Beach

 

We went to Daytona Beach last Sunday to help our friend Kristy celebrate her birthday. It was a fun, relaxing day with friends. Connor enjoyed his sand pit and Addison just sat back and enjoyed the scenery :)

 

 

Potty training has officially made its debut in the Gumula household. Connor sits and goes before bath time every night. I opened my mouth to daycare, just to see where they would fall in with the training, and they took off running with it! They put him on the potty at each diaper change and he has gone at least once a day ever since. They said as soon as he goes all 4 times (they have scheduled diaper/potty time) then we will move him to underwear and go from there! He has shown a lot of interest but isn’t quite ready to go cold turkey. Or maybe we’re not. I think we are being potty trained at the same time! We aren’t used to having to ask him if he needs to go, etc. In more ways than not diapers are easier! There is no real rush, when he’s ready he’s ready. TMI alert! He (and his teachers!) were ecstatic the day he went poo poo in the potty. He was so proud and couldn’t wait to show off the sticker he got :)

We also attended Open House at daycare last week. It was fun to see Connor’s classroom and talk to his teachers. It was also good to see his playground and get a sneak peek at the 3 year old room. While we were given a tour of the entire facility a couple of years ago when he first started, we weren’t really paying attention to the older rooms. We were only concerned with the infant room at the time. They have miniature potty’s in the 2’s with little sinks right at their height – too cute! We were also given a copy of their daily schedule. It’s fun now for me to glance down at the time and have an idea of what he is doing. They teach them so much there! I was a little surprised when I looked at their “circle time” discussion that day to find them learning about nutrition and weighing food. Really? No wonder Connor thinks he knows everything ;p LOL

Click here for more beach pictures.

4 Months Old!

 

Addison is 4 months old today! I’m sure I sound like a broken record but where has the time gone? We took her in for her 4 month checkup this morning. Her doctor was pleased and she continues to grow right along her growth chart curve. Her new stats are as follows:

Height: 23 ½ inches (25^th percentile)

Weight: 13 lbs 6 oz (50^th percentile)

Head: 15 ½ inches (10-25^th percentile)

She handled her shots like a pro! I don’t think she even realized she had received the first one. She was still too grossed out from the Rotavirus vaccine (given orally). After the second one she cried but for a super short period of time. John and I were impressed!



Waiting for the doctor

She loves to play with her hands and is starting to reach and grab for things. We have moved her from the bassinet to the pack-n-play as she was getting too big for it. It was a surprisingly smooth transition. I thought she would have a harder time as we also stopped swaddling her at the same time. We are now working on putting her to bed awake but that can be hard. She has no trouble going to sleep and will sometimes fall asleep on our walk from the living room to our bedroom! I really need to work on dropping the 2 am dream feed but it’s hard while she is still in our room. I had reported last month that she was sleeping from 10:30 or so until 5 am but as soon as I blogged about it she quit doing it. I usually get up to feed her twice a night.

We also got out the jumper toy now that she can hold her head steady while supported. She can’t quite enjoy the toy to its full potential just yet (not tall enough). I think she is going to love it when she can though! The girl loves to move her legs.

She rolled over for the first time, from tummy to back, a couple of weeks ago. I had a hard time getting this on video but finally managed. I checked Connor’s milestones and they hit this one almost the same week! The doctor has said they will likely do things around the same time.

We were given the go ahead to start solids if we so choose but we’re going to wait until she is closer to 6 months as we did with Connor. I don’t see the big rush in this and it’s better for the baby, give her more time for her tummy to mature. She’s obviously getting all the nutrients she needs :) 

Happy 4 month Birthday Addison!! Click here to view a few more pictures.

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!!!

Today my parents celebrate their 36^th wedding anniversary! I thought it would be fun to take a peek back in time. Seems like a long time as they have been married longer than I have been alive! :p

Coincidentally, John’s parents also celebrated their 36^th wedding anniversary this year!

