Monday, May 31, 2010

Family Fun

We went to my mom's tonight for a BBQ. We had such a great time with my family and the kids kept us laughing and on our toes all evening!! Not much else to say, just pictures with brief commentary!


Grandma and her boy!

I love this outfit... you wouldn't know by this picture what a fit she pitched about wearing it! UGH!

Cole playing golf

Aunt LoLo and Matthew

Tater (Regan's nickname) on the move

Love you sissy!

Once they start running, its hard to stop them!

..but we DID manage to get a group shot.. sort of!
"Come back, Regan!"

"Ok, Evlin.. here's what we're gonna do..."

Lovin' on Grandpa Doug.. he's the best!

Getting a tour of the new shed

So dark, but so cool!

And they made it out alive! ;)




Chris trying to relax while watching the kids..

The endless chase...

Thanks, Mom and Doug for a great time and for great food!! It was a great way to end the long weekend!!

Grave Clean Up

Doug's family for YEARS has gone to the Dallas cemetery on the Saturday before the holiday to clean and put flowers on the graves of family members. It is a tradition that I have come to enjoy and cherish, one that I hope we will continue and our children will continue.

Matthew ready to go!

Big helper Evelyn

The annual Evelyn/Mitchell photo... they are the best of buddies!

Below is last year's picture. Mitchell put the flowers in her hair in both shots!



All of the cousins helping out

Another annual shot of the two cousins...

... and below is last year's shot.

Funny how they switched position yet the one on the right is pointing..

Mommy and her sweet pea

We came back to Ma and Pa Kettle's place (that's what I call Doug's parents. If you knew them, you would know that it totally fits!) for a BBQ.

Matthew getting love from Grandma and Aunt Deanna.. he was spoiled with love all day!

Evelyn and Greg playing

She really wants to climb trees...

Great shot of the boys playing on the disc swing

Mitchell chasing Evelyn.. they ran and ran and ran...

...and Mitchell actually wore out first!! ;)


Grandma getting love from both the kids!

The only bummer about the day was the hour or so of screaming Matthew did almost the ENTIRE way home. Not the best way to end such a fun day, but we survived. I am thankful for a fun day of family and remembering.

Visiting Dad

Doug and I have been going to my dad's grave right before Memorial Day weekend since he died, to clean up his marker and to put flowers there. We hope to have it nice for when other people come to visit that weekend.

This was from Evelyn's first trip back in 2007

Look at her crazy hair! (.. and NOT my gray hair.. yikes!)

This was Matthew's first trip, and Evelyn was pretty excited. She wanted to make sure they were dressed appropriately!

Aren't they cute!! Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate and they didn't wear those outfits to the cemetery. We'll save them for July 4th!

Evelyn helping dad get the flowers in just the right spot


My dad would be so in love with his Grandkids!!


Thanks for serving our country AND our family, Dad! I love you!




Sunday, May 30, 2010

Um.... I guess its time for an update

I am going to blame my lack of blogging on my son.. is that wrong?

Seriously, tho.. the boy-who-slept-9-hours-at-night-since-he-was-8-weeks-old has been pulling an Evelyn (great.. now I am blaming her, too.. apparently no "mom of the year for me" award for me!) and NOT sleeping for the past 3 weeks. Like, only napping 30-60 minutes once during the day and then up every 2.5-3 hours at night. It has been pretty brutal to say the least. I am realizing in my old age, and the fact that I now have two littles, that I do NOT do well when I don't get sleep. My sweet, kind and patient husband will certainly testify to that these days.

I am not sure what his deal is. Is he growing? Am I not producing enough milk? Teeth? Mad about being swaddled (although right now he is asleep and NOT swaddled.. first time.. hope he does ok!)? Mommy is really wearing thin and needs to get this figured out!! I have some ideas that we are implementing and hopefully they will produce longer stretches of sleep.

