Happy Memorial Day!

We had a great weekend in Dallas attending my best friend Erin Shea's wedding. She was happy and it was a beautiful and fun wedding.

We also had fun with Connor's new pal Benji (15 months), who is my friend Molly's son. We stayed with her family, so it was a blast. Her parents were gracious enough to watch both boys Saturday night while we attended the wedding.

Today was nice too. Jeff got to golf this morning and this afternoon, we applied some festive American themed temporary tattoos and hung out in the baby pool. It was about 99 degrees, so the pool was a must.

Enjoy some photos of our weekend.

Sweet boys Connor and Benji (15 months) eating breakfast together. Molly, Benji's Mom, is a good friend of both me and Jeff. It's so fun that now we both have little boys.

Benji is so cute. He is in a very helpful stage right now and was always bringing Connor things to play with.

Connor and Benji played well together. Benji was very tolerant of Connor always trying to grab at him.

While I was at the bridesmaids luncheon on Friday, Jeff and Connor, and Molly and her family hung out in their pool. He loved this floaty thing. Apparently, he just floated around in it very peacefully.

Molly's sister Meredith, Connor, Benji, and Molly.

It's hard to tell, but I guess he'd lounge back in his floaty and sip from his cup. He's got the lounge lizzard thing down very well.

Me and the Bride, Erin Shea. Of course she wasn't in her dress at this point. We had just had our hair and makeup done.

It was a very packed dance floor with a great band. Here, me, Erin and some friends are having a fun time.

I love this photo. Erin looks so happy. Her new husband is on the right looking at her if you can see him.

Connor attended the wedding ceremony (not the reception) and was a good boy. He was quiet the whole time expect at the very end. Actually it was really funny. As the minister was announcing them as husband and wife Connor kind of yelled out. It got a laugh and the timing was actually pretty good. It's like he was giving his approval.

He also attended the after wedding brunch on Sunday. He was a big hit. Above, he is posing with Erin and her sister Christie.

Before we left Dallas, we actually got a chance to see my Aunt Joan and Uncle Dave. We had a few minutes to wait, because they were still on their way back from Fredricksburg, so we had a little picnic on their lawn.


Connor was a little over the whole car ride home, so we stopped to have a snack. Jeff and I think Dallas gets farther away every time we go there. I guess it's just hard to travel with a baby.

Today, after Connor's nap, we had some pool time. As you can see, we put on some fun temporary tattoos. Jeff wanted a USA tattoo right on his forehead.

This seemed like a perfect time to put Connor in a jeans diaper. Along with his tattoos, he was very All American, that's for sure.

Tattooed Mommy and Baby.

Look at that buff bicep.

Chillin' in the pool with his red white and blue necklace.

Daddy and Connor in the baby pool.

Happy Memorial Day!

Your baby might be from Texas if...

...he owns a pair of jeans diapers.

I am not sure if you've seen these advertised, but for a limited time, Huggies came out with "jeans diapers." Connor doesn't make it a habit to go out in public in nothing but a diaper, but these jeans diapers were just too ridiculous to pass up. They are both white trash and cute at the same time.

Enjoy our little photo shoot of our Honky Baby.

Showing off his cool jeans diapers.

Doesn't he look styling.

All we need now is a baby wife beater shirt and he'll be a little redneck.

A nice closeup. I like the fake pockets.

They may be embarrassing, but Connor doesn't seem to mind.

Happy 11 Month Birthday!

Connor is 11 months old today. That is very cool, however all I can seem to think about is the fact that he'll be 1 year old next month. Where did the time go? I think what amazes me the most is that Jeff and I have been parents for a year and during that time we've managed to raise a sweet and happy little boy. It really is astonishing to think of our lives just one year ago.

Before I go and get too nostalgic though, I should take a moment to reflect on Connor's 11 month accomplishments. To sum up...the boy is on the move. In the past month he has learned to crawl like a pro, pull up on anything he can, and cruise with gusto. It's really amazing to think just one month ago he was just taking his first crawling steps and two months ago he wasn't moving at all. I remember telling the pediatrician at his 9 month appointment that he just didn't seem motivated to move and now he wants to be crawling or pulling up on something anytime he's out of your arms.

In the past week or so, the cruising has gotten a lot better too. He can move really fast on a window sill or the coffee table from one end to the other. He can't balance that well on just his two feet, so I'm still thinking walking is a ways off, but he's getting there.

As for food, he's still getting purees at each meal, but he's eating more and more table food every day. The main reason he is still getting purees though is mostly because I still have some in the freezer and he's still eating them, so I figure why not. He could definitely eat an entire meal of food on just table food now though if he wanted to.

I am still nursing him 3 times a day too, although for the first time today, I added a little whole milk into his sippy cup of breast milk at lunch. He didn't seem to notice or mind. I have a feeling he'll transition to whole milk just fine.

Of course the biggest change is his sleeping. I think we are officially transitioning to one nap a day, which might actually be harder on me than it is on Connor. Not only do I like the naps because it sort of gives me a little break in the day, but it also allows me to get stuff done. I all of sudden got my productive time cut in half to only about 2 hours a day. Yikes. Let that be a fair warning if you come over to my house in the next couple of weeks while I am adjusting. House work is getting awfully hard to fit in these days and God forbid I actually want to take time to shower. Ugh. We'll get this figured out, but for now I think I'm struggling with this more than Connor is.

