Today

I know the title of this post stinks. Sorry about that, it is a combination of randomness that happened today, so that's it.

I should be sleeping or cleaning...oh well.

Connor and I should actually be in Traverse City with Brian, but I'm not there either.

First, I will say that Connor only had one nap again today, but it was not a good thing and I tried to get him to take a nap many more times. He had a HORRIBLE night last night. I'm quite certain it was because he couldn't breathe. He was all congested and snotty. Needless to say, that continued all day today and I was constantly wiping double snot rockets from his little face (from sneezes). I finally got his nose cleared out enough for him to sleep for almost 2 hours in the swing in the living room. (Yes, I got it out of the basement storage area...he hasn't been interested in long time, but it worked today!) I also ventured out to Walgreens in search of a Neti Pot for babies, but didn't find it. I got a "SinuCleanse". Maybe that is the same thing, just a version for an infant....whatever, this is what I got. I swear it looks like some sort of a contraption for some serious illegal drugs (not that I would have any idea what that looks like). It did seem to open him up a little more, and I mainly mean that a bunch of gunk came out. The advantage is that I don't have to tilt his head back like with the drops/spray because of the nifty little arm thingy, but I still have to hold his arms down and brace his little head against me. I watched a few videos of adults using a real Neti Pot and several people said it felt like they were drowning. I think Connor might agree, he was NOT a fan, but didn't pitch any more of a fit than normal when liquid goes up your nose. Anyway, he is asleep now and I'm hoping for a better night. If he feels better, we might go meet Brian tomorrow in northern Michigan. He is up there for work all week and "on-call" this weekend and next. Yuck.

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I am SO EXCITED that after much "practice" Connor successfully got off the fireplace by himself tonight! He has been climbing up there on a regular basis for the last few days and it has been a nightmare because I can't leave him anywhere without fear that he is going to fall off! He has only fallen off once (on his head no-less...thank you, God for making kids durable!), but that is still awful. It just happens so fast! Anyway, tonight, he finally put it together. It took a lot for me not to rush over an make sure he didn't fall...but I had to be the camera-lady, and sometimes I just get to the point that he's going to have to suffer logical consequences. (Is that cruel when he is only 11 months old???)

Here is my video evidence:


Oh, you should probably know that previously he thought he could get down from anything if he crouched down far enough....not good, I know. My favorite part is at the end when he gets all excited and cheers...and then gets right back up. Also, please pardon my disaster of a house. The laundry all over the floor has since been folded and put away.

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I am an idiot. I know this is not news to some of you, but I HATE it when I learn something way after the fact. I have been doing some internet searching tonight for Connor's upcoming birthday and somehow started thinking about the shopping basket that I wanted to get with our stroller (it wasn't availabe in America last July), so I looked for it and that led me to videos about our stroller itself.

I really like our Mutsy stroller. My main complaints about it are that it is not lightweight...in fact, it is pretty heavy, there are no cupholders, and (I guess the main thing) it doesn't recline. Well, it is still heavy and cupholders didn't magically appear, but it DOES recline and the seat even flips around....SO FREAKIN' COOL. I've always thought that it was supposed to recline, but I tried and tried and couldn't figure it out. Well, I obviously didn't try hard enough for that or to get the seat reversed. I am so glad I know everything it does now. I feel awful that Connor hasn't gotten to enjoy all of the benefits just because his mom is an idiot. At least he's not 2 already, right? I guess we'll just have to have another kid. :) I do think I'll make a call tomorrow about the shopping basket and see if the guy will give me a good deal like he did last year.....

Oh, and I swear the videos are new....there was NOT visual explanation when we got it a year ago. I guess that is what I get for not reading the manual....

Cheesy Mutsy Video

Goodnight.

1 Nap???

I don't think I've ever heard of a baby under the age of one dropping down to only 1 nap per day. Well, our little man has NEVER been much of a napper and today marks the third day in a row that he has slept until 9:30 or later! Although this is great for me, it pretty much throws his nap "schedule" out the window. I can't exactly ask him to take a "morning nap" at 10:30 when he's been up for less than an hour!

The first day this happened, I put him down at 11:45 and he slept for 45 minutes and then he didn't show any signs of being tired again until 6:30 pm....that is a bit late for an afternoon nap if you ask me! By the grace of God, he only slept another 45 minutes and successfully went down for the night around 9:15...I was expecting much worse. That is only 45 minutes off his normal bedtime.

