Connor Turns 3

    Connor turned three yesterday and as I reflect on the last year I can certainly say that he has made a ton of progress.  He is now fully potty trained, loves to play with cars, trains, super mario bros, run outside, play with Allison and Ella and read books.  Although he is the roughest and finds himself sitting in time out at least once a day, he is also extremely sweet.  He will share his food and toys with anyone and almost always says thank you without any prompting.  He still has that extreme excitability that they lose as they get into elementary school.  The sheer joy of opening gifts is so apparent on his face.  When my mom walked in with his Mario and Sonic cake he held his hands to his face, then his head and had the biggest, most genuine smile on his face.  After each gift, he said thank you.  He took his time opening every present and just seemed in control despite having lots and lots of girls surrounding him:)    We had a wonderful family party on Sunday which included all of his cousins from the Alguire side (except Anna who was at a soccer game) both sets of grandparents, both sets of great grandparents and Courtney, Max and Ryan.  We had a great Easter Egg Hunt, play time, opened presents, had pizaa, salad, fruit, bean dip, cake and ice cream.  As we got the cake ready I realized I had no candles so Craig improvised with forks. The girls thought this was hilarious and they even got Connor to "blow" out the forks.  Connor will go for his three year appointment in a month and I will give and update then.  Until then, we are enjoying all that this energetic boy brings to the family.  He really is something else.

The birthday boy with Craig and I

Kathryn and Connor search for eggs

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Grandma and Grandpa with the birthday boy

Connor is surrounded

Ella is 18 months

18 months

Ella is enjoying all of Connor's new presents
18 months!

Connor at 18 months

Allison at 18 months

   Well,  our little baby is not a baby anymore.  It is hard to believe that the baby of the family is now one and a half years old.  She has turned into quite the young lady.  She loves to play with Allison and Connor and repeats whatever they say.  She calls Allison Al yeah or Alson (no i).  Connor is simply, Connor.  She usually says one or two words at a time, but lately we see her putting two and three words together.  Mama, want some, Connor r you?  At Meijer she and Connor picked out some fruit snacks and she was yelling "Bummies, want some".  Very cute.  She loves to play with the babies, Connor's cars, the kitchen and is happy just following Connor and Allison around.  Her favorite books are Where is Elmo's blanket? and Dancing Elmo.  Favorite foods are pizza and cereal.  She is super attached to her pink "banket" and takes a good two to three hour nap in the afternoon and is usually down for the night at 8:00.  She seems to draw a lot of attention wherever we go because she looks so small, but has such a strong and clear voice.

At 18 months:

23.6 lbs (35% ile)
30 inces (50%ile)

I have to take her back for a weight check in two months since she has not been gaining much weight.  The winter was not kind to her.  Lots of colds and ear infections which resulted in little weight gain.
She is definitely the smallest of the three.  We are savoring every moment with her.

March Madness

The time change has hit the Alguire clan hard.  The kids are having a hard time going to bed when it is "still wake up time" (Connor) and Craig and I are having a hard time getting up to exercise.  Just when I think we have all adjusted, Connor has gotten up way before the sun has risen.  Yesterday he ended up in our bed at 5:30 and Craig finally got up with him around 6:45.  Today he was getting out of bed and coming down the hallway at 6:15.  WAY earlier than I wanted to get up on a weekend, but he is feeling pretty lousy and when my kids are sick,  I am a sucker for bending the rules.

Last weekend we had a fun visit from our good friends, the Bruderlys.   We have been friends with them since medical school and for the last 5 years, they have been wonderful friends to Allison, then Connor, and now Ella.  We had a ball catching up, going to the library, having some other friends over to see them and then having pizza together!

Thursday I took the older two for dental appointments.  Although Allison has gone a few times, this was a first for Connor and I was unsure if he would cooperate.  He was amazing.  They took x-rays, cleaned his teeth, the doctor looked at his teeth and finally, he got a prize.  I was impressed, to say the least.  Allison has four teeth that are loose, including her top two.  I am hoping to get their pictures taken in the next week WITH her two front teeth:)

This week was a fun week for us as the Grand Haven Lady Bucs made it to the state semi-finals at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.  Although Craig had work, I decided this was worth going to even if I had to do it on my own.  So, as soon as Allison was finished with school I picked her up and we hit the road to East Lansing.  It was an amazing game and tons of fun for all us.  Thankfully, my aunt Donna and cousin, Amy saved us three awesome seats.  Unfortunately, they lost by one point!  After the game I let the kids run outside and then we journeyed down to Grand River to find some food.  We ended up at an old Ann Arbor favorite, Pot Belly's .  Then we were back in the car and headed home.  The kids were awesome and it really was a fun day.

