7 days

No, I am not reenacting the plot from the movie 'The Ring'...I am counting down the days before I go back to work and Connor to daycare.

My leave has gone really, really fast, and it's unfortunate that probably just in the past few weeks has the weather cooperated. The first two months it seems it either was raining or gale force winds.

And so, my goals and plan for the week:

-clean the house (and by that...I mean giving a little attention to the toilets, etc.)
-organize the house (kitchen table just collects daily mail, things to do, things to look at later, things to file, etc.) This problem is an inherited disease from my father, just ask my mother.
-have laundry 100% caught up by next Sunday
-I am not planning on working much, if any this week. Not even going to check email...okay, no more than once a day.
-spending time at the lake, since Bryan said he'll be working til 8 or 9 every night this week I might just stay out there
-we have a party at the lake on Friday AND Saturday, hopefully the weather cooperates
-My niece probably is going to make an entrance into this world...she is 1.5 cm dilated, 90% effaced and at position +1. Her doctor basically said it'll be this week, well, not directly, but warned her it's coming very soon
-and my biggest goal (and most fun) is to continue Connor's scrapbook. Like I mentioned in a previous post, I got a good start, but in his book he's not even home from Children's Hospital yet. So...I have a lot to catch up on yet.
-Sell some things on ebay...I'm starting to get an itch for wanting to buy things for the new house (some things that we NEED...shower curtains, etc....and some that I WANT...new bed, dining room table, etc.) and feel that I should counteract those urges. One of my listings is already at $23. Ha. Long ways to go.
-Geez, almost forgot. I need to pick out all floor coverings and get them ordered (whether from the place in Mankato, online, even considering 'calling Empire today' as I hear that all day long on TV), pick out our kitchen sink and fixture, finalize all interior baseboard and casing, select all interior paint colors and get paint purchased, select and order countertop for kitchen and yeah. This bullet point might prevent a few of the top from getting accomplished. :(

I think that might be about it. My sleepless nights and early mornings with Connor are starting to take a toll on me. I just feel exhausted today, that won't be good for going back to work if he's up twice during the night...and I won't get any naps during the day, Bryan gets home late from work...blah blah. I know, cry me a river, but, he spoiled me there for a few weeks sleeping thru the night. Maybe daycare will wipe him out.

Alright, enough for now.

back to sleep

As many of you know, Connor illegally sleeps on his tummy. Now, many of you tell me, oh it's fine, we were all raised on our tummies...and others give me the evil eye and ask 'how can you sleep at night'. Well. Trust me, I think about it a lot. Hard not to.

So, since he has been sleeping like crap at night anyways, I think tonight I'm going to try him on his back. I have him down right now for a nap on his back...and it seems to be going okay. (minus the spasm after the flash of the camera went off...oops)

First of Many

"Going up to Trav's" is something I hear quite often, and Bryan always talks about how once Connor is old enough he'll be tagging along with dad wherever he goes...(apparently off to a weekend of scrapbooking with mom and friends wasn't good for his macho development)...and today marked the first time that he did. Not so sure he's 'old enough' yet, but, it was nice to have a break in the day to clean up the kitchen, shower and make an attempt at cleaning off the kitchen table. Key word....attempt. :)

more fun at the lake

Tuesday night Bryan and I went out to the lake since it was so nice our. Our friends, Craig and Lora and their daughter Madelyn joined us for grilling out and a boat ride. It was nice and relaxing!

This weekend is the big 'Friendship Days' celebration in Nicollet. Not sure Connor meets the height requirements for any of the rides...but I'm probably going to have to get a few pictures :)

Mom and Dad get home from South Africa tomorrow as well. I had to continually turn her down to Fed Ex Connor over there...so its about time they get home. Which reminds me, I have a few pictures that she's sent to share. I'll do that sometime or another.

A few from the boat ride the other night...

Connor wanted to drive too...

Or not. Geez, those chins seem to get in the way of breathing almost.

It's possible Connor's thighs are larger than Madelyn's.

