Merry Christmas Everyone!

Merry Christmas! On Christmas Eve we spent the day battling the roads to take Don's grandma to see his grandpa who is staying in a foster care setting. Traditionally we spend Christmas Eve with Don's grandparents and mom at his grandparents house. We eat, drink and open presents. But due to his grandfather's health and the crazy snow, we were unable to all be together. It was the perfect present to take his grandma up to see his grandpa because she had not been able to get up to see him due to the weather. We had a wonderful time visiting and opening presents! Afterwards we braved the roads again and went to my parents for Christmas Eve dinner. With Michael and Erica in Whitby Island; Sarah Matt and the kids in McMinnville, and Jeannie and Tyler and the kids staying put in Bainbridge Island, Christmas was quiet with us, Tom and Bree and my parents! After dinner we went to Christmas Eve mass and then Don and I took Connor home to bed to wait for Santa! After he was snuggled into his crib, Don and I snuggled into our own bed and watched the Christmas Story! It was a great Christmas Eve. Christmas Day was spent back at our parents house opening gifts and eating a huge turkey dinner. Unfortunately Don's gifts didn't arrive by mail...... Unfortunately our camera's battery died and I forgot to charge it so NO PICTURES! Can you believe it! But mom and dad came through with their camera, I just need to upload them..... so pictures of Connor's first Christmas to come...

SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW

Oh my goodness, I suddenly feel like I am back in Utah with all this snow!!! It is beautiful but with the icy conditions we are feeling a bit of cabin fever being trapped in our home!!! Trying not to stress about getting the Christmas cards out, the gifts bought and wrapped, the baking done..... I guess we will just play....

Graduation Day for Don!

Don has spent the last two years working on his MBA. He has been attending classes, doing projects, talks and papers all while juggling his busy work and travel schedule, being a loving and doting husband, and becoming a first time dad! Needless to say it was a very proud day for me (and Don too I suppose...)!I still get choked up thinking about all his hard work and dedication! I was so worried that the snow would force George Fox to cancel the hooding ceremony, but despite the blizzard conditions, the show went on! We chained up, bundled up and headed into Newberg for the very special day! Mom and Dad and Sarah make the treacherous trek as well as Chris McDonald, Don's good friend and boss! The highlight of the ceremony was Don's wonderful speech (he was elected to be the class speaker). Connor was very proud of his father as well. He clapped and cooed (and burped, loudly) as Don gave his speech and received his hood! Unfortunately, the snow did prevent our post ceremony celebration at Deshutes Brewery, but nevertheless, the day seemed quite perfect to me!

Connor's First Snow!!

Today was Connor's first snow! He was mesmorized by the sliding door as he watched it fall! Later in the morning after his nap we took him and Murphy for a walk in it. Murphy wasn't so sure at first, but as you can see by the picture, it didn't take him long to frolic in the winter wonderland! The snow made the walking paths in our neighborhood so pretty!!

The Stuyvesants on Mt Hood!

This year instead of exchanging gifts we all decided to pitch in and rent a cabin for the weekend on Mt Hood. We had to find a rather large one since our immediate family members now number 18!!!!!! We had so much fun. The cabin was so cozy, right on the Salmon River. Two couples took turns cooking meals each night so needless to say we had amazing meals. We were even able to travel up to Government Camp and find some snow for the Ellie, Tommy and Joey to sled in! We played games, drank good wine and and played Wii by the fire! It was a perfect family get-a-way! Hopefully a new family tradition!

Sleigh Bells with the Piacitelli's!

So each year on Thanksgiving weekend we try to meet up with our dear friends the Piacitellis to pick out our Christmas tree at Sleigh Bells of Sherwood. Sometimes is works out, and sometimes it doesn't. Lucky for us this year we were all able to meet up. Steve and Dawn live up in the Seattle area but come down for the holidays to see Dawn's family. They have a darling boy Sam who is one and as cute as a button! We had a great day of picking out our trees and then heading to lunch were the boys both enjoyed eating eachother's cheerios and playing with the balloons! We wish the Piacitelli's lived closer! :(

Thanksgiving! We the Corcorans are thankful for so many things this year! We are thankful for Connor and all the blessings he has brought us! We are thankful for the health of our family and that we could all be together this Thanksgiving! Connor's first thanksgiving started out as every Stuyvesant Thanksgiving does - with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! This was followed by a trip to see great grandpa Meagher and then yummy dinner at Nonnie and Pompas house with all the cousins!!!! This year was also Nonnie's birthday along with the traditional pumpkin pie was a delicious chocolate cake! Happy birthday mom! We love you so much!

Go Pilots!

So as you can see we had a very sports filled weekend. On Sunday we spend the afternoon cheering on our number one college University of Portland in the women's soccer play offs. Of course we won, easily beating University of Texas! Connor is a seasoned Pilots fan, and knows well the inside of the Pilot Club tent. He and cousin Rachel enjoyed half time snacks of yummy puffs, while Tommy and Joey enjoyed hot dogs and daddy, Uncle Matt, and Pompa pouted over the fact that NCAA rules don't allow beer in the tent during playoffs...

Connor's first Beavers Game!

Our friend Devin was very kind and gave us his Beavers tickets on Saturday. Don and I were really excited for the opportunity to see good college football. The weather was crisp, fall football perfect! Thanks to cousins Tommy and Joey Connor had some good orange Beaver gear to wear. We got off to a late start leaving Sherwood (surprise, surprise) and therefore arrive a little late to the game. But we found our seats (amoung a lot of drunk college fans trying to get on the jumbotron..). We had a fabulous time - despite the dumb college girl who wanted to charge me 4.50 for a cup of hot water for Connor's bottle at halftime, which I dropped on the ground 15 seconds later... Connor was a real tooper until the end of the 3rd quarter when he too much and in true Connor fashion, fell right to sleep! true Connor fashion, fell right to sleep!

