Easter!

(Warning~ oodles of photos)

I am loving the fact that Connor is fully aware & excited for this holiday! He loves the bunny and most importantly, he L-O-V-E-S the eggs!! I have never seen more excitement on a child's face until I saw him find an "eeeeeeeggggggggg!" Enjoy the pictures from our Easter week with captions to help tell the story...

Mom's attempt at a bunny craft. Once we pulled out the cotton balls, all Connor heard was "baaaaaaaaaalll!" He had more fun pulling each individual cotton ball apart, saying "uh oh," then throwing it away in the trash...to come back & do the same thing again. Boys aren't really into crafts... :)


We decided to have breakfast for lunch and served special colored scrambled eggs & ham. Connor thought it was cool to eat lunch with his bunny friend.


That evening we ventured over to Bass Pro Shop for our holiday photo with Mr. E.B. It went a little something like this...

1. Safety zone was about 2 feet away from the Bunny. I tried to ease him into it by Connor showing his stuffed bunny to the real bunny.


2. Connor takes my hand and points to the bench & says "Mama," implying that I must sit with him while he hangs out with the Easter Bunny. We continued to ease Connor into the Bunny interaction with a friendly high five.


3. While Nana stood on photo duty, Connor was then proud of himself to let Nana know that he's cool with the bunny now!


Of course, by the time Connor was acquainted with his favorite furry holiday friend, the good ol' folks at Bass Pro had already snapped a not-so-friendly looking face of him with the Bunny. Owell! At least there were no tears! :)


This past Friday we signed up for a special Bunny date through Parks & Rec. We did this last year, so kinda knew what to expect. Here's another play-by-play...

The nice instructors led the class of kiddies in some hoppy holiday-themed music. Connor took a few minutes then hop-hop-hopped right into the center of the room to show of his skills.


We then sang to "Do Your Ears Hang Low?" & Connor had no problem finding his ears. Throughout the rest of the songs though, all of the instructors and classmates just thought Connor didn't like the music since he kept walking around with his hands over his ears!




We then headed over to crafts & snack time.


Smooches for Nana


Then they shared some animal crackers after they named each animal.


Through the remainder of the "Bunny date", Connor was the first to sneak a peek under the partitions hiding the egg hunt area from the kids. While all the kids were excited to see the Easter Bunny and sing more songs, my child was chanting "Eeeeeeggggs!" and anxiously waiting to partake in the egg hunt! Everyone got a good kick out of his holiday cheer! :)


He was sooooo proud of himself to find each egg!


"Eeeeeeeggggg!"


After the eggs were found, the grass was quite a hit too!


Then fast forward to today....EASTER!

Connor was checking out his goodies from the E.B.






Once Nana & Papa arrived, we headed outside for Connor's first official egg hunt. I could not wait to see his excitement!

"There's one!!"


He insisted on opening each egg as he found them. The instant gratification once he opened the egg & found a "Surprise!" was written all over his face!


After our egg hunt, we loaded up & headed to Nana & Papa's for more Easter goodies & the "poooooool."


Connor suited up & headed out to swimming lessons with Papa.

We went from wearing swimmies to practice with NO swimmies....Ahhh!!

The benefit of having a super tall 2 year old is that he can walk the entire shallow end of the pool!


My precious water boy


Practicing kicking! He should fly like the wind once he gets this swimming thing down with his giant flipper feet (size 9 shoe). Watch out Michael Phelps!


I adore the two of them together :)






Connor anxiously awaiting to be blasted with water through the noodle!


Life is sooo good :)


Giggle-pous






After the pool, whats better than a little nudey story time!

Happy Easter!!! xoxox

Simple things...

In the backyard, we have a swing set, water splash table, inflatable pool & water slide...

But what made this child content was simply tossing a soccer ball into the tree & watching it bobble down each branch until it hit the ground again.

Connor was entertained with the ball & we were entertained with Connor :)

I have one cute little boy huh?! :)

Beach Bums

Connor & his Papa are two peas in a pod!

We spent a nice few hours at the beach last weekend & most of the time was spent watching these two guys splash in the water.

I am ever-so-grateful Papa likes to go in the water since this lady is not the fondest of the critters in beach waters. Before you judge me, I make a very good point here...

Shortly after the boys were playing in the water, a crowd started to develop, with lots of pointing toward the shore. I hopped up from my beach chair to see a nice little family of string rays swimming by Papa & my child!! It might as well have been a shark, because I launched from my chair, shouted at Papa to hold Connor high, and my heart about leaped right out of my chest. All survived and no one was harmed...but I rest my case on avoiding the critters in the water...!

Connor spent a good amount of time collecting shells, rocket launching them into the water, and running back & forth from Papa in the water to Nana & I on the beach. My handsome little guy always draws attention, so he managed to meet a few friends while in the water too.

Since I didn't know what to do with myself after being able to sit in a chair for more than 3 seconds, I took the opportunity to snap a few photos of my beach bunny in action.

A bond stronger than no other...

Connor's sexy face :)


More wave watching...


