Summer is in full swing here, which means that we are fully enjoying the sunshine and the warm weather.
Connor is staying awake more during the day, which means we get to see his eyes more, and even an occasional smile.
He is still happiest being held.
The other day Brooke said she was tired while Tracie was feeding Connor, so she put herself to bed. She left the door open and Squishy thought it was a good idea as well.
I guess everyone in this house likes to snuggle.
Every once in a while we like to bring the kids to the office during the day. Usually we have lunch together and Brooke helps me out while the ladies fight over holding Connor. Brooke was especially worn out after the trip there this past week.
On Friday I took the day off of work. It's rare that I get to go to the pool, especially since it is so crowded on Saturdays. Also, with Connor here, who knows how often Tracie and Brooke will be able to make it. Brooke had a lot of fun and is pretty fearless, walking until the water is about chin level with no issues. This is as close as she would come looking at the camera.
Being the second child, Connor has adapted well to life unheld. He loves his car seat and his bouncer.
And you're beginning to understand why we are so excited to finally start seeing his eyes!
After the first week or so, Brooke has really embraced the role of Big Sister. She sits next to Connor in the car, so she helps with his pacifier if it falls out, and can be counted on to give accurate descriptions of what he is up to ("Looking out the window"). She'll sing to him while he is in the bouncer, she helps him whenever they take a bath together, and showers him with kisses and hugs.
On Saturday Tracie had her spring recital. The kids did great, especially since they all missed a month when Tracie had Connor. We're excited to have the summer off and to be starting up in the fall with 8 kids.
Troy gave a beautiful blessing and since Troy's mom knows shorthand we were able to have it recorded and saved.
Prior to Sunday, Brooke has had a blast with all her cousins. Will and his family arrived Wednesday evening and my mom followed Thursday morning. That afternoon we took all the kiddies to Chuck E. Cheese's. Brooke is a big fan of the place and loved the feeding the dog game. We walked away with a matchbox car, bracelets, rubber dinosaurs, candy, and very happy kids.
Friday, we headed to Pirates' Cove. It is a great place to take little kids and the kids were all thorougly spent after a day in the sun.
While the older kids played, Connor and Elena chilled in the sun.
By far, Brooke's favorite place to be was in the lazy river.
When we were leaving, we told Brooke that she should take a nap in the car. She replied saying that she only sleeps in her bed. Well, we weren't in the car for more than 5 minutes and she was out. She didn't even stir when we set her on the couch.
Saturday, we let the kids play out in the backyard. Troy did a wonderful job supervising. Can't you tell. 
The kids were soaked after playing so they had to change before our annual cul-de-sac 4th of July party.
Since church is at 8, we thought we'd start the sparklers early and put the kids into bed afterwards. That didn't happen. They stayed up well past their bedtime...10:30.
Brooke wasn't a fan of the sparklers but eventually warmed up to them.
Nor was she a fan of the fireworks. She sat with her hands covering her ears for pretty all of it.
But she enjoyed watching them and told me to keep taking pictures of them.
This morning, Brooke was all on her own in keeping herself entertained.
Until she convinced Troy to come and join her. 
Luckily she has Troy to teach her the art of drying off in the sun.
We had a fabulous weekend spending time with family. Now if only we could get Brooke back on her schedule... 
Connor had his 1 month appointment last week. I forgot the paper I got that had his stats but I do remember that he's 10 lbs. 8 oz. He's gained 2 pounds in 2 weeks. I also remember that he falls in the 50% for 2 of the categories and 75% in the other. Knowing how Brooke was, he's probably in the 75% for head circumference. He's finally showing signs of life other than eating, sleeping, and pooping. He'll actually stay awake for up to 3 hours. He's also starting to makes some noise. Sometimes when he needs to sneeze but the sneeze doesn't come, he'll coo instead. He's done that since he was born and I think it's pretty cute.
It's not the greatest of pictures but it does show off one of his dimples. He's got one on the other side to match.
I can't believe we've made it to 1 month and we're all doing well. A bit sleep deprived but we're still great. 
Brooke has managed to keep herself busy and entertained. I have to say that she has been a rockstar during this transition. We've had our meltdowns but for the most part she has been doing great. The best part...she's still potty trained. I feared that she would regress in that area but she's dry as whistle 99.9% of the time.
At the end last summer I bought the inflatable pool knowing that our trips to the pool this summer would be limited.
Unfortunately she learned the hard way the reason why we don't dump freezing cold water on our heads. Brooke's lips were blue by the time she was done playing.
I've noticed that since Connor was born, Brooke has been taking Bear everywhere. I guess he's her best pal. The other day I was feeding Connor and Brooke said that Bear was hungry also. She proceeded to lift her shirt and put Bear right up to her belly button.
We've survived our first week by ourselves. Troy's mom and Grandma left last Saturday so we've spent this past week adjusting to being a family of four. Luckily, Troy took Monday and Tuesday off of work to help me out. I didn't think it was wise to just throw me into the pool all at once. Connor had his 10 day dr. appointment on Tuesday. At his 2 day appointment, he weighed 7 lbs. 4 oz. A week later he tipped the scales at 8 lbs. 6 oz. and that's even after he laid a load of pee and poo on the scale. The rest of the stats are:
We rarely see his eyes open but that makes for great sleeping at night. He can go up to 4 1/2 hours between feedings during the night so I don't feel like I'm missing too much sleep. He's also a great eater which means we're done within 20-30 minutes. Enough for me to catch a rerun of Friends then head back to bed.
He made us a delicious dinner and Brooke enjoyed having some extra attention from Coco.
