Kreativ Blogger Award :)

Danielle over at thelutzs.blogspot.com nominated me for the Kreativ Blogger award! I'm flattered to have my first 'blog award' :). I actually met Danielle online a little while ago, as we both had many things in common. She also is a new Mommy to a little boy, Ryder, who is just a few months older than Connor. We stay in touch quite often and I am amazed at how well I feel I know her and can relate to her in so many areas! She does more than I could imagine, traveling ALL OVER with her family (hubby, son, and zoo of animals!) all year! She is quite the 'wonder woman' and I'm so glad we have been able to get to know one another!

Be sure to visit her blog! With this award, comes the rules:

1-Thank the person who nominated you for this award.

2-Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

3-Link to the person who nominated you for this award.

4-Name 7 things about yourself that people may not know.

5-Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.

6-Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.

7-Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they've been nominated.

So with the rules in place...here ya go!

7 things you may not know about me:

1. I have an obsession with taking photos. No, I do not think I am photographer material by any means. The reason why I enjoy photography is because I like having pictures of the ones I love. I'm not one to take pictures of a bug or flower or sky line. I like pictures with people in them...and really, only people I love! :) Guess that's why it is so easy for me to take 10 pictures a day of Connor & capture Cooper in his most mischievous states. I may need to figure out just where I am going to store all these photo albums that I keep filling (I'm at the rate of about one full album a month!).

2. I am 'the list' queen. I have a hard time carrying all my duties in my head, so I am constantly writing things down. I have sticking notes at work, a dry erase board on my fridge, and random daily notes-to-self on the counter! It helps me stay focused and get things accomplished. I've realized that once I had a child, you get through each day as a major accomplishment. Every time Connor does down for a nap or down for the night, its an accomplishment. Although its momentarily-rewarding to me, I get through some days and feel like "What do I have to show for myself today?!" My 'lists' help me remember what I have to get done (for the very rare moments in the day I have time to do them) and when I can 'cross items off', I feel accomplished! :) I know...its pretty sad...but it works for me!

3. I'm nursing. Yeah, I know. May not be new-news to some. Not sure many care or want to really imagine it. But does anyone know its not just a 'beautiful bonding experience with my child?!' Yes, I have to admit that I am 100% glad I was able to nurse and be successful at it. Yes, I do love the moments where I can have quiet time cuddling my little boy. Yes, I do think that nursing has helped Connor remain un-sick since birth (knock on wood). But its not always 'a bed of roses'. Many days I would like my body back as solely my body! I would like to throw away all of my nursing tank tops that I live in 99% of the time. The moments where my squirmy little boy pokes, prods, pulls, bites, pinches...while I sit there trying to remain 'untense' and calming...are often moments I count down until "weaning day!"

4. I am extremely excited to carry on the tradition of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy in our home, now that Connor is here! Those memories of leaving out cookies for Santa, sneaking out at 5am with a flashlight to see what Santa left us kids, hunting for Easter eggs in the yard while all the neighbors peered out their windows to see little children bouncing around the yard in their jammies, and the unsuccessful attempts of holding the Tooth Fairy 'tooth pillow' in my hand while I was asleep in hopes to see the Tooth Fairy sneaking money under my pillow in the middle of the night...I just can't wait to start all those fun traditions for Connor now!

5. I could easily spend $1000 a visit each time I go to Target. Between housewares, clothes for me, anything for Connor, etc etc etc...it's definitely possible. Oh, I love that store!

6. I am not rushing Connor to grow up by any means, but can not wait until he is old enough to enjoy Disney World! I am so excited to see Disney through the eyes of a little child and just enjoy him enjoying himself! And...I'll just hope that Connor does not get frightened by all the characters in costume. I guess we'll have to wait and see! :)

7. I've never had a pedicure. Yep...probably the only woman alive thats never had one. But, the thing is...I really could care less. If I receive giftcards to a spa, for instance, I would much rather get my hair done then treat my feet. I say, "I would hope people would notice my head before my feet", so always opt for my hair instead of a pedicure! :) I do pretty well painting the french tips onto my toes and can scrub and do all the other gunky stuff needed to keep my feet from looking like they're 90 years old. One day I will do it. You'll know because I will enter each room feet first since my hair will be a mess! :) haha!

That was a lot harder than I thought! Not too much exciting stuff to share about myself...that people would want to read about, anyways!

