Connor and Kate

For over a week these two were able to play and spend time together. The older they get the more they interact and the more we laugh at the silly things they do.

From outings to the mall to see Santa...

to hanging out at Nana and Poppa's house...

there was never a dull moment with these two!

Toys were "shared"...

and noise was heard!

Friendships were built...

and "love" was shown! :)

I can tell we will have many fun times ahead! We had so much fun with you Kate and can't wait to see you at your 1st birthday party! More to come soon on these fun outings we did while they were here.

Thanksgiving 2009

Our family has lots to be thankful for this year! Thanksgiving was a great day to stop and reflect on all that God has blessed us with. One of the biggest blessing is this sweet smiling face!

Connor was beside himself when he realized that Cole was at home when he woke up that morning. He wanted his Daddy to play with him all morning. It was so cute to watch! We turned on the parade for a little while, but Connor was really more interested in having his Daddy play cars with him.

After we got ready we headed to Mimi's to kick off our Thanksgiving feast. She made a delicious brunch complete with a sausage log, bacon-cheese scrambled eggs, strawberry-orange fruit salad, and brunch punch. I wish I had some one make this for me every morning! :)

By 11:00 Connor was ready for a nap...

That afternoon Cole's sister, Amy, came over to take our family pictures for our Christmas card. They turned out so good! I was shocked that we got so many great shots with Connor actually smiling and looking at the camera all in about 10 minutes. Mimi definitely knew how to get Connor to smile while Amy got some amazing shots! Thank you ladies for your help!

Late that afternoon we all headed over to Kyle and Betty's house (Cole's aunt and uncle) for our big Thanksgiving dinner. We had tons of food and as much as I tried not too I still ate too much! The girls did lots of visiting while the boys watched the football game. When I got home I realized that I had forgot to take any pictures while we were there.

I will leave you with one of my favorite "new" Thanksgiving traditions that I started last year. I made Connor this scrapbook to record all of our Thanksgiving memories. My favorite part is seeing how much he has changed from last year to this year.

Each year I am going to trace his hand to make a "turkey," write a brief description of what we did, sign every ones name that we celebrated with, and take a picture of him in his Thanksgiving attire.

Last year I colored his turkey and this year Connor was old enough to color his own. Look how much his hand has grown in just a year!

We hope you and your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!

Gobble, Gobble!

Here is a picture of my little turkey for the 99% of you who read the blog for pictures of Connor. (Not to hear about me going shopping) :)

Annual Girls Weekend

The Christmas shopping has begun!

We spent this past week with Kaci, Susan, and Jill for our annual trip to the Christmas Affair. This is one of my favorite weekends of the year! Kaci came earlier in the week to hang out and we did some shopping for maternity clothes for her. She is expecting her first baby in June. Right around Connor's 2nd birthday! I had so much fun having her here and catching up!

Thursday we headed to the Christmas Affair around noon. I really didn't have a "list" with me this year so it was nice to just shop for fun. Here we are in front of the huge Christmas tree. This years theme was "It's a Wild Holiday!" I forgot my camera so we took this with Kaci's phone.

After a delicious dinner at Houston's we headed back to my mom's house where we had a little surprise waiting for Kaci. My mom and I were SO excited when she told us she was pregnant that we decided to celebrate while everyone was here.

Aunt Susan with the "Mommy-to-be"

It was another great weekend spent with some of my favorite ladies! Can't wait until CA '10! :)

A Weekend Full of Fun

This past weekend we had lots of special guests. Kevin and Rachel came for a visit and to help celebrate Mom's birthday. We were also so happy that Papa and Ginny could come join us! It was great to spend time visiting and of course Connor loved all the extra attention and people to play with!

Friday morning we headed over to Mimi's and Connor helped me make some pumpkin bread. He loves to "stir stir stir."

As soon as Papa and Ginny arrived Connor decided Papa was his new best friend. He would grab his hand and pull him all over the house. Connor also wanted Papa to be playing on the floor right there with him. He was really excited to see his new train that Papa and Ginny brought him. It does so many neat things and Connor has loved riding around on it.

Connor and his best buddy

Kevin and Rachel's flight got in late Friday night so we let Connor spend the night at Mimi's so he was able to see his aunt and uncle first thing in the morning. The next morning Connor quickly found another best friend and pulled Uncle Kevin all around the house to play. He even got some fun surprises all the way from Italy where they recently took a trip. We had a great day just hanging out, taking some family pictures (more to come soon), and celebrating Mom's birthday.

Looking cool in Daddy's sunglasses

Saturday night we went out to dinner and then came home for cupcakes and presents.

(Connor wanted to be in the picture too!)

Ginny, Papa, Mom, and Connor (who already started on the cupcakes)

Mom with all her kids

Such a fun weekend spent with wonderful family! Thank you Kevin, Rachel, Papa, and Ginny for coming to visit! We love you!

Happy Birthday Mimi!

Connor loves his Mimi!

We all love you so much and are happy we get to share this special day with you. Happy Birthday!!

New Haircut

Monday was another day of firsts for Connor. My mom and I took him to get his first "official" hair cut. I researched a few places to go and found one that was just for kids. I was a bit nervous trying some place new, but was very impressed overall. The stylist was great and really knew how to make Connor (and Mommy) feel comfortable with the whole process. She turned on Elmo, let him drive the car, and gave him a lollipop! He was in heaven!

I was not wanting Connor to have a drastic change, but he definitely needed a trim all over to clean it up. With the combination of his hair still growing in and a row of cowlicks in the front there is only so much we can do. :) Here is how it turned out...

Back:

Front:

Before and After

I love how he has the same expression in both these pictures.

We reached another fun milestone that reminds me my baby boy is growing up by the minute!

Happy 17 Months Connor!

If you look closely you can see Connor is sharing his cracker with his puppy.

Now he is giving him a piggy back ride. He loves his puppy! :)

Now that Connor is 17 months...

Cars, trains, and anything that has wheels are his favorite toys. He spends most of the day pushing some type of car or train around. He is ALL boy!

If he is not pushing cars you can probably find him climbing up on something. He will climb anything and everything!!

He also still love to read books. Sometimes he wants to read them with you and then other times he would rather look at them by himself. He is very clear with what he wants though. :) Here he is with his current favorite book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?" He loves the repetition and actually will chime in on the parts he has memorized.

"Out, out, out" is a common phrase we hear in our house. Ever since the weather has cooled off we have spent a lot more time outdoors and Connor loves it!

Connor enjoys talking on the phone so if you would like to hear lots of babbling give him a call!

He also can point to his eye, ear, nose, mouth, teeth, tongue, check, head, hair, toes, hands, knee, and belly button. Partly due to the fact that he loves singing "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes"

Favorite song of the month: "Jesus Loves Me"

Connor recently started grabbing our hands to lead us where he wants us to go. I usually get pulled to the playroom or pantry.

Even though my little man is rough and tough he still has such a sweet spirit. One of my favorite times of the day is bedtime when he lets me hold him for a few minutes. He lays his head down and then will pop up every few seconds to give me a kiss and flash that adorable smile. I love this boy more than words can say!