Cora's 1 month appt.

Today was Cora's one month appt. It's always nerve wracking taking either kid to the doctor just because you never know what you might be doing wrong ;-). Cora is a chunk! She is weighing in at 10 lbs 3.8 oz which is the 90th percentile. This is a whole new experience! She is 20 1/2 inches long, which is the 26th percentile and her head is 14 1/2, which is the 60th precentile. She smiled and cooed at the doctor and nurse and just cried for a second when she got her vaccination. The only issue is that she has a spot on her head where she has lost her hair (on the side front) and my pediatrician said she's never seen anything like it. Of course that immediately worried me. She got me an appointment with a very experienced dermatologist on Wednesday afternoon to figure it out. I'm not letting myself get too worked up about it, but am glad that I only have to wait a day or so to take her in. Last night I had Brandon try to give Cora a bottle of expressed milk to make sure she'll take a bottle. She accepted it fine, so that's encouraging. I may be able to escape for a little bit one of these days!

Marion Lake

We met my mom and some friends at Marion Lake (an hour away) this weekend.

It was so refreshing for me after this tough week! Eli is a little fish. It was super wavy and choppy so we stuck a life jacket on him and he swam and swam. He'll already pretty much do everything he would learn in swimming lessons. He'll lay on his back and kick, put his head under, jump from the side etc. He definitely doesn't have a fear of water. Cora and I chilled in the shade while they played. Eli enjoyed building sand castles and lady bug homes with Nana. A family friend Nancy Stork helped my mom watch both kids while Brandon and I went bike riding on a beautiful trail there. We enjoyed the butterflies and just spending a few minutes kid free!

We just got back from a wonderful time at church. Eli ran to his class he was so excited! In the car I asked him if he'd learned about Jesus and he said, "Yes". Then, I asked him what he learned about Jesus and he said, "Snacks and ball". We got a good laugh!

One Month!

Cora is one month old today. I can't believe it! What a bundle of joy she is (and I mean bundle...this girl has rolls). My mom was saying how she looks like a three month old she's so filled out and wiggly. She is super ackward to hold, it makes it difficult to hold her and do other things because she constantly is throwing her head back and wiggling. She is smiling and cooing more and more. It's a nice reward for all the time and energy I put in. We have had a rough week around here. Eli is going through a hitting/fit/screaming phase. It's called the terrible twos...and it SUCKS! Part of it is molar pain I think because he does tell me his teeth are hurting, but I'm afraid it's just something we have to suffer through for another year or so. He's hitting all of us...even Cora now. He goes in time out when he does. It's mainly out of frustration because he still isn't talking very well and can't tell us what he wants all the time. I'm SUPER frustrated that he's still not talking in sentences. It causes a lot of fits. I'm really praying that he'll start talking better. He did start saying a few more things this week like "bee", "green", and "ho ho ho" and did say "Nana boo boo", but that is about the longest sentence he'll say. Lord give me patience!

We decided to go to Nevada this summer to see my grandparents and other family and stay up at my grandparent's cabin at Lake Tahoe. This was a summer tradition for my family every summer, so I'm thrilled to introduce Eli to the most beautiful place on earth. I can't wait to show off Cora to my family as well! My parents and brother are going to, so it should be a lot of fun! I'm already making lists and planning for a great trip and spending our days on the beach!

Best Buds!

