Happy 1st birthday, sweet Connor!

Connor, you are one year old today! one year ago today, you were putting me through excruciating pains and feelings of pure joy. You have come so far in the past year. you have been walking for a while, and now, are starting to try to run. Your smile and laugh can light up a room. you shake and bounce your little butt whenever there is music and we just love to watch your dance moves. You love to climb on EVERYTHING..our little monkey. You are a little string bean but eat like a horse. You love being read to and will sit still and "read along." You make the sweetest sounds and look so adorable when you say "hi" or wave byebye. You love to play with your sister and put up with her when she is sassy. You hate to have your diaper changed or to get dressed. You are not a very good shopper because you try to twist yourself out of the cart, even though buckled in, or you escape from the stroller.

YOU are our beautiful little blessing.

Connor woke up to a birthday donut with a candle and big sister got a donut too.

Today grammy came down to spend the day with us for Connor's birthday because daddy went to a job fair quite far away where he graduated college.

In the morning Bella had dance class so grammy and Connor came to watch. It was so fun and Connor just walked around and got right in with the group! Afterwards, we came back for a quick nap for Connor and then when he woke up we headed to Olive Garden for lunch. Everytime we ask Bel where she wants to eat, she says Olive Garden for chicken nuggets and french fries :)

Then we went to monkey joe's for some inflatable bouncey slide fun! The kids had a blast and so did mommy and grammy :)

We had alot of fun for a couple hours and then came home and lit Connor's big birthday candle before grammy and Bella left. It's just mommy and Connor for the rest of the week now.

Connor's 1st birthday photoshoot and party !

Tuesday, Sept. 22, We finished getting odds and ends for Connor's birthday party for the weekend. Wednesday was picture time. His birthday photoshoot was so fun, messy, and adorable! Those are just a couple of my favorites :)

After the photoshoot, daddy and the kids went up north for the rest of the week. They got to hang out with grammy and popps for the night and then hang out with gramma Fran and papa Len, auntie Shannon, and cousins Jake and Ellie, who all came up for the weekend. Sounds like they had alot of fun playing together and at the park. I missed my family but got alot of housework done...(including piles and piles of laundry!)

Friday after work, I headed to my parents and finally got to kiss my babies after a long 2.5 days!! My sister headed up that night so we went shopping for food for Connor's party and then we all made some really cute football cut-out cookies.

Saturday was the day of Connor's 1st Birthday party! I was hoping we could have it inside but thankfully we had beautiful weather, and too many guests to have everyone inside. We had a blast and Connor was slightly spoiled ;) He is wearing his Dallas Cowboys jersey because he ruined his birthday shirt right before the party started :(

After the party we went out for pizza with some friends and had alot of fun visiting some more. We got Connor a four wheeler powerwheel but he had to wait until Sunday to try it out because it had to charge overnight. He loves it and we could hardly take him away from riding it!

On Sunday Connor woke up pretty early so we got him dressed and tried out the fourwheeler. Of course now, big sister wants her turn to ride too. My dad and brother picked apples from the tree so she made applesauce and Bella helped her make an apple pie for grammy's 49th birthday on Monday. Happy birthday mom! We love you.

after labor day..

Tuesday, September 8, is back to work for me. The long weekend surely was nice though. After work, Bel and I went to the mall to try to find some comfortable dance/ ballet shoes for her since class starts the next morning. We found a cute little comfortable outfit to wear and she picked out an adorable outfit for Connor's birthday party.

Wednesday my little princess started her hip hop skimp jump dance class. Daddy and Connor watched us from the door so I think that may have contributed to her being quite shy. It is more of a "mommy and me" type of class and I actually had fun. We thought maybe next week's class would be easier for her.

Later that night we hauled a gazillion totes of the kids' clothes to my friend Mandy's house since we are having a rummage sale on September 19. I spent 3 whole hours pricing and have loads more to do. Daddy and Bella went up north that night so it's just Connor and I til Friday night.

Friday night after work, I met my parents and Bella at my parents' friends' house for supper. It was a really fun night until my dear husband called me and told me he just got a speeding ticket on his way to camp :(

Saturday we had a baby shower to go to. it was the coolest, most extravagant party I have ever seen and we had alot of fun. After the shower we went shopping to try to get odds and ends for Connor's birthday party and then later we played outside for the rest of the day.

Sunday we played outside all day. Sure doesn't feel like fall since we have been having HOT days!

----------

Monday, September 14, - this week was busy! I Spent some more time preparing for the rummage sale and hoping all the hard work I did will be worth it. Bella loves going with me so she can play with Madi. They had quite the time lying down together and watching princess movies, trying on princess jammies, and jumping on the bed. I got some super cute pictures .

Bella loved dance class on Wednesday!!! I was so thrilled that she danced and participated and wasn't shy one bit!! We love how she practices her dance moves at night ;)

My mom came over on Friday night and Mike went up north to camp. We went shopping and grammy spoiled the kids some more.