Last time for this shirt...already was a little too tight around the neck and chins. Sad. So cute.

the sprayer

So, my brother recently got a new sprayer for the farm...and I must say...I have ALWAYS thought these were the coolest machines on earth. They look so alien like...love it. So, we met Joe and Krystal for supper in St. Peter tonight and then Joe had to spray his fields right outside of Nicollet we took the opportunity to get a few photos :) Seriously, love these things. Weird, I know.

Uncle Joe

In the cab with Uncle Joe and our friend Marc's son Josh

Honestly think these are the coolest tractors

Hopefully the only off roading my car will ever see...

'Mom, where are we and why are we here?'

Marc's daughter, Taylor

Scrapfest

Ok, it wasn't the real scrapfest (that's coming this September)...but it was a weekend of scrapping! A bunch of women from town and my friend Sarah went to a scrapbook retreat in Hutchinson over the weekend. I think that could be my life maybe someday. Own a scrapbook retreat. It cost $1500 to rent out for the weekend (divided by 15 women), and this lady is booked nearly thru next summer and into fall. CRAZY! The website is www.pheasantrunretreat.com. It was an amazing facility and we had a blast! I didn't get a crazy amount done, but I did get quite a few pages done...but even still, I think I got 10 spreads done...and Connor isn't even home from the hospital yet in his book. Too much to scrap his first week of life! But, it was a good start and I feel I'm on a roll...I hope to get some done my last two weeks before I go back to work, but we'll see. The house is demanding attention as well.

Alright, anyways. Sarah took some pictures of Connor this morning before we left from the retreat, and they're on her blog. He was pretty happy this morning :) (maybe because he knew we were going home?)

I think we all agreed that we'll be doing this again! Maybe in winter...it was pretty hard to stay inside over the weekend when it was so gorgeous outside!

Hope you all had good weekends!

our shades finally fit!

Our cool excavator shades from the Sizer's finally fit our head! He looked so funny (funny cute that is) ...I laughed out loud.

Play Mat Fun

Connor is really digging his little play mats lately, is content to sit lay under them for long periods of time (which is nice :)). Here's a little snippit...I didn't get him in full smiles, but it's still fun to watch him like this.

house update

Took some pictures of the house today. The guys were working on the siding on the outside. We need to pick out the stone for the exterior this week, our kitchen and vanity cabinets are ordered (so hopefully we made the right decisions!! too many to pick from!), ordered the vanity countertops today (so no changing our minds on faucets anymore) and yeah, I think that might be the most of it for now. Need to get our trim ordered, and again, far too many options, combinations, extras...ugh. Oh well. We'll get it done!

Sorry for the abundance of pictures...doing a little walk thru for you.

Just need the shakes above the garage yet, and then obviously to paint everything yet (which we still are unsure on what colors...)

Still missing the patio door in the dining room, window for the man cave and the other two windows in the living room.

Master bedroom, looking at the bathroom (left door) and the walk in closet (right door)

Dining room, trapezoid windows placed

Kitchen, little walk in pantry in the back right corner

Standing in kitchen, looking into living room and to the left is the office

Mud room. There will be built in locker type things on the left and then at the back there is another half bath.

Laundry (thrilling, I know)

Connor's room

Guest bedroom

Master, standing in the doorway almost

Master sitting area

Alright, that's it :)

round is a shape

I forgot to mention Connor's 'stats' from his 2 month checkup. 90th percentile for weight...50th for height. So, we're short and fat. But we think the rolls are still pretty cute :) (and...when they are inserting a 2" needle into your childs' thighs...I was thankful for the rolls!)

Did a little photo shoot when we got home today. I've decided I'm going to have to increase my photography skills...he's definitely moving more than the last time I attempted a photo shoot, and if I use the 'motion' setting on my camera, it needs a flash, and I just didn't like how those were turning out. If I used the 'snow' setting...I liked them better, but then caught every small movement and it was a blur. So these are about the only ones that turned out. I'm going to have to play around a bit with my camera, I'm sure I can do better.

Getting pretty good about lifting our shoulders and chest off of the ground. He's much better on a solid surface than here on the couch and pillow.

