Connor turns SEVEN...

This past Sunday was Connor's 7th birthday! First of all I cannot believe I have a seven year old who is quickly losing all of his baby teeth. And now people who look at Punky and ask if she is my first can REALLY gasp when they hear I have an 8 week old AND a seven year old, and no one in between. Which of course leads to the inevitable discussion on the age gap between our children. Some people think he is from my "first" marriage! And I say yes. And so is she.

Anyway, I must first explain that our September has been CRAZY! My Grandma who is almost 88, moved from her apartment into an assisted living facility about 3 weeks ago. Which was a hard decision. Those of you who know her, know that she is very strong New York Irish woman, who has always taken care of herself. But she also is wise knowing when it is time to ask for help and time to move on. I think I get the "time to move on" part from her. So we found a very nice place in Littleton near her church and the senior center she goes too. Seriously, this place is really nice. The plasma tv in the lounge and the cookies and fruit they leave out make me want to move in! So far she is happy and making friends (another strong Cudney trait). But all of us are mostly happy that she is safe and being well cared for.

So for all of September we have all been moving her in and sorting the rest of her belongings left in the apartment. We had planned to have a family party here at our house for Connor. But realized that all of us our exhausted and thought Red Robin might be easier. Plus they would do the "clappy, happy, happy birthday" song he loves! We had a pancake breakfast that morning at our house, note the candle in the pancake, since that is the only type of "cake" he will eat. Then we drove and scouted out some hiking trails near our house for the Tiger Cubs to go on. And lastly we hit Red Robin with the fam. We all had fun and we didn't have to clean up a THING!

The "clappy, happy, happy" singers!

Did I mention we are now into Transformers?

Newly anointed Aunt Kristen gets practice being an Aunt feeding Punky. She did say if she cried at all she was giving her back right away!

Connor and Uncle Dave and Aunt Kristen

October 4th Connor is having his friends over for a SpongeBob movie party. So we'll see how we all fair after 6 first graders eat pizza and popcorn and TRY and watch a movie together!

Oh and since we cannot take our annual trip up to the mountains this year to see the Aspen turning, I took a picture of this gorgeous tree in our neighborhood, to be our "theme" picture up at the top. Punky has to be 6 months old before she can up in altitude! So we'll be up there in the spring!

Happy Fall! See ya, Melinda

Yea!

Just a short and really sweet one today! Late yesterday afternoon I was changing Punky and she looked up at her name on the wall and then she turned toward me and gave me a HUGE SMILE!!! It was my first! She has grinned for Connor and my brother Chris (not sure why- maybe she likes his hairiness) but I haven't gotten one, until now. She isn't a huge smiler, once Connor could smile he never stopped! EVER! So she is a bit of different creature. I mean I know she is a whole new person!

Keep smiling!
See ya, Melinda

Two small little brags...

Ok, first I must explain that I have been having a rough week and it is only Wednesday!! So I have two small things to brag about. First, Connor, as everyone knows, is in special ed and in a reading group through that. Well every night he brings home reading homework, which consists of a little book he reads to me and a packet of sight words he goes through. So I was noticing that the books he had been bringing home were very easy- we are talking three simple words a page. And he would zip right through them. Since he doesn't read phonetically, he memorizes everything, so he zips through all his sight words too. I was going to mention this to his sped teacher in another week or so. But yesteday he brought home a note in his bag that said she had realized he was not being challenged so she is moving him up- TWO LEVELS UP! I am so proud!!!

And my second little brag has to so with Punky's formula. In the hospital they give the diaper bags with the samples and coupons and all that. And since I cannot breast feed, we take advantage of every coupon they offer. In it were three mail in rebates for $20 discounts, which is a lot for a $25 can. But at about 3 weeks old, we noticed she was having a lot of issues digesting the regular enfamil that we had been feeding her. Like severe pain, she would be rigid screaming because of the gas built up. So we changed from the normal enfamil lipil to the enfamil gentlease, which has the proteins broken down so her little tummy doesn't have to do quite so much work! And it has worked great. No more problems.

