It's official....

I am a soccer Mom. Connor had his first soccer practice last night. One of the boys from school invited him to join the team. So, yesterday we headed out to the soccer shop to buy soccer shoes & soccer socks & shin guards and of course a new ball. I of course forgot my camera. Though I am going to bring the video camera next time. And in a few short weeks we should be $10,000 richer. That is after we win America's funniest home videos. Is that show still on? OK, I am going to tell you a story and you have to promise not to tell Connor until he is at least 16 or so. Here goes... he got off to a great start. We got there early and he ran back and forth with the ball between the goals. He understood what a goal was. The other kids started to show up and he ran up to them. No problems yet. Then each got a turn kicking the ball into the net, they practiced passing, no problems. Then came the 3 on 3 scrimmage. PROBLEM! Well, Connor has never played against anyone. We usually just kick the ball back & forth. Every time the ball got away from him or he wasn't the one in front he started to cry. No, actually he started to wail! His nose ran, he screamed and Brandon and I were at a loss. He is our usually tough as nails kid crying in the middle of the field. The best part was that he never stopped running. He kept right on running after the ball, crying the whole way. If I had captured this on tape I assure you we would be buying a pool courtesy of Connor.

Here are some shots of him after we got home.

I think an airplane flew over when I took this shot. Let's hope that doesn't happen in a game!

Our week.. the fast version

I have been a blog slacker this week. Nothing all that exciting happened. But I know if i don't write something I will get a message from my aunt with an unhappy face. So here is our week in review:

Monday: Hudson had a check up. Did great as usual. 75-90% for everything. Got 2 shots and cried for a total of 10 seconds.

Tuesday: Connor cried when it was time to go to school. He said he didn't feel good. I let him stay home and then made him run boring errands until he cried and begged to go to school. Turns out some kid in class pushed him the other day and he was scared that it would get him in trouble. I assured him it would not & I talked to the teacher as well. That afternoon I took the boys for their flu shots. Both were pretty brave.

Wednesday: I got my hair done. I am pretty blond again.

Thursday: Dropped Connor off at school and he cried. Brandon went & picked him up at the end of the day and took him to use his allowance money for a new race track with 2 loop de loops. Brandon made a presence in class & with the teacher I'm sure.

Friday: We went to the park and met up with 2 kids from Connor's class. When we first got there all of the ducks from the pond surrounded the car & wouldn't let me out. It was scary. I finally had to move the car. When it was time to feed the ducks they swarmed and all the kids ran screaming. Connor had a great time with his 2 new buddies. I liked the Mom's. That is always a plus!

Allowance: Connor is now getting an allowance. For his $2 per week he must: Put his dish and cup in the sink after meals, put away his laundry, bring in the garbage can and clean up his toys every night. He loves having chores and he is understanding money and what it does. We are teaching him about saving.

Tonight we are headed out for dinner with Paul & Marci at one of the best places in town. Then tomorrow we have Ryan's birthday party. Hudson is already walking around saying "cake, cake".

Will the fun ever end?

I'm tired. We had a fun, but very busy weekend. On Friday I took the kids to McDonald's & we took our food to the park. We ate at the park & then played. It was nice, but not free of the usual challenges. First, I really didn't want to eat McDonald's. So, I made myself a sandwich. Second, I try to never let the kids have soda. I packed drinks for all of us. So, they split some chicken nuggets, fries & apple slices. I could have cut apples at home, but then they wouldn't be McDonald's apples & would somehow loose their specialness. So, the boys at their nuggets, about 10 fries each and all the apples. (yeah) I had a yogurt. A special McDonald's yogurt. I have to admit I also had about 10 fries, but it is way better than what could have been. Of course half way through lunch Connor had to pee. He got to pee on a tree & that is always cool!

