This year marks seven years since Joe and I got married in 2003.

And now,
2 babies,
5 moves,
2 cars,
3 college degrees,
6 jobs,
3 states,
1 major surgery,
3 computers,
1 adoption,
1 home birth,
and a complete set of dining chairs later...

I'm still as happy as ever.

April 29, 2003
Belmont, Massachusetts

Spring 2004

Delicate Arch

Moab, Utah

Summer 2005
BYU Campus
Provo, Utah

Spring 2006
Terraced Gardens, BYU
Provo, Utah

Spring 2007
Our front Yard with the grape hyacinths
Provo, Utah

February 2008
Ely Cathedral
Ely, Cambridgeshire, England

Fall 2009
Waimea Falls
North Shore, Oahu

2010ish (Sorry, this is a Christmas Card reject...we've yet to take a family picture in 2010...oops!)

And here's to anniversaries ad infinitum.
Happy Anniversary, Joseph.
I love you.

A Bath at GG's

I couldn't resist posting these pictures...Over Patriot's Day weekend when we were down on the Cape, Natalie and Ian had a great time helping bathe Blake in GG's kitchen sink. Special thanks to GG for the pictures!

{jen2.0 has been updated}

Our local flora and fauna.

While Jen was working in the kitchen, me and the boys (Ha! I got to say "me and the boys!") went out into the yard, fired up the grill, then did a survey of some of the life around our back yard. The shots are via cell phone, and many of them are new to me, but I'll try my best. Google helps in identifying the unknown flora. First of all, lets take a look at the flora.

My first specimen is a lovely duet of dandelion in a patch of moss. Those of you with lawns will identify both of these as atrocities and the enemy to all grass. I'm sorry if I've offended you, but for our damp, shaded backyard, we go strictly natural. Trust me, a couple of years ago I spread a bluegrass-fescue mix of seed, and the moss thought it was moss-fertilizer. We've come to appreciate the scenery however it is generated.



Here we have some ferns marking one of the edges of the yard. These I'm not very certain about. They don't present themselves like some of our other ferns.


Which is to say, they don't seem to "unfurl" the way the fiddleheads do in the early springtime. Did you know you can harvest fiddleheads, steam them, and they taste like a mix between asparagus and broccoli greens? I'll only harvest when I am put in charge of the menu, because I'm not sure Jen will eat them with me, and they are so dang beautiful when they are all bloomed out.These little white guys are also unknown to me. Sorry. I'll update if you find something conclusive. Remember, something native to New England.
This one we have sprouting up at the neighbors bulkhead. I don't think it's native, as I recall the neighbor mentioning that he transplanted it some years ago...

Okay, okay, I'll get serious. We have various blooms of grape hyacinth in the yard... and I put out a few more bulbs along our rock wall this spring. They haven't come up, and it may be that I should have put them in the ground before winter instead of during mud season.



Here we have Yellow Archangel, which is a very lovely ground-cover. The back third of the backyard is a matte of it, interspersed with the invasive concord grape that will be coming alive in a few weeks. (No, I've never gotten grapes off our vines because the pesky birds get to them before the fruit matures!)

I'm sure you have some Daffodils around your neck of the woods, as they grow just about anywhere.

This year we have a lovely crop of Common Blue Violets along the northerly rock wall, which I find particularly peaceful. Isn't that just the way rock walls are supposed to look?

This is Pleniflora, or Wild Yellow Rose. They are pretty magnificent. When Ian noticed them, he was shocked at such beautiful yellow flowers.

And of course, we love finding Bleeding Hearts. I Found a couple more of these growing deeper in the woods... I wonder if I could transplant them closer to the house here where we can enjoy them?

We've made some alterations to the pristine forest. For example, meet Cousin Tree. Officially, he has been named "Park Smith Holler," though Ian has never told me how that name was chosen. The answer, simply, is that he is a cousin tree.


Ian really loves this tree. I don't know why.

We augmented Park Smith Holler with a bat house this spring, and are hoping for a nursery to take up residency... but if we can't get a nursery, we'd settle for a bachelor pad. Even bachelor bats can do some serious damage to the mosquito population. I haven't seen any evidence of occupancy yet.






Ian discovered a cute little bundle trying to hide in the crevice of a rock. I thought he was pretty cute, so I thought we could take him home and keep him.
Here he is in his not-so natural habitat.

