a few random pictures

We are still loving life with two kiddos, although it's been a little stressful lately with Graham still not showing any signs of sleeping longer stretches at night. I am starting to get a little weepy and randomly angry over very random things and I am pretty sure it's the constant lack of sleep. It's been nine weeks and on the one hand I know that isn't that long, but on the other hand it feels like it's been FOREVER. It would be bearable if only we knew when it would get better, right? When Dane was this age, he was already only waking up once per night--and I kind of secretly thought we were just awesome parents for figuring that out so easily. Turns out we didn't know anything and were just super lucky--should have known that all along! This parenting thing sure is out there to humble you and bring you down to the dust, whether by physical deprivation or by emotional stretching--you name it. But MAN that Graham boy sure is getting cute and smiley and talkative, so it's all worth it.

We brought Graham to church for the first time last week, at eight weeks old. We only ended up staying for sacrament meeting, because Dane was coughing up a storm and not fit for nursery, and Graham was a little sick too. But he sure looked HANDSOME in his brand new church outfit that Sister Gebara sent us!

First day back at church for Mom too! 

Dane has really been into tea parties and picnics lately. He likes to spread out a blanket and arrange his trucks and cars on it and tell me they've all come to a tea party with him. We'll give him a string cheese and some water and he's totally satisfied. 

Always nice to share with baby brother.

So much love for his brother. It's hard to resist that big brotherly love!

Hello tiny friend! Looking good!

Tommy resurrected a Leininger family tradition and we had a picnic pizza dinner while watching a movie last night. We watched the Incredibles together and Dane was totally into it the whole time. 

Today, for Graham's second time at church, we stayed the whole time AND Graham and Dane accidentally ended up matching! They both looked super handsome. I can't get over Graham in his overalls... I absolutely LOVE it.

Love these two boys--even when they are driving me crazy and making us sleepless!

A visit from Aunt Kiki!

We were sooo happy to have Kristen come visit us this week! Seriously, we felt so honored to have her spend one of her off-track weeks from teaching to come visit us. We wanted to entertain her and show her the amazing sights of Dallas, but ended up staying really close to home and basically not doing anything the whole time--and luckily, she was a super gracious guest and didn't mind. We went to the splash pad, to a bounce house place for Dane to jump in, and to several fun places to eat around here, including Babe's Chicken Dinner House (which is just as awesome as it sounds for fried chicken). She was soo helpful for me too--she babysat Dane while I took Graham to his 2-month doctor's appointment, and she was Dane's best friend to play with all week (which was the biggest help of all!). We spent some two hours trying to put together a gliding bench I bought at Aldi (there was the mistake right there), only to get to the last step and find out they didn't give us enough screws. But the best part was just having her here to talk to and hang out with during the day--so nice to have some adult conversation and someone to be with during all the craziness of every day. Unfortunately, it was all so low-key that we didn't take many pictures--but it was such a great week anyways. THANK YOU Kiki for making our week so much brighter and more fun!

She tried all week to get a good picture with Dane where he was actually smiling and looking at the camera--and finally, success!

Having a tea party outside with some muddy water from Dane's water table, haha.

On Friday, before dropping Kristen off at the airport, we went to an aquarium in Dallas, and Dane loved looking at all the fish. This was the only thing we took pictures of really, haha!

Very nervous around the crabs. The worker was trying to get him to touch a hermit crab and Dane was not having it.

Also very nervous about this albino alligator. Kristen had to keep him safe here.

And he wouldn't touch the stingrays either. I was a little worried he was going to have nightmares after all these animals he was scared of at the aquarium, actually--but we've been good so far!

We splurged on the $2 and bought fish to feed the stingrays with--they swim right up and suck them out of your hand. Sooo scary! (Dane refused to do it, so Kristen and I did it ourselves.)

And then Dane ran around in the little fountain outside of the aquarium before driving to the airport.

Graham was there for everything too, promise! 

We had a great time with Kristen here. We were sad to see her go, but it just makes us even more excited for our upcoming family reunions at Bear Lake and Aspen Grove. We CAN'T WAIT!

Seven Weeks so far...

