Picasso's Heart

Uncle Casey would be thrilled to know that I got Connor a paint set and he has loved every moment of using it. He carefully puts the brush in the water lets it sit and picks out which color he is going to pick next for his masterpiece. It may be a particular green or blue, and then back to the water so as not to mix colors. Today he was insistent upon making trees and mountains and even a lake. I thought of course he was making a treasure map since he is on a pirate kick but what he said later completely left me looking for words. When he was finished I asked him if I could put a heart on his picture and he was thrilled. Then I asked him who the painting was for. He immediately said "Grandpa". I paused and gave him a funny look because he has a "Papa", and never calls him Grandpa. Then I looked at him and asked, "Do you mean Grandpa Gary?" "Yes, mommy, and he will love it." I had to get up and walk to the kitchen for a moment. I threw away his paper towel and told Connor "Yes, Grandpa Gary would love it." To seal the moment Connor responds with "And then I will give him a kiss."

It is in the little moments that our life is made. The sweet things we say to each other, the kind words, the bits of encouragement. Connor's sweet heart never ceases to amaze me. Yes, he can be a wild boy, but he is very tender hearted and I couldn't be more proud of him.

Summer Lovin'

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.” ~ John Lubbock

Idleness is not a norm in our household though we do love being outside. Life is so short, and there is so much to do and see. Currently we have a Summer Fun Pass for Lion Country Safari, Seaquarium, the Museum, and Miami Metro Zoo. We also currently have an annual pass for Jungle Island, Sea World, and Disney.....it is going to be a summer full of activity. Albeit HOT activity.

Our first summer trip to Lion Country Safari was fun. We made a stop at the splash pad for Connor and everyone was able to cool off. The drive through was nice, but I think it is the most fun when it is raining. Connor got to feed the giraffes (his favorite) and that always puts a smile on his face. They do make a pretty penny off of a few leaves of lettuce though. I think I might be tempted to smuggle in my own romaine next time, and maybe I'll put a little dressing on them too....that would really make them do a little dance. 

We took Connor to Sea World for the first time and he loved it. I knew he would! Grandma has been taking him to the Seaquarium a lot recently and each time he comes back with more stories about the dolphins he plays with there. This time he got to actually FEED the dolphins. The set up is a little different than it was in the past when we would feed the dolphins and now they take you in shifts. The workers were sending our group out of the feeding area and I was walking along the wall with Connor saying "goodbye" to all of the dolphins. This one particular dolphin looked right at Connor and then beached itself right out of the water on the wall to get closer to him. I was shocked! Of course I immediately let Connor pet him. The workers weren't thrilled with our spontaneous friend and us petting him, but I couldn't let the chance pass us by. It was such a cool experience!

After we spent most of the day at Sea World we met up with Uncle Josh and Aunt Heather at Hollywood Studios and got to see a little of what Star Wars Weekends consists of. Josh was on cloud 9! Connor was in awe of all of the Storm Troopers just walking around and I LOVED seeing Mickey, Minnie, and the gang dressed up like the classic Star Wars characters. I'm always up for a good mash-up. The most fun was when the guys in our party got picked as volunteers for the Backlot Tour. They did a fantastic job. We went the next day to Magic Kingdom and did all of the favorite rides. Connor squealed with delight at riding the Tea Cups with the big boys who swung that thing around at top speeds. Disney is always perfect!

Summer time in Florida always means an afternoon shower, and we will never be too busy to let Connor splash in the puddles. Those are the things boys are made of. Those are memories I hope he will cherish. Yes, "Jesus made the rain" as Connor always reminds us, and I feel we have to enjoy the rain when it comes.

Another fun spot we went to recently was Jungle Island. Lots of animals in a tiny space. It was nice to see all of the animals out and about. Of course Connor soaked it all in and loved getting to be so hands on. His favorite animals he got to handle were the snake and the alligator. The kid has no fear. I tried not to show my own terror as they draped the gross snake around his neck. Clearly my own fear didn't rub off on him. He's a champ!

We also recently got to film an iStory for our Neighborhood Group. We all got interviewed but my absolute favorite part was when Connor and Isla got in front of the camera. Connor even said "I love neighborhood groups" and proceeded to give Isla a hug and say "cheese". Be Still My Heart!

