hard.

It's getting easier, nearly four months in. I'm starting to be able to do some of the things I had set aside. You know, like cleaning bathrooms. Or cleaning... anything. I'm starting to get Kieran on some sort of routine, and I'm figuring out how to multitask enough to keep everyone fed, changed, dressed, and reasonably happy. Sleep deprivation is still a part of my life, but not in the mind-numbing way it once was. I'm starting to blog again. Slowly but surely, I am getting my life back.

But it's a different life.

A life of double strollers and not enough hands and nursing while walking.

I nursed Kieran in the powder room this afternoon, sitting on a little plastic stool, steadying Lyndon as he sat on his potty seat.

I know I'll be overjoyed when my little boys start playing together, when they whisper to each other from their beds at night, but right now, I'm just overwhelmed. I have an infant. And a toddler. I am a mother of two. And it's the hardest thing I've ever done.

"Spash!"

Lyndon stayed with his Nana and Pop-Pop last weekend.

The first afternoon, they walked down to the river.

They collected river rocks...

And Lyndon wore Pop-Pop's hat... backwards...

They went back the next morning. And then things really got interesting...

When I asked Lyndon what he did all weekend, he replied, "Spash!"

Why yes, dear, I believe you did.

Happy Easter (from our family of four)

the promised belly shot

So, I never did get around to taking a belly shot picture past 32 weeks. Oops.

But I got a good one tonight.

Baby on the inside, baby on the outside. Still a belly shot, right?

welcome baby Kieran!

Kieran Peterson, born at 10:13pm on January 3, 2012 at The Birth Center.

9 lbs. exactly, 21 1/2 inches long.

Born 13 minutes after arriving at TBC, after 1 hr. 45 min. of active labor. (It's a fun story; I'll tell it to you sometime.)

Loves nursing, snuggling with his daddy, and being swaddled.