A Little More Linnsane

Things are going to get a little crazy around here in about 6 months.

 

We are excited (and a little terrified) to share the news that our family is growing and Connor is going to be a big brother. My due date is April 27, 2014, which means Connor will be about a month shy of 2 years old when the new baby arrives. I am currently about 14 weeks along. This is definitely more difficult this time around with an almost 17 month old to chase after. I've been lucky in the fact that for both pregnancies I've not experienced the puking end of the morning sickness, but for several weeks I was nauseous all day, every day. I'd think that I was hungry enough to eat a full Thanksgiving dinner, but then nothing appealed to me to eat. I also got a nasty cold that lasted two weeks, had a pinched nerve in my neck that was super fun, and by about 3pm every day my arms and legs felt like spaghetti and all I wanted to do was close my office door, pretend I had a "phone conference" and take a nap. Connor very well could have been the smelly kid in daycare on several occasions because I was too tired to give him a bath the night before! Thankfully I am finally starting to feel human again (still tired ALL the time, but I'm pretty sure I've had African Sleeping Sickness for the past 10 years).

Despite all these lovely symptoms, it still didn't seem quite real until I had my first ultrasound about 2 weeks ago. I won't post pictures of the contents of my uterus, but it did confirm the following: (1) there is only one baby in there (THANK GOD!) and (2) it does not have four legs and a tail. Everything looks good so far. Like the last time, we won't find out what we're having. There was just something so exciting about waiting. I'm not easily surprised, and I think that is one of the true surprises in life. I am praying that this labor will be easier and shorter than the last time. I also plan to get an epidural a few days before my due date just to make sure it actually works when the time comes. Ryan can push me around in a wheelchair if necessary.

So, this marks 2 out of 3 football seasons, holidays, and wedding anniversaries that I won't be able to drink, but that's okay because it also means 2 out of 3 summers that I'll be off of work. We know that things will be crazy and expensive and exhausting with a newborn and a 2 year old (the thought of diapers alone is scary!), but I'm so glad that Connor and his new sibling will be so close in age. I hope they will be the best of friends. I truly don't care what we have, but if I had to guess right now, I'm thinking it will be another boy.

I wasn't kidding when I said I am tired ALL THE TIME. It is 8:53 (on a Saturday night!!!) and I am ready for bed. Guess I should enjoy it while I can!

Fall Fun

I am so happy it is fall. This is my favorite time of year - football season, pumpkin coffee, apples, homemade chili and soups, changing leaves, and sweaters. It may sound weird, but I'm not sure I'd trade Central Pennsylvania in the fall for anywhere in the world.

We've been busy the past few weekends. On the last weekend in September we took Connor to the pumpkin patch. It was probably a little bit early to go there, as they didn't actually have the hayrides to the real pumpkin patch where you could pick your own, and it was approximately 85 degrees that day, but Connor still had a blast.

 

 

 

 

The following weekend we went to the Pennsylvania Apple and Cheese Festival in Canton, which is about 45 minutes north of Williamsport. It is a nice drive and the leaves were pretty close to their peak up north. It was also very warm that weekend. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures. We were too busy picking up some local apples, cheese, apple cider, and apple dumplings to take any.

 

Last weekend we went to pick out Connor's Halloween costume. Probably not the smartest idea to go to Party City at 11am on a Saturday two weeks before Halloween, but oh well. I think for the next few years I would like to try to make his costumes. All the options there seem so cheap. Of course, we did pick one, and it is cute, but it is nothing to write home about. I just didn't feel too bad about not putting too much effort into it this year because he is still too little to fully understand the costume concept so we took the easy way out. Next year when he will actually be useful to me on Halloween and be able to get good candy while trick or treating, I will try to be better at planning and more creative with his costume. While we waited in what seemed like an endless line of unhappy kids and even unhappier parents, Connor entertained himself with his trick-or-treat bucket.

 

Last Sunday we decided to take the dogs up to Blockhouse and let them run around a bit and get some exercise, since they have been feeling a little neglected since Connor came along. It was a beautiful day and they certainly enjoyed the chance to run free. We are so lucky to belong to this beautiful club. After our hike we sat by the fire before having Sunday dinner up there with Collin & Emily, Heister & Ruth.

This weekend Ryan went to Lake Oneida, New York, to go fishing with Adrianne's husband, John.
They left on Thursday morning so it has just been Connor & I for a few days. Today, we went over to Adrianne's house for lunch and to visit with the girls. I decided to try to be creative and make some pumpkin rice krispie treats. I think they turned out so cute! I used Tootsie Rolls for the stems and green icing for the leaves.

 

I told you I love fall. Just call me Becky Home-Ec-y.

Are You Ready for Some Football?!?!

