The James Family

Laundry Day

2012-01-20T06:34:00.000-08:00

He says the white basket is mommy's basket and the black basket is Connor's basket. This is Connor watching his new favorite show - Little Einsteins. They do this thing where they pat their legs and clap their hands. It is pretty cute.

snow day

2012-01-19T09:39:00.000-08:00

Ready to play in the snow! A little nervous at first...Daddy showing him how to make snowballs!

Christmas

2012-01-16T08:08:00.000-08:00

Like every year we had several Christmas celebrations (8 to be exact...) We did a little bit of traveling and both the kids did great. We were blessed to arrive everywhere safely. Everybody was excited to meet Kate and Connor was loving all the attention he could get! This first picture isn't from Christmas, but Kate is so cute! She is just starting to smile and it is so sweet! Playing with lincoln logs he got from Grandpa and Gammy - and sharing with Kate!

Grandma Livingston holding Kate by the Christmas tree.

Playing with his new Mickey Mouse book.

Giving Kate a Merry Christmas kiss!

Christmas morning with Mommy, Daddy and Kate!

Dancing with Aubrey at Nonnie and Papaw's.

Both are fascinated by Santa - he moves and plays music.

Connor holding up his favorite school bus from Grandpa and Gammy - he loves it and it is never far from him!

Opening the rest of his stocking!

Playing with a fire truck that was Grandpa's when he was a little boy. I love this picture!

lots of fun!

2011-12-19T11:05:00.000-08:00

We have obviously been busy with our little girl and big boy, so here is what has been happening the last couple weeks.

Connor loves to share his cars with Kate... such a sweet big brother! LOVES cars!

More sharing :) he has actually named this Kate's car. Everytime he plays with them, he says this is Kate's car. (Mommy, Daddy and Connor have their own cars, too. And one is called Green Speed, and it sounds like green pee when Connor says it - it is hilarious!)

Not the best picture, but her little face was too cute!

He LOVES to kiss his baby sister.

bath time!

Super Connor is vaccuming

Connor was putting ornaments on the tree - but he wanted them to go under the tree instead of on it.

Getting our Christmas tree - yes, we are at Lowes... We will do the fun stuff at the Christmas tree farm next year.

Grandpa and Connor getting our tree loaded up - in the rain :(

Kate's first Sunday at church - again, not the best picture, but I got that bow in there with her few little hairs!

One of Connor's favorite things to do is paint.

Kate's first week

2011-11-27T16:36:00.000-08:00

Two thanksgiving turkeys! Connor LOVES Kate. He likes to feed her, burp her, hold her, rub her face, and he is so good at sharing his trucks with her! We were leaving for church this morning and she was crying in her car seat and he said, "Baby Kate cry. Baby need truck." Then he went to the living room, got a truck and set it on top of her in the car seat. I almost started crying it was so sweet.

The ride home from the hospital started out a bit rough.....

but it got better :)

Kate is here!!

2011-11-20T14:48:00.000-08:00

Our sweet baby Kate is finally here! She was born at 10:51 am on Saturday, November 19th. She was 7 pounds, 3 ounces and 19 1/4 inches long. She is doing really well and is so sweet! Here are a few pictures.

Here is a picture of Connor on his birthday, too! Such sweet siblings!!

Kate's Room

2011-11-16T05:29:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures of Kate's room. It is all ready, so all we need is a sweet little girl to put in it! In approximately 71 and a half hours we will have arrived at the hospital for the C-section! We can't wait!!

gymnastics

2011-11-13T18:49:00.000-08:00

Connor and I went to gymnastics last week. He had a great time!

Climbing up and over!

He loves the little trampoline - look at him jump!

The foam blocks are always a hit! He did the rope swing and dropped into the pit! So brave!

This was his first time on the balance beam and he loved it! When the extra padding ran out he needed me to hold his hand, but he would jump from the beam into the pit of blocks!

Children's Museum

2011-11-04T11:08:00.001-07:00

We have been trying to do a lot of things outside the house before baby Kate is born. We went to the children's museum with Katie this week and Connor had a great time! We haven't been in a LONG time, so it was so awesome to see him have so much big boy fun! His favorite part was the water table. He was soaked when we left!

Of course we had to start out with Barbie. My boy is nothing if not versatile - which happens when you have all girlfriends, you learn to adapt to dolls and strollers. He had a great time banging the Ken doll's head on the floor... awesome...

Loved the choo-choos.
Water table fun!

This is my favorite picture. He looks like he is going to up and fly away!

Hard to slide with soaking wet pants from the water table, but he still manages.

Playing musical instruments.

Joshua is very interested!

Halloween!

2011-11-01T13:53:00.000-07:00

We went to the Harbert's again last weekend for a MOPS family playdate. It was pretty much a repeat of the weekend before, and Connor had the time of his life AGAIN!! Riding the horse and driving the tractor are officially his favorite things! I finally got a picture of him on the horse. He is dressed in his elephant costume. You can't really tell because he doesn't have the hat part up, but I promise he is not just "boy dressed in all gray".

We went to Katie's with Heather yesterday morning and painted Halloween shirts. Here is a naked boy ready to paint!

Connor was a frog for Halloween. He was adorable!

Getting his first piece of candy! He would say trick or treat about as soft as he could. You could barely hear him! And then he would say thank you - again, as soft as possible.

I know this is a terrible picture, but this is him when we got back from our Halloween rounds. He had dumped out all of his candy into his lap and was just staring at it. Before he dumped it, he was holding his bag open and just staring into it, like, this is amazing. It wa so cute!

last trip to the orchard

2011-11-01T13:39:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics from our final trip to the apple orchard for this season. I mentioned to Mark the night before that we were going to the orchard the next day and Connor heard me. He got so excited! He was saying apple orchard! Swing! Slide! Slushie! lol all his favorite things...

Harbert fall festival

2011-10-27T16:24:00.000-07:00

We have invited ourselves to be a part of the Harbert family (Poppy and Moo-Moo are Justin's parents), so when they have their annual fall festival, we are invited! Connor had so much fun at it this year. He rode a horse for the first time, took a hayride, drove a tractor, found a pumpkin, painted a pumpkin, and got a boat load of fun Halloween goodies! He had a great time! Mark and I were AMAZED that he rode the horse. He asks all the time to ride the "neigh" at meijer (the penny pony) but only actually makes it on the horse about half the time and has only once made it through the whole 60 second ride. He gets pretty nervous about a lot of things, so when Mark asked him if he wanted to ride and he said yes, we were shocked! And when he actually went through with it and didn't want to get off, we were speechless!! I am having a hard time downloading a picture of it, but just imagine the cutest little boy ever riding on a horse with a little red helmet on. Adorable!!

