on the homefront

I feel like our friends and family are long overdue for a quick update on the goings-on of the Maurer family. Before I do that though, I want to let you know that I have a couple of really cute videos that I've been trying to upload for days to no avail. I promise you that I try to upload both videos and photos almost every day, and almost every day I get frustrated and give up. I'll keep trying, but until it actually works I'm afraid you're stuck with just words.

And on that delightfully exciting note -

Shawn is madly in love with fall. He and I are both just more fun to be around when the leaves are changing colors and we have a cup of coffee in our hands. Shawn's also really excited about football season commencing and is - as usual - quite busy. He's continuing to amaze me by his selflessness and ability to juggle so much in this season of our life.

Jen is tired, but I seem to be turning a corner from chronically exhausted to tired most of the time. It may not seem like a big difference, but if you've ever been chronically exhausted then you know....oh, you know. I'm starting to begin a couple of Serwa Chic custom projects and would love to figure out a way to fit running into my weekly schedule. I feel like getting back into a somewhat normal schedule has been a little easier this time around, and I'm grateful. I still have bad days and occasionally feel like I can't shake the fog of being overwhelmed, but those days are getting fewer and further between.

Jude is well...he's Jude. He's spunky, sweet, smart, feisty, and adorable. He's actually sleeping in his own toddler bed now and only gets his paci when he's sleeping. We've been working on recognizing letters lately, and I'm really impressed by how quickly he's picking them up. He now knows (most of the time) A, E, I, L, M, N, O, Q, R, S, U, X, and Y. We're also working on numbers, but he doesn't seem to be picking those up as quickly. This is such a fun age for learning - it seems like every day he's saying a new word, learning a new letter, or conveying a new thought. Conversely, this is not such a fun age for temper tantrums and overuse of the word, "no." Nonetheless, being that boy's Mom is one of the greatest joys of my life.

Cohen is much more chill than we're used to in an infant. He's already smiling and cooing and loves to hear Shawn and I laugh. Nursing him is going really well, despite my many thoughts of giving up at 3:00 in the morning. I know that putting this on the blog will most likely jinx it, but Cohen slept from 11:45pm - 6:30am last night and from 11:15pm - 5:00am the night before. Everything in life is easier to handle with six hours of sleep - including breast feeding! Cohen's next appointment is a week from tomorrow, and I'm interested to hear how much he weighs.

I wish I could update more thoroughly, but since Jude is driving his trains across my monitor at the moment, I should probably do some Jude-lovin'. Just wanted to let you know that we're here and we're well!