July'n to me?

I think it's safe to say that this blog is now up to date. What's that you say?

July'n to me?

No, man. I'm being legit. Too legit to quit, that's fo sho!

Okay, for reals now, people. I'm going to get this update going so I can start talking about things that are current!

July was a great month, full of lots of fun times. Conner hit the 6 month mark, which was exciting. He's growing and changing so much, it's just unreal. He's now got 2 full teeth, 3 teeth poking through, and 1 that is so close! It's crazy to think he's got almost 6 teeth now. He's been such a trooper with the teething, too. Not too much fussing, just wanting extra snuggles from time to time, which I don't mind! His hair is growing a lot, but is still fine and thin. He has learned to sit pretty well, and has also started creeping along, but not quite crawling yet. Here's a video:

He smiles all the time, but pretty much just saves his laughs for Daddy. He's really the only one who can consistently make the Bear laugh. It's pretty cute. Conner has so much fun playing with Jason and I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual.

Being a Stay-at-Home-Mom has been an interesting journey. One that I finally feel like I've figured out. I'm used to having daily/weekly tasks at my job, and this job is just so different than that. It's not really something you can prepare in advance for - you just kind of have to jump right in. I think part of it is that I'm liking the age Conner is at right now, too. He's able to entertain himself for substantial blocks of time whether playing on the floor or in the excersaucer. It's helped me to be able to get some things done while he's still awake instead of saving all my productivity for nap time. Usually he gets a nap both in the morning and afternoon, and the total time typically ends up being around 3 hours or so. Meaning, if he gets a 1 hour nap in the morning, his afternoon nap will be closer to 2 hours, and vice versa. He still sleeps 12 hours at night, and I'm so thankful for that! It's awesome to put him to bed around 7pm and him not wake up until 7am. I have time in the evenings to chill out and relax and have time in the morning to wake up before him to get a head start on the day. I tend to really count on and be firm in Conner's schedule because he's just such a great baby when he stays on schedule. I'm slowly getting a little away from being so firm, because I don't want to be holed up in the house. Conner's sleeping evens out by the end of the day, and we get to be out and about and seeing new things and having new experiences. I'm thankful that I'm getting into a good groove with Conner and feel more and more comfortable and confident every day. He's an awesome kiddo and I'm so blessed to be his momma!

So early in July, Jason and I took a day to spend just us as a family and decided to go to Cowboy Chicken for lunch. It was a really beautiful day, so we sat outside in the shade. Jason fed Conner and I was able to enjoy lunch responsibility free. I'm not used to that quite yet, but I love it when the opportunity arises!

Making him smile - still no laughs for Mommy...

Conner loves this thing! It "buzzes" when you bend the wing he has in his mouth. I think it feels good on his teeth trying to make their debut.

Do you know what this is? I. Am. Obsessed. We have a fig tree in our backyard, and Chris showed me how to pick a ripe one. We've been picking like 10/day ever since. It's insane. They are delicious and are similar to a strawberry, seed-wise. If you haven't tried a fig and want to come get one, just let me know. I will share. ;)

Look at that face! I have such a cute baby.

Out to dinner to Braza Dancante, a local Brazilian Steakhouse, for Chris' 30th birthday. The meats were awesome, but the pineapple took the cake. You don't even need cake if you had this pineapple. It was devine.

The birthday boy and his lovely wife. I love these two people so much!

Super Conner! Gotta love the Elmo bib. He seriously loves this thing so much and plays with it like a toy. He touches it, and bites it, and just loves it. I think it's a safe bet to say he likes Elmo.

This is Conner's BFF. At least he acts like it's his BFF when you set it on his lap. He lights up and tries to eat his face. I think that's a sign that Conner loves you ... you know, if he tries to eat your face.

At Top Golf for Chrisapalooza. It was super hot, but Conner did great! He ate lunch and got cuddles from Kylee and Kara and was such a trooper. His little cheeks were super flushed and his hair was matted down with sweat, but he loved it. I ended up giving him little sips of my water, which he loved, too. Love this little boy to pieces!

Kylee and I made homemade laundry detergent (thanks for the recipe Carla!), and needed to buy funnels. Kylee thought it would make for a good hat for Conner. She was right. Doesn't he look put together?

Jason reading Conner the fuzzy book. He loves it! He doesn't quite know that he's supposed to touch the fuzz, but we'll get there. He also puked sweet potatoes on the sheep. So, now the sheep looks like the red-headed step child of the bunch. Along with the fox. You win some, you lose some.

At iPic Movie Theater to wrap up Chrisapalooza 2012 to see The Amazing Spiderman in 3D. It was awesome to sit in recliners, but I think we'll save our money on the 3D business. We were not that impressed.

So excited!

Happy boy!

Bath time ... gotta love the octopus.

Uh, Mom. I'm in the bathtub and I'm naked. Please, no photography. Seriously, put the camera away!

Sorry, bud. You're just too cute.

Got this pic from Brady when he and my parents babysat one day. He's hanging out with his BFFs!

Jason has been working like crazy ever since Conner was born. He's been working the 12p-8p shift for what seemed like forever until 2 weeks ago, when he was able to work a normal schedule 6:30a-3:30p. Yay!!! I've been cooking up a storm since he's been home. I found a recipe for Brussels sprouts and zipper peas. So delicious. I'm thoroughly impressed by both. Yum-O!

Conner playing in MiMi's classroom. We went up to hang with her while she got some stuff done. Conner did so good playing mostly by himself on the floor. Notice good ol' Elmo...

My cute patootie boys!

Really enjoying my parents' pool!

My mom loves her goggles when she's in the pool. Cracks me up.

My handsome brother!

Hey, I know you!

Oh my gosh, we have a cat?? KIDDING. Stella finally braved the rocking chair. We've only had it roughly 9 months...

 Sweet baby face!

My super colorful lunch one day. My life is just too exciting, I know. I need to stop and smell the roses, blah, blah, blah.

Lovin' this "chew toy."

 Our super sitter!

Blurry pic, but you can see the top 4 teeth coming in here. In this pic, the 2 on the left are poking through, and the 2 on the right are coming soon to a theater near you.

My beautiful Le Crueset pot doing what it does best ... make delicious dinners! Chili cooking all day on the stove smells oh, sooo good. And it tasted great, too. Fresh cornbread. Man, my mouth is watering and I've already had dinner!

 Conner planking. Like yoga planking. He's hard core.

Cutie patootie.

 Conner's new trick...

 Conner loves the baby books ... this one is Baby Colors. He loves it and turns most of the pages! It's so cute to see him love reading.

 Somebody is ready for the pool! Cool smile Uncle Brady!

 Who needs expensive toys when you can play with Mommy's water bottle?

 Conner was standing and shaking a mostly full water bottle. We were joking that he was doing squats and working out his arms and shoulders. A little baby workout does a body good. And wears out a baby.

My sweet munchkin tonight before bed. I told you he was worn out...

June Happenings

June, for us, is always packed with things to celebrate: our anniversary, friends birthdays, Father's Day, and Jason's birthday. This year, it was a crazy, jam-packed, string of celebrations and we loved every minute. This year, Jason and I have been married for 5 years. I still can't even believe it. Five years is such a long time to be married! We are more in love now than the day we got married and I am just overjoyed with the way our lives are going. Being parents has opened up a whole new aspect to our relationship that we are still trying to figure out, but it's been so great to see each other as parents and fall in love with each other all over again.

