Random

Not a whole lot to blog about this week. There are always pictures of Connell, but not always a fun story to tell. There are no pictures from swimming lessons last Saturday. Connell cried the whole 30 minutes. :( No joke. Ask Tim; he was in the water with him. He has always loved the water, so it was either that the water was cooler and/or his molars are coming in and/or he has a cold. Take your pick. It wasn't nice. We hope so much that this Sat is better. Especially since we will have visitors with us. My very good friend Katie (Connell's Godmother) and her husband Andy are coming to visit this weekend.

Even though he is a bit under the weather, Connell is a fountain of energy and humor. He is 'talking' more now (if you listen carefully, you may even understand)! Some words -Mommy, Daddy, apples, outside, garbage, working on pumpkin. He laughs all the time. He can be looking at you with a straight serious face, and if you laugh, he will too!

I had mentioned before that he holds his hands together when we pray before dinner. Well, this past week, he has started doing it even before Tim and I sit at the table. And at lunch too. He just holds his sweet little hands together - to remind us I think. And he smiles really big while we pray. And usually claps at the end of the prayer.

Connell turned 17 months old today. I know this sounds cliche, but it really feels like just yesterday we had brought him home from the hospital and had not the first clue what to do with him. And just as everyone tells us, each 'phase' is just as fun as the previous. It just keeps getting better and better. Don't misunderstand...he is getting to be more and more challenging, but all in all, he's such a sweet boy. God truly blessed us when he gave us Connell!

That being said, here are random pics to go with my random post!

Connell playing with the train at Barnes and Noble.

Warmin' up for "Trick or Treat"

"Just like Daddy"

That's what we had to tell Connell to get him to wear his hat to a soccer game on Thursday. Be "just like Daddy" and wear your hat to keep the sun out of your eyes. It worked. He wore it longer than he ever has (1 minute) before! Our neighbor Lauren plays on the varsity soccer team (she's only a freshman) and we went to watch her game. Connell was clapping and cheering them on! Maybe Connell can play soccer one day...

One more picture to add...

Just got this one from my Dad...wanted to share!

Weekend in Wisconsin (part 2)

On Friday, we drove to Viroqua, WI, the site of the wedding of Erika and Knoel. It was about a 3.5 hour drive, beautiful scenery. LOTS and lots of corn and cows. And on a side note, we used an outhouse on the side of the highway. That's a new one...never done that before. Don't really want to again. I assure you, we didn't know it was an outhouse...well, maybe my Dad did, and he was driving. :) Viroqua is a small rural farming town of about 4000 people. It's really pretty, I wish I had gotten more scenic pics. We stayed in a Bed & Breakfast and the house was built in 1897. It was really neat. And really interesting with a little toddler. Connell was really good actually. He slept great no matter where he was! Here are some pictures from the rest of our time in Wisconsin...

Spending time in a neat little bookstore in Viroqua

Connell paying close attention to Jess singing!

I know you aren't supposed to play in the street. There wasn't much traffic! :) Also, Connell had a blast running around the cemetery after the wedding. Potential playdate location? (just kidding) :)

My brother and my super-cute nephew Chandler! (Mr. GQ!)

Connell giving Daddy a smooch!

Connell kissing the bride!

My Mom & Dad

The Bride and Groom! Congratulations!

Weekend in Wisconsin (part 1)

Last Wednesday night, we flew up to Milwaukee to visit family and then head to my cousin, Erika's wedding. Connell did great on the airplane; FYI if you ever have the chance to fly Midwest Airlines, they serve hot chocolate chip cookies. This was great for us! The cookie treat occupied Connell for a good half hour...and they sure are tasty. :) Thursday we spent the day playing in the beautiful weather at one of Milwaukee's nicest parks. In the evening we went to my Aunt Grace's house for a delicious TRUE mexican meal...Wow! It was wonderful! We also had the chance to visit with my Grandma. She is doing well and was very happy to see 2 of her Great-Grandsons, Connell and Chandler. We also recently have learned that she is going to have 2 more great-grands added to the family next spring! Congratulations to Mike and Lydia (and big brother Spencer) and to Monica and Tim (and big sis Isabelle). Our family is growing! Here are some pics from Thursday.

My Mom and my Aunt Marge (sisters, can you tell?!?!)

When did my baby boy get SO big?

Fun with Grandma & Grandpa (or Bumpy - as Connell calls him now!)

Please don't make Mommy nervous!

Gotcha!

Trying to get Connell to cooperate for a picture with Great-Grandma!

Yummmmm! Great-Grandma shares BIG bites of icecream cake with Connell!

A 'self' portrait of a group this big is a true talent - good job Timmy!

Swim Time!

Connell had a great first swimming lesson. They did a lot more today than I thought they would. It's good that his Daddy was the one in the water with him. The coach was very nice, and also very informative. We already knew Connell liked the water, so we weren't expecting a meltdown; but he didn't even fuss when he went under!
Here are some videos and a few pics. We will miss next week because we will be out of town, but then we'll do this for 6 more Saturdays. We'll have a little fish on our hands by the end of the session!

