The Boys

Just some photos of the boys from recent trips/days.

Happy Nolan

Colin at Rodeo day at school. Lisa said he was happy but liked the tough cowboy look.

We are going to the Bahamas this summer so Nolan needs a passport. Lisa had to take the picture for the passport photo guy.

The boys were excited to ride together in the cart at the local HEB. Nolan loves to do things with Colin. Colin is happier with Nolan riding with him, but he still won't share the wheels when they are in the race car cart.

The family took the private jet to Paris Texas to visit the Capt family for birthdays.

Nolan riding his first Pony with PapaPat at the Ranch.

Colin riding the pony at the Ranch.

Nolan was ready for the day.

Colin all dressed up for Valentine's day. Watch out ladies.

Nolan Growing 1-5 Months

Nolan at 1 month

Nolan at 2 months

Nolan at 3 months

Nolan at 4 months

Nolan at 5 months

First Marathon

First Marathon = DONE.

Last week, Lisa, the kids and I all went to Orlando Florida to see Mickey/Minne/Pluto/Goofy/Donald/Buzz/Woody/Grand Parents/et al at Disney World and for me to run the Disney World Marathon. It was a great trip and I think everyone had a great time.

It wasn't the smoothest of trips. After getting dropped off at the airport (Thanks Katey) I checked Lisa and the kids in and checked strollers/car seats (for free) and we each had a carry on (we are cheap or frugal). When I tried to check in, I learned that I needed to go to terminal E since I was on a group ticket (With Team in Training). So Lisa was off to go through security and get on the plane on her own with 2 kids and 2 bags as I ran off to terminal E to retrieve my ticket and get back to C to get on the plane.

Needless to say by the time I got on the plane Lisa was not too pleased as the car seat was impossible to get strapped in, Colin was screaming and Nolan was in a flight attendant's arms. Also I don't recommend taking a car seat on a plane (or at least our brand). First off it puts the kid higher up so they can easily kick the seat in front of them and if the seat in front of them decides to lean the chair back, they basically crush the kid's legs. Secondly, the plane does not have the latch system so you have to use the seat belt. Normally this is not a big deal, but the plane's seat belt system is different than a car's. When the car seat is strapped in and tightened with the belt, the latch is right in the middle of the kid's back in the car seat. We had to put a pillow in the back of the seat so the kid didn't have a metal box the size of a pack of cards in the middle of his back.

Once we got there things were going well. Disney was great, Colin got to meet all his favorite characters from his favorite shows and movies. We hit up the Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom each day. We stayed at the Grand Parents house which was fun as well.

After walking all around Disney for two days straight and eating Disney World food, it was time for me to run my first marathon. (not the best pre-race ritual). So I set the alarm for 2:30 AM ET and get on the bus to the race by 3AM. The race went well and although it was quite cold, I had fun and enjoyed seeing all the parks at a 8 min/mile pace.

Team Photo before leaving for the start

On the bus to the start

I finished my first marathon at 3:36:53.

Right after the race.

Flight back from Orlando

You might ask 'Where is Lisa on the Flight back?" Well she wasn't taking the picture and she wasn't in the picture because she wasn't on the flight with me. She stayed a few more days to hang out with her Grand Parents. And yes, that does mean that she flew back by herself with 2 kids, 2 full carry ons, a diaper bag, and a personal bag. Don't ask me how she did it. It is a mystery to me.

Link to photos from the race.

We might post some pics on picasa from the Disney days. That is Lisa's job though.

***UPDATE***
Disney Photo Slide Show No thanks to Lisa. . .

Wow it has been awhile

Now I don't think it is that surprising that it has been almost 2 months since our last post. I mean if you read the last post you know that we just had our second baby so things like posting on a blog are a little lower priority. Now that things have settled down a bit, I have a long list of things that we have been up to that I can blog about.

Nolan is doing great. He is growing like a weed and hitting all the typical milestones. He seems small but enormous to us. We forgot how small they start, but he is bigger than Little Colin was at the same age (not by much). He is on the smaller side 40th percentile but Colin was 20th.


Nolan in a milk coma
He has taken to feeding and our schedule really well. For example between 6-8 weeks old, he was sleeping 5-7 hours a night and week 8-9 he slept 7.5-9.5 hours a night consistently (with even a couple nights since that were almost 10 hours straight).


