3 Months

Another month has flown by and Cannon is already 3 months old. We've had a busy month so of course it just feels like we blinked and there it went. Things are continuing to improve with Cannon....little by little he is getting a little less fussy. I think he may still be fussier than your average baby...but for us, it is definitely an improvement even from a week or two ago....I just keep telling myself...baby steps!

We are really enjoying our vacation - the weather has been on the cooler side still but that may change later in the week when its supposed to warm up.  Just been doing a lot of the same things - enjoying time with friends & family and just relaxing.  Its funny - I actually got to go out on Sat evening (without the kiddos)for dinner to celebrate a friend's dinner...and can I just say how much I actually got to enjoy eating????  I honestly can't remember the last time I went out to dinner with friends without any kids.  It was really nice - I could actually enjoy my entire meal without having to worry about anything else - it was wonderful!  It was only a couple of hours but wow - it did a lot for me :)  Its funny how something so simple can make such a difference.  I am still learning about trying to balance my life with my kids and my life outside of them.  I love being with my kids as much as possible, but as I realized last night - we all need time away too.

Anyway....lets get back to the important stuff here ;)  Here are the latest details for Cannon at 3 months:

•Weighs between 13-14 lbs - had to weigh him while at a store today b/c the one at my mom's house was messed up.  So there were about 10 different scales on display and they ranged anywhere between 13 lbs to just over 14 lbs....so not exactly sure what his weight is but its between there somewhere.

•Wears size 2 diapers

•Wearing 0-3 months clothing and a few things in 3 month size that fit too

•Still has pretty blue eyes

•Still eating about 5 ozs every 3 hours during the day - we were hoping once we upped his ozs that he would go longer but so far...no such luck.  He is like an alarm clock - once it gets to 3 hours he wants a bottle and he wants its NOW!

•Loves to be held & cuddled

•Loves to suck on his hands & fingers.  Not sure if he is trying to find his thumb but he is constantly putting his hands in his mouth and it keeps him content - yay!

•Loves to blow little bubbles with his mouth - he can get pretty messy doing this

•Sleeps in his own bed and has been since around 1 month - doing great!  He is also now sleeping through the night - YAY!!!!  It started about 3-4 weeks ago and he has been doing amazing!  I am one happy mama :)  He normally has his last bottle around 10pm and starts making noises around 7:30-8:00am.

•Loves his bouncy chair.....takes most of his (short) naps during the day in there and just chills out at other times.  The swing is hit and miss - some days its great and others not so much.

•Still enjoys his floor activity mat and likes to kick at the different toys and watch all the lights flashing.  Doesn't like it for too long, but it will keep him occupied for a bit at least.

•Not a big fan of daytime naps.  He fights going to sleep and once he finally does, its usually for around 20-30 mins at a time.

•Not a fan of tummy time - just screams his head off within 10 seconds of being put down.  I know everyone says to increase the time they spend on the floor, but having a baby that is so fussy - the last thing we want to do is make it even worse and make him fuss even more.

•Still kind of a fussy baby.  Getting glimpses here and there that he is getting better...but there are still some rough days mixed in.  Luckily we have some really good days now too.  The early evening hours seem to be the worst but I think thats b/c he only takes catnaps for like 20-30 mins at a time during the day and by that time he is just plain worn out.

•Smiling more and more - and getting easier to get the smiles out.  The morning is one of my favorite times to catch one of his smiles - he is just so happy when he first sees me in the morning - they are just so sweet!

•Went on his first airplane ride to Grandma's house in Toronto - he did really well and slept most of the way.  Woke up in the middle for a bottle and then went right back to sleep.  We're hoping he does the same on the way back home in a couple of weeks.

Here are the 3 month pics :)

This is where the little photoshoot started going downhilll...lol.  Brookie started having her meltdown after being told she could not have the black permanent marker to play with so of course that led to Cannon joining in on the crying - oh the fun times with 2 little ones :)

Vacation Fun

We've been having a great time up here in the Great White North - lol - just kidding - its not that cold.  Although we have had a day or two where we actually ended up in sweatshirts - but I'm enjoying the nice change.  We know what waits for us back in Houston for the next several months.

Its been a nice relaxing & laid back trip which has been wonderful - definitely easier when you have more time to do everything and see everything.  Gone are the days where I would just fly up for the weekend or just stay for 1 week - don't think that is possible with 2 small kids.  They need time to recover from the traveling (and so do I from traveling with them - ha!)  We've just been visiting with friends & family and just getting out and doing a little shopping here and there.  Today we have a big day planned....laundry!!! hahahaha!  It will be nice to just stay home - its a beautiful sunny day outside so we will prob take the kids for a walk and go to a nearby park so Brookie can burn off some energy.

Here are some fun pics I've taken over the last couple of days.

The first couple of pics are from my friend Paula's house.  She has 2 sweet girls, Kaitlyn & Megan who are 6 years old and 4 years old - Brookie had a BLAST playing with them.  They got Miss Brookie addicted to painting. 

It was so neat to see how much they grow and how much their abilities inprove with age. Kaitlyn's (6 years old)painting had houses and clouds and people and was very clear. Then there was Megan's (4 years old) painting. She didn't have the same details, but hers definitely had some shapes and pattern to it. Then you had Brookie's painting (see below).  Of course it was still as beautiful as the older girls (hehehe), but it was just a bunch of colors all mixed in together.

