Merry Christmas

Now that Con-man is officially one (and just about 20 lbs) we flipped his carseat around to face forward. What happened to my baby boy? He looks like such a big kid... and is so proud of himself!

We were so happy to celebrate Christmas morning at our house with the whole gang. Bubbe, Zayde, Gramma, Auntie Dee, Aunt Jenna, Uncle Jason & cousin Jillian were all here to eat the yummy breakfast of eggs, bacon & butter struesel (a Christmas morning tradition) that my chef hubby whipped up.

The babies had a blast tearing into the gifts, mostly interested in the tissue paper and bows. And we all relaxed and enjoyed the delicious food and a few mimosas! It was wonderful to be able to spend Christmas with both of our families together.

way too long...

I will say it has been way too long since I have last posted. I have been so consumed by the planning for the holidays, Conor's FIRST birthday bash, family visiting, other birthdays, etc... Anyway, I am finally sitting here with some time to recap the past two months. Starting with Thanksgiving, whoa, that was a while ago! We had a lot to be thankful for this year with the birth of our beautiful baby boy and our adorable niece. We celebrated at Ren's mom's house. But poor little Conor was not feeling well and ended up with a fever of 102 the day after Thanksgiving. We took him to the dr. and it ended up he had a throat infection, so there was nothing we could do but wait it out (with lots of tylenol, love and snuggling). Once we got through that, he continued with a runny nose for while and the saddest little cough ever. Then we finally saw the white bud of a top tooth ready to emerge.

Our sick little Turkey

It was on his first birthday, December 17 that that little tooth finally poked through. The family came over on that Thursday night for presents and a birthday cupcake. Conor got the coolest truck from Bubbe and Zayde (which he did not want to share with cousin Jilli). He then litterally inhaled his cupcake (see below).

Conor on is new truck!

Not too sure at first...

Wow, sugar is GOOD! (but then we got a sugar rash, so sad)

That Saturday was his First Birthday Bash! It was so FUN!! Everything went as planned (except for me having a mini melt down because he ALMOST did not take a morning nap, which would have made for a seriously cranky day; and a slight snafoo with the look of the cake, lets just say it was not what I was hoping for). But the day was wonderful. The sun was shining and the air was cool. Everyone enjoyed the lavish spread that Ren put together (including 2 boats of sushi). Conor had a great time with all his little friends and loved opening the mountain of gifts. We felt so blessed to have such special friends and family to share in his big day.

Happy Birthday to our ONE YEAR OLD!
I can't believe it has been a year, we LOVE you so BIG!

Welcome Austin James

precious Austin James

proud mama, Natalie with AJ (just a few hours old), Me & Jaime

Welcome baby Austin James Waldman. Born November 1, 2009; 6lbs 5 oz. to Natalie and Seth Waldmen. AJ came 10 days early and so fast that mom didn't have time for an epidural! Congratulations to the wonderful, happy new parents. Welcome to parenthood. Conor can't wait for play dates with precious little AJ.

Happy Halloween!

Kerry with Jake (11 months), Kristen with Reed (10 months), Me with Conor (10 months)

He is like "raaa - why is sasha wearing that"

Sweetest little giraffe in the world!

We had a wonderful, low key halloween at home. We went to Olivia's 2nd bday party during the day, where Conor sported his "i love my mummy" onesie from Aunt Dee. Then dressed up as a giraffe to hand out candy. The other two boys that are Conor's age that live on our street stopped by, then it was lights out for a tired little giraffe.

a BIG Mess & the Pumpkin Patch

While I was feeding Conor last night he kept grabbing the spoon and wanted to feed himself. So I decided to strip him down and have at it! He had a blast finger painting his dinner all over his tray and eating off his own spoon. What a big messy boy! It was straight to the bath after that!

Today we went to the pumpkin patch to pick out Conor's first Halloween pumpkin. He wasn't really sure what these big orange balls were for, but he seemed to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. We found the perfect little squatty pumpkin to carve. Then headed over to Louis Pappa's for lunch and strolled around Lakeside Village until little munchie was ready for his afternoon nap. Ahh, why do Sundays have to end...

Back from Vacation, Bittersweet...

