Kellan is 2 months old!

The little man is now 2 months old! He had his 2 month checkup yesterday and he is a healthy boy, weighing in at 13 lbs. and 23 inches long. We got to speak with a new doctor yesterday that I really liked, and she was really helpful. She said Kellan does have a little eczema, and she prescribed a steroid cream to help clear it up. Also, I discussed with her the fact that he is sometimes fussy when drinking the milk that I had stored in the freezer and thawed, so her suggestion is to stop feeding him the breast milk and save it to add to his rice cereal in a few months. She said that he may have acid reflux or be lactose intolerant, so she gave me some samples of the Similac sensitive formula to try and see how he responds to it. It's been almost 24 hours and he has been eating GREAT without fussiness, so I'm hesitantly optimistic. The last 24 hours he's also been a little groggy after getting his first round of shots and having a dose of Tylenol, so we'll see today how he does. Sticking to formula at this point will definitely make our vacation a little easier instead of dealing with the pumping and packing up stored milk from the freezer!

Here are a few pictures of the little guy....

Big sister and her baby brother

Granddad and Kellan

Tummy time

Only 2 more days until we leave for vacation! We are leaving Thursday and heading to Isle of Palms, SC to visit with Marlon's college roommate and his family. After spending a little time there we will head up to Myrtle Beach to meet up with my family for a week of vacationing and celebrating Alex's 3rd birthday!

Howdy Partner!

Last night was family night at Alex's school, and it had a Western theme. They provided all the kids with cowboy hats and scarves, and they had a bunch of activities that centered around the western theme. Unfortunately Marlon was out of town and unable to go, but Kellan and I represented the family! He slept through the entire 2 hours, which was good!

My little cowgirl!

Sitting on her log in front of a "campfire" (notice the change in scarf color--a typical woman, indecisive)

Eating her trail mix

A self portrait of me and the kids

My little guy, who is quickly becoming not so little, is now 7 weeks old (almost 8)! No, he's not wearing makeup in the below picture, he just had a bath and has a fresh coating of lotion on. I gave up on fighting the hair that always sticks up and just went with it, just letting it stand up! I think we're having a sleeping breakthrough these days....last night he slept for 6 hours straight--unfortunately it was from about 9pm-3am, which doesn't do so much for me since I'm typically not asleep by 9 to maximize the sleeping period, so my goal is to manipulate that a bit tonight with his schedule and hope that he eats for the last time around 11pm and sleeps for another 6 hours or so (unless last night was just a fluke!). It may take a little more time but we're making progress! I've noticed over the past 2 nights that instead of waking up crying really hard to eat, he's been kind of half-waking up, as if he's not sure if he wants to keep sleeping or wake up and eat, so there has definitely been a change. He's realizing that sleep is nice!! Mommy can't wait to have a solid night's sleep-my first in almost 2 months!

Visit with Josh, Kendy, and Kaylee

Post #2 of the day---A little belated, I wanted to post about the great weekend we had with our last group of visitors for a while...my brother Josh, his wife Kendy, and our niece Kaylee! We had a nice time just hanging out and spending time with them. Alex had a great time, and now everyone in the family has met Kellan! Below are some pictures--

Alex showing some love to her baby brother

Kellan sleeping in daddy's recliner...looks like he'll be following in his dad's footsteps
Cousins Kaylee (6 months) and Kellan
Kellan and Kaylee
Uncle Josh and Kellan

What a cutie!
Aunt Dee Dee and Kellan

I loved this one of Josh and Alex...too cute

Alex striking a dance pose (note the cute hairstyle created by Aunt Dee Dee!)

We have an upcoming family vacation in Myrtle Beach at the end of May--I can't wait to get all of the cousins together for a few photos!

Old MacDonald had a farm...

Alex had her first school field trip yesterday on a cold rainy Tuesday to the farm on the WVU campus. I got to go along (without Kellan--he stayed home with daddy!). We got to see a bunch of cows, some pigs, ducks, chickens, some rabbits, and a horse. It was fun to watch Alex interacting with her school friends--below are a few pictures!

