Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Christmas for $5

So I thought maybe this year I would get a picture of Connor in his Sunday Christmas outfit after church...just so my mom could see how cute he was in the outfit she got him. But he was much more interested in the candy cane Sis. Stewart gave him in nursery. I know...I am a terrible mom for giving my child candy in his nice clothes. But I can't help it--those candy canes (or "candy things" as he calls them) just make him so dang happy. When Santa gave Connor one after he sat on his lap, he talked about it for days--not that he saw Santa, but that Santa gave him a candy thing. Connor's perfect Christmas--a box of candy canes for $1.

But, being the dutiful parents we are, we insisted on getting him several other Christmas presents. It is so hard when your two year-old looks at you and says, "Maybe Santa bring me ____?" to not jump in the car, drive the the store, and pick up the coolest ____ you can find.

However, we soon discovered we should have resisted the urge. One of the biggest hits of Christmas was a mop--yup, a mop. Our son has an obsession with items used for cleaning. So when he opened up the red, black, and white mop (that we got at Walmart for $3.88) he almost couldn't contain himself.

Five days later, it has already made a trip with us to St. Louis and back. Did you know it can also double as a sword? And reach the front seat in our van to poke mommy? It is such a handy tool.

I don't know why we ever thought we needed to spend a lot on Christmas, when true happiness can be achieved with just a five dollar bill.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Wow. What a night. I don't know if you've been watching the weather reports, but it was a little "treacherous" last night in Cincinnati. My roommate from BYU, Erin, and her husband Alex were flying in there to visit her family, and Adam and I went to pick them up from the airport and spend the evening with them. We left Louisville around 2pm. The weather originally said it was just going to be a little gloomy, but that quickly changed to freezing rain advisories, and we saw every bit of it. Their flight came in at 3:50pm, and we should have had plenty of time (since the Cincy airport is actually in Kentucky) but it still took us over 2 hours to get there. We saw car after car spun off on the side of the road. When we finally made it to the airport and picked them up, we decided to go to the Gap Distribution Outlet a few exits down from the airport. Traffic was literally crawling, and we didn't even make it the two exits until 6pm!!!

So we spent some quality shopping time, hoping to wait out the bad driving conditions since it was supposed to warm up later in the evening (yeah, I know that's weird, but true). We kept hearing these bits and pieces of strange conversations about this freeway being closed and that freeway being closed, but finally decided to brave the roads again, and headed up into the city. On the way, we had to avoid a bumper complete with a license plate in the middle of the road, and a van (I believe it was the owner) facing the wrong direction on the other side of the the road. We made it to Red Robin a little after 8pm...and were starving!! We were one of only 3 or 4 groups in the whole restaurant. But it was sooo worth it--who knew their Parmesan garlic fries were bottomless, too? And the freckled lemonade--love it!

After Red Robin we dropped our friends off at Erin's parents' house, and got to see her mom who is one of the sweetest most wonderful people in the whole world. She asked if we wanted to spend the night--an offer we turned down and quickly regretted the decision. We got back on the freeway to head back and thought we were home free, but when 71 split from 75, there was yet another accident and 71 was completely shut down. After a long, long wait, we finally made it back to Louisville around 2am.

So, for anyone who has seen The Nightmare Before Christmas, you know it has a happy ending. And so does this. Today, when we woke up and started thinking back about the previous day, somehow it wasn't that bad of a memory. First of all, we were incredibly blessed that Connor wasn't with us. He stayed home and played with his Gram and had a wonderful time and was in bed by 8pm. Secondly, Adam and I actually got to spend some alone time together on the way home, though I think both of us would have rather been asleep in bed. And finally, as horrible as all the traffic was, I can honestly say we had a great time last night. Erin always has been and always will be one of the people I most enjoy. And when you put Alex and Adam together....my face hurt from smiling and laughing so much. Adam and I both commented it was good it wasn't on Christmas Eve. But on this Christmas Eve as I reflect on all our blessings, I'm thankful to have such wonderful friends who make even the worst situations into memories worth keeping.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Tale of Two Trees

People sometimes make fun of me because I try to have my Christmas shopping done by December. Well for those of you who don't know, December is a crazy, busy month. Just this past weekend we were finally able to put up our trees. Yup, we put up two trees.
The first is the main tree, a live tree, and the one in our living room that most everyone sees. Since Connor is actually old enough to understand baby Jesus and that Santa comes, it was really fun to decorate with him this year.

