Heston's 3rd Birthday

Heston's 3rd birthday party was on March 25th. We made the trip to my brother's house in Pittsburg for the party. I think this was our first real trip out of town as a family of four. While at the party, one kid played hard, while the other ate and slept inside most of the time.

Before the party, Kinley looked at the invitation on the refrigerator everyday and was practicing singing Happy Birthday long before the party! The theme of Heston's party was Cars. We had never watched Cars so I tried turning it on one day. Kinley held the invitation at the beginning of the movie and was into it for a few minutes, but she quickly got bored and wasn't a fan. 

Tenison loving on Kinley. Kinley was in the socks with sandals kick, and we just had to roll with it. 

They ended up greasing down the slide they rented so Kinley got to wear some of her cousin's boy clothes the whole party. 

The faces in these two pictures are true Kinley and her little personality.

Oh my sweet boy. At the time, he looked like such a big boy in his outfit and shoes. 

Here's a video of Kinley and Colt going down the slide. Colt sounded like dead weight when he hit bottom. 

Backyard Fun

On March 24th, we blew up our water slide in the backyard for the first time of the year and invited some friends over to play. Molly and Nathan brought their little girl, Lucy. Their little guy Walker wasn't here yet. He was born just a few days later. Our neighbors, Chase and Whitney, brought their twin boys, Jack and Luke. Colt was off for a stretch of 5 days so I guess we were trying to cram lots of fun in. We did Cherokee Trace Drive-Thru that Friday, this on Saturday, and then we went to Pittsburg for Heston's birthday party on Sunday.  

This slide has definitely been worth the investment. We didn't buy it. It was a gift from Colt's mom. We thought she was a little crazy for buying it initially, but we've definitely used it. It's always a hit. This year Kinley could climb and slide all by herself, at least until her legs got tired. Then she'd start falling. One time, she fell off the ladder all the way down to the ground because her legs were so worn out. That particular day, I think Kinley was really the only one that enjoyed herself on the actual slide. She went nonstop. The other kids were a little timid and just stayed at the bottom. 

My big kid... I'm pretty sure he may exceed the weight limit.

Here's a video of Kinley and Colt on the waterslide.  

Cherokee Trace Drive-Thru Safari

On March 23rd, we went on a little family outing to the Cherokee Trace Drive-Thru Safari. It's right outside of Jacksonville, not too far from our house. It was a great outing for us at the time because we got to get out of the house and do something fun, but I could sit in the back of the truck with Cutler and nurse or hold him whenever I needed to. I think a couple of Kinley's favorite parts of the trip were watching her daddy get attacked by the camel and spit on by the llama. Colt made the mistake of holding the food between his legs while he was driving, and the camel went straight for his crotch! I think it scared him a little. Kinley thought it was hilarious! There were a few times we thought we might end up with truck damage because the animals literally charged the truck.

The ducks above swam so fast all the way across this pond to get to our truck for some food. 

Sweet boy just hung out in the backseat with me the whole time. 

We were afraid his horns were going to hit the truck. He just kept coming. Colt threw out some food to distract him so we could get by. 

The camel that attacked Colt... I really wish I would've gotten it on video, but I didn't.

Here's some video of our trip. At the end of the video, Colt talks about some of the animals coming late and being slackers. Kinley repeats him and starts talking about the slackers. So cute. Kinley had a blast. We all did!

Cutler - 1 month old

Even though Cutler is about to turn 8 months old in a few days... Cutler turned 1 month old on March 7th. Of course, I have the same regret that I had with Kinley. I wrote down a few notes here and there, but I wish these posts were fresh so I could remember even more details. Will they even care?Probably not.

Here's a little recap of that first month:

Birth - 7 lbs. 13 oz., 21 inches long, 13.25 inch head

1 day old - 7 lbs. 10 oz. when we got to go released from the hospital

2 days old - 7 lbs. 6 oz. (44%) 20.5 inches long (83%) 14.5 inch/36.8 cm. head (96%) . Someone measured wrong because there is no way that his head got that much bigger, and he definitely didn't shrink in length! His bilirubin was high at this appointment. By the digital read, his head was 8.6 and chest was 10.3. They did a heel stick, and it was 12.6. We were told to go see another pediatrician the following day, Saturday. If his levels weren't better, they were going to admit us to the hospital so he could be treated. I know this isn't that big of a deal, but it shook me up. I did not want to end up back in the hospital with him, especially with Kinley at home. 

