Higgins Christmas

So the Higgins clan has been here since Friday and we've been having fun! Last night we exchanged gifts and Naylor is loving to play with his new toys. Brian and I are a little afraid of what will become of our house since he still has two more sets of grandparents to see and of course Santa hasn't even visited yet - oh boy!

Lalon was jealous that Naylor got to get his picture made with Santa, so we took hers too.

Santa baby...

This afternoon we headed to the mall to meet Santa! Naylor has absolutely no concept of Christmas or Santa, but seemed like the thing to do... so we packed up and Brian met us there. Naylor did great - sat with the jolly old man and got his picture made. We then ran a few errands and back home. Tomorrow the cartoons begin and we still have a lot to do to get ready!

Field Trip!

Wednesday morning we had our first 'field trip' with our play group... most amazingly to me, I had everyone up, fed, dressed and out the door by 9am! We joined Luke, Noah (and moms) for a trip to Marbles in downtown Raleigh. Lalon just hung out with me, but the boys certainly had fun walking, climbing and crawling all over the place. I definitely think it will be a place to revisit! Afterwards we headed home as quickly as we could since we were creeping up on nap time.

Last night we met the Swaringens for dinner at IHOP. Carson and Naylor both had pancakes, eggs and bacon and I was amazed by just how much a little 15 month old can consume! It sure was fun to sit down and catch up with Blaine and Liz too - seems like we haven't seen them forever.

Then the kids and I headed home and I tried to finish wrapping up gifts to make sure we have everyone covered... family starts arriving tomorrow so we're running out of time!

Some more firsts...

What a busy weekend we had! Brian's company party was Saturday (and they had a meeting that morning and go carting that afternoon) and I had a wedding to attend so we were shuttling kids here and there - teamwork at it's finest! Naylor got to go play at Carson's for the afternoon, which I don't know how long it's been since he's done that - my report says they had a good time. Then Brian picked him up, I got home from the wedding with Lalon and we shuttled them both across the street to Luke's for a mini slumber party while we went to dinner with his work folks. What a fun night out and a great bunch of folks! Then Sunday was the big Naylor family reunion and boy has the family grown since last Christmas... 4 new babies and of course being Naylor blood, they are all GIRLS!

When we got home that night, I set up Naylor's play table with some paper and pulled out the crayons I bought for him. Brian and I sat with him and did some drawing and he quickly got the hang of it and seemed to have fun. I think it was more exciting for me though...

Yesterday morning when Naylor, Lalon and I were coming downstairs for breakfast, Naylor wanted to stay upstairs and play with Rudy so I started saying 'bye-bye' to him. He quickly waved and said it back - well he said something more like 'nye-nye', but it was definitely the same tone and was consistent.

When he was playing last night he did something and I said 'yay, you did it!' and I'm 99% positive he said 'I did it!'. I asked Brian if he heard it and he said no and two seconds later he said it 2 more times... I think that was official.

He's also said Mama a couple of times, but generally when I've left and am coming back in the door is when I hear it.

Lalon is still just hanging out and doing well. She's definitely woken up, but overall still a really great baby.

The Higgins clan arrives this Friday and the festivities begin with all of our families... we're non-stop until the 27th and then I'll probably go on vacation!

Oh Christmas tree!

Naylor and I went to pick out our tree last week and over this past week, Brian and I have taken turns putting it together when Naylor was napping or in bed. We figured if we kept adding to it when he wasn't around maybe it would help not bring so much attention to it and he'd leave it alone.

That plan worked really well for about 5 days and over the past two days, he's become very interested! We did think ahead and so about 3.5' down there are no ornaments, just lights - no need to invite him to pull on it and break stuff. I've found that his reach is further than I expected though, as I've found 3 different ornaments either in his mouth or on the floor nearby - luckily nothing has broken so I've just placed them back on higher.

He and Rudy (our dog-like cat) seem to now be in a competition to see which can tear it down first... so far Rudy seems to be ahead, but there's still plenty of time. Our first bet has been placed, let me know if you want to get in on some of the action! :)

the over/under is Christmas day and the first bet is under and Naylor

Lalon 1 month check-up

We went to the pediatrician this morning for Lalon's 1 month well-check and she continues to do great! She weighed in at 6 lbs, 15 oz (3rd percentile) and is 20.25" (10th percentile). We also got her first RSV vaccination today; it will just help fight off any bad respiratory stuff as she's more susceptible due to her prematurity. We'll get these each month until March or April.

