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Conor likes Nat more than me.  She can hold him for more than an hour   I think she may have gotten the first smile  one time I asked her to hold him so I could quick do something even though he was screaming he collapsed in exhaustion onher

I asked her if she would stay home from school to help me out during the week  even though she loved her bro she declined  🙂 she said she would miss her friends too much

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E hasn’t held Conor since coming home but he has:

1. told him secrets about Nat

2. given him bunny ears

3. made black and white contrast pics for him

4. Sang him songs to calm him down when crying

5. Kissed him on the head and cheeks ( so called marshmallow cheeks)

6. Gave me a fake receipt so I could return him to the store

5 out of 6 isn’t bad!

Every since Natalie was born, we really liked Clara Grace as a potential girls name.  That would have been Elliott’s name if he was a girl.  Natalie had a ton of other suggestions too: Mia (short for Maria), Hazel, Julia, to name a few.  Elliott decided that Elizabeth Pearl was his favorite, and then Natalie came around to Elizabeth too.  The top contenders for boys name were Tyler, Conor, Henry and Ryan.  Elliott had the suggestion of doing a poll (he does those a lot in school), so Natalie assisted with that.  Here’s where we ended up.

 the number shows how popular the name is

So, Jordan and I liked Conor the most and liked the one n as opposed to the more common two n’s.  (Natalie asked us to change it to two n’s after we submitted the birth certificate – I think because she had made a picture for him with two n’s that she brought to the hospital.)  We debated between David (my dad’s first name), William (Elliott liked the idea of sharing a middle name with him and obviously that’s a Linville family name) and John (my great grandfather Harold’s middle name, who my Dad was close to and who died in 1981, shortly after I was born).  We decided on David!

Conor was born on January 7th (well past his Christmas due date, well past the 4 days late that Natalie was, well past the tax deduction due date of Dec 31, well past New Year’s Day and the 7 days late that Elliott was, past my great grandmother’s birthday of January 2nd – which was the date I was mentally prepared to go until).  And, thankfully, one day before Elvis’s birthday of Jan 8th, which Jordan was rooting for.  So, besides being a different birthstone than in December, what happened on January 7th in history?

• Feast day of André Bessette, C.S.C. (9 August 1845 – 6 January 1937), more commonly known as Brother André (French: Frère André), and since his canonization as Saint André of Montreal, was a lay brother of the Congregation of Holy Cross and a significant figure of the Roman Catholic Church among French-Canadians, credited with thousands of reported miraculous oil healings associated with his pious devotion to Saint Joseph.^[1]
• Christmas in Russia and the Ukraine (so I guess he is a Christmas baby!)
• 1610 – Galileo Galilei makes his first observation of the four largest moons of Jupiter: Ganymede, Callisto, Io and Europa
• Birthday of Pope Gregory XIII in 1502, best known for commissioning and being the namesake for the Gregorian calendar, which remains the internationally accepted civil calendar to this day
• Birthday of Millard Fillmore, 13th President of the US in 1800, who came into the presidency after the death of his predecessor.  He is best known for working to pass the Compromise of 1850, a bargain that led to a brief truce in the battle over slavery
• Birthday of St. Bernadette of Lourdes in 1844, a French nun.  She saw many visions at the grotto as a young girl and went on to serve people who were ill, despite having many ailments herself
• Birthday of Nicholas Cage, an American actor
• 1927 – Commercial transatlantic telephone service was inaugurated between New York and London.
• 1999 – President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial began in the Senate.

It’s amazing to think about what lies ahead for Conor. There’s anything he can become!

