Team Connor

We had an Edward Cullen moment on Monday. Connor went from Angel to Vampire in 2.5 seconds, and I'm not talking a teething moment. The little bugger got mad and tried to bite me! I was shocked. Mommy the Vampire Slayer had to step in and hopefully we will soon see an end to this phase. He's tried it a few more times I will have none of it. I thought this started with the terrible two's, but from what I've read some infants go through this as well. For them it is a way to express themselves when they are stressed. Some infants see it as a form of play as well, especially if they have someone who play gums them during raspberries. For Connor he was stating "no mommy, I do NOT want to go to sleep right now", followed by, aarrrgggggggg chomp chomp chomp.

In other news, Sir Chomps-a-lot is scooting and stepping up a storm. He gains his balance a little more every day, and he's starting to pull his knees up and under him to try to crawl. He's got pulling up to standing pretty down pat, and I feel the need to start child proofing. He's mastered feeding himself puffs, and it is adorable to watch him stuff his face. He concentrates so hard to pick each one up, and then the focus changes to actually getting it in his mouth. I cannot get over how amazing it is to watch him learn each knew task.

Each new tricky phase is only a blip on our radar. We are Team Connor for life!

Side Note: The author's of this blog have never read nor seen any of the Twilight Saga.

One Small Step

No, Connor's not walking....yet. I've come to the realization that Connor might just skip crawling all together, and that's fine. He can maneuver himself around on the ground and turn himself around, but he hasn't gotten the concept of tucking his knees under his belly to get himself mobile. On the other hand, he does understand putting one foot in front of the other to "walk" to the next place. He gets so excited sometimes he hop-walks. He can be holding on to hands or propped up under his arms, lean forward, and off he goes. He's strong. He's always been strong. I think part of it was the reflux working his stomach muscles, but I can also clearly remember physically being in pain when he would kick in utero. Who knows. I do know that he likes to stand at his play trays and just this past Sunday he actually let go of his tray and took one step to me. Woah! This was followed by throwing out his arms and falling (or maybe skydiving) toward the ground in my direction. I do not consider this walking, but I do consider it a "step" in the right direction....bahaha. Seriously, I was thrilled. He wanted me, he looked at me, and he stepped towards me. The game proceeded for a while, no more steps, but he would play, turn, arms out, and sky dive. It was hysterical! He's been reaching for me for a while, but recently he's been branching out, and letting others know he wants them by reaching to them to be held. Grandma Glenda got to experience this recently and she couldn't get enough.

Kaitlyn's Elementary School Promotion was last night and it gave me time to really reflect (it was a little long). While I sat there I could recall the day she was born with such clarity, and yet here I was looking at a young lady. It went fast. She'll be a Middle Schooler, she'll be a teenager soon, where did the time go? Each moment has to be treasured. How do I use this knowledge and apply it to my time with Connor? I truly want to enjoy this time make each milestone and moment special with our little miracle. In the moments I feel overwhelmed that my house is a mess, or that I have a million people to please, I need to slow down and remember that my priority is Connor. I read this poem recently and this is what stuck with me:

…The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
For children grow up, I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

~Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

Congrats Grads!

“When you ask yourself, ‘what do I owe my parents, my school, myself? What do I owe God?’ I believe it means that you answer ‘Love with faith.’ That you step into the world not knowing, but believing.” ~Randall Wallace LU Commencement 2011

Connor has made his first trip to Liberty University! We know it will not be his last, but this trip was in honor of his Daddy and his Uncle Casey, which made it even more special. To see how far this University has come in just a few short years is astounding. I can only imagine what it will be like in 18 years when Connor is ready to pick his college. We may be a little biased in where we think he should go...

It was a fiasco getting there, thanks to U.S. [nightm]Air. After waiting for 2 hours at our gate in Charlotte, they got us on our plane at 12:40am only to turn us around from Lynchburg after being in the air for 2 hours canceling our flight due to weather though we were delayed due to maintenance. They "graciously" reserved us a hotel room, of which we didn't get to until 4am, and offered to book us on the next available flight. (I must say Connor was amazing during this debacle. He stayed mellow and was great on the plane rides.)This was Thursday evening, and lucky us, the next available flight was........Saturday night. Our only option to get Tim to LU in time to graduate was to book a rental car, but conveniently enough there was not a single car available from any company. Every car was booked, and the all of the flights were booked. Our godsend came in the form of a sweet gentleman that was in our same predicament who approached me and offered to drive us to Lynchburg the next morning. He is a business man who flies this route often and happens to be an elite Gold Card member of Hertz. That Gold Card was the golden ticket, and because of that status he rented two cars accommodating 8 stranded passengers. He was even kind enough to rent a baby seat for Connor. This kind man was Daniel Reber, of Reber-Thomas Dining Hall, and of Reber-Thomas Blvd on Liberty's Campus. We spent 3+ hours in the car with this kind man, hearing great stories of Dr. Falwell and the University. He shared so much of himself, and was such a wonderful example of loving kindness and generosity.

