6 weeks and family time!

Well we have been keeping busy!  Life is definitely not dull with two boys.  Nolan provides us with endless entertainment with his growing imagination, play, and commentary.  The boy sure is a chatter box.  He also continues to love on his little brother, a little too much at times, but I'd rather have this than him not wanting Lucas around.  Lucas continues to grow like a weed.  Today Lucas and I both had doctor's appointments.  I was excited to see how much he weighed because 2 weeks ago at the breastfeeding support group he weighed almost 11 pounds.  Today he weighed in at 12lbs 9oz. and is 24in long!  That puts him in the 90th percentile for height and 95th for weight!  Nolan definitely was not this big at this age and was always in the 20-25th percentile for both height and weight (he's now up in the 50th).  Besides growing, Lucas continues to be a great sleeper.  He's started to have some 5 hour stretches at night, which is awesome for me.  He is also becoming more alert and interactive.  It is fun to lay on the floor with him during tummy time and watch his different facial expressions.  We've even had some smiles (none that I've been able to capture on camera yet..).

I have also survived two full days alone with the boys (and many Monday and Tuesday evenings while Kevin is at private practice).  Nolan is continuing to go to daycare but daycare was closed last week so I had the boys all to myself on Thursday and Friday.  I even survived an 8am-bedtime day alone with the boys on Friday.  Lucas being such a calm baby definitely makes these times a lot easier than I anticipated they would be.  Now I have had some "pull out my hair" moments but overall it's been a lot of fun.

In other happenings we recently enjoyed time with my siblings, their significant others and my mom.  My brothers had only seen Lucas on Skype so it was fun for them to finally meet him and to see Nolan again.  We spent one night all together at my mom's before heading to Michigan for our extended Gingrich family reunion (GGG).  We hadn't had a family reunion like this since 2004 so it was wonderful to have everyone together again and to meet all the new family members that have been added through marriage and birth over the last several years.  We were especially excited to meet Jordan, my cousin's son who was born 18 days after Lucas (Jordan's older brother Tyson was born 11 days after Nolan!! :)).  We had a great time!

Here are some pictures from our family time together:

Aunt Rach

Excited to go see family!

Little cousins playing Minute to Win it game.  So much fun!

Family photo

Nolan looking at frogs in the pond...yes, he did fall in!

Nolan loved the nature center and spent HOURS in there looking at the turtles, birds, snakes, etc.

Buddies :)

GGG variety show

Nolan totally captivated by the music

Proud uncles

So sweet.  Snuggle time with uncle jonny

Puzzle and cousin chat time

Rach, Jon, Jeff, and Britta with Lucas

Nolan and his buddy Tyson holding hands and walking to breakfast.

Me and Lucas with Carrie and Jordan.  I think Lucas and Jordan are going to be best buds like their older brothers are.  

Me and the boys with my cousin Allison and her son Samuel (they live in England)

Cooking with Uncle Jeff

Bath in Grandma's sink