Poppy and Moo-moo are so generous to include Connor as one of their own grandchildren, so when Lily, Violet and their cousins got their Halloween goodie bag, Connor had one to match. He cried the first couple days because we wouldn't let him take the little cars they got him to bed. I made him a little bag for all of the cars because he has to take all of them (and there are 9) everywhere we go. It is so cute to see him carrying as many as he can in one hand and then telling me to pick up and carry the rest of them. He was so excited to drive the tractor he actually squealed with delight! He loves tractors! And he is wearing his new pajamas to bed tonight - they have firetrucks on them, so Connor is pretty excited about it!

We are headed back to Poppy and Moo-moo's tomorrow for a MOPS family play date and he will be riding the neigh and the hayride again, so I will get some pictures and post them soon.

We are so blessed to have such great friends that adopt us as part of their family and a sweet little boy to love.

Train Rides and Hayrides Playdate

2011-10-16T11:04:00.000-07:00

Our friends, the Lahrmans, had a family play date and Connor had so much fun!! He rode the train, took a hayride and got to see the horses eat carrots. Now, everytime he talks about horses (neighs he calls them) he points to his teeth and says eat, neighs eat. It is so cute.

Here he is driving the train! Clearly he is thrilled.

He doesn't show his excitement, but everytime the train would stop he would say more train! more choo choo! He probably rode it 15 to 20 times!

The picture is kind of blurry, but you can see Connor with his arms raised in the air. I have no idea why he started doing this, but all of a sudden he just raised his arms while going around on the train. Other moms were saying he thinks he is on a roller coaster! haha!

Here he is on the hayride with Daddy!

There is a lot of noise in these videos, but I had to include them. He was just riding the train and all of a sudden I looked at him and he was saying choo choo and pumping his little choo choo arm! It was adorable!

Zoo, fingerpainting and Santa...

2011-10-13T11:17:00.000-07:00

We went to the zoo last week with Katie. It took Connor until we were about half way through to start getting excited and talking about the animals, but he had a lot of fun!

The giraffe was eating a leaf off of the tree and Connor said, "Giraffe eat cracker!" Always thinking about crackers!

The rhino was laying down and he said, "Night night rhino."

Joshua along for the ride.

Cutest picture ever...

Connor messing with Abby and Abby laughing...

We did a little apple tree handpainting with Katie earlier this week and Connor LOVED the paint!! He threw a huge fit when we were all done. So (obviously) I ran straight to the store and bought him some paint. Here he is painting (without me putting his hands places to make shapes) for the first time! He had so much fun!

Story of Santa:

We were at Walmart today and saw an elderly gentleman that resembled Santa. So what did Connor do? Yelled ho ho ho at the man for 2 minutes straight while we were checking out. He thought it was so funny and I was red faced and sweating from embarrasement. Thankfully "Santa" thought it was funny, too, because he was laughing when I was finally able to make eye contact.

Big boy bed!

2011-10-04T06:37:00.001-07:00

We put Connor in his big boy bed this past Friday night for the first time! It was a little rough at the beginning, but he is doing so well we are amazed! Friday night he stood by the door and cried and screamed for an hour and a half. Mark REALLY wanted to go in and rock him, but I stayed firm and we didn't go in (except for about 30 seconds after we left the first time - he was crying so hard he couldn't breath and was choking - and screaming mama just to make it worse for me... so we went in and laid him down one more time, but didn't go in again after that). Looking back I have no idea how I got super mommy strength to not go get him when he was crying. I was thinking about it and made myself sad...
Anyways - Saturday nap time was also rough. I basically stood outside the door for an hour staring at the monitor and everytime he got up I opened the door and he would lay back down. Eventually he stopped trying to get up and fell asleep.
Saturday night went amazingly well! He laid in bed and didn't fall asleep for over an hour, but didn't cry and didn't try to get up!
Everytime he lays down, nap or bedtime, he always says, "no cry". It was cute at first, like he was reminding himself and telling me about it, but now it just makes me sad! Mark reminded me he is not putting on a brave face, if he wanted to cry he certainly would, but he just remembers me saying it on Friday night, I guess.
Obviously it is still a work in progress - it took him 2 and a half hours to fall asleep for his nap today, but I think overall he is doing awesome!

So we have all the nursery furniture in Kate's room and I am READY for her to arrive!! 6 more weeks! We have a lot to do before she arrives, but we are marking things off the list all the time. Mark painted Connor's blue night stand pink yesterday! And we got a vinyl application decoration thing to put on her wall in the mail. Hopefully we get it up soon!

Connor's birthday celebrations

2011-09-26T11:04:00.000-07:00

Connor's birthday was a week ago today, and we were supposed to go to the park and get ice cream with Katie and Heather, but it was raining, so we went to Incredible Pizza! Connor had a great time! Here he is riding the red car.

I think this was his favorite game. It didn't cost any money because all he wanted to do was move the steering wheel, and he couldn't reach it from the seat, so he sat on the floor.

You can't have a birthday without ice cream, right?!

We had his birthday party yesterday, Sunday, and it was great! He is such a blessed little boy to have so many people that love him! The party was a dumptruck theme, and I did go a little crazy with it... but oh well...

food for the kids (served out of dumptrucks of course)

Dirt cake for the kids (more dumptruck usage) and regular cake for the adults - although half of the kids ate the regular cake and their was (to my dissapointment) only a small amount of dirt cake left at the end of the party... who knew dirt cake was so amazing?!

Big bite of dirt cake for the birthday boy! Presents were pure chaos (like at most children's birthday parties every child has to help open) and to quote myself, "Everybody needs to sit down! Momma is getting stressed!" lol - not my proudest birthday party moment, but what can ya do when 10 kids are sitting at your feet and trying to open one gift at the same time?

Giving Poppa (a.k.a. golf cart - that's what connor calls him because everytime we visit he takes him for a ride on the golf cart) a kiss thank you for the cute clothes!
OK - confession time. I spent approximately 12 hours making these jello cups. They were adorable. Six different layers of jello stacked on top of each other in a see through plastic cup. How awesome is that?! Well, let me tell you it was worth every second when I saw Connor throw his spoon to the side and dig his whole arm into the cup to get some jello! Then he looked at me and said, "cold!" lol! And he ate the whole cup! I love him!

Connor got a bowling set from Grandpa James and Sheryl. Here he is in action!

Who knew how much fun helium balloons could be at the end of a long birthday party day?

Grandpa and Gammy got Connor a super hero cape - here he is being Super Connor with Super Daddy!

Listening to a story read by Grandpa before bedtime. What a great birthday!!

Oh my gosh we have a 2 year old!!!

