May 2013 - Random Pictures

Connor is lapping up his spilled milk. Such a cute little mess!

 Practicing their tricks...

Every time we go grocery shopping, Cole's main request is yogurt drinks. They love these! 

Bad things happen when I leave bags of candy on the floor. He may not look like me but he definitely had my chocolate loving genetics!

We haven't used this leash in public yet, but they love playing with it around the house. They switch positions so they can each have a turn wearing it. I'm contemplating taking it to the mall with us on our next trip. I took Connor jean shopping and every time I would be in between pairs, he would escape under the door. 

Grandma gave Cole a whole bag of box tops. He took them to school and exchanged them for some dinosaur shaped graham crackers. He was one happy boy when he got home and was so excited to show me!

Lazy day napping and watching a movie. 

We had another house showing so we went to Orange Leaf for some frozen yogurt and to kill some time. We love the cute little chairs and tables there. Cole's friend Hailey from school was also there. It was fun to see them showing each other their ice cream. :)

Connor and Cole are such awesome helpers. Cole can unload the dishwasher basically by himself; the stuff he can't put away he stacks nicely on the counter. Connor helps by handing Cole things that he can reach. I hope they still love helping when they're older!

Bingory, a mix between Bingo and Memory, has become a favorite game around here. Cyrie got it for us for Christmas and it is the one we play the most by far. I love that even Connor can play. He has even found a few matches by himself! 

 Connor grabs Cole's underwear every chance he gets! He loves to wear it and isn't happy when I pry it off of him. I'd like to say he's ready for potty training but I don't think he's quite there yet. We sit him on it quite a bit and he never does much. He likes to sit, though!

Cole is always, always singing. He sings songs he learns from school, primary songs, songs I've taught him... you name it and he sings it! I love listening to him. 

Throwing rocks in the canal at the back of the subdivision. This is the first time I let
Connor walk rather than ride in the stroller. 

We walk down to the canal at the back of the subdivision to throw rocks in. The last little part is slightly uphill. Cole loves to put his feet up and go fast! 

Cole has been dying to play in the sprinklers in the back yard. It was a little chilly, but we went out anyways. Connor doesn't mind getting wet at all. The sprinkler we had on had wiggly arms. Cole went behind it and grabbed two of them. Then he told me and Connor to come a little closer... Such a sneaky kid! 

Playing with the hose is always fun. They take turns watering the plants and trees on the side and front of the house, then they usually water the grass for a little while. 

I went to Smith's here for the first time, and I am now in love with that store! It was so clean, there was so much produce, and they had slinkies and hose sprayer attachments- two of my favorite things growing up! I grabbed a slinky for Connor's birthday and a sprayer just for the heck of it. Cole has had so much fun with it. The only downside is that he can't quite twist it by himself to change the flow of water, so I have to do it for him about every 30 seconds. 

May 2013 - Grandma & Grandpa Alan's

We went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Alan. The boys love the swing set, goats, and camper. They also love eating all Grandpa's food. They always eat pudding and crackers when they are there. We don't make it down there as much as we used to anymore, but we love it just as much when we do go!

May 2013 - Zoo, Library, T-Ball

It has finally been warm enough to go to the zoo! This time, we left the stroller at home and let both boys walk the whole time. Surprisingly, there was no complaining. Cole usually likes to ride between the exhibits. Connor really liked being able to run around, even though he tripped a few times on the bumpy trail. His favorites were the monkeys, the lion, and the parked tractor. I had to take his hand and lead him away from staring at the tractor. I'm not quite sure what was so fascinating about it. Last year we always went to the zoo right after lunch. The animals were rarely doing anything. This time we went around 5:30. The animals were all up, moving, and talking. It was much more interesting! Of course, we had to stop at the lion fountain every time we passed it. Connor was determined to get a drink by himself but couldn't quite figure it out. That's what big brothers are for!

We have been trying to go to story time at the library more often. The last week of the month they do a craft along with the stories. During the day there seemed to be a lot of kids there, but we went in the evening this time. There were still quite a few, but not nearly as many. Connor wouldn't sit on the mat without me but Cole warmed up once he got into the story the lady was reading. We always go to the little fish pond in the middle of the library at least twice when we are there. Then the boys run up the ramp to see if our neighbor is working.

