Okay on 3. . .Let Me Hear You Say:

WE LOVE SANTA!!!!!

Here are some outtakes from our at home "photo-shoot"

THE FINAL RESULT!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Christmas Magic

So, I knew it was coming!  I knew the time would come when Christmas would be magical again!  Not that it's not always magical, but there is something about watching your kids "Believe" in the magic like you once did!!  My new favorite movie of the season is Polar Express!!  Camden LOVES it, and I tell ya-it gets me choked up every time I watch it!!

Over the weekend the boys saw Santa for the first time.  I will not post any pictures yet, b/c they made the Christmas card this year.  (oh and on a side note, there is no family picture on our cards this year.  we just ran out of time and energy to do it!)  I thought Camden was just going to FREAK, but he did well--he told Santa his name, and also told him what we are all dying to know "What do you want Santa to bring you?"
and the answer is. .  .

A YO-YO!!

He has held on to wanting that yo-yo for about 3 months, so I do hope that Santa brings one!!  Santa was at Jason's office Christmas party, and he was great!!  All of the children received gifts from him, and Camden walked by him again to sneak another peek, and Santa looked over and said "Hello there again Camden"!!!!  WOW!!

Monday night Camden left some pictures he had torn out of my People magazine (I know, random, but it kept him busy for a while), and a list for Santa on our foyer table.  Wouldn't you know it, Santa's elves came by and picked them up and left him a note from Santa with a candy cane on it!!  He was so excited, but in the midst of the excitement he asked "Mommy, which elf came for Santa?" "I don't know buddy, just one of his elves." "Well, I know which one it was, it was the one that Daddy recorded for me on ABC!"
He is so smart!!!  He's referring to the little Disney show "Prep & Landing"--if you haven't seen it yet, check it out.  It was really cute.

That's all I've got for now.  I'll post pictures from our visit with Santa, and some outtakes from the Christmas card photo shoot in a couple of days!!

STATS

So last Friday Jason and I took the boys for their 4 year and 1 year check ups!  I recruited Daddy to go along because the thought of having to deal with Camden at the doctor by myself was quite daunting!  He completely freaks out about going, and is quite difficult to hold down for shots.  Unfortunately for both of us--Camden was wheezing and couldn't get his shots, so I will have to take him at a later date for those--we did however get everyones' stats and the boys are growing like WEEDS!

CAMDEN:
Weight-38lbs 4oz (67th percentile)
Height-41.5" (73rd percentile)

So, even though he doesn't eat hardly anything he's gained about 4lbs in the past year!!  He was relieved not to have to get any shots like Evan got, but has worried about going back ever since we walked out the door!  I guess I will break down and get him in next week.

EVAN:
Weight-23lbs 11oz (59th percentile)
Height-30.5" (67th percentile)
Head-18.5" (64th percentile)

He got his shots like a champ, there were tears, but not many.  When the nurse pricked his toe to get blood he pretty much just looked at her and then tried to figure out what she was doing down there!

We are gearing up for our Christmas Season, still haven't done our Christmas cards--for those of you anxiously awaiting their arrival--it might be another week or two!  Today the boys will get to meet Santa, he is coming to visit at Jason's office party this afternoon--Camden is actually excited, he keeps talking about it!  We hope everyone is doing well!  MERRY CHRISTMAS!

(thanks GiGi for your photo contribution)

Some recent pics!

Hi I realize my last post was a lot of words!! Here are some recent pics of my sweet boys!

Birthday Party:

oh yea it was the BIG SpongeBob Bouncy!! and we had it the whole weekend!

Couldn't resist these! :)

Some outtakes from our Thank You card photoshoot:

For those of you in the metro Atlanta area, we got our bouncy from www.jumpandslide.com.

We did have to pick it up (they will deliver for a fee), but we got to keep it from Friday to Monday! Due to weather we only were able to use it Friday night and Saturday but it was a killer deal $100 for the whole weekend. I would highly recommend them, they loaded it, gave me everything I needed and got it back out of the truck for me. We didn't even have to get it folded back up properly.

Hope you enjoyed the pics, and I hope everyone enjoys the Christmas Season coming up!!

The Difference Between 3 & 4

When I took Camden for his 1 year check up--the doctor warned me about the "Terrible Twos" he warned me about how bad they are, and he let me know that it would start around 18 months! That didn't give me much time to prepare my strategy!! So 18 months came and went. . .24 months came and went. . .36 months came & HOLY CRAP, forget the "Terrible Twos", we were full swing in the Terroristic Threes!! AHHHHH!!

Now in Camden's defense (and I know you've read it before)--he had a lot of changes right around the time he turned 3--new brother, daddy gone, new school, new life really--so I'll give him that! I will still say age 3 was the most challenging thus far, and I know there will be more challenges but now that I've survived year 3--I know I can handle anything thrown my way! :) ha-I'm always so confident when I'm talking with my keyboard!!

Okay--I've covered the threes, now let me tell you a little about the FANTASTIC FOURS!! It's like we have a completely different kid. There are still some meltdowns here and there, and some attitude (to be expected, he is his mother's child)--but seriously, I can't believe the difference between 3 & 4. Camden does chores (he's yet to clean his playroom-see note about "some meltdowns"), he puts away his underpants and socks (bottom drawer), he puts his hang up clothes on hangers, when we come in from school he gets his folder and lunch box and puts them in the kitchen and then he hangs up his book bag!! It's great!! Another thing that we've noticed is he is so much more affectionate, he loves on us ALL the time. Not an hour goes by without him stopping what he's doing to tell us that he loves us. Now, I'll admit, sometimes it's a delay tactic, but I pretend it's not and just take it all in!! He's always willing to pitch in when it comes to Evan--most recently Evan has had to start getting breathing treatments (he hates them), and Camden will come in and do his best to entertain him! Camden dresses himself (this was not an easy feat), is learning to give himself a bath (daddy has a hard time with this one), and currently we are working on wiping our own bottom (and by "our own" I mean "his", and it's a work in progress)! STILL-big changes in the Conner household people, BIG changes!

I write this post not to tell everyone how perfect my child is--he's not! I write it to give hope to the Mom's out there who are at their wits end with their 3 year old! You are not alone, you are not doing anything wrong, and I promise--there is an end in sight!! I think 3 is a tough age because kids are learning independence and they aren't sure they want to be independent. . .but they aren't sure they want to be babies either. They are also learning to communicate better, but it's frustrating to have to repeat yourself to Mommy and Daddy all the time. You know, I really have no idea! All I know, is the changes I've seen in my little man in the past couple of months are welcome ones!!