We had a traumatic morning at the dentist today, which was followed up by some play time at Chuck E. Cheese. Reflux has really done a number on his teeth, but I promise to take care of his little mouth no matter what. It broke my heart while he screamed this morning. It took four women (that includes me lying on the chair with him) holding him just to get through the simple procedure. Motherhood is not for the weak, and hopefully that wont happen again for a very long time, if ever.

Though we are busy a lot we do find time for the simple things. Connor loves to go on evening walks to see the Owls nesting at the end of our street. Tim took him on a canoe ride around Grandma Glenda's lake and Connor sang "Row Row Row Your Boat" for most of the trip. Connor is so gentle with Aunt Kaitlyn's new kittens and will sit for great lengths of time with a little one in his hands whispering things into its ear. We find joy in each other. We find joy in being together. We rest in the company of each other knowing that we are in it together. There are days of watching the clouds pass by and there are days filled with noise and laughter....both are great! I AM SO HAPPY TO BE ON SUMMER VACATION!!!

Graduation 2013

"A Student in its Prime"

Another trip to Virginia, another graduate to celebrate. We decided to split our traveling into two days, and were thrilled to meet the newest sweetest member of our family, little Alexander Houston. Zander is adorable, and Connor is excited to have a cousin to play with! I see great adventures for the boys in the future. We had a lovely visit with Megan, though it was too short, and Burke may have escaped, but it made us all wish we lived a little closer and could have more family time. Megan is a wonderful mom, and Aunt Merilee is a perfect grandma. 

 We made it into Lynchburg Friday afternoon with enough time to make a stop at Osaka. Of course that was important to all of us! Casey wasn't interested in Baccalaureate so we went to see The Great Gatsby instead while mom babysat, and got locked out of Casey's apartment. It was nice to be the 3 musketeers again especially not knowing when we're going to have that again. Mom crept into our darkened theater to grab Casey's keys, so the crisis was averted and we could all enjoy ourselves!

Casey made the executive decision to not participate in Commencement. He had a sort of "been there, done that" perspective, and since it was no loss to him, we all enjoyed an extra few hours of sleep. We meandered onto campus after the processional and had the place to ourselves. It was surreal. We wandered around, took pictures in appropriate places without a million people photobombing, and even got to watch some of the speaker's address from a private viewing room. I say we scored! Not to mention brunching at Cracker Barrel and playing Heads Up while we waited. We had fun!

 The past 2 years Casey has worked extremely hard. His Masters degree was definitely earned and the culmination of his work is in the form of his thesis "A Nation in its Prime: A Pentadic Study of Walt Disney World's Main Street, U.S.A.". Years, months, hours of blood, sweat, and tears added up to a hundred plus pages of genius. To say we are proud is an understatement! Uncle Casey is officially too cool for school! We lucked out because Aunt Hilary was also graduating with her Masters from the same School of Communications, and we got watch both get hooded in the same ceremony! Wow, life is changing. Uncle Casey is not coming home for the summer, and instead landed an amazing internship at Fallingwater in Pennsylvania. He has already started, and has some great stories. He is working with their social media so of course we will be "liking, pinning, following, and sharing" all summer long.

 One very lucky part of our weekend was all being together in Virginia on Mother's Day. What a special day it was. Nothing fills a mother's heart more than being with the ones she loves on this special day. Connor at one point told me "Happy Birthday mommy" and I explained to him how it was better than my birthday. We spent the day together playing, visiting, and packing Casey's belongings up. We even made it to Macado's. That evening we made our way to the Tower Theatre, which was not even an inkling when I first went to Liberty, and watched a beautiful production of Tarzan. We kept telling Connor we were going to watch the monkeys and he was hooked! We all were, not to mention Aunt Hil happened to be one of those cool monkeys. It was a great show and Alluvion Stage Company has a lot to be proud of. It made me very nostalgic, and as Mrs. Cooper reminded me, I'm a part of LUs theatre legacy. Wow. Connor could one day be acting on that stage.

It was a very special weekend to say the least. The changes on campus are unreal. From the new library, to the new baseball field, I am sure that in a few years we wont be able to recognize it. It was extremely difficult to say goodbye to Casey but he's already grown his roots, now it's time to flex his wings.

