life with two

In short, life with two kids is...hard. At least right now it is. They say it gets easier in a couple months; please tell me "they" are right!

The kids somehow always need something at exactly the same time, which usually means that Emerson is forced to be patient (a toddler being patient, haha) while I take care of Jane first. (Unless Emerson's need is immediate, like when he's about to fall off a chair or grab a knife or dump cereal milk all over the floor, in which case Jane sometimes has to cry for a few minutes while I take care of things. And that is always sad.) Plus Emerson is in the throes of toddlerhood (lots of tantrums and not listening), and Jane requires being held every waking moment.

It's also a lot of fun—seeing them start to interact with each other, having a beautiful baby to snuggle with, and being able to watch both of them grow and develop is incredible. We're certainly blessed!

Here's a quick catch-up of what we've all been up to for the past little while.

Jane

Jane was born on April 18 at 9:02 p.m. 

Not a newborn picture, just a cute one!

For the longer birth story, you can read my other post. Summary: labor lasted 6.5 hours from start (i.e., having my water broken) to finish, and pushing took roughly 1.5 minutes. Win!

She's a pretty long little bean, and she has the biggest, prettiest, most alert blue eyes.

She loves to smile and eat and suck her thumb.

She also loves to wiggle and roll around.

Jane is the spittiest baby ever. She spits up all day, on everything and everyone. (No one wants to see a picture of actual spit-up, so here's one of a cute spit bubble beard.)

But she's an incredibly good sleeper. She's slept over 12 hours for the past 3 nights (she's not quite 4 months old)! What??

She has a love-hate relationship with the pacifier. Emerson likes to help her with it.

She has a great surprised face (although it does look similar to her regular face).

And she's starting to like the Bumbo. Hooray!

Emerson

This little two-year-old is always on the move (hence the blurry pictures).

He still loves cooking and especially loves to "cook" with us at the kitchen counter.

Wearing Uncle Ryan's vintage sweater on a rainy July day.

He's talking up a storm, with some recent vocabulary including "Change you!" (change my diaper), "Whar-you?" (where are you), and "Help you!" (help me). Also, he somehow learned "Don't want to!" Ugh.

He loves bananas, milk, and broccoli. For real, the kid loves broccoli. I have no idea how it happened, but I'm not complaining.

Best of all, he loves his baby sister. He randomly comes over to give her the sweetest kisses and hugs (unfortunately I haven't caught a picture of that yet).

Instead, we have this gem. Don't worry; he wasn't actually smothering her.

He'll frequently lie down next to her, and it's pretty darn cute (but hard to get a picture of, obviously).

His favorite is getting to hold "Bebe," which usually lasts approximately 9 seconds.

He still loves Daddy and even tries to be like him.

He just moved into a big boy bed a couple weeks ago, and he's been handling it surprisingly well. He likes to sleep on his giant stuffed frog.

Yes, that says that it's 80 degrees in his room. Thanks, no air conditioning.

 He's a goofball, and we love him!

Mr. Potato Head glasses.

Everyone

We were able to travel to Utah for my family's reunion in July, and it was tons of fun. The actual reunion was fun, that is—driving there with an infant and a two-year-old was not fun. A 16-hour drive turned into 23+ hours EACH WAY. So much driving, so much crying, and so much chaos.

Emerson was definitely the easier of the two on the road.

In the end, it was all worth it! But we will definitely not be doing that drive again any time soon. Or ever. Definitely ever.

At the reunion, Emerson got to take a few rides in a four-wheeler and loved every minute of it.

Disclaimer: This is a reenactment. He didn't actually sit in the front seat by himself.

We played with cousins, went on hikes, did crafts, and made some great memories. (PS, thanks family for letting me use all your pictures.)

Campfire singing.

Emerson's GQ pose.

Emerson and Ryker.

Hangin' out with Grandma Stitt.

And Aunt Aubrey.

The boys folding their arms for the dinner prayer. The cutest.

Hiking with Grandma.

Getting a great view from Uncle Ryan's shoulders.

Aubrey carried Jane for the second half of our hike. 12 extra pounds of baby makes a big difference!

Incredible views all over the place.

It's been a fun summer!