Appendectomy for Mommy!

This last week's been pretty rough. Andrea woke up at 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning with sharp pains in her abdomen. Our friend Luke recently had the same symptoms, and he ended up having an appendectomy. We considered it might be a possibility since Andrea was having the same symptoms, but we really didn't think that's what it was. To be on the safe side, everyone got up in the middle of the night and went in to the Emergency Room.

After some lab work and a CAT scan it was clear that Andrea did, in fact, have Appendicitis. Very shortly thereafter, Andrea was prepped for surgery and they chopped the worthless appendix right out of her. Unfortunately, we couldn't keep it, so no pictures of that...

Andrea's been pretty sore since then, and can't lift anything heavier than 10 pounds. Connor weighs more than double her limit, so it was Grammy Genie to the rescue. Grammy Genie and Grandpa Garry drove up from Odessa in the middle of the night to take care of Connor during the surgery, and Grammy Genie stayed with us for the last three days to help take care of everyone.


Thanks Genie! We appreciate everything you do!

A quick update on Connor, he has been in a great mood recently. He's been very vocal recently, and has been into everything. He's definitely a busy body. He has gotten very good at pushing his car around the room, and Grammy Genie even said that he let go of the couch momentarily and took a few steps unsupported before grabbing onto her leg.

Here's a quick video of Connor and his cool car:




The weather's been crazy the last few days, he loves to stand up and bang on the window. When Chloe's in the yard, he likes to watch her do her business.

Rat's nest no more

Connor had his second haircut yesterday. It's only been about a month and a half since his first haircut, but he was already starting to look like a dirty hippie. His hair wasn't especially long, but it was hanging over his ears, getting in his eyes, and worst of all the back of it would turn into a tangled mess if he laid his head down for a moment.

He did VERY well again with the whole haircut experience. Other kids, older than him, were screaming and running around while the workers chased them around with scissors in hand. That may have provided just enough entertainment for Connor that he just sat and stared at them while he got his hair cut.

A picture of Connor before:


The "Rat's Nest" as Mommy describes it:


Connor, scowling at the misbehaving kids:


Oh no, you cut off my lower lip!


The only part that seemed to bother Connor. If Daddy can invent silent clippers, he'll be rich!


We weren't able to get an "After" picture, we'll just have to try and get one later this weekend.

Chicago for New Years

For New Years, we decided to make a trip up to Chicago to see Shawn's family. It's a trip we'd been looking forwards to for a long time, and a trip we've been very apprehensive about ever since we planned it. The drive would have been around nine hours, so we decided to fly. There were some tricky logistics involved since we had 3 large suitcases, a diaper bag, a backpack (with toys for the plane ride), a car seat, a stroller, and of course a little boy who doesn't like to sit still for very long.

We flew on American Airlines to O'Hare in Chicago. It was incredibly stressful, even though everything went well. We got our bags back, got everything checked in, checked out, picked up, and even remembered the baby too! Connor was great on the plane. He got a little bored from time to time, but never cried. We were worried about the pressure changes, but he drank a little apple juice during the ascent and descent from a sippy cut, and it didn't seem to bother him.

Here he is, playing with Momma on the plane:


It was great to visit all the family, especially Connor's Great Grandma and Great Grandpa:


It snowed a lot, and Uncle Chris and Connor's future Aunt Abby got him a little snow in a bowl to play with:


It was interesting keeping him entertained, his favorite game was to knock things over that anyone would stack up. As soon as he'd see a tower of toys, he's make a beeline for it, and would attack:



Connor's Aunts and Uncles got Connor some Christmas presents too!

At dinner, Connor showed off his fancy dance moves with all the hot babes:

Here's a quick video of Connor dancing with his Great Aunt Diane: