Quick visit to College Station

My Dad invited Jeff to play golf with him at his golf club in College Station on Sunday, so we decided to make a quick trip up there. My parents are currently living in yet another temporary housing situation while their home is being built, so we also got to check that out. It was the first time we had seen this new place and it was very nice.

On a side note, driving up to College Station made me immediately think of football season which begins this coming weekend. Connor gets to bust out his A&M and Michigan onesies. Sweet. Neither Jeff nor I have much confidence in our teams this season, but it's still very fun. Gig 'Em Ags and Let's go Blue.

While the men were golfing, my Mom, Connor, and I visited the site of the home they are building to see how the construction was coming along. It's looking good and I know my Dad has always dreamed of a house overlooking a golf course, so he's ecstatic which is adorable. I'm sure we'll make many happy memories at their home.

Connor did very well in the car on the two-hour drive up and then during the day he got in naps as well. Thank goodness for that. Around 4pm the men came home and we had a few quick appetizers and then headed back. It was a really quick visit, but it was very fun and I think Grandma enjoyed some quality time with Connor and Jeff enjoyed the chance to play the game he loves. He hasn't played once since Connor's been born. I swear I'd let him, but we just haven't had any time.

Grandma holds Connor at their temporary home in College Station.

Oh no Grandma. Are you attempting to hang Connor out the window, Michael Jackson style?

Oh no, wait, that's just an example facade of what their new house will look like. Fewww.

Connor is enjoying the tour. He's thinking, "Man, I can't wait to mess this place up when I get bigger."

Connor's first view of the Miramont golf course, including the beautiful clubhouse. If Jeff and Grandpa have anything to say about it, it certainly won't be his last.

Connor and I pose from what will be their back deck.

What a chunker. He certainly is the Big Kahuna.

We brought our swing with us so luckily Connor napped like a champ.

A few snacks before we headed back to Sugar Land. Connor clearly enjoys happy hour.

Yeah, Daddy's back from golf!

Now Grandpa gets the chance to hold Connor.

Hanging out on their back patio in College Station. I'm sure we'll be back to this same spot a lot during the upcoming football season. Yippee.

Also, I neglected to mention in my last post that Connor turned 9 weeks old on Friday. What a big boy. I did remember to take a picture, but I forgot to post it. Oops. Here's to belated birthdays.

Connor was a very happy guy on his 9 week birthday. I think that is a gift to Mommy more than anything else. Thanks buddy.

Here I am trying my best make-Connor-smile techniques. Apparently it's working at this moment.

Oh and I wanted to mention that Connor is finally starting to like his play gym. He doesn't grab at stuff that much but he likes to look at the dangling items.

Great couple of days

I have to say, these past couple of days have been especially wonderful with Connor. Jeff and I kind of look at our life with Connor in three hour segments. That is basically the time between feedings. He is usually happiest right after a feeding, but then the next 2 and a half hours are totally up in the air. The goal is to feed Connor, and then have a happy, playful baby for 1.5 to 2 hours and then a sleepy baby between 1 and 2 hours. When he wakes up, the cycle starts again.

Well on a good day, I can usually get this process to work perfectly for one, maybe two, three-hour cycles. There are typically about 4 in a day, so one out of 4 or none out of 4 can make for a rather long day. When it goes wrong, we typically have 30 minutes of post eating happy baby, and then 2 and a half hours of fussy baby. Not fun.

Well, since Thursday after around 1pm, Jeff and I have experienced many perfect cycles. Honestly, I think today, Saturday, Connor was great all day. He had a small setback when we were trying to get him to rest at the end of the day, but otherwise he was a perfect angel. He was smiley and content. Sure, sometimes he clambered for his pacifier, but once it calmed him he seemed fine.

Thursday morning was fun too. Grandma and Grandpa Roach (my parents) came for a quick visit to pick up some stuff they had left at our house over the summer. They gave Connor some snuggles, packed up their stuff and then we all went out for lunch. Amazingly, Connor slept the entire lunch so that's always a big success. They headed back to College Station afterward, so it was a real quick trip, but fun nonetheless. Jeff and I are driving to College Station tomorrow for a day trip to visit Grandma and Grandpa again, so hopefully we'll have more time to hang out this time.

