Our Week

Just a few pics from our week to share. There's been some playtime...



Some cute time...



Some time for relaxin'...



But mostly, some family swim time.









And now, it's time for the weekend. Have a great Memorial Day holiday!

Cousins Spring Birthday Weekend

These pictures are long overdue but I'm just now getting around to posting them. A few weeks ago, Connor and Kaitlynn and I visited my parents in East Texas for our annual cousins' spring birthday weekend. All of the cousins came together and had so much fun spending time together.

Here is Connor with with Makenna and Madison watching a movie before bedtime. All of the cousins were so excited to sleep in the new cousins' bunk room (with 4 bunk beds, a double bed, and a toddler bed) together. And what I wouldn't give to have a video camera mounted on the wall in there. I can only imagine the conversations that went on after we turned out the lights!



Here's Grand Daddy with the newest Morgan cousin, Marissa Jane. She was born in March to Jeb and Alli and this was the first time I got to meet her. So, so sweet!



Kaitlynn wasn't stingy with her kisses this trip. Here she is giving cousin Preslee (Robin and Paul's 2nd daughter) a sweet kiss.



Here is MeMe with Kaitlynn.



Makenna and Connor on MeMe's exercise machine.



Here are all the older cousins greeting their newest cousins Marissa. Babies just get so much attention around here!



For the actual birthday party, we visited a really fun splash park in White Oak. The cousins loved it, especially Kaitlynn.



She played so hard that she spent most of the party passed out in her stroller.



Connor got a very excited birthday gift from his MeMe and Grand Daddy: a Buzz Lightyear costume! He LOVES it!



One last pic of MeMe and Kaitlynn. I ran out of clean clothes so she is wearing her birthday shirt even though she's not 1 yet, ha! Won't be long!

A Pillow Pet for Connor

Remember how Connor really wanted a Pillow Pet for his birthday? Connor is very lucky to have awesome grandparents in Florida (Grandma Cheryl, Grandpa Jerry, and Great Grandma Arlene) who sent him some birthday money for his pillow pet. So last week we went to the little kiosk in the mall for Connor to pick out the pillow pet he wanted.



He immediately picked up the tiger pillow and declared that was the one he wanted. But he also decided to pick out a ladybug pillow. He says it's for his sister, but we all know that Connor really wanted the ladybug for himself (that is, until the salesman told him that the ladybug was for girls.)



Connor was super excited to finally have his pillow pets and he's been loving on them ever since!



One final story.... Connor saw a big armored truck in a parking lot the other day. "Mom, what kind of truck is that?" he asked me.

"It's an armored truck," I replied. "It's used to carry valuable things like money, jewelry and other really important stuff."

He considered this for a moment. "Oh," he said, "Like pillow pets?"

Spring Zoo Trip

A couple weeks ago I made an impromptu visit to the Houston Zoo with Connor and Kaitlynn. I had been wanting to go before it got too hot so we loaded up on a Monday morning when the forecast called for a cloudy and windy day. It was still a bit warm for my taste but it was a nice outing for the kids.

On the way to the zoo, I asked Connor which animal he wanted to see first. I assumed he would say the elephants or the giraffes. Nope. He replied without hesitating, "I want to see Zoboomafoo." Upon hearing this, I vaguely recalled this character from a program on Sprout TV. But I wasn't sure exactly what type of animal he was.

"Oh, cool!" I said to Connor. "What kind of animal is Zoboomafoo? Is he some kind of monkey?"

"No, Mom," Connor replied. "He's a leaping lemur!"

So here's Connor in front of the lemur cage. He was mesmerized and we had to go back to see "Zoboo" three times before we left the zoo. And Connor STILL cried to leave because he wanted to see him again. That's pretty much all he cared to see/do at the zoo. But check out that smile. It was definitely worth it.



After we'd been at the zoo about an hour, I got a phone call from Jeff asking where we were in the zoo. Turns out he had taken a long lunch to surprise us and meet us! The kiddos were super excited (OK, me too).



Here's Jeff and Connor checking out one of the elephants. A new baby elephant was born at the zoo this spring but she wasn't on display yet.




Kaitlynn quickly gave up her stroller to be carried by her Daddy.



Before we left the zoo, we rode the train around Hermann Park. It was a fun spring outing!

Last Day of School

Yesterday was Connor's last day of preschool. You could tell without even knowing it was the last day because all the teachers had a spring in their step and all the Moms were trying not to cry. (Myself included.) Ha!

