More vacation:

The zoned "eating a snack after swimming hard" look...

Layla had to bring out some of her toys to enjoy a ride too...I like how Tinkerbell gets to drive and Prince Charming has to ride in the back seat...

Finn throwing sand and digging puddles at the "lake."  

Cora smiling at Aunt Lauren.

Layla crying in the whirlpool tub because her princesses got wet...

This look.  I see this look many times a day.

The delight of the chase.

Checking out the bottom of the car.

This photo.  I can't EVEN.

Cool kids, coming through!!

Layla loved the massive whirlpool tub.  :)

85% of the riding time spent this way.

We're on "vacation." :)

The Berube family vacation this year is sort of more like a "stay-cation"...a word I rather dislike...but it's true about us this time.  We're 30 minutes away from home, in Stillwater MN--it's right along the St. Croix river.  A friend has a massive house out here, with tons of rooms, and he is gone on vacation this week, so he graciously allowed us all to crash at his house.  It's fun to all be together, but it's sort of funny to be 30 minutes away from home.  What IS nice about this is that Jonas can join us every night after work, rather than only joining us for weekends like he did for the last few years.  

Vacationing with an infant is not exactly a picnic for me, but it's still nice to at least be around family while doing all this "infant stuff."  ;)

More pictures later...for whatever reason (router?) the internet is pretty bad out here...always crashing.  

Jesus loves me.

Turns out....Cora is a napper!!  My other two did "fine" napping at this age, and in general...but this girl goes crazy!


Most days, 45 minutes to an hour after she wakes up, she wants to go down for a nap again.  This "nap" usually lasts 3 hours.  She eats in there, but goes right back down.  Yesterday?  Yesterday it was about 6 hours total.  6 hours.  She ate in there, of course, but...man!  And then she was up for a bit and went right back down again.  I get so much DONE during the day, compared to my other kids!  It's crazy! :)


Also, (And trust me, I know this is nothing I did, and it will likely change...)...for the last 2 nights, ALL.  THREE.  OF.  MY.  KIDS have slept until 8:00 a.m.  All 3 at the same time.  It's insanely delicious.  Today?  Today Cora and Finn slept until 8:15 a.m., and Layla slept until 9:15!  Gah!  I don't even know what to do with myself when I feel rested like this! ;)


So, I'm sure it'll be back to  choppy sleep later on, but for now, I'm loving this.


And of COURSE Cora doesn't sleep through the night now.  Pffffffffft.  :)  If you even thought that you are crazy!  But she nurses and goes right back to sleep, so for me, that counts as "nursing sleeping through the night."  ;)

Kitchen-counter chillin':

You can see Layla and Zoey Rydbeck in the background here...Zoey (and her parents) is staying with us  until Friday evening.  We are doing LOTS of princess dress up and play! ;)

A few smiles for you:

Nothing better than a milk-drunk baby:

thoughts:

1. My Mom took the older two kids for the day so I could "rest" with Cora, or at least sleep when she naps. So lovely.

2. Cora is a LOUD sleeper.

3. My ears are about to explode from the pressure of either A) a horrible cold, or B) an awful allergy attack. Either way...misery.

4. I wish I could be enjoying the wedding with the Schaefer family today!

She does love a twirly dress!

Poor baby. :(

That red blob in the middle of Cora's belly button?  That, folks, is an umbilical granuloma.

SUPER fuzzy, I know, but taking a picture of a 6-week-old's squirming tummy is no easy thing, unless they are sleeping.  She was NOT.

They are the most common form of belly button problem after the cord falls off, and Cora's did fall of VERY early, in my opinion.  So, she has one.  It's just this red blob of skin and tissue that sticks up and out of her belly button--looking like a rather wet, inflamed "outie."  And you know how much I loves those.  There are no nerve endings in there, so it causes her no pain or irritation, but it can leave her at risk to more infection, and in the long run, if not treated, she would grow up to be a girl very displeased with her odd looking belly button.  So, I took her in to have it taken care of.  The Dr. froze it with liquid nitrogen, although this procedure may need to be repeated a time or two more.  What sort of SHOCKED me is that the little blob now has to be surgically removed, under general anesthesia, sometime around a year or so!!!  Ack!  I mean, I'm committed to future-Cora, that her belly button not be a cause of sadness for her...but general anesthesia for a one-year-old, just for this?  Yikes.  :(  We shall see how I feel about this a year from now.  

6 weeks today:

Guess who started smiling recently?  :)

(Actually, I could swear she started smiling about 2 weeks ago, but who knows with those early "smiles.")

Yes, I know this is not a "real" smile, but it's still cute.  :)

Sleeping baby pictures from today:

Cora POWER napped this morning:  She slept for 3.5 hours in her swing, then another 2 hours in this rock-n-play with a short nursing break in between!  Probably because she was up half the night, poor baby...