Brody vs Connor

I was looking through our pictures the other day and was reminiscing about when Brody was born. It's fun comparing the pictures of the two of them and seeing the similarities and the differences. Both boys were born 6 days late. Brody came on his own at 4:51pm on July 23rd and was 7 pounds 12 ounces and 19 3/4 inches long. Connor was induced and arrived at 2:41pm on March 2nd and was 8 pounds 9 ounces and 20 3/4 inches long. Both were/are very mellow babies. Connor definitely sleeps more than Brody did but he was bigger so maybe that's why. I'm anxious to see what Connor is going to look like as he gets older. Brody is already a great big brother, he always wants to make sure baby is being taken care of. He hates when he cries and will tell me to hold him or give him his suckie to make it better. It's going to be fun watching the two of them grow up together.

Brody 7 pounds 12 ounces.

Connor 8 pounds 9 ounces.

This is Brody at about 2 months old.

This is Connor at around 3 weeks.

Brody making his silly face.

Connor knows the same face.

Brody sleeping on mommy.

Connor sleeping on mommy.

These next couple of pics are just of Connor, we went for a walk the other day and I put Brody's sunglasses on him, it was too cute.

Future heartbreaker!

Potty Training "Boot Camp"

So we had been talking about potty training Brody and were having mixed emotions. I did some research on the internet and a lot of information said just to wait until they are ready but we have a friend who said she uses this method that works in 3 days. I was a little skeptical but she had used this method for her son and said it really worked. Well the last couple of weeks I finally just got really fed up with changing Brody's diapers. He had turned it into a game, every time I would try to change him he would run away from me. And this might be a little too much info but his poops were huge and gross and he kept wanting to touch his butt while I was changing his poopy diaper. I was getting very annoyed with the entire situation so I decided it was time for potty training and emailed my friend to get the "boot camp" guide, that's what I've nicknamed the method she uses. She sent me the email on Thursday, Friday I went to the store for supplies and we decided to start on Saturday. So with this method you basically bunker down at home for three days, you throw away all your diapers and just go straight to underwear. We actually just pretended to throw the diapers away because we didn't want to waste them, we are planning to save them for Connor. The guide says that only one parent should do the potty training, so we decided it would be me sense I'm home with him all day. I was a little worried about coming off as the "bad guy" but it actually turned out to be a special bonding experience for the two of us. I really feel like it made us closer. The first day is the worst, lots of accidents which means lots of cleaning and lots of laundry. Brody did really good, I had very low expectations for the first day but he actually had 3 successes. The next morning he woke up and had three accidents but after that he seemed to get it. The rest of the day he used the big boy potty all day. Monday was day three and he did really well. He only had 1 accident when we were playing outside and he used the potty successfully 9 times, YAY BRODY!! I'm so proud of him, I can't believe what a big boy he is. We are still working on some kinks, he has woken up wet each morning. I mostly blame myself for this because you are supposed to be there to wake him up and rush him to the potty but I seem to keep getting to him a little late. We'll keep working on it. Also he isn't as comfortable going poop in the big potty so he has been holding it and not going. He actually pooped in the bath last night so we'll have to practice that a little more too. Overall I would say the potty training "boot camp" really works and I would recommend it to everyone.

This was right before we started "boot camp" he had been afraid to sit on the potty so we were practicing.

Brody in his first pair of big boy underwear. Such a cute tushie :)

Happy St. Patty's Day

I love this time of year. The days are longer, the weather starts to get warmer, you get to drink green beer and March Madness begins. We participate in the NCAA pool every year. This year is exciting because a bunch of teams I like made the tournament. We will be routing for UCSB, UNM, NMSU, UT and St. Mary's. Here are a few pics of my boys in green.

I actually got a smile.

He wanted me to take a picture of his hand.

And his tongue.

And his tummy :)

Too much green milk.

My cute little leprechaun.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

2 Week Update

Connor is officially two weeks old. We had his doctor appointment today and he is doing very well. Dr. Cardwell told me that when they first see babies they write down the weight they hope for them to be at by their two week appointment. For Connor, she was hoping he would be between 8 pounds 10 ounces and 8 pounds 12 ounces. Well he was almost a full pound bigger than that! He officially weighs 9 pounds 9 ounces which is in the 75th percentile. His length is 22 inches which is in the 90th percentile and his head was 36.5 cm which is in the 50th percentile. He is perfectly healthy which is just what I wanted to hear. He still sleeps a lot. I usually nurse him around midnight before we go to bed, he usually only wakes up once during the night and then again around 8 in the morning. He is a very mellow baby. He never really cries, he just sleeps, eats and poops. He loves to cuddle and always makes these really funny little squeaky noises. So far Brody is a great big brother. He still doesn't want to have a lot to do with the baby but he is always very sweet, he will give him his suckie or his blanket if he is upset. He tells him goodnight when he goes to bed. He cracks me up whenever I change Connor. If he has a poopy diaper or if Brody sees his umbilical cord he makes a funny face and says "ewwww". Mark went back to work this week so we are starting to adjust to our new schedule and life as a family of four.

