Only one more month and my baby is ONE!!!

My baby boy is getting so big. I can't believe we're going to celebrate his birthday next month. Wow how time just flies!!! Connor's been up to many things this month. He's learning and growing every day. I'm just amazed at all the new things he does every minute.

Connor at 11 months...

He LOVES the television. We don't have cable TV, so he's very limited to about 2-3 videos that we do have, lol... but he just loves to watch anything with music. Backyardigans & Sesame Steet are his favorites. And of course, he can't just watch... he has to get as close as he can to the screen...

Connor went to 2 Wards Christmas parties this year, both with Santa... and he didn't like it either time...

He just got in his top two teeth. He's been teething for a few months now, and they FINALLY came through. The good thing though, is that he started sleeping so much better. He was up 4-5 times at night before, and now he's only up once... maybe twice.
He learned to crawl the "normal" way. He was army crawling up until now, but this month, he finally got the hang of it.

He LOVES helping daddy out with anything and everything that he's doing.... dishes, laundry, yardwork, hanging up the Christmas lights...

He LOVES to touch EVERYTHING with his pointer fingers. That's how he checks everything out. He examines it all in such detail.

He's a big cheeseball... enough said...

He's said "mama" and "dada" before, but I don't really think he was saying it to us. He knows who we are (as in if you say "where's daddy?" he will look right at him) but for the past few months, he just hasn't said much of anything. Well, he now talks up a storm. Not really saying anything specific, but he NEVER stops talking. He did say his first real word this month. "Doggy" which he pronounces more like "dah gah" He LOVES my parents 2 dogs and my sisters dog, and squeals in delight when he sees them yelling out "dah gah... dah gah" But we also found out this week that he doesn't like any other dog. He's VERY VERY VERY afraid of any other dog. He cries and almost shakes because he's scared... not sure when that happened.

He walks along furniture like a mad man, but won't walk on his own. But... sometimes he thinks he can walk and he'll just venture out to take a step and fall flat on his face. He actually took 1 1/2 steps today, which we were all shocked!!!

He LOVES to cook/watch us cook. If anyone is in the kitchen, he crawls over to them, and has to be right there in the action as the food's being made.

Whenever he hears music, he dances (head bangs) and giggles. He LOVES music.

Connor's laughter is contagious and there's no way you can be in a room with him for more than 5 minutes without busting up laughing. He's a joy to be around and we love having him in our lives!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

So as many of you know, our family is going through a lot right now. Aaron lost his job 2 weeks ago, and my job went from about 20 hours, to 5-10 hours a week. We're struggling a lot right now, but at the same time, we're praying a lot and know that we'll get through this.

We just need to remember the true meaning of Christmas and celebrate the birth of our Savior.

Because of the lack of money, we weren't able to send out Christmas cards, but I had made them already, so I figured I'd just post it on here and e-mail it out to those I have an e-mail for.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas. We love you lots!

random

Random pics...

my little businessman...

He's actually just sitting there before church, watching Sesame Street on DVD while I get ready for church, but doesn't he look like he's working on a laptop :-)

This is what happens when Connor gets ahold of a trash can :-)

Happy Thanksgiving

This year was Connor's First Thanksgiving. I LOVE Thanksgiving. Family, food, games, and just lots and lots of fun!!! We were lucky enough for Aaron's mom, step-dad, & step-brother from Arizona to come visit for a few days. We hadn't seen them in about 6 months, so it was fun to see Connor get to know them again :-) This year for the holiday, we all went over to my sister, Katie and her husband, Nathan's house for the day. There were so many people there, so we had to have 2 turkeys, one of which I made (the first time I'd done that by myself). I love Thanksgiving because all the family just spends the whole day together, eating and playing board games, and I just LOVE that. Family is so important to me, and to have both sides of the family together was an awesome experience. I love that Aaron's parents and my family get along so well, like we were all family before Aaron and I met :-) :-)

Connor and Grandma D

Three Generations... there are 4 generations, and I would LOVE if we could all be together some time to take a picture :-) Sadly, everyone is in different states

with Grandpa & Grandma

Uncle Dylan :-)

Christmas Tree Shopping

Halloween 2009

For Halloween this year, we went to my brother and sis-in-laws 2nd Annual Nightmare Before Christmas themed Halloween party. We had lots of fun hanging out, eating yummy food, and having Kimmy's dad's bowling tournament (on the Wii).

wouldn't let go of his candy bag or glowstick

watch out Connor!!

swinging in cousin Chloe's swing, even though he NEVER wants/wanted to go in his own

Ninja Witch???

Getting sleepy at the end of a fun and Happy Halloween!

Night Before Halloween...

My sister Katie's ward was having a Halloween party the night before Halloween, so our family decided to go. I bought Connor a Pumpkin costume, but my grandma found a Penguin costume, so we decided to just have him wear one on Friday and the other on Saturday. And joining in on the fun, I dressed up as a Witch and Aaron was a Vampire. Katie and Nathan were Lois Lane and Clark Kent/Superman, and Bethany was Bellatrix (from Harry Potter). My mom made Bethany's costume and it was absolutely AMAZING!!! My poor baby got a cold a few days before Halloween so he wasn't feeling great. You can see it in his eyes. But he was definatly a trooper and was good the whole night. He held onto a glowstick and was happy as can be!

Here Comes Trouble...

Our baby boy is already 9 Months Old! I can't believe in 3 months we're going to be having his 1st birthday. He's growing and changing so much. He's definatly getting taller. His 6-9 month pants are high-waters now. He's still 20 lbs. though.

He's had a few bad colds recently, and therefore isn't sleeping through the night at all. He's up anywhere from 2-10 times. But... he's doing better at going to bed early. He was staying up between 9 and 10pm, but now goes to sleep between 8 and 8:30pm. Most of the time he even goes to sleep on his own too :-)

He's still really good at eating. He loves anything and everything. He's still eating baby food but then also wants everything from my plate too. His favorite foods are zucchini, broccoli, sweet potatoes & bananas.

He's "crawling" a lot faster now. He still does the army crawl though. He won't get up all the way. He's getting into EVERYTHING now. I can't leave him in a room alone or this is what happens..

or I come into the room and find him under the end table like this...

So.... we put up the cage... I mean the activity center :-)

But then he just stands up and cries til I return...

He's perfectly fine standing on the outside of it, as long as he's not closed in...

He still won't hold his bottle. He's lazy, lol... and I had to get stuff done, so I just propped it up with a pillow, turned on Sesame Street, and was good to go...

For the most part he's very happy and making these chessy faces...

Our heater isn't working, so I had to bundle him up nice and warm while Aaron was trying to get it fixed... 50 degrees in the house is cold...

He's gotten very good at walking along furniture. He even thinks that he can walk and will just start moving, and fall down (he got 2 bruises on his face in one day). But... he can now lean down and pick something up that he's dropped without falling...