2 videos

This is what Connor does EVERY time we're making food, he sees food, he's eating food, etc... anything having to do with food!

Connor's new favorite thing to do in the bath!

Connor's words

Connor's vocabulary seems to be sky-rocketing lately. Recently, he's saying at least 1 new word a day. I'm just amazed at how big he's getting. He's not my baby anymore. There's no baby left in him. He's all boy! I just wanted to write some of the words that he says. These are all the words that he uses on a day to day basis. There's a few more that he's said once or twice, but never said again... so of course I couldn't think of those, so they're not on the list.

(this list is mainly just for me and my journaling purposes)

words

hi

bye

ball

ow

help

pull

on

off

go

go away

up

water (wa wa)

yellow

train

outside (ow-i)

mine

no

shoe

sit

more

milk

doggie

key

softies (sa-sas)

hug

where

uh-oh

cheese

light

music (mu)

hair

eyes

nose

hat

truck (tru)

flag

balloon (boom)

door

bubble

bath

red

all done

car (not sure why, but he calls these "neeeees")

names

Mama

Dada

Grandpa (not sure how to spell how he says it, lol)

Grandma (Mama... but said a little differently than how he says mama for me)

Bethany (Ya-Ya)

Nate (Na)

Kate (Ka)

Ollie

Brileigh

Ellie

Dakota (Doe-da)

sounds

moo

quack

ruff

meow

baa

sound of an airplane

and a cute picture collage from today just because no blog post is complete without a picture! :)

P.S. I think he looks a LOT like my brother (as a toddler) in the black and white picture... what do you think? (I should find a picture of him when he was little and put them side by side)

OCD?

We (my mom, me, sisters, etc.) often discus about how Connor has/might have OCD. I don't know if he actually does or not (my grandma has it, and it is genetic), but if he doesn't, he has some major detail/order issues! There's a lot of things that he does (to name just a few 1. when there are two lights in a room, but only one of them is on... he will cry and say "on... on... on..." until you turn the other one one 2. when we're out shopping and something is not right (spill on the floor, something off the shelf, etc.) he will say "uh oh" over and over until I fix it, or let him fix/clean it 3. he hates to be dirty and will cry until I clean his hands of food, dirt, sand, etc.) but one of the main things is that EVERYTHING has to be in a straight line. If there's a pile of something, or things in a wacky order, he has to fix it. He puts anything and everything into a line. Sometimes he can't do it, and he gets really frustrated because it's not perfect. So sometimes I help the line so that he doesn't start crying. But here are some of the things he did all on his own... I find stuff like this all over the house, all the time...

(if you can't tell, these are Del Taco hot sauce packets, juice bottles, DVD/videos & his train/bus/truck... he's also been known to line up my mom candles (she has 15+ of them), cups and/or bowls, his blankets, shoes, etc.)

Our new addition

I got a call from my brother about a week ago. He'd gone to PetSmart with his wife, and together they found an adorable puppy that was there trying to be adopted out. They fell in love with her right away, and even though they already have 2 dogs at home, decided to adopt her. They bring her home and called the home owners (they rent from my SIL's aunt) to double check that it's ok they have another dog (like I said, they already have 2) and she says absolutely not, and that they have to get rid of her. So, back to the call... he asked me if we would be willing to take her. Aaron and I have been thinking about getting a dog for quite some time (so it wasn't one of those quick decision moments) and so I said yes, as long as Connor was ok with her. Connor either loves or hates a dog... and he picks and chooses which ones. He will see some dogs and be perfectly fine with, and see others and scream and cry (and it doesn't matter the size.... he's hated tiny ones and loved big ones, and vice versa). So I told my brother that I'd come over with Connor and see how he was with her, and it was basically Connor's final decision.

So Connor and I drove over there (Aaron was at work, but I called him... already knowing his answer would be yes... he's the main one who has been wanting a pet) and when we walked into the house, the dog came up to us, Connor smiled, petted her and said "nice" (that came from us with my parents dogs, trying to get him to be gentle and nice) and trying to lay his head down on her to give her hugs.

So... we have a dog :) There's been some trials this first week, for a few reasons...

1. She got sick - she started throwing up, had horrible diarrhea & was VERY lethargic. We thought she might have parvo, but we were lucky, and she pulled through :)

2. She's not potty trained - we don't have a fenced in back yard, and we don't have a door that goes to the back yard... so potty training is tough. Especially when I have Connor here by myself, and I'm trying to hold him while having her on a leash... but we're working on it :)

3. Connor and her act like brother and sister - Connor thinks that it's funny to throw things at her. He's not trying to be mean or malicious... but when she runs or dodges the object, he starts laughing hysterically. He just thinks that they're playing together. But the dog doesn't like this (of course not, who would?!) and starts barking at him, and a couple of times she's nipped at him. So I have to constantly be watching the two of them and I'm always breaking up fights!

But... despite those things, we love our little girl. Oh, and her name is Dakota (Connor calls her Doe-da)

Connor thinks he's a puppy too...

Bethany leaves...

One of my best friends that I've ever had is my little sister, Bethany. She's always been there for me. She's the most awesome person in the whole entire world. She's sweet, spiritual, kind, giving, honest, loving... and one of the best aunties that is on this earth! Connor and her are like two peas in a pod. He LOVES his Auntie Ya-Ya.

Bethany's been thinking about school, job, life, etc... and prayed about it, and through a lot of trial and more prayers, she found a job in Taylorsville, Utah. She's working as a nanny for 2 little ones. They have a little boy who just turned 1 year old, and a little girl who's 8 months. The parents were in the middle of adopting the 1 year old when she found out that she was pregnant. So.... they didn't only have one child, but two!

