Now Presenting Conner Malcolm Bailey

We just wanted to announce the birth of Conner Malcolm Bailey to our family and friends! He was born Monday December 28th at 5:52pm. He weighed 8 lbs 5 oz. and was 21.5 inches long. All of us are doing great and Mike and Joel have been such good helpers. Here are a few pictures to start with and I promise lots more to come later!

An exited Dad with his newest little boy!

Christmas Memories 2009

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas this year. We sure had a lot of fun! Here are a couple of memories to share. I decided that I am a child at heart. At 7:45 I finally told Mike I couldn't stand it any more and it was time to go wake up Joel. We went in his room and told him Santa had come. He knows who Santa is- and he knows what presents are, but he didn't know Santa brought presents! So here is Joel walking out of his room to see the Christmas tree and presents.

He was so funny, because he got to where he could see the tree and plopped right down on the ground and sat there just looking for about 3 minutes (a lifetime in toddler time!)
Look what Santa brought this year!

Mike suprised me with this hiking backpack which I am very excited to try out this summer! Mike got a pair of snowpants that won't leave him wet after a good snowmobile ride. I know he is very anxious to try them out!
And what did Joel get-- A lightning McQueen four wheeler! He loves it and rode it all over the house!


Another funny story about Christmas is my mom and dad bought Joel My first Engine Block! It is a little engine that comes with craftsman tools that you can take the peices off and rebuild the engine. Mike and Joel sat down with it for probably an hour playing with it. I don't know who has more fun with it - Joel or Mike, but it has provided hours of entertainment.

Is it sad when your barely turned 2 year old can name all the parts of the engine? I don't think there is any hope in our house!

Well, Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and wishing you a Happy New Year!

A Funny Story

I don't think the timing could be any more wrong than this-- well, two weeks before could be worse but I don't think they call people up for JURY DUTY between Christmas and New Years!!! Yes, I got a nice letter in the mail at my mom and dad's house calling me up for Jury Duty at the beginning of January (my mom and dad live about 1 mile away from me so we visit-- a lot!). I know I should have put wrong address on the envelope and mailed it back, but it just didn't cross my mind to do that (Remember I'm 9 months pregnant -- I don't think clearly!!!) I didn't think it would be a problem to get out of it, but according to their letter you can only postpone for 4 months-- not a good time for a nursing mom to leave a baby all day! So, I called the courthouse about 10 times in 3 days and finally got a hold of them. Yes, they were very understanding and told me I could postpone for 1 year! But whew, that was close! I just thought the timing of everything couldn't be funnier!

Some of Joels 2 Year Picture Outtakes!

Today I tried to take some pictures of Joel for his two year pictures. I decided that trying to chase Joel around by myself, get him to smile, and hold still is impossible-- so, on our next try Mike is going to help and be the assistant! We had a couple turn out okay and a LOT of out takes! I thought some of them where pretty funny so I thought I would share those with you. I promise I will share the good ones too - once we do another session!

We will start out with 3 that I like. Joel didn't like this hat as much as his baseball hat-- but I managed a few pictures with him in it!

I love this smile! And of course snowmobiles are his new favorite thing-- so we had to get one with his new snowmobile helmet!

This one is just pure Joel- so of course I love it!Now for the outtakes!!!

This one is entitled "Not another hat, mom!

I Want You!
Taking pictures is just such hard work for a 2 year old. Time to relax!

This is what I get towards the end- "No, I will not look at the camera!"

You Asked For It-- baby bump

I guess some of you didn't think getting a picture of me through the reflection on an ornament was good enough! Still having a hard time figuring out why!!! Just kidding. So, yesterday before our Christmas Relief Society Meeting I gave up my camera to Mike and had him take a picture for you all to see how big I'm getting!!! I decided that short + no torso = huge when 9 mo pregnant!
All things considered, I am doing great! I can still walk about 1 mile on the treadmill and shovel snow and chase Joel around all day without it killing me (it almost does) -- so to me that is great! We can't wait to meet the new addition to our family!
Joel is the cutest about it. He always wants to "share" his binky or bubbles with baby and tries to shove them down my belly button. He will also pull up my shirt above my tummy and try to pull my belly button apart so he can "see" baby and will talk to him and give him kisses. I can't wait until I get to see how Joel will react when "baby Conner comes out now!" as he likes to say! I think we are in for a big adventure with that one~!!!

The Nursery-- and a few other things!

First of all, a HUGE thanks to my sister-in-law for coming over last Saturday and helping me whip this nursery into shape! She helped me get the motivation I needed to finish it before the baby comes! So THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! I guess I like stripes, because I did them again. Here is looking in from the door. We did stripes on the walls, hung the stars, made the curtains and pillows, and I made the bedding ealier-- I'm still looking for a sheet to match- but hey, the cradle will be used for a little while at least!!! (The cradle used to be mine when I was first born- mom and dad made it -- it's really fun to get to use again!)

Here is a close up of just above the crib and a little of the bedding

We can't wait to meet this new baby brother! Many times I agree with Joel when he says "baby Conner come out now!"

Now on to other stuff! I got a chance yesterday to pull out my camera and just play! Some of them turned out great- like the roses!!!! And others we are working on, but I think I figured out more last night than I have in months! Mike and Joel were both asleep by 8:30! I played a lot with manual and the AP setting and did them in RAW and I LOVE IT! So, now on to the pictures!

Mike brought these home for me just because (well, I might have told him I was going to kill his son (please don't take this literal!)- it was one of those days! But, he did it because he loves me and that is the best part!!!)-- I look at them and just smile!

More playing around with our Christmas Tree. Please don't look too close- or you will see a very scary picture of me in PJ's with a towel around my head sitting on the floor trying to get close enough to the camera! Not a pretty sight I assure you!

Ahh our Christmas tree. This was an attempt to take one of those cool pictures with the lights off and just the glow of the tree lights, well, it's one I'm still working on -- but you get to see the tree! And yes, it is as big as it looks! It grew a lot when we got it inside the house and almost reaches the tip top of the vault in our living room!
Just a normal one!

I had to throw this one in to because I was really excited about it. I have been working on it a long time, and we finally finished it-- well, Mike finished it! My very sweet dear honey stood on the 1/2 wall leaning above the stairs to put up my vinyl quote. Let's just say this is more proof that he loves me A LOT! So here is our picture wall above the stairs! Our house is very slowly coming together and it's a lot of fun to do!

Joel Turned 2!!!!

I can't believe it, but it's true! Joel turned 2 on Sunday. How the time flies by!!! He sang Happy Birthday to himself all day and held up 2 fingers and thumb when you asked how many fingers he was. (Of course he hasn't done it since!) We had family over for a little party with cake and ice cream. Joel loves cake and dug right in after blowing out the fire on the candle!

Here is a picture of his cupcake tower!

Not afraid to dig in! Isn't he cute!
Joel knew just what to do with the sled that Grandma and Grandpa gave him. He wanted to sleep in it that night! He also got a Mater pillow, a squishy tonka truck he can share with baby Conner from Aunt Jamie and Uncle Heffer and Brookie, matching cards, a truck, and some balls from Grandma, a smart cycle, a lightning McQueen car, and a potato head from Mom and Dad, and a Fur Real Pet from the Patty's, which we had to bring to the table for dinner time to get Joel to eat-- he hasn't put it down! Thanks everyone for great presents!

Tearing into the presents-- 2 is a much funner birthday than 1 was!

Joel and Brooklyn checking out Joels presents!

Happy Birthday my big little boy!