Last year we just didn't put decorations on the bottom foot of the tree so they wouldn't get eaten. This year he's out of that stage, so the bottom part of the tree is filled with wooden or hard-to-break ornaments. It's Connor's little area, where he is free to remove and replace ornaments--which he does about three times a day. But breakable or not, he is obviously still quite impressed by them.

Our second tree is in Adam's office. When we got married, Adam brought with him a nice collection of sports ornaments and we or our family members add to it every year. We have John Elway, basketball snowmen, bells in the shape of cardinals, cardinals, cardinal ornament balls, just plain basketballs, and many more. And the tree-topper is Santa Claus...dressed in a basketball uniform and holding a basketball (of course...are ya catchin' on to the theme?). The first year we were married, we were in apartments where we weren't allowed to have a live tree, so we bought this little 4 ft. tree. A couple of years ago we realized that it would be the perfect place to display Adam's collection, and we could put it in his already-UofL-themed office with a few strings of red and white lights. Adam gets really excited to put this up every year, and it's really grown on me, too. Most of the shows we like on TV we miss, so we watch them later on the computer in his office while lounging on the guest bed...and now we get to do it by Christmas-tree light.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Angry Face

Connor has gotten into making this angry face whenever we ask him to do something he doesn't want to do. Sad thing is...I'm pretty sure that's the same face I make at him when he does something I don't want him to do. It is scary what we teach our kids.


An Early Christmas Gift

This Christmas, we got one of the best presents of all a little early in the month. One of my roommates from BYU, Lynnie, and her kids came to stay with us while her husband attended a business conference. We were at their house in August, and were sooo excited to see them again so soon.

Lynnie was here for 5 days, and we were sad to see her go. Unfortunately, the week before they got there our house fell apart. Our dishwasher was leaking (again!), two different closet doors came off the hinges, and then the disposal stopped working. Lynnie's husband, John, who was at our house for just one day, convinced Adam that repairing it would be quick and easy. And it would have been...except for a few items we were missing. Three trips to Lowe's later, our handy hubbies had it all fixed. Thanks to John who was (and always is) so willing to lend a hand.

Lynnie is such a patient and loving mom. Having three kids is not easy, and I was so impressed with her as I watched her juggle everything and still make time for each child.

Connor loved having other kids around the house. Everything Ava (her four year-old) did was cool, and he and Nathan stole toy after toy from each other (as is age-appropriate at two), but still announced over and over that they were friends. And that little Elias--I have truly never seen a baby that smiles so much. Lynnie somehow always manages to come here in winter, but despite the cold, wet weather we managed to have quite a bit of fun. We went to inside buildings at the zoo, but the two year-olds still decided snuggling in the wagon was the best place to be. Lynnie was so into the stilt birds, she tried to become "one" with the animals and do as they did. (Sorry sweetie--you knew when I took this it was going on the blog!)

We also got a chance to see Santa at the library and make some fun Christmas crafts.



And..we took some time to make some tasty Christmas sugar cookies. Even little Lias helped us keep track of the spatula. And then we had a little milk to top it all off.





Connor had a little "issue" with the sprinkles, and added about half the bottle to his one cookie.

I have lived many places and had many friends, but Lynnie is one of those friends you just keep forever. She, Erin, and I were roommates our sophomore year at BYU, and we have never lost touch. After someone is your roommate, they have seen you at your very worst, both physically and emotionally, and after that you just don't have anything to hide with them. If I have something I don't feel I can share with anyone else, I know I can tell those two. Sometimes God just places people in your path to help you, and I am grateful that they have never left.

