Thursday, August 2, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
Spring has Sprung!!
It was a very mild winter(very mild - only 2 significant snow falls; even then under 4"). Spring came in full force too! The ground hog predicted 6 more weeks of winter, but mid-March brought temps in the 80s!!! The kids are LOVING it outside. Now if we can just get the back yard to completely dry up, so I can stop worrying about Andi & her MUDDY paws!!! She has to get a "paw-dicure" every time she goes out. Not fun... But, the past week has been more Spring like with temps in the 50s & 60s and this week it's been dry!!! Yay!
February started with Elmo Live on 02/03. Grandma Sue & Grandpa Larry bought tickets for Sean & Evie for Christmas & Daddy & I decided to tag along. ;) Both kids were sent with money from Grandma & Puppa and Grandpa Jim to buy souveniers as well. The kids seriously want for nothing, especially when a grandparent is involved!!! The Wilsons went too. They bought a family four pack almost a month after us & their seats were one row behind us. It was perfect. We went to Hockey Town Cafe for dinner. It wasn't crowded, the kids behaved well. It was a pleasant dining experience even with the ratio of kids to adults being 1:1! :) We headed over to the Fox, found our seats right away (amazing seats by the way; front row, center balcony!) and the show started within 5 minutes of us sitting down. The kids did great. No one could've prepared me for how much Evie enjoyed the show. She was in awe the whole time. She danced, pointed, sang - it was awesome. I don't know if I smiled or cried more, but both were brought on by happiness. :)02/10 Evie & I went to Mrs. Nancy's house for lunch. Again, it brought me great happiness to watch Evie enjoy her food! :) Evie ate majedra, hummus, falafel, fruit, etc. She's definitely my child!! It was really cool to watch her play with Gianna too. She was nice to her & interested in her. I'm hoping this is a sign of how she'll react to her little sister when she gets here! :) On 02/11 me, Daddy, Sean & Evie went to Lakeside Mall. We just wanted to get out & do something, but it was too cold outside to do anything outdoors. The kids rode the merry-go-round and a train. Sean went into a bounce house area & Evie played on foam boats & slides. We had dinner & got a Mario prize at Game Stop. 02/16 Sean tied his shoes for the first time!!! Every report card he gets has all 1's and (1) 4. 1 is the best you can get, 4 is the worst. The 4 is always next to "ties his shoes". We decided to really work on it one day & by the end of our "training session", he had done it himself. That week he went to school & showed Mrs. Scott. He got a star on the shoe tieing board! 02/18 we went to the Young People's Wildlife Fair at the Best Western Sterling Inn. Grandpa Jim, Paige, the Wilsons & the Murphys were there too. Evie was most interested in the "stuffed" animals. She loved the bears, coyotes, wolves, etc. Sean was more interested in the live animals. He held a bunny and even briefly held a snake! It made him nervous & you could tell when he was ready to be done, but I was so proud of him for trying it. We watched the Birds of Prey presentation too & got to see some owls. 02/22 was Sean's 100th day of school field trip. Every day of school each kid put 1 penny in a jar. By the 100th day, they each had $1, so the field trip was to Burger King & the dollar store. I got to go with him. We had lunch first, then went to Dollar Tree where the kids each picked out a toy. Then, we went back to the school for show & tell. 03/03 was Aunt Mary's baby shower. Evie wore a pretty pink dress & went with me to the shower. She loved twirling around in her dress & the attention it brought her. She also sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" the whole time. Sean & Daddy went to see The Lorax while we were there. Sean has seen it in the theater twice since with Grandpa Jim. I think he likes it!! 03/05-03/09 was Spirit Week at WWCS. Monday was sports day, so Sean wore one of his flag football jerseys. Tuesday was mismatch day. Wednesday was Lion/Lamb day (Sean was a lion). Thursday was culture day (Sean wore a "lucky & charming" shirt, along with an irish hat) and Friday was career day (Sean was a mechanic). He was excited to show Puppa his mechanic shirt because it looked like his, except it didn't say Mario, so we went by Grandma & Puppa's after school. March definitely came in like a lamb, so we spent a lot of time outside & at the park that week & the next. 03/13 & 03/14 Evie was a sicky baby. :( Both kids managed to stay remarkable healthy all fall/winter. Evie had one virus that didn't last long & that was the worst of it other than the occasional runny nose. Amazing how you can stay healthy through flu season & then get the flu in March! She did great though. She threw up a few times the one morning & then once the next day. We had to eliminate yogurt & dairy for a couple days though, so that was hard. Evie loves her yogurt!! 03/16 - VACATION!!! We took Sean to school & stopped by CVS for some last minute essentials. We came home & finished packing, picked Sean up from school, picked Daddy up from work & then headed north. We planned on maybe stopping once before Grayling, but every one was doing so well in the car, so we just wanted to get there. We checked in & almost immediately got our bathing suits on & went swimming. Sean was a little nervous at first when it came to jumping in, but it wasn't long before he was jumping in & swimming the width of the pool by himself. He is such a good swimmer, especially for his age! We saved up lots of quarters, with help from all the grandparents, so we spent time in the game room & then played on the play area too. I think that was Evie's favorite part. 03/17 Daddy could get no relief from what appeared to be a pinched nerve in his back. He was miserable & nothing was helping. Thank God Grandma & Puppa were visiting Aunt Mary & had planned on meeting us in Gaylord that day. A slight change in plans & we were good to go! Puppa came & took Daddy to the emergency room in Grayling while me, Sean, Evie & Grandma went to Gaylord. We met Aunt Mary, her friend Morgan & her kids at Call of the Wild. It's just a museum of taxidermy animals, but the kids love it. I remember loving it as a kid too. :) Puppa was able to get Daddy back to the hotel room with food & medicine so he could rest & then he joined us in Gaylord for lunch at La Senoritas. Another childhood favorite of mine! :) Although the events didn't go as planned, I'm convinced that it all worked out for the best! 03/18 we got up, ate a light breakfast, swam, packed up, went to the game room, played on the playset & headed to lunch at Shakers, Daddy's favorite restaurant up north. We had a smooth trip home. We met Grandpa Jim at Daddy's work & he took Sean to a birthday party for a girl in his class. Sean was so worried because it was a skating party & he didn't know how to skate, but he had fun. We were so proud of him because even though he was nervous, he tried skating. :) 03/19 Happy Birthday to Aunt Susie!! :) 03/22 I got a phone call at work that Sean had thrown up at school. Poor baby never threw up again, but spent the rest of the day suffering from stomach cramps & boredom! Plus, he couldn't drink milk or eat cheese for a couple days & those are his favorites! Grandma came over after work to hang out with the kids while me & Daddy went to look at a new minivan. 03/23 Sean was feeling a lot better, but still hadn't eaten much, so he stayed home from school. This was the first day he'd missed since the beginning of the year. Thank God he was so healthy all fall/winter! At lunchtime, we all went to the dealership to get our new minivan. The kids were so excited. Evie wanted to drive home & was very upset when she had to get in her seat. She loves that she can close her door by pushing a button. :) That night, Evie & I went to small group, while Sean stayed home with Daddy. He had been on yellow twice that week, so that was his punishment. 03/24 Aunt Mary & Uncle Scott made an unexpected trip home to close on the condo, so we met them & Grandma for breakfast. Later that night Sean, Evie, Grandpa Jim & Daddy went to see Dora's Pirate Adventure. I stayed home to prepare for teaching at church the next day. Daddy said Evie was just as excited & interactive as she was for Elmo. She sang all the songs & shouted out answers to every question. I got to see some videos on Daddy's phone. It was awesome. 03/25 after church & nap, we brought balloons, cake, presents & dinner to Grandma & Puppa's to celebrate Grandma's birthday. She was nice & shared her balloons with Sean & Evie. They got her Cat in the Hat movies & she shared those with them too! Sean picked out a laser light wand for her & he was so excited about that. 03/26 Happy Birthday to Grandma!! :) 03/28 Sean went to the Butterfly Exhibit at Oakland Mall with school. He got to ride with Aunt Annette, Connor & Zach. He loved holding a butterfly & learning about their life cycle. 03/30 after we took Sean to school, Evie & I took coffee to "Ella's grandpa" at Father Murray's. She made everyone she passed smile. She is so good about waving & saying "hi" to everyone. :) That night, the kids dressed up as pirates for Nate's pirate birthday party. Evie said, "my a pirate, arrrrgh". Love it. :)03/31 Grandma came over at 5:00 am while Daddy & I went downtown for a date. I had a bridal shower & dinner with friends, so Sean & Evie spent most of the day hanging out with Daddy & being bums. I don't think they got dressed that day. They even went to Meijers in their pajamas! 04/01 Sean went to south campus & bowling with Grandpa Jim & Paiger while we went out to teach at north campus. Spring break started the next day, so Sean spent the night with Paige at Grandma Sue & Grandpa Larry's. 04/03 we met Grandma at Lakeside to visit with the Easter Bunny. Evie was fine until it came time to sit on his lap & take a picture. She wasn't having it. So, we got a picture of her on Sean's lap, reaching for the camera. She said, "I no wike dat bunny". 04/04 we went to the zoo with Grandpa Jim, Miss Abby, Connor & Ella. It was the perfect zoo day - 60 & sunny. Lots of animals were out & the kids were so good. I was exhausted the rest of the day. It was a lot of walking, but doing it at almost 9 months pregnant did me in!! 04/05 Sean & Evie spent the day with Miss Abby, Miss Jenna, Connor & Ella. They went to Chuck E. Cheese with Grandpa Jim too. 04/06 Daddy only had to work a 1/2 day, so after nap Grandma came over & we dyed Easter eggs. This was the first year Evie could really get into it & she did. I only regret that I didn't boil more than 2 dozen eggs. I'll have to do 4 next year! That night Grandpa Jim came over while Daddy & I went to the Good Friday service at church. On the way home, we noticed the moon was big & close, so we got home, loaded the kids in the van & drove down Jefferson to get a better look at it. Evie said it looked like a "big bouncy ball". It was out Evie's window most of the time, so she kept saying, "it's out my window, not awny's" and it's "my moon". Sean did a good job waiting until we turned around, so it could be out his window. :) 04/07 we went to breakfast & then to Meijers to get a big girl seat for Evie & some stuff for our Easter celebrations. Evie was so excited to get a new high back booster. She's wanted a big girl seat for a long time. She wants to be like just like Seany. :) That afternoon we went to an Easter party at Miss Kim's house. Again we had beautiful weather, so the kids played outside, dyed eggs & went on an egg hunt. Sean found one of two golden eggs with $2 in it. He was SO excited & that egg hasn't left his possession much since! 04/08 Happy Easter!!! The kids have been doing the resurrection eggs for a couple weeks now & I just love listening to them go through each one. My favorite part is when Evie opens the last egg & it's empty & she says, "Jesus is awive!". They woke up early & found their baskets. Sean loved his remote control helicopter & Evie's favorite was the $1 bubble wand in hers. Grandma & Puppa came over to went drove to church with us. Grandpa Jim & the Wilsons came to north campus for service too. Afterwards, we went to Uncle Mike & Aunt Nicole's for dinner & an egg hunt. Mikey, Evie & Sean played sidewalk chalk & bubbles outside with Puppa & Grandma too. They didn't want the day to end. When we got home, Grandpa Jim came over with bubbles & sidewalk chalk, so they got to play outside with him too. Then, Grandma Sue & Grandpa Larry came over to pick Sean up, so they played ball & read books with them too. The had a wonderful afternoon/evening filled with grandparents & they loved every minute of it. :)
Sean is growing up super fast. As we get ready to have a newborn, I'm reminded of just how fast the last 5 1/2 years have gone by. I'm so proud of who he is & who he's becoming. Of course we have some little kinks to work through, but part of it is just being a 5 year old boy! He's easily distracted, so it usually takes 3 or 4 times of telling him to do something for him to actually do it. He hates having down time and always wants to be doing something fun. When he's not doing what he wants, he gets whiney. He struggles sometimes with NOT joining what the other kids do at school, even when it's not the right choice. We're working on all of it. I always wonder if I sound like I think my kids are super human. They are amazing, but they are human! Now, on the the amazing stuff. On March 5th, on the way to Susie's, Sean & I were talking. Our conversation started about a friend's dog, then went to one about Andi, then to one about Dani who died shortly after Evie was born. Sean said to me, "Did you know that dogs don't go to heaven?". He explained that his teacher told him they don't because they don't have souls. Then he said, "Yeah, plus, you know, they're not good or bad, so they can't go to heaven or hell." I stopped him & explained that going to heaven or hell isn't about being good or bad. God knew we could never be good enough to go to heaven, so he sent Jesus. And, we can never be bad enough to go to hell. The only way to go to heaven is to accept that God sent Jesus to die for our sins and if he lives in our hearts, we'll go to heaven. Sean quickly replied, "I've never prayed that prayer. Have you?". I told him yes & he asked me if I'd help him pray that Jesus would come live in his heart. Immediately a CRAZY rush of emotion came over me. I felt scared, I felt doubt because of his age, I felt anxiety over NOT praying with him, etc. But, there was no question what the right thing to do was. So, the rest of the way to Susie's we discussed the ABC's of salvation and when we got to Susie's, we went into a room, shut the door & prayed. What an amazing experience it was. Sean has the most compassionate & kind heart of any 5 year old I know. When he found that golden egg on Saturday, he was completely thrilled. But, he saw another little boy crying because he didn't find it. He looked at me & said that he could give him the egg, so he wouldn't be sad. He melts my heart with stuff like that all the time. He's incredible. He's still the best big brother ever and Evie adores him. He told me that soon he'll have another little sister to teach how to walk & talk! He really wants a 3DS and we told him he'd have to save for it. So, he's really excited about "raising" the money he'll need to buy it. Of course, he's working his grandparents for contributions, but I'm still so proud of him for doing what it takes to get the money, instead of whining about not having it. He's been collecting & earning money for about 3 weeks now & he's over 1/2way there! :)
Evie... I have NEVER met another 22 month old like Evie & everyone says the same. She has curly red hair & none of her curls hang on her forehead, but I'd have to say her demeanor is summed up in the following rhyme: "There was a little girl, who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead. And when she was good, she was very very good, but when she was bad she was horrid!". Yep, that's Evie. Her vocabulary & communication skills are off the charts and she's very mature for her age. So, when she throws a temper tantrum like a 22 month old it throws us off. But, man, can she throw a tantrum! The other night we had to pull her out of the bath twice to put her in time out. She was dumping cups of water out of the tub & when comfronted with "that's naughty" or "not a good choice", she'd just smile & say, "yes a good choice" or "not naughty" and continue to do it! I saw red!! We've had a couple episodes like this. One night she kept pulling on the curtains in our room. I told her to stop because they could fall on her head. She just kept saying, "it's fun" and then doing it. We have our hands full!! She uses "my" instead of "I" which I will have a hard time correcting because it is so cute! She says, "my do it" or "my have a idea" or "what my want?" (while looking for what to eat next!). She loves to sing and does a mean rendition of the "we did it" Dora song, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", "ABCs" and the Beatles "I love you, yeah, yeah, yeah". Although the teens get a little blended, she can count to 20. I love hearing her say, "oh goodie", "thank you & you're welcome", "ut oh spaghettios"...just to name a few. She has learned that being cute, sweet & pitiful will get her what she wants most of the time. Her new thing is to say, "my miss my daddy...my need him...my wuv him". Now, in place of Daddy, put anyone's name who's NOT making her do something she doesn't want to do! If I'm putting her to sleep, it's Daddy she needs. If Daddy's putting her to sleep, it's me. She's working the system for sure! She still loves her "ogurts" & it's the first thing she asks for each morning. She's big on plain donuts right now too. Almost everything she says or does makes me want to pull out my phone or camera & get it on video. She's super cute & fun right now (when she's NOT throwing a fit, of course!). I remember going through this "I could tell stories about him every second of every day" phase. A part of me want to keep freeze this phase forever!!! :)
Within 11 days, we'll have a new addition to our family. Scary & exciting. I try to remind myself how scared I was before I had Sean & Evie & how almost immediately I didn't know how we ever existed without them. :) Soon enough, Ally will be here & our new "normal" will begin!! :)
February started with Elmo Live on 02/03. Grandma Sue & Grandpa Larry bought tickets for Sean & Evie for Christmas & Daddy & I decided to tag along. ;) Both kids were sent with money from Grandma & Puppa and Grandpa Jim to buy souveniers as well. The kids seriously want for nothing, especially when a grandparent is involved!!! The Wilsons went too. They bought a family four pack almost a month after us & their seats were one row behind us. It was perfect. We went to Hockey Town Cafe for dinner. It wasn't crowded, the kids behaved well. It was a pleasant dining experience even with the ratio of kids to adults being 1:1! :) We headed over to the Fox, found our seats right away (amazing seats by the way; front row, center balcony!) and the show started within 5 minutes of us sitting down. The kids did great. No one could've prepared me for how much Evie enjoyed the show. She was in awe the whole time. She danced, pointed, sang - it was awesome. I don't know if I smiled or cried more, but both were brought on by happiness. :)02/10 Evie & I went to Mrs. Nancy's house for lunch. Again, it brought me great happiness to watch Evie enjoy her food! :) Evie ate majedra, hummus, falafel, fruit, etc. She's definitely my child!! It was really cool to watch her play with Gianna too. She was nice to her & interested in her. I'm hoping this is a sign of how she'll react to her little sister when she gets here! :) On 02/11 me, Daddy, Sean & Evie went to Lakeside Mall. We just wanted to get out & do something, but it was too cold outside to do anything outdoors. The kids rode the merry-go-round and a train. Sean went into a bounce house area & Evie played on foam boats & slides. We had dinner & got a Mario prize at Game Stop. 02/16 Sean tied his shoes for the first time!!! Every report card he gets has all 1's and (1) 4. 1 is the best you can get, 4 is the worst. The 4 is always next to "ties his shoes". We decided to really work on it one day & by the end of our "training session", he had done it himself. That week he went to school & showed Mrs. Scott. He got a star on the shoe tieing board! 02/18 we went to the Young People's Wildlife Fair at the Best Western Sterling Inn. Grandpa Jim, Paige, the Wilsons & the Murphys were there too. Evie was most interested in the "stuffed" animals. She loved the bears, coyotes, wolves, etc. Sean was more interested in the live animals. He held a bunny and even briefly held a snake! It made him nervous & you could tell when he was ready to be done, but I was so proud of him for trying it. We watched the Birds of Prey presentation too & got to see some owls. 02/22 was Sean's 100th day of school field trip. Every day of school each kid put 1 penny in a jar. By the 100th day, they each had $1, so the field trip was to Burger King & the dollar store. I got to go with him. We had lunch first, then went to Dollar Tree where the kids each picked out a toy. Then, we went back to the school for show & tell. 03/03 was Aunt Mary's baby shower. Evie wore a pretty pink dress & went with me to the shower. She loved twirling around in her dress & the attention it brought her. She also sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" the whole time. Sean & Daddy went to see The Lorax while we were there. Sean has seen it in the theater twice since with Grandpa Jim. I think he likes it!! 03/05-03/09 was Spirit Week at WWCS. Monday was sports day, so Sean wore one of his flag football jerseys. Tuesday was mismatch day. Wednesday was Lion/Lamb day (Sean was a lion). Thursday was culture day (Sean wore a "lucky & charming" shirt, along with an irish hat) and Friday was career day (Sean was a mechanic). He was excited to show Puppa his mechanic shirt because it looked like his, except it didn't say Mario, so we went by Grandma & Puppa's after school. March definitely came in like a lamb, so we spent a lot of time outside & at the park that week & the next. 03/13 & 03/14 Evie was a sicky baby. :( Both kids managed to stay remarkable healthy all fall/winter. Evie had one virus that didn't last long & that was the worst of it other than the occasional runny nose. Amazing how you can stay healthy through flu season & then get the flu in March! She did great though. She threw up a few times the one morning & then once the next day. We had to eliminate yogurt & dairy for a couple days though, so that was hard. Evie loves her yogurt!! 03/16 - VACATION!!! We took Sean to school & stopped by CVS for some last minute essentials. We came home & finished packing, picked Sean up from school, picked Daddy up from work & then headed north. We planned on maybe stopping once before Grayling, but every one was doing so well in the car, so we just wanted to get there. We checked in & almost immediately got our bathing suits on & went swimming. Sean was a little nervous at first when it came to jumping in, but it wasn't long before he was jumping in & swimming the width of the pool by himself. He is such a good swimmer, especially for his age! We saved up lots of quarters, with help from all the grandparents, so we spent time in the game room & then played on the play area too. I think that was Evie's favorite part. 03/17 Daddy could get no relief from what appeared to be a pinched nerve in his back. He was miserable & nothing was helping. Thank God Grandma & Puppa were visiting Aunt Mary & had planned on meeting us in Gaylord that day. A slight change in plans & we were good to go! Puppa came & took Daddy to the emergency room in Grayling while me, Sean, Evie & Grandma went to Gaylord. We met Aunt Mary, her friend Morgan & her kids at Call of the Wild. It's just a museum of taxidermy animals, but the kids love it. I remember loving it as a kid too. :) Puppa was able to get Daddy back to the hotel room with food & medicine so he could rest & then he joined us in Gaylord for lunch at La Senoritas. Another childhood favorite of mine! :) Although the events didn't go as planned, I'm convinced that it all worked out for the best! 03/18 we got up, ate a light breakfast, swam, packed up, went to the game room, played on the playset & headed to lunch at Shakers, Daddy's favorite restaurant up north. We had a smooth trip home. We met Grandpa Jim at Daddy's work & he took Sean to a birthday party for a girl in his class. Sean was so worried because it was a skating party & he didn't know how to skate, but he had fun. We were so proud of him because even though he was nervous, he tried skating. :) 03/19 Happy Birthday to Aunt Susie!! :) 03/22 I got a phone call at work that Sean had thrown up at school. Poor baby never threw up again, but spent the rest of the day suffering from stomach cramps & boredom! Plus, he couldn't drink milk or eat cheese for a couple days & those are his favorites! Grandma came over after work to hang out with the kids while me & Daddy went to look at a new minivan. 03/23 Sean was feeling a lot better, but still hadn't eaten much, so he stayed home from school. This was the first day he'd missed since the beginning of the year. Thank God he was so healthy all fall/winter! At lunchtime, we all went to the dealership to get our new minivan. The kids were so excited. Evie wanted to drive home & was very upset when she had to get in her seat. She loves that she can close her door by pushing a button. :) That night, Evie & I went to small group, while Sean stayed home with Daddy. He had been on yellow twice that week, so that was his punishment. 03/24 Aunt Mary & Uncle Scott made an unexpected trip home to close on the condo, so we met them & Grandma for breakfast. Later that night Sean, Evie, Grandpa Jim & Daddy went to see Dora's Pirate Adventure. I stayed home to prepare for teaching at church the next day. Daddy said Evie was just as excited & interactive as she was for Elmo. She sang all the songs & shouted out answers to every question. I got to see some videos on Daddy's phone. It was awesome. 03/25 after church & nap, we brought balloons, cake, presents & dinner to Grandma & Puppa's to celebrate Grandma's birthday. She was nice & shared her balloons with Sean & Evie. They got her Cat in the Hat movies & she shared those with them too! Sean picked out a laser light wand for her & he was so excited about that. 03/26 Happy Birthday to Grandma!! :) 03/28 Sean went to the Butterfly Exhibit at Oakland Mall with school. He got to ride with Aunt Annette, Connor & Zach. He loved holding a butterfly & learning about their life cycle. 03/30 after we took Sean to school, Evie & I took coffee to "Ella's grandpa" at Father Murray's. She made everyone she passed smile. She is so good about waving & saying "hi" to everyone. :) That night, the kids dressed up as pirates for Nate's pirate birthday party. Evie said, "my a pirate, arrrrgh". Love it. :)03/31 Grandma came over at 5:00 am while Daddy & I went downtown for a date. I had a bridal shower & dinner with friends, so Sean & Evie spent most of the day hanging out with Daddy & being bums. I don't think they got dressed that day. They even went to Meijers in their pajamas! 04/01 Sean went to south campus & bowling with Grandpa Jim & Paiger while we went out to teach at north campus. Spring break started the next day, so Sean spent the night with Paige at Grandma Sue & Grandpa Larry's. 04/03 we met Grandma at Lakeside to visit with the Easter Bunny. Evie was fine until it came time to sit on his lap & take a picture. She wasn't having it. So, we got a picture of her on Sean's lap, reaching for the camera. She said, "I no wike dat bunny". 04/04 we went to the zoo with Grandpa Jim, Miss Abby, Connor & Ella. It was the perfect zoo day - 60 & sunny. Lots of animals were out & the kids were so good. I was exhausted the rest of the day. It was a lot of walking, but doing it at almost 9 months pregnant did me in!! 04/05 Sean & Evie spent the day with Miss Abby, Miss Jenna, Connor & Ella. They went to Chuck E. Cheese with Grandpa Jim too. 04/06 Daddy only had to work a 1/2 day, so after nap Grandma came over & we dyed Easter eggs. This was the first year Evie could really get into it & she did. I only regret that I didn't boil more than 2 dozen eggs. I'll have to do 4 next year! That night Grandpa Jim came over while Daddy & I went to the Good Friday service at church. On the way home, we noticed the moon was big & close, so we got home, loaded the kids in the van & drove down Jefferson to get a better look at it. Evie said it looked like a "big bouncy ball". It was out Evie's window most of the time, so she kept saying, "it's out my window, not awny's" and it's "my moon". Sean did a good job waiting until we turned around, so it could be out his window. :) 04/07 we went to breakfast & then to Meijers to get a big girl seat for Evie & some stuff for our Easter celebrations. Evie was so excited to get a new high back booster. She's wanted a big girl seat for a long time. She wants to be like just like Seany. :) That afternoon we went to an Easter party at Miss Kim's house. Again we had beautiful weather, so the kids played outside, dyed eggs & went on an egg hunt. Sean found one of two golden eggs with $2 in it. He was SO excited & that egg hasn't left his possession much since! 04/08 Happy Easter!!! The kids have been doing the resurrection eggs for a couple weeks now & I just love listening to them go through each one. My favorite part is when Evie opens the last egg & it's empty & she says, "Jesus is awive!". They woke up early & found their baskets. Sean loved his remote control helicopter & Evie's favorite was the $1 bubble wand in hers. Grandma & Puppa came over to went drove to church with us. Grandpa Jim & the Wilsons came to north campus for service too. Afterwards, we went to Uncle Mike & Aunt Nicole's for dinner & an egg hunt. Mikey, Evie & Sean played sidewalk chalk & bubbles outside with Puppa & Grandma too. They didn't want the day to end. When we got home, Grandpa Jim came over with bubbles & sidewalk chalk, so they got to play outside with him too. Then, Grandma Sue & Grandpa Larry came over to pick Sean up, so they played ball & read books with them too. The had a wonderful afternoon/evening filled with grandparents & they loved every minute of it. :)
Sean is growing up super fast. As we get ready to have a newborn, I'm reminded of just how fast the last 5 1/2 years have gone by. I'm so proud of who he is & who he's becoming. Of course we have some little kinks to work through, but part of it is just being a 5 year old boy! He's easily distracted, so it usually takes 3 or 4 times of telling him to do something for him to actually do it. He hates having down time and always wants to be doing something fun. When he's not doing what he wants, he gets whiney. He struggles sometimes with NOT joining what the other kids do at school, even when it's not the right choice. We're working on all of it. I always wonder if I sound like I think my kids are super human. They are amazing, but they are human! Now, on the the amazing stuff. On March 5th, on the way to Susie's, Sean & I were talking. Our conversation started about a friend's dog, then went to one about Andi, then to one about Dani who died shortly after Evie was born. Sean said to me, "Did you know that dogs don't go to heaven?". He explained that his teacher told him they don't because they don't have souls. Then he said, "Yeah, plus, you know, they're not good or bad, so they can't go to heaven or hell." I stopped him & explained that going to heaven or hell isn't about being good or bad. God knew we could never be good enough to go to heaven, so he sent Jesus. And, we can never be bad enough to go to hell. The only way to go to heaven is to accept that God sent Jesus to die for our sins and if he lives in our hearts, we'll go to heaven. Sean quickly replied, "I've never prayed that prayer. Have you?". I told him yes & he asked me if I'd help him pray that Jesus would come live in his heart. Immediately a CRAZY rush of emotion came over me. I felt scared, I felt doubt because of his age, I felt anxiety over NOT praying with him, etc. But, there was no question what the right thing to do was. So, the rest of the way to Susie's we discussed the ABC's of salvation and when we got to Susie's, we went into a room, shut the door & prayed. What an amazing experience it was. Sean has the most compassionate & kind heart of any 5 year old I know. When he found that golden egg on Saturday, he was completely thrilled. But, he saw another little boy crying because he didn't find it. He looked at me & said that he could give him the egg, so he wouldn't be sad. He melts my heart with stuff like that all the time. He's incredible. He's still the best big brother ever and Evie adores him. He told me that soon he'll have another little sister to teach how to walk & talk! He really wants a 3DS and we told him he'd have to save for it. So, he's really excited about "raising" the money he'll need to buy it. Of course, he's working his grandparents for contributions, but I'm still so proud of him for doing what it takes to get the money, instead of whining about not having it. He's been collecting & earning money for about 3 weeks now & he's over 1/2way there! :)
Evie... I have NEVER met another 22 month old like Evie & everyone says the same. She has curly red hair & none of her curls hang on her forehead, but I'd have to say her demeanor is summed up in the following rhyme: "There was a little girl, who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead. And when she was good, she was very very good, but when she was bad she was horrid!". Yep, that's Evie. Her vocabulary & communication skills are off the charts and she's very mature for her age. So, when she throws a temper tantrum like a 22 month old it throws us off. But, man, can she throw a tantrum! The other night we had to pull her out of the bath twice to put her in time out. She was dumping cups of water out of the tub & when comfronted with "that's naughty" or "not a good choice", she'd just smile & say, "yes a good choice" or "not naughty" and continue to do it! I saw red!! We've had a couple episodes like this. One night she kept pulling on the curtains in our room. I told her to stop because they could fall on her head. She just kept saying, "it's fun" and then doing it. We have our hands full!! She uses "my" instead of "I" which I will have a hard time correcting because it is so cute! She says, "my do it" or "my have a idea" or "what my want?" (while looking for what to eat next!). She loves to sing and does a mean rendition of the "we did it" Dora song, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", "ABCs" and the Beatles "I love you, yeah, yeah, yeah". Although the teens get a little blended, she can count to 20. I love hearing her say, "oh goodie", "thank you & you're welcome", "ut oh spaghettios"...just to name a few. She has learned that being cute, sweet & pitiful will get her what she wants most of the time. Her new thing is to say, "my miss my daddy...my need him...my wuv him". Now, in place of Daddy, put anyone's name who's NOT making her do something she doesn't want to do! If I'm putting her to sleep, it's Daddy she needs. If Daddy's putting her to sleep, it's me. She's working the system for sure! She still loves her "ogurts" & it's the first thing she asks for each morning. She's big on plain donuts right now too. Almost everything she says or does makes me want to pull out my phone or camera & get it on video. She's super cute & fun right now (when she's NOT throwing a fit, of course!). I remember going through this "I could tell stories about him every second of every day" phase. A part of me want to keep freeze this phase forever!!! :)
Within 11 days, we'll have a new addition to our family. Scary & exciting. I try to remind myself how scared I was before I had Sean & Evie & how almost immediately I didn't know how we ever existed without them. :) Soon enough, Ally will be here & our new "normal" will begin!! :)
Thursday, January 26, 2012
It's a Girl!!!
Well, as much as Sean wanted a little brother, we found out in November that this baby is a girl. The ultrasound tech tried to avoid it, but as she put it, "I'm sorry, I just don't see any male parts!". Sean was sad at first and has made comments like "well, she couldn't say for sure it's a girl, so it could still be a boy" and "why can't you just be having a brother", but overall, he's done great. We praise him for being such an amazing big brother to Evie. We know he'll be great to this sister too. We tell him that God knows he's such a good big brother that He chose to give him another one. :) We also explained how cool it'll be to do all the guy stuff with daddy, since they'll be the only boys.
We had a great Thanksgiving. Started at Grandma & Puppa's with everyone. Scott & Mary were able to come down too. :) Evie ate olives & banana pudding at one point, but no upset stomachs!! All the kids played great together. It was one of the nicest Thanksgivings we've ever had. Afterwards we went to Grandpa Larry & Grandma Sue's. Their company had left already, so we just sat & visited until the kids (mostly Evie) had decided the day was long enough, so we went home. :) That Saturday, we went to Huckleberry Railroad with our small group. The weather was amazing - almost 60 degrees. That made walking through the village a lot nicer than if it was freezing! Evie was one of the kids who "braved" the old ferris wheel with Daddy. Such a big girl. Both kids did awesome on the train ride too. We finished the night at Bob Evan's for dinner. We had a party of 14 and 8 were kids. The kids did SO well. It was late, most of them were tired & it took awhile to get our food. No meltdowns, everyone ate their food. It was such a nice experience. :) 12/09 we went to bedtime stories with Santa. Grandma, Uncle Mike, Livie, Max, Jax, Mikey & the Wilsons came with us. Again, awesome experience. All of the kids (except Ella) loved Santa. During story time, Evie even tried to take the book out of his hands to read the story herself. After story time was present time & then cookies & juice. The kids had over an hour with Santa & each other. :) 12/11 was Family Christmas at the church. We had practiced the Christmas music with Sean for over a month, so he was ready. Our only concern was his nervous habit of putting his hands or clothes in his mouth during the performance. When we picked him up from practice the day before his sleeve was wet almost up to his elbow. :( We talked to him & told him to think about where his hands were, so he didn't put them in his mouth. He did a great job on stage. Sang all of the songs, kept his hands at his side or in front of him...it was awesome. I think I scared him when he came off stage because I hugged him & cried & told him I was so proud of him. Made my heart happy. :) After church, we went to Sean's last bowling before the holidsys. Santa was there too. Again, both kids were comfortable sitting in Santa's lap. Sean told him "again" ;) that he wanted Mario & Evie said, "Dora" & "Elmo". After bowling, we met Grandma, Austin, Max, Livie, Jax & Mikey for lunch and shopping for mommies & daddies at Walmart. We went back to Grandma's work to wrap the presents, make cards for Joey (a sick kid), decorate elf donuts & do "What does God want for Christmas" together. It was a really enjoyable afternoon. 7 kids is a lot, especially for lunch & shopping! But, they all did great together and we had a lot of fun. 12/15 was Sean's Christmas program for school. He was a little nervous going in and when it came time to go on stage, he was all worked up. He was so afraid he had told us to sit on the wrong side of the stage. :( Again we were so proud of him though because he was able to take a few deep breaths and pull it together enough to meet his class on stage for the rest of their performance. :) 12/17 Daddy & I went out to celebrate his birthday while Sean & Evie went to Grandma's to bake cookies & decorate cookies for Santa. Evie ate most of what she decorated for Santa, but we were able to save some for him! 12/21 Happy Birthday to the best Daddy in the whole world!!!! :) :) We celebrated the night before with presents & lasagna - Daddy's favorite! Sean was excited about getting him a Grinch tshirt which he wore proudly to a couple Christmas events. :) 12/23 we celebrated Christmas at Aunt Sally's. It was the kick off to almost a full week of Christmas celebrations. 12/24 we celebrated Christmas at Aunt Pam's with Grandpa Larry's family. We finished the night at Grandma & Puppa's with Paiger & Uncle Scott. Evie got a baby named "Allie" which is what we're thinking about naming the baby, so it's fun to hear her say it. :) 12/25 we woke up early to a living room full of presents! Sean & I had to wake up Daddy & Evie. Grandma & Puppa came over while we opened presents. We went to breakfast at Grandma Sue & Grandpa Larry's, then to church. We went to Big Jack's BBQ for dinner & then Grandpa Jim came over to do presents with the kids. It was a nice day. We got to see everyone & it wasn't too fast paced. We need a bigger house, or less stuff, but that's ok. ;) 12/26 we went to Aunt Susie & Uncle Billee's with Grandma, Puppa, Vinnie, Sam, Jesse & Dianna to celebrate Christmas. Lots of good food and of course, more presents. Plus quality time with Tillie! :) 12/27 we went to Grandma Sue & Grandpa Larry's with Grandpa Jim, Paige & Uncle Scott to celebrate Daddy's birthday. Bacon sandwiches & macaroni & cheese! 12/28 Sean & Daddy went to see Chipwrecked while Evie & I went to Grandma & Puppa's for a meeting with Aunt Mary about her shower. Hard to believe that the babies will be here so soon! These pregnancies are flying (now that the 24/7 puke/nausea fest is over!). 12/29 Sean & Evie hung out at Grandma Sue & Grandpa Larry's with Paiger while Daddy bowled & I went to dinner with Aunt Mary, Uncle Scott & some friends. 12/30 we went to Uncle Marty & Aunt Val's with Amanda & the kids for pizza & cookies. All of the kids played while the mommies talked & the daddies went out. 12/31 we went to Uncle Mike & Aunt Nicole's to celebrate Christmas with them, Grandma & Puppa & Aunt Mary & Uncle Scott. Grandma is like a big kid. Once we were all there, she asked Aunt Nicole how long until dinner to see if there was enough time to do presents first! :) After dinner, Evie sat in Grandma's lap & colored a picture frame that Aunt Mary got her. Most of the marker, which wasn't washable, ended up ALL over her hands. When I asked her who colored on her hands, she said "Grandma". No problem throwing her under the bus!!! 01/01 Happy New Year!!! I taught out at north campus and we spent most of the rest of the day being bums. We did the same thing on Monday too. So many Christmas celebrations the previous week, plus not much work & no school. We needed to prepare for reality to start back up again. :( 01/02 Happy Birthday to Connor! Daddy & I wanted to finish our time off with a date night, so the kids hung out with Grandpa Jim while we went to dinner. 01/04 was Evie's 18 month check up. She was 35 1/4" - the height of an average 28 month old - off the charts and 26.6 lbs which is average for her age. She had to get 1 shot, but there was minimal crying. We just kept saying, "all done". It doesn't get any easier either.:( Sean hates shots, mostly because he knows what's coming. 01/06 We went to dinner with Daddy before he went to volunteer at Ignite Bash. Then, we went to Grandma Sue & Grandpa Larry's. Sean was staying the night & Evie I are were just visiting for a few. Everything was great until I went to the bathroom & she thought I had left. It was total meltdown, tantrum, fit pitching craziness after that. I could barely get her in her carseat because she kept stiffening her body when I'd try. Interesting night... 01/07 we went to Jungle Java to celebrate Connor's birthday. Later we met the Ferrells at BK to play. It was a fun day, filled with friends & stuff to do and those are Sean's favorite days. 01/08 was church, bowling, Sean went shopping with Grandma & then we met them at her house later for dinner with Puppa. 01/09 Sean started full day Kindergarten. We planned on him going that day, just to try it out & he's stayed full time since. He was coming home each day bored, hungry, tired, etc. Didn't know what to do with himself from 1:00 on!! And, he was interested in full day school, but his only concern was the rest time twice a week. We ask him every day if he likes it & he says yes. After school is much smoother now too. 01/13 was our first small group meeting since before the holidays. The kids were so happy to see each other & they played so well. Usually we're the first ones to leave because the meltdowns begin, but Evie ate 2 plates of spaghetti & was ready to go! We had to make them wrap things up & leave around 9:30. 01/14 we met Aunt Annette, Connor & Ella at Jungle Java because we all had passes from Connor's birthday party. Sean was worried about having nothing to do while Daddy & I watched football "all day" afterwards, so we took a break from our "constant" football watching to go to McDonalds for dinner, ice cream & playtime that night. :) 01/15 we went to see Beauty & the Beast 3D. It was Evie's first movie experience, so we weren't sure how that was going to go, but she did great. She looked so grown up sitting in her seat with her popcorn in her lap & her 3D glasses on. She sat there for almost half the movie then moved to my lap & fell asleep. Grandpa Jim rescued the kids later that day & took them to BK while Daddy & I watched playoff football. :) 01/16 Daddy took the kids to Susie's while I went to work & he went in for a few hours. He picked Evie up after her nap & they met Sean & Grandpa Jim at Chuck E. Cheese. I met them for dinner at Longhorn after work & then we went & watched Daddy & Sean get their hair cut. The kids got suckers & balloons out of the deal. On the way there, I kept saying "no whining" & Evie would shout back "mumma no whining". Her & Sean got a big kick out of that! 01/17 after dinner, we went to Cold "Rocks" as Sean says it. He ate most of Daddy's ice cream cone & all the gummy bears off his & Evie's ice cream. He's developed quite the sweet tooth! 01/18 I ran a fever most of the day, so Evie and I just laid around. She was such a good girl. Just cuddled with her mommy! Daddy stayed home from church that night to take care of me. Thankfully, no one else has gotten sick! We have been incredibly blessed with health this fall/winter!!! 01/20 we met Daddy over Grandma Sue's & Grandpa Larry's. We ate dinner & the kids played, then me, Daddy & Evie left while Sean stayed the night there with Paiger. 01/21 we picked Sean up & headed to Aunt Sally's for some sledding...finally!!! Sean has been waiting for snow & this was the first real snow fall of the season. He kept asking, "Why would Santa bring us sleds if it's never going to snow!!". ;) We only got about 2-3 inches, but we made it work!! Both kids loved the snow. We ended up staying at Aunt Sally's til late afternoon with Amanda, Glenn, Ella & Riley. We all had a great time. 01/22 Church, bowling & then FOOTBALL!! Thankfully, Grandma & Puppa rescued Sean & Evie from the dreaded Sunday afternoon relaxing & watching football time at our house. While she was at Grandma's house, Evie did her make up. It was..."special". They face timed with me to show me her beauty & she kept yelling back & forth with Puppa, "NO MAKEUP!". :) 01/23 we went to Country Inn to see "Dora". We're not crazy about their food, but Evie loves Dora, so we had to go visit. Evie kept waiving & saying "Dora" & "backpack"! :) 01/25 was Hot Diggity Dog Day for the Kindergarten class. I found a "doggie bag" costume online for Sean. All the kids dressed up as dogs, they had hot dogs for lunch & they did dog activities all day. Tonight we are going to Grandma & Puppa's to have dinner with Mary & Bella. Evie LOVES Bella. She scrolls through the pictures on my phone until she gets to a picture of Bella and then says, "oh, mella mella". :)
Sean is doing great in school. He says all of the books of the Old Testament & most of the New Testament. He knows the presidents through Teddy Roosevelt. The week before Martin Luther King Jr. Day he came home & told us that "Martin Luther King Jr. thought that people should be judged by their character & not the color of their skin." He gave us a longer explanation of why we remember & celebrate him. We couldn't believe how much he had retained because it was like he was reciting exactly what his teacher had taught them that day. The other night, when we were doing family devotions, Daddy asked the first question which was, "What is sin?" We expected his answer to be something like, "When you do something wrong". Not even close... his answer was "anything that goes against God's holy will". Wow... Most of his answers & our conversations that come up during devotions amaze us. We're thankful that we're able to send him to a christian school. Sean has and has always had a very compassionate heart. For Christmas, he raised $15 in change to give to Hope Center through our church to feed 50 people. He was also excited to send (4) chickens (one from each of us) to a family in need through Compassion International. He's saving up more money now for babies who are in need through the baby bottle drive at our church. I love his tender heart & hope he NEVER loses it. Sean looks forward to Fridays because Fridays are either small group or a sleepover at Grandma Sue's with Paiger. He always asks how many days until Friday. He's still a very anxious child & we're working on that. I'm thankful that he asks us to pray for him when he's worried about something. He doesn't like sleeping alone. He's raising money for a new couch because we have a new baby coming in April & ours barely fits him, Daddy & Evie! :) He is the most amazing big brother ever. His patience & understanding with Evie usually blows my mind, especially for his age. The other day he got a police hat from school. He got in the car, put it on Evie & said, "Look what I got for us!". I told him he was such a great big brother & he told me, "Yeah, and in April, I'll have 2 sisters to take care of." :) :) :)
Evie Loretta...where to begin. I have NEVER met a 20 month old like Evie. She seemed to turn from baby to toddler almost immediately after we found out we were having another baby and she just keeps growing up! She still really loves her Daddy, but she's definitely become more of a Mommy's girl again. :) She tries (and usually does a pretty good job) of mimicking & parroting whatever Sean does or says. She really loves & looks up to him. They were in the bath & he said, "Look at my invention". Evie said, "Wook, mumma, invention!". She gets sad some mornings when we take him to school. She'll say, "no, Evie go gool". :) Her diet consists mostly of chicken nuggets, fruits & yogurt, but she's pretty good at trying whatever we have for dinner. I'm thankful that she's not as picky of an eater as Sean...yet. He seemed to get worse as he got older. Evie LOVES music, singing & dancing. I love listening to her "sing" because if you know the song, you know what she's singing. I love hearing her sing, "know know know mumma, wuv wuv wuv mumma" and "mumma got a pretty baby". I had to put a passcode on my iphone because she knew how to unlock it. She'd say, "birds" for Angry Birds or "Dora" or "Cat" & she knows which buttons to push to get where she wants to go. Instead of "shhhhhhsssshh" for Sean, she now says "awny", which can be a little confusing if there's a possibility she's saying "andi". They sound similar. A couple weeks ago, she blew me away when she started counting & counted to 11. I'm so thankful I was able to get that on video or else it would've been unbelievable. She's starting to talk in complete sentences now, which is just amazing to me for her age. The other night we were dancing in the kitchen & when a new song came on, she said, "not diss song...flag!". Last night she was talking to Puppa on the phone & he said, "you better love your puppa!" and she replied, "NO WUV YOUR MUMMA!". Or this morning when I dropped her off with Abby, her & Ella knocked over a chair & Evie said, "Ella did it!". She really amazes me every day.
Both of them are growing up so fast. I can't believe in 12 weeks, we'll have another member of our family. It's hard for me to imagine it, but it was hard for me to imagine what our life would like with Evie and it's been awesome. We're hoping to plan something fun, like maybe a weekend up north to visit Aunt Mary before the baby comes. Maybe March...we'll see.
We had a great Thanksgiving. Started at Grandma & Puppa's with everyone. Scott & Mary were able to come down too. :) Evie ate olives & banana pudding at one point, but no upset stomachs!! All the kids played great together. It was one of the nicest Thanksgivings we've ever had. Afterwards we went to Grandpa Larry & Grandma Sue's. Their company had left already, so we just sat & visited until the kids (mostly Evie) had decided the day was long enough, so we went home. :) That Saturday, we went to Huckleberry Railroad with our small group. The weather was amazing - almost 60 degrees. That made walking through the village a lot nicer than if it was freezing! Evie was one of the kids who "braved" the old ferris wheel with Daddy. Such a big girl. Both kids did awesome on the train ride too. We finished the night at Bob Evan's for dinner. We had a party of 14 and 8 were kids. The kids did SO well. It was late, most of them were tired & it took awhile to get our food. No meltdowns, everyone ate their food. It was such a nice experience. :) 12/09 we went to bedtime stories with Santa. Grandma, Uncle Mike, Livie, Max, Jax, Mikey & the Wilsons came with us. Again, awesome experience. All of the kids (except Ella) loved Santa. During story time, Evie even tried to take the book out of his hands to read the story herself. After story time was present time & then cookies & juice. The kids had over an hour with Santa & each other. :) 12/11 was Family Christmas at the church. We had practiced the Christmas music with Sean for over a month, so he was ready. Our only concern was his nervous habit of putting his hands or clothes in his mouth during the performance. When we picked him up from practice the day before his sleeve was wet almost up to his elbow. :( We talked to him & told him to think about where his hands were, so he didn't put them in his mouth. He did a great job on stage. Sang all of the songs, kept his hands at his side or in front of him...it was awesome. I think I scared him when he came off stage because I hugged him & cried & told him I was so proud of him. Made my heart happy. :) After church, we went to Sean's last bowling before the holidsys. Santa was there too. Again, both kids were comfortable sitting in Santa's lap. Sean told him "again" ;) that he wanted Mario & Evie said, "Dora" & "Elmo". After bowling, we met Grandma, Austin, Max, Livie, Jax & Mikey for lunch and shopping for mommies & daddies at Walmart. We went back to Grandma's work to wrap the presents, make cards for Joey (a sick kid), decorate elf donuts & do "What does God want for Christmas" together. It was a really enjoyable afternoon. 7 kids is a lot, especially for lunch & shopping! But, they all did great together and we had a lot of fun. 12/15 was Sean's Christmas program for school. He was a little nervous going in and when it came time to go on stage, he was all worked up. He was so afraid he had told us to sit on the wrong side of the stage. :( Again we were so proud of him though because he was able to take a few deep breaths and pull it together enough to meet his class on stage for the rest of their performance. :) 12/17 Daddy & I went out to celebrate his birthday while Sean & Evie went to Grandma's to bake cookies & decorate cookies for Santa. Evie ate most of what she decorated for Santa, but we were able to save some for him! 12/21 Happy Birthday to the best Daddy in the whole world!!!! :) :) We celebrated the night before with presents & lasagna - Daddy's favorite! Sean was excited about getting him a Grinch tshirt which he wore proudly to a couple Christmas events. :) 12/23 we celebrated Christmas at Aunt Sally's. It was the kick off to almost a full week of Christmas celebrations. 12/24 we celebrated Christmas at Aunt Pam's with Grandpa Larry's family. We finished the night at Grandma & Puppa's with Paiger & Uncle Scott. Evie got a baby named "Allie" which is what we're thinking about naming the baby, so it's fun to hear her say it. :) 12/25 we woke up early to a living room full of presents! Sean & I had to wake up Daddy & Evie. Grandma & Puppa came over while we opened presents. We went to breakfast at Grandma Sue & Grandpa Larry's, then to church. We went to Big Jack's BBQ for dinner & then Grandpa Jim came over to do presents with the kids. It was a nice day. We got to see everyone & it wasn't too fast paced. We need a bigger house, or less stuff, but that's ok. ;) 12/26 we went to Aunt Susie & Uncle Billee's with Grandma, Puppa, Vinnie, Sam, Jesse & Dianna to celebrate Christmas. Lots of good food and of course, more presents. Plus quality time with Tillie! :) 12/27 we went to Grandma Sue & Grandpa Larry's with Grandpa Jim, Paige & Uncle Scott to celebrate Daddy's birthday. Bacon sandwiches & macaroni & cheese! 12/28 Sean & Daddy went to see Chipwrecked while Evie & I went to Grandma & Puppa's for a meeting with Aunt Mary about her shower. Hard to believe that the babies will be here so soon! These pregnancies are flying (now that the 24/7 puke/nausea fest is over!). 12/29 Sean & Evie hung out at Grandma Sue & Grandpa Larry's with Paiger while Daddy bowled & I went to dinner with Aunt Mary, Uncle Scott & some friends. 12/30 we went to Uncle Marty & Aunt Val's with Amanda & the kids for pizza & cookies. All of the kids played while the mommies talked & the daddies went out. 12/31 we went to Uncle Mike & Aunt Nicole's to celebrate Christmas with them, Grandma & Puppa & Aunt Mary & Uncle Scott. Grandma is like a big kid. Once we were all there, she asked Aunt Nicole how long until dinner to see if there was enough time to do presents first! :) After dinner, Evie sat in Grandma's lap & colored a picture frame that Aunt Mary got her. Most of the marker, which wasn't washable, ended up ALL over her hands. When I asked her who colored on her hands, she said "Grandma". No problem throwing her under the bus!!! 01/01 Happy New Year!!! I taught out at north campus and we spent most of the rest of the day being bums. We did the same thing on Monday too. So many Christmas celebrations the previous week, plus not much work & no school. We needed to prepare for reality to start back up again. :( 01/02 Happy Birthday to Connor! Daddy & I wanted to finish our time off with a date night, so the kids hung out with Grandpa Jim while we went to dinner. 01/04 was Evie's 18 month check up. She was 35 1/4" - the height of an average 28 month old - off the charts and 26.6 lbs which is average for her age. She had to get 1 shot, but there was minimal crying. We just kept saying, "all done". It doesn't get any easier either.:( Sean hates shots, mostly because he knows what's coming. 01/06 We went to dinner with Daddy before he went to volunteer at Ignite Bash. Then, we went to Grandma Sue & Grandpa Larry's. Sean was staying the night & Evie I are were just visiting for a few. Everything was great until I went to the bathroom & she thought I had left. It was total meltdown, tantrum, fit pitching craziness after that. I could barely get her in her carseat because she kept stiffening her body when I'd try. Interesting night... 01/07 we went to Jungle Java to celebrate Connor's birthday. Later we met the Ferrells at BK to play. It was a fun day, filled with friends & stuff to do and those are Sean's favorite days. 01/08 was church, bowling, Sean went shopping with Grandma & then we met them at her house later for dinner with Puppa. 01/09 Sean started full day Kindergarten. We planned on him going that day, just to try it out & he's stayed full time since. He was coming home each day bored, hungry, tired, etc. Didn't know what to do with himself from 1:00 on!! And, he was interested in full day school, but his only concern was the rest time twice a week. We ask him every day if he likes it & he says yes. After school is much smoother now too. 01/13 was our first small group meeting since before the holidays. The kids were so happy to see each other & they played so well. Usually we're the first ones to leave because the meltdowns begin, but Evie ate 2 plates of spaghetti & was ready to go! We had to make them wrap things up & leave around 9:30. 