5

Today Conner turns 5.

How is that possible? It seems like it wasn't 5 year ago that he was this little....

(about 2 weeks old)

(5 months old)

Conner was our "surprise" baby. And he was the single greatest surprise we have ever got!

He makes our family so happy.

He is my little love-bug! Everything about him is sweet. His crazy hair in the mornings. His little smile. His contagious laugh. He's constantly telling me he loves me. He still loves to cuddle with me every time I sit down... I hope that never goes away... although I know one day it will. He is always eager to play with friends. He adores his brothers. He tries to multi task while he says his prayers at night by arranging his blankets on his bed or finding a toy to sleep with. He always wants to be my helper in the kitchen and doing laundry. He is super excited to start Kindergarten next month (ohmygosh!!! is he really going to go off to school NEXT month?!?!)  He is full of energy all day long. He loves to say the prayer at dinner.

I thought it would be fun to post pics of him over the years, not just from when he was born.

Here are some of my favorite Conner moments.

Conner on his first birthday... he was sick for his big day, but such a sweet boy.

About 14 months old kicking back watching TV at our house in Taylorsville. 

Conner and Brayden playing in our backyard in Taylorsville.

This is one of my all time favorite pictures of him and his rock playing at Bear Lake, UT at about 14 months old.

In Salt Lake City at my cousin's wedding, he's almost 3 years old.

On his 2nd birthday trying out his new trike.

4 years old.

Happy birthday little man!!!! 

I sure love being your mom!

Our Fabulous 4th

This year for the long holiday weekend, we ventured to California to visit Patrick's cousin Emily and her family. We had SO MUCH fun. The boys played and played from the second they woke up in the mornings until it was long past bedtime. Emily has twin girls that are just a few months older then Conner so they had a blast together. She also has a 12 year old son (who just received the priesthood this weekend, which was the reason for our trip, to be there for that awesome milestone!) His name is Dallin, and Brayden pretty much thinks he is the greatest thing ever! Dallin was so great and played basketball a ton with Brayden. He loved every minute of playing with his older cousin.

Patrick and Conner got in on the b-ball action too. Conner was so excited when he "got a score"... or as we all know it... a basket. He was getting pretty good at it too.

Something funny about Brayden... he's in this phase where he complains and says he doesn't like to go to church.... every week. I ask him why, and his answer is always because he hates to wear church clothes. I can very rarely get him to even wear a tie. So I totally used his adoration of his older cousin to my advantage and made sure to point out that Dallin had the SAME exact church shirt that he did, and was wearing a tie to church that day. Brayden had no complaints about wearing a shirt and tie to church that day. Let's see if it will stick!!!

One night while we were there, Landon discovered he likes loves pizza.

He ate it and loved every bite!

The boys went to a fun swimming party (I didn't go, therefore there are no pictures) but they had a blast and ate lots of good food and enjoyed swimming with their cousins.

The kids spent a lot of time outside playing ball, riding scooters and bikes, and swinging was a favorite by everyone. If Landon was getting too grumpy, the swing was where he would go. He could watch the dogs, the other kids play, and enjoy the breeze in his hair!

Ali helping to push Landon....

Like I said before, Brayden thought that everything Dallin did was great. This included listening to the ipod. Dallin got a new ipod for his birthday and was listening to it a lot, so Brayden kept asking to use ours so he could listen to his music to. 

He thought he was pretty hot stuff struttin' around like this. 

On Sunday we took some time to take pictures before church. 

All the Priesthood brethren in the family...

Dallin, Scott, Tom, & Patrick

The idea for this picture was to get Landon with Patrick's Uncle Tom. Landon was having none of that, so we settled for this with us and Uncle Tom and Aunt Leah. Landon's middle name is Thomas after Uncle Tom. He is an amazing man and this trip reminded us just how blessed we are to be apart of this family and how honored we are to have named our youngest son after him.

We used to see Tom and Leah every week for Sunday dinner when we lived up in Utah and we miss them a lot. The boys always ask about them and it was great to be able to see them again.

That night, we watched fireworks from Emily's balcony... well most of us did. I didn't get to see many because right about the time they started, 2 out of my 3 kids decided to melt down from complete exhaustion. So I went in to put them to bed, but Conner was the trooper and watched every single firework and loved every second of it. 

It was a great weekend full of good food, chit chatting, telling funny family stories, relaxing, and playing. 

I love weekends like that!

Say it isn't so!

Landon is 9 months old!

I really just can't believe how fast this little boy is growing up! 

But here are some things about Landon at 9 months old:

*he weighs 18 lbs. 12 oz. (That is only the 10th percentile) I swear this kids eats a ton!!

*he is 29 inches long (which is the 75%, so he is tall and skinny!)

*he has pretty much decided that Mommy is the only person for him... others like daddy and his brothers are a close 2nd, but if he can see Mom, that is who he wants!

*he loves to take baths in the bathtub, but hates pools (weird!)

*can go from crawling to sitting up all by himself

*he finds ANYTHING and EVERYTHING on the floor to put in his mouth (even when I think my floor is clean, he helps me to know it's not!)

