Summer only came a day late!

Technically, summer doesn't start until June 21st every year. The weather here lately in our fine state certainly has made sure we were aware of that! BUT the sun finally came out Tuesday, the 22nd, and looks as if it might stay for a little while.

So, with the sun here you would think I would have TONS of pics of us at the park, having picnics, playing in the pool.. all that good stuff.

Negative.

My family celebrated the sun with sickness.. BOO! Evelyn got sick a week ago and is still fighting it. Doug came down with it Monday, and due to a crazy work week, he had to stick it out there and is miserable. He finally is home sick today. Matthew now is really congested and is coughing. SO not fun. Me? Well, thankfully.. THANKFULLY, I haven't gotten the crud and I hope not to. But I am just plain exhausted. Both the kids have been up a lot at night and napping isn't happening for me. We'll make it.. I just wish we could have enjoyed the sun a bit more this week!

So what did we do this week? A whole lot of nothin'! Evelyn hasn't been too interested in being outside.. she would just rather hang low while she is sick. We did make it to the park once, but it didn't last long.. she was too hot!! ;) However, in the evenings Doug has taken the kids outside for a bit to enjoy the weather while I get a "break" to do dinner clean up. Last night I joined them in between clean up (it was easy.. we got take out!) and got some pics.

Ok.. this isn't from last night, but from this week sometime. Matthew's first time in the stroller without being in his car seat. He is getting SO big. *sigh*

Evelyn LOVES to play in Doug's work car (his commuter is an older car that gets great gas mileage and only cost us $600 a few year ago!). Actually she likes to play in all the cars, but since it's daddy's that makes it her favorite!

Here's a video of her "driving!" Funny kid!


.... and here's my cute boy in the grass. Look at those chubby thighs!

Here's to health and more sun!!

Tiny Dancer

Evelyn had her very first ballet class today. She has been SO excited about it since we signed up for it back in April. She picked her outfit last night and actually let me do her hair in a "ballerina bun"!

We first stopped off at Jody's. Today is her birthday and we wanted to get her gift to her and see her. Evelyn was so proud of her outfit and hair! (For my happy birthday tribute to Jody from a couple of years ago, go here. Not much has changed about how I feel about her! We love you Jody!!)

My happy Girl

Class getting ready to start. Evelyn had no problem leaving my side and heading out the floor!

This is my favorite picture of the day... she's the one in the middle, by the way!

The end of class is just "free dancing". Evelyn got her scarves and was ready for the music!

She did SO well, listened and followed direction and for the most part participated the entire time. This is the first non-parent participation class she has taken, so I wasn't sure what to expect from her. She LOVED it and did great. We'll see how it goes next week when NO parents are allowed in the classroom (just the first and last class, and if the child really needs them, of course!). I bet she'll do super.

Until then, we will be practicing on a daily basis... according to my tiny dancer anyway!!

If you really knew me you would know....

• I am a child of God saved by grace
  

• I LOVE to hear other people's story

• I love to encourage and build up

• I need to talk things out, but I write better than I talk.
  

• I have struggled with confidence and self esteem most of my life

• I feel God created me to have two professions, nurse and mom.
  

• I do not like to do projects by myself, yet sometimes have a hard time with "team"work

• I thrive on routine, especially when it comes to my kids.

• I have not done "spontaneous" well since the kids were born
  

• Seeing life thru my kids' eyes is what I love about this season of my life

• Time with my husband is what I miss most about this season of my life
  

• Music and food soothe my soul
  

• I miss my dad more than words can say
  

• I love coffee. Black. Nothin' in it.

• I really.. and I mean really.. don't like bees, or any bug/crawly thing for that matter

• I desperately want to be a good wife and mother and leave a positive legacy....

• I want to be in heaven with YOU!! Do you know where your treasure lies?
  

The Last Outfit Comparison

One of the fun things about having two kids the same gender is that you can get pics of the kids in the same outfit to compare and/or put into frames, etc. Well.. since we obviously have one of each kind..smile.. outfit sharing is mostly out of the question. I have had only one other outfit that they could both wear that was really photo/blog worthy. I think this one pictured below is the last one I have... *sigh* Oh, well... I am SO thankful to have one of each. I think I will get over it!!

