March has been a crazy month almost from the get go. However, we knew it was going to be hectic going in. Brian had three business trips--one a week for the first three weeks. I decided since he was going to be gone so much, that I would take Connor to Idaho and spend a couple weeks with my family.
We had about five days of peace before the crazy began. We used our time to prep for our upcoming travel--running errands, getting the oil changed, stocking the fridge for when Brian would be home, cleaning, packing, etc. Maybe it wasn't quite as peaceful as we'd wanted it to be. Haha! I tried to be on top of everything so Brian wouldn't go into all of his travel exhausted. I knew that is how he'd feel at the end of it all. Connor napped really well that week. I wore him out each day with all the activity.
That's not to say that he didn't have fun on our outings. He loved playing in the kids' room while our car was being serviced, and he loved saying hi (eh! eh!) to everyone we walked by in the store. He was such a trooper, and didn't cry or whine while we were out and about. I love that he is super happy and chill the majority of the time. Not much gets to this kid.
His love of climbing/stepping on things continues to grow. He loves to stomp and make noise when he walks on hard surfaces. His mission in life is to climb upon the table whenever possible. I have to be careful to keep the chairs pushed in, otherwise he climbs up and stands on the table like he is king of the hill. He is obsessed with our bathroom scale. He loves to watch the red numbers appear and change. He learned to step up on it without help this month, and its his favorite thing. He's also learned to step down off of it without falling. A feat he finds very impressive. He'll step on and off of it, laughing in triumph each time. Funny kid. If he disappears, he's usually in our bathroom playing on the scale.
Brian's birthday was at the beginning of March. We had originally planned to have sushipalooza that night with his parents and Tom and Sarah. Once his business trips got scheduled, we had to change our plans because he would be flying back from NYC on his birthday. We rescheduled his birthday celebration for the week before, and it ended up just being us and Layne and Kris. By the time we were all together, it was pretty late and we discovered that the nearest sushi place was closed. We didn't feel like driving further for our meal, so Brian grabbed a pizza and we did that instead. With all the craziness, we have yet to re-schedule sushipalooza. I know Brian was a little disappointed that it didn't happen. I'll have to take him out for sushi sometime this month. Despite the lack of sushi, we had a fun evening visiting, and Connor loved getting some time with Grandpa and Grandma.
All too soon it was time to drive Brian to the airport for his first trip to NYC. He now mainly tests and reviews TV's, so he was going to meet with Samsung to see their new product releases. He was only gone three days, so it wasn't too bad. Our weather here was pretty good, but they got a nice snowstorm in NY while he was there. Because of that a lot of flights got cancelled, and his return flight was severely overbooked. He volunteered to take a different flight, and got a nice voucher and was bumped to first class. He loved his first class experience, a nice little birthday present for him. Despite the perks, giving up his seat on his original flight meant giving up a direct flight from NYC to SLC for a four hour layover at LAX. Instead of getting in at 2 pm, he arrived at midnight. Brian didn't seem to mind too much. He spent his entire birthday on airplanes and in airports. Poor guy. I drove to the airport to get him.When we left to get him, it was so cold and cloudy--we couldn't see the mountains near our place. Luckily the roads were good, despite it being rainy all day, and Connor slept the whole way there and back.
The next day, a Friday, Brian went to work to finish off the work week. We never really had a birthday celebration for Brian. He opened his presents that night, and we enjoyed some ice cream cupcakes that I'd gotten him from Cold Stone. I felt bad that we didn't do more for his birthday, but it was just a busy weekend what with him travelling and then having family in town. My sister Kiley, her husband Scott, and their two girls came to visit us. They arrived that day and stayed through the weekend, and we had fun going to the Treehouse Museum and a park with them on Saturday.
Connor loves the Treehouse Museum, and I seriously need to look into getting a membership. He loved riding the toy horses, and I think he makes one adorable cowpoke. He was also got very excited watching a puppet show being put on by some other children.
He had so much fun running up and down the bridge, and once he found the stairs all he wanted to do was climb up them over and over.
We managed to drag him away from the stairs to see some other things before we left. Connor had a lot of fun "driving" this scooter.
He loved playing with this microscope, although he wasn't too interested in looking through the lens. He just wanted to twist the focus button and push the slides around underneath the little light.
I caught him off guard when I peeked through the nearby window. He laughed so hard, that I had to keep playing peek-a-boo.
On our last visit, Connor found a miniature rocking chair that is just his size. He loved sitting and rocking in it. We found that same rocking chair this time, and he immediately climbed right in.
