Playtime with Cooper

Here is a cute video of Connor trying to play with Cooper. Cooper isnt sure he wants to be friends just yet, although if someone gets his toys he is always ready to play even if it is with Connor. Now that Connor is mobile he chases Cooper around the house and Cooper just runs trying to escape. Cooper jumps on the couch at night when we are all in the living room. This used to be Coopers time when we would play with him and give him all of the attention. Now that Connor is requiring more attention, Cooper gets left out sometimes. I think he has done extremely well though considering how high strung he is. Connor on the other hand, LOVES his brother Cooper!

Connor's 1st Visit with Santa

Last night we ventured back out to the mall to get Connor's picture made with Santa. Mom asked me on the way if I thought he would cry. I said, "Oh no, Connor loves strangers." I also thought since he was so trained to smile in pictures that he would do great. Well, I am eating my words now. He didnt cry, but if he sat there much longer I am sure we would have saw some tears. He stared at Santa for the longest and then would stop and look at us, then look at Santa again. He pouted up a few times but never cried. I picked this picture but there was a good one of him about to cry and another one with him looking up at Santa. I would have picked that one but you couldnt see his face at all. It was very sweet though. I guess all in all, he did pretty well. Too bad he couldnt talk to tell Santa his Christmas list. Maybe next year...

Christmas time is here!

Watching Daddy hanging lights...
I cut my hair again... What do ya think?

We have been decorating around here since the first of November, but this weekend we finally finished (well almost)! We spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday putting lights on the house. Dont worry, it doesnt look like the Griswold's. Actually it is far from it. We just didnt realize that putting a strand of lights across the house would be so difficult. Since this is our first year here in our house, it took a while to figure it out. Finally we (Brad) got a sense of accomplishment. Brad did the lights on the house with a little help from me directing him. I know our neighbors thought we were NUTS because we were out there in the rain today trying to finish! It just goes to show you what lengths you will go to trying to work while your baby is napping! This is the only time we can get any chores done through the day.

I still have a few bushes to put lights on the left side of the house, but I will try to post pictures when this is done. I am going to wait for the rain to pass! Also, I know some of you have been asking for pics of the house. I will take some when it is a little cleaner around here. Decorating for Christmas makes a mess!

Connor's First Thanksgiving

Connor and Pawpaw

Great Grandma, Connor, and Pawpaw

Connor getting his game plan together for Black Friday.

Today we celebrated Thanksgiving at my Grandma and Pawpaw's house. We had a great time and ate too much as usual. I always stuff myself even though I tell myself that I'm not going to "this year". There are just too many dishes that you dont get to eat the other days of the year, SO you have to try them all! Then comes the dessert... This year, we had so many desserts to choose from. Even Dad made something! I have included a picture of the tasty treat. It was a banana pudding pie. Didnt he do a good job? It was confirmed by Mom that he did it ALL by himself. I was pretty impressed as you can tell.

It was so strange to watch Connor crawl around the house, thinking that I had done this many years before. Connor's dinner included: turkey, corn, green beans, and sweet potatoes. He seemed to really enjoy the feast! On Saturday we will travel to Rockwood to visit with the Thompson's and eat some more!

Happy Birthday An Am!

This post is a little late... Last weekend we were fortunate enough to get to spend the weekend with Aunt Amanda, Pete, Pops, and Grannie. They all came down to spend the night on Saturday and on Sunday we celebrated Amanda's 25th birthday with her. We were so glad that she decided to spend her day with us. On Saturday we watched the UT game on PayPerView and then that night we went to the Cheesecake Factory in Green Hills. Yuummm! We each got a different piece of cheesecake and shared it. That is one of the best ways to get to try them all since they have like a billion different ones. On Sunday we spent the day at our house just watching Connor play and letting him entertain us. We then had more cake, that I made and gave An Am her gifts. It was a great weekend! Thanks you guys for coming to visit us. Amanda- we hope you had a great birthday! We will see you tomorrow when we travel to see you all. Stay tuned for pictures of the road trip.

What I've been into...

Well, it is Thanksgiving night and I am officially "stuffed"! No pun intended. I like most of you, dont feel like doing anything so I thought I would take the time to relax and catch up on some blogging. I have been neglecting it lately, I know.

