New Layout - thanks Dave!

My amazing sweetheart saved me hours of frustration and fixed my blog! Now I have some simple "Conni" achievements or stories down the left side. Thanks to Renee for the idea!

Thanks Bear!

Blog Appearance...

As you can see, I'm working on tweaking the appearance of my blog. However, I only partially speak HTML so I'm waiting for my hubby to have a chance to help me clean it up. In the meantime, bear with me and we'll get it all pretty again.

Thanks for reading!

Update on bulb syringe video

Apparantly I didn't do the settings right for you to view the bulb syringe video. It worked for me so I thought it would work for everyone - sorry.

But after talking with my BIL Nate I think I now know why it happened. I have changed the settings on YouTube so everyone should be able to view it.

I'd love to hear a comment from you to let me know if it worked or not. If not, I'll be bugging Nate again!

Prayer

We are working on teaching Conni the gospel principles and making sure they are a prominent part of our lives. One essential of course is prayer. We pray as a family at meal times and do family prayer in the evenings all together. Conni understands to fold her arms and she knows how to sign "amen" at the close of a prayer.

The neatest thing happened last week. I put Conni in her high chair to eat a snack while I cleaned the kitchen. Conni folded her arms and looked at me expectantly. Then I felt a huge "kick in the pants" from the Spirit for a teaching moment. We hadn't really talked to Conni about saying prayers aside from the times I mentioned above, thinking she wasn't ready for the concept. So I talked to her for a minute about how Heavenly Father is always there and He loves us to "pray always" as the scripture says. Then we said a short prayer, and for the first time Conni spoke along with me. Then we closed together, she signed amen, and then she cheered.

Conni had a huge smile and I was so grateful for this teaching opportunity. The Spirit was so strong in our kitchen I was practically crying. It was neat to see Conni grasp the concept and provide for me a chance to teach and "talk" about prayer. Definitely one of my most favorite Mom moments!

The New Personal Progress Program

I am so excited for the new Personal Progress Program! It was announced a month or so ago, and the new products are finally available this week. You should see how busy the Distribution Center is!

There is a new medallion to earn, as well as they have brought back the awards for Beehive, Mia Maid, and Laurel (if I understand it all correctly). There is also a neat bookmark with the value ribbons that the girls can earn. Once you have earned your medallion you can continue with additional experiences and earn a Bee.

I don't have my copy yet, but I have looked thru a book and read some info online at www.lds.org. I have been trying to get motivated to earn my medallion yet again in this new ward, but I haven't been successful. Now with the program I am excited to experience it with my girls.

The other neat thing is that they have opened up the program to all women in the ward - whether you are under 18, over 18, serve in YW or not. I think this will be a great way for the mothers and other women in the ward to connect with the girls and encourage them to work on Personal Progress. My older sister and I are both currently serving in the YW presidencies, and we are going to work on the program with our mom and younger sister. How neat is that!

I've barely touched on the program above - if you want more info go to www.lds.org or talk to the YW leaders in your ward.

Here's a neat pic of the display they had outside the Distribution Center that shows the new stuff.

Should I "monetize" my blog?

I was looking at my settings on Blogger here today and found an option to "monetize" my blog. Basically they put ads on the side of my blog and I get money for click-thrus (if I understand it correctly).

Do any of you do this? Is it worth it? Are the ads annoying to readers? I'd love feedback on this subject.

Breakfast at Grandma's

Today my mom had all six living grandkids. Here's what breakfast looked like. (Joseph was asleep.)

Justine, Brad, Bridger, Conni, Bronson

Hiding from the paparazzi

Conni has so many fans - just ask her cousins :)



We went to Red Robin for dinner and Conni found the sunglasses in her bag. She insisted on wearing them - even though it was dark outside. She was having fun looking around, so some of the pictures are a little fuzzy.

Conni with her bodyguard

Rockin out to the music

I'm too cool for words!

Should I be excited?

I posted a while ago how much Conni enjoys when Dave uses the bulb syringe. Here's a video. I'm not sure how I feel about this latest "achievement".

And, for whatever reason, the sound of the bulb syringe in use makes me sick to my stomach. So of course, my darling husband likes to tease me with it.

First Official Toddler Injury

Last week, Conni sustained her first official toddler injury. Luckily it wasn't anything too bad.

While running around chasing the boys, Conni lost her balance and fell face first into an ottoman. Good thing was she just grazed along the top fabric part. Bad thing was she went into the piping and got a rug burn of sorts on her eye lid.

Luckily, it didn't seem to bother Conni at all. I was worried it would be tender when she rubbed her sleepy eyes or something, but nothing like that. And it went away very quickly. You can't even tell today. We just teased that she wanted to wear some eye shadow like mom!

Thank Heavens for Antibiotics...

At least one of us in my family has been fighting colds off and on since Thanksgiving. For the most part, we've been able to keep them contained to where we aren't all sick. The last couple of weeks though, it seems like Conni and Dave just couldn't get better.

Last Thursday night, Conni refused to sleep unless she was held. I tried to hold her so Dave could get some sleep since he was still sick and had to go to work, but at one point my body had to collapse into bed so he took a turn with Conni. When that morning finally rolled around, Dave insisted I break down and take her to the doctor. Come to find out, she had a moderate ear infection. Her lungs were clear, but she had been wheezing. So antibiotics for Conni and albuterol for the wheezing.

