Stats & Cereal

Connor is almost 4 months old and as we near the 4 month mark we are slowly getting less and less sleep. Connor is back to going to sleep anywhere between 11:30pm and 1:00am. He is also getting up multiple times in the night. Scott has been surviving on caffeine and I've been surviving on the thought that this is just a phase (I'd be downing caffeine along with Scott if it weren't for breastfeeding). When it comes sleeping, Connor is a difficult case. He passes out at 8:00, but wakes up wide awake 45 minutes later. He'll then fight sleep, be wide awake, catnap, etc....all before the 11:30 to 1:00am span. He is inconsistent when it comes to sleep which is highly frustrating for us, as Elli is a dream when it comes to putting her down for bed. I talked to the dr. today and he gave me the 'okay' to let him cry it out. He said we will have a rough couple of nights ahead of us, but things should be much better within 4 to 5 nights. Hopefully we'll be able to enjoy Christmas and not feel so exhausted! I'm hoping once we get this routine down it won't be messed up while we're in Indiana for the holiday.

I decided to give Connor rice cereal this past Friday in hopes that it might help him sleep at night. Connor didn't seem to mind the rice cereal, but is still trying to figure out how to eat it. And no, it did nothing for his sleep!

Connor had his 4 month well visit this morning. He is 12 lbs 14 oz (10-25th percentile) and 25 in. (50th percentile). He is growing quickly out of his 3 month clothes and has completely grown out his 3 month sleepers. He is wearing 3-6 month clothes and even wore a 6 month outfit the other day. The dr. didn't think the divot in his chest looked any better or worse than last time and said we'd continue to monitor it. He didn't have much to say about his heart, but we have a cardiology appointment next Thursday. He had 5 vaccinations today (1 oral and 4 shots). He did great....only cried for a short time and then he was fine! Overall, the dr. was pleased with his development!

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Instead of making a new post, I thought I'd just add these pictures on to this post.

Too early to start T.V.?? I don't think so....it gave me 10 minutes of time to myself yesterday :) Yep, 10 minutes is all they sat for!

And while Connor has been going to bed later....this girl has been going to bed earlier. We find ourselves starting Elli's bedtime routine earlier these days and she is typically in bed by 7 or a few minutes after. I can assure you her bedtime will not be messed up over the holiday because Elli needs her sleep and it is bad news when she gets less than what she's used to! (Please excuse her snotty nose! She tested positive for para influenza last Wednesday and is still somewhat sick! We're going on almost 2 weeks here!! And yes, she has a horrible immune system. I'm wondering if we're able to go 1 whole month without this girl getting sick!!)

Pictures of Connor

I took a couple pictures of Connor the other day that I thought I'd post. He is becoming such a big boy. He rolled over for the 1st time on November 21st at 5:45am (yep....and that is what time he woke up). This new skills has made sleeping somewhat difficult because he will wake up when he rolls over. Speaking of sleeping, Connor has definitely not been an easy baby when it comes to sleeping the last couple of weeks. His bedtimes have looked like this: 11:40pm, 11:45,pm 12:00am, 1:00am. Yes, it has been rough....especially since Elli wakes up early. Luckily, I think we have this under control, as he has been in bed by 9:30 the past 2 nights. I'm hoping this early bedtime will continue and we will be able to push it up more and more as the weeks progress. We still have to get up a couple times a night to put his pacifier back in or roll him back over on his stomach.

Despite the sleeping, he is a good baby and gives us lots of smiles a day....

Seriously, he's so handsome! Stay tuned for 4 month stats next week!!

22 months

Elli was officially 22 months old on November 26th! I can't believe how big she is getting! She continues to have such a fun personality! We get lots of hugs and kisses each day, especially when she is happy about something! She is my little helper and loves helping take care of her little brother. We've had much fewer meltdowns lately, which has been wonderful!!!! She is much fun!

Look at that hair! And yes, I did just brush it....it has a mind of its own!

