Swearingen Siblings +Nanny

I barely had time between our last two rounds of visitors to change the sheets on the bed. . . let alone post about the Swearingen Sibling +Nanny weekend. We were so glad that Christopher's grandmother & sister were able to come along with Travis & Aftin for a weekend visit. Jacob loved being loved on/held and Joseph loved the entertainment. As seen the video several posts previous . . . he also got in on a few hands of Rook. He'll be a pro in no time.

visitors

I took the last of our visitors (Natalie) to the airport this morning. It has been so great to have almost all of our immediate family here to visit in the past 3 1/2 weeks. We've enjoyed showing them our new city, new home and new baby! This past week found us on-the-go with our visitors which was refreshing after a couple weeks of recuperation. I'm happy to say that I seemed to recuperate a lot faster this time. In addition to our day out downtown (Clinton Library, etc.) and day at the Zoo, a day was also spent helping my sister Natalie start her baby registries. I can't wait to meet my new niece in September!

Joseph loved having Rudy here too. That poor dog is probably more than ready for his vacation to end.

right before Aunt Meggie's departure. Joseph cried that he wasn't going home with Uncle Chris. I told him that I would miss him too much!Can you find the baby?
Joseph with his new rocket launcher (gift from his aunts). Such a fun toy for a little boy who has been counting down the launches of various objects for quite some time now.
My beautiful sisters - waiting for a table at Cajun's Warf.

powder room

My sisters were here this past week and I'd been saving a task for them. Our powder room is very small and I thought it would be overwhelming to paint the entire thing a new color and thought that anything else hanging on the wall would feel claustrophobic. So I had them do a little subtle mural work.

BEFORE

INSPIRATION: bathroom mirror

AFTER

Thank you girls!!! I love it.

Zoo Day

One of the great things about getting company - you get to be a tourist in your own town. This is especially great if you've just moved somewhere new. Chris, Megan, Joseph, Jacob & I ventured out to the Little Rock Zoo yesterday for some fun with the animals. I was more impressed by our Zoo than I expected I would be and think we'll be going back often.

3 weeks old

Jacob turned three weeks old yesterday and we celebrated with a trip to the Oval Office. . . .

at the Clinton Library.

Other events of the day:

A walk around downtown Little Rock

Lunch at Bosco's
Tour of the Old Statehouse Museum
Dinner at Sim's BBQ

great-grandmother

Christopher's siblings and Nanny (grandmother) came to visit us this weekend. We were so excited they were able to come. Jacob is very much enjoying his time with everyone.

Joseph's first Rook game

photo shoot

Natalie & Megan / Frank & Joe

Subconsciously I expected Jacob to look like Joseph as a baby. After he was born we just kept looking at him, surprised by the dark hair and olive skin. Once I compared him to my baby picture it made more sense. And then I thought about my sisters. Natalie is tall, blue-eyed and blond. Megan is petite, brown-eyed and brunette. Then another similarly colored sibling duo popped into my mind . . . Frank & Joe Hardy. I know - fictional - but I was a fan in Jr. High and still have Hardy Boy and Nancy Drew books on my shelves. I will even admit that I've read some of them recently (as in the last year). But I decided to keep my revelation to myself.

Until this conversation a few days later:
Dad: you know who your boys remind me of?
Me: who?
Dad: Frank & Joe Hardy
Me: I know, right???!!!!!

as further example of how weirdly our minds work alike . . . . this conversation took place a few months after I got my first car at 16:

Me: So when I have my windshield wipers on intermittent I can count to 16 between wipes.
Mom: you count between the wipes? That's kind of weird.
Dad: It's 18 in the truck.

2 weeks old!

Jacob is a dream baby just like Joseph was. He hardly ever cries and has been sleeping for long amounts of time at night. The first several days he would wake up twice a night for feedings but has been getting up only once a night consistently for over a week. In fact, he slept from 10 pm to 6 am once this week. We are all in love with this sweet boy. Joseph wants his bed to be touching his chair at the table during meal time and likes to "entertain" him at other times. He loves to kiss that soft head and does it very gently.

Sports Day

Joseph's school is having a theme week. Today's theme is sports and the kids were encouraged to wear/bring their sports gear. Here is Joseph ready for school. Vintage Notre Dame/Montana shirt: check
Cubs Hat: check
Chick-fil-A football: check
picture of him holding baby Jacob for the class sibling wall: check
Red George: as always - double check

Beautiful Sunday

My parents left this morning and we found ourselves on our own for the first time since Jacob's birth. Thank you so much to both sets of our parents who pitched in with laundry, meals, cleaning. I think we'll be able to survive this week. :-) Soon we will also have pictures of our much-more-completed bonus room which will eventually be Joseph's new room thanks to Grandpa Joe. We are looking forward to our next guests arriving this weekend - Christopher's siblings and Nanny! Soon after their departure my siblings will be arriving.

We took advantage of our beautiful Sunday to get out our new stroller and take a walk around the neighborhood. We also admired our thriving flowers that I planted a few days before Jacob was born.