On Sunday afternoon, the boys came up to the hospital to meet their baby sister. Their reactions were so them. Logan came in with a big grin on his face. With no hesitation at all, he climbed up on the bed and immediately wanted to touch every part of Camryn and hold her, and he had a million questions about her. The funniest part was when he asked to see her butt. First of all, butt is not a word we like for the boys to say, but anyway, he asked to see her butt. So Derek unwrapped her a little and showed her little diaper. But that wasn’t good enough for Logan. “No, daddy. I want to see her butt. Take her diaper off and turn her upside down. I want to touch her butt.” Um, what is that about?? It cracked us up!

Connor walked into the room and you could see on his face that he wasn’t too sure about this. In any new situation, Connor stands back and takes it all in. He just wants to look and process it all. He didn’t want want to hold her or touch her, he just wanted to look. But you could see how proud he was to be the biggest brother-it was really, really sweet.

Last night, Connor wanted to hold Camryn for the first time. He was so sweet, just staring at her little face, taking it all in. At bedtime last night, both boys wanted Cam to lay in bed with them. I love that the three of them are already starting their little sibling bond. There really is nothing like the relationship between brothers and sisters, and I cannot wait to see it with Connor, Logan, and Camryn.

Since it was a holiday weekend and all, it seems fitting to blog about the events.
–Friday: Connor came down with a fever, and I developed some serious sinus congestion. Nothing too major, but not the best start to a long weekend. Oh, and the kids were awake and in and out of our room three times in between 4 and 6 a.m on Friday night/Saturday morning. Fun times.
–Saturday: Derek’s parents arrived for a visit, and took us out to Chic-Fil-A for lunch. Connor’s fever was gone, and we spent Saturday afternoon swimming and playing this fun marble/card game they brought with them. Saturday night, just as we are sitting down to dinner, Connor’s fever came back. He ended up falling asleep on the couch at 6:15 and Logan crashed at 7:00. We had a nice quiet evening and watched Juno.
–Sunday: Connor and I skipped out on church. We all had a pretty lazy morning and afternoon. Derek and I took a little trip to Best Buy and HEB (exciting stuff, I tell ya!) For dinner, we grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, plus had fresh corn on the cob and strawberries-delicious!
–Monday: Reggie and Janelle left really early, and Derek, the boys, and I spent the morning at the pool. Derek went to his Man Store (aka Fry’s) for a few hours in the afternoon, and when he got home, I headed to Babies R Us for a few things. All in all, not a bad weekend! Swimming, relaxing, movies, games, shopping, and good food…it’s a winner in my book!
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Two funny Connor stories…I gotta write these down or I will forget!

A few weeks ago, Connor was having a time-out. It’s always a pretty big scene…he HATES going to time-out. He was crying and flopping on the ground, trying desperately to make a deal with me. I say (well, sort of yell…let’s just be honest…) “Connor, you do NOT bargain with me!”. In between hiccups and sobs, Connor replies, “mom, I don’t even know what bargain means!” It was hard to hold back the laughter on that one!

Our new car has a voice command system. It’s really cool-well, it will be once I figure out how to work it. You can pretty much control anything (the ac, the navigation system, the radio, etc.). I was showing Connor and Logan how it works, so I asked it, “what time is it?” When it told me the time, Connor’s eyes got really big. I asked Connor what else he thought we should ask it. After taking a moment to think of the perfect question, Connor says, “ask it ‘How far away is Jupiter.’” Much to our disappointment, the voice system did not reply.

Logan is eating cereal straight from the box.

It all started because I needed to sit for a few minutes. After a long morning of laundry, a few hours at NASA, a quick stop at WalMart, an hour spent making new astronaut and space shirts for the kids, and more laundry, I needed a break.

The kids had popsicles this morning for breakfast at 8:00 a.m. Hey, they are the whole fruit kind…it’s just like eating fruit, right? They were so cute sitting side by side in chairs that I had to bust out my camera. Some of the pictures were just screaming for captions. And once I started, I couldn’t stop. I blame my children for my lack of fixing dinner. If they hadn’t been so cute with their breakfast this morning, this never would have happened.

