Playing Catch Up!

I am behind in my blogging & I apologize for that. Here's a brief review of our activities lately. We made a trip back to DFW to visit friends the weekend before last. We left Thursday, stayed in Dallas with Nick & Kathryn and left Friday to go to Hurst and stay with Beau & Cara. It was so nice to get to eat at real restaurants and shop at some of our preferred stores. The weekend flew by too quickly & with so many of our friends having so many kids now it was tough to really get much quality time with them. Connor didn't exactly make it easy on us either. He was so thrown off with his sleep that he was pretty cranky & high maintenance. What I mean is that he was just a slightly less than perfect version of his adorable perfect self. Anyway, we were able to stay through Sunday which was very exciting for us since Matt has only taken 1 Sunday off since arriving in Cove last summer. We planned on attending The Village (Matt Chandler's church)but had old information on his location. There are multiple campuses & he was at the newest one, which we could not find, so that turned out to be a bust. We ended up walking around in Kroger for a while because Connor was sick of the car seat & needed a break. Plus he loves the grocery store; all the bright colors and things to look at I guess. We made it home in time for dinner and a bath and then right to bed for the "Bitty Bear." (It seems to be the nick name I've really stuck with. And yes, I know my baby isn't very 'bitty' but if you compared him to a bear...)

Getting ready for a BBQ with friends.

Some of the kiddos waiting for dinner. (I asked Austin to sit down next to Connor & Ian and Jasmine immediately sat down & said I could take her picture too!)

"Austin, may I poke your eye out? Thank you." - Connor

Ian had some pretty fun toys Connor got to try out. Thanks Ian!



Moving right along...
Last week was Vacation Bible School which I volunteered to help with. I'm not really sure what I was thinking, since Connor hates Sundays & gets really thrown off of his schedule & VBS was like a week full of Sundays. We were at the church from 9-12 everyday. Connor is very reluctant to go to sleep in the nursery or for anyone else these days and at home he typically naps from 10ish to 12ish. (Usually not 2 whole hours, just roughly those times.) It turned out to not be so bad. There were only 2 other babies in his room and the two ladies working in there were very loving and patient. They figured out by Wednesday that they could get him to sleep in the stroller & he would sleep longer if they left him in the dark bathroom. Hey, whatever works! (no pics of VBS, sorry)
So, we left right after VBS Friday for San Antonio. My other little brother got married! No, not Jake. You didn't miss that memo. Max! Jake's best friend who is as close to a second brother as I've got. He & Jake met in preschool at Northwood Pres. and have been like peas & carrots ever since. Jake was the best man, which was just sweet to me. Since we were gone last Sunday, we had to get back to Cove Saturday night. We were able to go to about an hour of the reception, which I was really bummed to leave. They began serving the fajitas just as we were leaving! Truthfully, I am so proud of Maxi (Maxine, Maxi-Pad, etc. He endured many nick names at my house.) He is a great catch & seems to really love his bride. Congratulations Max & Rebecca!

Papa & Connor hanging out Saturday morning.

All dressed up for the wedding.
The Best Man!
The Bride & Groom

Connor is typically a great traveler. He sleeps for at least the first hour and a half or even 2 hours of the trip. Saturday, he was having none of that. We stopped 4 times and added more than an hour to our trip home because he was just miserable. It was so heartbreaking to hear his sobs from the back seat. We would stop, calm him down, I would try to nurse him but he refused, rock him, everything we knew to do to get him sleepy. Then we would put him back in his seat and get back on the highway only for him to lose it again. It breaks my heart to think about it again now. Finally we were able to get him to sleep when we stopped in Florence. By then it was past 9 (he's usually asleep around 7:30) but he slept the whole way home and didn't even wake up when we put him in his bed.

One of our Austin stops. Avery needed a break too, I guess.

Summer is Here!

It is officially miserably hot outside which can only mean one thing - summer has arrived. I have been dying to swim lately but just don't have all my gear lined up yet. I got a float thing for Connor as well as industrial strength sunscreen for the pasty little guy and have done the research to get cost & operation hours of the public pools in town. Unfortunately neither one of us has a good swimsuit to wear. He has a hand-me-down one that is cute but squeezes his little tummy and the elastic crackled in mine when I tried it on. Yesterday I was determined to make it to the pool so I found one that I could make work for me & Connor didn't seem too bothered by his guts being squeezed out, so we suited up and headed to the pool. It was totally worth it! He loved the whole thing. Plus, we had the baby pool all to ourselves which was great.








"Why doesn't everyone suck on their toes like this? I love it!"


My First Chuy's Tortilla



New shoes!

Baby Update

I know it's been a little while since I posted anything but it feels like not a lot is going on with us. Matt is working a lot and Connor and I grocery shop a lot.

We've been going to our Wednesday play group for the past few weeks which is a little tough because Connor gets very very tired by the end of it. Breakfast begins at 9 and we usually go until 10:30 or 11:00, depending on how cooperative the babies are. (You know they are still way to small to play together! It's just an excuse for us mommies to hang out and talk.)Anyway, Connor used to wake up around 7 and go down for a nap around 8:30. Well, his schedule has now evolved into wake up around 7:30, nap at 10 or 10:30 (1-2 hours) nap #2 at 3 or 3:30 (another 1-2 hours most days) and bedtime between 7:30 & 8 with one meal between 4-5am. I am loving this schedule. He has been at it for about 2 weeks now and it's great. I beginning to feel productive around the house but I know the minute I begin to take this for granted and expect him to sleep so well he will go back to 40 minute naps. I am grateful for this phase that is rather seamless at the moment. I do realize that this, like the difficult ones is a phase. It will go and others will come.

Lately Connor is becoming very very mobile. He is not crawling but he is rolling all over the place. He gets where he needs to go! It is very amusing to me to be in the kitchen having left Connor in the living room floor to play and find him at my feet! Or at the back door pulling on the curtains! He is very interested in the satellite box and DVD player; all the shiny buttons I guess. He loves the TV remotes, cell phones, power cords and anything else that could be very expensive to repair or replace.

Here's a video I took last Sunday which demonstrates his mobility.