I thought I would update you all on what Connor has been up to lately. He is pulling up on everything now and walks along the furniture. I think he might be walking at his birthday, but based on how long it has taken him to reach his other milestones it might be later. He is getting much more challenging to feed at meal times. He likes to feed himself and I have found it extremely difficult to find table food to give him since he has a milk allergy. Almost all of the toddler and stage 3 foods they have out there have whey or the milk protein in it so it is off limits. He likes hot dogs a lot and I have found some turkey Vienna sausages with no milk additives. Connor also LOVES the Gerber Graduates freeze dried corn and fruits. At meal times he fusses until I put them on his tray. I wish he would find something cheaper to like because those suckers are like $3 for a small bag and he goes through them in like 2 or 3 days! He wont eat fruit cocktail from a can because of the slimy consistency. I hate that he is still eating so much baby food but it is one of the only ways I can get him to eat all of the veggies, meats and fruits that a growing boy needs. Connor is also learned that it is much more fun to throw food than eat it. It is so embarrassing to go out because of the mess we leave behind. I cant imagine that this is going to get much better as time goes by. He has been sleeping better but still has his nights. For the past few weeks Connor has been waking up at 2:30 and wants to be fed. Since I am nursing him in the morning and at night, he only wants me. However, when I attempt to rock him back to sleep he fights me with everything he has and will cry for about 2 hours until I feed him. I am going to have to start weaning him soon, so this might be the reason to start if nothing else than to break this habit. Connor is babbling more and more each day and loves to copy everything we do. He is still such a happy and curious little boy. I still cant believe that in a month we will be celebrating his 1st birthday!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and reflected on all that you had to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving! Oh and for all of you Black Friday shoppers- have fun fighting the crowds and be safe!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I will have many more posts to follow after the holiday. But for now, here are some of my favorite pictures of our little man!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families!! We have so much to be thankful for!

Prayers Needed

Sorry, I havent been good at posting lately. It has been busy around our house. However, I wanted to update you on my Grandfather (we call him Pawpaw). If nothing else to get you to PRAY for our family and for him!
Yesterday, he went back to the doctor to get the results from his biopsy that he had last week. The news wasnt good. We found out that he has small cell lung cancer and it is inoperable. As I am learning more about this disease, it sounds like it is the most aggressive kind and it is incurable. The treatment plan will consist of chemo and radiation to try and shrink it and keep it from spreading any further. They are going to do another scan to see if it has spread anywhere else in the body, which is what we can all pray for now, that it hasnt and they will be able to control it in that one spot. Also, please pray for my grandmother. I am really worried about her as well. My grandfather seems to be doing as well as can be expected. He has always been one to not want any of us to make a fuss over him or worry about him. My hope is that during the holidays we can stay as optimistic and upbeat as possible so it will make him more comfortable. He is a very strong man and I think he will do better with his treatments if he doesnt see us getting upset. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.

Tara

Our entertainment for the night!

Be careful...laughing is contagious!

A Busy Weekend

I am supposed to be taking a nap!
I wonder "how many" ornaments I will break this year?

Our lil' mechanic!

I am glad that the weekend is finally winding down. Even though I have to work tomorrow, it will seem more like a break than "work". Lets see, on Friday I cleaned house, washed clothes and got Connors Christmas pictures made. The photographer is an hour away so it pretty much takes the whole day for this. Yesterday, we (well Brad mostly) started the project of hanging a vanity light in our bathroom, washed more clothes, went to the grocery store, cleaned some more, got Christmas decorations out and decorated most of the house, bought Connor's Christmas and Birthday presents plus 2 other birthday gifts, cooked chili, and had a visit with Mom and Dad. Today, we completed the light fixture project, touched up paint on all of the walls of the house, spent some time putting some stuff in the attic, got the Christmas tree up, cleaned some more, AND went to dinner! Yaaahhh!

Whew, I am tired so I think I will retreat to bed. Good night! Hope you all had a nice and productive weekend as well!

...By the way, I got my new camera and LOVE it! We ended up getting a Sony Cybershot DSC-H3. It is one of the bigger models and has so many cool features. I am really enjoying it so far!

Some pics from the last night...

Here are some cute pictures of Connor from last night. Yes, I know it is a little early for Santa suits, but I was trying it on because Connor had his Christmas pictures made today. We had to get them made early in order to get the Christmas cards back in time. He did great as always! The Santa suit is a little big, well a lot big, but we really wanted him to wear it since he looked so cute in his hat AND I am not convinced he will fit into it next year with the way his head is growing! I bought it at a consignment sale and it was sized 24 months which means it will probably fit perfectly next Christmas. As you can see he looked adorable in it and had us cracking up with him little ears bent over! I think he looks like a little elf that is trying to play the part as Santa!

