Whew! What a month! I feel like Gannon has really changed this month! Whether it be in his personality growing and changing or the massive rolls that are taking up shops on his arms and thighs. He's definitely more interactive this month and loves to make it known that he's around! He's ALL about his big brother and vise versa!

Three Months As Of 06.18.16

Stats: As I mentioned above, Gannon is a growing! Some of his rolls have rolls and his double chin is adorable. His two month check was May 19th and we weighed in at 12lbs (41%) and was 22inches long (9%). His head circumference was 38.5 (28%). He's certainly in lower percentiles than his brother was but I don't think that will last too long! He doesn't see his pedi again until he's 4 months so I attempted a rough set of measurements at home which showed that he's weighs around  and is about inches long.

Features: I literally melt when I look at Gannon. He's just that cute. I've always thought it would be so cute to have a little mini me child but these dark haired chunk of loves sure have stolen my heart! His hair is a bit lighter these days and certainly thinner then Garrett's was at this point but still dark brown. His eyes are still blue and a lovely shade at that.

Sleep: We've sort of gotten a pattern established in our days here. We wake for the morning around 6am (some days earlier depending on when Garrett wakes). I feed Gannon right away then and he'll sometimes take a small nap then. 9am is still difficult but I've really been working on having him to sleep before the fabulous fussy time starts. He'll nap then at 9am for 30mins-1 hour. He's up then until when big brother naps, about 1pm. That nap will last 1-2 hours usually. He'll doze then around 4-5pm and is awake when we have dinner. He falls asleep around 7-7:30pm and is generally out for about 2-3 hours. He's timed it pretty right that he wakes around the time I'm ready to go to bed. He is awake & eats then again around 10pm, 1am & 4am.

Eating: My boys sure love to eat! He eats about every 3 hours, four ounces at a time. He gets about 3 bottles on the days I'm home but is otherwise breastfed through the day and at night. He gets formula bottles while I'm at work. Though it doesn't result in much I've been pumping 1-2 times a day a work getting 4-5 ounces each time.

Diapering: Size two, Target brand

Clothing: Mostly 0-3 months but I washed our 3-6 month and 6 months as well. Mostly because I had a good amount of 3-6 month short sleeve shirts but also because some 0-3 month stuff is getting small.

Social: Personality wise he's a charmer. He gets super smiley and giggles when anyone looks at him and love, loves to ham it up! He absolutely does NOT like to be left out/behind and is sure to let you know that he wants to be involved! He is very smiley after waking up and just about anytime that you make silly faces & voices back to him! He's started giggling and cooing a lot more and that's made him really fun to interact with, especially for Garrett. It's adorable when I hear him yell "Momma! Gannon is talking to me!" As happy and joyful as he is...he certainly has his fussy times too! 9am still proves to be a challenge and there's usually a few more times like that through out the day. We're doing our best to work through those though and have been trying to be sure he's sleeping before the usual fussy time comes, as a means to bypass it 😉

Nicknames: Gannon McFannon, Fus MaGus, Little Bean (daddy's favorite), Chunk, Little Fellow (from big brother)


Likes: Interacting with others. Big brother-he's all eyes and ears when Garrett is around! Baths-he gets all excited when he hears the water. He's getting rather large for our sink already though so the floor often ends up as wet as he is! He loves to catch a glimpse of the tv if it's on. He loves his swing and continues to dislike the bouncer. I recently dug out the Bumbo and high chair and he's loving those too as they keep upright which is his preferred state of being.

Dislikes: Being stationary in his car seat, having his hair dried, having his nails clipped, being left alone for more than 28 seconds and laying down.

And for comparison:

Garrett: 3 Months                             Gannon: 3 Months

Father's Day 2016

Father's Day was a day full of fun for Garrett and heart melting for myself. It started out bright and early as everyday does around here. Steve wanted to get some mowing done so he headed outside by about 6:45am. The boys and I cuddled a bit on the couch and then I headed to the kitchen to whip up a yummy breakfast. Scrambled eggs, pancakes and hash browns! After breakfast we packed the diaper bag (why does it feel like you haul the entire house along when you go somewhere with two kids?) and headed out!

Steve had picked to spend the day at Mt. Olympus. It's a mix of an amusement park and waterpark all rolled into one. While Garrett was NOT a fan of the long drive down he really enjoyed it once we got there. We hit up the go-karts a few times as both Steve and Garrett love them and then headed to the water area. It was in the 90's and toss some humidity in there we saw temps near 100 that day.

A large wave pool was just what we needed and where we spent our afternoon. We took a small break for lunch but Garrett wanted right back in the water! It wasn't long after that and Garrett was nearly falling asleep (too much water, sun & fun!) so we headed to the truck but not without a little Dippin' Dots first!

Menominee Park & Zoo

We're always on the lookout for news things to do together as a family and new ways to keep Garrett entertained. I'd heard about this zoo & park North of us and we'd been meaning to visit it for some time. One night, a few weeks ago we where in a major case of "we need to get out of the house & do something" so we decided to head up there and (finally!) check it out! We'd looked it up a bit online so we knew a little of what was all there but we never guessed it was as large as it was! We'd seen mention of a train online and when Garrett saw that pop up on our computer screen he was insistent that he was riding that train! It's all we heard about on our way up there! We arrived at 4:30pm and wandered around the zoo a bit. They closed at 6pm so we knew we didn't have much time. Though Garrett enjoyed looking for the animals he was looking forward to the train MUCH more so we ended up heading back out of the zoo fairly soon after arriving to make sure we could ride the train. 

