The new hat

I decided that I needed to clean out Audrey's closet and dresser yesterday (another snow day!). I actually found some onesies as small as 0 - 3 months! Crazy. It's hard to believe she was that little! I also pulled out any clothes smaller than 9 - 12 months.... there was still a bunch of 6 - 9 month clothes that were in the mix. There was also some boxes in her closet that had bigger clothes that I sorted through and pulled out what could fit her now. In there, I found a white hat that I'm pretty sure we were given for Conner but is clearly a girl hat. Very cute, summery, and will be perfect for that almost-bald head this summer! We're definitely going to have to practice wearing it, though, because Audrey was not a big fan.

She got better as soon as she forgot about it.

But then she remembered and pulled it off.

Notice the chair? It's Conner's - we got it for his first birthday. Audrey won't stay out of it! She crawls over and climbs up, then usually turns around to look outside the window behind her. She's actually only fallen out of it once - she took a header off the side.

Still no teeth. There's one just under her gum, but it's been there (and gone) for a month or so now.

Another snow day?!

We've learned not to expect much when the forecasters call for snow, especially when it's supposed to be a significant amount (which for Cincinnati, can be 1 - 2"). So this morning, around 5:15, when I received a call saying we had a 2-hour delay, it was a nice feeling. It was even better around 8:00 when I received another call saying we were cancelled! That's two snow days in two weeks!

It was nice that Eric's still home (although I'm sure he'd rather be working!); he went out to use his snowblower on the driveway, and Conner got all bundled up to go outside and play. Doug & Marge had just gotten him some new snowpants, so he was good to go! Eric said the snow's really dry, so it's not good for snowball/snowman making, but Conner still had fun. They went this afternoon to Fouss' to sled a little bit.

Audrey's up taking a nap right now (although I can hear her babbling a bit). She's been learning the past few days how to climb up and down the stairs. Going up is still a little shaky (and takes so much work!) but she's a pro coming down on her belly, feet first.

The Birthday Weekend

I stayed home with the kids on Friday because of Eric's surgery Thursday morning, and it was a good thing that I did - Eric was on the couch until late afternoon. Conner and I spent his birthday getting his hair cut and then taking a nap (him, not me!). We'd gone to dinner on Wednesday evening to celebrate the big birthday - they sang to Conner at Applebee's, and I think that was the most embarassed I've ever seen him! It was pretty funny.

Conner opened his presents Friday afternoon - he was very excited about the Spiderman motorcycle (and Spiderman) that he got. I guess he forgot that he'd seen it in the Walmart grocery cart last weekend! He got two more motorcycles that race from Christopher on Saturday, so the last 48 hours has been all about motorcycles!

He also received a few puzzles, which he's been spending a lot of time doing lately. Uncle Andy sent a dinosaur puzzle, and he's also done the Thomas puzzle (with some help) a couple of times.

Saturday's party at Chuck E. Cheese's was fun, albeit a bit wild and crazy (Have you ever been there at noon on a Saturday? I'd suggest not trying it.). Conner seemed to enjoy himself, as did the other little boys that were there. Afterwards, family (and the Bostons) came back to the house to play and hang out, and the Hogans eventually made their way over (Shannon will never live down the time mess-up!). We definitely had some tired little puppies after that long day!

Today, because of the long President's Day weekend, we went to Totter's Otterville (located in Johnny's Toys in Covington) to play with Brigitte, Natalie, Kelbee, Austin, and Abby (and the babies minus Audrey). That was fun! We hadn't been there for a couple of years, so it was nice to be able to let Conner just run around and play. The last time we were there, he got run over in the ball pit and scared me to death. Today, he was more than able to hold his own. I think he was definitely ready to leave when I "dragged" him out, and ended up taking a nap with Daddy when we got home. Audrey had woken up with a nasty runny nose, so I'm glad that she was able to stay home with Eric this morning. She's currently back in bed (for nap #3).

All in all, I'd say it was a good birthday, and Conner is very happy to be 4. He especially enjoyed the change of classrooms yesterday at church for Sunday School! (Now he's in the big boy room!)

SNOW DAY!!

I can't imagine a profession where you don't get to enjoy snow days... that early morning call (4:45 this morning!) is such a present.

Conner is scheduled to go to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but because I was home today, Eric and I decided to keep Conner home, too, and send him tomorrow instead. I called Family Connections to let them know, and found out that they were closed, too! Then later this morning, Eric got a call from a guy at work and he ended up going in to work. I'm so glad that I was home so he could do that! Conner was all excited about playing outside in the snow, but it's really just been raining all day. The snow on the driveway is basically just a big pile of slush. It really could get ugly if it freezes again tonight!

Because this is his first year at school, this is also Conner's first Valentine's Day party. He picked out some Spiderman valentines this past weekend, and have since been working on getting his name on them all. The teacher requested that the kids try and sign their own cards, which was a great way to get Conner to start writing his name. He'd complained a few weeks ago that he didn't know how to write his name (and other kids did) but then didn't want to practice it. Putting his name on the spiderman cards is something that Conner was excited to do. It's still an effort (and gosh, the area to put his name is so small for a first-timer!), so he'll usually just do 2 at a time before he needs to get moving around again. Hopefully by Wednesday night we'll get enough done for the kids at school.

