Father's Day

So, I realize it's been a week since Father's Day, but with being back to work, I don't have much time to blog right now. I am still trying to make some kind of sense out of some kind of schedule during the work week. It will take time, I know, but we will get there! :)


Father's Day was fun. We just hung out at the house, I made pan-fried cheeseburgers for dinner (per Justin's request), and finished off with some homemade ice-cream made with my fancy new ice-cream freezer! Connor and I made Justin a card with their picture, a little poem, and Connor's foot prints. It was precious, and Justin just loved it! Connor also got daddy a watch so that he will never be late to any of Connor's upcoming (in a few years) activities. Here's a picture of daddy and his buddy on Father's Day :)



On Father's Day, Connor turned 3 months old....where has it all gone!? I am amazed at how fast the days just fly by! I cried a little when I had to pack up his newborn clothes, and I was a little sad that he was only in size 1 diapers for about 2 or so weeks! Since I have started supplementing formula into his diet, he has really filled out! It's amazing to me how much babies change week to week. Here are some things our little 3 month old munchkin is doing:

• Squealing.....yikes!
  
• Smiling (ALL the time!)


• Laughing (I absolutely LOVE the sound of his laugh)


• Talking...alot!


• Rolling from his back to his side....we haven't mastered rolling over yet because he's not a huge fan of being on his stomach, but we are working on it.


• Figuring out that his actions have a reaction, like when he hits the little toys on his bouncy chair and they make noise.


• Grabbing for things, and occasionally getting his hands on what he wants.


• Eating about 27-30oz a day (it's hard to guage because I am still breastfeeding once in the morning and once at night)


• Sleeping from 9pm until about 7 or 8 in the morning, getting up once to eat at 4:45. Not too bad if ya ask me!


• Going out in public more....he is generally pretty laid back unless he is hungry, so I don't have that fear of, "What do I do with a screaming baby in public?!" anymore :)
  

Here's a picture of me and the sweetest boy ever....he is the apple of my eye. :)

Back to Work

I started back to work on Monday. It was a little rough after being home with my little man for 12 weeks, but I survived! :) Because my company offers this awesome "Bridge Back to Work" program, I only had to work Monday-Wednesday of this week. Next week, I will work Monday through Thursday, and will be back in full swing after that. So, Monday, I took Connor to my mom's house since I had about 12 weeks of e-mail and paperwork to sort through. I'll admit, I cried all the way to her house....reality was setting in:

• no more mid morning naps with my Munchkin


• no more hearing him laugh while watching Sesame Street


• no more morning walks with mom and Connor


• no more Early Show/Rachel Ray/ The View/ Young and the Restless/ News/ Days of our Lives/ Inside Edition/ The Doctors/ Dr. Phil TV line up LOL!!! (seriously, I am completely FINE with this part....I was SICK and TIRED of being a TV junkie!! Plus, I can catch up on Y&R through DVR! It's the only daytime show I am really addicted to)

Basically, I just kept thinking about how I was going to miss my little buddy that I have become so attached to over the last 12 weeks. I also think I was sad because I had to go back to having a boss, doing expense reports, wearing heels (I LOVED wearing tennis shoes and flip flops EVERYDAY!), getting dressed up every day, driving everywhere from Fort Smith to Northwest Arkansas to Eastern Oklahoma, and just going back to work. But that was it...just Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday, I did juuuuust fine. I even managed to squeeze lunch in Crystal at Jason's Deli in Fayetteville! Mmmmm! How I have MISSED Jason's! Today, my Mother-in-Law sent this picture of my little guy to my cell phone! It made my day :)

Connor's Nana bought him a life jacket yesterday, so he is ready to go swimming, and possibly to the lake! Thanks Nana!

He has recently started grabbing and holding on to things, so last night after a brief walk, I went to get him out of the stroller to find this:My sweet boy holding Mr. Stroller Monkey's hand while he slept. AWE! <3

First trip to Target

Here's a super picture of Connor during his very first trip to Target last Sunday (which is also his very first trip to any retail store), and his first ride in a shopping cart. I was too nervous to put him up on the basket, so he rode down in the cart. He had a GREAT time! He laughed and babbled the whole time! Justin and I were afraid we were going to have to leave the store with a screaming baby. Thank you, Connor, for making our first public outing a fun one! :) Oh, did I mention that we shoplifted? We made it out of the store with a t-shirt for Connor, but ONLY by accident. I took it back the following day and paid for it....I know that had I NOT taken the shirt back and given Target their $8.54, someway, somehow, it would have come back to bite me! You bet I believe in karma!

28 is GREAT!

Happy Birthday to Me! Well, yesterday.....but I didn't have time to post anything. Justin worked most of the day, and I hung out with Connor. We went to have lunch at my mom and dad's, where I got my very first wooden electric ice cream maker! Those of you who know me, know how much I just LOVE ice cream! Luckily it takes a little time and effort to make ice cream, so I won't be making it EVERY SINGLE DAY! Lol!

Granddad had a blast making Connor laugh yesterday! He kept going "who who who, who who who" in a silly voice, and Connor would crack up everytime! Check out this priceless pic! It's official, Connor has my dad wrapped up! It's absolutely precious :)

My fabulous husband got me this fabulous Coach purse for my birthday! Way to go, honey! You win the Husband of the Year Award! :)

Saturday night, we got together with friends at the Rib Room to celebrate my 28th! The food was delicious, the company was wonderful, but it was HOT AS HELL! Thanks to Justin for putting this little shindig together. He is the BEST at Birthdays!

And thanks to these two awesome people for bringing me into this world on June 13th, 1981, and for teaching me the ways of the world from that day forward. Now that I have my own child, I have a whole new understanding of the word "parent" and what it's about, and I love and respect them even more today than ever before.

Here are a few pics of my friends who I absolutely adore:

Ross, Jack, and Jill

Alex and Andrea

The Dancer's and The Hossley's

Crystal, Stephanie, and Me...oh, and little Miss Carley in Crystal's belly :)

After we all survived the heat, we headed to our house for some AC and some CAKE!! :) Everyone tried to pull one over on me, saying there wasn't any cake, but I KNEW there HAD to be CAKE, because I knew that THEY knew that if there wasn't any CAKE, someone was gonna suffer....LOL!! :) This fantastic cake from Steph, Crystal, and Justin came from Ricks Bakery in Fayetteville. Ricks has the BEST cake! :) Thanks y'all!

I got to spend my Birthday with my precious 12 week old son. He wasn't really in the mood for a photo op, but I wasn't letting up, I HAD to have my picture made with my son on my Birthday!

And last but not least, one of my favorite pictures.....the flowers are from my sweet baby boy, and I can tell that Michael's a little jealous that it's not HIS birthday....LOL! :)

I have had a great weekend! I start back to work tomorrow....a little sad? Of course, but will I survive? Absolutely! I know that Connor will be in the best care of his Nana and Gramma, so I have nothing to worry about. I am (slightly) looking forward to getting back out into the adult world, and just keep reminding myself that I have a new purpose to work and work hard: my son.

Connor has another girlfriend on the way!

Congratulations Michael and Crystal!

Carley Grace Freeman will be here in November!

Wordless Wednesday

2 Month Checkup, Road Trip, and Benton's 2nd Birthday

Yesterday we took Connor in for his 2 month Check-up! He is weighing in at 9lbs 7oz and measuring 23.75 inches long! That is one long and lean baby! I sure wish I had his metabolism! If I ate every 2 hours like he did, I would be HUGE! His shots went well.....I thought I would LOSE it when the nurse told me to hold his hands down so that he couldn't move them, but I didn't! I teared up before we even got into the office...lol....but I hung in there and didn't shed one single tear when she stuck him. Bless his heart, when she gave him his first shot (there were 3), he screamed his mad scream, his face turned red, and his tongue was shaking....but overall, he did really well. He is sleeping good at night, only getting up once between 11pm and 6am. That is definitely feasible in this household. After he eats at 6am, he goes back to sleep until 9 or so, but when I go back to work, I will need to get up at 6, so as long as he keeps it up, this should work out well :) OH, and speaking of sleeping, Connor has been sleeping his crib now for over a week! Way to go big boy!! It's nice to have him out of our room so that I don't have to tiptoe around to get ready for bed, and if I have the energy, I can read a little before turning out the lights.

Sunday, we took Connor to the Lodge at Mt. Magazine. It was a much longer car ride than I thought, so Connor was less than cooperative.....poor guy. He screamed at us from Fort Smith to Paris...that's about a 40 minute drive. Nothing like a screaming baby in the backseat of the car to make ya feel bad! Lol! But the scenery was beautiful and we managed to snap a few pics! I would like to make a trip back in the fall as the leaves are changing colors.

Connor went to his first Birthday party this past weekend. Our sweet Godson, Benton, is turning 2 on June 4th, but we celebrated this past weekend with a sprinkler, some hotdogs, and of course, cake and homemade ice cream! As you can see, the Birthday Boy was really into his cupcake. Don't you just LOVE his hair :) Connor was all decked out in his swim trunks, but passed out 20 minutes after we got to the party. I kept calling him the "party pooper." Shame on me....when I picked him up out of his stroller, the term "party pooper" was MILD compared to what my precious baby boy had done.....yikes! Luckily, Benton lives across the street, so we just came home, cleaned up, and headed back over. This incident was one of many that we had encountered over the past week or so. PROBLEM: Almost everytime I would feed Connor, he would pee out the side of his diaper, all over mommy (yeah). Every morning when I would get him out of bed, he had peed all over his jammies, and we have had several explosive poop diapers. SOLUTION: Time to go up a size in diapers! I pulled a size 1 out of the package and it just seemed so BIG, but after 3 days of using them, we haven't had a single accident.....so I guess we have graduated from Newborn diapers! I'm not really saaaaad about it, just amazed with how quickly it goes by. I probably say that in every single post, but I just can't get over how the time is flying by!