Greyson is 2 Months Old

Our Mr. Greyson is now 2 months old and we're just having a blast with him in our lives. It's odd to say, but we feel like he's been here forever and we're not quite sure what life was like without him...surely we had more sleep, but we are enjoying being a family of four!

This month Greyson has come a long way and is more and more a baby and less a newborn. It's so fun seeing him grow and change. This month he gave us a sweet smile and is working hard on a laugh next. It's great to get some exchange and interaction rather than blank stares! At his appointment this month he weighed in at 12 pounds and 12 ounces and 23 inches long. I'd say that's some great growth in just a few short weeks! And apparently he has a rather large head...96th percentile in head size, but 50th in the rest. Guess he'll be our lil bobble head kid. :)




Other than the smiles and the big growth, things are going pretty much the same. He is getting much better at eating and the gassy phase is getting somewhat better. We feel we're getting to know him a bit more and getting the hang of things. But from past experience, once that happens he'll change again and test us out on something completely new, so we'll see what's next!

Stay tuned for more updates!

February Fun

Well February certainly was a fun month for our family! We all enjoyed getting to know Mr. Greyson and learning all the ways to make him happy and enjoying his sweet self. Because of him this month was quite full of excitement and family, family and more family! 

Since we now live a bit further from most of the family, I decided to have a post-baby baby shower so everyone could meet Greyson instead of just "seeing" him in my belly. This idea was great and turned into a weekend full of fun and family time. It was great to see everyone and I'm sure everyone enjoyed the opportunity to meet the lil man. Luckily he got through his super fussy phase just before the festivities and was a relatively good baby - enjoying all of the love and attention he received.

This month was also a big deal for Miss Raegan as we took her to see Disney on Ice. This year was much more exciting because she was a bit older and definitely into all of the princess stuff and since the theme was all princess, we just had to take her! As with the first time we took her she was a bit overwhelmed at first, but quickly warmed up and sang along to all the songs she knew and was mesmerized by all of the theatrics. It was a great treat and we're sure she enjoyed it immensely!

Valentine's day was also a fun activity this year. It's great to have traditions and to watch Raegan enjoy them more and more each year as she gets older. This year was pretty neat because she was able to write out her own valentine cards. She practices writing a lot at school, so it's fun to see the results at home. Although, writing 13 valentine cards was a bit much for her, so I did have to help a bit! 

We also finally enjoyed some winter weather this month and had a good amount of rain, which mean PUDDLES! Hayden decided to get Raegan out in the rain and mud and get dirty. She wasn't too excited with the idea, but once he got her out there, she enjoyed every second of it. And as the pictures show, she got pretty muddy...head to toe!


And because of the awesome winter weather, we finally were able to get up to Tahoe and enjoy the snow! Better yet, Uncle Frankie came to town and we made a big trip of it. The first day however there was a big storm and we thought we weren't going to be able to make the trip. Luckily the roads cleared up and were were able to go the next day. We all didn't want to risk driving in a storm, especially rookie snow people like me and Hayden! Raegan LOVED the snow and was able to play right by the hotel. There was the perfect amount of snow for her age to sled and build snowmen. It was so great! And for me the weather was perfect - not too cold and definitely bearable. We are eager to go back again!!


These months are flying by and soon enough I'll be back at work :( I'm not looking forward to it too much and certainly enjoying my time with our new lil man. 

Enjoy this month's photos and videos!!

View photos and videos here.

Greyson is 1 Month Already!

I find myself saying this all too often, but time is flying by. Our lil man is already a month old...how did that happen! I guess when you're in pure survival mode, spending all day and night trying to learn what a newborn needs and fitting in time with a 3 year old, it can easily slip away!

Greyson has definitely kept us on our toes and proved to be a challenging little guy this first month. When he was born he had the same breastfeeding problems as Raegan - I call it small mouth syndrome! They ended up cutting his frenulum to see if that would help him get his tongue out further. It didn't seem to change things much, so I opted to use a nipple shield to protect myself and continue with the breastfeeding. He seemed to take to it well and we did good for a while. The big hiccup was we couldn't figure out why he was so gassy. The poor guy would cry all day and night. If he wasn't sleeping or eating he was screaming and so incredibly uncomfortable. We tried it all - gas drops, diet changes, etc. and nothing worked.

