Phone Pictures

Here are some other random pictures from my phone:

Elli after breakfast yesterday morning....She always requests to watch "Disney World" (which just means we 'youtube' disney world videos.  She was so engrossed in the video, it looked like she was about to fall asleep!

 Look at the way Connor is now holding a writing utensil!  Just like a pro!!

 This has become a favorite activity for the kids....It especially came in handy this past weekend when we were trying to do yard work!

 This picture is dark, but the kids love putting on their blanket animals and pretending they are on disney on ice.

 We tried out a new park last week and the kids loved it!!

People couldn't believe Connor was keeping his hat and glasses on!  What can I say, this kid loves to accessorize just like his big sis!  (Um.....he even HAD to wear sunglasses during his indoor swim lessons on Saturday....the.whole.time!)

 He thought he was pretty cool in this big kid swing!

 Connor and I explored a park that we'd never been to while Elli was at preschool on Friday.

....And I quickly realized that I'm going to need to stock up on some play clothes for this kid for the future.  He was so muddy after the park (I took this picture after I had used up multiple wipes trying to clean him off) and it didn't phase him one bit.  I didn't have time to run home and get an extra pair of shorts for him before I got Elli, so I did the best I could getting the mud off!

20 months

I am once again late on posting a monthly update on Connor.  Connor turned 20 months old on the 16th (in my defense, I didn't even realize he had turned 20 months until the 19th- oops).  

Connor continues to love everything that has to do with airplanes (I mean...absolutely loves planes).  He is always looking for planes in the sky when we go outside and is the first to point them out!  He loves being outside and it's usually a struggle to get him to come back inside.  Connor loves trucks and cars.  He especially loves the little cozy coupe cars that he can drive and it often gets him in trouble as he doesn't share well with them!  

Lately, Connor has been a little stinker when it comes to bedtime.  We continue to put him to bed around 7:30 or 8:00, but for the past few weeks he's been lying awake in bed until around 9:00 or 9:30.  Ugh!  He will then sleep in until around 8:00 or 8:30 (sometimes later)....be fussy in the morning and then rearing to go after naps.  This staying up late and sleeping in has become a cycle for him.  I'm going to try and start putting him down earlier for a nap in hopes he'll fall asleep earlier at night.  Speaking of sleeping, yesterday we were all ready to move him to his toddler bed, but then found out the rails we bought for his crib wouldn't work (booo.....maybe it was a sign that we shouldn't move him to a bigger bed yet....we'll see)!!

Just like big sis, Connor loves dressing up.  He only has one costume, spiderman, but he loves putting it on.  Today Elliana put on her 'snow white' dress and he kept saying "co-cume" (aka 'costume').  He loves wearing his sunglasses and will keep a hat on outside for a good amount of time.  This boy has an obsession with shoes and is pretty picky about what shoes he wears.

Last week Connor had his follow-up cardiology appointment at Children's Hospital.  The appointment was during naptime and I took both kids with me!  The appointment went great and Connor couldn't have been better (Elli too).  His EKG was normal and the doctors are hopeful that the hole is closing.  In fact, we don't have to go back for quite awhile.  They will do another echocardiogram and if the hole is closed we will be done with the cardiologist for good!  If not, we'll continue follow-up visits.

 Mowing the grass like Daddy

 Connor loves trains.....and hats

Dancing around with the broom!

I've never met a kid that can make a mess like Connor.  When it comes to eating, this boy has food all over him, the table, and floor at every meal!  

This video was taken in Florida!  Connor has quite the dance moves!!

 

We're crazy about our Bubs!!  Can't believe he is getting so big!!

Birthday

Here are some pictures from my birthday!  I started the day off with a muffin filled with jelly beans from Elli.  It probably isn't what I would have chosen to eat for breakfast, but she was really excited about it! 

We went to MOPS, the kids took naps, and then we spent the rest of the day outside!

Scott brought dinner and an ice cream cake home.  The kids were unbelievably hyper after the ice cream cake, but we still put them to bed on time.  We had our sitter come over to the house while we went to the Melting Pot for dessert with friends.

Thanks for all the calls, texts, messages, emails, cards, and gifts!  I had a great day!

Random Pictures

Here are some recent and old pictures from my phone...

Our first trip to the Cabela's in Columbus....

 Riding the Merry-Go-Round....

 Watching Daddy mow and Connor decided he needed to do it too....

 Making Muffins

Both kids love playing dress-up....

 Disregard Elli's eyes- can't figure out how to fix the red-eye on my iPhone

Picture of the capes I made for the kids for Easter.  Today was the first day Connor has agreed to wear it....he's refused every other time....he apparently prefers a blanket tied around his neck for a cape. 

This girl loves her hard boiled eggs!  I think she ate 3 in one sitting this day!  She's really such a good eater and will eat just about anything we put in front of her!!