7 Bloggers I Notimate for the Kreativ Blogger Award

1. ourlittlemiraclekyliemarie.blogspot.com
2. ivfinfertility.blogspot.com
3. bradandbrittneynelson.blogspot.com
4. thehobbsfamilyof4.blogspot.com
5. afewgoodsperm.blogspot.com
6. channingmakes3.blogspot.com
7. melissaandluke.blogspot.com

Silly boy

Here's a little blip of Connor yesterday morning...nothing too exciting. Just him being him :) He was on 'nap strike' at the time, so he was tired but wanted to stay up and play more! He has been doing A LOT of talking lately and his new favorite thing--loves to move his mouth without saying anything. With his two bottom teeth, he resembles a blowfish! Either that...or he looks like he's chewing gum.

Prayers Needed

I do not know this family, but you don't have to know someone in order to pray for them. I came across their story from a friend's blog page and wanted to do what I could to help. This family is going through more than a family should go through. They have a 2 week old daughter that just got out of the hospital and now the mother is in the hospital. The Dr.'s are saying she may be suffering from "brain death." The extremely touching blog is written by her husband. Please please just say a little (or very big) prayer for this family.


http://bandssullivan.blogspot.com/

New stuff!

Mr. big boy has been trying out some new things this week.

New trick #1: holding sippy cup on his own.

New trick #2: Playing peek-a-boo. This time, Connor is the one popping out! Was too cute this morning. I'd say "Boo" then he'd hide behind the wall...then poke out again for another "Boo" from me.

New trick #3: Showing signs he's ready for a nap. Connor will be playing and then suddenly spread out on the floor and lay down as if he's ready for bed. He's like little toddler roadkill.

Not really a new trick, but new!

I put Connor in his cute little sunsuit with matching hat today for our walk. It's been awhile since he'd let me keep a hat on his head, so had to get a picture! So handsome!

P.S. The hat lasted about 200 feet on our walk...

Growing boy...

I noticed that a picture I took yesterday looked similar to one I took when I first had Connor. Scary how fast my boy is growing...

Florida State! Florida State! Woo!!

Ever since football started up again, our weekends kind of revolve around it in one way or another. Yesterday, the Florida State game wasn't airing on 'regular cable', so we made a day of it & went to Nana & Papa's to watch the game. We had a great time just hanging out and pretty much just watching Connor be the funny little man he is! Connor was talking more than I have ever heard him yesterday. He loves to open and close his mouth, almost like he's chewing gum! I'm just waiting for the day that his jibberish turns to full on sentences! The night ended on a great note, as Florida State WON! Yay! Great game (even though I caught bits and pieces of it while keeping an eye on my little explorer)!

Laundry basket rides with Auntie Katie


Splashing around with Papa!


Yay! Florida State! :)


PEEK-A-BOO!!


Where'd Nana go?!?


There she is!!


My snuggle bug getting ready for bed


If only he would lay this still all the time...I would hold him like this forever :)

One Party POOPER

After hearing from my Mommy friend, Danielle, over at http://thelutzs.blogspot.com/, about her poop-filled week with her son...we had our own super-pooper night last night!

I'll set the scene.

Connor turns 10 months old. Auntie Katie is in town from FSU for the weekend. It's Friday night. It was a perfect night to go to our weekly hotspot for dinner. We enjoy some dinner. Connor became quite the ham by the time dinner was over, speaking loudly through the restaurant. Mom documents occassion with lots of photos. Auntie Katie gives some cuddle love to Connor after dinner. Auntie Katie notices her arm is wet. Mom notices a disgusting stench right around the same time. Auntie Katie panics when she notices her wet arm is indeed, poop. We all notice Connor's outfit is drenched up his back. Nana, Mom, and Auntie Katie try to peel Connor out of his clothes. Poop is sprinkling in Mom's car, on the road, on our appendages. Papa comes to the rescue with an old towel from his car. We team up and undress Connor in the parking lot. Nana documents with photos. Connor enjoys the wind blowing against his nude body. We all get a good laugh. We all try not to step in the random poop sprinkles on the road. Nana and Papa reminisce about how my brother had a similar poop explosion when he was a baby. We all load up with a memory that we will forever associate with our favorite weekly restaurant!

Here are some photos to illustrate our evening!