Saturday we went to Ella's birthday party & all had a great time. After naps we headed over to Brandon's parents so he could clean out their gutters. After that we had dinner & went swimming. Today we headed out to church & the to Morgan's birthday party. The boys had

another great time. Hudson has a had cake 3 times this week and is loving it. He will be in frosting rehab by next week. Luckily we don't have any more parties for 2 weeks.

Brandon & I just got done with the last of this weekends chores. Except grocery shopping that is. Now, the big question.... do I take them with me?

Oh yeah, my camera never left the house. I am going to have to glue that thing to my hand! So, here is a cute pic I took of Hudson I took this past week & one of Connor that Katina sent me.

We like to call this one "Bounce House Hair"

Brandon's birthday

Today was Brandon's birthday. The kids & I went & got him a cookie cake. Connor insisted we write Happy Birthday Brandon on it. He is so intrigued that we have names other than Mom & Dad. Brandon had to stand up in church on Sunday and Connor said "look, there's Brandon". We made his favorite dinner..... all appetizers. The kids seemed to like it too. Who doesn't like appetizers. After all, appetizers are what you eat to make you more hungry. (let's see who gets that obscure reference)

After dinner we had cake & gave Brandon his gifts. The boys got him a toy airplane & helicopter set. They were so excited to pick out their own gift. Brandon took them outside & they all had a blast playing with it. I got him a small IPOD for the gym. He had no idea he was getting it & he really loved it.

Ragweed.... who knew?

I had my second round of allergy tests yesterday. Once she stuck me with the ragweed I knew something was up. It was itchy to say the least. At least I had the other 47 needles to keep my mind off of the itchiness. Then the ragweed spot started to grow... and grow. It was about 2 inches round when I left the office. She had to hold off on round three and she said it would be dangerous now that she saw my ragweed reaction. I get to go back in 2 weeks for 9 more needles.

Once I got home the spot got bigger. By dinner this is what it looked like:

By 9pm it had taken over the upper part of my arm. I will spare you the pictures. Brandon ran out to the pharmacy to see if there was anything I could take on top of the antihistamine the Dr. gave me. Nope. The pharmacist asked if we had an epi pen in case I had trouble breathing through the night. We have one, but needless to say I didn't sleep well. This morning it isn't quite as red & bumpy, but it did wrap around my arm. So, I will be staying away from ragweed.

I was also found to be allergic to molds & yeast. The nurse said that they would put me on a 3 month diet restriction of no yeast (bread & alcohol) and no mold (cheese). I asked her if she could just stick me with 49 more needles please. NO BREAD..... who can live like that? NO CHEESE? Shoot me now!

Keeping them busy

It has rained the past 2 evenings. Poor Brandon, it is driving him crazy. Two nights ago we sat in the garage & watched the rain, then Brandon made an obstacle course through the family room, dining room & living room. I would just like to say that I won with a time of 25 seconds!. Last night we played with play dough. Notice the cool design achieved by mixing the colors!

I like to think of this picture as Connor's personal protest against preschool rules.

Hudson spends the entire time with the dough demanding "balls". Then he stacks them & squishes them. Sometimes he eats them. I can't wait to see his poop today!
I just watched the weather forecast & they said it was going to rain again tonight. HELP!! What am I going to do with them for another night in the house? The kids will be OK, but I really need something for Brandon to do. It's his birthday so we can kill some time with cake, but after that I am at a loss. Any ideas?

Big brother's rock!

Our kids are not used to sleeping in a bed other than their own. In fact, Hudson has never slept anywhere besides the hospital & his own bed. He has never been a fan of the pack & play. We do not allow our kids to sleep in our bed. This has worked for us so far. We don't really want to travel with them yet so it isn't an issue. Except for holiday's. We would love to be able to put them down at Brandon's parents house. So far, it hasn't worked. This past Sunday we all headed over there for dinner. Brandon's parents bought Connor a sleeping bag that is attached to an air mattress. It has Lightning McQueen on it. We figured this was as good a time as any to try out sleeping in a new place. Connor insisted that he had to sleep in the room with Hudson. We put Hudson in the pack & play and Connor in the sleeping bag. We closed the door. Hudson was screaming. We listened at the door and this is what we heard:

Connor: Don't worry Hudson

Hudson: Scream

Connor: It's OK Hudson, Mom & Dad are coming back, it's just nap time

Hudson: Silence

Connor talked Hudson into going to sleep. This was great. One problem was all of the adults had to whisper for the next hour. They were great about it. Had we been with my family the boys would have slept about five minutes. The other problem was when Connor woke up he was disorientated and he didn't know where the bathroom was. He ended up peeing in his pants. Poor little guy has only done that twice ever.

So, the sleeping experiment went well. But we still aren't ready for travel. I really just don't think it is worth the hassle. Even if we took them on a vacation, how much will they remember? For the 4 hours of fun they will have then we have to have the hassle of feeding them & getting them to sleep somewhere unfamiliar. So, we will probably wait a couple of more years before we take any trips. We may head to NY next year as my family hasn't met Hudson yet. But I really don't see us going on any camping trip any time soon. But, really who sees me going camping ever?

Fun in the Sun

Last night Brandon & I went to the Ale House for dinner & then some shopping. When we got home Connor was still awake in his bed. Brandon went in to say Hi and Connor said "Dad, I can not believe it!". He loves it when we get home early enough to say goodnight to him. We came home pretty early as we were supposed to get up this morning and take the kids to Daytona Beach for the day. Freddy, Katina, Brett, Erin & the kids are all staying at a resort & we were going to meet them there to play. Hudson woke up with a green nose so off to the pediatrician it was. Turns out his ears were clear, but he has a head cold. So we brought him home, had breakfast and down for a nap. When he got up we took them swimming at the club. We had promised Connor a fun day of swimming so we had to do something. He did great. Swam across the pool twice and did a bunch a cannon balls. Hudson just played on the stairs as we didn't want him to over do it. He did run across the pool deck & fell. You will notice a nice scratch on his chin. But, being the tough as nails kid that he is he was done crying by the time I got ice to him. Believe it or not I remembered my camera at the pool. I even took video!

Brandon was messing with Hudson the other night while he slept. You can tell by the look on his face that the flash is bothering him, but the little rock never woke up!

Our week

Tuesday Pops came with me to pick up Connor at school. He wanted to meet the teachers as he likes to pick Connor up a couple of times a month. Then he took us all out for ice cream. And then he did the best thing of all... he told me to go do whatever I wanted to. I love that man! I went and ran a couple of errands. It is so much easier without the kids. I am amazed how much faster I am able to do things when I am alone. No strapping in and out of car seats. No stopping at the toy department to "just look". No stopping to see if they are giving away cookie samples.

Wednesday I was do for my next round of allergy testing, but Pops had a scheduling conflict so I rescheduled until next week. But he had already told the boys he would see them so he came over for a little while. While he was here I was so productive. I hemmed the curtains for the master bath, made a new curtain for another window and hemmed the curtain for the boys bathroom. I am so domestic!

Yesterday Connor had school again. He & Orion (a kid in his class) got into "a little trouble". That's Connor's story. So, I immediately made a play date with Orion for next Friday. I figure if this is the kid he is getting in trouble with he must be fun to play with.

Today my friend Beth came over with her 2 kids, Kyle (1) and Kelsey (almost3) They are each 4 months younger than our boys. Brandon & I worked with her and her husband Josh in the McDonald's days. I haven't seen them in 3 years but we ran into each other at Monkey Joe's. We had a great play date. We had planned to go to the park but it started to drizzle. So we stayed here, played outside, had lunch & played some more. The kids played great together! They had so much fun. Our parenting styles are similar. I wish I had taken a picture of Connor & Kelsey. They even hugged & kissed goodbye. Very cute. She cracked me up. Kelsey likes to be naked. So, she spent an hour of the play date with her shirt off. We convinced her to leave her pants on. I promised her that I would tell her about it when she is 16.