Most of bedtime was fun tonight – it went a little long for my liking, with extra tuck-ins, but let’s focus on the positive.  With Nana and Pop here, we got to double up on reading, so Jordan and I read to Elliott first and then to Natalie. Conor snuggled on his Dad (skin to skin) for the entire time – he had trouble settling in at first, but then loved it.  Elliott had this joke to tell:

Elliott: Knock knock.
Me: Who’s there?
Elliott: Blueberry
Me: Blueberry who?
Elliott: Knock knock.
Me: Who’s there?
Elliott: Blueberry
Me: Blueberry who?
Elliott: Knock knock.
Me: Who’s there?
Elliott: Blueberry
Me: Blueberry who?
Elliott: Knock knock.
Me: Who’s there?
Elliott: Blueberry
Me: Blueberry who?
Elliott: Knock knock.
Me: Who’s there?
Elliott: Blueberry
Me: Blueberry who?
Elliott: Knock knock.
Me: Who’s there?
Elliott: Blueberry
Me: Blueberry who?
Elliott: Conor.
Me: Conor who?
Elliott: Conor I love you.  Get it?  He was Blueberry for so long, and he has only been Conor for a short time.  How many days old is he?
Me: Let’s see.  He came late on Mon, so Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat.  Just over 5 days.  He’s not in 5 and 3/4’s days old and you are 5 and 3/4’s YEARS old.
Elliott: (with a look of disbelief and hilarity)  Yeah!

Elliott also told me he didn’t need white noise any more, which if that is the case, works out handy since we’ve been using an ipad for the white noise for Conor (and Jordan and me, since we are currently sharing a room and trade-off who gets to put in ear plugs – Jordan has been the best about taking the worst shift of being in charge of Conor around midnight or 1.  This has been significantly helped with Kathy here who takes the first shift in the morning with the kids – I’m nervous for her to leave!)

Nana and Pop also got to see Natalie play basketball today, and Natalie and Jordan had father-daughter dance, which they both love.  And a neighbor/classmate took Elliott to a friend’s birthday party today.  And, an acquaintance in town gave us a really nice glider, so now we have one in my bedroom and could move the other one two the first floor.  We are very fortunate to have a network of family and friends to help out.   In fact, my mom even picked up some socks at Kohl’s today and is mailing them, along with a couple outfits.  The socks are clutch as Jordan and I were just talking about how we probably don’t have enough.  We also got to FaceTime with Grandma and Grandpa today, which really wore Conor out.  Unf, my dad didn’t get to see him with his eyes open, but we’ll try again another time.

Here were some messages we got from the kids’ teachers this weekend.

On Monday (when we first went into the hospital) from Mrs. Brydges

Jordan and Erin, Elliott is calm and happy. After he finished his math center, he asked “can I please make my mom a card because I miss her very, very, very, very, very, very much.” He is a doll!!

Welcome Conor David! Living up to one meaning of his name (strong willed), he arrived two weeks late on Jan. 7 at 5:08 p.m., weighing in at 10 lbs 5.6 oz, 23 inches, 38 cm head (average is 34, big babies usually have 36). His middle name is his grandpa’s first name.

We feel so blessed to be the parents of these three amazing kiddos. Natalie and Elliott were beyond sweet with him yesterday. Thanks to all for your support!

Blueberry is proving to be my most stubborn – or perhaps laziest – kid yet.  10 days past my due date and no contractions, just a fair amount of discomfort.  My boss has been kind enough to allow me to work from home this week, which has many advantages: 1) avoiding germs at work (my office was very sick before the holidays), 2) frequent breaks to lay down or walk, and 3) avoiding the small talk around why this baby hasn’t come yet.  After being back in school for three days, Natalie and Elliott both reported that they are tired of answering the following questions (even though we all know its well intentioned and simply because people care):

• Is the here yet? (No)
• Is the baby a boy or a girl? (We don’t know – its a surprise.)
• Are you excited? (Yes)

As Natalie notes, the positive side is that she will not need to share a birthday month or gemstone with the baby.  Elliott is still concerned that the baby will be bigger than he was.  In any case, I’m being induced on Mon, Jan. 7th, so the baby at least needs to arrive by Tues, Jan 8th, right?!? I’m still hoping and praying for a “spontaneous labor” this weekend.  We are fortunate that Alison is here through Sat aft, we have many friends willing to help out over the weekend and after school on Mon and Kathy is coming Mon late aft.  Given that her trip was scheduled for two weeks after the due date, I never would have guessed that she would make it to Longmeadow before the baby was born!