We're back!

If anyone happens to still be checking our blog, we're back! The last couple of months have been a bit crazy, but life seems to be finding equili- brium here in the Rodriquez household. Seth and I are constantly amazed at the blessing two beautiful children are in our lives. Benjamin has grown to love his baby sister and bestows an abundance of kisses on her daily, both spontaneously and on-demand. Talia is responsive, smiling and "goo"-ing at the nearest friendly face...most of the time. Alas, if only a little more sleeping were occuring on a regular basis, life would be perfect!

To summarize the last two months...
-Kiersten's mom was with us for a month after Talia's birth. My recovery from the c-section was quite a bit more difficult this time around so her assistance was vital to the operation of our household! Benjamin became quite attached to his "Mima." In fact, she definitely ranked a close second to Dada in his esteem. We were sad to see her go, but treasure the memories of that first month.

-We were able to get almost completely settled into the new house within the first couple of weeks, thanks to Mom and Seth.

-Talia has been a pretty easy baby. She has her issues now and then, but overall she eats well, sleeps well (even through toddler noise and crying!), and is pretty mild in temperament. Now if we could just get this sleeping through the night thing down pat....


























-Benjamin is growing up in all senses of the word. He has changed so much in the past two months I think it might be useless to try to summarize. He is no longer a baby, but is "all toddler" and most definitely "ALL boy." Among my favorite developments have been: finally consistently identifying me verbally as "Mama," allowing books to be read (front cover to back cover) to him, giving hugs and kisses with less coersion, and learning to run cars on the ground (as opposed to holding them mid-air and spinning their wheels).





















-Seth recently completed his VERY- LAST- EVER research paper (excepting, of course, the upcoming dissertation). It was (appropriately--if you know Seth--, I might add) on the techniques and tools of ancient warfare. (The picture was taken the evening after the presentation of this paper.) He is also excelling in his new job and just received, for his efforts, a nice raise!
-I have been adjusting to life with two--actually three--kiddos. The third is a 4 1/2 month old baby whom I keep 3-4 days per week. This will last until the end of May when his Mama finishes teaching. The great thing about having three little ones most of the week is the days when I don't babysit I feel like it's so easy to "only" have two!

This is just a quick overview and doesn't nearly capture the heart and soul of the adventure of these past weeks, but hopefully this will allow me to start fresh in my own mind and be able to share the more interesting aspects of life with these wonderful kids!