Our Big Weekend

We blessed Connor at home with a bunch of family and some friends. Ron wanted to keep it to just the family, but we had to invite some friends that are very close. We invited Tim & Karina, but they couldn't come. We also invited Julie and Jared, and they were able to be there.

I've uploaded some pictures below, but I ran out of time for the blog, so I'll have to update this post later with some verbage.... Meanwhile, enjoy the pictures. :)

Updated 09/15/09

This is the group shot of everyone together, except Brother Jarvis from the bishopric who was taking the picture. Although, if you look closely, you can see him in the mirror, right next to the big flash... :(. Oh, well...

It was SO NICE to have so many friends and family together.
Front, L-R: Aaron, Megan, Ryan, Evan, Bethaney, Ashley, Wendel
Middle, L-R: Dan, Brad, Christi, Carter, Ronna, Luke, CJ, Brooke, Karen, Hunter, Britney, Connor, Linda
Back, L-R: Caitlynn, JR, Porter, Paul, (Brother Jarvis in the mirror), Ron, Fred, Mason, Jared, Julie, Morgan


Connor, Me and Ron


The guest of honor in his cute white suit!


Brother Jarvis, CJ and Carter waiting for the blessing. When I was dressing Connor, we had a little complication... As soon as I got his little suit on and was ready to go, I heard a loud "PLLL". Yes, It was poop. I had no choice but to strip him down and start over... (No point in risking a stain on the white suit...)


Wendel talking to Julie and Jared (holding Morgan). Julie and Jared had come in from St. Helens, and Wendel had come from Seattle.


Dan and Brad on the couch.


Ron put a movie on downstairs for the kids. Somehow he got them all lined up on the couch-- it was amazing enough I had to get a picture...


Grandpa Fred, putting his shoes on.


Grandma Linda, waving hello.


Bethaney's chilling in the glider. (The glider is probably the best purchase I made...)


L-R: Aaron, Megan, Ronna, Christi.


Caitlynn is breaking in Connor's swing, since he's not old enough to use it yet!


JR is chilling with Connor.


L-R: Megan, Ron, JR, Christi, Connor (He got passed around alot!) and Brad.


Everyone dog-pile on Grandpa Paul!
L-R: Hunter, Luke, Porter, Ryan, Brooke, Carter, Paul


And now it's grandma Karen's turn!
L-R: Carter, Ryan, Porter, Karen, Hunter, Luke.


CJ and Paul. Can you feel the love? :)


The pumpkin patch! All of the Edwards cousins together.
Clockwise from left: Hunter, Porter, Luke, Connor, Brooke, Carter, Ryan, Caitlynn


The pumpkin patch with the grandparents (Paul and Karen).

Connor has the best expressions! :)


We were trying to capture his "Turtle" face. He likes to look up at whoever is holding him, so he strains his neck up to see you. So cute!


Ashley is taking a turn with Connor. She's expecting one of her own now! three months along!


Ron and Wendel after the crowd left. It's so quiet! What will we ever do with ourselves?


We had such a great weekend! It was overwhelming to feel the love and support of family and friends. We are truly blessed to have so many that are so close, including those who wanted to be there and couldn't come. It was such a lovely weekend, Ron and I will forever be thankful.

We love you guys!!

Connor's Announcements

Mamie made Connor's birth announcements for me when she was here, what a huge help! I wanted to post them here since they are so cute!! (Sorry Mames, if I'm beating you to the punch, but I didn't want to wait to post them anymore... thanks for the awesome announcements!)

Some random pictures of Connor

Most new parents are trigger-happy with the camera the first few weeks after coming home... we're no different. Here are some shots we took:

August 13: First one with Mom, second one with dad




August 14th: On the couch with dad after eating (See the milk on his mouth? :). The cats are still trying to figure out where they fit in....


August 15: First picture -- can you tell what color his eyes are? There's still a debate... Second picture -- I wish this didn't turn out blurry -- what a cute picture!!!




August 18: snuggling with dad (dad seems to get alot of turns with Connor... It was hard to separate them the first few weeks....)


We are so blessed!

My tootsies...

The last few months of pregnancy were brutal from all of the swelling I had. Even the first few weeks after delivery, I was still swolen. Here's a picture of what I'm talking about.... Yikes! They have finally gone down to (almost) their normal size, so I can actually wear shoes again. yay!

Project Results

Here are some pics to document the amazing results of my great family!

Bethaney took on a big project -- painting the last wall downstairs. It actually needed to be mudded and sanded first, then primed, then painted. Yes, it took several days and she got very dirty. And now I owe her a new pair of pajama pants. :) For those who have been to my house before the wall was done, you'll see the huge difference. How great does this look?


When my mom finished tagging and labeling the consignment stuff, she cleaned off my driveway, including pulling all the weeds that we had. So clean!!! She also weed-eater'ed the edges so it looked very nice!!


When dad got into town, he took it upon himself to mow the back lawn and cut the blackberry bushes off of the deck. Pretty amazing, right? Ron was very grateful for this particular project, since it has been nagging at him for the last few months....




If you remember, Mamie helped me organize the nursery, but I don't have pictures of that yet... but will post them when I do.

Thanks again, guys!!! I couldn't have made it without you!

productivity -- finally!

After getting motivated by Mamie, I am finally kicking it into gear. Last week I sent out the cute announcements that Mamie made, and I got all of my thankyou cards written and in the mail, and I got caught up on the bills...

Here's what we've done today:
Mom -- doing her laundry, and working frantically on getting the consignment stuff together, labeled and tagged for the sale. (Go mom!)
Bethaney -- Has been mudding and painting the far wall downstairs -- the last holdout to finish the remodeling downstairs. :)
Britney -- cleaning the fridge, doing the dishes, doing laundry, cleaning and organizing and putting away stuff off the coffee tables, doing meal and activity planning for all the family coming into town this weekend for the baby blessing.
Ron -- babysitting Connor & doing random handyman things around the house in between feedings (like fixing toilet seats and fixing light sockets and stuff).

But what I want to know is how Mamie is able to fold the laundry so nice and neatly? My folding never looks quite as good (especially for the underwear!!!--how do you do it?).

My Sister Mamie

Having a baby is never what anyone expects. I was expecting a fussy baby that was hard to console and lots of late nights. What I got was a nearly perfect baby who only cries when he needs something and is a little gassy, but otherwise very content. I was expecting to have all kinds of energy and just love being a mom, especially from my pregnancy daydreams... they were great! What I got was a severe panick/anxiety attack on my 5th day and insomnia at night which rendered me useless! Ron was a champ! He was getting up with Connor all night long every night and they were attached at the hip. But I still needed help, and Ron was already super busy with Connor, so I called my sister Mamie. Her girls are a little older, so I thought it might be easier for her to come down and help me. And she did! She was SOOOOO helpul, I can't even begin to describe how I couldn't have done it without her and Ron together. While Ron was busy with Connor ever 2-3 hours, she helped me organize the baby's room (which still wasn't ready because of my bedrest prior to delivery), she helped me with the announcements, with dishes, laundry, and pretty much anything else she could find. I didn't even know what help I needed, but she did, and she did it. Eventually, Ron let her start taking shifts with Connor as well. And as soon as I was up to it, I did, too! What a blessing to have a sister that is so in-tune with the spirit and could help me through such a trying time. I'm sure she is happy to be back with her husband and children now after being gone from home all summer travelling, but she made a huge difference for me in the week+ she was here. Thankyou Mamie!! I love you tons!



My mom and Bethaney are here now. They are being super helpful, too. It's so nice to have such a supportive family.