Since Friday's his birthday (and not a school day), they're going to celebrate it on Thursday during his party. Guess we'll be making some cupcakes tomorrow!

Eric and I have recently started lying down with Conner during his naptime. A long time ago we'd both said that we'd love to be a fly on his wall when he goes to sleep - and now we kind of are! He will go upstairs for a nap and then play for hours.... when we all know he's dead tired! When we lie down with him, he'll toss for a minute or two, but he's asleep within 30 seconds of closing his eyes. It's amazing!

Just pictures

Some new pictures for the weekend. . .


Conner & Audrey sharing the remote this morning.


Eric & Conner napping last weekend.



One of Conner's school pictures


Another of Conner's school pictures

Fevers all around!

I was a little miserable at school on Monday - somewhere during the weekend the cold bug caught me. Luckily, it's just been a runny nose. When I got home from school, though, I arrived to find Eric and Audrey huddled up on the couch together (and Conner was sitting watching a movie). Neither of the couch potatoes looked very happy. It turns out that both were burning up, and had been in the horizontal position all day. I got Aud some Tylenol to help get her fever down, and then she enjoyed her very first popsical (boy, she caught on fast!). By 6:00 or so, she'd cooled off and was playing contentedly. I think Eric stayed on the couch until bedtime.

Yesterday when I got home from school after picking Conner up, Eric told me that he'd woken Aud up around 10:00 that morning - she'd actually slept in that late! After getting a little snack, she crawled over to where he was doing the laundry, pulled one of her blankies out of the clothes basket, and curled up on the floor. He knew it was time to put her back in bed. She was just waking up around 4:30 when we got there. Poor little thing! She obviously just needed the time to heal and feel better.

This morning, she woke up before I left for school (which is more normal for her) with a rash on her face... I'm thinking that she just had the roseola virus, which starts as a high fever and ends with a rash. Conner also had this when he was little (though I don't remember exactly how old), and Levi seemed to have it right around Christmas. It's funny with kid #2 - she's been really healthy overall, but I've never taken Audrey to the doctor because she was sick. When Conner got the roseola virus, I took him twice - once when he got the fever, and once when he got the rash. I guess I'm saving some money in co-pays! Just to defend myself, I was planning on taking her to the doctor if she still had her fever yesterday... but she didn't.

We picked up Conner's first school pictures yesterday - they turned out pretty cute! They actually did three different poses, so it wasn't just the standard "sit and smile" type picture. They also gave us (for free!) a canvas lunchbag with his three pictures on it. It was very cute. I haven't scanned any of them yet, but I'll get one online as soon as I do.

These are some of Audrey's one-year pictures. They turned out pretty cute. :)

Our day with the horses

As the four of us were sitting yesterday morning eating breakfast, Eric asked what I wanted to do for the day. He'd suggested driving up to Columbus (no offense anyone in Columbus, but it wasn't what I had in mind), but I brought up the possibility of going to the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington... the paper had an article about it last week, and I knew it would be something that Conner would enjoy. So we packed up and hit the road about 10 AM.

After a stop at a McDonald's close to Georgetown, KY, we made it to the park around 11:30. There were only a handful of cars in the parking lot (think Wally World and Chevy Chase), but we'd checked online before we left the house and were sure it was open. Sure enough, it was... but I guess spending the day at the Horse Park isn't everyone's plan on a pretty Saturday in early February. Sure, it was a bit chilly, but we bundled up and spent some time in the museum to warm up.

There are definite pros and cons for making a winter trip to a place like that.

The pros:

• definitely the crowd (or lack thereof)


• more individual attention from the staff


• don't have to wait for a seat on the wagon


• it's cheaper!

The cons:

• not nearly as much going on as on a summer day... no shows, fewer horses, etc.


• coat on, mittens on, mittens off, coat off . . .
  
  Looks like it's 4 to 2, but I still think we need to check it out on a warm summer day.
  
  

So, anyway, we did see a bunch of horses. Conner got to pet a few, rode on a mechanical horse, saw a horse getting a new shoe, watched a competiton where the riders were doing different sorts of relay races, and did lots of walking.

Needless to say, we had a couple of tired little puppies by the end of the day.

My favorite conversation:

Conner: "My feet hurt."

Me: "Why?"

Conner: "They don't have any energy!"

Audrey finally fell asleep and got a nice nap in the stroller, but Conner kept plugging along. We left around 4:00, stopped for gas, and he passed out in the car.

He ended up sleeping the whole way home, and was not a happy camper when we got home somewhere between 5:15 and 5:30 (Aud stayed awake the whole time!). We told him to go inside and either lay down on the couch or go up to bed. Conner laid down on the couch (crying), so Eric told him to go upstairs and go potty, then to go to bed. I went up and gave Audrey a bath, and by the time she was done, Conner was asleep in bed. He actually ended up sleeping until 5:45 this morning! We actually tried to wake him up a couple of times to come down and eat dinner (Eric even turned the light on in his room), but he was having nothing of it. Right now he's actually upstairs in his room, hopefully taking a nap. He definitely needed one on his way home from church.

Anyway, it was a fun winter day, just the four of us.

Just realized that I don't have many "horse" pictures, so here's a couple more:

And, because I can't resist, a cute one of Aud in her new tights after church today.