Happy Anniversary! Here is to many many more years of happiness! :)

SeaWorld

 

Addison had her first trip to SeaWorld this weekend! We haven't been in months and since we didn't have anything else going on this weekend, we thought it was a perfect opportunity to go again. We've been avoiding it due to the heat but Sunday was overcast which we thought would make it more tolerable. We also knew there was a chance of rain but that is the beauty in having season passes. If it started to rain we wouldn't feel cheated if we left the park. Connor was so excited when we told him we were going. He was grinning ear to ear when we arrived to the park. It was a hot day, even with the clouds. Addison was a trouper though and never cried once. She just sat back in the stroller and took in the sights! Somehow she even managed a short nap in the middle of the dolphin show. We only made it through the first half of the park when the dark clouds rolled in. We had already talked up the sharks with Connor so we had to go see those before we could leave. As luck would have it the shark encounter is at very back of the park. As soon as we were done the rain started. We ran as fast as we could back to the car...which was not close! I don't know if I can speak for all of us but I thought it was kind of fun :) It's been a long time since I've had to run in the rain like that - with no umbrella! Overall another fun trip to SeaWorld.

 

You can click here to view a few more pics from SeaWorld.

4th of July Weekend



We had a great holiday weekend. We would normally take advantage of a long weekend by going out of town but not this year. We've been traveling a lot lately and needed a weekend at home. And it was nice. Saturday we went to a party at the Moncello's. Connor had a blast in the pool with Tim. He went down the slide over and over and over again. We didn't have any plans on Sunday but didn't want to be stuck at the house all day so we decided to go out to breakfast and then get fireworks afterwards. We just went to Denny's up the road. Both kids were great! Connor enjoyed his chocolate chip pancakes and Addison even let me put her in her car seat while I ate my food...at the same time as John and Connor! :) Monday we went to Erin's house. She was having a BBQ/party for the 4th as her neighborhood was putting on a big fireworks production that evening. Connor had so much fun playing with the other kids there, especially Andrew who is about 5 months older than he is. We grubbed and then the kids got to do some small fireworks before we headed back home before it got late. We wished we would have stayed though! Justin proposed to Erin during the big neighborhood firework display!! So bummed we missed that but couldn't be happier for them. Congratulations Erin and Justin!!!!

Connor has really started to show more interest in Addison. His latest is wanting to feed her so we let him give it a whirl. He did a good job but he lost interest very quickly :) Connor was watching Sesame Street at one point over the weekend and we had put Addie down in the bouncer near him. We noticed him get off the couch and start to entertain her...such a sweet moment! 

Connor found the fireworks, mainly the poppers and bottle rockets, to be quite funny. He would laugh after each and every one of them.

Connor and I were cooped up in his room on Saturday while Daddy and Addison were taking a nap in the living room. Our house is pretty small so that was the only way I could contain the noise our busy bee makes these days. To preface this let me add that Connor is going through a phase where he would prefer not to be wearing any clothing. Thankfully he hasn't attempted to take his diaper off yet. Once he figures that out we're in trouble :p So we're in his room and he has on nothing but a diaper. He goes to his hat and sock drawer and pulls out his ski cap and asks me to put it on. Then he goes into his closet and pulls out his sunglasses. Cute right? It didn't end there. He then proceeds to do yoga like poses and tumbling all over his room. I had to capture this on camera - and he loved it! Once he realized I was taking pictures he would do a pose, hear the click of the camera, then run over to see what he looked like. We had so much fun!

 Below is a short but funny video of Connor "falling" on our bed. He does this all the time and I still laugh every time I see it. Never thought to get it on video until now....

 The following video is a clip of Connor doing poppers of some sort. Two people tug at the same time and it pops. Connor thought it was hilarious.

I hope everyone had a fun, safe and memorable 4th! Click here to view many more pictures from our weekend. Enjoy!!

