Becko in Butte!

Becko came to visit this past weekend and we loved every minute of it!   The hardest part of moving away from the Bay Area/California was leaving our friends in NorCal and the easy flight to SoCal.  What I miss the most is the quiet quality hang out time.   Thank you Becky for bringing a bit of that back!
We were lucky enough that Becko was up for a good quiet catch up weekend, which included homemade pizzas, watching a couple of movies, staying up into the late morning hours (ignoring the fact that a newborn would wake me up just a few short snoozes later), a little beer tasting and a lot of food (although no tater tots at midnight ).  
Even Drew got in on the food action as Becky gave him his second bottle ever (first caught on film).  He takes a bottle like a champ – as long as there is milk, our little chubby baby is not about to refuse it!



Connor had a new best friend at the end of the weekend and would take Becky’s hand to go anywhere (putting toys away in the toy box, upstairs to listen to “ooo-ooo ahhh-ahh” [monkey song on CD], in to take a bath, or begging her to go outside).

We were lucky enough to have a beautiful fall day the first day of Becky’s visit.  Dan was diligent and raked all of the leaves in the lawn.  Then Connor got to go jump in them and play. 

Connor Playing in the Leaves

And then the next morning – it was WINTER!  Becko got two seasons in just a long weekend  
 

Sledding on the Deck

Downhill Racer

Thank you Becky for coming to visit!  We had so much fun just hanging out. 
Love you

Halloween 2011

Working on my ROAR!!!
Halloween this year was lots of fun with Connor.  While we didn’t make a lot of hype about it prior to the day, the morning of Halloween I pulled out Connor’s Lion costume (no, he didn’t pick it out – I was cheap and found it for like $2 last year at Target on November 2nd…. ).  Despite this, he loved it at first sight and put it on immediately.  He wore it the entire day and refused to take it off.  First stop was Dan’s office and Connor was a big hit!  We got there right after lunch before the big kids got off of school so people were giving Connor LOTS of candy (most of which he couldn’t eat – but he didn’t care).  He got the hang of stopping at every desk really quickly and would just keep piling it into his bucket despite us telling him to stop.  It didn’t help that Dan’s co-workers just kept telling him to take MORE… haha!
 
We bundled Connor up for evening trick-or-treating after his nap.  The one thing I’ve learned growing up in Montana is that the best costumes allow for layering (sometimes a winter jacket).  Connor had on two pairs of pants and a winter coat under this lion   We surrounded Drew in blankets in his carseat and he made 2 stops to meet the neighbors behind our house. Then he came home and helped mommy hand out candy while Connor adventured on.

Dirty Thirty and Other October Fun

Dan has officially joined the club – he is no longer in his 20’s.  While this “exclusive club” promises to become less exclusive with each passing day and our friends slowly join the ranks, it means that I am no longer the “older woman” in our relationship!  Connor was pretty sure all of the presents and the candles were for him.  I look at this picture and it makes me realize how lucky I am to have Dan in my life – he’s a great Dad and doesn’t hesitate one bit to share his day with his boys.  We had a low-key day but I think it was a good start to ushering in a new decade.

In other October news, Connor has officially begun potty training.  This sounds crazy to have a newborn and a little guy potty training (and I think I would agree) but it wasn’t Dan or I that spurred it.  Connor began asking to go to the “ba” (bathroom), would run into the bathroom and hide anytime he had to go, so we got him a froggy potty – he’s so proud of himself!  We’ll let you know sometime in 2012 when he’s officially trained

CONNOR THE DECORATOR --

Ken (Dan’s dad) brought us out some gourds for our fall decorating from a local Seattle farmer’s market.  I’ve decorated our new entertainment center and had them decorating the kitchen table with some candles.  Connor decided he wanted in on the fun.  He climbed up on the kitchen chairs and took two of them off the table and brought them over to his chair (the outdoor Adirondack that currently lives in our living room).  He decorated each arm of the chair.  He is so cute with his little ideas and spontaneous actions any more – he just makes me smile. 

Other Connor-isms……

• He has a pirate hat and puts it on then walks around the house saying “arrrrgggghhhh”.
• He loaded the washing machine the other day when I wasn’t around.  The next time I went to do laundry, I found Dan’s jacket, a Drew diaper, and several baby clothing items.   He is such a big helper anymore
• He is a good big brother.  Coming home in the car the other day, Drew was crying.  When we got home, Connor climbed out of his car seat, ran around the car trying to open the car door to Drew to help him get out too.
• He loves stacking his legos as high as he can reach – then giggles to no end when it falls over only to announce “more” and begin rebuilding.

Family Photo Session

We went for a family photo session in early October with Barbara Romerio.  She was FABULOUS!  So easy going and didn’t rush the kiddos.  Understanding and played with Connor to ease him into things.  We had a great time and she took some great pictures.  I’ll let them speak for themselves……

The Kachmarik clan is now four

It is my turn to blog…Lish strongly suggested so. This will mostly be a photo update.

On September 15 we welcomed Andrew “Drew” Ryan to our family. He was a big baby and came in a hurry. Lish was a champ, I don’t think that I could have done it.

Connor is now a proud Big Brother.

Connor got a surprise present from Drew. He loves his new trike and always wants to put his shoes and helmet on and go out to ride!

We got lots of help from the Wheelers and my parents. They are both amazing grandparents. We are so grateful for their help and generosity.

We also got to introduce Drew to his Uncle Brian, who happened to be home for a wedding.

Lastly, I will finish with a few more Drew photos.

TWO!

September 4, 2011 – Connor turns 2! 

We had a fabulous birthday weekend with the grandparents all here and Connor recognizing that something was special about today.  He loves Thomas right now (recently chose Thomas for his big-boy bed)… see separate post. 

Its amazing how much our life has changed over the past two years.  I would never have believed how much you could love one individual.  Connor lights up our days with his smile (luckily has stopped trying to light up our nights as he now sleeps through them).  He is affectionate and openly gives hugs and kisses with the best ones being spontaneous.  He runs to Dan when he gets home from work at night and has truly become quite the helper around here.  He will carry Dan’s shoes to our room, put the shoe-horns into them, and place them in the shoe rack.  He loves putting his shoes with Daddy’s in the garage and helping with anything he can around the house.  Of course, we’ve entered the “independent stage” and are seeing the Terrible 2’s emerge.  Despite having our “days”, we know we are lucky to have such a happy little 2 year old. 

This cake was an experiment from start to finish – made without butter or milk, I tried two new recipes and then had some fun decorating.

Connor’s pile of presents – and the new tent that came from Mommy & Daddy.

Birthday cake fun with Grandma Janet & Grandpa Dan.

Mommy & Daddy

Grandma Betsy, Grandpa Ken & Uncle Matt

LOVE YOU CONNOR!