Seriously...what is cuter than a munchkin in sunglasses?!


A shell!!


Connor practicing for his Baywatch audition...


Papa ride...


The Dorito thief


After all the effort of packing, finding parking, unloading, cleaning off sand, and reloading for a 2 hour trip to the beach...Connor could have easily played in the showers/foot sprinkler the whole time & had the time of his life! Oh the simple things in life...

Swimmer!!!

Connor has always been a water boy. He holds no fear when it comes to jumping right in! With the pool water finally warm again, I knew it was time to work on swimming lessons. Between Papa & I, we've made some major progress in the past two days already! Connor went from swallowing water (he likes to swim with his mouth wide open) and not kicking his feet...to slipping on some arm swimmies, kicking those legs like he's running a marathon, and puckering his lips like a fish to keep the water out! I was easily the proudest Mom on the planet yesterday when Connor was swimming on his own (...with the assistance of swimmies, of course).

He was leaping into the pool, going under, then swimming to me, Papa, or the side of the pool to climb out. He was so proud of himself! It was a very exciting day!

It was also a very exciting day, because it was a celebration for this awesome lady in our lives...

Happy 83rd Birthday Grandma (aka G.G.) !!!

Buzzzzzzzzzzz

Connor went through his love affair with Dora. Soon after, he moved onto his friendship with Special Agent Oso. Lately, however, no one quite compares to Connor's best buddy, Buzz!

It all began when we brought home "Toy Story" from the library to watch a few weeks ago. From that point forward, Connor has had a new obsession with his Space Ranger Pal! Connor wakes up and he wants to watch "Buzzzz." He gets ready for bed & he wants to watch "Buzzzzz."

This new obsession made it easy for the Easter Bunny to find goodies for Connor's Easter Basket! The most exciting purchase of all was a Buzz Lightyear Figure. It's taken a lot of self control (and convincing from Matt) to WAIT until Easter to give him his Buzz. That was all until a few days ago...

I was hanging an Easter Wreath and decided to put it's box up in my decoration closet in the laundry room. When I opened the closet, my little munchkin decided to 'help' me and managed to bump into a few things...which led to Connor's Easter Basket to crash to the ground...causing Buzz to FLY onto the floor (pun intended). Connor could have cared less about the 1000 goodies that launched onto the floor, but managed to lock eyes with his one and only Buzz. From that moment, Buzz has been toured of the house, shared meals with Connor, kept Connor company in the car, and has snuggled up in Connor's bed at night. Buzz and Connor are best buds! Although Connor found his Easter surprise a little early, I was still able to catch some footage of him after he found his Buzz. Connor is one excited kid!

Love you Buzzzzzzzzz!

One.Funny.Kid.

Cozy Coupe Car
+
Connor's favorite person (PaaaPaa!)
+
Sprinkler
=
One.Funny.Kid.


(He would have Papa drive him through the sprinkler & shout--
"waaaaining! waining!"


Mr. Potato Head's glasses
-
Mr. Potato Head
+
Connor
=
One.Funny.Kid.

Random shots from the month

It's almost midnight. Mama needs some sleep. Just thought I'd post some more random pics for the month of March. Enjoy and good night!

Holding his first "Ice ceeeeam" cone :)

Love for his Papa :)

This picture melts my heart. These two kiddies love each other and its so cute to watch. Connor usually gives Kaylee a good hug when he first sees her and Kaylee's usually saying "Connnor" when she first sees him. Last week we had them holding hands and taking each other for a walk around the house. Adorable.



My child's got game. He is a natural when it comes to basketball. He wants to shoot "hoops" all the time. Matt's his favorite hoop buddy. They crack each other up in the living room shooting. If Connor makes it, they say "Swish" and if Connor misses it, they say "Awww man!" At one point, Connor was purposely missing his shots just so he could say "Awww man!" His game is back on track and he shoots like a pro!








These are the pictures I found on my camera when I got home yesterday from work. Hilarious! Nana had Connor sporting her shades that afternoon. I can just read Connor's face...
"Nana...seriously?!?!?!"


What are you laughing at Nana?!


Here's the smile that I love to pieces.



Ok...time for bed! More photos to come...

Phone photos

So I'm a picture addict.

I know...it's no surprise...

I just can't help it. If I don't have my camera, I feel naked. If I don't have my camera, I have my phone camera. Not the best quality, but it's surely better than nothing. I've been collecting quite a few pictures that are usually sent via text message to my folks or Matt, but I've never really shared with everyone else.

Here ya go :)

Connor's finished "Big boy" room. I love it :) and I would seriously customize a wall decal for every room if I could. I love the way they look!

The time of day I cherish the most is nap time :). I will be sad the day Connor says farewell to naps. On days that I work early, I love love love to come home and crash with Connor for a few hours. With Connor's big boy bed (without those ever-so-lovely crib rails to keep him contained) makes nap time and bed time hard to do with a boy that can escape his bed & would fight sleep all day long if he could. I've found myself doing what I never thought I'd find myself doing...I have to lie in bed with him for naps & bed time until he falls asleep. It's going to be a FUN challenge breaking this lovely habit we've created, but for now...it's working for us. We all get sleep. Life is good. :)

I could cuddle with my sleeping boy for ever!

Here's Mr. St. Patty's Day at Arizona Pizza. Connor's been doing great in restaurants these days. He sits still longer and is somewhat patient for a 2 year old. Matt & I made the mistake of telling Connor while we were in the car on the way to the restaurant that we were going to Arizona Pizza. From that point forward, Connor had pizza on his brain.

"Peeeza! Peeeeeza!"

To make matters worse, every table around us was being served pizza. Every table but OURS! Mr. somewhat patient became extremely impatient!! Mommy and Connor decided to take a walk until our food came to avoid any giant meltdowns. I do have to admit that I came really close to buying a piece of pizza off of the family to the left of our table just to regain my sanity!!! No worries...a good walk did the trick until our "PEEEEZZA" came!

After supper, Connor wanted to model Mr. Tony's hat.

After a fun excursion to Toysrus this week, we've found ourselves a new water toy for the backyard. Meet Mr. Turtle. He shoots high. He shoots low. He waters Mommy's yard while entertaining the child. He's wonderful!

Connor loved to stand there and catch the water in his mouth, then walk over to me to stare me in the eye, say "Mmmm....", smile, then say "Tastey!" Funny kid.

A few weeks ago we decided to take an evening stroll to help pass the time after nap and before supper. Connor thought it would be best to include his Monkey, Mickey, and his orange (yes....orange....). He was cute as can be trying to walk with his hands full. I offered to help, but he insisted on carrying them all himself!

So we haven't started potty training quite yet. We've reached the point of communication by words (Praise God, thank you Jesus!) which is the first step. Connor will now go poops then come to me, point to his diaper, and say "poo poo". I try to explain that we need to use the potty when we have to go to the bathroom.

This past week, my smart child took a different approach to potty training.

Mommy explains: "Your poo goes in the potty, not in your diaper."

Connor responds by running into the bathroom where he thought he was obeying my command...

And this is what I found...

My precious boy put his Pooh in the potty! :)
This potty training stuff is gonna be a BREEZE ;) HA!

To complete this post, I thought I would include a short little video clip of my funny man. He finds the tiniest things funny. We've been practicing his letters on his Leapfrog computer lately and he has found that the letter "Y" with the animal "Yak" is beyond hilarious. Watch and enjoy :)

So its been a while...

First of all, my child is adorable.

I know I'm stating the obvious & I am allowed to be biased, but seriously...

my child is adorable! :)

Words are coming out of his mouth left & right. He has been such a joy to be around and has a way of making any word absolutely precious in his own little sweet lispy voice!

I'll have oodles of photos to come (haven't had time to sit & edit them yet), so a few videos will have to hold you over on your "Connor fix" for now.

I am queen of documenting everything & I've been meaning to make a list of all of Connor's words so far...but it's pretty hard since he's doing a lot of repeating now. I'll try making the list, but I am sure it won't include everything...

Food:

Pizza, Macaroni, Banana, Apple, Orange, Grapes, Juice, Milk, Ice, Ice cream, Muffin, Pancake, Waffle, Cup

Random characters/shows:

"All Aboard the Choo Choo Train", "Dinosaur Train", Daisy, Donald Duck, Goofy, Minnie, Mickey, Oso, Dottie, Elmo, "la la la", Abby (Cadabby), Big bird, Cookie (monster), Ernie, Pooh, Santa, "Ho ho ho", Hop hop hop (like the Easter bunny), Nemo, Toodles

Around the house/random:

Hoops, Up, Help, Mama, Matt, Nana, Papa (one of his favorite people & words), Amen, Kaylee, Austin, Charlie, Katie, Nicole, Shoes, Socks, Hat, Boo-boo, Ouch, Uh-Oh, Oops, Ohh Sheesh, Shucks, Poo-poo, flag, swing, Please, Swish, Crash, All clean!, Awww man! (when he misses making a basketball shot), leaf

Body parts:

Knee, Elbow, Toes, Hair, Eyes

Animal/Sounds:

Monkey, ooo--eee---ooo---aaa, duck, quack, cow, mooo, lion, rarrrrrr, kitty cat, woof woof, bird, tweet tweet, donkey, frog, eagle, gifaffe, turtle, zebra, dolphin,elephant, bumble bee

He also thinks he can spell and count.

Example #1: Mommy says: "One, Two, Three, Four..." and Connor repeats "eee, dee, dee..."

Example #2: Mommy says: "C-O-N-N-O-R" and Connor repeats "oooh, dee, eee..."

It's pretty darn cute! :)

The list goes on...I'm just so excited to have words coming out!!

Here's a final video to make you smile & possibly giggle. Connor's latest obsession is shooting hoops with Matt. He's also found that if he falls down & you say "crash", that its the funniest thing in the world! (P.S. Please excuse the fact that Connor's not sporting any shorts...we were approaching bath time & really had no need for them at the time!)