One of the best moments was Thursday late afternoon. Jeff came home early, after attending an oil and gas conference, and we sat with Connor as he starred up at the toys hanging from his play gym. We were talking with Connor and he was cooing right back and smiling. He also showed us a new trick. He rolled over onto his side. It was so cute, because although he did it a couple times after, it seemed pretty clear that the first time was a total accident. I don't know why, but this moment just felt perfect. Our little family playing and laughing and smiling together. I felt so happy. I am looking forward to many more of these happy times together as a family.

Grandpa and Grandma see Connor again for the first time in over a month.

Grandpa has a way with little Connor.

I think they've got a connection.

Later in the day Thursday, Connor was all smiles.

Connor showing us his "trick" of rolling onto his side. See the video below for all the exciting footage. I couldn't help but laugh. It was so cute. Also, as you can see from this picture, Connor has really found his hands and loves to suck on them.

Happy Connor makes a happy Mommy. I just love to snuggle with him. He is usually less squirmy right after he eats (food coma) so that's my chance to steal some snuggles. I know someday he won't let me do this, so I'm trying to take advantage now.

Visit old and new friends

Today, Connor and I visited both old friends and met a new friend for the first time. This afternoon, Connor and I visited my old coworkers at Child Advocates. The staff at Child Advocates is predominantly women, so you can imagine the reaction we got during our visit. There was a lot of ooing and ahhing and passing Connor from one lady to the next. He did very well. Towards the end he was getting tired, but he seemed to enjoy the attention. I guess he's a ladies man already.

Although I missed the people, I wasn't itching to sit down and write a grant, that's for sure. My former boss joked that they're working on budgets right now and maybe I could stick around and help. Ha! No thanks. I love the mission of Child Advocates and I do miss a different type of intellectual stimulation, but it's hard to compare that to getting to spend time with my little man.

Auntie Kendall and Connor.

Former team member Kelly Goff holds Connor.

Nicole, former boss Karim, Kelly, Connor, and Kendall. Wow, that's a lot of "ka" sounds. Thanks for letting us visit everyone. It was great seeing you all again.

Connor chilling at home.

As I mentioned briefly yesterday, our friends Andrea and Eliud had their son Mateo last evening. Tonight, Connor and I got to meet him. We just stopped by for a brief 15 minute visit, but as a recent Mom who struggled with balancing visitors and my unending lack of sleep, I wanted to give her and her husband and their new baby some space.

I was amazed at how small he was. Mateo was born 6 pounds 14 ounces, which is 2 and a half pounds less than Connor was when he was born. That makes a huge difference in a newborn. Of course Connor has got some big cheeks, but I just couldn't get over how small Mateo's head was. I got to see his little hands too and they just seemed like miniature versions of Connor's hands.

Mateo is a total cutie and Andrea and Eliud seem to be recovering well. Of course Andrea admitted she has not gotten much sleep and they are still figuring out the nursing thing, but that is totally to be expected. Bottom line though, no matter how much sleep you've lost, you wouldn't change it for the world. Your child somehow makes you push through the insomnia and carry on.

Today's visit was very short, but Andrea and Eliud live in our neighborhood so I imagine we'll have lots more visits in our future. Welcome Mateo Eliud Faz.

Mateo in Mommy Andrea's arms. You can see just how small he is when compared to her hand.

Melissa (SUPERMOM)

I have yet to make a post to our blog; I'm not sure why I haven't yet.

However, I came home from work today to quite a scene, and it inspired me.

This is my wife and Connor's mom. This picture captures the essence of our first two months with the little guy. She's smiling, cooking, and holding a conked-out Connor (who was a fussy-bucket 5 minutes prior) all at the same time. She's truly one-of-a-kind and I think she's the best wife and mother anyone could ask for. I'll point out a few things that make the pic great:

1) Her smile - the most obvious part of the picture. She's smiled so much in the last two months.
2) Her, ahem, figure - she looks great
3) The stovetop - managing the 4 pots and pans that cooked an awesome dinner, while...
4) Holding Mr. Dude. Connor was an 8 out of 10 on the fussiness scale today, but as you can see, he always finds comfort in her arms. He finds comfort with her because she has the patience to give it to him.

In short, I'm amazed. She's been so great. I don't expect dinner on the table when I get home, but it's there anyway. She manages to get stuff done during the day, even though Mr. Demandopants sometimes has other intentions. She does it all without complaining and with a smile.

I say I'm amazed, but it's not because I didn't think she could do all of this. I knew she could, but it's still amazing. She's a SUPERMOM.