Labor day weekend

This is the first time in a while that I can remember Brandon having 3 days off in a row. This is exciting, but also scary. Brandon has a hard time just relaxing. In fact he can not relax for more than 20 minutes. He must be doing something. So, the thought of entertaining him for 3 days is worse than the thought of entertaining the kids! Usually I would just come up with a project. But, I wasn't prepared this time. Labor day just snuck up on me. If I would have remembered, I would have certainly had a permit pulled for a major construction job.

On Saturday Brandon & Connor went to Home Depot to pick up some paint brushes for me & while they were there HD was putting on a workshop for kids. Connor got to make a football coat rack. He got a free project apron and he was very excited that he got to use a hammer. The day was filled with errands. We have 3 birthday parties this month so we went and bought all of the gifts. We took the kids out to dinner and then I was brave enough to take all three of them grocery shopping. They spent the entire trip stealing & hiding my grocery cart from me. It would be easier to leave Brandon home next time.

On Sunday Brandon took Connor to church. Hudson & I stayed home as I had a hard time sleeping the night before. Hudson & I went back to the grocery store to complete my list that I had given up on the night before. Brandon parents came over to enjoy some BBQ and family time. I made a low fat / low calorie strawberry shortcake dessert and it turned out great! Brandon's Mom works for weight watchers so i am always very mindful of what I serve. We were all set to take them to the club to watch the kids swim. We got our bathing suits on, the kids suits on, their sun screen on, towels & toys packed and went outside to get in the truck and bam.....thunder, then lightning. No swimming! The worst part was that it never even rained! It just thundered for 2 hours.

Monday was a full day! We woke up and I made us my famous egg sandwiches. Well, they probably aren't famous, but they are Brandon's favorite breakfast and he only gets them a few times a year. We headed to the pool early. Then , of course we stopped by the stables to see Kobe. We inquired about pricing and figured out that we could either board a horse or buy a BMW. We will have to make that decision later. Next we came home for lunch and then headed right back out to Monkey Joe's for some bounce house fun. Then back home for naps, dinner and back out to a local park to feed ducks & play. I only remembered my camera at the park. He are some cute picks from the park.

No Mason?

When Connor got home from school on Tuesday we had our usual conversation.... what did you have for snack?, what books did the teacher read?, did you poop?, how was lunch?

Well, he told me that he didn't get to eat his squeeze yogurt because Mason took it. This of course upset me. I had a talk with him about not letting other people take his food and letting the teacher know if someone did. While on the ride to school this morning I asked him to tell me what happened at school. He had the exact same story. So, I pulled the teacher aside & asked if she would keep an eye on Mason & Connor during lunch. She said "we don't have a Mason in this class". I went over to the name list and there isn't even a name that sounds like Mason. Plus she told me that they have a no sharing food policy due to allergies. So, hopefully we will be able to get to the bottom of it.

Scary

I ordered Connor's Halloween costume. I know it is early, but I got the exact costume I wanted for half price on EBay, so I went for it!. Well, it was hanging on the bar in the kitchen & the head just happened to be propped perfectly on the counter. When I got up to make Brandon's lunch this morning (at 6:30am) I looked to my left and jumped about 3 feet in the air. Yes, I scared myself with a Halloween Costume!

What happens while I get the mail

My mailbox is 12 steps from my front door. My front door is about 10 steps from the dining room table. That is 44 steps total. The whole trip takes under 1 minute. I ran out to get the mail the other day while the boys were happily eating their lunch. This is what I returned to:

Please note the yogurt splatter made its way 3 feet up the wall....

If I had yogurt, peas, corn & grapes for lunch the yogurt would have been my last choice for the wall, but that's just me.

