A Family Fairwell

Here goes my last post of the night... and I will consider everyone caught up. A couple weeks ago we sent our prayers on the road with Andres' father as he moved to Mexico. FAR into Mexico! Javier packed up and moved to a town located about an hour outside of Guadalajara, wow that name has a lot of 'A's in it. He assures us he is very happy to be there and, although Andres misses him tremedously, we are happy for him too! We love Connor's Grandpa and are excited to share lots of stories about him as time goes on. For now, he is only a phone call away and we look forward to a place to visit when we begin our family vacations. My love goes out to Javier and I thank him for raising such a passionate man with a heart of gold.

Michelle Kelley, This ones for you!

I would like to submit my letter of apology to the Kelley family. My bargain post on the Costco Christmas wreath did not have a positive affect on them. After searching the Temecula Costo the wreaths were no where to be found. Is Rancho the only store who treated their customers to such a nice suprise? Or was Temecula already aware of such a great bargain and the Kelley's took too long to act? Hmmm... we'll have to check again next year and compair notes.

Fine, I'll admit it this one time

OK, so maybe my blog did get a little boring over the holiday. Between Connor's first Christmas, a week of having to blow my nose every 10 minutes and preparing Christmas crap, I have been a bit busy. So hereis my 2Nd half of December recap.
Post One: We had Connor's pictures taken for the first time in a studio and it was lots of fun. She is so cute and was sooo good! Here are a couple of my favorites! (I made this pretty red Christmas dress... yeah me!)

Post Two: Connor's foot attack! Monday (the day of Connor's pictures) Penny got a hold of Connor's cute little feet and decorated them with new Christmas socks. Her first pair appeared in the picture above and were white with candy canes on them. Then Tuesday came and she struck again. This time with red and green candy cane socks. Wednesday was the final day of the sock attack. These were my favorite and I will admit, I was sad she only bought the 3 pack!

That Tuesday we attended Heidi's annual Christmas cookie exchange and had lots of fun. I brought my usual sugar cookies and enjoyed tasting every one's new recipes. My favorite were Heidi's gooey cookies. Why were they my favorite you ask? Because they were sooo sweet, you could lick a crumb off your finger and satisfy your sweet tooth for at least a month... dang girl, I thought I was sweet!

The following Thursday brought us to Connor's first trip to Disneyland! You have to check out Connor's smile in this picture. She had lots of fun hanging out with her cousins and slept thru most of the day.

Uncle Ian was performing with his band and the WHOLE family went to show our support. It was a trip seeing our little brother walking down main street in a High School band uniform beating on a drum! Good job Chub! (He's in the middle with the Mickey Santa hat)

We got back to work on Friday and found Connor's first Christmas present from her Great Grandpa in South Carolina! It was a first Christmas Vermont Teddy Bear. She loved it immediately but did not enjoy the taste of the fuzz!

Christmas Eve found us at Aunt Marti's celebrating Grandpa Hooties 50th Birthday! We enjoyed an evening with Family and Food (our favorites!)

The following morning we got up bright and early to get to Grandpa and Grandma Hooties! We had a long night of stuffy noses and crankiness so I was glad to get up and get going. We all had lots of fun opening presents together and seeing what we all got. I love buying gifts for our family and watching them get excited when they open it. I felt good about the gifts we got this year, I think everyone was happy!

Daddy spoiled me this year and it was lots of fun. My favorite gifts from him were my new Coach purse, my navigation (so I don't have any excuses!) and my earrings (all 3 pairs!). Pretty insane yet even more exciting. My parents got us a lap top (which I am finally enjoying while I blog in bed at midnight!) as well as a tool box and Golfsmith gift card for Andres. Connor got lots and lots of clothes, toys and...wrapping paper to eat! She is easy to please this year but I know next year will be a different story!

If any of you read Heidi's blog (which I am sure you do, my readers being Mel, Cheryl and, well, Heidi) then you know about the underwear tree. If you don't, check it out at the link to the right. In the mean time, here is a close up of the undies added this year... too cute! We had lots of fun this Christmas, making sure it was a special one for all of us. Below is a picture of the goodies I still have to find someplace to store. Notice daddy's gift to Connor... the Big Red Wagon, complete with a Connor license plate mounted on the back. It is beautiful and we are excited to sit her in it and pull her around anywhere and everywhere. Daddy also got his precious baby girl her first Diamond bracelet. It is a beautiful silver bracelet with a little heart charm and a diamond in the center. It is still a little too big to wear, but she will grown into it in not time. You know she turns 5 months old on Tuesday!

