NINE MONTHS OLD...OR SO...

Steph gave Conner this straw at bowling night and he pretty much thought she was "the cheese to his macaroni" (a little line stollen from the greatest movie ever, JUNO)
Conner's famous pouty face. Such a sad boy I think he had dropped the cool, rad, amazing straw that Steph had given to him.

Finally a picture of the lone tooth. A.K.A Snaggle Tooth.

Poem #3

I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain, and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.


I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.


I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,


But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
O luminary clock against the sky


Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.

R. Frost

Sandals from Ariane...

Hey Ariane, this pic is for you...remember you sent these sandals for Conner when you sent me his baby gift?? I pulled them out and they finally fit, he looked really cute with them on. THANKS!!! I thought you would love to see him in them.

Texas Roadhouse and Best Friends, life doesn't get much better!

These are our best friends Ash and Larv. Last night we went to Texas Roadhouse...best food ever...We have been thru so much together, it almost makes tears come to my eyes. We met in our first apartments as newlyweds.
Larvin has been so great, always helping Corey with tools when needed and helping us pick up our nursery furniture from Babies R Us and bringing it to our house where he slipped on the driveway and almost died! Ashley has been there for me thru bladder infections, pregnancy woes, and when horrible horrible human beings (I won't mention HIS name...I'll just say a past employer...)made me cry so hard that I couldn't even eat when we went to McGraths Fish House.
Remember St. George and Vegas? Remember that time Larvin got pulled over with all of us in the car and the cop was like "what are all these women doing in your car?"
Probably the most precious memories is being there for each other right after our chidlren were born.

BOOK REVIEW #2

I must say that I give Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer an A. I loved it. I have spoken to many people who have read it and it seems to be a Love it or Hate it book. Most people who hate it are more sophisticated than me, and so I guess it's just too romantic and unrealistic but I have to say I absolutely LOVED it. I am kind of a sucker for old fashion romance where the man protects his the helpless woman from all the evil in the world.
Loved Loved Loved it. Couldn't put it down, can't wait to read the next one. I'm on the forever waiting list at the library!
I really felt like I was back in high school realizing the new world of dating and falling in love; wondering if the one you like likes you, walking thru the halls hoping to see a certain someone, going weak in the knees at a first kiss. Stephanie Meyer did such an amazing job describing those feelings and emotions of first love.

Am I living the dream?

There are no words, this picture says it all.

Sunday night anxiety!

Last night was a very big football game and as you can see, Corey was very nervous. He kept putting his sweatshirt over his face trying to deal with his anxiety as we were on the edge of our seats seeing if the Giants or the Packers would be going to the Super Bowl to face the Patriots...We were delighted that the Giants won the game in the end!

Conner is mobile now (sigh)...we were trying to watch the game and Conner wouldn't stay put! My mom tried to keep him from getting into everything by using her TV trays as make shift gates!

The Car Show

Every year Corey and I go to the Auto Show with my cousin Jeff (and in the past Mark too). We had tons of fun as usual...Conner really enjoyed it too. Corey's favorite car was as always a Range Rover and Porshe, mine was as usual the Lincoln Navigator and Volvo. I can't remember what Jeff's favorite was.



I hope Jeff doesn't get mad at me for posting this picture, but after the Car Show we went to dinner at Wingers and Corey and Jeff got the hot wings, as you can see in this picture the wings were so hot Jeff was sweating profusely. It was sooo funny. He kept wiping at his face and eyes and I was so confused until I realized it was because of the hot wings.

Okay so we have totally over done the Jazz bands.

TONSIL BOY!!!
Conner is such a huge Jazz fan. (This picture was actually taken at bowling night.)

Corey and his cousin Nick at the Jazz game. It was the funnest night. (this picture was actually taken AT the game.)

I love my Jeffy!

