Special Visitors and Oklahoma Reunion

Surprise, surprise, we've been busy. Since we've taken lots of pictures, I'll let them tell the story, but just to sum up, we've had some fun visitors, I celebrated a big milestone birthday, and we traveled to Oklahoma to have a Treadway family reunion. Enjoy!

My friend Molly and her son Benji (2 years in Feb.) stopped in Houston for two days on their way to Dallas to see family and to attend our friend Stefani's wedding festivities. They came all the way from Pennsylvania. We both needed to drive to Dallas for a bachelorette party, so instead of going directly to Dallas (where her parents still live), she flew to Houston and allowed our two boys to play and it gave us some extra time to catch up. It was really great.

Benji and Connor playing and sharing. They actually were really good buddies. It was fun to watch them play together, but two toddlers is certainly chaotic. Ha!

Both boys in the ball bin.

Playing trucks in the play room.

Building and knocking down blocks.

The weather was great the whole time Molly and Benji were here, so we made it over to the park to play. It was funny though, because Benji is used to the cold Pennsylvania temps so when Molly told him we were going outside he asked to put on his coat. He didn't need a coat in the 80 degree temps we were having. Hee hee.

On Friday morning, we had a playdate with another one of our friends, Kate, and her 11 month old daughter Stella. It was really fun to catch up. We can't believe we are all Moms.

After all that hard playing, both of the boys earned a bath. Connor liked having a bath buddy. Benji wasn't so sure.

Last week I celebrated my 30th birthday and as luck would have it, my Mom needed to be in Houston anyway, so she came over to see Connor and to babysit so Jeff and I could go out for a birthday dinner. Here Connor and Grammio are playing with his truck.

A fun game of chase. You better run fast Grammio. He's fast.

Connor's in bed, and now we're ready for a fabulous dinner in Houston. It was a great way to begin my 30's.

On Thursday, we traveled to Oklahoma to visit with the Treadway family (Jeff's Dad's family). We had a two hour flight and then another 2 hour drive and of course Connor only slept one hour in the car, so he was pretty tired, but he did great.

That evening, we met up with everyone at a restaurant in Ponca City called the Rusty Barrel. It was great, because we had our own room and we could all visit and Connor could get up and move around if he needed to.

Here, he is reconnecting with Pagger Don "Nan Non" and Gigi.

Also in attendance from the Treadway family was Jeff's Aunt Vicki, Grandma Margie, Aunt Stacey, cousin Cindy and Jeff's cousin Kelly, her husband John and daughters Camille (8) and Lauren (7). Grandma Margie's neighbor Mimi and her boyfriend Hank were also there. We had quite a fun group.

Connor was his typical shy self at first, but soon enough he became the life of the party. He was actually walking around the room giving everyone high fives and giggling. It was really funny.

He also especially liked his second cousins Lauren (7) and Camille (8) who immediately enjoyed being the "older" kids for once and loved taking care of the baby. Connor jumped at the chance to get attention from these fun girls and had a blast with them.

Here they are reading together. Very cute.

Back at the hotel, an hour past his bedtime after a very long day, Connor was POOPED, but he was a total trooper.

The next morning, Connor was in rare form and not in a good way. He was extremely fussy and irritable, so much so that I eventually gave him tylenol, just because I thought he might be in pain, not just tired after the long day. Apparently he was having some teething pain, because not too long after he turned things around and he was really never fussy after that.

Here he is after lunch getting an extra special treat from Gigi. She went to McDonald's that morning with Aunt Stacey and got these mini cinnamon buns and gave Connor some. Amazingly enough he loved them. Go figure. :)

Connor took a great nap that afternoon and when he woke up, he met his second cousins at the neighbor's farm to meet week old kittens. Connor, as always, was very gentle and liked petting the "kitties."

Connor also got to go 4-wheeling. What a farm boy.

Of course there was always time to just run around with his second cousins. Aren't they precious?

They loved to hold his hands and honestly, he didn't really seem to mind. So sweet.

Checking out the "neigh neighs" at Mimi's farm with Camille.

What day on a farm would be complete without a ride on a tractor?

Posing with a 4-wheeler. We're in Oklahoma now.

Later, we got a key to Don's old schoolhouse growing up. All the elementary grades met in this one building.

