Connor's Birthday, Part 3: One Crazy Dad

Thomas got some mileage out of the party hats this year. There were a few extra and they didn't go to waste. I am really not sure who he looks like, some bizarre cross of a Star Wars character and a second rate opera singer.

Who is this crazy guy?

Connor's Birthday, Part 2: The Easter Egg Hunt

Most of Connor's party guests were a bit older and not as content to sit and eat for an hour or more. Since Easter was the following day, I decided an Easter egg hunt would be really fun for the kids. It actually became an ice breaker for them and got them to play together later on.



Unbelievably, the kids were willing to pose for a photograph following the egg hunt.

The best part was eating the chocolate candies hidden inside the eggs. You might be wondering about Connor.... he was busy being adored by the adults. That trumped looking for eggs.

Connor's Birthday, Part 1: The Cake

Connor ushered in his first birthday with a gathering of family and friends. Uncle Michael, Aunt Terri and Aunt Suz all made the trip into Phoenix and helped with the party planning and preparations. Aunt Ginny, Cindy, Trevor, Annika and our next door neighbors all came over to celebrate with him. Connor spent a good portion of his time in the booster chair, eating cheese and crackers, hamburger, pasta and fruit. Here he is impatiently waiting for his ice cream cake.
Connor made short order of his cake. More to come on this topic.

We also celebrated "Big Brother Day" for Ian. He was also very interested in the ice cream cake.

I know you love the before and after shots. Connor was fingerpainting with the melted remains of ice cream.




There are some better shots of the handprint on Connor's forehead from other folks, but if you look carefully, you'll see it. Needless to say, he had to be changed out of his specky birthday outfit, which Aunt Terri chose for him. Oxyclean to the rescue!

Retrospect

It's funny how a year goes by in the blink of an eye. Here we are on April 6, 2006, the last few moments of being just a family of three. Anxious to end the waiting and meet our new little boy. We didn't know his name or what he looked like. We didn't know what was to come.

After weeks and weeks of uncomfortable sleep, I finally scheduled a time to go in and get the baby show on the road. Thomas got settled on a cot and I was hooked up to all kinds of fun IV's. At 4am, they administered Pitocin. I was not really having any contractions and by 6am, I was getting a little nervous that nothing was happening. However at 7am, I felt like I bought a ticket on a rollercoaster ride. The contractions went from tame to furious in what seemed like seconds. I remember fighting to maintain control and focus. I remember Thomas asking the epidural lady a bunch of questions, which she leisurely answered. I remember wanting to strangle someone but I was not even able to speak. It felt like I could not come up for air. And then at 8:08am, we became a family of four.

He looked like a miniature Yoda, a scrunchy little face and skin mottled and reddish. The nurse announced his weight at 9lbs, 4oz and I am fairly certain my eyeballs popped out of my head. Another bruiser, this time with a mohawk.

Thomas lobbied for the name Connor and (I'm sorry, Connor!) I really wasn't a fan of the name. I had a Connor in every single class at school. But, I didn't have any names to counter with and I was too tired to argue. And now, he is just a Connor. Baby C. Little C. Chunky Monk. Cuteness. Sweetness. Babyness. Baby Connor. Connor J.

His appearance has really dramatically changed over the year. For many weeks, he had deep red skin with a big shock of black hair on top of his head. Gradually, he faded into his translucent Irish skin and his hair took on shades of brown, blond and red and the dark hair disappeared. The mohawk is still there although it does comb down. His eyes are a brownish-green, but they never turned chocolate like Ian's.

He is a light sleeper, he is fearless and he is funny. He says hi and waves. He gives high fives. He laughs with a scratchy Porky Pig inflection. He wants fairness in his life, in other words, if Ian has something, Connor should have it too. He is starting to thin out a bit and lose the baby chunk. He is playing with cars and looking at books. He covers his eyes and plays peekaboo.
He is becoming a little boy. I remember when Terri finally had to tell me that Ian wasn't a baby any longer. I wanted to cry. And I see the end of babyhood in sight. It's coming, like a train thundering down the track.

