Merry Christmas!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

It's also beginning to look a lot like Baby Time! Six more weeks to go; can't you tell? You may have to click on the photo above to see. . .

After all the children sat on Santa's lap. . .

. . .the Relief Society president really wanted a turn.

Truthfully, I was mortified by the whole thing! Can you see how red my face is?

Conner was one of the last of the primary kids to take his turn on Santa's lap at our ward Christmas party. By then the action had almost died down, people were finishing breakfast, and everyone was waiting to see the big man off. Unfortunately, Conner was feeling quite shy, so jolly old Santa (who was an actual professional) told me just what to do. I was to sit on his knee while holding Conner, of course! I went through the motions of handing my camera to the closest adult, picking up Conner, and trying desperately to sit as lightly as possible on poor Santa's knee. It was all really quite uncomfortable between my very pregnant belly poking out to one side and an unhappy toddler on the other, not to mention the sheer embarrassment of having the entire ward watch me sit on Santa's lap. Oh, how I hope no one assumed it was my idea!

Until next year, dear Santa. By then Conner will have to be brave enough to approach you on his own, because I will definitely be steering clear!

The Big Snowstorm

No, this was not the massive blizzard predicted just before Thanksgiving. A few days after Thanksgiving, we got the first real snow of the year. While Trey shoveled, I got Conner bundled up and ready to play outside. It didn't last long, but it was worth it.

Visitors

We lucked out and had Amber stay with us for a couple nights before Thanksgiving. We had so much fun letting the kids run loose like old times! It seems the only pictures I took were during the quiet moments when I had a chance to pick up the camera.


We were extra lucky to have Trey home for one full day during Amber's stay. With the prediction of a major blizzard, Trey got to take the day off of work! The blizzard never quite materialized, so we didn't even have to worry about the bothers of being snowed in.

Until next time, sweet cousins! We miss you!

Conner turned two!

It's hard to believe a month has passed since Conner's birthday! Time has been absolutely flying by for us.

Conner enjoyed a cowboy-themed dinner party with family. A few of the guests:

Daddio and Aunt Amber

Grandma and Aunt Lauren

Avery and Aiden

The kids got to sit on a quilt on the floor to eat like real cowboys. We even had a fake fire to keep them warm (Can you see it poking out behind Aiden?)

Conner has developed a bit of a fear of real fire, so the whole blowing-out-the-candle tradition wasn't his favorite. Tommy was pretty excited, though!

He did, however, enjoy the part after the flame was blown out and he got to eat all the frosting from the top of the cupcake!

Last of all, our little man was spoiled with way too many presents. I'm not sure how I feel about Christmas coming so soon!


Happy birthday, big boy!

Thank You, Cara

I've been meaning to tell Cara thank you for sharing this couch with us for about four months now. (Seems I'm a little behind on life these days. . .) We love this couch! It fits just perfectly in our living room, and it's even comfy enough for a pregnant woman to nap (which is truly a miracle). The best news is that it seems virtually indestructible.








Ok, one more short one.


Thank you!!
From all of us.

Trick or Treating

Our ward trunk-or-treat was fun, but Conner never really got the door-to-door experience because of it. So on Sunday, which technically was Halloween, we went to my parents' house for dinner and got back into costume.


Here is Conner saying "Ho ho ho!"

And then "Merry Chris-a-mas!"

Unfortunately, I didn't get any shots of the fantastic Halloween-themed dinner dishes, but they were super fun for Conner. We had haunted forest broccoli, banana ghosts, carrot fingers, devilled egg eyeballs, and dinner in a pumpkin (in pumpkin shaped bread bowls-- so much better than baking it in an actual pumpkin if you ask me). There may have been more, but that's all I can come up with at the moment!

Luckily I did snap a few shots of Conner with Lauren and my mom. I love the pure joy on his face!


I'm looking forward to Christmas this year with our pint-sized Santa Claus! It's really handy that his Halloween costume can be repurposed so well for the next couple months.

Story Time

Conner and I love going to story time each week at the library. The week before Halloween, the kids were invited to come dressed up. Since we could hardly get enough of the Santa suit, we obliged. (As a side note, Conner may have called his costume a "Santa soup" more than once. It always made me giggle a bit.)

I made Conner say "Ho ho ho" before we went in.

Conner likes the actual story time portion of our library visits, but he's pretty shy and reserved. He likes to sit at the back and watch all of the other kids without joining in too animatedly. Later at home, he'll talk to me all about the stories, songs, and games, but he still hangs back during the live action.

He does, however, have two things he loves to participate in each week.

The first is the Eye Spy Window. Conner climbs up and down the ladder many times each trip just to see the display hidden inside.

The second is the beads-on-wires table. You know, like the one they have at every doctor's office in America. Conner likes to pull up a chair and play for quite awhile. He's great at sharing with other kids and will even bring chairs over for them, too. The first time we went to the library ended in a huge screaming tantrum for "Beads! Beads!" He has since learned to leave politely when it is time to go. Thank goodness, because the screaming tantrums were rather embarrassing through the entire checkout process!

I love story time. I love getting new books to read with Conner each week. I love seeing him enthralled with the beads and the new displays in the Eye Spy window. But story time in a Santa suit? It will be hard to top that.

A Ho Ho Ho Halloween

My mom started asking Conner what he wanted to be for Halloween way in advance. His first answer was a horse. The next time she asked, he said he'd like to dress up as Lehi (of all things). A few days later, when she asked for the third time, his response was "Ho Ho." "Oh, you want to be Santa?" we asked, and he answered excitedly, "Yes!" From then on, he always said he wanted to dress up as Santa Claus.

By a twist of fate, my mom found a Santa suit just Conner's size in mid-October. Hooray! We made sure to pad his midsection for our ward trunk-or-treat.

Trey and I joined in the theme as an elf and a Christmas present. We got quite a few good laughs, but I think I may have confused some people into thinking I'm due much earlier than I am.

Conner would like to wish you all a "Merry Chris-a-mas," with a hearty "Ho Ho Ho!" and, of course, he'll add in "Trick or treat!" just in case you've got something to share.

Pumpkins!

Carving our pumpkin was a lot of fun this year!



Conner loved to "scoop the guts." I don't think he'd ever heard the word guts before, but he said it with such gusto as only a toddler boy can.

Conner and Trey showed off the finished pumpkin with pride. (Can you tell Conner is saying "cheese"?)

Conner was also quite proud of the pumpkin he'd painted earlier in the month.

I couldn't help but post a picture of Conner with Mr. Bones. From our weekly trip to story time, he learned a song about a skeleton. Since my mom had somehow saved this lovely project I'd made in first grade, we had a Mr. Bones of our very own. All through October, Conner loved to push a chair over, step up, and dance with Mr. Bones while he sang "Missa bones, missta bones. . .crazy, crazy bones."

That was about as far as we went with the Halloween festivities, except for trick-or-treating, of course. But that's for another post.