Connor's Baptism

Connor had a very big day on Sunday. It was his Baptism, and we were having the family over to our house for a lunch to celebrate afterwards. Ryan went to the Penn State vs. Ohio State game on Saturday night so I made sure Connor got to bed early to be well rested for his big day (and so I could watch the ND game and enjoy a few beers in peace). I should have known something was up when Connor slept straight through from 8:15pm to 7:00am...and then fell back to sleep immediately after I fed him and slept until about 9:30am...

Mass starts at 10:30, so I wanted to make sure to feed him again before we left. I woke him up, fed him, and was just going to take him back to his room to change him into the Christening outfit we got in Ireland when it started. The projectile vomiting. Now, Connor is not really a puker and has no reflux issues, so this caught me by surprise. Without getting too graphic, lets just say that I've never seen anything like it. All over himself, me, and my bed. While it caught me by surprise, I was just glad that he got it all over his Penn State jammies and not on his special outfit. So, I put him in the bathtub while Ryan put everything in the washing machine, and started to get him dressed, convinced that (1) there was no way he could possibly have anything left in his stomach and (2) we would make it to church on time. I had just put on the bib my mom got him to go with his outfit when it happened again. For the most part, the outfit was spared, but the bib was not salvagable. We were out of "special religious bibs," so Connor was going to go to church in his Christening outfit and a bib with dogs and stars on it. Or so I thought. By this time it was 10:10 so I ran him downstairs and gave him to Ryan to strap him in the carseat while I put my dress on. Seconds later, I heard Ryan calling for help, only to find that this time, the outfit wasn't so lucky. So, upstairs we all went and when I began to take off his outfit, Ryan asked me if we had a "backup." I tried to explain that having a backup Christening outfit was like having a backup wedding gown, and that he was wearing it, come hell or high water. We decided to take Connor to church wearing a sleeper and that we would change him just before the Baptism and he would only have to wear it for 10 or 15 minutes. Or so I thought (more on that in a minute).

Surprisingly, we made it to church on time and Connor only threw up one more time there. Ryan stood in the lobby with Connor, who eventually fell asleep. As soon as mass was over, I changed him into his (still wet from my attempts to blot out any evidence of puke) and we patiently waited. There were four babies being baptized that day and the priest was a little long-winded. It was really nice, but what I thought would take 15 minutes took almost an hour. Poor Connor was a trooper, but you could tell he was uncomfortable. I entrusted my father-in-law with my cell phone and asked him to take some pictures. He was probably not the best option, but oh well.

My mom and dad had to stand in as godparents as neither Lisa nor Collin were able to be present.

Courtney emailed me this video after the ceremony. Unbeknownst to us, our nephew Alex was also taking pictures/videos with her phone. He is 8 years old. It does have some Blair Witch Project characteristics to it, but I think he has a future in filmmaking!

After the Baptism we all went back to our house for lunch. Ryan had gone out on Saturday and gotten a bunch of things for appetizers while we waited for the Monte Lauro lasagna to bake. If you know me at all, you know how much I adore their lasagna, and my mom was kind enough to order a couple trays and extra sauces and bring it up. Debbie made a salad and we ordered a cake from Roys Bakery. It was peanut butter and chocolate, our favorite, so we figured that's also what Connor would have wanted.

There were plenty of leftovers and honestly, I could not stop thinking about how sad I would be if Hurricane Sandy caused us to lose power and all of it would go to waste. Our poor little guest of honor still wasn't feeling himself so he ended up napping through most of the lunch. Other than that, it was a really nice day spent with family and friends.

Outlaws

It has been another busy week, both at work and at home. On Monday we had dinner with Bill to discuss the house. He thinks he will be fully moved into the farm house in the next few weeks and said we could start moving some stuff down when we are ready. This is, of course, very exciting and very scary at the same time. While it will be nice to be able to start taking some things down there as time permits, I am really hoping that we are able to sell our house before we make the real move, so as not to have to have 2 mortgage/rental payments. I must say, I am looking forward to the move - I find it therapeutic and a good reason to get rid of a substantial amount of the "junk" we've amassed over the past few years. We still have boxes in our garage that we have not unpacked since we moved from Reading. Obviously, if we haven't needed the stuff in the past 4.5 years, it is time to get rid of it. We had originally intended to have a yard sale, but now that the weather is getting colder and the holidays are approaching, I don't see that happening. So, most likely the American Rescue Workers will be getting a big donation! It will feel good knowing that it will be put to good use. I am determined, when we get moved to the new house, to be conscious about not accumulating stuff. Well, at least not our stuff. I'm sure there are going to be lots of toys accumulating over the next several years!

On Wednesday Ryan broke out the Halloween gear. Connor looked so adorable in the outfit Gramma brought back from Florida. We have a couple Halloween outfits for him so he'll be wearing them over the next several days. I can't wait until Wednesday to see him in his first costume!

Trick or treat!

One good thing about having a baby this year - we don't have to stay at home at our house and wait for the van-loads of kids come to the neighborhood trick-or-treating! Courtney and some of her friends with kids are planning to get together for snacks, drinks, etc. on Wednesday night before heading out to trick-or-treat. While we won't go door-to-door, we have an excuse not to answer ours (more candy to save for later). Hurricane Sandy is scheduled to bring us some nasty weather here in the beginning of next week though, so hopefully that won't ruin our Halloween fun.

On Wednesday night, Connor attended his first professional sporting event. Williamsport now has a minor league hockey team called the Outlaws. They play at Bowman Field, which is the second oldest ballpark in minor leage baseball. The Williamsport Crosscutters play there in the summer. Wednesday night was the first game and they had over 3,000 people attend. Ryan is one of the two team dentists, so hopefully there will be some good fights and knocked-out teeth! Connor held up pretty well for most of the game. I had him in the baby carrier thinking he would just go to sleep but he started to get antsy as soon as we sat down. I took him out and turned him around - turns out he just wanted to see the action. I think he enjoyed the bright colors and all the movement (and the music). I didn't hear a peep out of him until the beginning of the 3rd period, and by that time it was getting late and I was getting antsy too, so Connor and I walked out to the car, where I fed him and got him ready for bed.

Free seats at center ice. Can't complain about watching hockey in almost 70 degree weather!

I think there are 30 home games this season. Thankfully Ryan doesn't have to go to all of them. I enjoyed going but I don't think I could sit through all 30 of them, especially when the weather gets cold!

We have a busy weekend coming up, so I will post more next week. 

Last Weekend

I have some exciting news to share with everyone - my favorite pair of jeans FINALLY fits again!!! Okay, sorry, that is exciting to no one but me, but I am pretty thrilled. I still have a ways to go to get where I want to be (not to mention, I love the comfort of maternity pants), but it's a start.

Here we are again, at the end of another week, and I'm trying to recap what happened the the previous weekend. Time certainly does fly. On Saturday we had a lazy morning in our jammies.

Connor is doing so well at holding his head up. I guess it isn't too hard when you have no neck.

Notre Dame played BYU last weekend. Connor had all his ND gear on so he could Cheer, Cheer, for Old Notre Dame!

All ready to Shake Down the Thunder!

The adorable sweatsuit was a gift from Donald, my boss/friend Julie's husband and one of our traveling companions in Ireland. He went to Sears to look for tools and ended up with baby clothes! It was a perfect fit, I was impressed. We got to watch a little bit of the first half of the game at home but then had to leave to go up to Blockhouse for the annual coon hunt. This was only the second year I've ever been to it. For those who are not rednecks, who have never experienced something like it, basically they bring in dogs/handlers and after dark they load everyone up in the club trucks (or your own truck, if you prefer) and they let the dogs loose to chase down racoons. They start barking when they tree the racoons, then someone shines a light into the tree so it catches the racoon's eyes and makes them glow, and then they shoot the racoon. Two years ago when we went, I had a good time but drank lots of beer because I thought it was sad that the poor, pretty racoons were getting shot. This year, I opted to stay in the clubhouse with Connor. We watched the Penn State game. In all fairness to Ryan, I did take Connor's PSU jammies and changed him into them before the game. He proved to be a good luck charm for both teams!

On Sunday we had plans to go for a hike in the Loyalsock State Forest. Our HR director at work organized it, provided us with a map and a meeting point. Ryan and I were actually really excited. I hear that trail is beautiful and we were figuring that it might be the last weekend to enjoy the changing leaves. The map said that the ranger station where we were to meet wass 4.8 miles in. We happened to be right behind our friends John & Adrianne and their little girls, and when we got to 4.8  miles, there were no buildings around. At that time, we ran in to Jon, another lawyer from the firm, who had turned his car around because he did not find the designated meeting spot. So, all three cars continued up the mountain, and then down to the bottom. Realizing that we were not going to meet up with the others, our group went on our own little hike. Connor did great in his carrier. It was a beautiful day. It also happened to be the one-year anniversary of the death of Ryan's brother, Brennan. It was nice to be able to go do something outside an enjoy it in his memory.

Later that night, a bunch of us got together to celebrate Brennan's life by having one of his favorite meals - sushi. It was a really nice time and we had some good laughs. It is hard to believe that a whole year has gone by. It was exactly this time last year that we told our families that Connor was on the way. I feel very sad that Connor won't have the benefit of getting to know his uncle. Ryan and I often talk about how much Brennan would have loved him - and spoiled him with Philles and Eagles gear (and, Penn State gear too). I like to think that he's watching out for him from above.

This is my very favorite Linn family photo. It was taken at our engagement party. What a good looking group!

Love this one of Brennan and Julia dancing at our wedding. Brennan may have been the only one on the dance floor longer than me that night!



Allison posted this Christmas photo. It cracks me up every time I look at it. Being an only child, I was never subjected to the matching outfits. I cannot wait to recreate this picture this Christmas with Julia, Alex, Jackson, Connor and Evie!

Accidents Happen

I swear there are just not enough hours in the day sometimes! Things have been very, very busy at work these days. This is not a bad problem to have, but sometimes I feel like I am just trying to keep my head above water at the office. It was a different story before Connor was born and I could stay at the office a couple extra hours but now most days I have to be out of there by 5:15 to pick him up at daycare (definitely not complaining about having an excuse to leave at a decent hour!). With the federal estate tax set to return to $1 million in 2013, many of our wealthier clients are starting to panic and insisting that they get in and all their stuff is completed by the end of the year, so I think these next 10 weeks are just going to be jam-packed and fly by.

But enough of the boring law stuff. Last weekend was, well, interesting. Friday night was the first time this fall that it had gotten really cold. As you know, we live in a very old house, with the original windows, and it is very expensive to heat. In previous years, it was a treat to turn the thermostat up to 68 or 69, and that only happened when company was coming. It's a bit of a different story with a little one now. We do have a portable heater in Connor's room, but we had a bit of a scare with that recently, and are very lucky that the spark it caused when the circuit overloaded did not catch Connor's crib bedding on fire. We got that problem fixed and that little heater works wonders in his room, but last Friday it was COLD in the rest of the house and so we broke down and turned on the heat. We waited for it to kick on, and waited, and waited some more. Unfortunately, we think the pilot light on the boiler is out so we shut it off and turned on the portable heater in our room as well. Luckily, it started to warm back up the next day and we have someone coming to replace a part so the light can stay on.

Who would have thought that I'd ever prefer this over going out for drinks as my Friday night entertainment? Unfortunately, because Connor now loves the jumperoo, I no longer have an excuse to neglect basic household chores, like vacuuming and laundry.

On Saturday morning, my mom drove up to see us and spend some time with Connor. Ryan had plans to go fishing that afternoon, so it was nice to have some company. We took the little guy for a walk and then watched the ND-Stanford game. What a nail biter, but ND won in OT and are now 6-0!

Who needs heat when you have a baby and a dog to snuggle with to keep warm?

 



After the game, Connor enjoyed spending time with Nana while I went to pick up our dinner at Joy Thai. I think one of the reasons my mom likes to come to Williamsport without my dad is that she gets to eat foods that my dad would never try!

On Sunday morning about an hour after my mom left, I got a call from my dad. At first I assumed that he just wanted to see if she had left, but then I realized that he probably didn't care what time she left, so immediately had a bad feeling. Turns out my instincts are pretty good - my dad was calling to let me know that my mom had been in an accident and he was on his way up to Geisinger Hospital to pick her up. It was a tense few hours waiting to hear from him, but thankfully (miraculously) she escaped with just some bruises, scrapes and soreness. A car going in the opposite direction came into her lane while trying to pass the car in front of it and it sounds like they clipped back ends while swerving to avoid the head on collision. My mom's car rolled and was totalled. The other driver was an elderly woman who unfortunately did not fare so well and we are all so very thankful that my mom had a guardian angel looking out for her. It could have been much worse and it really puts things into perspective - makes us thankful for every day we get to spend with loved ones. We all know that my mom wasn't exactly the most adventurous driver to begin with, and it was a big deal for her to find her way to Williamsport by herself since it is out of her 4 mile radius comfort zone, so we are hoping that this accident won't prevent her from coming back to see us!

 

Connor is so happy that Nana is okay!

 

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. Just busy with work. We have a couple busy weekends coming up so hopefully I'll have more pictures and fewer long stories!

Stats

Connor had his 4 month appointment on Wednesday. He's actually closer to 4 1/2 months, but who's counting? We are lucky he is so pleasant (and not yet mobile). We sat in the waiting room for 45 minutes before being taken back. He just happily smiled at all the patients who came in after us and got called back before us.Then, when we got back to the exam room, the nurse told us that the Dr. was running 45 minutes behind (in addition to the 45 minutes late we already were) and asked if we would mind seeing the Physician's Assistant instead. We obviously were willing to do whatever would get us out of there the quickest, so we agreed. She was very nice and Connor did great with her. Here are his stats:

• He weighs 16 lbs., which is the 62nd percentile (he gained 2 lbs. 14 oz. since his 2 month appt. and 7 lbs. 4 oz. since birth)
• He is 26.5", which is the 88th percentile (he grew 1.5" since his 2 month appt. and 6 inches since birth)

The PA said he looks great developmentally and was very impressed with his head and neck strength. She did suggest that we do a little more tummy time in order to help his head round out a little more, but other than that, she said everything's great! She told us that solids are usually introduced between 4-6 months so we can start anytime we are comfortable. She recommended first starting with rice cereal and then progressing to other grains, then meat, vegetables, and fruits in that order. I think we will start with the cereal when Connor gets to five months. Ryan and I agree that we are going to try to make our own baby food, but I must admit I am not in any hurry to (1) boil and puree meat or (2) clean up beet, pea, and other various colorful vegetable spit-up and diapers!

Connor got 3 shots again at this appointment. They really did a number on him - he seemed much more affected by the 4 month shots than the 2 month shots. Luckily he was home with Ryan for the rest of the day after his appointment, but he did not sleep well that night (so much for my sleep training efforts) and even on Thursday he was fussy and running a fever. Unfortunately, Thursday was "school picture day" at day care. He looked so cute in his outfit, but they told me when I went to pick him up that the photographer had a hard time getting him to smile. Hopefully I didn't pay $36 for the picture package for nothing!

His outfit for school pictures. Hopefully his "teachers" remembered to remove his bib before the picture, and that there were no drool stains on his sweater!

Cry it Out

Before I get started, I just have to brag a little. Every day when Connor gets picked up at day care, he gets a little "report card," which tells us when and how much he ate, napped, and his diaper contents. There is also a section at the bottom for his "teachers" to write us notes - mostly to let us know if he needs more diapers/wipes. However, the other day when I picked him up, I saw this on his daily report:

"He is just the sweetest thing ever. I'm so happy he's here."

Thanks, Miss Sharon and Miss Lynne. I've often thought he's pretty sweet, but I'm probably a little partial. I'm glad you think so too. Then, this morning when I went in, the girl who is there in the morning before the regular ladies start told me she was very excited because she started covering the baby room over the lunch hour and yesterday she held Connor the whole time. She said he is so pleasant and that Miss Sharon commented the other day "we need 8 Connors!"

Anyway, we had a nice weekend. On Thursday, Collin and Emily came home from Colorado and stopped in Williamsport for the night before going to a wedding in the Finger Lakes on Friday. Debbie was leaving for Florida on Friday to watch Julia while Allison is in Hawaii so she wanted us to all go out to dinner on Thursday night. We went to Tags. It was a little disappointing and certainly not what it was in its glory days. Long wait, no ambiance, and the food made more than one of us sick. Oh well, at least the company was good. Connor wasn't as excited to see Collin and Emily as the rest of us though, and slept through dinner:



We didn't do anything exciting on Friday night. We did, however, start sleep training. Since I've been back to work, I've been really struggling with having to get up at least once, often twice, a night with Connor. He's a big, healthy boy and everything I've read indicates that by this age he does not NEED to eat in the middle of the night. Can't really blame him, he's just like his mom and dad - the boy just LIKES to eat. And chit-chat, be held, etc. in the middle of the night. Anyway, after talking to all of my friends who are moms (including three doctors), I decided to take the plunge into sleep training.  

From what I've read, this is a fairly controversial topic. The purpose is to let the baby learn how to soothe himself back to sleep. There are varying degrees of the "cry it out" method, ranging from cold turkey to easing in to it by going in at set intervals and patting/speaking softly to the baby. There is plenty of literature saying that any version of "cry it out" is cruel and unhealthy, while advocates of the method say that the temporary "trauma" the child feels is far outweighed by the benefits of healthy sleep habits that result. So, I decided to give it a go. I was told it wouldn't be easy, so I thought I was prepared, but I had no idea how hard that first night would be. I put Connor to bed around 10pm. That is a little later than normal, and he's usually sleeping when I put him in his crib, but that night he was sleepy but still awake. About 15 minutes after I put him down, he started crying. I had decided that I was going to try the cold turkey approach and not go in at all. It was torture. It wasn't just boo-hoo-hoo-ing and wimpering, it was scream-your-lungs-out and choke-on-your-tears. All the wine in the world wouldn't have made me feel better. I sat in my bed texting Lisa, knowing that she would still be up on the west coast. I basically told her I was imagining poor Connor turning purple and having all the blood vessels in his eyes popped and asked her who would pass out first - me or him. While waiting for her responses, I was feverishly researching on my phone articles about sleep training, trying to reassure myself that doing this would not traumatize him to the point that he developes issues later in life, and by that I mean paints his fingernails black and wears spiked dog collars and combat boots to school. Lisa's helpful advice included "you should make sure all the lights are off and open his door 2 inches and smell for barf." As we were approaching 90 minutes, I almost caved and went in and got him, but I decided to give it 5-10 more minutes.I'm so glad I did, because after 93 minutes, he FINALLY tuckered himself out, quieted down, and went to sleep. He didn't wake up until after 5am on Saturday morning. And, he was still all smiles and so pleasant when he woke up, so I felt a little less guilty.

Saturday was a pretty dreary day, but we decided to take a little drive to the annual Canton Apple and Cheese Festival. It is about 45 minutes away and we've gone almost every  year - they have all sorts of vendors and food, and it is nice to see the fall foliage on the way up. Because it was rainy and muddy, we didn't want to bother with our current stroller since it is not meant for anything other than flat pavement and Target, so Connor got to be a little joey in the Ergobaby. It was actually a lot chillier in Canton than Williamsport so I'm sure Connor enjoyed the extra warmth.

We were only there about an hour but managed to stuff ourselves with good festival food and capped off the trip with delicious homemade apple dumplings with ice cream.

After we got home on Saturday we watched some college football before going over to Debbie's house, where Collin and Emily were staying. We ordered pizza and watched the start of the game. I could tell Connor was starting to get sleepy, so around 9 I took him home, gave him a bath and put him to bed. I caught the end of the ND game (5-0, yeah!) and waited for the misery of sleep training round 2 to begin. He woke up around 1am and this time, to my frayed nerves' delight, he decreased his crying time to about 25 minutes. That was still hard, but much more tolerable. Again, he slept until about 5am on Sunday morning and was just as sweet as ever.

On Sunday we decided to take the dogs up to Blockhouse and let them run around since they were feeling a little neglected lately. Baby Linn got strapped in the Ergobaby again and we hiked about a mile into the trails and a mile out. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures to share, but they all would have involved the dogs covered in mud. Which they kindly removed from themselves in the back of my car while waiting for us to have the Oktoberfest buffet the caretakers had prepared for Sunday dinner. Oh well, at least it was contained to the back and they enjoyed themselves and got some of their energy out. Connor was an angel while we were eating and everyone commented on how sweet and happy he is. We enjoyed our lunch of German inspired dishes, so much so that Baby Linn and I had to take a long nap when we got home! Sleep training round 3 went okay on Sunday night - he was asleep when I put him to bed and he woke up around midnight and cried for about 22 minutes again, maybe even less. Is it bad that by that point I didn't feel as bad anymore and ended up falling back to sleep right around the time he did?

I am thrilled to report that on Monday night Connor slept from 9pm - 5am, straight through, no tears! I thought it may have just been a fluke, but last night, he went to bed again around 9, and this is what I found when I went in at 6am:

Still sleeping at 6am - I was already showered, had the laundry in the dryer, and fed the dogs!

Fingers crossed that this is the start of something beautiful!!! All my friends said it would be about 3 or 4 nights but eventually he would get it and be able to soothe himself back to sleep should he get up in the middle of the night, especially since he knows he's not automatically going to get fed or held if he crys long enough. 

Weekend in Vermont

It's a good thing I didn't start the tradition of taking a picture of Connor on each month's "birthday." He turned 3 months old when we were in Ireland. This past weekend, he turned 4 months old, again while staying with Gramma. Someday he will be able to commiserate with Aunt Lisa when she complains about how during her childhood her parents used to go on vacation every year over her birthday!

The reason he spent the weekend at Debbie's was because Ryan and I went to Manchester, Vermont, for Katie and Erik's wedding. Katie was one of my roommates at Notre Dame and we were fortunate enough to be able to study in London together, along with two of our other roommates, Katie and Kelly. We had some amazingly funny and crazy times traveling throughout Europe and back in South Bend. Katie has a wonderful family and I knew that this weekend would be incredible, especially since all my other roommates and their parents were also making the trip to celebrate.

We left on Thursday after work. Debbie had plans that night, but luckily she was willing to babysit the rest of the weekend and Sam, a friend and coworker, was kind enough to agree to sit with Connor on Thursday evening until Debbie was able to pick him up. This allowed us to make a significant dent in the drive so that we could arrive at a decent hour on Friday morning. We made it to Albany on Thursday night. We drove the last hour and a half on Friday, in the rain. It's a shame that the weather was so bad because it was supposed to be the prime weekend for fall foliage in Vermont. When we arrived, Ryan dropped me off at the bridal suite at the Charles Orvis Inn at the Equinox hotel. Katie and the rest of the wedding party had done a pilates class (SO SORRY I had to miss that!) and were supposed to go on a hike around the property, but the weather caused it to be cancelled so everyone was just relaxing and having some champagne and a little lunch. At 230 we had a brief rehearsal. Then the real fun began...

On Friday night there was a "welcome party" at the pond at the Equinox Hotel. This place was amazing. See for yourself at the hotel's website: http://www.equinoxresort.com/ The groom is from Texas and all the guests were "strongly encouraged" to dress the part. Luckily Ryan and I already had our cowboy boots! It was a lot of fun and after the buses brought us back down the mountain, the party continued at Mulligans. I paid for it the next day (obviously, when you are out of practice from not drinking for over a year because of pregnancy and breastfeeding, it is not advisable to jump back on the wagon by drinking approximately 364 vodka tonics) but it was well worth it.

A little blurry, but all the ND roommates and our parents decked out in our Western finest.

The after party at Mulligans

Meanwhile, back at home, the babies (rather, Debbie and Courtney) were entertaining themselves in the laundry basket. So glad we have expensive pack & plays and jumperoos....



The night was, in fact, so fun that I had to call my dad to come and pick Ryan up at the bar. I guess some things will never change! In my defense, before I called him to pick us up, I did do some investigating and found that Manchester, VT, does not have ONE SINGLE taxicab. Connor, if you're reading this someday, I'm sure your dad will be happy to do the same for you. I, on the other hand, will be catching up on all the sleep you've deprived me of over the years.

Saturday was wedding day. I was feeling a little rough while we all checked out the Orvis flagship store, but that's okay - its not like I could afford anything there anyway! It certainly was an impressive place, but I was much more concerned about where we were going to eat lunch. We (Ryan & I, my friends' husbands, and our parents - who all happened to be at the Orvis store at the same time) ended up at, surprise, Mulligans. After lunch, I felt much better and was ready to rally for the evening. I went back to the hotel, showered, got ready, and headed over to the suite where the rest of the bridal party was getting ready.

The wedding was at Hildene, which was the summer home of Robert Todd Lincoln, son of Abraham and Mary Lincoln. Robert was, among other things, the Chairman of the Pullman Corporation and the Secretary of War. The house has a pipe organ that is over 100 years old. The mansion was home to their descendants until 1975. Oh, and I forgot to mention that the house, and the estate, are absolutely gorgeous! The weather improved significantly and the leaves were beautiful. The ceremony was short and sweet and then it was time to party!

The beautiful bride "cooling her heels" before the ceremony

The pictures don't do it justice, but if you want to learn more about the place, visit the website www.hildene.org/

Family photo. Dad looks so happy. Maybe it is because his birthday was the next day and he realized he is getting OLD.

Roommates minus the bride

After the cocktail hour we had dinner and then danced the night away. The band was wonderful and I had a great time. Ryan even VOLUNTARILY got on the dance floor a few times! This weekend/wedding was bit bittersweet for me because Katie was the last roommate to get married so now we no longer have a guaranteed reason to get together once a year. The four of us in the picture above all had babies within 9 months of each other so I guess we are going to have to start looking at vacations to Disney World or someplace similar if we want to get together now!!!

As much fun as it was, I was anxious to get back home on Sunday. I think it was almost harder leaving Connor this trip than when we went to Ireland since I am working now and don't get to see him much during the week since, by the time I pick him up, feed him, give him a bath, and we eat, it is time to put him to bed so I really look forward to the weekends. Debbie took him to Alex's soccer game and texted me this picture:

Clearly not impressed with Alex's moves.

Our drive home was loooong but we made it around 4pm. So glad to be home, but even more thankful that we don't have anywhere to go for the next few weekends!



Gone Fishin'

I'm a little behind on my posts, sorry! I am beginning to think that I may never get around to posting about our trip to Ireland. Maybe it is just as well - that way Connor won't ever be able to look back and see how much fun we had without him. It will spare him the pain that I felt when my parents left me (at age 16!) with my grandmother while they galavanted off to Ireland the first time Notre Dame played Navy over there!

Anyway, I've been back to work for three full weeks and it feels like I never left. Connor's used to day care now. He still has the remnants of whatever he brought home almost two weeks ago. Poor baby! I have spoken to my friends who have little ones in day care and they said I can pretty much expect the cough and runny nose off and on for the next several months as he builds up his immunities. We're settling in to a routine in the mornings - it usually involves me wishing Bostleys had a curbside baby valet so I wouldn't have to get out of the car (and would therefore have time to go to Dunkin Donuts) and then running up the alley in my heels at 7:58 am to get in the door at work by 8:00.

Last weekend Ryan went fishing with his buddy John. He had originally planned to go up to Blockhouse on Saturday and stay overnight because there were work days both Saturday and Sunday (still can't figure out why he enjoys work days at Blockhouse but he gets hives when I mention doing work at our house), but early in the week John contacted him about going fishing to Lake Erie. They were going to leave Saturday night and come home Sunday night. Well, on Friday, Ryan heard the charter was cancelled because there were supposed to be 8ft. waves but he repeatedly assured me "we still might go fishing somewhere." Well, the one night fishing expedition turned into to "We're leaving tonight (Friday) and coming back on Sunday." Well, alrighty then. Baby Linn and I were going to have some quality bonding time...

...And by that I mean we would have a Notre Dame fashion show! Since Daddy was out of town, we didn't have to worry about wearing any of that Penn State crap!

 

Wait, I'm not ready! Can you please at least put some pants on me before we start this photo shoot?

 

 

That's better.

 

 

Now I'm ready. It's game time.

 

 

My biggest worry when Ryan goes away is who is going to feed me! Luckily, Julie and Donald invited me (okay, I'm pretty sure Julie didn't care if I starved, she just wanted to visit with Connor) over for dinner with their family and to watch the game. Donald's extended family is all ND fans, so their house is always fun (and loud) on game days. Connor was an angel. I didn't hold him from the minute we got there until I put him in his car seat after the game. He got passed around and everyone took a turn holding him. I had only intended to stay until halftime but we were having such a good time (and the game was so good - so exciting to beat Michigan!) that we stayed for the entire game. And, if you know me at all, it was a night game so the end was waaaay past my bedtime. But well worth it.

 

The boys ended up coming home early on Sunday because the "conditions were rough." I don't know if that really meant that it was rainy and windy or if their consumption of Crown the night before made it rough, but I do know that they only caught three fish, and none of them were of legal size, so you can draw your own conclusions!