Yesterday, I decided I was going to try to one nap.....hopefully a good, long nap. I managed to keep him awake and pretty happy until 1:20. He slept for 2 and a half hours! For some kids I think this is very normal, but Connor very rarely goes for more than an hour and a half...tops. So, he got up around 3:45. He did get pretty irritable around 7:00 and I thought we were going to have to start the whole bedtime routine an hour earlier. His bath did calm him down, but then he played for a while and went to bed right at around 8:30.

That bring us to this morning. It is 10:00 and he's been up for about a half hour. That means it is just about breakfast time. I never dreamed Connor would keep such weird hours before he even turned one, but I guess each kid is different. As soon as I pretend to have this phase figured out, I'm sure he'll change again, but for now, we are going to try for one long nap again today.

(I know Connor's newborn feet don't really go with the post, but I just scanned them in yesterday and thought I'd add.)

So Happy I Have the Blog!

This is random, but I am working on a little surprise for Connor's first birthday (for him) and have found myself going back to posts written long ago to reference things. I think I always knew I'd be thankful to have this tool to help me remember how I felt and Connor's various milestones, but it really is so cool to look back and remember.

When I was growing up, I was great about journaling, but as my life got more hectic with more responsibilities, grabbing a pen and a notebook flew out the window. So, although I may not share some of my innermost thoughts in my not-so-public blog, it certainly has archived some wonderful moments since I started over a year and a half ago.

If you are reading this and don't have a blog of your own, I encourage you to start one. I don't care if you only blog about your cats or keep it closed to everyone but yourself. Now if I could just figure out an easy way to print it all out. :)

Connor's 11 Month pictures

Here are Connor's 11 month pictures I had taken Thursday in Lansing...yes, I drove an hour to go to Portrait Innovations. He was a good little guy and had no trouble smiling for the camera. I guess he's used to having a camera in his face all the time anyway. :) I love that his two little teeth are just shining! I think he's proud of them...

Our Yard is 98% Complete!

I know that a yard is always a work in progress...however....

After living here for exactly 5 months, our yard is almost completely done. AND we aren't planning on moving any time soon. :) For most people this would be a given, but considering we lived in our last two locations for an average of 7 months, we realize we are not "normal".

When we moved in, the ground and lake were frozen and covered in snow. After everything thawed (plus some time) we've lanscaped the front and back, added a beach wall, underground sprinkling installed, sodded everywhere and spread 13+ yards of mulch. My dad is in town right now doing some business work, and he helped us do a lot of the finishing touches this weekend. It is finally looking really good. A lot of the work was contracted out, but we did save a lot of money by doing a lot ourselves. Hopefully it doesn't look too amateur...we're proud. Now we just need to let some of the baby plants get big!

The 2% that isn't complete is couple of bags of mulch for one area and we could use some nicer beach sand, but that might just have to wait until next summer. However, at 98% we are ready for visitors! I can't wait for Connor's neighborhood birthday party over Labor Day weekend!

Girl's Weekend 2009 — Watercolor, Florida

Holy cow, I just realized I never posted any pictures from our 4th GIRL'S WEEKEND!

We had such a good time in Watercolor, Florida....close to Seaside (site of "Truman Show") and near Destin.

In attendance this year: Meg, Nikki, Stefanie, Megan, Kristin, and Me.

Although this was the first time I'd spent an extended time away from Connor (he has spent the night by himself with both sets of grandparents previously), this was the first time it was for 3 nights! I sure did miss him, but some time with my girls was much needed and extremely appreciated. I knew Connor-man was in great hands with my parents in Macon, so I was able to relax and enjoy time at the beach and with amazing company.

I'll just let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

Swimming 101: Blowing Bubbles

Aunt Carrie says bubbles are the first step. At 10 and a half months, I think he is doing SO GOOD.

At this point in the video, he'd already been splashing around and playing for a long time. I really didn't think he was going to humor me with any more bubbles, but the boy knows how to perform for the camera! ;)

(don't worry, the "hot" tub was not hot at all....felt like bath water)

From Christian's iPhone

["It was TORIN!"]

[any teeth yet?]

Connor casting a spell on Torin.
(according to Christian) :)