Connor has changed so much just in the last week, it is amazing! He is pulling up to standing position now, crawling everywhere, can ride his play car, and is interacting on a different level now. Instead of us playing peekaboo, he now starts the game by pulling his blanket up over his head and then lowers it with a big smile on his face waiting for you to say "boo". It is so fun to watch him learn new things every day. His new thing is whenever he gets hurt, like hitting his head on the wall, floor, etc., he will repeat it again as if to see if it "really" hurts or not. If so, he will cry, if his isn't sure he will look at me to see what my reaction is. The other night we were cracking up because he kept banging his head against the wall. The other new thing he is doing is NOT going to sleep when I lay him down for naps anymore. Starting at 7 months we could lay him down and he would curl up and go to sleep on his own. Now, no matter how tired he is, he will just play and play till he cant hold his eyes open anymore. Then he cries and throws his pacifier so that I will come to his assistance. They are such smart little creatures. Anyway, those are a few things that the Connor man has been up to lately.

I would also like to ask for every one's prayers for my grandfather. We just found out that instead of having laryngitis, he has a large mass pressing against his larynx nerves, pulmonary artery, and aorta. We don't know yet whether it is malignant or not, but the opinions of 2 doctors are that it is inoperable. He is going to see a specialist about it to see what, if any treatment can be done. Please pray that they can find some way to treat this and that it isn't cancerous. I will keep you all posted on this. I hope you all are having a great fall and are doing well!

Connor's new favorite show

Wonder Pets! We discovered this show about a month back and have been loving it ever since. Connor loves it for the music and fun animal characters. The show's main characters are three elementary school classroom pets — Linny the Guinea Pig, Turtle Tuck, and Ming-Ming Duckling. They are presented as a trio of heroes who rescue baby animals as they demonstrate the benefits of teamwork. When they return to their classroom they are rewarded by a piece of celery and they retreat back to thier cages till the "phone" rings again calling them to duty. How do I know so much about this show? Well, I am kind of embarrassed to say that Brad and I actually like watching this show too when it is on. It is kind of hard not to... They are just so stinking cute and the music is so catchy. I challenge anyone to watch an episode and NOT sing it in your head for the duration of the day. Wonder Pets, Wonder Pets, We're on our way, to help the baby animals and save the day, we're not too big and we're not to tough, but when we work together we've got the right stuff. Wonder Pets, Wonder Pets, Yaaaahhhhh! Oh goodness, I am definitely a Mom when I start doing posts about shows on Nick Jr....

Which one?

Canon - PowerShot 7.1MP Digital ELPH Camera- $249

Canon - PowerShot 8.0MP Digital Camera- $299

Well, our camera broke last week and now I am on the hunt for the new one. I had my mind set on a a small camera, like the Canon Elph (pictured first) so that I could carry it in my purse wherever I go to catch all of those times when we are out that Connor decides to do something cute that is picture worthy. Then, Brad showed me the latter of the two since it is similar to the one we had before. It has a 10x optical zoom, the smaller one only has a 3x. We like the zoom lense when we are taking shots outside. My first thought is that Connor wont be playing sports for quite a while and the way technology changes, I will probably be ready for a new one by then. On the other hand, it has so many more features that the small one doesnt. But it wont be small enough to carry around in my purse like I wanted... See the dilemma. Which one would you pick?

Look at what I can do!

Does he really have to pull out "every" toy?

And our lives will never be the same... Connor is into everything he can get his hands on. Anything that looks dangerous, that is! He even flipped (yes flipped!) out of his crib a couple of weeks ago trying to get to his diaper holder that hangs on his crib. The reason I know he flipped is because he was lying with his head against the side of the crib that he fell out of. Brad and I felt TERRIBLE because we didnt even think to lower his crib! We knew he was starting to pull up on his knees and it just didnt even dawn on us. He managed to miss a wooden trunk, and his dresser both just inches away! Thank God! Brad and I were downstairs and we heard a thud! He had just been laid down for a nap and we knew he was playing. We both ran up there and he just laid there. No tears, no scream. He just had a blank look on his face and he smiled as soon as I picked him up trying to get to a picture frame on the shelf! Now he can stand in his crib, which means that I pretty much have to keep checking on him till he goes to sleep because I am terrified that it will happen again and he will really hurt himself.
He is such a joy these days! I hate leaving him every morning that I go to work because is just so sweet and loveable in the mornings! I am trying to cherish these days because I know they probably wont last forever. Almost all kids go through the talking back stage where they rebel against everything. I can already tell he is pretty strong willed. He loves to throw and claps after he has done so. I always smile, laugh, and clap right on back. Not sure if this is something that I should encourage though... Ha!
Well, have to go. Supper time for Connor, Cooper barking frantically, tornado warning, home alone... Have a good night!