Summer Has Come and Gone!

Hey Everyone-

We have been busy so I haven't been able to blog like I would have liked. We have had a fun summer and it seems like it has gone by sooo fast!

We went to Oak City Days, but Connor had so much fun in the morning, that he was exhausted by the time they had the Trout Catch. We even tried to wake him up, but there was no hope, so maybe next year!

We went to Lagoon where Connor got to ride the Carousel, the train, and we got our pictures taken in Pioneer Village! We had a blast! Patrick got his nerve up to ride the new ride Wicked! It looked pretty scary to me, so I stayed off. But apparantley he made everyone around them laugh by using a choice number of cuss words! Grandma Lovell, Aunt Keri, and me all went on the Space Scrambler, and as always, we laughed the entire time! We all came away with sunburns, but had such a fun time!

In other news, Connor has turned the big one year! We can't believe it has been a year! We had his Veggietales party over at our clubhouse! It was great! I've never had so much fun watching someone eat cake and then spend the next 10 hours on a sugar high! We ate and played Rock Band and Singstar on the big screen! Connor made out like a bandit! Thank you to all of you who were there or sent your well wishes! We are so blessed we can't even believe it! We have a great entertainer who makes life so interesting, but so worth it! These are some great pictures by the way! Oh yeah, and Dad made us all laugh by sucking the helium out of Connor's balloons and singing the Veggietales theme song! It sounded almost exactly like Bob the tomatoe! It was a great time with the people we love!

Well, for the update, Connor went to his pediatrician appointment on Monday the 29th. He is 17 lbs. 4 oz., 28 1/2 in. long, and his head was 18 in. That puts him in the 1 % for length (yet again), the 13% for length, and the 25% for head. Yes, he is still the shrimp of the babies! The pediatrician wants us to go get labs drawn to check for anything we haven't been aware of so far. So we are planning on Wednesday, going to get those done! Maybe there is something we could do to help our little buddy, and maybe not, but we will sure do everything we can! We will keep everyone posted on what the results are, but we will not know for a while. He is walking with the help of furniture or people's fingers! He says "BABABABABABA" over and over, but oddly it never gets annoying! He still has his 8 teeth and some horrible morning breath to boot! He can crawl on his hands and knees, but prefers to go faster with his perfected army crawl! He can now push buttons on the remote and DVD player. It's lovely to be watching something, and then it's gone! He is also learning how to shake his booty! It's pretty cute! He is drinking whole milk and we are on 4 meals a day! And yes, he can eat 4 meals a day! Not picky at all, this one! Well, for those of you still reading, I believe that is all I can tell you for now. It's been such a wonderful year and we look forward to all the years to come! Love you all!

Connor's First Swim

Hey everyone-
We went swimming at the Security Mortgage company party. They reserved the pool at the Scera Shell and we decided to go and see how Connor would enjoy it. He LOVED it! He wanted to play with all the toys that shoot water, but that water was super cold! So we took him over to the shallow pool where it was nice and warm. He enjoyed it, and even got to taste the water (Daddy's fault). We only stayed for an hour because every time we got out of the pool, all of our teeth were chattering. Connor decided to pull down his towel over his head and keep it there. It was adorable! He has definitely decided that the water is ok. We also ate hot dogs, nachos, and brownies. There was fun and games and we will try to go again next year. Hope you all enjoy the pictures!

In other news, we went to get Connor weighed and he has gained 2 whole pounds in one month! The all you can eat fat diet has been working. We also found out he has reflux so the doctor put him on Prevacid and he is doing much better. We still think if he would hold still a little more, he might be a little fatter. Oh well, he is fun to play with.

We are excited to go to Brian Regan and Oak City Days this weekend! We will let you all know how it was on the next blog!

Pioneer Day Fun!

Hey everyone-
We wanted to update you all on what we did for the 24th and more! We went to the Orem Owlz baseball game for the 24th with Grandma Neilsen and Aunt Blake. We enjoyed the fireworks after the game. Connor, unfortunately, did not not see the fireworks. He was so tired and fell asleep right before the show began. So we did our own fireworks when we got home and he woke up. Patrick lit them off in our parking lot at like 11 p.m. So we probably alienated our neighbors! We have posted pictures and video of that night. Hope you enjoy!

In other news, Connor has his seventh tooth! He just won't stop! They are so cute when he smiles, and so not cute at other times! He is so smart and alert. He wants mommy and daddy's mashed potatoes instead of the ones made especially for him. He has learned to clap when we clap at him. Mom has learned how to steal her kisses and that is by chewing food and letting him eat it out of her mouth like a bird. Sorry if that is disgusting for some of you. We just happen to find it hillarious! (We have video of that too, so you have been warned!) He clicks his mouth when he wants to eat or drink something and yes, he has learned dead baby weight and straight back to get away when he wants to. He is just so funny and so much fun to play with!

Patrick and I have just been enjoying our days off together when we have them. We are so blessed and we will update you with any other news! Love you all!

Hooray for the Red, White and Blue!

Working on the backyard!

Hooray for the Red, White and Blue!

Hey Everyone-
We have been busy and we need to update on a lot! We had a happy Fourth of July and hope everyone else did too! We watched the fireworks out at Thanksgiving Point this year. It was a nice change. Connor had fun with sparklers and pops before we went and then was very entertained by the big booms and flashes of light with the big fireworks! Grandma Neilsen and Aunt Brittney were very patient on the ride back while Connor became devil child! Oh the screaming!!! Oh well, he is a very entertaining child. We cannot show you any pictures of this day yet because our firewire to get the video from the video camera to the computer is not the right kind, so maybe we'll show the video of Connor and the sparklers and pops on a future blog?! Anyways, it was a lot of fun!

Then we were excited to take Connor to the Ute Stampede rodeo this year. We had a wonderful breakfast provided by the Lions Club and which we were able to eat free because of Grandpa Neilsen. (Thanks Grandpa!) We wanted to dress Connor in wranglers but those suckers are too big and expensive, so maybe next year! We had the opportunity to meet Uncle Greg's old mission companion and his new wife. They are from Atlanta and now attend BYU. They had never been to a rodeo and it was funny and hillarious to sit behind them as they experienced the cowboys, animals, and hair-dos! Connor wasn't all too impressed, but we all had fun anyways!

Patrick has still been having fun at the jail. He says the new Lieutenant likes to keep things in very strict order, so anytime the inmates fight, they get locked down. They were locked down for five days this week and so you can imagine how many movies he watched at work. However, he did read some more Harry Potter, so that's great!

Kelli has had some very stressful times at work, including a code blue where the mom seized and we lost her. They eventually got her back and c-sectioned to get baby out. I cried my eyes out just watching the dad watch his life fall apart. I still don't know what I am doing in the medical profession, but here I stay until something else! Work, work, work is all we do, but at least it pays for the things we need and can afford right now. That is, until we are walking everywhere or Flintstoning our cars around!

We have finished our back yard for now! We still have some other plants to put in, but no money to do it right now. It looks awesome and we are so thankful for everyone who helped us with it! It cost us a pretty penny, but it is so much better than looking out the window at weeds. We hope to be able to put a swing or bench out there to enjoy it more. Patrick did awesome work and had very good planning when all Kelli wanted to do is sleep! Thanks to Grandma Neilsen for helping us pick out the plants and working so hard with us! (And keeping us going when we were ready to just go inside to the air-conditioned house!)

In other news, we believe Connor is getting his sixth tooth. Yes, his sixth! What a busy baby this one is! He is working on becoming mobile and is very vocal when he wants to be. At his nine month appointment they told us he is anemic, and very small. So small that we are on an all you can eat diet. He basically gets whatever he wants to eat! The more calories, the better! We hope that it will help him gain weight and keep him strong! We get to go have him weighed in a month, so we will let everyone know how it worked! All in all, we are all doing very well. Check out the pictures and we will try to be better about updating!

We Are Blogging!

Hey Everyone-
We have created a blog for everyone's enjoyment and to give Kelli something to do all day when all Connor wants to do is eat! We have posted pictures from past adventures and photo shoots we hope everyone will enjoy. To give an update to all who don't know, Connor is almost 9 months and is full of energy. We have so much fun as a little family and we love it when we can all be together. All the grandparents are very proud and try to get up to see us often. (We all know who they really come to see, but we love it!) Connor is sitting, sipping from a straw, eating solids, biting, growling, and giggling! He has four teeth and knows how to use them! Ouch Charlie! He is everything to us and we are so blessed to have a healthy, happy boy like him!

Patrick is still working for Utah County Sheriff's Office at the jail and he still likes it. He says it is a lot like kidnergarten, but hey, he gets paid to watch movies and shoot the breeze, so how do you beat that? Besides, he gets to lock them down when they are naughty, and that is better than giving time outs to kids! He is also running on the Springville City Ambulance and is almost trained to be a real EMT. He keeps pretty busy and is a very hard worker, when it's not a home job! Meanwhile, our yard sits and waits for us to plant, but that's what you get when life is so busy. He's a great Dad and definitely has fun with his little buddy!

Kelli is still working at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center and is just surviving. I don't love the job, but I love the people I work with enough, and there are plenty of benefits to working in a hospital. They want me to scrub in on C-Sections and I'm not quite sure about how long it would take for me to hit the floor in a sterile environment, but know that it would happen. So until it is a definite requirement, we will just keep going with what I'm good at! I am constantly trying to keep up with Connor's eating habits and Lulu's desire for attention. I get to get out once a month and play Bunco with the girls. It's a nice release unless it is your turn to host, then you need to whip out the Xanex! Trust me, it's stressful! However, it is worth the fun times and prizes! Besides that, there isn't a whole lot that's exciting and new!

Since Connor came into our lives, we have tried to still get out and see the small world that surrounds you when you are traveling with a baby. We went to Mesquite for our Anniversary last April where Connor experienced a sensory overload with all the lights and noises! We saw ducks and geese with goslings at the Casablanca and stayed in the Oasis. Everyone commented on how Connor looked like a little man and his bright blue eyes! There were a lot of grandparents who suddenly missed their grandchildren. Kelli got her first-ever massage, and now wonders where they have been all her life! AWESOME! We all went mini-golfing even though it was the fastest game ever due to Connor's crying and screaming to get out of the Nevada heat and get something to eat! We went to the movie "21" with friends that Patrick works with. That was really good but a bit ironic to be in Mesquite watching a movie about tricking casinos out of money! Anyways, it was fun and entertaining! We also go to see grandparents and family a lot! We have trips to rodeos, the zoo, and Lagoon planned for the summer! We will see how swimming goes with Connor's huge fear of baths! We will try to keep everyone updated and hopefully blogging will be a good way to stay in touch! Thanks for visiting!

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