3 Months!

Addison is now 3 months old. She is still growing like a weed! In the last week she has gone from taking 3 oz every 2 hours to 4 oz every 3 hours. She has started sleeping from 10 pm to 5 am on a pretty consistent basis, give or take 30 min. She goes right back to sleep after she eats until about 7 am when I get her up and ready for daycare. She is still the sweetest little thing. I just love her smiles and she is starting to giggle here and there. No belly laughs yet but I think we’re close. I got on the scale with her last week and I think she’s about 13 pounds now, unofficially of course :p We don’t go back to the doctor until she hits the 4 month mark. She is also sitting up really well when supported, which means she is ready to sit in the Bumbo. I like to put her in it while I wash bottles…it’s a whole new view for her! She sits and watches me and we talk about our day :)

Tampa

We went to Tampa this past weekend to attend Courtney’s 2^nd birthday party. We had a blast! It was so good to see all my friends and for them to all (finally) meet Addison! We stayed with Chris and Marti over at Scott and Jessica’s. They recently had their 3^rd girl, Sydney. Tracy, Rob and their new baby Gavin were also in town from Atlanta. There were babies and kids everywhere! Good times with my Tampa peeps :) We lucked out on this trip, both kids slept the whole way there and back. 



Courtney - the birthday girl!



Ice pops helped with the heat!



Rob, Tracy, Gavin & Addie



Jen, Tracy, Marti, Tiffany & Stacy



Connor & Chelsea having breakfast



Click here for a few more pictures from our weekend.

Father's Day Weekend

I’m a little behind on my posts…but I have a good excuse! I started back to work last Monday. It was a rough week for me :( Addison seems to have adjusted just fine to daycare. It was a little harder for me. I miss her so much and really enjoyed my time home with her. It was a little easier leaving her this morning and will only get easier from here. You’d think it would have been easier the second time around but it isn’t.

We spent Father’s Day weekend in Waldo visiting my parents (BeBe and Grandpa). We headed up Thursday night. We had hoped the kids would sleep the whole way there (2 hrs) like they did on our trip to Cape Haze. This was not the case. Addison nearly cried the entire way there. Luckily Connor slept through most of it. Not sure if it was his ‘nap’ in the car or being in a different place, but Connor was not easy to go down. I think it was after 1 am before he was asleep. Poor John had to work when we got there and didn’t get to bed until 3 am or so, only to have Connor wake up again at 5:30 :/ Addison did a little better but needless to say we didn’t get a good night’s rest that night. Since I was going to be going back to work Monday morning, we decided we would leave Sunday afternoon instead of evening. Just in case…we didn’t need another repeat of that!

The Marquart family came over on Friday to hang out. We had a great time visiting and watching the kids play in the pool. Jessica’s parents even stopped by for a short bit to meet Addison. Addie loved mama Rhodes, she gave her the biggest smiles! Saturday we celebrated several birthdays. My dad and his twin, Steve, turned the big 6-0! It was also my uncle Dominique’s birthday. We had the whole family over and even had 3 cakes! For Father’s Day we enjoyed a fish-fry before heading back to Orlando. The fish was all caught by my uncle Steve!

I wish I could report our drive home was better than our trip there but I can’t. Addie cried most of the way home. Somehow Connor slept through an hour of it :) We relaxed at home and grilled Steaks for dinner, then I had to get ready for work the next day. This mainly entailed getting Addie ready for daycare and figuring out our morning routine.

I only cried 2 or 3 times Monday. Which I thought was good! Addie’s note from Monday said Connor came to visit her during the day. I talked to her teacher about it and she said Addison was all smiles when he came in and cried when he left. We decided to visit daycare on our lunch break on Tuesday. Connor was at lunch when we got there and just beamed when he saw us. It was so sweet…he turned to the boy next to him and pointed to us and said Mama! Dada! like he was so proud of us :) John asked his teacher who his best friend was (which we knew was Zachary because Connor tells us, but wanted to see what the teacher would say). She surprised us by asking Connor out loud in front of the group, but even more so was when Zachary yelled out, “Me!”. How cute is that? It killed Connor to see us leave. We hadn’t even thought about that. We have never gone to daycare without leaving with him and he did not like that one bit. He cried and cried. We won’t do that again, we felt terrible!

