Wordless Wednesday {Reminiscing}

Everett the Copy Cat

I don't know what it is with Everett and his Grandma but this kid absolutely loves copying anything his Grandma does. First, it was coughing. Grandma coughed to clear her throat and across the room was Everett hysterically laughing and coughing. She proceeded to fake cough and he mimicked her every single time. He doesn't seem to do this with anyone else but her.

Recently, Grandma rubbed her feet on the floor and he found this hilarious too and proceeded to do the same.

It's fun watching Everett find just the smallest things entertaining and seeing him being so responsive to others.

Pumpkin Patch

The weather permitted us to head out today to the pumpkin patch! We went to Olson Farms out in Damascus. This being our first time there, we were pretty pleased with what they had to offer. They had a huge, wet, muddy field of large pumpkins but for Everett, they had a small outdoor area and a covered spot with smaller pumpkins and a hay-covered area where he could crawl around and explore.

The rain had stopped when we left our house and it was rain-free the time we were there but as soon as we left, there was a downpour. Thank you rain for holding out for us!

Happy Pumpkins from the Connors!

New Happenings

There have been some new happenings taking place at the Connors' house lately.

Everett has learned to open cupboards and drawers. Time to go buy some latches.

Everett has also started learning to feed himself with a spoon. What a big boy!

And he's very excited about it!

He got a puff stuck on his head though and was very upset about that.

Everett has also been napping well in his crib lately. It is hit and miss but he's been more open to it the past 2 days.

All these new things means he's getting older and getting to be such a big boy. It is bittersweet. My little baby is growing up so fast!

A Promise Kept

My little boy kept his promise that he made here. For almost 2 months of refusal of solids, he is now eating like a champ. He is taking up to 1/2 a jar of food, up to 3 times a day. I have been adding Gerber Whole Grain Cereal and he seems to enjoy it. This is such a drastic change from his eating 1-2 spoons a day, and that was on a good day.

We have also been giving him a few bites of whatever we are eating. Last night, he had about 5 bites of the Shepard's Pie I made. He especially loved the mashed potatoes. This morning, he had a few nibbles of my butter croissant. Tonight, I'm making spaghetti and I'm anxious to see how he will respond to the slippery noodles and the taste.

On other news, I think Everett is teething again. He has been all sorts of fussy, grumpy, sensitive, and has been refusing to nap. He refuses to take his binky and he hasn't enjoyed being held lately, which are two of the things that he has always loved. He's refusing bottles as well. It's been a challenging few days but my attitude is staying positive and I'm finding myself stopping to take a handful of deep, slow breathes. A quick "help me God" prayer has worked too.

Today, Everett loved getting into stuff:

He also loved cruising around in his Jeep:

Even though he's been such a big grumpy puss lately, I love my little dude just as much!

A Splendid, Sunny Sunday

That's exactly what today was. Splendid, and a beautiful sunny Sunday!

With Dale off on Sundays now, we're able to go to church together. Everett sat through most of the service but as usual, we ended up in the Cry Room. They have a TV in the room where we can watch and listen to the sermon, but at the same time, Everett is able to crawl around and be as loud as he wants without bothering others around us.

Getting ready to head out to church.

We went to Ikea too. I love a good deal and I left with a few good finds.

6 wine glasses for only $4.99.

A play tent for an amazing deal of $9.99 for Everett.

Magazine holder for $14.99.

Scented tea lights for $2.99.

Black chrome shoe rack for $24.99.

Mini coat rack for Everett's oh-so-cute little jackets for $9.99.

And for something priceless, here's Everett's cute, little dance.

We never made it out to the pumpkin patch though. Today would have been the perfect day. It was THE perfect, Fall day. Next weekend is supposed to be rainy but my fingers are crossed that the weatherman has lied about next weekends' forecast. Regardless, today was a wonderful day and I loved spending it with the two guys in my life!

Too Much Sleep?

Is there such thing as too much sleep? Whoever thought that a sleep-deprived mother who has gotten a maximum of 5-6 hours of sleep per night could be too tired from 9 hours of sleep? Yesterday, my body lagged around all day. I was sluggish and SO out of it. I've gotten about 9 hours of sleep the past several nights. (Thank you, Everett!) My body has gotten used to just a few hours of sleep that it went into a little bit of shock with the additional hours of Zzzz's. I've come to find out that too much sleep does exist.

Besides letting Mom and Dad sleep, Everett loves playing under things.

And loves driving his Jeep.

Dale is now officially at his own store and starts his Monday though Friday, 8am -5pm schedule, which means he has this weekend off! We are very much looking forward to eating dinners together and having the weekend to get out on family excursions. I think on the list for this Saturday and Sunday is Liepold Farms and a trip to Ikea. I'm really looking forward to sharing the weekends together with my family!

Long Time No See, Buddy.

Everett got to see his buddy, Ethan yesterday. It had been well over a month. It was nice to get the boys together and to have some friend/grown up conversation with
Tiffany.

Booyah!

Booyah! That's my exclamation of excitement that I have at the moment. For starters, Everett is on nap #2 for the day IN HIS CRIB. We tried nap training in the crib a handful of times these past few months but it just did not work. Today, I got a hair up my butt and thought I'd try it again. I prepared myself for non-stop crying, stress on my behalf, and heartache, while hearing and seeing Everett standing in his crib crying out for me. I tried things differently this time though. I rocked him until he was just about asleep and laid him down in his crib. Both times, he has stayed asleep. Booyah.

Second, today was the first day of nanny. Our new nanny, Kari, watched Everett for 3 hours today while I whisked myself away to my office to get caught up on my work. I love the idea that my office is in the same building and I have the opportunity to check up on him but I was confident in Kari that I didn't find the motherly urge to check up on him 251 times. I thought of Everett and wondered how he was doing but I already knew he was fine. The report from the afternoon from Kari was that he did wonderful, didn't cry, and ate lots of solid foods. He doesn't even eat solid foods for me! We will be having Kari watch Everett Wednesday, Friday, and Saturdays from 11:30am to 2:30pm. I know, odd hours, but it works around Everett's nap and feeding schedule. He doesn't let anyone except Dale or I nap or feed him a bottle. I think once he gets used to being around Kari, we will extend the nanny hours and have her nap and feed him, but that's later on down the road.

Now that I have a handful of hours a week to focus on work, I feel that a load of stress has been released. Dale and I were both tremendously overloaded with stress-both of us receiving job promotions and with me having to do 40 hours/week worth of work with a 10 month old baby. Impossible. I see a sense of calmness coming over the Connors' household. I will thoroughly welcome it so bring it.

Here are a few recent photos of my turkey butt: