my turner

clayton loves to play with turner.

i overheard him say to her once,

"watch this, sissy".

neither clay nor i have ever called turner "sissy"

(how did he know to nickname her that?!);

he also calls her "my turner".

he loves to play "chubby bunny" with her

and put stickers on her (or color on her, or play cars on her...)

and "share" with her (or pile every toy in sight on top of her)

...and she just goes with the flow,

and smiles and laughs whenever he is around.

five

isn't she yummy?

snow day

i am going to skip ahead to the present... i am slowly catching up, but as i am catching up, life goes on...

almost 2 weeks ago, snow was predicted to fall and accumulate overnight. i do not normally believe the meteorologists when they predict snow, but for some reason, i believed them this time. so clay and i packed the kids in the car and headed out to find a sled. we had no idea where to find one... i felt naive and silly asking the store employees if they sold sleds, and the employees looked at me as if saying, "bless her heart"... we were unsuccessful in our search, but gave up and came home to put the kids to bed, hoping they (we) would wake up to a winter wonderland.

morning came and i peered through the blinds to find...

nothing. disappointment.

(now i felt really silly about looking for a sled the night before)

as the morning went on, the chances for snow were diminishing...

but lo, and behold, the snow started quickly falling around mid-morning,

and by early afternoon, it looked like this:

this was not the first time it has snowed in clayton's (or turner's) lifetime, but it was the first time clayton enjoyed the snow (for a little while). we did find that sled, after all, and the sheer joy it gave clayton to be pulled by clay through the snow was worth every effort and every penny.

snow is a lot more fun when you have a family to enjoy it with (and when it is gone within 24 hours)!

maebe

maebe's name was perfect for her in so many ways. we definitely miss maebe.

christmas

we celebrated christmas and had a conner family reunion at memaw's house this year. it was a very good trip, with one especially fun day.

we joked that clayton was in a sweet spot this christmas-- not only getting gifts of his own, but thinking that turner's presents were his too, since she is too young to know or do anything with them or care about them herself :)

halloween

we spent halloween in columbus with the sidor's and the wolf's. clayton was an auburn football player for the night; turner was his little auburn tiger. clayton tagged along trick-or-treating with his cousins, which helped him understand the idea. he couldn't quite keep up... always one or two houses behind... until daddy started driving him in the golf cart :)

my favorite thing was when i told him to "say thanks, buddy" to the woman who had just given him candy at the door. he did just that, saying, "thanks, buddy". needless to say, he was a hit at every house.

clayton has been really into dora this year so it was a no-brainer to carve her into our pumpkin

three

still growing.

still eager to smile. still happy and content.

add "talking"

still stealing our hearts

and wrapping us all around her little finger ;)

two

we all know that i did not do a good job of blogging during the first several months of turner's life; i also did not take enough pictures, nor journal enough, nor a lot of things i should have done and wish that i had done. but i did what it took to survive those days and the adjustment and chaos. and that is why i skip from turner's birthday to two months...

here are a few things about turner at two months that i did jot down at the time:

"this newborn stage is flying by with her"-- i always feel this and say this, but 'tis true

"she is smiling"-- i remember thinking that she smiled early. i remember feeling my heart melt as i looked at that beautiful baby girl of ours. her smiles come easily, frequently, quickly; i love that about her. i have often thought that she might be funny or an entertainer-- i guess time will tell. she brings such joy to our family.

"she rarely cries"-- she truly was(is) such a sweet, content, happy baby. i have wondered if my being more relaxed, more comfortable, and more experienced as a mother has in any way influenced her temperament... but i think mostly it is just the way she was designed.

i remember that i would put her in bed with me, let her sleep with me a good bit when she was awake and/or fussy at an "inappropriate" time (say, 2 a.m., 5 a.m. ;). she would settle into sleep almost immediately when she was next to me. i cannot explain how she seems more relational than her brother at this stage, but she does. it is as if my presence is comforting to her on more than a physical level, but a more emotional, relational level.

i am excited to continue to learn and know her, to watch as her person unravels more and more, to experience relationship with my daughter...

thanks for the outfit, angie-- it was my favorite !

weekends

it was a friday night (this past friday night), 8:15 p.m.

i was sitting on the floor in front of the tv with a laundry hamper on one side and a pile of dirty baby and toddler clothes on the other. i was in my pajamas, armed with a bottle of my favorite stain remover. clay walked in and said jokingly, as if someone not in this stage of life asked me, "so, what'd you do on friday night?"

i smiled.

it was then that i realized that i could not be happier

to be doing exactly what i was doing.

really.