A Birthday Party

Just a few photos of Conner's Birthday party. He's only one, and I'm a believer in simple easy birthdays when your kids are too young to even realize what is going on. Pizza, cupcakes and ice cream. And everyone packed into our little apartment. It was lovely.


My parents gave Conner a glow worm and a quiet book. I LOVED my glow worm growing up...as you can see I'm a little more excited than Conner is about this gift.




He also got a walk and ride dino from Grandma Nette and Grandpa Dave. It took him a few days to warm up to it, but now he's cruisin' around the apartment.





Next was cupcake time. He wasn't sure what to do at first, and we had more cake all over than actually in the mouth, but he still enjoyed it.







It was a great party with our families. Can't wait for next year!

One Year Older and Wiser Too

A year has come and gone. All I can say about this year is...

I've loved it.

It's hard.

It's frustrating.

It's fun.

It's rewarding.

It's the best thing I've ever done.

How can you not love this face.

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a...

I was out on our balcony the other day enjoying the view and I noticed a little something. What is that?



I got a little closer. Is THAT WHAT I THINK IT IS?!




A TARANTULA!

I'm about to lose it, but Conner is sleeping so I'm holding in my terror. Jon calmly comes out and says...

"Oh I noticed that when we moved in. It's a fake."

WHAT?!



"Yeah, they use them so scare away the bugs, like they use gargoyles on buildings to scare away the birds."

Seriously. It looks so real, I'm freaked to go out there anymore. I had a dream that night that it came to life and crawled in our window. It's like the childhood dream that your barbies came to life at night but....really horrible. Stupid bugs. They ruin everything....even a balcony with a view.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder...

Celebrating Valentine's Day when your lover is miles away isn't as bad as it seems. Knowing we get to share many more Valentine's Days together is enough for me. Plus I got to spend the day with the next best thing...Conner. He gave me lots of hugs and kisses today, and I know if he could talk he would have asked me to be his Valentine. It's nice knowing that your son will prefer you over many other women on Valentine's Day...at least for the first few years.

A New Year

Like most people I've made resolutions for the upcoming year.

Like most people they include the classics. ie: be more active, get organized, and write in my journal.

Like most people I'll probably end up 5 lbs heavier, with more than one junk drawer, and find that my last entry in my journal will still be the day after our honeymoon was over.

I'm not quite sure if other people feel pressured to make the same resolutions year after year like I do,so I decided to make some 'new and improved' resolutions.

2012 will be the year that I....

Make the most of busy season. Instead of feeling sorry for myself that my husband works insane hours and I'm alone....I'm going to have people over for dinner, get some 'simplified' scrap-booking done, and enjoy time with family.

Try new cooking tricks that intimidate me. On tap for this week is making creme fraiche (which is home-made sour cream) and use it in a new recipe.

Read a different book every month.

Run another 1/2 marathon with my mom.

And my most important resolution is to enjoy even the frustrating moments of being a mother, because in just a few years it won't matter that I still need to lose 10 lbs, that my linen closet looks like an episode of hoarders, or that my journal is still lacking in entries. Conner just wants my time...and I think I can easily give that.

9 Month Photo Shoot

I think these pictures speak for themselves. Even with a bandage, he's....in my sister's words....delicious.

Surgery

Our holiday season started off with a surgery yesterday. A few months ago I noticed a bump on the inside corner of Conner's eye. When we got home from New York we had it checked out and after a few Dr's visits, and a CAT Scan we were told that surgery was the next step. Thankfully it's fairly common in infants, and we got a great plastic surgeon at Primary's to do it. It was a long day with lots of waiting, but everything went well and we are home and hopefully be back to normal in no time.


Looking good in the hospital jammies





Waking up after surgery







These are the arm braces that keep Conner from rubbing his eyes. It'll take a little getting used to since he loves to suck his thumb.


Good thing babies are resilient. It breaks my heart that sleeping has to look like this now. Poor Guy. I think we'll be almost as good as new by Christmas.