"Hi Connor!"

This video was taken a few weeks ago. Connor loves his Johnny Jump Up and he's always talking and screaming for joy when he's in it. I was trying to capture him talking on this particular evening but got nothing but a wave.

Video

Hopefully this video will work... I took this video with my phone, so please excuse the craziness of it. Elijah has been working on this for a while now... one or two nights a week for 10-20 minutes at a time...

Comparables

Now that I have two adorable boys, I LOVE to compare them. I can't help it. Maybe it's a bad thing, maybe not. But, regardless, I do it. I love to compare their personalities, their expressions, their physical features, their habits, their sounds... oh, the list goes on and on. Of course, I love my boys equally, and always will.

One thing I love to compare the most, is the way they look in the same outfits. I can't wait for Connor to grow into another outfit that Elijah wore, and take a picture of it. It's fun for me.

Connor sure is a peanut COMPARED to Elijah. He is just now, at 3 months, growing into an outfit Elijah filled out quite well at just 2 months. So, I picnik'd it. Enjoy :)

We're Back!

Well, it's been 5 long months, and we are finally back online. Being way out in the country, the internet isn't quite as easy to come by as it is in town, but we finally found a way.

Since it is 1AM I will do a quick re-cap of the last 5 months. The in-between's will come another day... or maybe later today : )

I last left off at 33 weeks of pregnancy... oh man, does that bring back some awful memories.


Looking back at these pictures sure makes me cherish NOT being pregnant anymore... I almost hurt just looking at them.

Man, was I HUGE!
I didn't have the energy to actually go and have professional pictures taken with a "high energy" 3 year old, so we put up a sheet in his room and set up the tri-pod while Jeremiah was at work. I figured I could "picnik" them to look just as good as a professional would... I almost achieved that. I'm pretty sure this was the last "weekly" picture I took before delivery day...


38 weeks, 6 days

Well, we all know what happens next... And since then, my life has never been the same! :) I love having two boys. Elijah LOVES being a big brother. He even has a "Connor voice" that he uses whenever he thinks Connor has something to say but can't relay his message to me. He is quite protective of Connor. From time to time, he gets a little annoyed when Connor cries, "CONNOR! I'm trying to sleep! Connor! I can't hear the tv!" But, other than that, he does so well. He knows that when it's time for Connor to have my undivided attention, he is to find something to do until Connor has been taken care of. He is a great big brother.

Connor is a wonderful addition to our family. He is very laid back compared to Elijah. He sleeps well, eats well, hangs out without needing to be held 24/7 well... He's great. He is very much like his brother in that he is extremely strong for his age... Elijah went a little something like this: Rolling over at 3 months, Sitting up at 4 months, Crawling at 6 months, and walking/running at 9 months... Connor is looking to be right there. He rolled from belly to back when he was 4 weeks old. He hasn't managed to get from his back to his belly yet because he gets too angry, but it's coming and I'm learning not to be in such a hurry. He could just lay there for another 3 months as far as I'm concerned. But, he won't. He'll be running around by Christmas, I'm sure. Their pediatrician wished me luck. "He's way stronger than he should be at this age" she said.

Anyway, here are a few pictures, then I'm off to bed...

33 Weeks

I have a picture of myself at 21 weeks and a picture of myself at 27 weeks up on Facebook. I was unable to download this one to FB tonight, so I'll at least get it up on the blog and mess with it later. My, have I grown! At 33 weeks (almost 2 weeks ago), I had gained a total of 16 pounds- which is much better than I did with Elijah, but still leaves me looking, and feeling, pretty disgusting. So, anyway, here is a picture of me @ 33 weeks. I will be 35 weeks on Wednesday and definitely am ready to get this child out. Ready to be done being pregnant. I'm not very good at it, anyway. I complain about everything. I can't wait to have some energy, be able to roll over in bed at night, without it being a major production, and lose some serious weight! If there was ever a time to be serious about it, it's now. I'm sure not getting any younger.
I pretty much have everything ready for the baby. I just need to pack myself a bag for the hospital. This week, I took the stroller apart and washed the seat and scrubbed the rest of it. It looks brand new. Ready to click the carseat in it and go for some fat burning walks! The bed is made, the blinds and curtains are up, and the changing station is stocked.
Anyway, friends, we should have the internet really soon, and when we do I will be looking at your blogs and commenting. My phone is just too slow to open the blogs- let alone comment on them.

The "Stunk"

Hello Friends,
We are still without the internet, however, we have a friend who offered to let me use his computer and do a little blogging. The moving process left little to be desired, but I think we're finally settled in. We had an adventure not long after arriving at our new home...
One night, Jeremiah went outside to get the dolly to move our refridgerator to a different spot in the kitchen. He barely made it out our front door when he cam flying back inside, white as a ghost. He saw a skunk right outside our front door walking across the patio. We got the flashlight and were unable to find the nasty critter, so we figured we had scared him away.
Later that night we were heading across the yard and into the wood shed. Jeremiah carried Elijah on his shoulders and I carried the flashlight. We were looking at some beady eyes out in the field when we heard noise behind us. The skunk was back. He appeared to be chasing us but we learned that they can't see farther than 10 feet in front of them, so that was just our imagination. He went straight to our patio and slipped underneath our house! That's where he stayed for the next 10 days! (My father in-law figured he had come out that night, and put a block in front of the hole the next morning). WRONG!
Anyway, one day I smelled it under our kitchen sink. Everyone thought I was crazy, however, they moved the block out of the front of the door, thinking that if my crazy self was right, he would come out.
Well, wouldn't you know, the pregnant woman's senses were right (always are). Jeremiah woke up at 2:30am, that night, and got up to get a drink. He just happened to be looking outside the door when out stumbles our smelly housemate. He ran off and we never saw him again that night.
We awoke around 8:45 the next morning and were getting ready to do some work outside when, much to our surprise, in broad daylight, that little bugger came back and tried to get under the house again (but we had blocked the hole). Jeremiah grabbed the 22, and I kept an eye on the skunk while he loaded it.
The skunk ended up running out into the field and under a piece of farm equipment. We spent a good 30 minutes throwing fireworks to try and smoke it out, spraying water, and tossing rocks on to the bush hog. That stinker wouldn't budge. So, we hooked some chains up to the tractor and the bush hog and I pulled it. The skunk ran with the bush hog as fast as he could, but I drove faster than he could run and eventually, he fell too far behind and BANG! BANG! He croaked! WOO HOO! I can't explain the adrenaline that ran through my pregnant body, but I was sure I was headed straight for labor.
Anyway, here are a couple pictures of our huntee...
Welcome to the country, Helveys. YIKES!

