Birthday party

This past weekend we, along with Danny's family, celebrated both of the kids' birthdays. Here are a few pictures from the gathering:

We're happy tonight

This is going to be the shortest blog ever......


Danny and I ARE happy tonight because today we celebrated our 13th anniversary. Thirteen years ago today, Danny picked me up from work to go to lunch. We had talked about eloping. He asked me if I wanted to go to Pigeon Forge. I called the office to make sure they didn't need me that afternoon. They didn't, so up to Pigeon Forge we went. We stopped at an outlet jewelry store on the way to get my wedding band. We went to the Chapel of Love and got married for $150. There was lighter fluid squirted on the candles to make sure they would light, and they did........all the way down the side of the candles. The two ladies in the office watched on TV to be our witnesses. After the 15 minute ceremony we went to Krispy Kreme to get donuts, and I was very upset because they didn't have my favorite....plain glazed. What kind of donut store runs out of plain glazed donuts? That was 13 years and 2 kids ago. I'm looking forward to the next 13 years.....but there will not be 2 more kids!!

Christ was born on Christmas Day

And Connor was born on December 14, 2005. Where has the time gone?!? Four years ago at 1:07 pm my precious, sweet boy made his entrance into this world.

This cannot be the same little boy, or sorry, little man, that lives in my house now. These past four years have flown by, especially the last 2 years. He's gone from this small, quiet, still bundle of joy to speeding, never still ball of laughter!

Today he got to choose what we ate and for the most part what we did. We started off eating ice cream for breakfast. We had to make a trip to Walmart because he wanted cake on his birthday, but I didn't have one (I know - nice planning on my part) because his and Savannah's party isn't until Friday night. But of course, he wanted cake on his birthday. What was I thinking! He decided he wanted to wear his jammies all day. So, off to Walmart we went with him wearing his Buzz Lightyear jammies. After that we went and saw Danny at the office since he wouldn't be home tonight. We came back home and played the Wii....Connor's favorite thing to do. After eating chicken nuggets and mac and cheese for supper we went up to the neighbors house to look at all their lights...think Griswolds plus some. They had a blast! It doesn't sound like much but it was a fun day for all!

I am frightened by the load I bear

This blog is a little different than most. This one will be a little insight to my mind and thinking a lot recently about being a mom....

The title says it all. I've never had a long fuse with my temper but it seems the fuse has gotten shorter since having two kids. This is what I worry about every day...I think and worrying about my actions and how they effect the kids. I look at them and see two of the most precious gifts God could give to anyone and hope and pray that I'm doing right by them. This is something I'm sure all moms worry about and I'm sure I'll worry about it for the next 20 or 30 years too. The load of being a mom is a heavy one but one that I WANT to carry and the words of this song make carrying it just a little easier.....

I am waiting in a silent prayer,
I am frightened by the load I bear,
In a world as cold as stone,
Must I walk this past alone?
Be with me now, be with me now.

I know that I am not alone in this walk. I have a wonderful, loving husband and a great extended family to help. But the most important "helper" to me is Jesus Christ! I know He is there every step of the way, waiting for me to call on Him to help me hold it together......

Breath of heaven, hold me together
Be forever near me, breath of heaven.
Breath of heaven, lighten my darkness
Pour of me your holiness, for you are holy
Breath of heaven

Sometimes I ask myself, "Did God really mean for me to be a mom, because today it doesn't feel like I should be one." Once again, I know I'm not alone in my thinking. I'm learning "mind over matter" in a way. I usually try to focus on positives when something negative, either from the kids or me, takes place. It seems like that exercise has been missing a bit from my mind so I'm trying to remind myself of that with this blog. But once again, this song helps me put my mind in the right place.

Do you wonder, as you watch my face
If a wiser one should have had my place?
But I offer all I am, for the mercy of Your plan
Help me be strong, help me be, help me

As I finish this post, let me tell you....I KNOW I'm supposed to be a mom and I LOVE being a mom and there is no one that could be a better mom to my kids than me. I am at God's mercy for His plan for me and my life along with the lives of all in my family. I know God will help me be strong!!

Go tell it on the mountain....

That was the song I got a cute video of tonight while at the kids' Christmas program. Here it is:

So, only 3 days into the December Blog Challenge and I missed a day. It was not by choice though. Had a busy day yesterday so late last night I sat down to type it. But the kids didn't want me to apparently. I was dealing with Connor from about 11:15 til 12:55. And from 12:55 to 1:30 with Savannah...but didn't get to bed til 2:00 because Savannah was having a hard time going back to sleep. We went to the doctor today and each got antibiotics for sinus infection and flu shots. Savannah will be visiting an Ear, Nose & Throat doctor later on this month and then possibly an allergist. It's been a rough couple of days so this is my blog for today. Here are a couple of pictures from the program for your enjoyment.

Do you hear what I hear...

...I heard a lot of crying today. Once again the "not feeling good" bug has hit the Odom household. Poor Savannah has been congested for a month now...with being on 1 allergy medicine for 2 of those weeks and 2 medicines for the other 2 weeks. During this time she's had one sinus infection and I'm hoping she isn't developing another. She goes for her 2 year check up in a few weeks and I think we'll be going to an allergist after that. She has also been cutting all 4 of her 2 year molars at the same time. Connor has not been feeling well the past few days -either a cold or allergy stuff too. So, there was a lot of crying going on today....and mostly from Connor. We'll be treating the symptoms for a couple of days and hopefully avoiding the doctors office. If not, we'll be there Friday sometime.