She is still eating great and for the past week she's been doing a 6.5hr sleep at night - that's great news for everyone!

Naylor is continuing to walk and getting more confident each day - he's really going at it now! My goal today is to get a video of him so I can post for everyone to see.

...and we're walking!

Naylor has been taking two or three steps here and there, but last Saturday his best buddy Luke came over (Luke has been walking about 2 weeks) and that was all it took! Naylor had to keep up with Luke and so he's now walking. Each day he gets more and more confident and stable, but if he's in a real hurry to get away from you (especially when playing chase, his most favorite game in the whole world), he gets down on all fours to get a move on. He's so funny walking around - takes up to 8-10 steps then drops down to crawl. This morning was the first time he 'ran' - I think he surprised himself with how fast he was moving. :)

Lalon continues to do well - she's 1 month old already - I can't believe it! She was actually due this week, so we'll see if the Special Care nurse was right that she'd 'wake up' on her due date. She certainly is much more alert when she is awake though, so that's fun to talk to her during those times.

We also got great news from the pediatrician this morning - Lalon was approved for the RSV vaccine and we go to get her first dose on Tuesday. This will just be another thing to help us keep her healthy through this winter season with all the different kinds of crud roaming around the place.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Well, we went today for Lalon's 2 week check up and she's doing great! She's now been home for a whole week (hence no updates!) and is eating and sleeping just fine. Lalon is now 5 lbs, 13.5 oz and has gained 10 oz since being home - she's doing so great! We go back in another 2 weeks for her 1 month check.

Naylor has been a great big brother so far and likes to come up and touch her toes when we're holding her. He went with us to the dr today - thought he may have an ear infection - but that's not the case, just some molars cutting through! He was also lucky enough (not sure he'd call it that) to get his first dose of H1N1 vaccine. He goes back to the dr in December for his 15 month check - boy how time flies by!

So I've now been home with 2 kids all by myself for 3 full days now (Brian did help on our trip to the dr) and we've all lived through it. I think the key to successful days is our 10 am family nap time! :)

More updates to come and hopefully some pictures too... maybe after this week I can get on a more regular posting routine. The pictures attached are from last Wed when we brought Lalon home and Naylor got to meet her for the first time - he was pretty curious for about 30 seconds and then had other things to check out...

Lalon Hope Higgins

Day 2 and Lalon is getting stronger. She's still in the Special Care unit and will remain there a little longer - right now the doctor thinks another 7 - 10 days until she can catch up. Although she's weak and a bit behind, it's all "normal" for a baby born at this stage and while being precautious, there isn't any grave concern other than letting her get up to speed.

Naylor had a fun night with Annie and Pa and visited just a little while ago with Annie, Aunt Christie and Ava James. Due to the flu precautions at the hospital, no children under 12 are allowed in right now so we all visited in the vestibule!

Looks like I'll be released to head home tomorrow sometime and we'll just rest up and hang out until Lalon can join us at home. More updates to come as we have them.

She's Here!

Baby Girl arrived quickly this morning at 7.53 am... needless to say, we just like to have babies early and fast around here! :)

Everything is going well - she's had a little difficulty breathing simply because she came out so quickly and is a bit early, but nothing life threatening or create too much caution. She's in the Special Care unit now just so they can keep a closer eye on her, but all seems to be well.

Sweet Naylor gave me a big smile and kiss before we left this morning and was off to spend the day with his buddy Luke across the street. A big THANK YOU to the Fogg's for having Naylor for the day and a big THANK YOU to Annie & Pa for keeping Naylor while we are in the hospital! (I'm not sure they know what they are getting in to)! :)

Sweet little girl weighed in at 5 lbs, 8 oz and 19" with TONS of black hair. We're working on a name - thought we had a little more time to talk that out... maybe tomorrow will be the big day to reveal it to the world!

General update...

Guess I haven't really posted since Naylor's birthday and sadly enough, he'll be 13 months in less than a week!