Turns out this little Blake likes to cuddle and be held close. Ian did the honors on the old cell phone cam.
He seems pretty prone to sleeping, even if you have him just propped up looking at you. After a while, he can't help but close his eyes.

Even Jen really likes our find. He's sure a cutie! I have a great family. ;)
Hope you enjoyed this installment of "Cell Phone Camera Tours by Joe." Stay tuned for next time.

*A few violets and dandelions were harmed in the taking of these shots, thanks to my favorite 4-year old.

To What We've Been Up....

It's been a great week thus far--we've had some great weather, great visitors, and great hosts! On Monday, Blake passed the 1-month mark...so far, I don't think my parenting has ruined him yet! He's chunking up nicely (about 12 pounds now), and has even started to smile a little bit (a very redeeming thing when your face is covered in baby acne).

Vic, Molly, and Peter were in town on business and stopped by for a visit. I couldn't get enough of that little Peter...SO cute and cuddly. Also, he gets points in my book for becoming converted to the sticky rice at the Thai Diner.

Here's how we found Ian sleeping the other night...with a head lamp on. And when I say "we," I mean, "Joe," because I didn't find out about the head lamp until the middle of the night when Ian came into my bedroom (head lamp on) to tell me he had a bad dream. Only I thought he was a murderer shining a flashlight in my eyes. We worked it out, though.

For Patriot's Day weekend (sorry to all of you who don't live in Massachusetts or Maine--the only two states that actually celebrate Patriot's Day), we escaped down to Cape Cod to visit my grandparents---also attending said visit were my mom and little sister, Natalie. A fun time was had by all. (Especially my mom, who got her Lost fix). =)

This was a milestone: the first nap Blake has ever taken that wasn't entirely on a person. I was so proud of him. Only took him a month to learn. Side note: the blanket is not suffocating him, I promise.

Blake got some good cuddles in with GG this weekend. There's something about grandmothers that certainly calms babies!

Give Ian glue and he's occupied for hours. Pasta is our new favorite craft medium. And Ian insists on having brown paper bags used as his back drop. Today he made two horses out of penne, macaroni, and mini farfalle. (Side note: Barilla Piccolini rock my socks).

Blake is slowly learning to like being in other places than my arms. The bouncy seat is nice, because it gives the illusion of being held a little bit. I keep it on the kitchen table while he's immobile...after that, I don't know what I'm going to do. We'll figure something out. =)

Answering Your Questions

I've heard from lots of you since Blake was born. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your kind thoughts and wishes! We've really felt loved during this exciting time for our family!!

That being said, I know that we haven't been as good at responding to all of you! Between having a baby who loves to be held and the sheer exhaustion of learning how to balance two children, our emailing has sat waiting. Hopefully this post will answer most of the questions you've asked....so without further ado, might I present the answers to your most Frequently Asked Questions.

1. How are you? We're all doing well. My recovery has been swift and we've had lots of help (with special thanks to my mom, Joe's mom, and many close friends nearby). With the possible exception of forcing my husband to break the Sabbath by making an emergency run to Stop & Shop to get me some Lansinoh, we've really been well-prepared and well-stocked on everything we've needed. (And I'm 99.9% sure that the Lansinoh run was what pulled my ox out of the mire.)

2. Are you tired? Yes. Very. I'm not gonna lie. But I'm no different, I'm sure, than the other millions of women who birth babies and--in turn--must then feed said babies around the clock. It's a rite of passage. I just wish it was more a rite of passage for my husband. =) (No, really, Joe DOES make a significant nighttime contribution. He tells me what time it is after I poke his shoulder for five minutes to wake him. Nooooooo.... he does more than that. He also changes all nighttime diapers. Which is an actual big deal. Telling me what time it is is also a big deal... but the whole making-it-so-I-don't-have-to-actually-leave-my-bed thing is an even bigger deal.)

3. How is Ian? I'm pretty sure that Ian is doing exponentially better than my post-partum guilt would indicate. He's had lots of time to play with grandmothers, friends, and Joe. He's happy, he's sleeping well, he isn't acting out or regressing in his behavior or potty training....really, he's still the kind, gentle, wonderful child that he's always been. And he LOVES being a big brother.