What a bright time, it's the right time...

OK, so I have a wonderful, creative cousin who, along with several of her friends (and now me) to the DBC (December Blog Challenge) every year. What you are SUPPOSED to do (hoping I can) is blog every day, but the title of your blog has to be a line from a Christmas song and it's supposed to tie in to your blog. So, here's my first one.....

...or maybe not the right time. I decided, for some crazy reason, to see if Savannah was ready to potty train. She doesn't turn 2 for a couple more weeks (Dec 27th). But for several weeks now she asks to sit on the potty probably about 1 time a day. I take her and usually when she asks, she does use it...except of course when she doesn't want to take a nap....she's already using it for stalling. I realized this morning I was close to being out of diapers (well, the right size...she's in a 3 and I do have some 4s). So, I asked her if she wanted to wear panties instead of a diaper. She was all for it! She did great in the morning, but then came lunch and after. In about an hour and a half she had 4 accidents....with me taking her every 15 minutes. After the 4th accident she asked for a diaper. It was nap time and I put a pull up on her. She was a bit too excited about it. She kept saying, "Diaper? Dora diaper?" and smiling. After her nap we went to the potty...she used it once again. I put on her panties and not 5 minutes later she stood in my bedroom and had another accident. Needless to say, she went back into her diaper and we'll try again at a later date...probably a much later date!

My conversation with Connor tonight at bedtime...

Me: Can you tell God 3 things you are thankful for?

Connor: I'm thankful for......God! Well,...

God is a great thing to be thankful for.

Well, He's really number 5 because He's 5.

Oh, okay. So, what's number 1?

Daddy!!

And number 2?

You

Number 3?

Lightnin'

Number 4?

You said only 3 and I did 3.

Well, you had 1, 2, 3 and 5 so I think we can do 4 too.

Ok, Um...4 is Savannah!!





Ok, so Lightnin is over Savannah...not surprising since he doesn't push or pull him; squeal at him; or tell him "no" all the time. I guess we should work on the number 1 spot though. :) I love how his mind works, although I'm not really sure why he thinks He's 5!

This past weekend our whole family was in a wedding. Danny's brother, Billy, got married (to Amy) so Danny was a groomsman, I was a bridesmad, Connor was the ring bearer (although he didn't have a ring on the pillow, so maybe he was the pillow bearer), and Savannah was the flower girl. Here are a couple of pictures of the kids. Hopefully I'll have more once Amy gets hers back.

We made a quick trip to the pumpkin patch one day after school. They had some fun but didn't get to go on the hay ride. We were there too early for it. But they had a fun anyway.

I went with Connor the next week on his field trip with his class. He had a bit more fun then running through the maze and being with friends, but still didn't get to go on a hay ride because we had too much rain and it was too muddy.

October 24th the whole family went out to walk in the Susan G. Komen - Race for the Cure. It was a bit chilly out that day. Connor was excited because we got to leave "in the middle of the night." It was 6:45 but it was still dark so he thought that was pretty cool. We had fun walking with Aunt Mel and Uncle David. There were actually quite a few people from the company that signed up to be a part of it.

Connor had fun giving high fives to some of the people that were there to cheer us on. At the finish line they had a bunch of UT athletes there - including the basketball team. Danny and Connor had their picture taken with Tyler Smith - who is the "star" of the team.

Back on Oct 10th, Danny and I had the joy of taking Connor to his first UT football game. It was a bit cooler than I expected so we got him the hat and Uncle David (or Uncle Punkin to Connor) knows Connor - and how he unlikes loud noises - so well, the night before the game he gave Connor some ear plugs. It's a good thing we had them because Neyland Stadium IS LOUD! It was a fun day!!







He had a lot of fun cheering with Aunt Mel & yelling TOUCHDOWN! It was so much fun he didn't last on the way home.

Just wanted to share a few quick stories with you....

Savannah is still testing the waters to see who is boss - me or her. But she is learning that I am. She also has a little mean streak in her. In two days she bit Connor and pinched him. Needless to say she got in major trouble. She very quickly apologized to Connor once she got out of time out. And I was proud that Connor accepted it. She is such a girly-girl - which I am trying to teach her to say. I have a basket that sits on her changing table and in it I keep all her bows and barrettes. Every morning when I sit her up she says, "I want bow. I want bow" She likes to pick them out. I do like them to match but there have been a few times I've let her go with whatever she picks out. A friend of mine made a tutu for her little girl several months ago. I decide to try to figure out how to do it. She told me and it sounded easy enough, but I thought I'd search online and try to see what I could find. YouTube had TONS of videos on how to make them. I did the easiest one I could find....used a Goody's brand elastic headband and just tied the tulle onto it. So easy and turned out pretty cute if you ask me. Shoe LOVES to wear it. Every time I put it on her she says, "Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle." and she dances around. She LOVES her babies and puppies still. She rocks and puts her babies "night, night" a lot. She copies everything Connor says... including "poopy butt." She's learning all these "potty" words from him, which I know is how it works. You just don't really want your sweet looking almost 2 year old laughing in Target saying (rather loudly) "I had gas, Mommy!" Although it was pretty funny the other day we were in the car. And all the sudden she said, "Shoo, Connor....stinky butt!" Not sure why she said it but we all got a kick out of it.