2011-09-19T17:21:00.000-07:00

Connor turned 2 years old today! He is such a big boy! Here are a few things that he does that we think are just adorable!

*If you ask him his name he says Caca.
*He rarely says yes - it is always OK!
*He calls firetrucks woos - because a firetruck says woo woo, so he likes to shorten it to just woo
*He calls the mechanical horse at meijer a neigh, and any time we pull up to any store he starts yelling, neigh! neigh!
*Everytime we ask him if he needs a diaper change (no matter how obvious it may be) he always says no stinky and runs away
*If we leave a room, even for a minute, he says bye mama, bye dada, and usually bye to whatever toy is nearby
*he says hi and bye to random strangers in stores
*If you tell him to do something he doesn't want to do, or not do something that he wants to do, he waves to you and says bye bye - as if to say, you can leave, I want to do what I want to do!
*His favorite show is Caillou
*He loves Baby Joshua Land - he loves to kiss him, rub his face, hold his hand, give him toys, anything to do with Baby Joshua!
*Everytime he walks by Kate's room he says Kate's room! And it is one of his favorite places to play.
*His favorite toys are cars and trucks - he is having a dumptruck birthday party on Sunday!
*He likes to wrestle and play hide and go seek with Daddy.
*If he is ready to leave he will say "ready to go" over and over and over and over and over
*He is a terrible eater - the only thing you can 100% guarantee he will eat is McDonald's chicken nuggets, a breakfast bar, crackers, and banana pudding. All other food is hit or miss. Good thing he eats a vitamin every day! lol
*If he is not ready to go to bed and it is time he says, "play!"
*his favorite songs to sing and do the motions to are wheels on the bus and the itsy bitsy spider, he sings wheels on the bus everytime we turn on the windshield wipers in the car.
*He knows the colors red, blue, orange, green, yellow, white, and purple

There are probably a thousand more things we could write, but this is enough! Our little boy is two and we can't believe it! He is so much fun and we couldn't imagine life without him.

Apple orchard and zoo

2011-08-31T10:57:00.000-07:00

We have been to the apple orchard a couple of times. They have a new play set with swings and a slide - Connor's two favorite things - and apple slushies for Mommy :)

We also went to the zoo with Katie.

Connor looking at the fish.

summertime fun

2011-08-05T12:36:00.000-07:00

Since it wasn't 100 degrees yesterday we were finally able to take our kid outside! haha.. Here he is helping daddy water the plants.

2011-07-31T18:23:00.000-07:00

Since I haven't been able to post in forever, I have a few random pictures to share :)

We took Connor to the zoo for the first time! It was about 500 degrees, but thankfully it was cloudy most of the day so that helped! We went with Nana, Grandpa David, Uncle Nick, Seth and Ally. He didn't get overly excited like I was hoping, but we were kind of expecting it. He is pretty serious when it comes to new things. He likes to check them out before he shows any type of reaction. He liked the elephants the best, but the dolphin show was probably a close second - he kept saying jump jump jump when they would do flips! haha

Daddy is clearly excited about whatever animal that's actually making Connor smile...lol

We must be at the elephants, because he is signing elephant.

We went across the street to the fire station with Katie, her mom, our kids and Ryder one day a couple weeks ago.

(back when the grass was growing and not dead) Mark was mowing and Connor wanted to get his mower SO bad and take it outside (mommy wanted to stay inside in the AC, but got a big veto...)

Here is a video of him reading a cookie monster book. You can hear him say cookie, cookie all gone, more cookie, uh oh, where cookie go, night cookie and night night (along with a lot of jibber jabber)

pink or blue??!!

2011-07-27T13:26:00.000-07:00

PINK!! Baby Kate will be here in a few short months! We are so excited to be welcoming a baby girl to our family. Connor says sister and it is adorable!

Florida 2011

2011-06-03T06:32:00.000-07:00

Our computer has not been working, so I have not been able to post anything... sorry for the delay, but we are back in business!

We had an amazing time in florida this year! Connor did soooo much better than last year. If you will remember, last year he was sick the whole week, we were still doing bottles in the middle of the night, he was taking 2 naps a day and not doing very well at it...

But THIS year we had a great schedule! (Other than the fact that he woke up 30 minutes earlier every day) But he would get up, play with grandpa (since granda is the only other one that likes to see the light of day that early, he was the only one to play with), eat breakfast, play some more, go on a walk to the playground down the street/beach, come back and hit the beach for a couple hours, go in for lunch and bath at 1, and then nap till about 5 every day! It was amazing!

Here is the link to last year's post, but I am going to include some pictures from last year because it is AMAZING how much he has changed!! Florida 2010

Starts out on the plane...

last year

this year - he never gets his paci outside of the crib, so as soon as he got it he was so excited, and knew it was time for night-night

Then to the airport in florida...

last year

this year

And to the beach!

last year

this yearEating

last year

this year

Going to fill up the wagon with water with Daddy

He was not a fan of the ocean... hanging on to Grandpa with all his might...

We had so much fun with Grandpa, Gammy, Aunt Mallory, Aunt Moe Moe and Chad!

Announcement :)

2011-05-26T05:34:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness, how does a whole month go by and I not update the blog?! Well, we are pretty busy, but that is no excuse, because things are going to get really crazy around Thanskgiving! We are pregnant! I am 14 weeks along and we are so excited! Connor can't wait to be a big brother. If you ask him what Mommy is having he says, "baby!" and points to either his belly or mine, or both (depends on the day). It is adorable!

Here is a picture of Connor in his big brother shirt that I made him.

Slide!

2011-04-27T07:02:00.000-07:00

If he had to pick one piece of playground equipment that is his favorite, Connor would choose the slide. He loves to slide! And he recently learned how to climb the stairs and slide all by himself! Here is a video of him sliding on a mini slide we got from the Bakers.

videos

2011-04-02T06:10:00.000-07:00

Connor loves his Gallop. He is getting so good at it that he is about to fly off!

Playing hide and seek with Daddy. We were cracking up!!

Connor has some pretty serious dance moves...

basketball and mickey

2011-03-28T10:09:00.000-07:00

Daddy has been loving March Madness, and it is the cutest thing in the world when we turn on basketball and Connor runs to the tv and starts yelling and throwing his arms around, just like his daddy!

Connor loves playing basketball with Daddy!

Connor loves his mickey mouse.

Playing outside

2011-03-23T06:20:00.000-07:00

Connor loves to go up steps

And down steps

And eventually he will fall down... and it will be traumatic...

Playing outside... he loves bubbles!

wrestling with puppy

2011-02-22T07:19:00.000-08:00

Connor LOVES to wrestle with puppy!

