Protector of the Night

Last week Connor started waking up once and twice a night - something he hasn't done in quite some time. I think it has to do with the fact that he needed more to eat and his little chompers-to-be are bothering him. Well, one night he was particularly upset - I am talking howling on the changing table. He did not want his diaper changed, he wanted his bottle ten minutes ago! So, he is laying on the changing table crying and I can hear this other howl - I was a little tired and therefore a little confused - when I looked down to my right it is Sedona HOWLING like a wolf in the night. It was HILARIOUS, she was just howling along like "can someone please take care of my baby?!" She literally had her head back going "aaahhoooooowwwww" we about peed in our pants. So, she is now "Sedona Protector of the Night" making sure we are taking care of her baby to her standards and letting him know that she feels his pain! :)

Sentimental Friday Find

My Friday Find this week was a little sentimental (and a few days late!). We inherited my brother's old computer Baptism weekend. My laptop went ca put and he got a new one! I was looking at his pictures and came across this album from the first few days of Connor's life. I was just blown away by how small he was (3lb. 12 oz. on the scale!) and the fact that he is now sucking his thumb, giggling, eating carrots and sleeping in his big boy crib in the next room. I still remember just how small he was and what he looked like the first time I saw him. Parts of the day and days after are hazy, but I hope to never forget the first time they put him in my arms.

This is the video that my brother took 27 hours after his arrival, when I FINALLY got to see him and hold him for the first time. I remember being in shock that he was actually here, and blown away by how beautiful he was. I told him how much we loved him and that I was so sorry I couldn't keep him in any longer. I remember Bj snuggling in behind us as we looked at our little family for the first time. I remember how sweet the kiss he gave me on the top of my head was (and how scary that head of hair looked!!) and how nothing in my life had ever felt as right as that moment. My sweet husband and my beautiful baby - my mom and brother all in one place.

Well, just thought I would share that little memory. It was such a sweet one and I couldn't help but get a little emotional when I saw that little video!

Just TOO Tired To Let Go...

In my opinion it doesn't get much cuter than this - he LOVES Mr. Froggie and on the way home last night (and many other times) he fell asleep mid-play. He was just going, going and then gone. He is a little too much for me to handle sometimes - cute little stink pot!

Hanging With the Rice's

We spent a lovely afternoon at the Rice's on Sunday. We went swimming and had a delicious BBQ a la Auntie! It was such a nice afternoon and a beautiful day! I snapped a few pictures of Connor with Nene and Caitlin! We had such a nice afternoon, we are already looking forward to planning another one! Thanks for having us Rice's!

A Tale of Two Lovies

Technically it is three lovies - but the title was so much better when I said two! At least I have my priorities straight. And for the record, Connor wouldn't look at the camera because he was staring at the dogs who were wrestling at his feet! :) You may have noticed that C has a little "lovey" in all of his pictures - he LOVES these things. He has three - one from Aunt Lauren, one from Momma, and this doggie from The Shahinian's. The doggie is by far his favorite, but he loves the other two blankets as well. He will fuss in his car seat until the lovey is in hand, and he loves to suck on them, eat them and nuzzle with them. We think it's precious - and I secretly love that he has something because I had (and still have in the closet) Derby, my stuffed rabbit, and Bj (still has in his Grandpa's basement) had a camel that he carried around. It is pretty cute and it will be fun to see if this love carries on with him, or if in the future he has another little security blanket/animal of some sort!

The Best of Friends...

After naptime this afternoon, we were just hanging out, waiting for Granny to get off work so we could go to the pool. So, we decided to look outside at all the wonderful things in the front yard. It was pretty steamy this afternoon, so we thought it was best to view the outside from the bumbo chair inside. I put Connor in the bumbo, turned around, and when I looked back his two best friends were hanging out, watching the world with him. I thought it was a little too sweet so I ran and grabbed the camera and was lucky enough to capture a few pictures of them hanging out together. It is so amazing how much Connor loves his dogs and how much his dogs love him - I hope they love each this much as he gets bigger. It just about melted my heart - his two biggest buddies checking out things in the front yard making sure all is right in the world.

I LOVE Carrots!

Messy Man!
Licking the Chops because those were TASTY!
He was ready for more!
Get those in my belly :)

In case you were wondering, Connor had his first taste of real, real food today! He finally got to add something to the old rice cereal he has been chowing down the last few days. He was hilarious - he LOVED the carrots. If he had the mobility to pick the bowl up and gulp down everything in it, he would have done so. He was practically falling out of the bumbo trying to get to the carrots - it was a riot! He was great, he ate his whole bowl, drank a bottle and was back to playing in the exersaucer! He is such a champ - I can't wait to figure out his next veggie!

6 Month Stats!

Since I know everyone has been dying to know...here are the six month stats!

Weight: 15lb. 8oz (25%)

Length: 25.5 inches (25%)

Head Circ: 44 cm. (50%)

We met with the new doctor at the new practice and I have to say we are quite pleased! Dr. Calfee was super friendly and was seemed more than happy to meet us. She said the Connor looks great and she is referring to his stats on the "normal" baby scale not the adjusted preemie scale - so that is our big man's stats at six months and I would have to say he is holding his own in that 25th percentile! He has a large head though to house that massive, intelligent brain of his! She said he looks and acts developmentally right about his actual age, not the adjusted! We were super excited to hear that and we are so proud! He has now gained 10 pounds, almost 11, since being released from the hospital - way to go big man! We have to go back next week for the shots and then not again until 9 months. He was also given the go-ahead to start eating some fruits and veggies! I can't wait to see how he does, we are off to Target tomorrow to get his new booster seat and perhaps a new book for being the best little boy ever!

Mr. Grabby Pants

Connor has been "grabbing" at things for a little while now and it is so funny to watch. He will get that little arm out there, with a look of total concentration on his face, and just go for it - it kind shakes a little as he is still working on the coordination. He gets a little upset when something isn't quite close enough for him to reach - and he will reach for anything, and I mean ANYTHING. Bj and I were sitting at the desk last night looking at something on the computer and Connor was sitting in my lap. He just had his little hands all over the desk - it was hilarious. He kept pulling the papers off, I kept putting them back on the table, he kept pulling them off. We were dying - he looked like a little mini business executive pulling papers off going "yes, check, keep this, no to that" it was a riot. Once he was done with that I turned him around to talk to him where he promptly started pulling my hair and trying to get my necklace in his mouth - all at the same time! Sweet little stink pot!

2 Wonderful Years!

Two years ago today, on the arm of my brother, I ran down the aisle to marry my sweet husband. There have been bumps, turns, highs, lows, triumph, defeat, tears, excitement, and above all lots of love and happiness. I have watched us grow and change so much in the last two years, and I am so content with the couple we have and continue to become. I have loved watching us transform into our news roles as parents and the love we have for Connor is overwhelming sometimes. I may have a few extra pounds on me – but I am just as happy each day I wake up next to my hubby as the day the got married. Thanks for a great two years BeeJ, I can’t wait to see what else is in store! I love you!

Belated Friday Fun!

So, if you can see a theme here - we love the pool. Correction, Connor loves the pool! We just begrudgingly go because he enjoys it - ha! :) We decided the best way to spend our Friday Fun day would be with Uncle Dave and Aunt Jen and the family at the pool. It was a hot day and it felt nice and refreshing! It was a great afternoon BBQ and we just had a great time! It was so nice to see Aunt Jen and Uncle Dave a little more before the big Baptism too and show them the Connor Man's phenomenal swimming ability!

Party Time!

After Connor's big Baptism we thought it was only fitting to go back to the house and celebrate he and Daddy's big day! It was so fun, all the family came by and we had a really nice afternoon!

The favors, a little thank you for everyone who celebrated this special day with us!

Pat and CFJ - hanging out!

Grandpa, Godmother and CFJ

All the boys - what handsome men!

All the ladies and Connor - what beauties!

Connor's beautiful cake by Baker-Extraordinaire Auntie! She made another round cake with polka dots, but it had an unfortunate accident in the fridge, so, since she is amazing she whipped up a new one! We have already hired her on as the 1st birthday cake maker! And, see below for her super cute Father's Day creation!

Connor was pooped by the end of the day - too much goings on - and he was out! Thanks to everyone for making this such a special day for our sweet little man! Happy Father's Day again to all the fantastic Daddy's out there! We sure do love you!

Baptism Day

We were so excited to be able to celebrate Connor's Baptism, in addition to Father's Day this weekend! We had been trying to get a date lined up, but between the move, us living us out of town, and getting the Godparents in town - it was proving to be a bit difficult. But, we finally found the perfect weekend and were so thankful that our friends and family were able to make it! Connor was perfect during the ceremony - he did not make one little peep - he just smiled and kicked his legs the whole time. He was fascinated with Msgr. Sudekum and just watched him the whole time he spoke - it was pretty funny! It was such a special event and we were so proud of our little bugster. I think we both got a little emotional, especially when Msgr. read the prayer for Moms, Dads, Goparents, Grandparents and Family - so sweet. It really just brought home the fact that we are a little family and we are responsible for raising Connor to be the best man he can be. We had such a wonderful day and we can't thank everyone enough for being there!

