Christmas 2010

We have survived another wonderful Christmas. It was exciting to see Blake tearing into all of his gifts. We had to get him to slow down once and awhile so us old people could keep up.

Grayson was at a nice pace. He loved tearing the paper as well and seeing that Santa brought him exactly what he asked for this year.

Meanwhile - Sweet Lacie stayed up all morning just to see her items. She seemed to enjoy that her brothers were so excited.

We had a great brunch with Aunt Dot, Uncle Ralph, Mary, Jerry, Mom, and Dad. Our home was filled with lots of love and laughter. My goal was accomplished by having a drama free Christmas and one with nice memories with our 3 beautiful children.

Billy and I didn't want any stressful moments and we truly feel like that was accomplised this year. 2010 has had it ups and downs but hopefully 2011 will hold a more peaceful year. Sometimes peace comes with a hard decision or two but it is worth it in the end.

I still need to upload pictures so they can be shared with everyone. Meanwhile - Blake is leaving tomorrow morning for his first trip to NC by himself for a few days. It was a ramdom moment when I came up with the idea but I know that Blake will enjoy his time with Billy's parents and plus he will be back by Thursday. Blake - you are growing up and it is yet another bittersweet moment.

More to come tomrrow about his trip to NC!!!!

Christmas is approaching

We are down to the wire before Santa arrives!!! So much to do and so little time to do it all. Blake has told us that he wants everything so therefore Grayson wants everything too.

Although I totally don't think that Blake believes that Santa is watching him. I remember when I was little and how I figured out that Santa wasn't really Santa....I noticed one year that Santa had the same handwriting as dear ole mom!!!

It is funny what you remember but I don't write on the santa presents at all because of that. Each kid has their own wrapping paper and it is placed in a Santa sack! Santa is a special gift and it allows us to believe.

Our kids are blessed to have grandparents who love and adore them. While I would love to say that everything is always perfect in the Conner world - we have a busy life and we are far from perfect. I do wish for a lot of things to be different in 2011.

I never think much about what I would like but this year:

My christmas wish is for our kids to see more extended family. (yes - I do have feelings and for some who read this will know exactly what I am talking about)
Billy's christmas wish is to win the lottery... (Why am I not surprised -gambler at heart).

Well Lacie Loo (what I love to call her) is waking up and is probably going to need something to eat! Or as Grayson would say "Baby WayWay".

Good night all!

Happy Times / Sad Times

Has anyone ever noticed that life will give you some the happiest times right along side the saddest times.

Right before I had Lacie - we lost a very important family member. Uncle Donald (Dad's brother) decided that it was time to move on. While it was shocking to the entire family and we were all blind sided - some very special moments came from it. I often think that our sadest moments end up with some of the most special moments in our lives.

Uncle Donald lived in OK so we barely ever saw him but there are people in this world who are just special and he was one of them. Maybe it is because he reminds me of my father in the quiet mannerisms that always made him dear to us. From his death - my cousin Alison and her husband Tony came to visit us in Virginia before going to New Jersey for the service. It was so great to spend time and get to know them.

Grayson was in love with Tony and his Oklahoma handshake. We sat at Ihop and shared stories and we learned that Oklahoma is considered the south.. Who knew? So what became a very sad event for all of the Curtis family - it also allowed many of the cousins to reach out and keep in touch. I have many new friends on facebook and it is nice to keep in touch once again.

Do you think that people know how much they were loved when they pass on or is this something we all figure out once they are gone?

Anyhow - I am not one for deep and heavy blogging but I don't want to forget how special Uncle Donald was to everyone in the family.

Reflection for 2010

So I know that I haven't written much but I would like to reflect some of the special 2010 moments. This was my favorite part of the books that I printed last year and I will do it again this year even if it is a much smaller version.

I want our kids to have memories and have something to pass along to their families. I will post as much as possible until the New Year. Not every moment has been picture perfect or blissful times but it has been life.

Major happenings in the Conner family for 2010....
1) Lacie was born on Sept 10th.
2) Grayson turned 2 on July 24th (hottest day of the summer)
3) Blake turned 4 on Jan. 25th
4) Spent a long weekend at Smith Mountain Lake with my parents, Mary, and Jerry. (What a relaxing and enjoyable weekend)
5) A terrific week at the beach with Billy and Dianne over July 4th. My favorite part of the beach is bundling up and watching fireworks!
6) Billy and I have celebrated 6 yrs of marriage and we met 10 years ago at Cary PD. Look how far we have come!
7) We brought a 2nd Kids Closet Franchise (Fairfax County) and we will have our first sale in Spring 2011.
8) Billy and I got to see Brett Favre play one more time when the Vikings came to play the Redskins (Vikings won!)
10) My mom and dad came back from Vienna, Austria and we are glad to call them our neighbors

The list could go on and I will have some more in future posts!

