my two

we came across a pair of pj's that one of my mom's sweet friends gave judah a few days after he was born. they were size 6-12 months so back then we stashed them away because having a 6-12 month old seemed like eons in the future. well, we found them right around his 18 month birthday last week (whoopso) and just HAD to squeeze his chunky cuteness into them. and of course, here's layla finally filling up some of the things i made for her when she was just a twinkle in my eye and a bump under my shirt.

if you don't have a mouth full of turkey to put you into a post-thanksgiving stupor...

a turkey-milk coma will always suffice (that's turkey-flavored milk, not milk of a turkey)

can you understand why i spend my most of my time gazing at these two instead of blogging? holy zowies i love them. and the little girl? blowing my mind.

impulse purchases ahead

Publix, where shopping is used to be a pleasure:

remember when taking pictures of borrowed produce and my burgeoning stomach was the most adventurous thing I did at the store?

cancel the APB

we are all four here and alive.

turns out layla is way more attached to mommy than i remember judah being and girl cant drain a mammary nearly as fast as i remember him being able to. but maybe i just cant remember the way early days with him. (is it normal for a newborn to take like an hour per feeding?)

i have been pretty overwhelmed by how many emails, calls, blog posts and facebook messages that i owe folks, so i kind of went ultra-hermit on the internet in general this past week and didn't get on at all. but tapping on these keys is actually feeling pretty good, so hopefully we'll be back with some sort of regularity soon.

p.s. she's awesome. 2 weeks old today.

in case you were wondering...

...yep, this is hard

i had always figured a post that started like this would come soon after having two kids. but i thought it would be a bit later. like after jesse's week of paternity leave is over. after every meal we eat stops being prepared by someone else. after the offers to help with judah stopped rolling in and being accepted. you know, when it actually became real life.

not before. didn't see that coming. but here we are. it's hard in ways i never expected.

but the good news is that for everyone who told me how hard it would be, there were two who told me how my heart and love for my family would grow by much more than a factor of 2. they were right too. so i'll keep at it.

i miss the hospital. it was like camp.

the moment we landed at home. now what do we do with these things?

yeah buddy, i know how you feel.

learning to share. he's doing so well at it.

yeah kiddo, we're in this together.

ok so maybe some people aren't struggling as bad as others. gee willy, that's adorable

any tips on life with plural kids would be much appreciated.

newborn session

falling hard for this little girlie bean over at the dukes' house. getting up and ready for a photoshoot this morning after our first night home wasn't easy, but man these really make it worth it.

o.m.g.

judah lasted about 5 minutes at the session before melting down. this was the only evidence we'll have that he was there. poor kid. he's so sweet with her but wasn't ready for the solo hold

that's her going home from the hospital headband i made. judah loved it and kept trying to take her "hat" from her

not an effective form of birth control

intimate moments, much? love this. ahhhhhhh! simulated nakie fam. check out her skintone putting ours to shame

blogging one handed while breastfeeding is fun and all, but this is where i leave you.

in the meantime

Jesse here. We're about to head home, but I wanted to give you guys some pictures from the last two days at the hospital. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and for all the wonderful gifts we received. We love you all even though we forgot to get pictures of almost everyone who came!

mad props to adrienne for helping bring 2 dukes into the world, we heart you big

special thanks to lena for documenting everything (no detags here!)

hope you're not too scarred to have kids of your own one day after all that you witnessed:)

judah was keeping his distance at first, but then warmed up

grandvincents looking quite proud

not sure why judah and I didn't make this one, maybe the creepy pacifier face is our stand in

he eventually warmed up and was having a blast

all the current residents of ebenhearth (dukes homestead), with layla-boo

nothing like getting two more cousins in a weekend (our sister in law jackie's sister had a baby girl on friday so sophie and bella tripled their cousin allotment this weekend!)

it's laughable to imagine getting everyone to look in one picture (even the 'cloud' couldn't save this one)

judah trying to get a new perspective on this malarkey

no matter how many more we'll have, there will always be time for this

the hunts continued to score major points when elliot brought WH for dinner. an allstar for the allstar

elliot getting frisky with the camera angles

her very own brasfield tee; she'll be on the job site in no time

DAY TWO:

naptime snuggles with mom

it was dreary all day monday, but it made for a cool picture

24 hour birthday!

we had to check kara's bag when she left to make sure she wasn't

trying the ol' layla boo switcheroo

DAY THREE:

oh hi!

all this sleeping and pooping is wearing me out

why am i so freakin' cute? i don't know!

my. heart. is. melting.

chica has some BIG feet . g-ma genia said, "she'll be able to play front row!"

she's already got me doing whatever she wants!

you want a turn?

...you'll have to pry her away from mom

hey baby!

oh you guys, it was so hard. so intense. so worth it. our little bundle of love is in our arms. she is a little alien gremlin and we are beyond in love with the beautiful little lady.

MUCH more to come, but we know what you(and we!) want right now: more of this miss to feast your eyes on.

ALLSTAR line up. seriously.

looking a lot like judah. even though she was 2 whole inches longer than him!

hi there fuzzy snugglebuns

about to chow down

um hi. like 45 minutes after birth. i am in my own clothes and standing up. there's the difference between a 1st and 4th degree tear and NO PITOCIN!

aaaaand let the smitten-ing begin

howdy sissy!

sigh

family of four!?!?! what planet have i landed on

he's a goner

"buh-bee." get a load of her squnchness! love it

can't even believe it's all over and all just beginning

you were worth it, miss lady.