Brandon's sister Brittnie, her husband Shane, and son Gavin came up to visit this weekend and meet Cora. Eli was so excited to play with his cousin. They are 2 1/2 years apart and play really well together now. It was so fun! We grilled Saturday night and took the kids to play at Sim Park in the sand on the river banks. We spent all of Sunday morning at Riverside Park checking out the little zoo, playing at the playground, and letting the boys splash around in the fountains. It was such a wonderful weekend for us all! The only bad thing that happened was that Eli fell off the couch and hit his head on the corner of the coffee table. He got a huge nasty goose egg that scared us all, but I was able to call our nurse hotline and get instructions on what to do and what symptoms to look for etc. He was fine! We joked that the Braggs are just bad luck because last time they came up Gavin ended up in the hospital with croup. We laughed so much at the boys interactions. Gavin bossed Eli around the whole time, which cracked us up. Eli loved showing Gavin his new drum set and they both loved playing it together. Let's just say it was LOUD! Gavin wasn't too happy with either of his parents giving the baby attention or Eli too much attention. It was funny! It was just precious to watch the boys and how much they love eachother. All of my cousins were always my best friends growing up and we were constantly spending the night at eachother's houses etc. We're all still really close and I'd rather be with them than anyone. It's so awesome to see that developing between the boys!

I'm absolutely thrilled it's the weekend! I will really start cherishing the days I have some help from Brandon and can get things done! I actually got to weed my gardens for the first time since Cora's birth. Woo, what a relief. Cora is just a beautiful sweet little girl. She is very mellow UNLESS you try to put her in her swing. She hates that thing and isn't too thrilled with her bouncer either. Seriously, where do I put her then? I usually end up holding her if she's awake or putting her on her tummy with a mirror and toys to look at. She can flip her head from one side to the other when she's on her tummy and hold her head pretty darn good. She can smile and coo once in a while. She is super wiggly and actually pretty hard to hold when she's awake because she throws her head back a lot and pushes on you with her feet. You really have to hold on to her! She can also poop, fart, and belch with the best of them. Eli thinks it's hilarious. My cousin Megan brought her baby Natalie by this week. She is two weeks older than Cora. It's awesome to both have toddler boys who can play together and now the girls as well!

Eli and Brandon's new adventure is a bike trailer that Brandon got for father's day. Eli loves it! Brandon really loves it because he gets great exercise and Eli has fun too. They just went out for a ride while it's cool to go pick Mulberries at Sim Park. I'm just waiting for the stained clothes when they get back! I took the kids up to Cessna this week, so all of Brandon's coworkers could meet the baby. Eli had a blast as usual raiding the candy bowls and even managed to get a banana muffin...ha ha. This week I asked him what his sister's name was and his response was "Doo doo". I got a huge laugh out of that one! He can't say Cora, but calls her "Bree" which is his word for baby for some reason. I had to put a picture on here of Eli at a month old. It's amazing to me how identical their eyes, nose, and cheeks are! Cora is definitely a lot darker (more of a Judson) and has smaller ears and less hair. Oh, how I love my kids!

Nieces and Nephews

Meeting my nieces and nephew was so wonderful! I have been just dying to meet them for a while now but was unable to travel due to my pregnancy. It was so frustrating to me not to get to support my sister the way I really wanted to during that time. What a relief to meet these wonderful children and introduce them to Cora. Of course everyone's reaction to my sister adopting five kids was that she was crazy...which she admitted was true :-), but once you meet these kids you realize there is no way you couldn't save them from the broken system they were in. The kids are amazing and their personalities are so awesome. They are definitely little charmers. It definitely will be chaotic and hard because there are five of them, but it will be worth it! They all loved Cora and had so many questions about her. They were somewhat horrified at her dried up cord stump (that finally fell off last night) and couldn't believe they'd had something like that when they were babies. They all wanted to hold her all day and the girls all helped me change her diapers and cover her up with blankets. They were all little mommies to her. Even Destin wanted to hold her a lot. They all got a biology lesson with breastfeeding and were so amazed (they'd only seen babies bottle fed). Precious decided the reason Cora can't talk is because she doesn't have any teeth yet :-). I laughed so hard all day at the hilarious comments. What cuties! I love them and miss them already. I can't wait for our trip up to the farm in a few weeks!

Smiles!

At one week, Cora was already smiling! I think Eli's first smile was around 3 or 4 weeks. She gave her first smile to Eli, then Brandon, then me! Now when I talk to her she'll usually give me a little smile. I feel guilty she's so wonderful and easy!