I can't believe it has been over 6 months since I blogged!! Wow, has life changed!

We are so excited to be expecting our 2nd baby in just a few months! Ok, maybe a little more than a few but it will be here before I know it! I am already 25.5 weeks along!! This pregnancy has been a night and day difference from my first! I honestly thought I was going to have a girl because I was nauseous ALL the time for the entire first trimester, I had horrible acne and I wasn't as near drop dead tired as I was with Connor. We got a sneak peak ultrasound at 16 weeks, and the tech was with out a doubt sure we were having a boy. Two ultrasounds since, one at 18 and one at 20, we are most definitely a BOY!

Once we heard we are having a boy we were instantly thrilled with the news! Connor went to the ultrasounds with us and he loved watching his baby brother move around. At one point he even called the baby a dinosaur, it was a spine shot and I can honestly see where he was coming from :) When they flipped it to the 3D ultrasound for a couple pictures Connor was terrified of the baby and was very vocal about the fact that the baby was scary looking. . so funny.

This little guy is so active! I started feeling very faint flutters but only when I was laying down at 14-15 weeks, and him really moving at 17. I was shocked to find out I had an anterior placenta again because with Connor it made it impossible to feel him move till after I was 20 weeks. I guess this being the second time around made it easier to notice. Adam was able to feel him for the first time Oct, 11. It was so sweet. He was so tired from working that he feel asleep with his hand on my tummy feeling the baby move.

I was kicking butt and only gained 2 lbs by week 16, and then 5 more lbs by week 21. This last time went (Mon) I gained 8 lbs in 4 weeks!! What? I am in freak out mode... that's insane. Oh, of course the Dr isn't concerned just yet and will check again when I go this coming Mon for my glucose test. But I already gained half the weight I need and I haven't even hit the end when I am suppose to start gaining a lb a week.. you know, when it actually goes to fattening up the baby.. 2 lbs at this point just goes to fattening up mommy.

Enough about this sweet little life growing inside me, because I honestly could talk about it non-stop.

Connor is getting SO big and grown up! His imagination is out of control lately and he makes Adam and I crack up laughing all the time! Yesterday while I was in the shower (a quick shower at that) he managed to knock the entire Christmas tree down. I found shoes, bowls and toys shoved inbetween the branches. When I told him he had to go to time out to think about it while I cleaned up the mess, he was very calm and said, "oh no, time out". Not even a minute later I heard him cracking up and when I went to check on him he was using the side of his toddler bed as a ramp to climb into his twin bed. I could hear him talking about how he was a pirate and he was getting on his boat.

His favorite thing to eat during dinner is usually whatever meat we are having, and then after every single bite he shows us his arm muscles and says "err! I strong!". This all started around Halloween when he wanted to be Spider Man and he told him to get strong like him, he had to eat his dinner.

Santa is talked about daily in our house. Connor is desperately wanting a train table. Every time we leave the store (mostly Kohl's because of their poor planning of putting the restrooms by the toys) he leaves with big tears and sadness because he wants his "own train. only, only mine". We have called each grandpa to play Santa. The first time was my dad, and Connor was so mad that the next morning after we talked to Santa we didn't rush to the store to buy his train. The next time was Adam's dad and Connor was very insistent that he didn't want him to make a train for him he just wanted to go to the store and buy it.  He wrote/drew a letter to Santa and is still waiting for his letter back, ha not the best time to be out of ink.

A few more things, first, I had a fantastic birthday! Still can't believe the fact that I am 25!! Goodbye younger twenties and welcome to the down slide!! But I had a fabulous day and loved the fact that it was on a Sat and I got to spend the entire day with my sweet family! Connor sang me "Happy Birthday" by himself (I was lucky enough to get it recorded) and it just melted my heart! Then I finished the night with a tasty dinner at Red Lobster with just my good looking, loving hubby! Talk about perfect!