At my breaking point, I stopped using the nipple shield and he seemed to be an entirely new baby! Apparently he was getting in so much air through the shield that it was causing excess gas. Thankfully, he had learned how to breastfeed effectively and I no longer needed to use the shield. I thought that was a solid cure, but the poor guy is still a gassy one, but no where near how bad it was before. It has changed things for the better overall, but we still find ourselves searching for ways to rid him of his gas. Poor lil man!

My recovery is going great and I feel amazing! The first 2 weeks were tough with Raegan around, but overall I am feeling more and more normal every day. Thankfully I can now move around more and can do more with Raegan. I think that was the hardest thing for her to understand, but we got through it. And since I was feeling so great, we did a lot more than I thought we would this month - we went out to a party at a friend's house, visited co-workers and took a trip to Folsom lake. Greyson was a trooper and did okay for the most part. It is a challenge to go out in public when you're still learning how to care for the little one, but we all survived! He'll need to get used to all the outings anyhow, so we started him early! 

We also had the opportunity in his first month to get some professional photos taken. They turned out far better than I could ever imagine and we're so excited to have captured both him and Raegan in the beautiful shots!

This month was a normal challenge when you have a newborn and I think we all adjusted well. We're still learning, but we are enjoying it all!  

View photos here

Winter Adventures

Happy New Year! We are super excited for this year with the addition of our lil man Greyson and to see what life has in store for us. This month was a whirlwind for us full of family fun, change and the new adventure as a family of four.

We started the year off celebrating the New Year with new friends Cheryl and Joe Orlando. We've really enjoyed getting to know them and watch our kids get along so well - they have a son Raegan's age and another son 2 months older than Greyson. It will be fun watching them all grow up together! 


We also took Raegan on her first trip to the snow, which turned out to be amazing! I wasn't sure how she would do since she can be super timid at times, but she did great! Of course she put up a fight at first, but once we shoved her down the hill on the inner tube, she came back up with a huge smile on her face asking to go again and again! Sometimes you just have to force them to try new things! :)

Raegan also had a big surgery this month and had tubes put in her ears. We wanted to get this out of the way before the baby arrived, so we scheduled it right away. She had about 6 ear infections over the year and it was time to take care of the problem. It was scary having your little one go off into surgery without you, but she was a champ! She seemed to enjoy the entire experience - they had a princess movie for her to watch so she was in heaven! She cried for a good 20 minutes when she came out, but recovered just fine and was back to normal that afternoon. Of course I stressed over nothing, but you only learn by going through it! So far she's been ear infection free and is a completely new girl - super happy and full of energy! Poor thing must have been in pain for months. So happy she's back to her old self. 

The big deal this month was of course welcoming Greyson into our family. We spent the first two weeks preparing and I worked as long as I could. Hayden's mom came into town to help us with Raegan as we went to the hospital. Things went smoothly and Greyson blessed us on January 13th - somehow the number 13 is now a family favorite! 

The rest of the month was full of adjustment and recovery on my part. Overall we adjusted well and are enjoying the new life and the New Year!

Enjoy this month's photos and videos...

View photos and videos here.

 

Welcome to the world Greyson John Kelly!

He is here! Our lil man joined our family on Monday, January 13th, 2014 at 1:55pm. He weighed 8 pounds and 3 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. This birth was a whole heck of a lot different than our experience with Raegan and I have to say it was a wonderful experience. Having a 3 year old to worry about and ensure she's taken care of while we're in the hospital would normally be stressful, but with a scheduled c-section it was so easy! Everything was easy actually... I was able to work just about up to my delivery date, get the house and our lives in order, and mentally prepare for everything all before his arrival. There were no surprises, which was very nice.

