Friday Connor turned 3 months old! He's getting so big. To celebrate we made this video to show how much he has grown and how cute he really is. You just can't tell all of that from a picture. He is really adorable. I just fall in love with him over and over again every day. He's even been sleeping better. Several nights this week he slept in long stretches, like from 7pm-3am, or 9pm-5am. If only he would keep it up... but we'll just have to wait and see!

Lately Kelsey has decided that she is grown. The other day she wanted to do something and I had told her no. Her response, "Yes I can and I can do it myself because I'm smarter than you!" I probably should have disciplined her for "sassing her mama", but I was too busy laughing. She also insists on grooming herself. When it comes to washing herself up in the tub she does a great job, but she's also been doing her own hair. She's decided she would like to grow out her bangs like Olivia, so this is no mean feat. We have a spray bottle of water, and she will place it on the bathroom counter and push down the top to get her bangs nice and wet. Then she will brush her bangs to the side and put in numerous clips to keep it out of her face. Of course, these clips have yet to make it in all day, but it's really cute to see it. So, I snapped a picture for my blog to share with you all. The face she's making in this picture is priceless, too. I have spent so much time laughing at her antics lately... she's a handful, but at least she's entertaining.

I've decided that humor really is the best way to deal with the kids. Now, you must understand that once or twice a week I drive Ben to work. This involves loading up all the kids and driving about 15-20 minutes to work, and 15-20 minutes back. When Ben is in the car, Olivia is in the back seat between Kelsey and Connor, and Olivia and Kelsey have lately been bickering CONSTANTLY in the back seat. It's really, really annoying. Add this to the occasional crying bouts of Connor's and this can be a stressful drive. So went to watch Kung Fu Panda tonight at the $1.75 theater and on the way home there was some ruckus in the back seat. So Ben and I started acting like the kids do when their fighting: "She's touching me!" "I have a headache!" "Stop it!" "Mo-om!" "Tell her to stop making noise!" It made the stress dissipate, and we had a good time laughing about it. Well, Ben, Olivia and I had a good time laughing. It was an hour past Kelsey's bedtime, so she just started crying because she thought we were laughing at her. Ah, well... we can't win them all, and we're starting to get more and more outnumbered.

Saturday Smiles

Last Saturday we went to the Edmond library. Because it was such a nice day (it was a fluke, but it felt like early October in SC) and it's only a mile away, Ben and I decided to walk and let the girls ride their bikes. It's sidewalk the whole way, so it's perfectly safe. The City of Edmond has decided to be known as a city of art, and has these bronze statues all over town. This statue of the man reading the paper is the one outside the library.

After we left the library we went for a picnic in the park, and on the way we saw this crazy squirrel missing most of his tail climbing up and down the side of a brick building! And I don't know if you can tell from the pictures, but the squirrels here are red - not just plain gray like in SC!

Then we stopped at the 7Eleven for a couple 79-cent Big Gulps to have with our sandwiches (we forgot our water at home). There are 7Elevens all over the place here! And they all have these 79-cent Big Gulps. It cracks me up! Anyhow, while at the park Ben took this snazzy picture of the me, the girls, and the top of Connor's head. Is it obvious I need a haircut!?
Later on that night I was playing with Connor and he started smiling, so we had to share! (It looks a little yellow because of the lamp.) He's so funny because if he's in a good mood and you start smiling at him, he will just smile right back at you over and over again! He and I were going at it probably a good 5 minutes or so. Long enough that my cheeks hurt anyway! He's also at the age where he's starting to suck on his fist and get entranced with the little swing-set looking toy we have that dangles a few things within his reach. He can actually hit the toys with his hands and make noise, so it keeps him entertained for quite a long time. He's growing so fast! Last Wednesday he had a check up and he was 11 lbs 13 oz, and 23 3/8 inches. That's over 2 inches and 4 1/2 lbs in 2 months!

I'm a tourist in my own life...

This is what having a blog has done for me. Funny story: I've been telling people that I have a small back yard and needed to buy a push-mower so I could cut it. Generally, the comment I get back is a joke about cutting the yard with a weed-eater. At least, I THINK it was a joke... Well, last Saturday it the lawn maintenance people came for the complex, and they cut my backyard. The good news is I don't have to buy a mower. The funny part? Guess what he cut it with! You guessed it - a weed eater!! And I'm so amused, that I want to take a picture of this guy, but I don't want to raise the blinds and make it obvious, so I twist them open in the kitchen and snap away. I did seriously consider for a moment whether I could ask him to pose for a picture, and that's when I realized it - I am a tourist. And this is my life! But I've decided this isn't a bad thing at all. What is a tourist? Someone who walks around with a camera and tries to see new things and get enjoyment out of them. A true tourist is someone who WANTS to be pleased with everything they see. Why can't I be a tourist?

So in true tourist fashion we decided to check out the local lake for a little while on Labor Day. A little over 5 miles from our house is Lake Arcadia, just east of downtown Edmond. There's several parks on the lake with camping, boating, hiking trails, "beaches", picnic tables and playgrounds. We checked them out on the web and the girls picked the one with the coolest looking playground. We loaded up the kids, some snacks, and hit the road. Less than 10 minutes later we were there. The playground had a rock climbing wall, and Ben took a picture of the girls sitting on top of it. After a little while we wanted to go exploring, and since none of the hiking trails were close to the water we walked over to the "beach" and let the girls play in the water. They had a roped off swimming area there for people to play in, and the girls just held up their shorts/capris and waded in. Because we thought we might go hiking, we had brought the "backpack" carrier for Connor. He's just a tad bit too small for it right now, so we had to roll up blankets it put them on either side of him to keep him from slumping over. Then I had Ben put an extra blanket next to his head so he wouldn't hit his face on the edge. He was so cute!

After we got home, Ben and I spent the rest of the afternoon watching a top 100 80's songs countdown on VH1. We are so lame... but we loved it!

I also wanted to throw in this picture of a cross by the interstate near our house. Ben likes it that I have a blog now, and is often heard saying something like, "Why don't you put such-and-such on your blog?" This picture of the cross was his idea. It's huge. I don't think the picture does it justice. It's about as tall as a water tower. Among other things, Edmond is the home of Oklahoma Christian University, so in some ways we feel like we are back home in the Bible belt!