Trick-or-Treat

Well as most of you know last year's Halloween Connor was only 3 days old so we didn't get to go trick-or-treating, instead we just passed out candy. So this year we decided to go, so even though this was his second Halloween, it was like his first. The Friday before we went to IUK where they were doing a trick-or-treat. Connor had lots of fun, we went with our friends the Garbers. Connor was a doctor, Ethan was a police officer, and Jacob was Hell's Gate Keeper. He was pretty scary, he even had tattoos on his face to make it look like he had bugs coming out of his mouth. Then on actual Halloween night we went to a small town near Kokomo called Russiaville to do the bulk of our trick-or-treating. Their town hall does a special thing where you can get candy, cookies, punch, and coffee. It's a great small town feeling. Then we came back to Kokomo and went to some family and friends houses. We all had a great time. I've also included some pics of the two nights.

Arriving at the IUK trick-or-treat.

Dr. Connor (the next McDreamy).

Officer Ethan.

Hell's Gate Keeper Jacob.

Ethan, Connor, and Jacob posing with Shrek and Fiona at IUK.

On the way to Russiaville, and all bundled up.

After all the trick-or-treating was done.

Love,

Vanessa, Ryan, and Connor

Look who's ONE!!!!

Well it's that time of year again. We have reached another milestone in Connor's life. He is now officially a year old. His birthday was on October 28th. I can't believe it's been a year already. It was a very busy weekend the weekend before his birthday. On Oct. 24th we went to Carmel and had his one year pictures taken at Portrait Innovations, then on the 25th we had his birthday party. We were fortunate enough to have all kinds of friends and family help celebrate his special day. We were very fortunate to have the people there that we did. And I know that my dad was there in spirit to watch his only grandson turn one. All in all it was a great weekend. Here are some pictures to show you all of the fun we had.

I wanted to do a big family picture as well. It's the first one since Connor's been born, and dad was there in spirit, I just know it.

Here are some pics of his birthday party.

This was the cake that I made for everyone else to eat. His birthday party was puppy dog themed. If you couldn't guess.

This was Connor's cake.

Right before he got his cake.

The first touch.

And we now have a bite.

Even after we took it away he still wanted a taste.

Love,

Vanessa, Ryan, and Connor

Stalking Rufus and a happy baby boy.

As you all know our first child was not Connor, no it was our dog Rufus. And I'll be honest I was a little worried about how Rufus would handle having Connor in the house. And to my surprise he does very well. He loves to play with Connor, we just have to remind them both (Connor and Rufus) to be gentle with one another. Now that Connor is on the move he loves to torment Rufus. Rufus usually loves to sleep on the couch until Connor plays him a visit, then he usually runs off as soon as Connor gets close and goes to the next available higher ground. In this following video I captured Connor right after he moves Rufus from the couch to the computer chair, and then how they have a stare down, until Connor gets to close and then Rufus decides to move again. It was just too funny not to capture.

This next video is Connor just goofing around with me on the couch. I love to hear him laugh and any time I can get that on video I like to share it with everyone.

Love,

Vanessa, Ryan, and Connor

Having fun with Connor

I always knew that I wanted to be a mom, but I never really knew how rewarding it was until I became one. I have been real lucky this last year to be able to spend this time with Connor. I can't believe how big he is getting, and how fast the time has gone. In less then a month, my little baby will be a year old. And over the last few months we've been having a blast. I thought that I would post a few things to show all of you the fun that we've been having. Enjoy.

Connor has recently started eating table food, and now I've often said that I didn't know who was the bigger begger...Connor or Rufus. Well this is a picture proving that point. Carol was feeding both the dogs and Connor gold fish, it was just to cute of a pic not to post.I woke up one morning and came out to see this, it was just too precious. Connor playing the drums on a popcorn tin. Wanting desperately to touch Rufus. Helping mom with the laundry. Grandma helping Connor show off his Colts shirt...GO COLTS!Aren't I a big boy now?

I see you.Connor playing in his "fort," the end table.

1st Haircut

Well I had to finally break down and have Connor's hair cut for the first time today. I really wanted to wait until he was a year, but that proved to be almost impossible. His hair was starting to grow into his eyes and over his ears. And I think that the hair over his ears were really starting to bother him because he would always try to brush the hair away when it would get down over his ears. Plus some people were calling him a hippie and some other people were always giving me a hard time saying that they wanted to put bows in his hair (you know who you are, hahaha). So Ryan and I took Connor to Fiesta Salon here in Kokomo and had his hair cut. The guy that cut Connor's hair was very patient with Connor. With every move Connor made so did he, and he took every calm moment to his advantage. The back of his hair is still a little long for my liking, but at least it's not in his eyes anymore. The hairstylist tried to do more, but Connor let him know that he was done. The stylist was even nice enough to give me some of his clippings for the baby book. All in all I think that Connor's first hair cut was a success. Enjoy the pictures of this very monumental day.

Love,
Vanessa, Ryan, and Connor

A nice before shot.
Let's get started. Thank goodness for distractions. Let's turn around, see if that's better. Connor letting us know that he's done.

9 month pics

Well we recently had Connor's 9 month pictures taken down in Carmel at a place called Portrait Innovations. We really like it there, the people are nice, the prices are right, and it's definitely worth the drive. The worst part about it is that they took about 173 photos and we had to narrow it down to a package that would fit our budget. It was had be we ended up picking 6 really great poses. So the first pics are the one we chose, and then the rest are just some of my faves. I hope everyone likes them as much as we did.

Look what I can do

Well Connor is just on the go, go, go. Ever since he started sitting up the monumental discoveries have just been happening. Connor is now starting to pull him self up. And since this new discovery we've had to baby proof even more of the house. Ah the joys of parenting.

Look at what I can do.

Fun with friends

Well this month has been very eventful for Connor and the rest of the family. On July 15th my friend Charity and her sister Katie came down for a visit. Katie also thought that it would be fun to bring her son Noah over for a play date with Connor. Noah is only 2 weeks older than Connor and they had a blast.

Smile for the camera boys.
Playing with toes.

Then my cousin Megan came down on the 21st and brought her twin boys Nolan and Carder down to play with Connor. And they are only 2 weeks younger than Connor.

From L-R: Nolan, Connor, Carder

Then on July 25, we were going down for Connor's 9 month pics and decided that we needed to stop by Jeff and Joni's so that Connor could hang out with his great friend Leah, and boy did they have fun.

Also while at Jeff and Joni's Connor loved their new hard wood floor. He also thought it was really funny when Uncle Jeff and daddy decided that they would run around the island counter top in Jeff and Joni's kitchen. I've added a video of this last bit of fun over at Jeff and Joni's. Unfortunately I think that Leah was napping during all of this fun.

Needless to say that we always enjoy time with our friends. We love you all.

Vanessa, Ryan, and Connor