Say it isn't so...

Apostrophes banned in Britain

Sigh. What is happening to our poor language? I admit, I overuse some punctuation marks. You know, like commas...and ellipses. :) I abbreviate words when text messaging sometimes, but my phone actually puts apostrophes in when I forget! If I type isnt it changes it to isn't :) It's lovely! Er, I mean, its lovely? No, that just isnt right. Haha! Whats next? We use "there" for every instance where their or they're is supposed to be used? "To" in every case where two or too might be called for. Tragic.

Odds and Ends

I picked up my glasses today. I'm not quite used to them yet, of course. I feel like I'm wearing 3D glasses because everything is sort of jumping out at me :) And I have to go back next week because as soon as I got home I discovered a scratch in the middle of the left lens. I'm sure I'll be adding enough of my own scratches - I don't want to start with one! I'll have Jeremy take a picture tomorrow and post it here...maybe :) I'm trying to convince him that the glasses mean I need a new hairstyle and makeup too but we'll see how that goes!

Connor got into the AM kindergarten class we were hoping for! They sent us an official acceptance letter like he just got into Harvard or something :) He was really excited when we told him, mostly because he is looking forward to getting a new backpack. Haha! I asked him why he needs a new backpack and he said "because I need a super big backpack because kindergartners have to bring home a lot of work. We have so much to learn!" Well, ok then.

Not much else is going on here. Work, school, home, etc. Boring is good sometimes, right? :)

Sigh...

Ok it's official. I'm getting older and falling apart. First to go was the short term memory. Second (wait, what was first again? haha), was my eyesight. My vision has been great my whole life. So great that I haven't gotten regular eye exams. I know, not a good idea. But last year sometime (ok, June I think) I had my annual exam with my regular doctor and for the first time in years I had to do the whole eye chart thing. I don't know why it had been years. I mean, I've had annual physicals with this same doctor for a few years now and this is the first time she asked me to do this. So I covered my left eye and she asked me to read the last line. No problem, right? I've always been able to read it in the past. Wait...is that a C or a G? Or an O? Blink, blink. No wait, maybe a T? :) Ok, that wasn't working. Next line up? No problem. Clear as day. So then I covered my right eye. Last line? Not a chance. Next line up? I could remember what I'd just read using my right eye but that wouldn't be right...I couldn't see the letters! The next line up? Clear enough to make out but still blurry. So, not surprisingly, she recommended I get a real eye exam. Wow, I didn't really feel like my vision was deteriorating but apparently it was...

So, for absolutely no reason other than denial, I put off getting an eye exam until today. For the last few months Jeremy has been hounding me to get an eye exam and finally he just went and made an appointment for me and told me where to go and when to show up. Yeah, he loves me. Plus I have a feeling he worries about me occasionally driving the boys around at dusk :)

And, you guessed it, I need glasses. Glasses! Me! It can't be and yet it is. As expected, my left eye is worse than my right. Despite knowing that I hadn't had an eye exam for a while and was nervous about the results, the best the eye doctor could come up with was "well, at least your vision isn't so bad I have to tell you it's illegal for you drive home." Yay. Comforting...

An hour and a half later I had forked over a bunch of money and placed my order for a lovely pair of glasses. The next seven to ten business days will be the last glasses-free days of my life.

I know, I'm making it sound like I'm really upset about it but it's not all that bad of course :) It was amazing to have the right lenses in and look at the signs across the room - the letters were so incredibly crisp! And it was fun trying on different frames. I joked with one of the ladies that one of Jeremy's coworkers recently posted five pictures of himself on Facebook so his friends could vote on which frames looked best on him and it turns out we went to the same eye doctor - she knew just who I was talking about! :)

So in seven to ten business days I'll be seeing the computer screen, tv, street signs, even you a little better! Hooray!

Hi!

Wow I haven't posted at all this year. Let's see here...

New Year's was fun. I'm sure there are some pictures lurking on the camera but I obviously haven't downloaded them yet! We went to the Denver Zoo and had fun counting down to 2009 at 9 pm! Connor yelled "Happy 2009!" and "Happy New Year!" and "Happy 2009 Baby Jesus!" (yeah, I don't know why either) the whole way to the car. We rode the carousel and the train and looked at all the beautiful lights...

Other than that the last few weeks have been pretty boring which is why I haven't felt the need to post! For some reason I don't think you'll be excited to read about us cleaning out the garage or how I rearranged my closet. :)

Oh maybe you would like to know that Connor started swim classes again! He's at the Dolphin level but it's a combined Dolphin/Whale class (Whale is higher) so there are two boy dolphins and two girl whales taught by the same teacher at the same time. Connor jumped off the diving board for the first time on Saturday and though he said he was a little scared he also thought it was lots of fun!

We usually have movie night with Connor on Saturday nights. We put Logan to bed and then watch some G rated movie like Wall E or Cars or The Sound of Music. Last night, though, we rented E.T. It's rated PG and neither Jeremy nor I could remember much beyond the name, Drew Barrymore and Reese's Pieces so we thought it would be fun to watch. Do any of you remember the "astronaut" scene? E.T. is dying and men in space suits come into Elliot's home in suits like they're going on a space walk with their arms outstretched like zombies. They come though the windows and doors and in a line down the street invading their home to get to E.T. Well, he didn't seem very scared at the time but that scene really bothered Connor! So much so that he slept with us until about 5 am when Jeremy was able to move him back to his own bed. We never want to see him scared, of course, but it was nice to be needed and to snuggle with him for a night :) Though that also meant that I didn't sleep very well since I was sharing my pillow with him but that's ok once in a while. What's funny is that even though he was terrified of it last night he woke up this morning so excited to tell Logan all about it and especially focused on how cool the astronauts were. Weird!

While Jeremy was off the last couple weeks of the year we worked on potty training with Logan. Yeah, it basically went nowhere. He sits on the potty long enough to make us think he's getting it so we'll give him a treat but he's really just in it for the sugar at this point. He's totally the baby of the family - doesn't want to grow up too fast and is content having us change his diaper. When he has a dirty diaper we ask him, "where are you supposed to go potty?" He replies, "In the potty." "Are you going to go to the potty next time?" "No. Change diaper, Mommy." Ok, so you're not ready yet. Fine. :)

Oh we registered Connor for Kindergarten! I guess that's blog-worthy. We actually registered him at 3 schools (all public through our school district) since two have a lottery system and we want to be sure we get AM kindergarten. Ideally we'd like to just stick with our neighborhood school but we're keeping our options open :)

Connor has been begging to try lobster for weeks now so, since his parents don't actually like lobster (I know, what's wrong with us?), we encouraged him to try it with Grandma Sue and Papa since they can actually say "yum" while eating it and mean it :) He'll get his first taste this week! Hopefully he'll like it but not enough to request it often...haha!

I typed a lot considering I didn't think I had much to tell you all about! Off to bed I go...

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]