Latest Updates

Here's some recent updates from the Courtright Clan.

Collin completed his 4th MS150 race this week, which is the annual bike ride from Houston to Austin in support of curing MS. It's really 180 miles instead of 150, but this year the race organizers had to cancel the first day of the ride due to the very stormy weather conditions on Saturday. So he ended up riding 75 miles on Sunday and raising over $400 for the cause. Congrats, Collin!

Here's Collin in his bike gear, ready for the race!

Connor started an intense 2-week beginner swim class this week with his best buddy Benjamin. It's something I've wanted to enroll him in for a while since we have the pool and lake in our yard, so I was happy to sign up when I learned that Benjamin was going. They'll go everyday for 30 minutes, and after the initial 2 weeks we'll probably try to enroll him in a "maintenance" program to keep the skills fresh. It's amazing what they are learning already. Today was Day 2 and already both boys are floating on their backs (with a little assistance) and diving for rings underwater! Connor isn't too thrilled about the underwater part but he's progressing well and likes his instructor Mr. Josh.

Jeff and Connor had a nice morning today before the swim lesson (I couldn't make it today). The weather has been absolutely gorgeous, so they enjoyed some playtime at a neighborhood park before leaving for swimming and school. During their outing, Jeff forwarded me the following pics from his phone which of course put a big smile on my face.

My sweet boys!

Apparently Connor was walking across this bridge and out of nowhere launched into his 'signature' dance move!

Just chillin' and having a cracker snack.

Connor is having a good week so far with his potty training. He's doing great about telling me when he needs to go potty, and we've even made some progress on going #2. Of course, the bribe of suckers and TV never hurts! I've been keeping a detailed day-by-day journal of his progress because I know I'll forget in the future. But I'll spare you those details!

Finally, here's the latest update on Baby Girl Courtright. We had our 30-week ultrasound last week. It wasn't as detailed as the earlier ones, but we did learn that her leg and arm bones are measuring smaller than before. It was definitely disappointing but I'm trying not to get caught up in the numbers. We're thankful that she appears healthy and is growing normally. I saw my normal doctor today and she is going to schedule me for a weekly biophysical profile (BPP) test starting next week. It's a special test to monitor the baby's well-being from now until the end of the pregnancy due to her 2-vessel cord condition. I found a good description of the test here if you're interested.

Potty Times

Ah, the joys of potty training. Connor has been "practicing" his potty skills for quite some time now. He's always been pretty good about going #1 in the potty, but only if Jeff or I initiated a trip to the potty. For several weeks now, we've been giving Connor the message that he needed to start wearing big boy underwear after he turns 3 in May. To my delight, he seemed to grasp that concept willingly. Then last week Connor suddenly decided on his own that he wanted to wear big boy undies. He successfully went #2 in the potty that night, so I was more than happy to let him have his underwear.

In the past week, we've had several successes both at home and at Connor's school. But we've also had many accidents. The biggest hurdle is going #2. For some reason Connor has been really hesitant to poop in the potty, despite much encouragement and even many bribes. I've read a lot about this being normal, so I'm trying to back off a bit and let him go when he's ready. In the meantime it's definitely stressful trying to prevent a nasty accident. Luckily we had a really good day today - not a single accident plus 2 poops in the potty! So I'm hopeful that we're on the right track.

Here's Connor showing off his big boy undies and having a sucker after a successful poop in the potty.

Easter Fun

Just a quick post today. We had a nice Easter Sunday yesterday. The weather forecasters called for nasty storms all day but after a quick morning thunderstorm, it turned out to be a gorgeous spring day! Perfect for Jeff's birthday and Easter, too. The Easter Bunny made a quick stop indoors this year, and even Collin and Kevin got in on the fun (Easter Bunny knows they like cash!) The older boys were really cute helping Connor find his share of eggs. Here's some pics.

Kevin collects Easter eggs in his basket.

Collin resorted to a grocery bag for his eggs.
And Connor loved the hunt.

Happy Birthday!

Jeff's birthday falls on Easter Sunday this year, April 12, so we decided to celebrate a little early in order to separate the occasions. Tonight Collin and Kevin joined us and we all went out for a celebratory dinner at one of our fave Mexican joints. After dinner, we returned home and Jeff opened his birthday gifts - a loaded iPod Nano and some yard lighting, along with some cash and coins from family. Then Connor insisted that Daddy blow out some candles (and I barely talked him out of the birthday hat), so we loaded up Jeff's favorite chocolate cake from Treebeard's with tons of birthday candles. OK, not tons, but I'll let you figure out how many there might be on there! After enjoying cake and ice cream, we all relaxed and watched a movie together. It was a nice evening. Happy Birthday, Jeff!!

Before heading out for dinner, we snapped a family photo by the lake in our backyard.

A quick pic of Jeff and I at dinner.

Here's Jeff with his chocolate cake loaded with candles (can you guess how many?)

And now the candles are lit. It's like a bonfire! Can he blow them all out?

Yep, success! But check out all the smoke!

After dinner, Jeff and Connor cuddled while watching a movie.

Daddy and Conman.

Almost 3 and (Finally) Passy-Free!

In my last post I shared how Connor and Kevin are sharing a room now. I guess Jeff and I did too good of a job of telling Connor the "rules" about his new big-boy bed, because he won't get out of the bed for any reason, even if he drops a toy or his passy off the bed. Every once in a while he'll cry at night when he can't find his passy and we have to go up there and give it to him.

Well, now when Kevin is over, Kevin doesn't like for us to have the baby monitor on because he thinks it's creepy. So Kevin's job is to tend to Connor in case he cries or anything since we can't hear without the monitor. Last Wednesday night apparently Connor cried out for his passy twice and Kevin had to get up to get it for him both times. We've been saying for weeks now that Connor would give all of his passies to the baby when she arrives but now I think we've reached a point where the time has come!

So last Thursday morning on the way to school, I was talking to Connor about how it's time for him to give his passy to the baby, and we should just go ahead and put them all in her crib so that they are ready for her when she gets here. (He won't go near the crib now because "cribs are for babies!") So I said to him, "We need to put all our passies in the crib, because passies are for babies." He seemed to think for a second and then he said, in his most convincing voice, "Some passies is for big boys." Ha!

I later suggested that we go to the toy store this weekend and pick out a big-boy toy just for Connor for giving up his passy for his baby sister. He seemed very excited about that idea, and he didn't want to wait until the weekend. So Thursday night, we made a special trip to Toys R Us to pick out Connor a big-boy treat for giving up his passy. We roamed each and every toy isle and Connor made a big production about which toys were and were not acceptable as his "special treat." Finally, he selected a box of 20 Matchbox cars and was super excited to play with them at home.

Before we could open the box of cars, we had 1 thing to do: pass over the passy. So Connor went upstairs, found his passy in his bed, went into the nursery, and tossed the passy inside his baby sister's crib. Jeff and I gave him huge hugs and high-5s to congratulate him on his big-boy decision. Then we all went downstairs and Jeff helped Connor open his box of Matchbox cars to play with. His favorite was the yellow school bus.

Much to our surprise, Connor has done GREAT without his passy. He hasn't cried out a single time in the 3 nights he's been without it. I guess it was time! Now, if only we could master the potty training...

Connor shows off his big-boy treat for giving up his passy.

Here's Connor about to toss the passy in the crib for his baby sister.

Opening Connor's set of Matchbox cars.

Connor's favorite car is the yellow school bus.

Connor points to Mommy's baby bump - here I am at 28 weeks.