Sweet Baby Connor!

He's almost not a baby anymore!!!  He's gonna be my big boy soon!

As more proof of this fact of physical maturation he now walks the dog... :)

Granted I don't just let him go alone, though he would if I let him!

He also tried on his pair of big boy boots and boy was that funny to watch!

They are still too big but he LOVES them!

He's a sweet kid.

It's dawning on me that Connor's not going to be my only baby!

Yes, yes, you should say 'um duh... you didn't figure that out a while ago' but the answer would be no.

Ha!  I KNEW that... I just didn't really fully realize it.

I'm going to miss spending all day with the little bug!

He loves to play with Toby!

And he REALLY loves to give mommy kisses!  Mommy kinda likes them too... :)

He lost the shirt while playing... 

He's so funny... do you see on his right side there... he's missing part of a rib! :)  Maybe his Eve somewhere has it... :)

He's such a happy boy, especially when he's eating

He loves to go get in his car...

He likes to play with his ears, just like his Uncle James did when he was young... Like I said in an earlier blog... he LOVES to be read to!

I should update again soon with a video! :)

Could this be blog 100?

I figured for this post I'd put up some of my favorite mobile photos!  They don't always make it to the blog... :)

 It also is telling me that this is my 100th blog!  Yeah!!!  I can't believe I've stuck with it this long! :)

I figured I'd jot down some general things I've learned as a mom I was thinking about today...

1. No matter how much dexterity and agility you have, you child always falls in slow-mo and you're rarely fast enough to catch them.

2. Cinnamon comes out the other end TERRIBLY!  It's like they have sand super glued to their butt!

3. Baby kisses, no matter how spit filled, food filled or snot filled are the best.

4. For a little boy, anything can be used as a weapon when it comes to annoying the dog.

5. Staying on top of disciplining for disobedience is really exhausting!

6. I am so blessed to have a husband who is wonderful with our son, helps out and isn't afraid to do the gross stuff (like change the diaper genie! ick!)

7. Any mom who lets a child "make their own decisions" is nuts... my kid would eat candy corn for every meal, bathe himself in the toilet regularly and would have fallen down cement stairs numerous times.

8. No matter how annoyed and in a hurry I am it's always cute when he picks up my cell phone, holds it to his ear and says " 'ello? ". :)

9. It is so helpful to have family visiting who LIKE to watch your son!  Bring on the visitors!!! :)

10. When it's your kid, you see the innocence of a child so much more poignantly than in other peoples kids.  He really does NEED me and he really doesn't have a care in the world.  No baggage or heartbreaks just happiness and simplicity.

Bubble wrap and a helmet...

Ok so let me tell you about our Saturday!

We had no plans for the day which was wonderful so we just lazed around, did some laundry, some unpacking and Connor played & made a mess like always :)

He gave daddy some lovin'... lots of lovin' and mommy some hugs and kisses too :)

That evening we went to a military event at the Provost of the College's house, Dr. Tatlock, which is for all the people who were in the military and the ROTC students who plan on going in when they graduate.  It's a chance for them to get to know each other and establish relationships.

All that to say, Connor was running around having a ball and you see that step in the bottom left corner of the picture above... yeah... Connor fell UP it... sigh... he went to fast going up, fell and hit his face on the top step.  He was more upset about the ice I insisted on holding on it (so it wouldn't break the skin open) then he was about the injury.

 

We were trying to keep him contained the rest of the evening but he wanted to keep running around, playing and laughing.

 

He got a lovely shiner from the whole thing... sigh... it was so swollen poor guy.

 

This is what it looked like on Sunday.  Jimmy said it's a better shiner than he's ever had! :)  It doesn't seem to bother him... sigh...

So on a lighter note... all of a sudden Connor LOVES to be read too!  There are 12 little books in this box of books and he'll bring it over to you, ask to get on your lap and want you to read them all to him.  It's really cute!  After your done, he proceeds to throw them all in various directions around the room but hey, at least he wants to be read to!!! :)

So after that lovely tale of my son's wild and crazy behavior, I've decided that until he's two I'm gonna wrap him in bubble wrap and make him wear a helmet... just to be safe! :)

Abnormal Post

These made me laugh so hard!  Besides a couple of strong words these are perfect! :)

Quick Connor update...

Oh my lovely child... he has recently started this fake crying thing... it's really quite annoying and funny at the same time (though I'm not allowed to laugh at him).

More updates to come... I need to take some more pictures! :)

Daddy and Son Time

My boys got to be in Ohio for the opening Steelers game this year and both had their jersey's on!

 I know they are blurry but they are cute... and it makes me miss them!!!

Thank you papa for taking them!!!