What did Connell bring home from Preschool this week?

Some pretty art, and a fever...ugh. Hopefully, he'll make a quick turn around as we have his first class of swim lessons tomorrow morning.

I realize that the art of our 16 month old might not be of interest to everyone, but I am posting it mainly for Connell's grandparents! I'm sure I won't post it every week, but gosh, it's just neat!!! They had an apple party yesterday ("A" was the letter for the week). So Connell and class painted apple trees!

Tonight

I was cleaning up the kitchen after dinner, Tim was mowing the lawn, and Connell...well...he wasn't exactly cleaning...

Horsin' Around!

We were invited to a birthday party on Saturday. Amelia was celebrating her 6th birthday. Amelia's mom and Tim work together. We have spent some time with them this summer (3 girls) and Connell just really likes being around these little women. We were especially excited because there were pony rides for the party...Connell's first experience with horses. Well, big surprise, he loved it! Here are pics and video from his first pony ride.

After-School Snack...

Well, we made it! I say we, because, yes, I cried big tears too when I left Connell this morning. My sweet hubby even brought me flowers today! I picked Connell up at 2 and asked lots and lots of questions to Miss Whitney...she said he did great! He had a rough start to the morning but she said once he decided he was better, he played and played. She said that he ate his lunch well, and to my amazement, Connell napped for an hour and a half on his napmat. I am so proud of him. He brought home his first artwork...a palm tree made with his hand prints...this is so exciting to me! It will be displayed on the fridge of course, although Connell's Daddy really wants it at his office. I assured him there will be plenty more art to come!

I have to share one funny little story...Miss Whitney said that all morning Connell wanted his lunchbox. She offered him his sippy cup, and they had 'sand pudding' as a snack this morning, but he wasn't satisfied. He just wanted his little monkey lunch bag. Well, I know why. This morning, he saw me putting a bag of mini teddy grahams in his lunch bag. While we were trying to get out of the door this morning, he kept doing the sign for 'more' and pointing at the bag. He wanted the teddy grahams, and obviously, didn't forget they were in there. He's so smart! Next time, I'll get his lunch packed without him watching me! What a sweetie...he went to bed a little earlier than usual tonight. It's hard work to be a big boy!

First Day at Mother's Day Out (is it 2:00 yet?)

This morning, I dropped Connell off for his very first time at Mother's Day Out. He is going to be going just one day a week and it's from 9am-2pm. When my initial shock of Connell not being home with me wears off, I will hopefully be getting things done and using this time to do some of my work that I do from my 'home office'. I laugh when I say 'home office.' It's funny to me. Anyway...Tim and Connell and I went last Thursday night to the church where he's going to MDO for the preschool openhouse. It's great, and close to our house. Connell met his teachers who seem very very sweet (and patient). He is in a class with about 9-10 others, all boys, only 1 girl. Fun for her! They will play, eat, rest, and work on projects and early learning of abc's, etc. Of course Tim and I are so eager to see how Connell does with this new activity. He played the whole time we were at the openhouse last week. The room is bright and cheery with lots of fun toys. One of the teachers said that if I want, I can leave my camera with her one day and she can take pictures of Connell in action...Tim just laughed and said "You should have never said that to my wife." Yep-I will definitely have to do that sometime. Great pics for the blog!

In the meantime, here are a few that I snapped this morning. Connell woke up earlier than usual this morning, so I had to give the teachers fair warning that he was a bit tired/cranky today (of all days!). I did manage to get a cute smile from our big boy! Any guesses if I cried after I dropped him off?????

Just us...

Last week, Connell was kind of acting like his ears were bothering him...so before Daddy headed out of town for a football game, we stopped by his office for a quick check of the ears. Since I have once again started keeping the camera with me at all times, I had to capture the enormous amount of cooperation that Connell was giving while having his ears checked. Amazing! I think he likes the sounds that his Daddy makes while he looks in his ears... :)

Tim left for Memphis (he and his Dad and brothers went to Ole Miss for the Ole Miss/Memphis game). Didn't turn out the way they would have hoped, but they had a good time anyway! Connell and I went to dinner Friday night with his girlfriend, Amie (our friend/next-door neighbor). He was perfect during our Chinese dinner at Fulins, and his fortune cookie read "You are a happy man!" Well, yea, 'cuz look who he was with!!!

We also had fun with our friends the Earls...I've blogged about them before. Their little boy Jackson is a year older than Connell. It's so neat to watch them interact. We played in their pool and also played at the water fountains again. You will see Connell's fat lip in the pictures...that is because he was running at the fountains (all boy!) and tripped and busted his lip. He cried quite a bit, but was then ready to run again. It hurt me too!

That's my sweet friend Amber hiding behind the turtle!

There are no pictures from Labor Day. I had some 24-hour bug that Tim had last week. The photographer was down and out yesterday! Tim golfed and we had a low-key day. We tried to hang out with the Wilsons, but since I was feeling icky and Connell had a tummy-ache, we quit early and everyone went to bed.