New Shoes . . .

Since Connor is walking fairly well and often and my mom read a friend's blog and discovered that her baby had new shoes . . . we went shoe shopping today. My mom picked us up this morning and we went to a great shoe store (one that I shopped in as a little girl). (NOTE: according to my mom when I shopped for shoes, it would take SO long for me to decide on a pair of shoes that the salesman would bribe me with belts and other accessories to make a decision). Since Connor can't speak entirely for himself yet, this trip was fairly quick. We had the whole store to ourselves and Connor got his first pair of real shoes. The shoe store takes a picture of each child in his first pair of shoes (HOW CUTE IS THAT??) - so I scanned in the photos they gave us today (for all of you to see) plus I took a quick pic of the shoes for a closer view.

13 Months, today

Connor is 13 months old today - it kinda snuck up on me since we have been so busy lately. Caitlin and Will were home for a few days (and then we convinced them to stay a little longer (all week!)) so we enjoyed seeing and playing with baby Will. We are sad that they have gone back to Baltimore - but we will see them really soon! Here is a picture of Connor in his new Connor chair - he loves it as you can see . . .


Connor is now walking about 1/2 the time - maybe a little more than half. It is pretty funny to watch him try to stay balanced. He walks and sometimes tries to wave at all his toys as he passes them by . . . really cute, I know. He is also talking up a storm. I swear (and so have a few other people) that he says "Mom, I want that" and points to what he wants. We are trying to teach him some other words. So far, he has mastered saying "moon" and "puff". Our house projects are nearly complete - can't wait to post pictures of the final product soon!

Beach Baby

Connor had his first real trip to the beach last week. We don't really count Key West since we didn't go to the beach on that trip. We knew Connor would enjoy the pool but it turns out he also loved the sand and ocean. I will admit the first day he didn't LOVE the sand. My fault. I took him to the sand with a blanket to play on and no toys! The next day I took the same blanket and toys. He was crawling around playing in the sand. He also loved the gulf water. It was almost bath water for most of the trip. Perfect for the Connor. Connor loves sunglasses (other peoples sunglasses) so although the grocery store sunglasses were too big for him - I thought he would love having his own glasses). Wrong. I was able to distract him a few times and he "forgot" the glasses were on so I got a few cute pics.

Crawling to the Water . . .
Crawling Back from the water. . . .



Connor and the Cooler

Connor just LOVED putting sand in the cooler and all over our canned drinks - YUMMO! So, we discovered aluminum bottled drinks. Ok ya'll DELICIOUS! I don't really think I am a beer snob (because I love Natural Light) but I just don't drink Miller Lite (ever). But Miller Lite is SUPER Delicious from these aluminum bottles. Seriously. And, the added benefit is that the sand doesn't get stuck in the crevices like with a regular can - Oh, and you can put the top back on so it stays cold. Colin of course was unimpressed and preferred the sandy Coors Light.


Blue Eyed Baby




Connor and his Great Grandmother


Connor and his Great Aunt E - who brought Connor his first bubbles and fun pool float!


Connor and Uncle West & Aunt Migi

The 3 C's



Sunsets at the beach - miss them already . . .

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)!