The Farm

We were invited to our good friend's dad's "farm" this past weekend.  We always have such a blast when we're there.  The views are TO DIE FOR and to top it off, they just put in a brand new pool and pavilion and we lucked out with an end-of-September weekend that was warm enough to hang out poolside and go for a swim!  The pictures of this place speak for themselves, it is the ultimate relaxation spot!  A little piece of heaven in upstate NY.

Nathan - three months

Photo update of my sweet babe at 3 months!

big boy in his high chair!

Too cool for....naps, apparently...

I've been meaning to write this post about my big girl since July....it's still relevant now, only the ending of the story has slowly morphed into the demise of our beloved nap time [moment of silence, please]. so sad.

It all began at Gwen's 2.5 year Dr's visit.  Her pedi was pretty blunt about the fact that we should be getting rid of the pacifier .like.now. (even if she does only use it for sleeping).  Uuuhhhh ok lady, do you realize that we just brought a new baby into this girl's life?  Taking away her pah-pah could be devastating.  No thanks!  Fast forward about a week later to her first dentist appointment and apparently she was already showing signs of an overbite.  Ok, new plan...sayonara pah-pah!

After some planning and scheming (and stressing), Justin just decided to pull the trigger one night.  Literally from night one, the girl was a rock star!  She fell right asleep, no tears, nothing.  It was like she never even had it to begin with.  We even threw a "Big Girl Party" the next day to get her excited about the fact that she doesn't need her pacifier anymore!

Naps though, now they were a different story.  At first she would nap about 50% of the time without her pacifier.  This percentage slowly declined until she would ONLY nap for Daddy on weekends.  And now, sadly, the only time she'll nap is if my timing is just perfect and both kids are in the car fed, changed, happy, and tuckered out.  Each of these elements as crucial as the next because if anything is off, one of them is going to wake the other.  I've perfected a driving loop consisting of 3 highways around our house so that I never have to stop at a light or go any slower than what is necessary on an exit ramp.  Miraculously, I've gotten a couple of hour long naps for both kids out of it so far.

I'm pretty sure 2.5 years is pretty early to be done with naps.  And although I've thrown a few pity parties, I really can't feel that bad for myself.  For most of Gwen's life, she has given me very consistent 3-4 hour naps (and that was on top of 12-hour nights).  I'm not sure why all of a sudden she's ok with getting by on less sleep - including shaving an hour or so off of her overnight sleeps.  I keep hoping maybe it's just a phase.  But one thing I've learned as a parent is that just as you think you have things figured out, that's when they change.

Long Island

Big milestone here, people!  Nathan made his first visit to Long Island last week!  My parents took the ferry with me on Thursday to help out with the kiddos and Jackson, and Justin took the train and met us there on Friday.  We can always bet on a nice, relaxing visit and this time was no different with trips to the playground, visits with great friends, and just hanging out in Gram & Pa's backyard.  We also celebrated Justin's birthday while we were there.

Nathan's first ferry ride!

Nathan meeting Aunt Dre

Meeting Aunt Jessy

Gwen loved playing with the squirt gun.  In the second picture I was trying to spray it in her mouth hehe :)

Nathan loving the hammock, and who doesn't love that chick! (it's at least 30yrs old and still going strong)

Westhampton's annual art fair:

Happy 33, Daddy!

We had a blast and can't wait to go back!