Update

This past weekend Brandon's parents came over so Brandon & I could get out for some alone time. We went out to dinner & then did some shopping. On Sunday we went to church where Connor had a great time in Sunday school. He learned a new song and then proceeded to sing it the rest of the day. This would have been fine except that he only remembers 2 lines & sings them over and over. I need to call the teacher to get the lyrics. We spent some time at the swimming pool & then made a stop to the horse stables to visit Connor's favorite horse, Kobe. He was very excited as Kobe was in his stall so we could see him up close. The woman working at the stable took Kobe out of the stable and let Connor get even closer. Both boys were so excited.

On Monday I took the boys to the pediatrician. Hudson had 102 fever. Turned out to be an ear infection. Luckily Connor was clear. The Dr. said that if Hudson has 1 more infection in the next 2 months we are going to talk about ear tubes. When we left the Dr. I told Connor that Hudson had a little cold and he said "I've got a little warm". Cute.

Tuesday was back to school for Connor. He told me that he had a great day and that he listened. Teacher #2 was busy with another parent so I didn't get any reports on his behavior. He did tell me that another kid took his yogurt at lunch, so we will need to get to the bottom of that.

Here is Connor patiently waiting for dinner....with a peanut butter spoon.

The dentist

This morning we got up bright & early and headed to the dentist. It was Hudson's first visit. Before they are 3 years old the dental exam is done in Mommy's lap. Hudson sat in my lap facing me, the dentist & I then sit knee to knee & I lay Hudson down. He did great He opened his mouth for the dentist without a fight. The dentist said that besides an overbite Hudson's teeth look great and whoever is brushing them gets an A+. That would be Brandon.

Since Connor is now 3 he gets to go see the dentist all alone. Actually he gets to go to a room with a bunch of other kids. No parents allowed. I love this. Kids are so much braver when we aren't there. They cleaned his teeth, took x-rays and gave him a fluoride treatment. Actually they took 1 x-ray to be exact. The technician came out to me & said "we could only get one x-ray, Connor has a really bad gag reflex". I said "you should try feeding him broccoli".

They were both very well behaved. I was thrilled. If you live in the Orlando area and need a dentist for your kids, drop me a line. This dentist is amazing!

I had a Dr.'s appointment that afternoon and Pop's was busy and Erin was working and all of the kids went back to school so I was stuck without a sitter. So, I dropped the boys off at Monkey Joe's & Brandon met us there & stayed with the kids to play. The new MJ's is very close to the shop so he didn't have to be gone very long. It is nice to have a husband who can leave work at a moments notice. Especially when his wife has known about her Dr.'s appointment for a week and forgot to get a sitter until the day before.

Rebel without a cause

Connor was at school again today. I can't believe how much I miss him. I knew I would miss him, but I thought I would enjoy the alone time a little more. I actually laid down in his bed today for a while & cuddled with his favorite stuffed animal. When I dropped him off he put his lunch in his cubby, kissed me goodbye and like a good little conformist went to the table to play with puzzles. When I picked him up I watched him on the secret camera for a while. He was playing duck, duck, goose. He was actually sitting & waiting his turn. He gave teacher #2 a hug goodbye, which she seemed surprised by. She told me that at craft time he mixed the playdough and she didn't like that. Then she told my why they couldn't mix the playdough. Like she thinks I don't have 8 cans of "brown" playdough at my house. I told her that we let him mix the playdough. I thought she might fall over. I think I am going to have some fun messing with her this year.

When we went out to the car he said "Mom, I had a great day at school. I followed the rules."

So, part of me is happy to see Connor following the rules and part of me is a little sad. If you tell him this when he is 15 I will DENY it! I love his free spirit. Yes, it makes my job harder, but infinitely more fun. I can't imagine having a kid who just sat & played "nice" all the time. Connor keeps me on my toes and we always have fun together. But, I don't want the teacher to label him as a trouble maker. So, I am teaching him to conform. But, just between you and me... when he got up from his nap today we had craft time and you better believe we mixed the playdough.

Reasons....