He's doing great and we've been having lots of fun. He's really becoming his own little person, generally happy, but when he isn't, watch out! We've been having more playdates with the boys on the street, which is great for Naylor and me. Last weekend we headed out to the pumpkin patch to get ready for Halloween - that was fun and he loved banging on all of the pumpkins, but was easily distracted by all of the cars driving by, he's already acting like a boy watching cars and trucks. Later that afternoon we headed to the NCSU game and had a good time (except maybe Brian due to the terrible playing by the team). Naylor had his first Chik-fil-A and is no doubt a huge fan, much like his Daddy.

We're working on walking and talking - Brian and I are trying to be much better about pointing out and naming things and each night we work on some walking. Just the other night Naylor took one teensy tiny step from me to Brian; it was pretty much accidental, but I'm counting it for now!

Baby Girl is growing along - we're now 34 weeks and all is well. Went for another check-up this morning and everyone is great... now just in the hurry up and wait stage!

We're trying to get some loose ends wrapped up before she gets here in preparation... Kitty and Rudy are at the vet right now getting their shots updated and overall check; Brian and I are going this week to get our flu shots (Naylor has had his); and the painter is coming by tonight to check the room and give us a quote. If I can just get the nursery painted, I'll feel much better about things. I'm starting some Christmas shopping too... figured it will be easier on the pocket book to pick up things here and there as well as easier to do it with just one kid in tow rather than two!

Baby Girl update

Another dr visit today and all is well... have only gained 1/2 lb since last time, so that's good for me! We're now 32 weeks and she's head down and getting ready for her debut I suppose. Go again in two weeks and will get my flu shots then. Naylor has had round 1 of his and we finish them up this Saturday. Hopefully this preventative care will keep us all healthy this season!

Learning to discipline...

We've entered the stage of no-no's; not sure how that's going just yet! Naylor definitely recognizes what no means though, because if you say it he'll shake his head back and forth. Or even sometimes as he approaches something he knows is a no-no he'll shake his head before you can even say it... silly boy.

Yesterday was Ava James' baptism, so we all went to church and Ava James did great! It was a perfect day all around and we got home in time for dinner and bed.

Now we're starting another week already and it's going to be a big one - I am leaving Naylor for the first time this week and Brian will be alone with Naylor for the first time! I'm heading to Asheville with Annie for two days; hopefully we will all survive. :)

Oh yeah, according to our countdown ticker we have 56 days to go; I visit the doctor tomorrow for another routine check.

1 yr check-up

We went this morning for Naylor's 1 year check and all is well. He weighs 21 lbs, 12 oz (48%) and is 28.5" tall (25%). Doing all the things that he should be developmentally with goals for his 15 month appointment. He did have to get 4 shots, which was upsetting, but just briefly - then all was well with the world again.

Afterwards, we got to hang out with some of the neighborhood boys to play and now down for a much needed nap! Hopefully he'll sleep well since he missed his morning nap.

Happy 1st Birthday Naylor!

Today is Naylor's 1 year birthday and it's been a fun day so far! He woke up a happy boy (as usual) and after his milk we came downstairs to open some presents. He loved them all and was probably not sure which to play with first. We then had some birthday pancakes that he gobbled up; played with the new building blocks with Daddy (we need to teach Daddy to share better) and took a good long nap.

We made it to the NCSU game today too and Naylor did great. We got lots of pictures by the statues at the Murphy Center, got to hang out with Uncle Kevin, Aunt Amanda and Uncle Robert at the game and we even got to see his name on the big scoreboard for his birthday. NCSU was winning at halftime when we headed home - it was a good day!

Once we got home, he had a quick dinner and a birthday cupcake - he loved that too... I think he could get used to eating cupcakes if we let him!

All in all, it was a great birthday for us all. We're heading to Clinton tomorrow morning for church and then some good eats with Pa, Annie and the gang.

Pictures from the day to come later on...

Also, his 1 yr picture proofs are ready: check them out at www.MichelleStudios.com click Client Slideshow and password is naylor (case sensitive).

Just 2 more days!

And what was our itsy bitsy Naylor, just a tiny 6 pounds and fit in Brian's hand, will be one year old; I can hardly believe it's been a year already. He definitely wouldn't fit in anyone's hand these days or sit still long enough if he could - he has so much to do and see...

This week we've been slowly moving towards eating 'real' food full time and just yesterday we tried 'real' milk - he loved it! We still have a little formula to finish; we won't waste that stuff, but he did like the regular milk just fine and Mommy and Daddy are excited about the decrease in the grocery bill. :)

Last Friday Brian so kindly installed Naylor's forward facing "big boy" car seat... it was a week premature but between how big he is and how big my belly is, my back was going to break putting him in that baby carseat for another week! He LOVED it! He was so excited looking around like it was a new game or toy. He immediately started playing with the arm rests and checking out the scenery through the window. He's just the sweetest!

