I should, but I don't...

So I'm an advid blog reader(there I've said it). Every day, or every other day, I jump online to read everyones blogs. And I must say I was getting pretty good this past month with getting online and updating my own blog. (I eventually plan to have my blog printed, as it definately doubles as a journal - even though I keep a written journal as well.) I will not tell a lie... I get so excited to read everyones blog, mainly for the pictures. I L-O-V-E pictures. Mine, yours, everyone elses.... pictures are my weakness. Even in a store, when you pass the picture frames on the shelves that all have the same modeled pictures, I still have to stop and look. Bc to me, a picture really is worth a thousand (+) words. A picture can give you so much information.... about a place, a season, an era, a feeling, a mood, a moment... a person. It is meant to capture a moment, and save it forever-or at least for the life of the photo paper. I guess that's why my favorite past time is photography. Anyways I regret to inform you all that this blog has no pictures this time. Just boring old me and my rambling thoughts. I know with photography being a great passion of mine, that should have an abundance of new and exciting pictures to share at least several times a week...but I don't. I've been putting off "blogging" bc I have no pictures to show. I know, I'm ashamed. So I was thinking about it tonight and I said to myself "Self, that's absolutely ridiculous that you aren't recording your thoughts and your life all bc you don't have a picture. So you don't have a picture....guess you'll just have to write a thousand words, right?" Right. Here we go. The potty training task is going fabulously. Clayton was definately ready. We haven't tried overnight yet, and I'm a little nervous. But I figure we'll get him going strong with going potty during the day, and during naps and maybe that "natural instinct" will just kick in...naturally. :) He really is surpassing all of my expectations. I mean we're 3/4 of the way there and he's not even 3 years old yet! (Sorry I have to brag about my kid sometimes!) So Clay is doing great and growing like crazy. His vocabulary extends by at least 10+ words a day...at least that's how I feel. He's always coming up with new phrases. His favorite thing to say right now when I ask him what he's doing is "Nofin". Or if I ask him anything like if he's still hungry, or tired, etc- he always says "I'm fine mom". It seriously just melts my heart. This weekend Chris proved to be my knight in shining armor, once again. About a month ago, the garage door motor broke, so lately we've been having to lift it up and pull it down, strictly by man power. What a pain! I wanted to call a repair man and just have it instantly fixed, but Chris convinced me, that even though he had never done it before he could replace the motor himself. So Friday night, Jerad, his brother came over to have dinner and hang out. Out of nowhere they decide they are going to tackle the task of the garage door motor, that night! So they made the trip to Chris's second home- Home Depot, of course- and started the project. They worked from 7pm to 2:30am, and then the next day from 12pm to 6pm and finished it completely. Not only did he fix it and it works flawlessly, but he also programmed one of the buttons in our diesel to open the garage instead of carrying around a remote! And all the while saved us a $175 fee for a repair man just to come out and look at the door. It's pretty freakin' awesome if you ask me. (Thank you Jerad for your patience with Chris- I know he couldn't have done it without you). Chris is amazing, and reminds me alot of my dad. I grew up thinking my dad could fix anything, anywhere. I remember that, that particular quality was something I always knew I wanted in my future partner. Guess I got pretty dang lucky. Which brings me to my next and last point of my blog tonight. Being that it's Valentine's Day, a holiday made to acknowledge your loved one(s)... I am reflecting on my life as a half, to our whole. I can't imagine my life without Chris. I wouldn't want to imagine my life without him. He is the one who keeps me sane and completely grounded. I am so fortunate to have someone so hard working and motivated. Someone who understands and treats me as an equally invested person in our relationship. And as grateful as I am to have him, I am just as grateful for my family. Both mine and Chris's. I am so thankful that we are all as tight knit as we are, and that we know we can rely on one another to get us through our rough spots. I know I got all mushy on you, so I'll end it here. Happy Valentine's Day everyone, I promise I'll put up pictures next time. (Just know that this may be my first blog without pictures, but it won't be my last- hey I gotta keep you on your toes somehow, right?)

Another Stepping Stone...?

So today Clayton's teachers gave us a note saying that he might be ready to potty train. He has "unofficially" been potty training for the last 6+ months, but only when it is convenient for him. He'll tell me he has to go, and he will. He will take off his diaper and "go", like he's been doing it for years. I've tried several times to get him into pull ups...and that's a no go! He won't even look twice at them. He hates them!

So I've been doing a lot of reading. Every article and or book that I've read about potty training, says that we as parents should wait for the child to come to us. And that it's basically pointless to start any sooner than when the child shows interest. And I to some point agree. But after reading (in the note from his teachers) that Clay has been using the toilet with all the big boys for the past week, I decided to take matters into my hands, with the utmost of bribes.