Cole started T-Ball this month as well. Ryan signed up to be a coach, so Cole gets to play with Brielle and Lanie. He seemed to really like it! I need to work with him more at home on throwing and catching. He is definitely the smallest on the team. Most of the kids are 5 or 6, and he won't be five for four more months. He will have games every Tuesday and Thursday evening at the park in Shelley until the end of June.

May 2013 - Blastoff

Cyrie and I took our kids to blastoff for pizza and some playtime. It was completely empty, which was so awesome because we could let Connor and Avi run around without being worried that another kid would knock them over. At first, they stayed in the ball pit. Connor like to go down the little slide head first on his belly. After a while they wandered a little farther and played up in the tunnels and slides. Cole, Brielle, and Lanie all did great but the smaller two's feet would slip through the netting. I crawled around up there with them and lifted them over the netting so they could play with the other kids and go down the slide. This is only the second time we have been there, but I think we are going to make it a more regular thing, especially during the winter when all the other kids are at school. 

May 2013 - Visit to Cole's Preschool

Our house is up for sale, and we had a showing the same time that Cole was supposed to get on the bus. Instead of waiting around for it, I decided to drive him to school and take him to get a cinnamon roll from Mrs. Powell's beforehand. While we were there, I realized that we had never done anything for Teacher Appreciation Week, and since we appreciate his teachers SO much, we grabbed each of them a cinnamon roll as well. Connor and I took Cole into his classroom a few minutes before the other kids got there so I could talk to Mrs. Barrand about changing schools and what not. Connor made himself right at home playing with toys. I love that Mrs. Barrand does visiting days every month so we can go in and spend the day with Cole at school. It's fun to put faces to the people he comes home talking about. 

May 2013 - Cole's Gymnastics Showcase

We put Cole in gymnastics at the very end of March. He did so good! The other kids had all been in since September but he seemed to keep up with them just fine. He also seemed to be the most on-task. He was always focused and never needed the coach to usher him back to what he was supposed to be doing. They worked on the bars, beam, springboard, and floor. They had a small room in the front of the building for the parents and siblings to wait. There was a small TV that was connected to a camera in the gymnastics room so you were able to watch what they were doing. At the end of the season they do a showcase. Ours was done in the gym at Hobbs Middle School in Shelley. He had lots of supporters come to watch; my mom came to help with Connor, Cyrie and her family, Greg, Michelle, and Brittnie's kids, and Teresa and PA . He loved everyone watching him and clapping for him. He rushed a few of his moves but overall did a really good job. He told me after that he wanted to do his showcase every time. As of now, we are planning on sticking with gymnastics for a while. This summer we will do a few different things with him so he can have the experience and figure out what he likes to do. He wore his metal around for the next few days, showing it to anyone we saw. I'm glad that he is so proud of it and likes to show it off!

After his showcase we went to Arctic Circle with my mom, Teresa, and PA for dinner and ice cream. Then we headed to Edwards Theater to watch "The Croods" with Greg, Michelle, and all the cousins.  This was Connor's first experience in a theater. I was really worried that he would have a hard time staying still and it would be a nightmare. It was far from that! He was enthralled with the movie. The only time he even cried at all was when I tried to pass him off to Katie while I took Cole to the bathroom. We ended up taking him with us. Theresa Bunker Elementary (Cole's school) does 12 movie tickets for $8 for select movies over the summer. I purchased some and hope Connor will love them this summer as much as he has for this first one!

April 2013 - Just Us

First  grilled burgers of the year! The boys both devoured them.

Cole has always told me that he likes how his hair looks when he gets out of the shower because it's darker, so, I decided to let him dye his hair. We went to Walmart to pick out a $3 box of hair dye. He wanted blue, black, yellow, and pink. He finally settled on a lighter brown. He was SO good while we put it in and even better while we rinsed it out. It turned out pretty red, but it still looked cute.

