Christening

Connor Deane was christened on July 27, 2008. Thank you so much for everyone who came and also sent their blessings! We really appreciate all of it! Connor slept through most of the ceremony and then proceeded to play musical baby afterward at lunch. Thank you so much to Carmen, Karen, Meghan, Sarah, & Chick for everything you all did to make lunch so awesome! It was really great!

Camille and Mike Bradshaw came into town to be Connor's godparents. We hope that they will be involved in Connor's life to help us & him to mature into what it means to be a man. Thanks, guys.



Our priest is a really funny guy! Just click the video and listen to his "say cheese!" Hint: He doesn't say cheese & it's at the beginning of the video...


The boy has been growing. He has changed daily since we brought him home. Every now and then, when he's laying on us, he'll hold himself up and kind of look around. It's pretty cool. We aren't due back to the doctor to check on him until two months. He is pretty amazing and staying awake more and more during the day. He is really only waking up twice during the night. I've been taking care of the first diaper change and then Sarah's been getting the second one. He is definitely a Mama's Boy right now. He loves his Mama, then again she is the food source!

I go back to school on the 7th of August (P.S. Happy B-day Michael Vogt 8/8/08!). I get my own room this year and I will also be teaching 7th grade! It definitely seems like the summer has shot by without us even realizing it! I guess this is what everyone with kids has been telling me that is goes by so fast... Hope it's the same way when we get to Oct. & Nov. of the school year cause those two months take forever.

Hope all is well! Talk to you real soon! With Love!

No more Cord & Movie Night!

We went back to visit the doctor yesterday! Connor now weighs 9lbs. 9oz., which is a little more than an ounce a day (average). He is doing really well and not showing any more signs of jaundice. He has also grown a quarter of an inch, so he's at 21.25 inches now.

The cord was almost off yesterday when we went in and the doc just pulled it right off. Neither Sarah nor I wanted to pull it off, before it fell off, just in case... Doc didn't even hesitate, saw it dangling by a thread, & gone. We learned, so that next time, we aren't waiting. It does look like he will have a cute little outie! It also means no more sponge baths, and next time we are in our baby tub (pics to follow).

Everything is going well! He has been sleeping a little more at night, extending his 2.5 to 3 hour naps to more like 3.5 to almost 4 at times. I think that I was more rested with the shorter naps, if that makes any sense at all, or maybe the short sleeps are starting to catch up with me... I haven't done much the last two days, but have been really tired...

Anyway, all is well here. We went and saw Mama Mia on Saturday. The moive by itself was pretty funny, but Connor basically slept through the entire show, including Peirce Brosnon's terrible singing... Connor was really content with his nap!

It's been crazy hot the last couple of days, 105 degrees according to all the bank signs. Karen thinks it isn't that bad, since it isn't as humid as FL, but Sarah & I are roasting!!! Anyway, talk to you all real soon. See most of you this weekend! We can't wait for everyone to get here and meet the boy!!!

Both GG's (Great Grandma's) & my Uncle Ricky's family have been by to see the boy. It was hard in the hospital since we were in the NICU and the staff isn't really open to a lot of visitors. It was great to have them out to the house! If you would like to stop by, just give us a call. We are always open to short visits!!!

With Love!

Connor = Movie Star

I made a short video of the pictures that Karen & my parents have taken so far of Connor. Hope you all enjoy it! Just click the link!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHYxmwGgNUg


He is an amazing little guy, that seems to come up with something new every day. He spit up all over me this morning. Not one of his finer moments, but it made me laugh. Luckily, I hadn't gotten ready for the day yet, and was still in my pj's. The smell of breast milk regurgitated is very unique! I couldn't get it out of my nose for half the day! Anyway, things are great here. Connor seems to get bigger daily and Sarah & I are still learning our new schedule. Basically, his schedule now. Talk to you all soon. With Love!

First Doctor Visit

Today Connor had his first doctor appointment. It was nice to be home for the 15 hours or so, before we were off to the doctor again. His doctor said that the kid looks great! They weighed him today, born at 8 lbs. 8 oz., and weighed in today at 9 lbs. 1 oz. The doc said that most babies lose weight and then take 10 to 14 days to get back up to their birth weight. Our kid took six days to gain a half pound over birth weight, definitely related to Dennis & Michael (Hollow Legs for both of them).

