Vernon Volumes text

Vernon Volumes text

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Thanksgiving with the family



Thanksgiving 2008 was a lot of fun with Connor this year. He had a great time getting to know the family and traveling around to see everyone. We started off in St. Louis with Daddy's family and then back to KC to be with Mommy's family. We had lots to eat, but Connor decided he wasn't ready for turkey dinners yet, he ate apple sauce and fruit loops in St. Louis and a Gerber's Graduate meal (Macaroni and Cheese + peas and carrots) in Kansas City. Oh well, more for everyone else!

The St. Louis family:


The Kansas City family:


In St. Louis we had to keep the dogs downstairs away from Connor. He loves them, but a little too much maybe. We were a little worried he'd pounce on one.


Connor and Mommy:


Abby and Grandma cooked up the delicious feast, thanks guys!


Some of the boys hanging out:


Connor and Daddy:


Connor loves to play with shoes and if he can get them on he loves to stomp around in them:


Connor also loves to pick people out in pictures. He will point to someone in a picture and then will point to them if they're in the room. We put up a big photo frame with lots of snapshots and he loves to play with it:

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Christmas pictures - continued!


Well, Jeni came back on Saturday (11/22) to try to get some family pictures. Shawn's parents worked their tails off to get Connor's attention and we got some very nice pictures as a result.

You'll probably be seeing one of these soon on the Christmas cards we'll be sending out!



Sunday, November 23, 2008

Family pictures with our little monster



We thought it would be nice to get some family pictures this year for Christmas. Last year Shawn setup a tripod at home and through sheer luck captured a picture of our family where Chloe and Connor were looking in the right direction. This year we wanted to do something a little more sophisticated that would give us some guaranteed results. Mandy found our regular photographer from Moments and Memories, who we love and intend to continue using in the future, and she also has a friend Jeni who's just getting into photography and took some great pictures of Mandy's family. We decided to have Jeni from Acres of Hope photography take some pictures of Connor and our family.

On Tuesday (11/18) the plan was to go to a park setting outside and get some candidish shots of Connor playing and our family together and the second phase was to go to our house and get some Christmasy pictures in front of our decorations. For the first part of the plan Connor was a little uncooperative, but Jeni worked hard and got some pretty good pictures. The second phase of the plan is where everything fell apart. If we thought Connor was a little difficult at the park, he was intent on proving that he could be absolutely impossible when we got home. We tried everything we could think of to get him to smile. He convinced us that was never going to happen, so we decided that we'd be content if he had a pacifier (he usually only gets them during bedtime). Even with pacifier in place Connor would arch his back, squeal, and writhe every time we got ready to take a picture. In the end, the only time we got anything close to what we were looking for was a picture where Connor was clutching his "babies" (stuffed animals that usually stay in his bed) and crying. At least he was looking at the camera.



Jeni was awesome about it, and agreed to come out again on Saturday (11/22) to try again when Connor was in a better mood. Grandpa and Grandma Vernon were in town visiting and they worked their tails off hopping around, singing, waving puppets and acting crazy to get Connor to smile. We haven't seen the results yet, but we're pretty sure there will be a great picture in the mix somewhere.

Without further ado, we've posted some of our favorite pictures that we've gotten from Jeni so far.



Sunday, November 16, 2008

Daddy turns 29 and Connor goes to a wedding



Connor dressed up as cute as he could for Mommy's friend's wedding. He was still a big handful for Mommy to manage on her own (Daddy was in class all day Saturday), but he was a cute handful at least.

Daddy had his 29th birthday on the 11th. He had to work with consultants all day at work, but at least Mommy and Connor had some surprises for him when he got home. Connor got him a neat jacket (and helped him open it), and Mommy got him an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen (the only cake Daddy likes!)!

Daddy feels old, but he's got a great family and he's very thankful to share another birthday with them.



Sunday, November 9, 2008

Grilled cheese, nicknames, weddings, and ear infections

So we've got a variety of random things this week, written in no particular order.

First, the not so good news, Connor's got an ear infection. Andrea noticed him rubbing (and sticking his finger in) his ear quite a bit, so she took him to the doctor and it was confirmed that he had an ear infection. We're giving him antibiotics and thankfully he seems to think amoxicillin's delicious. His nose has been a bit runny lately with the colder weather, so he often looks like a miserable mess, but he still has been a happy baby, but maybe a little more whiny than usual.

Next, we've been meaning to post some of his nicknames. We don't know where these really came from, but thought it would be fun to post some of them. They're silly, we know, but we thought we'd post them so we don't forget someday.
* Beebs
* Beeper
* Bubs
* Hootie
* Bubby cat
* Cat
* Mister
* Mister Man
* Kitty cat
* Bishop
* Turkey Dinner

If we've forgotten any, feel free to remind us and I'll get them added.

Also, we got a few pictures of Connor eating one of his new favorite foods, grilled cheese with ham sandwiches. He probably likes pizza more, but he definitely enjoys grilled cheese.

Delicious!


Andrea and I went to our friends' wedding last night. Luke and Alex got married at the Hawthorne House, which is the same place we got married at in 2004. It was our first time back since our big day and the place is as beautiful as we remember. It was a great wedding and it brought back a lot of memories. Thank you Luke for including me in your wedding, it was an honor!


The reception area:


Lastly, a quick video of Connor playing with his ball popper game. It's probably one of his favorites and he gets pretty excited about it in this video.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Happy Halloween!!



Connor had lots of fun at Halloween yesterday! He was a very good sport and stayed in his monkey costume for hours and actually seemed to enjoy it.

Before we went Trick or Treating, we ate chili with Grandma and Grandpa Anders. Connor posed for a cute picture with his "Mummy" right before dinner. His shirt says: "I love my Mummy"


Daddy struggled a little getting the costume on. Mommy came up with a genius idea of putting the monkey feet over Connor's shoes. It was very difficult (Daddy's working hard in the picture) but it was worth it.


Andrea with her little monkey:


The monkey family:


Andrew, Connor and Allison all dressed up:


Connor Trick or Treating with his cousins and Auntie Amanda:


Am I doing it right??