2 months

connor is 2 months old today. we took him for his 2 month check up and he weighed in at 6 pounds 12 ounces. he is 19 inches long. he looks about the size of a newborn. he is so cute. he is also very alert now. he has officially learned how to complain. he will be fed and changed and still cry to be held. he is just like mason. only now i don't have time to sit around and hold him all day. he has also earned a few nicknames. dr. connor, and little bird. i call him little bird because his mouth is always open looking for food and i have no idea why christina (his auntie) calls him dr. connor. it is catchy though.

snow day

we took the kids to see the snow. real snow. we drove up to big bear yesterday morning and met up with christina, zena, jen, ray, bodhi, rebecca, and riley. it was a big crowd. we had a bit of a mess deciding on an affordable (free) and fun place for them to go sledding. once we actually found a place we were thrilled to find it to be just perfect. not at all crowded. christina and rebecca brought some sleds and snow disks for everyone. we all (except for connor and me) took turns going down the small hills. connor was content to sleep next to my chest in the baby bjorn.

i wasn't sure if mason would enjoy the snow because he kept saying he didn't want to wear his snow boots and gloves and he didn't want to walk on the snow. that was all quickly forgotten when we got there and uncle ray showed him a snowball. hurray. i barely had time to get all his snow gear on him before he ran off to play.

all the kids loved going down the hills on the sled. we played for about 3 hours. i was really wishing we had a cabin to stay the night. it would have been such a fun mini vacation. we decided that we should do this again only get a cabin so we can have more snow time. i also need to get dahlia some real snow gloves. the knit mittens were soaked after a few minutes. we all thought it was a super fun day. i really can't wait to go back.

merry christmas

christmas was fun this year, but a bit crazy. of course i got only four hours of sleep on christmas eve. everything felt very last minute for me. we had christmas at our house again this year. i love having it here but really would like to be more prepared. i'm not sure how to do that but i will keep trying. the kids had so much fun. miles and i were very excited to get up and put their gifts under the tree. dahlia and mason got a tricycle and a big wheel. it was cute to watch the kids ride their new toys. connor got a book but i suspect it will be a while before he really enjoys it.

we made a much more simple dinner this year. we had beef tenderloin and a delicious baked salmon. this was served with a green salad made with gorgonzola cheese, candied walnuts and dried cranberries, and side dishes of asparagus and au gratin potatoes. the whole meal came together very quickly. this was much better than last year when we spent the whole day cooking.

connor slept through most of his first christmas. he enjoyed all the attention from everyone. dahlia had a blast playing with her cousins. i think her favorite gift was a pair of pink rain boots from my mother. she would not take them off. mason spent most of the day playing with bodhi's new train set. his train obsession continues.

all in all it was a great christmas. next year i will be more prepared and not do so much last minute rushing around. ha ha.

stockings

what is cuter than a baby in a stocking? that's right. nothing.

ho ho ho

we made our christmas cards yesterday. hurray. we are so crazy late this year. i just finished stamping them all and miles is dropping them off to the post office. at least some people will get them before christmas. i think we hit a new record for procrastination this year. they are super cute though. we were able to take the photos, design the card, and print them all in one day. go team.

christmas crafting

we had a full weekend of baking, parties and crafting. all last minute of course. christina had this great idea to make christmas card ornaments. i remember making these when i was a kid. it took forever to cut out all the pieces, and fold them. each ornament has 20 circles. we made six of them. we didn't have enough old christmas cards for the project so we bought some scrap booking paper from michales instead. we thought the kids would love working on these, but after five minutes they were bored. it ended up being christina, miles and i gluing all the pieces together. then we hung them in the dining room. i think they are so pretty.

announcement

we finally got connor's birth announcement out today. it took us forever as usual. our original plan was to use photo corners and put the picture on card stock that we were printing. this plan was quickly changed to printing the whole thing as a picture when the card stock kept jamming in our printer. with all the holiday stuff we need to do there wasn't enough time to keep messing with it. i like it this way though. it is so simple and clean looking. nice. and done!

getting the tree

we got our christmas tree yesterday. we are so late this year. we usually get our tree on the thirteenth but this weekend was too busy. we finally got the tree last night. mason and dahlia thought going to the tree lot was so much fun. they were running around and looking at all the trees. we even brought baby connor with us. it was a full family outing.

