Chickens, Fish and Tractors

My mom's friend Patty lives on some land near my parents and has a fish pond and chickens. As Shannon said "this is better than Dollywood and a lot closer!" The kids loved feeding the fish and the chickens and collecting eggs.

Maeve and Jack

Jack loved the tractor!

Petting the chicken

Feeding the chickens

Collecting eggs in the chicken house with Mimi

We got to bring all these eggs home!

Announcement

This was Madeline's birth announcement. Gotta love what you can do with Photoshop!

This was taken week 2 when Shannon was visiting. I made the shirts. They say "I'm Jack and I'm the big brother" and "I'm Madeline and I'm the little sister." Again, thanks to my friend photoshop!

Big Brother

I mean, could you just eat this girl?? Look at those lips!

Madeline has started to develop a little personality which is so fun. She has also developed reflux which is not so fun. We are on our third medicine in 3 weeks and hoping this one will help. I hate seeing my sweet girl in pain.

Here she is thinking "o goodness here comes that person

who is a little bigger than me but much louder. "

"whew, he just wanted to kiss me."

Bathtime

This girl loves the bath! The minute I put her in the sink she completely relaxes and just looks around. I wish I could keep her in there for extended periods of time!

If there is one thing I have learned with Jack, it is that kids LOVE routine. So we put Madeline on a bedtime one pretty much from the start. She and Jack both get baths around 7. Then I feed her while Clay does story/song/prayers with Jack. Then I put Madeline in her swing (current sleeping place) and she stays there til around 7am with feedings in the middle around 10pm and 3am. But it has worked so that Clay and I have at least a few hours of quiet time every night. Amazing!

This is how I found my sweet girl this morning:

I love her little feet sticking out. She pooped through her pjs in the middle of the night and i was tired and couldn't find another pair to put her in so I just swaddled her in her diaper. She didn't seem to mind but her feet obviously needed some breathing room!

It won't be like this for long

In the words of Darius Rucker...

He didn't have to wake up
He'd been up all nite
Lay'n there in bed listen'n
To his new born baby cry
He makes a pot of coffee
He splashes water on his face
His wife gives him a kiss and says
It gonna be OK
It wont be like this for long
One day soon we'll look back laugh'n
At the week we brought her home
This phase is gonna fly by
So baby just hold on
It won't be like this for long
One day soon she'll be a teenager
And at times you'll think she hates him
Then he'll walk her down the aisle
And he'll raise her veil
But right now she up and cry'n
And the truth is that he don't mind
As he kisses her good night
And she says her prayers
He lays down there beside her
Till her eyes are finally closed
And just watch'n her it breaks his heart
Cause he already knows
It wont be like this for long
One day soon that little girl is gonna be
All grown up and gone
Yeah this phase is gonna fly by
He's try'n to hold on
It wont be like this for long
It wont be like this for long



This song brought me to tears today in the car. I always was a Hootie fan!

Picture day!

It was picture day at school today. Here I am practicing for the camera.

And showing off my new backpack!

And here are a couple of Madeline just b/c I know you probably like to see her too:

Just when I thought all was safe...

I needed to take a shower. Yes, I get to that every few days. I have made a practice of putting Madeline in the closet so Jack can't get to her. Then I put Dora or Diego on for Jack and I then have about 10 minutes to myself. So today I left Jack watching Dora and came downstairs to find the above artwork by my precious 2 year old. I was working on Madeline's announcements on the island and had some old pictures stuck in my address book. Apparently Jack felt they needed some touching up. FYI- Magic marker comes off granite- it does not come off pictures. If any of you receive an envelope with some brown magic marker, my apologies but I didn't order alot of extras so I have to use these.

We have had some challenges this week but things are getting better. Clay was in Vegas all week for work but I had some fantastic friends in the Nichols and the Smiths who helped take Jack off my hands for a few hours each day. LIFESAVERS!! The days go find til about 4pm and then all hell breaks loose here so to have Macey and Paige come play with Jack and help with bath and bedtime was AMAZING! Clay surprised us and took a redeye home Thursday night and got to spend all day Friday with us. Love him so much for doing that!