I will say that even with all the preparation, we certainly were still nervous about how our lives would be changed with our new addition. For the entire pregnancy and more so at the end, I realized that my time with just Raegan was coming to an end. The last few months, weeks and days were extra special and I cherished them dearly. It was so crazy to think that she had no idea just how much her life was going to change with a new little brother joining the family.

Anyhow, on to the delivery. As with the previous c-section, everything went super smoothly and he arrived happy and healthy. This time around was extra special as the doctor's let me have skin-to-skin time with him. I didn't get to do this with Raegan, so it was a nice treat. The surgery took a bit longer than expected, but overall was smooth and I was back with my lil man quickly. We spent 3 days total in the hospital, which was way better than the 6 days with Raegan! And we were reunited with our lil lady Raegan back at home.

We kept Raegan in daycare the days we were in the hospital to keep her in her routine before we rocked her world with a new little brother! So when we came home we were able to get situated and have Greyson ready for his big sister to come home and meet him. She immediately fell in love with him and was super excited to meet him. It was precious and full of priceless moments. We weren't too sure how she would react, but she definitely was a proud big sister and eager to hold him and have him play with all of her toys. Let's hope that lasts!

Overall, Greyson joined our family in a very smooth fashion and we look forward to all the adventures we'll have now as a family of four!

Enjoy the photos and videos of our new addition: Greyson John Kelly

View photos and videos here.

Final Countdown

So Baby Kelly #2 will be here in just a few short days and we're all very excited! I figured it was time to get one last belly bump picture (38 weeks) in to see just how large and in charge I got this time around. I think this lil guy is just a tad bigger than Raegan. I definitely know that I'm more uncomfortable this go around!

The last doctor appointment went well and he is measuring just right and his heart is super strong. No other news to report really except that he's definitely ready to come out - I think there are times he may just jump out of my belly and yell "I'm here!" he moves so much!

Anyhow, enjoy this last belly bump picture and stay tuned for his birth details and photos in shortly!

Holiday Festivities 2013

Oh December, you treated us so well!! This year's holidays were one of the best in my opinion - even being so big and pregnant! It's so wonderful to experience the holidays through a child's eyes and to see each year getting more and more exciting.

This year, Raegan understood a bit more and definitely harped on us for being behind the ball on getting our tree and Christmas lights up on the house. It was pretty funny. But with the November mayhem of birthdays, Thanksgiving and travel, we were behind schedule. Once we finally got things underway, she was much happier.

Raegan was a huge help this season to - she helped pick out the perfect Christmas tree, although what she really wanted was a small tree for herself and a big tree for us, but we didn't oblige. She also sat by and directed Hayden as he hung the lights outside and was pleased with the results - as minimal as they were. We lucked out with the weather being bearable and really not cold at all, so a few nights we ventured out around the neighborhood to see all the lights. She enjoyed this a lot! We even did a tour of the lights on Candy Cane Lane when Uncle Boogs and Aunt Issa were in town. Next year we'll plan to walk to see those lights since cruising in the car just doesn't do it justice!

Santa was another big deal for Raegan this year! She definitely has progressed in her love for Santa and she knew exactly what she wanted for Christmas - a castle and Clover the rabbit. She hopped right on his lap and told him so. And luckily we got a half smile out of her this year. I definitely love the last two year's shots - one crying the other unforgettable expression - but this year it was sweet to get a smile out of her!

And then of course there was Christmas!!! Our little lady was spoiled beyond belief by and had even more princess gifts (if you can imagine after her birthday!). I'm pretty sure she was overwhelmed with all of the festivities but she took it all in and enjoyed all the new toys and festivities. I think to this day we're still trying to play with everything from the birthday gifts to Christmas!!

We definitely enjoyed this year's holiday and can't believe next year will be even better with two little ones to share it with! It was great to get the last few weeks of the month off to spend with Raegan before the new baby comes along. We had a lot of fun with friends, family and each other and ended the year off with a night of fun with her friend Ashton and she just about made it to midnight!

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all!

 
Enjoy this month's photos and videos here...