Spring Training

Yesterday Jody hung out with us and we went on a walk to enjoy the beautiful weather. We stopped by the baseball field near us and Jody gave Evelyn a quick lesson. You need to click on the pics to really see Evelyn's expressions.. they are pretty cute! And yes, she is in a pink skirt.. I can't get her to wear pants or shorts these days.. but that's another blog post!!!

Batter Up....

Heading to first base...

... and rounding First


Heading to second...


Rounding third....

..... and HOME!


Ending with a high-five!


They ran the bases I think 3 times before Evelyn, out of breath, said, "I'm done, Jody...!" She had fun, tho!

I must add that Jody walked to our house (about a mile away from hers) and did all this with Evelyn AFTER running I think 10 miles earlier in the day. She is a rock star.. and an amazing friend.


We love you Jody... you're the best!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Top 'O the Day to Ya!! We went all out here at the Morris house today to celebrate our Irishness! ;)

It actually started yesterday, with Evelyn's friend Juliet coming over to play and make "green cookies" as they called them (they were sugar cookies with green frosting). They had lots of fun!



Moving on to today... but first, a flashback:

Here is Evelyn March 17th 2007.

Our friend Donna got this for her in Ireland!
See how huge that outfit on her?

This is Matthew today in the same outfit (remember they are almost exactly 3 year apart):

Um.... can we say BIG BOY? I put the onesie on him and couldn't even snap it! Crazy! SO SO Cute, but crazy!!

I tried to get some shots of them together, but trying to get a good picture of Evelyn lately is near to impossible! AND today, she said she didn't want to wear green. She, of course, wanted to wear pink. Whatever... I'm not really gonna fight that battle! I promise I didn't pinch her!


Evelyn wanted to try on the hat.. and guess what? It still fit. And looked pretty cute I might add!!


I decided to make a traditional St. Patty's meal and made Corned Beef and Cabbage for the VERY first time today. I had never eaten it, either, so I hoped it would be okay. I put potatoes and carrots in the bottom of the crock pot.. you just can't see them in the picture. I added the cabbage for the last hour or so of cooking. It IMMEDIATELY took me back to my childhood. My Grandma Bramer used to make cabbage quite a bit.. that smell is one you don't forget. I never had to eat it as a kid.. and I had never eaten it as an adult either.

It sure smelled yummy in the crock pot.. and it tasted SO good!! We were happy that Doug's aunt Mary could join us, too... we love hanging out with her! Evelyn even liked the corned beef! SUCCESS!

We also had green jello on the side (I forgot to get a picture of that!) For desert, Evelyn and I made chocolate chip and green M&M cookies. They were good, too!

I really enjoyed today!!

May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, and the rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand.

I am glad I went into nursing...

.. because I would have FAILED at beauty school!

Both Doug and I LOVE Evelyn's long hair.. it is healthy and beautiful. The only problem is that it gets knotted up pretty easily, due to her hands in it (usually during a meal!) or just her ratting around in her sleep. Other than that, it is something that we cherish.

Evelyn's hair has only been trimmed once in her life, last October. Just about one inch off, at Great Clips, which she really did NOT like (look in the October archive to see that post). Since then she has talked about another trim.. and that she wanted ME to do it. Sure I thought.. how hard could it be? We had talked about it yesterday and she said today was the day.

Well.. let's just say it was an EPIC FAIL!!

First of all, she was squirmmy, as usual. Second of all, I grabbed the not-so-sharp scissors. Third, and most important.. I really CANNOT cut a straight line. Period.

I also apparently am not a good judge on what "trim" means. From the first snip I knew I was in trouble. But I was committed, right? I should have just put down the scissors and stepped away. But NO... I kept going. And before long I just wanted to cry at the amount of hair that was on the floor.

Her pretty hair in the trash... *sigh*...

Totally uneven... splendid!

The back was worse!

Thankfully Evelyn said she LOVED it when I was "done". I didn't share her sentiments. It didn't look horrible.. but it wasn't long anymore and certainly was not even! I immediately ran to call my hairdresser and good friend Sallee to see if she could come and repair the damage. Thankfully she was able to come over this afternoon and give Evelyn a "real" haircut. Ev got to sit in her booster seat, ON the counter! AND Sallee brought a Cinderella dress up dress for Evelyn, too. She has SO much fun! Thank you Sallee.. you are the BEST!

She looks SO grown up!

Twirling to show me her "pretty" hair!

She is beautiful, don't ya think?

It was super hard to get her out of this get-up!!

It looks SO cute, even if it isn't long anymore. I know it will grow back if I want it to.. but I think the shoulder length could grow on me!!

No matter what length her hair is, one thing is certain: my hair cutting days are OVER!!

Fun Family Time

My aunt Bobbie (my dad's baby sister) and uncle Dave stopped by on Sunday. They were on their way thru town heading home to Tacoma. It was SO good to see them and introduce them to Matthew. We love them so much.. they are such good people. Salt of the earth kind of people. Bobbie reminds me of my dad a lot.. it feels good to be with her.. like I am with him in a way.

My mom, her husband and my sister and family came over to spend time with Bobbie and Dave, too. It was such a lovely day outside, which made for an even lovelier time together.