Gorilla, Thomas and Puppy

2011-02-12T07:20:00.000-08:00

Connor got a little people zoo from Auntie Peg and loves to show what a gorilla says!

Connor was pretty serious about watching Thomas the Train!

I couldn't take it any longer, so we gave him one of his Valentines presents early... a puppy pillow pet, which Mark and I have so creatively named, Puppy. Connor loves him!!

Our vacation

2011-02-01T16:17:00.000-08:00

A few pictures from our vacation a couple weeks ago! We went on a cruise with the Lands and the Harberts.

group shot

Heather and I ready for a night on the cruise ship...

yes we have matching shirts... no we did not plan it... yes we still went out wearing them

Mark James and I enjoying a Corona at sea well, technically we are at port, but you get my meaning :)

Katie and I watching Mark and Cam take turns going down the slide.

And here is Connor while we were gone. He stayed with Grandpa and Gammy and had a BLAST!! Aunt Mallory even got to watch him for an afternoon. And from what I hear, he was not ready to let her walk out the door! He crawled over to her and held on to her leg! Such a sweet boy!

Connor LOVES Sturgis!!

Walking, return of the ball popper and other fun stuff!

2011-02-01T15:39:00.000-08:00

Connor is getting a lot better at the whole walking thing! Here he goes!!

Here is a new video of the Terrifying Ball Popper...

Our boy is so big now!! For those of you who don't remember, click here to see the last time the ball popper made an appearance.

Yes, our boy has a lot of trucks.. and he plays with each of them every single day!!

Just relaxing...

with daddy...

and playing!!I babysat Ryder last week and this was the first time they saw each other.. it was cute!

Every day when Mark comes home from work he has his hat on, and every day Connor says, "HI!" and then reaches for his hat to take it off.. it is adorable!

Walking!!

2011-01-14T10:49:00.000-08:00

Many of us (me included) thought this day would never come. But it has!!! Connor has taken some actual steps! He has taken one or two once or twice (haha) but look at our boy go!! The last video isn't walking, but it is hilarious! The little face he makes cracks me up!

Dancing Connor

2011-01-08T15:47:00.000-08:00

Connor dancing to his favorite song...

me and my man :)

2011-01-04T18:34:00.001-08:00

Here is a picture of Mark and I. We went to Heather and Kevin's wedding, and it was beautiful! Heather and I were friends and roommates in college. Grandpa and Gammy watched Connor so we were able to stay and have fun! He was actually sick with an ear infection then, so we are lucky we were still able to go!

Connor Alan

2011-01-04T16:49:00.001-08:00

Our little man is growing up so fast! I feel like in the past few days to a week or so, he has really started to show some personality and he is so smart!

He can say so many words! He says: car (anything with wheels is a car), cracker, hi, no, mama, dada, thank you, wow, yum, uh oh, yay!... I think that's all.
He knows the animal sounds for: cow, duck, dog, and tiger. He also says choo choo for a train.
He can sign: up, milk, please, thank you, more, all done, eat, and help.
He also loves to give high fives and waves hi and bye!
He loves chapstick like his Daddy and knows how to put it on all by himself. He gets the nail clippers and acts like he is clipping his nails, and when he gets his brush he brushes his hair; it is so cute! He also tries to feed himself with a spoon. If we load it up for him, he hits his mouth about a quarter of the time haha.

We are so blessed to have such an amazing little boy!

Here are a couple vidoes of him.

Here he is riding one of his cars, with a little assistance from Daddy.

And being crazy baby on the couch! He can now climb on and off the couch all by himself - without doing a nose dive!

New Years Eve and a couple random videos

2011-01-02T17:21:00.000-08:00

Connor sure does look different than last year, doesn't he?!

This is a video of Connor playing with a car that great-grandma Horn got him for Christmas. Before I got the camera (of course he stopped as soon as I got it out) he kept opening the trunk and picking up some invisible food, putting it in his mouth and saying "yumm!" It was adorable! But this is still pretty cute!

Connor loves to pretend he is putting on chapstick, and the nail clippers somewhat resemble the tube of chapstick...

Christmas

2010-12-26T11:20:00.000-08:00

Yes, there were pumpkins on the blog as of yesterday.

Yes, today is the day after Christmas.

Yes, I am slacking.

Yes, we are back!

Connor is so blessed to have so many people that love him! Here are some pictures from Christmas gatherings over the past couple weeks. Enjoy and sorry we have been gone for so long, but now we are back to sharing pictures, stories and videos of our sweet baby boy... and, yes, even though he is 15 months old I am calling him my baby boy!

Opening his first Christmas present of the season from Grandpa and Sheryl... LOVES tissue paper!

Connor loves his cars from Nana and Grandpa David.

We had seven Christmas gatherings, so needless to say I forgot my camera for a few of them... however, here are some pictures of Connor with toys he got from some more family Christmas get togethers.

Connor playing with his car toy from Great-Grandma Horn. He is picking up the phone and saying, "hi!".

Playing with his shopping cart from Mimi and Poppa.

Connor loves Scout from Aunt JayneAnn and Uncle Greg! It says his name, favorite color, animal, food, and even sings songs! It is adorable!

Break from presents for his 15 month doctor's appointment. He is in the 25th percentile for weight and 50-75 percentile for height. Perfect little boy!

Christmas with Grandpa and Gammy. I can't tell who is more excited for this present - Connor or Grandpa!

Christmas morning and all he wants to do is watch Mickey Mouse and eat his Christmas pancakes...
Christmas morning with Mommy and Daddy.

Christmas at Nonnie and Papa's with great grandma and great grandpa Livingston.

Connor and his cousin, Aubrey, staring at the pretty Christmas tree. Connor loves his new power wheels car!

Seven family Christmas get togethers and this is the best family picture we got...
Connor loves to dance with Santa when he sings!

He loves his buzz lightyear!

Connor and Daddy relaxing with some football and animal crackers after a long Christmas fun filled weekend.

Leggos

2010-11-10T19:07:00.000-08:00

Connor loves his Leggos. He loves them so much that he likes to get into the basket that holds them and play with them (with his coaster, of course). His two favorite things to do are put them on the floor and put them in the tree...

Borrowed picture...

2010-11-01T11:57:00.000-07:00

Katie has this picture on her blog, so everybody has probably already seen it, but it is just too cute... so I borrowed it! Connor and Abby are reading. It looks like they are showing each other the book they have, and they are both so interested! This is one of the few pictures we have of the two where Connor is not laying on top of Abby "loving her"... Connor has lovely bed head...

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T17:02:00.001-07:00

Here is Connor with his Halloween bag from Nonnie and Papaw. He (we) also got some good candy and cookies from Mimi and Poppa, but forgot to take pictures while we were there! Connor and Nana.