The weather was chilly, but sunny, so we went to a park to play later that day. The kids had fun running around and playing.
That night we hung around our place, visiting and playing with the kids. Sadie was my best friend.
Kiley and Scott took their girls to Disney on Ice and came back with a couple of princess wands. Connor loved playing with the wands, especially the one that had spinning lights and streamers. I showed him where the button was, and after that he wouldn't let it go. He walked around with the wand pushing the button all night.
Monday morning, Connor and I said goodbye to Brian. He headed off to work, and we went to IHOP for breakfast with Scott and Kiley. Connor loves pancakes, and ate quite a bit of the ones I ordered him. These two little cuties had fun playing with each other. Connor loves his cousins.
After breakfast, we all loaded up again and drove to Idaho. Kiley and Scott were kind enough to give Connor and I a ride up. We managed to fit three carseats in the back seat of Scott's pickup, while us three adults rode up front. The drive went by fairly quickly and smoothly--the babies slept most of the way, and we played games and sang songs with Sadie. We made a quick stop in Rexburg to pick up some lunch, then got on the road again to go to Chester. The babies were awake by this time and were talking back and forth to one another. About the time we passed St. Anthony, Connor and Kate both started crying. Sadie didn't like the noise so she started crying too. Oh boy! The last fifteen minutes of our drive were quite noisy, but we pressed on and just had to laugh. The kids had been so good most of the way, we couldn't fault them for being upset at the end.
Connor and I had a wonderful time in Chester, visiting my family. The first week was fun, although a bit chilly. It was rainy on and off, and there was still a lot of snow, and mud. I forget how soggy March is in Idaho. We went outside when we could. Connor loved my brother Luke's dog, Ranger. He would shriek and laugh each time he saw the dog. At first he was really shy, and content to just watch ranger eat or run around. By the end of our trip Connor had gotten over some of his shyness, and would try to pet Ranger.
One day, I took him over to my brother Tyler's place to see all of his animals. We got to see horses, cows and calves, sheep and new baby lambs, chickens, dogs and puppies. Connor loved all of them, but again was too timid to pet any of them. He would reach his hand out to pet one of their horses, but would pull it back in and laugh at the last minute before he actually touched the horse's nose. It was really cute. I'm sad I didn't get any pictures of him with the animals.
While we were there, Kate had her first birthday. We drove to Driggs with my mom and my brother Luke to attend her birthday party. Kate is such a cutie. She is the last of the four babies born around the same time. I can't believe they are all one now! We had a fun time watching Kate open her presents.
Connor loved getting to see his cousins again. He loved playing with all of their toys, but once he found their princess wands, that's all he wanted. He did have fun playing peek-a-boo with Sadie's kitty through the window. He would run back and forth from window to window, and got so excited when the cat would follow him from the outside.
Scott made some ribs for us for dinner, which were delicious. After dinner, we got to watch Kate smash her cake. She didn't really do much smashing, but daintily picked off pieces of frosting to eat. She loved the frosting! Kiley did such a great job decorating her cakes. Sadie decorated her own mini cake and was so excited to show it to us. Kiley sure has some cute girlies!
After cake and ice cream, we went downstairs to play for awhile. Connor was obsessed with their staircase, and all he wanted to do was climb up and down. He surprised me by climbing down backwards by himself. I didn't realize he knew how to get down stairs by himself, since we don't have any in our apartment. He is such a smart kid and figures things out so fast.
We had such a fun time at the Kunzs' house, and I'm glad Connor and I got to be there to celebrate sweet Katelyn.
A couple of days later, it was Luke's birthday. My mom made and decorated a cake for him, and it turned out super cute. Kiley made the fondant cutouts. I think it turned out great, and Luke really liked it. It was a low key celebration. Everyone was sick, so it was just Connor and I, Annie, and my parents there that night. We just didn't have good luck with the March birthdays this year.
Although we were in Idaho for two weeks, we hardly got to see anyone at all. My nephew Jackson, Jamie and Danny's little boy, had RSV and was in the hospital all the first week. The poor little guy was so sick. But he had recovered enough to go home at the end of that week. Tayt, Tyler and Kelsey's son, got RSV as well midway through the first week. It didn't affect him nearly as bad though. Tyler and Luke both had some sort of stomach bug that first week as well. Since everyone was sick, no one came to visit. I did get to see Annie and Luke though, and of course my parents.
