Yay for Connor!

Connor was holding his own bottle for dinner today!!! Yay! Granted it was only for ~30 seconds and it was probably an accident, but it was the first time he didn't push it away accidentally. He's getting so big!

I went and had lunch with him today at DC. When I first got there, he had *just* fallen asleep, so like a good mom I immediately woke him up. We read "Sheep in a Jeep" (which is hysterical, by the way. Check it out!), and then we played for half an hour. Then I fed him half a bottle before he fell into a milk-induced coma. Nothing like the power lunch -- squeezing a day's worth of mothering into just one hour!

And now, tonight, we're just hanging out downstairs in the office. He's eating his bottle and I'm holding it with my chin, finger-pecking the keyboard with one hand to type this up. (well, except for the 30 seconds where he held his own bottle!! :) I'm also downloading Mamie's higher-resolution pictures for her blog book (My Christmas present for her & Geoff -- turning her blog into a hard-bound book). I'm also doing one for Ronna & JR, but luckily the photos on Ronna's blog are already high resolution. Blurb has a really good software and they are inexpensive and good quality, so that's who I use. You can all order a copy of the book if you want to -- not a money-maker, but a good family history thing to have. :)

I don't have any new pictures of Connor. I know -- slacker! But I will soon. I'm going to enter a photo contest because that's the only way I can have a chance at Krissy's photography skills. OK, so Ron's boss at work does photography on the side, and she's really good!! She even offered to do Connor's pictures before he was born, but then she thought better (worse?) of it, feeling like it would be viewed as favoritism at work, since she was Ron's boss. So then I offered to pay her because I really like her work, but she thought that would be viewed as a conflict of interest. (We had all just taken the business ethics quiz online as a corporation... dang!). Anyway, now she's running a contest, and I can enter, and if I win, I'm in! :) My other option is to ask Wendel and Ashley to come down and do pictures because I really like their pictures too, but I really hate to impose. They're SO busy these days and Ashley is pregnant *and* in grad school, maybe during the holidays... who knows. Anyway, I'm going to try and do a photo shoot this weekend, so that means tons of great photos for you to enjoy!!! :) Until then, peace - out!

We got Nothin'!

Nothin' = Not one single trick-or-treater! And I know this because as I left for Trunk-or-Treating at the church, I left a nice big bowl of FULL-SIZE candy bars in a hall-o-ween platter with a sign that said "Please take one!" Right next to it was a plastic pumpkin with a light that you plug in, and the porch light was on. Not exactly screaming "come here!" but was friendly enough. I noticed how the bars were arranged so I could estimate how many kids came by. Usually we get 2-3. (We're kind of off the beaten path, which is good sometimes. :). This year: zilch. zero. nada. nadinho. The candy bars were still arranged in EXACTLY the same way when I got back. (keep in mind that in Oregon, we get dark at ~5:30pm in October -- soon to be 4:30 pm by the time we hit winter solstace). The bowl hadn't been touched. So, I thought, maybe it's still early enough, surely someone will come? Nope. So, the bowl of full-sized candy bars came inside with the 1/2 full Costco mini-bars that I took to trunk or treating. Sheesh! How am I supposed to lose any weight? The cats aren't going to eat this stuff!!!! better luck next year.

Nothin' = I didn't get any new pictures of Connor on Hall-o-Ween because, well, I was running late as usual. That's OK, though, because I already posted one earlier ("A Little Preview").

Nothin' = No talking on the video! Connor has been starting to talk, and I've been trying to get it on my "point-and-shoot" video. (No worries, we have a real "HD" video camcorder coming in the mail tomorrow, hopefully, so we can get real videos, not these crappy little PAS clips). It's so cute, because it's more than just a "coo". He's actually saying full sentences in baby language. I thought, if I could record it now, then as soon as scientists can decode the baby language, we can play it back and translate what he said. It must be super-secret, though, because every time I turn on the camera, he clams up and just stares at the camera. So, I turn the camera off, and away he goes again! I turn it back on, and nothin'! I'm going to keep trying, but for now, I'll post my best one. This was after he had eaten his second breakfast. First breakfast comes at 5:30 or 6am when he wakes up. (Did I mention he's sleeping through the night now? at about 8 weeks old, he started sleeping 5 hours at a time 2-3 nights per week. Now at 12 weeks, heoes down at ~10pm and wakes up at 6am every night. Yay! I just know I'm going to jynx it by posting it here, but I guess I'll h ave to take my chances). I try to get him to sleep some more after first breakfast, mostly because I'm still tired. (Just because he gets to go to bed at 10pm doesn't mean I do....). Second breakfast comes at ~8:30 or 9am. He's usually pretty active after that and has alot to say. That's why you see his blanket sleeper still there -- he just came out of it from his "morning nap". Try and ignore me whispering "Hi" in the background. He usually talks more if I'm talking back. But, I didn't want to talk right into the mic.... Eventually I'll get a better one.



Incidentally, last Thursday was his first day in day care. Well, not really because we only stayed a few hours and I was with him. It was more of a transition for me, than for him. Friday was his first solo day (all day). It was so sad for me!! He had a great time, though, and met some new friends. This was his outfit for his first day. So cute! Ms. Tonya loved it, too!

Honestly, have you ever seen a cuter baby???? (of course all of you other mothers will say "yes", but that's OK. :).

