We were really lucky that the whole Kubik family (minus our missionary Logan of course) could come up to spend the day with us on Friday. Since we decided not to travel anywhere for the holidays this year, this really gave us something fun to look forward to. Little did we know they'd be bringing armfuls of gifts along with them! Connor was thrilled to see everyone and even more thrilled to see they came bearing gifts. :) Thanks for everything, it was a real treat for us. Byron's sister, Staci, was a key in helping finish this Peanuts puzzle Byron got from Ashley and Jon for Christmas--it looks pretty darn awesome. Byron burned the midnight oil a few nights he got so involved in it.
Having so much fun can be exhausting.

I think this is the best family picture we've taken since the wedding. :) We'll have to photo shop Logan in.

Thanks to Bev, Theresa, Jarom, Staci and Codi for giving up a day and making the trip up to see us. We had a really great time.

Christmas Eve

Our biggest Christmas present this year was everyone being healthy for Christmas. After being sick for over 2 weeks it was great to have everyone back to their old selves! We started off the day with a trip to Target to give Connor a chance to pick out a Christmas present for Kylene. It was actually kind of fun to be part of the holiday excitement at the store. We then went across the street to McDonald's and had lunch while Connor gleefully (seriously, he was filled with glee) played at the play place. After Connor's nap, he got to open up one present which were his new Christmas pajamas. He was less than thrilled that the box wasn't filled with cars and trucks, but he was happy to have them once bedtime rolled around.

I have to say that I'm pretty proud of myself for pulling it together and making cookies to decorate amidst a newborn and sickness. Don't worry, I've already given myself a round of applause. The cookies are seriously delicious too--thanks Christine for sharing your recipe!



Kylene got to hang out with Mom and Dad for a little bit all by herself before it was time for her Christmas slumber.
It was fun to see the presents under the tree. I felt like a full-fledged mom this year pulling out presents that I had stashed all over the apartment and doing various other Christmas duties. It really made me appreciate all the years I got to go to bed early and wake up to a magical Christmas.

Christmas Morning 2008

When Connor got up this morning we were expecting him to shout with glee at the sight of presents under the tree. Instead he tentatively tiptoed out of his room with a shy smile on his face and looked around the living room, for what? For Santa of course! Come to find out he thought Santa would be waiting for him in the morning and kept on expecting him to show up. He finally accepted that Santa and his reindeer were back at the North Pole sleeping after a long night of delivering presents to children everywhere. I don't think it had occurred to Connor that ALL children received presents on Christmas, what a concept. :) He was pretty excited about presents though once that was all figured out.

Connor at all the candy he found in his stocking by 4 pm. Now THAT'S a great Christmas Day.

Santa brought Connor two Transformers: Byron's been transforming them back and forth all day. Santa must not have read that the age recommendation on the box is for ages 5 and up. Geez Santa, get it together.



Nana and Grandpa gave Connor a Construction Truck set with all the works. Talk about a THRILL for Connor. (Byron's also been helping Connor with that all day. What a good Dad.)


Connor looked great in his Lightning McQueen helmet that matches his Lightning McQueen bike, that matches his Lightning McQueen knee pads, which match his red bell. He had a ball riding around outside in the 60 degree sunny weather. Gotta love the south.


Merry Christmas Connor!

(P.S. Kylene was sleeping during all of this and received some new outfits, hat, shoes, and some toys. She was also thrilled with Christmas.):)

Pretty In Pink

Kylene Anne: 5 weeks old


Please take note of the pink bow. It's attached with Elmer's Glue. She's learning the sacrifices needed for beauty at an early age. :)

It Blew By

I feel like I blinked and a month is gone. Kylene is a month old and a beauty! We feel the camera doesn't capture her in all her glory but we also know we're biased. She smiles and coos at us, loves looking at Connor as he shows and explains the world to her, and recently discovered herself in a mirror and smiled and "talked" to the image she found. We think she's glorious. One Month

9 lb 7 oz

21.5 in.

Kylene and Connor

Kylene at 2 and a half weeks. We think her face is perfectly symmetrical, don't you?:) Connor is so thrilled for Christmas this year. He had a great time decorating the tree. Every ornament he pulled out, was greeted with an enthusiastic "Hey!".