we decorated the tree this morning. mason was a huge help. he hung most of the ornaments on the lower branches and i hung the ones on top. he was so cute. he kept saying "are there more?" when i was unwrapping the ornaments. i love to look at all of them. they are a random collection from over the years. so fun to remember them all. they all have their own little story. i love christmas.

elf

we are watching the movie elf tonight so connor decided to dress up. ok ok. i decided to dress connor up for the movie. so funny. so cute.

gifts for sister

rice warming bag
i made these cute gifts for my sister christina's birthday. i was smart and made them a while ago. i just had to wait until i gave them to her before i posted a picture. the rice warming bag was super easy to make and fun too. it is a really quick project. the bag is filled with rice and after being warmed in the microwave for 1 to 3 minutes becomes a nice heating pad. this is perfect for cramps. i also love that the cover comes off and can be washed if it gets dirty. i scented the rice with pomegranate so it smells really good. i found the pattern here.



gratitude wrap
the thank you card wrap is the same as the one i made last year for jen. i of course had to use pink this time because it is christina's favorite color. the wrap holds an address book, thank you cards, and stamps. i hope she likes her gifts as much as i enjoyed making them.

aunties birthday

yesterday was my sister chrisina's birthday. happy birthday sister! it was a full day of celebrating. we went to a cookie exchange party and then to disneyland. disneyland was so much fun. all my sisters and my mom were there. susan's boyfriend also came. we had a huge group of ten. i loved it. the highlight of the day was the fake snow at the end of the firework show. mason loved it. they shoot soap bubbles out at the audience in front of it's a small world. it looks like snow falling. when we were driving home mason kept talking about how on christmas it is going to snow. hmm. somehow i don't think that will happen. we are planning a trip to the snow though. it will be so fun for mason to see the real thing and not just soap bubbles.

happy due date baby

today is connor's official due date. i think that is just crazy. i can't imagine still being pregnant. i pretty much knew he would be early. not as early as he was, but at least two weeks early. all of my kids were early birds. mason was three weeks early, dahlia was two weeks, and connor of course was six weeks. i actually like that they were early. as much as i love having babies, i really don't like being pregnant. i always hear stories from friends of going past their due date. oh my. i don't think i could handle that. being uncomfortable for so long.

anyway. today is his due date and he is as cute as ever. it just so happens that miles took him to get his synagis shot this morning and he weighed in at 6 pounds 12 ounces. wow. the little guy is gaining weight crazy fast. i wish i had more time to sit and stare at him. sometimes i stay up extra late just to have some alone time with him. this is after all my last baby. i want to enjoy every minute.

tumbling

the kids went to a birthday party for a friend on sunday. it was at a kids gym. a real kids gym with mats and bars and balance beams. they had trampolines. it was kid heaven. it reminded me of a gym i used to go to as a child. i took gymnastic lessons when i was little and loved it. mason and dahlia loved the gym. mason is usually shy and doesn't participate in party activities such as bounce houses so i was amazed when he jumped right in and wanted to try everything available. he was so cute hanging on the ropes and bars, sliding into a big foam pit, and jumping on the trampoline. dahlia of course was not shy at all and had a blast following mason and jumping right along side of him. what a great idea for a birthday party.

i am definitely going to look into classes for the kids at this place. i would love to get them into some organized activities. miles thinks it is a bit too girly for a boy. i don't think so. i think it would be fun to get some exercise and build your muscles.

the monitor

connor is hooked up to this apnea monitor all the time. it is designed to have an alarm go off if his heart rate is too fast or too slow or if he doesn't take a breath every 20 seconds. i have a love/hate relationship with it. the monitor drives me crazy. it will sometimes go off in the middle of the night if the cords are not properly in place. this will wake us all up and freak me out. i have to drag it around with me on my shoulder when i take him to change him or move him from room to room. it is not heavy. it reminds me of when i used to have a pull out stereo in my car and had to take it every where. it is about the same size. it is just a pain to have these cords hanging from the baby all the time. so i hate it because it is inconvenient and then i love it because it keeps me from wondering if he is breathing.

