eight weeks!

 8 weeks on christmas day and big brother wanted in on the fun!

{a very merry} week in review: 8

we spent our first christmas together as a family in our own home. it was very low key, and although we missed our families terribly, it was really nice to not be traveling around with two small children.  i just have to say that i think i enjoy playing santa as much (if not more) as i liked believing in santa as a kid. i could hardly wait for coen to go to bed so wes and i could get everything put together and perfect for christmas morning, while munching on cookies, of course!

 
as we were walking downstairs to see what the jolly man left i was thinking about how next year, marin will be shuffling beside coen. i may have shed a tear over how happy that made my heart.  

he was so good about opening gifts. really sat and played with each thing. we strung it out all morning, while sipping coffee and eating warm cinnamon rolls. santa delivered "an aircraft carrier with metal jets" just like he asked for. score!

santa didn't forget about our littlest, he brought her this adorable rag doll. 

it was a very wonderful hawaiian christmas, indeed.

last week we had our playgroup over for a christmas celebration with the kiddos. everyone brought a wrapped book to exchange. my dear friend emily has a baby girl, geneva that is only a couple months older than marin. she also has a 3 year old, lucy whom coen really adores. to top it off she was one of my nurses in the hostpital when marin was born! what a special lady!

 

if i think about it too hard i think the idea of sitting on a old man's lap at the mall is creepy. i kind of wish that there weren't mall santa's, and that the identity of the jolly man himself was more of a legend. but coen really wanted to go see santa, and his eye seriously light up with magic when he did. and i decided that i have to let it go, and remember that to coen it is all very real and very special. 

soooooo, we loaded up and went to the mall and it was all very cute. after the visit we headed to hallmark to pick out a new ornament for each kid, a fun new tradition to conitue through the years.

 

 

 

 cute little cupcake!

and good old hallmark didn't let us down, they thankfully had an airplane ornament for our little pilot.

we hope that wherever you are this holiday season, you enjoy the many blessings around you. as i reflected on how much i missed my family and friends i was reminded that no matter where we are or who we are with, we have a savior to celebrate. hallelujah!

seven weeks!

week in review: 7

what. a. week. sometimes (okay, lots of times) being a parent can be so frustrating. this last week was one of them. after some pretty painful feedings, dropping dairy and adding some zantac i am keeping my fingers and toes crossed that we tunned into marin's issues.

here is the thing, when coen was so super fussy and having so many feeding/lactose/reflux issues i felt sad for myself. selfish? yes. i was so sad and bitter that the baby i had was so fussy and miserable. people would say, "oh poor baby." and i would think, "poor him? what about me? poor poor me." i think i was actually in mourning, over the baby i had imagined i would have. you know, that happy content baby that could be passed around a room full of people and everyone would remark about what a happy and content baby i had. sigh.

this time around it is different (sorry coen). it's not because marin is a girl, or because i love her any differently. it's because i am a parent. in my journey with coen i was only becoming a parent, and that is such a raw/chaotic/joyful/hard transformation. but now it is a whole new ball game. i feel her pain to depths of my soul. i seek to solve her problems before they even begin. i have perspective now, i know that this too will pass and before i even can blink my eyes the struggle will be different and the joys will be greater. through this past week i have been reflecting on how being parent changes you, it's pretty crazy.

aside from all that we still managed to have some fun this past week. coen is such a blessing. even when i am feeling total frustration, he keeps us going. like clock work.

gingerbread house building.

a charlie brown christmas watching.

 sibling snuggles.

napping with mama. 

six weeks!

six week of sweetness with miss marin maisie. 

week in review: 6

its no joke, marin has been on this planet for six whole weeks already. sometimes i look at her and think that she is still so teeny tiny and new, other times i think she is growing up so fast and will probably be off to college next week. parenthood. 

this last week we saw a rise in fussiness, and also some pretty annoying and painful feeding issues. i am so super tunned into her every little grunt and groan so we headed off to see the pediatrician yesterday. it appears that (like both myself and her big brother) lactose intolerance is to blame. so today marked our first day of being dairy free. i hope i can report by next week that some of these issues have resolved. why are new humans so complicated? 

here's looking back at the last week. 

we said goodbye to nikki and grandma maisie. so happy they came to visit. 

we sid hello to new baby smiles. 

we spent the weekend at home in our pj's and may have had just a little bit of fun. 

marin slept like a baby. um, she is one.

i played with this crazy head of hair. 

wes was ready and willing to moby at all times. no matter what. 

we enjoyed the smell of a REAL noble fir. 

thanks to home depot we have a beautiful oregon grown christmas tee. 

coen took some really great pictures of the things he loves most. 

good friends visited and came bearing a meal! (thank you!) 

someone got a week older. okay, we all got a week older but it really shows when your life is numbered by weeks. i can't handle how fast she is changing. i love those cheeks!