Tayt had been over at my mom's house the day before he went down with RSV, and Connor had played with him. I was so worried that Connor was going to get it. A few days went by and he was still fine, but by that first weekend, he had developed a fever. He had a fever ranging from 100 to 102 degrees for three days. The poor kid was so miserable. I gave him Tylenol which helped bring the fever down, but after the first day it was taking longer to kick in with each dose. By day three of the fever, he had developed a barky cough and was getting a runny nose, so I took him into a doctor in Rexburg. They tested him for RSV, but it came back negative. I was so relieved! He did have a sore throat and one of his ears was starting to get an infection. The Dr. prescribed an antibiotic, and sent us home.
We layed low at my parents' house for the second week of our visit. No one came over expect Luke and occasionally Annie. Connor was just miserable. He didn't have much of an appetite, but continued drinking just fine. His diet for the next four days consisted of canned raspberries and apple juice, because that is all he would eat or drink. His fever subsided after that third day, and although it came back a couple time over the next few days, it wasn't nearly as bad. Connor just wanted to be held and cuddled, and slept a lot--not like himself at all. He is usually so active and never stops moving, so I knew he was feeling lousy. I held him a lot, and my mom took turns holding him too, and we watched a lot of movies to pass the time. He did have burst of energy every so often though, and would smile and play a bit before wanting to be held again. By the end of the week, the antibiotic was kicking in and little by little he was starting to act like himself again.
Connor really hasn't been interested in balls that much, probably because we don't really have any at our house for him to play with. Grandma had a few balls that he found and he decided that they were really fun to throw. Although he can't really throw them very well yet. He had fun tossing/rolling them to me or Luke and loved it when we tossed them back.
Although we didn't get to see my siblings as much as I wanted to, we did get to spend a lot of time with Luke. He and Connor became best buds. Connor followed him around everywhere, and loved playing with Uncle Luke. He loved it when Luke would rope him, tickle him, and do pretty much anything with him. On previous visits, Connor has been shy around Luke, so I was super happy when he immediately warmed up to Luke. It was so fun watching the two of them together!
He also loved Grandma, and followed her everywhere. He didn't want anything to do with me when Grandma was around. When my Dad was home, he would growl at Connor. Instead of being scared, Connor would growl right back. He also loved playing with Annie when she came to visit. I'm so glad that he warmed up to everyone so quickly this visit. He would run around to everyone and give them hugs whenever we were just sitting and visiting or playing with him. Everyone loved Connor, and he loved all the extra attention.
Connor loves to climb onto and into things. He has a little wooden wagon for blocks at our house and he likes to stand on it and try to sit in it. It is way to small for him to do so, but that doesn't stop him from trying. He also has an activity cube with a cutout on one side for blocks. He is always trying to climb inside of that as well. He loved this empty ice cream bucket that he found a my parents' house. He was especially delighted when he realized he could step inside and sit in it. He barely fit, but he did fit. It was so funny to see him sitting in his bucket.
I also caught him at some point playing with my mom's crochet project. He loved playing with the hook, and would sit down and poke it in and out of the blanket. Maybe I crochet and knit too much. Haha! He clearly has caught on to how it works.
The weather was so cold and wet the second week of our visit. Each day it would rain and snow and then rain some more. With Connor being sick and the weather being so bad, we didn't get outside at all. The doorknob on my parents' front door is a lever-type handle, and Connor discovered that if he stood on his toes he was tall enough to reach it. He learned to open the door quite quickly after we arrived, and was so happy that he could do it all by himself. He loved to open the door and look outside at the rain and snow, and at Ranger and my Mom's cat. Every time he opened the door, the cat would come inside. Connor just loved the cat. He was a little timid at first, but soon had no fear and would pet and grab the poor animal. Connor would try to give the cat hugs, but it looked more like he was mauling it. Thankfully, the cat was very patient with him and no one got hurt. I love that Connor loves animals so much!
Connor would not stay away from the door. Eventually we had to barricade the door with a chair to keep him from opening the door all the time, because the handle turns from the inside even when locked. Without the blockade, he would have had the door open constantly.
Speaking of animals, my Dad has a stuffed skunk. He trapped this skunk a couple of years ago and had a friend who does taxidermy work stuff the animal for him. He loves his skunk, who he has named Spike. My Dad likes to set his skunk around in random places and scare people with it. He even lends it to people occasionally. At last year's county fair, he put it in a cage near the chickens and gave everyone a good laugh. He left it there, until a boy at the fair pulled the skunk out and decided he wanted to keep it. Luckily my sister happened to be there and see the kid carrying the skunk around, so she told my Dad. He was able to get it back before the kid took it home. Haha!
