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.

Just a quick note that hopefully a blog will be coming soon about our trip. My laptop cord is no longer working so I've got to replace that this weekend and then probably a long blog to follow!!

I'll say this - it was a great trip and I have great pictures to share!!

Check back at the beginning of the week for more details! :-)

For those of you who know Connor - you know he is a sweet boy. But these past few days he has become the sweetest little boy you will ever meet!! Once he learned manners - Thank you, please - he has used them very well. He uses Thank You all the time when given something or if you do something for him. The last few days though he'll just say it out of the blue. We went to play outside today and as Danny was walking by Connor said, "Thank you for getting me my new tractor, Daddy!" (A couple weeks ago we got him a new battery powered ride on John Deere tractor with wagon.) A little while later I was planting a few flowers a friend had given me and Connor was out there to "help." His job was to water them after they were planted. There was water in a pan I had sitting out there. He said, "There's water in the bowl, Mommy, from the rain. We can water the flowers with the water. Thank you rain!!" It just melted my heart!! He really is one of the sweetest kids you will ever meet!

Savannah is really into her walking! For the past several days she doesn't really play - she just walks around. She LOVES it! She can already bend over and pick things up. And if she falls - if she wants to - she can stand up by herself without having to grab hold of something. She still loves the ABC's and numbers. She knows that A is the first letter and can say it. She's also learning to count. I count to her sometimes when changing her diaper because she doesn't like having her diaper changed but she likes for me to count. So now I'll say "one" and she'll say "two"; I'll say "three" and she'll sometimes make a sound that sounds like four; I'll say "five" and half the time she'll say "sick" really quick; I'll say "seven" and she always says "a" and that's where she stops. But she says "2 and 8" very,very consistently.

We leave in a little over a week for our road trip down south. I'm starting to get a little anxious about it, but not enough to back out of it - yet anyway. I'm actually looking forward to it a little. I just know it's going to be an interesting trip!!!