Getting ready! Connor was able to wear the gown that both my brother and I were baptized in, pretty special in my opinion! We were surprised he still fit in it - and he looked precious!

He was most excited at all the extra fabric to put in his mouth! The little family.

His eyes got big when Msgr. poured the water on his head - but he didn't cry! We laughed and said he was just disappointed that he couldn't splash his feet in the water!

The wonderful Godparents - Aunt Jen and Uncle Dave! Both traveled long distances to be a part of this special day in their Godson's life!

The Godparents plus Momma and Daddy

The proud grandparents joined this picture!

The whole group (minus the Erker's and Diehr's who were gracious enough to take the pictures)

It was just the perfect little ceremony and we feel so blessed to be a part of such a wonderful family. After Church it was over to Granny D's for a celebration!!

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

We were so excited to celebrate Daddy's first fathers day today! We were pretty lucky that Daddy was nice enough to share his big day with Connor's Baptism - so we made sure his day was even more special. Connor sure is lucky to have such a great daddy who loves him so much. We took extra care to make sure he had a great day and we had a fun time picking out his presents! We had such a nice day and it was made even better by being able to spend it with family and friends.

We woke up this morning and took a bath (and used our "I love Daddy" towel) got dressed in the "I Love Daddy" onesie and made some cinnamon rolls, breakfast and coffee for daddy. We think he enjoyed the day and was pretty happy to have his sweet little man this year!

This was one of our favorites - Aunt Steph sent us an email about a personalized crown bottle for father's day and we loved it! Since Daddy is a "Crown and Coke Connossieur" we thought he might enjoy a personalized bottle for his first father's day!

What kind of wife and son would we be if we didn't give Daddy his this "Dad" Cardinals T-shirt?! Overall we think he was pretty excited with his little gifts!

We made sure we told Daddy just how wonderful he is and how much we love him. We think he is a pretty great dad and love everything he has done in the last six months. He is so sweet and patient and nothing warms my heart like the look in his eyes when he sees Connor first thing in the morning or after a long day at work. It is so evident just how much he loves that sweet boy! So, Happy Father's Day to you my sweet hubby! Thank you for being the best daddy our sweet baby could ask for!

We All Scream for Ice Cream!

So, Connor decided he was through with rice cereal and went straight for the breakfast sandwich. He said whatever guys - I can handle it!

But, before that Granny let him taste the sweet world of ICE CREAM! I don't think he is ever going to be the same and will spend the rest of his days wondering when more ice cream is coming his way :) He LOVED it -he just couldn't stop licking his lips, it was pretty cute. I mean...what kiddo doesn't deserve a little lick of ice cream on a hot day at the beach?!

Did someone say...FOOD?!

For the last month or so poor Connor has been staring at us CHEWING every time we eat. He looks like we are totally neglecting him by not letting him have a bite of our breakfast, lunch or dinner. It's kind of sad really! So, since he was close enough to 6 months we let him go ahead and have some rice cereal! At first we was a little hesitant and wanted to "teeth" on the spoon more than eat the cereal. But, once he got the hang of it he was good to go! Now he loves it, he sits in the Bumbo and chows down! It is really pretty stinkin cute! I can't wait for the doctor's appointment on Thursday after which we will promptly come home and try some other delicious foods. Here he is enjoying his cereal - such a good little eater this one!

He's like "what, MORE?!" :)

There he is leaning forward trying to get the spoon is his mouth! Must take after his momma in the eating department, poor little man! He still watches us eat only now I don't feel so bad as we are filling his belly with something other than milk!! Way to go big boy!

I had a Moment...

So, this is the back of my car. This will be very important at the end of this little story. On Tuesday, on my way home from work, I realized I had a flat tire. Completely flat, the car was tilted! I didn't even make it out of the parking lot, thankfully, and one of my co-workers stopped to help me. I got out of the car, opened the trunk, lifted up the carpet and declared "I have NO spare tire, how can I not have a spare tire?!" all of this spewing out of my mouth as my nice co-worker is quietly taking the tire OFF THE BACK OF MY CAR. Where it has been EVERYDAY FOR THE LAST FOUR YEARS. Yeppers, I had a moment folks! :)

Dear Teeth,

This is Ellen, Connor's momma - I am writing to ask all of you to please, p-l-e-a-s-e, pretty please?! come in soon so my poor sweet boy is no longer in pain. He tried so hard to be happy this afternoon (bless his sweet heart) but all he wanted to do was gnaw on my shoulder. If only you, teeth, could make an appearance - all what seems like 25 of you - so my baby boy can get some relief I sure would appreciate it. Perhaps you could all consider coming in at one time so as to alleviate the need for the problem to happen again? Think about it, I am begging you - and asking oh so sweetly?!