Well folks, thanks for taking the time to read thru our Holiday adventures. I am sure I could add more pictures and type more text, but I will spare you all... for now. Have a safe and happy New Year and we'll talk again in 2008!!!

Bargain Bragging

So maybe I will make this a weekly post for me... my bargain of the week! I'll call it Bargain Bragging and share my exciting finds! This week my bargain was found at Costco (love them samples). Anyhow, check it out below and make your guesses before I break it down! (Sorry the pictures sideways, I guess it really doesn't matter)I saw this in a bin by the frozen foods at the Costco in Rancho Cucamonga and smelled the freshness. Andres saw me and told me to "Get It!" I couldn't imagine spending how ever much money this thing must be on something to hang on my door that will die in just a couple weeks. So I checked out the sign above and threw one in the cart... at $4.50 a piece I should have thrown one in for each of my readers (what's that, about $13.50?). Anyhow, check it out! It is already decored with pine cones and berries and looks SOOO pretty (not to mention expensive!)

The Broken Buster Update

We picked up Buster from Central Animal Hospital Tuesday night and here he is!

He goes back in about 8 to 10 days to remove the stiches but is on house arrest for 8 weeks!!! He hasen't tried to walk on it (yet) and is still excited about life... BUT still walks under my feet.

Happy 6th Birthday Brad

Today was Connor's Cousin Bradley's birthday party. We had lots of fun hanging out with the Cooks, they are my favorite in-laws! We love you guys.

Our Poor little Buster

So Friday night was a tough one for Buster, I noticed as Connor and I were going to bed that he wasn't walking on one of his back legs. I decided not to worry too much till the morning, maybe he would 'walk it off'. Well, 6 hours and 2 x-rays later, the poor guy needs surgery. I spent saturday dragging Connor and Buster to Banfield Animal Clinic for my first opinion, the on to Upland Animal Hospital for the referral. The doctor said he has a good size fracture on his growth plate, above his knee and it will need pens or a plate. How did he hurt himself you ask... I stepped on him! It happens often by everyone because he walks under our feet. This time he wasn't so lucky. It was a long day and my arms were killing me from carrying both babies all day, but we take him in tonight for the surgery and will keep everyone posted.

My Picture Fest of a Weekend

First off, Happy 15th Birthday to my little bro Ian. I can't believe he is almost old enough to drive. His birthday was Saturday and the family enjoyed a nice dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, our favorite. The Thompson's got him a razor to mark his coming of age, he took it as a joke but I think it was or will be useful one day.
Sunday Andres, Connor, Mel and myself went to the John Force Holiday car show in Yorba Linda. It was a beautiful day and we got to see what my parents do every other weekend. Looks exciting dad, those chairs must be pretty comfortable.

We walked around the show and saw lots of fancy cars. I can't believe how much money people put into cars that they won't even drive to the grocery store.
I don't have a good story to go with this picture, I just think she's so stink'n cute!

Christmas wouldn't be complete without this next picture!She was a bit on the cranky side this weekend which is why she cried I'm sure... usually she lets anyone hold her. But daddy calmed her down quickly and she was good to go, Santa on the other hand was just about ready to call it a day... a LONG day!.

There was no fee to enter the show, they only asked families to bring an unwrapped $10 toy... here is what they got! Toy Mountain!!!

The weekend was lots of fun with lots of family time. We look firward to our weekends together and know there are many more great ones to come!

Who's the boss Now?

So my baby girl is a bit stronger than you would have imagined. Everyone says she has a good grip when she gets a hold of anything, well here's what she got a hold of yesterday and decided she wanted closer.

She pulled her bear mobile off the arm it hangs from... crazy girl!

Not my brightest moment!

So did you know that on blogger you can change your template layout and then change the colors on it too?
I was checking out Cheryl's page and noticed she had cute Christmas colors and I wanted a festive page also! So I looked everywhere for that page, after not finding it I picked one I felt was close enough. However, today I realized I still wasn't happy. So after staring at Cheryl's page and thinking 'is there a trick to this program that I don't know about?', it hit me; Cheryl made her page! DUH! So I hope you like my Christmas theme, I think it's fun!

Our whirlwind of a holiday weekend!

The festivities started with Thanksgiving on Thursday. We joined my family this year for good food and great company. Andres recently found out his father and little brother and sister are moving to Mexico and is really torn up about it. Thanksgiving was a tough day for him, fighting the realization that his father will not be around for any more holidays. They have always been a close pair and Connor will miss her grandpa for sure, but we know Daddy will share lots of stories!

Here's our baby girl at her first Thanksgiving feast. I made her dress and headband (which she ate more than she wore!)

Our next adventure was Black Friday shopping. Mom, Mel and Carolyn (Heidi's mother in law) had a slumber party at Heidi's so they could begin the day at 4 am starting at Kohls. Andres tried to convince Connor and I to stay also, but we decided to go home and meet up after we got up. I set my alarm for 6:30 (my phone doesnt have a 4am :) !) but when we woke up at 8:30, I realized I forgot to turn the ringer back on. So our shopping started at 9:30! It was lots of fun and I do miss starting at the butt crack of dawn, maybe next year!

Our black Friday shopping ended early because we were expected at a wedding reception for our dear friend Shivali and her new husband Darma. They actually got married a couple weeks ago in Australia, but celebrated with their friends and family here at a restaurant called Tandoor Cuisine of India (or something really close to that). The food was different and the Seri's were beautiful. We had a good time and were glad to be invited to their celebration!

Connor and I spent the first half of Saturday doing some more shopping and almost finishing our Christmas list. There were still some great sales and we even ran into my Uncle Chuck at the mall, small world! Saturday ended on a sad note, completing our whirlwind... Andres got hit by a car while on his bike! He is, thank God, OK! He came out of the accident with a couple rips in his gloves, jacket and a good scrape on his arm. He was very fortunate and we all know it could have been much worse!This part of his bike used the have a white cover over it with the tail light... now it's removable!

Most of the damage was to the plastics and one rim so we are lucky it is all replaceable. Thank you God, for getting Andres home in one piece!

Bachelor Spoiler Alert

Man, I am getting bad at this! I got hooked on the Bachelor again and spent the whole season watching every show and remembering every girl. I had my favorites and felt like I had formed a bond with each member of the show....just to be let down! Deanna, Jenni and myself all ended the show with heartache, and my husband asking if he could be the next bachelor? He watched just a few minutes of each episode and all of a sudden he is the Bachelor Guru, guessing Brad wouldn't want either. How on earth did he know? I devoted an hour of my Monday nights for the last couple of months and I am the one who was wrong? Wow, I feel like a failure, a Bachelor predicting failure. Good thing it's just a TV show and life goes on...

Tasty Ball

Meet Connor's new love! I guess the book was right, babies do try to put anything in their mouths.

Happy Birthday Auntie Lissa

Happy 22nd brithday little sis! Hope you have a good day and we look forward to celebrating on Saturday... YeeHaw!

*hey, the date's wrong on top and today is the 8th, not the 7th!

Our little old wo-man

Thank Heaven for little girls

(wow, she has a bald head!)

Trick-or-Treat, even if I can't eat the candy

Your never too young to trick-or-treat! Connor went with her cousins Noah and Hannah (and their friends Zach and Matt) to collect some candy. I know we are the ones who got to enjoy the sweets in the end, but I felt we needed to get some work out of the costume that took me a week to make before I packed it away just for the memories. We had fun... til Connor fell asleep, maybe next year we'll make it down 2 streets!

(I promise we didn't torture her too much, she actually didn't mind even thought it looks painful in the pictures.)

No Girls Allowed

The boys got a new place to call home! Andres bought them this 'dogloo' last night so they can spend more time outside and less time stinking up the house! Becks has been great but Buster... not so great. He has successfully terrorized everyone and everything that comes across his path. How did we get so lucky with Becks? Should we have stopped with the first dog and not tried with another? I am not giving up just yet, I believe he can be trained. We can get him to stop peeing anywhere he wants, stop barking at anything that makes noise (especially when someone on TV rings a door bell) and stop eating anything that will fit in his mouth (ie; Connor's pacifiers). In the mean time, Becks has to take one for the team. He has to spend more time outside and less time being free to roam where ever he chooses. Wish us luck while we begin with step one; the squirt bottle...

Happy Halloween

Connor's First Halloween

Daddy got to pick her costume and then mommy got to make it! It was my first big sewing project and I need more pratice. It was fun and I learned a lot about patience and not giving up. Grandma Hootie had to jump in a couple times with the head thing, but we got it done!

Next project: A Christmas Dress!

I did realize however, I am pretty good at carving pumpkins! We never made it to the pumpkin patch due to bad fire weather, but found WalMart had a steal of a deal, $2.98 each! Check it out next year... I highly recommend it.

Jane of the Jungle

Daddy got Connor a new toy!

Connor is now Queen of the jungle complete with a monkey, elephant, parat, giraffe, butterflies, rainbow, lights, music and more! She loves her new play mat and thanks her daddy for spoiling her rotten... and it's only month 3!

