A whole 2 months

Taylor is a whole 2 months as of Saturday!  My fellow moms out there know what that means...

SHOTS!

Taylor did so well today!  He was happy to let me take his clothes off to be weighed and measured.  He even let the Dr. examine him without complaint.  While waiting for the nurses to come in and administer vaccinations, he even fell asleep!  I love this baby.

Taylor at 3 weeks old.  This is the only picture I have to share of Taylor right now as my laptop with all of his pictures on it is broken.  My new LCD screen should be here tomorrow!!

Here's baby's stats:

11.3 lbs  (38 %ile)

22.5 in   (32 %ile)

14.8 in   (head...6%ile)

15.6       (BMI)

So...according to this I have a short, skinny, small-headed baby?!?  Ok, he really does have a small head, but he doesn't seem short and skinny to me!  Oh well.  He's cute, happy, healthy, and his nursing jaundice eyes are almost gone.  He has slept 8 hours straight through the past 3 nights, so this is about as perfect as it gets!

Spring Eggs

Deena and I were talking about our Spring home decor the other day and she asked me to do a blog post on my spring eggs.  So here ya go, Deena!

This idea came about when Deena told me about her Easter eggs.  They are wooden eggs that she painted.  I thought that could make a cute addition to my Easter decor (of which I had none!).  Two problems arose:

1. I didn't know where to find wooden eggs
2. If I did find them, they would probably be somewhat expensive

This is what I came up with:

Supplies and Cost:

• Plastic Easter eggs (Kmart, $.75)
• Acrylic Paint (Walmart, $.50 ea)
• Soft Paint Brush (Walmart, assorted package of 12, $3.00)
• Aleene's Tacky Glue (or finishing spray) (Walmart, $2.00)
• Scissors
• Old Toothbrush

Luckily I had everything on hand except the eggs and paint.  On this project, I spent $3.75.

Directions:

Break your eggs apart.  Most are connected by a little piece of plastic.  

Use a pair of scissors to cut the residual connector off.  If you can't get close enough, you may need to use an exacto knife.

Next you'll need to prepare to paint.  The paint brush you choose is EXTREMELY important.  You want a soft brush with long bristles.  If your brush is too hard, you'll scrape the paint each time you paint a new layer on.  See photos below.

If your brush is soft, you'll be able to bend the bristles all the way back with no resistance.  

If your bristles are hard, your bristles won't bend back far and there will be a lot (or some) resistance.

Ok, now paint!  The first layer will be very thin.  The 2nd and 3rd layers of paint will go on pretty thick.  I made sure my paint brush was moist with a little water so that the paint would spread a little easier.  Whatever you do, make sure your paint dries completely between layers or you risk destroying the previous layer.  

This photo shows an egg after 2 layers of paint.  As you can see, it's not quite opaque yet.  

Next step is to spatter.  Grab your tooth brush, dip it in white paint, and run your finger back and forth over the bristles so that paint splatters all over your eggs.  After the white dries, do the same with brown paint.  This will give the eggs a natural, robin's egg sort of look.

Now you're going to have to seal your paint job.  If you don't, the paint scratches off pretty easily.  I've tried a finishing spray but it wasn't my favorite method.  It got everywhere and took several coats. I would suggest brushing on a thin veil of Mod Podge.  When I made my eggs, I didn't have Mod Podge, and I couldn't find my finishing spray.  I did however, have some Aleene's Tacky glue on hand.  It's pretty thick but it dries clear.  All you have to do it water it down until it's thin enough to paint on your eggs and then just let it dry.  Works like a charm!

And the finished product:

Greaaaaaaaaat.

The other day I was teasing my sister for "that time she broke my foot".  She hates it.  At least 24 years have gone by and she still gets teased for breaking my foot by my family.  Ok, mostly I'm the one who teases her.  I know she hates it, that's kind of why do it!  I remind her, not because I still hold a grudge, but because what's in the past is in the past, and now it's fun to laugh at.

I'm hoping that what happened in my home today will be one of those times!

Let me start off this story by saying, I love Hayden.

Let me just repeat that...I love Hayden, I love Hayden, I love Hayden....I truly do, but that doesn't mean he doesn't test that love...often.  I will always love him, but seriously...mommy got a little angry today!  

Here's what happened:  

Today I am coming to you live from Paul's computer.  Why, you ask?  Why am I not using my laptop?  My little two year old threw a fit.  That's why.  And in the middle of that fit, he knocked my laptop off of the couch, breaking the LCD screen and rendering the computer useless.  

Awesome.  

So I hope that this turns into a, "Hey, remember that time you broke my computer?" sort of a moment for us.  I hope I can one day look back at this and laugh.  Right now...mama not a happy girl :(

Because, who needs words?

"Hoppy" Easter!