Our sweet little monkey man

He is clearly thrilled with what is happening...

After going to see Mimi and Poppa and Nonnie and Papaw, we went trick or treating with the Lands. (we only went to two houses, but it was cute to see him hold his bag -- and exciting to get a fist full of twix from one house!!)

We didn't get to see all the grandparents, so we will have a couple more dress up days -- get all the use we can out of this costume!

Fun Day with Daddy!

2010-10-27T06:39:00.000-07:00

Daddy took a 4 day weekend last week! It was so fun to have him around for two extra days! We went to the apple orchard and watermans market!

His first taste of apple slushie... he loved it! (just like his momma!)

Silly Connor!

2010-10-27T06:22:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I turn on morning cartoons for Connor to watch while he is eating breakfast. I did this morning, and apparently he couldn't watch and chew at the same time... haha More barstool crawling...

He decided to get every single toy and basket out of the toy bin... awesome...

Here is Connor taking his first assisted steps... he hasn't ever shown any interest in walking, so this was a shocker! Usually when we hold his arms to have him stand he lifts his legs up and out to the side like in a sitting position, but in the air...

Silly Connor!

2010-10-22T06:30:00.000-07:00

I have no idea why he has such an obsession with this coaster lately, but he crawls around with it in his mouth a lot! If you look closely you will see the edge of it is all wet...

I was doing dishes the other day and heard him start fussing... when I looked over this is what I saw...

He likes to crawl over things, but he got stuck crawling over the high side of the barstool.

Here is Connor "loving" Abigail... his way of showing love is to lay on her (his way of showing love to anybody is to lay on them, but he lays on Abby more than anybody... and she probably likes it the least of anybody!)

Connor's birthday shirt

2010-10-15T08:32:00.001-07:00

Wonderful Heather noticed that I said I didn't have a picture of the back of Connor's birthday shirt, so (of course) she sent me one! Thank you, Heather! :)

I would like to point two things out about this picture: number one - he has a ball - it is his favorite toy - any ball, it doesn't matter, he will crawl around with it all day... throw it, crawl after it, pick it up, throw it, crawl after it, pick it up, and on and on and on... best game ever. Number two - his hair... yes it is out of control... no brushing it does not help... yes it is like that 90% of the time... yes I think it is adorable...

random...

2010-10-11T16:54:00.000-07:00

Connor and I walked over to the Lands in Connor's new little red wagon. The girls loved it!

Connor after his 12 month appointment. He had to get his finger pricked, so they wrap it up in a bandage... he was NOT happy with the mean nurse lady! And he looked so pitiful asleep in the carseat when we got home... (yes you do see his diaper because he was so hystarical after the shots and blood draw that I couldn't get his clothes back on all the way, so we just left... mother of the year, I know...)

Daddy playing with Connor's new basketball goal from Mimi and Poppa

Happy Birthday, Connor!!

2010-10-06T07:08:00.000-07:00

As of September 19th, our baby boy is no longer a baby, but a toddler... well, at least that is what Mark keeps saying and I say, "Don't say the T word!" But I suppose it is officially true... Connor is a toddler.

(pause for reaction...)

And here are pictures from the party!! It was so great! Besides the fact that I had a bit of food poisoning a couple nights before and could do almost no preparation the day before the party (thank you to my wonderful husband, mother and the Harberts - without your help there would have been no party!!)

Monkey cupcakes for my baby monkey!

What is this, a graduation party? :) The only family shot!It was pretty hot, so all tried to find some shade...

The Birthday Boy (I made his shirt!) with Grandpa James

I don't have a picture of the back of it, but it is like a jersey with Connor at the top and a number 1 in the middle... adorable! Miss Vi picking a flower (a.k.a. weed) from our yard...
Thanks, Aunt Toni! The water table was a hit!!

Cupcake timeThanks to all of our friends and family that made our baby's day so special! We are so lucky to have so many people that love us!

apple orchard and fire truck

2010-09-21T15:21:00.000-07:00

Yes, we are still here! It has been pretty crazy around here. I have been sick, Connor got a bit of a stuffy nose and we have been getting ready for his FIRST birthday party!! I can't believe my baby boy is one! More on that later...

Here we are at the orchard! He's a bit bigger than he was last time (and I am smaller, thank goodness... and I didn't get bit by a bee this time, so that's good!)

Ofcourse I had a slushie a.k.a the best thing ever invented...

Oh my, look at my boy's hair... there really are no words...

Trying some apple.

Not liking apple...

Too cute!

We went to the library to see the firetruck with Katie, Sarah and Abby!

The babies...

Sarah is thrilled...

Me with my boy :)

Afterwards we went to Chicago's for lunch (breadsticks)... Connor loves Abby!

Clearly it was an exhausting day!!

Lots of stuff

2010-09-02T16:42:00.000-07:00

Attacking Mommy

High Five Fun

This is the tunnel that Grandpa and Gammy gave Connor for his (early) birthday present! He loves to crawl back and forth between Mommy and Daddy!

Lately Connor has been laying down in the middle of crawling somewhere. I can't get a video of it because he does it at random tims, but I finally got a couple pictures! It is the cutest thing I have ever seen - he will be crawling along his merry way and then all of a sudden he stops and lays down! He could be on the hardwood floor, the bottom step, on top of toys... anywhere! Like he just got so tired he couldn't take it any longer and he just had to lay down! haha!

The other day I went to get him from his nap and when looked in his room, I saw a tiny foot sticking out of the crib... it was so cute I had to get downstairs and get my camera before I got him up! Connor was making some crazy faces at dinner the other night, so what do I do? Get my camera of course!

First Haircut

2010-08-30T17:32:00.001-07:00

So Mark finally wore me down and we got Connor's hair cut. I know it was past time... he did have quite the look going, but it was so cute! I told the girl cutting it that I still wanted it a little long - just above the ears. Apparently her ears were broken when I said that, because she cut it almost an inch above his ears!! It is a little (lot) shorter than I wanted, but he is still adorable :)

Looks like he's thinking, "Let's just get this thing started already!"

He didn't really like her touching his ears (or his head, really) but he did really well! (even though he looks quite unhappy! haha)

Another nervous face... he's thinking what I'm thinking - Too Short!!

He looks so grown up in this picture!!

The back does look a lot better... not quite so birds-nest-ish
This picture just cracks me up!!

Thumbs up!

Good Morning Hair and State Fair... and some random videos...

2010-08-29T17:25:00.000-07:00

So I go into Connor's room to get him up and this is what I see smiling back at me...

Mark James took a half day of work and took Connor and I to the State Fair!! It was so fun!