Reasons why Connor has woken us up at 2am:

I am in the bathroom, peed on the floor & now I am trapped on my step-stool

I fell out of bed

I'm hungry

I bit my tongue (that was last night)

My all time favorite reason:

I am naked from the waste down standing up & peeing in my bed, I am also still asleep!

So, on most nights I would totally be a team player & help out with the night owl. But, the Dr. gave me ambien so I can sleep when I have a migraine. Wow. I love the stuff. I take it anytime I know I have a big day the next day or have stuff on my mind. Only problem is I can sleep through anything when I take it. Last night Brandon had to deal with the tongue biting incident. I didn't even know about it until I this morning. Ah... Ambien! I should do a commercial. You would see me sleeping peacefully and then they show a shot of Brandon shampooing pee off the carpet & Connor screaming into the baby monitor. Mom's everywhere would rush to get a prescription.

Hudson on the other hand is a rock. He has only woken up once in the middle of the night since he was 10 weeks old. Even when he had that apnea monitor & it would go off in the middle of the night he would sleep through it. He has slept through the smoke alarm & the burglar alarm. When we check on him part of his body is usually hanging out of the crib. We pick him up, move him & he has no idea. I have felt him before & noticed that his diaper was pretty full. I know if I leave him until morning it will leak. So, I have taken off his PJ's changed his diaper & redressed him all while he sleeps. He truly is our rock.

Booger

Lately the boys have been obsessed with a movie called Open Season. It is an animated movie and the main characters are voiced by Ashton Kutcher and Martin Lawrence. It is adorable. Connor has been repeating lines from the movie for weeks now. He totally gets this from me as I am a movie quoter. The Godfather, The Waterboy, Lost Boys, there are tons of movie I quote on a regular basis. I have noticed that my brother does this as well.

Why am I telling you this? Well, the main character's name is Boog. At one point another character says "Boog, is that short for Booger?". That was all it took. Connor was rolling. Let's face it, I was not surprised that a 3 year old thought the word booger was funny. Say poop or fart & the kid falls over. It is just something boys are born with & I have learned to deal with it. I know they are born with it though because Hudson picked up on it immediately. Now, my adorable 17 month old runs around the house screaming "booger". He has put his own spin on the word and raises his voice a bit at the end. It sounds a bit more like "Boogaaah". Then he falls on the floor from laughing so hard. I really need to get this on video.

Worst haircut ever!

Last night before bath time I decided that Hudson's hair was out of control. I have been putting off cutting his hair. But it is so thick the poor kid has been sweating like crazy with this heat. Brandon started the bath water. I started the clippers. I was only going to cut the sides short and leave some length on top. Everything was fine until Connor decided to jump into the tub. Hudson of course wanted to follow and began to jerk around. The clippers went across part of the top of his head and that was the end of his haircut. From that point on it was a wrestling match / buzz cut. I finally told Brandon that I was done and he stepped in to help. He grabbed the clippers and I held Hudson's head and we buzzed the whole thing the same length. However he was still jerking around so we missed a bunch of spots. It isn't pretty, but you can really only tell from up close. Brandon said he would tell his Mom that he did the cut as she hates the boys hair short.

First day of school

Connor had his first day at his new preschool. Of course I forgot to take a the ceremonial picture of him with his back pack on. So, here is a picture of the guy he decorated for his classroom. We had fun decorating it. I do not believe in doing a kids work for them just to make it look better. So, I made the eyes to give him a place to start and then off he went. I squirted the glitter glue for him, but he choose the colors and spread it out by himself. Clean up was an adventure and I am just glad that Hudson was asleep while we took on this project.

