Spring Clean-up

Yesterday we took advantage of the beautiful weather to do a little outdoor maintenance. James was in a sleepy mood which allowed us to dive into our flower beds and make things pretty again for the new season.

First stop was Home Depot to pick up some essentials: mulch, annuals, and herbs. I think all of Northern Virginia had the same plan because the place was a mob scene. We managed to get all that we needed (in 2 carts of course) and made our way to the check out line where we met a future Mom (due on April 16th) and a new Mom. We all bonded over late night feedings, car seats and Kate Spade diaper bags while we waited to buy our plants. James even enjoyed himself on his first of many Home Depot visits.

When we got home, we did tag team gardening. Ed started out cleaning up the front of the house flower bed while I fed James and put him down for a nap. When it was time to plant the flowers, I took over and Ed was on James duty. It took a little more maneuvering, but we made it work.

Here's a look at what things were like before our spring cleaning - note that there was some sort of animal den in one of our lilyrope plants. Ick!

It really wasn't too bad. We were so happy that the azaleas we planted last year had made it and were blooming. Same goes for our gorgeous dogwood tree that is still on the mend from it's 2011 snow accident.

After a few hours things were looking like this:

You gotta love a job well done. In addition to the front, we also cleaned up the back yard and set up the deck so that we can start having dinner outside. I also got my herb garden going again. James even contributed by snoozing during most of the clean up. All in all, it was a very productive day that led to a very sleepy night. :)

Siblings

Since James came home from the hospital, I have been dying to do a little siblings photo shoot with Lucy. If you remember, we bought Lucy a Big Sister T-Shirt from the Chicago T-Shirt Deli:

Well, before James was born, I found a onsie that says "I'm the Little Brother" and since he has been born, I have been dying to get them in their t-shirts and photographed. Well, that day was today and I can't tell you how cute the photos turned out!! Of course I took close to 100 pictures, and I have to say my subjects behaved wonderfully:

Lucy loved the opportunity to lick James' toes and James loved laying on Mommy and Daddy's bed. Luckily I was able to snap the money shot before they lost interest:

We are thinking of tinkering with the color mode and hanging it in James' nursery. What do we think of black and white?

Or perhaps the always popular palette knife filter:

Or maybe go completely funky and make them look like comic book characters:

I am a fan of that one, but I have to say, my favorite is the textured black and white. It will definitely look great on the nursery wall.

After the exhausting photo shoot, we decided to get some play time in. We are so thrilled that Lucy and James get along and we can't wait until James is old enough to appreciate and enjoy her.

James' Monthly Photo Project: One Month Old

Guess who is 1 month old today???

I can't believe that our baby boy is already 1 month old! I seems like just yesterday that we were on our way to the hospital to meet the little guy. And now here we are...parenting pros. :) Just kidding ~ but we are getting better. Thank God for all our Facebook friends who provide us with a never-ending amount of advice on everything from diapering to gas drops to baby hiccups!

Happy 1 month Birthday James!

Three Little Birds

When it is 5:00 AM and your baby has been awake and fussy for 2 hours straight, you pretty much do anything you can to calm him down and get him to go to sleep. You go through the checklist ~ feed him, change his diaper, swaddle him, burp him, cuddle with him ~ and when those do nothing, you start thinking outside the box.

Outside the box for us was Bob Marley.

James was having a tough night so Ed thought he would put on some music to see if it would soothe him - specifically Bob Marley. Worked like a charm. Kid calmed down and was out cold.

When it was my turn to deal with the 3 AM fussiness, I tried the same thing. I put "Three Little Birds" on, whispered the lyrics in his ear and within 5 minutes he was snoozing. Looks like we got another reggae fan in the house. Let's hope he forgoes the dread locks. :)

Shaggy Dog No More

Remember back in December when Lucy had her knee surgery? We do and are glad to have it behind us. I'm happy to report that Lucy is 100% back in action and we thought a great way to celebrate would be to treat her to a spa day at Red Dog Spa. She has not had a hair cut since before the surgery leaving her coat longer than it has ever been.

Well, the shag is gone and has been replaced with a scalping!! Her stylist went a little overboard with the clippers...but she still looks gorgeous as always. And the beauty of hair is that it grows back!

It's good to have you back Lucy girl. Even if you are a little more naked now. :)

Rub A Dub Dub

Last night we had the pleasure of giving James his first real bath - Yeah!!! His umbilical cord finally detached after 3 long weeks, so we decided it was time to wash away his grit and grime aka spit-up and Lucy licks.

We set up the rainforest bath tub and all the bathing accessories in the kitchen since the upstairs bathroom is in need of some TLC (new mommy means no time to clean!).

I was a little nervous as to how he would react and was pleasantly surprised to see that he actually liked it. We started at the top, worked our way down and finished with his hair. Truth: we watched a video on BabyCenter.com on how to give your baby a bath. Hey ~ we are novices at this and didn't want to mess up!! :)

After the bath, we dried him off and gave him a baby massage with some lotion - the kid has some seriously dry skin!

Ed then took the opportunity to style his hair - one of Daddy's new favorite things to do!

All in all, it was a great first bath. Hopefully the next one goes as smooth.

Lucy Love

Many of you have been asking how Lucy has been now that James has entered our lives and I'm happy to report that she is doing GREAT! She is an amazing big sister and does really well with the baby.

From day 1 she showed interest in his well-being. Whenever he makes a noise or cries, she is the first to run over to see what is going on and alert us that he needs help.

After a diaper change, she is there to lick his toes and just check on him to make sure we didn't mess anything up. During play time, she is right in there making sure he is happy and smiling.

Don't get me wrong, she is not a fan of the late night feedings. Every girl needs her beauty sleep, and when she hears him crying at 3 am she lifts her head, gives him a dirty look and then goes back to doggy dream land.

We love that she is gentle and loving with him and that she acts as a protector. We can't wait until James is a little older so that they can be the best of friends. In the mean time, Lucy will continue to make sure that James is thriving...and that his toes are always clean. :)