Sweet Teaching Moments

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go,

And when he is old he will not depart from it.

Today we have been under severe weather warnings and in the process of driving home in the pouring rain I had a wonderful conversation with Connor that touched me dearly!

Mommy: "Connor, do you see the rain? It's good, God made the rain."

Connor (confused): "Mommy, clouds? Clouds make rain."

Mommy: "Yes, Connor, you're right. Clouds do make rain, and God made the clouds and God made rain."

Connor: "Ooooooooh! And trucks? And cars?"

Mommy: "Well kind of. God made people and people made trucks and cars. God helped them."

Connor: "Oooooh! God made daddy, and God made mommy, and God made Connor!"

Mommy: "Yes Connor! You're so smart, you're right! God made daddy and mommy and you." (I was so thrilled that he made this connection.)

Connor: "And God made my shoes......"

April Sunshine

We haven't had many April Showers, but we have had plenty of activity to keep us busy!

We started off April with a family trip to Disney World. I think I've finally just started to call each trip up by the month it is. We've gone once a month since October, and no, it doesn't get old, and yes Connor asks for it constantly. Every single trip is different, and it was nice that Aunt Kaitlyn and Grandma got to join in the fun! 

 Connor rode on his own horse for the carousel and loved every minute of it. He is getting bigger and bigger, and I can't get over how independent he always wants to be. "No mommy, me try." That gets a little scary when he wants to pour his own juice, but even that he does successfully. It's amazing! We went to Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and Magic Kingdom the first day, and had so much fun! We lunched at Pinocchio's Village Haus overlooking the Small World boats and of course where do you think Connor insisted on going next? "It's a world of laughter, a world of tears. It's a world of hope, it's a world of fears....." over and over and over again! Every time we ride it, he seems to think the kids are his friends, and dances along with them!

 Our second day found the three of us at Animal Kingdom. Of course we had to do his favorite ride the Safari, and we actually got fast passes before going on the first time, just to be able to do it twice. We also knew we had to catch the Nemo show, since Connor is on a Nemo kick at the moment, and we got the most incredible seats. Connor always enjoys the show, but we had a row all to ourselves, front and center, with no one in the row in front of us. It was awesome! Connor even got up close and personal with some of the characters and was thrilled!!!

Most of April has seen us tackling all sorts of adventures. Connor has been having difficulty sleeping and the night terrors have been incredible. A mix between night terrors and sleep walking sends us in to a tizzy at night and creates exhausted parents. We are scheduled to participate in a sleep study in July, and hopefully that will give us some answers. Yet, Connor is a joy during the day. Constantly learning new things, and playing make believe. Grandma got his a Jake and the Neverland Pirates set, and he goes around pretending to be Jake looking for his "X" and treasure. He loves to sing his ABCs song, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. We're working on Jesus Loves Me, and Row Row Row Your Boat. This Little Light of Mine, has been really fun to sing with him too! 

This past week was difficult because Connor came down with Viral Stomatitis. It started with him screaming through the night last Sunday, and we thought it was one of his night terror episodes. The next morning though he wouldn't eat, and kept saying "mouth, boo boos". So I got a flashlight and low and behold he had sores all over the inside of his mouth. It looked like chicken pox covering the roof of his mouth and tongue. Back to the pediatrician we go, and after blood work and swabs they diagnose him. They explained how terribly painful it is and couldn't tell us how long it would last. He wouldn't put anything in his mouth. He broke down after just eating a strawberry. It was so sad. For the past week he has been living on ice pops, jello, and pudding. His lips were even sensitive. He was in major pain. They prescribed us Magic Mouthwash, a combination of benadryl, mallox, and lidocaine, but he wouldn't even let us give him that. Sleeping at night was the worst because his reflux would act up and the pain for him was unbearable. I think we're finally over it though. He ate his first solid food yesterday, and even had pretzels today. The hardest part through this whole thing is he never lost his appetite. Poor baby was hungry, but couldn't eat anything substantial. Bananas even hurt!

 We got to see the whole Guise family yesterday at Erin's wedding, and it was so nice to see everyone. It of course is bitter sweet, and brings so many memories rushing back, but nice none the less. It's hard to see my uncles because of how much of Grandpa Gary I see in them, but it's also nice because it's like a piece of his resemblance is still around. Great Grandpa Ernie loves seeing Connor, and always points him out to others to show them how cute he is! I know that's what Grandpa Gary would do too. He was so proud of his first grandchild. 

Connor spent most of the night on the dance floor and was such a ham. Even when it was time to eat he wanted to go back out and dance! Aunt Kaitlyn enjoyed herself following him around I'm sure! He thinks she's the coolest!

Potty "training" is a thing of the past at this point. He's got it down pat! Though he's been trained to now expect a prize after every number 2. HAHA! The prize is usually a matchbox car, and even at Disney when we told him he could pick any prize in the store (ANY prize), he went straight to the die-cast cars and picked a Bruce inspired race car. Silly boy, you could have gotten an entire train set, daddy's wallet was ready.

Spring Break and Easter

I cannot believe the whirlwind we've been a part of recently. We have been super active in a really enjoyable sort of way. Not too much of go go go, but planned out days of joy and activity. I'll start with Easter day and go backward to Spring Break.

Connor of course loved all of the goodies in his Easter basket. Last year he got fruit snacks, but this year, he got real candy. Jellybeans to be exact, and he was thrilled. We are still using the jellybeans as incentives and treats for good behavior....otherwise known as bribes. He got another cardboard book, and even a Veggie Tales movies in his basket. Church was wonderful, and Aunt Kaitlyn even performed on stage in 252. She didn't get to pick out an Easter Dress this year knowing she was volunteering on stage, but I think Connor looked Easter enough for all of us! I enjoyed putting his entire ensemble together this year, and didn't buy an already put together outfit. I like being "Stylist Mommy" just call me Kristin Zoe.

Connor LOVED finding Easter eggs. He didn't need them easily spread around the grass, he actually looked for the hidden ones, and wanted more when we were all done. I kept re-hiding the eggs in new places, and he was a very happy little boy. Our eggs are worth $$ in our family, and he made a pretty little penny to put in his piggy bank. Grandma Glenda really knows how to make things fun. She also gave Connor an Easter basket, and of course included presents! I think he was more thrilled with his basket from Grandma, but she found him a Little Einsteins Rocket and that couldn't have been any more perfect. She's the perfect grandma. 

 Spring Break was wonderful! For once we didn't have any major travel plans, and we were able to enjoy our time locally. Our church had Sunday School Easter Celebration to start the week complete with an egg hunt, bounce house, and tractor pull. Connor was THRILLED! I don't know what he loved more, but the squeals of delight on the tractor ride were hysterical. It was a good intermission from our trips to Disney. You can't beat the fact that "His Isla" was there, and followed her around like a puppy dog. 

 The next day we woke up and traveled to Tampa to see a Red Sox Spring Training game. Darlene always knows how much we appreciate the tickets to anything Red Sox. His first Red Sox game ever was because of Darlene. This was a treat for sure. We were in a box suite right behind home plate complete with all of the baseball food you can eat. Connor knew exactly who to cheer for, and "Go Red Sox" was a common phrase repeated throughout the day. Everyone thought he was the cutest Red Sox fan! It was so much fun! We even walked out of the tunnel with the players, and Connor walked right up to Xander Bogaerts for his autograph. We had no gate to stand behind, and the team was just there. It was surreal. You can only imagine how excited Tim was. Plus the Red Sox won! On our way back home that night we even stopped to meet brand new baby, Colton Stalions, and it ended the day perfectly!

 The rest of the week found us at TY park with friends, brunch at Cheesecake Factory, spent time with baby Miracle, and even got to see Aunt Heather and Uncle Josh. Connor was such a good boy the entire week with mommy, and it only makes me look forward to summer even more. He did transition well to being back with Grandma and Kaitlyn once the week was over, and even "misses" them when we are in the car just driving home from their house. His time at their house is his favorite. I love that it's his special place. I made him a Sight Word book recently on Shutterfly, and that has been our new goal. With as smart as he is, he loves learning new things. His book focuses on "I, see, my, like, and". Grandma started a few color words at her house, and he has mastered red, blue, green, and yellow. I included a video below just from tonight. Can you believe he's not even 2 1/2 yet? Smarty pants dance, smarty pants dance!!!