The last weekend of August/first weekend of September is quite possibly my favorite weekend of the year - it is college football's opening weekend AND marks the return of pumpkin coffee at Dunkin Donuts! This year, on the Friday before the first ND game, we were at home in Wyomissing. My parents watched Connor while Ryan and I went to the Luke Bryan concert at the Allentown Fair. We had the best time - the concert was so much fun! The only problem was that we had to haul ass home the next day because we had to be at Julie and Donald's before the start of the game. Connor is the only one of us that had "the Shirt" this year (I guess when you have a grandkid your kid no longer gets souvenirs on your trips to Notre Dame, right Dad?).

 

This year watching football games has been a little bit different than last year at Julie's. Last year, Connor was so little that everyone wanted to hold him - we'd arrive and I'd hand him off and not see him again until it was time to leave. Or he'd be content to snooze in his carrier and would sleep right through all the rowdy cheers. We could eat and drink and not have to worry about him. This year, since he's mobile and doesn't quite understand the importance yet of sitting and watching Notre Dame game from start to finish, it is a little more hectic. But, he is so good and adapts very well in new environments, so it is still fun. We just make sure he has lots of things to entertain him and take turns walking around with him.  He is just about the cutest ND fan I've ever seen - don't think he'd be nearly as happy in PSU gear!

 





Connor was also excited for the Eagles debut the following week. He wore his Eagles sweatshirt to daycare that day and was a big hit.

While the Eagles looked awesome that first week, things have gone downhill since then. At least they have a slightly better record than the Steelers. The Irish are unfortunately not headed for a repeat appearance at the national championship game. They are 3-1, but are currently in danger of losing their second game. It is frustrating watching them - they make a lot of mistakes and bad decisions. Hopefully they will turn it around for the rest of the season but they have a touch schedule. At least we have some good company to watch the games with!

 

It's tough being a Notre Dame fan.

15 Month Stats and Fun Facts

Connor had his 15 month checkup earlier this month. He is growing like a weed! Here are his stats:

• He is 32 inches (he grew 2.25 inches in 3 months and 11.5 inches since birth) which puts him in the 72%
• He weighs 23 lbs. 2 ozs. (gained 9 ozs. in 3 months and 14 lbs. 6 ozs since birth) which puts him in the 27%
• His head circumference is 18.5 inches, which puts him in the 42%

Overall, he is doing great! He seems a little skinny, but I think it is because he had a major growth spurt since his last appointment. His physician assistant didn't seem concerned. Actually, in the few weeks since his appointment, Connor's developed quite an appetite and seems to be filling out quite nicely.

A few fun facts about Connor at 15 months:

• He finally learned to walk on his own! He was a late crawler, so I was not surprised that he took his sweet time learning to walk. Actually, for months now he's been able to walk really well holding on to furniture or a hand, but was just never confident enough to do it on his own. Everyone told me to count my blessings, but with two dogs and making it hard to keep the floors clean, I was more than ready for him to be done the crawling. It seems like all of a sudden one day he just decided he was over it too.

• Connor is doing much better drinking from a sippy cup. I would have liked to have him completely off the bottle by now, but I made the mistake one morning of trying to give him a sippy cup of milk instead of his usual bottle and He. Was. Pissed. I mean, inconsolable. Ruined his whole day and stressed me out - and I already find it stressful enough to get showered, dressed, looking somewhat presentable, get Connor up, dressed, fed, and dropped off at daycare and at work on time (give or take five minutes). So, we're going to have to work on that.
• Connor's become quite a good eater. Some of his favorite foods are chicken nuggets, steak, grilled cheese, pineapples, pears, waffles, and oatmeal. And he goes nuts for french fries. He is not at all interested in any kind of pasta and I find it difficult to get him to eat vegetables with his fingers (although at daycare he does it with no problems) but he will still eat the pureed vegetables with no problem for me. He is in the process of learning to feed himself. He's still pretty lazy and likes me to do it for him, but it's a start. Breakfast, as if it wasn't already stressful enough, just got a little longer and a whole lot messier:

• He is really developing quite a little personality. He waves when someone says "hi" or "bye" to him; in addition to "mama" and "dada" he can say "bye-bye," "ball," "more," and he mimics every sound we make like a little crow; his favorite toys are balls (and he's got quite an arm already) and cars (we went to Julie's for a game a few weeks ago and she let him play with some of her son's matchbox cars and he loved them so much we had to go out and buy a few the next day).
• He is an excellent sleeper. He goes to bed without any fuss between 730 and 800 and sleeps through the night. On the weekends he takes 1 nap, usually between 3 and 4 hours long. At daycare, I'm told he does great sleeping on his little mat during naptime and usually sleeps between 2-2.5 hours.
• He is, 90% of the time, the most pleasant little boy. He is such a joy to be around, and warms my heart with his giggles and smiles and funny antics. He is a bit of a mama's boy, which is just fine with me!

Summer Recap

Ok, I fully realize how ridiculous it is that we are now at the end of September and it has been three months since I've updated. Three months is a long time in the life of a baby! In all fairness, I've started this post about three separate times, written one sentence, and stopped. So each time I came back to it, I saw "I can't believe summer is half over!" then, "How is it already Labor Day?" then "We are mid way through September, where does the time go?" You know it is bad when someone texts you: "I'm sorry for your loss." and after you reply "Thanks, but who died?" you get "Your blog." Anyway, now that summer is over and we are into football season and, in my opinion, football seasom = spending Sunday afternoons on the couch watching the games with laptop close by monitoring fantasy football scores, I fully intend to get back into the swing of things with posting updates. In the meantime, here's an as-brief-as-possible recap of the last few months.

We were so lucky to have some incredible weather this summer. Aside from one miserably hot week, it was so beautiful in Central PA so we tried to do as much outside as possible. A few weeks after having my appendix removed, I was feeling well enough to test out the new hiking backpack we bought for Connor. Okay, I didn't really do any of the testing, other than making sure he was properly strapped to Ryan's back but that's an important job when there is precious cargo involved! We took a drive up to Watkins Glen, New York, to hike the famous Gorge Trail. Within 2 miles, the stream descends over 400 feet and has 19 different waterfalls along the course. It isn't exactly a wilderness hike, but it was really neat. In the 1930s they hand carved steps and bridges into the stone. There are 832 steps total along the trail, with nearly 180 of them coming at the very end on a very steep part of the gorge known as Jacob's Ladder. It was a very hot and humid day, so by the time we were done we were both sweaty and more than ready to refuel with some lunch and craft beers at the Rooster Fish Brewing Company.

 

Connor thoroughly enoyed the ride.

 

 

Who do you think won this staring contest?

 

This summer I was fortunate to be able to work from home 2-3 days per week. A few years ago my bosses wrote two books: The Pennsylvania Trust Guide and The Supplemental Needs Trust Guide. I contributed a few chapters to each book. It's not exactly exciting reading, more of an instructional manual for lawyers, financial advisors, and trust officers. Anyway, each year we have to do a supplement for it, which is an update on statutes, case law, as well as any new material we think is interesting and pertinent. The supplement gets automatically sent to every person who purchased the original guide (think Columbia House). This summer, Adrianne was out on maternity leave so I was responsible for preparing the supplement. I was very thankful for the opportunity (and that they trusted me to do it on my own!) and even more thankful that they allowed me to do the majority of it from home, to avoid the distractions of the office. I still ended up sending Connor to daycare while I worked from home because there's no way I would get anything done with him here with me, but the nice thing was I was often able to adjust my hours in order to do some fun things. Most Tuesdays I would work for a few hours after Connor went to bed so that on Wednesday mornings (Ryan's day off) we could go to the Lewisburg farmers market. Usually we would stop at the grocery store afterwards. Connor likes the carts at the Weis in Lewisburg - they are police, firetruck, and racecar themed!

 

 

We also took Connor to Knoebels for the first time. It was a beautiful afternoon and because it was a weekday, it was far less crowded than on the weekends. Connor was still too little for most of the rides but he was able to go on a few.

 

 



 

Tuckered out after a an exciting day!

 

Knoebels is such a neat park. It is only about 45 minutes away from us. No admission fee, very family friendly and clean, the rides are super cheap, and the food is consistently winning awards for the best amusement park food. I can't wait to go back next summer when Connor is a little older and can ride a few more rides.

 

We didn't get to do too much swimming this summer. Connor enjoyed swimming at Nana & Pop-pop's over the 4th of July but unfortunately I didn't get any pictures. I did manage to snap a picture of my dad sneaking him some ice cream!

 



 

Overall we had a great summer. Connor grew so much and I really loved seeing how his little personality is developing. Towards the end of the summer though Connor, like his parents, started to get antsy for football season!

 

 



One Year Stats and What Else We've Been Up To

Connor had his one year check up on June 5th. The PA seemed very please with how he is developing and progressing - right on track! Here are his most recent stats:

• He weighs 22 lbs. 9 oz. so he is in the 44% (he gained 13 lbs. 13 oz. since birth)
• He is 29.75 inches so he is in the 46% (he grew 9.25 inches since birth)
• His head circumference is 18.25 inches, which is the 48%

I know it has been quite some time since I've updated the blog with pictures and stories of what we've been up to. Here's a quick recap:

In April we spent a weekend in Bedford Springs, PA. Ryan had a dental meeting there so Connor and I drove down to meet him after work on Friday. The resort, The Omni Bedford Springs Resort was gorgeous! The weather was a little chilly so we had to stay indoors most of the time, but there was so much to see and do that we didn't get bored.

