Untitled from Shelley Crenshaw on Vimeo.

Untitled from Shelley Crenshaw on Vimeo.

I'm Thankful for a Restful Night...:)

Yay!! Much better night last night!
As I stated in the post below, I decided to nurse Cayden every 3 hours rather than every 2, and there even was a 4 hour gap yesterday afternoon. My last feeding ended up being at 9:30PM, and that's when both Cayden and myself (not knowing how the night would go) went to sleep. Plus, we decided not to top him off with formula to see how that goes. We put Cayden down while he was awake, and David just plugged him up a few times while patting his belly. This is what we did with Conner Man, and he was sleeping all night at 2 months old. Part of me wants to rock him to sleep, but in the long run, it truly is best for babies to drift off asleep on their own so that when they wake up, they don't have to worry where Mommy or Daddy went. We get in lots of cuddle/rock time during the day...trust me. ;) Anyway, Mr. Man didn't wake up until 3:30AM which was a 6 hour stretch. Thank you Lord!! I pray this continues. After I fed him, I put him back down at 4:00AM (awake), and he simply grunted himself back to sleep. I thought for sure I would have to break out the paci, but he never cried one time. He's not that into the paci as Conner was, but he's quite the grunter. David has nicknamed him "Gremlin" because of it. Ha!! He woke up at 7:15AM this morning which was just perfect in my book!! I feel so good today that I'm about to get ready to hit the town for some Christmas shopping. Yay!!

I hope you and your families have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING! This will be the first for us, not only as a family of four, but this is the first year we are not having the traditional feast with extended family. :(
We usually travel up north for Thanksgiving and get to have back to back Thanksgiving dinners with ALL the trimmings at his parents' house and mine. Well, this year, since we're not traveling, I've decided to go totally "non-traditional" and cook red beans and rice and cheesy potato casserole...I know, I know...so not the same. Thankfully, we had an early Thanksgiving at G.G.'s a few weeks ago, so we're not totally missing out.

OH. MY. GOODNESS. Things have just changed as I'm writing this post. :) My Aunt Meg just called and asked if we could join them for Thanksgiving!! I'm beyond excited...and full of thanks!!

6 Week Update!

Cayden is SIX weeks old...and Growing FAST!!

Cayden is changing every day. He's more alert and will now lock eyes with you and enjoys looking at his bear mobile. (just like big bubba) We've caught him smiling a few times. Though some of them may have been due to gas, he has an adorable smile!! Ha! ;) Cayden has such a sweet spirit, and we are so blessed to have him in our life.

I continue to believe that he will be much bigger than Conner. It was only confirmed during our outing yesterday to my post pregnancy 6-week check up and to a few stores. When Conner was this age, people would say how little he was, and a few people even asked me where the other half of him was! (Not the thing to say to a new, first time mom - any mom for that matter!) Anyway, people kept commenting how big Cayden was all day which made me feel good. :) He loves to eat that's for sure.

To SLEEP or Not to SLEEP at NIGHT...That is the Question ???

I seemed to get a little ahead of myself by announcing/believing that Cayden was already sleeping through the night. He was for the first few weeks, but it was definitely the "newborn" in him and now...well, he's NOT! To be honest, we seem to be going backwards with the whole creating a night routine. Every night is different no matter how hard I try to tweak it. I've been feeding him around 10PM and topping him off with a bottle of formula just to encourage a long stretch, but it's not going in my favor right now. He woke up at 1:00AM last night, but I held off feeding him until 2:30AM, and he was back up at 4:00AM!! I ended up holding him until 6:30 this morning just to get some shut eye, although it wasn't very restful. I'm having to nap when he naps throughout the day which is why I'm 100% okay with sending Conner to school while we transition into a routine. It seemed to be much more natural with Conner Man. Cayden is still such a happy, content baby, but our nights have been very inconsistent to say the least...and I'm not so good without sleep. I pray the Lord gives me energy and patience during this time and to remember that this too shall pass.

I've been feeding him every two hours during the day so that his belly will be full enough to take longer breaks during the night. (Hasn't happened.) So, today I'm gonna flip flop that and try to feed him every 3/4 hours during the day in HIGH hopes that he will programed to wait longer between each feeding. Who knows?! I'm struggling..any advice out there would be great!! I guess I'm more nervous knowing that I'll be going back to work and my timeline at home is sneaking up on me....I pray all this is worked out by January.

Nursing is still going great...I may try to begin dropping a feeding and replacing it with formula so that he will be weaned before I have to go back to work. I'm not a "pump" candidate considering we don't have the $$$ for those fancy-schmancy kind and I've tried the hand-held one...not happening. Oh well, I'm okay. I nursed Conner for 10 months, but I was never one of those moms who was stressed that my baby HAD to have breast milk. I simply took it little by little making small goals along the way and was successful for 10 months!! :) With Cayden, I knew from the beginning that he would not be nursed as long since I'm going back to work in January, but three or four months is better than nothing. :)

Happy Birthday, Daddy! from Shelley Crenshaw on Vimeo.

Happy 30th Birthday, David!!!

David turned THIRTY last week!! We just simply celebrated with the family. We love you, Daddy!!!

There is a video of Conner and I singing Happy Birthday to him...I'll try to post it soon. ;)

That night, we went to Mammaw Shirley's for hamburgers/fries since it was Bobby's birthday as well. We also got to spend time with the Attkissons...who we LOVE!!! :)

G.G. had knee surgery last week, so we took some supper to her last night. We love you, Granny and are glad you're doing better!! ;)

FIVE Weeks Old...