Saturday morning Craig and I ran the Irish Jig.  It is a local 5K in East Grand Rapids that attracts thousands of runners.  It is amazing how may fast runners are at this 5K.  The top male runner finished in the 14's and the female in the 16's.  This is insane!!!  Craig finished the race in 18:32 seconds and I finished in 21:36.  Not too bad for our first race of the season.  It was a separate male and female start, so were exchanged kids at 9:20 and I walked to the start of the womens' race that started at 9:35.  After the race we walked to the library and let the kids play for a while.  We were back home by noon for Ella's nap.  Then we were off to Grand Haven for some time with GG and Papa, some pizza at Clover Bar with my parents and the Springers and then home.

Here are some pictures of the week or two:

Connor enjoying the drum at the Library

Owen, Connor, Allison, Ella and Charlotte

Silly faces

Ella at Java Gym

Connor getting his teeth cleaned

Allison waiting to get her teeth cleaned

prizes

Happy KID

St. Patty's day cookies at the dentist:)

Lady Bucs B-ball game at the Breslin Center

Connor

Magic Johnson and the kids

Saying hi to the Grand Haven Buccaneer

Allison with the Buccanneer

Allison, Owen and Charlotee

Winter Break

The kids were excited about our mini vacation up north.  Here they are in these silly hats they gave us.

They made there way to the dress up bin.  

 Allison had a few days off last week for her Winter Break and Craig took two days off from work, so we tried to cram in a few activities for the kids.  On Wednesday morning Craig and I exercised and then decided we would make a day trip to Ann Arbor to have dinner and see Meg, Madeline, Tess and baby James.  We walked around our old stomping grounds, grabbed a coffee and then hung out with Meg and the kids at the downtown library.   It was a lot of fun to catch up and the kids were thrilled to see each other.  Watching Connor and Tess together really is a trip!  After the library our family went to our favorite hamburger joint in AA, Bagger Daves.  They have great veggie burgers and fries and the kids love the train that travels nonstop around the restaurant.  Very fun!  Thursday we hung out at home with the kids.  Ran a few errands and then went to Grand Haven after Ella's nap for pizza with both of our parents at Clover Bar.  Friday we exercised, took the kids swimming at MVP and then we were off to Shanty Creek Resorts near Traverse City.  Craig had a conference there and the docs bring their families each year, so we decided to make a family trip of it.  He was at the conference until 1:00 and then the rest of the day was free.  I took the kids swimming in the morning at one of the other lodges.  It was much older and pretty disgusting.  It is always a lot of work taking three kids to the pool and it didn't help that the dressing areas were built for a two year old and the floor was beyond disgusting.   Not to mention Connor, who is in the process of potty training, left a nice big surprise in his swim diaper for me.  He has had no problem with peeing in the potty, but with the constipation issues he has,  and the laxatives I have to give him, getting the poop in the potty has been a "challenge" shall we say .  Although it is getting much better, I have cut off and disposed of at least 4 pairs of underwear.  GROSS!  Oh, I didn't mention we had to take a 5-10 minute shuttle ride to the pool which was FREEZING.  We spent a good part of hour in the hot tub despite the fact that it said not for kids under 10.  It was just way too cold in the big pool.   Thank goodness I had Allison to help me out so I could get out of my bathing suit, throw on some clothes and then take Connor across the hall to use the bathroom.  We made it back to our room safely and then Craig took the older two tubing while Ella took a nap.  After that we went for a sleigh ride and then had a dinner reception with all the other families.  Very fun.  Sunday morning Craig had an hour meeting and then we all had breakfast together and took off.  This is a yearly tradition and we are hoping to bring Craig's parents along next year so that we can do some skiing too!  

Allison and Connor

A few pictures of our sweet.  It was really nice with a living area, kitchen

two bedrooms and two baths over looking the outdoor heated pool and ski hill.

Reading before bed

Living room looking at the door to the Master bedroom

Kids' bathroom

Master bath (Ella's bedroom) She didn't really like it:(

She preferred this bed

Breakfast while Craig was at his conference

Before the sleigh ride

Gearing up

On the sleigh

Bundled, but by the end Ella kept saying, "Cold"

With our horses, "Bill and Bob"

Enjoying the horses

Allison was happy to have Issac there.  

DSi time

Happy Girl

Connor and Tess checking out the fish

Allison and Madeline

Me, Ella, Meg and James

Craig and Allison at Bagger Daves

Ready for our food

Silly kids