So tomorrow, our little C turns one. I love the parents who says, "Before you know it, he'll be 20." Don't tell me that yet. We still have some time, as long as we stay conscious about it.

A Perfect Day

Ian woke up singing "Oh yay, today is a perfect day, oh yay, today is a perfect day".

It was a far from perfect day, but his little song had such heart. It gave me some pause during the morning to take a breath and actually try to make it a better day. Let the difficult moments pass quickly and move on.

This afternoon, he is in his room, singing during all two hours of naptime. It's quite a repertoire of Diego, Backyardigans, made-up songs, and songs we have taught him. He is also doing some Bob Dylan impressions with the Diego theme. Completely his own renditions and imagination.

I had a sickening headache today, and needed to lie down for awhile but I awakened to his little voice. Like he doesn't have a care in the world. He is just in the moment.

Sometimes it's hard as adults to be that light-hearted. To forget the day's low points and just sing in our rooms. There are a ton of looming responsibilities and cares that need our attention, of course. But, to work on them and still have a perfect day is a pretty nice goal. Thanks for the lesson, E.

Hooray for Oxyclean!

It seems to be birthday season, especially for young boys. Our friend Trevor turned three today and his Spiderman party was held on Sunday afternoon at the park. All of the guests were kids from our daycare. Ian was very excited about the party and seeing Trevor. He was not excited about the daycare kids being at the park. Everything seems out of order in his little world, so he ended up playing alone or with the two older girls that were there. He only played with Trevor once most of the other kids had left. But, my boys love their pizza. Cindy found some terrific New York pizza, a very smart choice for three years old. And almost one year olds too.

My faux pas of the day was forcing my children to look clean and neat. I put them in white collar shirts. Ian was the only child who managed to remain somewhat clean despite pizza and a heavily frosted red and blue Spiderman cake. Later on, he took a nosedive on the concrete and skinned his knee, so he ended up a little dirty.


On the other hand......


Young Connor, preparing for his own birthday festivities, wasted no time with the pizza or the cake. The boy managed two pieces of cut up pizza and chewed on the crust. He happily sat eating for what seemed like perhaps an hour.

So, my hats off to Oxyclean stain remover...you will have a loyal customer. This white shirt was basically purple, following juice dribble later on. (yes, he is eating a frosting covered pizza crust in the above shot.) Needless to say, the boys went into the tub that evening. However, I could not wash their clothes because our non-agitating washing machine. Once I could finally launder their clothes with mega-doses of Oxyclean, that little white shirt looks pretty darn good.


Okay, I went to Target and bought a new bottle of Oxyclean, seeing as how Connor's first birthday is fast approaching. This is just a warmup.

Well, naptime is over and I must attend to my crew.

Now I know why the Murphys stay up late

This week was one of the busiest work week I've had this year. AND, I had to take an actual day off from school because my son was sick, so I was down one obligation.

Let me say that grant writing is quite a process. It involves so much research, knowledge of your organization and well-planned ideas that you can convey in a simple writing style. I've been successful with four out of five of my grants this year and yeah, I'll toot my own horn about it because I am happy for a good track record. This week, three major grants were due on Thursday. I spent several hours on the phone with the artistic director to shore up details, giving her lists of things to do and sign. Then, more hours writing and revising and re-revising. All the grants had to entered electronically with specific word counts, font size, with several uploaded documents and hey, you can only submit once in the system. So, it has to be right before you click submit, there's no retrieving it for changes once it is out there.

I ended up working until 2 and 3am a few nights this week. I even managed to outlast Thomas and that is hard to do! But I discovered that working in the evening has its distinct advantages-the boys are asleep and Thomas is usually playing his video game, so he isn't a factor of distraction either. It was quiet and I could think clearly and uninterrupted, especially after a Starbucks run one evening and a few Diet Pepsis on another. Now, on one night I only managed three hours of sleep because the exact moment I slipped into bed, a certain little infant began a coughing fit. (a double ear infection was clogging him up) At most points, I was consumed with completing these grants, resorting to repeated episodes of Diego and Backyardigans, and even dropped the boys off at daycare for a few hours of work. Sleep seemed secondary.

