Vernon Volumes text

Vernon Volumes text

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

No more Nuk!

Elmo visited today to take away Connor's Nuks so he could give them to little babies that need them. Andrea got the idea from her friend Mandy, and Elmo (in balloon form) came last night. For the day, we tied Connor's Nuk to the balloon and discussed it in great detail to him. He slept through the night last night without the Nuk and this morning when we talked about it, I could tell he remembered and he said "Elmo Nuk!"

In the last three months or so, Connor's only used a Nuk at night during bed time. They don't allow them at school for nap time, and we decided it was time to phase out the Nuk all together. Connor had really gotten re-interested in the Nuk lately and we thought it was about time to be done with it.

When Daddy got home from work, it was the big moment. Elmo could barely lift the Nuk, and for a moment Daddy was worried it would get caught in the neighbor's roof and we'd have to climb up there and explain it all to the neighbors. Thankfully a gust of wind caught Elmo and helped him fly away.

Connor really seemed to get the concept and watched intently as it flew away.

Explaining why Elmo needs the Nuk:


There he goes!


All gone!

Monday, June 29, 2009

Weekend with the Grammy and Grandpa Anders



Connor spent the last weekend with Grammy and Grandpa Anders. Mommy and Daddy went down to Springfield for one of Daddy's shooting competitions and so Mommy could visit her friend Amanda.

Aunt Abby, Uncle Nathan, Aunt Amanda, Uncle Ryan, cousin Drew and cousin Allison came to see Connor and they all had a blast swimming at their neighbor's pool. Connor apparently went down the waterslide and even jumped off the diving board!





Thanks Grammy Genie and Grandpa Garry for watching Connor this weekend, and thanks Aunt Amanda and Uncle Ryan for watching Chloe Bear. (Chloe got spoiled and even got to sleep in bed with the Gobles!)

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Father's day!

Today was Father's day! Mommy let Daddy sleep in and she and Connor surprised him with sweet Father's day cards and Heelys!

Shoes with wheels in the heels:


Drew got some for his birthday and when I mentioned to Andrea that I wish I had could try them she made a mental note of it and got them for me for Father's day. She's the most thoughtful wife ever! I can't wait to try them out and hopefully I don't break my wrist. I am going to either be the coolest dad on the block or the dorkiest. I don't know which, but I'll have fun either way.

Thanks Andrea and Connor!

Jumpy Jumpy Jumpy!

Connor's super brave with jumping. A little too confident. A few times we've caught him on the steps, jumping down step by step. Yikes!

Well, today after Daddy caught him trying that, Daddy told him to try some jumps in the living room. Connor decided it would be fun to jump off the couch, so Daddy cleared an area and put down some cushions.



Pool fun!



We all went to the pool on Saturday morning. It ended up getting cloudy just as we got out there, and the water was a little bit cold, but we all had fun anyways. Connor has some special toys he only gets at the pool and goes absolutely nuts for them. He carries around as many as he can the whole time (usually 4 at a time). He is still braver than he should be and ended up inhaling a bit of water when he slipped on the steps or went down more steps than he should have. We really wish the pool had a zero-entry section, we have to really hover over Connor the entire time.

Connor has really enjoyed jumping a lot lately and he was really good at jumping into the pool. We got some fun pictures of him jumping, but as with everything else at the pool he's a little braver than he should be. A few times we got him ready to jump in and he waved his finger at us and said "No, No, No" and he wanted to jump in without us catching him. Bad idea Beebs!

Just as he hits the water:


Look at all those toys!

So you think you can dance?

Connor went to watch cousin Allison dance this past Friday night. He's been to one of her dance recitals in the past when he was a bit younger, and at that dance recital he sat still and quiet the whole time and was enthralled with the entire production.

This year, there were 56 dances in the recital and we didn't expect that Connor would be so good again, but he surprised us. Connor sat still and fairly quiet the entire time. He pointed out Allison whenever she came out to dance and really enjoyed the show.

As usual, he had to have a couple of trucks with him, and he dropped them a number of times, but he was very good overall and we are so proud of him.



Unfortunately there were no cameras allowed inside the theater and Daddy got scolded shortly after taking the picture above. Allison did a great job, danced in 7 dances, and really knows how to shake that booty.

5 Year wedding anniversary!

A little bit of a change, the blog is still mainly all about Connor, but since we plan to have another baby some day we thought we'd make the blog a bit more general and make it more about our family than only Connor. He's going to have to learn to share, so we may as well start early.


This past Thursday was our 5 year wedding anniversary. On Saturday Theresa Harris (Connor's second cousin) came over to babysit Connor while we went to The Melting Pot to celebrate. We liked the cheese and dessert, but the main courses weren't that great. We ended up stopping by a snow cone stand on the way home, and I was somewhat embarrassed to admit that I like snow cones better than The Melting Pot. I guess I'm a cheap date.