My little piggy!

Face to face with a pregnant cow...she wasn't too shy about petting the animals--I had to watch her closely to make sure she wasn't sticking her hands through the fence when she wasn't supposed to be!
I just thought this was a pretty picture of the horse we saw...
Alex and her "best friend" Sophia (in the pink) and another classmate, Becca.

Alex and her buddy Jarrett! (notice the yellow bandaid on Alex's face--there is a real boo-boo underneath, but she has had an obsession with putting bandaids all over her body--the boo-boo no longer needed a bandaid but she insisted on wearing one anyway)

Soaking up the sun

I LOVE SPRING!
We had a nice weekend enjoying the beautiful weather before rain came in on Saturday afternoon. My mom was in town for a few days so we were able to get out and do some things with the kids. Marlon and I even got to have not one, but two, evenings out since we had a baby sitter in the house! On Thursday night we went out for a YUMMY dinner with a childhood friend of Marlon's, his fiancee, and his father since they were in the area for the weekend. Friday night we got to attend the Blue Jean Ball, a work function for Marlon that is a lot of fun! I was a little tired after both late nights and little sleep but it was worth it!

Here are some photos of the past week...Below is Alex holding (or should I say strangling) Kellan on the swing in the backyard!

Alex at the park--she loves to wear a hat and sunglasses!

Here is a sad attempt at a family photo before church on Sunday. I guess my mom didn't notice that Marlon wasn't looking at the camera (in any of the 3 photos she took) and that Kellan is in the process of spitting up! Then of course you have Alex's pouty face...pretty typical these days!

Kellan enjoying the bouncy seat with a little bit of a smile!

Kellan is 1 month old!

Our little guy turned 1 month old yesterday! It's hard to believe that a month has passed so quickly. Time definitely flies by when it's your second child! At this stage he doesn't do much other than eat and sleep, but he does enjoy his activity mat when he has play time. He eats every 3 hours and usually naps pretty well. He's sleeping in his crib now and he really enjoys his mobile and loves his binky! He usually eats his last meal at night around 10 or 11, then he typically sleeps until 2 or 3, then wakes up again around 5 or 6. Some nights when he eats at 2 or 3, he decides he is wide awake and stays up for another 2 hours before falling back asleep--these are the times I dread the most since I can barely keep my eyes open! I have started to let him cry it out in his crib since that seems to be what he needs--I've tried rocking him but that doesn't work--that just wakes him up more! Last night he was kind and went right back to bed after that feeding, which was so nice of him! I can't wait until he is sleeping all night--I could really use a good night's sleep! Otherwise he's a growing boy with a good appetite--speaking of which, he is just waking up and needs to eat so I will post more later!

Another weekend of visitors!

This weekend was another busy one for us. Marlon was out of town on Saturday in Maryland so Alex, Kellan and I made our first outing (to somewhere other than Alex's school) and went to Kid's Day at the local mall. They had a bunch of booths set up where kids could play games, get tattoos, stickers, coloring books, etc. We met up with my friend Jessica and her boys and spent a few hours there--it went smoothly and Alex had a really good time.

Later that afternoon Marlon's sister, Lauren, her husband Jon and our nephew Carter came for a visit! It was nice to have them come visit and get the chance to meet Kellan. It was also good to see Carter--he was born in between our nieces Kaylee and Mia, so it's great to see what different stages they are all at with them being so close in age. Below are some photos from this weekend's visit...

Kellan with Aunt Lauren

Alex doing a dance in her "Big Sister" shirt

Carter and Kellan...I like how Carter is patting him on the head!

Aunt Lauren and Kellan

Kellan in his Arsenal gear (dressed up and posed by daddy, of course)...we have a similar photo of Alex in this outfit...I will have to post both together sometime

Alex and Carter...Alex was chatting with Carter