Here is Connor with a pig (he is much more interested in the ceiling fans)...

Connor saying thank you and I love you to Daddy :)

My boy is so smart! :)

Connor loves to play cars.. and loves his mommy :)

The box is always more fun...

2010-08-16T16:58:00.000-07:00

Connor and Daddy's nose

2010-08-16T16:43:00.000-07:00

Crawling, museum, SOO big, life jacket

2010-08-14T06:04:00.000-07:00

I know I've said (typed) it before, but I really do need to post more often... There are four fun events in this post! Oh well! Enjoy! :)

Here is Connor crawling after Daddy... he is so fast!

We went to the Children's Museum last week and Connor had so much fun with his friends! We thought to go after school started so it wouldn't be busy, but we weren't the only ones that thought that! It was packed!

Connor found himself in the mirror and thought he needed a kiss :)

Planting a garden...He thought he might be able to get away with this block, but soon realized he was wrong...

Our Baby Connor is so smart!

Grandpa and Gammy bought Connor a life jacket for the boat! Connor loves it!

2010-08-06T08:08:00.000-07:00

First things first, Connor is CRAWLING!! This video was actually taken over a week ago, and he gets better and faster every day, so just imagine him now!

Next is the yogurt fiasco... my boy does NOT like yogurt!!

Last week was our five year anniversary, so I surprised Mark with a trip to Cincinnati! He wanted to plan our anniversary, but I told him that I was doing it! It was a complete surprise to him! I called one of his friends at work, Melissa, and asked her to get him a half day last Friday (our anniversary), and when Connor and I went to have lunch with Daddy, I told him that he would be leaving work at 2:00 and coming home. He was shocked! When he got home I had him all packed and loaded in the car. Grandpa Horn (my dad) was already here getting ready to take Connor to their new lake house for the night and next day. After guessing the apple orchard, the Harbert's house and the race track, he finally guessed Cincinnati! We stayed at the Hilton and went to a nice dinner (Tony's, if you are ever in Cincy, is fabulous!). Saturday we went to the zoo and then to a meat and farmers market (which was so awesome). Here are some pics from the zoo... and a video of the lion telling Mark just what he thinks of him waving his arms around...

Mark is touching some weird lizard creature...

I have no idea what this thing is....

If you look closely you can see the elephant's butt over Mark's shoulder... lovely...

New toys and happy baby

2010-07-28T11:36:00.000-07:00

So I'm upstairs and I hear Mark yell for me to come downstairs... and this is what I see...

Apparently it is so fun to climb the couch and try to grab the blinds...

Connor found a new toy...

Good morning, Connor!

Babysitting Abby and Connor playing with Daddy

2010-07-21T10:10:00.000-07:00

Connor and I watched Abby for a while the other day and they had fun playing with each other!

Here is his first attempt at stealing Abby's paci... I am not exactly sure what is up with his hair...

Second attempt...

Abby getting some payback and taking Connor's toy. (The buttons on his shorts outfit came undone... he is not wearing a dress. Just so we are clear.)

Sweet Baby Abby!

Connor playing with Daddy... so sweet!

Babysitting Ryder and playtime with Daddy

2010-07-11T17:22:00.000-07:00

Here is our Baby Neighbor, Ryder. Connor and I watched him a few days last week and I got some cute pictures! Here he is happy as can be!

But sometimes he wasn't so happy, so here is Connor looking at him, very concerned that he is crying... he seems to be looking at me and saying, "Mom, don't you hear that kid crying? Aren't you going to do something besides take pictures?"

**Neighbor, I just happened to have the camera, (it is attached to my hand) I did not let your baby cry while I ran to get it and take a picture...lol

They (Connor) kept trying to grab each other (poor Ryder) and pull hair, clothes, toys, hands, feet, bib, paci, etc... so they had to be separated.

Both reading me a book...

Connor figured that since his "baby" toys were out he would try them again! He pulled up onto his knees and played with his jumper.Now he can roll under the mat, play, and roll right back out!

He even turned it into a fort and played inside it.

And finally, some playtime with Daddy!!

Ball Popper Trauma

2010-07-06T07:36:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of Connor and the new ball popper toy that we got him. I mentioned it before and here he is in action. Believe it or not, this reaction is so much better than the first time... maybe he's warming up to it....

Our traumatized baby post ball popper...

Finally able to lift his baby head...
And wonder what his mother and father could possible have been thinking in order to scare him like that...

Happy boy again!

Playing with daddy!

I can't belive I forgot!!

2010-06-29T09:13:00.000-07:00

I forgot the most important part of this past weekend in my last post!! CONNOR SAID MA-MA!!!! Finally!!! I thought this day would never come. He does love me! :)

Big Boy Connor!

2010-06-28T17:15:00.000-07:00

We had quite a weekend! Connor is growing so fast and is so amazing. We are so blessed to be his parents!

Over the past couple weeks Connor has started table foods. He has had bananas, grapes (very sour, very funny face), pasta (loved it just like his mama), chicken, and tonight he had broccoli! He has liked everything except for the grapes, although I keep having him try them, just in case!

Here he is loving his bananas.

Showing off those top two teeth!

We also got his big boy carseat this weekend! He was getting too heavy and too long to be in the pumpkin seat anymore. I was always afraid I would chop off his little baby foot when I walked through a doorway becuase they stuck out past the end of his seat! He rode in his big boy carseat for the first time today and absolutely LOVED it! He looked out the window the whole time! I kept pointing out things that he was seeing, but I said "cornfield" more often than not...

He has also been sitting up a lot... especially in his crib. Sunday morning, Mark walked into the bedroom with him and said, "We have a problem". Connor had sat up in his crib, reached out through the bars to the laundry basket, grabbed the mesh sock bag, and brought it back into the crib for a fun new toy. It is a mesh bag, so it was alright, but not the safest toy, I am sure. I have moved the laundry bag over a good ways, but it is funny to see him in the monitor still try to grab for it and not be able to reach it.

We also got him a new toy. He has a lot of baby toys (rattles and teethers) so we wanted to get him a big boy toy that is more interactive and fun! A couple of our friends have this ball toy that has a little motor and blows the balls up in the air and then back down again. All the kids we have seen play with it love it, so we thought Connor would, too. We were terribly wrong!! He HATES it!!! I have never heard him scream so loud and hold on to me so tight since the day he was born. I feel comfortable saying he screamed louder when we turned on this stupid toy than the day he was born. Yeah... it's that bad. Although, when he's not screaming he is making the CUTEST sad frowny face I have ever seen in my life.

He also got to go swimming twice in one day this weekend! Mark and I spend most of Saturday at my mom's, so Daddy got to go swimming with Connor! They were both excited! Connor loves his boat.