Ok so this was really gross. I was changing Connor. He had already pooped but as I was putting a clean diaper on he pooped again and it somehow ricocheted off the diaper and went all over his tummy. So we started to clean him up and then he started peeing everywhere. We finally got everything clean and I was just about to put on a new diaper and he projectile pooped all over me. I couldn't believe it. Brody had peed on me but I can't say I have ever been pooped on. I was laughing so hard I was crying. We felt like total diaper changing rookies :)

Last Friday we took the boys to the park for a picnic, Brody loved the swings!

Brody fell asleep in the car giving himself tickles on his tummy.

Cuddling with my boys.

Brody used to make this exact same face.

Looks like a little smile.

His first pair of shoes, they are still too big but I had to try them on :)

Deep in thought.

Getting a little chub in his cheeks.

Connor Jace

So Connor was due on February 24th. We decided if he didn't come by March 2nd we were going to induce. I had my last doctor's appointment on Monday, March 1st. I was 3 cm dilated. That night I had lots of contractions. They started coming about every 10 minutes but never really got any closer. We headed to the hospital at 6am the next morning for our induction. It was so strange going to the hospital not being in active labor. Everything was so calm. We got there and got checked in. They checked me and I was at 5.5 cm. They also took blood and started my IV. They started me on petocin around 7:40 am. Shortly after that, the nurse came in and told me that when they ran the the tests on my blood my platelet count was low. I had no clue what this meant. I quickly found out I might not be able to have an epidural. They wanted to take some more blood and run the tests one more time. My platelet count went up a little bit but not enough for an epidural. I started to freak out, I was totally planning on having an epidural and didn't really have any other birth plan in mind. I was a mess, I started crying but was trying to stay positive. My mom and Mark's mom got to the hospital shortly after we received the bad news. They were both very supportive and encouraging, and since they had all three of their children naturally, they knew I would be fine. My doctor came in to see me about an hour later. She said that she talked to the anesthesiologist and gave her ok for me to go ahead and have the epidural. She explained that it was ultimately up to the head of anesthesiology to decide whether or not to give me the epidural but there was a small chance I could still have one. A little while later, the head of anesthesiology came in and examined me and decided I could go ahead and have the epidural. I'd never been so happy! So around 11 am I finally got my epidural, I was already at 7.5 cm and moving along pretty quickly. The next several hours were very calm. Me, Mark and the moms just hung out in the room reading magazines and waiting. Shara got to the hospital around 2 pm, just in time for all the action. The nurse came in to check me and I was at 10 cm. She paged the doctor and got the room all set up for delivery. She walked me through how to push and wanted me to practice. She was going to count to 10 and have me push. Well, she counted to 2 and then told me to stop because the baby was right there!! Dr. Meadows came in and I pushed twice and Connor was here. He was born at 2:41 pm. He weighed 8 pounds 9 oz and 21 and 3/4 inches long. The cord was wrapped tightly around his neck and had to be cut off, but other then that he was completely perfect. They put him in my arms and looking at his face it was like I had known him forever. After they got us both all cleaned up we were able to have visitors and Brody got to come and meet his little brother. He wasn't all that interested at first. He was really happy to see mommy and daddy. While Brody and grandpa were visiting they moved us to our postpartum room. The hospital was very relaxed and let us have as many visitors as we wanted. Abbey, Tim and Shara all came to visit. We had Chewy's for dinner and Mark's brother Alan arrived. Brody stayed until almost 9:30 which was way past his bedtime so the grandparents all left and took him home to bed. We had a pretty good night in the hospital; the nursery nurse even came and watched Connor for a couple of hours so we could get some sleep. The next day they came and got Connor bright and early for his circumcision, and after that he slept for almost 6 hours. Mark worked his magic and was able to talk them into letting us go home early so we checked out of the hospital around 4:30 pm and headed home. It was an amazing experience and I'm both glad and sad that it's over. I'm so happy we have our two amazing boys and our family is now complete.

Last belly pic, this is right as we were leaving for the hospital.

Dilated to 10cm time to push!

My first look at my new baby boy.

Totally in love.

Proud parents.

Glad that's over :)

8 pounds 9 oz, almost a pound bigger than Brody.

Some pics Abbey took while visiting.

Connor Jace

Oops they made him mad.

Mommy and Connor.

So glad my mom was with me!!

Brody being a goofball and jumping right in front of the camera.

Grandma Diane and Connor.

Grandma Judy and Connor.

Big Brother!

Mark, me and Connor.

Our new family of four.