On Sunday on our way home we stopped at Donald & Julie's house to celebrate her 40th birthday. Connor apparently had too much fun partying all weekend!

I signed us up for swimming lessons at the YMCA. It was a 7 week course on Wednesday nights. Courtney and Evie were in the same class. The "instructor" was a little wacky, and Connor was one of the youngest ones in the class, but I'm glad we did it just because it got him used to being in the water. He was a little apprehensive at first, but really seemed to enjoy it the more he was in the water.

We can't wait to go swimming at Nana & Pop-pop's house this summer!

We went to one of the fish stockings at Texas Blockhouse.

Father-son camo shirts!

Connor got an awesome new stroller so we have been trying to get out as much as possible and enjoy the nice weather. We go to the Williamsport farmers' market on Saturdays and a couple weeks ago stopped to watch some of the soap box derby races down Market Street.



Connor has also found a new favorite toy. This little boy is spoiled rotten with toys that light up, sing, teach spanish, etc. but his favorite toy of all is the dogs' racquetball. We even have one that we keep in the cupholder of Connor's carseat and several extras, just in case!

The dogs look so dejected in this picture! Thank God that they aren't jealous that Connor's taken their toys. 

My loves on Father's Day!

Well, I think that pretty much sums up what we've been up to over the past several weeks. I have had some extra time this week to catch up on the blog because I have been home from work after having an emergency appendectomy at 230am on Wednesday morning. I started feeling sick on Tuesday a little before lunchtime, and the pain got progressively worse as the day went on. After work, I decided to go to the MedExpress place because my doctor's office was closed and I didn't want to go sit at the ER for hours if it was something stupid like gas or a stomach bug. But the doctor at MedExpress recommended that I go to the ER to get bloodwork done just to be on the safe side. So I went. And I sat in the waiting room for 4 hours before being seen. They ER doc wasn't convinced it was appendicitis until after he got my labs back and saw how elevated my white blood cell counts were. So, he called the surgeon, who requested that I get a CT scan and as soon as he read the results he came in and they decided to do the surgery right away, rather than waiting until a normal time the next morning. Apparently everything went just fine, but my appendix was quite inflamed so I guess it was good that they got it out before it ruptured. They discharged me from the hospital late Wednesday afternoon so I wasn't even there for 24 hours! I am really tired and sore, but I guess it beats being doubled over in pain and puking like I was on Tuesday! I have had some really bad shoulder pain which I believe is the result of trapped gas from the laproscopy and today I had a terrible headache, which is probably from the anesthesia and the fact that I haven't had coffee for the past 72 hours! The worst part is that I am unable to drive or pick up Connor until my follow up appointment on Tuesday. I feel so bad for Connor because he just doesn't understand. Ryan has been a big help though and has gotten him ready for the past two mornings and taken him to daycare on his way to work so I can rest at home. I've got some major cabin fever though so hopefully by tomorrow I'll be feeling well enough to get out of the house for a little bit! 



Happy Birthday Baby!

Connor turned a year old on May 29th. This past year has just flown by - but what an incredible year it has been! We celebrated his birthday with a little party on Saturday, May 25th. We had a baseball/Phillies theme. I had hoped to be in our new house by this time, and had everything planned out in my mind, from baseball themed food, cupcakes, party games, decorations, etc. Sadly, I'm much more creative in my head than I am in practice, so his party wasn't as grandiose as I imagined it. Oh well, we still had a good time. I was thrilled with the way the invitations turned out. I ordered them from Etsy.com and they were so adorable:

I also ordered this adorable onesie from Etsy for his party. In keeping with the Phillies theme, Ryan and I both wore our favorite Phillies shirts.

We got Connor a little smash cupcake so that he wouldn't be ruining everyone else's cake. I wasn't too sure how he'd handle it. He doesn't really love getting his hands messy. Everyone pretty much had to whisper the happy birthday song because for some reason whenever you cheer for Connor and say "yaaay!" he gets so upset. He scrunches up his little nose and these big crocodile tears start to fall. It is heartbreaking and hilarous at the same time.

I walked away for 2 seconds and my dad pretty much fed him the entire cupcale.

Connor got to celebrate again on his actual birthday. It fell on a Wednesday, which was nice because Ryan had the day off and I took a vacation day so we got to spend the day together. We took a ride to the Lewisburg Farmers' Market and stopped at the Purple Cow and got Connor some ice cream on the way home. Later we enjoyed some time on the porch and he got to eat some more cake after dinner.

Seems to be getting the hang of it. I hope he doesn't think this is going to be an every day occurrence.

Overall it was a great couple of days celebrating Connor's birthday. What a year it has been. It has been so fun to watch him grow and develop his little personality. He can say "Mama" and has recently learned the "B" and "Y" sounds so he can say "Baba" and "Yaya." He is not walking yet, but I believe it will be any day now. He has at least 8 teeth and the most infectious laugh I have ever heard. He is such a laid back and content little guy. He is a great sleeper - goes to bed around 8pm without any problems and sleeps through the night until around 7am, sometimes later on the weekends when we don't have to be at work. He is eating some table food and learning to drink from a sippy cup. He can wave and he loves to go for walks. We are so lucky to be his parents and can't wait for more adventures this coming year!



Year in Review

We are just a few days shy of Connor's first birthday. I could fill this page with all the things we've learned in the past year and all the funny parenting fails we've experienced, but I figured that there might be someone a little better qualified to review our first year together. Plus, we all know I'm a little bit behind on the updating of the blog so until I actually get around to posting the year in review, Connor might be a good 18 or 19 months old! Therefore, I decided that the blog will have a special guest poster this week - Connor (I told you he was handsome and smart):

Hi everybody. Most of you know that I go to day care four days a week. Despite the 17 colds I've gotten while attending, being in day care has its advantages because there are so many different kids with whom I can compare notes about our parents - their strengths, weaknesses, etc. For example, Caiden's mom doesn't seem to care that he has a runny nose ALL THE TIME, while my mom insists on digging out even the smallest boogies (I do believe she told you all the story of how she used a bulb syringe the wrong way the first time, and blew the air up my nose). So, my mom gets a negative in that category. On the plus side, my mom never made me wear those dumb hand mitts to prevent me from scratching myself like Raegan's mom is still making him wear (just cut his nails already!).

So, while I was supposed to be napping, I started thinking about life in my house, and how my parents have handled me thus far. In all fairness, I did pretty much change their lives (I hear they used to go to something called happy hour, but they haven't gone since I've arrived), so I will try to be lenient since this is their first year.

My review is based on the following scale:

5 bottles - the baby equivalent of Dom Perignon!
4 bottles 
3 bottles
2 bottles
1 bottle - prune juice (we all know what that's for!)

Household Help
From what I can tell, the staff in the house consists of my Mom and Dad. There are two other hairy creatures but I'm pretty sure they are guests too. If they're part of the staff, they should be fired immediately, because they seem pretty lazy - always sleeping on the couch. They don't have to wear diapers, and they get to poop outside. I get the impression that they were, shall we say, "top dogs" before I arrived. When I first got here, there were a lot of hushed whispers about whether the hairy creatures would get along with the new roommate. They were pretty respectful from the beginning, but after a few days when they realized that my stay at the Hotel Linn was going to be an extended stay, they really started to get to like me. I mean, they've always felt comfortable sharing my toys and you should see them now - when I'm eating, they sit very attentively at the foot of my chair just waiting for me to cast some morsels in their direction. Pathetic fools, they have no idea what they have to look forward to - just wait until I start eating spaghetti!

Anyway, back to the main staff. I could tell this was a new operation when I first got here. They were a little unprofessional if you ask me - like I couldn't see them doing rocks-paper-scissors to determine who had to change my diaper! Additionally, the linens they provided me with the first few nights were a little bit, um, confining. I think they called it a "swaddle," but in reality it was an infant straightjacket. I thought this was a hotel, not an asylum! I'll chalk up the hiccups in the first few days of my stay to the staff being new at this gig (I'm told prior to my arrival they had "real jobs," for which they went to school a long time and acquired a lot of debt) and even though I was registered as a guest a full nine months prior to checking in (and even got delayed a full four days), I resisted the urge to book a room at the Williamsport Ritz Carlton. I'm glad I stuck it out - the longer I stayed, the more confident and competent the staff became. My mom, she was on duty pretty much 24/7 the first few weeks - always willing to meet my demands for a late night snack or wardrobe and linen change when I trashed the place after a night of partying. And my dad, he got pretty proficient at the dirty work as well, especially when my mom went back to her "real job" and dad was left to run the hotel by himself on Wednesdays. Now the stuff runs a pretty well-oiled machine. I am sure some of that can be attributed to me getting a little less demanding in my old age, and the fact that I am a model guest.
Rating: 4 bottles. Pretty good, but always room for improvement.

Accommodations
Overall it is a nice place. It's really old. Not creepy old, like the hotel in The Shining, just old. After speaking with some of the other day care kids, I realized that I didn't get the VIP treatment in the owners' suite like some of them. From my first night, I was placed in my own room. Hey, if my mom wanted to get up and walk down the hall 2, 3, 4 times a night to attend to my needs, more power to her. My room is a corner room, and the bed is comfortable, but the rest of the funishings are a little sparse. My "dresser" is actually a long folding table. One bottle deduction for that - where do you put the HOLY BIBLE when there are no drawers? There is a comfy rocking chair with an ottoman where my mom and I spent countless hours in those first few months. During the day it sometimes oddly also doubled as her photo studio, so maybe I should charge her rent for the use of it. They do have a weird surveilance system - they can hear me at all times. It's not exactly a wiretap, but they do have a monitor to keep tabs on me. I think it is fun to yell at the top of my lungs when I need something, just because it is amplified about 100x through their monitor. I wish it also worked the other way around, but I can't hear what they're saying in my room. I did hear, however, them talking about getting an actual video monitor - guess I'll say goodbye to what little privacy I did enjoy.

Over the summer, it got really hot in my room. I complained, quite loud and quite often, about having to sleep in insufferable conditions. Maintenance came and tried to open one of my windows in order to put a fan in there, but it wouldn't budge. So, the staff kindly accommodated me in a larger room with a smaller bed. Whatever, it had air conditioning which made it pleasantly cool and I think the white noise also helped me sleep a little better. In addition to my pack and play, the new guest room also had a bed, which was sometimes used by my mom when she was "just too tired to walk the 15 feet back to the owners' suite." I don't really know what she was complaining about - I think the federal labor standards only require a 15 minute break every four hours. I thought I was being generous by giving her 2-3 hour breaks in between shifts.

Once the weather cooled down, I was returned to my own room and my own bed. I've also gotten to explore the rest of the house. Most of the social activity takes place in the family room. Sometimes the two hairy guests and I have to fight over who gets to sit on Mom and Dad's laps. I usually win. It's comfortable, and I have no complaints about the social activities the staff provides. They used to have a swing but after a few weeks I grew tired of it, so I filled out a comment card and dropped it in the suggestion box. A few weeks later my mom brought home this amazing jumperoo. I believe that she was feeling a bit guilty about she and my dad closing the hotel for a week and going on vacation to Ireland, so she upgraded to the deluxe model. I had to wait a few weeks before I grew into it, but once my feet touched the floor, there was no stopping me. As an added bonus, my time in the jumperoo allowed my mom to stop ignoring her duties as the inn keeper, such as laundry and vacuuming. Then, after another few weeks passed, the portable bed from the summer made a return appearance, only this time the bassinet was taken out and it was more like a prison. With toys!!! I like to relax in there and play with my toys. Occasionally I do feel like a zoo animal, but for the most part I like it because nobody bothers me.

Rumor has it that the hotel is going to be relocating and that I'm going to like the new digs even better. It is apparently a little outside of town and I will have a lot of open space in which to play. I've even heard there are occasionally wild animals on the premises, such as deer and turkey. I will believe it when I see it, but for now I'm content with my current room.
Rating: 3.5 bottles. There was that time they overloaded a plug in my room, which caused a spark...
.
Food
When I first got home, I was on a liquid diet. I would see my dad making these amazing meals - steaks on the grill, chili, roasted chicken, homemade pizza, hoagies, etc. I was pretty jealous and couldn't figure out why my mom was the only one cooking for me. Same thing, all day, every day. The one good thing was that it was like a 24 hour buffet - always open! Have you ever gone six straight months eating the same thing for every meal and snack? When the two hairy guests heard me complaining they told me to be thankful and that they have been eating the same meal for 4.5 years and 6.5 years respectively! I've never been to a place where the staff eats better than the guests! After about six months, my mom started introducing me to wallpaper paste, rice cereal. It was pretty nasty and I began to realize what they mean when they say "be careful what you wish for." After several unsuccessful attempts with that crap, she switched to oatmeal. That went a little bit better, but after a few weeks things really started to get interesting. My mom started using the kitchen and making me colorful foods. Should I have been concerned that I never saw my dad eat anything my mom cooked, or that he was constantly asking her if she knew what she was doing in the kitchen, since he had never seen her in there before? Probably, but it was very exciting to try new things. I ended up wearing most of it at first, but I slowly got more experienced in the art of fine dining. I definitely liked the sweet potatoes, pears, and carrots. Over time, I also began to enjoy the peas, squash, and black beans. And then they introduced the Puffs. My parents open a can of those babies and I swear I hear angels singing. I don't discriminate by flavor - I love them all. They are the best way to keep me entertained at a restaurant or while my mom is making my real dinner. Now, I pretty much eat anything. I've got four teeth on the bottom and 2 up top with two more coming in, so I'm learning to chew. So far I've experimented with chicken, steak, avocados, cheese, black olives, tomatoes, fish, mac and cheese, ice cream, and french fries to name a few. My dad told my mom that he even gave me a taste of chicken livers one night while he was out to dinner and she was working late. She's not sure she believes him and I can't talk yet so his secret is safe with me. I hear that I'm going to get to try something called a "chocolate cupcake" next week on my birthday. I don't know what that is, but it sounds glorious. I must admit, however, when I hear them talk about how a whole bunch of people are going to sing to me and (gasp!) cheer for me, I can feel my little lip start to pout and my chin quiver just thinking about it.
Rating: 4 bottles. While I have no complaints about my mom's cooking, I'm withholding that 5th bottle until I can try my dad's since I'm fairly confident his will be even better.

Night Life
Things are kind of dull around here at night. Believe me, it isn't for lack of trying on my part. In those first few months, I liked to sleep all day and party all night. I would get up several times each night just to see if anything was going on. It usually wasn't. I only ever saw my mom, and she certainly wasn't dressed in her "going out clothes." I mean, come on, would it kill her to put on a little lipstick? She would usually fix me a snack and sing a round or two of karaoke, but that was about it. She also often mumbled something about having to get up early for work. From what I've heard about their college years, I had big plans for these two. What a disappointment. What's worse is that when I was about 8 months old and really getting into the swing of things with the solid foods, my mom suddenly yelled "Last Call!" one night and after that, the keg was kicked and the taps shut down. Around that time I started to lose all hope in the possibility of fun after dark so I only tried to rally the troops about once a night. About a month later, I completely abandoned ship and quit wasting my time. Now I'm like those old people at restaurants. I get the early bird special for dinner, have a bath, read a book, and I'm in bed by 8pm. Now that it is summer time, I go to bed before it is even dark enough for my penguin dream light to project LED stars on my ceiling. I know we live in a small town, but I really expected a lot more out of this group. I am on the move now, crawling all over the place, and I can pull myself up into a stand so if these two losers aren't careful, they just might find me climbing out of my crib one night and borrowing the keys to the car and sneaking out in search of some better night life.
Rating: 2 bottles.

Entertainment and Excursions
The hotel definitely excels in this category. This is where I really see fun mommy and daddy. I got to go to a wedding when I was 11 days old! I don't remember any of it, but I'm told I was the best behaved Linn family member there! Ever since then, the hotel staff has made it a point to get me out and exposed to new and exciting things. This hotel has offered excursions to the Canton Apple & Cheese Festival, Lewisburg Farmers' Market, the Wyomissing 4th of July parade and picnic at my grandparents' house, Texas Blockhouse Fish & Game Club for their 100th anniversary celebration and for their fish stocking (I'm told that I will be a frequent guest at this place in the coming years since my dad, uncle, and gramdpa are members), numerous Notre Dame game watches with friends, a Christmas tree farm, Bedford Springs, and swimming lessons at the YMCA. I even got a fancy new ride, complements of Nana, to be chauffered around in when we go on these excursions. All of these fun experiences make up for the fact that the hotel staff DID get to go on a few without me in the past year, like to Ireland, Vermont, Cooperstown, and to a Phillies game, but I suppose that they have earned a few vacation days and I can't expect to see and do EVERYTHING right now or I'll get spoiled. I'm told I will be going to Scottsdale, Arizona, in November. The hotel has arranged for me to go out to eat at various restaurants. Every Wednesday my dad has off and we get to do some old fashioned male bonding. Sometimes he takes me to his office and the grocery store where we I flirt with the old ladies. I really like Wednesdays and my mom says it is good for my dad to have to change my diaper and feed me once a week. I try to be on my best behavior whenever my parents take me on these outings so that they won't suspend my excursion privileges. Random strangers often comment about how cute I am or how good I am being, so I think it is working.
5 Bottles.

Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with my stay at the Hotel Linn. The staff waits on me hand and foot and I hope I get to stay with them for a long time. I mean, I live the good life - I get three meals a day, my laundry done twice a week, and plenty of toys to play with (with the bonus of my dad singing along with the puppy piano), and I don't even have to pay rent or ruin my credit before I even get to preschool. I'm sure at some point the hotel staff will want to welcome additional guests, but for now I'm just enjoying being the only one as they are learning how to work out the kinks of parenthood.

Back on the Market

Well, our house is officially back on the market! We met with a new realtor last weekend who is very sweet and seems to be a real go-getter. We signed the listing agreement on Saturday and we're up and running on the website today. Click here to see the actual listing. She has an open house scheduled for this Sunday and there is already a showing scheduled for tomorrow. We are hoping that we have a better experience this time around!