So Corey and I just adore my cousin Jeff. Thankfully he came to our bowling night on Monday to fill in since I have decided that bowling night keeps Conner out just a little too late so I leave a little early. It turned out to be an eventful night full of Jazz paraphernalia, gross disgusting drunk people picking up on Jeff's friend Lizzie, and good ol'fried food.

My Husband can fix ANYTHING...it's TRUE!

Well out of no where our bathroom and hall electricity went kaput...after spending hours on it himself the first night Corey couldn't figure it out, so Jp came over the next night and spent about 5 hours trying to help Corey figure it out to no avail. We then called in an electrician who charged 90 dollars an hour to come look at it and after two and a half hours he couldn't fix it EITHER! The guy was nice enough to only charge us $100 dollars. I think he felt dumb that he couldn't fix it. He did help us isolate where the problem was tho. Corey spent the next TWO WHOLE DAYS up in our attic fixing the problem. It turned out that our house still has copper wires (which isn't good I guess?) and who ever flipped our house and worked on the wires taped them together instead of boxing them (which makes no sense to me but bare with me) so basically the wires had all melted together and our house was like seconds away from starting on fire. Anyway thank heavens Corey was able to figure it out.

Favorite Poems #2

A GARDEN BY THE SEA.
William Morris

I know a little garden-close,
Set thick with lily and red rose,
Where I would wander if I might
From dewy morn to dewy night,
And have one with me wandering.

And though within it no birds sing,
And though no pillared house is there,
And though the apple-boughs are bare
Of fruit and blossom, would to God
Her feet upon the green grass trod,
And I beheld them as before.

There comes a murmur from the shore,
And in the close two fair-streams are,
Drawn from the purple hills afar,
Drawn down unto the restless sea:
Dark hills whose heath-bloom feeds no bee,
Dark shore no ship has ever seen,
Tormented by the billows green
Whose murmur comes unceasingly
Unto the place for which I cry.

For which I cry both day and night,
For which I let slip all delight,
Whereby I grow both deaf and blind,
Careless to win, unskilled to find,
And quick to lose what all men seek.

Yet tottering as I am and weak,
Still have I left a little breath
To seek within the jaws of death
An entrance to that happy place,
To seek the unforgotten face,
Once seen, once kissed, once reft from me
Anigh the murmuring of the sea.

Lake Isle of Innisfree

I thought I would post one of my favorite poems.
This blog is sorta becoming a journal/memory book for me so sorry if its not interesting but its great for me since I don't have time to keep a journal anymore and it takes up a lot less space than a notebook.


William Butler Yeats. 1865–

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

I WILL arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.

CRUSTY!

Conner has learned how to scowl. I have nick named it his CRUSTY face. Its awfully unattractive to see our sweet little boy make such a face, but its really kinda funny.

Emma....Oh Emma....

:: E M M A ::

You are Emma Woodhouse of Emma! You like being the queen of your social circle (small and provincial as it may be), and feel it's your duty to help those less influential than you. You often meddle in the affairs of others, though you do it with a pure heart. You are often deluded in your flights of fancy, but your good intentions and creative spirit make you someone anyone could like.

The Dreaded Tooth...

So the day has finally arrived...Conner is getting his first tooth. He is being so funny about it too, he won't let anyone NEAR it. He is so protective of it. I have to literally SHOVE the tylenol dropper into his mouth when he is not looking to get it in there. He won't even bite on teether rings or anything! He isn't eating well, he isn't napping well and he is generally pretty annoyed. My mom has listened to me cry and complain about this for the past few days and today while we were at the mall she said, "and this is only one tooth, think of how many he has to come in!" To that I admit my heart sank...but there have been hard times before and they always pass and we make it thru them and he is a happy boy once again.

Anyway if you see me walking around with a grumpy look on my face, grab me and give me a hug because teething is tough on a newbie mommy!!!

Randoms

Conner at Grandma Monsons, he loves to pull out her pots and pans and other things in the kitchen!Conner and uncle Tommy!
Conner and Cousin Jeff on Sunday nights at Grandmas, we love Jeff!

