Nicki's Birthday Weekend!!

So I officially decided that the best thing is to have your Birthday on a Sunday because usually Sundays are spent at church, etc and so you get to celebrate on Saturday as well, and if you're really lucky you can celebrate on Friday too and it turns into a whole weekend thing! I was fortunate enough to be such a recipient.

Friday I went to a girlfriends where we had a fabulous game night and my wonderful friend (also visiting teacher, she gets major kudos for that one) surprised me with a delicious ice cream cake and we were able to celebrate. Saturday turned also into a celebration where my family all went with Dustin, Conner and me to "Ben's Chili Bowl" in downtown DC for lunch. I think this will be my new tradition since we went there last year as well. You can't beat the atmosphere or their amazing Chili Half-Smoke. Then the Grandparents were wonderful enough to watch Conner for the evening while Dustin and I went home and got all dressed up. Dustin was going to surprise me with a nice evening out and told me to prepare for some wonderful "fine dining". So we got all nice and I even wore my awesome purple pointed shoes! The exciting thing about not being pregnant....your shoes fit again!!

Then Dustin and I went to the metro stop and once we got there he said he forgot the tickets for our reservations and we had to go back and grab them. When we hurried back he asked if I could come up and help him find them and to my surprise once he opened the door we were met by a waiter (my brother David) who greeted us and took our coats and sat us down at a very nicely set table in our front room. The whole front room had been transformed into a nice, secluded restaurant with of course fine dining! Then our waiter (my brother Josh) took our orders. The special of the evening was sweet pork burrito or a savory pork salad (aka CAFE RIO!!!). My husband knows me SO well!! So we enjoyed a fabulous evening of fine dining and had mint brownies for dessert and a private dance. It was a fabulous evening!

So the story behind it all....my sister Jessica is the master-mind. Dustin called and figured things out with her earlier in the week. At "Ben's Chili Bowl" Dustin slipped my mom the house key (who acted very confused since she didn't know what was going on) and on their way back Jessica and Carter went and picked up Cafe Rio since they "had to drive their own car". Then while we got ready they picked everything else up and gathered it all together and we were supposed to be out of the house by 6, which is when they pulled up, moved all the furniture, baked the brownies and got it all ready for us to come. When we were at the metro Dustin texted "coming" to Jessica while I was getting back in the car. They didn't know we were so far away and had everything ready a little earlier, but it all worked out so perfectly!! Carter couldn't believe I fell for the "reservation tickets". But hey! It was more fun that way!!

The house was beautiful! Here are some of the pictures....

All dressed up for fine dining! I took my shoes off and left them in the car since I thought I'd be faster without them and we were in a hurry to find those tickets! So I dined barefoot instead, but it worked out well!

It turned out to be a great day and night and Conner was great too! So glad he loves Grandma and Grandpa!

Then on Sunday I had a wonderful time! Dustin and I opened my gifts before church, Dustin let me sleep in and then we went to church and then went to my family's for a delicious dinner! They made lasagna and rolls and topped it off with this beautiful and delicious lemon pound cake that my mom made!! I am a spoiled, but very loved lady!!

The cake and everything was SO good! I couldn't have asked for a better weekend!!

Dancing and Happy Conner!!

Conner is a very happy boy! It is so fun!! I love watching him and he totally loves playing Pee-a-boo and laughing when you laugh and smile at him. He still smiles and gets super excited every time you change his diaper too, which still makes me laugh every time! I'm so glad a have these two cute boys to help me smile every day!!! 

Here is Dustin and Conner dancing. Conner doesn't look so sure that he knows what's going on, but at least Dad had fun!!! 

Here are some of the faces he makes when he gets excited!

This one I think is my favorite :)

Oh wait....is that the camera?? I had better ham it up!!

This one goes out to all of my adoring fans!!

Look I can even gurggle for you!

If that didn't make you smile I'm sure I'll win you over with this one!!

When I get excited I like to show it using my entire body!!

So there's just a taste of my day for you! Being a mom is great! Ok, most days :) There was a day last week where I swore I'd never have another child. It took him 4 hours to go down to bed after he had been fussy all day. But he was wonderful and sweet again once he woke up. I guess babies have cranky days too! But thank goodness they are so sweet and get over them! 

National Harbor and Conner's First Swim

So last weekend Dustin and I were very lucky and a friend offered their time share for two nights at the National Harbor, so of course we jumped on that! My family came with us and we had a fun weekend of good food, games and just good times. It was very relaxing. Conner did well, but we learned what it is like to have a child when you go on "vacation". Pack and play, stroller, car-seat, diapers, etc. Oh and baby too! So it makes for a lot more trips to the car for sure!  

So I know we have lots of pictures of Conner in the stroller or car-seat all bundled up, but I can't get over how cute he is when he's all bundled! And he gives the best faces!! Here we are ready to go walk around the Harbor. 

Enjoying our very nice suite.

 Carter approves as well!!

 Going out on another walk. His arms were stuck out like that the entire time! I cracked up! It just reminds me of "A Christmas Story" when the little kid cried "I can't put my arms down!!" Poor Conner....

 Here is is now getting ready for his first swim! They had a small indoor pool and we couldn't pass up the opportunity to take this little guy!

 All ready to go!!

 Ok Dad Let's do this!!

 Proud Daddy, and very excited about the Batman Swim shirt!

 Don't forget your towel!!

 Taking a dunk with Uncle David and Josh. He was so funny. He looked so serious the whole time, acting like he didn't know what was going on, but didn't make a peep!

 Not so sure I like this mom!!

 Ok, ok, this isn't so bad!!

 Ok, so I took it like a champ!

 Now I'm ready for a nap. That was hard!!

 Got to get that hand in my mouth!!

My Growing Boy

So Conner is 2 and 1/2 months old and has his doctor's appointment tomorrow so I'll be sure to write soon with his "stats" as I am sure you are all just itching to know how much this boy has grown!! He is not a poor doer that is for sure! He is getting bigger, laughing and smiling and interacting more. He has also discovered his hands and frequently I find him just looking at them. He is rolling over more often, depending on how tired he is. If he's tired he just gives up and cries when I put him on his belly! Silly boy, he hasn't figured out yet that he would be happier if he just rolled over himself. 

Conner is also frequently known to have meltdowns when he's tired. Once we calm him down he is asleep in seconds. I'm trying to figure out how to get this boy to sleep before the meltdowns occur, but that is still a work in progress. But sometimes the swing helps to get him calm and then we cuddle for awhile before I put him down and that seems to help...sometimes. 

Here is a picture of Conner when he was exactly 2 months in the swing. You can see the picture of him in the swing below the day we brought him home to compare how much he's grown. 

 See how much bigger he is?!? But he's still my little guy!

 On Sunday he wore his little booties that my sister-in-law Marianne made for him and he looked so stinking cute!! We sure think he's the cutest ever!

I love that he'll still cuddle with me!! But he has to be tired!! 

 Not the best picture but I love him holding his hands, he does that a lot now.

 Conner wants his Aunts to know they are AWESOME! Despite the fact that he pooped ALL over this outfit not long after going to Grandma's...still working on how to get out those poop stains. Any suggestions???

 Dancing one night with Daddy.

 I think this means he likes it right???

 This is his most common face....just like "Mom and Dad are crazy!!"

 Here are two more videos for your viewing pleasure. These were both done about 3 weeks ago. He's so funny!! Sorry that they are long and not too exciting, but we think they are great :)