We are going to miss (already do) Bethany so much. But we know that she's on the right path for her, and hope that she finds all the happiness she can, because she deserves it more than anyone I know!

Here are some pictures at the airport as she was leaving...

We love you, Ya-Ya!!

Changes...

Ever since Aaron and I have been married, we've only had 1 car. We just haven't been able to afford to get another one. So, we've always just delt with it. For a while, we were both working at Olan Mills, and he was at a permanent studio in Banning, and I was training at various studios in our district. So I would just drop Aaron off at work in the morning, and go to the studio I was working at, and then I'd pick him up after work and we'd go home. Then I got pregnant and was horribly sick and couldn't train anymore... and Aaron got promoted to a mobile studio... so I took over Aaron's studio in Banning and he traveled. So, the roles reversed... he dropped me off, etc... Well, one thing after another, we quit Olan Mills, and there were issues with our car... so Aaron found a job locally so he could walk to work. Then we got our car back, and he got laid off. Then he found a job in Moreno Valley as a cashier at Chick-fil-A. It's about a half an hour away... so the whole dropping him off thing wouldn't work. So every day, Aaron leaves for work and is gone with the car for about 10+ hours, and I am home with Connor. We've been fine with this for the past 7 months. My parents and sisters are close, so if we ever need anything, they're always there for us. Well... our car died. That was horrible. He was going to take the bus to work, but the bus system stops running at 6:30pm on his route, and he usually gets off at 10:30pm. So my wonderful parents drove Aaron to work and back every day for a few weeks. Then we were SOOO lucky and found a lady who was selling her late husbands car, for VERY VERY cheap (way below what she should have charged) because she just wanted to get rid of it. So YAY!! We were back with a car. And then, a few weeks later, Aaron and a guy from church were able to fix our other car for $40 when we were told it'd be $1500 at the shop (LOTS of labor time into fixing it!). Sooooo... this is the FIRST time that we have had TWO cars!!! It's such a different experience, being about to actually go grocery shopping during the afternoon, and not have to hurry and get out in the morning before Aaron goes to work! :)

Since we have two cars now, I decided that I would try to find a babysitting job. In my head, I thought up the perfect job. I wanted to find a job that was local. I wanted to find a job where I could bring Connor with me. I thought it'd be great if I could find a job where there was a kid that was Connor's age. I wanted to work between 25-35 hours a week. And I wanted decent pay. So, I went about all my ways, trying to find something. I went on all the normal nanny sites I've used before... but nothing was coming up. So, I figured I'd put a little ad on craigslist and see if I could get anything from there. I had a few people write me, but nothing came of it.

This Sunday, we had Stake Conference. There were three main topics that stuck out to me.


#1 Get an education


#2 Get out of debt


#3 Get your year supply of food storage



1. Aaron's been talking about going to school for a VERY long time. He wants to go to school and become and LVN. He's been looking into schools, programs, grants & loans. But... no matter what, we have to have money. Not everything can be covered even if he gets a grant. We make enough money at Aaron's current job to pay bills and everything, but there's nothing extra for school. So we were at a standstill on that subject.


2. We are lucky enough to not be in any debt


3. We don't have a year supply... but we do have a supply. We sort of came to a "we have no money" standstill on that subject to.



Another thing that was said during conference was that if you want these things to happen, that you need to make sacrifices. It's not going to come easy to you. You need to work for it. So with that being said, I made a decision... I needed to find a babysitting job. I would love it if my photography was making me millions, but it's not. And I needed steady money coming in, not money here and there from photo shoots. So, I continued my pursuit. With becoming night manager, Aaron talked to his boss, and if he can commit to 2-10:30pm at work, his boss will only schedule him then, so that he can go to school in the mornings. I wouldn't even consider asking Aaron to find a second job. He wouldn't be able to function. So... I went on my pursuit.



What I think is the most awesome thing though, is that Heavenly Father knows EXACTLY what he's doing. He's no dumby. What I was looking for in a job... that's not what I got. I did get a few aspects of it, but not what I was thinking.

I went on the interview this afternoon at 3:30pm... I spoke with the dad & daughter (they're divorced and the dad was hiring the sitter, not the mom). The interview went very well and he said that he'd like to talk with the girls mom and if I could call him at 6pm that would be great. So I thought/prayed about it for the next 2 hours, and when I called him at 6... he hired me and asked if I could start tomorrow :)


-It's only 3 hours a day, from 2:30-5:30... Tuesday through Friday (there will sometimes be more hours here and there, but for the most... 12 hours a week)

- They are only 5 minutes from my house

- I am able to bring Connor with me

- It's only one little girl, who is 9 years old

- It's decent money :)

Totally not what I was looking for... but I prayed for a job that will help to have enough money for Aaron to go to school & enough money to get our 1 year supply of food storage... and that's exactly what I got. No more... No less! The man told me that he's been looking at Craigslist nanny ads for a while now and nothing seemed to pop out at him, but he came across my ad, and e-mailed me right away.


So wish us luck on our new adventure. Lots of changes are coming our way!

I laughed... Connor cried...

Today my mom, sister, Connor & I went shopping. While we were out, we decided to stop in at a Halloween store. Bethany and I thought it would be fun to try on some of the masks. As we put them on, Connor was getting a little uneasy. He wasn't sure what the heck we were putting on our faces. We tried everything from werewolf's, scream masks, freaky clowns with scary teeth, zombie babies, etc... and Connor seemed a little scared, but kind of intrigued also. But then Bethany found and tried on an Obama mask, and Connor screamed, started crying & shaking/flailing his arms (terrified) & ran away from her.

He scares me to Connor...