Christmas 2011

I'm so far behind on blogging I really don't even know where to begin...so I guess I'll start with the most recent, Christmas! (warning: LOTS of pictures)

 

Connor's 2011 ornament (picked by Connor himself)

Christmas Eve at Gigi and Big Daddy's

Angelina and Brittany

Connor wasn't excited at all...

Rachel and Connor

Stephanie and Brent (bless their hearts, they were SO sick)

Connor is always willing to help!

Helping Big Daddy

Bradley

Gigi was surprised with her new coffee maker

Then there was one last BIG present for Connor...

A HUGE train set!!!

Santa's present

Connor's stocking (believe it or not, he really wanted Santa to bring him an umbrella)

New crocs

His own robe

Anything that makes him more like daddy puts a big smile on his face

Test drive

Christmas at Grandaddy's

Connor helping again...

I'm not sure who had more fun, Connor or Garner!

Then came Christmas with my dad and Meg (and their new puppy, Jake)

And look what he got!!! We seriously need an extra garage just for Connor's cars!

It was raining outside, so Connor and Jake took a little test drive inside

Matt's missing in these pictures because he was laying in bed with a migraine

Is he not the cutest puppy?!?!?

We couldn't have asked for a better Christmas, spending time with family and friends was the best part!

Football Practice {Inside}

Apparently throwing the football inside the house wasn't enough excitement for my two boys.  Last night, I heard Connor say "Daddy, kick it!".  I looked straight at Matt and gave him the evil eye assuming he would know that meant "No, don't kick the ball inside".  Well, I was wrong!

Next thing I know, Matt is laying on the floor holding the ball so Connor can run and kick it.  To my surprise he was actually pretty good (I still don't condone kicking balls in the house)!

After Connor had kicked it about 20 times, Matt decided it was his turn to kick the ball. So he showed Connor how to hold it with one finger while I was envisioning something breaking. 

When these two get together, it always means trouble!

Roller Coaster Ride

To say that the last couple of weeks have been rough, is a HUGE understatement.  It's been a roller coaster ride that our entire family would like to get off of.

The ride started first thing Monday morning on November 21st.  I received a call from Matt that his brother's best friend, Bradley, was killed in a car accident.  I was at a loss for words because Bradley had a daughter who is a few months younger than Connor.  He was only 25 and had only been married for three years and this young family's life had been completely turned upside down. 

Monday evening Matt, Connor, and I were eating dinner trying to figure out how we were going to shuffle Connor around. Connor was out of school the day after Thanksgiving and we wanted to make sure were able to attend Bradley's visitation and funeral, little did we know what was about to come next.

It was bath night, so I was giving Connor his bath while Matt cleaned up the kitchen.  When I finished his bath I walked into the living room to hear that Matt's mom had passed away.  I remember thinking that this can't be happening and I really had no words.

We celebrated Thanksgiving as best we could and then we attended Bradley's visitation and funeral that following Friday and Saturday.  After that heart wrenching service, Matt and his dad started planning Lonnie's memorial service.  Her service was the following Wednesday and it was nice to see everyone who came to show their respect and appreciation for her and Matt.

These past couple of weeks I've gone through every emotion possible.  But the biggest lesson from all of this is that none of us are promised a tomorrow.  My one regret is taking my time with Ms. Lonnie for granted, I just always expected to see her again and again and again. 

With all  of that being said, life lately has really been rough.  So we are going to hug the ones we love a little tighter and remember to enjoy the time we get to spend with each other because we don't know what tomorrow holds.  This holiday season is going to be hard, but we are going to try to focus on the good times as best we can.

Payback

When I married Matt, I knew what I was going to be in for when we had a boy...lots of payback from when Matt was a teenager!  However, I expected the payback to start when Connor is a teenager, which would give me plenty of time to prepare.

I was completely wrong on when the payback was going to begin.  It all started with the new family across the street.  Their college age son has a loud truck and when he's home for the summer you always hear him pull up around 3 in the morning.  Normally that wouldn't bother me, but now that I have a sleeping child at that time, it really ticks me off.  I'm sure this is the same feeling the previous neighbors had when Matt was in college and ragged his truck through the neighborhood!

This brings me to our latest incident...this past week we heard a huge crash.  Immediately Matt thought Connor had done something in his bedroom and raced upstairs, but that wasn't it.  Then Matt asked if I had dropped something, to which I replied no.  He then proceeds to open the front door and ask if the lights were burnt out.  At this point I'm irritated with the 20 questions...then he looks at the end of the driveway...

Someone had missed their turn and backed right into the column at the end of the driveway...of course they drove off.

At least the person didn't hit the one with the mailbox in it

The frustrating part is that it wiped all the lights in the front of the house out because the light on top was connected to the porch lights.

Matt has never knocked down a mailbox before, but to say he wasn't with someone who did and then drive off would be a lie.  See what I mean, the payback has already started...

Random Pictures

I noticed that I have a lot of random pictures on my phone, so here is a phone dump.

This was on our way to have our family pictures done, he had to take EVERY stuffed animal he owned.

Watching football at Hueys

Connor wanted to wear UGGs, plus he had to wear his working gloves.

My dad got Connor this lizard shirt from his trip to Cabo,Connor loves it!

Connor has requested the recliner be moved back in the living room.  Oh to have the life of a toddler!

Preview Family Photos

A couple of weeks ago, we had our family pictures taken at Memorial Gardens.  Brandi has posted some of the pictures on Facebook and now I'm just waiting for my copy of the CD so I can get the Christmas cards printed (trying not to wait until the last minute this year).  I absolutely love how the pictures turned out!

This one I'll probably get made into a canvas

Look how grown up he is!

Hibachi

This past weekend, Connor and I went out to eat with Gigi and Big Daddy to a new hibachi restuarant in Germantown.  Connor has been to hibachi restuarants before, but this was the first time he has really enjoyed the "cooking show".  Not too mention, everything is better when you get to eat dinner with chop sticks!