Weir Hill

I am always looking for things to do during the day. It gets boring sitting at home, so I decided to take Connor out for a little hike and picnic. It was beautiful weather and overall awesome. It felt good to be outside. The best part, Connor took a 3 hr nap (which he NEVER does). He must have been exhausted.

We Love the Beach

It's only an hour away, is $5 to park, and just relaxing. Connor hates the water so I don't worry about him running out and drowning; a win/win situation really. I just wish I had friends that would come with me. It's a lot of work going to the beach and packing all the crap. So who wants to join me???

We got stuck in an elevator!!!

Clark and I were actually going out on a date the other night. It turned out to be an eventful night due to a really bad thunderstorm. Of course the elevator decided to go out on our way out and we were stuck inside!! Thankfully we were by ourselves. Pretty much my worst fear, awesome. We unfortunately had Connor with us, due to having to drop him off at a friends house to watch him. We were in the elevator for a good 45 minutes. It was so hot, and then the alarm started going off which made it that much worse. Poor Connor was so confused about what was going on. We planned on him pretty much going straight to bed, so we didn't have many toys with us (good thing umbrella's are fun). We started signing "please" "bye-bye" and then pointing to the door, over and over again. Poor buddy. 

We had to wait for firefighters to come rescue us, but they were busy putting out a fire in the neighborhood, which is why it took them so long. Looking back, we should have taken a picture with them or something with Connor as a memento, but we were all a little traumatized and were running WAY late. The firefighters put down a latter, then we climbed out, and had to climb down to the next level. since we were stuck between floors. It was pretty crazy.

When we got out, I was planning on just taking the stairs down, no way was I getting back in that elevator to go down. But the firefighters insisted I take it down, and sent a firefighter down with us to make sure everything was okay. 

The next day was fast and testimony meeting @ church. Clark gave a touching testimony about our experience and being rescued by the Lord. He would be able to pull a spiritual something out of this experience (what a good guy I married).

Baseball Game

The triple A baseball team is pretty close to us. Clark scored free tickets from work, so we went one night. Connor did great...until he got really tired, then he just sat back and relaxed. Every time the announcer said "everybody clap your hands", Connor totally did. It was adorable.

Swimming lessons

The local YMCA received a grant that allowed swimming lesson to be pretty cheap. So we signed Connor up for a 6 week parent/child class. We are half way through and it's not going well. He cries/complains 95% of the time. He HATES the pool, but LOVES the bath. I don't get it. I'm sure it has something to do with the temperature, but it's 30 minutes of PURE torture for Connor. It's comical really. There are about 12 or so kids in the class and Connor is the only one that hates it. All the parents kind of laugh and feel bad for us really, while their kid is smiling and splashing away.

I had knee surgery last week and my sister was in town. She was willing to take Connor to swim lessons. She at least got him to smile a little (for 5 seconds).

Den Rock Park Outing

 About a month ago now (ya so much for blogging once a week right, ha!), we took a little family outing to a park. We don't have a grill, can never go camping because of Clark's HORRIBLE schedule, so I made us at least go outside and enjoy the beautiful weather. We had some hot dogs (ghetto style) and yummy smores. Connor was in heaven being outside. I love my little family!

Davis Farmland

Okay, baby goats are adorable -- seriously. Connor was also in love with them. He loved going in their house and basically chasing them. He ended up loosing a shoe (definitely found it in the goats house). 

We went to the zoo with Courtney (college roommate) and her kids. It was so much fun!

The baby kitties were adorable as well. Made me want a kitty for a second (then reminded quickly that they smell).

Although this zoo was CRAZY expensive (thank goodness Connor is still free), it was pretty awesome. There were lots of animals to pet and touch and feed. There was also a splash pad (although Connor hated that part). There was an area that was just soap suds. It was so cool! Connor freaked out though (see sensory post below -- he's not a fan of these types of things). Courtney's oldest Brock loved it.

Sensory projects

I've been trying to introduce Connor to new things at least once a week. I see all these articles about textures and letting your kids explore, and trying not to think about the giant mess they make.
Most of the projects haven't gone well :) I thought the shaving cream idea was going to be awesome, boy was I wrong. Just watch the 3 sec video, it's comical really (and I'm sure he'll be embarrassed by it when he's older). here's a taste of a few of the things we've done...

