The Family Stone

Saturday, December 06, 2008

Winter fun

It was a cold but fun night for the Louisville Parade of Lights!

Levi builds his first snowmen! They unfortunately didn't talk, like Frosty.

We made the 8-hour road trip to Uncle Dave and Aunt Kristin's house in Manhattan, Kansas for a Stone Family Thanksgiving. Thanks to the portable DVD player, Elmo, Thomas the Train and Lightning McQueen, along with a multitude of snacks, the boys were fabulous! They handled the drive better than mom and dad! Once we reached our destination, it was 4 days of Stone mayhem! 8 kids (3 of them teenagers) and 8 adults made for a gloriously fun and exhausting time!!

Almost there! Taking a break at a rest area to kick around a soccer ball and witness a pretty Kansas sunset before hitting the road again!

CJ and Julianne had some serious bonding. They were just smitten with each other!

Cousin Evan reads to CJ while Mike has fun with his iTouch. Good trade!!

Evan (14) and Claire (16)
They were the ring bearer and flower girl at our wedding! (Older sister Caroline, now sophomore at college, is around the house somewhere.) What a difference 10 years makes- They're so grown up. So great with our kids, and such a lovable family!

Nail painting party in the bathroom!! Yes, that is Levi. He ended up with pink fingernails and purple toenails. (He was also wearing pink princess pullups because we temporarily ran out of his "boy" pullups) Our boy had a nice time with his girl cousins getting in touch with his feminine side!

Levi and Danielle as the wonder twin Jedis. The two of them were just like two peas in a pod all weekend. Danielle would just say "Come on Levi!" and they would trot off together and play...

The girls showed off their Halloween costumes (and Levi joined in as a little Jedi)

CJ freely and lovingly doled out lots of hugs!

The Cousins

Silly Faces!!

Monday, December 01, 2008

Rock n Roll Lifestyle

Visit to the Fire Station!

Levi, CJ and friends had a treat of touring the Superior Fire Station. Firefighter Dan put on all his gear and the kids got to sit in a REAL fire truck! Levi had a blast!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

A Gaggle of Toeheads

Friends Cooper, James, Ella and Evan came for dinner recently. The kids had a blast!

Sunday, November 02, 2008

Halloween Hoopla!!

Levi had a blast with Halloween this year!! He insisted that he wanted to be a "car" (go figure!) for his costume, so Mike had a great time riggin' an old cardboard box into a racecar masterpiece. We went to a Mod Moms party last weekend and Levi won the Best Costume award! And how appropriate that his prize was two matchbox cars.
Given that CJ refuses to wear any kind of hat, we improvised with the punk rocker costume, complete with the mohawk. He wasn't quite playing the part with some crying and his sippy cup full of milk, but he looked good!
On Halloween, we went to a neighborhood party and then Levi and Mommy trick-or-treated with pals Grant and Bennett. Levi was a bit anxious at first, but after a few houses, really got into it and wanted to keep going and going and going. We circled almost the whole neighborhood and he just had the time of his life!

Monday, October 13, 2008

Levi's school pictures

Too cute! (Tip: sure it's pretty easy to get a smile from our happy little man, but the pros know: put a frog stuffed-animal on your head for a guaranteed great smile)

School picture from 1 year ago --- the same happy little man --- but, oh boy how time flies!!

Monday, September 29, 2008

Beautiful Fall Colors

It is days like this that I wouldn't trade being a stay-at-home mommy for anything! My sweet CJ and I took a trek up to the mountains just north of Nederland, for an amazing hike at Caribou Ranch Open Space. We did a 4.5 mile loop and the peace, tranquility and colors were just awe-inspiring. It was a fantastic day.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Look at that!!

Happy Family

Grandma and Papa visit!

The celebrities, Grandma and Papa, made a 6 day whirlwind appearance. Levi and CJ just couldn't get enough of them. Even 5 days after their sad departure, Levi woke up saying "Gramma Papa?"

Swimming with Daddy!

Levi has recently started a swimming class with Daddy every Thursday evening. Not only is it great bonding time for Daddy and Levi, but Levi is actually learning the basics of swimming! He jumps off the side into Daddy's arms; has learned to kick his legs in the water; floats on his back; and just last week dunked his head several times!! We even discovered friends Josh and Melia are in the same class!

First "Official" Haircut

Levi had a visit to Lollilocks to get his haircut (mommy was tired of botching it!) and got to sit in a cool car to boot!!

School picture day

What a handsome boy. 'Nuff said.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Connor James Stone turns ONE!!!

CJ has reached his one year milestone and celebrated by smashing a cupcake all over his hands. It never made it even close to his mouth, but big brother Levi was more than happy to help CJ finish it.

It's just amazing how much CJ has grown. It seems he learned to navigate the stairs and then walk almost instantaneously. Just recently he showed that he can point to mommy or daddy's nose and sometimes does it by trying to eat our nose! He surprises us daily with his imitation skills. He's constantly trying to be like his big bro, whether it's trying a somersault (putting head on the floor:); clapping; rolling over; driving a car on the floor; turning pages in a book; you name it, CJ tries it. We have realized that the boy is fearless. He slides down the stairs on his stomach with reckless abandon; tries to climb everything with no regard as to whether the bookcase will fall on him; and generally just does what he wants to do regardless of what mom and dad say. We admire his determination and independence, but admit that this is very challenging and new for us, since Levi at this age was VERY different (still even now, Levi continues to be reserved and fearful of things at times, but is a sweet little boy)

We visited our new pediatrician, Dr. Booth (recommended by friends Kristin and Tom) for CJ's one year checkup and just LOVED her! She remarked how "fantastic" CJ looked and that he is right on track developmentally.
Here's his recent stats:
Height: 30 inches - 60th%
Weight: 20 lbs. 12 oz. - 20th% (When we expressed some concern, Dr. Booth couldn't emphasize enough how GREAT CJ was! Just like Dr. Perry, she said since CJ's parents are both tall and thin, then it's perfectly normal that he is too.)
Head: 18.25 inches - 50th%

Although the past year has proven to be just about the most difficult year of mine and Mike's life, and CJ continues to be a challenging child (as far as his neediness), we are just smitten with the boy and amazed daily by his personality and development. We are still patiently awaiting the day when Levi and CJ can TRULY entertain and play with each other, but we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel!!!