CONNORisms 2.0

      A few months ago I did a post entirely of quotes from Connor. Since then I have been saving his recent ones on my phone for another post. I never want to forget the funny things he says, so here are his newest quotes:

9/27/16 I was rocking Connor before bed the night he got hurt at soccer practice.

Me: I got scared when you got hurt.

Connor: Me too.

Me: I love you. You're my baby.

Connor: Okay. I stop growing. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. 

9/28/16 I was talking to Connor about not eating his boogers.

Me: Boogers are yucky to eat.

Connor: No they're not. They're good to eat. 

Me: What do they taste like?

Connor: Strawberries!

Christmas Day

    We had a really great Christmas, and I hope you did too. Connor woke up at about 7:15am {gasp!} and wanted to go straight downstairs to see if Santa came. I beat him to it so I could catch his reaction {see below}. He was so happy and couldn't wait to play with his new firehouse and firetruck set. We were able to get him to wait a bit before opening all his other gifts by feeding him breakfast. If it was his choice he would have opened all his gifts in 5 minutes, but we wanted to make it last a little longer.

My happy boy!

Christmas Eve

      Merry Christmas Eve! We have had such a fun day over here. It started with Connor seeing Hoho the Elf on the table making snow angels in sprinkles. There was also a gift left for him to open with a sweet letter from Hoho {below}. After a shower and breakfast, he opened it.

Dear Connor, 

     Guess what today is? It's Christmas Eve! That means tomorrow is Christmas. I have a lot of fun things planned for you to do today. When you open the box I brought you, you will find stuff for you to use throughout the day. First you are going to make Santa cookies. He really likes sugar cookies, so that's what I got for you to make him. Be sure to leave some out for him before you go to sleep. Jaimee and Brandon got you a special plate to put them on so they know they are for him. I also packed that in the box. Your Christmas jammies are all ready for you to wear after you take a bath. After you get dressed, your mommy and daddy are going to take you to look at Christmas lights around your neighborhood. When you get home you can open the snack bag that I made you. Inside you will find popcorn and hot cocoa with extra marshmallows. Those are my favorite snacks, so I hope you like them also. Maybe your mom and dad will let you watch a special Christmas movie before bed. The final thing I have planned for you is to read The Night Before Christmas.

     I have really enjoyed spending this Christmas season with you. After tonight, I will be busy working in the North Pole preparing for next year. Continue to be a good boy for you mom and dad because Santa is always watching and I will be back to check on you! I love you and can't wait to see you next year.

XOXO,

Hoho

December Traditions

    December has become a very fun month at our house, especially now that Connor is getting older. I am all about traditions, especially during Christmas time. We have started quite a few over the last couple years, so here they are.
     Our first tradition that we started last year is a Christmas book countdown. It has been a hit both years with Connor because he loves opening a new book each night before bed. With the exception of our Christmas Eve and Christmas book that I set aside, I let him choose the books in any order this year.

Family Pictures in Vicenza

    It's that time of the year again: time for our yearly family pictures so we could have new ones to put on our Christmas cards. Aaron knows that at the end of the year it's time to take them and he is always so thrilled {cough, cough}.  This time I was the one not feeling too thrilled while taking them. Word of advice, never plan to take them after a night out that involves a wine tasting... I'll leave it at that. Anyways, we decided to take them in downtown Vicenza since it will be our last Christmas in Italy. Here are a few of my favorites. Enjoy!

 Our life.

Bolzano, Italy: One Last Christmas Market

     In my last post I blogged about our trip to Innsbruck to visit their popular Christmas market. Well yesterday, we went to the largest one in Italy. It was located in Bolzano, and was only a two hour drive from our house. We went with two other families that we have become close to while living here in Italy.  In total, there were 6 adults and 6 kids {all boys 4 and under}. They all behaved really well, so that made it easy for us parents.We all made sure to bundle up and wear lots of layers because it was cold {like in the 30's}. Aaron was smart and packed us hot cocoa in a thermos, plus we drank mulled wine to keep us warm.

Innsbruck, Austria: Christmas Market Hopping

   

    Visiting a European Christmas market will definitely put you in the Christmas spirit. They are scattered throughout Europe, but for some reason we haven't been to any of the big ones the last two Christmas seasons. I have always wanted to go, but we have never made it a priority... until this year. On December 3 we woke up early and drove three hours to Innsbruck, Asutria to visit their very popular Family Christmas Market {Chriskindlmarkt} and Old Town Christmas Market. We also took a funicular and visited the Panarama Christmas Market on Hungerburg, but it only had a few booths and we were disappointed. We ate some yummy Austrian food, drank glühwein for the first time, and had fun shopping.

Aaron's Blackhawk Jump

       On November 3 Connor, my friend Jaimee, and I drove to Aviano to watch  Aaron and Jaimee's husband Brandon jump from a UH-60. I've seen Aaron jump multiple times when we lived at Fort Bragg, but this was the first time here in Italy. Connor was maybe 4 months old when we last went to one, so he was pretty excited to watch his daddy parachute down from the sky. 

 Waiting patiently.

DFW, Texas: Our Last Week

   October 20: I had to say goodbye to my family today. It always makes me so emotional, but thank goodness it's the last time for a long time since we will be moving back to Texas in May for a few years {at least}. My dad drove Connor and me to Waco to meet Aaron's sister so she could drive us back to DFW. It was the perfect meeting spot since my dad could work out of Waco that day. We had lunch at Whataburger before parting ways. When we got to DFW, Connor napped and then went swimming with Pappy. We went out later that night for sushi and ice cream.

Love this picture of them.

San Antonio, Texas: Week 2

    October 17: We went to our friend Karen's house for a breakfast play date with her littlest boys. We met Karen {and her hubby Henry} while we were stationed in North Carolina and we became good friends. Connor and Elliott are only 3 weeks apart and spent their first year growing up together. Of course they didn't remember each other, but it was so great to catch up.

 Cuties!

Kingsville, Texas: Homecoming Weekend

     October 14: One of the main reasons I visited Texas in October was to see my dad receive his Distinguished Alumni Award from Texas A&M University Kingsville. I was so proud of him and really wanted to celebrate with him. They held a dinner celebrating the recipients and I am so glad Connor and I were able to attend. Connor was probably the youngest kid there and he got so much attention. I think the main reason is because he was so funny and made EVERYONE laugh that talked to him. Not to mention he looked so cute all dressed up! Look at him... is he seriously not one of the cutest kids you have ever seen?!?

My adorable date and I.

San Antonio, Texas: Week 1

      I am so behind on blogging, but really want to document the time Connor and I spent in Texas, so I will continue where I left off almost a month ago. 

    October 9: After spending the weekend in Dallas, Pappy and Omi drove us to our new home site where we met my parents. From there we drove to San Antonio where my sisters family surprised us with a quick visit on their way home to Corprus Christi.

 It's not everyday we are able to get all the grand kids together.

Dallas, Texas: A Day at the State Fair

    We had such a blast while we were in Texas. We did all sorts of fun things, including going to the Texas State Fair. It was Connor's first time ever going, and sure to not be his last. He had so much fun eating junk food, feeding the animals at the petting zoo, and riding rides. Pappy and Omi spent a pretty penny on us that day, but we all had so much fun! I  took a ton of pics, so enjoy...

 On our way to the fair.

Flying to Texas and Back

     At the beginning of October, Connor and I made a trip to Texas. We did it because: 1) We miss family and since we aren't going for Christmas, this was the perfect opportunity to go. 2) I really wanted to go to my dads Distinguished Alumni dinner where he would be presented his award. 3) We are building a house, so I wanted to be there to pick everything out in person instead of over the phone and on skype {like we have been doing}. We are super excited about #3 and I will talk more about it in a later post! 

     If I could visit Texas more often, I would, but the flight there and back is just exhausting and so much work. Especially with a little one. I have flown by myself with Connor a few times, and we survived just fine, but this time I prepared a little more beforehand to make sure I had enough stuff to keep him entertained. Here's what I did this time that made the flight go much smoother: I bought a few new toys and books for him and wrapped them so he could open them throughout the flight. They worked as great incentives for him to behave and keep quiet. I also bought a container with dividers for his Legos and taped a Lego board on the lid. You probably think I'm crazy for taking Legos on an airplane, but he really loved playing with them and he didn't loose any of the pieces. We also loaded his kindle with movies and games. That helped a lot especially when he was getting sleepy or bored. The final and best part of my planning was the snack containers I purchased for about $3 and had personalized with his name. He loves snacks, so the huge variety he was able to chose from kept him content.  I highly recommend them to anyone who travels with kids. ** Just be careful when flying international and taking fruits of veggies into another country. We had a little run in with a food sniffing dog {I have no idea what they call them} going through customs. I thought I got rid of all the fruits and veggies on the airplane, but I forgot the carrots and that little dog sniffed them out of my bag and totally gave me away. Don't worry, we didn't get into trouble. The guard even  let me keep them for Connor.**

 His snack boxes filled and ready to go!

