11 Months Old

Next month, Connor turns 12 months. Not one year. 12 months. I've decided to only refer to his age in months. That way I don't technically have to admit that he's in the "years old" category.

But for now, I leave you with a precious picture of Connor Man at 11 months along with some fun facts!




Weight: 18.6 lbs. He's crazy small. Mainly because he's our third child and I rarely remember to feed him. Just kidding. But not really.

Favorite Things to Play With: cords, wires, and bottles of 409 (Don't freak out, Mom. The 409 thing only happened once.)

Temperament: Happy at all times. I'm pretty sure he sleeps with a smile on his face.

Teeth: 4

Hair: Awesome, kind of curly, light brown. Whichever way I comb it after bathtime remains the exact same until his next bath (usually 1-2 weeks later....again, it's the whole "third child" thing)

Walking?: Nope, but pulling up on stuff and letting go and kind of staring with a scared look on his face before falling and laughing hysterically

Favorite Person: Me! (and I love it. I've never had a child love me the best. I usually get beat out by Nathan or the grandparents but this child is head over heels for me!)

My Birthday Weekend (a.k.a. I'm in every picture)

Turning 31 was waaaaay less scary than turning 30. In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm in my early thirties. No big deal. Early thirties. It's not like last year when I was entering a completely new decade.

My birthday weekend (which I renamed "ME-kend") started with dinner at Miyo's with Nathan'sparents,grandmother, sisters, and brothers-in-law (my parents kept our kids in Spartanburg all weekend for us). I had my absolute favorite: ginger salad, cashew chicken, and a side of warm noodles with "you-know-that-special-um-peanutty-ginger-y-soy sauce stuff" and the waiter nodded his head kindly. Nathan's parents gave me money for a shopping spree. Awesome. Then Nathan and I went to a real movie theater and saw an actual movie that was not in 3-D and did not have imaginary characters. It contained human beings as actors. And it was quiet because it was a night-time movie and there were grown-ups in the theater.

Saturday morning I woke up, met Jen for coffee, laughed my head off, went to a lovely wedding shower, then I shopped. And shopped. And shopped. By myself. In clothing stores for grown ups. Then I went home, put on a bathingsuit, went to our neighborhood pool, and read a book. By myself. By the pool. Every now and then I got up and got in the swimming pool to cool down but then, when I was good and ready, I went back to my lounge chair and read more of my book.

I walked home around 4:00 and got ready for my date with my man. He took me to the Melting Pot. We talked for more than 2 uninterrupted hours while dipping food in yummy stuff like melted cheese and chocolate. It was perfection. When we came home, Nathan watched "New Moon" with me. I know. He's the man. I think he hated every second of that movie but he did it for me. I love him.

On Sunday morning, I woke up to Nathan giving me a brand new grill pan! Don't be mad at him. I asked for it. It made me extremely happy. It's what I've been admiring from a distance for several months.

Sunday night, we drove to Clinton (it's the half-way point between Columbia and Spartanburg) and had my birthday dinner with our kiddos, my parents, grandparents, brother, and his girlfriend. I got lots of goodies including jewelry, a Barnes and Noble gift card, food chopper, coffee maker, and more "shopping in clothing stores for grown-ups" money. Yay!

It was so good to see the kids and bring them home with us. ME-kend was wonderful.

I leave you with my 5 proudest accomplishments of my 31st year of my life:

1. I made it through another year of not giving into the peer pressure of purchasing a mini-van.

2. I gave birth to my husband's mini-me.

3. I finally found the cause of my stomach pains and now the pain is completely gone!

4. I got a slug out of my house all by myself.

5. I kept my hair long all year instead of doing that thing where I think my hair looks better short and so I get it cut and then my mom says, "Christy, your hair really looks better long" and so then I grow it out again.

