Halloween 2007

I learned to clap last week. Now it is all I want to do!

Connor with all of his princesses!
Gavin, Caly, Ava, Connor, Aubriana, and Emma
Marabeth and the kiddos Come back here Flounder! Marabeth, Jon (being silly), Micheal, and Aidan Mommy with Humpty Dumpty! Daddy and Humpty

Hmmm... whats this stuff that Mommy keeps giving out?

Introducing Humpty Dumpty... Connor's first Halloween was a blast! We spent the first few hours trick or treating with our friends Jon, Beth, Caly (Belle- yellow dress) and Emma (Cinderella- blue dress), Micheal, Marabeth (Mermaid), and Aidan (spider man), Wade, Mary, Ava (other blue dress), Aubriana (Snowwhite), and Gavin (Flounder). We had so much fun walking around with them, even though Connor didnt get any candy to show for it. We figured that he would have a hard time eating it with all of his 4 teeth. He loved seeing all of the costumes and lights from the pumpkins! Everyone loved his costume! He was the hit of the party!

We left that party and went back to our neighborhood to see all of our neighbors and to hand out the candy that we had bought. We still had so much left that Connor decided it was time he learned what this stuff was all about. He played with all of the different ones for a while and decided that Skittles are his favorite!

I hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween! I wonder what Connor will be next year....Stay tuned!

Fun times with family

On Sunday we had a wonderful dinner at Grannies house before returning home. Connor got to play with Kaitlyn again and they had so much fun! I think they are going to have some fun times when they get older. They are already fighting over toys and rough housing... It was so funny watching them interact! We had so much fun visiting with everyone and look forward to seeing you all again in a couple of weeks! Love you all!

Connor's first costume party

Humpty himself! Connor and Kaitlyn with Great Uncle Benny

Connor and Summer
Mmmm...mmmm!

While Mommy and Daddy were at the UT game on Saturday night, Grannie and Pops took Connor to his very first costume party! It was hosted by Connor's cousin Kaitlyn, Pam and Matthew. Since we weren't there Grannie took lots of pictures for us to see what a good time he had. I particularly like the one with the icing on his face! Thank you Grannie and Pops for taking such good care of our little man! He loves you!!!

Good ole' Rocky Top

Last Saturday we got to go "home sweet home" to our alma mater. Amanda and Pete got us tickets to go with them and we were so excited since we didnt get to go to a game last year. It seems like so much has changed since the last 5 years that I was a student there (including our football team)! The game wasn't pretty, however we still WON and that is the most important thing of course. We had so much fun going tailgating with Pete and his work crew, Waste Connections. As you see in the pictures they had the coolest set up I have ever seen! An actual garbage truck that had been converted to the ultimate tailgating machine! It was equipped with a plasma screen TV in the side and speakers. Then on the back where the trash would have been dumped there was a ledge where the food was placed. Sounds kinda weird being described this way it obviously very clean. Pete's boss told us they spent $30,000 to get it up to par! They won Tailgater of the Game last week. It was awesome! We had such a great time and it was good to be able to do something as a couple again. It has been awhile, actually we have only been apart for Connor for a couple of hours at a time since he has been born. Thanks Grannie and Pops for watching Connor for us to be able to go and see UT play again. GO VOLS! (They are gonna need all the help they can get!)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Connor wants to wish everyone a Happy Halloween! He is so excited to get all dressed up tonight and to see all of the ghosts and goblins out trick or treating. (Well, maybe we are more excited than he is...) Stay tuned for pictures of him in his costume!

lil' Babe

Here is a picture of Connor "calling his shot" just like Babe Ruth did! He is really getting into the World Series this week!

Me... just one year ago!

Holy Cow! This picture brings back so many feelings... joy, excitement, anxiousness, nervousness, wondering, discomfort, exhaustion, hunger (I was hungry all the time!), and more JOY! I cant believe that this was me a year ago! Even though I enjoyed being pregnant for the most part, lets just say that I am so happy that Connor is on the outside of me now!

And He's Off....

Connor started crawling this week! On Tuesday night we started noticing him go from sitting to getting on his knees and then all of a sudden he finally figured it out. After 2 months of trying! He would crawl a few steps and then fall to his belly and start rolling like he usually does. I warned Betty about this on Wednesday so she would be prepared and today when I went to pick him up she said that he was starting to get the hang of it and was crawling more and more. It wont be long before he will be moving faster than I can catch him! What will he get into next? I guess I must start babyproofing!!! Geez, this is why they told me to do this before he was born. Now there is no TIME. I must make time because Connor isnt going to wait, that is for sure!

Neal Annual Bonfire/Hayride

I am so tired!!!
Peek a boo!
Pawpaw, Connor, and Grandy (Neal's) Connor just loves animals! This little pup was the only thing that would put a smile on his face!I just love this picture! Thanks Dad for helping to keep Connor happy! Me and my GrandyConnor really liked playing on the hay bales. This was his scarecrow costume for the night.

Last night we went to the Neal family weiner roast. It was lots of fun to see family and people who I live amongst but dont know that well. It is really strange to be living here, where my grandparents grew up. If you had told me that I would be living here 10 years ago, I would have told you that you were crazy! You see the town I live in now, (I wont name it on here because you never know what weirdos are out there) used to be a small, small quiet farm town with nothing besides a few banks and a farmers CO-OP. I have many great memories riding in my Pawpaws truck riding to the CO-OP to get some supplies before going to the farm. He would usually stop and get me an Orange Crush and anything else I desired and we would be off. The farm I am speaking of was only a few short miles from the house we just moved from. The farm was sold last year and is being developed as we speak. Yes, it is sad to see... The barns that I grew up playing in and slept in when I was just a baby will soon be bulldozed to the ground as they make way for progress. Our town is now one of the fastest growing in the country and is growing by leaps and bounds everyday. It is hard for me to say anything negative towards this since I am the very reason that all of this building is going on. I moved here because of all of the growth and opportunity like the rest of the people here and fell in love with the small town feel, since that is how I grew up. It also felt like home in a sense, because of the farm and my ties to the town. Sorry I will get back to the bonfire now. I just wanted to give you a little background.

Brad and I went to the Neal reunion in May of 2006 when I was pregnant, but havent seen anyone since Connor was born. It was great to take him to meet some of his Mommy's kin folk. We had a great time but as you can tell by the pictures, Connor wasnt in the greatest mood. He had a long day and hadnt had his normal nap routine that day. Early that morning we went to see Hillary in her wedding dress and I got fitted for my bridesmaid dress. It goes without saying Hillary was beautiful in her dress! Brett is very very lucky! Connor just stared and stared at her. It was so sweet! I got an extra push to lose some weight when they measured me for my dress! WOW! I hadnt realized how bad it had gotten. I told them they could order me whatever size they wanted but they WOULD be taking it in a lot by the time it gets here! Needless to say tomorrow starts my diet!!!

Unfortunately we didnt get to go on the hayride because they left pretty late and from what Dad and Brett told me from last year, it can be a pretty long excursion. They take marshmallows and have a marshmallow fight on the ride. I didnt think that this sounded like too much fun with a tired baby. There were some guys (Neals of course but I dont know who they actually were) playing bluegrass and Connor was absolutely mesmerized by it! As you can tell, a great time was had by all!

Poor QX...

Here are some of the pics from my car. It look as if I will have to turn into my insurance because I just got my first quote for $1200... Bummer, I was hoping that it would be less so I wouldnt have to file the claim. Oh well, I am just anxious to get it back to normal. It is making some pretty funky noises now.

I should have gone home...

It all started last night when I was going home from the funeral home (my Great Uncle) that I noticed I needed gas in my car. I didnt want to stop because Connor was fussing in the backseat, it was 7:30 and I hadnt eaten yet and I needed to get Connor ready for bed. I thought I would wait until the morning. Well, this morning I didnt feel like getting up early to get gas before work, so I thought I would wait until lunch. I spent every single minute of my lunch break in Target (which is what usually happens when I go there) so I didnt have time to do it then. I thought I would go on my way home but I didnt get to leave early enough and I like to be on time to get Connor since he is the last one to get picked up at the sitters house. Now Brad and I are pretty bad about waiting till' the empty light comes on in the car. I think we have figured out how much we have in reserve so we wait because we can always find something else to do in the meantime. Well today was no exception. As I got off my exit to go to Betty's I saw the light come on and I thought well I have enough to get home. I didnt feel like going to wait in line at the gas station which is what usually happens at rush hour. As I was driving away after picking up Connor I contemplated whether or not to get gas, or wait until later that night or in the morning. Since I knew that I wouldnt want to do it in the morning I decided to head towards the station... Big mistake.

I got gas without much trouble and then started to head out of the parking lot, then BOOM... A white 4-Runner came out of nowhere and we hit. My bumper hit her tires and I pretty much just bounced off. It did shake me up a bit, but once I realized that everyone was OK I calmed down and proceeded to check out the damage. Connor never made a peep in the backseat and when I looked back there he was playing with a water bottle like nothing had ever happened. The other girl got out of her car and came over to my car and said, "I never even saw you." When the cop got there he asked us both what happened and pretty much we both had the same story, although I didnt even get 3 feet away from the gas pump so I feel pretty confident that she was at fault because we hit so hard and she was driving so close to the pumps and cars. Im not sure, but I think she even felt that way because she looked very nervous and upset when I said that we needed to get a police report. Hmmm... The policeman gave me the police report number but said that they dont determine who is at fault and it would be up to the insurance company. The reason I say company, is because (of course) she has no insurance!

