The Connell Chronicles: THIS, THAT, AND THAT...

SEEEERIOUSLY, COULD HE GET ANNNNNY CUTER!

Ok… it’s ridiculous how quickly the Christmas season is going by! Uhhh in 3 weeks, time to take DOWN the Christmas decorations??? No freaking way!! I feel like I have absolutely lost all control of all that I hoped to have done by the time Christmas is done. In my ~~unattainable~~ Christmas memory visions I had Brad, Brady, myself, and heck whoever wanted to join us, driving to different spots on the “Hill Country Trail of Lights”… hitting the cutesie pie little towns and visiting the “squares”.. yeah… not so much. Every weekend until New Years is booked.. not hot. Although this year we will actually be free on the actual day of Christmas??? How in the heck did that happen? It’s one of those odd years where all the “inlaws” are deserving of their Christmas visit on Christmas day, so we are all celebrating prior to Christmas. We are having Christmas Eve at mom and dad’s for our side of family’s Christmas so that is good.. Wilkins/ Connell Christmas is this weekend! I told Brad that next year.. NO PLANS ON ANY SATURDAY NIGHTS IN DECEMBER because I want to go to the little dream towns :). I am going to let my little dream wisp away this year only because I can tell that lights intrigue little B, but not enough to where a road trip would be too worth it I don’t think :).

This Christmas feels weird, I can’t explain why.. I think it’s the fact that I am so stuck on having all these “traditions” and now I am like hold on Mr. Santa, I don’t have all my ducks in a row yet :). And where are the shows that I watched at all hours of the night last year while I was up with my little hunkie? Do you have to be up at 2 am to watch “The best Christmas towns in the US” shows? Or the “I am broke because I have a 1K electric bill at Christmas from all my lights” display shows? I have not seen ONE advertised.. I have searched the Travel Channel upcoming shows.. What in the heck happened? I was figuring like the tornado shows that I love to watch, that this would be the same and it would be the same Christmas displays that I memorized from last year and them replaying them every night… But man, maybe I shouldn’t have assumed. Maybe last year was a better displays year? I don’t know… Makes me sad. But, at the same time, ain’t nuttin’ takin’ this girls excitement away! I mean BY GOD, SANTA IS ALIVE IN THE CONNELL HOUSEHOLD!! So many years of fun up ahead… that alone can make me smile for years.

Onto bigger and better subjects… THIS LITTLE GUY….

Yeah, it’s safe to say that we are “walking”.. I didn’t want to brag about every little step (to save the eye rolls from everyone :)), but it is safe to say that by God we can go all away across the room now with our ten toes doing the balancing! He started it out on Thanksgiving where he looked a lot more steady and took 5 steps.. Now.. he is turning, rebalancing himself, doing the best “I am wasted” walk I have ever seen :). I need to video it.. I have watched my niece, and my friends kiddos pick up this “walking” thing so quickly.. and here goes my sweet little “year old newborn” :)… I think I will see if he will let me swaddle him for some memory lane strollin’.. HAHAHAHA! He is still a lightning bolt crawler, but by God, he is trying to change the crawling to walking… watch out! Today mom told me that he actually got up from the middle of the room and went to a standing position from sitting! Usually he pulls up on a couch or something and then takes off, NOT NO MO! :)

Fun Stats-

** Shoe Size, He is moving up to a 5.5

** Weight/ Height at his one year appt., 24 lbs. 13.5 oz. – 30.5 inches long. He is basically running in the 75^th percentile! Might I say that the appt. was also as bad as I had been afraid it would be…. The kiddo has thighs of steel and usually shakes well check shots off like nobody’s business.. not this time. Not even close, it was not fun and those thighs hated my guts! It was a rough week all the way around.. the Sunday before his appt. he woke up upset, felt very hot, and had a 103 temp.! Our first high temp., and it came out of nowhere and it went away as quick as it got here, well it was down by night time and had consistently dropped the whole day. Just a rough go all the way around that week!

** I am finally getting a consistent MAMAMAMAMA! About time because the DADADADADADADA, was old ;), juuuust kidding :). Not really saying much more than trying to repeat things, and sometimes sounding exactly like them. He is quite the entertaining one with his answering comments with “yeah”, and it sounds just like it!

