Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

I am MOST thankful for this ....

I always knew I wanted to be a mom.

I just didn't realize until he was born, how badly I want to be Connor's mom.

He's funny and energetic... yet gentle and calm. He's stubborn and spunky...yet, kind and sweet.

He's adventurous and inquisitive... and eager to learn.

He's happy, healthy and loved.

How lucky am I?! I was given this little man to love and hug, teach and guide.

For this, I am MOST thankful for.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

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What are you thankful for today?

Thankful

Day 3: I'm thankful for the house that we've made our home.

For this little family, it's just perfect.

We're so blessed to have a warm place (or in our case - a cool place) to lay our heads at night.

I think most of us probably take for granted the fact that we have a home to end the day in. It seems like people are always wanting something bigger, newer, on and on.... but stop for a minute and think about the many families who are struggling to keep their home, find a home, find a place to sleep or to protect the home they've made.

I'm so lucky that my baby boy is tucked up warm in his bed, safe and sleeping peacefully.

and i might add ... i have muffins baking in the oven, which fill our home with delicious smells!

What are you thankful for today?

Thankful

Day 2: Thankful for family

I'm thankful for those that surround me with encouragement

and love me unconditionally and constantly.

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I'm thankful to be the wife to this man ...

whom this boy adores too...

and to be surrounded by our family .

I'm thankful for a childhood filled with memories that some kids only dream of...

growing up and laughing with these sisters ...

and these sisters (and Mike) ...

I'm thankful to be a daughter to this mom ...

who showed me how to be the best mom i can be to this son ...

....

What are you thankful for today?

Thankful

Day 1: This is a week of thankfulness.

This week is a reminder to be thankful all year long.

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I'm so overwhelmingly grateful for many things i have and the people in my life. We've had a rough few years and even though i've felt like life has dealt some tough cards, i still end each day grateful for those i have around me.

Today i'm thankful for the memories of this man...

I'm thankful I got to do this ...

During the rehearsal, i looked up half way down the aisle and he had a tear come down his cheek and gave me a side smile. On our wedding day he just beamed the whole way down.

Even though he's in heaven, nobody can take the memories we have of him.

....

What are you thankful for today?

One Year

Connor had his one year appointment after his birthday and this little man is growing!

Weight: 23 lbs 9.5 oz (82 percentile)

Height: 29.75 inches (44 percentile)

Size four diaper (just this week we moved up to size 5)

12 - 18 mth with some 24 mth clothing

We have had such a fun month with lots of friends birthday parties, Halloween activities and playdates with friends.Connor was a lion for Halloween (we were his zookeepers at "Lankford Zoo") and had a great time trick-or-treating on the street. He mostly seemed to enjoy watching all the other kids out in the neighborhood - he loves to people watch little ones!

These are some things i want to remember about him at this age:

Connor's favorite new toys are his ride on scooters, trucks and cars (he loves the wheels) and his wagon. A few times recently, he's gone really quiet and when i go look for him, he's been in his room and pulled out a book.

He still gets very excited when we drop him off at school and really loves his teachers and plays well with friends in his class.

Food: he's eating all table food now and really just eats whatever we're eating. His favorite snacks are goldfish, peaches and mandarins, crackers, cheese ... basically anything he can pick up and feed himself!

He's still in love with his bottle and has a bottle in the morning, at nap time and in the evening. We're not ready yet to give those bottles up - they're like his paci / lovie / blankie and if it gives him comfort then we'll hold off on that for a while.

He's walking while holding on and getting stronger and stronger on his feet every day. His crawling speed has really picked up and he can be in another roo

m in a flash!

Connor still sleeps really well at night (thank you!) but has been off on his napping. He's never really mastered the nap (except on weekends if we nap with him) so this isnt really a big deal for us, but he's wavering between one and two naps a day and about an hour each at best. I think i'll take the sleeping through the night over napping, so i'm not complaining at all!

He loves our dogs and still says 'dog' when he sees them or is looking for them. (sounds like duh)

His words include "out" and "out dogs" (sounds like ow duhs) accompanied by a pointed finger

"dada" (said often to his daddy) and "mama" (said in times of desperation)

He says "nana" to his nana and "no" quite clearly

"duck" during bathtime

the newest one which we've heard a few times now is "hi" when he waves (especially to cars in the parking lot or street)

He blows kisses and put is hands in his face for peek-a-boo

One of my FAVORITE things is when I'm holding him and he suddenly puts his head on my shoulder and arms around my neck in a big hug. He will also put his hands on your face and stare right into your eyes. Talk about melt my heart!!

As much as I know how much he loves me - this little boy is very into his dada right now. When we're at home - it's all about daddy. He doesnt leave his dada and wants to be where he is, preferably in his arms or on his shoulders. Daddy is the favorite right now, which is just fine with me - it makes me so happy to see.

Connor also loves being with his nana and aunties and grammy. They love and adore him and he has them all wrapped up tight - he's so treasured and brings them so much laughter and joy.

Now... i know this has been said almost monthly, but this REALLY is my favorite age. He's just so adorable and funny and mischievous and clever and adventurous a

nd sweet and cuddly ... all in one!

.....

We love you little boy. You continue to bring more happiness to us than you know. I literally feel my heart swell every morning i go into your room. I love that I get to be your mom. I couldn't imagine life without you. I love how you look at the world - so inquisitive to know more yet simple in your pleasures. You're easily happy and you love very big.

We love you and will make sure we do everything we can to make sure you know how loved and special you are.

We can't wait to see where you take us in the adventure of year 2!

One Year Old Birthday Boy

11.11.2011

My baby boy turned one!

What a fast year - filled with so much joy and love.

