Valentine's Day

I know a lot of people dislike Valentine's Day for a myriad of different reasons, but I have always LOVED the holiday (even when I was single and EVEN when I broke up with a boyfriend the day before...I still LOVED celebrating it). I know that we shouldn't NEED to have a certain day set aside to express our love to those we do love, but I think it's great to have a special day in addition to every other day of the year. Anyway, I'll now get off my soapbox and get to the point of this post.

Marcus, Connor, and I (and even Bevo and Hemi) had a fun Valentine's Day today. Marcus only had to go to school to teach three classes this morning and then we were all able to be together the rest of the day. I made Connor some heart shaped pancakes this morning and he thought that was just so cool. I'm not sure what it was that impressed him so much exactly, but he giggled all the way through breakfast and ate FOUR pancakes (he usually eats 1/2 of one). It was fun for me to see him so happy about something so insignificant.

Marcus gave me the "Father of the Bride 1&2" DVD's and I LOVE THEM! They are my two favorite movies and I still watch them on old, jumpy, VHS tapes. Thanks Marcus! Connor sent Valentine's to his cousins in Texas and Oklahoma (and has Valentine's to bring to his Utah cousins when he sees them this Sunday). He also brought a flower and a plastic heart necklace and bracelette down to his beloved Abigail...SO CUTE! Marcus and I gave Connor a little Valentine Card and a little toy. He sat and my lap and made me read the card to him over and over and over again. Then he walked away hugging it and then gave it a kiss before throwing it on the floor (which is where he likes to keep all his important things I guess). Connor and I gave Marcus a card and little gift and then we ended the night eating our traditional heart shaped pizza's. Marcus and I have had these pizza's every year since we met. Aside from having fun phone calls with some of our family members, eating yummy candy, and Bevo and Hemi going crazy for a catnip laced scratch-mat they got, that pretty much sums up our celebrations.

Anyway, I hope every one of you had a happy Valentine's Day as well!

A Bummer of a Night Turned Great!

Our downstairs neighbors invited us to go to a new Jump place and we were planning on going last night. I had been bribing Connor with it all day long and he couldn't wait to go and "Jump with Abby" (his little girlfriend from downstairs). Unfortunately, about a half hour before we were planning on leaving it started SNOWING HARD and didn't let up for hours, so...no jump place. Boo hoo. After Connor and Abigail both whined and whined because they wanted to play with each other so bad we decided to just get together down at their apartment and we ended up having a total blast! Connor and Abigail just played the way little kiddies play while Paul, Jessica, Marcus, and I played Rock Band for a few hours. I got hooked on the drums (SO MUCH FUN) and Marcus got hooked on being the lead singer...who knew he had such talent (you should have heard him...so entertaining).

The night only got better when Marcus recieved a phone call from one of the supervisors at his work. They asked him if he wanted to take the night off because they had another staff member there that really wanted to pick up the extra hours. Well, Marcus has available paid time off to use so he VERY GLADLY accepted the offer and got to stay home last night! WAHOO! It's important to note that in his entire three years of working at PCS they have NEVER called out of the blue to just offer him time off...it was like a Valentine miracle.

Anyway, what started off as a bummer of a night sure turned out to be a great one. And I think I'm addicted to Rock Band.

Old Friends

So last night a little after 11:00 my phone rang and it was a number I did not recognize at all. I usually do not answer if I do not know who is calling, but with it being so late at night I was worried it might be an emergency of some sort. Nope, I was wrong. It was no emergency, just a funny, totally unexpected phone call from my long lost friend Tien Duong! (Those of you who know her can appreciate how funny this phone call went).

When I answered the phone I just hear this loud, drawn out, "OH...HI!" I say "hi" back having no idea who I'm talking to. Tien again loudly screams, "Hi!" then she tells me I still sound the same and she just saw my husband. I STILL have no idea who I'm on the phone with and it's kind of weird. I finally just ask and as soon as she says Tien I am so excited I could possibly die (ok, so I couldn't really just die, but I was really excited). At that point Tien starts whispering because she is still at work (apparently she just started working at the same treatment center my husband works at...they had just ran into each other...hence the phone call). Anyway, she whispers "I want to hang out sometime". I tell her that would be great and then she says "goodbye" and hangs up on me. Yep...that was definitely Tien. For the love...

So, I hope we actually get together sometime soon! I love seeing old friends, especially ones that are as stinkin' irreplacable as Tien Duong. Believe me, if you haven't actually met her, I'm sure you've never met anyone like her, she's one of a kind.

P.S. I googled Tien just to see if a picture of her came up that I could put on this post...Why was I not suprised when one did? Apparently this is a photo of her when she was in high school making a diversity video about people who live in Philadelphia's Chinatown.

Terror at Cafe Rio

I remember Marcus and I talking several times about how we were going to raise our sweet little Connor to be a well-behaved little boy. I thought for sure he would NEVER act the way I saw some unruly kids act out in public. And for some crazy reason, I thought I actually would have some control over that. WRONG! I have realized that all I have control over is the way I chose to react to his behavior. I will never have control over the way he actually chooses to behave. Duh.

Anyway, point of this post:

Last night Marcus, Connor, and I went to Cafe Rio for FHE. Connor really likes the food there and I had no suspician that the night would turn out so crazy! After all, C usually does really good going out to eat. Well, not the case this time! After we got our food we went and sat down at a little table. A nice lady who worked there came and tried to give me a high chair to put Connor in. Connor hasn't liked sitting in high chairs for a long time, so I tried telling her we didn't need it. She looked confused and then finally took the high chair away. Little did I know that would become a decision I would soon regret!

My little Connor hopped up on his big boy chair and proceeded to take all of the rice and beans that he had and throw them all over the table and floor. He was tossing handfuls of them up in the air like someone throwing rice at a wedding. Within seconds the place was a disaster and I was SO EMBARRESSED! Marcus and I rushed to clean everything up and tell Connor "No". Connor thought the whole thing was funny and began running all over the place. You wouldn't believe how much ground a guy his size can cover in mere seconds. By the time we caught him he had climbed up on a table the nice lady was sitting at folding napkins. Connor grabbed a handful of the folded napkins and threw them on the floor. Thankfully the lady continued to be nice...what patience. Marcus grabbed Connor and then I grabbed a high chair to strap him into. He whined a little and then reached for a cup of water and dumped it all over his food, our table, and the floor. At the point, enough was enough. Connor got taken out of the restaraunt by his daddy and I tried desperately to clean the mess up. The lady came over and told me that I didn't need to clean anything, but I tried to anyway. I finally left Cafe Rio, feeling so embarressed by the way my child had acted. Holy cow! I'm just thankful the workers there were so nice to us.

So, there you have it. Aren't you glad you weren't eating at Cafe Rio with us last night?

Thank heaven for little boys.

Weekend Recap

I had a dentist appointment in Mt. Pleasant on Friday to get my chipped tooth fixed. Because Mt. Pleasant is just 15 minutes away from my mothers house we packed a bag and stayed the night.

Tommy, my 17 year old baby brother, babysat Connor for Marcus and I while we went to our appointments. SO CUTE! Connor adores Tommy, and it is so fun for me to see Tommy take care of Connor. He wasn't quite sure what to do to entertain him so he turned "C is for Cookie" on from itunes and let it play 29 times in a row...seemed to do the trick.

Anyway, I got my tooth fixed and I AM SO HAPPY! I can't write in enough words how much that stinkin' chip bothered me (even though it was in the very back of my mouth). Marcus and I both found out we have one cavity...bummer...so we have to go back in March to get them fixed.

We had a VERY LAZY time at my mom's house. Everyone there played with Connor and Marcus and I just relaxed and had fun with the fam. Marcus and Tommy spent I don't know how long watching "Flight of the Concords" (which I have to admit is pretty funny) and playing the wii. Good times.

Today we made it through 1/2 of stake conference and then have enjoyed a SUNNY day at home. I even begin to express how much I loved the blue sky and MELTING SNOW today. It gives me hope that this miserable dirty, snowy, gray weather will eventually come to an end.

