2 year and 6 month Dr. appointments

Today we had Elli's 2 year and Connor's 6 month well visits. Both kids did great considering their appointments were at 7:10 and 7:30 in the morning (I did not schedule these times....our dr. had to cancel our original appointments and these were the only times they had left- go figure).

Elli did great while the dr. checked her out and repeated 'nice' over and over again during the whole process. (We've been telling her that the dr. was really nice which is why she kept saying this). Elli is 24lbs 2 oz (10th-25th percentile) and 33 1/2 inches (25th to 50th percentile). She received one shot today and did great with it. She cried for a second and then quickly recovered....she was happy with the fact that she got a band aid. Overall, the dr. is pleased with her development and she doesn't go back for another 6 months.

Connor did well, but was pretty tired during his appointment. He is 14lbs 13 oz. (10th-25th percentile) and 25 3/4 inches (25th- 50th percentile). Like Elli, this little guy is small for his age. He received 5 vaccinations, 4 shots and 1 oral. These are always so rough on him. For the rest of our day, he was fussy, slept, and needed lots of cuddle time. Overall, they were pleased with his developmental, but were concerned with the fact that he has been sweating more. They had us call our cardiologist since we aren't scheduled to meet with them until the middle of April. Luckily, they were quick at returning our call and didn't think they needed to see us earlier than April. They gave us various things to look for in the meantime (symptoms for heart failure...geesh- never once has heart failure been mentioned because of the VSD until now). Anyways, he's been fine since and we haven't seen any of the symptoms- except of course sweating!

This was Connor much of the rest of the day....

6 MONTHS

Has it already been 6 months? It is amazing how quickly time passes! I feel like Connor has grown so much over the past month and I can't believe we've already made it through 1/2 a year. These days, Connor is reaching and grabbing onto everything. Also, everything has been going into his mouth. He is giving us lots of smiles and giggles. He giggles most when he is exhausted and it is so fun to get him going. Scott is usually the one who can pull out the most smiles and laughs from Connor and he usually can do it as easily as walking into a room. Connor, too, loves when Scott comes home from work and gets a huge smile on his face while kicking his legs and waving his arms. I love, love, love this age that Connor is now!

Clearly proud of himself for taking down the bear!

Connor is spending more time on his stomach these days and less time on his back. Almost as soon as I lay him on his back, he turns over. Just within the past couple of days, it is getting harder and harder to change his diaper because of this. He is also starting to put his pacifier in his mouth, but can't always figure out what to do when he has it turned around. He is sitting up pretty well, but we still have to sit right by him in case he tumbles over, which he has done a couple times. One thing that I can't get Connor to do is hold his own bottle. Sure, he can take the bottle, hold it in his hands, and put it to his mouth when he is playing, but when it comes to actually drinking it....he won't do it. He holds his arms completely out. I don't think this has anything to do with his motor skills, but more about him being high maintenance. Speaking of being high maintenance, Connor has to have his bottle hot and won't take it if it is not. This little guy loves eating and so far hasn't refused any solid food that I've given him. He's been getting 2 solid feedings a day and is a big eater- especially in the morning. Although he hasn't refused anything I've given him, I can tell he enjoys sweet foods (apples, pears, bananas, sweet potatoes) more than the rest. I'm making a good amount of his food, but also buying some of it. I love how easy of a transition solids were for him because they were definitely a struggle for Elli. Just within the past couple of days I've started giving him a sippy cup. As of now, he is just getting used to it, as he doesn't know how to drink from it yet.

One thing that has been a struggle with Connor has been his inconsistency in terms of naps. This week, Connor has been sleeping more during the day than he ever has. Typically, Connor will average 2 to 3 hours total of sleeping during the day. This week he has been sleeping probably 4 hours out of the day. This has been an off week for him because he has been waking up at 6:20 (normally he wakes up between 8 & 8:30). His bedtime continues to be 7:30 and usually he passes out while taking his bottle right at that time. Connor doesn't have any teeth yet, but we are pretty sure some are moving around in there because we have had a rough couple of nights. Saturday night was the worst and would really only sleep on me....I finally went to bed at 5:30am that morning only to wake up 1.5 hours later to a crying baby. Needless to say, I didn't make it to church on Sunday!

Connor is such a sweet, sweet baby and getting more fun everyday! I've been hearing so much lately that he looks exactly like me, but I still can't tell!

Happy 6 month birthday, Bubba! I wish you could stay this small forever!!

Happy Valentine's Day

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

NANA L. MADE CONNOR'S ONESIE AND ELLI'S DRESS

IN CONNOR'S DEFENSE...HE WAS TEETHING AND WAS UP ALLLLLL NIGHT LONG. HE SLEPT ON ME MOST OF THE NIGHT AND I FINALLY CRAWLED INTO MY BED AT 5:30AM....POOR KIDDO!! HE WAS NOT FEELING WELL THIS DAY.

HOW SWEET....LOOK AT CONNOR'S HAND

NANA L. EVEN MADE A MATCHING DRESS FOR BABY STELLA

*THESE PICTURES WERE TAKEN OVER THE COURSE OF 2 DAYS. THE PICTURES OF CONNOR SMILING WERE TAKEN ON VALENTINE'S DAY (YES, HE WORE 2 DIFFERENT OUTFITS ON V-DAY)- HE WAS FEELING MUCH BETTER THEN. THE OTHER PICTURES WERE TAKEN ON SUNDAY.

Valentine's Day Cookies

What is Valentine's Day without some sweets? Elli and I had quite the 'girls' day on Sunday. We went on a short shopping trip and then made some cookies for Valentine's Day.

First time licking the batter off the beaters. She is starting to realize the benefits of cooking!! Do you see Scott in this picture? He is secretly crying at the fact that Elli is getting to eat the dough....that is usually his job!

Today we iced and put sprinkles on the cookies. She was in charge of the sprinkles and I was in charge of the icing. I think Elli ate more sprinkles than what ended up on the cookies and she wanted to test out all the cookies. Yep....I caught her taking bites out of the cookies...luckily she only had made her way through 3 before I caught her! Overall, I think they turned out pretty good!!

Stay tuned for more picture of my Valentines' with their outfits!

Visitors

I've been meaning to post this blog for the past 5.5 months, but just never got around to it. We haven't had a very eventful week, so I thought this would be a good time to post it.

We had some special visitors come to our house soon after Connor was born.

Sarah and Travis enjoyed some snuggle time with our newest addition.

Connor hanging out with his Papa's (both our parents came to visit)....

Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Amber came to visit

(Connor looks real comfortable here, Jeremy :) )

Cousins first picture together.....

Trying to keep the toddlers entertained with playing outside.....in their diapers....classy!

But not as classy as this....

Who let this girl go nude???? Kensley had Elli's stroller pushing it down the sidewalk and Elli was running after her telling her 'back....back' because we were telling them to come back. It was really funny :) And I'm still not sure who let my little girl run around outside without clothes on!!

Avery and Connor.....

A few days later, Aunt Venna and Uncle Aaron came to visit and meet little Connor. They had just been to ikea and they brought Elli a tent, which she still loves and plays with all the time!