We have survived!

Brynn has talent. She's playing "Jingle Bells" while holding Spencer.

The kids built some forts and wanted Spencer to have the king chair.

We (Spencer and I) have both survived the first 3 months! Recently Spencer is really interactive. He loves to talk and make noises with his mouth, especially when you put him on his change table. Brynn loves to change his diaper now, just for the conversation. The fussiness is decreasing, or I'm finally getting smart enough to know what is wrong. This last week he's figured out how to squeal and scream. Doesn't work so well at Church, but it's kind of fun. Sometimes he likes to be rocked to sleep and sometimes he just wants to be put in bed. We swaddle him up tight and he likes that, and he likes his soother. What would we do without it?
We sure are enjoying him. He is healthy and big and so adorable!

Good reads

I really like to read non-fiction books.  I recently read two that I'd like to recommend.  The first one is called Why Gender Matters, by Leonard Sax.  Those like myself, who believe that we are created by God and each given a divine role, as men or women, already know that gender does matter.  In this book, I felt that the author also believes this but he gives some scientific reasons how and why boys and girls are different.  This really helped me as a parent in the discipline and interaction with my boys and girls.  Great book.  I got it from the library.
The other book I read was called Miserly Moms, by Jonni McCoy.  She was a career woman who felt the need to be a stay-at-home mom and raise her own children.  She and her husband had the courage to do so and her book is all about making your dollars stretch.  She offered lots of great tips to make things cheap, from scratch is always cheaper and healthier, making double and freezing it for another meal, etc.  My favorite is buying homo milk (ie, the kind that has the most fat) and diluting it with water, thus getting two jugs of milk for the price of one.  I have done this and it is awesome.  It tastes somewhere in between 1% and 2%.  I love learning ways to spend less money on things that we have to have, food, clothing, and shelter, thus allowing us to have a little more fun with our money like: vacations, skiing, an occasional dinner out, etc.  We pay A LOT to taxes and living expenses and it feels like we never have enough left to do what we enjoy.  The principles and tips in this book motivate me to be more miserly so we can have fun!