The New Connell Homestead

I've been reminding my mom for days to update the blog but she and my daddy have been too busy. She says she'll finally do it when we get a little "settled" into our new house. I'm not sure what that means because nobody around here sits down too much.

We started our quest for a new home with land mid Febuary. My mom, dad and Grandpa kept taking me all around town, in and out of my car seat for days! I was really sick of looking at houses! My mom and dad had a tall order but we are finally in a place that my mom says dreams are made of. This is what our life consisted of (boxes, boxes everywhere) for about a month. It was fun for about a minute.

Here's me in my new kitchen. In this picture, I'm looking out the window at the duckies on the pond. Mommy says we'll have baby ducklings out there any day now. I'm so excited! We have LOTs of different birds at our new house. Hawks and sparrows and big huge owls!

Here's my two favorite people...grandma & grandpa eating dinner with us for the first night (or second) in our new house. Mommy & daddy said we couldn't have done any of this move without Grandma & Grandpa. They ended up watching me for days while Mommy & Daddy painted and cleaned and painted and cleaned our old house.

If you come & visit us, this is the road to our new home. See Powell Butte in the background? We also have some big LONG horns that live across the street and horsies too. This is my new couch that Grandma and Aunt Marcy bought for me. I really needed this thing. As you can see, I'm loving it! It makes me so happy. My mommy made me some popcorn and we watched movies and I sat on my new couch. How Fun!

This is my daddy and I sitting on a tree by our pond. We have alot of work to do at our new house...like watering and fixing irrigation...but my mom keeps saying, "This is what dreams are made of...." I'm not sure what that means....yet.

Here's the back of our new house and our pond. Can you see any fishies? There are a lot of bass in our pond. Our doggy likes to swim in there too.

This is the front of our new house...kind of looks like our old house but twice the size. We are so excited to live in the country and so thankful for our family. We can't wait for all the parties that will take place here. I can't wait for you to all come and see our new home!

One and counting...

My mom's been real busy so she's a little late on updating all of you about how I am growing up. In fact, I'm growing so fast, she just can't keep up. So, my update is backwards this time...from the most current to the oldest...I am now standing and walking about 10 steps on my own. See how well I can stand and stack my blocks? I'm also real good at crawling up and down the stairs too.
Here's a picture of me and my dad walking. My dad is so proud that I am becoming a big boy...closer and closer to being his UFC fighter (just kidding). My mom doesn't think that 's very funny.

This is me and my dad playing with my new toy car that I got from Santa. I love to cruz around on this one.

Here's me at Christmas...remember how little I was last year when my crazy family put me in with all the teddy bears?

Here's me at my Birthday party. By the time we were going to eat cake I had had enough partying. I had the best birthday! I love my family!

ALREADY ALMOST ONE YEAR OLD!!!

Since it's already almost Christmas and my birthday, I told my mom to get on the ball with this blog thing.

Lots of firsts...almost too many to mention...let's see...I have SEVEN teeth and I'm starting to say a few words too. I can say 'ma ma' and 'da da'..."bye" and "hello" and "kitty cat"...I am standing up all over the place but haven't taken steps just yet. I get around just as well on my knees. I have been doing a lot of drumming as shown here with my cousin/uncle Scott.

I enjoy helping my mom with the dishes. She says that it won't last but I don't believe her at all.
I was sad when my bro left for work up at Squaw but it sure was nice having him around for a spell.

I've been going to the park and swinging alot too. I can't get enough of this action. I've met some pretty cute girls there too. My mom says I'm a total flirt...how can I help it? Have you seen my dimples?

I'm just a real mello dude. I often kick back after eating. It helps me digest. You should see me eat. I'm a sumo wrestler.

Oh yes, and my mom and dad's drawers are so interesting. I love getting into EVERYTHING!!!

My favorite pass time is to stand and look out the window. My mom and dad especially love it at 5:30 am when I wake up. I cannot WAIT to see what the neighbors are up to.

I can't wait for my birthday!

Mobilization!

So, where do I begin? It's been a real busy month and a half. Many milestones have happened for me...I've been keeping my family on their toes now that I am mobile. I pretty much outpace all the them in their advanced ages. Here I am with my cousin-uncle Scott and my favorite doggies...Steezy & Lakoda.