I love to quote C.S. Lewis at Christmas and Easter time, and this is probably my favorite quotation of his:

"He died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less." ---C.S. Lewis

How fitting is that for Easter?!?  I love that we celebrate the resurrection of the Savior that, in turn, makes our own resurrection possible.  I love that we celebrate this gift during Spring--the season of renewal--when plants seem to come back to life and little bunnies and chicks are born.  How fitting is it that we celebrate resurrection during the season when everything returns?

The Kirby family has had a very fun Easter morning, filled with our friends Reese's and Cadbury (LOL...I should mention our church doesn't start till 1:30pm) !  Seriously...Paul and I just shared a Reese's egg that was so big, it had FOUR SERVINGS at 220 calories EACH!  But, that's allowed on Easter morning (I skipped breakfast so that I could endulge).  Leading up to Easter, we received TWO packages--one from my parents and one from Deena.  There was so much in the packages that I didn't have to buy much to help fill the boy's Easter baskets.

Easter kisses from big brother!

To start off our Easter adventure, I tried to get a picture of the boys in their jammies together.  Auntie Deena bought them and they are adorable!  Cute little duckies in the bathtub!  

Hayden was being his two-year-old self and, as soon as he knew I wanted him to do something, he didn't want to do it!  All I wanted a picture of was the boy holding Taylor.  This is as close as I got!

Hayden thought that the baby laying on him was SO FUNNY!  He couldn't help from laughing the whole time.

One of my favorite Easter candies is the cream Cadbury Egg.  I'm proud to announce it's one of Hayden's too!  Auntie Deena sent these and Hayden ate them in ONE BITE!  We let him have 2 this morning.  My mom sent some Cadbury Carmel mini eggs, but I let Lesley have those.  They are her favorite!

Hayden also got a spade, hand rake, and gloves (not pictured) for the Garden from Deena.  We're planting a garden this year (cross your fingers!).  I hope he'll help me in the garden and not dig everything up after I plant it!  

His beloved mini Cadbury Egg.

Hayden decided that he wanted to eat one of his eggs right away, so he began to peel off the wrapper and put each little piece on the floor.  Then he realized there was a mess of wrappers on the floor that he could not live with.  Before he could eat his egg, he picked up his wrappers, ran to the garbage can, and threw them away!  I love his little personality, but seriously....WHAT KID DOES THIS?!?

Grandma and Papa sent Hayden some binoculars!  I thought they would either be a huge hit, or he would be completely afraid of them.  Thankfully, he loves them!  I think they'll be well used this summer.

Digging the Bino's!

Auntie  Deena sent Mr. Taylor a pair of Huskie booties!  He loves them!  My parents sent him a Huskie outfit, but I put it in the wash so he can wear it soon.

I am unhappy to report that Taylor did NOT like the little hat that came with his jammies.  We tried it twice, and each time he screamed!  The second we took it off, he was fine.  Silly kid!

Happy Easter to our friends and family!

Goooooood NIGHT!

DISCLAIMER:  I don't know what's going on with my blog's formatting right now.  It's not working, which is why some of my writing is center instead of left.  I'll try to fix it later because it's definitely not working right now!

Gooooood NIGHT!  Ha ha, I can't believe what Hayden did this morning!  I was working on getting Taylor calmed down; he is still in his 3wk-8wk fussy phase.  We were all in the living room but at the moment I didn't have a visual on Hayden.  

Hayden at 1 month.

My mistake.

I heard a small tap tap tap and looked over in Hayden's direction.  This smart little boy had found a picture of himself as a baby (I don't know where to put it yet so it hasn't been hung), and retrieved the hammer out of my tool bag.  He was tapping on the glass of the frame trying to break it!  Luckily, I was right there, and Hayden didn't tap very hard.  The picture was fine, but I knew it was someone's bed time!

Taylor at 6wk/2 days.

Taylor has been having issues too; we can't get him to sleep in his bed.  Yesterday we found out that he will fall asleep quite easily in his bouncer.  HALLELU-YER!  (Hello, mine name's Madea!)  For some reason he really likes the position the bouncer keeps him in.  I just enjoy the quiet hour or two that I get!  

Good Morning!

This morning I slept in.  Paul got up with the kids.  He changed both of their diapers, fed Hayden, and then started making french toast and bacon for the two of us.  While all of this was happening, I heard Taylor scr-REAM-ing his head off!  I got up to find this:

Taylor 5 weeks 4 days/Hayden 2 years 

Taylor had been starving (apparently), so Paul made him a bottle and was teaching Hayden how to feed it to him.  SO CUTE!!  Hayden was listening to all of daddy's instructions and was so proud of himself.

Someday son, you will appreciate bacon!

Hayden saw me eating a peice of bacon and said, HUMMMyyyyyyyy!  (which means yummy).  He reached for my bacon and I handed it over!  (If you know Hayden at all, you know that he's a REALLY picky eater.  I think he's eaten meat about twice in his whole life.)

Bacon Close-up

 Lastly, I had to show off my gorgeous flowers!  Paul came home from working overnight in Boise (so we hadn't seen him for around 36 hours) with these lovelies.  They are so pretty!  Anyone know how to take care of Orchids?