Makeover

Two mini makeovers. One for Con-man and one for my little blog. My friends blogs have been an inspiration to re-vamp mine a bit to show pictures larger, because, well, they just look better. And my 14 month old was in the beginning stages of a mullet so we collectively decided it was time for his first haircut!

It went pretty much exactly like I pictured it would.

We sat in the chair, Conor on my lap and put the capes on. No problem:

(Ok, maybe a slight problem, notice the evil eye Conor is giving someone to the right)

The clippers are on and we are still ok, sort of...

And then it hit. All the people staring, waiting to see what he would do. See if he would take it like a man or like, well, a one year old. You can guess what happens next.

We tried some cheese, but that only seemed to make him madder (and he rubbed it in his hair, which was not optimal). And then, voila, some lovely lady had a chic-fil-a french fry, and boy oh boy did that do the trick. Thanks!

By the way, cousin Jilli found this scenerio quite amusing. She was actually laughing and screaming the whole time.

And eating his cheese.

As soon as the show was over, the waterworks were off and I could not believe what a grown up little man he looked like. His first haircut. Ah, memories. The cutest part was when he walked up and handed Victoria her tip all by himself.

Daddy & 'Lil Ren with his new faux hawk. He really does look even more like his daddy with his new do.

L O V E

Happy Valentines Day. I can't believe how much Conor has grown since last February. I love him so much more than I could ever have dreamed possible. He is my lovie little Valentine today. He got to open his own present this year. So fun to see him dig through his bag pulling out tissue to see what else was there. His favorite, of course, was the fuzzy Elmo book, "My Fuzzy Valentine." He also got a red rubber duckie with blue hearts and a little stuffed, well, I'm not really sure what it is.... it is cute though (see below)

Daddy & Conor (2 months old) 

Conor today

I baked my Valentines cupcakes with some help from my little man. He sat in his high chair and ate raspberries as I spooned the batter into the cute "love" cupcake papers.

Then we watched them rise in the oven and said "cupka," "cupka," bouncing up and down as he does when he is very excited. When they were ready Conor sat in his high chair again happily eating one (sans frosting) as I iced the rest. Seemingly it is hard to tell where the cupcake ends and the paper begins, because when I turned around half of the paper was gone! Yuck!

Notice the SMALL amount of wrapper left in his hand... oops

My attempt at detail photography...

I am not one for sappy romantic holidays such as Valentines Day. Sure, I will use any excuse to bake cupcakes and give gifts, but I don't like all the hype. I always tell Ren not to get me flowers (since they are 10 times the price for the same thing any other time of the year) and we go out the night before (we did sneak out to Bonefish last night for a delicious dinner, complete with pomegranate martini for me, while Bubbe watched Con-man) or not at all. He did however get me roses, and I can't complain, I mean, they're just too pretty...

Winter Days

Thanks Aunt Morgan for the adorable, cozy coat!

It keeps me so warm.

What an unseasonably cold winter we are having here in Florida this year! I can't say I don't love the cool weather, but I certainly won't be sad to see it go. But we aren't going to let a little chill in the air stop us from venturing out on our precious, all to short, weekends. Yesterday was a busy day. First the annual Pancake Festival Breakfast at Tiger Town with Mimi, Bubbe and cousin Jilli. We stood in line with our bundled up babies to get the steaming hot pancakes and sausage. Yum!

Then it was off to Conor's first Gymboree class. He had a blast! He loved climbing up the round mats to the top and then climbing up the slide (I think we are seeing a theme here). We had a little mishap with the parachute activity where all the kids sit under the parachute and the parents flip it up and down... well Conor decided to stand instead of sit and when the parachute came down, so did he, right on his little face! After about 15 seconds of tears he was ready to play again. It was a great workout for Conor and mommy! We were so busy that I didn't even have time to snap any pictures!

Afternoon Cheese
After Gyboree we came home for lunch and a nap! Now, my poor little baby was so tired he ate and went lights out immediately. Then when he woke up cranky, I laid him on my chest and daddy fed him bites of cheese until he woke up fully and was ready to go again. This is becoming some what of a tradition after his afternoon weekend naps, and I LOVE it. I love that cheese makes him happy, I love the cuddle time with my normally non-cuddly baby, I love the little look on his face as he eats his cheese and snuggles into me. My little man.

Recharged and ready for action...

Inspiration

I have been meaning to sit down and write for several days now, so I am just going to start and go in pieces if I have to! It seems so hard sometimes to keep up with the day to day and actually find time to do things that you WANT to do. This past week I was fortunate enough to come across an incredible story of a young mom, like myself, that really made me learn/remember to appreciate the small things.

These days time seems to go by SO fast and I seem to be SO tired that all I want to do by the time Conor goes to bed is crash on the couch. I know I need to do laundry, or pick up toys, or write thank you cards (by the way, I FINALLY sent out thank you cards for Conors birthday. hey better late than never, right?). I want to write my blog and post pictures and update his baby book, but my body says, just sit down, just relax for a minute before doing it all over again tomorrow. But tonight I am sitting here because I am inspired by this mom who has a lot more responsibility than me, but she still makes time to post blogs and make cookies and take amazing photographs of her beautiful girls.

I want to appreciate all the small things that happen every day. All the small things that make up our big picture:

The way Conor sat on my lap through our entire Friday night dinner at Gosh, happily eating his cheese and looking at his Daddy and Bubbe across the table.

The way that I can say "Conor, where is your hammer?" and he sifts and sorts through all of his scattered toys until he finds his little toy hammer, and he is so proud.

The fact that his new found independence from walking has made him a totally different person. I knew from the time he was just an infant in our arms that all he wanted to do was GO. and now he can, and he is so happy!

The way that he walks laps around our house, then spots me sitting on the floor and runs up, jumps into me and gives me the biggest bear hug.

The fact that he always wants to eat whatever we are eating. Tonight it was strawberries sliced up with some sugar on top. He would take a bite, then say "goo-goo" and bounce up and down for more.

The way that he "squats" instead of sitting to play with his toys.

The sweet way he says "mama" when he wants me.

All these things and a million more make me appreciate every day for what it is. A gift. A miracle. A blessing.

I will make Valentine's day cupcakes. The Easter Bunny will come this year. We will take a trip to the beach, the zoo and the aquarium this summer. Because that is what life is all about. The small things. The memories we make. It isn't about the money (not that money isn't nice), or the stuff you have, but about making the most of what you are given. And I am oh so grateful for all that I have been given.

I am going to spend more time taking pictures, learning to take great pictures. And work on my designs. And pay attention to the details. I need the creative in my life.

Here are some pics from our recent trip to the park: