Kellen- 4 months

This is going to be quick, I'm ready for bed! Kellen weighs 14lbs 2oz (30th percentile) and is 25inches long (50th percentile). He did great and sucked on his toes the whole visit:-) I started rice cereal with Cole at this age, but I think I'll wait a little longer with Kellen. I don't think he's quite ready...or maybe I'm not. I guess I don't want him to grow up yet, and I feel like solids are the first step. I thought Cole grew up quick, but Kellen's 4 months with us have seemed like a couple weeks! Our pediatrician looked in Cole's ears and said they looked fine, so hopefully his fever will be gone by tomorrow and we'll have avoided any other symptoms with whatever virus he caught. He felt much better today, and ate and played. Justin just informed me that he would like to have a "Daddy's day on the blog" so we can all look forward to that!

Easter, animals, "naw" and fever :-(

I'm really going to try and get on here to post more often. I have a new obsession with couponing that has been taking up the time that I used to spend blogging. I miss my free therapy, though, so here I am! So much has happened since my last post I dont even know where to begin. Easter was fun. We had a nice family day on Saturday and took the boys to an Easter egg hunt in the neighborhood. Kellen beat all the big kids and loaded up his basket with eggs... kidding, I have had a glass of wine :-) Really though, Cole enjoyed the hunt and managed to get a couple eggs (which were empty by the way...bogus). He played with bubbles and ate cookies afterwards and was, as usual, an angel. I have a picture of Cole hugging my friend Susan's little girl, Lily Kate, at her second birthday party. Total blackmail for when they grow up, I love it! He had a blast on the carousel at Pullen Park and obsessed over all the balloons at the party, big shock. I have so many funny stories about Cole lately...I'll share a couple. I think I mentioned we bought a Potty for Cole so we can start "talking" about it. I dont plan to really get serious about potty training until he's 2, but like I said, we "talk" about the potty and every so often we sit him on it. He woke up from his nap the other day with a dry diaper so I figured we'd go sit on the potty. I squatted down in front of him as he's poking his "privates" and saying "EWWWEY" like his daddy taught him to say when we change him or wash him or he farts or burps or something. ( I really have 3 children you know). So I ask him (not expecting a response)... "Baby, do you want to go pee pee on the potty?" "Boppy?" he says and points to the potty. "Yep, do you want to go pee pee on the potty?" He shakes his head and says very drawn out and nonchalantly "Nawww." He had never really answered no to anything before, and the way he said it like he knew exactly what I was saying and exactly what his response meant had me laughing so hard. So me laughing was definately not the right move because now his new favorite word is "no"...well "naww" since we all know he has a twang like his Daddy.I guess it's ok though because he doesnt say no when I ask him to do something, he just sweetly answers "naww" when I ask him if he wants to do something or have something. It's pretty funny. He's really in to trucks, trains, and airplanes right now. If there are any of these in sight or earshot, he is sure to let you know. Lets see...airplanes are all helicopters to him so he calls them "copties." Truck he says pretty well, but I guess it sounds more like "chuck." And of course, a train is a "choo choo." Nana bought him some Thomas the Train cotton shorts and they are his new favorite thing. We put them on today since he had 102.5 fever. My poor sweet boy was pitiful today; I sure hope tomorrow he feels better. You know my boy doesnt feel good when he wont eat:-) He's getting pretty good at swinging the bat and hitting his baseball off the Tee, and at catching a ball. Daddy is so proud. He says new words everyday, but his favorites are animals and what sounds they make. He's got your basic barnyard and household animals down pat. Justin is working on turkey since he shot his first one this morning. PS: Happy Anniversary to us, and here's to not getting pregnant until our next one has come and gone! Haha. Justin went turkey hunting this morning and I got a massage this afternoon...good day besides our sweet sick baby. He also loves to talk about body parts. He can say a few like nose, eye, belly, feet, hands... but he likes to point them out when you ask. And you sure better say "HONK" loud and proud when he squeezes your nose or you'll get squeezed until you do! Can I just mention again.... poor KK. He is learning clothing now, like pointing to his shirt, pants...etc. He has such an obsession with shoes, I wanted to teach him something else so I didnt have to hear about his shoes all day long. (they are still his favorite though.) I have to write all these things in my blog or I'll never remember when he did what. Plus I can totally pull this up when he's 18 and make fun of him for obsessing over shoes :-)

Sweet sweet Kellen, I wish I could fill up as much space telling stories about you. He made the trip with us to Charleston for a wedding last weekend while Cole stayed with Nana and Pops. "He goes with the boob" Justin so kindly responded to those who asked why we only brought him. Thanks honey. He did so well on the trip down, and was so happy and well behaved the whole trip. The ride home was a little rough, but who can blame him. Unfortunately his being upset on the way home ruined the whole trip for me because I felt guilty for making him be in his carseat for so long. I'm pretty sure I promised him that I would "NEVER MAKE YOU RIDE IN THE CAR SO LONG AGAIN!" so hopefully I can live up to that for awhile anyway. My back hurt so bad the day after we got back because I was all-but in the carseat with him trying to make him feel like I was holding him so he wouldnt cry. We have his 4 month well check tomorrow so I'll update again and add more pictures.


My favorite for the week has to be the potty story. "Naww." (You had to be there) And for my NOT ME MONDAY that I have shamefully not kept up with... I totally did NOT have a BLAST with my girls last night at "Mommies night out". I love my babies more than life, but it sure was nice to get out and have a drink with my friends. I will DEFINATELY be making a habit out of that. And we totally did NOT talk about our kids the entire time ;-) Here's a little shout out to each of you (I'm going around the table in my head- you know who you are) naked on top of a 4 foot pile of mulch, running errands and buying nothing just to get a moments peace from the fussing, text messaging Daddy's, I'm so glad you aren't a JERK like your brother, "Cole"... I hate that name, How long have you been sitting there honey?, I only lost like 5 minutes I swear!, and last but not least...organizing my kids craft station was more satisfying than sex. Do guys have this much fun when they hang out...certainly not!

Kisses for Kellen

I'm not sure where the last couple weeks have gone. Justin's surprise 30th birthday party that I threw for him went great, and he actually WAS surprised. I can't believe I actually managed to keep something from him for so long. Thanks everyone for making the day so special for him. Cole had his 18 month visit this week and he continues to be 50th percentile for weight and height. He weighed 25 lbs 9 oz and was 32 inches tall. He is talking up a storm lately, and has added so many new words to his vocabulary. Some of his new favorites are: birds, "copter" for helicopter (nana taught him this one), all gone, mailman, truck, Bella (our dog), balloon, trash, night-night... He's really getting the hang of running now, and can both throw and catch (at least some times catch) a ball. We also bought him a potty, just to start "talking" about it. I am in no rush to potty train, but I figure it can't hurt to have it around for awhile to get used to the idea first. Some of his favorites right now are ice cream sandwiches (see picture below- Mommy was at work and Daddy gave him the whole bar of ice cream!), his swing set, looking in the sky for birds and airplanes, walking down the stairs holding onto the railing, helping me wash Kellen in the tub, and unloading groceries. He still LOVES his baby brother and voluntarily holds, hugs and kisses him every day. I sure hope this lasts!

Kellen has grown SO much in the last 2 weeks. He is 3.5 months old and wears 6 month clothes. He has just started to enjoy being in the jumperoo, even though his feet don't touch the ground yet on the lowest setting. He is absolutely fascinated by his brother, and is so patient when Cole wants to hold him. He is just starting to laugh, and those dimples just make me melt. Nana hung his baby swing up on the swing set today and he enjoyed being outside.

The newest addition to the Rogers household is cloth diapers. Yep, you read right. I know, I never thought I would do it either. We're (I...Justin wants nothing to do with it :-0) just learning and trying some different brands right now, but I am motivated by the amount of money it will save. Plus I feel like I'm doing my part to help the environment. No, I'm not totally converting to the granola lifestyle; we'll just cloth diaper when we're home and use disposables when we're out.

It's 11pm and I worked last night, so I'm about to fall asleep typing, but here are a few pictures. Oh, I almost forgot...my favorite thing this week is Kellen's laugh. I'll try to get some video of it and post it to the blog.

Ready for bed



Spagetti and an ice cream sandwich...I think some made it to the mouth





Just plain sweet



Love this one- Grandpa and Kellen completely enthralled in one another



Kellen trying to suck on Cole's nose



I swear he is the happiest boy in the world



Kisses for Kellen



Mommy needs kisses too!




Kellen using his not-so-inside voice he has figured out he has