After talking with our wonderful family doctor, I finally had what I needed to get Dave to go into see him as well. We figured as much, but found out that Dave had a sinus infection caused by the same bacteria that caused Conni's ear infection. So stronger antibiotics for Dave.

Luckily thru all this, I have been relatively healthy. I still have some residual sniffles, and some days my body demands a nap, but I'm working on taking care of us. I am so grateful to have such a great family doctor who listens and understands me and my concerns. I am grateful that we live in this time where antibiotics are so readily available. And most of all I am grateful for a VERY patient husband!

Self-feeding

Ok, I know I've posted a lot of videos. I am having too much fun with this new camera - its so easy to get video from the camera to the computer - and its not yellowy!

Anyway. Here's my last for a little while.

Conni feeding herself Easy Mac - a staple in both our diets :)

Playing with Daddy's Christmas

The gag gift I got for Dave turned out to be one of his favorites. He let Conni help him play with it, and I played with my favorite Christmas present (my new video camera!)

Doing Mommi's Hair

I love that Conni is grasping every day concepts!

Conni and her elephant

We are always working with Conni to increase her vocabulary and recognition of objects. She is doing wonderfully. One that we've been doing lately is an elephant and the noise it makes. In the video, when she puts the plush elephant to her nose, she is trying to do the trunk. So cute!

Cute Conni

Steph asked for a recent pic of Conni. I realized I didn't have any that I loved that had her hair done, her smile, etc, so I took some.

Santa's Visit

On Christmas Eve we had a wonderful surprise - Santa stopped by while we were all at my parents house!

Conni wasn't super happy - even though she knows this Santa!

My brother is a joy kill, and pulled Santa's beard right as Dave was taking the picture.

Santa was very fast to recover, so you can't tell.

Luckily, none of the kids saw it happen

Christmas!

Christmas this year was wonderful! We had lots of fun with family and friends and enjoyed celebrating our Savior's birth.

I didn't take a ton of pictures because I was in the middle of it with Conni, but I have a few to share. Conni had so much fun on Christmas Eve and stayed up so late (11:00!) that she was wiped out Christmas day. She got up whiny, and we did breakfast, hoping that would improve her mood. Then we though opening presents would improve her mood. When it didn't, we just pushed thru and had fun anyway. Conni spent the time laying in my lap halfheartedly playing with her toys as we helped her open them. Then she took a three hour nap. Once she woke up from her nap, she was excited to play with all her new toys and see what was going on.

I was considering putting her back down before opening presents, but Dave was too excited to wait. As it was I had to keep telling him he couldn't go wake her up. :)

Overall though, it was a ton of fun. We were all thoroughly spoiled and well taken care of. Dave got me a "Flip" pocket camcorder, so I had fun taking a bunch of video later Christmas Day. I've got the videos and a slide show of the pics below for you to enjoy!

Candelight Christmas

For my family Christmas party this year my parents took us to "Candelight Christmas" at This is the Place Park. We walked around and saw pioneer stuff at the different houses. It was so cold and I was worried how Conni would do. She actually kept her winter stuff on most of the time! She got tired and whiny about half way thru, but we kept at it.

We got to hear a story in one house, make crafts in the Social Hall, buy treats at the store, ride the train, write letters to Father Christmas, and see a live nativity. Even though it was cold, it was a really fun night. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Conni all bundled up in her stroller

Chris, Sarah, Michelle,

Brad, Bridger, Bronson

Patti, Dave, Conni

(Garon, Mom, and Dad were taking pictures)

Riding the train
(Conni ate the entire cookie - her hands were freezing cause it took so long and she wouldn't wear her gloves until she was finished!)

Grandpa

I am working towards getting up Christmas pics/videos, but thought I'd at least post and say HAPPY NEW YEAR! I have a super cute story to share too.

We had my work Christmas party Wednesday of this week cause it was easier to do after Christmas. Big surprise, I asked my mom if she would be able to watch Conni while we were gone. No surprise, she said she'd be happy to.

Wednesday night, I tried to build in some time to drop Conni off as right now she does better if I stay and visit for a minute before leaving her with my mom. We got to my parents house, and Conni knew she was going to be left. She was starting to whine when my dad came into the front room. Next thing I know, she's diving out of my arms to get to Grandpa, and asking "please please!" to go into the kitchen. So Grandpa takes her into the kitchen, sets her up at the counter with everything she loves to eat at his house: potato chips, rolls, pizza, and her sippy cup. Then he starts fixing himself a drink of Pepsi that he will most likely share with Conni.

Conni then asks Grandpa to start the "Frosty" animated plush "thing" my mom has on the kitchen table. She used to be scared of this thing, but now she can't get enough. Next thing I know she's telling my "Bye" and blowing me kisses, and pushing me away when I try to kiss her cheek!

As grateful as I was to not be leaving her in hysterics, I'm not sure if I like the whole "ok, you can leave now mom. I'm busy!" attitude. I love that she has finally warmed up to my dad too. And at least she ate well for him that night!