The Blessings of Life

Connor's 1st Hair Cut

2011-01-22T22:31:00.011-06:00

Today was Connor's 1st haircut. Yes, I know, I waited WAY too long. I realize that "shag" is an understatement for what his hair looked like prior to the haircut. But I can tell you, this Mommy was very sad that her baby was old enough to get his hair cut for the first time (of course 14 months is a little old).

This is the "before" picture. Keep in mind, he and Caleb had found some lotion this morning and smeared that all over themselves, so even a bath did not completely tame the "water-resistant lotion" hair.

Big Brother Caleb went first to show Connor how things work...I am so proud of Caleb! He did a great job--followed directions, stayed still, and didn't act like a typical 2yo during the cut.

Post hair cut play time is in order for the Big Brother

Connor seems unsure about being put in a "moo-moo"

The long bangs got cut first, so all of our pictures have those wonderful big blue eyes in them! He did such a fantastic job!!! Kym Casey cuts Jeremy's hair and has also cut Caleb's hair this past year. She does a great job keeping the boys entertained and cutting quickly. Connor found her spray bottle and that was his entertainment for the cut. He played with that the whole time and we never needed the bag of toys and snacks that Mommy brought.

"Is it almost over Mommy?"

"Oh, my. All the pictures...of course I know I am terribly cute, but stop it you all. You are embarrasing me!"

We now have a "Big Boy Cut" and he has aged in the span of 20 mins to look to me like he is at least 18mo. What a difference getting rid of the "mullet" makes!!

Both my handsome boys...Caleb sharing his Cheerios, Connor sweetly saying please. All was right with the world in that moment.

Leisurely Saturdays

2011-01-22T21:01:00.019-06:00

I decided to take pictures over the past month or so of activities around our house on Saturdays. That is the only real "lazy" time we get to have, so we often spend mornings in our PJs enjoying the respite from the crazy week.

Early mornings, before Daddy wakes up (and sometimes before the sunrise), the boys get the special treat of "chillin" in Daddy's chair. They think they are such BIG boys and love to just lay back...they even pose for the camera from time to time.

BREAKFAST TIME

Caleb blesses the food with "God Our Father"...unfortunately, as you can tell from the mouthful of food and cream cheese on the mouth, he often forgets this important part of the meal until after he has had several bites. But hey, at least most of their food is blessed right?

Caleb thoroughly enjoys his bagels for breakfast...or at least the cream cheese on top of them.

Connor enjoys cereal for breakfast...Mommy hasn't been brave enough to let him have milk with his cereal just yet, so he eats it dry; but since he eats 3-4 helpings and Caleb feeds him some of his breakfast, I don't think he will starve.

After breakfast, this is one cool dude!!

Caleb is a big help "cleaning" the kitchen after meals...of course, this vacuum doesn't quite pick up all the bits and pieces that Connor throws to the floor when he decides he is done eating.

PLAY TIME

"Um, exactly what do you plan to do with that bowling pin, Caleb?"

"Oh, nothing, Connor..."

Aren't they a handsome pair? And they look like they love each other too :)

OUTSIDE PLAY

Connor is getting so big. He can do many of the things at the park by himself...which is good because he is the most independent child I know about some things. He doesn't want ANY help getting up and down the stairs or moving around on the play equipment (which has led to a few falls).

The only person he lets help him around the park and playground equipment is Caleb. Connor adores his big brother, and Caleb is a fantastic brother teaching Connor about toys, helping him over steps, and holding his hand and leading him to the swings.

This is not the best picture of Caleb...he was mad at Connor because of the squealing Connor was doing. "Hush, Connor" could be heard screamed all across the playground.

And so besides naps, temper tantrums, scattered toys, and general chaos, this is a typical "leisurely" Saturday.

New Year's Resolution

2011-01-03T00:23:00.001-06:00

I hate New Year's Resolutions...why you may ask? Because I seldom follow through with them! However, I am only making one at this point: I will attempt to update my blog on a regular basis. This is for those of you (and you all know who you are!!!) who give me grief about not showing off my kiddos. But also this is of course to show off my kiddos!!! So I will start with an update on our New Year's weekend.

Jeremy and I took a bit of time off and had a "staycation" this past weekend. This means that I did some much needed things around the house to feel much more and spent some much needed time with adult friends; Jeremy vegged out with his news radio, NPR book, and generally relaxed in the way he chose to (organizing the house does not relax him like it does me!). That is not to say we did not spend quite a bit of time together; we actually had a kid-free lunch and dinner each day, sat on the couch next to each other with no 2yo in between us, and had adult conversation that sometimes was not about the kidlets. All in all, it was a wonderful time! (In an aside, a HUGE thank you to the grandparents for keeping the kids for us to give us some much needed rest and time together!)

