Connor Newborn Pictures

Connor continues to be a sweet little guy. He is eating about every 3 hours and loves to snuggle. He is still just a little guy and is having some trouble gaining weight. I took him to the dr. today for a weight check (standard for newborns) and it appears he has lost weight from last week. Last week he was 7 pounds 11 ounces and 19 3/4 inches long. We will be back at the dr. next week for another weight check and then will go for his 1 month visit the following week. At week 5 we will be going to the cardiologist for another appointment. I don't think I've mentioned on here Connor's heart defect. Connor has VSD or Ventricular Septal Defect which is one of the most common congenital heart defects present at birth. He has a hole in the wall that separates the right and left ventricle. The pediatrician at St. Ann's (the hospital we delivered at) sent us straight to Children's Hospital to meet with the cardiologist upon being discharged. At this appointment, they ran different tests and detected the VSD. As of now, Connor will be followed by a cardiologist until his problem either goes away or until the hole in his heart is repaired. The cardiologist is hopeful that muscle surrounding the hole will help to close the it. He explained 2 different procedures for fixing the heart....both of which were just too much to deal with on the day we were discharged. It was quite a stressful day! There are different things that we are to look for, as right now the fear would be that his lungs might fill up with blood with the way everything is circulating. Despite him having some trouble gaining weight and his VSD he seems to be a pretty healthy little boy and we are so thankful for that!

Below are some pictures of Connor and some of both of the kids together....Thanks Sarah for taking some of the pictures below!!

19 months

HAPPY 19 MONTH BIRTHDAY ELLI BELLY!!

Elli is officially 19 months old as of last Friday. She suddenly seems so big to us now....probably because we have Connor and he is so tiny. Elli continues to love getting her toenails painted, playing with her baby doll, helping me put my make-up on, playing in water, eating sweets, looking at planes, playing with tractors, and carrying a purse. She enjoys watching for and pointing out trucks and acting like she is going potty on her little toilet.

We enjoy you more and more each day Elliana!!

Birth pictures of the kids

Birth Pictures

People have said they think Connor looks like Elli when she was born.....

Here is Connor (by the way....I think I call Connor "bubba" more than his actual name and Elli definitely does....looks like your "bubba" nickname might have stuck Connor :/ Sorry :) )

Here is Elli at birth....

I don't think they look alike....their noses are definitely different.

1 week birthday

Happy 1 week birthday Connor (only 2 days late)!!

You really are just as sweet as you look!!

Connor Lee Lindvall

Connor Lee Lindvall arrived today at 10:25am this morning. Connor made it pretty easy on me with only 4 hours of labor and 6 pushes....he was ready to come out. Scott and I came to the hospital at 5:00am this morning for a scheduled induction. The induction ended up starting at 6:25am. I was 4cm at the start....and before we knew it I was 1o cm and ready to push. I had told the nurse and my dr. that my goal was to deliver him by lunch (I was a little early) and I certainly did. He came out with only 2 contractions and 6 pushes.

Just arriving to the hospital

Welcome Connor

He was a little blue and needed a tad bit of oxygen, but overall they said he looked really healthy!

I'm not sure how to rotate pictures on here, so turn your head and look :)

His first bath

Meeting big sis Elli

The proud grandparents.....

More Proud Grandparents....

Connor is doing great and so far eating really well. He is quite a noisy little fellow when sleeping and what we thought was cute is actually something we have to monitor. The nurse said it is called "grunting" which is when "gunk" is still in his lungs and he is trying to get it up. The nurse indicated that they are not to worried about it as he has good color and cried when we gave him his first bath. All signs pointing to him being okay, just something to monitor.

SMILE

We took these pictures this morning before church. When requested, Elli is now giving us big smiles instead of her half, awkward smiles (remember the pictures I posted a couple weeks ago??). She is starting to enjoy pictures and gives us a big "teee" (for "cheese") when getting her picture taken.

Such a sweet little girl. Elli's tantrums have definitely decreased and was only put in time out once this week. Typically she is in time out at least once a day. She is also learning some manners and is now saying "tay-too" for "thank you" multiple times during a meal and at least 75% of the time that we give her something....this is without cue, she just does it on her own.