My friend Lori got this outfit for me before I even knew that Evelyn was a girl. I remember being so excited and having to wait for what seemed life forever for her to be able to wear it (it was a 12month size... she was still in 6/9 month clothes mostly at 12 months!)

Ok.. first of all... my camera must have been being funky... hence the quality of these pics. Second of all, my sweet pea was in her helmet at the time.. I can really tell how asymmetrical her head is in these. She is still cute tho!! I am SO glad we did the helmet!!

And here's my handsome boy sporting the same outift, about 6 months earlier than Evelyn could wear it. Yes, my friends.. he is a BIG boy.. and we love him BIG, too!

I guess I just have one thing to say to end this... GO DUCKS!! :)

Singing in the Rain...

As the wettest June in the history of our fine State keeps passing by, trying to keep indoor activities exciting can be difficult. So Evelyn and I decided to take matters into our own hands the other day:

We just went outside and played in the rain. It was awesome!

Yes, she is in a skirt. You try to get her into pants these days...

She was worried about Sam getting wet cuz she know he doesn't like it. Sweet thing. Sam did fine, by the way. Just a bit whiny like the rest of us!

"Mom.. I think I am ready to come in now..."

Of course, now she is in the beginnings of a yucky cold. Must have been the skirt. It was cute, tho. Hmmm...I guess I shouldn't bother sending in that "Mother of the Year" application now... lovely.

Make the best of what Oregon is known for.. Liquid Sunshine!!

June is here!!

And that means my boy is 6 months old!! Time flies... I look back at pictures from when Matthew was born and think, where did that little baby go? At his 6 month appointment he weighed 19lbs and was 28.5 inches long. Evelyn at the same age was only 14 pounds, but similar length. No wonder my back hurts and my arms are getting buff!!

The reason for his size? The boy LOVES to eat!

He gets so excited when you put him in his chair.. he knows he gets some good stuff!

Evelyn likes to help....

He still nurses a TON and eats solids 2-3 times a day. Since I didn't nurse Evelyn and was on a pretty strict bottle schedule with her, I am not quite sure how to start "dropping" feeds during the day. We have dropped to one night feed, but the day thing still is hard... mostly because I am such a schedule driven person. If I drop a feed.. how will that affect the rest of the day....etc. Weird I know.. its just me. I am sure we'll figure it out. I am much better and trial and error with this one!

He has discovered sleeping on his back, which is fine. The bad thing is that he still hasn't mastered the "flipping back over" thing. I think he would sleep all night (or at least not need me to get up with him) if he could go back and forth. Doug was a back sleeper til his back couldn't take it anymore, so it comes naturally!

Speaking of Daddy... Matthew loves it when Doug lays him on his lap like this and sings the "Napa Know-How" song from the Napa Auto Parts commercial. For real.. he loves it! This was taken at Grandma's house.

Trying on daddy's hat...

The drool.... wow, the drool. This kid is a constant drool maker!! I hope it gets better once he gets teeth (I think he is gonna get a lot at once.. we can feel quite a few beneath the gums). My laundry is increasing as his drooling continues!!

He already loves Jody... and what's not to love? Smile...

Evelyn.. she is just so pickin' cute, too. She has been asking A LOT of questions about God, Jesus and other people in the bible. Good ones like "Why did God...?" and "So if Jesus died... how can he be here?" Doug is SO great at answering those.. he just can explain it on her level better than I can. Then there are the silly questions, "Why did God make boogers?"and so on.I pray that she can grow her faith as she seeks answers to these questions... cuz God DID make boogers, ya know... and for a very good reason!! HeeeHeee!

We just love her to bits...

God's beauty...

Playtime!

She dresses herself now.. and there are many outfit changes during the day, too! This is one of her creations. Gotta love her!

It was so great to have the sun come out today.. and it is supposed to be her for the whole week. Enjoy!