Is my two from teeth!
I have to preface with, I love facebook. I do, I can't help it! I love facebook stalking and catching up with people I would have otherwise lost touch with. So fun! A little history - Bj and I went to Camp Taum Sauk when we were younger, it's where we met! I was a CIT (Counselor in Training) and he worked in the barn with the horses. I always thought he was cute and really nice, hence the beginning of our friendship! It is still so funny to me where we ended up, married with a baby. I love him so much and I wouldn't have it any other way :) So, back to the present - I recently befriended our friend Nick on facebook. He lives in LA so I thought the chances of seeing him anytime in the future were slim to none. Well, as I was facebooking the other day, he sent me a message and said he would be in town the weekend after Thanksgiving. I was so excited! We gathered up our other camp friends (and newest additions and additions to be), from left to right: Rob, Eli, Connor, Sandra, Mandy, Nick and went to the Olivette Diner for lunch. It was SO wonderful to catch up with everyone and introduce them to Connor! Sandra is Eli's mommy and she is due TODAY with her second little boy. She kept saying she would be happy to come to lunch unless she was having a baby in which case we would have to move lunch to the hospital so she could still see us! We had such a nice time and I am so thankful we were able to catch up after all these years. Sandra and I kept laughing, it felt like no time had passed, we felt like we were on a session break from camp in St. Louis!
I thought Connor looked so cute in this little sweater (thanks for letting us borrow it Frankie!) so I thought I would snap a few pictures, totally unlike me, right?! I just thought this little picture was so sweet, he was hanging out with me in the kitchen while I cooked dinner the other night - I just love this little sweet pea to pieces! He has started wanting to be every where his momma is and I LOVE it! He was helping me organize some stuff upstairs yesterday afternoon and I could tell he was getting bored. I looked at him and said "do you want to read a book?" he then crawled over to his book basket, picked one out and crawled back over to my lap. Is that not the sweetest thing ever? I had to hug and kiss him about 37.3 times and then we read some books, the little sweet pea and I!
They were so cute during lunch, though Connor decided he was going to throw all of his food on the floor, and I MAY have let him. It's amazing what you will do to keep an almost one year old entertained when out in public!
Connor was showing off his standing skills! He is getting so good, I think he is going to be a walking machine any day now! Ah!
We had so much fun with The Crask family that we made them come over for dinner! Scout and Sedona wanted to play with Nesta and Taj and we wanted to spend more time with sweet Nolan! He is such a handsome little man and we know if they ever moved back to St. Louis that Connor and Nolan would be great friends!!! Thanks so much for hanging out with us, we had a great day!
We ate so much food and it was all delicious! We had an early Thanksgiving at my mom's house with the Lawton side of the family. Connor was so cute, he had his high chair in the dining room and he was such a good boy! He ate turkey, stuffing, rolls, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes - he loved everything! He knew today was a special day and he enjoyed every minute of it.
After our early dinner, we went over to the Johnson's for our second thanksgiving dinner! It was also delicious and Connor was such a good boy again! He ate his second thanksgiving dinner and loved it too. I think he could get used to all that good eating :) After dinner he wanted to "walk" with Aunt Jen. He loves spending time with his Aunt Jen, and she spoils him rotten! We hung out for awhile and then it was time to head home and hit the hay - we were tired after our busy day of eating!
We didn't even think about getting a family picture until the end of the night after Bj had changed out of his nice clothes and Connor was ready for his comfies! We took a few generation pictures with my mom and grandma, but they all came out blury!
I just HAD to snap a few pictures this morning before we left! He looks pretty cute, huh? Thanks for the idea Aunt Steph, I love Reaggie's pictures by the little flag. Granny D just got a new little flag pole, so we had to show it off!
Words can't even express how thankful we are for everything we have. A happy, healthy family, a roof over our heads (thanks mom!) and our first Thanksgiving finally back in St. Louis. I just keep thinking back to our last Thanksgiving that was spent in the hospital. We were so scared and nervous and didn't know if Connor was going to be okay. Instead of stuffing our faces, having a baby shower and being surrounded by family - we were touring the NICU and doing everything we could to cook our little turkey just a little longer. So this year, we are really thankful for the healthy, sweet, wonderful and precious baby boy we welcomed three weeks later! I will post again tomorrow, but I hope everyone has safe travels this holiday weekend!
He was just hanging out, playing with the wash machine. 
