Some Photos of Conor in the Last Month

I have been pointedly reminded that I have not updated the blog since our return from Ireland. We had a FABULOUS trip and Conor had a FABULOUS time with Grandma and Grandpa. We are finally settled back into a routine here...just in time for Adam to return to school next week and Conor back to daycare. In fact, they have a sort of daycare orientation at NIU tomorrow. We are really trying to make a big deal about it to get Conor excited for "school". Here are some pictures of his weeks home with Daddy...they have been having lots of fun and making lots of messes. I guess that's just what boys do :)

Conor got an early birthday present from Grandma and Grandpa!! He loves his frog etch-a-sketch!...and he loves opening presents too.

Happy Summer Day

Nothing more precious than a childs laughter!

Fun with Stickers

Conor loves stickers. Actually, I think he just loves sticking them to things. We have trained him enough that most end up on him or his clothes rather than the furniture and floor, but then this is what we end up with. The more, the better!!

Happy Birthday America!!

We had a wonderful 4th of July weekend. It was my turn to be on call for a holiday at work and since I had to go in and do hospital rounds and be available for surgeries (luckily I only got called in one time all weekend), my parents and sister were wonderful enough to come spend the weekend with us to help take care of Conor.

Here's what we did:

We took a trip to Target, where Conor decided to test out the softness of the bathroom rugs and the baseball-shaped beanbags.

We watched a nice fireworks show next to the river in St. Charles. The rain let up just in time. I think Conor's favorites were the green ones. He was a little startled at first from the noise, but once he got settled in, he was quite fascinated!

When we finally had a sunny day, Conor spent some time in the pool...with Grandpa and Laura.

We took a trip to the park. Everyone had to climb the rocks and go down the slides. We also spent lots of time on the swings and took turns chasing Conor around.

Conor made sure to enjoy the fruits of his hard labor collecting candy at the 4th of July parade. His favorites were definitely the lollipops, though he also seemed to enjoy the Mr. Freeze pop.

And what is 4th of July weekend without a couple picnics outside!!! Yummy brats and steaks on the grill, with potato salad and watermelon, plus fruit pizza and rhubarb cake for dessert (that wasn't all at one meal, of course!)

Just a teaser

Well, I have tons of pics from the past week, but I am getting so excited about my own travels to Ireland that I have spent much of my free time after Conor goes to bed researching for my trip...and making packing lists and to-do lists. But here is a sweet video I got of Conor playing in the sprinkler a couple weeks ago at "Miss Goolie's" (Julie's) house. She told him to take a drink out of the sprinkler and this is how he decided to make that happen!!


P.S. We heard from Daddy today. He is having a great time, but missing us a lot and getting a little homesick. He went to Cork and Blarney Castle last weekend and is headed to Galway this weekend with his class for a 4-day film festival. He is still having a good time, but it will be nice to be reunited again!

More Exciting Adventures

Well, we have had another busy week and weekend to distract us from missing Daddy so much. Conor still isn't sleeping great, so I'm trying to keep him busy and wear him out. I think it's just making me tired :)

Here he is posing in honor of Mommy's alma mater! Look at that great big grin...Go Elon!


And so proudly showing off the new "lion jammies" we bought last weekend (see previous post)...wish they made him more excited to sleep!


Saturday we went to a community pool and water park near our friends' house. Conor and Madelyn had a great time. By the end of the afternoon, Conor was jumping in the deep end. First, he wanted to just sit on the edge and slide off into my arms. Then he wanted to stand up and step off into my arms. Before I knew it he was pushing me away and taking a few steps sideways so he could "jump in" without me there to catch him. I am proud of how brave and adventurous he was, but man...we are going to have to keep our eyes on this kid!...no fear!


On Sunday, we went to the local parade for Geneva's "Swedish Days". Conor was so excited about the horses, the fire trucks, and waving the flag!! I think the drummers were his favorite part of the bands. He had a blast!


Afterwards, to cool off, we went over to Conor's godparents'--Kip and Janice's--to swim in their pool. I'm not even sure how long we were in there...more than two hours, I think, but we still had to pull Conor out kicking and screaming when it was time to go. I think he might be part fish! (takes after his mommy???)

We also got to talk to Daddy again today. He spent the weekend in Belfast and also got to watch a Gaelic Football game. He is having a great time, but we're pretty sure he misses us as much as we miss him! Love you Daddy!!!


Have a great week everybody!

Hot Hot Hot

Yesterday, when we got home, we had no power. Bad problem when it was almost 100 degrees outside. Lucky for us, the plan was to get in the new pool anyway. By the time we made it inside for a late dinner and bedtime a couple hours later, the AC was back on. (Good thing, I was trying to figure out how we could both camp out in the basement!)

Lucky for all of you, we promised Daddy we would update the website more frequently while he is gone. Here are the promised pics of the sprinkler from the last post.

We spoke to Daddy today...other than a one minute phone call to say he arrived safely on Saturday, today was the first opportunity he had to email as well as call us! It was great to hear his voice, and though we could tell he misses us, it certainly sounds like he is having a great time. They have already done so much in the past few days, and have weekend excursions planned for the next three weekends. This weekend, they will be heading to Belfast.

We are holding our own here. I find that Conor is having a bit of a hard time adjusting to Daddy being gone. It seems to be most affecting his sleep...difficulty calming down and falling asleep at bedtime, waking up in the middle of the night, and skipping naps. Pretty soon it has to get better simply for the fact that he must be so tired! Also, the near-100-degree temps and itchy heat rash are probably not helping much either. Every night, we watch some videos that Daddy made before he left of him singing songs and reading stories. Conor loves that part of the bedtime routine!