Winter in the South...

...NAH!!! Just another reason why I LOVE living here.

2 Months Old

Our little girl's first two months have flown by. I feel like I have missed a large portion of the past month, mostly because I am back to work.  She is growing like a flower, and is progressing very quickly developmentaly.

I weighed her yesterday at home, a whoping 11 pounds and 4 ounces. A large jump from the 7 pounds just two months ago. She goes back to see Dr. Stone on the 20th to find our the specifics of her growth spurt. 

She is mostly sleeping through the night from about 10 to 6:30, with one feeding around 2:30 or so. I am so proud of my big girl, and how well she is doing so far.

Nicknames

It is 11:00pm, and I am waiting to see if Caitlin is going to stay asleep in her crib. While cleaning up around the house I started thinking about the nicknames that have been given to her. They are by no means nicknames that relate to her name, and honestly don't have any real association to her. At a day old my mom started calling her peanut. I assume it is because she was so small when she was born, compared to Christopher. She is no longer a tiny newborn, or even a tiny infant. She is growing by leaps and bounds, but yet is still proclaimed "peanut" by grandma. I have a feeling that she will have that name for a while. Before she was born (probably when I was certin we were having a girl), I started calling her my little bug. Bugs are normally not associated to girls, but while laying in bed talking to her I would always call her that. I'm pretty sure I spoke to her with that name more than her real name. This is the reason why her room is a lady bug theme. I know for a fact that this nickname will be hers for life. It's funny how nicknames are decided, and given. And even more intruging when they have a story behind them. Christopher's most common nickname is Fred. Odd, and in no way close to his name. The day he was born I remember picking him up and saying "come on Fred", and it has stuck ever since. It always just seemed to fit. I wonder what other nicknames these two will gain, and how long they will stick around.

One Month Old

Everyone says, "It's hard to believe she/he is one month old!", and to some extent it is. I notice the exhaustion filled days more, and I notice the complete disaster that is our home. One thing that has completely slipped by me, almost virtually un-noticeable, is the time I have been home with my little ones. It has been a month since Caitlin was forcefully brought into this world by cesarean (it's a good thing, because I am certain she would not have arrived on her own account), and I am glad that we are now past the first big hurdle.

There is another little phrase muttered by new moms, and repeat moms as well. It's usually something to the extent of, "I can't imagine my life without him/her". I think it might be a little too soon to decide that I feel like she has always been here. Don't get me wrong, it is a wonderful feeling, and I can't wait for the day to come when I feel like she has always been right beside me. Right now I am just completely sleep deprived, and really don't remember much of the last month.

As far as progress goes, she is a complete doll baby. She is now weighing right around 9 pounds (a ball park figure from grandmas scale, since we don't see the doctor again until she is 2 months old), fits into most of her 3 month clothes, and is eating between 4-5 ounces at each feeding. I am hoping that her sleep schedule gets normalized here soon, because Jeff & I would both enjoy a good nights rest.

Christopher is adjusting as I expected, NOT WELL AT ALL. He loves his baby sister, and is the first person to jump up when she starts to cry, but is also showing the signs of missing complete attention. He is getting used to the word "patience" since it is hard for me to feed Caitlin, and fix him a snack at the same time. We are also teaching him to get dressed on his own, and he has been doing this task by himself for about a week. I do not always like his style choices, but if that is what he chooses then I will be quiet.

Sleepy Baby Girl

I love watching her sleep. It is very possible that I could stand in her room for hours peering down into that little girls peacefull face.

Three Weeks Old...

...and WIDE AWAKE!!! I miss the days of Christopher sleeping all day and night. This blue eyed "Georgia Peach" wants to make sure that she does not miss a thing.  Her big brother on the other hand is cruising right along, so to speak.

While I Was Out

I have not posted a single thing since mid December.  We have now added an additional member to our family.  We would like to welcome Caitlin Elisabeth, born on 01/10/12, to our lives.  Big brother Christopher is adjusting to the changes, and we can't wait to see what the future brings for our family.

Christopher's Play-doh Pizza

First of all, ignore the fact that Christopher is only in a pull-up.  I didn't know how messy this would end up, so I did not want clothes destroyed.

He has had this Play-doh pizza maker since his birthday, and has been asking for a while now to play with it (I just didn't want the mess associated with it).  Tonight, after he ran away from home, we broke out the pizza maker.  He actually makes a pretty good (fake) pizza, when instructed on what steps to take.  There was one portion of the pizza I disagreed with, he thought that the pizza needed "little fishes" (anchovies... BARF!!!). 

Waiting on Caitlin

We are less than 50 days away from our little girls arival.  It's to the point now that WE CANT WAIT FOR HER TO BE HERE!!!!!

We have also put our Christmas tree this weekend... What a task with a 3 year old.

He's 3!!!

