Connolly's First Blog!

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Christmas!

My first Christmas bib! At my Aunt Debbie and Uncle Craig's house for the Conklin Christmas!

We took a large family picture with fake mustaches! My Uncle Craig thought (he is holding Ryder) it would be funny for Ryder...he did great!

Quick picture with the great-grandkids and great-grandparents!

Daycare party and Santa visited!!! Great picture!

Most of the kids from daycare party!!

Christmas at my parents house! Funny Noah face:)

Wahoo for family pics!!

Funny antlers!!

The great-grandkids and great-grandparents!!!

Unwrapping at the Scott's!!

Unwrapping at Nana and Papa's Rokes!

The boys and the babies!

Christmas morning at our house!!

UNI t-shirt every Christmas!

A chewable book!!

It was a whirlwind of a holiday time! The weekend before Christmas was the daycare party, Christmas with my parents and brother and sister-in-law on Saturday morning, wedding in Des Moines Saturday night, Christmas with Scott's grandparents side on Sunday morning and Scott's family on Sunday night! Whoa! BUSY! We stayed home on Christmas day which was fantastic and will always be our plan if we can help it! Christmas with my grandparents side was the weekend after. We had a GREAT break with the whole week mostly to ourselves:) Loved it! Enjoying an icy Sunday day!

Monday, January 21, 2013

Milestones!!!

Well...this month has flown..............!!!!! I still need to post about Christmas...but before I do that...January had some major milestones for our kiddos! We have been working on Noah sleeping in his own bed. We have done well and then it fell apart...done well...and then he was back in our bed. So...Daddy decided to take this on. We have played, "love you to the moon and back" with Noah since he was a baby. Daddy decided to do this with Noah as he put him to bed. Daddy will put Noah to bed (we have also been trying to read at least 3 books a night together) and then will lay down on the floor and talk about how far Daddy loves Noah and how far Noah loves Daddy. This goes on for about 5 minutes. Then Daddy tells Noah that if you need me...just yell for me. And...after three weeks...Noah is still in his bed!!! HUGE feat for Noah and even more for Scott! Ryder is still in our bed...but I have decided that until he is done nursing...I am okay with it:) Then...Ryder got TWO teeth and started crawling! His teeth have been bothering him for about 2 weeks and on Friday, January 11th...the first one on the bottom popped through! Then...on Monday, January 14th...the second one on the bottom popped through. WOW!! It has been a VERY long week as the teeth were super painful for Mr. Ryder. We have been using Tylenol and the teeth numbing stuff...and then my friend Kristin told us about the teething tablets. I was nervous about how those worked...but they have been GREAT! Then...yesterday...January 20th...Ryder CRAWLED! He has been scooting everywhere and then crawled backwards...it was pretty funny to watch him...always seemed to get around. Then with our new floor (another story...) he kind of scooted around with his arms forwards...and then BAM...it clicked! He can crawl forward! We have been keeping everything up and clean...but now it is the NUMBER 1 priority:) Busy busy in our house! 2 pictures of the boys...more laters!

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Pictures!

Cardboard boxes and a creative Daddy=a Noah rocket!!!

New camera...catches everything:)

Target gingerbread house! It totally fell apart...but was fun and lots of pictures!

Dipped Ritz...Noah is a champion decorator!

Using the timer on our new camera!

Church program day!

Noah as a lamb...not the happiest camper...

Pictures from our train ride, Christmas and family time to follow!

Thursday, December 20, 2012

December...it's been rough...

Well..we started off the month with a bang! Noah had tubes...for the third time. Ryder had a temp of 101/102 and a run to Urgent Care. Mommy had a kidney stone procedure (ESWL) and Daddy got a nasty sinus infection...oh...and then Ryder got his first ear infection (what a long night!!!!!!). We are ready for break! I will post pics later...we have had a lot of fun taking pictures:) We got a new camera and are LOVING it! Ryder is a rolling machine and loves to "stand" up! Noah has discovered his love for Santa Claus! On our ride to day care one day...we were singing Up On The House Top. Noah, "Who is Saint Nick?" Mom--"well...Saint Nick is another name for Santa Claus" Noah--"Like Megan's Nick?" My grad student is getting married this Saturday and his fiance Megan lived with us this fall...so...I can see where Noah was confused! After Megan moved out...we decided to turn the room into a play room. Not totally done...that will be the holiday break project...hoping to de-clutter the downstairs a bit. Noah has been getting into the Elf on the Shelf as well...his name is Julio:) We don't get super crazy like some folks or take cool pictures...but Noah seems to have fun!

I am still dealing with kidney stones...not sure what kind I have but the doctor was not concerned...I just have to drink 2.5 liters of fluid a day...which is a lot! It wouldn't be all that big of a deal...but when I get working on something...I forget. But no more...I DO NOT want to do this again:( I had to pump and dump (sorry...too much info) for a week...and bottles are A LOT more work once you are used to nursing. We have a huge stock pile so not a big deal (actually we are running out of SPACE!!), but I missed the one on one time with little Ryder-roo:) It was the first time I was ever put under (the wisdom teeth was not heavy anesthetics).