We had a fantastic time, and hope to see the Genhos again soon...in warmer, drier weather.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Wii Love Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving. I can honestly say I have never eaten so many rolls...between Sarah's rolls and my mom's rolls over the last few days, I think I ate at least a dozen. And I don't regret a one...I love bread. If I were a superhero (and all moms are) that would be my kryptonite.
Anyway, Jenna's super-cool friend, Hannah, let us borrow her Wii for a few days, and with our extra time off around Thanksgiving we got in quite a few games. There are two really awesome things about the Wii. First, even if you are really horrible at a sport in real life, you can totally smoke all your friends on the Wii. And second, if you take pictures of people playing, it looks pretty hilarious.

(See. That was bowling in case you couldn't tell.)
Connor also quite enjoyed the Wii. His physical therapist actually suggested it as a good activity, and he took right to it and began practicing. (That is what he's saying, in case you can't tell.) Maybe Santa will bring us one for Christmas. Wii or wheelchair...hmmm...do you think we can convince the insurance to cover the Wii?

Sunday, November 23, 2008

The Winter Zoo

I kept thinking it might be fun to go to the zoo in the winter...after all, our pass is good year round. And they do have several inside buildings that are heated. In the summer time I never want to stay in the buildings too long cause that's where the AC is so everyone is there. Then, I talked to our friend, Jill, who said she loves taking her kids to the zoo in the winter...and it was settled! So we grabbed Alyssa (who sadly/happily is once again employed and very soon will not be able to play anymore), bundled up Connor, and headed off to the indoor "Islands" exhibit and Herpaquarium at the zoo. It turned out to be a really great idea. As we were walking in, a class of elementary schoolers was leaving, and besides them I think we saw three other families the whole time we were in the buildings. Usually Connor is quiet around lots of other people, but with just us there he talked and talked, and we got as much time as we wanted to look at whatever he liked.

By far the best part was the orangutans. Connor's favorite at the zoo is always the monkeys, and they are what he calls the "big monkeys"...and luckily they're inside. So we parked ourselves on a bench in front of the big window into their area to watch them play. After a minute or two, one of the zoo docents came into the room on her way some place else, and stopped to chat with us. One of the orangutans, who we learned was named Amber, obviously recognized the lady and came right up to the window to see her. It is one thing to see them from a few feet away, and another thing to actually interact with them.

She told us that Amber loves you to pull shiny things out of your pockets, so we pulled out wallets and cell phones, and everything we could think of, and Amber would put her finger up to the window and point at it if she liked it. It was an amazing experience and we will definitely be back.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Weather Turning Colder...Time for Wheelchairs!

We woke up on Sunday morning to our first snow...okay so it was just a light dusting, but it was still fun to see. I've always loved the idea of a white Christmas (and that movie), but your dreams change a little when you get married, have a family, and have to drive around a bunch on Christmas day.


We knew toward the end of this year we'd be looking at getting a wheelchair for Connor...and that time has come! We had the wheelchair guy out to our house today for about the third time. I was really excited for him to come because the chair he was bringing out was a brand new model that lowers itself all the way to the floor...so Connor can crawl up in it all on his own! He's made it clear how independent he is, and I think this will really help him mobility-wise. Sometimes it is really hard to watch all the kids he's playing with run around and he's just left behind trying to crawl to catch up with them. This chair goes pretty fast, so I think he could probably beat a lot of them in a race (and probably mow them down--he's not too good at steering yet). And I know that a big ol' chair like this is not really advantageous for running around with little kids, but at least he'll be able to explore his environment and go where he wants to go. And he's only getting bigger so it is getting a little harder to carry him around--this should help with that, too. He'll probably just use this when we leave home for something, but I am still just so excited for him to have it and all the opportunities it will give him.

Connor even got to drive it all on his own...with Dad right next to him. In this video the chair is tilted back and moved out in front a little so it appears much longer that it would be in a normal position. But this thing can elevate him all the way up to reach the kitchen counter if he wants...not sure if that is totally a good thing.

