Birthday Festivities Part 1

Since I will probably have well over a million pictures taken for today, I thought I would take a second to load some just from this morning. Yes- I should be icing the cupcakes, getting myself ready, cleaning up the dirt the dog drug in the house, documenting things in Connor's baby book, and so on...but wanted to share some cute pictures of the birthday boy first!

"Wake up, Wake up! It's my birthday!"


Connor's 1st "1st birthday gift" from Auntie Katie.
Connor's face reads: "Mom, I just woke up. Whats with all the pictures already?!"


Connor doesn't know it yet, but he is going to LOVE this gift from Auntie Katie. Its the "My name is Zoom" birthday CD (we all had one growing up...it plays a personalized birthday song and says your name! Only the coolest thing ever for a kid!) We will be listening to it all day today! Thank you Auntie Katie!!


"It's MY birthday!"


Practicing walking in the yard.


Booooo!


Connor loves to play in the grass. Mom does NOT love cleaning dewy grass off of my clean child. But anything goes today...its his birthday!


No special day is complete without swings!


Weeeeeeee!


On a mulch adventure. Mission: Pick up each individual piece of mulch. Inspect it in his hand. Then watch it drop to the ground. Oh.....the simple pleasures of life!


Scoping things out...Mr. Big Boy!

More pictures to come, of course!

Birthday Eve

The pictures aren't to my standards, but they will do! I have been running around with my head cut off these days, but remembered I really needed to document the final hours before Connor's big first birthday. So here we go...

T'was the night before Connor's birthday
And Mommy can't believe her eyes
The boy that was once small and immobile
Is practicing walking with the help of his chubby thighs

Thank goodness Papa is a handy man
Since Mommy wouldn't know where to start
We all watched him work diligently
To fix the screen that Cooper tore apart

(Yep...this is how we celebrated the night before the big day! Coop was busy chasing the flash light Papa was using and Connor was having a blast checking out Papa through the screen!)

Connor being brave and letting go to stand on his own (and take a few steps too!)


More standing practice...and yes, I did allow Connor to play on the dirty patio barefoot...after being bathed & cleaned up for bed. Let's just say I didn't think things through. You don't know the tears that occur when someone opens a door in our house & Connor is not allowed outside at that very moment. So to avoid a cry fest, I just let him go outside when Papa & Coopy went out. Dirty hands and feet were worth it...and a little wash cloth and sink play time did the trick afterwards!

I'm off to hang my 1st birthday banner for my little boy's 1st birthday in the living room before bed. When we awake, Connor has no idea what photos and fun I have in store for him! Before I go to bed, I'll include some flash back photos of the past year for your viewing pleasure.

A year ago...

This was me about a year ago.


If only I had any idea how much I could possibly love and adore that little bundle in my belly.



I love you, my precious Connor!

Milestone after milestone...

Yes- I am a Mom. Yes- it is my duty to document everything. And Yes- my house will soon be over taken by photo albums.

Connor's 1st year averaged about 10 photos a day, a full DVD of video about every two months, a daily log of day's happenings on his calendar, and a monthly update of his baby book. I can already look back on the first few months when Connor was a wee-boy and not believe how much he has changed. I went from not knowing how to get him to stop crying (with endless nursing/bottles/spit ups/leg pumping to help relieve any gas/running the vacuum/playing white noise/singing/trying gripe water/constantly stimulating with toys/trying out different swings, carseat entertainers, and toys....). It was always a guessing game. Now, its hard to not catch Connor babbling and grinning his toothy smile! Its amazing how that tiny blob (that was actually always referred to as "such a BIG baby") has grown to such a little person now. I love him more and more each day. Every day is something new and I am so grateful I took the time to capture the tiny moments...since they become the past oh so quickly.

Here are a few pictures of some more 'firsts' for Connor.

Here is Connor wearing his handsome surfer outfit
from his wonderful Auntie Nicole for the first time.