Lawrence Update

Well it's been a year since we have moved to this place, unlike any other, called Lawrence. Moving into a 2 bedroom 6 months ago was definitely the best decision we've made since being here. I don't think I would have survived in the one bedroom (that was unbearably hot all hours of the day) for another day.
I still wouldn't "choose" to live here, but it's good. Like the other night, I looked out our window and saw this amazing sunset. It was absolutely beautiful. I just sat on our window seal and admired it for awhile and started thinking. I've come to know the area a lot better so I try to be brave and go on adventures during the week. Still wish I had a friend to tag along...but for right now I'm content with the Con man and I.
About a month ago was a festival called....hmmmm...I don't remember the spanish name for it, so I'll call it spanish week. Basically a huge carnival and festival about 1/2 mile from my home celebrating all the spanish cultures here. Not cool. Unbelievably LOUD music and awful singing until about 11pm, 2 weekends in a row. And of course complete with fireworks and all. When I can hear the music clear as day, while taking a shower, it's too loud. The park was absolutely destroyed after as well and trash everywhere. We couldn't go to the park for about 2 weeks because Connor was way too interested in picking up all the nasty trash. Stuff like this bugs me to no end. Sometime the city looks like a dump, not taken care of and gross crap everywhere.
Pedestrians still drive me absolutely bonkers, but I'm working on relaxing and trying not to get so frustrated about it. I had to swerve to miss a pedestrian about 2 months ago and straight up knocked the side view mirror off the car. Awesome, $50 fix. My child was screaming bloody murder just yesterday while I was driving home so I was trying to hurry really fast. I had the green, but of course some stupid teenagers decided they wanted to cross and went as slowly as possible. Ooooo I was so angry as they walked making cars stop and wait for them, which made me miss the light and listen to my screaming child for an extra 2 minutes :) hehehe, I know, so rough right.
But Clark is happy, he doesn't have a commute, so we get to see him more (well when he's not working nights), so it's worth it. Here's to 1 year down and 3 more to go!!

Connor loves to feed himself

 

This kid cracks me up. He really doesn't like yogurt, but if I let him feed himself, then he'll eat it all up...every last bite. When I pull out my phone lately and say, "say cheese", he gives me this big, squinty eye cheeser. It cracks me up.

Latest DIY project

Before

After

We were given this desk from some friends who were moving, and I've been looking for a dresser for Connor's room on and off for awhile. I didn't really like the dresser, but it was free, so I decided to change it how I wanted it to look. I didn't do a protective coat over it, so we'll see how long it lasts with Connor. But for right now, it's pretty and I like it :)

Connor thinks he can jump

Beach Day

Clark had a day off work, so we decided to go the beach. It was fantastic. Hardly nobody was there and the weather was warm and cool.  The tide was pretty far out, so Connor could walk around and splash to his hearts content.  It only took 45 minutes to get there and cost $5, both win wins.

Utah visit

Catch up post...

I was completely dreading the car ride to Utah. 8 hrs, with Connor strapped in...yikes. And of course the day we were set to leave, he wakes up with a 101 fever. He cried a lot, and we had to stop 4-5x, but it went better than I thought. Poor kid hardly ate and pretty much was sick the entire week in a half I was out there.

While I was there, I was able to see two former byu roommates, Oriah and Janae. It was great to see them and meet their kiddos.
I spent a few days with Janae, whose little girl Brooklyn is only 3 months younger than Connor. It was interesting to see the differences between them. She's way better with waving and communicating I felt. She also can bite things, like sandwiches and food, but doesn't get a straw. Connor is way more mobile, has better fine motor skills, and can use a straw, but hasn't gotten the concept of biting off of sandwiches. They both are pretty bad sleepers, but they both had nasty colds. They did really well playing with eachother, there were only a few problems and not until the last day or so. Connor loved swiping food of her highchair though.
We headed to BYU campus,  it was nice to visit. I hadn't been back since I graduated five years ago. Picked up a new shirt and some chocolate covered cinnamon bears (byu tradition, yum!).
We also went to the animal zoo at thanksgiving point. It was way hot.  The pony ride was awesome.  Little brooklyn LOVED it, it was hilarious.

4th of July Weekend

Clark's parents came to visit over the holiday weekend and luckily Clark was on an outpatient rotation, so he got the Friday off (yay!). Although we didn't see much fireworks, it was a great weekend. We went candle pin bowling, had yummy ice cream, celebrating Kaye's birthday with carrot cake, and did the freedom trail tour in Boston. Connor (and me!) were exhausted in Boston. It was super hot and we were walking everywhere (my knee is doing horrible right now). Connor of course didn't want to sleep, so he kept just running and running until eventually the cement got the best of him :( Multiple falls and faceplants leaves your face bloody and bruised...poor kid. Even a week later, the goose egg in the middle of his head is still there and the scrape can still be seen.

Connor Update

I haven't written about Connor in forever, so figured today is the day to do it since he went down early tonight.
Connor currently loves blueberries. We call him the blueberry monster. He enjoys sharing his foods and feeding you, except blueberries; those he keeps all to himself. He just packs them in. He's starting to be a little more picky, especially when it comes to vegetables. He'll eat corn pretty regularly, but other stuff we have to mix/hide. He's a snacker and treat eater, just like his dad. He loves veggie straws and snappea crisp chips.

He's still as active as ever. He's gotten way into climbing, and doing any means possible to get what he wants. He's gotten way into climbing, and doing any means possible to get what he wants. He doesn't walk anymore, just runs everywhere.

We have to make sure and not leave chairs next to the table otherwise, this happens.

Connor is such a good kid, exhausting, but good. He's communicating more and more everyday. He says Mama, Dada, No, and just yesterday I got him to say Hi. He can sign a few things: more, eat, all done, and waves bye. He still smiles all the time and makes this cute scrunch face. I love hearing his laugh. Here's a few pics from the past couple of months.