These next pics are just Brookie being a goofball.  We get some hilarious pics of her and her silly faces - had to make sure we got them on camera for memory.  Its just so much a part of her age now....lol.


Back to painting again - this time back at Grandma's house.  Grandma got her all set up with all the paints and paper she could ever need.


I love these next couple of pics of my mom with the kids.  They both adore her and I know it will be hard on them (and yes...me too) not to have them with them full time anymore.  They were both snuggling up on her lap last night - too cute!

Thought this next one looked like they all just passed out in this pic....hahaha.  It wasn't really like that, although most nights we both feel like this - they make us WORK!

And I had to share these next pics of Cannon - sooooo funny.  Right now at Grandma's house he just sleeps on some blankets on the floor since he isn't mobile yet (or so we thought!)  He has done this several mornings now - too funny.  This is how he starts off when I put him to bed the night before.  He is completely swaddled and lays in between his sleep positioner.  He does actually sleep like this the whole night.

Then in the morning when he starts waking up, he starts moving and wiggling around (still swaddled) and somehow gets himself turned a full 90 degrees.

This morning I let him go to see how far he would go - he made it completely off his bed!  You can see where he originally started off - in between the sleep positioner back on the blankets.

Here are just some pics of Cannon in the morning as he is waking up for the day when we get him up.  Just stretching and looking around.....

Just relaxing taking in a whole new day

And my favorite of all - his big happy grin he gives me when he sees me for the first time in the morning - OMG - makes this momma's heart MELT!!!!  Lets just say the mornings are one of my favorite times of day now just for this reason :)

Leaving on a jet plane....

Well we made it - our trip up to Toronto went well - much faster from the loooong drive we had up last summer - 3 hours vs 3 days.  The trip itself was uneventful until we got to Toronto and realized that one of our suitcases was missing.....unfortunately it was Brookie's.  So after the long process of reporting the claim and filling out the forms, we were finally able to leave the airport.  I was pretty irritated with the whole situation - especially when the claim guy didn't show any record of my suitcase anywhere.....didn't make me feel like we would ever see that suitcase again.  It was ALL of her clothes for the trip - and it was a full size suitcase - do you realize how many kids size clothes it takes to fill a suitcase???  So she had nothing other than the clothes on her back.  We went out when we got back to my mom's house and got some necessities to get us through at least for the next day.  Well turns out that apparently they have located my bag this morning and its out for delivery - I'll be happy once its in my hands.  Hopefully it will be in the same condition as when I dropped it off at check-in in Houston. 

So anyway....I finally put our travel insurance to good use - making a claim for delay of baggage so they will reimburse us for the little mini shopping spree we had yesterday - sweet!  If I had this travel insurance originally when I booked the tickets, I would have used it twice already.  The first time would have been when I had to reschedule this trip from Christmas to now b/c being put on bedrest while still pregnant.  So anyway...moral of the story - buy the insurance as soon as you book your ticket - would have saved me over $300 for the re-booking of the tickets too....oh well - you live and learn.

Anyway..moving on - Brookie loved the plane ride - she was so excited that the day finally arrived for her to go on the airplane. She was so good the entire way - slept for about 25 minutes once we were up in the air and then watched cartoons, colored, read books. Poor thing was in pain though when we started the descent into Toronto - she was screaming in pain holding her ears...I felt so helpless - she tried sucking her thumb, sucking on Cannon's pacifier, opening her mouth wide - but she was still pretty upset. Then when we were closer to the ground, she was ok and enjoyed looking out the window

These are when we first got on the plane - she had to check everything out....

Flying on an airplane is hard work - after the flight they were both worn out and crashed on the couch at Grandma's house.

And just had to share - Cannon is now smiling soooo much more - its getting easier and easier to get a smile out of him - love it!

Summer is here

Let the summer time fun begin. We just had our first long weekend of the summer and its just a taste of what is to follow.  Of course its already been scorching hot here for awhile - so weatherwise - summer has already been here for quite some time.  We actually had a nice relaxing weekend with not a lot on the schedule which has been a nice change.  We have been so busy lately, that it was nice to be able to relax more.  Plus next weekend I am flying north with the 2 little kids for a few weeks to visit family and friends...so I know I will have some busy days ahead :)

Our weekend consisted of visiting with friends, playing outside with neighbors, swimming with family, and enjoying lots of yummy bbq - what more can you ask for?  Oh and the weather was perfect - hot & sunny during the day - perfect for all our outdoor activities.

Here are some pics of the last few days - basically what our summer will look like :)

This is the cleanest painting fun Brookie will ever have -  painting with water - she LOVED it!

Lol - couldn't resist taking a pic of Daddy with his kiddos in the pool trying to cool off

Cannon's first dip in the pool - he loved it :)

Just a fun pic to see the size difference between Brookie & Cannon.  He has a little catching up to do - although I don't see that being a problem - he is growing fast & furious.

And the next 2 pics were taken courtesy of Brookie's sweet teacher, Ms Karla on the last day of school.  They were cracking up b/c she was covered in dirt from head to toe - I guess its safe to say she doesn't mind getting a litle dirty...lol.  See what I mean what they had to deal with on a daily basis with just my kid???  They are some special ladies thats for sure :)

And finally....this is what happens when you spend all weekend out in the sun playing in the water.  Anyone that knows Brookie knows that she is EXHAUSTED - she never sleeps anywhere other than her bed.  She is completely crashed on the couch beside me right now as I am typing this..lol.