What we've been doing to keep warm!

Well, as our local friends know, and the rest of you have probably seen on the news, it has been extrememly cold here lately. The temperatures have been in the teens-below-zero category with wind chills as much as 30-and-40-below!! Adam and I celebrated our 6th anniversary this past weekend and as we went out to a routine dinner and a movie in our hats, scarves, mittens, and boots, I asked him, "Whose idea was it to get married in January in a cold state anyway?" He answered, "Well, yours, of course, and I love you so much I would've done anything to keep you happy!!" The other major event around here last week was Adam's return to school and Conor beginning a new daycare. He is definitely adjusting, but is doing pretty well, all things considered.

Here are some things we have done while trying to keep warm around home:

Conor found a new fun place to play...sitting in the sink and playing in the water...not a good "winter" game when your wet clothes get cold.

Conor has always enjoyed Elmo, but now suddenly remembers that he can watch Elmo movies on DVD so he is always walking up to the TV saying "Eh-mo, Eh-mo". We actually had him sitting still for a whole 30 minutes here under this blanket while we took down Christmas decorations.

Wishing for warmer weather by trying on Dad's shades and wearing shirts from Mom's North Carolina alma mater, Elon University.

Trying to build a warmer place on the new workbench Grandma and Grandpa got Conor for Christmas.

Conor is developing new skills and learning new things so quickly these days. He is recognizing more and more people (and even photos) by name. He is folding his hands and saying amen when we say it's time for nighttime prayers (and already knows the first half of the sign of the cross). He still loves to read, dance, and eat, and never sits still for long. Looking forward to warmer weather when we can play outside again.

Time for a little...I mean, big...update

So, it has been quite a while since my last post. I'm sure you can all relate to how hectic the holidays can be. Let's just say that December is usually our busiest month at work, finals times for Adam, and adding in all that holiday shopping, decorating, baking, and travelling, there's not much time for blogging. We had a wonderful holiday season; but, as usual, it went by too fast. After Thanksgiving, Adam had only two weeks left of school, so he spent lots of time studying. And since everyone wants to get medical care before the end of the year once they've met their insurance deductible, I spent lots of late hours working. We were able to enjoy the festivities of the season with Conor however...

1. We got a real Christmas tree, as usual, even if it was from the local chain of hardware stores. Conor helped pick out the most perfect one. Someday we hope to make a tradition of trekking through the woods to cut down our own, but this wasn't the year.

2. We drank some eggnog.

3. We visited Santa Claus. Conor was not afraid at all, no crying or screaming.

He even gave Santa hugs and high fives. Santa was so generous, he gave Conor THREE candy canes...and Conor kept reaching for more from his basket!

4. We spent way too long trying to get the perfect family picture for our Christmas card....and ended up with Conor eating the Christmas ornaments. But we got some great candid shots of him along the way.

Isn't is amazing how the unplanned, unposed ones always seem work out best?

5. We went shopping. Conor's latest interest is going through mommy's wallet and pulling out all the various cards until it's empty...good thing we got them all back in before we headed out for the mall. We would have been in for a big surprise at the checkout counter!

6. We went downtown Chicago to Lincoln Park Zoo to see the ZooLights display and all the animals. This has been a family tradition since the first year Adam and I were married. It's always cold and usually snowing, but this year it was cold and rainy. Yuck!! We made it fun anyway!

7. We made the annual trek to Minnesota for a week to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa, Leah, Andy, and Laura, and extended relatives and friends. We left after work Friday and Conor stayed awake for the whole 6 1/2 hr trip. Little stinker!

Conor loves to spend time with Grandma (especially when she and Aunt Leah sneak him extra sweet snacks), but this week he really seemed to be a Grandpa's boy. Maybe it's cuz Grandpa lets him play with all his gadgets...cell phone, camera, remote...

or maybe it's cuz Grandpa turns up the music really loud and does silly dances with him :)

8. For the last 20 years, my family has made a tradition of going to downtown Minneapolis every year to see the Hollidazzle parade and the holiday display on the 8th floor of a department store (which has changed names at least three times in those two decades but always has this great animated walk-through story). It was bitter cold this year but we went anyway. Conor, Dad, Grandpa, and Great Uncle Wayne huddled together to keep each other warm during the parade.

9. The weather in both Minnesota and Chicago has been crazy this winter, so we made sure to take advantage of it and play in the snow. We took Conor sledding but he wasn't too sure about it. Maybe next year he'll be a little more excited about the big hill in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard! All those moments were captured on video but here is Conor halfway into his snowsuit...maybe I'll upload some video soon.

10. We openend a ton of presents...of course, Conor was thrilled. I'm not sure he really knew what was going on, but he certainly enjoyed tearing the paper off the boxes. He loved to play with each toy he opened..until he opened another one which temporarily seemed better. He knew enough to just throw the clothes aside when he pulled them out of a box and move on to the next one.

11. We returned home and continued Christmas with our own little family tradition: reading the Christmas story from the Bible by the fireplace before opening our presents to each other. (Conor wanted to get to the presents when it was MY turn to take a picture with him.)

I think we are finally starting to recover. As much as I love Christmas, it will be nice to get back to normal. Adam returns to school next week, and Conor will start a new daycare for the spring semester. Our previous babysitter got a long-term substitute teaching position, and the NIU daycare is full, so Conor will be going to one of those chain daycare centers. I'm a little nervous, but he loves to play with other kids and really has no stranger anxiety, so I'm sure he will do fine. Happy New Year! Here's wishing for a wonderful 2009!!!

Conor's future alma mater???

Didn't i go to a beautiful school??? This is the holiday email greeting I got from Elon University, my alma mater. Maybe we will take Conor there to visit someday. Boy do I miss that place this time of year. They really knew how to decorate for the holidays and there was so much excitement. Merry Christmas!!

Lost in the Archives

I was recently going through some old pictures and found some great ones that never made it to the website. So while I am trying to keep my head above water between work and preparing for Christmas, thought I'd leave you with a little "blast from the past":

Sharing with Kipp, Jr. during one of our summer camping trips.

Naptime in the tent

Lunchtime during family vacation this summer

Totally wiped out after his birthday party

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hello everyone and Happy Thanksgiving!! We had ourselves a wonderful weekend. I can't believe Thanksgiving has already come and gone...and here we are only 25 days away from Christmas!!

Aunt Laura came into town Tuesday afternoon and babysat so Mom and Dad could go to the NIU football game. Unfortunately, it was very cold and they played bad so they lost to Navy. Then Wednesday evening, the rest of the crew arrived. Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Joe, Aunt Cheryl (Grandma's sister), and Katelyn made the trek through the holiday traffic from Minnesota and arrived just before my bedtime.

Thursday--we had the traditional Thanksgiving feast with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberries, scalloped corn, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie, of course! It was delicious. I loved everything and cleaned my plate. We even got to play outside for a little bit.

Friday--the girls got up at 4 am to go shopping for some crazy reason. The rest of the afternoon was spent watching movies and taking naps. But, then they took Katelyn and me back to the mall later to see Santa Claus and the Christmas decorations. It was still pretty crowded.

Saturday--the whole gang went downtown to Chicago (except Daddy who had to stay home to do homework). We took a train, went on a bus tour, stopped at Navy Pier, saw lots of pretty Christmas lights and some really big Christmas trees!

I guess that's all for now. I better get to bed so Mom can go cheer on the Vikings--beat those Bears!! Not to mention, it looks like there might be some snow for us to shovel in the morning!...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Until next time,
Conor

15 months old

Well, Conor just had his 15 month check up at the pediatrician today and he has had an incredible growth spurt over the last 3 months. He is now 32.5 inches (back up in the 90th percentile) and 26 pounds (back up in the 75th percentile). He is so much fun now. He is always moving and always getting into trouble. He just loves to dance and listen to music. He figured out how to open the "childproof" cabinets....of course, the one with the garbage and the cleaning supplies. He figured out how to open the pantry door and is working very hard on regular doorknobs now too.

When he opened the pantry door he got a hold of some paper towel rolls and stuck his arms down them, now that is a favorite game of his. We affectionately call him...Paper Towel Man.

He knows several body parts...he knows the words and can point to them. He is very good at pointing to his belly button!! :)

Daddy is still trying to convince Conor that there is no choice but to be an Eagles fan. Conor just likes to wear Daddy's hats!!

He has a vocabulary of about 5-10 words and solidly knows at least 5 words in sign language. Not that I'm bragging, but he is one smart cookie. We are now bracing for winter, which is quickly approaching. I don't think we're ready for it yet. Conor still really loves to play outside. In his big winter coat, he looks like the kid from "A Christmas Story" though...the one who can't put his arms down...that doesn't stop OUR son though...he is quite determined. We'll have to get some pics of that eventually too!

We are worn out from all our travels so we are hosting family for Thanksgiving next week and are very much looking forward to some house guests...but that means I better go get cleaning!!!

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