We had a fun Thanksgiving in Arlington with the Halls. Connor loved getting to play with his big cousins and they were so good with him. We all went to a Dallas Stars game and little man did fantastic.
At the Dallas Stars game
Playing with Aunt Lauren
Early in December, we went back to Arlington for the Big 12 Championship game. It was held at the new Dallas Cowboys stadium. The game was so fun and we got to see the new stadium.
After Texas WON the Big 12 Championship game!!!
We spent Christmas at home with my family. It was a fun, fairly low-key Christmas and it was great to spend some good time with my brothers, sister-in-law and nephew. I was even able to talk everyone into participating in one of my favorite traditions — looking at Christmas lights. 
Checking out a Christmas gift
In the mountain of wrapping paper
Mommy and Connor
Christmas morning
Cousins!! They LOVE their wagons from Grandma.
Jordan and silly Uncle Kevin
The day after Christmas, all the girls took the babys to see Disney Live. The boys were so good and seemed to have a great time!! My mom has been looking forward to taking her grandkids to events like this for years (yep, since before she had any grandkids).
At the Disney show
Allen and I were busy during the whole Christmas break preparing for our next major life event. We are buying a new house and selling our current house. So we were packing and cleaning and prepping to get our house on the market. And the latest news is that we’ve made an offer to build a new house. We are very excited about the new house but so sad to leave the house we have lived in for over 5 years. More details about the house will be coming as we know it.
Working on the house
Texas cutie
Riding his truck
Graduating from fall semester at The Little Gym
Nope, not my words of wisdom (like I have any to begin with….) but the words of my amazing son. He has been working so hard on learning how to say words and associate them with an object. I wanted to take a moment to document some of the words that he knows.
(As a side note, I might be the only person who can actually differentiate between some of his words but I know what he is talking about.)
Hi
mama
dada
ball (sounds like bah)
balloon (sounds like bahoo)
dog (sounds like gog. when asked what a dog sounds like, Connor will pant.)
duck
blue (sounds like beu)
up
outside
bath
car (when i ask him what a car sounds like he buzzes his lips)
baby (sounds like dadee)
apple
That’s all I can think of right now but as you can tell, I’m so proud of my little man. He learns something new everyday. Maybe that’s why he looks so good in this shirt:
It says 'Future Engineer'
So cute!
Happy Halloween from the family that is The Wizard of Oz!
Connor was the Cowardly Lion (yep, I made the costume!!! I’m so proud!):
Allen was the Scarecrow (I put this costume together as well):
And I was Dorothy (my mom made this wonderful costume!):
Dorothy and Wonder Woman
I love fall!! (despite my horrible fall allergies) I love the change in the weather, UT football and the holidays. Halloween kicks off the holiday season and it’s coming soon!! I have been working very hard on Connor’s Halloween costume (more about that in a future post).
Saturday was a BEAUTIFUL fall day so we decided to pick out our pumpkin (”pump” as Connor says). I had visions of an adorable picture of my little man sitting among the pumpkins smiling at the camera. HA! That would mean he would have to sit still while there are so many new things to explore. So, these are the best photos we could get. But, we had a great time looking at the pumpkins and we’ll have fun carving our pumpkin this weekend.
Whoa, the pumpkin is as big as Connor
This was the best 'sitting in the pumpkins' picture we could get.
And we're on the move again.
Hmmm....pumpkins are interesting.
Big hug for Mommy
As part of my birthday, we decided to head to Dallas for TX/OU weekend. If you don’t know what that is, The University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma meet in Dallas every year to play a big rivalry football game. In recent years it is a huge deal because the winner typically winds up in the Big 12 Championship game. Plus, it is held at the grounds of the Texas State Fair.
The last time I went to the TX/OU game, we lost. :( And I didn’t get a chance to look around the State Fair. I’ve been telling Allen for a few years that I would like to go to the Fair so we decided to go this year. We tried to get tickets before the game but they were selling for $200. Well, no way these cheapskates were going to pay that.
We planned to get to the fairgrounds early and try to buy tickets from scalpers, We quickly realized that there were WAY more people buying then selling tickets. So we wandered around, saw the team buses pull up and found a place to watch the game. There was a huge screen set up and tons of fans watching so it was a lot of fun. And, WE WON!!!! WOO HOO!!! GO HORNS!!!
After the game, Dave came out and met us for awhile. We all had fun walking around and checking out the fair.
All in all, a great day! And I’m so glad I finally got to go to the State Fair.
Allen in front of the Cotton Bowl (it was really early)
Me in front of the live broadcast for College Gameday
Watching the game
Having fun!
Allen and Dave doing the Heisman pose
While we were having fun at the fair, Connor got to spend the day with his grandparents.
Granddad and Connor
Last week was my birthday and it was the *GASP* big 3-0!! I was dreading it a bit but turned out to not be a big deal. Actually, I had a wonderful day. Allen let me sleep in a little, went to lunch with Connor and my mom and got a pedicure. Then Allen took me to dinner at Romeo’s (YUM!!) and then I was surprised my my mom and dad with tickets to see Grease. It was a fun show and a great date night!!
Happy Birthday to me!!
We had a really amazing opportunity recently to visit Allen’s family in Lake Charles. On our way to my family reunion in Gulf Shores, we made a stop in Lake Charles to introduce Connor to his great-grandparents and great-aunt and uncle.
We left our house first thing in the morning and got to Lake Charles by mid-afternoon. Despite a long day in the car and not the best naps, Connor put on a great show for the family. He was so much fun!!
It was a big day for Connor, not only did he get to meet some family, it was also his 1st birthday! Kay had gotten a cake and decorated the house so we had a little birthday party — it was great!!
Ok, now for the pictures. (Bear with me, there are quite a few pics)
Exploring the house
Connor and great-grandmother
Birthday party!!
Connor, Daddy and Great-Grandmother
What a great family picture!!
Yep, those are party hats. :)
Connor and I with his birthday cake
Connor and great-granddad
Connor playing on a blanket that grandmommy and great-grandmother made
Awww...so sweet
Connor and Kay
Working on the computer together
Hanging with the family
Touchdown!!!
Connor’s 1st birthday party was Sept 19 (also known as International Talk like a Pirate Day). So, we had a pirate-themed party and it was so much fun! Allen’s sister, Lauren, came in on Friday night and was a big help to me all day Saturday as we were doing the final preparations. The party started at 4:30 and what a party it was!! There were a bunch of kids running around having fun and the adults were enjoying getting to play ‘pirate’. Yep, we had eye patches for everyone. :) Allen grilled up hamburgers and hot dogs before we got to enjoy the yummy pirate-ship cake.
The cake!
Some of the decorations
Birthday boy and his mommy
So, when we finally sang ‘Happy Birthday’ and gave Connor his cake, things got interesting. I had his highchair all decorated and we put it on the patio since that’s where most people were hanging out. He freaked out!!! I think there were too many people paying too much attention to him.
Happy Birthday to you...
Hmm...I have frosting on my hand.
I'm done
Mommy, why are you laughing at me???
Once the cake meltdown was done and people stopped paying attention to Connor, one of the ‘big’ kids started feeding cake to Connor. He LOVED it and couldn’t get enough of it.
This cake thing isn't so bad.
Keep it coming...
Let me help you
After the party, most of the family stuck around to watch the UT/Texas Tech football game. This is a big game in our family since my brothers went to Tech. Every year, my mom and dad have to figure out how to cheer for both teams. Here was their solution this year:
When we finally got to cleaning up, it was pretty late and we were all tired. Things got a bit goofy between me, Lauren and Allen.
I started the frosting fight but Lauren finished it.
Then we both got Allen.
Allen putting the gym together
Allen trying out the slide on the gym. :)
King of the hill!!!
I think he likes it!!
Down the slide....
... up the slide
Thanks for the gift, Grandmommy and Grandad!!! I think it’s going to be a BIG hit!
One more picture since we had our first UT football game this weekend:
GAME DAY!!
On Labor Day, Allen and I competed in the Austin Triathlon. It was our first triathlon since Connor was born. Allen did one race while I was pregnant but I haven’t done a race in almost two years. I was SO nervous!! But we both did great — Allen finished in about 1:49 and I finished in 1:53 (13th place in my age group!!) It was a 700m swim, 16.5 mile bike and 3.1 mile run. It was so fun to be back in the tri environment and accomplish this amazing feat. Thanks so much to my mom and dad for watching Connor for us so we could actually go do the race!!
We went to packet pickup and bike drop-off on Sunday afternoon. Connor went with us for that. He had fun looking around at everything.
Connor with a panel of professional triathletes in the background
I'm blending a smoothie with my mad bike skills.
Family photo at the finish line
On race day, we got downtown at about 6:45am. It was EARLY!!! But, it’s always so much easier to get there plenty early before transition closes so you have time to arrange all your gear. Allen’s swim wave was at 8:30 and mine was at 9:00. I was really nervous before we started but once we got going, I felt great. I felt comfortable in the swim. The bike was really fun — it was around downtown so we had some good hills (I love passing people on the uphill) and some FAST, straight downhills. The run, as usual, was tough because it was hot but I put in a decent time. Allen was waiting for me at the finish line, always wonderful to have him there. All in all, we had a fun day and we’re so glad we did this race.
Setting up my gear -- it was EARLY!!
Allen with his bike. Beautiful downtown Austin in the background.
After the race -- WE DID IT!!!!