3 days old - 7 lbs. 7 oz. (43%) This was at his follow-up appointment for his bilirubin check. He had gained an ounce. By the digital read, his levels were about 3 points away from what they would have to be to be admitted. The doctor that day didn't do a heel stick. She said he looked good and if he was feeding well, she was good with it. She also didn't want to do a follow up the next day. Colt said the reason she probably didn't do a heel stick is because if we had been borderline, she would've had to admit us. We just had to keep waking him every couple hours there for a while to feed him. 

14 days old -  8 lbs. 8 oz. (49%) 21.2 inches long (82%) 15 inch/38.1cm. head (97%). I text Colt after this appointment and told him that we didn't have to worry about him getting back up to his birth weight. We were worried about Kinley getting back up to hers at this age, but Cutler had gained 11 oz. over his birth weight!

1 month old - 10.2 lbs.

At one of his appointments, they mentioned that he had a little herniated outie bellybutton. It wasn't bad. The doctor expected it to clear up by age 1 or 2. They did mention that if it was still there when he was 6, we would look into surgery options. It cleared up on it's own already so no issues there!

He has a little stork bite on the back of his head that will probably end up being covered up by his hair when he gets it.

He also has a little blue vein on the bridge of his nose next to his eye. I think they call it a sugar bug.

Cutler did not and still does not like to lay on my chest. He would rather be cradled like a baby.

Like with Kinley, we used a nipple shield to nurse at first. We actually started out not using one with Cutler but ended up going to it. He weaned from it quickly though and quit using it around 3 months.

He always had a stuffy nose there in the beginning. He got a cold during week 2 or 3 and quit sleeping well. Even thought I say he quit sleeping, I never ended up on the couch with him sleeping on my chest like I did with Kinley. He was and still is HANDS DOWN an easier baby than Miss Priss was. He slept in our room in the rock n play most nights. We tried the snuggle nest sleeper that Nicci gave us and put him on the dog kennel so I could see him a few nights, but the rock n play seemed to work best.

It looks like he is going to have blue eyes like his Daddy and his sister. 

We went up from newborn to size 1 diapers at 3 weeks old.

I had bought some up to 7 lb. clothes expecting him to come early. We didn't get to wear them very long! He wore mostly newborn clothes that whole first month and just a few 0-3 months. 

I wasn't used to having to change a little boy's diaper. I got peed on a few times in the very beginning. One time, he shot across the bed in our room! Cleaning around his circumcision made me a little nervous in the beginning. It started to look red to me, and I messaged the doctor. They said what I was describing was completely normal. His ring fell off pretty quickly and we were all good after that. I still say that in the beginning a boys diaper was harder to change than a girls. 

I had kidney stone surgery on March 12th and had to leave him. This was just a few days after he turned 1 month old. I know people go through much worse, but it was hard on me leaving him. I went to the ER that morning early and had surgery that evening and didn't get home until late. When I got home, I was still coming off anesthesia and was shaky and hurting so I was scared to hold him. I didn't really get to hold him all day. Giggy and Grandma took care of him, even when he got up in the middle of the night that night. It was his first time to have formula. I didn't have enough milk pumped and due to medications, I had to pump and dump there for a bit. It definitely wasn't an ideal situation, but at his age, I definitely think it bothered me more than him!

On March 15th, about 1 week after he turned 1 month old, I think I caught his first real smile.

We didn't venture out of the house too much that first month besides to take big sister to school on Tuesday and Thursday or maybe to tag along while big sister played at a park.

We had visits and got to meet both Aunt Nadine and Aunt Nicci that first month.
Gerald, Allison and Hensley came to visit. James came and brought a gift from him and Jess. Our neighbor dropped off a bible on behalf of Green Acres. My parents neighbors, the Higgins and the Cashs, both sent gifts to welcome Cutler. Kathy Wright, a lady I used to work with, surprised me with a gift. The McClintics, the Dies and the Pakzads all got us some little boy outfits. The Burges sent  gifts along with several things that were Witten's. Several people dropped off meals that first month or so and some got to sneak a peak of our little man, including Josh and Brianna, Carolyn Jackson, Shelley Riehl, Brandy Dial, Michelle Algaier, Amy Pemberton, Molly Cash, Katy Link, and Amanda Vig.

There have definitely been times I've wondered what we got ourselves into having two kids fairly close together, but Cutler had been the perfect addition to our family. He had the best disposition, and I think he's going to balance out his wild sister. I can't imagine life without him now!

Evidently he was tired when I decided to take pictures that day.

During his monthly pictures, Kinley (aka Minnie Mouse that day) wanted a turn. She was happy as could be and could care less how he felt about it!

Poor guy... I don't think he has any hope with her around!

Side by side of both of our babies at 1 month old.