Laurie and Conner asleep at Grandmas house. I love to cuddle with my little boy.
Conner spying on mom and dad

Conner and his Great Grandparents.

The wonderful thing about Tiggers is that I'm the only one!

I just had to post this picture. I found it on my mom's camera. This was a little Christmas gift to Conner from my mom. My mom always loved reading to my brother and I from the Whinnie the Pooh stories. My brother Tommy loved Tigger and she thought this super cuddly guy looked like Tigger.

Last minute trip to Spokane!

Corey got two days off for New Years and we were wondering what we should do while he had the time off. Out of no where Corey called me from work and said, "Laurie, now just hear me out....what if we went to Spokane this weekend?"
It was very last minute, but we quickly got ready and talked to Corey's dad and decided to do it. We wanted to make it a surprise for Sylvia so we only told Corey's dad. We got there on Saturday afternoon and Corey's dad Chris came with Claci to pick us up from the airport. We decided to have Claci walk into the house holding Conner and Corey and I would wait on the door step till Sylvia noticed Claci was carrying Conner.
We expected to hear screaming (if you know Sylvia) but we heard almost NOTHING. So we walked in and saw that she was incapable of screaming because she was crying.


It's a well set in stone tradition that whenever we go to Spokane we go straight to ZIPS on our way home from the airport. Its a fastfood chain in Washington and we just love it. Here we are at our traditional Zips.


We finally got to see our best friends Kiersten and Kreg while we were there. They have a darling little girl named Kalle and she and Conner had a great time together. Conner used her toy to go for a "ridin cow boy" ride! You'll notice on the second picture he is with Kalle and he is very facinated by her gorgeous curly red hair. CONNER IS SORRY KALLE! HE WILL TRY TO LEARN TO NOT PULL HAIR FOR THE NEXT TIME WE SEE YOU!!!!!!



Corey got to see his best friend from High School. He and Cameron grew up together and were best friends since Kindergarten. They have been thru a lot together as you can imagine. Every time I see Cameron he makes a remark like "Oh Laurie the stories I could tell you..."

Check out my Slide Show!

New Years Wish You Weres Heres!!

We went a little wild on New Years Eve. We played a bunch of games and ate at first, but it ended up not being enough....
Melissa and I felt like the night was young and full of opportunity. So we did a few silly things. One of which is my new favorite activity, sledding behind a truck. hmmm. Yes as you can imagine Sylvia was completely against it. But really it was so much fun. As you can see in the bottom picture Corey was having tons of fun sledding in a cow boy hat. What a silly guy.


After our sledding adventure we decided that the night was yet STILL young, so we went and crashed a stake dance that Corey's little sister was hosting. We actually had a lot of fun dancing around. Corey felt like since we have been married we have never really been able to dance together (since we didn't ever date in highschool etc) so we got a few nice dances in and then left because Cody couldn't handle the embarassment.

Book Review #1

I am going to start a personal book review which you are welcome to ignore. I read (or listen) to so many books and I want to start being able to remember what I thought about them and rate them and also recommend them to any of you who like to read. Most often I "read" my books by listening to them on tape because I have absolutely no time to just sit down and read now that I have a baby. But with a book on tape I can fold laundry and play with Conner and do the dishes while "reading." So just an F.Y.I, I will probably use the words "read" and "listen" interchangably.
Over the weekend I finished a very good book. It's called Peace Like a River. By Leaf Engar. I am giving this book an A-.
I really like the title of the book because throughout the whole book I really did feel peaceful while reading it. I kept craving it while I was out and about, feeling as tho I couldn't wait to get home and read (hear) some more of it.
I highly recommend this book!
Something that really stood out to me was that the father of the narrator, Josiah Land, reminded me so much of Corey's dad. Who reminds me of what The Savior must be like...and that is just what the man Josiah Land in this book represents.