So for the first time in years, the blog is up-to-date...I have added pictures since Connor's birth and will try to do better. For others who know me well, you can also click on the Yah-Yah King Xanga link to see more frequent updates!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-03T00:20:00.000-06:00

Playing with the Jr. Workbench that Santa brought...do we see a woodworker in the future?

Snuggling with Mommy on a soft blanket hand-knit by his Aunt Tracy

Ready and waiting on a ball to be thrown from Papa

No more pictures please!!!

Post dinner with his big belly...

Gotta love that smile

Barney, really?

Yeah! I can tear it apart!

Brothers playing together for a brief moment. Notice Caleb holding onto a ball that was to Connor from Santa and Connor playing with a racetrack from Santa to Caleb. Hmm...maybe Santa learned a lesson this year and all toys will go in a big pile next year :)

Here Comes Trouble...

2011-01-03T00:11:00.003-06:00

While doing laundry, I went to put up some clothes and was gone from the dryer for 90 seconds, came back around the corner and this is what I found...I believe I have a LONG road ahead if these two can do this now! Caleb pulled a basket in front of the dryer, climbed in, and also convinced his brother to follow in that short period of time. Again, Oh my!!!

Connor's 1st Birthday

2011-01-02T23:52:00.006-06:00

Connor's 1st birthday was spent at my mom's home with family and friends and Connor had so much fun with all of his "people" giving him so much attention

He LOVED the cake!

Big Brother Caleb loved his too, but ate his in a slightly more orderly fashion...

Oh, my! For obvious reasons, a bath was in order shortly after this picture was taken.

Halloween 2010

2011-01-02T23:49:00.004-06:00

Caleb was Superman for Halloween and was ready with his giant bucket (no small pumpkin for this guy!) to get loaded down with candy.

Connor was Elmo for Halloween and enjoyed tasting his first piece of chocolate. Having just learned to walk, this was a short lived ride in the stroller at "Boo at the Zoo"

Summer 2010

2011-01-02T23:46:00.002-06:00

Connor sporting his "Red, White, and Blue"

Caleb's Car Wash

Caleb's 2nd Birthday

2011-01-02T23:22:00.005-06:00

For Caleb's 2nd Birthday we went to TreeTop Family Adventure in Chelsea, AL and let the kiddos bowl and play in the indoor TreeHouse. It was loads of fun and even the adults had fun with the bowling and arcade they have. Connor enjoyed watching the festivities and tasting the pizza and cake as well.

March 2010

2011-01-02T23:14:00.008-06:00

Connor - 5mo

Caleb - 21 mo

Brothers

2011-01-02T23:03:00.005-06:00

Caleb Meets Connor for the First Time - November 6, 2009

Caleb & Connor - January 2010

Connor is nervous about his big brother but it didn't last. Soon he became fascinated with him and now follows him everywhere!!

UNDER CONSTRUCTION AT LAST!!!

2008-09-12T04:09:00.001-05:00

As you have all told me many times, it is time to update my blog. It has been virtually impossible in the past 12 weeks to get enough computer time to do this, but as things settle down and I return to work I will slowly work to update the page. Pictures will be coming soon!!! I promise, but you can go to Yah-Yah King's page and see plenty of our handsome man. Please be patient as I try to catch up from January. I will post more about the end of our pregnancy and the beginning of Caleb's life.

Love you all,
Amber and Jeremy

After the Chaos

2008-01-02T01:29:00.000-06:00

I know I haven't posted in a while, but since Baby King isn't here yet, there aren't as many pictures and events for us to get excited about as there will be next year. However, all of the chaos of the Christmas holidays has provided many photo ops! Before we get to the photos, I will share a quick update. All is well with Baby King and we did get to have another ultrasound a few weeks ago. But since our computer has now died a slow, agonizing death, I am unable to scan that picture in for everyone to see. If the computer can be fixed, I will try to get that posted soon. The baby actually looks like a child in it and not a dot on a black screen now, and we got to see he/she moving the arms. Also the baby had the hiccups which was so cute! The heartrate was in the 150's which means a girl according to the old wives tale, but the Chinese Baby predictor says boy. I guess we will just have to see what God has decided in June. For those of you who do not know, Jeremy and I have decided not to find out if we are having a boy or a girl. We want everyone including doctors, nurses, and family to be surprised along with us.

