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.