Connor is Walking

I apologize in advance for the poor videography skills! I was really living the walk with Connor and got carried away with the moment - so I wasn't concentrating on the filming aspect. He hasn't walked since . . . but here you go.

Party Pictures

So, for Connor's birthday weekend we had close friends and family over to celebrate. Since I was feeling like a pretty bad mom for not getting into super planning mode for the party (I sent out the email invite - not even an evite about 12 days before) I was determined to make the cake - from scratch. So, I did. I think it turned out pretty cute. The Very Hungry Caterpillar (one of Connor's favorite books) was my inspiration (along with Williams Sonoma - I am addicted to that store).
I was REALLY hoping that Connor would like the cake better this time around. Plus, there was less icing and it was vanilla buttercream with colored sprinkles so . . . he would love it, right?
We started to sing Happy Birthday . . . Connor seemed interested . . .
Then, he looked seriously skeptical
Then he got upset (mainly from the paparazzi photo shoot and laughing) Not sure if Connor is practicing his karate on the cake - or something else??
Finally, Connor decided to try the cake - He ate 3 bites this time - better luck next year!
Me and My Grown Up (Baby)!

Connor Turns One!

I must say it is hard to believe my baby is 1! Some days it feels like he has been here for a year and others it seems like we were just coming home from the hospital. On Friday, Connor turned 1, got to ride in his new car seat - which he loves so far (good news for mom)! We went to his doctor appointment. He is now seeing my pediatrician. Connor weighs 22 pounds and is nearly 31 inches long. That is about 50th percentile for each.

Connor got a gift in the mail from his Great Aunt Karen and Uncle Scott back in Maryland. It arrived on his birthday so I decided to let him open it right away, rather than wait for the party. He loved it! So did Colin! Here are some adorable shots of Connor sinking the basketballs. Thanks K & S!

Connor's First Birthday Party

So, I know we have been busy lately and too busy to stop and post pictures of the past few weeks. I have a little time and want to catch up on what has been going on. The end of July . . . baby Will arrived and so did our settlement date for our townhouse! Yippee! We travelled back north to sign the papers, see baby Will and have a little party (early) for Connor's birthday. I must say that it was a wonderful - stressful but wonderful trip!

We are so thankful that we sold our house. Of course in this market we didn't get anywhere close to what it is "worth" but I suppose that is all relative. We did get out of the house and that is much better than having 2 houses. Since I used to work in the title business I know just how many things can go wrong before settlement. I stressed over this for an entire month (yep - thats right we got our offer on Colin's birthday and settled within the month) - lucky for me I guess since it could have been months and months of stress (instead of just one). Anyway, settlement went smoothly (getting there the heavens opened up and I couldn't see a foot in front of me to drive -- also stressful - luckily Colin's mom was watching Connor) - I look over to Colin for guidance (how to drive - can he see the road? etc) he is just blackberrying away - typical. I must say it is a good thing I was driving because it would have been even more stressful to be riding in the car - not being able to see - yes, I am a little bit of a control freak! So settlement was cake compared to the drive there - and of course on the way back we hit good old rush hour traffic (#1 on my list of won't miss). I do have a whole list of will miss/ won't miss that I may eventually get around to posting. For now - traffic tops the list!

The following day we held a little pizza party for Connor (sad that he can't eat pizza) for family and friends. It was low key - and I loved it! Can't say the same for Connor and the cake. Here are a few pictures . . .

The Cake - ordered from the same place I got his baptism cakes - cute and delicious!


I got Connor a small cupcake since I wasn't sure if he was going to like it and since we were in a public place - didn't want him to have too much to throw! Here is Connor getting ready to get some cake. He seems somewhat excited . . .




Now he sees the cupcake - "Mom, what is that - doesn't look like green peas or squash to me!"


Now, it is all over my hands - "Mom, where are the Cheerios?"




"MMM, that icing was pretty good - but I've had enough - more video games, please"


Yes, Colin and company taught my baby how to play video games - sadly, he loved them (and not the cake) - better luck next party - this weekend!


Connor and Cousin Brandon having so much fun with Uncle Neal (of course)!

Will

I visited Baby Will and his proud (but tired) parents. Here are a couple shots of the little guy. He is such a good baby. I cannot wait to see him again soon.

Welcome Will!

I am so happy to announce the arrival of William Gregory Kirby! Congrats Cait & Greg! Pictures to follow next week!

Adjusting to Alabama

I apologize for the lack of recent posts . . . and that there are no pictures in this post. I don't even know where my camera is, really! But, the good news is that we are here and moved and happy.

I was so freaked out about moving that I did a ridiculous amount of research on movers. I don't know what is worse, moving or worrying about the movers travelling 800 miles with your stuff! Well, it turns out that moving is worse because the movers did a decent job. Not 100% perfect, but good enough that I haven't yet called to complain. I didn't say I wasn't going to call and complain . . . but I haven't called yet which means they did a decent job.

Once the movers "moved" our stuff into the new house, we had help from my parents, my brother, and all my aunts. And although I suspect most visits these days are to see the baby (who is almost 1 y'all!) this time they really came to help - and help they did! A week after the movers left we have one level completely organized (well, nearly) and one level in pretty good shape! So a giant THANK YOU to everyone who helped!

I have missed out on so much to discuss since I have been a slacker about the blog . . . but I can tell you the most Alabama thing that has happened so far . . . so inbetween the movers packing us up in Baltimore and the arrival of the furniture in Alabama I decided that I HAD to paint Connor's room and the adjoining bedroom. Originally Connor's room was pink and the adjoining room was a green apple color. So, Connor's room took 2 coats of "Cakestand Blue" - who has a blue cakestand anyway? But I absolutely LOVE the color!! Since the adjoining room is functioning as our office at the moment -- I just couldn't live with the apple green. So, I painted it a boring buttercream color (also love it!). As I was painting away on day 2.5/3 of painting the doorbell rang (which scared the crap out of me since I had never heard the doorbell ring) and my roller snapped in half! So, looking pretty scary/ scared I went to the door. It was the mailman. He promptly introduced himself. "You must be Mrs. Moorhouse, I'm Snapper, your mailman." Luckily someone mentioned that our mailman might be named Snapper - otherwise I truly would have laughed out loud! {Snapper has his own sports television show for local teams - so he is "well-known" in the community}. Snapper proceeded to tell me that he would take care of getting any mail addressed to the prior owners to them but if one or two pieces were accidentally delivered on Saturday (his day off) I should just put them in the mailbox for him on Monday and he would take care of it! WHAT? This guy is really nice and making my life easy! Where am I? Oh, right, Alabama. He continued to explain how mail delivery works and if I have any questions or concerns about my mail delivery, I should just leave him a note in the mailbox and he would stop in and discuss the matter with me. REALLY? I was in shock! I was also sooo sad that Colin wasn't home to hear this! I mean, THIS IS THE SOUTH! Or maybe this is just our super cool mailman. In any event, Snapper doesn't know that we are just so happy to actually have our OWN mailbox - rather than a shared box, 6 houses down, that requires a key to open and only fits a TINY amount of mail. Our own mailbox and a nice mailman! So far, so good . . .