Three is the magic number

A lot has happened since I last wrote.
Like, a loooot.
Connor is 3 1/2 now.
I am starting a photography business.
I am writing on my brand new computer on my desk in my "office" which is really a nook in our master bedroom but I am in love with my new space and now that I have this space I feel I will be better at keeping up with this. Like I said in my last post I have, thankfully, been keeping up with his journal but I really want pictures to go along with it.

I have to catch up on this last 1/2 year and then I can hopefully maintain an at least once a week post.

Right before Connor turned 3, like literally 2 days before he turned 3 we took a trip to Disney!
Curt and I, my mom and my dad and Connor. I thought he was gonna, ya know, like it and like the characters and like looking around and I thought every line would be just too long to even think about trying to make him wait though. I was blown away by our experience that day.

We got fast passes to the rides that typically have long lines and while waiting for those to get to the time it was supposed to be we went to other things. So we went on absolutely every single ride and attraction he was able to do. From It's A Small World to Winnie The Pooh and Pirates and the Haunted Mansion and Jungle Cruise... everything was just amazing. I got choked up a couple of times like a crazy mama just couldn't believe we were there and he was enjoying it so much and doing everything there was to do and I had waited all 3 years so he would understand where we were and what we were doing and it was so worth it, the money and the time waiting. It paid off.

I love this picture because there is a very similar picture of my dad and I pointing together in It's A Small World

 I can't wait to take him back!

Connor's 3rd birthday was amazing. It was a dinosaur theme since he looooves dinosaurs and knows all about them. He amazes me every single day with his knowledge on general things but his knowledge on dinosaurs is just nuts. It was at my moms and we had food and a full table of dinosaur stuff, inflatable dinosaurs that the kids wrecked of course and flying Pterodactyls that hung from the fans. it. was. so. cool. And I had goosebumps just thinking about my little boys face when he would see it!

The setup before it was destroyed :)

First birthday where he was so excited to have all his friends with him.

with daddy <3

With being 3 came new experiences.
Potty training was something I was very much afraid of.
Connor did soooo well with every other thing that I thought was going to be hard like taking his bottle away and paci and going to sleep on his own I just knew I was bound for something to be an absolute knock down drag out disaster. I started when he was 3 years and 2 months old. He peed and pooped on the potty on the very first day, it took 3 days and he now at 3 years and 6 months goes all by himself without us helping and is just so big and proud of himself every single time. I was absolutely amazed at how well he did it, how fast and how much he was just ok with it.. my little creature of habit actually was doing something new!



Connor-
I like to write down some of my favorite things about you at certain times. Things you are doing and saying that just make me smile every day.

- Your version of Publix is Puglix and it makes daddy and I crack up every single time you say it.
- You still have a lisp and it's my favorite thing ever!
- Our bedtime routine is my favorite time of day, it's just me and you and you do the funniest things and have the funniest routines within our routine.
- Your favorite place in the whole world is still Busch Gardens!
- Your imagination is better and more detailed and complex than any kid I have ever heard!
- Butterfly kisses are our thing right now :)

That's just a few!
I love you boy, to the moon and back!

mama

Seriously??

It will be September tomorrow and my last post was from January. We've established that I'm horrible at this but I have really got to get better. I am writing in Connor's journal so much now I am caught up and keeping every memory and new thing he says but I'm slacking here as usual.

Connor will be the big THREE next month and I can hardly believe it's true, that I am going to be the mama of a three year old. He has become this sweet and innocent and gentle little human who's kindness and understanding blows my mind everyday. I'm not gonna lie, I'm sitting on the couch watching Conan and Connor and Curt are both in bed and I am taking this moment of solitude to write but I am drawing such a blank. It's because it's been so long since I have written, so much has happened, Connor has changed so much that I have nowhere to begin.

...sigh...
Ok jenn get on with it...

All this talk about school starting has gotten me anxious for the years to come that Connor will start school. As much as I would love to keep him home all the way up until kindergarten and just never let him be tainted by mean nasty kids at preschools I think boys especially really need the extra year of real school type structure to get them ready for real school. I am almost positive I will be sending Connor to VPK because I think he will need that extra year. He talks so highly of school already but right now he thinks our two hour a day trip to the ymca is school. It really has helped so much, we went from the baby/toddler that couldnt be pulled away from me without thrashing legs and howling screams to the kid now that skips happily hand in hand with me to his room and runs in to hug his teacher. I have been told buy several of the teachers there that whichever kindergarten teacher gets Connor will be blessed because he is such a sweet boy. He cleans up everything he plays with and when the kids are called to the rug for a story hes the first to plop down! That's my sweet kid, couldnt love him any more if I tried and yet somehow I will love him more tomorrow.