Anyway, back to the rebate thing. It said you had to buy 2, 25oz cans (so they showed on the same receipt) send the receipt and the UPC codes off of the cans to them. So I did that. And on Monday I got a letter from enfamil stating I had not sent in the correct items. So I called them and the rep said the rebate was only for the enfamil lipil, not the enfamil gentlease! Naturally I was upset! Why did it matter that it was a different form of enfamil? I was still buying their company's product? I told her how extremely dissappointed I was that I jumped through their hoops and got sent this letter like I was a fool! She agreed and said she would send me a can (meaning the small little sample can) of the gentlease. So that was that I thought. Then today I got an email confirming my delivery from enfamil- of FOUR, 24 oz cans of gentlease for FREE! I know that may seem silly, but at $25 bucks a can- that is $100 worth of free formula which will last us almost 2 months!!!

So there are my brags for the week- boy do I feel better! I am also happy to note that my Texan friend, Brandy and her family are still in their homes (albeit without power) and not on an Ark somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico!

Fill me in if you have good news- I'd LOVE to hear it!

See ya, Melinda

PS If you are wondering about the meaning of this song along with our posts, there is no correlation. I just think everybody needs a little Petty in their day! Also I apologize if there are major spelling errors in this post- for some reason blogger doesn't want to spellcheck for me!

Connor, Regan and other things...

So I am going to try and cram a few things into one blog with the fewest words possible. Mostly because Punky has decided NOT to nap this morning and I managed to use her baby papazan (and it's soooothing music and vibrations) to keep her occupied long enough for me to get some work done. You know people really don't appreciate calling for help with their insurance and getting a screaming baby in the background at the same time- STRANGE!


We'll start with Connor. Connor lost his 6th tooth Monday at school and then he LOST the tooth. I guess it fell out during gym class and they put it in a box, which of course he stuck in his pocket and took out to recess and lost it. So he named the tooth "toothy" and during writing time- he wrote the tooth fairy a letter letting her know that "toothy" had been lost. Now, in July Connor was snooping through my dresser and came upon all the teeth I had saved and asked me if I had stolen them from the tooth fairy- so I had to explain the truth (which totally sucked by the way) and he no longer believes in the tooth fairy. I just Thank God he didn't ask about any of the other big ones! But he was ok with it after I told him he would still get the tooth ransom the tooth fairy left!

Connor's 7th birthday is Sunday- yes he will be SEVEN! I am just as shocked as you are! We are going to meet the fam at Red Robin for lunch. Then in a few weeks he is having a movie and pizza party with a few of his friends.


He and Bill went to the Rockies game on Sept 6th together. They only stayed a few innings, but Connor got to ride the lightrail and have popcorn and hot dog. Plus my Dad's seats are right behind left field, so he got to see his fav player Matt Holliday. And I guess Matt chews and spits so many sunflower seeds that you can see them all over the grass from your seat! Very gross. How would you like to be the left fielder from the other team that had to make a diving play in his chewed up seeds??? Here are some shots from the game!

I swear he was happier than he actually looks right now!

Matt's, uh..... and his seeds

And now a few words about little Punky aka Regan! She is 7 weeks now and is making it through the night with only one feeding and will go right back to sleep. We are also beginning to move her from the bassinet in our room to her crib in her room. So far it's working- she just looks so tiny in that big crib! But we only have the cover to the bassinet for a few more weeks, so it's time to make the move. My Mom made the cover when Connor was born and then my sister used it for my nephew Declan and now Punky. My sister is scheduled for her c-section on Nov 4th, so it needs to be packed up with a few other things and shipped to the Northwest for Baby G to use. Kind of cool that all of our kids have used a few of the same things.

We also went to see the ortho on Monday to check on her arm. They did another xray and the bright white dot on the xray is now gone, but there is still a bump where the break has healed and it will smooth out over the next year. As far as the damage in her lunar nerve in her wrist, that also seems to be improving. Her hand works fine and she is moving her right arm as much as the left. But we won't know completely until she begins to reach and hold onto objects and begins to crawl.

Here are some cute shots of her. The first are of her hair right after a bath. It kind of goes into a mohawk, so I did that and it stayed that way for a few days! So probably won't do that again. I don't think Bill is pleased with that look. But as you can see it is a little curly and it is really turning strawberry blonde, which is very pretty. Even her eyelashes are that color!

Regan and Daddy...

I have the same pictures of Connor sleeping this way on Bill's leg, must be comfy!

