Stork'd This is what happens if you go Skinny Dipping during Adult Swim at the Gene Pool.

One of the downsides of taking pictures of your kids with a mobile phone camera is that between the fact that your kids are never sitting still or rarely take direction well, and that most mobile phone cameras suck as taking pictures in lower light or when the subjects is moving, wiggling, running, flailing or generally inable to hold still, you get a lot of blurry or not very good pictures as a result.

So if you are going to be stuck taking grainy or blurry shots, why not capitalize on it and give them an artsy/retro look at the same time. Between the iPhone and Android, there are a whole slew of camera apps that "antique" your pictures to make them look like they came from an old Polaroid, or a pinhole camera, or an old disposable instamatic.  So with the new phones we found ourselves with, it was time to try on the "hip" filter and see how our kids looked.  And the verdict? We won't win any Pulitzers, but they are fun little pictures then you see them in a new light.

Finn: Three and a half months old and we are finally getting a sleep schedule. At least for now (ie the past three days) Finn has gone to bed between 9:30-10, slept until 3:30 (or slept and woke and put himself back to sleep), had a bottle and slept until about 6:30-7. I can really feel the difference. He's still a bit cranky in the afternoons, but when I'm not ead on my feet, I can cope with  a little crying.  Weighed the boy last week and he was 14 pounds! He's working his 3-6 month clothes.  I totally love it.He's taking his mid-morning nap now so I get a chance to write and do other things I need or want to get done.

Ingrid: Geeze, she is getting so big. Compared to Finn she's a monster. Compared to most 2.75 year olds she's a monster. She's as big if not bigger than all the 3 year olds in her YMCA class. That's okay, we like Amazonian women in this household. She is thinking she is out of the nap game lately, but the day I decided to indulge her she passed out on her Backyardigans couch in the living room for 1.5 hours. She woke up a right crank, too. When she's in her room she usually sleeps from 2-3 hours. She's almost done with her Y class for the summer and I'm really looking forward to taking her over to the development pool for some splashing. I also hope that we can manage some playgroups with the Y kids this summer. We've already got 1 birthday party and a tentative playdate set up with  1 family.

Post-Partum: I've been working on taking off all this baby weight now that we're out of the baby making game. I can't say that it is easy, but it is easier than I expected it was going to be. I really like Weight Watchers, but I'd warn anyone that was going to use it that you do have to be diligent, though they give you room for error. I'm feeling much more awake having gotten a few nights of decent rest, though last night it was Peter that was keeping me awake at times, tossing and turning. I'm looking forward to summer, but not to the oppressing heat that comes along with it.

Has a month really gone by so quickly? I guess so. Time tends to do that to you when you don't get much sleep.

First of all, I just want to preface all I say here with, I really love my children and my husband. My life would be far drearier without them and they each bring me certain joys that I would never be able to have without them.

Okay, now that that's said... Can I have some sleep please? Finn's the colicy one. I get frustrated because to me it's obviously colic, but people always want to find a fix for it. I want a fix for it, too, but there is no cure for colic besides time. No, I don't enjoy listening to a child scream for several hours a day. Finally I am starting to be able to close my ears to it since I can't do anything about it. I could shove a nipple in his mouth, but feeding a baby 24x7 is not a great idea and making him sleep in the day just because I don't want to listen to crying does no one any favors at night.

Finn is eating a lot and growing a lot. He's in 0-3 month clothes now instead of newborn, which is cool.

Ingrid is doing so well with Finn, but she's really started in on the terrible two's. Everything is NO NO NO NO! It was really making me mad until I read that that's a child's first response, but if you give them time to think they often are more amenable. I've been very zen about it the last 2 days.

I have been fighting off, or not fighting off as the case may be, sick after sick. First I got a UTI. Then, my dad came at the end of February and we all got sick for a few days and it made a wave through the household. last week I had an intestinal bug that knocked me completely down for a day, to the point that I didn't take Ingrid to pre-school because I couldn't get up and get her ready to go. So Easter brings on another UTI which I caught early enough that I could go to the walk-in clinic instead of to the ER at 3am. Last night with the no sleep my throat started to hurt and has continued into today. Today starts the period resuming.

I have not been pregnant for less than 2 months and it's back?  Really, come on now. Gimme a break, body! :(

I do not recommend having 2 children within 2.5 years of each other, but I wouldn't trade my kids for the world, either.