*he babbles and talks to us a lot

*tries to eat the cat food whenever he gets a chance

*follows his mommy all around

*has learned how to open some of the cupboard and drawers and like to bang them

*wakes up entirely too early for his mom's liking

*keeps wearing holes in his pajamas from army crawling all the time

*is impossible at church

*loves to play with his toys and discover things around the house

*loves his big brothers and loves to go into their room to see what he can find to out in his mouth or play with

*has developed a love or graham crackers

*slaps his hand on his knee when he's happy and playing
*he's learned to spit, and loves to do it

*can say mamamamama, but I don't think he saying it in reference to mommy yet, just babble still

*his hair is getting thicker and longer

*he FINALLY got teeth... 2 actually!

*he has the cutest little giggle

*he loves to cuddle with his mommy
*just today he pulled himself up for the first time from sitting to standing by pulling on his mommy's shirt while we were playing on the floor, he still is trying to figure out how to do that on the furniture

*We seriously just love this little man to death!!!
How can you not with a smile like this!?!!???

Father's Day at our house...

What would father's day be without a picture of the honoree with his boys? Too bad none of them really wanted to get their picture taken, so this was the best I got, but they are still wonderful, handsome, and my favorite guys!

But before the big celebration, we had lots to prepare for...

We had to make cards...

(look at that concentration!)

Then we had to draw pictures and write notes to make this...

... turn into this...

I got this fun idea from one of the many craft blogs I read. I had the kids make their own candy wrappers and we put them on some of Daddy's favorite candy. Each wrapper had a drawing on it by the boys, and then on the other side had notes to him. Some said "I love you". Some listed reasons why he is a good dad. Some listed things that dad has taught them. Every one of the things that the boys wrote (or I helped them write) were their ideas. Some of the things they listed were... "You are a good dad because you play Wii with us.... drive me to school.... taught us not to lie or say bad words... taught me to read... take us for rides in your truck... and you still love me even when I spit up on your dry clean only pants!" (that last one was from Landon!)  :)

Since Landon wasn't able to color any pictures... he would have just tried to eat the crayons and paper... he just hung out and watched us while crawling around and finding trouble! He may look innocent, but he's not so much!!

We also took the kids to see the new Toy Story 3 on Saturday. It was so good!! We all loved it!! Landon however really enjoyed the left over licorice Sunday as we were making dinner for our daddy...

Look at how messy that little boy got!! But he sure loved it!

We had a great father's day with our daddy. We made him his favorite breakfast, went to church, came home and made him his favorite dinner.... steak and potatoes! He enjoyed some other gifts from all of us, and some relaxation time. 

We love our Dad, we think he is amazing!!

Fun in the Sun!

Vegas in the summertime of course means it's hot hot HOT!!! So you have to find ways to have fun and not get stuck inside all summer. So a few days ago, we did just that. We wanted to go do something fun during Brayden's last week of track break. So we met up with some friends and went to this fun park not too far from our house. You can't go to a park around here in this heat without something like this to play in!

There was a fun water play area and a huge playground that was covered and a nice area for the parents to sit in the shade and chit chat while all the kids played. 

The boys thought the water was a little cold at first, but soon got over it and had a blast running through the water.

Brayden thought it was hilarious to stand under these buckets and wait for them to soak him. Conner didn't want anything to do with the buckets, so he stuck with the sprinkler things.

Landon was not such a fan of the cold water..... and I'm just mean enough of a mom to make him sit there while I take a picture!  :)

NOPE!! Not a fan at all!!!! 

He was pretty mad, but before you call CPS on me or stamp "mean mom" on my forehead, he was only there long enough to snap this picture, he then decided to crawl over to me, and as soon as his little tummy hit the cold water, he immediately regretted his decision, and I picked him up... I felt a little bad for him! But then he almost instantly fell asleep on my shoulder after all the trauma, so it wasn't all a lost cause!

Conner and his friend John, they had so much fun playing together! We enjoyed a little picnic lunch and lots of fun with our friends.

The boys loved it!! (well except Landon I guess!) As soon as we got into the car, they asked if we could go back the next day. This is going to have to be on the list of things to do more often I guess. It was good times!! Thanks for coming everyone that did, and if you didn't we missed you and you need to come with us next time!

Swimming Lessons

The boys are loving their swimming lessons again this year. They are still going to the same lady that they have for the past 3 years. This year though, Brayden has moved up to a more advanced class, and Conner is still doing great in the beginner class.

 (Brayden)

Brayden is doing really well this year. But for some reason he gets really nervous sometimes and panics a bit if he realizes he's swimming on his own without his teacher hanging onto him. I think he's slowly but surly getting better. I don't get it though... he seems to have no fear doing a flip into the pool during playtime, but during class, he does better somedays then others. He is progressing though, so that is what is important right?!?

Conner is doing so good this year. This little boy seems to not have ANY fear. Which is a good and bad thing I guess. His teacher says that he does really well for his age, and is quickly learning the breath stroke and back stroke, which many kids his age have a hard time with apparently. He is getting better and better!