Our next step is insurance approval. We are a little worried because the retail cost is about $24,000 (I know!! It's as much as new car!!). But they said they've gotten them approved before and he is delivering one next week to somebody else, so it is all a matter of justification I guess. We'll just hope for the best. Pray for our wheelchair!!

Thursday, November 13, 2008

The Vegetarian Who Runs

Our little Connor is growing by leaps and bounds. I've talked in previous posts about his desire to be independent, and this last little while he has grown even more so. In the last few weeks, Connor decided that food was no longer a necessity, and that he only needed milk and juice to survive. We tried every food we could think of that any kid might like--macaroni and cheese, hot dogs, fish sticks, chicken nuggets, chips, cookies, crackers--you name it we tried it. I didn't care what he ate as long as it was something. We did get him to eat saltines, pudding sometimes, and ice cream. But...most of our meals ended with Connor crying, me crying, or Adam walking out of the room in frustration.

He has done this before, but it was due to a stomach flu and passed quickly...and this did not. I thought maybe it was the Carnitor we started, but he stopped eating before that. So we were pretty stumped, and it got to the point where I was almost hysterical. The kid already has to have Carnation Instant Breakfast in his milk to give him more calories, and if he doesn't even eat the foods in his regular diet then all was pretty much lost.

So then, Adam suggests that if he likes to still drink maybe we puree up his food and feed it to him that way. I disagreed--telling Adam he needed to chew for healthy teeth and that I was sure he would change his mind or we would find something he would eat. After all, I'm the all-knowing mom, right? And somewhere in the back of my mind I was worried the SMA caused a weakness somewhere, and he was no longer able to normally...so I needed him to do it--just to prove to me that all was fine with his muscles.

Then, a few nights ago, he spends the evening with my mom. We arrived back at her house to hear the news that he ate applesauce and pureed pears, with a STRAW. Adam was right. I was wrong. He thought the straw was fun and exciting, and will try most things through it. And today for lunch, he ate his saltines with peanut butter, whole corn (with a spoon!), and applesauce with a straw and spoon. So maybe he'll be a Vegetarian for awhile...I don't care, as long as he's eating. (Can you puree hot dogs??)

Also, a few days ago, our independent Connor visited Bellarmine University to give the students in the lab our physical therapist (PT) teaches an idea of how to work with kids with SMA. Connor (and my) favorite part was the "running" on the treadmill. Okay, so he wasn't really running, but it was faster than I've ever seen him walk. He did great and was perfectly happy the whole time we were there. I think he just liked all the attention. And at the end of the day, his PT was his favorite person, because she gave him a brand new broom!

Check out the video of him on the treadmill:
http://s371.photobucket.com/albums/oo154/akdeluca03/?action=view&current=100_1272.flv