Playing pass, growling and a third tooth!

2010-06-17T06:01:00.000-07:00

Connor loves his basketball that Grandpa Fred got him. In a whole pile of toys he will pick it out and not let go. It is so cute when he has it in one hand and another toy in his other hand and then he wants a third toy; he lays something down to pick it up, but then realizes he doesn't want to lose whatever he had, so he drops something else to get it back, but then realizes he doesn't want to lose that toy, either... it is a vicious circle...

Anyways... here he is playing pass with Daddy and his favorite basketball.

And here he is rolling around and growling... random, I know... but hilarious!

Connor is getting his third tooth! Here is a video of me trying to show it off, but Connor does not want to participate... You can kind of see it at the beginning of the video, and a little bit again at the end...

Stuck!

2010-06-17T05:57:00.000-07:00

Connor was very interested in whatever was under the activity table... until he realized he was under the activity table. Then he was even more upset that Mommy wasn't getting him out, but taking pictures and laughing...

Strawberry Festival

2010-06-17T05:51:00.000-07:00

Connor and I went to the Strawberry Festival downtown on the circle with Heather, Lily and Violet. We had a great time, and the strawberry shortcake was DELISH!!

Connor is too cool for his sunglasses...

New bathtime excitement!

2010-06-10T04:40:00.001-07:00

The last couple of bathtimes, Connor has started kicking his leg when he gets excited. It is hilarious! All he wants to do is splash; if Mark tries to move him to wash him he gets pretty upset!

Abby and Connor

2010-06-08T12:50:00.000-07:00

Katie babysat Connor for me while I cleaned out my classroom and he played like the little Energizer Baby! He normally stayes awake for about 2 hours, but he played happily for 4 hours at Katie's house! I couldn't believe it!

He doesn't look too happy in this picture, but Katie assured me that he was a happy baby!

This picture cracks me up!! Katie said he got this mermaid barbie doll and was banging it all around and hitting it on the ground as hard as he could! I could just see him doing that! He loves to bang things around - typical boy! (although Abby seems to be laughing at him...)

Adorable!

Swingin' and Swimmin'

2010-06-08T12:23:00.000-07:00

Connor played on his swing for the first time and loved it! Thank you, Brody Baker, for the awesome swing and slide!

We took Connor swimming at Nonnie and Papaw's and he was so cute while Daddy put on his sunscreen!

Connor and I went to our neighborhood pool with Katie, Sarah and Abby, Heather, Lily and Violet and Jamie, Aubrey and Cadence (basically lots of girls and Connor...). He loves his boat and in only took him a couple minutes to get used to the water this time!

He loves to drive the boat!

His favorite thing to do is splash (in the bathtub and the pool!)

Violet looking as cute as can be...

Happy Baby Boy

2010-06-01T18:31:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few pictures of our happy baby boy! He loves to laugh, smile and show off his two teeth!

This is a new face that we have been getting lately... it is hilarious and also interesting at the same time...

Apparently I am quite funny...

Catching up

2010-05-26T17:55:00.000-07:00

I need to post more often; when I finally do it, I have a thousand things to share!

Here is my baby boy just smiling away! He is so stinkin' cute! :)

He had puffs for the first time a couple days ago. He does a great job at picking them up with his little fingers, but doesn't quite understand the next step of putting them in his mouth... he'll get there!

This picture cracks me up! He looks so happily confused! haha!

We went outside yesterday afternoon and he sat in he grass for the first time. He thought it was pretty fun!

He finally got a piece of grass and he was so excited! It was a lot of hard work, you know!

Connor and Daddy hanging out before naptime...

Connor loves to roll around and play. When he is trying to stay awake he shakes his head (like in the last video) to stay awake. It is adorable!

Connor still loves to be scared!

He does this hilarious laugh sometimes. I finally got it on video!

Cutest picture ever

2010-05-15T14:09:00.001-07:00

Bath time

2010-05-15T13:57:00.003-07:00

Connor LOVES bathtime! I can't wait to see him in the pool!

SOO big!

2010-05-15T13:44:00.001-07:00

Connor is getting so big! He can sit like a pro and now he can hold himself up against the couch!

Fun with the Land girls!

2010-05-15T13:32:00.000-07:00

On Thursday I got my wisdom teeth removed, so we had lots of help! Dad watched Connor while Mimi took me to get the surgery, and Katie watched Connor after I got back. She was a life saver! Connor had tons of fun with Abby and loved trying to grab Sarah's tutu.

I also have to thank our wonderful friends, the Harberts' and the Macks', for bringing over dinner on Thursday and Friday! What would we do without our friends?! Love you guys! :)

Bathtime fun

2010-05-06T09:06:00.000-07:00

Books and Biscuits

2010-05-05T11:59:00.001-07:00

Connor enjoyed his first "biter biscuit" (a.k.a. Messiest-Thing-Ever... He got it all over his shirt, face, arms, hands, my arms and hands, my watch...) He LOVED it!!

Daddy and Connor love to read books!

He can turn the pages all by himself!

Connor waiting patiently for Daddy to get a new book to read:

Play time

2010-04-15T10:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Connor was playing with a block and he knocked it past his feet, so (being the genius that he is) he used his feet to bring it back to him... but then it got stuck under his thunder thighs, so he had to find a new toy. Here is a picture... notice the block under him! haha!

And here he is playing today. He is starting to sit by himself really well now!

And he loves to read (eat) his books!

6 month doctor's appointment

2010-04-15T10:26:00.000-07:00

Connor had his six month doctor's appointment this week (yes, I know he will be 7 months in a couple days...) and he did great! He got shots and only cried for a few seconds, and then as soon as the nurse let go of his legs he stopped. He seemed to not like being held down just as much as the shots! (Probably why using the aspirator 100 times a day is starting to irritate him...hmm..)

If you know Connor, you know that he LOVES to watch tv, so here he is after some benadryl for the stuffy nose and tylenol for the shots trying to watch some Veggie Tales at the pediatrician's office:

And here he is right before the shots... he has no idea what's coming...

Sick baby boy

2010-04-12T07:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Connor woke up with a stuffy nose and today it is about 10 times worse. He can't breathe out of his nose and is crying pretty much all the time. However, this morning he was not crying for about 2 minutes, so I got this video! Enjoy! :)

Easter

2010-04-07T13:28:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter - here is Connor on his Easter blanket that Nonnie made him.

Here he is opening his basket from Grandpa and Gammy

From Nonnie and Papa...