6 months!

I am sad that I haven't blogged very much this year. We have had a lot happen in the past year starting with Lacie Elizabeth. Lacie was born on September 10th early in the morning. She is such an angel and I truly am thankful for her each and every day.

So many people say that she is "perfect". She barely ever cries, fusses, or complains about anything. Maybe it is a girl thing or we are just the luckiest parents out there.

Words can't describe what it was like when she finally arrived. Although with the birth of Lacie - Billy and I made a major life decision. We have decided that we have 3 blessings and that is all that we will have. We are thankful for Blake, Grayson, and Lacie.

Bob!!!!

Grayson has come a very long way and talks all the time now. Grayson only said "ugghh" for the longest time but now he has a huge vocabulary. Granted his words are very different than Blake's first words.

Grayson most common used words are:
Mommom, Bob, No (mostly used), Mine, Come On, Wee Wee, Bake (meaning Blake), Dog, etc....

Grayson's uses words that he needs and he uses them all the time. He has many more but he likes action words. Although I have to say that Grayson is the best behaved child in public because he is shy compared to Blake. Grayson is cautious and stands nearby. It is very sweet and endearing but the minute we get home or into the car - the real Grayson is out in full force. Full of fire!!!!

I love my boys because they are so different. I am thankful and appreciate the differences of my two sweet boys!

Holy TaNoodle

Kids say the cutest things! Blake is very aware of everything that goes on around him and puts a lot of things together.

So my parents have been staying with us and have been a huge help. The laundry list is long with how helpful they have been especially since Billy has been gone alot.

So the other day - Blake was playing Parcheesi with my parents and he always say the cutest things but this tops the cake. Blake said "Holy TaNoodle" to my parents while they were playing and my parents have loved telling everyone.

Blake's 4th Birthday Party

So as you can tell - I am back tracking on this entry. Blake turned 4 on Jan. 25th, 2010. It is so hard to imagine our little baby is now 4 going on 14. Blake is growing up and pretty smart (if I say so myself) too quickly.

Blake is a great big brother and is super loving which makes me proud. His laugh is so sweet and we are lucky to hear it often. Grayson and baby girl will be lucky to have Big Brother Blake look out for them.

So I am going to share some pictures from Blake's birthday party. I have to say myself that I came up with a great idea. We had a magician come to the house and perform a show for the kids. We had seen Mr. Culler in Md one day randomly and Blake was blown away by the magic tricks.

Since Blake's birthday is in January - our options are limited for ideas but this was a huge success. The kids came over while Mr. Culler set up the magic show in the basement and then the kids all went downstairs and enjoyed the show. The parents were able to sit back and enjoy it as well which was important to me. After the magic show, petting the rabbit, and balloon art then it was time for cake.

It was important for Blake to have his friends over for his birthday and everyone had a great time. I am always able to find a bargain (better than most people would know) and it worked out great.

Soccer Party Crashers

We have had a great weekend doing lots of fun things before Billy heads back out of town for one last trip before "baby girl" arrives. We started out with strawberry picking, lunch at Lawry's, planting flowers with Mommom and Bob and so the weekend went by.

However we went to get ice cream at a local place in Leesburg and it was absolutely packed. Granted - I have never seen this place ever be packed before but there was a soccer party taking place that night. Well Blake decided that he needed to sit in the big part of the room to eat his ice cream so he could be a part of the soccer party.

The boys clapped for each young girls as she received her trophy from the coach. Grayson even threw in a "yeah" each time. The ice cream was great and it was very endearing to listen to this father/coach who really loved coaching. This coach said such nice things about each player and you could tell that he must be a great coach. My mom said that he reminded her of Mr Duis who was my soccer coach growing up.

It was a great weekend just getting the necessary things done around the house. We made 2 trips to Home Depot to add some items to the boy's closet systems that we put in 2 years ago. I am always thankful that Billy is handy and willing to go along with what I think would work.

Tonight - Billy and I enjoyed a nice dinner at Sweetwaters tonight by ourselves. We had not been there in over 4 years and we enjoyed our dinner very much.

Soccer Season 2010

I can't believe that our 2nd soccer season has come to an end. Let's be honest - I was a little worried about Soccer 2010 considering we paid to have Blake to sit on a ball the majority of the time last spring. This season was totally different and such a joy to watch. Blake loved playing soccer and I know his little brother was eager to show his skills off too afterwards.

Blake loves his fancy soccer medal, umbro cleats (can you believe they are still around), umbro shin guards, etc. Billy took Blake on a shopping spree to get him excited for his upcoming soccer season. Blake runs himself ragged each Saturday at 1pm. We had great coaches and parents which makes the season even greater.