Snuggling with Papa on the couch at Easter....

Elli earned her long Rapunzel hair....she rarely takes it off and on certain days she'll call me 'mother' instead of 'mom' or 'mommy' because that is what Rapunzel does!!

Although I still see a decent amount of fighting (and bullying from Elli) with these kids, they have really, really started to enjoy playing together!  I never thought we'd get to this point!  Elli loves rocking him before bed and it's so sweet to hear her sing to him always telling me "Mom, shhh. I'm the mommy, he's my baby.  I need to put Bubba to bed." And then she proceeds to sing, "The B-L-E, yes that's the book for me, I stand alone on the word of God, the B-L-E."

They also have a special little clap that they do together and always laugh when they do it!  Although Connor loves one on one time when he gets it, many times when Elli leaves the room he'll say "sissy."

Giving hugs and kisses before bed

Easter

We went to Indiana on Thursday night before Good Friday to spend Easter with both sides of our family.  Here is what we did for the few days that we were home....

Easter Egg Hung #3 at the Lindvall house....who would have known that Snow White would be there....

Connor was a rockstar during this egg hunt.  He did so good....running all over the place getting eggs....unfortunately, I don't have a great picture of him doing it!

We also went to see the movie 'The Croods.'  I consider this Connor's first real movie experience in a movie theater.  He went with us when we took Elli to see 'Beauty and the Beast' when she turned 2, but he was only 5 months old and slept through most of it!  He did pretty good considering he was fighting a stomach bug (....and now he's sick again....he can't catch a break....no more stomach bug though)

Elli was so excited to go see a movie with Vander and Dane.  When I told her what we were going to do, she started screaming and jumping up and down.  She's snuggled all up next to Vander in the above  picture.  Can you tell they weren't a fan of my camera flash in the dark theater?

Connor watching the previews for 'Planes'....luckily that movie comes out right before his 2nd birthday!!

The movie was a success, but a certain little girl had a stomachache from all the popcorn and Diet Coke.

We had Easter egg hunt #4 at the Brauchler house.

She was so excited for the Easter egg hunt!!

We also took a little swim in the hot tub!  Elli is becoming quite the swimmer!  She was jumping off the side and going under in the pool....she called it a 'dive.'

We went to church at Mt. Olive on Sunday morning then had lunch with my parents and grandparents! 

Here are pictures from Easter morning....

We didn't do Easter outfits this year.  Instead, Elli wore a dress she already had and then I made Connor a tie that matched the dress.

Cousins

Easter Egg Hunt #2

We did multiple egg hunts around Easter this year.  After swim lessons one morning, we went to a local  Easter egg hunt at a park in the neighborhood next to ours.  There was so much going on there, but the weather wasn't that great!  As a result, we didn't end up staying long, but we did manage to find many, many eggs and exchange them for candy!

 Princess Belle, Princess Aurora, Princess Snow White, Spiderman, & Superman made an apparence.  Connor loved looking at Spiderman and Superman, but wanted nothing to do with them when they got close.  Elli got to look for eggs with Princess Belle.

19 months

I started this post a few days ago, but I decided I'd better finish it seeing as how Connor turned 19 months old over 2 weeks ago!

Connor continues to go to bed around 7:30 and wakes up anywhere from 7:30 to 8:30.  He's been known to be a late owl recently and stay up talking in his bed for awhile before he goes to sleep.  He still lets us rock him to sleep, but recently he's been wanting to sit beside me while I rock.  Just like Elli, he loves to have a million stuffed animals in his bed with him while he sleeps and he usually picks out one that he likes to carry downstairs with him each morning.  

Connor loves pointing out trucks while driving, playing with trains, trying on different shoes, sweets, balls, t.v. (although it only holds his attention for a few minutes), elmo, airplanes, books, niney, and dancing.  And one of his all time favorite things is driving/turning the wheel on a car/truck.  I've always known this; however, it was very apparent yesterday when we were at a play cafe and he had a really, really, really hard time sharing the firetruck.  

Connor's language is really starting to pick up.  I'd list all his words; however, the list is getting long and I'm sure I'll leave many out.  He uses many words at home with us, but outside of this environment he tends to get more shy.  

This boy loves to dress up!  In fact, I spent time making Elli and Connor both capes for Easter because they love tying blankets around their necks and acting like it is a cape.  Wouldn't you know this kiddo doesn't even want to wear it and would prefer a blanket instead....stinker!!  Notice his superman costume....

He loves looking at these headphones....we finally got him to put them on.

This is what happens when you have a sister.....notices his ears! He also likes wearing earrings when Elli brings them out.  My mom reminded me that his father also had an earring, so I feel better every time he puts them on.

Happy 19th month birthday Connor Lee (although you're almost 20 months old now :/)