Pagger Don giving a tour of his old schoolhouse digs. It was actually bigger than I imagined on the inside and those steps on the left lead up to a stage so they could do class performances. Pretty cool. He also said that until 7th grade they had to use outhouses. I guess living in the country has its disadvantages.

We spent a lot of time at Margie's house sitting and talking on her patio.

Lauren and Connor playing soccer together.

Connor didn't get to ride Smokey on Friday, but he did get to say hello to him. He would always call out his name whenever he'd see him walk by in his barn. He still really loves animals.

It was a warm day, so Connor ate outside. It was supposed to rain all weekend, so we were counting our blessings we had such nice weather on our first day.

On Friday night, they surprised us with ice cream cake for the Treadway ladies who all have April birthdays. Robbyn's was April 13th, mine was just two days before on the 20th, and Margie's is today, April 26th. I guess I shouldn't say how old the other two ladies are, but I think they are looking pretty good, don't you think?

On Saturday morning, The Easter Bunny came a day early to Margie's house and here Margie is giving Connor his Scooby-Doo basket.

We had to drive up from the hotel in Ponca City, so Camille and Lauren had already hunted for eggs by the time we arrived, so they were happy to give Connor some assistance on his egg hunt.

This is fun.

He soon realized these eggs have special treasures inside!

As you can see by our clothes, the weather had changed dramatically on Saturday. Instead of 80 and sunny, it was about 60 and very windy and cloudy. Connor of course loves to be outside, so despite the temps being a bit chilly we took a walk in the pasture.

I don't think you can tell, but both Jeff and Connor are chewing a piece of straw in this photo. True cowpolk for sure.

Pagger Don, or Nan Non as Connor called him all weekend, took Connor up pretty close to the cows. Connor wanted to pet them, but this was close enough. Connor got pretty good at saying "Moo Cow."

Just hanging out.

We indulged Connor's ever growing desire to throw things and let him chuck rocks into the water. He of course loved it.

After Connor got up from his nap, it was time to ride Smokey. This year, he got to ride him all by himself, with two adult spotters of course and Pagger Don pulling the reigns.

Showing some good form on the horse. Yeehaw!

Thanks for the ride Smokey. I hope you can give me one more ride next year. Smokey is really old, so we hope he makes it another season. Smokey sure is a great horse.

Aunt Stacey had to travel back to her cruise ship directly from Oklahoma, but she got the chance to hang out with Connor 3 times while she was on land and I know it meant a lot to both Connor and Stacey. We'll miss you Aunt Stacey. Have fun sailing and Bon Voyage.

More bonding with his second cousins before heading back to the hotel for the night. We had to pack up and leave Sunday morning.

It was a rainy Easter Sunday in Oklahoma and our flight was over an hour delayed, but Connor was a trooper and happily watched planes and played with his new Easter trucks.

Our plane was delayed and we were flying right in the middle of Connor's nap, but I was so grateful for both a very empty plane and episodes of Yo Gabba Gabba on Jeff's Ipod. He would watch it for a little and then play and then watch again and play, but it really helped keep us all sane. We had a great trip, but it sure feels nice to be home.

The "A" in April stands for A-dventure!

So in our family, "A" not only stands for April, but it stands for "Adventure" as well. We have continued where we left off from our very busy March and jumped right into April feet first.

Two weeks ago, was definitely a guys weekend, but luckily, the men in my life let me join in the fun too, since they know I can hang with the boys.

Houston was hosting the Final Four NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, so in downtown Houston there were lots of basketball expos and things going on for families to attend. Since Connor is mildly obsessed with basketball lately (that is sometimes the first thing I hear on the monitor when he wakes up in the morning), we figured we should take him to something while we had this cool opportunity. Jeff thought it'd be fun for it to be a father-son thing, and it gave me some time in the morning to relax (the first and last free morning in probably a month) so they ventured off to Houston together. Connor was a little overwhelmed by the crowds and there wasn't that much for a little guy to do, but Jeff said they had a really good time, because Connor is pretty happy anywhere he can access that many basketballs.

