Connor's 1st Harcut!

Okay so I know that you are reading this title and thinking...Oh my gosh his first haircut, but he is 16 months old? I know I have prolonged it for too long. I have been dreading this day because I knew that it would not be good. I could not let anyone else put his hair in a pony tail (Jillian and Lindsey:)). Here are some before pictures that we took.




We got to Snip and Snap (that hair place for kids) and Connor began playing. A very rude child came over and scratched him and slapped him in the face. As you all can imagine I was furious at this point. The mom did not even care she just continued on with her phone conversation. After I cleaned up the 3 finger claw mark on his chest and neck and calmed him down it was our turn. We put Connor in the seat and he thought the car was pretty cool. We popped Wonder Pets into the DVD player and we thought we were smooth sailing. Boy were we wrong! Once Connor heard the sound of the clippers it was over. The noise was enough to make him go crazy. The stylist began buzzing his head and we did all we could to keep him still. There were times that the flyboat in the movie would catch his attention, but not for long. I do not have very many pictures because it took both of us to keep him in the chair. We just told the woman to cut it very short, and I am glad that I did because I do not want to go back for a very long time. The finished product is adorable and he is just so handsome. Our little Connor always making every adventure fun.

Race for the cure.

This past Sunday my family and I participated in Phoenix's Race For the Cure. This is a event in downtown phoenix that races money for breast cancer awareness. Let me just tell you that this was a 5k walk. Now my friends Lindsey and I drove down and could not find a parking space anywhere so we ended up parking 1.5 miles away from the start line. We were running a little late so we decided that we needed to hurry. We threw all 4 kids in the two strollers and started to run. I am not kidding you, I thought I was going to die. It is one thing to run 1.5 miles but while you are pushing 2 toddlers it is not so easy! So by the time we got to the start line we were sweating and had to chug a huge bottle of water. We were now ready to start the race. By the way after walking 3.2 miles in the race walking back to our car was not any easier. We met some funny characters on the streets on downtown phoenix at we strolled back to our car.

We did this walk for the first time all together last year in celebration of a near and dear person. This wonderful woman is now a survivor of breast cancer. She is the strongest, bravest person that I know. She faces life's challenges head on and relies on her faith and family to get her through them.

It was so great to all be there again this year with more members of our family and friends with us. We walked together, standing strong against this horrible disease. We talked, we laughed, we even ate Krispy Kreme donuts (Thanks Kelly). My family does lots of things together, but we do not do anything like this. For one morning we gave of ourselves to help find a cure for breast cancer. We gave of ourselves to take a stand and show people how family comes together. Young and old were there that day. It was truly a day to remember. As we were getting ready for the walk I was loading the kids in the car and I said to Kate, "Do you know where we are going?" She says, "Grandma's walk." I said, "That is right Kate." She then says, "Because she is so strong and brave." As I held back the tears I said, "You are so right Kate." Now I had not told her why exactly we were walking, but I did tell her all the great things about her grandma and she remembered. She walked the whole way 3.2 miles (well almost) along with the other grandkids who were there-Connor, Abby, Maggie, Brody, and Logan. It was great to see not only us but our children as well taking part in such a great event. As we crossed the finish line we each tapped the banner and were renewed with the strength that we are so fortunate to have the blessed life that we have.

My mom is truly an inspiration to me. She does not like to be in the spotlight, but I just wanted her to know how much that I live her. She truly is an amazing woman and I am so thankful everyday that she is here with us. She is the person I run to in time if panic, doubt and joy. She has taught me to be the mother that I am today. As the chinese proverb says,"You can never truly appreciate the love of your parents until you raise children yourself." I have learned so much from my mom and I have such a deeper understanding of it all since I have had children. Thanks mom for always being there and for always showing me wisdom through your strength.

(The song that is playing right now is a song that we chose in a video we did for my parents and since then it always reminds me of her!)

To The Flyboat!

Connor got a Wonder Pets flyboat ball pit at the store. Now those of you who know him know that he LOVES the wonder pets. He gets so excited. He is always such a happy boy, but when he sees the wonder pets he just gets so happy. He stayed in the flyboat all night and just laughed and played! This was a cute moment between Kate and Connor. (Turn up your volume for this one!) Kate is singing her little heart out and Connor is dancing away. And yes that is a pair of Kate's underwear that he is dancing with. It was too priceless, I could not take it away from him. He has so much fun with her and it is so great to see their relationship grow everyday.

The Baby Switch

So last week I was on my way to Jillian's house to drop my children off so that she could watch them. From the back seat I hear, "Mommy?" I said, "Yes Kate."(who was watching a movie at the time.) She replies, "I would like to switch." I say, "Switch movies?" "No" she says, "Switch Connor." I then pulled off to the side of the street and looked back and said, "What?" She says, "I want a baby sister not a baby brother." I asked her where she thought I would switch him at and said, "The baby switching store." I then holding back my laughter had to explain to her that Connor is part of the family and that we could not just take him to the store and exchange him. She then says, "Mommy I love Connor, but I want a baby sister." I said, "Well it does not always work like that." She then says, "I will talk to Daddy." And that was the end of the conversation because I could not go any further with it. She has said things to her Dad and he just walks out of the room! This should be an interesting one!

Time with our cousins!

We recently got to spend two weekends in a row with our cousins. The first was at the Kids Fare, and I am not going to tell you about the experience other than, DON"T GO! There are a few pictures here of the kids with different characters, but that is all that I would like to share about that experience! Last weekend we went to the Phoenix Zoo. We got there very early so it would not be so hot. We started off at the Fisher Price race track since it was Fischer Price day! Kate had to have the pink mustang! (are you surprised?). She got in the car and rode it all the way around the track. She was so proud when she crossed that finish line. She told me to take a picture of it so that we could send it to Santa. (I hope Santa is Reading this post!) We then went to the Giraffes and the kids were so excited. We walked the entire zoo and the kids had so much fun. My sister Kelly and I were dying, walking around with a double stroller and a double wagon is no easy task! Abby, Maggie, Sean, Kate, and Connor had so much fun looking at all the animals and making all the animal noises. As you can tell by the pictures, the kids enjoyed their snow cones and were so proud of their colored tongues. We ended our day at the zoo at the Gullah Caverns Splash Pad. The kids had so much fun! They were running in and out of the caverns going down the rock slide and playing in the water. They were so hot so it was a great way to cool off! We had a great day with our cousins!

Connor Cooling off

I wanted to share a picture with you of our very funny son. Every time we open the fridge, he climbs in and sits on the step inside. He is hilarious. He begins to talk and talk and talk. He just loves it in there! He always keeps our kitchen nice and cool.