Connor has 2 teachers. Let's call them teacher 1 and teacher 2. I love teacher 1. You can just tell she is made to be a preschool teacher. And lets face it, it takes a special person to have that kind of love and patience with children...especially 10 of them! She remembered Connor's name on the first day and when I picked him up she stopped what she was doing to give him a hug goodbye. I love her! Then there is teacher 2. Let's just say I don't love her quite as much. I am guessing she does not have kids and thought that early childhood ed sounded like a good major. I hope I am jumping to conclusions. I hope I am overreacting. I brought Connor to his room and he happily ran off to play. So, I took his lunch and put it in his cubby. She scolded me and told me that he was supposed to do it. Nice start. When I picked him up she told me that Connor was spitting. I was shocked as he has never done this at home. I told her I would talk with him and that I was very concerned. I asked who he had spit on and she told me that he wasn't really spitting, but blowing bubbles. That's a bit different than spitting, but I talked to him anyway. Then she said that he wouldn't sit still. I told her we would work on that as well. I'm not overly concerned as it was the first day back at school and he is 3! It took a while last year to get used to "the rules". I have a feeling that I am not going to warm up to teacher #2. First impressions are hard to erase, but time will tell.

According to Connor he had a good day at school. He wants to go back and that is a good sign. He also told me that he really likes teacher #1. He played with a girl named Amelia and outside time is his favorite.

I thought I would get a bunch of stuff done, but I really just missed the little guy so I didn't get much done at all. Hudson kept hanging on the front door saying "school, school". He missed Connor. I was pretty happy to see that.

firsts

On Friday we headed over to the new Monkey Joe's play place. They just built one in our town. We went with Brett, Ryan & Olivia. That morning we picked up Amelia and she spent the day with us. Amelia is 12 and she is a great mother's helper. It was so nice to have an extra hand for running errands.

Saturday morning Connor had orientation for his new preschool. He got to meet his teachers and some kids in his class. He is very excited to start school. Saturday afternoon we headed to the zoo for a little while. But it was so hot! I can't wait for the temperature to calm down. I am not a hot weather person.

On Sunday we went to church. Connor is old enough now to come to services with us. About 10 minutes into the service the minister tells the kids a story & then the 3-7 year old get to go to their own service. They get a snack & do crafts and hear stories. The teacher said Connor did a great job. After services our church has Sunday school. Brandon teaches the 7Th & 8Th grade class. Connor has always gone with him, but this year he got to go to his own class. We got a great report from that teacher as well. Hudson still goes to nursery during services and I am sure it will be a transition for him to be without Connor. During Sunday school Hudson and I took a drive. Maybe next week I will take him out for breakfast.

Ryan & Olivia here

Today Erin needed someone to watch Ryan & Olivia for a couple of hours and we were happy to help. The boys played together and Hudson & Olivia basically took turns taking toys away from each other & saying "mine". Everything went very smooth. It was a bit difficult to get lunch ready for 4 children and clean it up. I think if I had 4 kids my house would not be quite as clean. Luckily Ryan & Olivia are very well behaved and we had a good time.

Blog withdrawal

My Aunt Betty wrote me yesterday that she was going through "blog withdrawal". Sorry if I have been a slacker lately. I had some medical stuff going on & my mind was not clear. But everything turned out OK & I am back in business! Connor starts school next week so I will have time to blog at least once a week.

Happy birthday to me

Last week was my birthday. My Boys took great care of me. Friday night Brandon brought me home beautiful roses. They turned out to be the biggest roses I have ever seen.

On Saturday night Brandon and i went to a great restaurant called The Goblin Market. Don't let the name fool you it was wonderful. I had one of the best meals I have EVER had. One of my least favorite things about the area we live in is the lack of small privately owned restaurants. I am not a fan of chain restaurants. This place was so great. High end food in a casual setting. The crab bisque was so good I was tempted to lick the bowl!

Then on Sunday night the boys surprised me one day early with a cake & some gifts. Connor had a very specific idea of what my cake should look like. It had to be a heart cake & he even told the bakery how to decorate it. The boys dug into the cake before dinner. They pushed a chair over and Connor figured out he could keep Hudson away if he fed him a little at a time.

Connor finally got tired of feeding Hudson ( I understand the feeling!). So, Hudson took matters into his own hands. He looks so guilty in this picture.