Unfortunately, he fell asleep in the car and didn't go back to sleep at home, so he only got in a 30 minute nap that day. Ugh oh. We had a BBQ to go to with some of my playgroup Moms and their families that afternoon, so Connor had to power through, but luckily he did just fine. Even with a tired boy, he still had a lot of fun and when it was time to go, we all hated to leave. We were at my friend Jessica's house, and she's got such a great backyard for the kids. Plus, her husband made ribs which were soooo good. Yummy.

On Sunday, we headed off to the Shell Houston Open for some professional golf at Redstone Country Club. It was pretty crowded since Phil Mickelson was leading the tournament. We walked around and watched a lot of golf. Phil did end up winning and even though it was a hot day, it was pretty cloudy, so it was actually pretty comfortable. Connor powered through a nap yet again, but as soon as we got in the car he fell right to sleep. When we got home, I had planned on feeding him dinner, but he was so sleepy that we ended up just putting him in his bath and putting him to bed. He was fast asleep by 6:45pm. Poor little guy. What a weekend.

Then last week, Daddy left on Wednesday to go to the Masters golf tournament so Connor and I had some Mommy and me time, but it was actually pretty short lived since on Thursday afternoon, Gigi and Aunt Stacey came for a quick visit. Since Aunt Stacey has been on a cruise ship, she hadn't seen Connor in nearly 10 months. As you can imagine, he's done a lot of growing since then. She hadn't even seen him walk!

Of course Connor was very shy with Aunt Stacey and even Gigi at first, but it didn't take long for him to warm up. It also helped that they brought him a fun new toy...his very own lawnmower. He loved it of course. It was really fun, because after Connor went to bed Thursday night, we got a babysitter so we could go out to dinner at a new sushi place. It was ladies night. We had a great time and even closed down the place, chatting and chatting.

Gigi and Aunt Stacey got more time to bond with Connor on Friday morning, because I had a MOPs meeting so they got to babysit. They played and played. After my meeting we all met for lunch at Chili's. When it was nap time, Aunt Stacey and Gigi headed into Houston to attend the Lady Gaga concert.

By Saturday, just before lunch, Daddy came back home and it was a fun reunion. He had some good stories to tell about the Masters. After naps, we went to a crawfish bowl with some of the families from my church MOPs group. It was really fun and Connor had a blast. I think his favorite toy there was this scooter that Jeff would let him ride. He would laugh as he was going down the driveway. He also actually ventured into the bounce house, but not for long.

On Sunday, we attended the Houston Children's Festival, which is a huge festival located in downtown Houston that actually benefits my old organization, Child Advocates. Like most things, there wasn't that much for a really little guy to do, but we still had a lot of fun. The Child Advocates area was really fun. He got to get his face painted, get a temporary tattoo, play with bubbles, shoot some hoops, and play a little golf. In other areas he also got to watch a clown juggle, ride some kiddy rides, and pet some animals in a petting zoo. It was another fun filled day and we supported a great cause.

The heat is really on in Houston and so after naps on Sunday, Jeff filled up the kiddy pool and splashed around with Connor. It was really funny to watch them playing around. Afterward, Connor had a blast rolling around and snuggling with the towel we laid out on the ground. It was really cute, because he'd snuggle up with it and just roll around.

We've had so much fun and it's only the beginning. Our April is jammed packed with more action. Stay tuned.

What's better than pushing one truck...pushing two trucks. When he actually gets this to work, he is so proud of himself.

Friday night, we babysat our neighbor's 6 month old daughter Camilla. It was funny, because I had to refresh some of my baby care skills, because although they told us she would fall asleep no problem, as soon as we put her down, she started crying very hard. I left her for a bit and then tried rocking her and putting her back down. She calmed down, but as soon as I put her back down she cried again. So I busted out the big guns. I went into our bathroom, turned on the fan, in the dark, and swayed, rocked, and shooshed until she was out like a light. It only took about 5 minutes. I guess I've still got it. Of course I was terrified to put her back down, but luckily, I gently rested her down and she stayed asleep.

Saturday morning, Jeff and Connor attended Bracket Town in Houston as part of the NCAA Final Four festivities. Here Connor is posing with his favorite ball.

Connor is ready to cut down the nets. We hoped this photo wouldn't jinx the women's Aggie team, who played in the Championship game, but they won anyway. Maybe it gave them good luck.

Yay basketball.

So many basketballs, so little time.

Eating lunch court side. They got to see a battle of the bands, which I guess he really liked. He liked the VCU band best.

On Saturday afternoon, at our playgroup BBQ, Connor immediately found a truck.

Now he's having fun in the sandbox.

He loved their car swings.

Connor playing with his buddy Liam and one of the neighbors.

On Sunday, we went to Ragin Cagun for lunch before we drove to the Shell Houston Open.

At the entrance to the Shell Houston Open there were a few bluebonnets. As you can see, Connor was not thrilled at the idea of posing with bluebonnets again.

On the grounds at the Shell Houston Open, Connor was free to roam around. Of course we had to keep him quiet at some moments and not let him run into anyone's shot.

It was cute, we found a golf ball in some bushes and on one of the holes that was no longer being used, Connor had a blast dropping the ball in the hole. When he landed it in the hole he'd jump and giggle. It got great big laughs from those who watched as they passed by.

Connor needed a little break from walking around, so Daddy gave him a lift.

After two days of no naps, Connor was especially snuggly and happy to cozy up with Daddy after a long day. It was very sweet.

When we got home, Connor was not interested in dinner. He just wanted to go back to bed. What a trooper.

The following Thursday, Aunt Stacey and Gigi came for a visit. As you can see, Connor is finally tall enough to shoot baskets without his ramps. It's still a bit of a stretch, but he can do it if he reaches up.

Connor was very excited, because Aunt Stacey and Gigi brought him a super cool lawn mower. He's got pretty good form. Daddy can't wait until Connor can take over this dreaded job. 13 more years Jeff.

Aunt Stacey and Connor playing together and reconnecting.

Connor is such a big boy. He can climb up on the big chairs all by himself now.

On Thursday night, Connor and Stacey watched some Yo Gabba Gabba together.

On Friday morning, Gigi and Aunt Stacey got to babysit little Connor while I went off to my meeting. They said they had a ball playing.

After my meeting, we met at Chili's for lunch. Connor is showing off his dipping skills with chips and salsa.

On Saturday evening, we attended a crawfish boil with families from my MOPs (Mothers of Preschoolers) group at church. There were lots of kids and lots of good food.

Connor is usually pretty scared of bounce houses, but he actually bounced for a little.

Playing with sidewalk chalk and making a mess.

Man, he had so many sweets. He had a juice box, some snow cone, part of a cookie, and some cotton candy. What a lucky little boy.

Always a ladies man.

On Sunday morning we went to the Houston Children's Festival. Of course Connor found the basketball area first. Nice dunk buddy.

Connor got to ride his first carousel. It wasn't really his thing. He wanted off most of the ride. I wasn't really surprised by that reaction, but we had to try.

Connor loved the "Bubble Box" in the Child Advocates area.

He was a pro with the bean bag toss.

Happily getting his face painted with Ms. Kendall, since he also got a ring pop. Of course he got a basketball.

"Basketball" temporary tattoo. On a side note, at the end of the day when he went to bed he started crying. This is not normal so when I went to check on him I noticed he was pointing to his tattoo and saying "draw" and "basketball." He didn't know why the "sticker" didn't come off in the bath and he didn't want to go to bed with it still on his arm. I got the memo pretty quickly, so I ran off, got some rubbing alcohol, came back and took it right off. Of course he fell right to sleep once it was gone. It was just so cute that he could communicate what he wanted. I felt so bad though that it must have really been bugging him. Poor guy.

Connor and Jeff watching the clown show at the festival. You may have noticed that I had to change Connor's shirt. It was covered in blue ring pop juice.

Walking the streets of the festival.

Riding the "exciting" dinosaur ride.

We went to the petting zoo and had a good time petting the animals.

Connor showing off his cool facepaint.

Getting an aerial view of the animals.

There was this big tortoise in the petting zoo, which I have never seen before. Connor liked to pet it.

On Sunday afternoon, it was in the upper 80's so we blew up the kiddy pool and splashed around outside. Connor and Daddy had fun throwing his pool toys around.

More pool time fun.

After pool time, Connor had a blast rolling around on his pool towel. It was cuddly and warm. It was so sweet.

No rest for the weary. It was time to mow.

Connor continues to practice more and more words and phrases. One of his cutest phrases is "love you." He usually says this before bed. It's stinking adorable.