The nausea I was having is gone (well, Jeremy can tell you certain smells still make me very queasy), but I am having some headaches now. Some of them are just annoying, and others are like migraines. But I am so lucky and blessed that this is the worst thing I have to deal with because I know it could be so much worse! The last ultrasound confirmed the due date as June 13, so all is on schedule. I have added my "Pregnancy Ticker" to the top of the page so everyone can see how big our baby is getting. According to one of the baby sites, he/she is the size of a Rubber Ducky! Isn't that cool? As a side note, my family found out that another of my cousins is expecting a baby next year. That means by next Christmas Eve when we gather at my mom's house there will be 3 new babies to entertain us.

Anyway, below I have posted a select number of the Christmas pictures from Jeremy's family and our time in Kentucky. Since "Baby Brain" has struck and I can't remember from one minute to the next what I am supposed to be doing, I forgot my camera for all Christmas events. So Jeremy's family has sent me many of theirs, and my mom is going to be sending our family's Christmas pics soon. Hope everyone enjoys as much as we do!!

The First Pic where I look pregnant!!! YEAH!! I am not just fat!!

All the sisters and me in Kentucky

Our wild and zany niece Olivia!!

Olivia with her brand new Dora bicycle & Dora helmet

My newest niece Felicity!!

Felicity in her Christmas dress

Felicity with Traci (her mom)

How cute does Jeremy look with his neice?

Olivia and me eating our Birthday Cake for Jesus (all Birthday cakes with Liv are actually cupcakes!!)

One of the many Froggie gifts our baby got for Christmas!! They are all so cute!

2007-11-06T16:25:00.000-06:00

I wanted to post a quick update on how things are going with the pregnancy. It has been kind of hard finding out I was pregnant so early because it seems like time is crawling by and June will never get here. For now I will settle for making it past 12 weeks when hopefully I will have a little more energy and can begin getting our home ready for our baby. For the first several weeks, I didn't have too many of the "pregnancy symptoms" everyone else seemed to have except for unbelievable tiredness. However, as I have moved into Week 8, I have had more nausea and headaches. I have never needed this much sleep in my life! Working night shift has always made for some days feeling more tired, but I am having trouble staying awake all night and having the energy to actually go to work. It gets a little better every week after the first night or two. After a few days of horrible heartburn (it was MUCH worse than the nausea), I have been allowed to take Zantac once a day and am feeling much better. I still have to be careful what I eat, and I still keep the Tums and Maalox nearby. Thank you for all the great comments that we have gotten. I will try to update on a fairly regular basis and let everyone know how things are going. Tomorrow is my 8 weeks appointment, but it will be a boring one without an Ultrasound. I will definitely post pictures when I have the next ultrasound and I will try to post some recent pictures of the family also.

2007-10-28T21:23:00.000-05:00

I love this part of the song "Masterpiece" and thought I would share it as my first post:

"Before you had a name, or opened up your eyes
Or anyone could recognize your face
You were being formed so delicate in size,
secluded in God's safe and hidden place.
Little tiny hands, and little tiny feet,
little eyes that shimmer like a pearl,
He breathed in you a song, and to make it all complete
He brought the masterpiece into the world."

--Brent Alan Henderson, Craig Patty, Michael Patty, and Gloria Gaither
"Masterpiece"

What an amazing thought that before we were ever recognized, God knew us and created us in HIS image!!

Preparation

2007-10-28T21:20:00.000-05:00

Many of you are aware that Jeremy and I are ready to add to our family. We are hoping and praying for God to allow us to be parents to a child soon. I want to share with you some of the items we have purchased to get ready for that time. Our families are aware that Jeremy had a toy frog ("Froggie") that he carried everywhere while he was growing up--even though it began as Traci's frog, Jeremy definitely bonded more with him!! As a child, I also had my own toy Thumper that I carried everywhere (especially to doctor's visits where the doctor had to examine Thumper too!). So I would like you to meet our future child's "friends":

Froglet and Baby Thumper

As most of you are aware, Jeremy and I are also a household divided when it comes to school loyalty. This will be the first year since we have been married that neither of us work on the day of the Iron Bowl, so if both of us survive that day, we will still have to decide just what our future child will wear since we have already begun purchasing "Team Gear":

We all know the child chooses Mom's team right?

More Pictures--Coming Soon

2007-10-28T21:01:00.000-05:00

Jeremy and I would like to show you one more set of pictures in our first day of posting. These should be self-explanatory, but we will be happy to answer any questions you have!!!

Introducing Baby King!!!

You have to look carefully, but inside the dotted circle is our baby....he/she is 6wks and 5days old in this picture and there is a tiny open slot inside the dotted circle that shows his/her heartbeat which was strong at 120 beats/min.