Fall that goes on forever.

WOW this has been an incredible fall in MN. Yesterday was 72 degrees!!! Unheard of!
As such, I have been able to get back into every day life now that I'm pretty much healed! I've been enjoying getting back to my OULA dance class (even taught 1!), lots of cooking/organizing the house before I go back to work, lots of Yoga, and enjoying this beautiful weather!

Baking with My Boy

Football Season

Lake Nokomis

The Fall weather has allowed us to walk every day with Dean which he LOVED because of all the Halloween decorations. Celebrating a holiday with a 2 year old is the best! He loves everything about the "ghosts and witches!". He's been so sad that now all the decorations are gone, and I keep telling him Christmas is coming soon, but he doesn't quite get that yet. (Thanksgiving doesn't have many decorations.) He's sad he can't go trick-or-treating every day like we did Halloween week (thanks to the YMCA, Zoo and grocery stores!)

1st Trick or Treat-Kowalskis and YMCA

Didn't want to wear the ears

Minnie Mickey and a Skeleton

My Mickey Boys

We took our first trip to the cabin as just a family of 4 and enjoyed a nice relaxing weekend over MEA. The boys did pretty good, except for the night that the power went out and Dean got scared; and then the morning that he pooped so much it seeped out his diaper onto the floor, toys and his entire body, 5 minutes before we were going to leave lol.

Sarah also came to visit and met Benny for the first time! We enjoyed just doing every day things with her and she loved snuggling sweet Benny. We also got to visit Ms. Lisa's for the firetruck day and Dean was so excited!

We also enjoyed our annual trip to the apple orchard, this year we brought sweet Judah Bear and his family with. Dean couldn't get enough apples, at times had 2 in one hand. The only time he got grumpy was at the end for pictures with his brother!

Last fall activity we took part in was at Holz Family Farm, they have a fall farm day and all sorts of activities for kids! Benny enjoyed it sleeping in the Ergo , and Dean loved all the pumpkins, tractors, animals and music!

 Before Benny got too old we tried to take some newborn photos, and while I love the pictures of us as a family of 4, Benny's photos didn't turn out the way I hoped. It didn't help that he got a WILD case of acne the day before pictures, and that he and his brother screamed through most of the shoot...but we got it done!

Benny boy has hit another milestone, and continues to be an "easy" baby. I keep saying how thankful we had Dean first, and that I know to enjoy each hour of sleep or each hour he's not crying because it can always change! But right now I am loving how "easy" the transition from 1-2 has been. No it's not easy, but it's not as shocking as 0-1 is, and A BIG part is that I am currently sleeping 10-4, and 4:30-8. CAN'T COMPLAIN! As I speak both boys are napping.

LEH visited!

Dean continues to be a "good" big brother to Benny. Loves to give him hugs and kisses and make sure he has his "ba" (Pacifier) I can't wait to watch them continue to grow together and start to play and be real buddies! Speak of buddies we also can't wait to go to NC in a week and see Dean play with his cousins and 2nd cousins over Thanksgiving break. I hate to talk about Thanksgiving though because that means I go to work soon, and I am NOT ready to go back :( Our countries maternity leave laws HAVE to change, but until they do I must return because we need to get paid!

So for the next post look forward to lots of pictures of NC and pictures of our latest home improvement project, new tile in the kitchen and hardwood in the hallway! We had a fridge leak and had to replace the flooring, but lucky for us insurance covered the whole thing! While home improvement projects are a pain, we at least feel like it's a good upgrade for the home!

Bennett "Benny" James Aronson

Well our littlest man is almost 3 weeks old and I can't believe how quickly time is passing! I guess when you spend all your time snuggling, feeding and catching up on Netflix time flies!

First Bath

Benny made his debut into our lives on September 1st, 2016. At 6:25 Mark's alarm went off and I went to the bathroom. When I came back to bed I knew that it was the day he'd come! My water broke. I ran to Mark and said "you aren't going to work today!! We are having a baby!" Lucky for us he decided to come at 41 weeks so my mom was already in town and we knew she'd be able to take care of Dean for us.

We called the doctor and she said to take our time but to come in to the hospital within the next few hours. Mark enjoyed a final cup of coffee in quiet peace, I did some yoga, we packed up and headed for the hospital after rush hour traffic. I was having some contractions but they were very mild. At the hospital we got all the paperwork out of the way, found our room and still just a few contractions here and there. So we decided to go for a walk on the hospital grounds through this near bog. The walk definitely spurred the contractions and we decided to head back to our room around 3pm.

We started to play a few games of trivial pursuit while watching Flip or Flop but things started to get a little more intense and lucky for us this is when a volunteer doula at the hospital came in and started to give me a massage. From here things seemed to progress quickly as I labored with the help of our nurse, our souls, Mark and my doctor arrived. At this pint I asked for the tub and started to doubt my abilities to give birth (which everyone knows means you are at the end) but I had convinced myself we weren't at the end because it wasn't as hard as it had been with Dean.

At this point I asked for nitrous oxide and they told me I had to get out of the tub, well I got out and immediately felt the urge to push and less than 30 minutes I was holding my 8.2 lb dark haired sweet boy in my arms. It didn't feel real because deans birth was much more traumatic for me, but it was true! He was here and we are all healthy. 8:02 pm was when he made his appearance, early enough for us all to get a night of rest :)

Right after he's born

Mark seeing him up close

Dean Came To visit

Missed his mama!

Since bringing him home we have realized it wasn't just the birth that he was easier than Dean, in every respect he is a much more laid back baby. Now parts of it probably have to do with us knowing what to expect, but we are finding baby number two easier in many respects. It helps that my healing is going easier, and that I can actually sit, but it also helps that baby boy doesn't cry from 5-12am. Breastfeeding is also going a lot easier and my mom had been in town until Saturday helping take care of our boys.  But our biggest problem is sweet Dean!

Now don't get me wrong, Dean is the sweetest brother ever. He loves his "Baby Be!" But he is definitely in a terrible stage of tantrums and tears which is tough when we have our hands extra full. Lucky for Dean we love him loads and he will finish any tantrum with kisses for Baby or mama and daddy.

Now as Benny and I enjoy my maternity leave until Thanksgiving I'm hoping things stay "easy" as they are, and that we can just enjoy lots of sweet baby snuggles, visits from friends, lots of baking, a trip to NC and lots of fall activities!! And of course tons of baby pictures. Stay tuned for more to come