conrad jay week 12 & 13

First off, this guy is 3 months old today!  How??  And we made it!!! 

Conrad is joining in our Olympic fun.  Either that or eating a huge icecream cone.  You decide.

I'm going to try to play catch up from missing our last weeks post.  We were on vacation and it just didn't happen.

Conrad did try some new things in the last two weeks though.  He's tried out the bumbo and didn't seem to mind it.  He also slept his max at night 9 1/2 hours while on vacation.  He's been getting longer and longer but then all the sudden he's back to eating around 4 am.  I think it might be a growth spurt;  We got our first laugh-out-loud this week.  So much fun!  And we are finding out just how laid back he is.  Lots of time in the car, and no complaining about it.

The activity gym is still one of his favorite places.  And each day he notices more and more.

Jason left early Wednesday morning for his trip to Colorado to climb a mountain.  We left later that morning to stay with my parents.  And, of course, while at Grammy and Gramps we must visit the pool.  Here they are enjoying their after swimming Popsicles.

We got to visit Nanny and show off our newest member.  She sure was smitten over Conrad.

Here's Conrad enjoying his carseat.  Not pictured:  the exploding diaper under him.

Mom squeezed into the back with the boys on the way to Mexican with Grammy and Gramps.  We sent this picture to Dad while on his trip and he thought I'd cut off my hair.  Not yet, but it's coming.

Gramps' famous UnderDOG.

This one's blurry, but I loved just seeing their feet poke out.

Go fish with Grammy.  They are all getting so big. I think this group is going to be doing a lot more of this.

And this.  Is there room enough for everyone?

When it's too hot outside, just head to Grammy and Gramps gym (aka the church gym) and play.  What a good big brother?

So many smiles from this guy!  

If you couldn't tell, we were all excited when Daddy got home.  Everyone stayed up a little late to welcome him by climbing all over him.

Monday morning we headed off to Branson to hang out for a week with Nana, Papa, Granny, Uncle Jeffrey, Teigan and Emma!

The first thing everyone wanted to do, after checking into our cabin, was head to the pool!  And that was the perfect thing to do in that heat.

The three oldest were such brave swimmers!  Here's Emma waving to me under the water.

We had to keep a close eye on the Ivan Monster.  He had no fear and would have taken off all on his own.  He wasn't a bit scared of the water.

Amos was trying to master the flip and touching the bottom of the pool.

Our cabin was really close to a fun playground.  If it had been cooler, we would have been there mores, but they still spent a morning here.

After that, we headed to Arkansas in search of the Lost Valley Hiking Trail.  We may have gotten lost a couple of times, but we found it.  The hot day didn't slow the kiddos down.  And in the tree cover, it was unbearable.

Conrad and I turned back when we got to the point that strollers couldn't continue.  He didn't mind too much.

But that left Jason with this one!

They made it to the waterfall!  See all the water?  The water must have been too low for the flow.

The next day we hit up Silver Dollar City.  We left the youngest two home with Nana and Granny.  That meant we had one adult to each kid and got to jump on ride after ride.  Teigan was old enough and brave enough to ride all the BIG rides with us.  Amos thought about it, but we decided maybe one more year and he'd be a little more ready.

Silas' favorite part was definitely the Strawberry Frozen Lemonade? Haha!

Our last morning we packed up, and headed for home. 

The boys spent Friday and Saturday with Nana and Papa while Jason and I went to a church conference in St. Louis.

They sure had fun!

And we did too!  We tried out an Indian restaurant in the big city and were not disappointed.

After the conference we met up with some friends from college and enjoyed dinner together!  

Whew!  It sure was a busy couple of weeks, but such a fun time of making memories!  And now I think we are ready to get back into a bit more of a normal routine.  School starts next week, so that should do it!

conrad jay - week 11

We didn't have too much happening this past week, but it sure was a hot one.  Conrad's just trying to keep cool.

We did start the week with some visitors!  Cousins.  We don't get to see them near enough, so we love anytime we get a chance to hang out.  These two were playing together.  At least their type of play.  And they were great at sharing.  

And these older guys had on all the costumes, all the time.

During nap time, these two hung out.  This shot was too cute to pass up!

And here's my Mr. Smiley.  He had a really great, laid back week until Monday.  Monday was a rough day for this one, but then he ended up sleeping 8 hours last night.  We both needed it!

He also took his first bottle this week.  I was already prepared to have to coerce him to take the bottle (like I had with all his brothers) but no.  He just turned to the bottle and guzzled it down!  Thank you.  The other change this week was sleeping on his back.  He's made the move from his rock and play to to the pac and play.  He took the change like a champ too!  

We spent Saturday at the Lake with Grammy and Gramps, Grandma and Grandpa Garrett and the Parks.  How fun!  Everyone was excited to see Grammy.  Amos and Josie had spent most of the week at Grammy and Gramp's house going to their church's VBS.  They loved it and the rest of us missed them.  It was a very different week without our oldest two in our house.

Our swimmers are getting braver and making their way out pretty far with Daddy.

Ivan's become such a little boy these days.  He's talking so much and wants to do everything his brothers are doing.  While Amos was away, he moved himself from his high chair to the bench with Silas.  And I don't think he's going back.

We have a shot about like this one when Amos and Josie were this age.

Solomon gives me the best faces!

conrad jay - week 10

As mentioned last week, it was the Vance work week at our house.  Conrad tried to get in on the hammering. Instead, he just tried to sleep over all the hammering and banging.

Lots of tummy time this week.  Someone's starting to get used to it.

We soaked up the 60 degree weather that graced us for a few short hours.  Windows open, attic fan on and reading in the sunroom!  It seems like a distant memory after these last few days.

Here's a terrible before picture of one of the basement rooms.  It's the only one I snagged, but all the rooms looked about the same.  Terrible.

Trying to watch Daddy doing some intense burning outside.

Friday brought lots of help for our work party.  Even Grandpa Garrett showed up with all his expertise.  

And then the rest of the family showed up and Conrad was so excited.  Emma too!

We tried to beat the heat with lots of water play.

And then they attempted the impossible: to move the carport.  It's been in our backyard with a ton of junk in it.  Jason spent a day clearing it out and had it ready to move.

They did it!  The impossible.

And here are some in the process pictures.  The beam is ready to be stained and trimmed out.  And finally....a fan is on its way.  And believe me, we need it these days.

Here's the upstairs bathroom, almost finished!  Just a little more trim and some wall art!  Definitely happy with the improvement.

 And our carport is now being put to good use.  For a car.

Basement organization at its finest.  I even have a wrapping station.  This one's my room.

And here's Jason's man cave.  We got it all cleaned up and its even pleasant to be down there.

Here's a work in progress on the main bathroom.  It's been mudded and textured.  Can't wait to paint it and have it looking great too!

And lastly, this little guy had his two month check-up.  He was 12 lbs 10 oz and 24 inches long.  He's growing like a champ!  We love you Conrad.