Blake enjoyed this season with two of his preschool buddies (Matthew & Christian). I have included some great pictures of the kids. They have grown up so much since last spring. I think the favorite part of the season was the last "game" when they actually played against each other. It was so cute to watch and it makes me feel old.

Blizzard 2010

Here we go with some old news. I want to include all the events that haven't been posted because they were important at the time. I am proud of the books that had made for last year's blog and I want to continue the tradition.

So here are some pictures of when we had the biggest snowfall ever. We started out with snow and then we got more snow. We had over 50 inches within a week. Billy and I dug out numerous times but the boys had an absolute blast playing in the snow. During the first round of blizzard weather- Billy had to drive in 30 plus inches to pick up Jeff's household because they lost power. I wasn't 100% sure that he would make it over there or make it back so we had our fingers crossed. All those years of being a police driver and driving in foreign countries pays off once and awhile.

Blake learned to eat snow - no thanks to his fathers encouragement and my dismay. I know that every kid eats snow but it is really gross but I just can't bring myself to encourage it. That is the difference between a mom and a dad. Here are some photos of the snow. It is truly hard to imagine the mass amount that fell during such a short period of time but it truly was a blast.

So where have we been?

Gosh - I am kind of embarrassed to finally be updating our Blog. It has been over 4 months and while the list of excuses is long, I do feel bad for not keeping up with the blog.

We have a lot to catch up on and I will do my best to back date the best to my ability. Here are some things to look forward to....

• Blake's 4th magic show birthday
• We are pregnant with a baby girl and due Sept 13th.
• Grayson is growing up so fast and full of spunk
• We had a very successful Kids Closet Spring Sale
• Lots of funny stories and pictures to include

While I feel bad for being MIA from my favorite blog ever. I am so proud of the books that I printed of last year for each of the boys that would think I would not have let it go.

I promise to post lots more!

Lifetime Fitness

Lifetime Fitness is going to be our 2nd home. We have done a decent job of going since we joined at the end of November but now we are going to start working out more then we were. Blake really loves going and this is the first gym that we have joined that I don't feel guilty going. The childcare area is huge and has a basketball court, maze, computers, etc. Grayson isn't sold on us leaving but is okay after a few minutes.

So Lifetime has a famous Redskin player who belongs and we have seen a few times. So today over the loud speaker - they keep calling for the owner of a Black Porche with temp tags to come to the front desk. Well I guess Chris Cooley never heard the 3 pages so someone went to get him because it was his car. Billy and I just happen to be standing within a few feet because I had just finished a session with a trainer.

So this the story that another trainer told us - that Chris Cooley's car came out of gear and hit a woman. Not hit a car but hit a woman. I am assuming she was fine and we kind of felt bad for Chris. Of all people to have this happen to - hopefully the woman doesn't realize who's car it was. On a side note - Chris is much taller and bigger than I ever realized.

Resolutions

We are off to a good start. We made it to church this morning and really enjoyed the service. We went locally to the Methodist Church in Leesburg and Blake went right into the nursery but Grayson wanted to stay with us and sat very well through the service. Only a few moments when he decided to make the noises (words) when it was quiet. But all in all - it was a great experience. Billy and I used to go to church before we had kids and our favorite church was in Grandy, NC. But since Blake was born - we have never been. Honestly we were scared about what they would do and we have been busy doing other things.

Our goal is to make it a priority because it is a good thing and the boys need to experience church. We'll save the religious views for later.

Then we were off to the gym. See next post for funny story!

Movie Day

Today we took the boys to see Alvin and the Chipmunks, the squeakall. I am not even sure that I spelled that right. Great movie and the boys were great but I wish I had a video to explain what happened at the end of the movie.

We are still in the theater and Billy is getting Grayson's jacket on because it is about 24 degrees with crazy winds today. Blake was dancing to the music as the credits roll and I am watching the screen because they had some clips at the end. I hear this little voice - help, help! I look and see 2 little feets sticking up from the row in front of me. I quickly realize that this is Blake and pull him up by his feet. Thankfully he wasn't hurt but if you can try to picture an almost 4 year old stuck in a movie theater seat. His head was in the crack of the seat (you know where they flip up) and his feet were just a few inces above the seat. My only option was to just pick up by his feet and lift him out of the seat.

Billy missed the whole event but I am sure every parent left in the theater noticed. It was only funny because Blake was fine but he was goofing off and fell down in the next row but managed to get stuck in the seat. Only our boys would manage to do something like that.

It was one of those things that you had to be there because I laugh just thinking about it.

New Years Resolutions

Here are our New Years Resolution - let's see if we can keep them.