Friends Forever!

Megs and I have a habit of dressing our wee boys the same whenever we get together. We think it is hilarious and adorable! Lets see how long they will let us do this!! :)

The Evans and Durhams come to visit!

My dear childhood friends Rebecca and Megan along with their hubby's and Meg's darling little guy Matthew came for a visit! We had so much fun eating good food, drinking good mojitos, showing off Portland and just plain old hanging out. We have so much fun when we are all together. Matthew and Connor were a hoot together. I hope they grow up to be as good friends as their parents are! Next time we all get together, there may be a little Durham in the mix! That is if they were not scared off by the babbling duo!

Halloween!

Happy Halloween. Connor dressed as a spider for his first Halloween. After we left the doctor's office we headed to Keyknife for a Keyknife halloween. All the keyknife babies were there is full costume. Brayden was dracula, Aubree Snow White, and Aiden was just as cute as a pumpkin! It was fun to see all the babies and all the adults snap away with the cameras. Later after Connor's nap, we headed out to some neighbors for some visiting. However, due to his shots earlier in the day, Connor let us know he had enough of Halloween and and enough of being a spider, so off to bed he went and Don and I watched Poltergiest. Okay, 22 years later and that movie still freaks me out!

Connor had his 9 month appointment today! Poor kid had to go to the doctor on Halloween. Lucky for me, Connor's pediatrician, Dr. Tara Schwab, is my dear friend from college, so we get to visit and catch up during the well baby checks! So Connor is still not crawling, but is creepin along on the growth charts. He is in the 5th percentile for weight, and 25th for height. I think his head was 50th percentile. He is the exact same as his cousin Rachel. He got 5 shots today but handled it likea super champ. He even got to take home new book. Thanks Tara and the sweet MA's and nurses at the clinic for making this visit easier.

Learning to Crawl is Hard!

We are trying to teach Connor to crawl. He has absolutly no interest in it! Hmm, maybe this is a good thing???

Happy Anniversary to Us!

So it is a little early, our actually anniversary is not until Oct 30th, but due to work issues, we celebrated early this year. Every year we spend a weekend away for our special day. Our first anniversary we went to the San Jaun Islands, our second anniversay we spent in New York, our third in a cabin on Mt. Hood, and our fourth, downtown Portland! We had a night in the Marriot Waterfront Hotel, and dinner at Mortons! It was perfect. We did some shopping downtown, had some drinks at the VQ, and took a walk down by the boats after dinner. It was a perfect mini getaway, in our very own city! And a huge thank you to Sarah and Matt for taking in our wee one so we could get away! We owe you big!!!!

New England has nothing on Sherwood

Connor, Murphy and I headed out Friday morning for a brisk walk. It was a perfect fall morning, crisp with some light fog. We walked through Stella Olsen on our way to get scones at the coffee shop and the colors were just beautiful! Later that day when Don and I were driving out of our neighborhood, I took so more photos of the trees changing color. I love this time of year!

Pumpkin Patch - Take 2

Last Sunday after mass we headed out to Sauvie Island to the Great Pumpkin Patch! It was a beautiful fall day, perfect for picking out pumkins with our friends the Eynards. As a rite of passage for all first time parents, we dressed Connor up in his Halloween costume! He was the cutest little spider in the patch. Unfortunetly, the pumpkin patch was far from the parking lot. We walked quite a ways to find the perfect pumpkin. Don always told me I can only pick a pumpkin that I can actually carry. As evident by the pictures, I was really pushing the limit. But my knight in shining armour stepped in and carried my pumpkin for me! My hero!

Lee Farms here we come!

I was suppose to work today but our census was too low so I was cancelled! Music to my ears!! Connor and I spent the day at the Lee Farms pumpkin patch in Tualatin with pompa, Sarah, the boys and Rach. Tommy and Joey wanted to go on the slide so they set off into the hay maze that leads to the slide but soon came running back out with the look of fear on their faces - apparently there were 3 roosters loose in the maze! So I braved the maze with them. But I must say, roosters and a bit intimidating when you come face to face with them! We picked out our pumpkins had apple cider and the boys were just visiting with the goats when the down pour began! Ahh, to live in the northwest!

Happy Days are Here Again!

Yeah! Connor has made it past his first bout of illness. After 4 days of fevers and then 3 days of rash, it was determined that Connor had Roseola virus. Not fun for baby or parent. During this time he also has some sort of GI bug and cut 4 teeth! Our little boy is a trooper. It was a relief to wake up to Connor's giggles and happy noises. He wanted to play with his toys and even eat! We even made it out of the house for a walk. We stopped at the park and Connor had a ride on the swing (hence the picture).

Little Mr. Sicky

Connor has come down with his first major illness. Okay, not so much a major illness, more of a mystery illness. I am sick with an icky head cold and when I came home from work early on Thursday I found my boy just not acting himself. I spent a my weekend holding him while he cried and giving him tylenol for his 102.8 fevers. I thought perhaps he was getting my cold, but no sign of the sniffles. Just crying and fevers, oh and major amounts of drool, and the appearence of two more teeth, bringing his total to drum roll..........6! With the whites of two more peaking through! The poor thing. What a mess. So we are having a sicky weekend, spent laying on the couch and cuddling. When Connor is not crying and I am not sneezing, it is actually not so bad! Even my darling husband took pity on us and bought us some soup and a magazine for my couch-ridden self!