Nolan sleeping before getting shots

Nolan Sleeping with Elmo (Colin gave it to him)
Lisa has really stepped up her game and turned into a super mom taking care of both kids with out skipping a beat. She even has the energy to walk 3 miles a day with her neighborhood friends. I have been extremely proud of how well she has adjusted.

Here are some pictures from the last couple of months. . .


Colin soothing Nolan to sleep

Nolan looking cute

Nolan in his shirt for the Komen Race

Nolan after a bath

Nolan giving the evil eye

Arrival

I know some of the followers may have been concerned that today is 5 days past Nolan's due date. But don't worry, I have just been too lazy to post or update the blog with the good news. Nolan Thomas Caughran was born at 11:03 AM on 8/18/2010 weighing in at 7 lb 4 oz and 19 inches long.

The labor and birth went pretty quick (half the time of last year). Lisa's water broke at 6:50 am and he was crying on her chest by 11:05 am. Just over 4 hours from start to finish (excluding the 9 months of pregnancy, morning sickness, preterm labor, braxton hicks contractions).

The whole process was deja vu. I mean it all started the same way (like most babies), but I will skip the obvious commonalities. Lisa's water broke early in the morning with both. Both times we took it easy getting things together before heading to the hospital (this time luckily Brandon was able to get Colin before going to work), and then the contractions hit and it was go time. Both times we had to traverse the freeway and downtown Houston during rush hour. Both times Lisa terrified someone at the entrance to the hospital (this time was a cop that she yelled at to go faster). Both times Lisa was night and day before and after the epidural. This time she forgot her makeup so she was not plucking her eyebrows during labor like last time.

I got to cut the cord and Lisa got to hold Nolan right after birth. No NICU this time. All and all it went pretty smoothly the second time around.

Nolan was a little jaundice, but not too bad. He was actually less than Colin was and they gave us lights to take home (I wish they had with Colin, maybe we would have avoided the trip to the ER and the TCH NICU).



A few days after birth we learned that Nolan had a broken collarbone. Supposedly this is pretty common. You should ask Lisa about how Randy describes it (NSFW).

So far he is feeding well and is already past his birth weight (and Lisa is already down 20 lbs). He is sleeping well and has taken to the family. Little Colin just loves his little brother and he seems to be adjusting well.





Here is a link to some of our Picasa photos from a few days after his birth.

Champs

In the spirit of continued Victories this post is about the Humble Area First Baptist Church (HAFBC) Men's Softball team.

I recently signed up for the Church's men's softball team for the summer season. It was probably not the best time of year to join the team as almost every day this summer there has been a heat advisory and ozone watches.

Our league is not super competitive and everyone on the team is at a minimum athletic. I made it to every game but one. In our second or third week I was called away to the hospital after Lisa's Chick-fil-a episode and missed half that game and the second game. The trick was on Lisa though since I smelled of death after running around in 100+ degree weather and not showering.

We did not win the regular season as we split games with another team and they had the tiebreaker, but we did get the regular season run title and won the playoffs. For the record we were 2-1 against the regular season champs with the playoffs included.

Here is the team after we upset the top seed.


Here is the boy with the trophy. The trophy is "toddler-sized"


For the record, HAFBC hasn't won the championship in 8 years and I am 1 for 1. Fitting

Prepping for Nolan

We are on baby watch these days. Lisa is full term and we are just waiting for Nolan to make his arrival. Lisa has been nesting and I have been doing the minimum amount of work required of me to help her nest.

Also in preparation we took a Breast Feeding class and took BC to the hospital for a new sibling class.

Here are some pics from the sibling class.


The following are Colin learning to change a diaper.



As you can see Lisa had to do most of the work. I guess Colin learned from me that if you pretend you don't know how to do something, you don't have to do it.

Colin puts in the finishing touches.

This is Colin practicing holding the baby while still watching TV (a skill that I have mastered)





I thought this advertisement was fitting for Lisa to stand in front of (No, not the food sign on the left). We were at the mall trying to walk out the baby. On the elevator ride to the first floor, Lisa had a pretty good contraction that made her double over. It pretty much freaked out everyone on the elevator.

Elevator rides with Pregnant Lisa always make me think of that one Saved by the Bell episode where they get stuck in the elevator after an earthquake and the pregnant girl goes into labor. Hmmm, that gives me an idea on how to get Lisa to go into labor. I just need her to get stuck in an elevator . . .