Three Things About Me (Dedicated to Cortney) :)

Names I Go By:

1. Mommy
2. Christy
3. Sissy

Places I Have Been:

1. Slovakia
2. Mexico
3. Poland

Favorite Drinks:

1. Water
2. Milk
3. Coffee

Jobs I Have Had:

1. Teacher
2. After-School Program Worker
3. Secretary in Dermatologist Office

TV Shows I Watch:

1. Next Food Network Star
2. Grey’s Anatomy
3. Glee

Places I Would Like to Visit:

1. Hawaii
2. Australia
3. California

Favorite Things to Eat:

1. MaMa's chicken casserole
2. MaMa's fried squash
3. shells and cheese

Things I Am Looking Forward To:

1. Going to Disneyworld in November
2. Volunteering in Landon's kindergarten classroom
3. Seeing Grandma and Grandpa in heaven, witnessing precious reunions, praising God with zero distractions, and asking Him a bajillion questions

Favorite Baby Things

My friend, Aubrey, just posted about some of her favorite baby things and it inspired me to do the same. So, here's a list of my favorite baby doo-dads.

1. Boppy Pillow....great for nursing, great for sitting on if you break your tailbone, great for your 5-year-old to make moose ears when he's bored.

2. Hooter Hider...GREAT for nursing.

3. Medela Double Breast Pump...worth every single penny.

4. A really nice umbrella stroller. Not the one that costs $15 and is too short for your husband to push. A nice one that swivels easily and folds up easily and has a pocket in the back.

5. Sleepers that zip up. I found tons at Target.

6. A BabyWise book. All 3 of my children began sleeping through the night (10-11 hours) by the time they were 7 weeks old. Enough said.

7. A diaper bag that is waterproof on the inside so when jars of baby food explode, you can just wipe it out. Or when a bottle leaks, it's no big deal.

8. Pampers diapers. I know people are passionate and opinionated about their baby's diapers. If you prefer Huggies or cloth or Target brand or Luvs, cool. But I'm a Pampers girl.

9. An Exersaucer. It lasts through several baby stages. The "I-can-now-hold-my-head-up" stage. The "I-like-to-grab-stuff" stage. The "I-can-put-loads-of-weight-on-my-legs" stage. The "I'm-not-walking-yet-but-I'm-thinking-about-it" stage. The "I'm-a-three-year-old-but-I-can-still-fit-in-this-thing-and-Mommy-is-in-the-other-room-so-she-can't-see-me" stage.

10. A picture frame with 12 cut-outs, one for each month of the baby's first year. Hang it near the changing table. It just might be the sweetest thing hanging in your nursery. And it just might bring tears. Especially when the baby is approaching 11 months and you realize hes almost a year old and you a little bit can't remember where the time went.

Our Week Sounded Like This.....

Landon: MOMMY!!!!!

Me: Yes?

Landon: Can you come wipe me? I pooped A LOT in the potty. I turned the fan on for you. It smells really bad.

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Landon: Mommy, can I play another video game?

Me: No.

Landon: I'm ignoring you for the rest of my life.

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Landon: Daddy, I'm sorry I sucked my thumb last night. I know you told me there are germs in my thumb but the germs tasted so good!

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Setting: July 8th in Columbia, SC. The temperature is 107 degrees.

Me: Reagan, why are you wearing a toboggan, turtleneck, blue jeans, and wool coat?

Reagan: Because I'm cold.

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Reagan: Mommy, I don't like princesses anymore.

Long pause

Reagan: Just kidding!

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Background Information: Thursday night I cooked salsa chicken, steamed vegetables, and homemade mashed potatoes. The kids sobbed through the entire meal.

Setting: Friday night....kitchen table....grilled cheese sandwiches and chips

Landon: Mommy, I love this food! Thank you for cooking some food that doesn't make me want to throw up.

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July 4th Beach Week

We did a ton of playground playin'.

We did a lot of beach playin'.

Reagan did some patriotic clothes wearin'.

We did a bunch of silly facin'.

We enjoyed some MaMa and PaPa playin'.

Landon did some fishin'.

We did an hour of Ripley's Aquarium lookin'.

I did some random photo takin'.

Happy July 4th Beach Week!