William’s Birthday

We celebrated my birthday this past April. Kyllan and the kids threw me a Star Wars themed party. While I am not quite sure that Kyllan even knows what a lightsaber is, the kids enjoyed playing with them. Elliott enjoyed his first piece of cake and Laurel she still hasn’t grasp the concept that sometimes people like to open their own gifts. More photos can be founds here.

Cake!
Yum!
Gifts
Cards!

 

Elliott is 10 months old!

Yes.  I have been horrible at blogging the past few months and am in the doghouse with William for not doing an 8 or 9 month post for Elliott, so I will try to redeem myself a bit.

Here is what Elliott has been up to at 10 months:

  • Although he is not crawling and still refuses to roll, he is a pro at scooting across the floor on his bottom.  He will scoot his way wherever he needs to go and seems to think that is much better than crawling.  I am beginning to think he is going to skip crawling and go straight to pulling up and walking.  He is pulling up on a few things already, so we’ll see what happens.
  • His vocabulary is expanding and he has added “mama” to the list of words he says.  He still seems to say “dada” more, of course, but at least I get some acknowledgement.  He also loves to scream/yell at random times when he gets excited or happy about something.  He is really loud, so it can kind of catch you off-guard.
  • He is enjoying eating baby food much more than Laurel did at this age.  I am also mixing in a little table food.  He is slowly adapting to more table foods in his diet.  I am so proud and thankful that I have been able to breastfeed him until now.  I think he is already starting to wean a little bit, so I am hoping for an easy transition to whole milk and will try to start introducing it in small amounts in about a month.
  • Teeth!!  Elliott already has his two bottom teeth.  It seems like we waited forever for Laurel to get her first tooth at 11 months, so it was exciting to see Elliott’s teeth this soon.  It reminds me I need to call the dentist to schedule his first appointment 🙂
  • His playtime favorites are his fire truck, racing car, and music cube that was a top rated item on Amazon.  Just like Laurel, he LOVES music.  Whenever he hears music, he starts moving and bouncing to the beat.
  • He really likes being outside.  I am glad the weather is finally starting to get warmer so we can get out a bit more.  Since the time change and the longer daylight hours, we have been able to get outside for evening walks before bedtime and he either babbles and smiles the whole time or falls asleep.  There is also a great trail nearby that we have gone to for longer walks and both Laurel and Elliott love that.  William and I probably enjoy it the most because it not only allows us to get our stir-crazy kids out the house, but we also enjoy getting some fresh air, getting some exercise, and enjoying a chance to discuss our week, the kids, and whatever else is going on without the usual home distractions.
  • Sleep.  This word does not seem to be a part of his vocabulary yet, but I am really hoping he will start sleeping better soon.  He can usually get in a 4-5 hour stretch when he first goes to sleep, but lately he is up every 2-3 hours like his newborn days.  He falls asleep pretty easily when he does wake up, but as soon as you lay him down, he wakes up and cries.  William thinks I should just let him cry it out, but it’s hard for me to do that, but I may have to try  a modified method soon.  Waking up so much is really affecting the quality of my sleep, so I never really feel rested.

Well.. I think that sums up the highlights.  He is really growing fast and is just 2 months away from his first birthday, which means I need to start planning NOW!  I think I already have a few ideas, so I know we will be able to pull together a nice celebration.

Here are some recent photos from his 8, 9 and 10 month “photo shoot”. In some of the 9 month photos, you can see the first tooth that emerged.  The photo with Laurel and Elliott was taken at Bitty Baby’s (Laurel’s doll) Birthday party 🙂

12870396945_4e2fce28f9_b 12870486403_99998b17a4_b

DSC_0019

DSC_0029

DSC_0053

DSC_0071

DSC_0074

DSC_0088

DSC_0131

DSC_0234

DSC_0243

DSC_0247

DSC_0251

DSC_0255

DSC_0262

A Look Back at Elliott’s 1st Christmas

This past Christmas was an exciting one for the Cody. It was our first Christmas with Elliott. Much like Laurel’s first Christmas, he was not old enough to really know what was going on or be excited for the occasion. He was just happy about all of the attention he received, the paper he was allowed to tear, and that there were new items to stick in his mouth. Laurel, on the other hand, was all about Christmas this year. She was very excited about the “Angela” on the tree and loved looking at all of the ornaments. We were not able to put gifts out until Christmas Eve once she had gone to sleep because she keep trying to open the first few things we put under the tree. On Christmas she could believe it was finally time to open presents and could not get enough. Not only did she open all of her’s, I think she open all of Kyllan’s and half of Elliott’s. Both sets of parents and Kyllan’s sister’s family joined us for Christmas dinner. A few pictures are below. You can see them all here.

-Elliot’s 1st Present

 

-More Presents!


-Enjoying Christmas Morning

 

-The Codys and The Codys

 

-The Codys, Browns, and Nickersons

 

-Cousins

 

-Christmas Dinner

 

-Stockings Hung By the Chimney With Care

Out with the old… In with the new!

Well another year has passed and it was another year full of blessings for the Cody family.  I thought I summarize 2013 with some highlights and photos.

8651017592_70e5e22158_o

January 2013:

We moved into our new home!

8726960075_7e8937bc37_o

April 2013:

I survived a health scare during my pregnancy and am so glad my parents were in Dallas to hep us out during that time.

We celebrated William’s birthday.

We celebrated Easter with both sets of parents.

8726931349_f7066bc4f6_o 8728073002_5f88eaa611_o 8728085034_d159b9d26b_o

May 2013:

We celebrated my birthday.

I enjoyed my 2nd mother’s day

Elliott arrived!!!

8755383516_ae98a5d411_b 8754261747_49ed7bb2f7_o 8760792298_58d83998e0_o

June 2013:

We celebrated William’s 2nd Father’s day

DSC_0127

July 2013: We celebrated Laurel’s 2nd Birthday and took a trip to San Antonio with William’s parents.

9593883970_65fa975e52_o 9478163869_5603fc1fd4_o

August 2013:

We traveled to St. Louis for a family reunion and got to meet Ms. Robbie and enjoy her food at Sweetie Pie’s.

 Sweetie Pies

September 2013:

We celebrated our nephew Drew’s birthday.

We welcomed a second nephew.

We celebrated 6 years of marriage.

1009869_10202033634872161_581252908_n 10474317034_a1cf4acab4_o 8708642190_7e3327220a_o

October 2013:

My grandmother died, but we were able to spend time with her before her departure and it brought our family closer together.

We attended a beautiful wedding in Central Park for William’s cousin.

6745357481_d7de1ddbd2_z 10474302505_3c9644728c_o 11526446466_54002ed34b_b

November/December 2013:

Wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations and my mom’s 65th Birthday!

DSC_0695 DSC_0725

DSC_0867 DSC_0799

11527130775_41c7e7dd34_o

October Wedding

This past October the Codys all traveled to New York city to see one of my cousins get married. It was probably the most beautiful ceremony I have ever attended. (My own is a blurr. I only remember looking into Kyllan’s eyes). The couple was married in Central Park and had everyone gather around them when they exchanged vows, so I have some beautiful pictures of the event. You can find them here.

Vows
Rocekefeller Center
Central Park