Camping out for the first time!

Over spring break we promised Connor that we would take him camping! We really hyped it up, sleeping outside- under the stars, sleeping in our sleeping bags, climbing the rocks (at Enchanted Rock), cooking outside, and of course the fact that we could play outside at night! Connor was so excited- for three days he kept asking about camping.... so finally the day came, we packed up the car and drove out to Enchanted Rock! Connor was psyched, all the way there he kept saying "where the camping go?"
We finally got there, just to be turned away! I kid you not! The park was too FULL, they had a two hour wait just to get into the park- with about fifty cars lining the street waiting their turn! Camping there was out of the question, who knew that EVERYONE would want to go camping over spring break!!!!! Apparently you had to make reservations ahead of time!
So now I have this sweet little boy sitting in his car seat ready to get out and play on the rocks and camp out. When we told him that we couldn't go the tears began to fall, Jared and I felt so incredibly bad!
So instead of camping out at Enchanted Rock we got lunch took it to the park and let him play! We then drove home, ordered a pizza, and camped out in the backyard! I feel that we had almost as much fun as we would have had we gotten into the park! (Next time se are definitely making some S'mores!!!!) We played hide and go seek with just a head lamp, told stories (about the three bears) and slept in our sleeping bags beneath the stars ALL NIGHT! I was pleasantly surprised to see that Connor lasted all night in the tent, however, it did take him a while to fall asleep- a novelty like sleeping outside kept this little boy WIDE awake, playing and laughing! The next morning instead of grilling pancakes on a little camp stove we drove to Star Bucks and had a delicious breakfast! All in all the camping experience turned out very nice, it's a memory Jared and I will never forget! I took pictures of Connor's first camp out, enjoy!




















Isn't he just the cutest little camper you've ever seen?!!! :)

Look at my hubby go!

Jared has started running races and he is FAST! He has done two races lately one was a half marathon, that he ran with his parents. I think that he really enjoyed racing with his parents and having the opportunity to share such an experience with them! Connor and I stood on the side and cheered them on! All three of them ran a great race, Connor really had a great time cheering on his dad and grandparents!





His other race was the Prickly Pear a - 10K! This race really motivated me to give running a try, it seemed so fun! Connor really enjoyed this race as well, when he saw Jared he yelled "YAY DADDY GO!" It must have been a good motivator because Jared finished 29th out of over 300 people!


He is really enjoying racing and he is good at it! He has a tri coming up in a few weeks, he's going to run Pikes Peek (which is insane!), and is planning on running another 30+ miles in July!

He has motivated me to give running a try, he and I will be running the Breast Cancer Awareness race in May! I am so proud of Jared and am glad to see that he is enjoying his runs in the morning.... we all need something that we enjoy!
*Jared*
I am so proud of you! Your doing an amazing job and are training hard, keep up the good work!

Happy Valentines day!

I hope that everyone had a great valentines day!

Connor started our day at 7:00 this morning! :) He was very excited to get his valentines gift! We gave him one of those mixed chocolate boxes, he took a bite of each one and put it back! LOL (Tim and Amanda, apparently he hasn't learned the "when you bite it you have to finish it" rule!) After that we went to Connor's favorite place... Star Bucks for breakfast and had some very yummy coffee cake and coffee! The weather was nice for a change so we decided to hang out at the park for a while! Connor was very independent and showed his mom that he could climb the BIG ladder "by myself"!! As a parent watching your little boy climb to the top of a very big ladder to go down a very steep slide all alone- is terrifying! But he did it- then he looked at me very smug and ran off! (WOW I have a lot of nail biting adventures ahead- he is scared of NOTHING!) I would venture to say that Connor had a great day I know that Jared and I had a fabulous day hanging out with our little sweet heart! :)
Happy Valentines day <3 the O'Brien Family

a quick laugh

I know that it's been a while since I've blogged but life has been a bit crazy! I really don't have time to blog now so this will be short and sweet....
Last night around 4:00-5:00 A.M. Jared and I are sound asleep when.....
In a very playful voice from Connor's bed we hear....
"mommy.... mommy-daddy, mommy daddy where are you, mommy? Daddy? Mommy daddy?"
With in two minutes he was asleep again!
It seriously took everything Jared and I had to not just burst out laughing!

Life is so sweet with a cute little munchkin like mine! :)

A crazy day with mom!

Jared decided that our yard was over due for some much needed attention, so he spent ALL day working on it! So 8 hours, 20 trash bags of leaves, numerous blisters, and two splinters later.... our yard looked amazing!
However, during this time Connor only wanted to be outside with Jared, so to keep him busy we had "crazy day!" We painted (paper and our faces) It was funny, he loved painting my face but he didn't like it so much on his face... go figure! We played with play-dough, cooked with fake food (in real pots and pans), dressed up silly, played Thomas the train, played "tunnels" (hiding under blankets on a table), and of course played in the leaves that Jared had raked into a nice big pile! :) It was a lot of fun and it kept Connor occupied!
Connor was so cute after we painted our faces he told me "mommy take off" as he poked at my face.
I forgot how much fun pretend play and dressing up could be! I just love that little boy! :)
I thought that the pictures that we took were too cute not to share!

Thank you Pop and Gigi!

Pop and Gigi,
I really missed you at Christmas and wish so badly that I could have seen you! I really miss you and can't wait to see you soon! Thank you for the fun Christmas presents! I LOVE my sleeping bag and my monkey helmet VERY MUCH! Mom laughs at me when I want to wear my helmet around the house for fun, but I think it's cool! I made mommy plug my monkey light up right away, I use it every night! I also have a ton of fun with my ball (dad thinks it's his, he plays with it more than me... pop needs to tell him that the ball is mine!) I love you both very much and can't wait to see you soon! Mommy is going to post some pictures of me opening my gifts!

Love you and miss you bunches!

Connor

p.s.
I like mommy and daddy's gifts too, I played with them all the way to Denver! :)

Let it snow Let it snow Let it Snow!

We just got back from visiting our dearest friends Mike and Nicole in Denver, we had an absolute blast!
Denver is so amazing.... I hate to say it but I could see why someone would choose Denver over Texas (minus the cold weather!)
Connor had a great time on the airplane,
We really had a great time hanging out with our friends, it was very hard to come back home!
This was Connor's first time to see snow, he absolutely LOVED it! We took him sledding, which went very badly the first time but went great the second time! The first day that we went he hated it, he kept asking to go to "my hooommeeee" So we ended up cutting that trip a bit short! I will say though, Veil is a beautiful ski town! The next day we went to a local park that had a small hill- Connor absolutely loved it! In-fact he went down alone- when he got to the bottom he would tell his dad "more please- Dada take me up high" I think that he would have sled all day had we let him!
While we were there we also had numerous snow ball fights, built a sad looking snowman, attempted to make snow angels, and hung out with our best friends!



Nicole was quite the host, she made us breakfast every morning, lunch, and dinner! She and Mike also built a nice hot fire in the back yard and we made the gooiest, chocolaty, smores, they were delicious!
So thank you mike and Nicole for letting stay at your beautiful home we already miss the two of you very very much!
. On the train in the airport!

. Snowball fight with dad!

. A walk in the snow with mom!

. Getting ready to play in the snow! Doesn't he look like a little snow boarder!


. Snowball fight with mom!


. Playing in the snow!


.At Red Rock

. Jared and I at Red Rock


. Connor building a "snowman"


. Sledding!!







.Connor pulling his sled uphill- he told us "I do it"