October 2014

He's just so cute, I just want to squeeze him all the time!

Connor was rather upset that Ole Miss beat Alabama...he may or may not have shed a few tears. 

Too warm for a fire so we had to improvise. 

A fun day at the park, the fresh air did us all some good. 

Family park picture

After the first hair cut I really started to miss the curls, but they came back!

Connor had the opportunity to go out to Oklahoma to spend time with Grandaddy, Mimi, Uncle Reid, and Aunt Kim. He had an absolute blast and keeps asking when he can go back. 

Matt and I took advantage of only having one child while Connor was gone on fall break. So we decided to paint the dining room. I will NOT be painting anytime soon, I always forget how much work it is. (Please excuse the baby climbing the ladder in the background)

Proof that Connor is super excited to have a baby sister. 

Cooper's favorite time of the day- breakfast on the couch before school (picture courtesy of Connor)

Connor's first report card and we were so proud of how well he did. 

School fundraiser- they maxed him out at 30 laps, but he just kept running (competitive just like his dad) 

No coordinating costumes this year and to be honest I was too exhausted to try to persuade Connor, but I think they both looked so cute!

Baby Jones # 3 {Boy or Girl?}

At around 11 weeks I was able to take the harmony test at my doctor's office. The main purpose of the test is to check for any genetic disorders, however, it can also tell you the sex of the baby.  Of course we jumped at the chance to find out a few weeks early!

The test results came back clear of any genetic disorders, but I asked for the gender result to be placed in an envelope. Connor was away in Oklahoma on fall break and I couldn't find out without him being home. 

So on October 13th we had a small family dinner to cut a cake and discover the gender. My mom, Roy, Dennis, Chris and Caroline were able to attend. Then we had my dad and Meg on FaceTime so that everyone was involved!  We ended up having a cake made and the inside held all the answers. 

Matt had been guessing a girl from week 6 because I have been so sick, which was completely opposite from the pregnancies with the boys. 

Connor is excited and Walker has no idea that his world is about to be turned upside down!

Connor's Health Concerns

Connor has always been a healthy kid. Besides the ear infections while he was a baby, (which were corrected with a set of tubes) we've been very blessed in this aspect of life.

School started in mid-August and it wasn't long after that we noticed Connor was complaining a lot about headaches. They were getting to be consistent throughout the week and causing him to go to the nurse at school. Thankfully they allowed us to send in Tylenol, which would generally help the headaches. 

After a few weeks we started to notice some other symptoms and it was time to visit the doctor.  While we were there Connor had a vision test and we noticed one eye was stronger than the other. Then the doctor noticed that one pupil was more enlarged than the other.

We were then sent to an Opthamologist appointment to have a more in depth look. We were hoping an easy fix for the issue would be glasses during school time.  Of course the day we went to the appointment both pupils were the same size and his vision test was perfect. After she checked the backs of his eyes, she was unable to determine any cause for the headaches. 

When we left the appointment, I felt like there were a thousand of unanswered questions and still no solution to the problem. The other symptoms started to get worse.  He was randomly falling asleep, headaches getting to be more frequent, and I just felt like there was something else going on. 

He would just fall asleep in mid conversation and when waking up not remember being asleep or feeling tired. 

His pediatrician decided it was time to schedule a MRI to take a look and make sure there were no tumors in his brain that may be causing some of these issues. They were able to fit us into the schedule at Lebonhuer pretty quickly. 

The day of the appointment brought a ton of emotions. Since I was pregnant I wasn't able to go back for the testing. Thankfully Matt was able to be Connor's hand holder. They took him back, started an IV, and took a few images. We left for lunch and before we even started eating the pediatrician called and said everything looked great. It was a huge relief, but it still didn't explain what was going on. 

The next step was to visit a pediatric neurologist for some additional testing. They wanted to do an EEG to see if there were any kind of small seizures while he napped. After our IV experience a few days before Connor was not HAPPY about having more testing. It took about 15 minutes to calm him down and so that the nurse could glue 30 probes to his head. 

Such a brave boy, I was very proud of him. 

Those results also came back clear and the next step would be to have a sleep study done. Matt and I both decided that at this point Connor needed a break from the testing. 

Thankfully the symptoms have reduced dramatically and the headaches seem to be fewer and more random. For now we will continue to watch him like a hawk and we'll move forward with additional testing when we feel it is needed. 

Feeling blessed that he is a healthy boy and able to enjoy life!

September 2014

One of Connor's chores is to help out with matching the socks...I HATE matching socks so it's definitely a win for me!

Apparently someone didn't adjust their internal clock for Saturday morning. 

Walker's first trip to Grand Junction and first ride on the side by side. 

Connor absolutely loving life!

This is his happy place!

Family photo, love Connor's photo bomb. 

Honking the horn telling daddy and Connor that it was time to go. 

The homework has officially started and won't stop for 12 more years. 

Tacky day at school

Always wants to pose with his brother

Camo day

And then we were a family of 5...

August 2014

Connor is obsessed with video games recently and apparently he was being a creeper at the car dealership checking out what the other boy was playing

The curls are out of control, Matt calls him Bozo

The curls quickly turned from cute to mullet-ish and it was time for a hair cut.  It made him grow up instantly :(

Going through bins and bins of old clothes from Connor. I could pass up having him try on Connor's old chicken costume. 

Nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby. He is 100% attached to that blanket and puppy paci. 

Kindergarten registration day for this big boy, ended with a trip to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. 

I CANNOT believe the day has come that Connor starts kindergarten. I'm so excited for his new adventure and what the future holds for him!

He's in Ms. Tillman's class for the year and he couldn't have gotten a better teacher. 

Zoo trip with Brinkley and Ashley (Walker too).  These two were mapping out our route for the day. 

Sweet brothers...we were waiting on the little monkeys and otters to come out for lunch. 

And waiting...

Next stop was feeding the giraffes. The baby giraffe stopped Walker and it was love at first sight. 

Connor enjoyed feeding them, luckily he was just tall enough to reach over the railing. 

Brinkley and her giraffe (side note: we had just come from the sprinkler park where the kids were able to cool down)

After a quick lunch at El Porton, we made our way over to the Children's Museum. Connor loved the rock wall, he said it was just like being on American Ninja Warrior. 

Motorcycle ride courtesy of big brother

Then he took him on a fire truck ride. The boys had such a great time spending the day with Brinkley. Pretty sure Ashley and I were more worn out than the kids!

We made a trip over to Ryan and Sarah's house to take advantage of her monogramming abilities. This was the big hit of the day, I'm pretty sure he wants one for his room. 

These two definitely have their moments and know how to push each other's buttons, but they are also best friends for life. I love witnessing these sweet innocent moments between the two of them.