While we ate, we reminisced about our wedding and we're so happy that we got so much support from our parents and were able to have such a beautiful wedding. We both still love The Hawthorne House and we will always remember our wedding as one of the best days of our lives.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

The Greats and Grands visit!

Connor playing with the family:


Connor's Great Grandparents and Grandparents all visited this weekend. The Great Grandparents flew in on Friday and Grandpa and Grandma Vernon came in on Thursday. Uncle Alex, Uncle Chris and (future)Aunt Abby came in Friday night. Connor loved seeing everyone together and even though he had a cough and lost his voice he didn't let it slow him down at all.

We had Grandpa and Grandma Anders come in on Saturday along with Aunt Amanda and Uncle Ryan. Cousins Drew and Alli came up with the Grandparents and we BBQ'd and played outside since it was so nice out. Connor loved driving around with his cousins and we played with bubbles and the sprinkler too.

It was a great weekend and we enjoyed having everyone over. We have a ton of great pictures, and it was tough to pick which ones to put on the blog. Thanks for coming everybody!

Grandma Alice read to Connor every night:


Daddy and Connor playing with the bubble wand. It made huge bubbles, Grandma Vernon saved these, Daddy actually played with these when he was a kid:


Connor was surprised when the sprinklers suddenly shut off:


Connor playing with his only cousins. Sadly they may be the only cousins he ever has:


Great Grandpa and Grandpa playing cars:


The Great Grandparents:


The Great Grandparents with us:


Daddy, Connor, Uncle Chris and Uncle Alex


Uncle Chris and Aunt Abby with Connor:


It was only possible to get such great pictures because Grandma Vernon is such a great help getting Connor to smile. There's nobody who's better at it!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Jeep in action!

Connor has been driving around in his Jeep whenever he can. He's figured out that the pedal moves the car, but hasn't gotten a hang of the steering wheel yet. For a while I would chase along side him, constantly correcting the steering so he would go straight down the sidewalk. In the end I wised up and realized that if I just turned the wheel all the way to one side he'd just go in circles. Much more relaxing for Mommy and Daddy, and he likes it just the same.






Sunday, June 7, 2009

Weekend with the Rudolphs

The Rudolphs asked if Connor could spend a couple nights with them and he's spending the whole weekend with them. We took him over Saturday and he's been hanging out with them and playing with his cousins. He loves to play with Drew and Allison and they are so good with him. He's lucky to have such a great family that enjoys him so much.



While we were dropping him off, the Rudolphs were cleaning house and we went through some of their old pictures. It was really neat to see pictures of Drew and Allison when they were much younger. It made us realize we needed to take some pictures of us with them.

Shawn with the Rudolph kids:


Andrea with the Rudolph kids:

Powerwheel Jeep!

This last week, Connor had a blast playing with the neighbor kids. His neighbor Makenzie has two Powerwheels and Connor absolutely loves riding in them. We were planning to get him one when he was around three, but he's done so well listening to directions with them and has so many other kids that are willing to ride with him and help him that we decided to just get him one.

We've put it together and charged the battery, but Connor hasn't gotten to ride in it yet. More on the Powerwheels in the future I'm sure!

Too impatient to wait for Daddy to finish putting it together:


Monday, June 1, 2009

Mommy's staying home with Connor!


The most exciting news this week is that Connor's going to get to stay home with Mommy two days each week! Mommy cut back her hours a little so she could spend time with her little boy. She's been missing him too much! She's going to take Mondays and Wednesdays off, and Connor is officially part time now at school. We're all very excited about it!

This past weekend was a lot of fun for Connor. Our neighbors had a big barbecue and Connor got to play with his friend Morgan that lives down the street. She and Connor played really well together and would chase each other around the entire time. They had a blast.

Connor also rode on a swing for the first time. In the past he would instantly throw a fit when he was put on a swing. When he saw Morgan having fun on a swing he finally decided it was worth a try. At first he would lose interest, letting go of the swing and plopping into the grass awkwardly. He got the hang of it very quickly and had a great time.


Connor and Morgan playing with the water limbo:


The kids also were driving around in little electric cars. We were a little nervous to let Connor ride in one and Mommy told him to hold on to a little plastic lip on the dashboard of the Barbie Jeep. Connor listened really well and held on to it for the entire ride. We were pretty impressed he listened so well, we just might have to get him a little car soon.


Connor and Morgan in the inflatable bounce room:


Last but not least, Connor got a new trike to use during "wheels day" at school. On every Thursday the kids bring their wheeled toy to play with outside. We went to get him a big wheel and of course he instantly fell in love with the "Cars" themed one and had to have it.


Notice the trucks in the back of the trike, he takes them everywhere with him.