Getting Back In The Swing Of Things...

Well, we're trying to anyway. It always seems to take me a few days to get back into the swing of things after a long trip like that. I love the time spent away, and visiting with friends and family, but at the same time, its great to get back home and settle back into the normal routine of my daily life.

Dakota & I left for my parents place in Downing last Thursday morning. We arrived around 4-5 pm, after making several stops along the way, such as: Russell Stover Candy Factory in Boonville where Dakota picked out some candy & had a bowl of strawberry ice cream. We had so much fun seeing everyone again. All of my family loved getting to spend so much time with him, and of course, he loved all the attention he was getting.

Friday we all went to Kirksville, we did some shopping. Lucky for me, my little man is a great shopper. I can spend over an hour in Wal-Mart, and he'll never throw a fit. However, shopping always seems to take a while, because he's a FLIRT!!! He'll set in the cart and smile or babble, and then almost every elderly woman and almost every female cashier that passes by will come up and talk to him, pat him, or just look at him; and boy does he eat it up. Thus slowing down my shopping, but I've learned to live with it (I think this was the case with almost every female cashier in Hy-Vee on Friday).

Then as a treat, I took the whole family out to eat at Ponderosa for lunch. Dakota loved the buffet; he had diced ham, noodles, cottage cheese, mashed potatoes & gravy, lemon pudding & ice cream. I don't think I've ever got him to eat that well at one setting.

Saturday was more visiting and playing. We went across the road to my brother & sister-in-law's house and Dakota played on my nephew's swing set. He loved it!!! We pushed him in the child swing for a little bit, and then we switched over to the slide. (A couple of pictures of him enjoying his time outdoors - may not be the best quality as I took them with my cell phone).



After watching him enjoy swinging and sliding so much, we've decided that we're going to buy him a swing set for his first birthday in June!!!

On Sunday we all went to church and then came home to eat a wonderful dinner. We visited and played some more. Then on Monday morning, we left to return back home to Kansas. After another long trip, we arrived back home around 4-5 pm. Dakota missed seeing Daddy, so he came right in to wake him up and play with him.

So, now we're home and things are pretty much back to normal. The next time we see my family should be when they come to Kansas for Dakota's first birthday at the end of June.

Well, that catches you up on the Conner current events (if you were interested). Until next time, you all take care!!!

Packing For Travel...

Well, as of this afternoon I'm going to have to start packing for our Easter trip. Why is that when it was just my husband & I we could throw everything in a bag in a matter of minutes & have everything we needed; now that we have a child it seems like I have to pack up half the house, and even then I'm not sure I have everything; is it just me that feels this way?

Packing aside, we're very excited for our upcoming trip. We thought at first that my husband would come along, so it was going to be for the weekend only. However, he has to work and can't get off, so it's just going to be Dakota & I. I was going to make the trip by myself, but my husband doesn't like me going that far with Dakota by myself. Not that I couldn't make it, but its a long way and anything could happen. So, we found a perfect solution, and it allows for a longer visit. My dad (step-dad, but we just call him dad) is going to come down to Kansas on Wednesday, spend the night at my house, then we're going to say goodbye to daddy and head back to Schuyler. Therefore, with the current plan, we should arrive sometime Thursday afternoon, and we'll leave sometime Monday morning.

We'll enjoy spending time with the family and visiting with everyone again. We were up for a few days in January for my uncle's funeral, but that didn't allow much time for visiting. We'll miss daddy of course, but we'll make it a point to talk to him on the phone everyday. We're ready for a short vacation.

Here's to a short work week and a great vacation.

If I see you, I'll say hi.

I'm Behind, So Let's Catch Up...

I haven't been on here to post in ages (I've followed everybody else on their blogs, but nothing really exciting in my life to write about), so I thought it was more than past time that I finally get in gear and catch my blog up with the current events in the world of the Conner's.

Our whole world revolves around Dakota, so if you're reading this, you're along for the ride, because he's the only thing I have to talk about. If you're interested, here goes:

We are just almost nine months old now, and oh the things we've accomplished & learned along the way.

• We now have four teeth: two middle bottom & two middle top. We're trying to get more, but those are the only ones that have actually made it through.

• We are mobile!!! That's right, we crawled backwards for a long time, but we finally mastered moving forwards. Now that we know how, we're always on the move (and boy are we fast)!!!
  

• Within the past few weeks, we've started pulling up on objects. We've now mastered that, we will even push to a stand in the middle of the floor without having anything to hang onto. We stand there for a little bit, then plop to the floor, only to stand up and try it again. We're not walking yet, unless you hang on to him, but I'm thinking that won't be too far off.

So, needless to say, we've entered into the world of bumps & bruises as we traverse the learning curve.

We had pictures taken a couple of weeks ago, and I thought they turned out so well. We were mainly going for the cowboy theme/look, but did take a couple of Easter shots as well. Here they are for your viewing pleasure, what do you think?









We've also decided to visit my family in Schuyler County for Easter, so we're looking forward to making the trip back up that way and visiting with everyone again.

Well, that's about it for us, thanks for reading (if you still are)!

What A Busy Week...

The title says it all, I feel like this week has just been packed with things to do, and quite frankly, I'm ready for this week to be over!

This "week" started for me on Thursday, January 14th; approximately 3:15 pm, I got a phone call from my family in NE Missouri telling me that my Uncle Bill (56 years old) had just passed away. It was a shock of course, but I handle stuff like that well, so I just started making the necessary plans.

I worked all day on Friday, January 15th. I told them while I was there that I would need Monday & Tuesday off so that I could travel back to NE Missouri to attend my uncle's funeral, and unless something changed, I would be back to work on Wednesday.

That evening, we got everything packed & loaded, and then went to bed so that we could leave for Missouri sometime Saturday morning. As luck would have it, I came down with a "thankfully short" stomach flu Friday night/Saturday morning. I felt awful when I got up on Saturday, but we made the plans, and headed out anyway. My husband drove the whole way, and I rode in the back with Dakota. By about 12-2, I felt like my normal self (like I said, thankfully short). We arrived in Kirksville around 5 pm. We met my family over there to do some shopping, then we all met back at their house in Downing. We spent the rest of the evening visiting and playing "pass the baby".

Sunday morning, we all got up and went to church. After church, we all went out to my uncle's house where we all had a family dinner with the food everyone had brought/donated. Then we all left my uncle's house to return to my parents house, so that we could change our clothes. After we changed our clothes, we headed to Memphis to the Payne Funeral Chapel to attend what was supposed to be a 2-hour visitation. Anyone that was there (like Trenton & Erin) knows that this turned out to be much longer than that. Uncle Bill was very well liked. Our 2-hour visitation turned into a 4-hour visitation (needed that long to run everyone thru) (funeral directors estimated between 800 & 1000 people came thru). There was a line clear thru the funeral home when the family got there. They moved the family to the front of the line, then we started greeting/visiting & moving people thru. Needless to say, this turned into a very long evening. We finally got home between 10:30 & 11 pm.

Monday morning we got up, had breakfast, got dressed and left for the funeral home once again. Uncle Bill's funeral started at 11 am, once again, there was a huge turn-out (funeral directors estimated between 500 & 600). When the service was done, we all loaded up in our vehicles to begin the procession back to the Downing Cemetery. Anyone up that way knows that it was kind of chilly those days, and needless to say, the family was a little torqued, because there was a mix-up when we got there. Yes they had the hole dug, but we had no vault, no tent, no chairs. Come to find out, the vault company is responsible for the tent & chairs, and the vault company wrote down the wrong day. Therefore, we stood outside while the preacher made is graveside sermon. When it was all done, we loaded back up and returned to Memphis (again), where they had a family dinner waiting for us at the funeral home. We ate, visited, divided plants/flowers, took pictures of some of the family that was present & together for a change. Then we all left to head back to Downing again; one, to go back to the cemetery (the vault people finally got there so that they could get him buried), two, then we went to my parents house for the rest of the evening.

Tuesday morning we got packed up so that we could head back to Kansas. Needless to say, we didn't get started as early as we would of liked due to the fog & slick roads. We eventually left around 12:45 pm. We made the long trip back home, and finally made it home about 7:15 pm. It was an uncomfortable ride this time as Dakota was cutting his first tooth, so he wasn't a real happy camper this go round. We got home, got everything unloaded, got James sent off to work, got Dakota feed & in bed. Then I crashed. I was exhausted.

Like I said, it's been a long week, and I'm ready for it to be done. Here's to things looking up & things slowing down for a while!!!

Not As Easy As I Thought...

So, I had this great idea. Picture this with me if you will:

We're going to place the miniature wooden rocking chair in front of the fully decorated Christmas tree. Then we'll take the tallest present and stand up behind the chair. On the other side of the chair we'll put "Snowflake Jake" (Home & Garden Snowman). Now sitting in the chair a cute little boy dressed in his very own Santa suit.

Now that would make a cute picture, don't you think???

Well, I've since learned it may have been a good idea, but it's not as easy as it sounds for the following reasons:

1) Santa didn't want to sit up in the chair.


2) Santa was very interested in trying to eat "Jake", and with everything else going on around him.


3) Santa gives some strange faces. I had a very hard time getting him to even attempt to smile.


4) Finally you just get fed up with the whole idea and you're happy with any shot that can even remotely be called decent. That being said, these were the best shots of the bunch.



So, this was a learning experience. Definitely not as easy as I thought, but we still ended up with some decent pictures. Maybe next year will go a little smoother. Here's hoping!!!

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town...

Well, I guess to be accurate, Santa Claus already came to town. My mother-in-law is very good friends with a man that plays Santa Claus each year. He used to migrate to New York every year to play the role of Santa Claus in some of the department stores up there, but the last few years he's been staying local instead. He really looks the part, and it's all him (no padding, no fake beard).

On Thursday, December 3, 2009 my mother-in-law got it set up for him to come to their hometown (Centerville, Kansas) to play Santa Claus for the town. She insisted that my husband & I bring Dakota up (about 45 minutes away), because it's his first Christmas, so he just had to see Santa Claus.

We made the trip, and I was fully expecting for it not to go well. The way their town does it, is they serve a supper at the town hall first, then they have door prize drawings, then Santa Claus arrives courtesy of the fire department. We got there early, but Dakota was very fussy. Mostly due to the fact that this fell in the middle of his nap time. I tried to settle him down, but it was so loud in the building, and there was just so much going on, that it just wasn't going to be possible.

Long story short, Santa finally arrived, and my son went from fussing/crying to openly staring at this complete stranger. He was absolutely captivated from the moment "Santa" entered the building. He followed his every movement. When Santa finally took his seat to begin meeting the children, he grabbed Dakota first. This is when I really expected a crying fit, but to my utter amazement, he went right to him. He sat on his lap for quite some time while Santa visited with some of the adults standing around.

Here is a picture of our first visit to Santa Claus.


So, our first visit was a success. We can only hope that his attitude doesn't change and that this type of experience always goes so smoothly.

Blogging Catch-Up...

Well, I thought it was time that I get back on here. I've been following along with all of your lives, but just haven't had the time to write about my own.

My little guy is growing so fast. We had a very nice Thanksgiving. We made the journey from Southeast Kansas to Northeast Missouri. That's right, I finally made it back up "home". We left Kansas about 11:30 Wednesday morning and arrived in Downing about 6-6:30 that evening. For the most part, we had a pretty good trip. We stopped around Sedalia to feed Dakota and refill the gas tank. Then we stopped again at Columbia to top both Dakota & the tank off again. We stopped at Macon because Dakota was tired of riding and wanted out of his seat, then we continued on. Overall, he didn't do too bad. He's a pretty good traveler. He spent most of the time asleep, but it worked out.

Thursday we had the typical Thanksgiving feast; followed by that typical over-fed, drowsy, miserable feeling. We did an early Christmas with my family, as it was the last time we would all be together for a while (we won't be back up until next year sometime & my sister Kayla flew out of Kansas City on Black Friday to join her husband in Honduras). My little Dakota was very much the center of attention. He enjoyed showing off & bonding with everyone. His Aunt Tracy bought him a Precious Planet Rainforest/Safari jumper, and he LOVES it!!!! He spent the majority of the weekend jumping and laughing.

The only downside in my opinion was my little man had some nasal congestion before we made the trip up, which his doctor said sounded like allergies, and to start him on 1/2 tsp of Zyrtec daily. So, we did that, but by Wednesday night/Thursday morning he had developed a cough that definitely wasn't allergies, that was sounding down deeper in the lung area. I didn't want to wait until we could get back home to see his doctor, so on Friday, we ended up going to Lancaster to see Beverly Oliver. She put him on Amoxicillian & Albuterol Nebulizer Breathing Treatments for the next 10 days. He's definitely getting a little better, and the breathing treatments are keeping everything broke up. Hopefully, at the end of the cycle we'll be all better. I called yesterday to update his doctor, and he said he would follow-up with him at the end of the cycle, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.

I too had a few problems. I normally have no trouble with sinus/allergies; however, the first night up there, I was very congested, so I saw the doctor too. I'm also on Amoxicillian, but mine is much better already.

We also switched my little man from his Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat to a brand spanking new (and expensive I might add) Britax Boulevard Convertible Car Seat. I have to say, I believe that he very much prefers the new big boy seat opposed to the before mentioned infant seat. At first I was a little concerned about what I was getting since I had never seen one in person. I bought this seat online, and was hoping it was well worth the money they were asking for it. Once I saw it though, it is a very nice, comfy car seat.

We came back home on Sunday. It was great to see everyone again, but it was also great to get back home! Now that we're back home, I need to get everything put up, I need to clean & rearrange the living room, and when I'm done with that, put up all the Christmas stuff.

Busy, busy, busy.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Here's to a Merry Christmas!!!