The grants are in. Now we just wait and see what the panelists say. I have a distinct feeling that one may not get through. The other two have a really great shot at approval.

I spoke with my father-in-law on Thursday night (once the grants were in and I could relax) and he shared his own upcoming possibilities for teaching over the next few weeks, which I hope come to fruition for him. I also had a chance to tell him about the grant writing and the non-profit work I have been involved with over the last few months. How I felt I was trying to create focus and organization for the artistic directors, which can be quite a challenge. He told me a story about his aunt and how she changed careers following her retirement from education. She moved into office work and became very successful. He mentioned how some people can change career focus with a great deal of success. I have to say that I felt very encouraged just by talking with him. It motivated me to push through my fear of failure and starting focusing on getting the experience to move forward. Thomas and I always say that his dad and I have some cosmic connection.

I have also started a class about non-profit management, where I am learning so much. There are a series of grant writing and other non-profit management courses that I intend to complete over the next six months. It fulfills a basic need for writing, which I love to do. It's organized and I love organized, especially as having children who have unraveled any semblance of personal organization. It's leadership without being the ideas person. I've never been a great ideas person, but I can carry out a plan.

One of the grants I wrote this week was for a local music teacher. She and I had a phone conversation earlier in the week so I could finalize details. Late last year, I wrote a successful grant for her school to have musicians come for a 10 day residency and she enlisted my help again for another residency grant. She told me that she had referred me to several music teachers for grant writing assistance and was hoping I would have a card to give out soon. Wow.

Finally, I got a lead on another non-profit job as a part time coordinator for another arts organization. It has a lot of similar duties to the chorale position, with the addition of grant writing. I spoke with the president of the organization, who requested my resume. We'll see if she decides to call for an interview.

Life outside of work is also keeping us on our toes. The washing machine quit this week, which will need to be looked at ASAP. Apparently, it stopped agitating, which is funny, because I feel extremely agitated by it.

Ian has discovered a new phrase, which has been driving us up a wall. If I tell him no,that he cannot do or have something, he turns around and says, "Mommy, I said YES." This comes in several variations, as in "I said it's time for bed." "No, Mommy, it's not time for bed, I said no!" and so on. I believe that phrase "terrible twos" should be revised to "terrible threes". Connor has discovered how to pester his big brother effectively. And when he isn't pestering Ian, he is attached to my legs like glue. Fun.

Thomas is busy doing a solo steel pan gig, which he is gaging to see if he wants to invest more time and money into this type of work. I am looking forward to seeing how things went. He has been practicing in the garage with a sound system and it sounds like a block party at our house. I told him I'd like to hire him to play at my son's birthday party.

Well, I am off to read another lesson for class, figure out what's for dinner and wrap my friend's son's birthday present which is a Diego megablok center. Ian was a little put out that the Diego megablock toy wasn't for him, so it is in a safe hiding spot in the garage. He was also disappointed that we didn't take home several other (enormous) toys from the toy store. Note to self: Do not bring your child to the toy store to buy toys for other children. Lesson learned.

And tonight, I plan to stay up late and enjoy the peace and quiet once the boys are in bed even though I don't have pressing work. No wonder most of the Murphys are up late.

What's Zoo with You?

This week has been a whirlwind of activity. I wanted to take some time to write about my mom's visit to Phoenix and our outings with the boys. The Phoenix Zoo is one of Ian's favorite places to go with family, so we got out of the house early (it's been sunny and 90 degrees here...an interesting weather phenomenon that occurs each time my mother comes to visit).

Connor found the zoo to be a good opportunity for a nap. The animals didn't hold his interest. One of my favorites of the day is this little snoozer shot.

I took more pictures of the boys than of animals. Over the years, I have taken a million awful animal pictures from zoos, so I've decided not to accumulate more. But, since this is a zoo blog, I feel obligated to put in something, so here's a bird shot that I can live with for now.

This is the lookout for the safari area, which Ian loved. Grandma patiently waited while he walked up the many, many stairs by himself. Several onlookers chuckled at the matching hats.

We met a friend and her daughter, who is a year older than Ian. She wanted to hold hands with Ian while they walked, which was just so cute.

Ian was a little disappointed that we didn't see the spectacled bears, who were sleeping peacefully out of public view. With the whole Diego craze, Ian has learned about quite a few animals, so it's fun to hear him tell me "no, Mommy, that's not a snake, that's an anaconda" and other fun facts that he relates.

For our New York trip, Thomas and I really want to bring the boys to the Bronx Zoo, since we both remember our trips as children. The Phoenix Zoo is nice and features several desert creatures (surprise!) but it's nothing like a real city zoo.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Our day didn't start out on a good note....Grandma Sandy had to return home after a week's visit. The boys and I took her to the airport this morning, but we'll see her again in July.

The boys were in a contentious mood for most of the day. Ian wanted whatever toy Connor had first, Connor would cry if Ian grabbed it from him. Then, Ian would be playing and Connor would sit next to him and try to play too. Most of the comments were: "No, Connor, no!", "Mommy, he's breaking it!" , "Here, Connor, you play with this." and so on. Connor responded with heartbreaking wails.

Finally in a brotherly moment, they tried to hug each other and ended up collapsing on the kitchen tile, each landing on the side of the face. That brought on hysterics from both parties, so I scooped them up and sat on the couch with both of them clinging and screaming. A few minutes later, I see Connor peek over at Ian and quickly begin to cry louder. Ian would stop for a moment, see Connor still crying and Ian would start up again. I was trying not to laugh, and I was simultaneously wishing my mother had stayed another extra day.

After arguing indoors got old, we moved outdoors to fight over the tricycles, the bubbles, the sidewalk chalk (Connor snacked on the blue chalk). I finally brought out the foam shamrocks to decorate with Ian's favorite art supply-glitter glue. We gave Connor a shamrock too, which ended up decorated with dirt, blue chalk residue, teethmarks and whatever glitter glue he hadn't managed to eat. I was ready to drink some green beer by then and it was only 11am. (I didn't)

Here's Connor sampling the glitter glue, swiped from one of Ian's shamrocks.

This was Connor after I wiped glitter glue out of his mouth. Notice the blue chalk on his shirt, along with the dirt on his face. That was a result of chewing on the bubble wands, getting his hands sticky and proceeding to crawl and eat chalk and dirt.

A moment of silent playing. An even better moment was when they both took naps at the same time. I took a nap too!

Daddy came home and took the boys on a bike ride before dinner. When they came home, the leprechaun had hidden the shamrocks around the house, so Ian got to look for "treasure".

I have other pictures to post from my mom's week here. I'll get to them soon! Mom-we miss you and we were so glad to have you stay with us!

Happy St.Patrick's Day!

First Dinner, then Treats

On Saturday, we went out for Mexican food, after a mega, MEGA garage sale day (yes, Michael, the garage is clean-er!). We sold over $200 that morning, so we celebrated with our hard-earned loot that evening. Ian sampled that "pollo strips". Mom and I had margaritas and Connor just wanted food in any form. Tom was hoping I'd let my camera at home.


Next stop: Cold Stone Creamery. Ian wanted "brown" ice cream, just like Daddy and he opted for chocolate chips as his mix-in. The wonderful thing about Ian is Ian's a wonderful thing....he bounced like Tigger all the way home, which included a rendition of his newest song: "Milk and juice and water, milk and juice and water, milk and juice and water...." all the way home.


Connor was happy to try Daddy's ice cream, Grandma's ice cream and Mommy's ice cream. He really isn't choosy.

Young at Heart

In my most of my pictures, I refer to "the boys", which includes my husband. Here's why:

It's Fun Being a Grandma

It's pretty hard to spirit Connor away from my mom's grasp. She carried him when he was starting to get fussy and sleepy. Connor was also not feeling too great with a cough. More on that later. Here Mom passes off her camera to keep Connor from melting down.

Hmm, that's a pretty nice camera.

Well, it worked for a bit anyway. Grandma tries another tactic....

The swing. Ahh, this is the life, rocking and sitting cozy with Grandma. He looks like he might swing away into sleepyland.