Creative side of the brain

First off, why didn't anyone tell me my font was so large my blog read like I was screaming?!? This small font is much better, and I wouldn't even mind going smaller.
Secondly: Why am I not funny? Is it because I am a new mom and just want to post pictures of my kid? I read everyone else's blog and they tell funny stories or share interesting thoughts... where are my interesting thoughts?
Thirdly: Hey! There is my thought for the day. Is 'thirdly' a word?
My fourth point is: I have lost my ability to be creative! Maybe it was the epidural! That's it... the epidural affected my knees, my left shoulder blade and the creative side of my mind! That or else I am out of practice... or just not a blogger. I never thought of that. My mom has all of these talents, ie; sewing, cooking, guilt trips, crafting, etc... you know? And I have always said that each one of us girls have inherited a talent or two of hers (Andres says I perfected her guilt trips). Anyhow, Heidi can cook and craft, Mel can cook and sew, and I can... bake a mean cake? I like to scrapbook like them but have trouble getting started, Heidi once assigned me the green bean casserol at Thanksgiving because "it's hard to screw up 3 ingredients", and it took me almost one month and 3 trial runs to finish Connor's first Halloween costume... and the ears are still uneven! So maybe I just keep trying, right? Maybe these talents will improve with time and practice? Maybe I will not only become a great cook (Andres thinks I'm doing better... or I just improved the guilt trips and made him feel obligated to compliment) and a more precise sewer, but creative and funny! That's it, I'll practice on all of you... time will tell, right? Or maybe I'll just post another cute picture of Connor so I don't loose all 3 of my readers right away.

Midnight Run Down

Exactly 2 weeks ago Connor had a doctors appointment where she weighed in at 12 lbs 12 ozs, exactly one week after that Connor went in again and tipped the scale at 13 lbs 7 ozs! Talk about a 7 day growth spurt, must have been a rough week!

While I walked down to the pharmacy, daddy decided to use their down and help her brain grow as quickly as her belly!

Saturday, Connor spent the evening with her Aunt Michelle and cousins Bradley and Daryn.

And here's a quick peak at our Sunday morning...

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Oops, I got a little camera happy and missed my que.

Sunday evening was spent at the Hooties, where I finally finished her Halloween Costume while the family kept her busy!

(pictures of the costume will follow next week!)

(Connor watched Evan Almighty with Grandpa like this for almost an hour, and all we have to show is bald spots on Grandpa's legs from sudden urges she had to close her fist and jerk her arms!)

Connor had such an exciting and eventful week, she was sound asleep at a record time, 9:30!

Good job Connor, time to start a new week with a new bath.

(I couldn't resist the 'buns' shot!)

Screaming Inside

So tonight, as I lay Connor down in her cradle I can't stop smiling. She is such a blessing and such an amazing creation. We are so in love with our baby girl it makes me want to...blog about it (my original thought was that I wanted to scream it out to the world, but the last thing I want to do is wake her up:) ).

A dream come true... literally!

So last night, while Connor and I were dreaming of who knows what, Daddy was busy at work! When I woke up this morning, he had this suprise waiting for me.

May look like a simple laundry room to you, but it is cleaner than when we moved in. He even moved both the washer and dryer and mopped the whole floor! Do you think I would be pushing it if I dreamed to wake up tomorrow and find another room looking similar?

Why didn't anyone warn me?

So I have noticed that parenting is a bit on the stressful side. It began when I was pregnant and worrying about all the tests and ultra sounds. Is she healthy? Is everything progressing at a normal rate? So many questions and so many stresses.

Now that she is here, they seem to continue. Why did she move her head that way? Was that sneeze normal? Why did she spit up her lunch? Why on earth does she eat so much? Is this normal? Is she ok? What does it mean? Do we take her to the emergency room NOW?

Well, Andres decided it was time to take her in for a reason other than a well baby check up. She has been a bit congested and her breathing seemed off. So, 3 hours and 2 chest x-rays later, Dr Kwasman felt the need for a second opinion... A 2ND OPINION? Not what a new mom wants to hear! The radiologist took a look and gave his opinion, she's ok. However, the doctor agreed to refeer her to an ENT (ear, nose and throat) specialist. So we go on Monday and we'll be back with a full report.
Parenting, not a walk in the park... not this week at least!

Family day at the park!

Here's my last post for today... gotta get it all in when I can!

On Sunday, we took Connor to the park. She loves being outside because there are sooo many things for her to look at. She is extremely interested in everything around her, it's awesome!