Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great Thanksgiving. The Walker's joined us, yes there were 8 of us in a 2 bedroom apartment, and we loved having them here. I've said it once and I'll say it again, we love having family near by!

Reflections

Jared's family dog is obsessed with lights. It loves to chase lights and could do it for hours. Today we discovered Connor and pup share the same fascination. Connor saw the reflection of the mirror on the ceiling and thought it was hilarious. It was even more funny once Jared started moving the mirror. Pup might have a playmate to chase lights with next time we're in Utah.

The clip's a little choppy, it's from three different videos, but you get the idea.

The Dreaded Eye Surgery

Yesterday was not a fun day. I am so happy to be done with it. Even though Jared and I felt like this was the best thing to do for Connor, it didn't make it any easier to hand him over to the anesthesiologist. But after lots of kisses, I did hand him over, and waited for what seemed like forever in the waiting room. Finally the doctor came out and said things went great. Everything went according to plan.

We went back as Connor was waking up. It was so sad to see him like that, but I was so relieved the scariest part was over. The anesthesiologist told us to be prepared for him to be pretty upset as he was waking up and that it was pretty rare for a baby not to cry. Not surprisingly, Connor didn't fuss at all waking up. I couldn't get my self to put him down so he slept on me all day long and finally started to really wake up around 6.

Today he's back to himself again. His eyes are still red and he's got goobies but he's smiling, wiggling, and rolling all over the place. Today is a much better day than yesterday.

In the recovery area

Me feeling much better about things. He'd eaten, the IV was out and we were getting ready to head home.

Poor guy

This is how we spent the day

Day after surgery. Much better.

Chocolate World

It's great to have family close by. We did a spur of the moment day trip with the Walker clan to Pennsylvania. We discovered Hershey, PA is exactly halfway between us. How convenient.

The world of chocolate

Why wouldn't you smile when you're surrounded by chocolate?

The dad's were in charge of the little kiddies. It appears Connor is already a chocolate fan.

I'd say the highlight was the ride. We went on it twice and got candy both times.

6 Month Update

Where has the time gone? I can't believe it's been six months already. I took Connor in for his 6 month check up and he's doing great. He's made it into the 5th percentile for height (25in) but is still not on the charts for anything else. Apparently most 6 month old babies weigh more than 12lb 10.5 oz.

He still LOVES to stand and jump. He could do that all day long. Every time I try to make him sit he just tries to stand instead. If he's not standing he's wiggling. A recent discovery for him is his voice. He loves it and is becoming quite the chatter box. Let's just say I think my days of sitting through all three meetings of church are history. Jared is especially sad about this but is generous enough to offer to take Connor out when he makes the slightest noise.

He has started solid foods and is quite enjoying it. He's not a big fan of green beans but he loves pears and squash. It gets a little messy as dinner time now.

There is a bit of sad news to to report though. Connor's eyes are crossed and they're not going to get better on their own. We've taken him to the pediatric ophthalmologist twice and determined that surgery is the only way to fix his eyes. So on November 10th our little boy is having eye surgery. It's an outpatient surgery and it should be an easy recovery for him.

On a brighter note, he's getting some hair. Some very blond hair. Can you see it?

And his smile is just as cute as can be. It's been said he's "tight" with his smiles and a little on the serious side (Wade nicknamed him Stonewall Bench), but his smile sure does melt my heart.

Utah Visit

Oh how we love Utah. Don't get me wrong, Virginia is great, but there is something about going home that is just so nice. We had such so much fun. We spent part of our time in Fairview and then Jared flew home and I stayed a week in Salt Lake. It was so nice to be with family again. While we were there...

Connor got blessed


Connor got to know his Grandpa's better




we played with cousins


we went to the cabin


we celebrated birthdays


we went to Thanksgiving Point with cousins




we went to my favorite restaurants and just had a great great trip.

13.5 miles

Two weekends ago I ran a half marathon with my dear friend Marci. How did this come about you ask, well let me tell you. Marci is my workout buddy. We've been working out together since the first week we met. We'd go on runs and workout in her basement, ya know, nothing to fancy. Somewhere in the middle of my pregnancy when I had the running bug but was unable unable to run, we decided that it would be a great idea to run a half marathon once I had Connor. So our quest began to find a half marathon. During our search we decided we should do one where we have to stay in a hotel because that would be much more fun. That narrowed things down quite a bit but we still weren't quite sure which one to choose. And then we saw it. A half marathon 3.5 hours away (hotel stay check check) and it was a trail run! We both love running on trails and have run trails many many times in Utah. It didn't matter that neither of us had done anything remotely close to trail running in over two years, or that we had no close trails to train on. We'll do it!!! Had we looked a little closer we would have realized this was no wimpy Virginia trail run. Oh well!!! We paid our money and we were off. During the first 3 miles we climbed 2700 feet. Ouch! My engineering husband calculated it out to be about and 18% incline. There were more ups and downs throughout the rest of the trail but nothing compared to those first three miles. However I must admit I was really really sad to see another hill during mile 12. It was tough but we did it!!! We survived this crazy trail run and are already looking forward beating our times next year!!!!

labor day weekend and 5 month check up

labor day weekend started out not as great as i hoped. i got bit by a dog. it made the weekend much more stressful that i was wanting. the good news is, the dog was vaccinated and i don't have rabies. however, i'm quite confident jared and i are on the enemies list of the dog owner. especially when i told her she owed us $150 since i had to go to the er to get it cleaned out. what do you think the chances of us getting our money are?

monday was a good day though. we went to harpers ferry. it's a cute little town right off the potomac. it's amazing how old things are back here. it's so fun to see the old houses.

standing beside the potomac

i think this is our first family picture

looking into the town

connor just had his 5 month check up. his current weight is 11 lb 12 oz and he's 24 inches long. he's still in the 3rd percentile for height and hasn't reached the chart in anything else. his currently loves standing. he might not ever learn how to sit on his bottom. every time i put him there he holds onto my hands and tries to stand up. he is incredibly wiggly and still a very very good baby.

we spend many hours a day doing this

he's all smiles when he stands with dad

when will the day come when he figures out the crawl?

new jersey

this past weekend jared went backpacking with the scouts so connor and i headed up to new jersey to see michelle's family and meet my new niece. an added bonus to the trip was the wonderful company of jeanie (aka jean jean, grandma jean, mom, madam jean). it was such a nice trip. we love virginia but it sure is nice to be around family. we are thrilled michelle and davies are joining us on the east coast.


my new niece, sarah elizabeth walker. she's very sweet, you can already tell.


little cousins


sarah has the longest baby feet i have ever seen. connor's may be chubbier, but her's certainly aren't that much shorter.


the wisan girls and our babies (yes i realize i'm wearing a pink shirt. i've come a long way)


we had lots of fun on the slip n slide


playing with cousins


and playing with grandma jean