Now, later that evening, Connor's cough was acting up. Mom went in and got him and consoled him by having him sleep on the couch with her. It doesn't stop there....we moved the bed back into Connor's room and she and Connor were roomies. Connor got to play and rest in the big bed with Grandma.

It's going to be big fun undoing all the spoiling! That's what grandmas are for!

Grandma Comes to Town

My mom came for a visit last Thursday. We started off by doing our typical park and pizza night with the boys. This time, we ate at the picnic bench by the playground. Here the boys are having a grand time hiding in the tunnel.

This is one fun dad taking both kids down the slide. Connor would like to try out the slide on his own, but so far he hasn't gotten past Mom or Dad successfully.

One happy grandma and one tired little Connor.

Food, glorious food!
Grandma catches up with Ian.

Ian puts his feet up for a quick rest.

More to come on the next entry (which you'll probably see before this one!)

Connor is 11 Months Old!

It is unreal that a year has almost past. This time last year, I was finishing my last few days of work and sleeping on the couch upright for weeks. Waiting and waiting and waiting for this little guy. Funny how I know that period of time was so tiring and uncomfortable (and I am not anxious to do the pregnancy stuff all over again, trust me) BUT, it seems like forever ago.

Here is the little cherub enjoying his first ice cream cone. We are at a point where Connor does not like to be spoon fed any longer. The food must be on his tray. Applesauce and all runny foods included. He really had fun holding and eating his ice cream, since none of us could touch it and possibly take any of it. This new development has also resulted in us giving him a bath daily.

Okay, the ice cream cone evening was last week. So technically he was 10 months old. But see how much more mature he is in this new 11 month old photo taken just this afternoon? What a difference a week makes.

Yes, this is supposed to be Connor's shining moment. The boys were in the backyard playing under Daddy's makeshift tool bench (aka computer desk that is never coming into our house again). Ian was hiding underneath and Connor was enjoying the hide and seek game. Ian was just too cute popping out from under the desk, so I snapped a "few" pictures. Here is one of probably ten. Note to Irish relatives: that is the Ireland soccer jersey Ian is sporting.

Here's our little big guy just shy of a year. The most poignant moment that I could not capture on photo (yet) was the emergence of those two top teeth. He grinned at me today and you could see four teeth, not just two. No more gummy gums on your fingers. The moment was so strange because he actually looked different and a bit older. No, I didn't cry. I'll save that for the day that I realize he isn't an infant any longer. Anyway, the worst teething is over for this week, he is back to sleeping through most of the night and he is much happier in general. After all, he is 11 months old now, so he needed to be chipper for the occasion.
In other news, the babysitter will arrive in town tomorrow. Oh, did I say babysitter? I mean my mom. (Hey, Tom...suit up, we are actually going on a date! ) Ian has her scheduled for the zoo and probably hours of bubbles. So, we should have some solid blogging over the next week.

Happy almost one, baby C!

I Heart Work

It's great to be happy. I really love my executive director job. Not just like it, love it. Not just because it is a cool title (it is). It is challenging and I often question whether I am doing well or if I am out of my league. Tonight we had the monthly board meeting and everyone individually at some point mentioned how much they enjoyed having me working for them or complimenting the work I had been doing so far. I could finally breathe a sigh of relief, knowing they like me, they really, really like me!

Yesterday was our big concert at the Mesa Arts Center and I got to bustle around, greeting performers, getting the right people on stage, giving out checks, working with the house manager, it was fun. Now, I am spending time finding new places for the chorale to perform, talking with music directors and performing arts center managers, all of whom are expressing sincere interest in working with the chorale. It is keeping me very challenged, but in a satisfying way.

In the end of March, I will be taking an course in non-profit management to help me learn the ropes (or to climb a bit higher). The best news of the day came after our board meeting, because my bosses were very pleased with my chorale work, they would like me to continue to stay on for the next season.

It is so wonderful to come home jabbering away a board meeting. How many people do that?!

On a different note, no pictures to display. Connor is cutting the top two teeth and he is just not in the mood for picture taking. Plus it is hard to take his picture when I am consoling him for a majority of the day. He is awake several times overnight crying too, so we are all not in a photographic mood. Better luck on your next blog check-in!