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I had to throw in a last pregnancy picture for documentation sake. Only 2 more days until my due date....never thought I'd make it this far, but this little guy just doesn't want to come out.

Such a good picture of Scott and Elli

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We took this last picture awhile ago. We still go in her room before we go to bed and cover her up with the blanket or just check on her. This is how we found her one night....foot between the rails (this happens more frequently these days). She is still in her crib, but will be moving to a toddler bed here before too long. She is now sleeping in a cot at daycare and they said she does great in one! Her naps have been a tad shorter at daycare, but I'm glad she is sleeping well in the cots for at least 1.5 hours.

Phone Pictures

Lately, I've done a pretty bad job at taking pictures. Partly because our camera is upstairs next to our hospital bag (yes, I finally got part of our hospital bag packed). I have taken some pictures with my phone over the past couple of weeks.

I took Elli to Easton yesterday, so she could play in the fountains and I could try and get this baby moving by pushing her around in the stroller. She had so much fun! In fact, I ended up calling Scott and told him just to come over after work so he could see her in action. Elli ran right over to the fountains....had to look them over for a bit and then finally started playing in them. Kids are supposed to wear appropriate attire (swimsuits) while playing in the fountain, but I didn't have enough energy to put her swimsuit on before we left for Easton, so I just brought a change of clothes.

Elli loved the fountains, but her favorite thing ended up being the big train. We went to the train 3 different times and I had to bribe her to leave each time. At one point I asked her if she wanted to go get ice cream and got a big "no".....she just wanted to stay and watch the train.

Showing Daddy the train after we ate.....

I hadn't been to Easton in quite some time. Elli loved walking all around and had to stop and smell each flower, pick up each rock, and etc. You'd think we don't get her out much!
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Elli has been really into wearing our shoes around the house. She put on Scott's the other day and was walking all around saying "Dada" I thought it was so cute. Unfortunately, I didn't get a great picture since it was taken with my camera....

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About 2 weeks ago, we took Elli to Cosi (the science museum) here in Columbus. There was a big area for toddlers that she enjoyed. Her favorite part was the water table. Water was everywhere and we ended up taking her tights off for the rest of the evening....luckily she had a long shirt/dress on.

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I'd love to end this post saying how I'm having contractions and I feel that we will be headed to the hospital soon; however, that is unfortunately not the case. I'm beginning to think that regardless of how dilated or effaced I am, this little guy is going to wait until the last second to come. I probably walked 2.5 miles yesterday thinking it would get things moving, but all it did was make me extra sore and increase the pressure. So, we continue to wait knowing that at the latest, next week we will meet this little guy....whether by induction or by him deciding to come on his own.

Changed My Mind

Ok Connor....You've kicked my ribs 1 too many times today. I might just take the dr. up on his offer of an induction next week. Forget about the landscaping this weekend....it's time to have a baby.

Patio

Remember how I said putting a patio on our house was on the "to-do" list before this little guy came? Well....last Thursday workers came out and started that project. They were quick and great to work with. By Saturday evening, Scott and I were showing off our new and finished patio to our friends. Ever since then, we've been enjoying meals and every evening out on the patio. So, do we have a hospital bag packed yet? His room finished? His laundry done? The infant carseat in the car? Nope, but we sure have been enjoying sitting out there and relaxing each evening. We're enjoying our last couple "free" nights ....I don't think our newborn will be going to bed at 7:30 like Elli does, but rather staying up with us until the last possible minute for one last meal before our 2-3 hour stint of sleep (it doesn't seem too long ago that we were doing this)!!

So....Here is a before picture....

And here is the patio and walkway....






In one weekend we got our patio, a grill, new patio furniture, a smaller charcoal grill, grill cover, and firepit. This weekend we are going to be concentrating on getting the landscaping done (anyone want to come join)?? :) So Connor, I know I said I'd like you to hold out until this past weekend was over and you did. However, if you could just wait a tad longer we'll have this patio all ready for your arrival! Your Dad and I have bets going....I think you'll come next Friday, Aug. 12th and your Dad thinks you'll hold off until the 14th or 15th. We'll see!!