Connor's 2nd Birthday!

My little man turned TWO on November 2nd.  I officially have a toddler.  Whew!  As I woke up to take his birth minute picture (Ryan thinks I'm crazy, but as long as he lives in my house, he will have his picture taken at 3:24 am every year!).  And yes, I cried.  I thought back to the night he was born, reliving how the day and night went, and how I felt when I officially became a mom.  I love this little boy more than I can even say and am so incredibly privileged to be his mommy.  He has taught me patience, how to live in the moment, have fun with the smallest things and to remember to stop and enjoy the little things in life like seeing an airplane in the sky or a bug on the ground.  His smile can light up a room, and his eyes-oh those eyes!!  There is something magical about his eyes.  I think we're in trouble when he's older!  We made sure to celebrate his two years with us over the course of a couple of days because he deserves it!

Here are his 2 year stats:
26.8 Pounds
(I can't remember height-now I have to call the dr!)
Size 2T shirts
Size 18 month pants
Size 4 diapers
Size 6W shoes
Finally likes something other than Baby Einstein: Elmo's World and Thomas
Loves his pal, Sammi
Is an amazing Big Brother-loves his sister already so much!
Still in his crib-big boy bed coming in the next few months
Loves racquet balls, or if there is a choice of colored balls, blue.
Loves building with the mega blocks
Loves being outside whenever possible
Loves to rock and read books before going to bed
Sweetheart-he really is my little lover boy!  Loves kisses and cuddles!

First, Aunt Jennie flew in from Florida to be here for the big day.  How cool is that! Connor LOVES Aunt Jennie-she spends a lot of time on the floor playing with him, so he was a happy camper.  Especially since the past month, I've been so occupied with his new sister!  The morning of his birthday, he woke up to donuts.  (we always had a birthday donut with a candle as kids, so I've carried that on!)  He had two candles in his donut, and we started to sing "Happy Birthday" but he kinda freaked out.  He's not a fan of loud singing, or maybe just bad singing.  But when he got to eat his donut, he was happy-as you can tell!

Then he got to have one present, which is his new Leap Frog birthday cake that actually lets you blow out the candles! I was hoping it would help him with his fear of singing the happy birthday song and help with counting...so far, so good!



He got to spend the morning with Rachel and his friends and then had a special Sonic birthday lunch that we took to Nana at work.  He was so excited to see her!  After his nap and some play time, we ordered pizza, one of his favorites, from Pullano's!  What a fun day!

His birthday party was planned for that weekend.  I had planned it before I had Brooke and because I wasn't sure when I was going to have her, I invited family only to Rio Vista Park.  That way I wouldn't have to clean my house after just having a baby and because I knew the kids of all ages would enjoy the place.  It's beautiful there!  We were able to get a ramada right by the pond, so the ducks came to visit often.  I decorated with an Elmo theme since he's recently taken a liking to him.

We had sub sandwiches, crackers, cheese, grapes and the cutest cake!  Ryan's mom got his cake from Bakerwee (a family fave!) and they did an amazing job!  The little Elmo on the top turns into a spork for him to use while eating his birthday slice.  The Sesame Street decorations were rings that the kids could wear.  I loved it and it was a big hit!

Then it was present time!  He wasn't too interested in opening his presents, so Ryan and I had the pleasure of doing it for him.  He was spoiled!! He's set on winter clothes (ps-he looks adorable in jeans and long sleeved t's!), a train set, Thomas tent and toys, educational toys to help him talk, and of course, some trucks! 

It really was a fantastic day-beautiful weather and surrounded by people that love him the most!  He's grown so much in the past year and I can't wait to see what the year brings to him!  Happy second birthday little man!  We love you so much!!!

28 Weeks and 21 Months!

It's officially Third Trimester Time!  The countdown is on...12 weeks to go until we meet our little girl! 
Measurements:
Weight: 140 lbs
Belly: close to 39 inches

Taken right before yoga!