Oh, it was just another day around Casa de Granny on Sunday :) These dogs are total vultures when it comes to Connor and feeding time. He plays right into it too, he LOVES to feed the dogs and they wait oh so patiently for his hand outs. They were particularly "un-patient" on Sunday though, Scout just perched on the edge of the couch trying to dive in before the poor boy was even finished! At least Sedona has enough class to wait on the floor. They are too funny, the little man and the vultures! Right after I got Connor out of the high chair, Sedona stuck her nose so far into the corner of the seat cleaning the scraps that she was walking the high chair across the floor, I was almost crying I was laughing so hard! 
After a rainy week in St. Louie, we had a gorgeous weekend! We just love the fall weather around here, about as much as we love the park. Granny and NeNe went shopping on Sunday afternoon and I decided to take the little man to the park. We had such a nice day and he surprised me with all the things he wanted to play with!
We played on the swings, climbed through tunnels, went up and down the slide - every which way, on the tummy, bottom and straight down! Connor even had fun climbing back up the slide. 
I love little baby profile pictures, I think they are too sweet! He was having fun watching his new little friend Sienna on the swings with her daddy! She was so sweet, we met her on Sunday, she has a little sister cfj's age.
While he was on the swings, Connor was eyeing this jungle gym. He kept pointing at it going, '0hh' so, how could I resist taking him over there? He had fun holding on to it and climbing in and out of it. When did he get so big?
After we got home and took a snooze, it was time to hang out with Granny and NeNe! We raked the leaves and sat outside by Granny's new fire pit. It was a great day and a wonderful weekend!
I was making chocolate chips in the kitchen, hence not getting him ready for bed, and my little funny pants came over to help me! 
Oh, he is just too sweet! I can't wait until he is standing on a chair next to me sticking his fingers in the batter and helping me pour and measure! I have been thinking so much lately about Thanksgiving and how thankful I am for all the blessings in my life. This time last year I was in the hospital and I was so worried about the sweet baby in my belly. I just wanted him to stay in as long as he could, I would have done anything to keep him safe. He is such a miracle and I thank God for him every single day! 
I can't believe that Thanksgiving is our sweet boy's last "first" holiday! So, in honor of that - we are doing it up right, wearing all the outfits and snapping tons of pictures! This outfit is from Frankie, he was so nice and let us borrow it! I think CFJ looks pretty cute and he had fun hamming it up for the cameras! With Thanksgiving right around the corner it just makes me think about how thankful I am for everyone and everything in my life, especially this sweet little angel boy! We had a great weekend in the Lou, how about you?
Here he is, the little cuteness, the love of our life. I just love these two pictures, nothing special but they capture my little sweetness perfectly. Granny was cleaning out her office and found this new "toy box" for Connor. She carried him in in the box and we were so surprised when cfj popped out! I of course snapped a pictures or ten, but it was just one of those sweet moments that makes me really thankful we uprooted our lives and moved back to St. Louis. We had so much fun tickling him and playing peek-a-boo for the next ten minutes, Granny, Daddy, the dogs and I. He is such a sweet little man, how could you not love that sweet face with those cheeks?! And those little teeth poking out, too sweet! Happy Friday everyone!
My mom and I raked up all the leaves in the backyard last weekend so we could get the patio all set up. It looks great and we had fun rearranging all of the furniture until it was just right :) Connor looked too cute in his little fall sweater, so we couldn't resist some pictures in the leaves! I love the last one - he was like momma, I like the leaves, not so sure how I feel about laying in them! The doggies were running back and forth, but were nice enough to play with their brother for a picture or two! .jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
After Miss. Angela visited us, she said the little man was ready for a walking toy! Ah! So, we ran out to Babies R Us and bought him a walking toy - it also converts to a little riding toy, so cute. He has been playing with it for a little while, but last week he really started terrorizing it! He loves to walk up and down the "hallway" upstairs. It is so sweet and he is getting so fast!! The other day Bj was sitting at the computer and I was beckoning him over at the end of the hallway. He got the biggest grin on his face and started walking to his momma. He kept stopping every few steps though to look back and cheese at daddy, like are you watching me daddy?! Do you see what I am doing over here!? It was way too cute! This is his walking toy he is borrowing for Frankie and it's for our apartment upstairs, he has the mini cozy coupe version for downstairs! His favorite thing about that one is the horn, he loves to make it go beep beep! After watching him play with this walking toy, I am really realizing that it is not going to be long before he is a little walking machine, sans any toys! .jpg)
Look momma and daddy, this is how it's done :) .jpg)
This is his morning ritual. He loves to snuggle in bed and flip the light switch on and off and hang out with his momma and daddy. Do you love the moose jammies? I knew he HAD to have them and he looks precious, our little moose! We were saying the other day it is going to be crazy when he can get himself out of bed and run into our room and jump on the bed! He is such a sweet little peanut and I still can't believe how big he is! 
What have you been up to this month? You are always, always, always on the go! You don't stop and you are getting so fast! Granny said you are even learning how to move things out of your way when you don't want to be contained in a certain spot anymore! You have the best personality - you have a stubborn streak and you let us know when you aren't happy - but most of the time you are giggly, smiley and happy! Your laugh is absolutely contagious. We can't contain ourselves when you laugh and make it a point to make you laugh as often as we can. You get SO excited when daddy, granny, nene, aunt jen, grandpa, nana or I comes in the room. You will crawl over and wait at our feet, just in case we aren't getting to you and swooping you up fast enough! You are pulling yourself up on everything - no mountain is too high for you these days! You climb over things and nothing seems to stop you. You are starting to let go and stand on your own - oh my! You can walk holding our hands and you are terrorizing your walking toy, but no steps on your own yet. We were saying the other day we aren't sure if we are ready for a walking boy in the house, but we know it's coming soon. I can't decide if I think you will be walking before your first birthday or shortly thereafter. You still love the lights and the fan and on our morning snuggles you like to turn the light on above our bed. You are so happy when you wake up and just screech with delight when one of us comes to get you, we usually fight over who gets to get you up from nap time! Then you immediately point towards our bed and go "ooohh" saying momma, it's time to snuggle! 
You are eating a combination of baby food and finger foods. You want to make the switch to finger foods, but you aren't quite ready yet. You love to eat cheerios and rice squares and we found out the other day you hate cottage cheese! You have SIX teeth now, your two bottom middle and the four top middle. You have really been a good baby when it comes to teething, we hate it so much when we can tell you are in pain. You are still taking your two naps a day and doing great! You love to stand up in the bathtub and your new favorite game is peek-a-boo. You just love it! The wheels on the buss is still your favorite, especially when momma sings it. Heaven help you child, your momma has a terrible voice! I said I should make a recording of myself singing it so we always have one around in case we need it, but daddy begged me not to! 
You love riding in shopping carts these days, your face lights up and you have so much fun coming along for the ride. We are just about to celebrate your last "first" holiday and I can't quite believe it. You are a beautiful, happy, sweet, precious little boy and we are so blessed to have been given the opportunity to raise you. We love you so much and can't wait to see what this next month brings! We love you stinky face! :) 
A few weeks ago, I asked Mary Pat to take some pictures of just Connor for his 10 month birthday. I have been trying to get nice pictures at 3,6,9 and 12 months - though I seem to be a little off on most milestone days :) She is so amazing and got some great pictures of the little bugster! We just love all of them, I worry that when we do own a house it is going to be filled to the brim with pictures of our sweet Connor man! I love that they capture him, and his little personality. I just wanted to share a few, enjoy! 
Happy Birthday Patrick!
We have had an absolutely gorgeous weekend here in the Lou! I mean...we could not have ordered better weather if we tried! It has been in the high 70's and perfect. I told my mom I think I could live with this weather everyday for the rest of my life and be totally happy. So, we have enjoyed being outside as much as possible! I couldn't resist these pictures of Connor Francis, he just is so sweet. He is getting way too big and I think he looks like a little boy, and not a baby anymore. Sigh. Do you love how shaggy and curly is hair is getting in the back? I do, I love it! Steph was asking the other day if I was going to let him have shaggy hair or the little boy haircut and I don't know, it looks awfully cute shaggy and curly! Oh, and if you look closely you will notice that his shirt has a moose skiing on it, and it says "the moose is loose!"
My sweet boy (and sweet dogs!) like to help us with the dishes, aren't they sweet? Connor was showing off his climbing skills the other day - I still can't believe the little bugster climbed on top of the dishwasher! He is so cute these days, he will "high kick" his leg now when he wants to climb on something he isn't quite big enough to reach. It is really sweet - and only a matter of time before he is able to climb up on even more things! Love that little sweetness!
How cute would that look in sweet pea's room? I am a little in love and I just might have to buy it, even if I don't win!! The artist has some other darling signs on her etsy shop too! You can enter the giveaway too, just click here! IF any of you win and you don't know what to do with the sign, I know a precious little boy who would love it! Hint, Hint! :)