I now have a grand high chair that mom bought me and eating real food is a real bonus. I eat everything they put in front of me...even vegetables! I have a very advanced palate and a healthy appetite.
My mom and dad are silly...they had the carpets cleaned and THEN started feeding me finger foods! In this photo, you can especially see my dad in me...
I included this photo just because it's a great comparison of how big I am now in my little tub. Remember when I first started taking baths? Now mom can barely keep me in this thing. The big tub is really where it's at.

This is me and my cousin Collin. He was already crawling and I just watched and marveled at how amazing of a crawler he was. He taught me well...two weeks later, I'm a crawler too! We still had fun even though he didn't really stick around to play with me.

Here I am with another cousin, Gauge...(sorry if I spelled his name wrong) at a cocktail party in L.A. We had a few drinks and got aquainted...I was a real trooper on the airplane ride down there too. I made my mom & dad real proud!

Here I am in action...oh and by the way, I way bye bye now too. I also point and am starting to say a few sort of coherent words like "ma ma" and "kitty cat"...Yes, I am advancing every day by leaps and bounds and provide endless entertainment to my wonderful family. Until next time...happy crawling!!!!

So, this whole blog thing started a year ago (right after the Crescent camp trip) when I was in my mom's tummy...I remember hearing all the laughing, the great food and the fun times in utero land. My family talked about me the whole camp trip last year imaging what it would be like when I finally arrived. This year was the real deal. My mom & dad said that they couldn't imagine a better little camper than me. I love the outdoors and my wonderful family. There was never a dull moment & I had plenty of arms to hold me.

Just me. So happy...to be here at Crescent.

Here's me and my whole crew at Crescent! Can't wait for next year!

I couldn't get enough of the water...this is all too much fun!

Me, mama and my big brother...

I think the watermelon tasted a little funky...my brother was trying to tell me otherwise...

Here's me and my most awesome family camping at Crescent. Yeah, see me bundled up? It was a little chilly.

This is my Aunt Marcy teaching me to read during our trip to Crescent. I LOVE school time...in fact, I cry when it's over and I'm not kidding!

Okay at 8 months old I got my first kiss...from an older women...Hey, what can I say? I'm irresistable!

Summer Time Fun!!!

Summer has been busy and fun. We've been gardening and camping mostly. I am looking forward to our Cresent trip coming up. I have been mostly busy growing and am almost 8 months old already. Here is just a great pic of me and my doggy and grandma!

Here's me and my silly grandma and grandpa. We're camping at Cultis...and playing with coffee filters on our heads!

Just doing a little kayaking...

Here's me and my cousin Scott...we're buddys. He comes over and takes me on walks to the park. I love his doggy, Lakoda too.

I just turned 7 months old in this picture. I already have FOUR teeth on the top and my 2 on the bottom! I'm a teething monster...but I have no real problems getting them in. I also started sitting up now too. It's a whole new world sitting up!

Here's my daddy tickling me...I'm real ticklish now a days.

The garden in it's infancy.

This is the new arbour my mom & dad put at the entrance to the garden.

Here's the garden just starting to get going...see my mommy and Steezy in the background? I was napping...it's something I do occasionally.

Here's me and grandpa hangin' in front of our new motor home! I can't wait to go camping!

Here's me and my BIG brother...I'm getting his nose. See how much we like alike?

More to come!!!!

Our little ham...

6 months has been such an exciting time. Ruari is rolling over from front to back like crazy. He's eating solids now and discovering new things about the world every minute, it seems. He's grabby McGrabberson and wants to touch everything and then put it in his mouth. He's so much fun and such a happy little man. Here are a few highlights of the last month (0r so)...

So, I've found my feet and I actually even love to suck on my toes.

Camping at Cape Perpetua. I love my daddy.

Oh and I really like to eat now too. Mom tried a couple of months ago, but it wasn't my thing. Now, I'm really diggin' it.

Mom & dad took me on my first camp out. We went to the coast and it was beautiful and sunny. I had a great time but really put a damper on mom & dad's sleep. I pretty much had insomnia the whole time. I was just out of my element.

I love to look at myself in the mirror...it always makes me smile & want to eat myself.

As part of my development, I now grab onto everything in my reach, including my mom's cold one. Of course, in this way I'm just like my dad...always reaching for the Rogue. Of course, mom's a party pooper, she wouldn't even let me have a sip.

I'm very enthusiastic about books, especially if I can gum them each time my mom turns the page.