Sasha

A couple days ago, we asked Conner what he wanted us to name the baby. He looked at Nate and I and replied "Sasha" and he has continuted to respond with that answer multiple times.

What does "Sasha" mean - "defending men". Now the question is, what does Conner want defending from?

We have no idea where he got the name from - at least he didn't reply with "ball" or "Elmo" .. we already have enough Balls and Elmos in the house!

Our Painting Experience - the pictures are finally released!

The before:

The "Green:"

The amazing "after:"

I suggested to Nate yesterday that we should think about possibly painting the baby rooms.. he just laughed and said "No!". Nate is definitely done painting for a while - and who would blame him?? Look at those awesome corners he had to get himself into because W-Burt wouldn't allow me to!

Luckily, when sharing this experience with a friend a couple days ago, she volunteered to help me with the baby rooms :).

The brown color is the color we like - the puke green?? It is finally gone!

We FOUND our Camera!

Nate and I lost our camera last week. We searched the house high and low - literally. We cleaned out closets, cupboards, under the beds, etc. To our dismay, we could not find our camera.

Today Conner opened up the closet door in our study, opened one of the many drawers, and brought the camera to me.. we are so excited that he found our camera!

Did Conner intentionally hide the camera because he wanted us to clean the house??

"We Can Share Mommy's Tummy"

W-Burt has began to move a lot the last couple days. On Saturday, Conner was cuddled up on me trying to take a nap when W-but decided that Conner was not going to nap on me. W-Burt began kicking hard enough for Conner to notice. This movement within my tummy was confusing and frustrating to Conner. The kicks did not stop until Conner was moved off of my tummy..

Was W-Burt just trying to say "Hi" to Conner, trying to wrestle, or simply expressing his/her ability to "hold his/her own" regardless of size and current situation?

Conner's New Trick

For weeks, Conner has been working on learning to undo a buckle found in a Sesame Street book he received from his Grammie and Grampie for Christmas. He finally mastered the buckle - he can buckle and unbuckle Burt's belt. I have been so proud of his new accomplishment!

Today at the grocery store, I buckled Conner into the grocery cart and began to do our shopping. Conner quickly found the buckle and released himself while I was quickly reaching for some produce - when I turned around, I was shocked to find him standing up in the cart reaching for me ... his intelligence definitely keeps me on our toes!

Ohh.. and Conner's new word of the day is "Ya Ba Da Ba Doo" and he likes to tap dance with Elmo!

"Bye Bye Ba-Ba"

Conner has officially given up his bottle.

I have been a little worried the last couple weeks that my toddler still needs his bottle. Some wonderful friends were over a couple weeks ago and they told us that they would make a small cut in the nipple of the bottle to teach their kids that the bottle no longer works. With Conner's recent decision to give up naps -I have been very hesitant to make that cut as bottle time with Elmo is the only break I get every day. Last week, I noticed that Conner had made a hole in the bottle with his teeth - he no longer asks for it or wants it! I try and give it to him and he shakes his head to indicate that he doesn't want it!

What a big boy! We are so proud of all of his big boy decisions.. now if he could only decide that Mom does need to shower every day :)

Boy or Girl?

We will find out in August! We have decided to skip the traditional ultrasound at 20weeks to determine the gender, and be surprised!

All of the old wives tests have told us that we are having a girl, but the speed of the heart rate says boy (although Conner's heart rate indicated that he was a girl)..

Nate is convinced that we are having a girl (he was right about Conner at 5 weeks) and I am having regular dreams indicating that we are having a boy..

It is going to be fun to wait and find out!

Watch Out Here I Come!

Conner has officially learned how to open doors.. Any door! The bathroom door, the garage door, the closet door - there is nothing stopping Conner anymore!

Funny Story About Our Baby-To-Be

I had my regular appointment last week with our midwife. The last two appointments, W-Burt has not enjoyed the Doppler experience.

Each time Carrie, my midwife, gets close to finding the heart beat the adorable W-Burt kicks, pushes, or moves away from the Doppler.

Carrie has been unable to obtain a heart beat the last two visits due to W-Burt's determination to avoid being heard. Luckily, Carrie is able to obtain a heart beat from the cord, and the heart beat is normal and fine. :) We are sure excited for this new baby to join our family!

Clean Conner, Clean!

Conner lately has been exhibiting signs of being a "clean freak".
Examples include:

1. He loves putting his dirty diapers in the diaper bin.
   
2. He loves to put garbage in the garbage can. If a wrapper is ever left unattended, Conner quickly puts it in the garbage can. We recently child-proofed our cupboards and he was very upset when he could no longer reach the garbage can to throw things away.
   
3. Conner now loves to put dishes in the dishwasher. Last night, he picked up his dishes from dinner and loaded them in the dishwasher.
   
4. He does not like to get his hands dirty. If he ever accidentally gets his hands dirty from his meal, playing in the dirt, or something sticky - it is the end of the world!
   
5. Conner loves clean up time with Mom. He has to have his own bucket and rag! During clean up time, he will actually wipe down the tables and floor with me.
   
6. Conner loves to put the dirty laundry in the laundry basket - and will often pick up clothes from off the floor (when we are in the process of putting clean laundry away) and put them back in the dirty laundry basket.
   
7. Conner quickly flushes any toilet that may have a Kleenex or any toilet paper in it.
   
8. One of Conner's favorite games consists of throwing magic markers around the house and then quickly retrieving each marker to put it back into the container to which it belongs.
   
9. He still insists on showering/bathing every day.
   
10. Washing hands is a very fun and popular event!