(For the record, I think my kids like when dinner is a free for all.)

It was wacky day for Connor at school on Wednesday. When I showed Derek this picture, he cracked up.

I mean, it’s a pretty funny picture, but Derek was really cracking up.  Well, Derek style cracking up, which is really just a smile and a small chuckle.  “Meg,” he said, “Connor is just like you!”  I wasn’t sure exactly what Derek meant by that, but then he started listing some of the wacky things I’ve worn/done over the years, specifically the time I dressed up in a large sombrero, colorful and authentic Mexican clothing, an ace bandage, and a topped it all off with a sassy ballet pose.  But, despite all of my searching, I cannot find the picture anywhere.

This classic one will have to do.

Yup. Connor comes by his wacky side honestly!

This morning was Connor’s very fist t-ball game, and it was a lot of fun. I was really impressed with the kids-for the most part, they all knew what they were doing and what was going on. At practice, I sometimes wonder if the kids even have a clue as to what the point is. They really surprised me! Connor had a really good time, minus the sitting in the dugout part. It’s hard to wait to bat when you are 10th out of 11 kids. Anyway, here are some pics from his big Little League debut. I know there are a lot, but I just couldn’t decide which ones I liked the best!

During one of the innings, Connor got to play on the pitchers mound. I love his little baseball form in these 3 pictures.

Just a few C stories…these are good ones. I should bookmark this so on the days when he makes me crazy I can remember his sweet heart.

The boys were watching tv, and the shows message was that everyone is special. Connor looks at me and says, “mommy? Do you know what makes me special?”
“Lots of things.” I answered, and listed a few of his special qualities.
“No, do you know what makes me the most special?”
“What?”
“I can draw really good.”

Of course I affirmed this in him. It’s true, he really is quite artistic and creative.

I decided to take our conversation one step farther.
“What makes Logan special?” I asked Connor.
There’s a long pause. I am totally expecting an answer about how Logan can’t run as fast or jump as high or draw as good.
“Logan’s a good friend.” said Connor. “That’s what makes him special.”

I love that the boys are friends right now, and that Connor recognizes this in Logan. Love it.

Story number 2…
Connor was in the bathroom washing his hands yesterday afternoon, and I saw him with his hands folded, eyes closed, and his lips moving. I realized he was praying. He finishes, and I ask him if he was praying. (I know, nosy mama…) He says yes, and since spontaneous praying is a bit out of character for Connor–he really loves his lunchtime school prayer, but gets a little shy and embarrassed about saying a different prayer than that–I asked him what he was praying for.

“I was just asking God to help me have a good nights sleep tonight and also to help me remember to control my hands and not hit people with sticks.”

That’s a good prayer, my boy. And God is faithful and will answer.

On the way home from the park, the boys had this great conversation in the backseat.

Let me preface this by mentioning that one of the boys’ favorite phrases is “that’s mine forever.” They will often get into heated arguments about whether something is or isn’t theirs forever. Sometimes I use those arguments to remind them that that things they have are blessings, and when we go to heaven someday they won’t take them. And the only thing that is truly forever is God’s love and heaven. Sometimes I just listen to them argue and let them work it out. And sometimes I get all irritated and tell them that they are having the most ridiculous argument ever. I probably do number 3 the most. Anyway, I digress.

The conversation went a little something like this:

Logan-”dis rock is mine porever.”
Connor-”No it’s not.”
L-”YES IT IS!”
C-”Moooommmmm….Logan thinks that rock is his forever.”
(Mom ignores hub bub in the backseat. It’s been a long morning.)
C-”Logan, that rock is not going to live forever.”
L-YES IT IS!”
C-”No. It’s not. Let me tell you something. We are going to die.”
L-”No we’re not.”
C-”Yes we are. We all die.”
Pause in conversation
C-”We’re not going to die when we’re kids. We die when we’re grown ups. Actually, when we are past grown ups, like maybe when we are 90 or 100.”
L-”oh.”
C-”But let me tell you the really fun part. When we die, we go to heaven.”
L-”NO WE DON’T!” (Logan is in an argumentative mood.)
C-”No, Logan. Listen to me. Let me tell you something cool. When we die, we get to go to heaven and be with God forever.”
L-”NO WE DON’T”
C-”Log, yes we do. That’s the best part.”
L-”NO”
C-realizes this conversation might be futile at this moment. he let’s out a long, semi-frustrated sigh.“Okay, Logan. Let’s just talk about this later.
L-”Otay.”

