Dear Sweet Connor

Dear Connor,

It was this particular Saturday a year ago that your dad and I were patiently (and I mean PATIENTLY) awaiting your arrival into this world. :) You were definitely running the show, and a year later, you still are. :) You are the absolute light in our lives, and we are so proud that you are ours. It is scheduled to snow on on your FIRST BIRTHDAY, tomorrow. We just can't believe it! You have definitely brought the snow with you during your sweet first year of life. It snowed on your first Christmas too. You are too precious, you must know how much your mom loves snow ;) But sweetheart, it's springtime now, and enough is enough lol. You are standing up by the recliner, and you are typing as I am trying to type this. As I keep telling you "no", you keep laughing at me.....cutie :) Connor, I was pretty sure you would be close to arriving around this time, but nooooooo sir, it would be another 8 1/2 hours before you had to be removed from your warm, dark hiding place. You had your own schedule then, and you clearly have your own schedule now :) Everyday your dad and I love you more and more, and we are so very blessed to have you in our lives. Tomorrow you turn ONE! Time sure has gone by fast, love. Seems like just yesterday, we found out that we were expecting a sweet new arrival to the family. That has been almost 2 years ago. I wish I could slow time down just a little bit,but since I can't, your dad and I will cherish absolutely every single moment with you. We love you, pumpkin!

Here you are eating a big boy dinner of chicken nuggets and ketchup. Yesterday you suprised me when you knew how to drink through a straw, and every single day, you amaze us with something else you have learned.

Scarlet Family Happenings!

Yes, before you say it, I realize I am a tad behind on blogging....but when you hear what's been going on in the Scarlet house, you will (hopefully) understand why ;)

Connor is FINALLY better after over a month of a runny nose, ear infection, 3 rounds of antibiotics, and hives (the Doctor believes he is allergic to penicillin!!) Our little man is also sporting 6 teeth these days! 2 on the bottom and 4 on the top! Connor is having a ton of fun at school, and every day he just makes me laugh more and more. He is absolutely amazing!

Justin has been out of town for the last 2 weeks training for his new JOB!!!!!!! He starts as an outside sales rep for a company called Auto Accessories Unlimited! If you know Justin, you know that this is RIGHT up his alley! He will be going around to car dealerships and selling wheels, tires, lift kits, leather packages, window tint, etc. This job is such a blessing to our family, both financially, and more importantly, in the sense that Justin will look forward to going to work every single day. Congratulations sweetheart, you deserve this!!

When Justin resigned from Reddy Ice, he had to turn over his company laptop (which I LOVED!), and blogging is too difficult from my company laptop (it's a dinosaur), SO today, we purchased a new Dell laptop for our family. I love it! So definitely expect more blogging from me VERY soon! :)

Thanks for understanding! :)

SNOW DAY!!

We had about 4-5 inches of snow here in Fort Smith!! It was absolutely beautiful! Here is Connor's first time to "play" in the snow! Dada created the perfect sled for our super cool little dude!!

Connor: School and Sickness

Hello All!

Just a quick update on our little monster :) Connor started "school" on Wednesday, the 13th of January. We thought it was time to get Connor together with some other kiddos a couple days during the week! His first day was a little rough. When I called to check on him, Mrs. Erin told me that he had been crying most of the day, and that Mrs. Lois had been holding him a lot. Also, he didn't nap...not a single lick! So when I went to pick him up, he looked like a drunk little man who was about to pass out! Needless to say, he slept VERY good that night :) Dada took a couple of pictures of Connor arriving to his first day of school :)

Doesn't he just look thrilled to be here! Lol!

The following Sunday night, Connor had his first fever (great). I was about to head out of town for a week, needed to get up at 4am, and my little man was fussy and didn't sleep well at all! Luckily, I have a fabulous husband who took care of Connor all night so I could rest up.

The next morning I went to the airport at 6am ONLY to find out that my flight had been delayed until 10am (again...great). So I went back home, laid down for a bit, fed my munchkin breakfast, checked his temp (it was normal again), thought all was well, and went on my merry way to Atlanta. Later, after checking with Justin, Connor had gotten worse. The doctor confirmed his first cold and ear infection when Justin took him in on Tuesday afternoon. I hated that I missed the first few days of his first sickness, but was still comfortable knowing Connor was in the loving hands of Dada, Gramma, and Nana. He was still pretty pitiful when I got home from Atlanta, and he sounded completely different since he was congested....that was kinda weird to me.....

He missed school that week, so when we took him back it was like starting all over again! This time around he did much better. I was a proud Momma :) Connor is back to feeling like his normal, sweet, rambunctious little self....thank goodness, and all is back to normal in the Scarlet house!