**TRICK** or Treat?

   I should probably start by saying that I love Halloween, but when your little one has been asking if its "trick-or-treat day" every morning for the last few months, then you are ready for it to be over! Yes, I really did say the last few months. They setup the Halloween candy display at our grocery store at the end of JULY {crazy right?}, so we have been hearing about it daily from him since then!  

     Halloween has become quite a family affair for us over the last few years. This year we decided to make it easy for us and just dress up Connor. Well.... that plan only lasted for a few days because because one night while I was laying awake in bed, I decided we were all going to dress up as a family like we have the last two years. So, after an hour or two of searching, I found the perfect costumes for us. 

A magician and his props!

Soccer Update: Practice 4-6, Game 3-5

    I'm not going to do a super long post because we are leaving for Texas tomorrow and I want to spend time with Aaron, but I want to do this before we leave. Today was the last game of the soccer season. Connor has really enjoyed it and had so much fun. Here are the final practices and games from this season. Hope you enjoy the pics!

Practice 4: September 20, 2016

CONNORisms

Anyone who has been around kids knows how funny they can be. I tell Aaron all the time that I don't know what we did before we had Connor because he keeps us so entertained. I keep a list on my phone of funny and sweet things Connor says that I want to remember forever. Eventually I am going to put them in a notebook for him to read when he's older, but for now I will just post them on here. I have had this list going since right after his birthday, when I last wrote about some of his funny quotes, so here they are up until today!

Soccer Update: Practice 2 & 3, Game 1 & 2

    I haven't posted much about Connor playing soccer, so I'm going to catch up today. He really loves going to practice and playing games against other kids. I think it also helps that he has two friends on his team, Noah and Zia, so he always looks forward to playing with them.

Practice 2:  September 6, 2016

Slovenia Day 2: Ljubljana

    Our final day in Slovenia was spent in it's beautiful capital city, Ljubljana. I was nervous because the forecast called for rain, but we were lucky to only have cloudy skies that eventually turned into sunshine {meaning I was hot because I dressed for cooler weather and rain}. We enjoyed taking a few hours to walk around the city before our drive back to Italy.

 Ljubljanica River

Slovenia Day 2: Ljubljana

    Our final day in Slovenia was spent in it's beautiful capital city, Ljubljana. I was nervous because the forecast called for rain, but we were lucky to only have cloudy skies that eventually turned into sunshine {meaning I was hot because I dressed for cooler weather and rain}. We enjoyed taking a few hours to walk around the city before our drive back to Italy.

 Ljubljanica River

 Standing in front of Dragon Bridge.

 Triple Bridge.

Franciscan Church in  Preseren Square.

 The main building of the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra in Congress Square.

 The Administrative Building of the University of Ljubljana.

Ljubljana castle at the top of the hill.

 Wandering around Old Square and Upper Square was my favorite.

Left: Robba Fountain in Town Square. Right: Connor holding his goodies {bath bombs from Lush}.

     Before we started our road trip back home, we had lunch at a really wonderful Mediterranean restaurant in Old Square. The waitresses were so sweet, and the food was really yummy. We ate way more then we needed to, but it was so worth it. Aaron and Connor even squeezed in room for dessert from a gelato stand.

Connor and daddy acting silly like always.

 I will never get sick of taking pictures of him licking gelato/ ice cream from a cone.

     Our drive home took over an hour longer then it should have. Traffic was awful, but thankfully Connor took a long nap and had his bath bomb to look forward to when we got home.

I snapped a couple pics of him with it. He was so excited and loved it so much! 

  Well, that's it from our Labor Day road trip to Croatia and Slovenia {finally two weeks later, haha}. I hope you enjoyed reading about it. 

XOXO,

Jenn