Your Second Wedding

My friend of twelve years, Ashley, got married on Saturday. It was a beautiful event and Connor was a champ again. He is still "struggling" to grow into his incisors, so one bloody nose from daddy later and we survived the ceremony without too much craziness. I was thrilled to be able to sing for the ceremony too, and that usually puts Connor at ease, I'm not so sure it worked this time. Though all bets are off when it comes to teething. The wedding was a great occasion and I know that everyone enjoyed themselves. The reception was in the same location as Tim and I's, Orange Brook Country Club. Being there was our first time back in 4 years and it was a true full circle moment to have Connor there with us. I'm glad it is something Ashley and I will share.

Pastor Thompson at church is doing a series right now called "Modern Family" and this Sunday's message was about preparing the next generation. Throughout this series they have been featuring different families from our church on the bulletin. What a great surprise to see our faces staring back at us. You can view it here. The sermon was such a sweet reminder as parents that we need to be planting the seeds now for our children to grow into Oak Trees later. Being a modern family means being ready for the days ahead. What design does the Bible offer for those who want to build a legacy for those in future modern families? What type of legacy will we leave for our children? We talked about Noah, and how it really wasn't about him, but about his future generations. The screaming, the no-sleep, the biting, the clinging, is only temporary (I hope), we're to be preparing him for later. Eye on the goal!

This week we have mastered blowing raspberries and saying "Mama". It's extra funny when they both happen at the same time. He is a pull-up pro, and "walks" around hanging onto things. He mastered pincer grasp about a month ago with his puffs, and he will gladly show me how good he is at it by putting whatever lint he finds into his mouth. I get it, I need to vacuum 3 times a day. On the other hand, he'll happily do it for me, oh gracious!
Here's Connor!

Daddy

Petersen: Son of Peter; Son of Rock

We celebrated Tim's first Father's day this past weekend. I can't say we only celebrated on Sunday, because we tried to show Tim how special he was the entire weekend. Connor's special gift to his daddy was a Red Sox hat that we had embroidered to also say "Connor's Dad" on the side of it. It was in perfect BoSox lettering, double colors and all. For me personally is was difficult to find a card. They all had me crying. I know I'm sentimental, but Tim truly is an amazing father, example, role model, leader, the list goes on. How many men do you know who jump up when there's a dirty diaper that needs to be changed? Tim gets up early with Connor every morning when the little one decides he's awake at 5:30am. He is patient with Connor, and gentle, and also knows how to make him giggle. He stands beside me every night when we put him in his crib, and we pray together over our little angel. What a great daddy he is!!!
Connor's teeth are still continuing to make their way into his mouth. The four on bottom are very present, and the top side incisors are still growing in. We have good days and bad days with his fussiness. He grows stronger everyday, and now tries to pull up on practically anything he thinks he can manage. This includes the dog! His balance is still wobbly so walking on his own will be some time, but I'm ok with that. This house is not baby proof, and until I can hire someone to sit with him while I buzz about, it won't be for a while. This little one has to have me in his view at all times. He literally sat in my lap to play for most of yesterday, otherwise he was fussing. Oh boy. Apron Strings. Throw in that we still aren't sleeping through the night and this is one tired mommy! But oh, he is so cute!

Your First Wedding

The same day Connor turned 8 months old, he went to his first wedding. I'm teaching him early all of the rules of etiquette! This month holds two special weddings, and we couldn't be more thrilled to be a part of each. This past wedding was the de Rose wedding and Connor was thrilled to finally meet his Liberty "aunts". He was a good boy for them, and it was such a nice occasion for all. It's so interesting to talk with the parents of any couple getting married. It puts into perspective how little time we have before our children grow up and become independent. Granted, learning to walk is just the first "step". Am I ready for him to take off? I still feel like I just brought him home, and yet his 1 year birthday is 4 months away. Is he going to be dating next week? I wonder about his future wife. I pray for her already. She may not even be born yet, which is wild. The future holds so many new adventures for us to experience together and for us to experience separately. What conflicting emotions must overtake a parent as they prepare to "give their child away". You want to give your children roots and wings. Oh Lord, I pray he finds a Proverbs 31 wife.

At 8 months old, he has 5 teeth in, and 3 cutting. It has been a rough couple of days as the top 2 side incisors break through. Nothing compares to the days of untreated reflux, but this comes close. Please let the teen years go smoothly!!!! His army crawl is getting stronger and faster, and he is pulling up with more balance each time. While standing he lets go thinking he'll just be, and promptly starts falling straight to the ground. He doesn't realize his limitations yet. He's fearless, and mommy has to be on her toes! I'm sure there will be a lifetime of mommy closing her eyes while Connor plays one sport or the other. My stomach turns when he falls over. He is a boy after all. Bring on the scrapes, bruises, mud, worms, and all other yucky things. I can take it!

Ba Ba Ba Ba

"While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about."

Crawling, talking, kissing, and going to the Museum, what a week! Infants learn things so quickly and it is amazing to watch him develop new skills at such a quick rate. My little G.I. Joe has mastered the army crawl and has thus learned how to terrorize every animal in sight. That is his motivation...Roxy, Molly, new kitten. If he can't reach them, he will call to them. His little shrieks are adorable as he tries to get their attention. "Waauuuhhhhh, uh uh, waaauuuhhhh," That means, "Hey Roxy, come here, I want to tug on your ear a little bit."

On top of shrieking for the animals he loves to shriek a "hello" and a "good bye". It's hysterical. He is babbling up a storm and his favorite repetitive syllable is "ba". You can get him going with "ba ba ba ba ba ba" and it turns into all sorts of sounds. I love his little voice. I love that he has something to say. I can't wait until I can understand it all. Will he be a poet? Will he be analytical? Will he debate? I hope he will learn to use his words to build others up, to be an encourager and a speaker of truth and wisdom. And if he's a little pun-y, I'd be ok with that too!!

Another new activity is the sweet, wet, open mouth kisses that our little love bug is giving. Yes, very different from his biting. The scary moment is when he reaches for your face, you wonder which one it will be for a millisecond before you relax into the heart melting, slobbery, sign of affection. Oooh, do I love this new development. It is adorable when he leans over and plants one on Roxy too. Ugh, what a cutie.

We had a wonderful Saturday and took Connor to the Museum of Discovery and Science. I wasn't sure how he would respond to this environment, but I have to say he loved it! The aquarium part was so exciting for him, and he tried to touch all of the fish that swam by. Daddy had an equally thrilling time and enjoyed the aviation exhibit. Daddy and Connor got to fly all sorts of planes, and Grandpa Gary already promised to get them both up in the air soon. Connor is already inheriting the legacy of flight from the Guise side. I hope he soars!

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.