Saturday was an early day for me because I had to be at Mandy's by 7am to start the rummage sale. While I was there, my mom took the kids to Quarry Quest. They had an awesome time there and my mom took some great pictures of the fun! Bella talked about it all night so we are anxious to go next year! Here they are digging in the sand for dinosaurs and Bel painting a rock.

Our rummage sale was a success!!!!!!!!!!! When i returned back home, everyone was napping so after they woke up, we ate supper and lounged around while watching Bella's new Wiggles movie.

Sunday, we went to Toys R Us Olive Garden, and Kohls. (imagine that..more shopping ;) )
Grammy found the kids some cute books at Toys R Us and I checked out power wheels for Connor's birthday present. We asked the princess where she wanted to go for lunch and she said Olive Garden. That's my girl!!! By the time we got to Kohls, though, we knew the kids had enough shopping just by the fact that Connor climbs out of the cart even though he is buckled in, or he wants to get out and walk, and Bel hides in the clothes racks. When we got back, we colored on the sidewalk with chalk and let the kids run around outside. Connor is doing so well with his walking!! Grammy left around 6pm but then daddy arrived home so the kids were really excited to see him!

It's been a while!

I've been pretty slow keeping up with my blog and trying to figure out how to make it "cool."

Last time I updated was Wednesday, August 19 and I have alot to blog.

Wednesday I caught up on laundry and cleaning because my mom and sister were coming to hang out with us for the weekend. We had a really fun weekend together and I think I have a pretty darn nice husband for putting up with us girls ;)

We decided to make homemade salsa and had intended to can some. My mom and sister stopped by the farmer's market on their way here and bought loads of veggies for the salsa.
We stopped at the mall on Saturday so that me and my sis could help our mom find some stylish jeans since she has lost so much weight. (pretty proud of my mom who lost 30 lbs in the past few months due to weightwatchers and motivation :) ) We had a fun time helping her find some new clothes and the kids some new fall clothes since fall is sneaking up on us. Sunday we shopped some more. I was so sad to see them leave. I snapped some pictures of them and the salsa making and all the while, my mom and Jenna's hands were burning from slicing peppers! It turned out really yummy!

Monday, August 24th Connor walked across the room for the first time. It was exactly 16 steps and I got it all on video on my phone! It was such an exciting day for us.

Wednesday we met my mother-in-law and two nieces at the mall for school shopping and had lunch at Red Lobster. Bella needs to be in a stroller at all times or she will run like a wild animal all over the place. I have realized I hate the fact that she is pretty much potty-trained because public bathrooms disgust me horribly. In the evening we drove all the way to my sister's house so she could take out Mike's stitches in his hand. It's nice having a sis who is an RN and will do it for free! I had to deal with the wrath of public bathrooms once again since my sis and I took Bel with us to the mall later that night. Love hanging out with my sis but wish she and my brother lived closer than 45 minutes away.
Thursday I pretty much finished shopping for the kids fall wardrobes and Friday we headed to my parents after I got done with work.

Saturday is the worst weekend as far as weather goes. It literally rained all day so we stayed in and baked cookies which is what we usually do on a typical weekend.

Monday the 31st I started packing up the kids clothes for the rummage sale I am having with my friend Mandy at her house on September 19th. I never realized how much clothes these kids have until now and I am having a hard time departing with some of these gorgeous gymboree and gap outfits! It was one busy week hauling in totes of clothes and resorting them and packing back up. I tried to entertain Bel by letting her play with shaving cream on the table so that I could keep busy. I ended up joining right in and we had fun before I went back to clothes sorting.
She was my little helper all week too and she said "aww that's cute" to everything she pulled out of the totes and tried on alot too!

Wednesday we got Bella officially signed up for pre-dance class and she is pretty excited to start in one week.
Friday after work we rushed home because our friend's son Lane was having his first birthday party. He was born 26 days before Connor and they are little buds. Lane had the cutest cowboy theme party and we had alot of fun :) Min and I graduated highschool together and our husbands are great friends as well so it's funny how it all works out.

the birthday boy and his mommy. Bella and Connor

Saturday my parents took the kids to Wisconsin Rapids for a family get-together at my uncles. We missed them and felt guilty about not going because we just drove 2 hrs the day before and didn't wanna drive another 3.5 hrs and back. I felt yucky all day but managed to get ready enough to go out for a nice supper. After supper we went back to Brad and Min's house for a fire and hung out til 1:30am....way past my bedtime but we were having fun with everyone :)

Sunday we got the call that my mother-in-law had gone blind in her left eye and was heading to an emergency eye dr visit out of town. We were really scared and bummed out because she had been so happy to take Bella to the fair on Sunday and now she couldn't go. We took Bel for an hour or so just to ride the pony and a few rides. She had fun and won a purple necklace and purple teddybear. The eye appointment went ok and they are unable to determine what is going on because of the blood so they sent her home on light duty. We headed back to their house for a few hours after supper.

Monday we went back to their house early for breakfast and hung out mostly outside. Bella had fun blowing her bubbles and Connor had fun crawling and walking around in the grass and getting filthy. We also went to the neighbors to see their 5 new adorable puppies.

It was an exhausting weekend so we headed back home late monday night.