Secondly, we got a new car. We traded in our Nissan Sentra for a Nissan Altima Hybrid. It was a decision made on a whim but, we are loving the new car and especially looking forward to saving money on gas!!

Lastly, we are so excited for all the fun that is going to happen in Dec with Christmas!! Lots of crafts, and treats to be made, parties, activities, an early celebrating here and then we are headed to OH for Christmas with our families.

Easter.. A little late!

I promise he did have fun! s

This year we had a lot of fun with all the Easter centered activities! Connor is at such a fun age where he is able to help and participate. We started off with an Easter egg dash at the park with some friends. It was a lot of fun and thankfully, there weren't too many crazy parents.

found lots of eggs

We took Connor to the Primary Easter activity. I think that he will enjoy it a lot more next year. They didn't do an egg hunt and the games where above his attention level. He did like the game "hot potato" but wont stand in the circle long enough and then would get really mad when he was skipped over. This poor little boy had a rough night too. He fell and scrapped his knee in the parking lot, and then at the end of the activity got smashed in between the door and wall by some of the older kids which resulted in a huge goose egg on his head. Luckily, a little lovin` from mommy and a cupcake made everything better :)

The Mon before Easter we had a nice FHE where we taught Connor about the real meaning of Easter and focused only on the Savior. He actually paid attention pretty well! The one thing that I am excited about for next year is that he will be at a better age to do all the Christ centered crafts and lessons better!

We decided we wanted to do his egg hunt on a Saturday that way we could spend Sunday focusing more on the reverent, spiritual parts of the holiday. It was a beautiful day and daddy hide all the eggs out in the yard.

Hmm, where are the eggs?

 The rest of the day we got some starter plants for our garden (Connor managed to kill a lot of our seedlings), spent the day down by the river, and got ice cream cones with walking around downtown. It was a really fun relaxing day. The only thing I wish we remembered the stroller. Next time we head downtown we def will! After we got home we colored eggs! Thanks to a wonderful tip I found on Pinterest it was pretty mess free! Connor actually was able to color most of the eggs by himself, and they were dang good looking eggs!

Due to the fact that Adam has meetings first thing in the morning we waited until after church to give Connor his basket. Luckily he didn't know most kids get theirs in the morning. It was so wonderful to get to go to church! My primary class was def on a sugar high!! We had a wonderful dinner and spent the rest of the day eating way to many sweets!

the BEST helper

Lately, Connor has been all about helping his parents! Almost anything that we do, he is right by our side trying to help. 

He especially loves to help daddy whenever there are tools involved. He was all over trying to put his toddler bed together. During some parts Adam was struggling and Connor would look up at him like "what is the problem dad".  Here are some of the moments I captured:

helping daddy build a fire

helping daddy with the car

Building our garden

He also loves to help mommy cook and bake. Usually I let him help pour ingredients, push the buttons on the microwave or timer and of course sample everything.

Testing out the brownie batter

playing in, I mean rolling out dough

Grinding wheat

We just love this little boy to pieces!!

March is a BIG month!

This month Connor has hit TWO big milestones, that push him from the baby stage into full blown toddler! Ok, I know that he has been out of the baby stage for awhile but his just makes it so real!

First... Connor is potty trained!! Wahoo! I started on Friday the 9th after he peed in the shower twice and was so excited about it. That morning he had two accidents and that was it for the whole day! By the afternoon he would just run to the potty without me telling him to!  HE picked it up so quickly!  Just 3 days later I took him to the store in his big boy undies and NO accidents! He loves his undies and will occasionally have a slip up but its rare! He has moved from his little potty to using the big potty with a kid seat. He's not really into trying to stand up yet but that is ok. Last night he did stand up and he peed outside for the first time... He was really confused. In my defense, he was covered in mud and I didn't want it through the house..

