Conni's Cousins

Conni is very blessed that we are able to see most of her cousins on a regular basis. Conni loves her cousins too! She has big brothers that take such good care of her. Here are two cute examples.

Conni and Brad walking from Grandma Bonnie's to our house. Brad insisted on holding her hand and helping her get where she needed. Brad and his brothers take great care of Conni.

On the other side of the family is Spencer. This is at Sunday dinner - he wanted to take care of Conni and they found a Disney book to read.
Sorry its not bigger - I was trying to be inconspicuous in the corner.

I love that Conni is so close with her cousins. I love that we have most of our family close by. Conni's best friends are her cousins - she sees them and plays with them more than any other little kids.

Happy Halloween!!

I know that it is still September. But can I tell you how excited I am for Halloween! It is one of my favorite holidays - second only to Christmas. I already have my decorations up at home! (A week earlier than normal since I'm hosting book club.)

Conni has had fun investigating the decorations. I have a tole-painted Frankenstein and a witch on the wall in the kitchen. Conni likes to go tell them all sorts of fun things and blow them kisses. I think she thinks Frankenstein is a pirate, because she keeps telling him "arrrr".

Anyway. I know its early, but let me be one of the first to wish you all "Happy Halloween!!!"

Cute Pics

While making Conni's mittens (see post below), Conni was her usual happy self. She waited patiently while Mom and Grandma used this curious machine to make the mittens, then she wanted to check it out.

Then when we came home and we were showing Daddy how they worked, Conni was all for wearing them.
Funny side note - the mittens are quilted like hot pads. Once Conni got both mittens on, she jumped off Daddy's lap and went over to the stove like she was cooking dinner. Then she took them off and went back to playing. Just some cute and happy side notes to our otherwise emotionally stressful weekend :)

Thumb Sucking and Eczema - the mittens

Conni has had eczema spots on her hands for probably about six weeks now. We have been using the steroid cream that normally works, but Conni tends to scratch and pick at her hands. Here is what they look like at their absolute best. They are normally covered in scabs:

Conni is also a chronic thumb sucker. Ever since we took away the Binky in February she sucks her thumb.

This last week we went to the dermatologist to see what our options were. He said that I was doing everything right (which was great to hear), but with her sucking her thumb she was losing too much moisture from her hands to prevent the eczema. He gave us a sample of a stronger steroid cream to try for her hands and suggested we continue trying what we need to get her to stop sucking her thumb.

We have already tried about everything we could think of or that had been suggested to us to help Conni stop sucking her thumb. We understand why she does it, but it is having such a drastic affect on her hands that we decided we needed to take drastic efforts.

My mom helped me make these "mittens" for Conni to wear when she goes to sleep:

Conni doesn't fight us to put them on, but she certainly isn't happy about wearing them. It is heart wrenching to hear her screaming to take them off. The good news is that she only screamed like that Saturday night. Sunday nap was a little rough. Sunday night, while she was still upset about wearing them, she seemed to accept her fate and only fuss a little more than normal.

So far, as long as we tie them tight enough, Conni hasn't been able to take them off her hands. This morning when I took them off, she immediately put her thumb in her mouth. I finally had to threaten to put the mittens back on to get her to take her thumb out.

I feel like such a mean mom. I wish I could get Conni to understand the consequences and choose to leave her hands alone and let them heal. We know that until Conni stops sucking her thumb, we will have to struggle with eczema spots on her hands. I know that I am not hurting her, but it sure wears on us to hear the anguished cries of our baby. But for now we are going to continue and see what happens. We just have to get her to stop. I know that she can overcome this, and soon enough it won't be a big deal. I just hope our nerves - Mom's, Dad's, and Conni's - can survive the trip. I'll keep you posted!

Family Pics & Conni 2 Yr Pics

We went to JC Penneys last Saturday and got our family pictures and Conni's 2 year pictures. Conni was good for a bit, but when she was done, she was DONE! Thanks to Grandma Bonnie for doing Conni's hair and coming with us to wrangle Conni.

As a side note - sorry the pictures are a little grainy. We didn't get the cd from JCP this time because they jacked up the price to $160!!! If you want a cd of your pictures - don't go there - we won't be going back.

Thumb Sucking - Help!

Conni has become a thumb sucker. Ever since we took away the binkies in February. At our dentist appointments today, the dentist encouraged us to get her to quit sucking her thumb as soon as we could.

With that in mind - I need help! We have been trying things off and on for several months. We have tried the bitter nail polish, vinegar on her thumb, bandaids, just asking her to stop sucking her thumb (which sometimes works). But the biggest problem is at bedtime. She can't seem to fall asleep without her thumb.

I'm taking a break from researching to type this post and I haven't found anything I totally love. If you have any suggestions, will you please share?

Wish me luck!

Communicating

I am so excited that Conni is starting to communicate! Its starting to be more than just random words.

Grandma Bonnie came with us today for family/Conni bday pictures. (The pictures were cute, but Conni didn't want to be there. I'll share those later.) When we got home and got out of the car, Conni saw Grandma's car parked in front of our house. She told me her words for "grandma", "car", and "bye", and then gave me a big kiss and hug. I asked if she wanted to go for a ride with Grandma in her car to Grandma's house. She grinned and said yes, then told me and Dave goodbye. Grandma took Conni to her house to swing and Conni was the happiest girl.

I know that soon enough I will miss her jabber. She went into the office with me yesterday and would pick up my office phone, jabber, then say goodbye and hang up. Then promptly repeat. But, I love that we can communicate with each other and avoid more tantrums cause I understand her. I am so excited!

Look out Tacoma

I just wanted to share some exciting news from my friend Katee. She received her mission call yesterday and she is going to Tacoma Washington!

Katee is going to be an awesome missionary! I have loved getting to know her and having the chance to serve with her. She is one of Conni's favorite people and we will miss her very much while she is gone. The people of Tacoma are very blessed!

Congrats Katee - we are all very proud of you and excited for you!