Conner took every single toy out of his box so he could chill out inside. Clean-up time wasn't as fun as the destruction of our living room.

We are Wedding Crashers...

Last weekend we traveled to Rolling Fork for a friend's wedding. Let's just say that the Crenshaws made a lasting impression on this oh so important day in Jason and Haley's life. We were late to start off with, so we tiptoed up the creaking stairs into the balcony of this small, quiet church where every little movement/sound seemed to echo. Once we sat down, everything was going surprisingly well for about 10 minutes. As the couple moved up to the altar to say their vows, Conner decided to say in a not so quiet voice, "What they talking about?" Then Cayden starting stirring, so Conner added, "Why he crying?" David immediately told Conner that they were gonna go outside knowing that Conner LOVES this...usually. However, he said in a louder voice, "Don't take me outside!" By this time, Cayden decided to join in all the fun and cry a bit louder, so I scooted out and down the stairs that each made a lovely sound along the way. ALL of this took place DURING the VOWS!! Yep! And to top it off, we were upstairs right beside two video cameras that were capturing every sound. Humiliating doesn't even cover it.

Once I made it down the stairs, within minutes, the wedding was over. Good grief. We traveled two hours to a wedding in which we disrupted the most intimate moments of the couple's life only to turn around and travel home. This was a perfect example of an "I told you so.." remark to David. I just hope they forgive us...:(

Here are some pictures after the wedding...

It's CHRISTMAS at the Crenshaw's

Well this year Christmas decorations went up weeks before Thanksgiving! Usually I wait until the weekend after Thanksgiving to put them up, but for some reason I got into the Spirit early this year. I've heard I'm not alone though...friends/family have been confirming that they've decided to do the same thing. Must be in the air...and retail stores!! ;)

I'm such a blessed wife and momma...

Ooops...caught red handed. Conner decided to open one of his presents early. I wasn't too happy, but chose to take a picture and then give him a little pep talk/come to Jesus discussion and reminder that he better not do it again. The opened present is still under the tree. I told him that he cannot play with it until Christmas. Mean Momma. ;)

Friends...

It's going to be so much fun watching Cayden and Leah grow up together. Aren't they adorable?!....hmmm, could be a nice little couple one day in the far future. Ha!!

Conner's not wasting his time though...as you can see, he's quite captivated by Little Leah.

Andrew and Conner had fun tracing each other's heads and hands on the magna-doodle...;)

We love our sweet friends and are so thankful to have them in our life.

One Month Old!

Conner wanted to read one of his books to Cayden before heading off to school. My heart is full of thankfulness and joy during moments like these...I look forward to many more to come. My prayer is that my boys become best friends. They are well on their way. :)

Conner was trying to show Cayden a picture of a firetruck since his pj's had firetrucks on them.

Conner loves his little brother so much. We still have yet to see one ounce of jealousy. He gets so excited to see him each afternoon after school. When he finds a paci, burp cloth, or blanket, he will rush over to give it to Cayden or me while saying, "Here this is Cayden's."

Conner LOVES seeing the pictures on the digital camera after we take them, and this morning he said, "Cayden want to see them too." Soooo sweet and thoughtful!

My heart is truly overflowing....

We are FAMILY...;)

All FOUR of us in a picture : MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

All FOUR of us looking at the camera : WHO CARES?!

This past Sunday I was determined to get a new picture of us to possibly use for our Christmas card. I was a tad bit overwhelmed this day! (though you can't tell it from the pic...ha!!) After church, we went to GG's for a family get together. I guess I was feeling the pressure of getting all of our stuff ready for a long day away from home, semi-controlling a LIVELY two-year old, taking care of a newborn, and desperately trying to get a new family picture...plus, not to mention the lack of sleep/nutrients my body is having to overcome at the present time. Anyway, I'm making myself CHILL out with all my at-home projects because I think that has been the icing on the cake that's caused my overwhelming feeling of EXHAUSTION here lately. This will prove how CrAzY I've been...Christmas is up at our house!!?!! Yep, I've always put up Christmas decorations AFTER Thanksgiving like a normal person, but this year, though everything's not up yet, I began on NOVEMBER 7TH!! Considering the timing of all this, I'm officially a crazy, impulsive, mental person who's learned that I probably should take it easy and ssssllllooow down. I mean, for goodness sake, I just had a baby a month ago. Good grief...ugh.

Here are some updated pictures of our family...;) Thanks, Ginny for taking the pictures.

I absolutely LOVE this picture...

They are holding hands. :)

Yeah, so I should probably start labeling pictures...;)

Okay, so these are just a few pictures that I scanned of Conner Man to compare them with Mr. Cayden...the resemblance is amazing! See for yourself! (The first picture in each set is Conner, and the second one is Cayden.)

My Sleeping Angels...

My SWEET Babies...

Four Weeks Old Pics

Tired Paci Pics...:)

My PRECIOUS Boys...

Untitled from Shelley Crenshaw on Vimeo.

Our friends, Sarah & Andrew, gave Cayden this adorable monogrammed outfit. WE LOVE IT!!

Handsome Dude...

Talking on the phone to Mammaw... (We have pictures of Conner doing this same thing that look EXACTLY like Cayden - these two will favor for sure!!) I'll have to do a comparison post soon. :)

Yes, this is a picture of Conner once again smothering Cayden with LOVE!! Poor Little Guy...ha!!

Daddy and Conner on the Tractor

Aunt Lisa sent us these pictures of David and Conner on the tractor and I had to post them...thank you for the pictures! We love y'all!! :)

CAYDEN CHARLES...

Little Man

Stop with all the pictures please...