The younger classes like Connor's sang in the program for the graduating students who are moving up to kindergarten. The older kids were so cute in their blue graduation gowns! You can't see Connor in this picture but here is a shot of all the kids during the graduation program.



Connor's class enjoyed a end-of-year pizza party with ice cream before school was dismissed for the day. Anything with sprinkles is a hit with him.



I really wanted to get a picture of Connor with his 2 teachers, Mrs. Guerrero and Ms. Sheri, but in typical Connor fashion he did not want to cooperate. He finally agreed when we let Kaitlynn be in the picture, too.



Happy summer, y'all! Here's hoping us Moms can keep our sanity until school starts again this fall! :-)

Pantry Play

Kaitlynn discovered the pantry a few weeks ago and now it's becoming very difficult to keep her away!



Side note: there's nothing like seeing a shot of your messy pantry to get you motivated to organize, ha!



Anyway, as soon as I snapped this picture I immediately flashed back to 3 years ago when Connor discovered the pantry in our old house. Too funny!



And I couldn't resist posting the following picture...



Which was taken a split second before Kaitlynn pulled that basket of light bulbs on top of herself. Ha!

Kisses for Daddy

For anyone who ever had the slightest doubt whether Kaitlynn would be her Daddy's girl, well, I think this video will prove it once and for all.

11 Months

Kaitlynn turns 11 months old today. People keep reminding me that she'll be 1 soon, but I don't want to think about it. I still refer to Connor as my baby and he's 4, so I just can't face it that Kaitlynn is not going to be a baby anymore.

As much as I love her age right now, I have to admit it has been harder and harder to keep up with her these days. I look away for 15 seconds and she gets herself into messes like this...



Or this...



Yep, she's on the move and quite the stinker. She seems to enjoy causing trouble for her Mommy. Often I tell her, "Kaitlynn, no!" or "No ma'am!" and she just looks up at me with a huge grin as if to say, "Ha ha, can't stop me!" Maybe this is the child my mother warned me about?



My new favorite trick of Kaitlynn's is when she gives you a kiss. Ask her for one and she'll lean forward with her mouth open and sometimes even a little tongue. Take a look:



Another recent development with Kaitlynn is the dreaded separation anxiety. It just started last week when I dropped her off at the church nursery. She cried during the entire service, poor thing. And then the next day at MOPS, she immediately burst into tears when I set her down in the nursery room. I'm just hoping this phase doesn't last too long!

She is still a great eater these days and sometimes she shocks me by how much she'll eat. A couple weeks ago I was running errands with her and suddenly realized I hadn't fed her all morning, so we stopped at Chick-fil-A for some chicken nuggets. She ate 4 entire nuggets by herself! She also seems to have an affinity for pizza and Mexican food. Definitely a Courtright.



Kaitlynn also recently had another 2 teeth grow in on the bottom, so that makes 8 in total for now. She loves to play peek-a-boo by pulling things over her face and then yanking them away and grinning at you.

Although she's a great sleeper in her crib, Kaitlynn rarely sleeps elsewhere (like in her carseat or stroller) and will get SO cranky when she misses her naps, which tends to happen often since we're always on the go. But she is definitely dependent on her paci; she cries out at night if she can't find it. I'm not looking forward to breaking that habit!

Swim Season is Here!

Summer started early this year in Houston! It has been HOT lately and the pool was looking mighty inviting. So one evening we all suited up and enjoyed a first swim. Remember Kaitlynn's very first swim last summer?



Well, here she is now, almost a year later!



And she was definitely a looker in her swimsuit and sunhat!



Daddy and his 2 little ones have never looked cuter!

Mom's Munch

Remember last fall when Connor's preschool hosted Dad's Night Out? In the springtime, his class hosts a similar event for the mothers called Mom's Munch.

The first fun activity of the afternoon was of course reading the question-and-answer page just like Connor completed for Dad's Night Out, only this time it was about Mom. His teacher asked him questions about his Mom and then recorded the answers verbatim. Here's the outcome (you can click on the picture to read the questions better):



OK, just a couple comments I feel the need to make about his responses:

• Age of 93 (As if!)


• Black hair color (Guess I need to get these roots touched up more often.)


• Favorite food is salad and sandwiches (I would be doing SO much better if this were the case.)


• Something Mom says a lot (Guilty as charged.)

Here's a sweet pic of me with Connor. I have trained him well, by the way. He tells me that no matter how old he gets, he will always be my baby.



