The big 3-0!

Can't believe I'm 30 weeks already! Time is flying! Coincidentally, Connor just turned 30 months and I am 30 years old. Contemplating eating 30 milk duds tonight to celebrate?

The baby is moving constantly. However she seems to be much more calm than Connor was in my belly. Her little kicks and movements continue to be fun and cute, versus Connor's which were down right painful and insomnia-inducing like I've mentioned before. Boys v. girls? So far I'm still sleeping pretty well (assuming I can find a comfortable position and stick with it). My belly feels enormous to me, I can't believe that there's still 10 more weeks of growing to be done.

Connor has come to terms with the fact that there's a baby girl in my belly but continues to assure us that there's a baby boy in his belly. Poor guy really wants another little dude around! We told him that when the baby arrives she'll be bringing him a special present. He didn't miss a beat before requesting that she bring him a yellow choo choo train. Now every so often he asks when the baby will be coming to bring him his train?

On Friday night Andrew, Connor and I went to NYC to visit Annie and John and their new baby Sadie. We all went to our favorite (kid friendly) bar for dinner and the kids were both so good and sat nicely with us for over two hours. For a good bit I had Sadie snuggled up asleep on my chest (my belly made for a perfect little resting spot for her). Of course Connor wanted to sit on my lap at the same time so I gave him one knee. Then I could feel my baby kicking like crazy and had to laugh- that's a lot of little bodies for one person! Connor was so sweet and gentle with Sadie, giving her constant kisses on her head and soft pats. As we were saying goodbye to Annie and John and they walked away Connor burst into tears and said "bring that baby back now please!" So sweet.


Above pictures were taken in Hilton Head, I think I was 27 or 28 weeks then. Need to take some new pics.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Fathers Day to all the wonderful fathers and grandfathers in our life, especially Andrew, the best daddy I know!


Love this one of Connor showing Gerry how the iphone works ;)



We love you all so much and hope you have a wonderful day!

Julie vs. the Coyote (long story)

The morning after we returned from Hilton Head Andrew had to leave for Tokyo again (unfortunately he's been having to spend quite a bit of time over there lately). We're hopeful this will be his last trip before the baby arrives. We always miss him so much when he's away and find the best way to pass the time is just to stay busy. Yesterday was a great day. Connor and I went for a long nature walk in the morning, then I had a great workout at the gym. Then he and I had a lunch date downtown. In the afternoon I woke him up early from his nap to take him swimming at my friend Christine's community pool. Afterwards we went back to Christine's house and since the boys were already wet we put them right into the bath. Christine had invited us to stay for dinner since she knew we were on our own all week which I thought was so nice and really appreciated. So basically, Connor and I got home, brushed his teeth and he was off to bed, making for an easy night for me. Here's Connor and his pal Brendan at the pool:

Then my night took a turn. I went in and listened to the messages on my answering machine and there was one from my neighbor that had been left that morning. Basically she said that she had just spotted a decent sized coyote (a freaking coyote!!) walking down her driveway in the direction of ours. What really freaks me out is that I think she left us this message while Connor and I were on our walk around the neighborhood. Shudder. Of course I headed straight to the internet to learn all I could about coyotes. While they are not afraid of humans, in general they are not aggressive towards them either. That said, there were a couple of coyote attacks on little kids in NJ a couple years ago and the kids were badly hurt. I was officially freaked out but figured at least I didn't have to go back outside that night! Ha. Side note-- I have a very active imagination, esp. when it comes to the thought of something or someone harming my child. So in my mind this is not just a wolf dog we're dealing with, but a flat out werewolf like in those Twilight movies. Again, terrifying. This is a picture of a coyote (via the internet, not my backyard), you can imagine why I was scared:

And in my mind it looks more like this:

We're still city people at heart and I am still coming to terms with the fact that there's deer and other animals and bugs in my backyard, but now coyotes? I even saw a wild turkey walking down the street the other day, this is just getting flat out ridiculous. I stayed up late watching tv and reading (mostly to take my mind off the coyote) so around 11pm I was about to head to bed when I heard my car alarm going off outside. Strange. My first thought was the damn coyote was attacking my car! I walked downstairs with my keys and hit the unlock button which turned it off but not 30 seconds later it was going off again. I'm sure my neighbors were pleased. For the next 45 mins I tried everything to get it to turn off, even going outside (Andrew's golf club in hand) and starting the car. Nothing worked. I finally called VW 24 Hour road side assistance and they said it sounded like an electrical problem and would dispatch a towing service to come tow my car to the dealership so that they could take a look at it in the morning. Ugh. The towing guy (who's name was Romeo and whom I envisioned as being some long haired, tattooed gang member) called me to let me know he was on his way. Since my car was drivable, Romeo wanted me to drive it out to the road so he could drive it right up onto his truck (rather than having to back down our narrow driveway). So I did. I was relieved to find that while Romeo did have long hair, he was also a short, very overweight guy that was almost definitely stoned and I totally could have outrun him if need be, whew. I successfully saw my car off but still had to walk back up my driveway, in the pitch black darkness. I heard a loud rustling in the woods (which in truth could have been a deer, a squirrel, anything really) but in my mind it was the coyote-beast and so I took off for my house in a mad sprint, literally I don't think I've ever run so fast, pregnant or not. After setting the house alarm I put in a call to Andrew to tell him that if he was going to continue these Tokyo trips on a regular basis he was going to need to rent me a new husband for nights like this. Only half joking here.

The good news, since Andrew is in Tokyo, is that his car is here so there is an extra car (with carseat) that I can drive while they fix my car. The bad news- its a stick shift, which I haven't driven since college. Not wanting to be stuck at home all day, I put Connor in the car with me and figured I'd reteach myself how to drive on some of these back roads. However, I couldn't get the darn car in reverse (the first step in getting out of our driveway) and so when I stepped on the gas I ended up mowing down our flower garden instead. Connor was in the backseat saying over and over "Uh oh, Mommy no drive Daddy car!" which wasn't helping matters. Andrew happened to call me in the midst of this (car still sitting on top of garden, me inside cursing and laughing at the same time) and was totally cracking up at my last 12 hours. He walked me through how to reverse and the rest came back to me right away (thankfully!)

Busting a Move at the Salty Dog

So this being our second summer vacationing in Hilton Head (3rd if you count when Andrew worked down there as a waiter one summer just after college when we were newly dating) going to the Salty Dog is by far our favorite evening activity. Good food, good drinks (this year I was even that girl with the virgin daiquiri- I was just feeling festive), good people watching and great live music. And almost always, all the kids start a dance party, which is always Connor's favorite part. Unfortunately for him, he's inherited his dance skills from me, which means you aren't quite sure if he's dancing or having a seizure. But as you can tell from the pictures, no one is having more fun!!! That's my boy :)

The boys getting our drinks.

His song list. Ok so what can this dude play?

Connor up at the stage with a dollar to make a request, "Your Love" by The Outfield. Andrew always attempts this at karaoke (usually after one too many drinks) and although he can do pretty much any other song really well, I've only seen him be able to nail this one once. So when we saw it on this guy's song list we requested it right away. It's a really tough one.

Breaking it down.



Too much fun!

Pit stop for a kiss from Mom.

This picture show how sweaty Connor was after all the dancing (he slept until almost 9 the next morning by the way) even though it wasn't all that hot outside. He really gave it his all! But not as much as the little girl to the right, passed out in front of the stage with her skirt over her head. It just gets crazy at the Salty Dog, hence why we are such fans!

Going Private

You probably recently got an invitation from Google to read this blog- it wasn't spam, I decided to make the blog "private." I am able to (somewhat) see who views my blog (or at least where they are viewing it from) and there has been some questionable traffic lately. I certainly don't mind friends of friends (or even friends of friends of friends of friends- you get the point) reading my blog but there were people from places I've never even heard of visiting my site so I figured I might as well just make it private just to be on the safe side. If you know friends of yours (that I don't) that read my blog by all means please just send me their email address and I'll add them to the list! Thanks!

Home from Hilton Head

We're back from such a fun trip to Hilton Head! Connor had an absolute blast- playing at the beach, the pool, bike rides, pony rides, feeding horses, live music, dancing late night at the Salty Dog, hitting the Harbour Town playground, getting to eat lots of ice cream, etc. I loved all those things too, but was especially happy just getting to spend so much time just the 3 of us. This will most likely be our last vacation as a family of 3 so we are so glad that Connor had as much fun as he did.
Some pics of C at the pool.



Connor with a new friend.

I really don't think there's anything in the world I love more than that boy's smile and he was pretty much grinning ear to ear all week long! Will post more pics this week.

I Be Back!

Today we head to the beach for some fun in the sun! We (especially Connor) have been looking forward to this for awhile!

The "I be back" is because these days that's what Connor tells you (straight up Terminator style) whenever he leaves to go into another room. It always makes us laugh.

Dirt with Daddy

Andrew is such a good Daddy. He lets Connor "help" him with almost all the work he does around the house on the weekends (and there is always so much to be done!) Except mowing the lawn, I won't even let Connor be outside during this because I have such a phobia of lawnmower accidents. Andrew is looking forward to the day when Connor will actually be able to help, since right now it makes everything take twice as long. But Connor sure does love working around the house with his Dad! Here they are shoveling dirt a couple weekends ago.


He's only content to use a little shovel for so long before he wants the one Daddy uses (which really reduces the efficiency of Andrew's work).


Taking a break. By the way Connor insists on wearing his John Deere hat whenever doing any work outside!