Click on the picture and you can read the scale!!! :)

Doc said that the best thing for him was to keep eating & sleeping. He wasn't worried at all about the jaundice & low blood sugar that kept us in the NICU for five days... That's what I want in a NICU doc though, attention to detail! Overall, Connor is in great shape!

Tonight we used some of the breast milk that Sarah has been supplying in a bottle. I tried one time in the Hospital to feed him from a bottle with her breast milk, but he hated that nipple. Tonight was no problem at all! He took down 5 fl. oz. fairly quickly and burped before I could get him to my shoulder. He fought the bottle at first, until he tasted the milk, and then was all over it, literally. He wrapped his arms around the bottle, like it might try to go somewhere.

Everything is continuing to go well here. Camille, Sarah's sister, was up over the weekend to see Connor and gave us a surprise bathroom redecorating for the boy. It is all lions, tigers, & bears, OH MY!!! Thank you, Camille.

Hope all is well with everyone! With Love!

Finally Home

It has been a long couple of days, but we are finally home with Connor. Here are the pictures that I'm sure you are all anticipating!

18 Hours of Labor

















Pretty happy kid!






SUPER CONNOR!





More to come, when I can get some sleep... :) With Love!

He's here, he's here!!!

Connor Deane Tracy arrived at 1:03am on Thursday the 10th of July. He weighed in at 8lbs. 8oz and was 21 inches long. I don't have any of the cameras with me, since I've just run home to take the dogs out for a walk, but I promise to have pictures and videos up here as soon as I can. Connor & mom are both resting and doing great! He has started feeding and is very much a go getter. The nurse put some covers on his knees and thighs, since he has been moving his legs so much when on his belly. He was giving himself rug burn. He is happy or at least as happy as a two day old can be. He has blue eyes so far and light brown hair. He is amazing and I can't thank my beautiful wife, Sarah, enough! She was amazing throughout her 18 hour labor! Thank you so much for all of your thoughts and prayers. He's here and now I'm headed back to the hospital to hang out with him some more. I promise to write again soon! With Love!

Adrianna

Karen brought her camera with her to KS and I unloaded it on to my PC to make some discs of pictures. I figured I'd try out my movie making skills again. The video is of my niece, Adrianna. I think she is quite the little cutie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5y3lYWLpCI

Karen has been helping us walk the dogs. She has normally just been walking Emma, while I've had Chief, but tonight we tried them both with her. She wasn't looking forward to it, but Karen said it wasn't that big of a deal at all. Neither dog pulled and both stayed right with her. She only had to hold on to Chief, since Emma is hands-free.

Talk to y'all real soon. Connor is going to be here very, very soon.

With Love.

Emma's New Collar

Well, it's actually a harness and it is completely amazing!!! For those of you with bigger dogs that pull or are just unhappy with the head collars, then we have a collar for you. It is still made by the "Gentle Leader" people and it worked as soon as we put it on her.

As you can see, the harness goes down over her head and connects under her belly. The leash connects in front and every time she went to pull, was tugged back in place by the leash. We got a leash that goes around our waists, so it is completely hands free (since our hands are about to be full of baby!). Emma hated her head collar. She would scratch at it and paw at it and just rub her head all over the ground. We didn't have any of those problems this time at all. This might sound weird, but this is a releif to us, since now we don't have to worry about walking her with the carriage anymore. Emma is completely hands free on walks now!

Anyway, all is well here. We had our last doctors appointment today, at least until Connor decides it's time. The doc said everything was looking great and that we could expect him any day or so. I think she threw in the "or so" just to cover her baskside. Sarah is warm, since the temps around here have been pushing the 90's with the ever present Midwest humidity. Hope to talk to you all real soon. Keep those phones close! Make sure you shoot me an e-mail (chrisdtracy@yahoo.com) if your numbers have changed recently, so I call the right number! With Love!

Landscaping Glory

Last week I spent an afternoon finishing the landscaping in the front yard. Last year I built a rock wall around the corner of the house to kind of enclose the landscaping and it has taken me until this year to finally put in a couple of bushes and mulch it. We also put in a little redbud at the end of the bed, that was real pretty this spring!

I also got a Hostea that blooms a pale lavender for the front porch, since it gets very little sun in the morning and a couple of white Clematis vines for the trellis. Mom had some of her landscaping redone, so she gave us some Coral Bells for next to the entry way.

Hopefully more than just the coneflowers will be blooming towards the end of July.