Stickers? I got stickers! Buzz Lightyear underwear? I got those too! Gum? Gummi bears? Stocked! I am committed and hopefully so is Clay.

He went "dry" from the time we picked him up from daycare today, til he went to bed, with only one minor accident. It was mearly a sprinkle before he noticed that he was "wetting" his Buzz underwear. It was devastating to him. (yes i was asking him in 15 minute intervals if he had to go...but if the nagging doesn't get him I don't know what will. j/k!) The deal is when he "goes" on the potty he gets 2 mini gummi bears. To be honest, though he loves gummi bears, he could really careless about them. Twice tonight he forgot all about his prize! Yay!

So tonight we started yet another chapter in our lves... perhaps "another stepping stone...?"

Just a few unrelated pics. A group shot of us that went snowboarding on Saturday, minus Dan. The powder was awesome! SOOO sore right now. But it hurts sooo good!

And the second pic is of Clay in his new shirt from Nanny. If you can't tell it says "Grandma's little Longhorn". Yes my mom lives in Texas. :)

"Dumping" your Veggies? I think not!

Last night, Clay convinced me (not sure how) to let him eat his dinner in his toy room, so he could finish watching his movie. Our carpet is already down the sh..potty, so I agreed. We were having steak, pasta salad, and asparagus. Now Clayton loves his meat and veggies. He's such a little man; and for the most part, he eats anything we do. So it was only to my surprise, that a few minutes later, when I went in to check on him, did I see his veggies piled up in a very small matchbox dump truck. He promptly "drove" the dump truck in front of me and said "I don't want these, thank you." I had to take the picture...bc sometmes you have to have hardcore proof to believe the things he does. Everyday it's something new, and everyday he gives me one more thing to smile about.

Ruddy/Conger Family Pictures

I feel like our world is still spinning! From all of the holidays, birthdays, road trips and vacations; I feel like I literally just got home yesterday. We have been so crazy busy, something has been going on every week! This past week my mom was in town from Texas. Her birthday was on Monday, so I took the opportunity to play hookey from work and take her to lunch. We kind of took it one step further though and made it a whole day of shopping, shopping, SHOPPING! OOPS! I've been extremely blessed that we don't go too long without seeing eachother. I'm so glad that my parents haven't forgotten about us even though they are 1300+ miles away. :) Later on in the week, Chris's sisters, Jessica and Brianne flew in from out of town. They weren't able to join us this past Christmas so they dropped in just in time for our January Birthdays. But better late than never, right? Chris's Mom, Jessica, and Jerad, (and obviously from the paragraph above, my mom) all have birthdays in January--which is probably why I still feel so busy. :p While the girls were in town we decided to take a updated family picture. (Especially since one of our two blondes in the family just recently went brunette). Nobody wanted to pay for a professional photographer-they're so over rated. J/k. So Chris and I set up the tripod and camera at Draper park and proceeded to take our own family pictures with the help of a remote. If you haven't already guessed, it was somewhat of a disaster. It was freezing and tempers flared--not gonna lie, my temper was blazing! BUT nevertheless, we're all there! Goofballs and all! The same night, we were able to get both sides of our family together for dinner and games. (we were missing my dad and my brother and his wife) It was sooo much fun. Chris and I are so lucky that both of our families get along. It really has been so much fun, but I'm for sure ready for the wind down! Lucky for me it was a very quiet day at work, thanks to Martin Luther King Jr. Day! Whew!

O my gosh!! Did I really just break the cycle?!!?

We, the Congers have hit a MAJOR milestone here. We are going on 2 weeks now of Clay sleeping in his own bed!! I tell Clay every night that I will lay with him for 5 min. and then he has to be a big boy and sleep by himself. And then in the morning when he gets up, the first thing he says is "I sleep in my own bed, cause I a big boy! I must say, I do have an enormous amount of gratitude towards the plastic safety doorknobs I installed on the inside of Clay's bedroom door. They definately contributed to our success. So even if he doesn't go to sleep, he can't come out of his room. :) It is amazing! My side of the bed (without Clay's flailing arms and legs, drool and spilling sippy cups)is amazing. The sleep...A-MAZING!! Everything about it is amazing! I'll tell you what, if and when we have a second child, that poor thing isn't even going to be allowd to look/breathe on my bed, let alone sleep in my bed. I am NEVER giving up the rights to my bed EVER again! (Carter Conger, Clayton's cousin is also pictured here playing under the covers)

