Catching up on pictures!

It's been a while since I've downloaded pictures from our camera! Here are a bunch from the last couple weeks...

Connor happily waiting for the nurse to give him shots at his 5 year appointment


Connor and his class during the Christmas program. Connor is the shepherd in brown, in the middle, looking right at the camera!


Logan and Connor eating snacks with the other kids after the program


Sitting on Santa's lap at a great "Santa's workshop" event here in Longmont. Yes, the boys are wearing reindeer antlers! :)


Santa made a special point of talking to Logan (Connor tends to dominate a conversation - go figure) and Logan was so happy!


After Longmont's Christmas parade they had a nice fireworks show! Here we are waiting for it to start...


Christmas cookies! Which ones did I decorate and which ones did Connor decorate? :)


Connor left his letter to Santa in his stocking...


Getting ready to open gifts Christmas morning


Logan finally has his own guitar!


A present from Papa and Grandma Sue - a complete builder's set!

I haven't taken a great picture of the stage Jeremy and I built for the boys yet (though you can see it in the backgrounds of a few above!) but when I do I'll post it! Connor says it's his favorite gift this year and both he and Logan sing and dance on it every chance they get so I guess it was a hit! :)

Merry Christmas!

It's officially Christmas and I'm still awake making sure that a certain little boy actually goes back to sleep. Yep, Santa arrived and then I discovered that Connor was awake. He hadn't actually come out of his room (thank goodness!) but I went to peek on them before going to bed and found him staring out the window "looking for Rudolph." Uh huh.

A few funny things that have happened in the last couple days...

- Connor is at the perfect Santa age - he totally believes - but he wants to know absolutely every detail about how he flies, where he lands, how he gets in the house, how he carries all the presents, how he talks to the elves if there's a problem, what flavor cookie is his favorite, why reindeer like carrots, etc, etc. The other night we had this conversation...

Connor: Mommy, does Santa give presents to policemen?

Me: I guess so. Well, as long as they're on the nice list, of course.

Connor: Oh. Well could we ask him not to give them any presents this year?

Me: Why would we do that?

Connor: Because if they didn't get any presents then they would want to find out why and they would set up their cameras and catch him like he was a bad guy. Can we set up a camera?

Me: No. We're not supposed to see Santa. I don't think he comes if you have a camera set up.

Connor: But we could hide it! We could put something on it so you couldn't tell it was a camera like the ones they have in stores. Maybe the policemen would let us borrow one.

Me: I don't think so. Santa is really smart. You know, he know's when you're sleeping and when you're awake so I'm sure he knows when you've installed a camera.

Connor: Oh. Well could I hide and jump out and take his picture when he comes?

Me: No! You have to be sleeping or he won't come.

Connor: Oh. Ok. Well I wish I could see him.

Me: I know...

:)

- For some reason Connor has taken to calling kleenex boxes "sneeze boxes" which just makes me laugh every time I hear it!

- We have a tradition of giving the kids new jammies on Christmas Eve. Tonight when the boys opened their new jammies Connor ripped into his package and had his out in no time. Logan held his until Connor was done and then, without even trying to rip the paper, took it to Jeremy and said "Scissors please." Apparently he didn't want to work for it! :)

- Two separate incidents have shown me that I am succesfully teaching my children about some of the greatest movies of all time. First, Connor and Logan were arguing over which movie to watch and I heard Logan screaming "Connor! Oompa Loompa! Oompa Loompa!" Second, Logan was pretending to spray Connor and I with water and Connor fell to the ground saying "I'm melting! I'm melting!" haha! However, they also quickly remind me that they're totally boys - on the way to Christmas Eve service tonight Connor blurted out "Hey Mom! I can burp my ABCs!" (a line from the animated movie Over the Hedge). Yeah, I think Christmas vacation has been a little too full of movies so far.... :)

5 year appointment

10 days since my last post?!? No way! I'd better work on getting y'all caught up on our various activities! But...I'm sick. The boys are watching Dora, Jeremy's out seeing a movie with his friend Keith, and I'm being sick and lazy on the couch. :) So since I'm typing on a tiny keyboard so I can txt this blog post, it's going to be a short one!

Connor had his 5 year doctor's appointment yesterday! He weighs 40 lb 2 oz (50th percentile) and is exactly 44 inches tall (75th percentile). Everything looks good! She was happy to hear he hasn't had to use the nebulizer since September after he got out of the hospital. The worst part was, of course, the dreaded 5 year immunizations. Friends have relayed their own traumatic stories of screaming, crying, two nurses holding the child down, etc. so I was preparing myself mentally for a rough afternoon. It wasn't too bad though! Connor tried to hide under the desk but we coerced him back onto the table, laid him down, and I told him how much I love him and how proud I am to have a big 5 year old and she was done! The nurse was fast and there were no real tears just a littlw whimpering until he heard that he got to pick out a BIG prize from a special prize drawer for 5 year olds and then he was back to his usual jolly self! No more big shots until middle school now!