Connor was a little under the weather this past Tuesday but is feeling much better now. I'm very glad because Danny and I are taking him to his first University of Tennessee football game. He is so excited. He's been counting down for 2 weeks. Today everywhere we went he told everybody, "Two more days and we're going to see Tennessee football." I don't' know if he's more excited about seeing Eric Berry (#14 defensive back who should win the Heisman - sorry for the plus!) or the band. He has told me several times, "Mommy, when we go to the Tennessee football game I want to wear my #14 jersey and takes this (holding up his saxophone) so I can be in the band." We'll see if he takes it or not, but if he wants to take it, it will be with us! We've been working on learning what patience is. He has the habit of telling me what he wants and he will repeat it over and over until he gets it, even if I'm doing something else. So, I've been telling him either he needs to have patience or he needs to be patient. The other day the words came back to haunt me. A week ago it was lunch time and I had a few errands to run. Connor said he wanted McDonalds. I was happy to oblige (they have the best Coke anywhere). But when we got to the drive thru there were (literally) 12 cars in front of us. It was already 12:30 which is about an hour later than usual for lunch since Savannah usually goes down around 1:00 for her nap. I was thinking it was going to take forever to get through. This was the conversation that followed:

Me: Connor, we'll just go to Wendy's, ok?

Connor: Why?

Me: Because there are a lot of cars in front of us and it will take a long time to get through the line.

Connor: Mommy, you have to have a little patient. It'll be ok. We'll get through the line. (All of this said very matter-of-factly and with his hands moving up and down to get his point across)

All I could do was drop my head, smile and say, "Ok, Connor. We'll wait." Of course, because it was McDonald's we were through the drive thru in about 5 minutes. Sometimes he's just too smart!

Pumpkins + a crown + a lock doesn't = a fairy tale!

OK - so the post about our vacation will have to wait for a bit....I have to explain the title of this one!

So, today was my 34Th birthday. It was birthday like no other - it was a DAY like no other. It started off like any other Wednesday - got the kids up and ready and went to school. (Side note: I am part of a MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) group and in charge of "creativity" or craft). My task for today was to find pumpkins for our craft we are doing this Friday at our meeting. I had find pumpkins that were big enough to do our craft but weren't too expensive seeing I had to buy 22. Thankfully my search was short. For all those local - there's a floral stand down 321 that has tons of pumpkins, mums, hay, corn stalks, etc. They were kind of enough to mark some of the pumpkins down and not charge me for all of them.

As soon as I got the 22 pumpkins loaded in the back of my Pilot I headed to Knoxville to get a lovely crown put on one of my teeth (I had cracked my veneer about 2 weeks ago - gritting my teeth while dealing with 2 wonderful children!). Who doesn't want to go get gassed up, shots, a numb lip and a bore gum for their birthday? At least it's all done and taken care of.

After that I went by Danny's office for a few minutes and just had time to run and the kids home for their naps so I could get some stuff done. Got them home. As I was getting Savannah ready to lay down Connor informed me he was going to go to the bathroom. After laying her down I went to go into the bathroom and.....the handle won't turn. Connor had decided to lock the door for some reason. A little aggravated because I felt I didn't have time to deal with him stalling - something he is mastering every day. He has locked his door and unlocked it before. So I (tried to) calmly tell him to unlock to the door. He tries and says it's stuck. So, now I'm trying to figure out if he's trying to turn the handle or the lock. I get a bobby pin and try to unlock it - no luck. Danny tells me to get a nail and try that. I couldn't get it to work. So, I climbed out of the window in the play room, scooted across the roof to the window at the bathroom. Now, I knew he couldn't open the window but at least I would be able to see what he was trying to turn. Much to my surprise when I got to the window he was standing on his step stool, washing his hands, with his underwear around his ankles. He stayed that way until he got out because I had to wipe his bottom. He did think it was pretty cool I was out there. I could see that he was trying to turn it but couldn't quite get it turned past that first little click to get it turned. He would go between being distraught and playing in the water. I crawled back in and went back to trying all the while trying to convince him to try too. But he didn't want "to try together." He just wanted me to. Finally I called my husband's wonderful cousin, Pam. She came and in about 3 minutes had him out. I so should have called her 30 minutes earlier since that's how long I tried to get him out. I do think he learned to not lock any more doors. When I asked him why he locked it he said he wanted to be in the bathroom by himself. When laying down he said, "Next time, I'll just close the door!"

After all that and having the worst headache ever I decided I would take a nap with him. After waking up a little after 3:00 (a good 20 min nap!) I went and checked on Savannah and found she had never gone to sleep. So, she got to skip her nap - which doesn't happen too often.

I'm so thankful I had a "Ladies Night Out" scheduled with my sister-in-law & my soon to be sister-in-law. We had massages, Olive Garden and a little shopping for Savannah for the wedding we'll be in in November - shoes, necklace - and a few necklaces and rings to just wear! The Ladies Night out was worth all I went through. Overall it was a GREAT birthday - one I'll remember for a very long time!

Cross country trip

For those of you who don't know, the kids and I made a trip across the country - to Arizona and back. I was a bit of a nervous wreck before going seeing how this was my first flying trip with me and just the kids. Honestly, I had nothing to worry about. The flight out was great. Both Connor and Savannah loved flying - neither were scared of any of it. The loved it! I had both of them each a bag packed of activities and toys to play with. They absolutely loved getting pretzels. They thought that was very cool. We had an hour and half layover on the way there and also on the way back. We landed and left out of the same terminal so we had pretty much the whole time for them to walk around. And since we flew into Houston we had time to get Shipley donuts - let's just say YUMMO! Anyway, we had a great trip out. And an even better time out there. The kids did great pretty much the whole time there. Savannah had a rough night the first night but then was good then on. We did so many things that the kids had never done before.

Friday morning we all went to the Desert Museum. Luckily it opened at 7:30 so we were able to go before it got too hot - 104 for the day, but it was still hot! They had a reptile museum (which I liked because it was inside) with all different kinds of snakes, spiders, scorpions and even a turtle they brought out so the kids could see it. Savannah wanted to hold the turtle so bad but couldn't. Connor did get to touch it. They let kids 3 and up touch it. Connor LOVED the reptile house. There were paths to walk down and every so often they had a stamp station. While on the path at one time a snake crossed it in front of us. Connor wanted to go after it and get it. As my sister put it, "That's our Connor - afraid of a gnat but wants to catch a snake!" They had several big steel stamps with the shape of some animals footprint with an ink pad that you could putin a book. Connor could have cared less but I thought it was fun! They also had an Atrium with tons of birds that you could walk through. Both of them loved that too - especially Savannah. Mawmaw was nice enough to get each child a toy - Savannah picked a bear (which is starting to rank up there with puppies) and Connor picked a snake - which you will see in the pictures when I get them up. On a side note: My mom even went in. She doesn't like snakes - she had four older brothers who liked to chase her with them when she was little. When we were little and would go to the zoo she wouldn't go into the reptile house. She must REALLY love her grand kids! That night mom went to a WMU conference and Dad and I took Connor and Savannah to the local high school football game. Connor was very excited to see the band, but was a little disappointed they didn't play Rocky Top. I even tried to prepare him before we went that they didn't know it. He also like sitting right by the band but didn't understand why they wouldn't talk to him.

Saturday morning Mom had to go back to the conference so Dad and I took Connor and Savannah to the Air and Space Museum. The had a ton of airplanes outside you could walk around and look at but they also had hangers that had planes and stuff in them. We stayed in the first hanger (mainly because it was so hot there) and looked at the planes and helicopters in there. They also had a room for kids to play in. They had a mock air traffic controller room, a small wooden airplane they could sit in, a couple of airplanes including a cock pit that they could get in and push all the buttons. Savannah kept saying, "butts, butts, butts" - that's what she calls buttons. As we were leaving Connor found a cool fighter jet and Savannah got.....a bear. That night Dad and I went to the Tucson Toros baseball game. It was a lot of fun to hang out. It was also a little hot. When we got there at 6:30 or so it was 97; when we left at 8:45 it was 92.

Sunday Dad, Connor and I went to church - Mom kept Savannah home to get a decent nap and somewhat close to Eastern time. Then we just hung out at the house the rest of the day. The kids had a great time just playing at the house.

We came home Monday. Once again the kids did great on the trip. Savannah actually slept off and on the whole trip from Tucson to Houston. Connor colored and practiced his letter writing and then slept the last hour. The plane from Houston to Knoxville was only about 1/2 full so Connor was able to sit across the aisle from me and Savannah got her own seat. (Did I mention that every leg of the trip was on a somewhat small plane - 57 seats total). Connor thought that was pretty cool. Savannah actually fell asleep again as the plane took off. I took that wonderful stuffed snake Connor got at the Desert Museum, put it behind her neck, gave her her blankets and she was out for an hour. Connor had fun with stickers and his cars. Then the 'fasten seat belt' sign went off and he had fun being out of his seat. The flight attendant on the plane was great! Connor loves to talk to people and she talked back. He really liked that. She got some wings for the kids and as we were getting off the plane she had the pilot let Connor up in the cockpit. He got to sit in the co-pilot's chair and push a button to make the plane talk. Savannah just stood there because there was a man.

There were both glad to get home and see Daddy, and Lightnin. We are all glad to be home and so happy to have had a great trip. Now, just a few weeks and we head to Orlando. Oh boy!!

Dentist time for Connor

So, I took Connor to the dentist today for the first time. It was quite the experience. For those of you who don't know Connor he is not one to try new things very often. He has always been a cautious kid and unsure of new stuff. So, I had a feeling it wouldn't be easy but was hoping it would be because he is a pretty easy kid. I packed one of his "Ed's" (an elephant he sleeps with - but actually has 3 of them he sleeps with) just in case we needed it. He was fine sitting in the big chair and putting the bib on. But once she started lowering the chair for him to lay down it all went down hill from there. He didn't want to lay down. I tried to help him with my hand. Then I pulled Ed out and gave to him. Then tried laying him down again. He would have no part of it. We tried that way for probably 5 minutes - but it totally seemed like 20! So, the dental hygienist and I decided we would try with him in my lap. He so wanted in my lap but had no idea what was in store. So, for the next 5 or so minutes I tried to calm him down and make him lay down. I told him we were doing it even if he cried the whole time. I so just wanted to scoop him up and run out the door as fast as I could. It always breaks my heart when he cries. But I knew if I did that we would never actually get his teeth cleaned. So, I laid back in the chair and pulled him down with me. At one point I had my legs wrapped around his legs, one arm holding his arms down and one hand holding his head back. It took all of maybe 10 minutes to get his teeth cleaned. Once we were done he was spent. I thought he was going to fall asleep on me while waiting for the dentist to come in. He didn't. I told him the dentist was going to come in and look at his teeth. He wanted to know if he was going to brush them again. I assured him he wasn't and he was OK. So, when the dentist did look at him he was fine. He got a sticker and new toothbrush which made him happy. But what really brought him back to the Connor I know was the treasure chest full of toys. He got to pick one out. Of course, he got a car but was very excited to see what all was in there. As I was checking out he said to me, "Maybe when I get a little bit bigger I can lay down by myself!" I said, "I think you could. You know, maybe when you turn 4 you can sit by yourself." (He turns 4 in Dec and won't go back until Feb.) He stopped and thought for a second (here comes the Connor we all know and love) and said, "Um.......maybe when I'm 55!"