(btw these happy pictures must have been taken BEFORE the game was played... just sayin... :))

Wee Man Hurt His Elbow

So we had the first (and most assuredly not the last) visit to the ER for an injury.

His little left elbow was popped out of socket and he would cry anytime he moved his arm.

Jimmy's such a good daddy, he held him almost the whole time we were there.

Poor little guy...

The doc popped it back in though and he was right as rain almost immediately.

PKD walk

So it seems it's time for a PKD update!!

Connor AND Vale both have appointments with the pediatric neuphrologist in mid November, Vale to see if he has PKD and Connor to see if/how much cyst growth there has been on his kidneys.  There is supposedly a 50/50 chance of passing it down so theoretically Vale's chances are good... but, it's VERY dominant in Jimmy's family so I'm not crossing my fingers... God's in control! :)

We try to keep the little guy out of the womb hydrated and away from caffeine.  So far, no UTI's and he's been generally healthy despite all of our traveling which is a blessing!

When thinking about things I can do to help my husband and son (and father-in-law) I did a lot of reasearch hoping to find some sort of cure/treatment just looming on the brink of release waiting for FDA approval.  No such luck.  The best things I've heard are drink tons of water (which is good for everyone but vital for PKD) and a Japanese breakthrough where patients avoid dialysis by eating 10 pieces of charcoal before every meal... yeah... yuck.  WE NEED MORE RESEARCH!  But for research you need funding... and with our economy the way it is that's only getting cut. 

All that to say... I have been roped into not only participating in but also helping to PLAN the L.A. PKD Walk this year to raise money for research and a cure.  LOTS and LOTS of work to be done but I am exciting to be helping and look at it as a ministry opportunity as well!

So, I need you guys to donate.  I'm not going to beat around the bush and make cutsie little excuses.  The walk is to raise money and I really do want to raise money for a cure.  I'm not embarrassed asking for money because it's not for me and without progression in the science there is a real chance of me losing my husband and son much earlier than could be.  I need them and will do everything I can to keep them around.

So if you guys live in the L.A. area, we'd LOVE to have you come up and be on the Mahon Brood Walking Team!!!  You could maybe even raise some money for us!!  That'd be fantastic!  If not just come support us.  If you don't live in the L.A. area you can donate on line and get your friends, co-works, bosses, doctors, neighbors anyone you can think of to donate for PKD research.  There are a lot more people with PKD than you realize and I'm so surprised at how often someone tells me they are related to or know someone with PKD.  There are 12.5 million people worldwide with PKD.  That's a lot!

So we are walking in the walk for PKD on October 22nd and would love to raise as much money as we can before then.

You can go either to my donation page or Connor's page to donate.  You can send me a check or you can go online and use a card.  Thanks in advance for your efforts!

My page: http://www.pkdcure.org/mahonbrood 

Connor's page: http://www.pkdcure.org/ConnorMahon

I would just like to say a special and wonderful thank you to my friend Autumn who donated even before I asked for any money!  She went and FOUND our pages and made a donation.  You are a rock star and a wonderful friend!  I don't deserve you... :) 

I acutally have a second!!

Well the hubby and miniature have left me for the weekend, and although I do miss them terribly, tonight all I feel like saying is a huge, "FREEDOM!!!".  I'm sure by tomorrow afternoon I will feel like crying because I miss them so much but it's nice to have a bit of 'me' time to get some things done!!!  This house is gonna be so unpacked by the time they get back!!  They went to Ohio for Jimmy's sister Briann's wedding.  I really wish I could go... but finances are tight AND well... doc wasn't so thrilled at the prospect of me flying home with 7 weeks left, especially since I'd have the earlier contractions.

Anyway... all that to say, it's time for a Teacup Mahon update! :)

Connor is finally in a big boy seat!!!! :) HE LOVES IT! He's facing forward and hardly EVER cries in his seat anymore!  And, just as an update, last week he was 21lbs 9oz!  YEAH for my big boy! (ok maybe he's still tiny but he's getting there...)

For some reason, unknown to me, daddy decided to let Connor eat his OWN yogurt... he got about half of it in his mouth...

 He was happy though!

 Connor helped daddy put in the child safety locks in the kitchen!  I think if he knew what he was doing he might have tried to sabotage it... :)

 We took a family day trip to Vasquez Rocks, a fabulous hiking place, and had a really good time.  I don't know if what we did could really be called HIKING... but Connor had a ton of fun climbing on the rocks and we did walk up quite a ways carrying him.  It was fun!

He really loved all the climbing! He was a little apprehensive of the slopes though :)

He's such a sweet boy!

This is the view from our kitchen table! :)  Love, love, love it!  Unfortunately, because of where we have to put the high chair Connor is the one who gets to enjoy it the most... :)

I hopefully should be blogging more regularly now... need to get into a routine! :)