Well...boring as it may sound, that's been our weekend. Tomorrow we're off to take the car to be serviced and then do the Monday grocery shopping. What a blast.

Wedding Ring

After nearly a month of holding on to the hope that I would be able to find Marcus' wedding ring somewhere around the apartment I finally went out and replaced it with new one.

Connor snuck into the bathroom, climbed up on the counter, and then played with everything he could get his hands on back in January. Among the fun new toys he found was his daddy's wedding ring. Unfortunately, after taking the sink pipes apart, moving all the furniture in our house, checking out all of the vents, and everything else we could possibly think of, nothing turned up.

So...Luckily Zales still carried the same band I purchased three years ago.

Aah-Choo!

I have failed as a parent when it comes to teaching my child what it means to sneeze. According to webmd a sneeze is "to suddenly expel air through the nose and mouth by an involuntary contraction of the muscles" and it is caused by "irritation of the nasal passages, as from pollens, house dust, pepper, or other particles". Well, Connor thinks that sneezing is something you do when you get really mad at something or someone and it is done to show your anger and dissaproval. I'm not exactly sure how he figured this one out, but anytime he is angry or upset he throws his hands down by his side, makes a real angry face, and screams "AAH-CHOO". He even nods his head down as he says it to make the appearance of an honest to goodness sneeze. It's pretty stinkin' hillarious. I just hope I don't get allergies or anything this Spring. I don't want the poor kid to think I'm angry and yelling everytime I sneeze.

Oh Baby!

It is true...Marcus and I are expecting another little baby! We are both VERY excited, but a little nervous at the same time.

I developed eclampsia when I was eight months pregnant with Connor. I had normal blood pressure and showed no other symptoms of ever having pre-eclampsia before then, so there was never any reason to suspect anything was wrong, let alone expect I was at risk for eclampsia. Oh well, it happened anyway, and when I delivered a perfectly healthy full-term baby at just 4 lbs 12 oz, 16 inches long it was obvious to the Dr's that I had been having problems the entire pregnancy. Connor was born emergency c-section after I had seziure's, totally lost my eye-sight, had swelling in my brain (not to mention the rest of my body), and had a few other symptoms too gross to want to post. My blood pressure was in the 220's/170's the day he was born. Luckily, the cure for eclampsia is simply to deliver the baby. A long recovery followed, and I was not even able to take care of my baby myself for nearly two months, but at least we were lucky enough to have everything turn out ok.

Anyway, some Dr.'s suggested I never get pregnant again (and we gave it some consideration) but when my Dr. (who specializes in eclampsia) gave me the go ahead we decided to try for another one. I am confident that even if I have problems like I had with Connor that my Dr. will be able to safely deliver the baby and keep me in good health. I will have lots and lots and lots of Dr. visits this time as well as a bunch of ultra-sounds to monitor the growth of the baby (a small fetus is the only sign that was there was anything wrong last time). My baby will definitley be delivered early via c-section again. My official due date is August 1, but my Dr. will deliver no later than 3-4 early, so we're looking towards the begining of July.

So far things are going good and we just can't wait to find out if Connor will have a little brother or a little sister. I am following Dr.'s orders to stay nice and stress free (and I'm not complaining about that order) and I'm feeling great.

Here are a few pictures of my teeny-tiny Connor when he was first born. Although I don't want any problems this time, I half way hope for a little baby again. There is just something fun about holding a person that small.

Hey Hollywood

Connor is obsessed with these dorky plastic sun-glasses he got from my Grandmother's Easter party last year. He wears them all the time...seriously. It's obvious he feels so cool when he has them on. Poor kid has no idea. Of course Marcus and I think it's about the cutest thing we've ever seen. He's so silly.

Sleep Update

Connor's sleep habits have changed drastically this last little while. Since my last post we have actually not had any problems with him throwing fits at night. He has accepted the fact that he only gets water now and with that out of the way he is really only getting up if he needs a diaper change or something and then he goes right back to sleep. Aahh.