the monitor has gone off four times because of his breathing and heart rate. twice for low heart rate and twice for breathing. every time it goes off i become insane with worry. today it has gone off twice and i won't leave his side because i am afraid it will go off again. ugh. this thing is making me crazy. i am not sure how long he will have to have the monitor. they are supposed to evaluate the results in two weeks. i wonder if i will miss it when it is gone.

soft baskets

i actually started this project a long time ago. i made one soft basket for the baby blankets and then decided that i liked it so much i needed two. i cut the fabric, started sewing and then my sewing machine broke. i was so sad. luckily miles bought me a new sewing machine for my birthday and now i am back in action.

the pattern for these adorable baskets can be found here. they were a bit tricky for me to make because the pattern is not exact. the nature of a soft basket is that it is, well, soft and therfore a little loose in the measuring. it all worked out though and i will be making more of these in the future for gifts.

our little dolls

miles and i were laughing about how connor could share dahlia's doll clothes if we wanted. here is connor next to his sister's dolly.

here is the little dolly in dahlia's lap.

1 month old

connor turned 1 month old today. that is just crazy. this month really went by so fast. connor is looking more like a newborn now. he has lost that preemie look. his face has filled out and he now weighs 6 pounds. he is eating like a champ. now if only he wasn't such a noisy sleeper. he keeps us up all night with his little grunts. i am beginning to wonder if moving the crib into our room was such a good idea.

we took all three kids in for their doctor's checkup today. it was crazy. they said it would be easier if we scheduled all three for the same day. that was so not true. they had us scheduled with 2 different doctors and a nurse. we had to split up and go into two different exam rooms and then go back in the waiting room to be called by the nurse. i was completely exhausted by time we left. i also had to schedule four more appointments. ugh. too many appointments. at least we got all the flu shots done. i really don't want the kids to get the flu.

lots to be thankful for

we celebrated thanksgiving this year at jen and ray's house. i was so happy to not be hosting. miles and i have hosted thanksgiving for the last seven years. it was nice to take a year off. i was sure i would go into labor again on thanksgiving if i hosted. of course that did not happen but it would have been so hard to prepare for it with our newborn. instead of being stressed out this morning i was in my pajamas sitting at the computer doing some online shopping. i felt so spoiled.

jen and ray did a great job preparing the meal. everything was delicious. the kids had so much fun playing with all of bodhi's toys. the only thing i really missed was the big sleepover that we usually have on thanksgiving. with all our kids we had to come home. connor slept through most of the day. he was very cute. his first thanksgiving and we are very thankful to have him here.

happy birthday dahlia

today is dahlia's real birthday. she is two years old. she is growing up so fast. she is 27 pounds and 35 inches tall. that puts her at 50% for weight and 80% for height. wow. 80% how crazy. i don't know where she gets that from because i am short. she is super smart. she can count to ten, and she speaks in full sentences all the time. i think having mason to chat with helps. they are really sweet together. they play all the time.

we didn't really do anything to celebrate her birthday today since we already had a party for her. we actually went to a friends birthday party. i was going to make a cake, but after having cake at emily's birthday i decided that was enough sugar for the day. it was a fun day though. we all relaxed together at night and watched winnie the pooh's christmas movie. yay. the holiday's are here.

newborns

wow. i completely and totally forgot how much work a newborn is. i thought it would be so easy to have connor home. no more running back and forth to the hospital. i forgot about the getting up every three hours during the night to feed and change them. i am so tired. after a week of interrupted sleep i am exhausted. today i do feel a little better. my house, however, has seen better days. what a mess.

i think we are finally settling in on a routine. things have been different with connor than with dahlia and mason. connor sleeps in a crib. yay us. connor is mostly bottle fed. this is a pain and requires me to pump and wash a ton of bottles. we are thinking it will just be until he gains some more weight. if i breast feed him, he never eats enough and just wakes up an hour later being hungry. we like to give him a bottle so we know how much he is eating. he tends to sleep at least three hours after a bottle so that gives us a break. he also requires a bit more attention with his medicine and monitor. we will be happy to get rid of those things. he should only need them for about six weeks.

on a happy note. he is adorable and mason and dahlia seem to really like him. we are all doing well.