Meeting at the mall

In Texas during the summer, the best thing to do to beat the heat is to go window shopping (or real shopping) at the mall. Today, Connor and I met our friend Janna and her daughter Emme for some mall walking and some conversation. As always, it's nice to visit with other Moms and get some social interaction. Connor is still catching up on his sleep from Austin, so he slept most of the time, but woke up about half way through lunch.

Emme is a doll and we really had a lot of fun. It always amazes me hanging out with older children and just imagining how big Connor will become in just a few short months. Of course Emme is over a year old, but still, I can't help but wonder what Connor will be like when he's walking and beginning to talk.

Emme, Janna, and Connor finishing up lunch at California Pizza Kitchen.

Connor is getting better at holding himself up in his bumbo seat. I think he looks so old when he's sitting up like this.

He gets stronger every day. He has even pushed up on his elbows a few times while on his tummy.

Just a shot of him happy in the evening.

I have to say, I felt like quite a super Mom this evening. I took on quite a complicated meal and had it all prepared when Jeff got home from work. Plus, I did much of it, with Connor asleep in my arms. Not bad if I do say so myself.

I also want to finish by giving Connor's newest friend Mateo a shout out. Mateo Eliud Faz was born tonight and Connor can't wait to meet him. Congrats to Andrea and Eliud. I'm sure he's a bundle of joy.

Our first out of town trip to Austin

Over the weekend, Jeff and I took Connor on his first out of town visit to see his Aunt Erin, Uncle Arthur, and cousins Martin (4), Winnie (2), and Libby (4 months).

A few days in advance Jeff and I made a LONG list of all the things we wanted to bring with us for Connor. Connor had so much stuff, he had his very own duffel bag, filled to the brim. You'd think baby stuff is small, but with first time parents who need to bring stuff for every situation you end up with a lot of stuff. Plus, with the way Connor spits up, I need to bring many outfits and burp cloths and bibs. It all added up to quite a lot of stuff for just a weekend visit. As we were packing up the car, Jeff said, "Remember when we just had stuff for the two of us." Yeah Jeff I do. It was much simpler back then, that's for sure. The funny thing is, my sister has a 4 month old, so she basically has many of the items we'd need, but we still wanted to be prepared. Plus, we'll be driving to Dallas in a few weeks and we wanted to test our packing skills. I will say, our list held up throughout the entire weekend. There is nothing we needed on this outing that we didn't have. That's the good news. We'll save the list for our Dallas trip.

The ride was good. We didn't know when to leave or how Connor would do, but it worked out that we just got on the road whenever we were packed up and decided we'd feed Connor when he woke up. He woke up just a few minutes before he normally eats "dinner" so we stopped to get ourselves some food and fed him then. He slept the rest of the way and then as luck would have it, he did go back to sleep in the pack n play at my sister's house. Feww. I was worried about that transition, but he did just fine.

Friday night the adults had some adult beverages and hung out until about 1:30 in the morning. I have no idea what we were all thinking, knowing we had little kids to tend to early in the morning and in the middle of the night, but we had fun anyway. It was worth it. It's great that me and my sister and Jeff and Arthur get along so well.

Saturday morning was a little tiring, but that's par for the course these days no matter when I go to sleep. We hung out with the kids and then in the afternoon while most of the kids were napping, Erin and I went to Gymboree for a sale they were having, plus it was tax free weekend, so we got even more of a discount. I was a bit jealous of Erin's girl clothes she got to buy, but Connor got some cute duds as well, if I do say so myself. It's just a fact that girl clothes are cuter. It's probably for the best though that I have a boy. It saves me money, because it's so hard to resist buying frilly pink stuff.

Connor unfortunately didn't nap well in his new surroundings, so by the afternoon he was a bit fussy, but we pulled through and he went to bed in his new "home" just like we were still in Sugar Land. I was very thankful for that.

Once the kiddos were in bed, we made a fantastic dinner complete with grilled lobster tail, sinfully delicious au gratin potatoes, and grilled corn on the cob. We were all so stuffed. Afterward we chilled in their non-heated hot tub. It was a perfect end to a great day.

On Sunday, Jeff and I crashed one of Martin's friend's birthday parties at this place called "Extreme Fun." It was basically this big room filled with bounce houses, slides, and a foam pit. As you can imagine, it was a huge hit with kids of all ages. Connor slept for most of it, but then woke up and Jeff slid down a slide with him and bounced him on the side of one of the bounce houses. I don't think he had a clue what was going on (as per usual), but I'm sure he'll love it when he's older.