Major Developments:
The end of my second trimester means a few things.  My restless legs have returned!  I had them with Connor, and would have to frequently get up in the middle of the night to walk the house.  The worst night so far was waking up at 3:30 to pee again, but then I couldn't go back to sleep because my legs wouldn't let me! Ugh!  I sat out in the living room and watched Friends reruns and ate a bowl of Rice Krispies then walked laps around the house until about 6:30 am.  I fell asleep around then, but Connor woke up at 7:15, so it was an interesting day. 
Ryan and I have Massage Envy memberships, so we've been getting massages on a regular basis and using up some stored ones.  I'm going to cancel mine-as much as I love getting massages, it's not helping like I thought it would and I'd rather put my money into my current obsession: Prenatal Yoga.  I tried it last night, just to see how I'd feel.  Oh. My. Gosh.  My sciatic nerve in my back has been giving me some pain and tension (probably thanks to picking up Connor so much and bending over to play with him) and the stretches and poses we did helped that out SO MUCH.  My legs felt great, as did the tension in my lower back.  I left there on a Yoga High, and will definitely be continuing as long as I can.  What a difference that hour and half to myself made with the few other women there.  It was quiet, I focused on my breathing and getting the poses right, and didn't feel a bit out of place (again-I contribute that to Stroller Strides.  We have done some of the stretches at the end of our workouts, and I feel like I'm in good shape despite the basketball on my belly!)  Luckily, Ryan wants to try Yoga too, so he's totally supportive of it, and happily watches Connor and puts him to bed on Tuesday nights so I can go get my yoga on!
She had the hiccups for the first time Sunday night.  I can tell her head is in the down position because that's where I could feel her little hiccups.  (that also means that her knees/feet are what I feel on the right side of my belly constantly during the day :) Ryan could see my stomach twitch with each hiccup and could feel a couple of them too.  Since then, she's had them at least twice a day!  Poor girl!  She's still moving like crazy, but will soon be running out of room to move around so much!  Her favorite spot it seems is my bladder.  It'll stop me in my tracks sometimes! 
The poor girl still doesn't have a name.  We have a top three (I think), but we're not releasing anything until we decide-which very well may be when she's born! Ugh!
I go to the doctor on Tuesday-somehow my appointments are a week behind.  After this week, I go back every two weeks until mid-September, when the appointments become weekly! Yikes!

Connor is almost 21 months!
Well, no talking developments yet.  He is singing Old MacDonald with us more, and makes a "Mooo" sound whenever he sees a cow.  We're working on other animal sounds too, but that seems to be his favorite!  He also says "hot" which is darn adorable.  He says it whenever food is put in front of him and we blow on it, or pretty much any time we go outside.  I think that's thanks to my complaining that it's "too hot" outside.  When he says it, it sounds like "hhaaahhh".  :)  I love his little voice, and can't wait to hear more!
We're still working on body parts, and he's learning more and more!  New ones are his eyes (he was unsure still before), mouth, and tongue, and he still solidly knows head, ears, nose, feet, belly, belly button and *ahem* peepee. :)  He's still addicted to Baby Einstein's, and we've had to find new hiding spots for the movies on top of the fridge so he doesn't get to them.  I would LOVE it if he would watch something else.  I've DVR'd Sesame Street, other Baby First TV programs, Little Einstein's and even tried movies-all a great big fail.  I will say that he usually starts watching, and then will go play with his toys.  Sometimes I think he just likes having the music of it on in the background.  He's also discovered that Daddy has some on the computer, so when Ryan is sitting in the chair, Connor will come up and sit in his lap to watch.  Ryan put on some YouTube videos of cats a few times.  It's pretty hilarious to hear the two of them cracking up because a cat is playing the piano.  Two peas in a pod, those boys! 

Other News:
I go back to work on August 9th.  I was very lucky to be kept on in Title 1 working with kindergarten students again part time.  We'll be back to our normal routine of Connor playing at the sitters for awhile in the morning, and coming home to have lunch and take a nap.  This will work out great for my 3rd trimester when I want to take a nap too!  I love the kindergarten teachers, not to mention working with my mom at school, so it's a perfect situation!  This will be my last year working part time, so I"m going to savor every minute with Connor, and then with my little girl, for this next year!

We've had a great time this summer visiting with family.  I'm sure you read my Montana post, and I need to update with a couple visits to Flagstaff...more to come soon!