Christmas in Florida

We had the most AMAZING Christmas EVER! Due to some major planning ahead, we were able to spend our Christmas vacation in Orlando, Florida. Just to give you a small taste of my background... I was born and raised in Florida. We moved around alot to a few different states and many cities but we always came back to Florida. Every year my Grandpa Smith always had a Christmas dinner the Sunday before Christmas at his home in Leesburg, Florida. And every year, my parents made it a point to be there. At the time, I thought it to be huge inconvenience even though I always had a blast reuniting with my cousins, aunts and uncles. We were spending countless hours in the car only to get in return a few measley hours of catching up. My parents always reminded us that these would soon be the memories we would one day cherish. Little did I know how quickly that time would come and how precious those memories would be to me. I now, find myself conjuring up the same plans my parents once did to make sure that Clay has the same priceless memories as mine. I know I won't always be fortunate enough to get my family and I out to Christmas dinner every year, but hopefully I can instill in Clay the same importance of family that my parents left me with.

Anyways, moving on from my moment of sappy-ness. Dad and mom rented a house in Kissimmee, Florida only minutes away from Seaworld and Disney World. Despite the convenience of being so close to the parks and surrounding extended family, we still found it very hard to squeeze everything we wanted to do in a measley 5 days.

Wednesday was the day we all arrived. The house was fully equipped with a game room, and so to wrap up everyone's full day of traveling; we took turns vegging out in between ping pong and pool tournaments.

Thursday, we spent the day at Seaworld. It was amazing to see my son experiencing the same exhibits and shows that I saw when I was young. Highlights at Seaworld (for me at least): the ride called Manta (as in Manta Rey). The Polar Express exhibit. I love that movie! The Shamu show called "Believe". We thought we sat far enough away, but we still got soaked. Clay was pissed! I got it all on camera...thank goodness for my cat like reflexes, I was able to take pictures of the splash before it actually got to us. :) And then the seals. They're so cute!!

Friday was a "free day", given to us so we could do whatever we like; sight seeing, etc. So we hit up flea markets and carnivals and came home with full tummys and arms full of prizes and souveniers. Clayton surprised us all by wanting to go on all the rides that he was almost too small for and not just by going on it once, but several times. I thought for sure he was going to puke on more than one occassion, but he's really got a stomach of steel. I was feeling queazy for sure.

Saturday, was Grandpa's Christmas dinner--it was held a day earlier than the past years. I should actually call it Christmas Lunch, cause we had to be there by 12:30pm. I still can't believe after all these years how many of us still make it to this gathering. We were missing a few people, but the majority of us were there. It's unbelievable that a decade ago it was all of us cousins getting rowdy and playing around, and now it's all of the cousins' kids getting rowdy and playing around with one another. I think Grandpa was little overwhelmed watching all of his great grandchildren talking to him, and hugging on him. I never knew either one of my great grandfathers so I treasure the fact that Clay is able to meet and know one of his great grandfathers.

Sunday, Dad woke us all up at the butt crack of dawn and we spent the day at Disney World. Clay was absolutely smitten by Buzz Lightyear from Toystory-hence the reason why we waited in line for almost 45 minutes to "meet" him. He couldn't stop smiling, or staring at him. We rode all the rides and ate all the food. We shopped and watched parades and fireworks. Took tons of pictures and got faces painted. It was very crowded but the lines weren't horrible, only because it was actually kind of chilly for a Florida, December day. Highlights for Disney: Buzz Lightyear for sure! Thunder Mountain-Clay was too short by measuring standards, but they still let him ride! He was so stoked about it, and so was Chris for that matter! The Christmas parade was definately a hit with Mickey Mouse (especially bc that's who we came to see after all) and alot of other different characters. And probably just the time I was able to spend with my parents, my siblings and their families, and my husband and son. Even though it's been a decade or more since I've been to Disney, all the memories came rushing back to me, and I remember how special it was my first time.

Monday morning, Chris and I had to catch an early plane ride home. Coming home from Disney extremely late, and waking up extremely early to catch our flight made for a very sleepy ride home. So glad we had most of the day to recover and sleep. We did have to go back to work the next day but thankfully not for the full week with Christmas being just two days away. And bc of our awesome planning Chris and I both got our way and were able to spend Christmas with both of our families. It was wonderful and very Merry. Clay was spoiled rotten, by everyone...what a lucky boy. Think I might donate all of his old toys just to make room for the new ones. And throughout all the hype and craziness we were still able to get in a day of snow boarding with all of Chris's brothers. Needless to say it was a blast and an awesome ending to a great December.

To wrap this blog up(and the year for that matter), my heart is extremely full...full of gratitude and love. My family roots are so deep and important to me and I am so grateful that that is one of the things that Chris and I value most. Without my family...I am but a poor, poor person. Because of my family I am rich, beyond my wildest dreams. Thank you Mom and Dad (on both sides of the family) for making this a Christmas we will never forget!

In a nutshell....

Wow! It's been so long that I forgot my password to my own blog! But this one's for you Heather! :) So the latest...let's start from May since I last posted in April.

Clay turned 2 at the end of May. We had a curious George party complete with a bounce house, pinata, and cotton candy machine. Of course he was spoiled rotten. It always amazes me what great friends we have that come and endure the kiddie bday part just to see him smile. We have the best friends and family out there! We love you all!

June and July was uneventful for our family, but nevertheless we were quite busy with wedding plans for my sister, Erin and my brother, Evan. I, (of all people) was nominated to take my sister and my new sister in law's bridals... I've included pictures on here. I think they turned out great considering I'm not a professional...Erin got married July 31st and it was a beautiful wedding. We had a little kink at the wedding ceremony when the Beach Boys "wouldn't it be nice" was turned on instead of the "wedding march"--when Erin was supposed to walk down the aisle...but with the beach themed wedding, I think it was perfect! Clay however, decided to make himself known and streak through the wedding reception. His father was supposed to be watching him, while I tended to my "maid of honor" duties. Thankfully my sister wasn't upset. So sorry Erin!

August was pretty boring...Chris and I turned our lives over to a dealership when we finally bought a diesel truck, and 2 days later the 25th anniversary of my birth arrived. He he he...funny way to say "Happy Birthday to Me!" For my birthday, Chris got both of our parents to pitch in and surprised me with a new laptop! Love, Love, love it! I was very pleasantly surprised.

September was a breeze after Evan's wedding. I was a bridesmaid for Jannelle (his new wife)which only added to my growing batch of bridesmaid dresses. Shortly after the wedding...I'd say early october, we found out that he and his new wife are expecting. We are sooo excited for our new nephew/niece/cousin! :) I finally got around to taking Clayton's "2 year old" pictures. He's growing up so fast that I want pictures (for myself and for my family) to see all the changes that he's going through. Clayton is not very cooperative so I took his best friend/cousin,Jayde with us to see if he would sit still with her. Not so, I was jumping out from behind bushes and scaring him just to get him to crack a smile! The kid was a brick wall, but I was able to steal a few good ones. Jayde's pictures turned out fabulous. She's a natural.

October also went by so fast! We rescued a dog and named her Molly. She is a Boxer/Lab mix. She is 1 and a half years old and is sooo well behaved. She's good company for Hurley, our other dog. We loved her from the get go and she's a great new addition to our family. Halloween came quickly for us and Clay was Spiderman. He ended up going trick or treating like 3 times before the actual event, so by the time Halloween came around, he wasn't really interested. He has however worn a few holes in his spiderman outfit. He wears it almost every day. And the second he puts it on, his whole persona changes. It's so cute...he turns into spiderman/ninja...jumping off of everything...kicking, punching, shooting, etc. I gotta stop letting him watch Chris play "Gears of War". Lol, whoops!

And that brings us to the current month of November! Ahh November, where have you gone?

It seems like it was only 2 weeks long! The second week in November I found myself in Florida, apart of yet another wedding. (Yes that makes 3 bridesmaid dresses in 5 months! Whew!) My cousin Amy, got married in Orlando, so I flew down for the weekend. It was beautiful. Two weeks after that, Chris and I attempted the impossible. A 21 hour, 42 hour round trip-road trip to Texas. Now it's no big deal for me and Chris, two adults, to take a long road trip--but we took Clay, our two year old with us. The drive down was ideal... the drive back was torture, for all of us. We drove down to be with my parents for Thanksgiving. It's been like 2 or 3 years since we've had Thanksgiving together, bc of the distance between us. So we made it a surprise for my dad and my brother...being that Evan's birthday was 2 days after Thanksgiving.

They were definately surprised when we walked into their office unexpectedly. Best surprise, by far, I have EVER been apart of. I don't think I'm ever going to be able to top that. Thanks Mom for keeping it a secret, and Chris for helping me accomplish it! We couldn't have done it without Chris's faithful driving through all hours of the night.

And that was our life, in a nutshell, for the last 7 months. So sorry to keep everyone hanging...I promise I will make an effort to update this blog more often than every 7 months. :)

(I don't have pics downloaded from our Texas trip yet... but now that i've written about it, I'll post them within the week. PROMISE!)