{hello.}

hello.  my name is connor and i am 5 months today.  i'm very curious of this world i live in.  i laugh and i smile.  my two front bottom teeth are growing in.  i'm yet to be fond of my baths.  i'm yet to be fond of my bedtime stories.  my name is connor.  

happy 5 months, connor boy.  we love you.  xo, mama & papa

{neiman marcus + target}

I may be late in discovering this, but Target has their Neiman Marcus + Target collaboration products on sale for a limited time 50% off.  I tried walking off with the Altuzarra shaker, Joseph Altuzarra serving tray, Diane von Furstenberg yoga mat, Carolina Herrera travel bags, Proenza Schouler iPad sleeve, Band of Outsiders cookie cutter & stamp set, Marchesa dress and Jason Wu dress for a little girl I don't have when my lovely conscience told me to put more than half of it back.  I hate you conscience.  Sometimes.  So, I left with the Altuzarra shaker and the serving tray and called it a day.  {insert dissatisfied face}  

Oh, before I forget, happy New Year's Eve!  Have fun and be safe!  Spending my New Years Eve indoors with my husband and sleeping baby.  Goodnight, see you in 2013.  xo, jules 

{life as of lately}

Wow, has it really been that long since I last wrote??  I go through my spurts of being a dedicated blogger to a nonexistent blogger.  I find myself 1) losing interest and 2) not having the time.  I'm now the mother of (almost) 5 month old Connor, on top of the wife of my husband, and the full time employee of my employer.  

Life as the mother of Connor has been.... wonderful.  Well, I won't paint everything rainbows, I do have my low moments where I need to walk away and grab a breather to recollect myself.  For instance, I had this moment last night.  It usually dawns upon me in this combination: Connor being fussy as of late + lack of sleep/lack of energy.  The usual cure for these moments: SLEEP.  When I can find it.  I really need to remind myself that I don't always need to be Super Mom.  For example, last Sunday I hosted a Christmas party at my house for my college friends (which I loved), then on Monday I made 3 dishes for my mother-in-laws Christmas Eve dinner, and then on Tuesday I hosted Christmas dinner for my family.  WHAT WAS I THINKING?  Come Wednesday I was down for the count with the stomach flu/food poisoning.  3 dishes?  Why?  Why didn't I just do 1?  I don't always have to be Super Mom, right?  I'm not an evil mother, wife, person if I'm not?  Anyways...

We really lucked out early when Connor started sleeping through the nights at around two months/earlier in age.  (And yes, he has been sleeping in his crib since he was a month old.)  As for a few weeks ago he has been waking up 1-2 times during the night and fussing during nursing.  The culprit?  A pair of teeth emerging from his lower gum.  His two bottom front teeth are coming through!  My little boy is growing up too fast!  Waaah!  Slow down, buddy!  I'm hoping Connor will (soon) start sleeping through the nights again because this mama just went back to work.  And it has been exhausting and stressful to have the lack of sleep and to adjust to full time work.  Yesterday my mind was still boggled with exhaustion from the stomach flu that I  I fumbled a bottle of BM after pumping and spilled 2oz all over myself (at work in the lactation room)!  I literally stood there for 30 seconds in disbelief, staring at the spilled precious BM thinking, "did this really happen??"  

Well, world, meet our Connor.  Boy, is he special.  We love every bit of him.  

{Newborn Photoshoot at 10 days old.  Photography by Shawnee.)

{Photography by Shawnee}

{so precious when he sleeps}

{love}

{mama's boy?}

{babbling}

{he's a happy baby}

{Connor & Mama}

{my baby elephant on Halloween}

{mr. man}

{Christmas morning}

{home renovation: part 1}

There's several things we'd like to renovate/update/add on our home and two had to be done soon before baby's arrival: 1) repaint the rooms and 2) lay hardwood floors in the hallway & bedrooms.  We painted the baby's room a neutral yellow and our guest bedroom a soft lavender (which I call the "Lavender Room"). The master still needs a color picked and painted (suggestions are welcomed).  For hardwood floors we really wanted a natural medium wood color that wasn't too dark and wasn't too light.  The one we ended up going with is a re-engineered white oak that has beautiful wood characteristics and medium distressing.  Luckily my husband has an acquaintance from childhood who has been installing hardwood floors for the past 16 years and who we could trust to do a gorgeous job.  Keith is the far and few hardwood floor installers that is an actual craftsman who takes pride in his work.  He knows his stuff and he will do it the right way.  After 4 days, our floors are all done!  I love it!  Now baby has a clean surface to crawl, roll, walk, and play on!  Not only that but hardwood floors make any home look that much better.  :)

{ripped up all the dingy carpet}

{sub-floor built, water retardant paper put down, and hardwood being laid}

{finished hallway}

{beautiful!  what a difference it makes!}