After the party we headed back home, packed up ALL of our stuff, and got on the road. Again, Connor woke up when it was time for him to normally eat and we pulled over and fed him. Jeff thought it was a funny scene with me nursing Connor as a train was going by on our left and cows were eating in a pasture on our right. Hey, when he's gotta eat, he's gotta eat.

Overall, we had a blast. I feel so lucky to have a sister with kids, especially a baby so close to Connor's age, that I can talk to about raising kids. She is totally understanding and has been through it all. I have a feeling there will be many more weekends like this in our future.

On Saturday, Aunt Erin got to snuggle with Connor.

Libby 4 months and Connor 2 months. Hmm, they look about the same size don't they. Connor may even be a little bigger already. Yikes.

Three cousins playing under a play gym.

A dance party erupted in their living room.

Preparing dinner. Martin is great in the kitchen and Winnie just wants to do everything his older brother Martin does. It's sweet.

The boys loved this marble game and Uncle Jeff was really good at making new formations for the marbles to go down.

Grilled lobster tails. Yum.

On Sunday, we went to Extreme Fun for a 4 year old birthday party. Here Jeff is pretending to push Connor into the foam pit.

Now Erin is considering giving Libby a try. Ok, maybe another year you two.

Winnie thoroughly enjoying his cupcake at the birthday party.

Connor wakes up and Jeff takes him down the slide. He didn't cry but he didn't really smile either. Apparently he's a bit indifferent towards slides these days.

Connor and Daddy at Extreme Fun.



Connor bouncing at Extreme Fun.

All the cousins.

We used the timer to take a group shot.

Jeff was amused by our stop to feed Connor on our way home. Here's to a very fun trip. Thanks Aunt Erin and Uncle Arthur.

Two Month Doctor Appointment

Um, I think I need to do another entire series of "I am proud" after today's experience at the doctor's office. Connor did so well.

We arrived at 8:30 and saw the nurse right away but then had to wait for the doctor for nearly 45 minutes. Ugh. During that time Connor was a sweetheart. He was down to his diaper and wrapped in a blanket just cooing and chilling on the examining table. He is also now 100% as far as pooping while at the doctor's office. It's pretty funny. I have to change his diaper every time we go.

The nurse weighed and measured him and he is still doing great. My weight guess for this appointment was 13 pounds. Well, Mommy is pretty good at this guessing thing, because Connor was 12 pounds 15 ounces. Probably by this afternoon he'll be a full 13 pounds. That puts him at 75% for weight. They measured his length at what Jeff thought was less than last time, so we're not sure if that's very accurate but it was 75% too. His head size is 50%. As always, I'm happy he's gaining weight despite the fact that he spits up soooo much.

Speaking of that, we did ask the doctor if we should have his spit up checked out and she said she'd like to start with us being really careful about how we handle him after he's eaten and focus on body positioning before he gets medication. Those medications for reflux can have side effects so she'd like to wait and see for now, especially since he's gaining weight appropriately and doesn't seem bothered when he does spit up. So for now, beware when you hold Connor. He can be a spit up geyser when he wants to be.

She asked questions about his development like if he is smiling and cooing and lifting his head during tummy time. Of course we were able to say yes to all of those questions. She again confirmed that he's doing great and she said he's a very cute little boy. Music to Mommy's ears. She explained the 4 vaccines and 1 oral vaccine he'd be getting and then it was time for the nurse to come in and administer the shots.

We had to wait about 5 minutes for the nurse and while we were waiting Connor fell asleep. Both Jeff and I knew he was in for a rude awakening, but it was sweet that he was so blissfully unaware.

The nurse came in with her tray full of shots, and with Jeff and I armed with the pacifier, went to town on his chubby little thighs. It was amazing though. He cried when they went in, but moments later he was quiet just sucking away on the pacifier. After the shots, she had to give him an oral vaccine (rotovirus) and he swallowed all of that, despite the fact that I believe it tastes pretty gross. He got his cool patriotic bandaids and was done.

Within moments he was calm as a cucumber. Jeff and I were shocked. We both took photos of him with our camera phones because we just couldn't believe how composed he was already. It was a beautiful thing. Mommy is sooo proud of her big brave boy.

Just moments after getting 4 shots and an oral vaccine Connor actually gave Daddy a smile. We couldn't believe it. I was beaming!

After some food and about an hour after we got home Connor is still in good spirits.

Check out his cool American flag bandaids.