Snow One Day - Gone the Next

This is how we like our snow (as opposed to Baltimore who may have until May!). Snow one day (didn't ever stick to the roads)

Outside Our House . . .



Outside my parent's house . . .



Gone the next!

Our Love Monkey a/k/a Valentine

is 18 months old today! He is an Olympic baby (born during the 2008 Olympics) and currently dancing around our den to the Olympic music and clapping when the music stops. He is amazing us everyday. His spoken language has really picked up this past month - he can and has been able to understand pretty much everything we say for awhile now and will follow multiple commands - which is awesome! (ex: Me: "Connor do you know where the remote is?" Connor: "Na na", Me: "Can you go find the remote and bring it to Mommy, please?" A few minutes later - remote is in my hand courtesy of Connor!) This works for getting diapers, blankets, etc! Words Connor says (I'm sure I left out a few but in order to get most of them down before I forget (again)):
(Back, Bath, Bob, Book, Bye Bye, Cathy, Cheese, Dada, Diaper, Down, Ear, Eye, Glasses, Go, Hi, Jo Jo, Juice, Light, Mama, Milk, Mom Mom, Moon, More, Morning, Mouth, Night Night, Nina, No, Nose, Please, Pop Pop, Shoe, Stop, Teeth, Thank you, Tick Tock, Uh Oh!, Will, Yes, One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Nine)- A variety of animal sounds - He will also try to repeat anything you ask him.


Some Valentine's Day pictures . . . I love this shirt - had to buy it - there was the BEST show called Love Monkey on in 2006 (I think) but it was cancelled after a few episodes (everyone didn't like it as much as Caitlin and I did - apparently)



My aunt Cathy brought over this Valentine Monkey today to surprise Connor - He loves him! As you can tell . . .

C is for Cookie

To celebrate my mom's birthday and get ready for the big snow (2+inches at 9pm forecast) we made valentine gingerbread cookies. Now, I know you are thinking - why gingerbread? - well, I like gingerbread and I didn't get to make ANY at Christmas - too busy - so we made some today - Delish! My mom recently purchased this fun cookie cutter set from WS for us -
Yes, we are addicted to WS. I should have watched the online video before using - because it clearly explains that you should "lightly" press the cutter - rather than what we did (cut the dough in half) ooops! we obviously figured it out a few tries later.
Listening to his Nina - and showing off his dimples

Making a STAR with his name in the center

Practicing . . .

LOVE THIS - SUCCESS!

Happy Weekend . . .
my FIL's birthday is tomorrow - Happy Birthday Bryan and my BIL (Neal) turns 29 on Sunday - Happy Birthday - love, Connor

It's Cold Outside . . .

especially for Alabama. We AREN'T complaining though. Our old neighborhood was slammed this past week with snow - with snow still falling as I type. Baltimore has over 60 inches of snow this winter! Brrr! No one likes snow that much. They (the meteorologists who know nothing - no, I am not being ugly - I am reporting the facts) are calling for 1-3 inches of snow here on Friday. No big deal except that if "they" happen to be right . . . everything will close since there are no plows, salt trucks, etc. I'm not too worried - I can always cook up some biscuits and grits and be perfectly content.

It WAS cold inside our house - specifically Connor's room. We couldn'f figure out why his room required a blanket to survive but our room (right next door) was HOT?? We reasoned that since we close the doors to his room all day - it never gets warm. Fairly logical? To compensate for the chill, we covered his mattress in a snuggly blanket - so it acts as the sheet but is warm for him. He also gets covered with a small blanket around his legs at night. This has been "working" as well as turning up the thermostat a little bit more (I'm embarrassed that it is at 70) but we like to be warm! Anyway, I was measuring one of Connor's windows because I am/ was considering buying a black-out shade for the window that gets light from our street traffic. I noticed that there wasn't a lock on his window. I probably noticed when we moved in but didn't worry about it. Why?? Well, our house was built in the 60's and our sellers renovated and remodled most of the house - and painted the windows (shut) and installed what they called "storm windows" but I will tell you it is more like a thin piece of glass that may offer some insulation relief but definitely doesn't qualify for an energy-saver credit OF ANY KIND! So, I assumed (incorrectly) that this window was "painted shut" and that the "storm window" was insulating the window. WRONG. When I noticed the lock was missing I decided to push on the window - It is partially painted shut - so like you couldn't break-in through the window but winter has been creeping in - thus making it cold inside! Poor Connor. Well, I went out this afternoon and picked up a window lock (my mom's idea - she is smart huh?) and it already feels warmer!

TPIR

I don't know what is wrong with me but some of my favorite shows (since I can remember) involve pretty old main characters - Matlock, Murder She Wrote, The Price is Right (TPIR) - you may recall Bob Barker was the host before Drew Carey got the job. (As an aside, Drew Carey was the WORST host ever but is starting to grow on me - I mean he wasn't even excited when someone won - or disappointed when someone lost a pricing game - it was embarrassing! over time he has gotten better or at least a little more enthusiasm). I have ALWAYS wanted to be a contestant on TPIR. In elementary school I thought my senior trip would be to LA to see TPIR. Well, once I finally got to senior year - TPIR turned into PCB (Panama City Beach) - funny how things change - but turns out I couldn't have been a contestant anyway at that point - too young. So PCB was a great alternative! (Another aside - one of my favorite memories from that trip is that we stayed at the Days Inn - We were SHOCKED to discover that the ice machine didn't dispense ICE. It dispensed full-sized BAGS of ICE - now, what typical guest needs a giant bag of ICE?? Many years and beach trips later - I often wish for that bag of ICE hotel - so much easier than several trips to the ice machine - right?) Ok, back to TPIR. So, I love TPIR. I took a break from TPIR - work, school, etc - but once Connor was born - I found it again. But Drew was really annoying me and taking the fun out of the show. I took another break from TPIR until a few months ago. I tried again - I mean I really like the show - minus Drew. Well, he has gotten better as I mentioned and Connor LOVES the show - It is so funny to watch him watch the show. Ya'll he won't watch cartoons or anything else for that matter - which is perfectly fine with me - I don't want to raise a TV junkie but sometimes it would be nice to have something to occupy him while I put away groceries, etc. TPIR is the answer. I can go grocery shopping and be back by showtime. Let Connor watch TPIR while I unload the car and put away groceries. Amazing - really! Unfortunately, he whines when commercials come on - which makes me think I should DVR it and play it an hour later - but I haven't bothered with that yet. All the clapping and beeping noises keep him enthralled. A few pics . . .


I try to discourage standing RIGHT in front of the TV so here is Connor cheering from his Connor chair -



All smiles - check out those molars he has been working on FOREVER! Still one more up top to go - can't arrive soon enough

Head Gear . . .

Sleeping Safari

I was busy cleaning up Connor's toy toss from today and emptying the garbage cans since trash day is tomorrow. I stopped by Connor's room during storytime to grab the diaper bag and found this . . .


The hat is from Cousin Brandon's 2nd Birthday party. Connor has previously shown little-to-no interest in this hat. Too cute!

Heavyweight

Connor is weighing in at 27 pounds (with shoes) . . . maybe not a real-life heavyweight but . . .

Connor is really strong. Too strong for me some of the time. Today, he discovered he can move the coffee table with his little butt! Hilarious.

He can also move his Nina's cart - like a pro!