Noah...hoping the ears continue to grow like he does and hopefully we can avoid future ear stuff...we are struggling right now with swimming lessons. We want to do them...but the ear plugs are not a fun battle and there are two doctors in town who have different philosophies...we go to the one that says you have to use ear plugs. Ugg...but forever thankful that this is all we deal with.

Ryder is almost 7 months old!! He is an eating machine! We have discovered baby oatmeal and sweet potatoes. He loves to use his jumperoo and Noah can make him giggle like no one else! We are waiting for Ryder to really start moving...he rocks back and forth when he is sitting (such a good sitter!!!)...and then he will lunge forward and onto his tummy. He can scoot all around on his tummy (like a full 360). And he babbles all of the time. Scott of course thinks he says Daddy...but I think it is just babbling:)

Daddy is staying busy with refereeing and school...desperate need of a break for all teachers. The shooting in Connecticut I think has forever changed how schools look at things. I won't go into detail on my own thoughts or the incident itself. But...having children and being married to a teacher who would go after the person...I had a total meltdown at work. My anxiety has shot through the roof. I pray out loud when I am by myself and just keep asking why and what do we do? As a mother of boys...does this happen with all of the violent things out there for them to play with? We have shut off the news...when Noah goes after the bad guys we talk about guns and hat that means. I don't want to be wary of public places or young men who look "shady" but I can't help it. I went to a training this fall that makes me feel a little better about what to do in a situation...but you never know. So...for now...on our snow day...I am going to play with my kids. Watch Sesame Street and make tents. I want to snuggle every chance I get and let the dishes pile up.

Happy holidays...snuggle whenever you can and pictures to get posted soon!

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Ryder's 6 month appt and Noah...Santa

Ryder had his 6 month check today! He is 17.4 lbs, 26.5 inches--50% for height and 40% for weight:) He is on target for everything except for rolling over. Our PA was not concerned...Ryder is strong enough to do it and is content with laying on his tummy...and therefore sees no need to roll over. We will be working on this!

Noah met Santa at Razzle Dazzle...his words, "he was a little Santa Claus...I like the giant Santa Claus better from church." Ha! They had a Santa Claus at the day care holiday party (which was at church...) and he as around 6 feet. Pretty funny!

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Noah's funny sayings...

So...today on our way home today, Noah and I were talking about Santa. He said, "Mom, I have been making good choices...does that mean Santa will come?" And I said..."as long as you keep making good choices...Santa will bring presents!" Noah..."YEAH!!!!!!!!" Love it:) And our Elf on the shelf...Julio is helping as well!

Saturday, November 24, 2012

A month...

Well...a month flew by...and I am not totally sure how! October was incredibly busy with visit days, football, three year old tantrums and baby eating cereal:) November moved into much of the same pattern! Work for Scott kept him busy...junior high football ended with a win in Jesup and high school ended up into the semifinals...we lost to Regina. School...students have been trying for Scott...he is the only male teacher who is there full-time, so he often gets the trouble makers. We have now moved into basketball refereeing! Scott is going to ref around 40 games!!!!!!! He will be busy! The nice part is that he is home pretty early...because junior high games start at 4pm. I am so ready for next semester to start and hopefully to have UNI make the news for something good. Work has been incredibly stressful and a very long fall between travel and visit days and group visits. But...we survived! I am lucky to work with some incredible co-workers and friends.

Noah has been an adventure every day. Turning 3 has been something Scott and I were not prepared for. One minute...he is FANTASTIC and the next...throwing a HUGE tantrum. Noah is VERY verbal and does not hesitate to talk back. Time outs do not work well and we are not going to spank (judge us...we tried...he hits back...so it is teaching him nothing). We have been taking away toys, treats, etc. This seems to be working. Every day is something new! He loves to tell you...I love you. And it is incredibly sweet. This week he, we woke up to fog and on our way to day care he said, "Mom...why is it soggy out?" Precious...love it. He is absolutely incredible with Ryder...he loves to calm him down, snuggle, make him laugh! It is hysterical watching Noah dance or jump around and Ryder just giggles and giggles. Ryder...eating up cereal almost every night! We had to go to urgent care with him...put him on some meds and it messed up his tummy. We are now doing apple/prune juice every other night in a bottle...about 2 ounces a time. He is still nursing pretty well...but if he is at all distracted...it turns into an adventure! Still pumping every morning after I feed him and then twice at work. Still able to keep up with Ryder...hoping this still works:) We started carrots yesterday. Doing much better with food. I am thinking we will start cereal at day care in a week or so after we see how carrots are going. Then...move on to food at day care! He take about 3 naps (one in the morning, one in the afternoon and a night time nap). Ryder loves sitting up and tummy time. We are a bit concerned about him not really wanting to roll over. Talked to our doctor and she said if he loves tummy time...he sees no need to roll over. This is our mission to work on this! Ryder loves to babble...and started last week shaking his head, as is saying, "no, no, no."

Noah and I are on our way to do some time with the doctors in the next few weeks. He will probably have to have tubes again...ugg...his right tube came out and both ears are full of fluid. VERY frustrating to us because we don't know if he can always hear us and we don't want him to be in pain AND we don't want his speech to take a step back. I....have kidney stones AGAIN! Going to the urologist on Monday and hoping to do the "blasting" thing...we will see!

I WILL UPDATE more often...new goal:) Some fun pics: