Merry Christmas 2009

Just a picture post today :) Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday!

a winter wonderland

So we got appx 20-22 inches of snow yesterday! Everything looks so beautiful out there. Brenden had a great time playing in it and sledding in the driveway. Avery is inside sick with a cough and terrible runny nose - so we did her winter pictures inside. And well, the dogs - they LOVE it!

FINALLY

Mr G.Q. huh? Brenden modeled in a photography workshop back in May (yes, in May.....Im a bit preterbed) We finally got to see some of the images! When he got home from school yesterday, I showed he and he says...... "mom, I look like a real life model! ......was I on T.V.?" So funny!!!! He is a riot!

Avery had her belated 15 month appt yesterday and she is doing well. 21lbs and 31 inches. So she is still a tiny girl, but doing quite well. She is still wearing 12 month clothes for the most part (18 month tops, but 12 month jeans) I think she will be ready to move up a size in the next month or so. she is walking with more and more confidence and getting a little faster too. She is beginning to show interest in books, actually looking at the pages rather than just flip them. She can identify a handful of things in books like, banana, ball, frog, dog, zebra. She is also discovering body parts and knows where her head, belly, nose, tongue, and ears are! She is learning new stuff every day!

Speaking of reading - Brenden is knocking my stinkin socks off! This kid is reading soooooooo well! We are so proud of him! Brenden is really looking forward to Christmas. He is also getting prepared for the 1st grade shoe tying relay. Should be a hoot!

Things are busy in the Hopf house. School, sports, holiday shopping...oh my!

updated condo post

getting ready for the tile!!!!! No it's getting exciting I can begin to see a little progress, not just junk moved from room to room. Now, to fit all this stuff in with the holidays - ***Eeeek***

getting our Christmas tree ..... in the mud :)

What a muddy mess! We got some snow on Saturday which was just beautiful, but after the amount of rain that we have had over the past few weeks, makes a Christmas tree farm pretty darn muddy! We got an 8 foot Frasier fur (which thankfully just fit... since we thought it was a little smaller). We were all covered in mud - I mean really covered. Yuk!

A condo post ... as promised

The Before....... and the After (not done yet)

So we bought a 30+ year old condo from the orig owners (who, now Im sure never ever cleaned this place) It was quite a retro mess and now - well, now it's just a concrete couple of rooms. We are replacing just about everything! We are getting ready to get started on the floors, we are doing ceramic tile through the whole unit - which will make a huge difference! I went down last week for one night and ripped up the old ceramic tile in the bathroom and tore down the drywall in the bathroom - what a chore! I hope to get some updated pictures soon - we didnt take any this past trip - these are a few weeks old.

Avery 15 1/2 mos

Avery had her infant and toddler eval today and it may be her last!!! Yippie. Her fine and gross motor skills are right where they should be! I get myself so worried over these appointments, a lingering sense of fear from when Conner had his eval I suppose. They are not discharging her quite yet, but have no plans to see her again. The nurse is going to follow up with me in a couple months to see if she is saying any words. Speech is the only hold up at this point. (Im trying not to freak out since Brenden didnt talk until he was 2) They are not really concerned - just a sorta wait and see kind of thing.

She is also following in big brothers steps with the biting - yikes, she left teeth marks in Brenden's arm earlier today - good thing she only has 4 teeth so far. I remember being pregnant with Conner when Brenden was this age and he got frustrated and bit me in the stomach and drew blood - ouchie. I just tried to explain that since she cant talk she has to find creative ways to express herself - lol

Brenden is doing great in school! He is making tremendous progress in reading - it's really amazing! His latest geometry (yes he's only 6) test he scored a 92%!!!! He also told me today that "mom, so people dont celebrate Christmas, they celebrate Harmonica" - how cute is that. We are also doing this elf on a shelf book for Christmas - what a great idea! He is amazed at how the elf moves around the house watching him. The book comes with a small stuffed elf that is featured in the book - the elf watches you until Christmas and reports back to Santa. I move it about 4-5 times a day all over the house - he is stunned everytime "elfie" is in a new spot. The best was in the pantry when he got home from school. He went to get a snack and opened the door and yelled - "that elf is really freaking me out"

The weather here in Md has been wet and all around crappy - so I have not been talking to many pictures - lets hope for some sunshine soon!!!!!

A condo post coming soon.....slowly making progress. Getting started on the floors soon! We hauled 46 boxes of tile at 50 pounds each last weekend in the freezing cold - boy that was fun!

Happy Thanksgiving Day and an angel anniversary

Somehow it's a little surreal that today marks 3 years since I last held Conner in my arms. It's been a little emotional so far today. Im not sure how you go on when a piece of yourself is missing - we sure do miss Conner! He brought so much into our lives in his short 22 months. The email and fb messages this morning make me thankful that I have so many wonderful friends who remember him today and always! Last night when I was driving home and feeling blah - I looked up and the street sign read Starr Rd. Made me smile! And just now Andre Boccelli is singing at the parade - what a prefect way to remember Conner! If he had been singing "the prayer" I wouldve been really crying!