We are planning on losing weight and go to church! We are setting realistic goals that can be kept. We have never taken the boys to church and it is time to start going. We also have no excuse but to lose weight because we joined Lifetime Fitness back in November. It is the best gym ever. I call it the country club of gyms. It makes me want to go because it is so nice and the boys have a great time (especially Blake).

We'll keep you posted on our resolutions as the year goes on.

Happy New Year to all of our friends and family.

Happy New Year 2010

I just finished purchasing 2 books that will have all our blogs in it. I am so excited because Blake and Grayson will get to have a copy for when the grow up and I hope they can look back. This is history in the making.

So here we are in 2010. Wow is all I can really say. We had a great New Years Eve with our friends Kristi and Sean. Their kids (Maddie and Connor) play so well with ours and I am so glad that we all have become friends. I had the best Pomegranate Margaritas ever ever ever. They were so easy to drink but it made me very sleepy. Our house was sound asleep by 10pm but it felt good when I woke up rested. I needed those extra hours of sleep.

Final post of 2009

Dear Blake and Grayson

You boys are growing up so fast and everyday is always an adventure. I hope that you will enjoy these blogs/journal as much as I have enjoyed writing them. We have had some remarkable events happen in 2009.

- First Blizzard
- First Kids Closet Connection Sale
- Mommom and Poppop moved to Vienna, Austria
- Swine Flu was everywhere
- Disney World in May
- Myrtle Beach for July 4th
- Daddy traveled overseas a fair bit
- Mommy went back to an office job
- First trip to Great Wolf Lodge
- Trout Fishing in Cherokee (August)
- 2 new cousins were added to the family (Wyatt and Lilly)
- Our first major car accident (Blake still talks about it)
- Finally figuring out how to play the Wii that we got last Christmas
- Sold the Grandy, NC house! (Bittersweet)
- Built a 6 ft fence for Chance and Dakota
- President Obama took office
- Billy and I went to Jamaica in Feb with great friends
- Blake had his 2nd set of tubes
- Grayson has crawled, walked, run, and became a toddler overnight.

So we have accomplised a lot in 2009 and am looking forward to 2010. Our goal is to slow down and spend more time as a family. We are truly blessed to have Blake and Grayson in our lives. They make us laugh till we cry.

We love you and wish you happiness in your lives. We love you no matter who you are or what you do. Thank you for coming into your Mommy and Daddy's lives. We needed you more than we ever imagined and look forward to next year no matter what challanges or truimphs- we come across because as a family - we will succeed!

Love you!
Mom & Dad

Blizzard 2009

We had 20 plus inches fall onto the DC area over the course of a weekend. This much snow hasn't fallen in this area for many years. It was amazing that we had to shovel in shifts. We could shovel and then look out an hour later and it didn't look any different. We had snow drifts up to our 6 ft fence.

Christmas Tree / First Snow

Each year we pick out our tree over our anniversary weekend (Dec 4th) and yes we have been married 5 yrs now. We always go and cut down our trees. It is a big deal for Billy and I to take the boys and cut down the perfect tree. However - this year we had to go buy one because we were getting our first snow storm and it was coming down pretty decent and we knew that the boys wouldn't last long if we actually tried to cut one down.

We still managed to get a great big tree (10ft tall) but it just isn't the same as the adventure of cutting our tree down. So here are the pictures of after we got our tree and then playing in the snow.

Preschool Program

Blake had his winter preschool program on December 3rd. Blake practiced his songs this year at home and knew all the words so it was nice to know what was coming.

We got to watch Jilly's class go right before Blake's class. It was not a shock that Jilly knew every word and every motion to each of their songs. Blake sat very quietly and watched her class.

We feel so lucky that Blake has great teachers and friends in his class yet again this year. Thank to Mrs. Cohrs, Mrs. Monach, and Mrs Janda. They truly have the heart of gold and Blake loves all of them.

Grayson going potty

Who knew that at our little monster, aka Grayson would try to potty train himself. Grayson has been sitting on the potty for months but nothing ever happens. He has the whole routine down because he has watched Blake everyday.

So on December 2, 2009 - Grayson walked into the kitchen and touched his diaper so I asked him "Do you need to go potty"? Grayson ran into the bathroom and I put him on the potty. We were there for a few seconds and he then pooped and pee'd in the potty. He wiped himself and then washed his hands.

We were shocked and go very lucky but we are crossing our fingers that potty training Grayson will be a lot easier that it was with Blake. Only time will tell.

Back dating some events

So we have been busy lately and I haven't been blogging very much. I am going to get caught up the best that I can so I can print this off as a journal for the boys to be able to have as grown ups. I want them to be able to pass along to their kids and so forth.

So here we go!