On a positive note, he is SO SO SO cute and I am SO in love with my little man! He is such a happy baby. He smiles and laughs all the time. He likes to be moving.. either in his jumperoo or exersaucer, and especially just being carried around. He is almost sitting.. still a bit wobbly but getting there. He started saying "da-da" early last week and truly knows what that means. Doug will walk in the room and I will say "where's da-da?" and he will look right at Doug and say "da-da". SO cute. Since he isn't a pacifier baby per his choice, he likes to put everything else in his mouth, much to my delight.. NOT! We are enjoying every moment with him and love him to bits!

ANYHOOO.... here are some pics of my sweet son... enjoy!


He loves to chew on clothes... especially daddy's shirt!


Daddy showing him the finer things.. Hot Rod Magazine! I LOVE this picture..

Well, hi there!!

Matthew LOVES his kitty!! Sam has been so great with him, too... he comes around way more than he did when Evelyn was a baby.

Look mommy!

Matthew was dedicated at on Mother's Day. It was very special.

Attempting to get a family photo.. .

There you have it. An update on the boy... and if you look at my blog, you will see other new posts, even one post dated back to Easter. Its a miracle!!

I am hoping that June brings more sleep, and more blogging!

My newest favorite thing..

I have been struggling to get out and exercise. One reason is our rainy weather that doesn't seem to end. Another reason is that I don't have a double stroller. I love walking but I can't get a "workout" walk pushing Matthew in the stroller with Evelyn in tow.. its just not gonna happen. I have been thinking about buying one off Craigslist or something, but haven't found one that I liked in my price range (REALLY cheap..heehee).

My dear friend Abby is due with her second baby this summer. She found a SMOKIN' deal on a double stroller a while back and snatched it up, even tho they won't need it for a while. Well.. she is letting me borrow it until the baby comes!! I am so excited!!

The day after we got it, it was nice outside so I loaded the kids up and got out there. It felt so good to get my heart rate up and get some fresh air. The kids loved it, too!!





I am hoping to get some good use out of this while I have it!! Thanks SO much Abby!!

My Sweet Pea...

Since Matthew came home there have been big changes in Evelyn's world, and she for the most part has weathered them beautifully!!

She loves her brother SO much.. it really just melts my heart how tender she is with him. NO ONE.. and I mean no one... can get him to laugh and smile as much as she does! She loves to pick out his outfits, help wash his hair in the bath, play with him, and is always willing to help me with other baby related things. No complaining if it involves her brother.. she is on it with a happy heart. For that I am so thankful!!

Since I am nursing Matthew (which I am SO grateful to be able to do since Evelyn and I never got it figured out) there are many times during the day that I am unavailable to do much with her except maybe read a book while I nurse him (although he is easily distracted while eating, especially if he hears her voice, so even that doesn't happen too often). She has always been a pretty good independent player, but she has really raised the bar since Matthew has been here and has learned to entertain herself more than ever. As much as I miss time with her, I see her imagination and creativity blooming as she plays be herself, which I think is wonderful.

She is getting SO big and learning so much at such a fast pace. She is hilarious, loves to be silly, and makes us laugh all the time. She is reading and spelling, and just this week started to get the concept of simple math.. she makes Doug and I so proud. She has a better vocabulary and talks better than most 4 or 5 year olds (we don't say this just to say it.. other people have commented on her advanced verbal skills) and loves to ask questions and learn about things. Reading is still one of her favorite things to do. She likes her princess books, but most of the time she will pick the Bible as the book she wants to read, which we love. Doug is better than me at explaining Bible truths on her level, and I pray she keeps craving God's word and learning about Him. She still loves to play with her toys, too... princesses are the bomb right now.. but as I said above, she makes up great plots and stories as she plays.. it is so great. She also loves to sing and dance, and is SO excited to start ballet lessons in a few weeks.

We have had some behavior issues... totally developmental for her age.. and are working thru those. Surprisingly, tho, both Doug and I think her behavior has improved some since Matthew was born!! And... she has been sleeping SO great for the most part.. which is HUGE!! There have been some behavior that when we got to the bottom of it, she will admit that basically she misses spending time with me, and acted out for attention. That breaks my heart, but I also know it is pretty normal. I am praying that the times we DO have to spend together just her and I can be special times.

Here are some recent pics of my sweet girl... she really isn't into picture taking these days and will usually get a cheesy grin on her face!




I love you, Evie Joy!!