We go next week for his 1 year check - I'm excited to see his latest stats - we'll keep you posted.

Catching up...

I'm definitely out of the habit of doing this regularly - I'm going to try to be better at more regular updates!

We've been busy over the past couple of weeks working on a few house and nursery projects and enjoyed a beach weekend and some football.

First, the nursery is basically all set - we have all the major pieces now and can really see how it's going to look. We just need to get some final paint on the walls and we're all set - just need to move the rocker from Naylor's room and of course a baby. Brian and Naylor worked hard installing a ceiling fan in her room and putting knobs on the dresser - Naylor was loving this handy work time with Brian, but was tuckered out once they finished.

Naylor is doing new tricks almost every day... I've seen him standing up without holding on to anything a couple of times now, but then he realizes what he's doing and quickly grabs something! Just last week he climbed the stairs for the first time, didn't miss a beat... we just need to work on the coming down the stairs part, but he is aware enough to not run off the edge!

We went yesterday to have his 1 yr photo shoot and can't wait to see the proofs - I sure hope they are good! As soon as we have the link from the photographer, I'll post it along with the password so that you can check them out.

This morning I had another doctor's appointment (going every 2 weeks now) and all was well. Baby Girl is measuring right on target and has a healthy heartbeat. The dr. did suggest that I go ahead and pre-register at the hospital (had already done it!) just in case little girl decides to come early like her big brother. We're just under 10 weeks and according to the parents website we have 69 days until our official due date -this pregnancy feels like it has gone by a lot faster than Naylor's!

and we're back!

So I started this blog a few months ago, but never told anyone about it nor kept it updated for that matter, so here we go again!

The last update we had on Naylor's page was from Mother's Day. As you may remember, his website has reached it's capacity and with Baby Girl on the way, this seems like a more fair way to document Higgins' life...

A quick look back over the summer, just hitting the highlights!

• June 6, 2009: felt Baby Higgins 2.0 kick for the first time around 1am!
• June 19, 2009: Naylor's 9 month birthday and his first tooth cut through (on the bottom).
• June 21, 2009: Naylor begins saying da-da / ba-ba / ga-ga and on his first Father's Day - not that he associates it with Brian just yet.
• June 25, 2009: Naylor flew for the first time (with Mama and Daddy of course) to Minnesota - he did great and flirted with all of the other passengers.
• Mid-June 2009: Naylor starts army crawling all over the place, but not on all fours just yet - I think the hardwood floors may hurt his knees...
• July 1, 2009: Found out that Baby Higgins 2.0 is a little GIRL! We didn't want to know, but asked the nurse to write it down just in case... when she looked to find out, we saw and it was way different than Naylor's ultrasound!
• Mid-July 2009: Naylor's knees have toughened up and he's crawling on all four's all over the place... time to baby proof!
• Late-July 2009: Naylor is continuing to crawl as well as pulling up now.
• August 3, 2009: We're pacifier free - he gave it up without much hesitation at all.
• August 8, 2009: Naylor pulls up on the coffee table and walks around it while holding on - he's officially 'cruising' the house!
• August 9, 2009: Went to the doctor and officially has his first ear infection - boo. He has been sick all week and we finally broke down for a dr. visit. However, he's been really sick and without a pacifier a single time - I think we're more than officially over it!
• August 22, 2009: We're now bottle free! He's drinking all of his milk exclusively from sippy cups now - he's such a big boy and we're so proud of him.
• August 30, 2009: Stood up by himself without holding on to anything... not sure he realized what he was doing, but it did happen. He hasn't done that since though, but it's a step in the right direction.

We're less than a month from Naylor's first birthday and less than 3 months until Baby Girl's arrival - stay tuned for more updates!

First Entry

While we have a webpage for Naylor, it's quickly filling up and I just found out that it will be obsolete soon. So, I figured I'd get ahead of the problem and start a Higgins Family blog...

Over the next few months, I'll be transferring all the old posts from NaylorHiggins.com to this so that it's all in one spot and we don't lose anything.

This transition will take some time; I'll let you know when we're officially blogging full time!