And from Great-grandma and great-grandpa Livingston

If you notice from the picture, he got the book, What is Easter? I love it! The first I heard of it was frm Elizabeth who got it for Anabelle, and then Connor got it, too, and it is the best book ever! The first half of it asks if Easter is about candy, bunnies, chocolate, eggs, etc. and the last half of the book says no, and explains what Easter is really about. It tells the story of Jesus and how He died for all our sins. Love it! :)

After our Easter brunch with Grandpa and Gammy, Mark and I went downtown to join in with the Butler festivities, and Connor stayed the night with Gpa and Gammy! We had a great time, and so did Connor!

First was a yummy afternoon snack in his adorable new shirt-bib...

Then bathtime
Then dinner with Aunt Morgan

A Parent's Promise

2010-03-25T11:38:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we dedicated Connor at church. It was called a Parent's Promise. We promise to raise him to have a relationship with Jesus Christ and know who He is. It is a big responsibility, but we are ready for it!

Here are my two handsome boys!

Connor was so excited for his big day that he only took one 15 minute nap all day! He was so tired he fell asleep during the ceremony!

Here are our neighbors (from our old house), Andy and Chelsea, with their sweet baby boy Ryder.

Here are all the people that came to celebrate with Connor Alan... He is so loved!

This is the picture Mark and I decided to use for the slideshow during the ceremony... He is so darn cute! :)

Family shotAfter the dedication ceremony we all came back to our house and ate chili for dinner. The Macks, Lands and Harberts met us here. It was so wonderful! Our family and our closest friends with us to celebrate our baby boy on such an important and special day.

Playing

2010-03-25T09:50:00.000-07:00

Katie just gave me the idea to put only two legs on Connor's table leap frog toy so it is on lean and he can play with it, and he LOVES it! He can also lay next to it and play with it that way.

Here he is trying to escape his Bumbo...

Here are Connor's two pearly whites - he loves to show them off when he says dada.

Here is Sarah playing with Connor in his Jumping Bean.

Boo!

2010-03-18T17:58:00.001-07:00

I hope we aren't the only parents out there that find such joy in scaring their child...

Florida

2010-03-15T12:05:00.000-07:00

We had our very first family vacation! We went to Florida with my dad, stepmom and sisters. We had such a great time!

So many firsts:

first plane ride,
first time on the beach, first time eating sand, first stomach bug (not all firsts are good ones) (stomach bug leads to bad diaper rash which leads to naked baby)first second tooth (hard to see, but to his right of the first one, which is getting bigger!)first time saying "da-da",
(This video is not really of him saying dada, but I am trying to get him to say it and he is so adorable!)

Here he is saying dada - he is a bit fussy in the video - I think he might be getting his third tooth!

first time shaking his head back and forth (adorable),

first time passing a toy back and forth from hand to hand,

first time bathing in a sink (that was also way too small for him),
first time (and last because of the stomach bug) having peaches,

and first time finding and trying (unsucessfully- big belly got in the way) to eat his toes

And here are some other pictures from our trip:

Mimi and Poppa

2010-03-05T15:06:00.000-08:00

Connor and I visited Mimi and Poppa this week. We had a great time (and a great lunch)! Connor had so much fun he tuckered himself out!

Toys for dinner

2010-03-05T14:56:00.000-08:00

Connor couldn't wait for his peas for dinner, so he had the nearest toy!

Friends!

2010-03-02T12:32:00.000-08:00

Here is Connor with his Baby Neighbor (Mark and I used to live next to Andy and Chelsea, which we still call our Neighbors, and this is their beautiful baby boy, Ryder)

Connor with his new friend, Bob the Builder, at the Children's Museum

Laughing

2010-03-02T12:20:00.000-08:00

Daddy can always get Connor to laugh!

I'm stealing!

2010-02-25T17:52:00.001-08:00

I was looking at the Macks blog and saw this adorable poem... so I stole it and here it is :)

I hope my child looks back on today
and remembers a Mom who had time to play
There will be years for cleaning and cooking
But children grow up when we are not looking
Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
Cuz babies grow fast, we learn to our sorrow
So settle down cobwebs, dust go to sleep
I'm cuddling my baby, and babies don't keep

(I'm not really off to cuddle him because he is sleeping, but tomorrow will be Cuddle Crazy)

Euchre Night

2010-02-25T17:28:00.000-08:00

Once a month, we get together with our closest friends, the Macks, Harberts and Lands to play Euchre. It used to be 2 kids with the 8 adults, and has now grown to 6 kids in a little more than a year! We are about to be outnumbered!

Here is a picture of all the guys on Daddy Duty while the Mommies chatted and ate.

I didn't notice this until I read it on the Harbert's blog, but they all have their footie pjs on! How cute are our kids?! :)

We have tried several times to get a picture of all the kids (unsuccessfully) but we have now succeeded! (keep in mind there were 3 cameras flashing nonstop for the whole 60 seconds they stayed still - 3 cameras and not 4 because the ONE time I need it, I forget, so thanks for the picture Elizabeth!)

From L to R - Abby - 4 mo, Sarah - 2 years, Anabelle - 9 mo, Lily - 2 years, Violet - 6 weeks, and Baby Connor - 5 mo

Big boy bath and first tooth!!

2010-02-22T09:27:00.000-08:00

Lots of things going on in the James Household these days!

Connor took his first big boy bath. He is such a growing boy that he has been getting a bit too big for his baby bathtub, so into the big bathtub we go! Here is our adorable, chubby baby boy!

Just hanging out waiting for the washing to begin:

Now that we have our rubber ducky, we are ready to begin!

Suds in the hair

All clean!

If you notice, there aren't really any smiles in the bathtime pictures. We were wondering why he wasn't more excited for his big boy bath. Then here was dinner...

I know I show a bit of bias because I am this adorable boy's mother, but he is so cute even when he cries!

Then when I noticed this little guy...

I knew why he was not so smiley. Connor has his first tooth!!

And here he is today... sweet potatoes are going down much better than before. He doesn't gag anymore! Progress! haha! And here he is smiling away like a sweet potato champ at lunch today!

Here is my laughing baby boy! So sweet! :)

Sweet potatoes not so sweet

2010-02-20T09:34:00.000-08:00

Connor is 5 months old!! We celebrated by starting veggies. Sweet potatoes were up first, and he is not a fan of them! He is getting so big and we are so proud of him! He ate all his sweet potatoes, even though he did not appear to enjoy them AT ALL! The faces he makes are so funny!

Here are some pics:

New Videos

2010-02-18T10:52:00.000-08:00

Connor loves to eat! (obviously)

Here is a video of him eating like a champ!

Connor is so funny when he is excited. He kicks just one leg! And he loves to suck on anything he can get in his mouth (except a paci, which he just spits right out...)

And here he is being attacked by Tickle Monster Mommy (that's me)

We are so blessed to have such a happy baby!