Family Pictures!

Clan Connett!

Mommy and Griffin

Griffin...our little tax deduction (born Dec. 31, 2009)

Us again...add in Ranger the Wonder Dog!

Yes, another miracle has occurred...we actually got a family picture! Yipee! I swear that with this many of us it is a wonderful blessing to e able to have all of us take a picture at the same time. Thanks to our friend, and fabulous photographer, Ashley, for coming by and taking pictures with crying kids an our wonderful, but stubborn dog! I am thrilled with how they turned out...and these are just some of them!

Naptime in the Connett House!

Finnegan is the first of my children to have an obsession with a blanket. He has two favorites that he has to have one of which with him at all times. I told him that it was naptime and of corse this wasn't something he wanted to do. I explained that Griffin was asleep, and even Ranger was asleep so now it was his turn. He ran out of the room and then I heard him go upstairs. I followed and tucked him in with the blanket that was in his bed and he fell asleep quickly. There was only one blanket in his bed, so I went looking for the other one. I thought that he had put it on the baby...he likes to 'tuck' him in when he is sleeping, but there was no blanket of Griff. I turned around to see the above picture. I guess even Ranger deserves to be tucked in every once in a while!

Spring...Let the Nakedness Begin!

Jax...His Native American Name Should be 'He Who Goes Without Clothes'!!!

I don't know about everyone else out there, but when it comes to my kids, they will take off their clothes for any reason. They absolutely LOVE to run around in their underwear! Cade and Claire aren't allowed to do so anymore...we're teaching them about modesty. Instead I took each to Target and bought exercise pants and t-shirts that they can wear when they have a nakedness craving. Finnegan just likes to take off his shirt and run through the house poking himself in the bellybutton with anything he finds. Jax is the true nudist of the family. He will strip down to his underwear and just chill-out. I went out to deliver Visiting Teaching notes to my three families yesterday and he insisted on going with me...he's Mommy's boy for sure. I told him to get dressed and get into the Yukon. I gathered up what i needed and jumped in and off we went. It wasn't until we were leaving Lisa's house that I realized that he wa wearing his underwear and a p.j. shirt. I asked him why he didn't get dressed like I had asked, to which he replied, "I put on a shirt, and when I am in the car that's all the other people in their cars can see!" Sheesh! I guess that modesty skipped Jax...

Daddy and Finnegan

Griffin...getting bigger!

Ranger...the babysitter!

Finnegan is our two year old and boy those 'terrible twos' are in full swing. He is speaking more and more, but his favorite word is still "NO!". The other day Eric was home for lunch and Finn insisted that he eat the same as Daddy...even sitting on the same chair as him. So cute! He is such a sweetie!
Griffin is doing really well. I am suplementing breastfeeding with formula and the kid is actually growing! :) Seriously, he doesn't look like a refugee baby anymore...or at least, not as much! :)
The dog and Griff chilled out in the sun while I swept the dining room this morning. Even though Ranger drives me nuts most days, he truly is a gentle giant and is wonderful with all the kids!
So, our Monday continues with cleaning, naps, bottles, sippy cups, sidewalk chalk, and Visiting Teaching notes. Hope your Monday is going well!

St. Patty's Day!

Yay! We got to go outside and play today! The kids rode bikes and I SLOWLY walked with them (surgery Dr. doesn't want any form of exercise for 2 weeks). Then we made green pancakes for dinner and picked out all the green m&m's in a package and mixed them with raisens for dessert! Healthy, healthy, healthy! Well, all of us wore green, even Eric. I would have a picture of him, but he came home for lunch and Griff took the opportunity to puke ALL OVER him! So, poor Daddy had to change is clothes!:)

Victory!!!

The dollar is for size comparison!

So, here's the story. We had bought Jax a bunch of presents at Target. One of the presents was a basketball hoop in a huge cardboard box. I had also purchased a bag of Reeces peanut butter cups. I kept it all in my Yukon in order to hide it from him. The next day Eric went out to get everything from the trunk and found that the peanut butter cups had been nibbled on! Yep, somehow we had gotten a mouse in the Yukon! For the next few days Eric would bait the bumper and we tried to entice the mouse out. Our friends gave us a sonic device that plugs into the wall and is supposed to make the mouse leave. Nope, didn't work. Next, Eric purchased mouse glue strips that once the mouse steps on it, it gets stuck to the strip. Again, nope, didn't work! So, last night Eric bought a traditional, keep your fingers away, mouse trap. VICTORY! Gross...but effective! So, now the Yukon is mouse free...YAY!

Happy B-Day Jax...Happy Surgery Mommy!

Well, today Jax turned four! What a special little soul he is. Jax is our resident 'drama king', my best cuddler, and he comes up with the most hilarious comments every day. I can't get over how much he has grown and what a perfect addition he was, and is, to our family.
Jax was so excited this morning due to the fact that he was able to bring cupcakes to his preschool class to celebrate. Nothing makes this kid happier than sugar consumption!
In other news I has surgery this morning. Fun, fun, fun! I went into the hospital around 9:00 am for some surgery on my leg. Basically, one of my main veins wasn't working and this was causing vericose veins to run ffrom below my ankle up to the top of my thigh. While definetly ugly, the main cause of the surgery was due to the pain that I was in with aches and cramps in that leg. So, they put me under with general anesthesia and intubated me...sore throat now. Next they made an incision on the inside of my knee and threaded a small catheter up the damaged vein all the way to my groin area. Then they heat the vein up while pulling the catheter out thus killing the vein. Now, once the vein is dead it will stop 'feeding' all the veins in my lower leg.
I was truly blessed to be able to have this done, and I am so very thankful for the help I recieved from Meredith and Sarah. They jumped at the chance to help me out, and I even scored pizza, cookies, and my personal favorite...graham crachers and frosting! Meredith and her daughter Lily sayed at the house to visit for a while after I got home and I can't tell you how nice it was to have them as a distraction from the pain! Thanks girls, it was so much easier to relax knowing that the kids were taken care of. YOU ROCK! :)
Well, I am home now and feel sick from the anesthesia and my leg HURTS! Luckily, Jax has easy culinary requests, so Eric is bringing Culvers burgers and fries home and we have cupcakes for dessert. The big family party will be on Sunday, when hopefully I am feeling better. So, that's the story and now I'm going to take my drugs and lay down!

OUCH!

So, Eric and I finally got to go out on a date last night! It had been about three months since our last date due to the arrival of Griffin and all the colds and other 'plagues' that have befallen our family. So, we enjoyed a nice QUIET :) dinner and then got the phone call...Cade is hurt and the babysitter can't get the bleeding to stop. WHAT!!! Eric and I come home to find out that while playing a game running from room to room the babysitter accidentally slammed Cade's three fingers in the door... and his fingers were stuck in the side of the door with the hinges on it. OUCH! The door was slammed with enough force that it latched and had to be opened back up to get his fingers out. So, we kept him home today because he can't write, or even put on gloves. He's at the Dr.'s right now with Eric and we'll find out more later. Ahhhh, the joys of having kids! :) :) :)