So we are finally back from our 2 week mega vacation. I mean, I must have been crazy to plan a trip around the country (alright, just up the eastern seaboard) with a ten month old, right? Well, as crazy as it was, it was just as much fun. I was worried about how Conor would travel, but to my wonderful suprise, he did great! He slept the first 5 hour leg of the car ride to Georgia since we left Lakeland at his bedtime. We stayed overnight in a hotel then got up the next morning and finished our commute to Raleigh. He slept and watched dvds and ate snacks. We got to spend one night at our friends' house before boarding a plane on Friday morning bound for Boston. Conor was amazing on his first airplane ride. He played with the window shade, chewed on a pack of cookies, then finally nursed and dozed off as the plane was landing. The air pressure didn't seem to bother him at all. Once we got to Providence and checked into our fabulous 5 diamond hotel, The Renaissance Marriot, we ordered delicious room service of grilled cheese with avacado, tomato and bacon! Then we walked next door to the Providence Place Mall to shop around. The next day, there was a breast cancer walk going on downtown. We walked around outside in the cool crisp Rhode Island fall air before getting ready to go to my oldest friend in the world, Stacy's wedding. Conor looked so cute all dressed up in his shirt and tie.

The next day, Conor got to meet my dad, his Pop Pop for the very first time. He got lots of cool gifts from Pop Pop: a Yankees onesie and teddy bear and a Rhode Island dune buggy piggy bank already stuffed with money! Then we all went to Newport for a beautiful day of shopping and lunch.

Next, back on the plane to Raleigh to start our traditional NC October vacation. Conor was a good sport until the end of the plane ride when the air kicked off and it was about 95 degrees on the plane, yikes! Thankfully some lovely ladies behind us helped to keep the little man entertained.

Once we got back to NC, we spend a few days with our dear friends and old neighbors catching up and visiting some of our favorite old spots. Then, on Thursday morning we headed over to our favorite town Blowing Rock. Once again, the cabin (or I should say mansion) that Ren's mom rented blew us away. The driveway was a bit scary, but well worth the trek. I could have just stayed there the whole time. But of course, we had to venture out to the shops and wonderful restaurants the area has to offer. Conor was a trooper and did great with all of the traveling and changes of scenery. Here is a list of all of his "firsts" from our first family vacation:

1. Cut his first tooth

2. Took his first airplane ride

3. Started waving

4. Saw his first snow

5. Started saying "hi-ya!" like a karate kid

6. Met his Pop Pop for the first time

7. Drank coffee (oh yes, Ren was "watching" him and Jilli only to turn around and find Conor with a coffee cup turned up sucking it down, something he doesn't even do with a sippy cup! His little breath even smelled like coffee! Luckily it wasn't hot anymore!)

He did have a little trouble sleeping as well as he usually does (he was up more in the night than he normally would be), but other than that it was perfect. Overall the trip was a BLAST and I wouldn't change anything. I feel so blessed to have been able to do this. Upon returning home, it is nice to be settled again and getting back into our routine, but I feel that pang of sadness knowing that I got to spend every day for the past two weeks with my baby and now I have to leave him again to go back to work. I just have to remember to enjoy every moment I have with him, because I know the time will only go by faster and faster.

Vacation, Here We Come!

As I run around packing everything for our upcoming vacation, I can't help but to reflect on the past 9 1/2 months. When Conor was first born, and our world was turned upside down, I would often think about our annual North Carolina trip and how much fun it would be this year to bring our new baby with us. It would be a calming thought on the sleepless nights and tiring days of trying to entertain a very needy little baby. It would be an exciting thought as I watched him grow, change and become more independent... how he was going to enjoy his first trip of many to the mountains. I would think to myself "I can't believe he will be crawling and babbling when we go on our trip this year". It seemed like he would never be more than a little newborn helpless in our arms. And now it is actually here and he is doing all the things I thought he would and more.

Now that we have added an addition to our vacation (flying to RI first for a wedding) I am even more frantic planning for what I call our mega-vacation. Driving to Raleigh, NC, flying to RI & back to NC. Then driving over to Blowing Rock and then driving back home, whew! But it will all be worth it. I can't wait for our first adventure as a family.