He is absolutely without a shadow of a doubt my best friend.

Let me just try and update you guys on his personality and new things. He is talking so crazy now just like a person running long sentences and he is smart as a whip! Kid can count to 20, knows all his colors, knows all the letters and their sounds and what words start with what letters. He knows a huge handful of shapes and can tell you every animal there is. Animals are his thing, most kids know that that animal is a whale but Connor tells you if its a blue whale or a whale shark or and Orca and he knows the differences between lions and tigers and leopards and cheetahs and he knows about yaks and antelopes and ocean animals like crazy its endless. Last month we were at Busch Gardens and we were on the train. Alyssa said "hey look Connor it's a hog!" And Connor replied "no Sister that's a wildebeest" and it was, he corrected her haha he is such a little smarty. His other thing is Dinosaurs, he can tell you 20 different dinosaurs and which ones are carnivores and herbivores. He knows his first and last name, how old he is and when his birthday is. I could go on and on for sure. He still isnt potty trained yet I am waiting until he turns 3 to really push it because when I tried at 2 1/2 he was not having it, cried when I even mentioned sitting on the potty so he's just not quite ready, he'll get there.

A new favorite thing in the Creel house is the Wii. Connor has been obsessed with us all playing it lately I think it's because it's something we do as a family so he enjoys it so much. We bowl and play tennis and he always wants me to hoola hoop on the wii fit and do mario kart races lol. He roots on daddy and I and gives us high fives for scoring points!

 I'm gonna write about the other day really quick before I go because I've been wanting to share these pictures so badly. We met Aunt Katie at the Ft Gatlin playground/pool for the day! We swam and laid out and played at the playground but after a wonderful afternoon we sat down at a picnic table and enjoyed a few big juicy pieces of watermelon!

Ok so the other pictures werent a very good quality so I'm just leaving it at that last picture. I'm headed to bed I'm beat and this whole not knowing what to write thing is driving me a little nuts so goodnight :)

-jenn

blessed

I am so lucky to be able to spend the time that I do with Connor. I can't imagine not being able to go to the park at 9am just because he said playground and bring chalk and bananas to snack and the breeze from the lake is just nippy enough for jackets. I love it and I am truly blessed that I am getting this time, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

He's talking so much now and its so great to have the little still mini conversations that we have. The playground today was a pirate ship and he had to climb everything by himself and we raced on the slides and chased the birds.

Lunch was hot dogs and mac n cheese and nap time is just around the corner. I love when we spend the majority of the day outside, makes me feel so good, knowing I'm being completely present for him and that I'm not taking any of this time for granted.

Curt will be home just at the time he'll be waking up from nap and I know he's excited to see him since he's missed him the last couple day so that will be fun. Dinner as a family tonight, yay, sadly it doesn't always happen but I'm so happy when it does.

Have a wonderful night with your family :)

-jenn

Back in the swing and instagram love

I am really hoping this new blogger app and instagram will help me be better at writing on my blog.

I have been really bad about it lately. Well, for a long while considering my last entry was well before Connor turned two. I have kept up with my journal to him which I am happy about but the blog has fallen behind. Doesn't help when you read peoples blogs like Kelle Hampton and all of a sudden anything and everything you write about seems subpar. But like I said I'm hoping these two new apps will help me with that :)

I can't go back and write everything I've missed or I would never get caught up so I'll just summarize a few things from the end of the year that have stuck out to me.

• daycare sucks; working in one, putting your little one in one... When you can't make it through one day because you and your child are being treated poorly, that's a big problem.
• 2 years old is fabulous, has it's moments but overall absolutely heavenly.
• The older you get the fewer friends you bring along on the journey and I'm realizing more and more who I'll be bringing and not bringing.
• My parents are amazing and I know more than ever how much I really need them.
• being a mother is my purpose and i am so content with that.
• family is everything.

It's playdoh time with Connor, it's his new obsession so I'll be back soon, promise!