Anyway, Connor decided that he really loves this skunk. My mom showed it to Connor one afternoon, and taught him to plug his nose when he saw it and she said pee-ew. It doesn't have an odor or anything, but my mom hates that skunk. It was so funny to see Connor plug his nose around it. He started touching the skunk's nose first, and then he would plug his nose.
I don't particularly care for Spike myself. It's a little too real for my liking. Connor just loves him though. He picked him up one afternoon and kept giving him hugs. I don't know how I feel about my son hugging a skunk, even if it's stuffed.
Connor also discovered my Mom's piano while we were visiting. Once he learned that the keys make noise when pushed, he was obsessed. He was constantly wanting to play the piano, and had such fun when he did. He is such a cute little maestro! He would even flip through the pages of the music book and play a little, and then turn a few more pages and play again. I think I see piano lessons in this kid's future.
While we were having all of this fun, and being sick, Brian was off traveling the country. He had a trip to Los Angeles the first week Connor and I were gone. He was there to meet with LG about some new TV's, but he also got to tour Technicolor headquarters and Netflix studios. He was put up in pretty swanky hotel with a great view of the Hollywood sign.
On his off time, he walked down the Hollywood Walk of Fame and visited Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
The weather was nice and he had a good time. There were no delays or cancellations to his flights, and they were short flights. However, he didn't get to fly first class...something that he was very sad about. Haha!
The next week, he was back in NYC again to meet with Sony. The weather was snowy and cold again. The trip went well. He sent me this picture of Grand Central in the snow and it made me a little wistful for our time in New York...but just for a minute.
He also sent me a picture of the appetizer they ate at dinner that night. He was so excited about the food!
The snowy weather messed up his return flight again. He got bumped, this time without any voucher's or first class upgrades. Once more his direct flight turned into a two-leg journey with a layover in LAX. Finding his plane at LAX was a bit of a mess, and he ended up having to take a shuttle to a different terminal. The shuttle got stuck for a bit because there was a traffic jam with the other shuttles and baggage carts.
By this time he was so sick of travelling. When we talked on the phone he sounded so exhausted. I didn't blame him. He'd been in all sorts of time zones and had to deal with all sorts of travel hiccups over the last three weeks. He sent me this picture of himself waiting for his last flight home. Road weary for sure.
Two days after Brian got home from his last trip, he drove to Idaho to pick Connor and I up. I felt bad that he had to travel one more time, but he said he didn't mind. It was so good to see him when he arrived. Two weeks is a long time to be apart. That evening, most of my siblings came over to my parents house and we had a get together. Everyone was feeling mostly back to normal. I'd been there for two weeks, but it was the first or second time I'd gotten to see everybody. I'm glad we finally got time to visit.
We left the next day (Sunday) for home, stopping at Layne and Kris' house to visit for awhile. It was good to see them, and by then Connor was acting mostly normal. He had fun running around the house and chasing Archy. We arrived home late that night and after quickly unpacking the car we all climbed into bed and fell asleep quickly.
The next few days were busy with unpacking, laundry, getting groceries, and all of that fun stuff you have to catch up on after being gone for two weeks. Brian went back to work. He had a lot to catch up on and finish by the end of the month because he'd been travelling so much.
Although we came back to snow, it melted the next day. The weather's been nice, although we've had a chilly breeze. The grass is green, the forsythia bushes are blooming, and the trees are budding. Spring is here, and we are loving it. Connor and I have been taking our daily walks, and we both love being outside in the fresh air.
Connor boy is doing a lot better now. He still has a bit of a runny nose, and coughs occasionally, but otherwise is back to normal. He turned 16 months old yesterday. His latest obsession is trying to put his pants and shoes on by himself. He'll try over and over and he gets so frustrated when he can't get his legs in the holes. He won't let me help either, but will just cry while trying again and again. He does manage to get his leg in every once and awhile and will just smile and laugh. He managed to put one of his shoes on the other day by himself and was so proud. He walked around the house with one shoe on and wouldn't let me pull it off of him.
We are all very happy to be together again and home. It's fun to go away and visit family, but it's also really nice to be home. April will be another busy month for us, but not nearly as crazy as March was. We are very much looking forward to a calm, peaceful, and lazy weekend at home watching General Conference and celebrating Easter.
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