Here are some recent shots and video of Conor crawling. I love him so much and so much more with every day that passes, I just can't get enough of him!

Belly Laughs

Conor has finally learned to love his crab floaty. I mean, I have wanted this crab floaty since I found out I was pregnant. Then, I couldn't wait for him to be old enough to use it. Then, he HATED it! He would cry every time I put him in it. Well, I had just about given up, but Ren wanted to give it one more try, and alas, he LOVED it!! Thanks daddy! Labor day weekend was a blast floating around in the pool with cousin Jilli.

It is hilarious, the things that amuse babies. Conor has a window that goes all the way to the floor in his room, and he LOVES to crawl over to it and look out. So I pull up the blinds so he can get a better view. Well for some reason, I grabbed the pully string and tossed it into the window so it hit the glass and made a noise and he thought that it was the funniest thing he had ever seen. We were both cracking up for a good 15 minutes, just throwing the pully back and forth... i love it!

Busy Weekend of Fun!

It was about two nights ago that I put Conor to bed and noticed that his monitor camera was off. So when I went into his room to turn it on I found him standing up holding on to the side of the crib, peering over the edge smiling at me. So we took him out and Ren lowered his crib to the lowest notch, tear... next step toddler bed, haha!

Then the next day he woke up from his nap and I looked at him on his monitor and there he was sitting up in his crib! So now he can pull himself up and get into a sitting position from his tummy, what a big boy!!

This weekend we decided to check out the new playground/park that they recently completed. It is awesome! There was lots of stuff that was a little too "big" for Conor yet, but he had fun on the swings and the baby teeter toter and some other little low key things. I know he will have lots of fun here as he gets older. There is a gopher mountain with tunnels for kids to run through and a "rocky" mountain area to climb up along with tons of other cool stuff. After the playground we did some shopping, ate lunch then headed home. It is so hot we decided to blow up Conor's little kiddie pool and he had a blast splashing around and being naked outside.

8 Months Old ~ Army Crawling & Talking

Happy smiles on his 8 month birthday (8/17/09)

Peekaboo, I see you! (playing at Miss Tamara's)

I just can't believe Conor is already 8 months old! Miss Tamara has been coaxing him to crawl for about a week now but putting him down on his belly with one of his favorites gerber puff treats just out of reach. He has gotten pretty good at doing the army crawl, but only if there is a snack to make it worth his while. It is hilarious! He is also saying "dadada" "mmdaddy" and "ada", I wonder what his first word will be?...

First bath with cousin Jillian

Aunt Jenna and cousin Jilli came to stay the night because Uncle Jason was out of town. The babies had lots of fun playing in their first bath together. They loved all the toys floating around and splashing in the water. I am sure there will be many more to come!

Conor's New Friend

Conor loves to bang, bang, bang on the keys

Conor & Lane chillin in the pool

Playing with the toy Miss Tamara made for them

"Ride the scooter..."

Loves books, especially books about animals!

Sadly, we had to switch daycare's when Miss Sheila's husband had a sudden heart attack. We will miss Miss Sheila and definitely keep in touch with her. We were very lucky to find Conor's new daycare provider, with Miss Tamara. She also keeps one other little boy, Lane, who is one. Conor loves to play with and watch Lane, trying to immitate and learn from him. Thanks to Tamara for taking lots of pics with our camera!

End of Summer BBQ

Natalie, Seth & Conor (you guys will have one soon!)

We decided to have a small end of summer BBQ (I was really craving corn on the cob!) Natalie, Seth, Andrea, Justin, Kyle, Jimmy & Kristen all came by for hotdogs and massive cheeseburgers

that Ren made on the grill! Homemade mac n cheese from Andrea & Fruit Pizza from Nat were delicious! It was so great to hang out with everyone. Natalie shared her 4D sonogram of little Austin who is due November 11 on their wedding anniversery. Conor can't wait to have a new little friend to play with!

6 Months / Family Photos

Just want to say a quick thanks to our wonderful photographer Cari, www.carivaughnphotography.com! She did an amazing job with our family photos. There are so many great shots to choose from and she braved the 100 degree weather with us to pull it off. These are just a few of my favorites!