Connor loves to grab your face when you're holding him to make sure you are giving him your undivided attention...or if he wants to take a bite out of your face!


My son being the ham he is!


More ham-i-ness...


Again...more ham


No chance I was going to get a 'cute smile' that night!


But we did get a new face following the taste of Mommy's lemon...


When we discovered the loveliness...


Team work!


The cars going by must have been wondering just what we were doing...


All clean :)


Our detour to Nana & Papa's for a MUCH NEEDED bath!


Now he's really ALL CLEAN!


The cutest little snuggle bug in his new jammies (again..not the best smile face, but owell).

Happy 10 Months (eve) Connor!!

I have lots to get done tomorrow, so wanted to make sure I got a Happy 10 months post! Every month goes by and every time I say, it is going too fast. It doesn't feel real when I tell people how old Connor is...he can't be this old?! There is one side of me that can't wait to see him grow up and all that he's going to learn. Can't wait for him to walk. Can't wait for him to talk. Can't wait for him to clap/wave/blow kisses/etc. Then there's the other side of me that wants time to stand still. When Connor falls asleep in my arms, I don't want to put him down now. He will soon be too big for me to hold and that makes me so sad. His legs already hang down to my mid thigh when he's asleep on me. My baby is becoming a 'real boy'...as Pinocchio would say. I just can't get enough of him. He is so darn funny these days and is always exploring something new. As an update from this point:

- Connor could play peek-a-boo and giggle all day long. We play when I poke my head out of the shower, poke behind a pillow, poke behind a blanket, and he especially loves to play when he's in the bath for some reason! He just cracks himself up when I poke my head from around the corner of the bathroom while he's in the tub. I think he makes himself laugh, then makes me laugh, then we are just giggling fools together! It is the greatest feeling to hear him giggle.

-Connor is moving right along with his shopping cart walk-behind toy now. He is cruising along walls, the sofa, the ottoman, the side table, the fireplace ledge at Nana & Papa's...anywhere he can shimmy across! He is so hard to catch in action since he is so fast and the camera always distracts him. He FLIES through the house with his cart and would not stop if it weren't for objects getting in his way. This is my best attempt at catching him this morning with his shopping cart. He loves to push his cart, stop, and unload his groceries. Will be helpful to Mommy someday!

-Connor is a shark! I am his favorite person to feast his little teeth into. It's so convenient for him to turn and take a nice chomp out of my shoulder when I'm holding him. Didn't really bother me before, but now with his teeth that might as well be razor blades, it's rather uncomfortable! I can tell him "ouch" and "no-bite", but he just laughs....little stinker!

-Connor officially has his halloween costume. No, I am not posting pictures. No, I am not revealing what he is. You'll just have to wait and see! But he is stinkin' cute!!

-Connor's birthday party plans are really coming together. I was going to do a big thing for him, but he's kind of overwhelmed around lots of people and especially unfamiliar faces...so I think we are going to stick to close family. There is a great park near by that we will hold it at. I have the supplies ordered, theme decided, and the cutest attire for the birthday boy! A friend introduced me to etsy.com....only the most addicting website ever. It's kind of like ebay with all handmade stuff!! Great for buying personalized items and you can easily get carried away...especially when shopping for adorable stuff for your adorable child!! :)

-Connor's new favorite thing to do is play in the yard. We sit in the backyard and he loves to grab the grass, look at it from all angles in his hand, and of course, attempt to eat it. He loves to hold my hands and walk through the yard...must feel funny on his little feetsies. Cooper loves Connor's new hobby since that means more backyard play time for him too!

I leave you with a picture of the cutest child on the face of this earth!

Wordless Wednesday.....with words!

I had the intention of just posting a picture like the one below, calling today "Wordless Wednesday" and being done for the day!

BUT... I managed to compile quite the photo collection just from yesterday & many pictures require an explanation...so here is "Wordless Wednesday...with words!" :)

This is one of Connor's new favorite games: drop something and see where it goes. He loves to do it with toys and with food that he is not too fond of! Here he is seen below dropping his 'Dora action figure' :)

Here is my attempt to get a picture of Connor's 3rd tooth (top tooth, just to the right of where his middle teeth would be). He is going to look like a jack-o-lantern with the way his teeth are coming in...just in time for Halloween!


