Cousin Love

More wedding...

Flower Girl

More wedding photos to come on the blog, but I just wanted to share the cuteness that was sweet Teagan the flower girl in Aunt Jenna's wedding.  She was SOOO happy to have her dress on and did such a great job with her flower girl duties.  She had a blast at the reception and danced the night away and was perfectly behaved.

Little Miss Greta

Roll, Baby, Roll

Declan had his four month well baby visit at the pediatrician's office today.  My healthy little boy was 14 lbs 12oz and 25.25" long.  That puts him at 60th% for height and 50th% for weight.  All my weight gain worrying was for nothing - apparently our home scale was off by almost a pound, which is a big relief!!! Declan checked out healthy and is meeting all of his milestones.  He took his shots like a champ - didn't even cry for the first one, and only a few quick tears for the second.  Big sister Teagan got to join us today which she thoroughly enjoyed - both the fact that she could watch the Dr in action AND not be the one getting the check-up!

In other big news, Declan rolled for the first time today!  It was this evening after his appointment and after dinner.  Teagan and I were coloring and Matt was doing some tummy time on the floor.  I turned around just in time to see the whole thing, which was SO fun!  At 4m4d he is right on track with where big sister Teagan was (she was 4m1d when she first rolled belly to back).  I am not trying to make it a competition, but it's fun to reminisce about Teagan's accomplishments and anticipate when Declan will show us his next big trick!  I'm hoping he totally shows Teagan up in the officially-sleeping-through-the-night department and does it LOOONG before Teagan's seven month mark!!!

Early August Randoms

Rockin' the DMB onesie

How could you NOT call him Happy Boy?

4m outtake - love the drool and the expression

Cuteness

Four Months

Four Months Old!!!

My little Dec is 4 months old today!  At four months old, he is doing lots of fun things.  On one hand, the last four months have flown by.  On the other, it feels like he’s always been a member of our little family.  Declan likes to chew on his hands and is starting to hold onto toys.  When he gets a good grip, he often brings the toy (or blanket or whatever he is grasping) to his mouth.  He reaches for the toys on his bouncer and I catch him reaching and holding the little bird.  

Declan also has a lot of drool!  He likes to pool the drool at the edge of his mouth and blow raspberries.  Then he grins as if he is proud of himself.  His eyes are so big and expressive, and when he is awake he always seems to have a smile on his face.  He likes to be outside, although he is usually much more serious outside just taking in his surroundings.  His head and neck strength are improving day by day – he has great control and likes to be upright and looking around.  He has just started using his jumperoo – his legs can touch the ground and he likes to look at the toys and look all around.  When he does tummy time, he can lift his head up so his eyes look straight ahead, and is even starting to lift his chest just a little.  He has been doing little laughs for a few weeks but just in the last week or so he has given some excited belly laughs.  We can't wait to hear more, they are SO adorable!

Declan’s daily schedule is starting to become more consistent.  He is super happy when he wakes up, which is normally around 7-730.  On weekdays, Daddy and Teagan get him ready and they shuffle off to daycare.  He likes to sit in the swing and the bouncer and watch the other kids, and also likes to have floor time and tummy time.  His naps are inconsistent at best when he is at daycare, but they tell me he is generally a happy boy!  All of that stimulation probably makes it hard to nap.  So far he enjoys the craft projects they do throughout the week.  He also likes walks in the buggy with the other kids.  He is always full of smiles for Mama when I pick him up.  Evenings are a time for snuggles and comfort as he is usually tired and hungry.  He has greatly improved with taking the bottle at daycare – we are up to 8oz divided between 2 bottles.  They space the bottles a little further apart and get the milk nice and warm and he usually takes it like a champ.  Over the next weeks I am going to continue bumping the ounces little by little.  The evening consists of some play time with Mommy and Teagan, and nursing every 1-1.5 hrs.  Declan also needs lots of napping to catch up from his busy day.  Currently I still try to hold him for these cat naps – partially to get in extra snuggle time and partially because it seems to be a constant cycle of eat, sleep, eat, sleep, often eating while sleeping!  It’s hard to do that when he’s upstairs in his room!  The evenings are a constant juggling act trying to play with Teagan and snuggle Declan.  Sometimes Teagan and I will watch part of a movie or a TV show together (Yo Gabba Gabba or Thomas and Friends).  When Declan is awake and happy I try to let him kick around on the floor while I play with Teagan or get her a snack.  If he is awake and fed and happy we try to venture outside at any chance we get. 

Declan takes a bath 2-3 times a week and enjoys his bath time very much.  He loves the warm water and kicking and splashing.  He also likes to watch Teagan play when they take a bath together.  Declan goes to bed around 7-7:30pm.  I swaddle him and then we rock while he eats and snuggles.  He usually goes down very easily.  Sleeping was going pretty well before I went back to work.  Over the 4th, he was up 1-2x a night and that continued after I started back to work.  D got a little cold a week or two in, and since then he has struggled with his sleep.  Currently he is usually up 2-3 times a night.  Recently it has been 11-something, 2ish, and 5ish.  Makes for a very tired Mama!  I know we’ll get there eventually – at some point we’ll have to ditch the swaddle and maybe even break out some Ferber.  I am not really sure of my plan of attack just yet – as bad as 3 night wakings are, I know the path to get to sleeping through the night could be much worse for a few weeks.  The other night we tried swaddling one arm out which turned out to be pretty rough for both Matt and I. But last night, fully swaddled, he only woke up once.  At this point I want to make sure he is getting enough milk in his belly over each 24hr period so I am not ready to night wean just yet! 

All three of us have enjoyed watching Declan grow over the last four months and we cannot wait to see what he accomplishes next!  More "real" photos to come this weekend but for now - iPhone snaps of my four month old happy boy:

And for a special bonus: my sweet, awesome, happy girl:

Coming soon: Tales from Mama & Dada's night out Friday, and posting some fun videos from this week

Monday, Monday

I don't normally post blog updates on Mondays.  In fact, I am surprised that I am posting now, considering I didn't get much sleep last night, I had a long evening of kiddo wrangling and I have a nasty little headache in the back of my head/top of my neck.  Tension headache?  Highly possible!  

But redesigning the blog breathed some new life into me and my excitement about blogging.  More specifically doing a better job documenting our daily adventures with words in addition to photographs.  Don't get me wrong, I put a lot of energy into my photography so I don't see it as a cop out to post a handful of photos with no written word because the downloading, editing, uploading, etc does take a long time!  And while a picture is worth a thousand words, I don't want to miss documenting what goes on in our lives when the camera is off.

So it begins - my attempt to do a better job with blogging, with both pictures AND words.  The good, the bad, and the ugly!

The kids are finally in bed - Declan was exhausted today after a whopping 30 minutes of napping.  Yes, 30 minutes in the 8.5 hours between when he woke up and when he was picked up.  Little Bub didn't even wait for the car to pull out of daycare before he was sound asleep.  I had to wake him up just to put him to bed.  I hate days like these, because I only got about 5 minutes of smiles and happiness before his pre-bed napping started at 4:30, and that lasted until I woke him to take him to bed around 7:45.  Of course, he ate several times in that time span, but wasn't even really awake while he ate.  It still confuses Teagan that he can eat and sleep simultaneously.  

Teagan and I had a great night - we played outside for a few minutes while Declan slept in the car (doors open, of course).  She played a little T ball.  I said "keep your eye on the ball" which resulted in her putting her face about 6" from the ball, staring it down, and then trying to hit it from the extreme close-up position.  Luckily I grabbed a quick video!  After Matt got home and was snuggling Declan for a bit, Teagan and I played baby dolls and in her kitchen.  She helped me burn a photo CD and walk it down the street to her buddy Joshua's house.  I wish we had more time to play outside, it was perfect weather.  She is upstairs in bed singing as we speak - perhaps trying to burn off a little more energy before falling asleep?  I wish she'd share a little of her energy with me these days!

Declan will be FOUR months old on Thursday, I can't even believe it.  I was finally wrapping my mind around three months, and four is already here.  Later this week I will do a Declan update on all the fun things he is up to recently, and hopefully have some real photos processed for sharing.  And of course this weekend I will do his updated month shot so I can share his growth.  He has his four month well visit on Monday so some stats will soon follow.

9:15 - I am exhausted and my bed is calling my name.  Later.

Summer fun over the weekend...

Randoms from the last few days...

Welcome

If you're reading this, you've found us!  Welcome.

The name has changed, the look has changed, but the content will stay the same as I document the day to day adventures of Teagan and Declan.  I hope you'll check back often :)

Additionally, in an effort to see who is reading, please leave a comment introducing yourself.  You can also let me know what types of content you'd like to see - more photos?  More explanation of our daily adventures? Something else?

iPhone photo round-up

Just a little iPhone photo round-up from the last week or two...

I love this series - Teagan was being such a sweetheart big sister

Teagan and Declan both made the "artist of the week" display wall in the daycare lobby

Mr Declan being a big boy, and posing with Aunty Melissa and Big Sissy T

Teagan at play, puppy buns, and sleepy snugglebug

Happy Boy, sitting up nice and tall in his jumperoo, and showing some DMB love

3.5 Months

More cuteness!

Family

We had a fun visit from Uncle David, and cousins Emma and Jack.  They were just in town overnight but we had a great dinner and breakfast and Teagan enjoyed playing with E & J!