Sleep Deprived Parents

Just a quick update. I realized when I went to look at the pictures on the camera....poor Kennon.....didn't have a one. So it is ALL Maddox for this entry but I'll try to get a few of Kennon over the weekend. He is changing quickly. WE DID make it as a family to the bridal shower AND the graduation party over the weekend. It was a really nice outing and both Maddox and Kennon were very well behaved. Maddox enjoyed all the people and the attention. Unfortunately I didn't get ONE picture of her or Kennon at either of the parties. Maddox is doing well. Just occasionally the 'whiny Maddox' shows up but for the most part she is doing pretty well with her behavior and is a very happy fun kid! She is very helpful with Kennon when she and I are home alone, getting me diapers, burp rags, grabbing the TV remote etc. However it is still nice to have an extra set of adult hands and luckily both Grandmas have been coming over occasionally to help out and we even had a special visit from Grandpa JIM and Grandpa DICK ( Maddox has shortened their names to JIM and DICK) over the weekend. THANK YOU! Maddox knows so many words it is really amazing. She can't say them all perfectly, but she knows exactly what she wants to tell you and what we are telling her. My favorite right now ( that I can think of)....is LAP. She loves to crawl up on your LAP and read books ( or watch Sesame Street-she has recently discovered Elmo and LOVES him...I think there is an ELMO birthday cake in our future)...although it comes out YAP because she can't say her L's which makes it even more cute. There are many other mispronounced words that Eric and I are able to interpret. She is getting at least 1 maybe 2 more teeth on the bottom to fill in that bottom row. But, luckily she isn't having too many symptoms. And we are SO LUCKY that she still takes 2 good naps and is sleeping through the night despite Kennon's extremely loud crying and squealing throughout the day AND night. It seems in the last few days Kennon has been really fussy secondary to gas! He is eating REALLY well, pooping, and getting rid of gas but despite all that he still gets bound up and it causes him much pain in the gut which causes him to wake up easily and NOT sleep at night. So both Eric and I are very sleep deprived and the couch has become my second bed. He can go 4 hours or so without eating and does so during the day but once those gas pains come around he WILL NOT lye on his back in his crib and wakes right up. So he has been sleeping a lot at night in the swing and taking naps in the swing as well. It seems to help relax him if he has his hips flexed a bit which the swing provides. I keep thinking he will outgrow this, and I'm sure that he will as soon, as his little intestines start working a bit better but, until then Eric and I will be walking around like zombies....!! We've had these sunglasses for awhile but just pulled them out. I think she looks like she is ready to go for a motorcycle ride!

Kennon Thomas

Kennon and I are just hanging out today while Maddox is having fun at Kim's. I can't believe, he seems to be growing so fast. In fact some of his newborn clothes are starting to get a bit snug and we have moved into some of the 0-3 months stuff that is slightly bigger and fits him a bit better. His umbilical cord is all healed up so we have really been doing tummy time which he of course doesn't really like, like most babies but does a pretty good job of lifting his big noggin' up off of the floor. He can tolerate being on his tummy for about 5 minutes before he gets really mad. He is still not a very good sleeper at night but I know each week it will get better and better. He has been really gassy lately which adds to his not wanting to sleep so we've been giving him gas drops the last couple of days which do seem to be helping. He continues to be a good eater and pooper. I swear he must weight more this week than he did last week at his check up. Tomorrow we have a busy day planned and I'm not actually sure if we're going to make it to all of it. We have a baby shower for one of Eric's co-workers and a graduation party for a kid at church. Lots of partying....we'll see how the day goes. Maddox is doing well despite a little cold, or maybe she's just getting more teeth. The first thing she says upon getting up each morning is 'BABY BABY BABY' wanting to know where Kennon is. She can't say Kennon but has started calling him Buddy, like she heard Eric call him one afternoon. It is really cute. Enjoy the pictures. Thanks for the outfit Aunt Brooke and Uncle Ty ( as Maddox now calls you....she can't pronounce her 'L's' so we shortened it to Ty)!! The 'Life is Good' socks are a hand me down from a friend....so cute! He has been awake a lot today......so pray for a good nights sleep for us.

Maddox's New Dress

We have been showered with packages from friends and family over the last 2 weeks. Thank you to everyone!! Most of the packages have contained things for Kennon AND everyone has been so thoughtful to remember Maddox too. She got a cute lady bug gingham halter dress from 'Aunt' Kelly yesterday. So cute. I had to take some pictures. And OH....I remembered to take a few of Kennon too. It seems Maddox is so much more 'photogenic' at this point in time that I sort of forget that you'd like to see how Kennon is changing too. He has started smiling, of course involuntarily but, he is smiling none the less. He went 2 4 hour stretches last night, although that was helped along by some early hour rocking provided by Eric. He slept the ENTIRE day yesterday so we thought we'd be in for a long night but 2 4 hour stretches is pretty good. He loves to snooze in this bouncy seat AND the swing. His umbilical cord is looking good now and he really seemed to enjoy his first REAL bath on Friday night....whoops forgot to get that on camera. It seems I TOTALLY understand why the second kid has WAY less pictures than the first. I am too busy to think about capturing a shot!! He is still eating and pooping well and gets very fussy if he is struggling with gas. But, we know all about that from the issues we had with Maddox and this is nothing compared to that. Kennon is eventually able to get rid of it unlike Maddox. Tomorrow is my first day home with Maddox and Kennon by myself. Hopefully Maddox will have a good day. She is out with Eric right now on a jog with a good buddy of Eric's. Friday afternoon I took her up the road a bit to a little girl named Hannah's house. Hannah is 19 months old and is expecting another sibling the end of September. Her mom stays home and it appears she is dying to get to know people in the neighborhood, as they just moved in this Spring. It is so funny to see the differences in the girls. Hannah is very short and stocky and much more reserved than Maddox. I was worried Maddox would be a little agressive with her being older and bigger and more social but she did really well. The girls played in Hannah's little sprinkler pool thing while Jodie and I chatted. Eric stayed home to chaperone Kennon. I'm hoping to get the girls together regularly this summer while I am off.

