A Phase?

No, those band-aids are not because Ben actually needs them. Ben has become obsessed with band-aids. What is it about band-aids kids love so much? I just hope they fall off in the bath...I don't want to be the one to have to take them all off. Ouch!

Posted via email from Dara's Ditties

Mr. Smiley

Posted via email from Dara's Ditties

It Was a Napa Kind of Day

We decided to take our first mini-road trip as a family and head up to Napa.

And while Sam slept (I caught him awake for a few minutes before he nodded off)...

We had a lovely lunch at Bistro Don Giovanni,

See and download the full gallery on posterous

And then stopped at Bouchon for some chocolaty delicious bouchon...headed to Francis Ford Coppola Presents so Mike could deliver some bouchon goodness to some colleagues. Finally we headed home, in hopes that October temps in Walnut Creek would be a little cooler than the 99 degrees we experienced in Napa.

Did I mention we shopped, as well? Food, family, retail therapy...perfect!

Posted via email from Dara's Ditties

Smitten

I think it's pretty safe to say that Ben is smitten with his baby brother, Sam....

Posted via email from Dara's Ditties

Pumpkin Patch

While Sam slept, we had a blast at the pumpkin patch! Ben jumped in a giant pool of beans, fed a llama, went through a giant tunnel and maze of hay, and picked out a special pumpkin for his little brother Sam. He's SUCH a good big brother!

Samuel Emerson Buzzard is here!

Sam is here...and I'm only three weeks late in writing a post about it. We are quickly getting adjusted to baby life again, which has caused me a fuzzy brain from lack of sleep. (Not to mention that we also have a VERY BUSY two year old, so life keeps moving along...any advice from experienced mommies is welcome....yesterday I found myself nursing Sam while eating my lunch and making sure Ben ate his lunch...is this normal???...I guess I need to master the art of multi-tasking....yikes!)

Sam is wonderful. He eats, sleeps, fusses a little, and snuggles a lot! My labor was such a different experience than Ben's labor...there I go, comparing already, but it's really amazing just how different the two are. Sam's disposition is so different than Ben's was at this age (this ripe old age of three weeks), but I can't wait to watch and see what Sam will be like, and how they will be as brothers. So far Ben has been extremely loving...but of-course Sam hasn't tried to steal any of his Thomas trains.

Mike has taken a good bit of time off of work, and he has been spending a lot of quality time with Ben...which I know Ben has just loved. They have gone on some great adventures...steam train rides, the airplane museum, San Francisco...not to mention hours of riding the scooter that Sam got him...it has been nice for me to have some time to bond with Sam and get to know him.

Hopefully soon we'll settle into a routine and Sam will decide that he'd like to sleep some longer stretches at night (which I'd really appreciate)...and life will start to feel "normal" again...our new normal (whatever that is).