We love the fall!

Meagan gave me this really cute halloween shirt in one of her care packages... the little ghosts glow in the dark. I had this way cute kitty hat that also glows in the dark (eyes and whiskers). His little hall-o-ween socks were dirty, so we had to settle for baseball. Either way, he is ready to go out on the town! (Oct 10 -- 2 months old).

More Construction...

"This is my brother Darryl, and this is my other brother Darryl..."


One piece of advice: If you decide to build your own home, try not to live 3 hours away from it... We've started to hire more things out because everything goes so slow with a one-man crew.... Aaron comes up to help once in a while, but mostly it's just Ron. Last week we decided to make a trip up so Ron & Aaron could get the rock up while the siders we hired did the rest. (Things always take longer than expected, so really, they just got the lath up and Ron & I had to go back to do a scratch coat. Next time around, we'll put up the rock).

We invited Megan and Ryan to come up with Aaron, thinking we could have some fun... Ryan and Connor rode in the back seat and became good friends. Later, I found the crackers stuffed up Connors shirt and in his diaper bag. hm...


As it went, it rained all weekend, and Ron had us running errands (had to go to Tacoma to get some "J-flashing" for the soffits -- closest place that had it in stock... totally dumb!). Sorry about that, Megan!! We'll have to try again. But, we did manage to get some dirt time in. For some reason, all kids love the dirt. Why is that?


Can you say "Morton's"? :)


We passed Connor around, but mostly I had him. This is on one of Ron's breaks. He had to get some Connor time in.


The (almost) final product. The siders had one more side to finish, and we still have to stick the rock up. We should have just hired that out, too.... So, now the question is, how close does this look to the mock-up (from the perma-grin post) I made a while back? :)

A little preview

Is it bad luck to see a Hall-0-Ween costume before Hall-O-Ween? I hope not because I couldn't resist... :) So, we did already get a couple of costumes from different people (a bat and a pumpkin), but I saw this at the Pass It On sale (only $10), and had to get it.... This is Connor's costume this year:



How awesome is that? I love it!!!

More Smiles!

I know that when I go back to work, I won't have as much time to post pics and stuff, so I'm making up for it now. Most of these are smiles from Connor, but some are to make you smile. :)

OH, yeah, and someday I'll post pics of me and Ron up here... :P

Oct 1: Fun with dad after work, part 1.












Oct 3: Fun with dad after work, part 2. If you scroll through them really fast, "flip-book" style, you can kind of see him wiggle. (You may have to download pics first, then use ACDSee or something similar to get the effect). :)





















And now it's time for bed.... (*yawn*)


Oct 5: Ok, this one is Ron smiling-- while he sleeps. It's so cute that I almost ALWAYS walk in to find them both sleeping in the same position... seriously, I can't make this stuff up!


Oct 6: He was smiling at me all morning, so I grabbed the camera. He is such a sweetie-pie!! he even got a couple of almost-laughs in there... :) Here's the whole series. (Well, most of it)
















I know this isn't him smiling, but still so cute, I couldn't resist! :) He's looking at me like he's saying "Mom, put the camera down!"

Meagan's Visit!

Meagan came to meet Connor with her two girls. Wow, they have grown up so much! The cutest part about their trip (Besides the "Got Candy?" shirt montage below), was when they sang primary songs to Connor -- he lit up like a pumpkin! It was so cute, he was smiling and almost laughing while they were singing. So cute!!!


The first day we went to the park that is two blocks down from our house. It's a small park, but hey! it's new to them. :) And Connor just likes to go on walks.














Friday, we went to the zoo. It was kind of rainy, so I didn't take my camera with me. :( bummer. Maybe meagan can forward some pics from her iphone? :) (iphone's are cool. someday I'll join the technilogical revolution, too).

Saturday we went to the "special park". Ron and I call it that because it's so HUGE! anyone with kids can understand its allure. Anna and Miguel used to LOVE this park. It was always a motivator. :)

Abby and Avery loved it, too.


Out of ~20 pics of the swings, I got two that were in focus. (Even with a fast camera, it's hard to get those swings when the girls are swinging so fast!). Luckily, they were swinging in-sync. sweet! :)




This was Avery's first day down the pole by herself. She was so proud that she had to show me! multiple times... but I got some cute shots. of her and Abby, too!




This double-slide was dubbed "best friends' slide" by Abby for obvious reasons.


And, Connor just likes to be outside. So alert! (OK, yes, I had a cuter hat than that, but I forgot it at home... luckily I had this one in the diaper bag).


Sunday we watched Conference, and Wendel and Ashley came down to see Meag and the girls and brought some YUMMY bbq. We learned the distinction between bbq and grilling. apparently, it's a matter of time. (grilling = quick and easy, bbq = long and difficult).

Abby and Avery did surprisingly well for a 3 year old and 6 year old. by the fourth session, Avery zonked out on Meagan's lap (with a little help from the back-scratching).




Meagan had bought these cute "Got Candy?" shirts for the girls. We found a T-shirt for Connor and had to get pics of everyone. Avery was a bit tired, so she was only in the last few shots. She did smile for us, though! so cute!






Thanks, Meag for coming out!! It was really great to see you and the girls. (And thanks for keeping my kitchen clean, too! unecessary, but much appreciated! :)).