This year we had to arrange for a babysitter for our anniversary. It's something we've sort of gotten used to, but it's still so different from all the other years. I used to look at married couples with kids and say, "Gosh. Why don't they just get a babysitter?" I have eaten.my.words. It's hard to coordinate, but it is important. We were really good at getting out for date night every couple of weeks in the very beginning, and have fallen off that bandwagon for lots of reasons, but such is life! We asked our roomies to basically watch the monitor after we put Conner to bed for our date. The plan was for them to hang on to the monitor all night and let us sleep in a little in the morning. We headed to the car and Jason said he forgot his shoes in the trunk and asked me to bring them back inside for him. I was kind of annoyed that he wasn't ready to go, but I walked outside and had the thought that it sounded a little fishy. I was a bit suspicious, and opened the trunk to find the most beautiful sight I'd ever seen (almost). In the trunk of his car was a beautiful orange Le Crueset pot that I've been wanting for a while now. I've already cooked with it twice and I LOVE IT. He also wrote me a sweet note. We headed to dinner at Mi Cocina and had a wonderful time eating, talking, and reconnecting on the patio. It was gorgeous outside (which is rare) so we walked up to The Cheesecake Factory to get cheesecake to go. We had thought about going to see a movie, but then changed our minds and rented a couple of movies instead. We got home and got comfy, started into our cheesecake and got 5 minutes into the movie, and we heard Conner start crying. Of course, we couldn't just sit there and enjoy our movie when our baby was crying in the other room and our roomies had the monitor. The crying continued for about 10 minutes and so we headed to their room to reclaim the monitor and tend to Conner since he was freaking out. Clearly we picked the wrong weekend to do that, because normally he's good for 12 hours after he goes to sleep and not a peep is heard from him all night. That was just not the case this night. No biggie. We were thankful to just have had time together talking at dinner and eating cheesecake together on the couch.

 

Conner has started to notice Stella and really want to touch her. Stella is so good with Conner and doesn't get upset. He smacks her pretty hard sometimes and has grabbed her tail, too. Once he realizes that he needs to be gentle I have a feeling he will be her favorite person because he'll want to pet her all the time. Patience, Stella. 

Uncle Brady playing in the pool with the Bear. Every time he gets in the water he does better. It's so cute to see him have fun.

On June 3rd, my mom brought me to Mamma Mia! at the Music Hall at Fair Park. I went to Bring It On earlier in the year and Mamma Mia! was probably the best I've seen so far. It was just so good.

Conner finally "gets" Sophie. Up until now he's kind of just been like, "Hey, that's a cool looking giraffe," whereas now, he's like "DUDE. Give me my giraffe. I want to eat her face."

Happy boy!

The first Tuesday of June they had a cool new thing at the movie theater where you can bring your baby. The theater is full of moms and babies, so you don't have to worry about your kids screaming really, because all the babies have their moments. You hear another baby crying and it almost makes you feel good because you know you aren't alone! A friend of mine invited me so we sat together with our babies. The movie we watched was What to Expect When You're Expecting. It was pretty good, and Conner did so good. He fussed some, but that was to be expected. He even fell asleep for a little bit on my lap. I was so proud of him!

Taking a picture of me with my hair did. I don't really do it very often since Conner grabs my hair all the time and it's easier to just throw it up in a ponytail. But my mom and I went to the Home and Garden Tour and I wanted to feel cute. So I did my hair. :)

Pretty flowers in a planter. Loved the variety and want to recreate at home, so I snapped a pic.

Conner sleeping in between places while my mom and I ate lunch in the car. Ha! The things you do to keep your baby sleeping while on the go!

I thought this was really pretty.

These were fake flowers, but I liked the concept. ;)

Loved the mosaic tiled little table. So cute!

So pretty.

Mom and I took turns carrying Conner. He was loving being out and about and was so good. Although, if I always say he was "so good" does that mean he was just being himself? Probably not, since he definitely has his moments like all babies.

Um, I loved this. Too bad I love this style and Jason loves modern things. This would not be a happy medium at all. It's definitely all me.

I want a fountain in my backyard so bad! This was beautiful with the paver walkway, too.

Jason reading to Conner. He loves this Curious George book. He wants to eat Curious George every time. Ha!

Jason reading The Very Busy Spider. Conner loves all the voices he uses for the farm animals. :)

Even though it's a little blurry, this is one of my favorite smiles of Conner's. He's just so adorable!

 Me and Conner one morning sending Jason a "we miss you" text while he was away on a work trip. Darn those work trips ... they cramp my style. :(

I was putting Conner to bed the night before Jason was home from being out of town and he was just too cute. He just melted into my shoulder after I fed him and I sat there to cuddle for a few extra minutes. It was a great end to the day.

This is the only picture we took from Father's Day weekend. :( However, the pictures of Jason reading to Conner are so incredibly sweet I just can't get enough!

For Father's Day weekend, we went shopping for stuff for Jason. We walked around Best Buy for a while and then he went into Movie Trading Company to shop around. After that we headed to Cabella's and Jason bought a knife! He's been wanting one for a while now, so it was the perfect gift. 

Somebody started sitting up a little in mid-June, but was steadily doing it by July 4. Practice makes perfect!

Almost. ;)

The Bear having a meltdown in his excer-saucer. That was a fun time.

Sweet baby ready for bed. I love moments like this!!

Conner next to a ginormous zucchini from my Aunt and Uncle's garden. I love the look on Conner's face - he's just amazed!

Conner with his Great Grandma!

My mom sat in the cat's chair by accident. Oops!

Jason and I ready for bed at my grandparents' house.

Lunch at Memaw and Pappaw's. That's 5 veggies, 1 starch, 1 protein, and 1 carb. We always eat good when we're in Jewett.

Pappaw showing us his garden.

I totally accidentally trampled on some of his new plants. I clearly haven't been in a garden before, because that's gardening 101.

All his onions and potatoes.

Pappaw and Memaw. My Memaw has had Alzheimer's for over 10 years and she can't do anything for herself anymore. My Pappaw takes care of her at his house with just a little help from a lady who comes to help cook and do a little cleaning. He's got "biceps the size of bell peppers" according to my mom. I'm glad he has his garden to take care of to help give him a break from the hard work he has taking care of Memaw.

My mom and the Bear chilling on the couch!

Jason and I on the couch...

This is what Conner looks like after he wakes up from his naps. He's super happy and so glad to see me. I love it.

This was just before going out on a date for Jason's birthday. My mom/family babysat the Bear and Jason and I headed out for a day o' fun.

Burger King for lunch - it was what the birthday boy wanted! After that we headed to the movies and watched Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. It was actually pretty good! I was a little freaked out at first, but got used to it. Jason read the book, so he told me all the differences after the movie. Crazy how far they strayed from the book! After that we headed to Allen to do some more shopping and ended up meeting up with Chris and Kylee. We went to Movie Trading Company and Cabella's. Definitely Jason stores! Then we headed to dinner at Texas Roadhouse, just the 4 of us. It was nice not to have Conner with us, because I have a hard time relaxing if he's there and I'm trying to take care of him. When we got home I made cookies while the guys played some xBox. I think it ended up being a great birthday for Jason.

Good morning, birthday boy! Conner was excited to wake Jason up for the day on his actual birthday.

Daddy giving Conner love before heading to work. 

Another "we miss you, Daddy!" text we sent to Jason on his birthday.

Could his little face be any cuter?!

Swimming at my parents house for Daddy's birthday!

I love my sweet little family!!

Melts my heart!

Love this little boy!

We dunked Conner for the first time in the pool that day. We had gone to the doctor and he said that Conner could do swimming lessons and go under water. I was super excited. That was until I realized what that actually looks like.

Split second being under.

We only did it 3 times, and his reaction got better each time. He was still scared and mad, though, which broke my heart!!

He loves to stand.

I am so in love with my boys!

He loved playing with my bathing suit.

My little kicker and splasher!

Relaxing in the pool with Mommy.

Checking out the waterfall with MiMi.

This was the face after coming up for the first time. So pitiful!!

My Gerber baby.

He loves the fountains.

The next morning we took fun pictures of each other with Conner.

Silly baby!

Our happy family!

My mom and I bought Conner some new toys once he turned 6 months old. I wanted to get him some cool stuff that will bridge the gap from baby toys to year old toys. He loves the little farm house with the truck and tractor and the little pop up animals.

Uncle Brady reading to Conner.

Play time for the Bear!

 Uncle Brady played his guitar for Conner. I think he was super chilled out by it. Daddy played his guitar a lot when I was pregnant.

So that brings us almost up-to-date. We still have a couple of weeks of July to get through on the blog and then we are *dare I say* current!?