I know...quite the scary face. Connor's new face is the 'squinty eye-open mouth' grin. He does it quite often...looking at a light, making a face at food he doesn't like, making a face at his Mom when she embarrasses him (not kidding!).


*Click on any of the images to get a better view of his new tooth.


I decided to rotate Connor's toys around in the living room, since he was getting pretty bored with them! Definitely did the trick! He was thrilled to have a ball pit (although it was there the whole time!).


The face of my first son. His face pretty much reads: "Seriously, Mom. This little child is taking over. What did I ever do to you?!"...He and Connor will be the best of friends...he just doesn't know that quite yet!


Yep- talk about grown up. Connor is already driving! I transformed his walker into a car, since the walker was kinda tipsy and made for a lot of 'Mom hoovering' moments to prevent a giant spill. I'm trying to get Connor's precious smile 'cheese' face back...this is the only face I could get last night!

I am running on very little sleep these days as Connor has completely regressed in his sleeping patterns. We tackled teething which had us up about every 2 hours at night...and now I think he is used to me being there and is going through separation anxiety too. I have to start back at square one again...which I'm NOT thrilled about since he had really got the hang of going back to sleep on his own before. I tried to let him 'cry it out' last night after waking for the 3rd time, but it just escalated into major cries, tears from me, and I gave in. I really need to come up with a plan of attack and stick with it. Wish me luck! We both need our rest again!!

One final note-- Happy Happy Anniversary to my wonderful parents today! 31 years of marriage is an amazing accomplishment! I love you and hope you have a wonderful day! xoxo

Happy Grandparents Day!!

Connor wants to wish Nana, Papa, and Great Grandma Melveeta (G.G.) a very Happy Grandparents Day! So with one goofy cheese ball face, he says I love you to you all!

The Madness!!

Of all the years I have been in Florida (that would be all of mine!), I can't recall ever seeing a squirrel at my house. Cooper has encountered squirrels through our random travels with him, but we NEVER see them at home. That is...until this morning. I can only hope Coop would react the way he did today if we had a dangerous intruder. He could have easily plowed through our sliding glass door if I didn't let him out to chase down this squirrel in the back yard. We let him run around and sniff him out (as he scared it away...so we thought). Once we let him back inside the house, he began to scratch insanely at the front door and cry incredibly loud. I leashed him up and took him outside to see a squirrel eye to eye with me on the wall of my entry way. I about jumped out of my skin as I flew forward to escape this little monster! So for the next ten minutes, I let Coop free in the yard to chase this lovely squirrel that was apparently lost and definitely picked the WRONG house to get lost at!

I'm pretty sure the squirrel is still out there, but am kind of afraid to look. No animals were harmed, but we have one pooped Coop!

Walk n' Roll

Day by day he is getting better on his feet. Here he is caught in action. P.S. better not get in the way, because he will run you over! Cooper is still trying to learn :)

Labor Day Weekend!

Busy Busy Busy weekend for us! In no particular order, here is a list of some fun activities we accomplished!

- Got a head start on Connor's 1st birthday party. I have the list of items needed, destination, theme chosen, and gifts decided already....just have to purchase them! Seems like I'm planning pretty far in advance, but the day will be here before we know it!

-Got a head start on Halloween costume shopping. Did a lot of browsing online to find one that would be just right for my little man (which should be easier since Connor will look cute in anything I put him in). No costumes have really 'wowed' me, but have a few in mind. Will not reveal until Halloween...so guess you'll have to wait to read my blog then ;).

- Got to slighty catch up with my favorite gal-pal, Rach, who is preparing a fabulous wedding a few months from now. I can't get over how excited I am for her and it was nice to carry on a conversation that had no dog/baby/other life interruptions :).

I'm sure I accomplished more than this over the long weekend, but this is all I can recall at the moment. Enjoy a few pictures of some exciting occurances from the past few days!

This is the new face Connor loves to make...'the squinty eye- goofy smile face!' **Click on image to enlarge to see how incredibly swollen his top gums are...with the teeth that have yet to appear!!**


All ready for a fun family trip to the big Walmart! Woo hoo!


Us waiting in the return department...the only crazy people taking pictures in Walmart :)


Connor helping us pick out some more Dora books for bedtime!


Checking out the views at Nana & Papa's


Chillin with cool Uncle Craig!


A little too comfortable...what a ham!

We had a great, eventful weekend with our loved ones...and wish every weekend was 3 days!!