Second the Motion...

I hereby declare that Saturdays need to last at least five hours longer than a normal weekday.

Does anybody second this motion??

The Sassy Side

My most recent parenting dilemma has been how to deal with a sassy young man named Conner. While Conner is very sweet and thoughtful most of the time, his sassy side has started to emerge... and at the age of two and a half!

How do you discipline a young man who in a sassy voice says "no thank you mommy!!" ??? I am grateful that he is using polite words when he is frustrated and I do not want to discourage his ability to positively express his frustration.... What do you think?

Ohh... the joys of parenting! I thought the stork was going to deliver an owners manual specific for the child when the baby arrived... I am still waiting :)

We Love Grammie and Grampie

Nate's parents came to visit us this weekend, and we had such a great time! Silly me, I totally forgot to charge the camera batteries so I could take pictures...

We enjoyed playing games, watching movies, and playing. Thanks again for coming to hang out with us - We love you!

Beans are Punny

Conner has been defining what is "punny" in his life. When something happens that makes him laugh, he will quickly exclaim: "baby is punny" or "daddy is punny".

He surprised me a couple days ago when at the grocery store he exclaimed "beans are punny!"

Apparently beans are hilarious... I am not sure how I missed that one. I have been hearing about how punny beans are all week!

At our house, the phrase "cool beans" has been replaced with "punny beans"... Okay, I know that the phrase "cool beans" was so last century... but, I have two kids, and I don't get out much.. :)

What do you think is "punny"?

Spiritual School?

Conner loves to go to church... He wishes that we could go every day of the week. Conner does not like it when Daddy goes to church on the weeknights without him.

To avoid this confrontation, Nate recently told Conner that he was going to "spiritual school".

Conner quickly asked "espitual school?"

Apparently, Conner liked this response as he as been asking all week if Daddy is at school or "espitual" school!

Conner is Shaking Hands

Today we were walking the halls during church... a normal occurrence :)

While walking, Conner overheard a man asking another man to shake his hand.

Conner quickly reached his hand up to shake this man's hand. Once he had shaken his hand, he reached for the other hand. Conner then proceeded to shake more hands... he would even grab hands that were hanging down to one's side and begin to shake.

It was fun to watch the smile that would cross Conner's face and the reaction of those he shook hands with. I just love my little toddler... he is such an amazing boy who is so smart and witty :)

Is "shaken" a real word??

-- Be sure to read all four of my posts today :)

Super Bowl Changes

Our day has not been intense due to the football game (go Utes)... but, because of some new changes that have occurred in our family.

This morning, we met with our Stake President. Believe me... we were both super nervous and anxious about this meeting. Once the meeting began, it was obvious that Nate was to receive a new calling. We were both shocked to receive the news that Nate was to be called as the second counselor in our bishopric.

We are both extremely humbled by this change, and I pray that the Lord will help and assist our family and home in this new change.

You Have an Attractive Chest

Remember Band-aid boy?

Band-aid boy registered for another one of Nate's anatomy classes at the community college, so we have four more months of Band-aid stories coming your way.

Last week, Nate was asked about the soy controversy and what he thought about it. After Nate explained his soy knowledge, he went on to explain that he has consumed soy his entire life and does not suffer from gynecomastia (a.k.a. man boobs).

To this comment, band-aid boy spoke up and declared in front of the whole class "Yes, you have a very attractive chest"

Yikes! What is a professor to say after a comment like that?? How would you respond... if you were the professor?


-- For those of you who are curious about the soy controversy, here is a quick explanation: the estrogen found in soy is a phyto-estrogen that is found in many plants... which is not a precursor to developing female characteristics or gynecomastia.

Conner Talks!

Seriously... Conner talks! It took a while... for a short period of time he was scared of speaking... but he officially talks! I have been trying to record some chatter... but as soon as he sees that I have the camera, he stops talking.

Here is our list of phrases and words:

"I'm kidding"
"Me too!"
"Baby Leb"
"I'm a race car!"
"Race car Conner"
"Conner Monster.... Rarr!"
"Play play dough"
"My turn"
"Baby tired"
"It's okay baby"
"I miss daddy"
"Daddy at school"
"Daddy at office"
"More abba-sauce please"
"Tank you"
"I'm Sally"
"My car seat"
"Watch Jonah"
"Bless you Baby"
"I miss baby"
"Mommy's hot"
"Play with friends?"
"Garbage trucks all gone!"
"Baby take away"
"Baby touch"
"My turn!"
"Baby's turn"
"Conner Messy"
"Sleep on couch"
"My own bed"
"Ride YeeHaw" (YeeHaw is his bouncy horse)
He is even starting to say family prayers at dinner and before bed!

He has also started to sing! His favorite songs to sing are:

Once there was a snowman
Wheels on the Bus
Elmo's world

I am loving the chatter... can you believe that I actually had an argument with him the other night about the whereabouts of Dad? Conner was determined that Nathan was at his office when he was actually teaching at school. The argument went something like this:

"Daddy at office"
"No, daddy is at school"
"No, Daddy at office"
"Nope, daddy is at school tonight."
"NO! DAD AT OFFICE"
"Conner, Dad is at school... okay?"
"NO! NO! DADDY IS AT OFFICE"
"Conner, Dad is not at his office... he is at school... want to play play dough?"
"NO! NO! NO! DAD IS AT OFFICE... NO SCHOOL! OFFICE! OFFICE!"

This conversation went on for a couple of minutes... then I gave in... Conner can be a very persuasive boy! I am so excited about his new found chatter, but I am somewhat apprehensive about the arguments we are having... and his ability to change the whereabouts of Dad!

Here is a little video of some talking... he was kind of occupied with play dough, but that distracted him from the camera!