-jenn

Sweet balance

Some days I probably fold too much laundry and Connor probably watches too much Dora. But other days... other days we pack up at 8am and head to the beach, we sink our toes into the hot sand and we let ice cream drip from our chins into our laps. Its days like these that I live for. Its days like these where I know I am doing everything in my power to make memories for my baby and I know I am being totally present for him. Do days with too much laundry and Dora happen? Yes. Do I like it? No. But I can live with those days because the beach days, the park days, the pool days and the finger paint days are there to even it all out. It's that sweet balance that keeps us all happy.

We went to the beach for the first time as a family last summer when Connor was just able to sit up by himself and it was just too hot. It was too hot and he was too little and all he did was try to eat the sand! Haha. So this was our first time at the beach this year, just Connor and mama, and now that he's this one and a half year old running, smiling, crazy kid I was so excited to see how he reacted to the whole thing. He absolutely loves the water and I didn't need to take him to the beach to know that but the beach is a different experience with the sand and salt and waves and he handled it like a pro! He knew he needed to hold my hand and with that security he let the waves smack him in the face and he would stumble, stand back up, laugh and then prepare for the next one. So, we jumped waves, we played in the sand, had sandwiches for lunch and chocolate ice cream for dessert. He's never had an enormous chocolate soft serve cone like that before and he thoroughly enjoyed eating it and I thoroughly enjoyed watching him eat it.

 (his blankie and Foofa made it along for the trip)

(now where did I put Brobee?)

(open wide baby!)

I am soaking up these moments with him. I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. Getting to stay home with him has been such a blessing and I wish every mom had the opportunity to do this. Everyone has a different situation and I would never pass judgment on how any other mom has to do things but there is just something so magical about being with them all the time; not missing a single smile, giggle or kiss.

He's in bed, pooped from a long day and I am not far behind him. Curt is waiting for me to finish so we can watch some of our shows before bed so goodnight for now and soak up your babies if they are still awake, kiss them a thousand times over.

-jenn

Here's to being stupid...

Sometimes life makes us choose between creating the memory and capturing it. Unfortunately, we can't always do both. I was forced to make this decision last night when Connor and I had an impromptu banshee run through the park across the way from our house. It was beautiful out; cool enough for pajama pants and hoodies but we rocked our bare feet in the wet, cold grass. I have to admit I have one of the happiest little boys you'll ever meet but he lit up that evening, like even I hadn't seen. He just ran, here and there, he chased me and I chased him. We ran and laughed and giggled like crazy and I was soaking him up, his little blonde curls blowing in the cool evening breeze. As he smiled I had to make that choice; stop, drag him back to the house, get the camera and pray he wants to play again... Or enjoy him now, miss capturing it but get to have that memory forever? I chose to enjoy him... So, I don't have any fantastic pictures from that night I am sorry to say but I plan on making this evening run in the park a habit so I hope to capture this beautiful little boy, who is all mine, running and laughing like a banshee soon enough.

We then retreated to the shower since we had dirt all over our piggies :) He sat on my lap in the hot shower while I washed his hair and I was just overcome with love. Overcome with disbelief that I could have ever been blessed with this little piece of heaven who loves me unconditionally like nobody else in the whole world. It's funny what pops into your head when you're emotional; I was sitting there, again, just soaking him up and all that came to my head was that song:


I love you, always forever
Near and far, closer together
Everywhere, I will be with you
Everyday, I will devour you
You've got, the most unbelievable
blue eyes I've ever seen 


And you can laugh but I just started singing it to him. Love is the ability to be stupid; whether it's singing to your little soapy headed boy in the shower, giggling in bed with your husband or having a blonde moment on the phone with a friend... If you can't let yourself go enough to just be stupid then you don't deserve to love.. and deserving or not, if you can't be stupid you're never gonna have it anyway. I love what love does to me, love makes me stupid and I am stupid for love!


I don't have the strength to write about today, not right now at least.. yeah, it's been one of those. But, amidst all the drama and stress of today I am reminded of what wonderful people I have in my life who care about me. I have the best husband and best friend a girl could ask for both of which saved the day for me today, dunno what I would do without them :)

I am going to leave you with my first stream of pictures, they are random since like I said I didn't get any pictures from our run last night but I think you'll enjoy them just the same. I dunno who couldn't enjoy my little ray of sunshine.

 

-jenn