The funniest part of the whole appintment was actually as we were checking in. The receptionist asked us if it was snowing outside and Connor yelled "Yes! It's snowing BALLS!" As you might imagine that got a big laugh from everyone in ear shot! It really was snowing tiny bouncy balls of snow! :)

FIVE

Five years ago today our lives changed forever when Connor finally arrived! I could reminisce about the hours and hours of labor but I've posted about that before and prefer to remember the good times - haha!

So, like last year, I'll do a birthday post!

Five years.
1827 days.
43,848 hours.
2,630,880 minutes.
157,852,800 seconds.

Wow he's old. :)

Actually, reading back through last year's post, not much has really changed! Connor is still incredibly active and as outgoing as can be. This week he wishes a Merry Christmas to anyone we pass in the store or at school which is super cute but you'd be surprised at the strange looks he gets! If I had to predict what he'll be when he grows up it would be something people oriented and I wouldn't be surprised if it's something entertaining - stand up comedian, actor, stunt double?! You know, his acting experience playing a house will be the first entry on his resume! He still loves to ride his bike and drive his Jeep, especially with Logan by his side. He has learned more in school, of course, and still amazes us with his clear memory of things that happened when he was really little. His favorite foods haven't changed much - waffles, pizza, chicken nuggets, fruit of any kind, spaghetti, yogurt. He's more independent every day and loves to help with cooking as much as we'll let him. He looks forward to movie night every Saturday night and currently loves any Christmas movie we'll let him watch - Home Alone, The Santa Clause, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, etc. He loves Logan so much and is very protective of him. I don't think he quite understands how much Logan looks up to him or why Logan copies absolutely everything he does but when Logan cries he's the first one to rush to his side (while screaming "Emergency!" and making high pitched siren noises!). :) He's still holding on to his afternoon nap though he skips them a bit more often now. So many people who are special to him have moved away this year - neighbors Quin and Darwin, best friend Rhyann, Grandma Willy and Grandpa Mark - but he's taken in it all in stride and is so incredibly positive about everything! He is definitely a "glass half-full" type! He played organized sports for the first time this year - t-ball and soccer - and was described as the most enthusiastic and positive player by each of his coaches when they were handing out awards. He liked both sports but when we ask him if wants to do either of them again he asks what other sport he gets to try next - hockey, football, basketball, karate? He wants to try them all!

Kindergarten will be the big thing this year, of course, but I wonder in what other ways he might change. I can't wait to see what the next year brings!

I still haven't had time to compile the predictions our friends and family made at his first birthday party but will try to do that soon! Tomorrow I'll post the prediction sheet for when he turns 10 so that you can contribute your guesses if you want :)

Birthday part 1

Saturday was Connor's birthday party at the Erie Rec Center! We went to a birthday party there a few months ago and ever since then Connor wanted to have his party there too! We played a few games in the party room and had yummy cake. He got lots of cool presents including some fun games and a karaoke machine! Both he and Logan love the karaoke machine - almost every conversation we have now is amplified and has the echo feature turned way up :) He narrated our dinner tonight and at one point I called him Ryan Seacrest (if you don't know who that is, well, how can that be? :) ). He yelled into the mic, "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, BOYS AND GIRLS! I AM CONNOR SEACREST!" :)

Unfortunately we didn't get many pics from the party but it was lots of fun! When we were done in the party room most of the kids stayed for swimming. Jeremy was the designated water taxi, giving all the kids piggy-back rides through the lazy river section of the pool. They all seemed to have a great time and the boys were really tired afterward! Connor's already planning his party next year...and announcing all his plans in stereo sound! haha
The cake at his party

On Sunday we went to Santa's House in Boulder. Ok, really it's a sorority house near CU that's transformed each year to look like Santa's house but Connor still believes it's Santa's summer home. The boys each got to sit on Santa and Mrs. Claus' laps and for the first time Logan didn't scream! He actually didn't want to get off Santa's lap! They also had the same music and puppet show and some little carnival type games. The boys both had so much fun and, despite the sunny short-sleeve weather, it got us more in the Christmas spirit!
Logan listened intently to everything Santa said but could only muster a few yeah's in response :)


Since tomorrow is Connor's official birthday we're taking treats to his classroom. Well, that is if school's not cancelled due to the snow that's falling! There's a "no cupcake" rule at his school but anything else goes so this is what Connor and I came up with. We were inspired by some Christmas ornaments on our tree. I don't know about you but I am totally impressed :) haha



Hopefully the weather will cooperate so that Connor can share his birthday with his classmates! I have to go decorate his doorway with streamers now :)

Overheard today...

Coming from the playroom...

Connor: Logan, don't do that!

Logan: NO!

Connor: Logan, if you keep doing that I'm going to tell Mom and she's going to call Santa.

Logan: Santa...Claus?

Connor: Yes. At the North Pole. And then you won't get any fire trucks for Christmas.

Logan: Kissmas?

Connor: Yes. Now stop.

Logan: I stop now. Sowwy. [Sorry]