Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas!

Christmas No. 2 is coming

Here are a few photos of Conner this month as Christmas quickly approaches ...

Yet another snow day

You read that right ... a foot of snow. A record for many parts of Virginia for the month of December.

So of course we went out to play in it!

Snow day, sort of

The forecast today was for some snow, but it was mostly rain. However, just 10 miles from here on the Peaks of Otter, it was in fact snowing. And snowing hard. Probably about a half foot of snow (they told us 4 inches when we called, but I think it was more). So since snow doesn't seem to last around here, Conner got a spontaneous trip to the Peaks with his Grandma Angel, Papa Keith and Duke while Christina is off making money at a Mary Kay appointment.

It was an interesting trip up the mountain as we went from a cold rain, to rain and snow, to all snow, to the road being fully covered with snow. Unfortunately it was quite windy, so we were only outside for about 5 minutes. Conner didn't quite know what to think with the snow blowing in his face, so maybe we'll take him back up tomorrow before it all melts away. Plus it was snowing so hard that it was hard to see anything -- it didn't make for very good photos.


His face kind of looks like he's saying "Get me out of here!" With the big coat, a hat, gloves and shoes, he was a bit out of his comfort zone.

The "firsts" are over

Funny thing about turning 1 -- there are no more "firsts" when it comes to holidays. Oddly enough, last year for Conner's first Thanksgiving we didn't write that much about it. We were in such a daze from Conner's early arrival, we weren't getting much sleep, we got in an accident on the way to Bedford and we were in a hurry to put up Christmas decorations.

This year though, Thanksgiving was a bigger deal as we traveled to Ohio for the holiday. It was Conner's fourth trip there since January and, for us anyway, probably the most memorable so far. Coupled with holiday traffic, Conner hasn't been feeling that great with some new teeth coming in, so the second half of the trip both up there and back weren't pleasant. I think his max in a car seat right now is about a half day. He wanted out in a bad way after about 1 p.m. both times. Music, toys, snacks ... nothing really made him happy for an extended amount of time.

Besides a few issues with his eating and not quite being 100 percent the whole time, we still had a good trip. Conner showed off his almost-walking skills, got in some good laughs and got his first pair of shoes and a winter coat. He's set for the winter. He got his first taste of turkey and other tasty Thanksgiving foods, and he also had a fair share of pretzels since he was being feisty with his eating at times.

He also got to visit with Kristina's son Colin, pictured below.

Party Time!

As you can tell, Conner had a great time chowing down on some cake! He also enjoyed opening his gifts before getting completely wiped out by Saturday's festivities.

Thanks to everyone for everything! Conner loves his new toys and clothes.

Also, it's worth noting that Conner had his official year checkup earlier this week. He now tops 23 pounds and is in the 60th percentile for his weight. His height - 31.5 inches - puts him in the 90th percentile. While his weight has balanced out, he's certainly gotten a lot taller!

Now, it's on to the second year!

The laugh heard round the world

Happy 1st Birthday!

The days are long, but the years are short -- that's never been more true than in the past year. Looking back, it's really hard to believe that our little guy turned a year old yesterday. Did you read that right?!? He's a year old!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY CONNER!!

Eleven months ago during some of those sleepless nights, we didn't believe people who said that it would get better. But sure enough, we got used to not sleeping as much and then pretty soon, fortunately, Conner became an excellent sleeper.

Each day has truly been a blessing for us. Our days start with a smiling, happy baby; the days end with a hug and a "kiss" from an exhausted but still happy little man.

Conner's growth in his first year has probably been one of the most surprising things to us. He's now 31.5 inches tall -- a full 12.5 inches taller than at birth -- and weighs in at 22 pounds 12 ounces -- more than 16 pounds than last Nov. 3. His growth has been consistent and he's always received a good bill of health at each doctor visit.

Conner is not walking, yet. It's coming once he stops worrying about crawling ... he's THE perfect crawler.

His vocabulary is getting better too. He likes to point to things and say "that," or something that sounds like "that." Once we say what it is, he moves on to something else. The newest thing seems to be "duck." His favorite word and thing continues to be "clock" and "tick-tock."

Thanks to everyone who has supported us and Conner in the first year of his life. It's times like these that we can't say thank you enough! We greatly appreciate it.

To celebrate Conner's first birthday, we thought we'd take a look back at photos from the past year, as well as links back highlighting each month of his first year. The slideshow above is from yesterday on his first birthday; his official party will be this weekend -- you know we'll post more then!

11 months old

10 months old

9 months old

8 months old

7 months old

6 months old

5 months old

4 months old

3 months old

2 months old

1 month old

Nov. 3, 2008

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Changes

You probably know by now that we're in the middle of some big changes. Without going into too much detail, I have taken a job at Liberty University, which means we'll be moving back to Lynchburg -- or somewhere in that area -- pretty soon. It'll be a little rough for a little while, but in the long run we're looking forward to the change.

I also hope this is the last move we'll have to make, at least from city to city. While I have my roots in the Lynchburg area, Christina is a transplant, but says it's always felt like a second home. We hope that Conner will be happy with his new home as well. Richmond has been nice, but our careers took some major unexpected detours along the way.

Anyway, this blog is about Conner, who will be one year old in less than two weeks! Next weekend will be his first Halloween in which he'll be a firefighter. The costume choices for this age are fairly limited, but he'll look sharp in his red a few times next week.

It's tough to figure out if he'll be walking by Nov. 3. Conner is doing a great job standing on his own and pulls away to whatever he's holding on to, but he knows that he can get from Point A to Point B quicker by crawling.

He's developing a lot of words that at least we can understand. He's known "clock" for quite some time, but now he's added "tick-tock" with a little bit of a dance. Lately he's been saying "hi" to everyone and everything. He likes to pick up books and just babble along like he's reading.

Conner's eating habits are great. He's been off a bottle now for a few weeks and doing all his drinking from various sippy cups. His meals have more and more "real" food -- there's not much he doesn't like. He enjoys feeding himself -- especially bananas -- so that helps a little with feeling rushed while we eat. But when he's done, he's done. He puts his hands behind his head and no more food is going in.

So ... that's about all for now! Have a Happy Halloween!

Funny Faces

Now that Conner is quickly approaching 1 year, his faces and personality get funnier each day. Here are a few recent photos of him showing off ... along with a fancy hairdo.

Month 11 comes and goes

Conner turned 11 months old this past weekend, which included a visit to Lynchburg College (above). Below are a few more recent photos of our little man.