Walking seemed like a good idea until we got about 1.5 miles in and realized that we'd taken the long way around, and still had half way to go! Garrett was a trooper though and walked nearly the whole way, excited to get to the train! We grabbed some snacks and waited for the train to arrive for our turn to ride.

It was a lovely evening for it and the smile on Garrett's face made it totally worth it! After that it was getting close to 6pm so we headed back to the truck, this time taking the shorter path back. While I really wanted to check out the zoo some more it was close to closing time when we arrived back. While making our way to the truck my mom messaged me saying that they where having terrible weather back home (they live like 5 minutes from our house) and they where headed to the basement! We couldn't hardly believe it as the weather at the zoo was wonderful! So not to drive back into a tornado or anything we grabbed some lunch and wasted a bit of time, until we got the all clear weather wise.

Anticipating some downed branches and such when we got home we where surprised to see bright sunshine and a rainbow when pulling into the drive! Turns out the tornado touched down about 15 miles east of here instead. A fun night exploring new places ending with a bright rainbow...can't get better than that!

 

Whew!

Y'all are probably wondering where I've been and truth be told so have I! Although I didn't mention it on the blog I headed back to work on the 7th, full time. I thought for awhile there that if I didn't think and/or talk about it the day wouldn't come and I actually wouldn't have to go back. But low and behold, the day came and went and here we are almost two weeks into the chaos.

I was scared crap less to return to work for two reasons. One being that I really felt like I'd forgotten every stinking thing there is to know about being a nurse. The second, because I'm so, so tired! Honestly, getting four(ish) hours of sleep a night does little for my mental capacity! I'm constantly saying stupid things and forgetting what I'm doing so I was super nervous about returning to work. Surprisingly it went well though, that first day and I was able to fall right back into the routine. My patients all verbalized their love for me within two hours of being at work and one even told my boss that I should be hired into "a higher role" so that was a good feeling. If I'm going to be spending 14+ hours away from my boys in a day it's nice to feel appreciated!

Since then I've been busy trying to soak up every moment with my little family and to relax for five minutes a day. I actually laid down and took a nap the other day which rarely happens. I think I've taken five or less naps since Gannon was born which is far less than I feel it should be!

This full time working mom stuff is definitely more difficult with two kiddos! Trying to keep up with laundry and dishes is a feat in this house and I almost have five loads of laundry sitting around, waiting to be done. It drives me insane but at the end of the day I'm one person trying to accomplish far more than I am capable. It's more of a challenge now that the weather is nicer as we love spending time outdoors. I think we've been averaging 4-6 hours per day, as long as it's nice outside. That's resulted in loads of happiness from Garrett and one round of dreadful sunburn for momma thus far.

Aside from that I'm doing well. Just trying to keep up with this whirlwind life and adjust now, being back to work. I know that soon we'll fall into a routine and it all will get a bit easier...

#Momchop

I'd mentioned it before, thought on it for awhile and then finally decided it was time. My hair was longer (longer than I realized!), getting rather dried and frizzy on the ends and needed a revamp. I made an appointment, contemplated my sanity a few times, nearly chickened in the chair but it's official...

I did the mom chop. And now I'm kind of wondering why I didn't sooner. I'm loving the simplicity of a shorter hairstyle. It's lighter, easier and more freeing for these warm months and it's wonderful! 

Lesson learned? Next time just go with it, don't postpone it for months and months. Best thing I've done in awhile (aside from give birth and all that....) Want a little before and after? You betcha:

P.S. Isn't that house color dreadful??!? Can't wait to paint this ole' house of ours!

Red, White, Blue & Tye Dye Too

I'm always looking for new ideas to keep Garrett busy. Lately he seems bored with his toys so I've been wracking my brain to find new ideas. I had the idea to tye dye last year but never did because honesty I didn't want the mess. This year he's older and listens a smidge better so I figured we'd give it a try.

I got everything ready, threw some gloves on Garrett & let him go to town. He loved it & was quite upset when he emptied the dye bottles in less than two minutes. (Note to self...pick larger items to tye dye next time)

I let him do a t-shirt for himself and a onsie for Gannon. We twisted and tied them each differently to get different effects. 

And the results? Pretty dang neat if you ask me!

I'm tempted to have a fun tye dye party for our kiddos and their friends but haven't figured out how it would work as they need to sit for 6-8 hours and then be washed & dried. Anyone have experience with a tye dye party? I really think it would be a lot of fun! 

 

 

Memorial Day 2016

Memorial day weekend. How quickly it came & went. It was a nice weekend with loads of time spent with my boys, just how I like it. We spent the weekend sort of keeping a down low. Hung around home, played with the boys and spent most of each day outside. Memorial day started with a failed attempt at a patriotic breakfast (opps), a parade in our hometown (which lasted a whole four minutes...gotta love small towns), running some errands and then we headed home to attempt to drain our toddler of energy.

Know what it takes to accomplish that? An entire day spent outside, two bounce houses in the back yard and a hour of swimming with my brother.

We grilled out that night, brats & burgers and enjoyed dinner on the deck (first time this year!). Hubby made up some fresh gauc while I enjoyed a delicious white peach margarita...well a few sips at least. Until Garrett started to get a little naughty as he was beyond tired. Which ended up being great as he drifted off to sleep quickly, thankfully as mom & dad where just as tired!