Kennon- 2 weeks Maddox- 21 months

So yesterday Grammy and I took Kennon for his 2 week check up and he passed with flying colors. He now weighs 8lbs 4 ounces and is 21 inches long....passing up his birth numbers of 7lbs 7ounces and 19 inches long. I wasn't surprised to hear that he was over 8lbs as he is a REALLY good eater...not the best sleeper thusfar....but we are working on that. He did go 2 3 hour stretches last night ( I think....my hours are starting to all run together). Dr. Anderson was happy with how he looked and he even pulled off Kennon's VERY SCABBY and PRETTY STUCK umbilical cord. It was not the most pleasant thing to watch but we are happy to have it off so we can give him a REAL bath now. We have been doing some tummy time, but I have been afraid we were going to bother his cord, so now we won't have to worry about that anymore. We won't go back to Dr. Anderson now until the middle of August for his 2 month check up. However we have an ultrasound of his hips scheduled for July 20th. Apparently this is standard protocal when you have a breech baby. The ultrasound is to check the approximation and alignment of his hips to determine if he'll need any intervention...bracing, therapy etc. Dr. Anderson alluded to the fact that he thought his hips were not that bad in comparison to other breech babies he has seen so we'll see what the ultrasound shows. Maddox is still having her good and bad moments adjusting to the new situation. But, I think it is safe to say there are more good than bad moments. However for the last 2 weeks we have been having the Grandmas focus on HER on the days that she doesn't go to Kim's so we'll see come Monday what happens when it is just Maddox, Kennon and I. Have to say I'm a bit scared of being completely solo but have to do that sometime. My energy level and pain levels are significantly better and a couple more days I'll be even better. It is evident Maddox loves her brother and asks about 'BABY' when he isn't around or when she comes home from Kim's. She hasn't quite mastered saying 'Kennon' yet but boy she is really starting to know TONS of words and can say a lot of them. She said JIM yesterday for Grandpa Jim and is getting better at Grandma Jean and Grammy as well. I can't even begin to list all the words that she knows and she is starting to say phrases as well like 'I DID IT'. It is really remarkable how many new things she can learn in a day. She is getting good at using her spoon, getting dressed, and putting her toys away. Thanks again to the Grandmas who have been helping us out the last 2 weeks....laundry, cleaning, cooking, chaperoning Maddox , and rocking Kennon in the wee hours. It has been a tremendous boost. Thanks for all the goodies in the freezer as well. It is so nice to be able to just pull something out of the freezer and throw it in the oven. We are SO LUCKY to live close enough to get such great help and for our kids to grow up close to the Grandparents!!

Maddox is a BIG Sister

So Maddox did her 'maiden hold' yesterday evening and Eric managed to get some great shots. She has been 'asking' to hold him for the last couple of days and it proved to be a nice experience. She still doesn't quite understand her size as compared to him but all in all she was very happy to hold him and actually wanted to continue to hold him several other times during the rest of the evening. She kissed him and we pointed out all his body parts...eyes...nose...tummy...fingers....etc. She did a great job. AND I don't know if we've turned a corner or not but Maddox has been REALLY GOOD the last 72 hours or so. She has almost returned to her normal self and has been really interested in Kennon. The other thing that has happened is that she is playing with her own baby and mimicking a lot of the activities that I do with Kennon....putting her down on the activity mat, burping her, putting her in the swing. Wednesday night Kennon slept 2 3 hour stretches which was really nice but last night we weren't so lucky. He had slept most of the day and really fought sleeping last night. Oh well, today is another day. We've had some MAJOR storms roll through the last 2 nights. Kennon seems oblivious to noise and will sleep through Eric changing Maddox in his room on the changing dresser while he is in the crib! Maddox has woken up a couple of times but not really from the storms, it seems she has been having bad dreams, or so we think. Luckily she goes right back down without a fuss. I love the picture of Kennon I took yesterday. This is one of his common poses....SLEEPING! Have a good weekend.

Welcome home Kennon

Hi there!! Well, my long winded blog entries are probably going to go by the wayside but I'll do my best to keep you at least updated on pictures. We are doing well and have been blessed with a really pretty easy going Kennon!! Thank goodness. He is eating well, pooping well ( unlike Maddox if you remember) and overall just a happy little baby thus far. We are working on getting his days and nights switched around but we did get 2 2.5 hour stretches last night which is good. I am getting my strength and energy back and not taking nearly as many pain pills as just a few days ago. Not even remotely ready to leave the house yet so luckily Eric and I have had Grandma Jean the last 48 hours to help us as well as we've still been sending Maddox to Kim's to keep her in her normal routine. AND BOY does she need normalcy. She is SLOWLY transitioning to being a big sister but still isn't quite there yet, although I do think we are making headway and we keep telling ourselves tomorrow is another day. The visiting nurse, Maggie, was here this AM to check both Kennon and I out, the same nurse that came to see Maddox and I. She payed a lot of attention to Maddox too which was nice. Kennon is almost back up to his birth weight weighing in today at 7lbs 5 ounces so by no doubt will he be back up to his birth weight by our visit with Dr. Anderson next Thursday, which was Dr. Anderson's goals. She gave him a good report. Just a few pics from the hospital...first bath...first visit from Maddox and then a few from home...although I can definitely tell how the second child has less pictures than the first. I am struggling to remember to take pictures of the little guy. Take care for now and thanks for the congratulation wishes.