Bathtime Fun and New Teething "Toy"

Here are a couple pictures from bathtime the other night . Connor loves his baths! Sometimes he tries to get in the tub when it's not anywhere near time for his bath. Silly boy!

These pictures sure are a far "cry" from how he felt about his first few baths :) Here is a picture from the first bath at home. He is just growing up so fast!

And here is Connor's new teething toy......his very beautiful, kinda pricey, convertible crib. :) The little marks at the top of the wood are from his teeth. I wonder how that tastes? Ick. Anyway, it's completely fine, and we could care less. Ya know, when you are pregnant, you envision this perfect little life with a perfect little baby, and all his perfect little furniture, and his perfect little bedding, and your perfect little home. Theeeeeeen the baby gets here, hits about 8 or 9 months old, and all that "perfectness" just goes right out the window. Fingerprints and slobber all over the glass tables, part of the bedding removed because he stands on it and it gives him the extra 3 inches needed to fall head first out of the crib, teeth marks on the crib, baby toys scattered all over the living room, tantrums, etc.....and although this isn't what you had envisioned when you were expecting, it's PERFECT.

Happy New Year!

We had a great New Year's Eve, and enjoyed ringing in 2010 with some new, fun friends! Drew and Adrienne had an extra pair of tickets to Tinsel and Tails, an annual event in Fort Smith benefiting the Alzheimer's Association. We had a fantastic time. At about 11:30, we blew that Popsicle stand and headed over to the 503 Oyster Bar, or Old Towne, or whatever it's called these days (we had a baby, remember? We are WAY out of the Downtown Fort Smith loop...lol). We rang in the New Year with The Crumbs, a local bluegrass band. They served champagne in a plastic solo cup.....and if you come from the Birch family, you are required to drink fancy booze out of a solo cup :) I already had a beer, though, so I passed on the solo cup...sorry, Dad...lol :) Here are a few snap shots from our (kid-less...yay!) night out!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

DREW AND ADRIENNE

Thanks for a FANTASTIC time out on the town!

THE COLLYAR'S

Casey and Travis

NEW YEAR'S SMOOCHES

I love you, Honey!

FIRST PIC IN 2010

If this is any indication of our year, then I look forward to all the fun and good times :)

Connor spent the night with Nana and Granddad (my parents). He wouldn't go to sleep in his crib, but as SOON as my mom put him in bed with her and my dad, he snuggled in and went right to sleep. Mom thought Connor must be sleeping in our bed at home, but he's not....not at all. I have tried to snuggle him a couple times in our bed, but he just wakes up and wants to play! I have to admit, I was kind of jealous that Connor slept in bed with them....but that's ok, I certainly don't want to start that habit here at home. Connor sleeps GREAT in his bed, and in the long run, that's probably the best place for him to sleep (for everyone!) Thanks Nana and Granddad for allowing us a night out with friends! We had a blast!!

~*Welcome 2010!*~

2009 was an AMAZING and INCREDIBLY BLESSED year for the Scarlet family....but at the same time, it was definitely the most STRESSFUL year that Justin and I have had in the almost 8 years we've been together. If you have been following us this year, you know that we went through 2 of the top 10 most stressful life events: having a baby and moving (technically, we are still going through the moving part, as I sit here looking at the boxes Justin just brought in to unpack). Also, our moving has taken place during the most wonderfullllllll (stressful) tiiiiiime of the yeeeeear: the Holiday Season.

Last year I reflected on my most memorable moments of 2008...you can read about them HERE. This year, I'd like to do the same for 2009.....most of my memorable moments involve Connor, obviously....I mean, helloooooooo, we had our first child this year....it's going to consume every single aspect of our life! :) Here they are in no particular order:


4-D ULTRASOUNDS!

In January, we had 2 sets of 4-D ultrasounds. The reason we got a second was because the tech forgot to hit the "record" button to put our baby boy on DVD the first time. We certainly didn't mind getting a second. And out of the second appointment, we got one of my favorite pictures. He kind of looks like he is smiling dontcha' think? :)

BABY SHOWER!

The end of January brought a wonderful celebration of the upcoming birth of little Connor James. Crystal, Andrea, Stacey, and Stephanie completely outdid themselves and threw us a completely amazing shower! The cake matched the invitations, the signature frame matched the bedding, the diaper cake was Razorback themed....EVERYTHING about the shower was tailored specifically to Connor and I! It was so personal and so perfect! Mom, Karen, Macon, Kindal, and I all had on the same color green...lol. It was an awesome party, and one I will never forget.