I have to say that I am extremely thankful that no one was hurt, especially with 2 babies involved. Thank the Lord for that! However, the irony in all of this is that we just paid my car off on Friday, AND we raised our deductible to $1000 on our car insurance because we havent had a claim in years, AND I hit a 16 year old girl with no insurance, AND she has NO TELEPHONE! I thought about this as I was driving home and I called the officer again to tell him that she had a cell phone before he got there. He said not to worry, that he knew how to find her. That is when I found out that she was a 16 year old living with her parents. I am hoping that her parents will be responsible but I know that will probably not be the case. Did I mention that she had a baby about Connors age? I didnt realize that she was that young initially but it makes sense now. I will have to take it up with my insurance tomorrow and see what the process is. I have to admit that when I think about what I pay every month in insurance (not to mention that the state law requires it) and people can still drive around without it and most of the time get away from an accident without any damage, it makes me angry. I didnt see a scratch on her car and as you can tell by the pictures her tire marks are all over my bumper. Oh well, that is the way it works... I keep paying high deductibles for people like this.

I also have to mention that as I sat down to write this post I knocked my cup of water over onto my magazines and camera... I think I will go to bed now before anything else happens. Sweet Dreams and hopefully the skies will be brighter tomorrow!

(Sorry guys I will have to post pics later- something is wrong with blogger right now...)

Come on, give the dog a home!

Every day our country is euthanizing animals because there arent enough people to care for them. It breaks my heart to know that one dog found a loving home and then was taken away because of a "contract". I couldnt believe it when I heard this story!

http://www.tvsquad.com/2007/10/16/ellen-degeneres-sobs-over-a-dog-video/

One tough, little boy!

This past week, Connor was feeling a little puny. Well, little is not really the word, he didnt feel good at all, but you never would have known it because he was his normal happy self. It all started with a cold about 3 weeks ago that still hasnt gone away. I thought that it might have been brought on by the teething because they say that can come with it sometimes. We have been wiping snot almost constantly for about a month. It is not very much fun! You get him all cleaned up and nose clear (you think) and then he will sneeze and it all comes out again. On Tuesday of this week, I noticed that Connors eyes were starting to look bad. They werent pink, but just watery and goopy. Mom and I thought that it was just a little cold in the eye and it would go away. Well, it stayed around and I was going to call the doctor when I noticed that one of his ears had dried fluid in it where his ear had ruptured while he was at Ms. Betty's house that day! I called the doctor and took him in the next morning and they told me that he had conjunctivitis (pink eye), an ear infection, and his sinus cavity was full of yuck! To quote her exactly, "Connor is one big snot pocket from his nose, eyes, and ears." I felt terrible! I told her that I usually pay attention to signs that tell me that Connor isnt feeling well, but he didnt do anything this time which would have indicated that he felt any different than his happy self! He didnt even pull at his ear, which signals the infection. She couldnt believe it and said that he was one tough little boy! Connor never ceases to amaze me sometimes. I should have taken him to the doctor sooner because of his cold since they tell you to if it lasts for more than 2 weeks. I just thought it would be another one of those visits where they send you home and tell you to wait is out, there is nothing they can do. I have learned my lesson this time! She said the pink eye and ear infection were caused by the duration of the cold. She also said it was probably caused by allergies. Which leads me to another problem... Connor is allergic to milk, our dog, and other various things that we cant seem to pinpoint. I hope he grows out of this! It is making it a real challenge to feed him solids when he cant have anything that has milk products in it. A lot of the baby food has milk in it, which has surprised me. I have to read labels on everything. This baffles us because neither Brad or I have allergies besides the seasonal ones that most people get around here. Please pray that Connor will get well and grow out of this soon!

-By the way, we dont usually put Connor in boxes... Daddy got a new shop vac and Connor was mighty interested in the box. We put him inside and he played in there for like an hour!

Monkey on my back!

Meet my new friend ( we still havent given him a name yet), my new monkey from the San Diego Zoo. An Am and Pete brought him back to me from the zoo, in addition to my very own monkey t shirt and leapord puppet book. I love puppets and ma-ma and me have been having fun playing with Mr. Leapord. As for Mr. Monkey, he goes everywhere I go. We have become best pals!

Connor

We had a wonderful visit this weekend from An Am (Aunt Amanda). She came down on Saturday morning and stayed through Sunday. We spent most of the time playing at home, visiting downtown Franklin, going to a bonfire/cookout, and driving around the area to enjoy the beautiful scenery for this time of year. Thanks An Am for spending your weekend with us. We look forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks when we come down for the UT game! Thanks for Connors new things, and to Pete too! He is so lucky to have so many people that love him and want to spoil him! Sorry I dont have any pics of the weekend besides the monkey ones. We were so busy we forgot to take any...

Mama/Tara