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C woke up on his birthday morning and had breakfast with momma and dadda. Then he went to school for a birthday snack. After school he got birthday kisses from Nana and Aunt Poobear

(who he calls Goo now). His friend Hunter and Aunt Brandi stopped by to give a birthday hug and then he got to play with Grammy.

...

On Saturday we celebrated with a 'red wagon' themed birthday party:

There was a bouncy house:

and ball pit:

Food for a wagon ride:

Chili, Wagon Wheels (rolled turkey tortillas), Wagon Handles (fruit skewers *which this momma forgot to take out the fridge*) "Party" animal crackers, goldfish

Caramel Apple cupcakes and red wagon cookies

The kiddos got treat boxes to take home filled with bath goodies - a hand puppet bath mit, a bath crayon and squirty toy for splash time!

This is one loved little boy!

Some of my favorite pics from the day:

Some of the other great pictures (thank you Karla - a wonderful photographer!) might be used for Christmas cards, so i'll post them later!

Thank you to our wonderful family and friends who came to celebrate C's first birthday! You've surrounded us with love all year and we're so blessed.

Here we go year 2! watch out world ...

Eleven Months Old

Connor is eleven months old today!

Weight: about 21 lbs (as of a couple of weeks ago)

This little man is all over the place. He crawls, climbs, dances and the list goes on....

Diaper changing has become somewhat challenging - he wants nothing to do with it and would much prefer being naked.

He has four teeth - two top and two bottom.

His favorite toy right now is his piano. He also got a new bouncy ball at the beach last weekend and thinks that's pretty cool.

You can hear Mickey Mouse Clubhouse playing in the background most mornings in our house. Hot Dog Dance!!

One of my favorite things he does is give me hugs and kisses. When i get home from work, he gets so excited and crawls really fast to me and puts his arms around me and his head on my shoulder. Melts my heart.

He waves bye-bye and puts his hands up when i tell him 'don't touch' or 'that's yucky'.

He has a little temper on him, he's very strong willed. We've had a couple of mini-tantrums :)

I say this every month ... but, i think this is one of my favorite ages.

This little boy makes my heart overflow with love.

Nine Months old!

Connor turned 9 months old!

Current stats:

Weight: 20 lbs 14 oz

Height: 27 inches

This month as been a little rough in that Connor's teeth have made for some broken sleep. He has two teeth that keep popping up then going down, but havent broken through yet. His first little pearly white is still there!

Connor is very opinionated :) He loves to chat! His current words are "da-da", "ma-ma"(melt my heart!), "na-na", "nah-nah" (no!!) and he just started saying "ba-ba" and i think that's his bottle. He also has long conversations of baby jabber and sings his "la-la" song.

The "no" word is pretty funny. He says it when he doesnt like what you're doing something and he'll try to 'push' you away - aka, changing his diaper, dressing him, putting lotion on, putting him down to nap or if you're holding him and he wants to get down or stand up.

As much as he is very chatty, he's also pretty shy. I've noticed for a while now that he's very social with anyone he knows (actually, he's pretty goofy and animated) but in large groups or around lots of people, he gets very shy and serious. aka - music class, playgroup, gymboree, birthday parties. He's got 'people watching' down! (wonder where he gets that from!?)

A little progress on crawling ... he will move with this arms and 'scoot' but not very long distances. He gets very frustrated and then just rolls or spins on his tummy to get whatever he wants. He just doesnt see the rush. He'd much rather work on standing on his own!

Some of his favorite things:

Still loves to bounce...

still loves his giraffe, sophie....

loves anything that's musical. He "plays" his little piano at home and his big piano at Grammy's.

Bathtime is still a very popular time of day!

still loves his sippy cup with cold water, but he LOVES his bottle the most.

He's very cuddly. He loves to cuddle his Nana.

We've increased table foods and so far he likes turkey, cheese, bread, nectarines, (still) watermelon, chicken, toast with cheese on, (still) avocado. Anything we're eating, we'll let him try.

He's very content to play on the floor and loves that he always has a puppy friend close by!

Who would have ever thought that a little person could make me so happy? My heart bursts with love for him.

A couple of my favorite pics recently....

Eight Months Old

My big boy turned eight months old on July 11!

We were in Colorado at the time and had a great family vacation there with his great-grandparents. What a luck kid to have GREAT grandparents AND GREAT-grandparents!

Here are what have been the hightlights of this past month...

Weight: 19 lbs. 15 oz.

Height to come at 9 month appt.

Foods: Everything except peas. (we'll try again soon!)

Pears, apples, nectarines (favorite to suck on), watermelon, blueberries, strawberries, squash, sweet potatoes, green beans, carrots, oatmeal, avocado, turkey and chicken! We recently added in tomatos and he seems to like that. Whew, i'm probably even leaving something out.

LOVES yogurt and LOVES his bottle.

He's interested in everything. He examines things (grass below) with such concentration.

HAS HIS FIRST TOOTH! His first tooth FINALLY cut through his gums at eight months, 1 week. Thankfully, we were home from Colorado already because he got a cold right after the tooth came in. It made for four sleepless nights and one un-happy boy.

Still not crawling on his knees - he does a 'belly crawl' on his tummy and uses is arms. When he wants to change direction, he pivots. It's so funny. I was so excited for him to crawl, but after this last week of his first tooth coming in (which i was so anxiously awaiting the arrival of) i've decided to let things happen when they need to. I'm happy that for the time being he will at least stay put in the same room you put him down in!

Generally sleeps very well - 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. (minus this past week with his tooth)

Still loves being surrounded by his puppy dogs, playing with his toys and loves reading books. (ones that make animal noises are a bonus!)

Has a little "twinkle" of mischief in his eye - not sure WHERE that comes from!? :)

Continues to make everyone around him smile!