Growing up

Both of my babies are growing up.


Connor has always been smart and he hasn't slowed down on his learning and understanding. He is very interested in learning how to read, write and tell time. He knows all the sounds of the all the letters. He's learned to say the sounds of the letters in the words for the most part but hasn't figured out how to sound them out fast to hear what the word is. He does have close to 30 "sight" words that he can read. He's very good at tracing letters and is still working on writing them without tracing. He's pretty good at his name. As far as telling time - he drives me crazy with it sometimes - in a good way. He constantly wants to know what time we're leaving or going to bed. I'll tell him whatever time it is we are doing whatever we are doing. He'll then ask what time it is right then. I will tell him. Then comes, "What comes after that?" He will ask that question until I make him stop! He also wants to know what numbers make whatever time it is. I'm hoping he'll learn that in school this fall because I really don't know how to teach him that!


Savannah is at the age where they learn so much so fast. She has so many words - it's amazing to me. She's forming sentences - of course most of those start with "I want...." Last night we were fixing supper. She said, "I eat! I eat!" I told her, "We'll eat in a few minutes. Mommy's fixing supper." She said, "I want suppa." She tries to sing so many songs. She gets every 4 or 5 words right. She even loves singing regular songs. There's a song we sing at church called, "Say So." It's upbeat - she and Connor both love it. The chorus is, "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, say so, say so." She gets the Say so in every time. She's even learned the beginning. When it comes on she starts saying "Say so. Say so." She's also gotten so big that she's recognizing before she goes to the bathroom. For the last couple of weeks she would say before she would go to the bathroom. I would ask her if she wanted to sit on the potty. She's always said no. Today as I was changing her diaper she said it and I asked her if she wanted to sit on the potty. She said yes so in we went. I sat her on the big potty for a change. I wish I could have captured the look on her face but didn't have a camera - or my phone - close by. She loved it. Within a few minutes she had gone #1. We waited a few more minutes and she went #2. She totally blew my mind. I had not even pushed it. I don't have any panties, so I'll be going out tomorrow to get some. We tried 3 times after her, once right before she went to bed. the first 2 times nothing & had gone a little in her diaper. But right before bed she did go again. Yay! I don't know if this is really going to happen but I'm willing to try it for a little bit to see. If it doesn't, it doesn't'. No worries!

They are also growing up in the way of fighting and bickering . It feels like for the past week and a half all I ever say is "Connor, leave her alone." "Savannah, stop whining/yelling." "Connor, she can play with it the way she wants to." "Savannah, it's Connor's turn. You'll have a turn in a minute." "Lightnin, stop/get back/get out of the trash." Savannah throws fits A LOT and I am trying to just walk away and ignore her. I'm at a bit of a loss. During all this Connor is having some jealousy issues I think. I will get onto Savannah for doing something and right after I get onto her he does whatever it was she did. He's been whining and pouting A LOT. He's starting to not listen as well as used to - which I know is to be expected. But when you've had as close to a perfect kid as you can for almost 3 1/2 years it can kind of throw you for a loop. He's been crying a lot more when he doesn't get what he wants. I feel bad for him because he's so sweet but don't think it's ok for him to cry over everything. So, anybody who has any advice - my ears are wide open!!

Playing catch up

I am so far behind on my blogging....

First off - at the beginning of June Danny and I took a trip out west - to LA and Las Vegas. I tell you this mainly to tell you this story...

We went and ate at Ivy by the Shore - known for some celebrities to make appearances. We were sitting there and this guy sat came in and sat down not too far from us. Turned out it was Billy Crystal - he's the one in the red hat. I debated with myself - although I did try to get Danny in on the debate but he wasn't much help - on whether I should go up to him or not. I mean - he's eating supper and so I didn't want to interrupt him, but he's a celebrity and should kind of expect it. So, when we finished they were just about finished and I decided I was going to go up to him. I thought if I didn't I would probably regret it since he's he first movie star I've even been close to. So, I went up, squatted down next to the table and started apologizing. I told him I was from Tennessee and he was the first celebrity I had seen. He asked, "Do you not have any there?" I told him we had Dolly Parton, but I had never seen her. I did ask for a picture, but he didn't want to do it in the restaurant. So, I asked for an autograph and he was more than happy to oblige. I told him I always had paper in my bag because I have a 3-year-old who likes to write. So, he asked my name and my 3-year-old's name. The autograph said, "To Valerie and Connor, My best, your first. Billy Crystal" I was very excited and felt a little bit like a dork but I knew that I would always wonder what would have happened. We also went to a taping of Chelsea Lately - on E! at 11:00 pm every night. It was cool to go to a show taping period but we love her - she pretty much makes fun of people in the tabloids. We had a good time in Las Vegas too!

We took a quick trip down to Panama City with the kids. Well, driving that far with 2 kids really isn't as quick as it used to be. We had a blast! The kids loved the beach. Connor loved everything about it - the sand, the water, the toys. Savannah loved the sand and toys; she wasn't too sure about the water when she was standing or sitting. I think the sand washing away from underneath her freaked her out a bit because if I was sitting in the water and she was on my lap she enjoyed it. We rented a pontoon boat one day and went out to Shell Island. Connor had a lot of fun looking for shells. There was also a school of fish that hung around where we were the whole time. When we ate lunch on the boat we threw some food over for the fish. The kids LOVED watching the fish go after the food. We couldn't have asked for better weather! I of course had to take the kids down to the sand with jeans and white shirts on and take their pictures. I do have to say that some of them turned out very cute - of course that's because of the cute kids in them!

I'll stop now with the updates so this blog won't be too long. I'll catch you up more later.

So, I found out tonight that incident #3 that took place Tuesday night - Connor stung by a wasp - was a traumatizing incident. We went swimming at his Aunt Mel's house. Everything was fine and dandy until a wasp flew close to the pool. He saw it and started watching it. It flew closer to him and he started screaming. Aunt Mel, being the smart person she is, showed Connor how to splash it and it would go away. The next time one flew close he got scared, but didn't scream, and Aunt Mel came to the rescue again. But then, a bug landed on him - not a wasp, but just a bug and he screamed. Then later, after he was dressed and I was getting things together a gnat landed on him and he screamed. He says, "I don't like bugs." I don't know what to do with him. I feel very bad for him because he's such a sweet boy, I hate to see him so scared of something. I know he'll work through it eventually, but it breaks my heart to see him that scared.

Speaking of sweet, there is some good news. I picked him up from school today and one of his teachers told me, "Oh, he gave the sweetest answer today. We were asking all the kids what they do when they get scared during a storm. Connor's answer was 'Trust in God!'" I felt my heart swell!! It seems I'm doing something right with him - what it is I don't know but I'm so glad he's understanding it at such a young age. Maybe I can tell him to trust in God when a wasp comes around and he'll be OK.

UPDATE

I just put Connor to bed and we had a little talk about if we can trust in God when we get scared during storms then we can trust in God when we get scared of anything else - even wasps. This is how our conversation went:

Me: When you get scared of anything, even a wasp flying close to you just yell "Dear God, please help me!" and He'll hear you.
Connor: And God will come get it?
Well, you wouldn't necessarily see Him but he would hear you and you could trust in him.
(me trying to change to subject) You know what we get to do when we go to the beach? (which we are leaving for tomorrow)
What?
Look for shells!!
I want God and Jesus to go to the beach with us!!! I want them to look for shells with me!!! (all said very excitedly)
God and Jesus go with us everywhere we go.
I want them to come to my house and play.
What do you play with them?
God's gonna play your game!! (that would be my nintendo ds)
OK and what do you want to play with Jesus?
He's gonna play with my toys. Remember that car you can pull back and then it goes all by itself? Jesus is gonna play with that one.
So, you're gonna share all your toys with them?
Ye-es! (said emphatically with 2 syllables instead of 1) because it's nice to share.

So, there is my sweet little boy!! I so wish you could have actually heard this to hear his tone of voice when he talked. He was just so excited about God and Jesus going with us to the beach and playing with him. I don't know how many times I just had to hug him and give him a kiss during that whole convesation because he's sooooo sweet!!

Ok - so I've fallen a bit behind again with blogging. I really don't like that I'm slacking because there are so many times something will happen or be said I think I need to blog about that. Then I don't blog and now all those funny, cute little stories are gone from my head. So, I'll try to do better in the future - just don't hold your breath!

Savannah is getting smarter and smarter every day it seems like. She has learned a few of her body parts just within a couple of weeks...she knows where her hose, ears, head, hair, belly, h hands, feet and toes are. She understands so much too. She's been whining and crying for me to get her a lot the past few weeks. I've been telling her she has to calm down before I will get her and she does. I think her whininess is because she may be teething her 2 year molars. My guess is that because she's had a little fever off and on; she's putting a lot of things in her mouth and chewing on them; she's been putting her fingers and her blanket in her ears a lot. I've tried to feel for teeth but haven't felt anything yet.

She is all girl...she loves shoes and babies and purses. She'll put her purse on her arm and say (or should I say yell), "Bye!" and head for the door. Any time she sees shoes - no matter whose they are - she starts saying, "Shoes, shoes" and puts them on. She loves to push her babies around in the little stroller I got for her and to put them "Night, night" in the little crib. But more than all that she loves playing with Connor!!