Second.. Connor is finally out of the crib! We ordered him a toddler bed and he loves it! The first two nights I had  to sit in the rocker with him until he fell asleep and sleep half the night on his floor the second night. I think he was teething and that was half the problem. Poor thing just needed to have his momma comfort him. Now he even takes naps in there if he is tired enough!

Simple Pleasures

Connor has turned into an anti-nap toddler! Usually it is ok and he only has a few rough time throughout the day. However, today he was such a little stink! At one point he ran to the pile of his laundry I just folded and got excited to take it to his room, turns out he threw it one the floor and then dumped all of his drawers!

Luckily, after a few more moments that wanted me to pull my hair out, he fell asleep at a wishful "let's try nap time" whim.

It is hard to believe that some one who is this cute and can be so peaceful turns into a 2 year old terror!

Weekend project- reupholster kitchen chairs!

A couple of weeks ago I saw a tutorial on-line that showed step by step how to reupholster kitchen chairs! It looked pretty easy, and, well, our chairs were nasty. I guess that is what happens with a 2 year old! Stains everywhere! I mentioned I wanted to do it with Adam and of course he was on board!

We hit up hobby lobby and were disipointed by the variety of fabric and patterns. Somehow Adam knew about a story in Paducah called Hancocks. Loved that store! We walked in and it is a huge warehouse that is full of fabrics! After some consultation from a worker we decided that in-door out-door was the best fabric to clean and to last.  The first pattern we fell in love with there was only enough to do 2 chairs. It sounds a little silly to be heart broken about that but we were. We ended up deciding to still using it and then added a coordinating fabric for the other two.

Here is our chair before:

Yes, i know NASTY!

 And the new look:

 Now, we just need a house for more projects! There is only so much you can do for a 70's duplex!

Connor turned 2!

Connor turned 2 on Feb 17th! Adam and I kept going back and forth with the idea of having a party. In the end we decided to wait until next year to give him one. We figured by then he will be talking and will hopefully be a little better at sharing. Plus do you know how hard it is to find fun games and activities that will keep the attention of a 24 month old? I'll just tell you, it is hard!

The funniest part of his big day is when I went into his room to wake him up. I had the camcorder and came in singing happy birthday. His reaction, tears. That's right, I will never be able to live that one down. It is  recorded to forever remember that the sound of my song made him cry. What made it better? The birdies singing outside. The simply pleasures of being so young.

I think that he had a pretty darn good day! He refused to let me get him dressed, even with the bribe of playing outside, so he stayed in his PJs till after lunch. I guess fair enough since it was HIS day! After a fun lunch with daddy and a failed attempt at a nap he had a surprise visit from some of his friends. It was cute, when they sang him "happy birthday" he ran into the hallway to hide. Funny kid.

Dinner was at the best place, for a toddler that is, Chic fil a! Don't get me wrong they have pretty good food but it doesn't compare in the mind of a 2 year old to the fun play place. I don't know what I was thinking to order all of the food first. Adam and I ate in shifts so that the other one could watch Connor play. He was in pure heaven. After 20 mins of going up and down the stairs and hallway in and out of the tunnel, he became brave and went down the slide. After that first time he was hooked. He played for over an hour and then cried when we took him home. 

Of course, like any kid, he loved opening his presents. He had to take all the play food out and pretend to eat before we could move on to the rest of the gifts. One of his favorites was a tool workbench. He had such a blast helping daddy put it together.

Once again, he didn't really care when we sang him "happy Birthday" but this time it was because he was so excited to blow out the candle! After that he was smashing on the frosting of his cupcake. He wanted two.

Since he got new bath toys, and was covered in frosting, a bath was in order. He had so much fun and was so happy to be in his new "Dinosaur train" Pjs. That night he was spoiled rotten and stayed up till 10, mostly because I was oblivious to the time from talking on the phone with my mom! Either way he loved the extra time playing with his tools and watching "Mickey's Christmas". Yes, even two months after Christmas we are lucky enough to watch it almost every other day. Jealous?