** Dancin’, Dancin’, Dannnciiinnnn’! Boyfriend finds his groove to anything with a rhythm… or without a rhythm haha… A noise constitutes his momma’s ghetto dance moves to come out of his limbs. That neck starts going from side to side like he is a ghetto gangsta girl tellin’ ya how it is.. :). It is quite the entertaining thing to watch! We went to visit our friends Jen/ Lyle this weekend and even the icemaker brought out the neck groovin’. It’s funny… he is intrigued with Ellen.. when I catch up on my DVR’ing around him.. she plays tons of music.. he will just sit and stare, stare, stare… then when the music plays.. he purses his little lips together and SIDE TO SIDE his neck goes! Love it!

** PEEEEK AAAAA BOOOOOO!! One morning when we were on our way to mom’s I had my rearview mirror facing him and saw him put his blanket over his head… WELL THAT WAS ALL SHE WROTE. It is a very close runner up in the race for the “CUTEST THING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN” things. Well when he brought the blanket down I, like anyone would, jumped to say PEEK A BOO! Well there went the game.. THE CUTEST THING I REFERENCED UP THERE, he will put that blanket over his head holding his arms straight up, I will say, WHERE’S BUBBIE? He will leave that blanket up there but GIGGLE hahahaha! It will make me laugh every time… Sometimes he will even let you say it a few times and giggle every time like you can’t hear him :). Then lower the blanket so excited like, HERE I AM, I HAD YOU FOOLED! :) Just another thing that kid does to make me so very happy…

** He’s ready for some jerky! We have 4 teeth on the top, 2 on the bottom (Brad said he saw another trying to come through as well), 2 molars that have those back gums swollen as can be, and it seems like the top is swollen too, but it’s so hard to tell if it’s a tooth or just the shape of his gums.

** A not hot fact, we think that maybe, possibly, crossing our fingers that it isn’t true, that hunkie might be having a reaction to spaghetti sauce? IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE? Spaghetti is a food group to the Connell household, and consumed once a week! Poor hunkie, guess he won’t be able to eat that night ;0)… Juuuuust kidding… it is sporadic though, so I am hoping that maybe it is just a little rosey cheeks for the winter season? He gets those every once in a while (you can thank good ol pops for that.. he may have his distinguished ridiculously handsome looks.. BUT HE ALSO GOT HIS OHHHH SO TENDER AND SENSITIVE SKIN) RAHR! He hasn’t reacted to spaghetti o’s, and last night was good ol’ sloppy joe night and nada.. so maybe the “tomato” sauce sensitivity we thought it might be, is really nothing at all? WE SHALL SEE.. The little guy has to keep us on our toes, FO SHO!

Well I will leave you with some photo opps… Gotta get back to ~~shopping~~ making the green!

HE LOVES HIS NEW "KICKS" THIS MUCH! (YEAH RIGHT :))

OK THE KID IS IN LOVE WITH RUBBING FOREHEADS! LORD KNOWS HIS MOTHER HAS A HECK OF ONE AS A RUBBIN' POST! THIS WEEKEND AT JEN & LYLE'S THEIR CAT CAME TO RUB ON HIM AS KITTYS DO AND THEY BOTH LOWERED THEIR HEADS AND WERE RUBBIN' FOREHEADS, HILARIOUS.

OHHHH MY GOSH MOM! I GOT SOMETHIN' TO TEEEEELLLLL YOUUU! YOU HAVE GOT TO HEAR THIS!

SO, I UNDERSTAND THAT I HAVE TO "GIVE" WHEN IT COMES TO DECORATING AND MY OBSESSION WITH MATCHING COLOR SCHEMES, NEUTRAL COLORS THAT ALL FLOW TOGETHER.. BUT THIS IS RIDICULOUS. TALK ABOUT AN ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM :).. THIS WAS THE INITIATION OF A PLAY ROOM.... :)

HE LOVES HIM SOME DADADADADADA!

MOMMA, DADDY, ANNNND BUBBIE WERE STUFFED BEFORE GOING TO SEE THE NOTORIOUS MALL SANTA!

SERIOUSLY, THIS THING ROCKS... HE LOVES IT, AND IF YOU ASK NICELY BRAD AND I CAN REHEARSE THE SONG THAT IT SINGS FOR YOU. :) BUBBLES, BUBBLES EEEVERYWHERE... :)