Madeline has been eating every hour and half for the last 2-3 weeks. Needless to say this is exhausting. She would only eat on one side and after every feeding she would arch her back and act like it was so hard to digest so I knew something must be up. I took her and Jack (runny nose and cough) to the doctor on Thursday. The dr went to check Madeline first and Jack was screaming "my turn, my turn" so we let him go first. He just has allergies (like me and Clay) and we are off and running on the Zyrtec. We weighed Madeline and she was 10lbs 6 oz! She was just 8lbs 11oz 2 weeks ago so we know she is getting what she needs and then some. The dr gave me reflux medicine and she has been a different child in the last 48 hours! She even slept for 6 hours at night!! And I found a pacifier that she will take! Things are looking up!

I will be very honest and say this has been one of the most challenging times in my life thus far. I love my children but lack of sleep, food (time slips away and you never get a chance to eat) and contact with the outside world as well as the pain from the c section are hard to deal with. But then I read this post http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/2009/03/million-dollar-question.html and realized that it is the best job in the world and I am so blessed to have a great husband who works hard so that I can have this job, pictures with magic markers and all.

Happy St Patricks Day!

Mommy got us in green today - a feat she even remembered today is St Pats but she is a Connor after all. Hope everyone has a great day!

Erin go bragh!
A little too much Guinness, er, milk...

one month

Madeline celebrated one month yesterday. It has flown by! She is such a good baby. My only complaint is how often she likes to eat but other than that she is pretty easy. She is becoming much more alert and loves to look at and listen to Jack. She seems to notice him the most. Very cute! Jack is still great with her- we are hoping it continues. We love having this sweet little girl in our family!

Visit to Winston

We took our first family of 4 roadtrip - albeit a short one- over to Winston-Salem to visit Dottie for lunch. We were excited to introduce Dottie to her great granddaughter! Mom was just glad I didn't break anything in the house. Madeline did well in the car- a good practice for our trip to Knoxville in April!

lately

The weather has been fabulous and we have taken full advantage! Daddy has this week off and he and I have been playing hard! Mom is so thankful for all of his help and for how much he loves hanging out with me! He also is putting the finishing touches on my old room- now Madeline's new room- he painted it PINK!! Mom is very excited!

So we dusted off the tee ball set:

And the slide:
Went to the park with Bryce

Oh yeah and then there is my new sister. This is what she does a lot of- this and eat. She gained 1lb 2 oz in a week!! I think she is pretty great although I really don't pay much attention to her. When I do, I just give her kisses and hugs and then go on my merry way. Mom hopes it stays like that.

Aunt Shannon came to visit over the weekend and I loved playing with her. I would scream "Shana" all throughout the house. I was sad to see her go and so was mom. We hope she and Maeve will come visit soon!

Baby Boom- Owen is here!

It's been a baby boom around here! We are excited to welcome Owen Fellows Brown to the family! Clay's sister Ann and her husband Ryan had this sweet little boy on Thursday. Owen, you have 9 cousins who are so excited to play with you! Tell your parents to get back to the East Coast soon!

Ellis is here!

Madeline's boyfriend Ellis Einsel Couch IV arrived on Tuesday weighing in at 9lbs 2oz! Betsy and Ellis are doing well and we are so excited for the Kohls and the Couch's! Welcome baby Ellis!! We can't wait to meet you!

monograms

I think Shannon started monogramming the afternoon Madeline was born. Here she is in one of her MKC duds.

Mimi and Goose

We had a wonderful week with Mimi and Goose. They spoiled us rotten, taking Jack to school, out to lunch, to storytime, and generally answering every whim! We were very sad to see them leave yesterday but glad they got home before the snow. We (me, Jack and Madeline) survived our first day alone although it wasn't very long b/c the Smiths came and took Jack for a few hours and then it was naptime and then Clay got home. So the real test is tomorrow- especially if it snows and Jack doesn't have school. AHHH!!

Mimi and her newest granddaughter

Goose and his girl Maddie (fyi- we are not calling her Maddie but Dad thinks he can)

Goose and Jack (his new best friend)