We all really enjoyed our trip to Utah for Easter! Connor especially liked the loads of attention that he got, and as you can all see at Janet and Sean's blog, turned into a little entertainer when he wasn't clinging to his mama! The trip was too short, as usual, so in order to lift my spirits today, I planted our tomato seeds! Let's hope that they turn into strong, burly tomato plants by the end of May! I've got to run and get ready for work, but I'll leave you with this adorable picture that Dad took of Connor in his Easter clothes.

Nesting has begun!

It finally hit me this week that in roughly 3 more months, we will have another little one in the house! So, the nesting has begun. There's not a whole lot to buy this time around because of the fact that the dust hasn't had a chance to settle on Connor's things yet!

We had our first "bleed" the other day in the shower. Connor always bathes with me, and usually peacefully plays with his toys on the shower floor. This time, he decided to take swing at me while I was shaving my leg, and the razor cut off HALF OF HIS PINKY NAIL! Luckily, I was the only one phased by it...Connor didn't even notice, and he enjoyed playing with the drops of blood! It's sad and gross, but true!

Connor seems to be weaning himself from his bottles, and although I always imagined that I would look forward to the days of not buying formula, it scares me, too! I worry all day about what he's eating in addition to his bottles, but at least he doesn't have an emotional connection to them. He likes to scare us by shoveling fistfuls of food into his mouth, then gagging because he thinks the sound is funny.

After months of worrying about his gross motor skills, Connor has finally showed some interest in moving about. We're excited to see this development, but also nervous for what a mobile baby brings! He likes to sit on the floor and bounce up and down on his butt - too cute! Right now, he'll get in a crawling position, but then he doesn't know what to do, gets stuck, then starts to cry.

I had to graduate to bigger work shirts (after almost popping the buttons on my last ones), so a girl I work with offered to give me some of her bigger shirts. It was very generous of her, but it made me sad that when she gave them to me, they all REEKED of cigarette smoke. She has a little 18 month old baby girl, and it breaks my heart that she exposes her to that.

We're ready for spring around here, and it's been a struggle to not plant my seeds yet! I've been looking forward for months to starting my garden inside, then moving it outside, but I figured I would wait until after our Utah trip. It's a good thing, considering how cold and snowy it is today!

We're looking forward to seeing everyone (we'll miss you, Carliles!) this weekend. Just a little forewarning: I think Marinda and I should get a headstart behind the grandkids at the Easter Egg hunt! Babies need some Reese's!

Verbal updates? What are those?

I figured it was time for a semi-real update! Things have changed so much in the past few months for us, but the daily routine is getting a bit monotonous.

I can't believe how much Connor is growing into a little boy! We've started giving him some big-boy foods, like toddler pastas and yo-baby yogurt, but he still loves his pureed veggies the best. Weirdo! :) He's starting to feel VERY entitled to anything that we're eating, so we've been having a few power struggles!

We lowered his crib to the lowest setting 2 weeks ago. We thought that we would be okay with it on the middle-setting, since he hadn't shown any signs of trying to pull himself into a sitting position, let alone standing. We plunked him in there, just to see, and he pulled right up! So, we put it on the lowest setting, which makes things quite difficult with my 23-week belly.

He's been exhibiting a lot of Tori-like finger behavior: he explores EVERYTHING with his index finger first. You have to be on your guard though, because you never know how long the sweet index-fingering will last before the hitting comes.

Connor favorite thing in the whole world is when anyone coughs, but especially me. I don't get the same level of belly laughs with anything else!

Connor has cut a total of FOUR teeth in the past month! They haven't been anything like the slower-moving first two that he got, either. They're coming in with a vengeance, only taking 2-3 days to make a proud appearance.

My pregnancy is going well. My belly is much bigger this time around, and I attribute that mostly to me carrying much higher. I look now what I looked like at about 27 weeks with Connor. The little girl's a mover, but not as much of a kicker as Connor was. Anthony got to feel her move for the first time a couple of nights ago.

We're planning on coming to Utah over Easter weekend, so that will be a nice and much-needed vacation. As I sit here in 3 inches of blowing snow today, we're only hoping that we will get some sunshine over that weekend!

Seize the Day!

Doesn't he look like a little Newsie?!

Connor's going to have a baby SISTER!

In mommy's footsteps!

Connor!

This picture was taken about 2 weeks ago, when Connor couldn't yet sit unassisted.
Sitting, and very happy about it! Over the past week and a half, Connor has been much happier and makes me laugh every day!
Typical boy: He loves fart sounds!
Crazy Face Connor. He rarely puts that tongue away!
I didn't see anything in Marinda's "How to Care for a Baby" post about stepping on your children, so I figured it was fine. Connor didn't mind too much.