Trying to tell me his head is too heavy to constantly lift up.

Showing off the rolls.

random...

We lost in the volleyball tournament on Saturday. Ryan, one of our main guys, has a pulled groin and basically just kept reinjuring it throughout the day until he could barely walk without grimacing in pain. We'd like to believe we could have won the tourney had he been 100%. But thanks to Mitch and Kacie for playing with us!

The house is still coming along. I have pictures, but they're outdated basically. They have most of the house rocked on the inside I believe, and I think the tapers are coming this week? Not fully sure I guess. But I just know that I need to get going on picking paint colors and getting all ready for that task... Carpet needs to get picked out, too. And, Sears needs to run their 20% off appliances again. Hmm.

A bunch of ladies are going scrapbooking this weekend! I am so excited! My good friend Sarah is coming along as well :) I'm also bringing Connor, which will probably hinder my productivity, but the thought of leaving him for three days makes me more sad than the thought of not getting enough scrapbooking done. Especially since my time at home with him is dwindling...I hate leaving him more and more these days. Even for a few hours I miss him.

So, that's about it. I said I'd get better about posting, and I have to be much better the next few weeks since my mom is in South Africa and said she needs daily posts. Not sure if we'll get around to daily, but we'll try and be better :)

Hope you all had good weekends!

Where are the chicks?

I finally got together with the other two mom's that had their babies in April, it was so fun!! Keegan was born 7 hours before Connor and then Talan came about two and a half weeks later. They were all so cute together!! They never cried at the same time, but each had their moments :)

Talan, Keegan and Connor

(hence why we need some GIRL babies around!!)

Tummy time!

We weren't overly photogenic today...that's for sure.

Fathers Day at the Lake

After a nice breakfast with the Bode's, we went out to the lake to be with my parents and FINALLY got our first boat ride! I think it might have even been the first time my parents even had the boat out. It was a little windy, but still nice. Connor slept the entire time so I'm not sure how he feels about it yet :) He didn't care much for dipping his toes in the lake...not quite as warm and bubbly as his baths...

The sandals mom got for him...she could not get over how adorable they were... :)

Baby Loula liked her first boat ride we think..and she's ready to meet us all! (she just should wait til Grandma and Grandpa Loula get back from South Africa...two weeks BL...two weeks :))

bad blogger

Not sure why I've been so terrible at posting on a regular basis...even when I get yelled at from friends. I promise to do better. Here's a little summary of the week (and then you'll see why I really haven't blogged):

-worked a bit
-got Connor's announcements in the mail (finally)
-Connor slept from 11 to 8 one night
-started going on at least one walk a day, once I even went out three times
-Connor is starting to 'like' his car seat and stroller rides ('starting to' doesn't mean ALWAYS)
-celebrated Mother's Day and went to Chanhassen Dinner Theater with some friends
-The house is still coming along, the upstairs is probably completely sheet rocked and it's almost completely sided
-playing in an all day volleyball tournament today on 3 hours of sleep
-Connor got his 2 month shots yesterday and Grandma Loula offered to take him for the night, and when I talked to her last night...he had basically been screaming in pain almost the entire day/night
-I haven't seen Connor since 3 ish yesterday afternoon and I miss him terribly

That might be about it. My maternity leave is quickly approaching its end...it has gone by too fast. A few weeks ago I would have told someone, oh, I could go back if I had to right now...and now I'm getting a little anxiety about leaving him every day...but, it'll be fine :(

Happy Fathers Day!!!

PS. Like I said, I promise to be better, and include pictures

Krystal's Shower

Yesterday was Krystal's baby shower hosted out at her sister Lyndsey's place. It was a beautiful day and it was a great shower! Baby Loula got tons of great new things and adorable outfits!!

Me, Krystal and her sister Lyndsey

My first attempt at a diaper cake, turned out OK I think :)

Me and Krystal

The Nicollet ladies

Looks pretty good Annie! :)

Had to post this picture...she is two days OLDER than Connor. And she wasn't early.

Proof that Connor is a chunk?