Puppy Love...

Literally.

Being that this blog is my "memory keeper" of Connor's early years, I would be remiss if I didn't give Puppy his own post at least once. Lord knows the dog has earned it. I look at pictures like this and I don't know what life would be like without Puppy! Although he's mostly confined to the house out of fear of losing him, anytime we're going to be away overnight or out during nap time, Puppy comes along. He is most definitely Connor's first great love (besides me of course ;)

I took the picture below before Connor was even born. I had just finished getting the nursery and crib ready. Gotta love Puppy in this picture, all shiny and new and just waiting to meet the little boy that would one day love him more than life itself!

Connor took to him right from the start, love at first sight.

What is it about Puppy? It's his soft texture and his long ears. Connor is always playing with his ears. Sometimes when I peek in on Connor at night he's fast asleep but still playing with Puppy's ears. I don't think he even knows he's doing it.

Puppy is treated like one of the fam around here.


I bought Puppy at Pottery Barn Kids before Connor was even born. I think he might have been on sale or something and I thought it would be a cute stuffed animal for a little boy. Ever since I've been on the lookout for something similar, either for our next child or to give as a gift since Puppy had been such a hit with my kid. Finally, two Easters ago, I found one. It's a bunny, and I snatched it up fast (the ears were perfect!) I figured I'd keep it in a closet until we were ready to have another child. Then it took us a little longer than we had hoped to get pregnant and the superstitious side of me wondered if it was because I had already bought something for a child that didn't exist yet. I was this close to giving Bunny away but then I got pregnant. Would Bunny have been too girly for a little boy? Maybe, but we don't have to worry about that because we're having a little girl. We may not have a place for this next kid to sleep yet but at least we have her lovey covered! So without further ado, meet Bunny:

Fully aware that I've lost my mind, please bear with me!

Trip to Michigan

On May 22nd Andrew's parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary! Us kids (well mostly Rob) planned a surprise dinner in their honor in Michigan this past weekend. They had NO idea which made it all the more fun, and boy were they surprised! Not only were all of their kids and grandkids in attendance, but all of their closest friends too. It was a great success. We had a room all to ourselves at the restaurant so the kids (there are 5 grandkids now) could run around and play. It was so much fun watching the cousins play together all weekend, makes me even more excited for Connor to have a sibling!

Connor was SO excited for the trip to Nana's house, he had been talking about it for weeks now. We do video chats with the Eichs every Sunday night and I was afraid he would be the one to give it away. The whole trip out there was such a fun adventure for him too, he really is an amazing little traveler (I credit all the traveling we did with him during his first year of life). On Friday when we boarded the shuttle to take us from the parking lot to the airport he said to the bus driver "My Nana's house please!" It made everyone laugh. He just couldn't wait to get there.

Connor while waiting for the Eichs to arrive, cramming as much spinach and artichoke dip into his mouth as I would allow. Disregard the face he's making in this picture, but he looked quite handsome for the party!

The Eichs' entrance into their surprise party. They thought they were just having dinner with another couple.

The kids literally attacked Nana when they saw her.

Natalie, Noelle and Connor playing campout underneath one of the tables.

On Saturday we all ventured over to the pool. We pretty much took over the baby pool area. No one told me that I should bring my bathing suit in case we went to the pool (clearly no one told Kelly and Massi either). When I asked Andrew why he packed his and Connor's suits but didn't tell me to bring mine he said that he didn't think I would want to wear a bathing suit "in my current state." Thanks Andrew, what a great boost for the old self esteem!

The biggest stud at the pool.

Drawing on Nana's house with chalk was a big hit with the kids. Connor was totally covered in chalk.

Connor helping Nana make breakfast one morning.

After all the pool time and playing with his cousins Connor was so wiped from the weekend! Here he was not 3 minutes after pulling out of Nana's driveway. Even though it was only 11am he slept the whole way to the airport.

And then again for most of the flight!

All in all it was a really, really fun weekend. Everyone went home on Sunday afternoon but we stayed an extra night. The Eichs watched Connor while Andrew and I went to a fun outdoor bar, then to dinner and finally to see SATC2 (I was dying to see it, obviously I owe Andrew big time for sitting through it with me). After such a busy weekend it was really nice to have some alone time.

Once again, Happy 40th Anniversary to the Eichs!! We love you lots!

26 Weeks!

My latest belly shot. This is my last week of the second trimester! These past 13 weeks have been wonderful, I've really been feeling great. My only complaint is that there's a leg or something that kicks up into my ribs which gets quite uncomfortable at times but that's really about it. Oh and I seem to melt really easily on particularly hot days. Otherwise I feel like time is going by really quickly. We haven't started the nursery yet but we did pick out a weekend in June that we're going to work on it (hopefully). We are SO looking forward to our new addition!