4. Wow! You homebirthed! Isn't that really dangerous? This might be one of the questions we're getting the most. First, let me preface this by saying that home birth is extremely safe for low-risk pregnancies. If, for some reason, you have a high-risk pregnancy, I realize that there is a reason we have hospitals and OB's--and for that, I'm grateful. Joseph and I both have family members who needed hospitals for their births, and we are so thankful for modern obstetric care. But when I speak of the safety of home birth, remember that I'm speaking within the confines of low-risk pregnancy. (I'll add here that I would also consider home birth for some situations which *could* be classified as adding increased risk: presenting breech, twins, and VBAC to be specific.)

There is clear evidence of the safety of home birth. In some studies of low-risk births, it's even been published that home birth offers increased safety. You can find links to several published studies in this post over at Birth Faith (her post on home birth is better than anything I could write). You might also enjoy this post regarding the same subject.

We chose a midwife with more than 30 years of experience....and in that 30 years she has never had a maternal death. (Can your OB say that?) In the last year, she has had only 2 hospital transfers, and one of those was for an epidural, not for medical necessity.

It didn't take us long to feel comfortable with the safety aspect of home birth. The evidence was clear and indisputable. Choosing home birth for us was then more an issue of choosing the kind of birth we wanted. And at 37 weeks gestation, we realized that what we really wanted was to be at home.

5. How's Blake? OhMyGoodness, this child is wonderful. He's cute and cuddly and amazing. It also appears that I have produced a blue-eyed child, which boggles my mind to no end. Oh, and also? He was spared my feet. I look at them often and tell him to be grateful for his father's wonderful feet. And he's tall. Still trying to wrap our minds around that one.

6. Is Blake sleeping well? I think so. Ask me again at 3am. =)

Life is pretty grand, I'd say. We stole away to the Cape this weekend to visit my grandparents... Tomorrow marks 3 years to the day that we moved to Massachusetts....and we're feeling pretty great about how far we've come in those 3 years. Also, it's the longest we've ever lived in one house. =) Three years without moving is pretty stellar, too. Ha!

More pictures to come soon.

...because GG needs to see pictures!

**Warning!! Warning** The following pictures may [will] contain many dark eye circles.

Got to meet Papa Pratt when the fam was passing through town on the way to the Cape for Easter. Not quite sure what's going on with Blake's lip here...but I think it's kinda funny.

Here's Ian decorating a cookie at the primary Easter Egg Hunt...

The weather really was beautiful Easter weekend. Ian was quite excited to find his share of eggs!

When Aunt Sharalea sent this sleeping mask along, I don't quite think she intended it for Ian. (After all, these days he's the one getting the most uninterrupted sleep). That said, he still looks quite disarming, don't you think?

Don't ever try and separate this kid from his legos. He's getting quite advanced with his building, I'd say. His favorite thing to build are machines and people...and they're excellent.

We had a little egg hunt on Easter morning at our house, as well. But we only found 10 out of 12 eggs....couldn't remember where we hid the other 2....oops!

Okay, so this was like the most beautiful gummy I've ever seen! This set of Veggie Tales gummies were [dare I say it] beautiful! Gelatin artistry at its best!!!

We recently became members of the Boston Museum of Science, and we ventured out for the first time as a family of four on Friday night. For the record, Blake was not a fan of the snugli.

Wish I'd done better with the angle...it really was a cool exhibit.

This was taken just moments before Blake got quite angry that we'd put him in the snugli again. He's very good at communicating.

Here's your one and only post-baby-body shot of me. It's all you're gettin', folks.

Ian has been a tremendous big brother. He's helpful and gentle and kind...I really couldn't have asked for a better sidekick in all of this. Though, he makes me pay fifty-six cents per diaper that he gives me. (He's decided to keep my downstairs stash of diapers in a corner of the living room he's set up to be his "store." Anytime I want a diaper, I must pay.)

Annnnnnnnnnnnd this is the view I have for most of my day....a baby sleeping on a pillow on my lap.

Blake is such a different baby than Ian was. Ian wanted to sleep in his crib, and only in his crib. No cuddling/rocking/snuggling to sleep. And forget about sleeping while being held. This had its [many] advantages, however. Like...um...he was sleeping through the night at six weeks....and I could shower. Or cook. Or eat. (I'm realizing now that I'll lose all of the baby weight with that magical combination of breast feeding and not-having-three-seconds-to-scarf-down-a-piece-of-toast.)

Blake, on the other hand, wants to be held/cuddled/snuggled 24/7. This is fantastic for my mothering self esteem. Not so fantastic for my personal hygiene.