01/14 we met Aunt Annette, Connor & Ella at Jungle Java because we all had passes from Connor's birthday party. Sean was worried about having nothing to do while Daddy & I watched football "all day" afterwards, so we took a break from our "constant" football watching to go to McDonalds for dinner, ice cream & playtime that night. :) 01/15 we went to see Beauty & the Beast 3D. It was Evie's first movie experience, so we weren't sure how that was going to go, but she did great. She looked so grown up sitting in her seat with her popcorn in her lap & her 3D glasses on. She sat there for almost half the movie then moved to my lap & fell asleep. Grandpa Jim rescued the kids later that day & took them to BK while Daddy & I watched playoff football. :) 01/16 Daddy took the kids to Susie's while I went to work & he went in for a few hours. He picked Evie up after her nap & they met Sean & Grandpa Jim at Chuck E. Cheese. I met them for dinner at Longhorn after work & then we went & watched Daddy & Sean get their hair cut. The kids got suckers & balloons out of the deal. On the way there, I kept saying "no whining" & Evie would shout back "mumma no whining". Her & Sean got a big kick out of that! 01/17 after dinner, we went to Cold "Rocks" as Sean says it. He ate most of Daddy's ice cream cone & all the gummy bears off his & Evie's ice cream. He's developed quite the sweet tooth! 01/18 I ran a fever most of the day, so Evie and I just laid around. She was such a good girl. Just cuddled with her mommy! Daddy stayed home from church that night to take care of me. Thankfully, no one else has gotten sick! We have been incredibly blessed with health this fall/winter!!! 01/20 we met Daddy over Grandma Sue's & Grandpa Larry's. We ate dinner & the kids played, then me, Daddy & Evie left while Sean stayed the night there with Paiger. 01/21 we picked Sean up & headed to Aunt Sally's for some sledding...finally!!! Sean has been waiting for snow & this was the first real snow fall of the season. He kept asking, "Why would Santa bring us sleds if it's never going to snow!!". ;) We only got about 2-3 inches, but we made it work!! Both kids loved the snow. We ended up staying at Aunt Sally's til late afternoon with Amanda, Glenn, Ella & Riley. We all had a great time. 01/22 Church, bowling & then FOOTBALL!! Thankfully, Grandma & Puppa rescued Sean & Evie from the dreaded Sunday afternoon relaxing & watching football time at our house. While she was at Grandma's house, Evie did her make up. It was..."special". They face timed with me to show me her beauty & she kept yelling back & forth with Puppa, "NO MAKEUP!". :) 01/23 we went to Country Inn to see "Dora". We're not crazy about their food, but Evie loves Dora, so we had to go visit. Evie kept waiving & saying "Dora" & "backpack"! :) 01/25 was Hot Diggity Dog Day for the Kindergarten class. I found a "doggie bag" costume online for Sean. All the kids dressed up as dogs, they had hot dogs for lunch & they did dog activities all day. Tonight we are going to Grandma & Puppa's to have dinner with Mary & Bella. Evie LOVES Bella. She scrolls through the pictures on my phone until she gets to a picture of Bella and then says, "oh, mella mella". :)
Sean is doing great in school. He says all of the books of the Old Testament & most of the New Testament. He knows the presidents through Teddy Roosevelt. The week before Martin Luther King Jr. Day he came home & told us that "Martin Luther King Jr. thought that people should be judged by their character & not the color of their skin." He gave us a longer explanation of why we remember & celebrate him. We couldn't believe how much he had retained because it was like he was reciting exactly what his teacher had taught them that day. The other night, when we were doing family devotions, Daddy asked the first question which was, "What is sin?" We expected his answer to be something like, "When you do something wrong". Not even close... his answer was "anything that goes against God's holy will". Wow... Most of his answers & our conversations that come up during devotions amaze us. We're thankful that we're able to send him to a christian school. Sean has and has always had a very compassionate heart. For Christmas, he raised $15 in change to give to Hope Center through our church to feed 50 people. He was also excited to send (4) chickens (one from each of us) to a family in need through Compassion International. He's saving up more money now for babies who are in need through the baby bottle drive at our church. I love his tender heart & hope he NEVER loses it. Sean looks forward to Fridays because Fridays are either small group or a sleepover at Grandma Sue's with Paiger. He always asks how many days until Friday. He's still a very anxious child & we're working on that. I'm thankful that he asks us to pray for him when he's worried about something. He doesn't like sleeping alone. He's raising money for a new couch because we have a new baby coming in April & ours barely fits him, Daddy & Evie! :) He is the most amazing big brother ever. His patience & understanding with Evie usually blows my mind, especially for his age. The other day he got a police hat from school. He got in the car, put it on Evie & said, "Look what I got for us!". I told him he was such a great big brother & he told me, "Yeah, and in April, I'll have 2 sisters to take care of." :) :) :)
Evie Loretta...where to begin. I have NEVER met a 20 month old like Evie. She seemed to turn from baby to toddler almost immediately after we found out we were having another baby and she just keeps growing up! She still really loves her Daddy, but she's definitely become more of a Mommy's girl again. :) She tries (and usually does a pretty good job) of mimicking & parroting whatever Sean does or says. She really loves & looks up to him. They were in the bath & he said, "Look at my invention". Evie said, "Wook, mumma, invention!". She gets sad some mornings when we take him to school. She'll say, "no, Evie go gool". :) Her diet consists mostly of chicken nuggets, fruits & yogurt, but she's pretty good at trying whatever we have for dinner. I'm thankful that she's not as picky of an eater as Sean...yet. He seemed to get worse as he got older. Evie LOVES music, singing & dancing. I love listening to her "sing" because if you know the song, you know what she's singing. I love hearing her sing, "know know know mumma, wuv wuv wuv mumma" and "mumma got a pretty baby". I had to put a passcode on my iphone because she knew how to unlock it. She'd say, "birds" for Angry Birds or "Dora" or "Cat" & she knows which buttons to push to get where she wants to go. Instead of "shhhhhhsssshh" for Sean, she now says "awny", which can be a little confusing if there's a possibility she's saying "andi". They sound similar. A couple weeks ago, she blew me away when she started counting & counted to 11. I'm so thankful I was able to get that on video or else it would've been unbelievable. She's starting to talk in complete sentences now, which is just amazing to me for her age. The other night we were dancing in the kitchen & when a new song came on, she said, "not diss song...flag!". Last night she was talking to Puppa on the phone & he said, "you better love your puppa!" and she replied, "NO WUV YOUR MUMMA!". Or this morning when I dropped her off with Abby, her & Ella knocked over a chair & Evie said, "Ella did it!". She really amazes me every day.
Both of them are growing up so fast. I can't believe in 12 weeks, we'll have another member of our family. It's hard for me to imagine it, but it was hard for me to imagine what our life would like with Evie and it's been awesome. We're hoping to plan something fun, like maybe a weekend up north to visit Aunt Mary before the baby comes. Maybe March...we'll see.
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