I love their conversations. Connor, the wise older brother. Logan, the ornery little one. Love them.

Do you see it?
Connor lost his first tooth today! It’s been loose for quite some time, but today a chicken nugget did it in. We were at the park with friends when it all went down. There were tears and fears-it was quite the dramatic event! In typical Connor fashion, he was totally freaked out by the whole thing (because it’s new and different). Inside, I was freaking out too. I had to pull it…it was hanging on by the tiniest thread and it had to come out. I was dreading that horrendous root-popping sound, but thankfully it was so loose that didn’t happen.

Of course, now he is so excited that he lost a tooth. He can’t wait to show his friends and teachers at school tomorrow, and to see what the Tooth Fairy leaves him.

Isn’t he looking so grown up with his buzzed hair and missing tooth?! I can’t believe it.

He lives right here in Houston.

Connor has been bitten by the super hero bug. It started shortly after Halloween when I picked up a Spiderman costume for $10. Now, as you can see, he’s into Batman. But my favorite superhero’s are the ones he has come up with in his imagination, SuperStar, SuperLightening, and the newest addition SuperCloud. Here is a video of him explaining these three amazing heroes. Oops. Nevermind on the video. I recorded one, but our video camera is on the fritz, so it’s a no go. I had two favorite parts of the video: first, my dog puked in the middle of it, so that was a nice little interruption. And second, when asked about his favorite, he replied that he liked SuperCloud eighty eightian. That number, for those of you who might be unfamiliar with it is 80 with 80 zeros. He is one cool dude.

I have always loved a kid with a good ol’ Texas accent. I remember back in the day when Juli Beth’s son Wade was learning to talk and I fell in love with his little country boy twang. I remember thinking I wanted my kids to learn to talk in Texas so they could sound like him. Well, Logan is turning into a little country boy. I don’t hear it in Connor as much, probably because he learned to talk in the land of surfers, not the land of cowboys. But Logan is perfecting the art form of turning turning one syllable words into two syllable words. “Mommy, I need chocolate mee-ilk.” “Mommy, it’s ober day-er” (aka over there). Oh man, there are more but I am drawing a blank! His twang makes D and I laugh because no one else in the family has it quite as much as him. I for one think he’s a super cute cowboy.

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Connor is slightly obsessed with time. He is always aware of what time it is, loves to look at clocks, and even loves to watch clocks turn to the next number. He knows that his bedtime is 7:30, and if I try and put him in bed before then, it’s an issue because it isn’t time yet. Last night, he needed to go to bed earlier because he was up before 6 a.m. and didn’t go back to sleep (although he did stay in his bed until 7:00 because he knows that’s the time he is allowed to get up.) Anyway, I told him his bedtime was going to be 7:00 and of course he balked at the news. So I said “well, I can change your clock to say 7:30 if that will make you happier.” It worked. He thought it was so cool that we could change the time. I wonder if he thought I was really moving time forward. He ended up wanting his clock changed to 12:00. He thought he was big stuff staying up until midnight. At 12:10 (aka 7:10) he wandered out to the hallway. I stood in his doorway scratching my growing, itchy belly. He looked up at me (slightly sheepish because he knows he really isn’t supposed to be out of bed), walked up to me and gave my belly the softest hug and sweetest kiss. The he looked up at me and said “mommy? Can you get in my bed for a minute?” Oh my word, it was so sweet! How could I say no after that! We cuddled for a nanosecond and the conversation turned back to time. “Mommy? I’m just going to watch my clock until it turns to 1:00.” I have no doubt that he would lay there in his bed, willing his eyes to stay open just to watch the numbers turn for 50 minutes. So I moved time again to 12:45. Twenty minutes later, he was fast asleep. At 7:30. Or 1:05. Same difference.

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PS-I love David Archuleta.  I voted for him like 10 times yesterday.