Sleeping in Mommy's office after a hard night

In her new activity gym. I am going overboard on the pink I know. See why I didn't do her room in pink? She would be drowning in it!

She's just so cute...

Big bro and little sis!

Well, I have other things that are going on, but I think that is all I can force you to read about my two beautiful children for now. Punky has FINALLY fallen asleep, so I think I will leave her to sleep and go handle the barking duo out back!

See ya, Melinda

Tiger Cubs!

Connor is officially a Cub Scout, well he starts with Tiger Cubs, actually he has to earn his Bobcat and then we will be a Tiger! We had our first solo Den meeting last night, with Billy the leader and it went well. I mean how long can you keep the attention of 8 squirmy 6 year olds? Not long. Connor is so excited to be doing this. Hopefully this will be more of his thing than baseball. He loves being outside and building and doing things, so I am keeping my fingers crossed!

I have other things to report. None political (as all of my friends breathe a collective sigh of relief!) fortunately or unfortunately! But I have spent half the day trying to get Regan to eat (she is SO slow, SO very slow) and the other half trying to get her to try and nap! But we did get almost 6 hours last night- I think it was the 10:30pm bottle that sealed the deal.

But I also had to catch up on the other blogs as well, nice to see what everyone is up to! But now it is time for me to let the dogs out (someone new moved in behind us with yet ANOTHER little yappy dog that just gets Chase all riled up) since they have had their outside time limited due to their boisterous behavior. And then I am off to collect the older child from school.

Anyway, I'll add more later!

Man! Isn't that a good looking boy?

See ya, Melinda

My rant of free speech...

Yes, normally I would post cute pics of my kids or tell you what antics my dogs have been up to, but right now, I need to say a few things.

So there is a little party going on up in Minnesota this week. The DNC had their moment last week here in our fair city, now the RNC is doing their best to bash Barack and Joe and the DNC. Now hopefully everyone reading knows full wells that I am not a red-state supporting Republican- right? My blue runs blue, VERY blue. So since this is my post to our blog I really feel the need to speak out about a few things I heard said last night and also some comments that were made today. Feel free to stop reading and feel free to comment on my rant.

Let me first say that I completely support the first amendment and the political process we have in this country. That we, as Americans, get the privilege to vote for our leaders and have some say in what happens in our country. That doesn't happen everywhere in this world. Everyone has a right to be heard. So here is me acting on my right!

I really tried not to watch any of the speakers last night, partly because the odds of them changing my mind is slim and partly because I just get plain pissed off at their arrogance. First I have to comment on all the bashing Rudy and Sarah did on Barack's "community organizing" as they so patronizingly put it. Community organizer??? Obama went to Harvard Law School- HARVARD people! Now if I had the brains and grades to get in and graduate from Harvard Law School, you can bet I would have taken a job from the highest bidder. But he chose to the Chicago where the steel mills being closed destroyed a community.

When I was a freshman in college I was in a sociology class and our assignment over fall break was to write a paper on where you came from. I wrote about Highlands Ranch and how it was owned by the uber-rich and sold and now the middle class soccer Moms can ride around in their SUVs chatting on their cells driving from Nordstroms to private schools to pick up their kids. But I was shocked at how many of my classmates wrote about how their towns where decimated by the closing of mills or factories and how so many people had to move to find jobs, that the town almost didn't exist anymore! And I know McCain fought in Vietnam and spent years in a POW camp and I am impressed and in awe of his survival and service for our country. But didn't Obama ALSO serve his country by forgoing the path of riches and instead choosing to help the least of us?

During the DNC last week, when Hillary gave her speech in support of Barack, I cried. When I was a little girl, my Mom read this book to me called "Girls Can Do Anything" and it wasn't until the moment I saw this woman who ran for President and fought and fought, until she had to concede to an African-American man (two history making moments right there!), that I realized- yeah girls can do anything. And this is partly why my son has two strong women as his Godmothers, instead of a man. Hillary is the reason my daughter will know that no one can tell you no- NO ONE.