 We had a sleepover at Grandma's house in Blackfoot. I somehow managed to leave the diaper bag with their jammies and sleepover stuff in it at home. They borrowed shifts from Suzanne to sleep in. When we stay there, we always lay a few thick sleeping bags on the floor to make a giant bed. That way, no one falls off. It's actually really comfortable! Connor does pretty well sleeping other places so long as we bring his Cat in the Hat pillow with us.

 Cole and Connor have both always loved mac and cheese. I love how Connor has been able to feed himself so well for such a long time. It makes things so much simpler!

 I just love sleeping baby pictures. When Connor wakes up in the mornings, generally around 7:30, I bring him in bed with me. Some of the time he will actually go back to sleep. Other times, he will play with my hair and rub my back. Not too bad for such a little guy! Some of those times it turns out to be more of hair pulling and kicking, though.

We are getting ready to sell our house, so we took the baby gate off the stairs. Connor has done pretty well on stairs for a while but I'm just a little paranoid. He has loved having it off, though. Both he and Connor fly down those stairs pretty fast! They will throw balls down and go get them lots of times before they get tired of it. 

Up until this day, I have always given Connor haircuts at home. This was the first time we took him somewhere else. He did so good! I think it helped that we had Cole go first so he would know what to expect. He hunched down a little bit but sat perfectly still until she was finished. She also styled his hair for us and recommended some gel that will actually stay put all day. Everything I have ever tried didn't do much. Connor doesn't mind having his hair fixed but Cole only likes his 'down'. 

Preschool spring personality portraits.

 We like to go to Petsmart and look at their animals. It's a nice break for the boys especially when the weather is too cold to do much outside. It will be nice when it warms up enough to be able to go to the zoo.

We went to Olive Garden for dinner. It was a 45 minute wait, so we decided to hang out in Chris's truck til it was time.

 This morning, Connor woke up after falling asleep on my bed, very quietly snuck into the living room where Cole and I were, and said, "BOO!!!" It was the funniest thing I had ever seen! He thought he was pretty funny!

Cole is his cool, new, very big sweatsuit we found on clearance for $4.98. We will have to put it away for another year or so til he is big enough for it!

Connor is a great salad eater. In the video, he is looking for spinach. The lettuce is too "yellow" for him. 

We picked up some small camping chairs for the boys. It was a bad idea to set them up right before bed; they wanted to stay up and play in them.

 We still have our zoo pass from last year, so we decided to put on our coats and brave the cold. Out of all the cool animals, the lion drinking fountain is the most exciting thing for them. I think this is the last time I'll bring the stroller with us. Connor is big enough now to walk and wants to be able to see everything, which is hard without getting him in and out of the stroller all the time.

Who falls asleep with their bottom lip tucked in?! So cute!  Notice his hair is actually done? :)

You would think Chris would learn not to leave his laptop out...

Connor is figuring out hwo to get what he wants without help. He managed to put his two big toes on the knob to get himself up high enough to play in the water. Pretty talanted! And I love his leg rolls!

Every time he finds a marker he colors on himself. Luckily he has only got the wall a few times with a crayon, but he did get the glider in his chair with a permanent marker. We used hand sanitizer to take it out, but I still have some more to do. I put a blanket over it for now.  

For Cole's bedroom set, I finished some furniture that I was able to round up. He has my desk from when I was little, a headboard I found on craigslist, Dale's old dresser, and Chris's toy box from when he was young. This was my first real painting project. I hated the sanding but overall thought it was fun! We found a toddler bed for Connor that I'm planning on redoing for his birthday. He can climb into his bed by himself, and I'm getting worried about him climbing out and getting hurt.

 We have packed up all of our extra stuff and stored it in a semi trailer. I thought I would really struggle not having all of our stuff out, but I have actually not minded at all! Apart from the baby stuff in there, I don't think I would be too heart broken if something happened to it and we couldn't have it back! We are going to keep it all packed up until we are ready to move into our next house, which we are planning on building.

Completely zoned out watching a movie.

Cole fell asleep on the trampoline. Connor kept going to him saying, "Peeping!"

Breakfast time... Love how Connor decided to eat his banana! We generally have whole wheat oatmeal pancakes with yogurt and fruit. There are mornings where he eats FOUR pancakes! Cole is generally good with one.