I took this picture right after we told Hudson "no more cake"

Brandon let Connor pick out his own gifts for me. I know the picture is dark. If you can't see.. I received 2 spoons, 2 spatulas, 3 lipsticks & a bunch of hair clips. I love when he pics out his own gifts. I also got speakers for my ipod, but Connor didn't pick those out.

Our new fun

Our newest time killer with the kids is building forts. Brandon is much better at this than I am. I will take a picture next time he builds a fort. I swear he covers the entire family room.
Hudson loves to walk on top of the fort. Here is Connor enjoying the fort & little does he know that his "little" brother is about to walk all over him.

Weekend

Our weekend in review:

I spent most of the week with a migraine so, Brandon came home on Friday with beautiful flowers for me to make me feel better. They are beautiful!

We went and watched our friend Amelia in her first crew race. The boys had a blast in the lake and we were very proud of Amelia. I forgot the camera as usual!

Went to our friends Pam & Scott's for a cookout. They have an adorable daughter named Anna who is 5. During lunch i heard Connor ask her if she was his girlfriend. They spent most of the day jumping in and out of the pool. Then they sat together & watched a movie.

3 year check up

Today Connor had his 3 year old check up. He weighed 34 lbs and is 38 3/4 inches tall. He is in the 75% for height & weight. He got to pee in a cup for the first time. He thought that was pretty cool. He also got his blood pressure taken for the first time. He received a Dr. kit for his birthday so he was pretty familiar with the cuff. But since his exam we have played Dr. non- stop!

We found out that Connor has flat feet so I am currently looking for shoes with high arches... any advice?

Some cute stuff

Hudson has decided he wants to poop in the potty. The other night Brandon got into the shower & was calling for the boys, I was getting their PJ's ready. I came into the bathroom to see why he was still calling for Hudson. Well, the little guy was standing in the toilet with his diaper on and he was pooping. He knew where to poop he just didn't quite get it right. He has gone in the potty 4 times this week.

Whenever Connor sees a streak of smoke in the sky he thinks superman has just flown by. We will be driving & all of a sudden he screams "look we just missed superman!".

They have been playing together more and more lately. I love it! Here they are wrestling.

Disney Magic

The Tuesday after Connor's birthday we took him to Disney for the day. Thanks to a friend of a friend we got in for a discounted price and were handed 4 tickets. We were able to fast pass 2 rides per hour. That meant that we rode every ride we wanted to in about 5 hours. We waited about a total of 45 minutes all day long! When we first got to Disney we went to the town hall & told them it was Connor's birthday. They gave him a button with his name on it that said "It's my Birthday". Every employee told him "Happy Birthday Connor!". He got a free cookie and had a great day.

The family fun parade passed right in front of us, so we joined the back of the parade. Connor thought it was pretty cool to be in the parade.

While leaving the magic kingdom Connor could hear some race cars coming from the Wide World of Sports. They were coming from the Richard Petty driving school. We took a chance and drove over to the track. They let us drive into the middle of the track. Next thing we know the head instructor came up to Connor & asked him if he would like to have a closer look. Connor went with him onto the track & then the guy let him get into the Home Depot car. What a great experience for the little guy!

Ouch!

Last night after riding his new razor scooter like a pro Connor ran after the soccer ball and fell in the street. Luckily he still had his helmet on. He bruised both knees & broke blood vessels in his forehead & nose. It could have been so much worse. Here is the little guy being brave with ice on his knees.

The birthday that never ends

This morning at church Connor got more gifts from friends. He got some cool new books and a huge remote control crane. Brandon has not stopped playing with the crane since.

This evening we had Paul, Marci, Colin & Lyndsey over for dinner. Colin is one day older than Connor & Lyndsey is 1 month younger than Hudson. Marci & I have spent all of our pregnant time together! We made our "famous" ribs and the boys got special cupcakes to sing happy birthday yet again!