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!! :)