The Man in My Life

What's your husband's name? Adam Jared DeLuca
How long have you been married? 5 years, 3 months, 4 days
How long did you date? We met on 10-26-02, were engaged in May 2003, and got married in August 2003...just past 9 months
How old is he? 27
Who eats more sweets? Hmmm...we don't keep much in the house, and when we get it we pretty much share. Except for the Nutty Bars...sorry, sweetheart.
Who said "I Love You" first? We disagree about this...he says he did, but the way I remember it we were having this conversation about it and he said several things similar to that and I was the one who got the drift of what he was trying to say and said it first...either way, we were both on the same page. :)
Who is taller? Adam, by a foot.
Who is smarter? I think we would agree it's a toss up...we each have our areas of expertise.
Who does the laundry? I would like to, but Adam usually beats me to it. Like this morning.
Who pays the bills? I do, but he occasionally "audits" my work.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Is that looking at the bed or from in the bed? Right now from in the bed I'm on the right, but we switch every couple of months. Don't know why.
Does he snore? Not since he lost 50 lbs. the first year we were married.
What does he do in his spare time? Louisville football & basketball, playing basketball with his friends, playing football and basketball on Playstation, reading his Louisville sports magazine (see a theme here?)
Who mows the lawn? When Adam was in school, it was me. (I think the neighbors thought I was weird for mowing the lawn when I was 6 months pregnant...and Adam got mad at me.) Now it is pretty much Adam, unless I decide I want the exercise.
What is his favorite candy bar? Reese's Cups
Who cooks dinner? Me usually, though Adam is always quick to offer if I look tired and haven't started when he gets home. He has really expanded his repertoire.
Who drives? Adam
Who is the first to say they are wrong? Adam. I am working on it though. A bit.
Who kissed who first? A joint effort. Adam got himself right in my face, which I didn't have the guts to do....and then I just leaned forward and kissed him.
Who asked who out first? Our first official date was after we had already kissed so we did things a little backwards...but Adam asked me to lunch at Ruby Tuesdays.
Who wears the pants? I like to think it's me, but the truth is he has the last word.
Does he say he loves you every day? More than once.
I tag: Lynnie, Jessica R., and Kristen K.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

The Meds Begin

For months and months, as we visit each of a million new doctors, we have been asked, "What meds does Connor take for SMA?" My answer was always, "Nothing." We've never been given anything and we've never been told to take anything. But each time I was asked that, something (very paranoid) inside me was yelling, "SHOULD I BE?? WHAT DO YOU KNOW THAT I DON'T? ARE OTHER SMA KIDS TAKING SOMETHING? IS THERE SOMETHING OUT THERE THAT CAN HELP HIM THAT HE'S NOT TAKING??"

And the truth is, there is nothing. Nothing that cures this or can take it away from us. Nothing to make the progression stop. Yes, there are some things that some families feel makes it slow down in their kids, but most have yucky side effects that could make some kids worse. That just seems so backwards to the way things should be. There is always something you can do...if you get an infection, you take an antibiotic...if you have a sore throat, you can use that yucky spray...if you get really sick, you go into the hospital and get some major drugs, are maybe hooked up to a machine or two for a few days, and then you start to get better. But my child has this horrible illness that took away his walking and makes him fall all the time with the simplest tasks, and makes me scared to death of the common cold, and will only get worse...and yup, we're taking nothing.

But today, we have something! This morning Connor took his first dose of Carnitor. It is supposed to help him use energy more efficiently. (And judging by the look on his face that is some pretty nasty stuff. I think we'll hide it in some juice tonight.) In four weeks we start the Co Q-10, an over-the-counter supplement that helps the mitochondria in his cells with protein coding blah blah blah biology I don't remember from college.

So, since our life has now become backward, I guess I get a free pass...a free pass to be excited about taking some meds that in the back of my mind I know really aren't doing much...but hooray for SOMETHING!

Monday, November 3, 2008

Mr. Independent's Halloween

This year was the first year Connor really got into Halloween. And of course we did all the usual stuff, which Mr. Independent had to be a part of but in his own way. Before Adam went out of town, we (finally!) carved our pumpkins from Gallrein Farms. Guess whose is whose!

Mr. Independent is very into knives. Don't ask me why--I promise we aren't violent people. He insists on having a knife at every meal...so we have some kid knives and cheeseball knives that are solely his. But instead of letting him anywhere near the sharp knives this time, we went the marker route.
Next, we went to our Storytime Halloween Party. Elsie (aka SuperGirl, aka Connor's cousin) is in our group as was as cute as always. They had tons of "pupcakes" there, and I tried to feed Mr. Independent his in hopes of preserving the costume. But alas, he would have none of it and insisted on holding it himself to eat. He did get frosting on his giraffe leg, but I think the spots hid it pretty well.