Connor has had an interesting few days. We had a fun day swimming all afternoon and evening Saturday at my sister-in-law's house. We got home that evening and while I put Savannah to bed Danny and Connor stayed outside. When I went out to get Connor and take him to bed incident #1 happened: Danny was pushing him on his swing. He just started swinging on the "big boy" swing about a month ago. He loves it and wanted Danny to push him higher and higher. Danny did as asked. At the top of his swing Connor decided to watch a firefly and leaned back and let go. He flipped over and landed on his neck and shoulders. Needless to say he cried. He got a little scrape on his finger so we got a Transformers band aid and that helped. I kept him up for a while to make sure he didn't a concussion - which he didn't. He was fine. I believe it was Sunday night for incident #2. He was outside with Danny riding his tricycle around our circle drive. There's a little hill and he stopped pedaling, took his feet of the pedals and rolled backwards - which was fun until he went off the driveway into the grass. Danny said he got up and said, "I'm ok." then started crying. But once, again, everything was fine. Tonight was incident #3. We were outside playing on his "park." He had been swinging (yay - I was afraid he wouldn't swing after falling off of it - but he got right back up there). He got off and climbed up the ladder to go down the slide. He slid down and then let out a blood curdling scream. I ran over and there was a wasp nest on the slide and one of them had landed on Connor and stung him. My only guess is it was on the underside of the slide and he knocked it loose when he slid down. We came in and got another transformer band aid with neosporin +pain relief and went for a mule ride (no - not the four legged kind but the one with four wheels). He didn't want to do anything - go for a ride, work in the garden, take a bubble ride except watch Funny Videos (our nightly ritual before going to bed). Of course, they weren't on because baseball was but a moon pie and sitting with Daddy did the trick.

Hopefully that will be that last incident for awhile. If not, I'll let you know!

Still here

Sorry it's been so long since I've been to blog world. Life has just been busy - a good busy - and I just haven't taken the time to do it. I've put quite a few pictures on the web album. Here's a little update....


We've spent many days at the park and a day at the zoo - even with a little rain.


I actually remembered that Home Depot has free workshops for kids the first Saturday of every month. So, we took Connor over there and they made wheelbarrows and got a flower to put in there for Mother's Day. They got aprons they get to keep and a pin that shows which project they did. Every time they do a project they get one and put it on their apron. He thought it was cool and had a lot of fun working with Daddy. Only, now, when we go to Home Depot, he thinks he'll get to build something.

Savannah's a little chatter box. She is learning new words rather quickly. If you get her to try to say something, she gets most of the sounds pretty close but almost always gets the right number of syllables. If she hears someone say sorry, she'll say "sawwy." I'm glad she's learning it early because I have a feeling she'll be saying it a lot to Connor as she gets older. Three of her newest words (thanks to her big brother) are pee, poo, and booga - or booger to most. Connor loves to ask her, "Hey, Savannah, can you say booger?" And she smiles and says, "booga." She is also "fake burping" as I call it. Connor does this (thankfully not as much as he used to). He'll take a drink then make a "burp" sound and say "excuse me." Savannah has learned the first part but not the second part yet. Gotta love your little girl going around saying pee, poo, booga and burping - just what every mother hopes for!


I realized the other day that once you have kids your vocabulary changes. Not the obvious stuff - that you start talking about veggie tales and backyardigans and dora and diego. But I find myself no long saying spaghetti, but sketti, there are no mosquitos or mosquito bites, but skito bites; police are po po - still even after Connor speaks so well he still calls them po po. I guess there will be a few more years of this - until Savannah gets all her words down too.

So, I know I just posted earlier today but there are a couple of stories that I have in my mind that I want to tell before I forget them.

First, Connor....he's such big boy now. We went for his haircut today and we took Savannah with us so he couldn't sit in my lap. He could have cared less!! He got up there with his 2 suckers and just smiled and talked to Angie like he'd been doing it forever - not just once before. Ever since his last haircut he informs anybody that calls him "Baby" he's not a baby - you can call him Connor or Sweetheart. Well, his preschool teacher called him that last week. He told her he wasn't a baby. She explained to him that it was just a term of endearment like her calling him Sweetie. He stopped and thought a second and then said, "Well, I am sweet." And that he is!!

We've had to discuss good attitude vs. bad attitude. He now understands the difference. Apparently if he starts having a bad attitude I tell him he needs to "drop the bad attitude." The other day I asked him, "Are you having a bad attitude?" And his reply was, "No, Mommy, I dropped it." It took everything in me to not laugh and just say, "Good."

He has been arguing for a few weeks now. Not yelling arguing just not doing what I want him to do or not wanting to wait for something. I'm trying a new approach I learned the other night referred to as "Speak and spin" - tell him I love him too much to argue and walk away. I haven't had to do it yet, although I thought I might have to tonight when putting him to bed. I lay down with him for 3 songs on his "night, night cd." He told me he wanted me to lay for 4, and I told him 3. He said, "no, 4." I told him, "3 and if you say 4 again I will go downstairs right now." So what was his reply...."No, 5." It was really hard to not laugh! I told him 3 and if he said any number other than 3 I was going downstairs. He said, OK.

Now, Savannah....She is talking more and more. Of course, her words aren't exactly clear but I know what she is saying and other people can usually get what she says too, especially Grammy, or as Savannah calls her "Mammy." She now says "Ah see ....." meaning she sees. Today, while we were at the doctor's office getting Connor's ears re-checked from his ear infection (all clear) she said, "Ah see feesh" which means "I see fish." She loves to ask "Whas dat?" - "What's that?" she says "Hush" a lot because I tell Lightnin' to hush all the time. Tonight she also say, "Da-daddy" for Granddaddy."