WELCOMING CONNOR JAMES TO THE FAMILY

To state the obvious, this is a day I will never forget; the day I became a mother, Justin became a father, our parents became Grandparents, my brother became an uncle, and we began our new life as a family of 3. You can read about that very special day HERE. It began one of the most wonderful, stressful, amazing, and incredibly insane chapters in our life together. We love being parents and wouldn't trade that for anything in the world. No lie, it's hard work....very hard. And no one could have prepared us for exactly how hard it is, but we wouldn't trade a single second of it....(ok, well, maybe those few weeks of Colic.....just kidding...not

really....you get my drift lol!!)

FINDING OUT ONE OF MY BEST FRIEND'S WAS PREGNANT AND THE BIRTH OF CARLEY GRACE

I was thrilled the day Crystal called to ask me, "What if the second line is real light?" IT MEANS YOU'RE EXPECTING! :) The girls and I made her a pregnancy survival, threw her a super Diva Shower, and have watched her go from a woman, to a pregnant woman (hormones and all! Lol!), to

a mother of one beautiful little girl! Carley Grace Freeman was born on October 26th at 5:07am weighing in at 7lbs 8oz and was 19.5inches long. Justin was out of town the night Crystal went in to labor. Oh how I wanted so badly to be in Northwest Arkansas with her while she went through the hours before giving birth. I had

anxiety all night and slept maybe 2 hours. I kept texting to find out how she was progressing and I finally received the text I had been waiting for around 6am. I drove up to see them as SOON as I could and spent a few hours with the new mommy, daddy, and baby....although the new daddy slept most of the time..lol! :) I made her a book titled "Brooke's Baby Blurbs" citing all the new mommy experiences I had endured that no one had told me about. It turned out pretty neat, maybe I should market it...ooorrrrr maybe not...lol :) Crystal and I talk or text (mostly text) every single day about new mom adventures. I can honestly say that, as she goes through these early stages of new parenting and having a 3 month old, that I do not miss those days one single bit...lol! Some people looooooove the little itty bitty tiny babies, I just don't happen to be one of those people :) But I love being there for Crystal to offer any kind of advice or tips I may have....I love it even better when my advice works lol (who doesn't, right?!) I also love sharing with her what she has to look forward to...some good, and some not so good (ya know, the huge poops, the tantrums, all the "no's"...lol...) :)

THE "FIRSTS"

I have enjoyed all the firsts that come along with having a new baby! First time I held Connor, first time I saw Justin hold Connor, first meal after being in labor for almost 30 hours, first night home, first smile, first bath, first laugh, first tooth, first squeal, first Easter, first time to eat solid foods, first roll over, first time to sleep through the night, first "Mama" and "Dada", first Halloween, first Thanksgiving, first crawl, first Christmas (and it was a WHITE Christmas!!), first New Year's Day, first Hog game, first birthday party (it was Benton's 2nd birthday.....Connor had a huge poop explosion right in the middle of the birthday song...lovely....), first time to go on a date with my husband, first night away (4th of July...Connor stayed with Nana and Granddad, and we went to Beaver Lake with some friends), first Mother's Day, first Father's Day, first Birthday I celebrated with Connor, first road trip to Mt. Magazine (oh and allllll the screaming that accompanied it...lol) .....every.single.first. I remember them all...vividly. They were a very memorable part of our year.

OUR NEW HOME AND A WHITE CHRISTMAS!

It was absolutely perfect......I walked in to an open house on a Sunday and knew in my heart that I was home. Our house went on the market on Monday, sold by Thursday, bid on the new house over the weekend, deal made by Tuesday. It was an amazingly smooth transition, and I never want to move again for fear that the next time won't be so easy! We are still in the process of unpacking, organizing, and weeding out some of the things we don't want anymore.....we didn't realize it would take so long to get settled, but we closed on November 30th, the Monday after Thanksgiving, aka, the start of the insanely crazy Holiday season. SO, between the Holiday's, work, and Connor....we haven't gotten near as much accomplished as we would have liked, but hey, we are going to be here for a VERY long time, so we will just take it easy and do what we can, when we can. Above is a picture of our new home on Christmas morning! It snowed like CRAZY on Christmas Eve, and this is what we woke up to on Christmas Day. In 28 years, I don't recall a single white Christmas, so this was definitely a first for me, as well as a first for Connor! I'd like to take a second and send a shout-out to the Big Guy upstairs for making Connor's first Christmas absolutely beautiful!



So those are the highlights of 2009 in the Scarlet Household. I pray that you all had a blessed 2009, and will have an even more fulfilling 2010. BRING IT ON, IT'S GONNA BE A GREAT YEAR! :)