(Conner)

I love that the boys are able to take swimming lessons, but what I DO NOT love is sitting outside for almost an hour and a half in the hot hot HOT afternoon. Now that they are in different classes, we are there much longer then in the past years. Landon gets pretty restless and grumpy because lessons are during his usual nap time, and he just wants to get down and crawl around and play just like everyone else is.  But it's all worth it if the older boys are having fun and learning how to swim... right?

A conversation I never thought I'd have to have....

This is one of those times where I may one day look back on and laugh... but for now, I just shake my head and think... what in the WORLD!!!!

The other night, Patrick was working really late. I had fed the boys dinner, and was upstairs putting Landon to bed when I could hear the older boys giggling (in kind of the guilty way kids do when they are up to no good) and messing around, and then I thought I heard mention of... well their boys parts... and so I put Landon in his crib and go to see what they are up to. I get down stairs and they are in the family room watching TV. I ask what they are doing and they of course say "nothing!" I pry more and put on my "stern mom" face and ask again what they were up to. Then Conner blurts out... "Brayden peed on me!"  WHAT?!?!?! I ask for more explanation and only get the response from Brayden  of "it wasn't my fault, he made me do it!"  At this point, I'm not sure how that is at all possible, so I start getting mad and asking them exactly what happened. They then tell me that Brayden was in the bathroom and Conner decided he wanted to go in there too, (who knows why!) As Brayden is peeing, the thought comes to Conner's mind... "I wonder what pee smells like?" So he puts his head down next to the stream of pee to try to smell it!!!!! (WHAT THE?????) That makes Brayden mad (who can blame him!) and so he looses focus and gets pee in Conner's hair!!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!!! What do you even say to that!!! I got mad at them, and explained that...

#1- We DO NOT go into the bathroom when someone else is in there

#2- We don't put our HEADS anywhere near other people going to the bathroom or the toilet!

#3- It does NOT matter what pee smells like, you don't try to smell your brother's pee!!!!!! THAT IS GROSS!!!

I never thought those word would have to come out of my mouth! But they did!

Really?!?!? Is this the luxury of Motherhood... especially a mother of boys?!?!

From the mouth of babes....

A few days ago, just after Patrick left for work, Conner and I had the following conversation......

C- "Mom, is Dad going to come to my swimming lessons today?"
Me- "No, he has to go to work. Your lessons are in the middle of the afternoon, and that is right when Daddy has to be at his office."
C- "Well why does daddy have to go to work?"
Me- "So he can earn money so we can buy things like food for you to eat, and a house for you to live in, and, and toys for you to play with, and clothes for you to wear."
C- "But Mom, we already paid for our house."
Me- "Well houses cost a lot of money, so you don't usually pay for them all at once, you pay for them a little at a time."
(then he has this serious look on his face like that is the most ridiculous thing in the world...)
C- "But Mom,  then that would take all our money if we keep paying for that stuff!"

I'm thinking "why yes... yes it does Conner."

I love how kids look at the world with such simplicity!

What to do...

So what do you do when your weekend plans for a SUPER FUN trip to Utah to visit your friends gets messed up, then canceled due to your entire family getting the stomach flu?? 

Well, we did a little of this...

I love the position he fell asleep in. Brayden fell asleep in a funky position in the other chair in our family room too, but I didn't think to get a picture of it. 

A LOT of watching this...

I stopped counting after 10 or 12 movies in 2 days by either all of us or just the kids.

A bit of playing this...

...among other games.

Made good use of the art set we got for Christmas...

Drank a ton of this...

Unless of course you are a sick baby, then this is all that will do...

And a WHOLE LOT of this....

my whole hallway upstairs is STILL filled with blankets, towel, sheets, and various pajamas that had been washed. We pretty much never got out of our PJ's all weekend, really only to shower and get clean ones on occasionally. 

We definitely caught some horrible flu bug, but we weren't so lucky to have it pass over in just 24 hours like it did with most people. Actually it only lasted about a day for me, which was good, because it lasted a lot longer with everyone else in my family and I had to take care of everyone. Isn't the job of a Mom so fun??? The puking started on Wednesday morning and didn't stop till Sunday night! Patrick even passed out once while he was so sick. It was crazy!

I'm so done with sickness at our house! I think my washer and dryer may go on strike because they have been used so much over the past few days.  The Clorox wipes have been working overtime too!

I'm happy to report we are all FINALLY better, but didn't get to do a single fun thing all weekend. I was going bonkers being quarantined to the house. I ventured out to Wal-Mart twice... once for diapers and once for more Sprite and bread for toast! So I resorted to a little "retail therapy" by shopping online. I bought a new book, The Hunger Games, it should be here later this week. Some new capris, I really needed some and didn't want to miss the Holiday Weekend sales. And I almost bought a new entertainment center on Overstock for the new TV we are about to get... but I had to draw the line there, I think Patrick would have killed me if I bought that out of boredom!! And I spent lots of time on Ebay hunting for deals on things I wanted... but didn't get any.

Here's to hoping for a better week this week then last. 

I sure missed going to Utah though... *sigh*