New Family Website/Blog

Friends and Family,

Hope you all are doing well! I have been going crazy trying to keep up with facebook, my baby website, blogging, tweeting, and pinterest-ing (I totally made that word up). For the sake of time, and my sanity, I have combined our family blog and our baby website. For updates on our family and pics throughout the year, please visit us on www.theconnersfamily.net.

In order to keep our site for friends and family only, you will have to either leave a comment on here requesting the password, or shoot me an email at kimberlyconners@gmail.com.

Feel free to leave any comments, questions or concerns on the guestbook page.

We love all of you!
xoxo

3 months old

Caden - I can't believe you are 3 months old already! Time has flown by since you were born and you are growing so fast! Here's a little about you at 3 months:

You are out of your newborn bed and are now sleeping on your stomach in your pack n' play. You are officially wearing 0-3 month clothing. You are smiling so much! You are learning to grab your feet with your hands. You are starting to make cooing noises in response to daddy and mommy's voices. You like to look at the TV. You are sleeping through the night and averaging 10-11 hours of sleep at night - which mommy and daddy are so grateful for! You took your first plane ride and first trip to the zoo in Colorado. You are starting to drool a lot and sometimes blow bubbles. You love when we stand you up on your feet. You still really like your binky - especially when you are napping. Your eyes are still a greyish blue color but will likely change to brown like your mommy and daddy.You try to hold your bottle when we feed you but can't quite do it yet. You rub your eyes when you are tired and it's the sweetest thing! You still have most of your hair. Your cry has changed so much and sounds more like a baby cry instead of a newborn cry. You are growing so fast and we are loving you more and more every day!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Visit to Colorado

A few weeks ago, Caden and I took a trip to Colorado to visit one of my best friends and her family. I was a little nervous traveling with a 2 month old without Andrew to help me. It was definitely a different experience at the airport. I had Caden’s carseat, the stroller, a diaper bag and suitcase. Going through security was fun. Once we got on the plane, Caden did surprisingly well. I fed him right before take off and during landing which helped keep his ears from hurting.
He was pretty content just sitting on my lap and looking around for most of the flight. It’s amazing how helpful people are when they see a mom traveling with a baby and without a husband to help out. People offered to help me put my seat belt on, grab something from the diaper bag, bring the stroller down the jetway, etc… It was nice to have help – even from complete strangers!

We stayed in Colorado for 4 days. We had so much fun with the Sola family. I hadn’t seen them since June and it’s amazing how much kids can grow in 3 ½ months! This was also the first time they got to meet Caden. It was awesome to see Braylon and Jaxten interact with him. They kept saying “Your baby is so cute!” and they each wanted to hold him. They were so good with him! It was so nice to spend time with Kristy just hanging out on her driveway talking while the kids ran around and played. Since I recently got a new camera, and Kristy is an awesome photographer, she spent some time showing me how to shoot on manual and how to edit pictures in photoshop. I learned a lot and can’t wait to start taking better pictures!

Since we were in Colorado Springs, my close friend Kristen drove down from Denver to spend the day with us. We decided to take the kids to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. It was a gorgeous day outside and the zoo was awesome! They had so many animals. Caden had fun just chillin in his stroller. I can’t wait until he’s old enough to appreciate fun stuff like the zoo.

All in all, it was a super fun trip! I always have such a blast hanging out with Kristy and her kiddos. Now we get to add another little one to the mix! I look forward to many more memories with our kids in the years to come. Thanks again Sola family for having Caden and I at your house. Your home is beautiful! As always, we loved hanging out with you guys! We already miss you all so much and can’t wait until our next visit!

We love you guys!
xoxo

First Family Vacation

We took our first family vacation to Las Vegas and it was a ton of fun! We went with our close friends - the Harrelsons and Johnsons. Brian works for Toll Brothers (Home building) and every year they pick a Toll House to stay in. So this year it was Red Rock in Vegas and they invited us to stay with them. Andrew was a little nervous about the drive because he was convinced that we would have to make a bunch of stops for Caden. We decided to feed him before getting on the road. About 10 minutes into the drive, he fell asleep. He stayed asleep the whole drive - until we pulled into the driveway of the house!! We were so proud of our little man!

The house was awesome! Perfect for three families with little ones. We made all our meals and never left the house once! (except when Andrew drove to the Casino to place a bet on Thursday's football game) Overall, the vacation was really relaxing. We spent a lot of time in the pool. Even Caden got his trunks on and went in. He loved it! We thought it was going to be super hot out there - like in the 100's. But it ended up being perfect weather the whole time! We got to spend time as a family which was really nice. We also got to spend time with our friends. It's so fun to have friends with little ones. We look forward to many more fun trips with our families. Thanks again to the Harrelsons for having us - we had a blast!!

2 months old

Caden - We can't believe another month has gone by! You change so much day by day and we are having so much fun watching you grow. We continue to thank god for you and how you have brought mommy and daddy closer.

A few things about you at 2 months old:
You are starting to smile when you hear our voice and see our face. You are even laughing once in a while. You are starting to outgrow your newborn clothes but don't quite fit into your 3 month stuff. You are getting a little chubbier in your cheeks and thighs - and it's adorable! You are awake much more during the day and sleeping so good at night. You are starting to reach for things that are close to you and kicking your legs when you get excited. You definitely know who your mommy and daddy are and look for us when you hear our voice. You like your pacifier and like to hold it with your hands. You love looking into the mirror. You still look so much like your daddy (which is ok by mommy). You are such a good baby and we can't get enough of you. We love you to the moon and back!

1 month old

To my baby boy:
I can't believe you are already one month old! You have blessed your daddy and I beyond belief in the short time you have been in our world. I stare at you all the time in awe of what a little miracle you are. I still can't believe that we created you and you are all ours! You have forever changed our lives and we thank God everyday for you.

Here are a few things about you at one month old:
You love to eat. You are a little milk monster. When we take away your bottle, you make the funniest grunting noises. You don't like to have your diaper changed but you are getting better about it. You have the cutest little nose and the most beautiful lips. You love to cuddle with mommy on her chest. You are wearing newborn sizes but a lot of the stuff is still a little too big on you. You love when mommy rubs your forehead. Your favorite way to sleep is with your hands by your face. You are really strong and can hold your head up when you want to. You look a lot like your daddy. You like your bouncer seat and your swing. You are really gassy and make the funniest faces when you poop. You usually don't cry unless you are hungry. You don't like getting into your car seat but you love riding in the car. You are a pretty good sleeper and take the best naps. We are crazy in love with you and can't get enough.

We love you baby boy!
Love,
Mommy & Daddy

{beautiful photos courtesy of Candice Brooke Photography}

Caden James Arrives

On Tuesday morning, July 5th, I woke up at about 1 am with cramps. I decided to go back to sleep thinking they would just go away. About 5:45am, I woke up realizing that these cramps had started to feel like contractions and I was feeling them about every 10 minutes or so. I woke up Andrew and told him that I had been feeling these cramps now since 1 am. I had a Dr's appointment scheduled for that morning at 8:45 so I thought maybe we could just wait until we saw the Dr. to tell her about my pains. About 10 minutes later, I noticed they were getting more and more intense. I was definitely in labor. We scrambled to pack our hospital bag (it wasn't packed because I didn't think he would come a week early) and get our stuff together. I called my Dad right away because I knew he was about to step on a plane for a week long business trip. Sure enough, when I called, he was boarding the plane. He didn't know what to do since he thought maybe I was having false labor pains (my mom had them with me). I told him to go ahead and go to Seattle and to call us when he landed and we would update him as to what was going on. Since its a short flight, we figured he could jump on the next flight back home if I was in fact going into labor.

Andrew and I jumped in the car and headed to the hospital and arrived at about 7:45am. I was getting more and more uncomfortable as the contractions got closer together and became more and more painful. When we got to the hospital, they were about 4 minutes apart. We checked into our room and the nurse came in to see if I was dialated at all. I was at 5cm already!! I couldn't believe it. I was definitely in labor and going to meet our little man sooner than later. Around 9:45am, I decided to go ahead and have the epidural before the contractions got any more painful. It wasn't the most enjoyable experience but definitely worth it - as soon as the medicine started flowing, I felt a 100 times better. Poor Andrew almost fainted while watching me get the epidural - those needles are so long! After some crackers and water, he felt much better! In the meantime, my mom, brother Jason, Cristina and Andrew's mom arrived at the hospital to see how I was doing. We waited another couple of hours and around 2pm, the nurse said I was dialated to 10cm and could start pushing in about an hour. My dad called Andrew when he landed in Seattle to see how it was going. When he found out I was definitely in labor, he said he would do everything he could to jump on the next plane back to try to get to the hospital before Caden was born.

At 3pm, everyone cleared the room except for the nurse and Andrew and I started pushing. Through all the contractions and pushing, Andrew was amazing. He helped me to relax and kept telling me how great I was doing. I pushed for about 1 hour 45 minutes when the baby's head started to crown. The nurse called my Dr., who thankfully was across the street. As soon as she got there, I pushed a few more times and at 5:35 pm Caden made his entrance into the word. He weighed 6 lbs, 4 ounces and measured 19 inches long. They immediately cleaned him off and laid him on my chest. I can't even describe the feeling I had when I saw him for the first time. He was perfect! We got to enjoy the first 45 minutes with just the three of us - our new family. Andrew and I were overwhelmed with the love we felt for our little guy. After 9 months of patiently waiting, we couldn't have more blessed! We are so thankful that Caden was born healthy and that I didn't experience any complications during the delivery.

After we had our bonding time with Caden, our family came into the room to meet him. The last person to enter the room was my dad. I was emotional when I saw him because I was so thankful he made it back in time to be there when he was born. It was so neat to watch everyone hold Caden and see him for the first time. We are so blessed to be surrounded by such amazing friends and family who love us and baby Caden so much. The rest of the stay in the hospital was pretty good. All the nurses were awesome and it helped that our room had an ocean view :) We got to go home on Thursday morning and we couldn't have been more excited to start our new life at home with Caden.

Caden is now a little over 2 weeks old and we love him so much! He has been such a great baby so far. We are just in awe of the miracle that God blessed us with and absolutely love being a mommy and daddy.