the optimistic duke: Life Lately

I am coming up on 4 weeks into maternity leave and it has been seriously jam packed! I am so thankful for a little more confidence this go around to get out of the house. The first few weeks were so sleep-filled for Theo, and I wanted to take advantage and get some fresh air and stay "busy" so I could try to avoid cabin fever. My biggest triggers for anxiety/depression tend to come when I'm cooped up in the house too long so the ability to get out has been a big win!

Week 1 obviously involved 3 days at the hospital before bringing our crazy crew home and figuring out life as a family of 4. Duke has kept his daycare routine as much for his benefit as for mine! He loves daycare, loves his friends, and I just knew he would be bored out of his mind if he was stuck with Theo and I on the couch for nursing sessions every 2-3 hours. I also knew it would seriously limit my ability to get out and do anything because 2 babies 18 months and under is a lot.

We went to Olive Garden over the weekend with my family, just like we did with Duke on day 5 of his life and ventured out to do a little furniture shopping. We ended up with new couches and new coffee and end tables and we LOVE them. Our old couches had survived many years of spills, tears {under the cushion so not visible but made for some uncomfortable sagging cushions} and Capone. We used to let him on the furniture pre-kids and while we had a great couch cleaner in Colorado, we haven't been so lucky here {plus it gets super expensive to keep up!}. Anyway, I am obsessed with our new stuff and love how much cleaner our living room is!

We started off week 2 with Theo's 1-week appointment where they informed us he was back up to birth weight {yay successful breastfeeding!} and he had shrunk half an inch. Just kidding...we're pretty sure the nurse read the tape measure wrong when he was born and he was actually 20.25 inches instead of 20.75.

We then had 2 perfectly low key days at home before welcoming some awesome visitors! Theo's Uncle Nick and Aunt Sarah came along with their little boy and Duke's Nonni {Dennis' mom}. They spent Thursday-Sunday with us and we enjoyed plenty of quality time playing at our house, playtime at the park and a little swimming at their hotel pool. It was a wonderful visit and we were super thankful they braved the drive with a 6 month old to meet our brand new baby boy and spend some quality time with Duke. We also had Theo's newborn pictures taken!

Week 3:

We had more awesome visitors in week 3 when my sister came into town from Colorado for a nice long 5 day weekend! We had wonderful low key days with Theo mixed in with crazy days with Duke, Theo and their cousins Ashlan and Shelan plus my sisters and parents. It was fantastic! We celebrated Easter and Theo met most of my extended family on my dad's side. Theo started to wake up a little bit more this week and we got to check out his beautiful blue eyes and sweet observant face. He is taking in all the sights these days and checking out his new world. Duke is thrilled with all the extra time we spend at my parent's farm because it involves LOTS of grandma and grandpa time and constant exploration.

Theo turns 4 weeks old tomorrow and officially will be 1 month old on Friday! We're finding these days that the evenings are pure chaos, which we both expected. It's naturally Duke's most difficult time of day because he's worn out from daycare, hungry, extra irritable and craving lots of mama snuggles. It's also the time of day that Theo wants to eat nonstop. My supply is lower in the evenings so we cluster feed and I do my best to juggle both boys in my lap off and on for 3 hours. :)

Dennis traveled to Colorado this past weekend to visit his grandfather who passed away yesterday. We were so thankful he was able to be there and he spent 3 days with his grandpa at the hospital, holding his hands, and playing Greek music and telling him how much we all love him. We will miss him terribly- he was such a sweet man and loved his family fiercely. He lost his wife 2 years ago, though, and has been wanting to be with her every minute since then so I think we're all resting a little easier knowing they are finally together again.

My parents were basically at my beck and call to help with the boys while Dennis was gone and we made sure to have lots of adventures and outings over the weekend to keep all of us occupied and happy! We're happy to have Dennis home for a few days before we travel back to Colorado as a family soon. So far life continues to be full of love and a whole lotta crazy and we wouldn't have it any other way! Theo fits right into the mix and it's hard to imagine life without his sweet little face.