November Already?!

Wait, wasn't it just September?
And now it's the last day of October?!

Happy Halloween, everyone! 

October has been good to the Hartman clan. Because I am a bit of a sap, it's always my favorite month- Keegan and I started dating in October (many moons ago), both of my boys were born in October... It's a sentimental month. 

Speaking of birthdays- This year we decided to throw the boys one joint first and third birthday party. With their birthdays two weeks apart, it made the most sense- although I stressed about it unnecessarily for quite some time. Poor Liam already has Second Child Syndrome, and he didn't even get his own first birthday party. Hopefully that therapy bill later in life won't be too massive ;)

Preschool!

Today, Aldon had his first day of preschool! 

 He loved it!! 
As soon as we walked in the door, he threw off his coat and got to playing (it is serious business, after all). Hugs were given, and then we were on our way out the door. 
So many people have asked if I had cried, or he did- and no, neither of us did. We both were happy! Sure, I'm nostalgic; the not-even six pound baby I delivered is now a preschooler and approaching his third birthday. It's always fun to look back on how he used to be as a baby, but it's even more exciting, to me, to see how far he has come and what's in store for him next.

In other news...
Life is busy, as always ;) 
I am working on finishing up my nursing degree (7 classes left! whoop whoop!), and being a full-time mom during the day.
Liam is now 10 months old! He's super close to walking, and is starting to say a few words. I know parents aren't "supposed" to compare their children, but it's fun to see how alike and yet how different he and his big brother are.
Keegan has been loosely tossing around the idea of pursuing his master's degree, but that probably won't happen until I am done with mine. We shall see, though :) 
Slooowly, we have been decorating and fixing up our house. Emphasis on the slowly ;) With two little helpers and life in general, the completion rate of our projects is pretty low.
We are headed up north this weekend for the holiday- the first time in a year and half that we will be home! I. Cannot. Wait!! 

That about sums up all that the Hartman's have been up to lately... here's to hoping I update this thing more than twice a year! :) 
 

4 and a half months later...

Hi.

If you couldn't tell, the past 4 and a half months have been crazy. I can't even recap them, without writing a novel.

So, here's the paragraph, super- condensed, run-on-sentence, version of it:

We bought a house and moved and are DIYing sooo much stuff that it sometimes makes my head spin; and the boys are growing like the dang weeds in our flower beds (true story) and Aldon is starting preschool in two months and Liam is crawling and has started solids and it's just craziness 'cause my babies aren't babies anymore; and Keegan finally got his dream dog, a german shepherd named Fritz, and that little thing has been oh-so-cutely terrorizing me and this house and holy crap bringing a dog home is just like bringing home a newborn x 1000- yea, 1000 newborns; and I'm still super busy with school and have the entrance exam for the nursing program in 2 weeks (eeeeeek!) and trying to stay on top of everything else and basically have been living on coffee alone. 

Did you get all of that?

Basically, I'm not sure this bloggy-wog will get any attention (not like it really ever did before, haha).

{Month 3}

Sweet, chunky Liam is now t h r e e months old! 

He weighs 15 pounds now, and is about 24" long- a big step up from 7 lb and 19 in at birth! The onesie he's wearing in the pictures? Size 6 month, and as you can see it's skin tight. It was only on for the five minutes it took to snap the picture lol. 

He is still waking up at least twice in the night to nurse, and of course he's still sharing our bed with us. We also still cloth diaper him, our favorites for Liam are bumGenius Elementals (on the smallest rise setting, and hook and loop closure). He started fitting into these when he was about a month old, after he outgrew our bumGenius newborn stash.

He smiles and giggles and coos, chews on his fingers and flings slobber everywhere, and can't stand it when I walk out of his line of vision (can you blame him? ;) ) Basically, he's adorable and perfect, just like big brother. 

Our Month 3 "Must-Haves" include:

-Soothing Motions Glider : he always falls asleep nursing, and this is the only place where I can put him down and he will stay sleeping. Plus, Aldon loves to turn it on for him and it makes him feel like the best big helper ;)

-Activity Gym:He absolutely despises using the tummy time pillow this set comes with, but when he's on his back he can't get enough of staring at himself in the apple mirror! 

-plenty of arm strength (seriously! he may not look it, but he is just one solid chunk of cuteness) since he always wants to be held and carried around, and

-bibs! I never understood why parents would put bibs on their kids to catch drool... Aldon wasn't a "drooler", even while teething, so my thought was always "just wipe it off when it happens; no big deal." Then came Liam... it's gross. He soaks the front of his shirt multiple times a day. To save on outfit changes (and laundry!) I broke down and just put a bib on him when he's especially drooly. icky. 

So there you have it! Liam Allen, big three month old boy, in a nutshell :)    

  

Hello, 2013!

I can't believe how fast 2012 flew by! 

I guess moving, having another baby, and keeping up with a two year old (!) and newborn does that.

So what's new? 

Aldon celebrated his second birthday! We had a small get together at home since we brought Liam home from the hospital only days before. It was a jungle/safari theme, and he had a blast being the center of attention (as always ;) )

opening his gift from mommy & daddy- a new play kitchen!

 Liam is now 2 and a half months old! He is still nursing- about every 2.5-3 hours, including through the night. And he is gaining some serious weight! He weighs about 14 lb now, but is only about 20 or so inches in length. 

I've already started planning his half birthday party (Very Hungry Caterpillar-themed), he's already halfway there! 

newborn picture- 2 weeks old

classic liam.

We celebrated the holidays with just the four of us for the first time. Aldon was obsessed with "rearranging" the ornaments on the tree; I'm certain I'll be finding some that were hidden away by him in July. This was his first year actually being "aware" of what's going on, and it was so.awesome. to see his face light up on Christmas morning! 

christmas eve 2012

Of course I took one semester off while I was pregnant with Liam, so I start back again at the end of January. Luckily the scheduling is flexible enough that we won't have to put the boys in daycare (after touring several in the area, nothing was really up to par with what we were used to at our old provider in MI). 

I'm also already over the snow & cold, and eagerly awaiting Spring! 

2013 doesn't have any major planned events like 2010, 2011, and 2012 did- so here's to a {hopefully} relaxing new year!