Casey is 5 Months Old!

Casey is 5 months old today! He is gaining weight and eating like a pig, so I don't think there's anything else to worry about there. We did have to take him to the dr last week because he was wheezing when he was on his back. It would stop whenever he had his pacifier in his mouth or if he rolled onto his belly. The RN that we saw said it's either a symptom of his acid reflux and/or a bit of post-nasal drip. She couldn't hear anything in his lungs, so nothing to worry about. We got some saline drops for him and he seems to be doing it a lot less. He's been sleeping in his crib overnight, all night, for about 2 weeks now :) He likes to sleep on his belly, which the dr has said is fine as long as we start him out on his back. He hates baths. He still loves cuddling and kisses. He giggles when you tickle him, play peek-a-boo or bounce him. The giggles still aren't loud or consistent, but we just love them! He shows preference to certain toys, he especially loves his catapillar rattle that Piper got him. He gets mad when you try to take toys away too. He rolls all over now to get from place to place! He likes to spend time in the playroom playing in his exersaucer. He absolutely adores his big sister. He watches her every move, loves when she pays attention to him and smiles when she does. He's always interested in what ever she has or is doing. And she loves him too. She likes to play with him and give him kisses. She gives him a bottle from time to time and now that he's more and more active, she is more and more interested. He is still getting rice cereal once a day. We haven't tried any other foods yet, because he's still having difficulties with the cereal. He seems to like it and want to eat it, but he is still spitting most of it back out. He's growing so quickly and sprouting up like a weed. Enjoy the photos and video clip!

Handsome!
Playing on his belly
Smiles!
He's got this part figured out!
Where's she going?
LOVE <3

Daddy's Father's Day Present

These are the best of the best of the pictures that I took of the kids for Ryan's Father's Day present. They were all taken on June 1st, so that I had plenty of time to get things together. The kids enjoyed the photoshoot and as always the fresh air!

Happy Father's Day!

Mommy had to work most of the day today. So we celebrated Father's Day in the evening. Daddy got a framed picture of Piper and Casey... the picture was of them in their Dolphins gear with their football. Daddy also got a Dolphins cake made by Mommy. It was chocolate fudge cake with chocolate buttercream icing. We had a nice dinner of steak and sweet potato fries and are now enjoying a relaxing evening!

Party Time and Water/Sand Play

This past Saturday was Haley's (Uncle Jeff and Aunt Susan's daughter) first birthday party. We had lots of fun. Piper enjoyed playing and swimming in the pool and Mommy and Daddy were happy to visit with friends. Mommy made Haley's cakes and was so happy with how they came out. Here's some pics from the party!
Haley's Smash Cake
Big Cake for everyone to eat!
Daddy and Piper hanging out!
Make a wish!
Cake destruction!




















Sunday Piper was able to play with her sand and water table. She got it using money and gift cards that she received for her birthday. It took us a while to put it together, because anytime Mommy and Daddy were both home and had a chance to do it, it ended up raining. Then we were waiting for a time when we were both home to let her play with it and again, rain and a misbehaving 3 year old stood in the way. Finally Mommy decided this weekend that if it was nice out and Piper was being good that she should just play with it, even though Mommy would be at work. She loved it! Daddy took lots of pictures so that Mommy could see all the fun Piper had.

Cute Kids!

Casey has been trying so hard to crawl latey. From the time Piper was about 6 months until she learned to walk at around 14 months, she got from place to place by rolling and then scooching. Casey has just started to do this. He rolls all over the place now. He is becoming so coordinatd too. He's getting so good at reaching out and grabbing his toys. I can't stop looking at him either... he's just so handsome and his smiles (which never end) make it that much better! Here's a pic of that smile and a video of him playing. And a video of Piper singing with her karaoke book!

All is Well

We went back for Casey's follow-up today. We are happy to say that he gained even more weight than the Dr. had hoped for. He's now 10lb 6 1/2oz! We've got the ok to start back up with the cereal and to start other solids. We also got the ok to give him one less overnight feeding, so that mean a little more sleep for us! YAY! He got 4 more shots and one oral vaccine today and he did so good... the first shot didn't even phase him. He was halfway through the 2nd before he even noticed. Anyway, we're so relieved that he's doing better now!

What a Day!

Before I get into the day that was yesterday; Tuesday night, we were both home to hear Casey's first out loud laugh. It was so cute! We can't wait for them to become more frequent and when they do I will definitely get a video of it!

Ok, so yesterday, ugh! We had just woke up. I come out of the bathroom just in time to see Ryan walking swiftly out of the room. I ask, "What's the matter?" He says, "Didn't you hear that?" Well, I was in the bathroom, so no I didn't hear "that." Now he's standing in the dining room staring in the direction of our desk with this shocked and puzzled look on his face. He said it sounded like someone pouring out a container of sprinkles. I come out to see that the short portion of our glass desk had shattered. The computer monitor is on the floor, but being held up from complete destruction by the power cord. The speakers, mouse and CDs that were sitting on top are also on the floor. And the multiple CD case is on the keyboard which is still on the keyboard tray underneath. There's glass everywhere. Ryan said there was no crash or bang before the shattering. Nothing fell onto it and there was no one around to touch it. For more than a year that desk has sat in that same spot and has had the same things on it, nothing too heavy, and we rarely even use that portion of the desk. The only time we ever touch that side is to get or put back the scissors or a pen. So needless to say we have no idea how this happened. But I thought a disaster such as this warranted a picture.