He did spray, but we didn't realize it until we were headed back to the house... downwind. UFDAH! Did we ever get a shower! NASTY.

Ever since our adventure, Elijah has been telling everyone to "watch out for the stunk".

3? Already?

Well, it's official... my baby isn't a baby any longer. He's a big boy. Three years old today, February 22nd. so far, each year on his birthday I get all emotional. I don't necessarily cry, but just feel all of these emotions. To think, I carried that boy from seedling to an 8lb. 10oz. baby. Then, together, we learned all about the "joys" of breastfeeding. It was not an easy task for Elijah and I but we pulled through and were able to keep it up for 8 months... until his mouth was so full of teeth that this mommy just couldn't take being chomped on anymore. One month later, at 9 months old, our little baby was walking, then running, and climbing stairs...
It just amazes me how quickly these precious little babies grow up. Each stage we go through brings about new accomplishments in his development, and new accomplishments (and failures, too) in our parenting. What a treasure he is to us.
I could go on and on, but really don't have the time to sit and type it out... there's packing to be done. This weekend, we move 1 hour south, to Eldon, MO. We will be living on Jeremiah's parent's land- just across the yard from them, in the house Jeremiah grew up in. New adventures, and challenges await us. We feel that this is where God wants us... at least for a short time. We will be taking it a day at a time.
As for our birthday boy, he chose to have his party at our new house, after we move. We will have a pond just down the hill from our house, so we're thinking fishing gear will be a perfect gift.
Since we will be internet-less for about a month after we move, the party pics will be posted when we're back online.
Until then... I'll leave with you some of my favorite pictures of our boy.
Happy Birthday, our big three year old!

Visiting the Northerner's

This year, we visited the Speckeen's a little later in January than usual. Generally, we make it up north for the annual New Year's Speckeen Celebration, but weren't able to make it this year due to work schedules. However, without all the celebrations happening, we had a VERY relaxing and fun time....

Elijah loves taking baths at Grandpa and Grandma "Stateens" because the tub has no texture on the bottom, which makes slipping and sliding around perfect for our wild boy.

We don't have our hearts set on Elijah being an athlete... He loves music and reading! We are so glad he takes so much interest in these "nerdy" things... We hope he pursues his love for music because he's showing so much potential.
Uncle Will took Elijah outside in the snow to play with the dog... they had a blast, but I'm pretty sure Uncle Will was exhausted!
He got a hold of someone's goofy glasses...How cute is he?!
Jeremiah and I were able to get together with some of our Northern Friends. While we missed the friends who weren't able to make it, we had a blast! We went bowling and I failed miserably, but Jeremiah did awesome
Definitely not just a bowling ball...
So serious... Guess you have to be to get the scores he got that night
My Aunt and Uncle let us visit so Elijah could have a chance to ride the snowmobile! He loved it! It was so cold out, so I had to make him come inside much sooner than he preferred... that made him pretty "angry!" but his Great Auntie gave him some hot chocolate and a brownie and it was all good.
Getting a ride from Grandpa in his Tonka Truck- his Christmas present from the Speckeen Grandparents! He loves that Truck!

With my Auntie Kaye in my awesome maternity shirt "... and all I wanted was a backrub"

Santa @ Going Bonkers

This year, Jeremiah's work hosted a Christmas party for the kids at a place here in town called "Going Bonkers". The kids got to play and get their picture taken with Santa (AKA, Jeremiah). Elijah asked for a "Green Present". This is the first year he's taken to the idea of Santa and he really enjoyed it... quite different from screaming on Santa's lap last year. However, he must have felt some level of comfort with this particular Santa. ;)
Bonkers is like tunnels and trails of woven seat belts up in the rafters where kids can run and parents just want out of. It smells, it's hot, and the spaces get a little small from time to time. But it was a ton of fun.


Now, that's just cute.
Going down the slide... the slides were even fun for mommy! Super big and FAST!

Meeting Santa
I wonder how many years it will take him to figure this out...

Eli's First "Big 'Ol" Missouri Snow

Well, I have found myself far behind in the blogging world again but better late than never, I suppose. We have had a fairly decent taste of snow this season and Elijah LOVES it. Anything "big" to Elijah is "big 'ol, big 'ol, big 'ol" and this was his first "big 'ol snow" (that he was actually big enough to play in).
He learned to throw snowballs at mommy
He had so much fun being pulled on the sled. We even found a very small hill in the woods behind our house to go down, but once was enough... there were too many sticks and a small bit of frozen water at the bottom. Mommy could only chance it once- not to mention the climb back up was a bit tough for both of us.
And Finally, his first snowman. As you can see, there wasn't enough snow to make him any bigger than Elijah, but Eli didn't care. He chose the hat for his snowman buddy to wear and helped put the (baby) carrot in his nose... we used our scented pine cones for his eyes and gave up on the idea of a mouth :)