ten

she is my sunshine

my only sunshine

she makes me happy when skies are grey...

"you are my sunshine" is a special song to me and the kids. i sing it to them many times every day. the lyrics are the artwork in clayton's room.

they are my sunshines. they'll never know how much i love them (until they have children of their own). how perfect.

sissy is ten months.

she. is. precious.

she is crawling. everywhere. and fast.

she just got her first tooth.

she is beautiful. already. her eyes, her skin... wow.

her voice is raspy and deep. it's cool.

she is a mama's girl. boy, is she ever. she would prefer that i never leave her sight, or put her down. ever. yes, it can be challenging, but i'm ok with it for now...

because i know the day will come when her heart will belong to her daddy.

and i'm ok with that too.

our easter

we had a wonderful easter weekend. the weather was perfect-- sunny and warm. from blooming flowers to baby greens (as i like to call the leaves as they grow fresh each spring), there is new life everywhere. what a perfect time of year to celebrate our risen savior. this new life is so representative of the holy week itself, and our hope. glorious.

we had a beautiful easter service at church, followed by lunch with family, and lots of time outside...

i tried to get a "good" picture of both kids, but this proved to be difficult, as always ;) clayton does not like to sit still (see pouty lip below) and was up and off almost as soon as he sat down

this picture makes my little boy look like a little man...

and sweet turner grace had this lovely hot pink accessory for her first easter...

clayton hunted eggs several times this year and loved every minute of it. we thoroughly enjoyed our easter weekend!

oops

a little over a week ago, our baby girl broke her leg. more specifically and officially, she has a spiral fracture in her right tibia. she has to wear this cumbersome (and adorable, i must say) cast for at least two weeks and at most four weeks. thankfully, tiny baby bones heal very quickly.

here's what happened: it was a friday night, and we were getting ready to go to dinner. both kids were on our bed, where we spend so much of our time. i had just gotten turner dressed; clay was dressing clayton. i stepped away for a moment; clay took his eyes off her for a moment (it was both of our "faults"). in that moment, she rolled herself off our bed, and landed feet first. she screamed and cried, but not for long, and was, for the most part, back to her happy little self.

so many people have asked how i knew to take her to the doctor... it was a combination of things-- prayer, mother's intuition, and the fact that she still seemed uncomfortable when i would change her diaper, dress her, or move or touch her leg certain ways. i honestly had no idea her leg was broken; i thought she might have bruised her tailbone or pulled a muscle or something. so when the dr saw her and told me he thought her leg was broken, i burst into tears. i felt so sad and bad that i had let something like this happen, that i had not taken her to the dr sooner... a nightmare for a mother.

i'm sorry, sweet t.

but you do look adorable in your hot pink cast.

finally, spring

with the weather in the 70s for only the second or third time so far this year, we headed to nanie and grandpa's to spend the afternoon. it was wonderful to spend some time outdoors. clayton, more than ever before, loves the freedom to run around, and "the farm" provided the perfect playground for that independent, free spirit.

as we pulled out of the driveway and headed home, clay and i talked about how spending time outdoors is good for the soul. an afternoon with many of my favorite things was certainly good for my soul.

snapshot

turner is growing more interactive every day, and clayton is taking advantage of it. she laughs, but more specifically and importantly, she laughs at him. she watches him, waits for him to engage her, and when he does, she "talks" to him. he is enjoying his newfound admirer very much...

yesterday as i was putting away their clothes in their rooms, i heard them in the family room laughing together. what a sweet and beautiful noise it was.

this morning i was listening to him playing with her... when i walked down the hall this was what i found-- he had stacked literally every toy from the toy chest around and on top of her... and she was enjoying every minute of it.

a prayer

clayton has shown a real interest in and desire for saying his own prayers lately. they usually go something like this:

"jesus, jesus

(my new favorite way to begin a prayer. ever.)

tank you for dis day

tank you for...

mommy and daddy and tuh-nuh

tank you for...

li-beh-wee (library)

tah-get (target)

wah-mart (duh)

my books

my toys

dinger (dinner)...

(the list can go on and on and varies according to what we/he did that day)

aaa-men"

obviously i cannot contain my smile that is ear to ear as he prays. because it. is. adorable.

endearing

every time clay or i pick turner up (i mean, every single time), she clasps her hands together as if she is praying. endearing is the perfect word to describe this precious "quirk"-- it means "loveable, especially in a childlike way". that's it. it is so very loveable. it is sweet, and feminine. and oh, so endearing. and it is turner.

i wanted to remember this "thing" forever, so i asked my friend and amazing photographer angie to capture the moment... and here it is; it is perfect. thank you, angie!

i had tried many times before to capture this "thing" on my own, but since she does it when i pick her up, it was, well... impossible... i did manage to capture just the hands themselves before she unclasped them as i put her down... not only does it happen every time we pick her up, but it happens this same way. every. time. precious.

seven

she's our happy girl,

but boy, is she busy....

i'm kind of in love with these eyes

six

i truly cannot believe how quickly time is passing.

i already feel a sentimental sadness that turner seems to be growing so fast.

i have heard many people say that time seems to pass more and more quickly with each child, and i wish that were not true, but i believe they must be right.

sometimes i wish i could temporarily freeze time...because i want to savor every moment of this little girl's life...

we hit some major milestones this month, including sleeping through the night (sings halleluiah chorus), sleeping without being swaddled, starting solid foods, and sitting up.

now, freeze. please.

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.

2 years old... or young

our little boy is 2 years old. it does not seem so long ago that he was only 2 weeks, or 2 months...

but 2 years?!

now that we have 2 children, i find myself saying "remember when?" as i watch them grow simultaneously. on clayton's birthday, i look at turner, and remember when he was her size. just 2 years ago. he really is such a big boy, especially when i remember when... and i know that years from now he will seem like such a little boy when i then remember when he was just 2.

but for today, he is a big boy.

clayton's friends charlie, and will, and matthew help him open presents

clayton loved veggie tales this year, so bob and larry donned his cake

baby sister enjoyed the party in gg's arms