Avery bumped her noggin last night - argh! She loves being on the sofa - well this time, she got too close to the edge and feel over backwards and right on her head. Way to make a mommy worry! She had a bump last night - but everything seems ok today. She is dancing to the thanksgiving day parade and giving Brenden a fit, she just walked away with his wii remote- lol

Now Brenden, he had a great parent teacher conference - the teacher had nothing but wonderful things to say - we are very proud of him. He is reading above level and doing well in math! But right now he is parked in front of his favorite place - the wii. I think we need to start having wii free days again!

Avery's 15 months now and is NOT a fan of disney characters....

She was really interested in Pooh.... from a distance, but boy, when he got close - the waterworks started! We all had a great time at Disney. As everyone knows - thanksgiving day will be 3 years since Conner died. Disney is such a special place for us holds lost of memories of Conner. As Avery cried and fussed through pirates of the carribean , we remembered how Conner laughed through it. I could almost see him in the stroller by the rockin rollrcoaster as he laughed and laughed as this latino girl spoke to him. Maybe it was the accent, but he just loved her. We looked at the fireworks that were in the shape of stars, and the frogs hopping along the sidewalks. Conner - we love you and miss you!!!

Our quick trip to Disney

Argh - it has been a busy couple weeks and somehow I went another 2 weeks without blogging! Started off with a 3 day neonatal palliative care conference. Great conference where I shared our experience with Conner and also spoke about the importance of berevement photography.

I got back from the conference at about 3pm is last Saturday. Carl already had this past week off sooooooo...when Brenden said "I really want to go to Disney world" - we made some calls and booked the trip at 7pm - and we were on a plane 12 hours later. How about that for last minute? We had a great time with amazing weather! Carl and Avery both caught some virus, fevers and cough - but kept on trecking, disney style! Both are still coughing but now fever free! Actually all of us are still coughing - it has been like 4 weeks.

Avery was super cute in Disney world - she was super curious about the characters..... until they got too close :) pictures to come when I have some time to edit them.

Avery 14 1/2 mos

Yes, we are finally owners of our very own condo in Ocean City!!!!! the place needs a TON (did I yet mention an absolute TON) of work. We settled this past weekend and started the demolition. It was a total loss, we are only keeping the condo itself, the washer and dryer and one beach umbrella, possibly one row of kitchen cabinets - the rest is scrapped!!!

Never ending stream of germs at our house :( Brenden's still coughing, I had a fever last week for one day of fun, now left with this rechid cough and the humble beginnings of yet another sinus infection. Somehow Avery has escaped all the germs so far - and hoping it stays that way!

Avery is developing quite the personality and that comes with a big punch of attitude! She is the cutest little thing! She has not yet said any words, well, we think "da" is dog. That was Brenden's first word and looks like Avery is following suit! She is dancing like a rockstar and getting faster and faster on her feet! Not yet running, but lets just say "brisk walking"

another picture post :)

A day off to go to the pumpkin patch

Brenden got to skip school on Thursday so we could go pumpkin picking! The weather has been sooooo lousy we didnt get to go yet. We had a great time (in inches and inches of mud) ! Happy Halloween (yes, it's supposed to rain....AGAIN)

A day missing Conner!

Lynette sent me this picture a few days ago as she gave a presentation to a group of women interested in photography. We are so delighted that she chose to have Conner's image which she took in April 2006 displayed. Lynette is an inspiration and a remarkable women. the way she gives back with everything she does is truly remarkable, and I hope to be more like her one day! She has given me personally so much, not only the beautiful portraits of our son, but because of her, I now am able to give this precious gift of photography to other families who are suffering through a fatal illness with their child. Thank you Lynette!!!

Please visit her blog.... www.Soulumination.org Her latest entry features a newly diagnosed little girl from Seattle. Sadly her family is beginning their journey with Tay-Sachs. Thinking of you sweet Elliott!

Brenden's fall photos -we do these instead of school pics :)

A fabulous photo shoot with Brenden today!!! He was so cooperative I could barely believe it! Poor tike got the flu mist on friday (after much deliberation and call to the pediatrician) and is feeling crappy tonight :( I feel like he has been sick for a month straight. For anyone that knows him, this is totally unlike him! First strep throat, the a virus, now sick from the flu mist - ARGH!!!!!

Avery 14 months 1 week

Another rainy weekend here in MD - argh! Was hoping to make it to the pumpkin patch today, but the weather says otherwise :( The above pictures were from an inpromto trip to the nursery down the street, just incase the weather was not cooperative. Brenden played his last football game today and had a fab game!! Lots of great blocking and two great tackles! his team even had 2 completed passes - that's a HUGE accomplishment for this group of 5 and 6 year olds - it was very cute!

Avery is really really getting around - she is almost walking all of the time now and she is about to get her first pair of real shoes (she has had some before, but not walking baby shoes). I would say she is walking about 80% of the time now - and getting in all kinds of trouble. In fact today she was playing with Brenden's toys in the toilet - what fun! She is also now able to get up all by herself to stand and able to bend down to get something and stand right back up - all in the past week. She's getting soooo big!