It is actually working out well that the open house is scheduled for this weekend. We will be out of town and have to board the dogs anyway, so it will kill two birds with one stone. Ryan has a dental conference at the Omni Bedford Springs Resort. He is catching a ride early tomorrow morning with another dentist from the area and Connor and I will join him after work on Friday. I'm already a little stressed out about packing for Connor since it will be his first stay in a hotel, plus I will have to get the dogs loaded up and dropped off at the kennel by myself - I'm getting hot and sweaty just thinking about that, especially since I will be on a tight time crunch to get them to the kennel before it closes, unless I get up super early and take them before work, but I'm usually running into work in my heels at 7:58am on a normal day after getting myself and Connor ready and dropping him off at day care, so I don't think that driving someplace 1/2 hour away and being able to get Connor dropped off and to work before my 8:00am meeting is feasible. Hopefully the trip will be worth it and we will have good feedback from the showing to come home to on Sunday night!

Happy Easter

Sorry it has been a few weeks. I know I've said it before, but sometimes I just don't know where the days go! We have been busy the past few weekends trying to get a lot of our stuff organized - boxing up what we are taking with us when we move and either donating or throwing away what we are not. Ryan's mom has been talking about having a yard sale for quite some time, so we are hoping that our trash might be someone else's treasure, but in reality it will probably be a whole lot of work for the $43.18 we will make and might just end up skipping the sale and asking the American Rescue Workers to come get it. And leave a receipt, preferably blank, for the tax deduction next year.

Ryan and I were talking last weekend and we sort of came to the conclusion that we really need to move sooner rather than later. Those of you who know us know that we don't exactly move at lightning speed on anything, so "sooner rather than later" could mean anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months, but now that we have to put our house back on the market, we think we will have a better chance of selling it if we're not actually living there. Plus, it is a pain in the butt to get a phone call at 6pm telling me there is a showing at 9am the following morning and having to quickly clean up the tumbleweeds of dog hair rolling across the hardwood floors, not to mention the fact that we have to leave the dogs outside when we go to work and then at some point after a showing I have to leave work to go let them back in. So, we met with Bill on the Friday before Easter to let him know that we are interested in moving in before our house sells. We will obviously have to rent it until we sell our house (and possibly longer, depending on what kind of down payment we will need), and it will probably be a little bit of a financial stretch but it just seems to make the most sense right now. We are really excited to get the show on the road! My goal is to be moved in enough to have Connor's first birthday party there. I have big plans for this party - I have been trolling Pinterest to get ideas - I even have a "theme," which Ryan thinks is ludicrous, probably because he knows that I talk a big game but have zero creativity and poor Connor will end up with a few balloons and a Fudgy the Whale cake from Carvel to ring in his first birthday.

Last weekend was Easter. Connor was a lucky little boy! My mom came up the weekend before Easter and brought Connor this adorable basket.

She had filled it with a book and a few outfits for summer. I did not find any baskets I had liked better, and had even debated using the Easter basket from when I was growing up (honestly, I knew it was a little too girly for Connor, but I figured he wouldn't know and it would eliminate us having 148 Easter baskets) so I just unpacked all his gifts from Nana and filled it with treats from the Easter Bunny.

 

 

 

What do you really get a 10 month old for Easter??? Connor got a bathing suit and rash guard (the one with the fish on the right), two little outfits, a puzzle, a ball that "giggles" (so annoying, but he loves it), a book, and plastic eggs filled with Puffs and yogurt melts. Ryan's mom also got him a basket with a neat Peter Rabbit liner with his name embroidered on it. It had an adorable pair of jammies, a stuffed bunny, and some baby shampoo. He made out pretty good for a little guy!

 

We decided to make pancakes on Easter morning. I have been trying to get Connor to experiment with more finger foods (he loves the puffs and yogurt melts, but is not terribly interested in anything else) so I had Ryan make a small one for him.

 

 

At first he seemed excited about the prospect of something new....

 

 

But quickly lost interest and, frankly, was a little pissed when he figured out that HIS pancakes didn't come with butter and syrup.

 

We hosted dinner at our house on Easter Sunday. It was small, just Debbie, Court, Alex, Jackson, and Evie, but it was nice. It is no secret that ham is not my favorite meal, and Easter is not my favorite holiday, but Ryan did a great job cooking a ham and then we made sandwiches with it and had potato salad and baked beans with it. We had an obscene amount of leftovers, and I feel like we have been eating ham for at least one meal a day since.

 

In other news, it has finally started getting a little nicer here. I have been trying to get out and take advantage of the nice weather.

 



 

 

 

(Yes, that is a beer in my stroller's cup holder)

 

I think it is soon going to be time to invest in a better stroller. Right now I am just using a really nice umbrella stroller for our walks. The stroller is great for quick trips to the mall or Target, or would be great to travel with, and Connor seems fairly comfortable, but it is not exactly a smooth ride for him. I need something with bigger tires, especially since our walking route will be through the Christmas tree farms when we move. I have spent countless hours reading reviews of different strollers and comparing prices and I'm about ready to pull the trigger. Hopefully Connor will be riding in style soon!