Kylene Anne Kubik

was born November 19, 2008 at 12:49 PM. She weighed 7 lb. 11 oz and was 20 in long.
She spent the first hour and a half of her life in her Dad's arms cooing and looking all around as I slept.

She is an angel and we're all so thrilled with her. We can't believe how lucky we are.

Cool to the Touch

That's how Connor felt when we checked on him a few nights ago and found his red firetruck sleeper pj's on the floor next to his bed and him fast asleep in the fetal position. He barely woke up while we put the pajamas back on but he did murmur "warm" and snuggled back into bed. Hey, I'm just happy he kept his diaper on.

Teaching Moments

Two nights ago we were reading from the Book of Mormon with Connor and we got on the topic of missionaries. We talked about the different people in our family that had been or currently are missionaries and Connor pointed to himself and asked, "Connor missionary?" We said, yes Connor can be a missionary. He was so excited and started jumping around the room saying "Yeah, missionary!" We were so proud, until he stopped and turned to us and stated, "Missionary in Luke Skywalker." So...I guess we have a while yet to teach him that he doesn't get to wear his Luke Skywalker costume as a missionary.

We had a great Halloween with our Luke Skywalker. He was thrilled with his candy. (No really, he was. I have no idea why he posed himself this way, but he did and it cracks me up.)

We met up with 6 other families for trick-or-treating. All the kids had a great time running from house to house. Connor trick-or-treated for a little over and hour and then found his pumpkin was getting too heavy to carry and was ready to head home. That worked out just great for his Mom and Dad.


We had our good friends, the Peterson's, over Halloween morning to decorate cookies. Would you like a side of cookie to go along with your sprinkles?

October 31st was a fun day, but I'm glad we're past it now and most of the candy is gone. We quickly discovered that lack of nutrition and lack of sleep do not make for a pretty combination...for any of us. Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Time!

Our good friend's, Missy and Spencer, had some people over to carve pumpkins. Connor loves Missy and Spencer and was THRILLED to get the chance to go to their home for a "Pumpkin Halloween Party" as he put it. He was the only kid there and found joy in snacking on some doughnuts, chocolate and chips and dip while helping Byron scoop out the inside of the pumpkin and then carve it. He was a good helper and so proud of his work!


(I'm realizing now that I probably should have posted a picture of the actual finished pumpkin, but oh well. It looks cool.)

Friends

Connor loves being around other children. He practically begs me to make play dates. We've been lucky to make new friends, Lilly and Grace. I met Lilly's Mom through a book club and Grace's Mom through playing church basketball (our team rocked by the way). Lilly will be moving soon so we're so glad we've got the chance to hang out a few times. Thanks for the fun times Liz and Amy!

Last week Byron had Thursday and Friday off for Fall Break and so we took the chance to head down to S. Carolina to spend some time with Byron's parents or "Mimi and Papa" as they're better known as around here. Some of the fun things we got to do included: Kristi getting her hair done one last time before the baby comes (I'll have beautiful hair for a few weeks at least); Theresa, Bev, and Byron's brother Jarom taking Connor to Chuck E Cheese while Byron and I had a night out; Byron and I attending a session at the Columbia, S.C temple (one of the male temple workers seemed a little concerned that I might have the baby while at the temple); having fun playing with Missy (the dog) and Izzy (the cat), the sand box, going fishing, feeding the neighbor's horses, exploring around the house; and I think the highlight for Connor, attending the South Carolina State Fair. He was so excited to see the Ferris Wheel for some reason and kept talking about it all day.

Connor loved finding the work machines and "testing" them out. The only hiccup was he kept on asking for the keys. He wanted to fire those babies up! He loved seeing all the animals and had a fun time petting this "soft" bunny.