And finally, on Friday night, we went trick-or-treating. Mr. Independent was adamant the he ring each doorbell himself, and also that he needed to choose a piece of candy from the bowl instead of waiting for it to be placed in his "pumptin." (He got away with it because he is little and cute, but we're going to work on that for next year.) And when all was said and done, his favorite thing was not the tasty chocolate or yummy candies he got--nope, he just wanted to go home and eat the peanut butter crackers.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Mrs. Palin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR9V_aOCga0

No matter who you're voting for, this is hillarious.

Monday, October 20, 2008

The Lab


Today I decided to brave the Kosair Children's Hospital lab once again...and on my own with Connor for the first time. I am trying really hard to make all this stuff we have to do for his SMA a part of our normal life, and I finally decided I was strong enough to do this...and I was (!) despite us having trouble there once again. I don't even know how many times we've been there, but our most recent experience before today hadn't been the greatest...we had to do blood and urine labs (urine from a barely 2 year-old...that was fun) as well as an X-ray, and for some reason the lab couldn' t read the doctor's orders for the bloodwork (I could...and I don't work in a lab everyday...hmmmm), so we were told to get a new order and drive all the way back there again another day. So, today I decided to venture out and give it a shot. This is Connor in his carseat--he was so happy I decided to take a picture...but little did he know the fate that awaited him. We ended up staying in the lab waiting room for a little over 2 hours, while the lab people tried to get ahold of our neurologist and see if she really wanted him to have the same labs done as he had in February. (Hello--my son has a progressive disease so things are going to change. But no one listens to me. I'm just the mom.) They had a big "No Food or Drink" sign posted, but after two hours I just gave up and decided if they were going to kick me out for giving my child a cracker when it was an hour and a half past lunch then they could go ahead and do it because we were ready to go. Finally, we got to go back and have the blood draw and finger stick, and my sweet boy didn't even cry a tear...probably because he was staring the whole time at the big jar of suckers he was going to have two of when we were through. I just pray the results actually get back to the doctor in Cincinnati.

Then I got home and saw this picture I had forgotten about, and laughed out loud, and my whole day changed for the better. Adam has been out of town at his grandmother's memorial, and it will be good to have him home.


Thursday, October 16, 2008

Tagged Again?

Okay...so I promise not to do anymore, but this was so interesting to hear from everyone else that I really just did this to hear from more people.

JOBS I'VE HAD--
1. Sears Teleservice (i agree with Shannon--never again!)
2. BYU Takeout Catering
3. Administrative Coordinator (aka main secretary)
4. Insulin Pump Director

4 MOVIES I'VE WATCHED MORE THAN ONCE--
1. Sabrina (the new version with Harrison Ford)
2. Pride & Prejudice (6 VHS version)
3. Return to Me
4. So I Married and Axe Murderer

TV SHOWS I WATCH--
1. The Office
2. Bones
3. Gossip Girl (yup, I'm admitting it)
4. Chuck

4 PEOPLE WHO EMAIL ME REGULARLY--
1. Adam
2. Mom
3. Adam again (we email back and forth like 6 times a day...I am totally going to get him fired)
4. Renee (Connor's PT)

4 OF MY FAVORITE FOODS--
1. Mint Chocolate anything
2. Pizza Hut breadsticks
3. Talerino
4. Adam's mom's spaghetti sauce

PLACES I'D LIKE TO VISIT--
1. California
2. my grandma's house (again soon)
3. Mediterranean
4. a cruise anywhere

4 people I tag:
1. Alyssa
2. Erin (get a blog!!)
3. Scott & Becca
4. Holly

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

The Perfect Pumpkin

If you are looking for cool faces to carve into a pumpkin, check out this site:

http://www.bhg.com/holidays/halloween/pumpkin-carving/pumpkin-stencil-maker/

You have to register to use it, but it's really fun...and better than triangle eyes, triangle nose, and jagged teeth.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Tagged

Who: Lynnie, Geneil, Alyssa, Merry (don't forget your special cute friend), Erin, Anna, Traci, Shannon, Heidi, Monica, Andrea, Cindy, Miranda, and Steph


Subject: Wonderful Qualities. List every member who lives in your home. Include 5 wonderful qualities each member holds.