Sincerely,
Ellen

Playing Fool!

I interrupted playtime to sneak a quick picture (are we seeing a trend here?! - I look like a perma-tourist around the house with the camera constantly around my neck!) He L-O-V-E-S this thing and right before I snapped the picture he was spinning around laughing his head off. He really is a little too sweet for me sometimes!!

Nakey Man!

I was snapping pictures before dinner this evening and thought this one was cute. We had just played outside and were getting ready for bath time and I thought the little naked man in his bumbo was pretty cute :) He is staring at his crazy dogs jumping up and down below his feet!

Stranger Anxiety

We started to notice right before we left Colorado that Connor was experiencing a little "stranger anxiety" oddly enough it was the topic of that week's baby center bulletin, so it did not surprise me all that much. He is such a happy baby and he loves people, so it did surprise me a little that he was hesitant around people. I had experienced this with other kids and thought it's okay, they will be fine, they will get used to the people. Well, when it comes to my baby I realized that I just need to take him back, calm him down, and he is usually just fine. I have notice it happens mainly in the evenings around the witching hours, or when he is really tired. So I could just chalk it up to him wanting to be around his momma or daddy. It's kind of tough and makes me nervous for the first time he gets upset when one of us leaves him. I am not sure what I am going to do - I think it could be harder on me than on him. Maybe we will just sail right on through that, maybe?! I guess I can't blame him as the first five months of his life were pretty much spent with just momma and daddy - we know he will grow out of it, and it's really not that bad - just interesting. We have it under control though - we just take him back, tell him it's okay and he is usually just fine :)

Winners!!

So, I was having a little too much fun with my first giveaway - I am a dork, I know! And I decided after I pulled the first name (the old fashioned way, out of a hat) that I just wanted to go ahead and pull two! So, drum roll please...the winners are....

MS. STEPHANIE KEPPLINGER
&
MS. JANA WOOTTON

Congrats! I am excited to make your burp clothes - be looking for them in the mail very soon! Thanks to everyone who entered...be on the lookout for another one! Hopefully I will get my act together and have a website up and running so I can start selling all of my goods!

6 Months Old!

I can't believe it's here, our sweet baby boy is 6 MONTHS OLD! It may not seem all that exciting, but it sure does to me. Sorry the pictures are not the greatest - he was a little sleepy this afternoon :)

I just can't believe that as I write this we were still an hour and thirty minutes away from meeting you, sweet pea. We didn't know if you were a boy or a girl and we had no idea what you looked like. We were just sitting in a hospital room having contractions. The last six months have been a whirl wind and my head still spins a little when I think about all we have done. We spent two months in the hospital, brought you home, sold our house, got new jobs, and moved our little family 800 miles to St. Louis. We are right where we want to be and we are so thankful we are going to be able to watch you grow up with your family just as we hoped for you. We have watched you grow from a teeny-tiny, four pound, little old man into an adorable (not exactly sure on the weight, guessing 16 pound) six month old baby. We have settled into family life quite nicely and we still could sit and stare at you all day - I still can't believe you are ours. You are sleeping better at night, eating like a champ, talking up a storm, kicking your legs, being a giggle monster, holding your head up, standing, you LOVE being in the water, sucking your thumb, loving your lovey, rolling over and sitting pretty well (not on your own yet), teething, drooling, tooting up a storm, and just being the sweetest little man we have ever seen. WOW - my head spins a little thinking about all you have done in six months - and how much more there is to come. It's hard to imagine six months from now I will be writing about how you have been in the world for a whole year and how your destroyed your birthday cake. I have been waiting for this day, as 6-9 months has always been my favorite baby age. I have to say with the addition of you, I now love newborn and 0-6 months just as well. Maybe the 3.5-4 month stage more as you were sleeping better :) You are an absolute joy and pleasure to be around - you totally have your grandparents smitten! You have brought nothing but happiness to our lives and our hearts ache sometimes with how much we love you. You are the light of our lives, thanks for being you - here's to the next six months sweet baby boy!

Side note: We have our first doctor's appointment with the new doctor scheduled for next Thursday - so stayed tuned for the newest stats! C is a HORSE these days and I think he has gained at least 10 pounds and grown 7 inches :)