Aunt Bobbie

Uncle Dave. Babies and kids alike LOVE Dave.. he's a natural!

Wearing the kiddo's out playing outside!

My nephew Cole and Dave playing

"It's sunny!"

Evelyn "fixed" her headband. Nice.... ;)

Matthew and Grandma

My beautiful niece Regan

Evelyn with Grandma and Grandpa Doug

My sister, aunt and I

I love family time... and loved seeing my aunt and uncle. I miss you, dad... but don't worry, Bobbie loves us and keeps your love for us alive, too!!

Life with Matthew...

is absolute WONDERFUL!!

I can't believe it has been 12 weeks since we brought our sweet baby home! He is such a delight.. we love him so much already!

He is HUGE! He is already wearing some 6 months clothes and growing out of the carseat quickly! He is tall, just like his sister. At his 2 month appointment he weighed 13lbs. Evelyn didn't way 13 pounds until she was almost 5 months old, so I think height is the only thing they will have in common in terms of their size! :) I forget sometimes that he is still so young.. he looks so much bigger!! I am curious to see how much he weighs at his 4 month doctor appointment.

He EATS! I am thankful to be able to nurse him.. it never worked out with Evelyn due to a lot of factors. I have discovered that it is certainly a labor of love, tho. It takes time and effort, way more than bottle feeding, and you have to plan around feedings very carefully! I am still, as I call it, "Rated R" when it comes to nursing. I don't like to nurse him in public AT ALL.. I probably will need to get over that if I want to reclaim time or get Evelyn into any activities this year... but I will deal with that when I have to. I prayed for this.. to be able to nurse... so I am going to be thankful for this opportunity and enjoy it this year!

He SLEEPS!! Oh my... it is heavenly! After having Evelyn, who still isn't the best sleeper, it woudn't have taken much to get better sleep. But God has blessed us with a kid who already sleeps 8 hours at night sometimes! 8 hours!! Do you know how awesome that is?? He is still doing the "eat-awake-sleep" thing during the day, but has established one long nap in the middle of the day... the same time Evelyn naps! AMAZING!! I am working on getting his bedtime earlier than 10:30pm, but I do enjoy one on one time with him after Evelyn goes to bed. He is a night owl like his daddy and is usually happy and chatty in the evening. Of course, not much else gets done in the evening but that's okay.. I love that time with him!

He is HAPPY! He is so content... pretty much all the time. He fusses when he is hungry, tired, or bored. That's pretty much it. He is SO smily and loves to coo and "growl" as we call it. Especailly with his daddy. He talks more with him than me. I love watching him with Doug.. they already have a special bond. He likes to held, but doesn't mind being put down in his bouncy or his floor gym. He is very observant like his sister was (and still is) and looks around at everything with a curious look on his face, taking it all in. He is a snuggler, too.. I LOVE THAT!! Evelyn wasn't a snuggly kid as a baby (she is now, tho), but Matthew loves to be held close and loved on. Its so precious.. I will miss that when he outgrows it!

He LOVES his sister! Oh, my... if you need him to get happy just have Evelyn come talk to him. He lights up when he sees her and she starts talking or singing to him. He thinks she is the coolest thing ever and she thinks he is pretty cool, too. Doug and I are going to enjoy their blissful relationship while it lasts! :)

Evelyn is really such a good big sister. She has had a lot of adjusting to do and has done well for the most part. There are the "I don't want you to feed/hold/change/bathe Matthew, I want you to play with me!" moments but they are few. She loves her brother SO much and thinks it's neat that he likes her so much, too.

OK... this is getting long and wordy. I need to start doing shorter blogs. I know you just want to see pictures, so here ya go...

New Years Day.. GO DUCKS!!

Mommy and her kids... a silly shot!

What you don't see in this photo is when Evelyn pretty much chucked the poor baby off her lap when she was "done"! Thankfully Jody caught time before his head hit the floor... well, it touched the floor... okay... he hit the floor, but Jody did catch him right as he did! Yikes! I am sure this won't be the last "head injury"!

He started smiling the 2nd week of January!!

Chubba Bubba!

The ones I love!

No head injury this time! ;)

My big boy.. look at that belly!

Evelyn introducing Matthew to Tinkerbell

Out enjoying the sunshine!

Evelyn reading to her brother. So sweet! Yes... that is a pink swing!

Tummy Time!


WE LOVE HIM!

I am laughing SO hard...

I was looking at old pictures today. I found these... taken exactly 3 years ago today. HILARIOUS! Check out her crazy hair.. I sometimes forget just how crazy it was!

... and she is DONE with this photo shoot!

And here are the other years pictures from March 1st

2008

2009... this is the best I have of her from that day. At least her outfit is cute!

My beautiful princess... today, March 1st, 2010

Speaking of princess... she watched Cinderella for the first time on Saturday night. She was entranced to say the least and was up late trying to process the whole thing. She was so excited about it. We also ordered Evelyn the "Princess Collection" CD. Since a lot of the Disney/princess movies are a bit too scary for her still, we have been focusing on the songs instead, which she LOVES. The CD came in the mail today. She hasn't come out of her room except to eat since I put it in her CD player!!

I love her!!

Matthew update coming soon.. I promise. Time to blog is hard to find.. but I will get to it as soon as I can!!