The Catch: You must include yourself.


Why: It's easy to just go about each day and forget to be grateful.


Okay, so this is a little easier for me than some of you cause it's just the three of us. (Laura--you obviously have too much time now that you're not the primary president anymore...but as usual, your idea is very cute.)


Adam

1. Forgiving...definitely #1. Heavenly Father blessed me with a husband that was quick to apologize, cause He sure knew I'm not, even though it is usually my fault.
2. Good sense of humor...even if we weren't attracted to each other in any way, we would still be best friends because he makes me laugh every day (today he called me 30 minutes after he left for work just to pretend to be this dorky politician and ask for my vote)
3. Wonderful Father...I am continually impressed with all he is willing to do for our little boy.
4. Tall (6'4'), Dark (hair and skin--no sweetie, you aren't pale, you're Italian so that's not possible), and Handsome
5. Good Friend...not only is mine, of course, but I really admire all the things he does for his friends and how he is a great example of friendship


Kristen

1. Compassionate...my mom always taught me that other people are more important than ourselves and to put others' feelings first
2. Good Cook...okay, maybe just for Adam who eats everything (even bad tasting things)
3. Organized...I am a fanatical list-maker
4. Loyal...I am glad to do anything to help a friend, and I want to keep friends for forever if possible
5. Silly...ask me how many ridiculous songs I (and Alyssa, Geneil, Anna, Erin, Mary...and soon Connor) know, and do not ask me to re-create all the crazy things I've done to make Connor laugh.

Connor-Bdonner

1. Strong...he may not be physically strong, but no matter where or how he falls he almost never cries and is so, so brave
2. Observant...he constantly talks about the world around him and what he thinks about it, and helps me notice more of the good in everyday things
3. Ticklish...nothing makes me happier than tickling him, and apparently it makes him happy too cause he always says, "do again"
4. Compassionate...after throwing his toys against the wall, he always picks them up and says, "Kiss better"
5. Stubborn...yes, this is a great quality! It take a lot of stubbornness to stick to something you know is true even though everyone else thinks otherwise. I hope he always stays this way.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Vacation Days

Adam had a few vacation days to burn, so he took off Thursday and Friday of this week. It really worked out well for us because Adam and I ended up with a stomach virus late Thursday night and Friday morning. But despite the illness, we really did get to do a lot and Connor had a great time.

Thursday night we went to the "World's Largest Halloween Party" at the zoo. As you come in, they have you walk down this path with hidden speakers on the side and recordings of people going, "Boo!" which was surprisingly scary (at least to me--Adam thinks I'm a sissy). They had the "This is Halloween" song from The Nightmare Before Christmas playing (which is still currently stuck in my head), and Connor wasn't quite sure what he thought of it all. But he was very brave, though he held to the sides of the wagon for dear life.














Luckily, it got much less scary after that. He quickly got into the groove of things, saying "Trick Ter Treat" as we pulled the wagon up to each booth where they were handing out candy.


There were storybook characters at different places around the zoo, so we made a few friends. (And according to Adam that Tinman was "playin' for the other team".) We even got to see what our little boy would have looked like had I married Willy Wonka instead. (No smile of course, because Oompa Loopma's don't smile.)
There were also a few scary sightings...like the half-naked caveman by the fence (wait...aren't all cavemen half-naked?) and the headless horseman that came after us on the train. But we had a great time and will definitely be back next year.


On Saturday, after we were recovered from our little bout with illness (sorry, no pics of that), we took a trip to Gallrein Farms here in Shelbyville.

We went to the petting zoo and got to see a goat up close (our second experience with goats--after John & Lynnie's), but the sheep were a little loud so Connor held Daddy's hand. They had a big red tractor, which he loved, and about a million pumpkins.

Adam (who opted out of shaving for this vacation) verified the accuracy of their measuring tools, while I made friends with a nice witch. Then we hopped on the hayride for a trip out to the pumpkin patch.













And at the end of the day, it was time for a nice long nap.