For some reason this last week, the seventh week (or wait, the eighth? Up until he was seven weeks old?) has been the hardest so far. Probably because Graham is waking up and not asleep constantly, and he's not showing any signs of sleeping longer stretches at night so Tommy and I are both pretty much exhausted. Really, I think it's been harder because I've tried to actually DO things, and accomplish stuff on my to-do list, and I should just know that that's not very realistic and is only going to end up in frustration. And, like horses who can sense fear, these two boys can sense the stress and exhaustion and frustration in the air, and try to push buttons and take advantage of our weakness. And really, I just mean Dane when I say "two boys," because LOOK AT THIS FACE:

He could never do anything naughty!

But then again, look at BOTH of these faces. This was totally not posed--Dane loves laying down next to Graham and "snuggling" with him and holding his hand. 

This is why we take pictures of them--so we can remember how cute they are after a long hard day and you are realizing tomorrow you have to go through it all again.

Bummer that this is blurry. Other than the hospital, this is the only family picture we've taken since Graham was born. PARENT FAIL! But we've taken tons of pictures of Graham himself, at least, so he's been totally documented so far. We'll get lots of family pictures at our family reunions this summer. For sure.

Matching boys!

He's a little Texan! Haha, only in Texas would they sell onesies with a map of the state on it. 

Graham is starting to really be interested in Dane--he tries to follow him with his eyes when Dane's bouncing around him. It's pretty darn cute.

Okay, he is so cute. I'm starting to forgive him for spending all weekend only napping in 30-minute spurts and being super grumpy. (Or maybe the grumpy one was just me... I can't remember exactly.)

The most exciting thing that happened recently is that Dane was handed down a TRIKE from some neighbors who are moving. The mom offered to give us this trike months ago, but we'd both kind of forgotten about it until she just dropped it by this week. And every single day since, as soon as Dane wakes up in the morning, the only thing he wants to do is to go ride his trike. And same thing when he wakes up from his nap. He refuses to learn how to pedal, so he just pushes himself along with his feet, but he sure thinks he's speeding along as it is and doesn't seem to mind, so we'll let him figure out the pedaling eventually. We've spent a good amount of time on our driveway and sidewalk this week letting Dane practice on his trike.

Super cute father and son.

We've got a new, fresh start this week, so I will try to keep us all happy this week. Phew!

Father-Son Campout

Last weekend, Tommy and Dane got to go to our ward father-son campout. I think I was more excited for them to go than either of them were--I just knew how much FUN Dane was going to have and I was practically giddy with thinking of how cute it was for them to be there together. Dane has been SUCH a trooper with all the adjusting we've all had to do around here, and he really deserved some serious one-on-one time with his dad and playtime with his friends at the campout. So Graham and I had a quiet evening here at home while they went camping. It has been SO rainy here all month, but despite the forecast, it was clear (almost) the whole time they went, and they didn't even come home totally muddy. 

This is how excited they were to go:

Dane is still trying to figure out how to do "thumbs up."

I told Dane, "I'll miss you so much! I'm going to cry the whole time you're gone!" and halfway to the campgrounds, he told Tommy, "Mommy's crying right now!"

Dane was in heaven the whole time. He spent all evening and all morning wandering around with the other two-year-old boys who were there, playing in the fields, playing soccer, and dragging around some really huge sticks.

Dane and his friend Liam.

Dane and Ben carrying an enormous stick together.

They both had their own little monkey chairs from Kroger.

After a long night in the tent--still smiling and happy! (This was inside the tent, which is why it's all pink.)

They had a blast. Tommy possibly got an even better night of sleep in the tent than he would have here--courtesy of Graham--and Dane seriously could not have been happier. There were a few meltdowns on Saturday because of how tired he was, but it was totally worth it. If only Tommy could bring Dane camping with him on the Scout campouts--Dane would be in heaven! Maybe in a few years that would be manageable... but as it is, this one time was a treat for them.

smiles

He smiled for the first time on Mother's Day (what a thoughtful Mother's Day present!), and he's been perfecting it ever since.

It's just too good!

good news!

So good news--this whole transition to two kids has been a lot better than I expected. Things are going really well. But right now, the babe is crying, so I can't write more, but here are a few pictures.

"I dig my dad" and "I dig mommy." So cute!