Oh, I have another cute story. Before his bath we have been trying the potty lately. We haven’t had any success but we are trying to get the idea in his head. Well, Monday night Connor went pee pee in the potty. To say he was excited would be an understatement. I had texted our parents with the good news. Grandma called right away and Connor was yelling “I go pee pee potty! I go pee pee potty!” over and over while jumping (on his knees) in the bathtub. I wish I had thought to get the video camera. It hasn’t happened again since but it was still an exciting evening :)

Click here to view our pictures.

Sunday Funday

Our friend Erin invited us over to her place on Sunday. We played at her community pool and then later enjoyed a BBQ of cheeseburgers and hot dogs! Below are some pictures from our day.

Gina was so sweet with Connor. She even held his hand on our walk to the pool! Looks like Connor already knows how to work his magic on the 4 year olds ;)

 


 

Erin and Tim relaxing in the pool

You don't think I can eat this? Watch me!

 

Jessica and Addison

We found our voice!

Addison has discovered her voice! It's so adorable, I could listen to her "talk" all day long....which I do! I have been trying to capture this on video for you but it's hard to do by myself. Unfortunately, she is more chatty in the morning and early afternoon. I don't know if she is just tired or doesn't feel like competing with Connor, but she doesn't talk as much once John gets home. I was able to get a short video clip (below) of her talking to Daddy...but this is nothing compared to what she does all day with me!

Addison is growing up so fast. She holds her head up really well and loves to stand with you supporting her. She is starting to sleep better and has given us a few 4 hour stretches in the last week. I still can't get her to go more than 2 hours without eating during the day. It doesn't matter how much milk I put into her bottles, she stops when she is full which is usually around 3 oz. I just know if I could get her to eat more at one time she could go longer but she isn't having it. She is a dainty little eater. The plus side to that is she hardly ever spits up. Which is the complete opposite of how Connor was. Connor would down as much milk as you would give him in 10 min or less...then (seemingly) spit it all back up moments later. Every baby is different! :)

Connor is still doing good as big brother. Lately he has been trying to involve her with our bedtime story ritual. The other night he read to her and tonight he actually picked out a book for her to read. :) He dropped it into her lap and told her that was her book to read. So cute!  

She is such a happy little baby though. She gives me the biggest smiles when she sees my face and will randomly laugh at things like me yawning. I don't remember Connor being so expressive this early. I keep trying to capture her smile but the second I get the camera out she stops and just stares at it. She absolutely loves her baths. If she is fussy all it takes is the sound of the running water to calm her down and put a smile on her face. You can actually see her getting excited when she knows it's bath time!

 

She doesn't take a pacifier but loves to suck on her fist. We still swaddle her but only when she sleeps at night. I think she could do without it but for now it helps her sleep more soundly. I'll be so happy when we can get out of our house and put her into her own room though. While she is a quiet sleeper I know I'm not sleeping anywhere near as soundly than if she was in another room. The second she starts to make noise I'm up and usually feeding her as I don't want her to wake up John and the dogs. It's not that I am actually worried about the dogs not getting their sleep, LOL, but they make noise (Jackson's loud nails clacking against the floor when he jumps down or flopping his ears) which in turns wakes her up.

 

I go back to work on the 20th of this month. I'm going to miss being home with her all day. I'm sure I'll adjust as I did with Connor but it will still be hard. Click here to see a few more pictures of Addie and some from last weekend. Connor got out the little splash pad Papa got him. The picture on the box made the pad look like it was 10 x 10 as it had 3 kids playing on it. Not so much.....