We had a fun first on Sunday when we took Connor to our neighborhood pool for the first time. Like most new things, Connor is a little skeptical at first. He did not smile or really make any type of noise for probably the first 30 minutes. After that though you could tell he was starting to get used to it, because he was splashing his arms a bit and babbling. It wasn't a slam dunk, but he wasn't screaming and crying either, so I think it's a good place to start. It is Texas though, so I'm hoping he likes the pool, because it is just too darn hot to spend summers without one.

Well enjoy some recent photos we took and wish Connor a Happy 11 Month Birthday! The big one (literally) is next month. Wow!

These may be some of my worst "month" photos, but it certainly shows how squirmy he's getting. It's hard to get him to focus for my photo shoots. Here he is standing up, one of his favorite activities.

Crawling after the sign.

More standing.

Something Connor really likes to do lately is stand at the front window in our study and play with and chew on this little blue clock. I don't know what the fascination is, but he really likes this little clock.

One night, Jeff caught Connor and Maizey looking out the window together. Very sweet.

Connor chilling before his first pool experience.

Daddy walking Connor into the pool.

We made it. It's not so bad, right Connor. There were so many kids and things to look at. Connor was a little overwhelmed.

Getting situated. We sat here for a while to adjust and then we walked around with him and let him glide through the water.

Showing off his sun hat.

After the pool, Jeff took some pics of Connor playing.

I love his little smirk in this one. So cute.

Something else he's been liking lately is standing up on the coffee table and playing with and chewing on these leather coasters that we have and the coaster holder. You walk by the coffee table and don't let him touch them and he starts fussing. It's so funny.

I love these coasters!

Hi!

So yesterday I had the bright idea to give Connor a spinach and blueberry puree combo and Connor decided to smoosh said puree all over his face and hair.

What a mess, but it was so hilarious.

I'm a messy boy.

Some Fun Photos and an Indulgent Mom

So we've had a pretty good week so far. Connor continues to pull up on anything he can find. He even tried to pull up on Maizey yesterday. She wasn't too fond of that, but handled it pretty well. She just sort of ran off.

Yesterday, he also had what I would describe as his first little tantrum. I had my sandals on the floor and he was trying to chew on them so I took them away. He immediately laid down on the ground, arching his back and crying. I was so stunned I gave him a sandal just to see if that was the problem. He stopped. Yikes. I am not ready for that, but I knew it was coming.

Another "fun" thing he's been doing is skipping his second nap of the day. I put him down and about 30 minutes later he's still jabbering away and then he starts getting a little fussy, so I go in and get him. He always has this huge smile and I smile back and tell him he's naughty.

Of course I'm just teasing, but it's a really hard transition to make. I love the two naps and Connor seems to still need it, because he ends up getting overly tired by the end of the day. I did try to push back his morning nap an hour later this week, but it didn't work. He ended up waking up at the same time he did when the nap was an hour earlier. So basically he got less sleep. Ugh.

I have heard from other Moms that I just need to commit to pushing it back and eventually he'll adjust, but I have really grown accustom to the two naps, so I am sure it will be hard to fit everything in with just the one. We'll make it work though. What a big boy.

Now enjoy some photos we have taken recently and a video of my little Momma's boy.

The other night at dinner we wet Connor's hair and gave him a mohawk. Jeff thinks it may have stayed so well, since we were at a burger place and our hands may have been a little greasy. Kind of gross, but he wears it so well.

A nice side view of his mohawk.

Doesn't he look tough with a mohawk and his camo shorts.

Having fun at dinner.

What a cutie.

Connor was in a jolly mood, so we did an impromptu photo shoot of him in his diaper. I think this is one where Jeff stands him up and then lets go to see if he'll stand for a few seconds. He usually just falls back onto the bed and laughs, but occasionally he'll stand.

It was the end of the day, so he was a little tired. So sweet.

Lying down was short lived. He's back and feistier than ever.

Holding onto Daddy's hand for support.

I love to bounce!

Hmm, you think I could crawl off the bed?

Did I mention that I love to bounce? (Oh and look at those thighs...Wow)

Dad, you're pretty cool.

Why are you taking a picture of me in the tub?

It's cute, this toy has three holes in the bottom, so the water comes out like a little stream and he likes to grab the water as it comes out.

Hey, stop messing with my hair.

All warm and snuggly after the bath.

Connor showing off his "snug" jammies. The pants are really tight and the horizontal stripes don't help. Also, the top is a little short. They are too funny.

Nice tummy sticking out of your jammies Connor.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this, but Connor does not like crawling on tile. The other day we tried our best to entice him. This is the beginning when he just wouldn't do it.

Now he's trying to get a feel for it. He'd get in this position and then go back. It was really funny.

Finally, we got him to come our way. He still doesn't like it, but we'll keep trying.

As I said earlier, this whole skipping his second nap thing makes Connor overly tired and today it carried over from yesterday so for the first time in probably 4 or 5 months, Connor fell asleep in the stroller on our morning walk. He probably only slept for the last 10 minutes of our walk, but it was still kind of precious. Poor sleepy guy. Of course this ten minute nap messed up our entire morning, since he wouldn't nap after breakfast, but he's napping now, so we shall see how that goes. Wish me luck as I figure out this whole one nap thing.

Ok, so this is my indulgent Mom video. I still don't think he actually knows that I'm "Momma" but I like the way it sounds. He is also making "duh" sounds so maybe Daddy is next. I may be crazy, but this stay at home Mom needs a little positive reinforcement today.