Once there, we of course hit every one of our favorite restaurants. It's sad, but even with where we live, I miss the cuisine offered in Lynchburg. We actually plan our day around where we are going to eat each meal. This includes late night runs to Sonic. Who needs 5 stars when you've got the option of Osaka's? Hibachi Fast Food is a win for us, and add the yum yum sauce and life is complete!

Commencement morning started very early for us. We wanted to get just the right seats, hopefully under cover, and easily accessible for Great Grandma Harriet. While the fog was still present in the stadium we found the perfect row and waited crossing our fingers that it wouldn't rain. As the graduates trickled in we looked for our special guys and made contact! It was the best game of "Where's Waldo?" ever. Our row of fans included Aunt Merilee and Uncle Buzz, Great Grandma Harriet, Grandma Glenda, Aunt Kaitlyn, Me, Connor, Uncle Scott, and Grandpa Gary. My hands were very full juggling all of the cameras and the baby. Thankfully Uncle Scott saved the day having the special touch with Connor. They bonded for sure. I have to say, rain and all, it was a special memorable day filled with love and pride.

What is your priority? For us, it's our family. Daddy was very motivated, and worked very hard to earn his MBA while maintaining a Cum Laude status and working full time. Uncle Casey also worked very hard to earn his BS and maintain his Suma Cum Laude status, double majoring, and doing it all in 3 years. Aunt Kaitlyn is about to "graduate" from elementary school and she has done so well in her honors classes, getting Honor Roll, all while battling her dyslexia. What a big graduation year it is! Connor has great examples in his life, and I could not ask for more.

The First Mother's Day

Our church made Mother's Day very special by offering a photo shoot for the families!

Mommy and Baby; happiness

Well, Kristin’s first Mother’s Day has come and gone. Connor and I had some long discussions about Mother’s day and about what we could do to make Mommy feel special. We decided one of the best things that we could do was to try our hardest to allow mommy as much opportunity to sleep as possible. From the beginning, Kristin and I have had an “arrangement”. Being that I typically get a little more sleep than her throughout the night, on the weekends I would get up with Connor and keep him occupied so she could sleep in. This is a fair arrangement because I am naturally a morning person (disclaimer: By morning person, I really mean someone who is capable of functioning with the help of a steaming cup of coffee). A typical weekend has Connor and me getting up around 6-6:30, followed by a feeding at 7:30. Unfortunately, Kristin is required to be up for that 7:30 feeding. To make mommy feel rested, this past weekend Daddy used some of our frozen stockpile for that feeding and Kristin got to sleep through it. In addition, Connor really needed to run to the mall to get mommy one last gift so Mommy didn’t have to get out of bed until 11. Granted, she didn’t sleep that late, but she got to relax.

Believe it or not, Connor is a remarkably good gift giver. We spent a lot of time talking about what to do for Mommy since it was her first Mother’s Day and opted to go with multiple presents with a more sentimental feeling rather than an expensive piece of jewelry. First, we got mommy 2 Vera Bradley bags, making sure they were in her pattern. Next, we got mommy a Pandora Bead of a little boy which we felt was an appropriate Mother’s Day gift. Finally, Connor and I worked long and hard to put together a Snap Fish Photo book that gives a snapshot (no pun intended) of Connors first 7 months. That is right folks, Connor is 7 months old.

It is crazy to think about life over the past 7 months. It is even crazier to think that we are now closer to Connor’s first birthday than we are to the day he was born. I would be lying if I said that this time has been a breeze, but I can honestly tell you that it has been an incredible ride. It seems that every day Connor is up to something new. He is becoming ever more vocal and has recently realized that it is fun (for him at least) to randomly scream. He also recently has taken a he liking to Roxy and the love is reciprocated. If Roxy is in the room, Connor’s attention is on her.

Every day, Connor’s “issues” get a little better and our lives get easier. I can honestly say that in spite of all we have gone through, these 7 months have been a fun adventure. I look forward to the next few months filled with travel and excitement. Additionally, as of today, I (this is Tim in case you haven’t figured it out by now) have been offered a new position within BSO that I have accepted. Life is good.

Over the River, and Through the Woods

Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children. ~Alex Haley

It's more like down the expressway and through the traffic to Grandmother's house we go (but it doesn't sound as nice)! We make this trip almost every day. That is where little Connor spends his days while Daddy and Mommy are at work. What a special blessing that is for all of us. Let me tell you, Grandma's house is ah-maze-ing! She has great toys, lots of patience, and loves to take walks.

We spend every Sunday evening at Grandma's house for family night. This has been a long standing tradition and many firsts have taken place on said family night. Somewhere between America's Funniest Home Videos and Bed time many memories are created! This past weekend we experienced 2 wonderful firsts; pools and swings! Both were a success.

Connor loved his time in the pool and splashed and kicked, he even got dunked a few times. This little baby will be swimming before we know it. He absolutely loved the swing too! It's tied up in the grand ficus out back and swings right out over the water. He was giggling up a storm on the first push. Swinging could have lasted hours and I'm sure we'll spend a lot of time with this activity in the coming years.

As Mother's Day approaches it is amazing to me to think of how precious Grandma Glenda is. Connor is a very lucky little boy to have her as his grandma.