he is home

hurray. he is home. they actually let us take him home today. i was so relieved and happy that it is true. he is actually in his crib at home at this very moment. he is so cute. today was a bit busy and crazy. i had to drive mason and dahlia to orange county for my mom to watch them. after that i had to go with miles to take connor home from the hospital. before i could even enjoy him i was back on the road to pick up mason and dahlia from my mom's house. whew. that is about 100 miles of driving. all worth it of course because my family is together now.

dahlia loves her new brother. she helped me feed him a bottle. mason of course seems to not be interested. he did take a look at him before announcing that he needed to go play with his trains. maybe mason will find him more interesting when connor is older and they can interact with each other.

there were five babies that left the nicu today. leaving only ten. the nurses said the babies all decided that today was the day to leave. i wonder who led the movement.

connor day 12

the hospital played a dirty trick on us today. miles went to visit connor in the morning and spoke with the doctor. he said connor was doing great. he passed his 12 hour sleep test last night. he was eating good. he was back up to his birth weight. everything was great and we could take him home. today. he said to go home, get the car seat, the monitor, his medicine, and a change of clothes for him and we could take him home. i got so excited. even miles got excited this time. we got all his stuff and went back to the nicu. in the elevator we made jokes about how they wouldn't really let us take him home. and sure enough. we were right.

the doctor was there and told us he just looked over connor's bilirubin levels and decided he needed one more day of phototherapy. he said we could either take him home today and bring him back first thing in the morning for a lab test and to be possibly admitted again or to let him stay one more night under the lamp. of course we let him stay there. i would not want to take him home for a night and then bring him back in the morning. what would be the point of that. so of course i started crying again. just a little bit. i am trying to control myself. stupid post-pregnancy hormones are making me nuts.

we went home with our empty car seat. so sad. maybe tomorrow they will let us take him. i have decided that i won't believe it until he is in the car and we are driving away.

connor day 11

i didn't get to visit connor yesterday. miles went with his mother after dahlia's party. i watched mason and dahlia. i was glad she got to see him. it was her first time meeting him. i went this morning. all by myself. i decided that it has been a week and i am going to start driving again. the doctor's instructions said to not drive for two weeks, but i feel fine. i was so happy to drive. i don't like depending on people to take me places. i like to just go when i want to.

connor looked great today. he was so active and alert. he woke up right away for his feeding. the physical therapist fed him. she has put him on all bottle feedings today. we are all hoping that he does good with the feedings. his feeding tube is still in but they aren't using it today. they are going to do another 12 hour sleep test tonight and if he passes then he can go home tomorrow. despite my best efforts not to be, i am really excited. i know he may not come home tomorrow, but he just might and i can't help getting my hopes up.

birthday party for dahlia

we celebrated dahlia's birthday early this year. i was worried that i would go into labor during her real birthday november 22nd, so i planned the party for the 8th. little did i know that i would have already had the baby. it was such a fun day. dahlia loved her party. we had a small group. just the immediate family and some close friends. the same crowd that was at mason's birthday.

dahlia had a scooby doo theme. she loves scooby doo. she is a bit obsessed with it. everyday when it is television time, she says "doo where are you." mason usually wants to watch thomas the train, but dahlia almost always wins and we watch scooby doo. i like scooby doo and don't really get tired watching them over and over.

i decided to give myself a break and order take out. we had italian food. it was still a lot of work to throw a party. i loved it though. i had fun. we also were celebrating my birthday so i treated myself to a glass of champagne. the kids had so much fun playing with all their friends and cousins. it was a great day.

connor day 9

today was much better. miles went to the hospital in the morning by himself. i stayed home and watched mason and dahlia. i didn't want to risk running into nurse ratched again. i decided to visit connor in the evening when she would be gone. it was a good thing i stayed home because she was there again today. miles said he didn't speak to her much. she now has connor on 2 tube feedings and then 1 bottle feeding. he is getting lots of rest that way. he is doing better. he gained 3 ounces yesterday. he is now 4 pounds 14 ounces. so close to his birth weight.

i went to visit him in the evening with miles. christina was nice enough to watch the kids for us. when we got there they had his incubator open and the bilirubin light turned off. yay. that is the first time i have seen his incubator open. it was so cute to see him sleeping without this big plastic bubble over him. i got to hold him and feed him a bottle. he is just so adorable.