The kids decorated these ceramic plates with an angel made of their foot and handprints. Definitely a keepsake!



Happy Mommy's Day to all of you Mothers out there!!

All done!

Kaitlynn decided to show you one of her new tricks. She likes to say "All done!" after mealtimes, and when she says it she means it. If I try to give her another bite, she'll throw it or spit it right back at me. (We're working on that.)

Silly 4-year-old

Connor is really proud of being 4 now. He told me this on his birthday: "You know, Mom, 4-year-olds help more around the house. So if you have a job for me to do, just tell me and I will do it." So I asked him to help me take out our recycled trash. "I'm happy to!" he replied. In our garage, we have 1 recycle bucket for paper trash and another for plastics. I showed him which items went into each bucket, and then I assigned him the task of putting all of the water bottles into the plastic bin. He was happy with his job until he accidentally dropped one of the bottles into the paper bin. "Oops, I put that one in the wrong bucket," he said. And then he scolded himself, "Silly 4-year-old!" He's taking this turning 4 stuff very seriously.



Today we had Connor's 4-year checkup at the doctor. He weighed in at 43 pounds (95th percentile) and is 42.5 inches tall (95th percentile). He's a big boy! He also had to pee in a cup which we both got a good laugh from. And he was supposed to have his vision tested but he wasn't in the mood to cooperate (surprise, surprise). The biggest ordeal of the day was, of course, the shots! Despite lots of discussion and preparation beforehand, they were still very traumatic for Connor. Poor guy! He was convinced for a while there that he couldn't walk because his legs hurt too badly, but thankfully we remembered to bring his Bible and a sucker (at his request, go figure) to cheer him up.

We finally got to celebrate together as a family when the older boys came over tonight. When I asked Connor what kind of cake he wanted me to make for his birthday, he replied that he wanted a "sprinkle doughnut cake." Sprinkle doughnuts are one of his favorite things these days. So this is what we came up with.



This has been our week so far: a weekend birthday party at Pump It Up, Sunday church with his birthday ribbon, his birthday dinner on Monday at CiCi's Pizza (his fave place), birthday doughnuts with his classmates on Tuesday, and a birthday celebration today at home with his family. No offense, but I'm ready to be done with this particular birthday! Connor has definitely learned to milk it for everything it's worth.

Connor Through the Years

Today, my baby (yes, he will always be my baby!!) Connor turns 4! Seriously, it's just so hard for me to believe how quickly he is growing up. Seems like yesterday I was screaming in the delivery room when he wouldn't come out, ha!

So what's Connor up to these days? Well, besides all the hilarious conversations we have...Connor is just a really fun little guy. He has really enjoyed his preschool this year and has made several sweet friends there that we hope to keep in touch with. He seems to be a pretty sociable fella once he gets over some initial shyness in new situations. Connor is very lucky to live on a street full of kids near his age. On nice weather days, you will always find at least 10 kids playing in our cul-de-sac and Connor loves hanging out with them. He also likes to ride his bike and play sports and guns. He was supposed to play soccer this spring but due to a scheduling conflict we've postponed that until next season.

One thing that Jeff and I love about Connor is his sweet and gracious disposition. He is usually really happy and always remembers to say "thank you" for things he appreciates. He has become quite inquisitive and asks a TON of questions. He also talks a LOT. Sometimes I ask him if he can just stop talking for a few minutes because Mommy needs a break.



Connor really enjoys his Children's Church on Sundays and he also enjoys Chapel at his preschool. He likes to talk about God and Jesus, and he says the sweetest prayers before bedtime. I love hearing those prayers and I may just have to record them sometime!

Connor recently experienced a big milestone (for him): he has now given up his afternoon naps. I noticed that he was having more and more difficulty falling asleep at night after napping each afternoon, so we instituted an afternoon rest time in the upstairs gameroom. The rules of rest time are simple: watch TV or play quietly, and most importantly... No talking to Mom! It has been working out great!

This spring we got out Connor's pajamas from last year and they looked like capris! He's definitely grown taller!



We'll have his official 4-year-old stats later this week after his doctor appointment. Speaking of, Connor is really spooked by the thought of getting shots this week. I'm hoping we get through that without too much trauma, ha!

Stay tuned for more birthday updates later this week. In the meantime, enjoy this look at Connor through the years! Ach, my baby is 4!!!

Connor age 1


Connor age 2


Connor age 3


Connor age 4, wearing his birthday medal!