I started time out in my lap with her today because she's been a brat for the past few days - mainly annoying Connor then pitching a fit when she doesn't get what she wants. So, we'll see how this goes.

The funniest thing though is we found out last night that she is scared of Danny's feet. We found this out because - he was laying on the bed and stuck one foot up in the air for me to rub. I started doing it and Savannah came into the bedroom and saw what I was doing and started saying, "no, no, no" and whining and backing up. I'd put Danny's foot down and she's stop. I picked it up and started rubbing it again and she did the same thing - about to cry. I sat down on the floor and she came over to me. I grabbed Danny's foot and put it close to her and she tried to get away from it while saying, "nooooo." I'm not sure where this is coming from but it was hilarious!!

10 Day Road Trip

So, I'm finally taking the time to write about our wonderful trip. Ok, so after the first 3 hours I wasn't so sure how great the trip was going to be. About 1 1/2 hours into the trip I had to stop to change Savannah's diaper. About an hour later Connor informs me he has to "pee and poo." So, we pulled over to the first gas station and Connor did what he said he had to do - for about 20 minutes - and yes, he was actually doing his business for the 20 minutes. When we got finished I got Connor some candy because he did good and actually sat on the toilet and I didn't have to drag his potty chair out. About 10 minutes after we got back in the car I had to whip the car from the left lane all the way over the right shoulder, get unbuckled, grab a bag and hold it up for Connor to throw up in. Once he was finished I asked him what happened. He informed me he had too much candy in his mouth and got choked. I told him, "That's why Mommy tells you not to put too much food in your mouth." His reply was, "Oh, ok." But once all that was over it was pretty much smooth sailing from then on. We drove for about 7 hours the first day and stopped in Hattiesburg, MS. We got up Monday and drove about 5 hours into good old Ragley, LA. We had a lot of fun the whole time we were there. My awesome cousin, Kyle, went and got 70 lbs of crawfish and we had a crawfish boil that night with yummy sausage, corn & potatoes. It was funny to see Connor around the new things. He had never seen live crawfish. All of his cousins had seen them and are used to them so they all stood close to the tub but Connor never really got very close.





Connor had a blast with Paw Paw. He got to ride on his tractor several times and thoroughly enjoyed it. He also got to go look at Paw Paw's garden but first had to help with the gate and then close it when they came back. He was honestly very excited to see Paw Paw from the day we left. When we headed out on our trip he asked over, and over, and over, and over... "We're going to see Paw Paw now?" After about 20 times I finally asked him why he kept asking me the same question over and over and he informed me, "I just want to talk to somebody."





Connor and Savannah both fell in love with Kyle's dog, Tucker. He was the sweetest dog. Connor thought we should take him home with us. Of course, Savannah loves "puppies" and had a ball the whole time we were there because between all the family that was around there were 7 dogs around she got to see. But she really loved Tucker. She called all the dogs either "puppy" or "Lighty" but by the end of our trip she was calling Tucker "Cuh Cuh." I can still ask her where Tucker is and she'll look around and start saying "Cuh Cuh."

I think everybody in the family tried their hardest to turn my kids into a cowboy and cowgirl - especially Connor. They both liked playing with the cowboy hats. But Connor really got into it. There was a PVC pipe calf to practice roping on and Connor had a blast with it! He like to ride it and he tried his hardest to twirl the rope and lasso the "calf." We went Wednesday night for my nephews, Josh and Jake, ride bulls at a local rodeo. They did awesome! Jake did end up with a hairline fracture in his arm - they found after they got home. But they had fun and Connor had fun watching them.

Savannah had a great time because she got to be outside which she absolutely loves!! Once she started talking, she learned how to say outside very quick! She got to just walk all around and see flowers and pine cones and puppies! She was in heaven!! Dene was great with her and would take her out and just let her walk and walk all over the place - which she couldn't get enough of.




We also got to see my great Aunt Ruby who is 93 (I think) and still living by herself. It was great seeing her and I'm so glad she got to see my kids. Mom and Dad got in late Thursday night so we were able to see them for a little bit Friday morning before heading to Houston. We got to Houston just in time for all the rain to hit and be apart of flooding on Saturday. It rained 6" in 1 hour where we were. I got to see my Aunt Terri and part of her family who lives in Missouri - who I had not seen in a few years. Connor had a great time playing with her! Sorry for the lack of pictures from Texas - I think the kids were tired of me taking their picture and I was kind of tired of trying to get them to take pictures. We did have a lot of fun there.



We then headed to Dallas Sunday night to see some great friends of mine - Kay and Kim. I was great friends with them in 8th and 9th grade and we still keep in touch. I hadn't seen them in 8 years so it was great to get to see them and to share seeing each other kids!







We then started our trip home Monday and got home Tuesday afternoon. The kids actually did pretty good sleeping in the car on the way home - on the way down, not so much. But they were completely exhausted on the way home. And they were very happy to get home. On our way home Savannah kept singing, "Daddy, daddy, daddy" over and over again. I took it as she was ready to see Daddy. And Connor just told me he was ready to get home. Yesterday he even told me, "I'm so glad we're back home." It was a great trip and I am really glad we took it. There will be a bunch of pictures put on my web album tonight. So, keep an eye out on them.