SANTA

When it comes to Santa, my kids do not disappoint. We've been talking to Elli about Santa for a little bit now and she's become somewhat crazy about him. She wants to listen to santa music in the car and every time there is a picture of him on T.V. she wants us to rewind the T.V. so she can see it again. A couple weeks ago, our parents were here for Connor's dedication. We ended up going to the mall to walk around for a bit and to see Santa. We were sure Elli wouldn't sit on his lap. Papa Lindvall went with her and she climbed right up on Santa's lap and told him she wanted a dog (I'd post the picture, but our scanner isn't working). We were shocked. So....this time Scott and I thought we'd dress both kids up in their Christmas outfits to get pictures with Santa.

We had to get pictures in front of the tree before we left...

Here was our attempt at all three of them together....maybe we'll try this again in a couple years!

So sweet....

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We got to the mall right before Santa was supposed to show up. We had the same idea as every other parent of toddlers. We had to wait in a line this year. It was funny to listen to all the parents try and reassure their kids that Santa was in fact nice and they would like sitting on his lap. Not us....nope....Elli was so excited to see Santa as he made his grand appearance in the mall with jingle bells.

She told him once again that she wanted a dog and told him that Connor wanted tractors.

Connor's first picture with Santa...he was thrilled, can you tell?

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We stopped to get some See's Candy on our way out of the mall. Elli got a chocolate sucker and we told her she couldn't open it until she got home....So this is how she spent the whole way home (yes, that's the wrapper still on the sucker).

She loved the sucker....it was everywhere!!

Elli has now told Santa two times that she wanted a dog. I have a good feeling that Santa will bring Elli the dog she wants.

Zoo

We had a busy, but fun weekend!! One activity this weekend included a trip to the zoo to see the zoo lights. The weather was great, so we figured we'd take advantage of it! The zoo was packed, but it was definitely worth the trip!

Connor all bundled up!

Elli has never enjoyed riding the carousel. After watching it go around 1 time, she insisted she ride it and this time she loved it!

She's becoming such a big girl!!

Thanksgiving

Typically our holidays are busy, as we try and make it to all the celebrations at different houses. This year, we decided to make our lives a little easier and compromise. We did 1 Thanksgiving with my family (which we only have one anyways) and 1 Thanksgiving with Scott's family (they always have 2). It worked out great! We both felt like we weren't running all over the place and actually felt like we got to spend quality time with both families. We spent Thursday at my parents house and the rest of the weekend at the Lindvalls'. (Elli and Kensley had spent a couple days at my parents house prior to Thanksgiving.) I took our camera out on Thursday, but forgot to take pictures the rest of the weekend (probably because I was too tired from an early wake-up call on Friday morning for Black Friday Shopping....one of my favorite times during the year).

Elli and I enjoying Thanksgiving lunch. She enjoyed everything....

well....maybe not everything (I have no clue what she was eating here, but Scott insisted I post this picture).

Avery and Connor enjoying a ride on the chair!

Tractor/wagon rides for the toddlers.....one of Elli's favorite things!!

A picture with all the great-grandkids and great-grandparents.

I had to get a picture of Connor's first Thanksgiving!

Among many things this year, I'm especially thankful for the three people in the next picture!

(side note: this picture wasn't taken on Thanksgiving, but I needed a picture of all 3 of them together).

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!!

Connor's Dedication

On November 20th, we had Connor dedicated at our church.

The man of the day.

Connor's Great-Grandma and Grandpa Brauchler came for the service (they got a little lost on the way :) )

Picture of us four before the service.

Both sets of Connor's grandparents came for the dedication.

Picture with Kelli and Garrett and our parents. (Come on baby Ansley....if the dedication would have been 1 month later Ansley would have been sure to be there, hopefully for Kelli's sake)!

We asked our friend, Garrett, to be our prayer partner....he was up on stage with us.

We had lunch back at our house after the service. It was a great day!