We had a GREAT time at the party today. We were a little late getting to the park to set everything up, but the kids didn’t mind (they had the park to entertain them). Christopher had so.much.fun!!!! The kids LoVeD painting the pumpkins, and getting to basically roam free. He cried when everyone started leaving, but as soon as he got home he passed out. I would call it a complete success. :)

Someone Is Almost 3

It sucks, just a little, to think that next Saturday my baby boy will be three.  He has grown and changed so much in the past few months that he is actually as tall as a four year old.  I wish that I had actual stats to give, but Dr. Stone has become the most sought after pediatrician.  This makes it very hard to get in with him, unless your child is sick.  Christopher's three year old check-up is not until December.  I do know that he still weighs 34 pounds, and this seems to be where he is going to stay for a while.  It has become hard to find pants to fit him.  He is in 3t's in the waist, but 4t in the length.  I can't wait for his party next Saturday, and in just a few months Caitlin will be here too!

LOTS of Pictures!!!

There have been alot of "happenings" lately, and instead of doing multiple posts I put them all in one.

IT'S A.....

....GIRL!!!

 

I can't believe it. I'm sure I will still be in shock when she get's here.  Christopher is thrilled to have a baby sister.  I thought he would be upset, but when I told him that he was going to have a baby sister he started jumping up and down.  Jeff is just as shocked as I am, but very happy to be having a "daddy's girl"! Everything is measuring right on track. The baby (because we havn't looked at names yet) is measuring in the 50% for 20 weeks.  Dr. Mac is hoping for a normal 6.5 lb baby girl.  You could say I am on cloud nine :)

Georgia Oaks

Christopher and I spent time at the park this morning. Luckily our neighborhood park is covered with extremely old Oak trees. We kept pretty cool with the breeze coming in off the ocean. Christopher was having a great time, and even stood up next to one of the trees to show how big they are. This afternoon we are headed to see the train museum. We hope everyone else is having a great Sunday!

My 2 Year Old

I'm not sure why he is like this (and I am also pretty sure he is not the only one), but my child can go from "get away from me" mood to "I love you Mommy" in a matter of seconds. That is how our lives have been the past few weeks. These are pictures of today to show his progression.

<--awake for 5 minutes

Two minutes after first "screaming tantrum"-->

<--"fine I will drink it
but I'm not happy

Look at my cookies for breakfast-->

<--Try and stop me from

blowing my whistle

"Ok! I love you again Mommy" -->

<--goodnight Mickey Mouse

Lets have a color party-->

Baby Cotter the Sqealqual

Jeff and I had our first ultrasound today for baby #2. I am 8 weeks and 3 days along, and our due date is January 15th. I want to keep this short, so I will keep updating as the months go by. So far, so good. Very little morning sickness, and no other symptoms. Hopefully this will be another easy pregnancy.

Memorial Day Fun

Yes I know its been a while, so lets move on. It is very rare for Jeff and I to have 2 entire days together, but because of Memorial Day we got just that. First of all I would like to say thank you to all of our troops (past and present), your sacrific can never be repaid. Jeff and I did a whole lot o' nuthin' on Sunday. We ate dinner at Moms, and relaxed most of the time. Monday we took Christopher for a bike ride out by Tybee. The pictures below are from Monday and a happy boy flying down the path on Daddy's bike.

I Took a BIG Jump...

...and landed with Robin at a tattoo shop. I have wanted a tattoo for a while, but have never really had the guts to get one. I decided when Christopher was born that I wanted a tattoo that keeps a piece of him with me. That being said, it was difficult to decide what to get. I decided on his baby feet. Below is the result, and I can't stop laughing when he looks at my arm. He tells me that "Mommy has a Christopher foot Boo-boo". Hehehehehe

Funny Boy

It has been a while since I actually have sat down to (and felt like) blogging. There have been a lot of things causing this that have been affecting our family. I am hoping that what is best will be the end result. Christopher however, is by no means worried. He is still the happy little boy that he always has been. Tonight I wanted to show off his counting skills (as well as his ABC's) that they are learning, but he decided to "play dead" with Daddy instead. He did eventually get to what I wanted... sorta :)

"My Lynda",...

... says Christopher. She has only been here for 24 hours, but he has quickly become an attached little boy (again). He hasn't seen her in over a year, but it's as if she never left. She is getting some practice in before her baby arrives. By this time next year, Lynda will be a mommy too.

Christopher has not let Lynda out of his sight. He is always looking to make sure that she is right beside him. Last night when she arrived, he tried to sit in her lap (only to be stopped by her 18 week baby bump). She tried to explain to him that there was a baby in her belly. His response was, "My baby". I had to force him to leave last night, with the promise that we would be back today and spend the night. On the way home he told me that he loved "his Lynda". He is going to be sad all over again when she leaves. We will have to drive up and visit next spring.