Over the weekend, we went on a family adventure to Amish Country and the Strasburg Railroad!!  It was a great time to go to Amish country, because there was  a lot of action happening in the fields.  There were teams of 6 and even 8 horses out plowing the field getting ready to plant.  It was so cool to see them all.  Of course, all I want to do is RIDE the horses, but that's another adventure for another day (when Mommy can figure out where to go to take a cautious 3 year old horseback riding - any suggestions?)

I went to the railroad early with Grandma and Grandpa, so we could check out all the sites ahead of the crouds, and buy our tickets early.  We met Mema and Poppop, Aunt Kim and Uncle Chuck, and Aunt Merideth there, and Mom and Dad arrived with Luke as well.  That meant it was Luke's VERY first train ride at just 6 and a half weeks old.  He had a good time, but ended up nursing for the first part of the train ride and getting passed around for the rest.  

The trip itself was pretty awesome.  We heard the "Ghost Train" in the distance that always whistles back when we roll through the grade crossing!  We also saw a nest bald eagle in the distance - Mommy's first one ever, and mine, too!  How cool??  We have a picture, but it's hard to tell what it is; the nest looks like a giant ball in big tree - the bald eagle is sitting out on a branch.  

The Strasburg also has little hand cars that you can ride, and a very narrow gauge train that makes a short circuit out and back.  Grandpa and I rode that several times.

Here are a few pictures!  And you can see the rest of the album HERE.

You might think that this is a picture of a bear.   It is.  Except that there is a hidden bird in this picture.  Can you find it?  (This is kind of like "find the baby" in ultrasound pictures)

Luke weighed in at 12lbs 11ozs today at almost 6 weeks old.  He is 23 inches long.  98th percentile for both height and weight.  He is a BIG boy!

We will post pictures from the weekend once Daddy gets a chance to edit them.

I had a fun weekend with family, doing Easter Egg hunts at every house, and playing outside as much as possible!  We have a lot of photos to share, so I'll get right to it, and you can see the full album HERE.

Over the weekend I went on a special over-night adventure to the Lake with Grandpa!  It was a last minute decision for me to go, but a good one.  We left Friday afternoon and came home Saturday night, but in that short amount of time we managed to hang out at the lake, sleep in the loft, climb up and down the latter 47 million times, and chase a train all afternoon on Saturday.  

I'm super excited to sleep up in the loft this summer!  

Here's Grandpa's version:

Preston went up with me for an overnight stay at Dyken Pond, then we spent much of Saturday chasing an eastbound stack train on Pan Am Railways, i.e. "Uncle Ted's Railroad".  Dyken Pond still has considerable ice coverage after the long cold winter. Ice-out last year was on April 12th.  I predict it'll be another week before ice-out on Dyken Pond this year.

The ladder up to the loft was a BIG hit with Preston!  Lots of up-and-down and up-and-down and up-and-down.  We slept in sleeping bags up in the loft.  Preston remembered lots of things about the lake from last summer, and thoroughly enjoyed our overnight stay at the cottage.

It took us about 2 hours to find a train on the railroad, but once we did we had a great chase - an eastbound stack train that we chased all the way from the Hudson River to North Adams, MA. on a beautiful day.

From Luke:

I missed it by 2 days, but I'm one month old now!  It was a busy month, like I'm sure it is for most new babies, full of visitors, new experiences, growing, crying, playing, etc.  When I was born a month ago, there was still snow on the ground. Now we are playing outside it short sleeves, and today I'm wearing a romper.  Spring is here!!

Mom says that I am HUGE, and I think she's probably right.  We go to the pediatrician next week for my check-up, so we will know more then.  I still like to eat every 2 hours...poor Mommy doesn't get a lot of time to herself.  And I don't like to ever be set down.  We use the Moby wrap a lot, so that I can be strapped to Mommy and she can get a few things done.  

If you check out the post on my big brother, Preston's, one month birthday, you might notice that he was 9lbs 3ozs.  I surpassed that 2 and a half weeks ago!  

I'm starting to fall into more of  schedule where I take two shorter naps in the morning, and one longer one in the afternoon.  It's easier to be on a schedule when I am at home with Mom during the week.  We have busy weekends full of visitors, errands, family time, and activities, so I have to just sleep when I can.

I saw ALL of my Grandparents yesterday, so here are two photos of me - one with Grandma and one with Gigi:

In true second child form, my parents feel obligated to take weekly photos of me... but they are cheating.  Forget using a different background each week, and changing me into a white onesie?? Forget that too.  Instead you can see all of my cute outfits and jammies (unless I outgrow them all... I'm already stretching out some of the 3 month clothes).  

After a half hour of fussing every time I put him down, he finally decided that this was the perfect spot - and time - to take his morning nap: on MY bed and right when I'm finally ready to go grocery shopping.  
So rather than wake a sleeping baby (and notice he's doing it right - on his back - that doesn't always happen), I'll update.

Things have been a little rough lately.  Early on, I decided this blog was a way for me to document our little family life, and mostly used it to remember the good times, but some not so good and happy days happen, too, and while I don't want to remember them, I feel there might be something to learn.  I also get a  better appreciation of days like today, when things are falling into place a little better.  
On Tuesday, I had both boys home with me, and I "woke up" exhausted.   Luke and I managed to take a morning nap while Preston watched Sesame Street, but by the time the show was over, Preston was in a bad mood.  I couldn't tell you why, but he was.  We ate lunch, where he demanded a million more mini hotdogs instead of applesauce or fruit or anything even remotely good for him.  And then, apparently without really thinking it through, I decided that Preston needed a haircut RIGHT THEN.  So we went.  And it was a DISASTER from start to finish.  He wouldn't sit in the seat, he threw and epic tantrum, got hair everywhere, including in his gooey, drool filled, freaking out mouth, and managed to get me really angry.  The rest of the afternoon was much of the same.  We both finally calmed down and went for a long walk, but when we got home he refused to come inside.  After I dragged him in, he decided it was ok for him to just leave again, which just got me even more angry.  I forget how it all played out after that, because none of it was good.  But eventually he announced that he was going to go play upstairs "by himself," and I was hugely relieved.  I didn't hear anything upstairs, and when I came up to check on him he was sound asleep in my bed.  And stayed like that for 3 hours... through dinner.  I let him.  He needed it.  
The rest of the night wasn't so bad, except he went to bed super late.  
But it was a rough day, and I felt like a failure of a parent.  I did way more yelling that I ever would have allowed myself pre-toddler, and I cried to John that night... and yesterday... and I'm about to cry again just thinking about it.  

Luckily Luke doesn't do much.  

In trying to analyze our seemingly psycho 3 year old, we came to the obvious conclusion that he is "adjusting" to having a new baby around, and seeking more attention in whatever way he can.  Clearly I need to spend more time on him, or focus on him more, but it SO HARD.  I'm exhausted, Luke wants to eat every five seconds (and might I add he is a HUGE baby), and I myself am still "adjusting" to having a new baby. 
Preston wants everything his own way.  He wants to make the rules and the decisions, and he tests me on EVERYTHING.  I am trying so hard to not give in, and I think it's helping a little bit, but it also depends on Preston's mood.  If he's in a bad mood, there is no cooperation or negotiation.  It's just one epic tantrum after another.

So anyway, our whole life isn't happy adventures, but that's what makes the good adventures even better.  This morning Preston was much nicer, and he left for school in a happy mood.  Tomorrow I have both boys again by myself, so I'm trying to work on a game-plan today to have it go a little smoother.

And now Luke it waking up, so I'm going to go grocery shopping.