The highlight for him though were the rides. He had a crash course in the art of waiting in line. There were a few car rides he was tall enough to ride and he was thrilled. The picture below is of the roughest ride he went on. Little race cars went around a loop but really sped up and whipped those cars around the corners. We saw the ride and thought Byron should ride with him so Connor wouldn't get whip lashed. When it was finally Byron and Connor's turn, I walked over to the side they were on and noticed Connor was crying. I asked Byron what the problem was, thinking Connor was scared and Byron told me Connor didn't want him to ride with him. He kept on saying "No Daddy, and asking him to get off." Ahh, Mr. Independent. For his last ride hurrah of the night, Connor wanted to do the ride again and as we were walking over, he turned to Byron, put his hand out in a stop position and said, "No Daddy, do by self." Alrighty then. He was thrilled though when another little boy sat next to him. It was hilarious to us to see the two blond heads slide to the side of the car together at the turns and then whip back to the center. Connor was observing some of the older kids ridding the ride who were holding their hands up in the air like on a roller coaster. I could tell Connor had finally worked up his courage and put his hands up for second before he lost his nerve and grabbed onto the the bar for dear life as they rounded the bend. Ah, moments like those are priceless.

We had such a great time, thanks for having us Mimi and Papa!

A, B, C's

When Connor turned 2 last January I bought books about the alphabet and letters for the bathtub with the intention of helping him get his ABC's down. He was totally disinterested. I read the books over and over and pulled the tub toys out but he was never very into it. I tried singing the ABC song but he'd ask me to "Stop, please". What was I to do? I just inserted teaching moments when I could and guessed he could learn his ABC's in Preschool or Kindergarten. So imagine my surprise tonight when I passed by the bathroom as he was taking a bath and heard him singing the ABC song to himself! I peered into the bathroom and saw him arranging the letters on the tub and singing the song to himself over and over and over. A few letters were jarbled in there but for the most part he got them all. Um, okay. He must study by himself after he goes to bed.

I Hope She Likes Pink...

I sure hope our little girl likes pink! Here are some pics of her room. All three of us have enjoyed working on it.

We splurged and bought some new baby bedding from Target and Byron and I made the "ABC" artwork.

Byron's Mom, Theresa, brought up this pretty in pink little number. Connor loves playing all the different musical selections.
I made these curtains and yes, once again, they're pink.
Getting ready to do some rockin'.
You can't tell from this picture I realize, but the changing table is also in pink and brown stripes.
But really, who am I kidding? As a woman who's closet is 80% pink...I love it. :)

Conference Weekend

I think we had our most successful Conference Weekend since Connor's been born. He was especially happy yesterday to play while Conference was on. Poor little thing though, on Saturday when he got up from his nap, the afternoon session had just started. He came out and listened to the children's choir sing "I Am a Child of God" happily enough. However, when President Eyring then stood up to go through the sustaining of church officers, Connor threw himself back onto the couch and said, "Ohhhhh noooooo" in the most desperate and pitiful of ways. I think he thought the session was ending and just couldn't handle it when he realized there was more yet to come. One more conference weekend down with a toddler, I don't even want to think about how many more to come. Thank heavens there's the Ensign to look forward to.

'I Do It"

Connor's always been indepedent and is becoming even more so as he gets older. His favorite thing to say is, "No, I do it." Most of the time he's very nice about it, but firm at the same time. I try hard to let him do as much as is safe around the house while supervising him. (I tell you, that's exhausting for a mother!) This morning I was trying to get ready and he was interested in my makeup so I just let out a sigh and said, "Sure, you can do it" and hoped for the best. (That's how desperate I was for 2 min to finish getting ready for the day. I sacrificed my makeup.) He was so proud of his "work" that he even "posed" for a picture proudly displaying the black streaks all over his face. I even caught him checking his handy work out in the mirror. It'll be good when Byron graduates. I'm starting to think he needs more "Dad time" and less of me. :)

Beach Vacation

In August we met up with my family in Kure Beach just outside of Wilmington, NC. This was our second year there and it was such a blast! I was so pleased that Connor enjoyed being at the beach so much. We stayed in a beautiful beach house and spent our evenings watching the Olympics. Since our family is a sports family, it just didn't get much better for us. Connor now associates the beach with Nana and Grandpa and calls the beach "Nana and Grandpa's beach". If only there was such a place.:) We're looking forward to next year already!