And here is Connor modeling his snazzy new shoes for the first time
(trust me, I won't make a habit of saying "snazzy" in front of Connor).
Can just picture my masculine little boy telling me I look "Snazzy!" :)

And here is Connor opening his 1st "1st birthday" card from his buddy, Ryder! You may also be able to click on the photo to zoom in on his new teeth coming in. Within the past 2 days, both of his front teeth decided to pop through. It's about darn time! Makes it hard to sleep train and begin the weaning process when teeth decide to pop through each day! He has one more ready to show its face soon (the other fang to the left of his top front tooth).

So lots and lots of "1st's" lately. These were just some from today. Just wait for his birthday... :)

Practice Practice Practice!

We spent the night practicing our standing and walking! Connor would get so excited when we would clap for him, so he just kept trying and trying. He was so proud of himself! Squealing and smiling the whole time! Mommy was too! :) Needless to say, he was so excited that he didn't want to go to bed. He pooped himself out though and finally crashed about 45 minutes after his regular bedtime!

Standing and so proud!!

Here's another great video....or at least my attempt of getting Connor to stand freely, walk toward me, catch some footage on video, and try to keep him from crashing into something. Enjoy!

One week...

In one week my baby will become a real life boy as Pinocchio would say. It was almost a year ago my little boy was welcomed into the world and it has been such a journey watching him grow into the little child he is today.

His eyes become prettier every day. His hair has gone from dark to bald to red to strawberry blonde. His size has gone from big to bigger to biggest! And my love for him has grown even more than I could imagine. He is my world and he holds my heart. I am so blessed to be his Mom.

This post is to celebrate the last week Connor will be "Zero years old". At least I can still count his age in months instead of years. Makes it feel like he's still tiny. With that in mind, he may be the only child in elementary school that is referred to as a 72 month old!

I love you my precious Connor! Please stop growing so fast.

STANDING & STEPS, Oh My!

He's up and going! The video clip wasn't the first attempt, but it was the first one I had a camera ready for!

Here are my attempts at getting him to walk the rest of the evening...no steps, but lots of standing alone! He looks like a little surfer!



So proud of himself

A day in the life...

Oh my child...what a goober! Nothing too exciting lately, but he always seems to brighten my days with his funny randomness.

Just waking up to some morning cartoons--"Special Agent Oso" is his Dora equivalent...finally a manly cartoon!


Yep...glued to the TV. What a man.


Here's another wonderful bath adventure at Nana & Papa's. Connor LOVES the freedom of no bath seat, but is a slippery little fish crawling all over the place. He's such a ham.




Hard to tell, but he's actually talking loudly here. He loves to hear himself echo in the bathroom. His high pitched squeals are noises I thought only little girls made. I was, indeed, incorrect.


"Hey Mom! I found my b'day present! Let's fill this bad boy up. I even got your bathing suits ready for you. What are we waiting for??!!"


The ham-i-zode showing off his fangs and his gums that must be made of leather. He has 3 top teeth that you can practically see through his gums, but WILL NOT come out! Maybe we'll ask for his two front teeth for Christmas :)

A boy and his duck

Connor LOVES his rubber ducky in the tub. When we squeak it, he often makes a "quack quack" sound, although sometimes sound more like "Aflac"...but either way, its pretty cute! Here's a little footage of him getting a kick out of his rubber duck squeaking while in his mouth. He is one funny kid. Hope it makes you smile today! :)

Big boy

Not many kids can say they can go swimming in a warm pool in November! This kid has got it good. He will be very upset when the weather keeps him from his favorite place to hang out and splash!

Telling Papa stories...Goes something like "Ba Ba Ba Ba aaaaaaa"


One cute kid talking to one cute kid!

Big man at the dinner table! Its so much easier to get him to eat his healthy foods when he sees all the adults eating them. Although he is a lot like his Mom when it comes to his peas...Let's just say he takes a handful, reaches over the side of his chair, and drops them for Cooper! That was one main reason why I wanted a dog when I was a kid!

Big boy bath without his bath seat...this child is a fish!


Crazy face and lots of screeching to hear himself echo...what a goober!