And then I heard parts of Sarah Palin's speech and I wanted to run over and cover Regan's little ears. This is the woman that could be a heartbeat away from running this country??? I agree that she is tough and intelligent and well spoken. But most of her views, in my opinion are ass-backwards! For starters, she is pro-life, well I am pro-choice, but most certainly anti-abortion- it is possible to be both. And she supports and abstinence only sex ed program in school. Boy that worked REALLY well for her 17 year old pregnant daughter! Let me get this straight, instead of telling overly hormonal teenagers that they should wait to have sex, but should they choose to, here is how to protect yourself from not only pregnancy, but from diseases THAT WILL KILL YOU, we'll ignore that teenagers think about sex (all the time) and never educate them about how to be responsible and safe. Hmm.... yeah

This morning I was watching The View- not my choice, I was feeding Punky and I couldn't find the remote, but I am kind of glad it got stuck on that show, I found out some other reasons, why Sarah really shouldn't be anywhere near the Oval Office! Barbara Walters was quoting reporter Joe Klein in reaction to Palin's bash of the elite media and brought up a few other little tidbits people should know about her. As Governor she raised taxes, supported the bridge to nowhere and believe that the war in Iraq is "a task from God"! Yep, pretty sure the Prince of Peace said, "G.W. go over there after lying to the American people and just kill, kill, kill!" And as Mayor she tried to ban books from the town library- ban books?? REALLY? And lastly the Washington Post reported that she used the line item veto to slash funds benefiting teens moms who are kicked out of there homes and have no where to live. It's a darn good thing her pregnant teenage daughter will have a comfy bed to sleep in every night and a good doctor to care for her!

So here we are, Hillary tries to break the glass ceiling by running for President and we have a woman who is running for VP who would rather not let us read what we want, believes in holy wars and would like to have teens mothers (who by the way have no idea how they could have kept themselves from getting pregnant) living in the streets and having their babies in cardboard boxes. It's a DARN good thing Gloria Steinem wasn't there to escort Mrs. Palin to her car that evening!

Now, I support her right to say what she feels, just hope she supports my right to read and say what I feel.

Ok, rant is over. Feel free to tell me where to go or to fully agree with me- or maybe start your own blog and stand up for what you believe in as well...

Gotta go be a soccer Mom and have lunch with my first grader at his school!

See ya, Melinda

We made it a whole MONTH!

Last Thursday Regan turned one month old. And she is still as beautiful as ever (no bias here!). Even more so without the giant splint weighing her arm down and the ointment and yellow gunk mucking up her eye! She actually looks like a real baby! She is on a good feeding schedule, I know parent-directed feeding is somewhat of a touchy subject for some people, so I won't get into that, but she is doing great and only has been getting up once a night. Hopefully once we reach 10lbs we'll be sleeping the whole way through!

We will go back to the ortho in 2 weeks to check out the nerve damage in her wrist, it seems to us to be improving, but we'll see what the pros say. Bill and I are a little less bleary eyed. He might be more than I because he gets up for that midnight feeding. Of course Regan will not go back to sleep for Daddy, so that is my job. And I have a little nickname for her. Regan is a very grown up name (I am have a hard time with serious names! That is why I call Bill, Billy or William- Bill is too serious!) and I started calling her pumpkin pie in the hospital because she is so yummy! Then it was pumpkin, then punky and now it is just Punk. Also because her hair kind of does a mohawk thing when it is wet. So if I call her Punk, please don't thing I am being mean!

I went back to work yesterday. And when I say back to work, I simply changed the message on my VM and my Dad added my name back on the auto- message people get when they call. And I changed the email address on our Rapid Fax, so all faxes will come to me instead of my Dad. But it was fun, I was trying to speak to a woman yesterday and help her with an issue and there is Regan wailing in the background and Abby whining because Regan's wailing. So much fun to work from home! My office consists of a pack and play for napping and diaper changing in the corner and a Lab and Aussie usually on my feet or right behind my chair. Oh well at least right now I wouldn't have a boss telling me I couldn't work in my Cubs hat and slippers! Or to turn my music down. And I definitely couldn't stop for feedings (mine & Punk's) or to watch Law & Order at noon!

Here are some latest pics. They are cute. Especially the one of my Dad holding holding Regan, he's not a baby kind of guy. And for the first 4 months of Connor's life, he puked on my Dad everytime he held him- never failed!

Da and Punk

Connor being a good big brother and telling his sister all about Spidey!

Connor getting to do some feeding with Daddy's help!

Gotta go change a diaper! Have a good day at work all!

See ya, Melinda