Now for the important stuff. Yesterday was also Casey's 4 month check up. Well, unfortunately I was right, he is not gaining enough weight. He's now 9lb 9oz... that's less than a pound in the past 2 months. It's only 2 pounds since birth! He is longer as I had said, now 23in. But obviously that's not enough weight. So we're back to feedings every 3 hours even through the night. No breastfeeding, so that we know exactly how much he's getting. I can still pump and give him breastmilk in a bottle though. No more rice cereal for now and no starting other solids until his weight is up. The dr. thinks that it just stems back to the same issues he had before, with his poor suck, poor feeding cues etc. He has until Wednesday to gain a decent amount of weight (approx 8oz). If he doesn't gain the weight he'll be admitted to the hospital for extensive testing to find out what's wrong. He's still right on track developmentally; he's doing everything that a 4 month old should be doing. So everyone please keep you fingers crossed for him and I'll update after his appointment next week.

Science Center and 4 Months Old

Yesterday Ryan had the day off, so we decided to take Piper to the Orlando Science Center. Piper wasn't really interested in a lot of the exhibits, but we discovered later that it was because she (still) wasn't feeling well. She did enjoy the Kidstown section and the NatureWorks section. And then we headed to the Cinedome (an IMax-like theater) to see Wild Ocean. She really liked that and then it was time for lunch. Piper hadn't even had a bite or sip of anything yet, when she got sick. We cleaned her up and gave her some crackers and juice to sip, we thought she was going to be fine since it was out of her system, so we started to head up to the last floor of exhibits and she got sick again. So at that point we decided to just leave. We missed the exhibit that we were most looking forward to, but hopefully we can visit again another time. Piper seems to be feeling much better now and hasn't gotten sick (knock on wood) since then.

Getting ready to head inside
Temporary exhibit; Grossology, all about the gross things our bodies do
Pilot Piper
Playing with the water table
Piper liked this alot
Sending her boat down the waterfall
Crawling through the roots of a tree
Picking Oranges!
Sending the oranges off to the store
Feeding the fish, turtles and gators

















Yesterday was also Casey's 4 month birthday! He's holding his head up on his own consistently now. He's really starting to like his rice cereal and even gets a little mad when he finishes it all. He's still taking naps in his crib and they're progressively getting longer and longer! We're almost ready to give it a try overnight, we're just nervous cause he will be sharing Piper's room, and we don't want him to wake her. He loves his Bumbo and play gym and toys. All of his toys go straight into his mouth, which is of course, to be expected. He tries so hard to scoot forward when he's on his belly, he'll be crawling in no time. He still loves cuddling. He smiles all the time, it's so easy to get him smiling and they are infectious! He loves his big sister and is always craning his neck to see what she's doing. His "talking" is getting more frequent too. Tomorrow is his check up, so I will update again after that. We still don't feel like he's gaining enough weight, but he's definitely gotten longer. He's outgrown several outfits because he's too long. So we're hoping that maybe we're just not noticing weight gain because he's growing up, not out. But we'll see tomorrow!

4 Months Old!
Hey there!
Chewing on his links in his Bumbo
He LOVES this elephant
The ears, which make a crinkly noise are his favorite part

Saving Money and Monsoon Season

Ok, so first let me say that I get a little frustrated with Jen's "I saved 84% on my grocery bill." And the reason why is that I would also like to save that much, but it's VERY difficult, because they don't double coupons here in FL. Also, when I do regular grocery shopping, I buy a lot of fresh fruit and veggies, which they never have coupons for. I can usually save 40-50% between the sale prices and additional coupons. So anyway, we didn't need anything major this week, so I just picked up a couple of sale items today. Pop-Tarts buy one get one with $1 coupon... comes out to $.70 a box. Milk... had a coupon for a free gallon! Yogurt 20 for $10... had a coupon for $.60 on 6 and a few of the containers had $.15 instant coupons so I got 9 of them... comes out to $.38 each. Total savings of about 65%... I'd say that's pretty close to my record, but of course if had been doing real grocery shopping, I would not have done quite as well!

Apparently it's monsoon season here in FL. It's been raining on and off since Monday night. And when I say raining, I mean torrential downpour, the kind where it's so loud when it hits the roof that you can't hear yourself think. There was even one confirmed tornado touchdown, it was an F0, but still, it happened. Now, my neighborhood is not an area that's prone to flooding, but there are areas that have feet of water on the ground. This picture is of the lake behind our house. Let me first explain that we live in Osceola county, but the lake is in Orange county. The county line is the ridge just above the water line. Normally, Orange county comes out to mow that portion. Obviously they won't be doing that for a few weeks. About 3-4 feet into the water you can see the weeds sticking out a bit... the water line is usually just above those weeds! CRAZY! And I guess the rain isn't done yet either!

Rice Cereal, Playtime and Dress-up

Saturday night we gave Casey his first taste of rice cereal. We decided not to wait until his Dr appt in the hopes that it would help him sleep through the night again. He was sleeping through the night, but has recently started waking and wanting to eat one extra time. Sunday when I got home from work Ryan made dinner (yes, you heard me right) while I relaxed and watched the kids play on the floor. Piper has been wanting to play with Casey more and more. And she was cracking me up on Sunday so I just had to take some pictures... every time Casey would roll onto his side, she'd put her hands on his belly roll him back onto his back and say, "Casey I'm trying to play with you." The last group of pictures are from today. It's apparently monsoon season here in FL, so I was unable to take the kids outside to play like I wanted to. Piper has been fine with that though. She got some dress up clothes for her birthday from Grandma and Grandpa Stevie and picked out even more when we were spending her birthday money and gift cards at Toys R Us. She plays with the clothes non-stop and dances around in them. The funniest part is seeing her walk with these shoes!

Very first taste
What is this Mommy?
I don't think I like this
I guess it's not so bad
Here's your giraffe Casey!
Hugs and Kisses... all the time!
Fairy Princess
Casting a spell or showing off her wand?
Waving her wand at Mommy!