Pics at long last

It has been way too long since I've posted pictures so I am determined to get a few on here now that the kiddies are in bed. Marlon is away in NC so I'm on my own until Sunday. He watched the kids while I went to Philly for a few days for work this past week, so we just saw each other in passing as he headed out the door the morning after I got home! The kids are doing great and I am looking forward to having some quality bonding time with them this weekend on my own. Here are a few pictures--there are some random ones here of a few different things--first here are some recent pictures of Kellan, who is 3 1/2 months old.

I was in Philadelphia for a staff meeting but also for a company picnic, which we've never had before. I just wanted to post about this because as much as I may often get tired of the travel and demands of my job, I have to say that I have some of the greatest co-workers ever. I've never had a job where I truly enjoy the people I work with, and many of them have become some very good friends over the years. We don't see each other often since we are scattered around the east coast, so times like this picnic are really a ton of fun. We competed in competitions like a 3-legged race, an egg toss, and kickball. We had a barbeque with some great food, a DJ, and about 60 or so people in attendance. When the day comes that I'm working anymore I will definitely miss times like these!

My co-worker friends...Michelle, Jeanette, Tom, John, Kathryn, Coleen,and me!

I also never posted pictures of Alex's 3rd birthday party at school--I just came across the photos on my work camera! Isn't the cupcake cake cool? I loved the colors and the way they made the butterfly.

Alex and her BFF Sophia checking out the cake

My little sweet talker

Just wanted to share a few funny moments I've had with Alex recently...when I put her to bed at night she tries everything she can think of to prolong the inevitable moment where I leave, close the door, and say goodnight. She also comes to the door a few more times before she finally settles in for the night--we've come a long way from where we used to be a few months ago, but we're not quite 100% yet. The other night her tactic to get me to stay was saying "but Mommy, don't go. I like you." I of course responded with "I like you too but it's still time for bed"--she then follows up with "but I need you". Pulling on my heart strings little girl! Then the other day I had her in a timeout for not doing what I asked her to do (can't remember exactly what because the days blur together after a while) and when her timeout was over I went over and asked her why she was in a timeout, and she looked up at me with puppy dog eyes and said "because I didn't listen to my friend mommy". What a little manipulator she is!!! She knows that the sweet little "my friend mommy" part just made me smile! Gotta love the working mind of a 3-year old.

On another note, Kellan turned 3 months old yesterday--I took a few pictures but I hope to get a few cute ones today to share. I'll try to post a few pics of my beefy little guy later!

How time flies!

I feel like I haven't had much time to blog recently--every day seems to be filled from start to finish! Let's see...this was my first full week back to work and Kellan's first week of daycare. Kellan is now 12 weeks old and such a beefy little boy! At 11 weeks, he weighed 14 lbs., 8 oz.--his big sister didn't weigh this much until she was at least 4 months old!! He's starting to smile and coo, which makes him so much more entertaining and loveable! He did really well for his first week at school. The first few days he took better naps than he ever took at home--hour and a half, 2 hours...and he also starting sleeping through the night Monday night and hasn't turned back since! (YIPEE!). He has slept through the night periodically before but it would only last a day or 2 here or there, but this whole week he has consistently gone to bed between 8:30 and 9:00 and has slept until sometime between 6 and 7 am. He just started to get his first cold yesterday but he slept surprisingly well last night and today.

Alex is enjoying the warm weather and loves to play outside in the water, and she still loves going to school. She's loving being a big sister, and Kellan loves to hear her voice when she is talking to him and trying to soothe him. It's so sweet to see.

Here are some recent photos from the past few weeks.

My little guy in his I love Mommy shirt (a week ago)

Family picture from vacation in Myrtle Beach (we just got real family pics taken this morning so I'll hopefully have a better one to post soon)


The loves of my life!!

Tummy Time (taken the other day)

Alex soaking up the sun in the backyard in her water table (which is not meant to be sat IN, but I figured it was really hot out and she's light enough to not tip it over, so why not?)

Birthday, Beach, Babies and more...

I'm a bit overdue on an update from our vacation to Myrtle Beach, but it's been a busy week with Marlon out of town and me at home with both kids! I officially start back to work tomorrow (sigh) and Kellan starts daycare on Monday (sigh, again). The vacation was our last big hoorah as a family and it truly was a great time. I don't have the time to filter through the 100's of pictures taken right now, but my sister-in-law Renee has a great slideshow of some on her blog. A few great highlights---Alex turned 3 on Memorial Day and she was given a great party with decorations courtesy of Aunt Kendy and a great tiara birthday cake courtesy of Aunt Renee! They did so much to make this day special for Alex and she really loved it! Kellan basically slept most of the vacation so I can't say he did much to enjoy himself, but Alex had fun at the beach, in the pool, going on the lazy river, going to a hibachi restaurant on her birthday, going to the aquarium, and going on the carnival rides at Broadway at the Beach. If you ask what her favorite part of vacation was, she says "the teacup", which is the teacup ride that she went on with her daddy (just like the teacup ride at DisneyWorld) and he spun it around pretty fast--I was worried she would be sick but she thought it was great! She had a great time playing with her cousin Nolan, and she loved entertaining her cousins Mia and Kaylee. My cousin Juliet, whose daughter Kadence was born right between Mia and Kaylee, came down from NC to visit, so it was great to get a chance to meet Kadence (another beautiful baby with a head of hair that rivals Kellan's!). Again--pictures can be found on Renee's blog until I get around to posting a few of my favorites!
More later...I have to get Alex fed and dressed for school!

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!