Merry Christmas...

It's been a very busy couple of days! We went to Mass last night, had dinner, put the boys to bed and finished wrapping. This morning we were up at 8:30am, started the breakfast casserole in the oven, and started opening gifts at 9am. We didn't get finished until 1:30pm (with breakfast and a snack in between)!! The biggest hits of the day were the Elmo cell phone, a 'laptop,' and of course the good ol' empty box. The boys are exhausted and so are we! Enjoy the pictures of the festivities...(Thank you so much, everyone, for all of our wonderful gifts...we are so blessed and thankful for everything. We miss you all!!)


























Merry Christmas!!!

Mud Cakes and Gingerbread Houses...

We were outside enjoying the 75 degree weather yesterday (yes! 75 degrees! Can you say global warming?). Connor LOVES playing outside. He likes to wander the yard, roll on his belly, pull his wagon and collect rocks and leaves.

However, yesterday was an interesting day out there. He was down at the bottom of the notorious hill, laying on his belly, making 'mud' angels. It's been pretty wet around here, so of course everything on him was covered in mud. I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary (besides his dirtiness) until I called his name to see what was really holding his attention. He looks up at me and I see mud caked all around his lips. I'm not even sure if this picture of him does it justice. My first thought was to yell down at him and tell him 'no' but then I thought well, if that's how he'll learn that mud just doesn't taste good then that's how he'll learn, right? I have no idea how much he ate but it was all over his lips, cheeks and hands.

When he was done playing, I literally had to strip him down to his diaper and put him right in the bath but he had a blast out there. Andrew also had a blast. He was in the carrier and got rocked to sleep by my walking around. He loves that thing. This picture is of him right before he fell asleep.

Today we built the gingerbread house. Let me preface the pictures by saying I have never, ever made a gingerbread house. Connor had fun helping us. He ate the gingerbread man and took the chimney off before we were finished. Towards the end (Connor had grown bored and Keith left me to go make dinner) I had no more patience for prettiness and just started sticking little candies everywhere. And so the finished product is below...

Huge, Huge...

HUGE night for us tonight. We officially have a BIG BOY in the house! (Tears streaming down my face...) We're officially in the BIG BOY bed!!!

It wasn't supposed to happen TONIGHT! Aunt Cathy and Uncle Kenny are visiting tonight so we were supposed to start the big boy bed TOMORROW night. I prepared myself for the big boy bed TOMORROW night! However, Connor decided to, once again, escape the confines of his crib tonight. So I went back up and we had 'the talk.' You know, the 'you're-a-big-boy-now' talk. We read a book and he went right down - in his big-boy bed. (Though we did hear a few peeps out of him for a good half hour after that.) This was how we found him when we went to bed....Uggh, it's all happening so fast.

On another note, we had Connor's speech evaluation today. I must say, I was definitely more worried about this than I let on to be (though I may not have hidden this as well as I thought!). I don't think I realized this until today AFTER the evaluation, the 4 'evaluators' were sitting on my living room floor and said to me, "Ok, we're ready to give you the diagnosis." I sit down and they explain all these numbers and bell curves and stuff. I hear the words above-average, average, mildly and severely delayed and my stomach is doing flip flops thinking to myself, well, which one is he? The last thing they say is "And so, Connor does NOT meet our requirements for the 'Program'." I tell you, I had to fight back the tears. I yelled, "Yes! Thank GOD!" and then? awkward silence, smiles frozen in place from the four of them. And I say to them, "Well, I shouldn't WANT your help for him, right?" And they all start laughing at me and the speech therapist says to me, "Exactly! This a very, very good thing." Phhhewwww. I felt such relief, I can't even explain it. So in short, he's just a little behind in his language but hugely ahead in his 'understanding' of language. So basically when we tell him to clean up or to stop doing something, he TOTALLY understands what we're saying, just completely chooses to ignore it. Ha ha. As for language, it will come. He's right there on the cusp and one day we'll roll our eyes and wish for him to stop talking, I'm sure:)

Two HUGE developments for Connor and one HUGE sigh of relief from Mommy and Daddy!

As for Andrew....

well, he's found his tongue. Yes, all of our recent pictures are of him and his tongue. So enjoy our latest picture taken tonight!

Houston, We Have a Problem...

I put Connor down early for his nap today. I knew he was tired because he was just plain grumpy. I laid him down in his crib and went downstairs to work. Not 10 minutes later I heard him chatting to himself and playing around. Thinking that he would eventually lay down and go to sleep, I continued working. Next thing I know, I hear his closet being opened and shut. Ummmm, ok...he would have to be OUT of the crib for that to be happening! Ok, so CLEARLY he's out of his crib. I continue working, hoping to get to a point where I can take a quick break to check on him. Next thing I know, he's OPENING his bedroom door! WHAT!!! And there he is at the top of the stairs saying "Hi Tayza, Hi Andrew!" (He couldn't see me at the time.) He was so darn proud of himself, you could just hear it in his voice as he came down the stairs saying hi to Tayza and Andrew.

So, I think we officially have to get him into the toddler bed now. But how do we keep him in his room now that he can open his door? This opens up a whole new dimension to containment. Out comes the baby gate again! Then again, this will only contain him in his room for the time being, what about all the other doors in the house?

Mommy is scared...Mommy is very,very scared.

Brothers and Boo Boos...

It's so interesting to watch how Connor reacts to Andrew. Sometimes he acts like he's not even in the same room and other times he's falling over him trying to kiss and hug him. Yesterday there was a new interaction that just about brought tears to my eyes. I was wrapping presents on the coffee table so I had Andrew in the bouncer on the floor. Connor was pulling out the pots and pans in the kitchen (shocker) and somehow pinched his finger. He came running in, crying, so I asked him if he wanted me to kiss it (which is his new thing). He held out his finger for me to kiss, then ran over to Andrew and put his finger up to Andrew's mouth for him to kiss too. After that, he was fine! He then ran back into the kitchen to continue what he was doing. I kinda sat there in awe and thought wow...I really hope this continues throughout puberty....ha ha.

On a different note, we had Connor's hearing and vision screening yesterday and he passed with flying colors!

My Little Firemen...

We got this hat two months ago at a Chick-Fil-A Kids Night. The local Fire Department was there and had the fire truck open so the kids could go in it and check it out. Connor loved the truck but had zero interest in the hat at the time. Now all of a sudden he loves wearing it. I swear he does it just to get a giggle out of me because he puts it on and then does a little jig...When he realizes I'm laughing at him, he starts doing twirls too! He's such a ham. And since that isn't a great photo of Andrew's handsome face, here's one below...

Our Christmas Whirlwind...

The Christmas season officially started Black Friday but OUR Christmas season started this past weekend. We are ready!!!

Friday night we picked out our tree. For the past 3 years we've been buying it at the Legion Hall down the street from our house. The local boy scout troop runs it and it's just a nice way to keep our money local and 'donate' to our veterans at the same time. This year they had a campfire, hot cocoa and s'mores for us, which was great. Daddy and Connor enjoyed the roasted marshmallows. Andrew just watched all of the craziness from the sidelines.

We got the tree home, put the boys to bed and Keith and I decorated the tree together. We toasted to Christmas 2008 and hung the ornaments. We also listened to Karen Carpenter's Christmas CD which is a tradition from growing up - not sure when it started but it's a must. Love, love, love Karen.

The next day Keith worked on the outside of the house and hung all of the lights while I shopped with the girls:)

Sunday was Fuquay's Christmas parade so we bundled up the boys and headed downtown. It was definitely a lot busier this year than last. Our little town is definitely growing! Connor had so much fun. He LOVED sitting on Daddy's shoulders and watching the fire trucks, floats, and marching bands. He got the hang of it about 15 minutes in and started waving and saying hi to everyone that went by (even people NOT in the parade). Pretty funny.

After the parade, we stopped into an antique shop/coffee bar that had hot cocoa and warmed up a bit before walking back to the car. When we got home we tried to take some family pictures in front of the tree. Tried is the key word here:) Connor was tired and just plain not having it. We did get a few good ones though.

We topped off our festive weekend with a special showing of Polar Express Sunday night. Connor loved it! Next on our movie list is Christmas Vacation...

Happy Holidays!!!

Miss you so much MomMom...

You were my second Mother. You were my rock. You were my teacher.

I can't get over the fact that I won't hear your laugh over the phone when you hear Connor or Andrew in the background or ever be able to hold them again. I can't get over the fact that the next time we visit, you won't be there in the kitchen, in the house you built with Pop and lived in for 55 years, making us something. I can't get over the fact that I can't just call you up and ask you how to make your fried meatballs, or your sauce, or your pasta fagioli. I can't get over the fact that you'll never try to teach me to crochet again, (even though you yelled at me and told me I wasn't doing it right!) I can't get over the fact that you'll never tell me another story about Pop and about what he did that day to get on your nerves.
You taught me what unconditional love for your family is all about. You also taught me how sacred marriage is even though it may not be exciting or romantic or even nice every single day.

Now that I am a wife and a mother, I understand. I understand how much you loved all of us. I understand how much you pushed yourself to do everything for all of us. You were the silent presence in our house - dinner was always on the stove waiting for us when we got home from school or work, our laundry was always clean and folded, our sheets were always changed. We'd love to see your car in the driveway when we pulled up every day. Looking back now, I know we took it for granted. And to think it wasn't just our house you did this for - You went to Uncle Sam's and then finally on to your own home to take care of Pop...every single day. I don't think we understood how hard you worked for us or how this was how you knew how to show your love for us.

I know how much you suffered and I know how much you wanted to go 'home' to finally see your family in heaven but it still doesn't make it any easier.

I was so unbelievably lucky to have a MomMom like you. I miss you so much but I know you're at peace now.

Ciao Bella.