Moving

I've decided to change our blog over to, well, a better host. Please bear with me, as it's pretty new and I'm still formatting/setting everything up, but click here to get to our new space!

Parades, Fireworks, Candy - Oh My!

I've been working on a post for a while now, and have decided to scrap it in favor of a simple update on a great weekend. I mean - I'm hormonal, emotional and hanging onto my sanity by a thread...doesn't make for a very upbeat post!

Anyway - we spent the 4th weekend up in Breckenridge with our friends, the Watkins, and got some more visiting in with our friends who are here from Austin. It was a great time, the kids had a blast at the huge parade and were in awe of the fireworks. We stayed in an awesome place, and only had about 1/4 m. walk to probably the best place in town to view the show! It was so nice to get away for a few days, and get some good chill time in with friends.

Hazel is doing great, she is really an easy baby - much easier than Evan was, in hindsight! I can't decide if that's a 2nd born thing, or just the difference b/w girls and boys, but I'm loving her predictability and really appreciating this time around how EASY newborns are. She's had terrible baby acne & cradle cap, hence the lack of pictures this past week, but she's been smiling a lot more and is starting to make really cute cooing noises!

Evan continues his toddler antics. I'm struggling a bit trying to embrace his "boy" ways (aka: animalistic tendencies). He has his good moments and not so good moments, but when my patience is thin and I'm exhausted (pretty much 100% of every day), it's extremely hard to deal with the not so good ones! At heart, he has such a sweet soul and is really loving - so I try to remember that when he's jumping off the couch, screaming as loud as he can and shooting things. Oh, our morning started the other day with him pouring dark plum colored nail polish all over our beige-carpeted stairs. Sweeet...

Here's a cute picture of Pete & Hazel, and our friend Chris with Ava, on Pete's birthday - the girls are only 7 weeks apart! It's been really great for Heather and I to hang out often, letting the older kids run out their energy while we cuddle the new ones and share the joys and trials of our days.

Life With 2

It's one of those things, like pretty much all of parenthood, that you just can't understand until you've experienced it. I think that all in all, things are going amazingly well for us as a newly expanded family. Now, that isn't to say that we're not having our struggles, or that I haven't been frequently reduced to tears or yelling. One of the things that I've really come to value in my friendships is HONESTY. And it seems to be something that is fairly rare especially among mothers - there is so much competition and judgement out there! I love to be able to share the good things and lament about the struggles, and to find that no matter what it is, there is a friend that's been there - or more likely in our group, one that is currently going through it! So, being perfectly honest - life with 2 is really wonderful, and really hard. Not exactly profound, is it? I am being honest when someone asks how it's going, and I say "Great!". But they're usually not asking during that fussy hour, or in the middle of yet another meltdown from Evan... And for those that have experienced it and know better, or know me well enough to delve a little deeper - well, you're just risking that you'll catch me at a moment where I need to vent. Or cry. Or maybe sing with joy about our 2 beautiful, healthy children.

And speaking of healthy, isn't it amazing that kids (especially toddlers), STAY relatively healthy, despite the things they get into? For instance, while playing at the park and finding that chasing balls with his friends just wasn't cutting it for fun, Evan decided to collect dried up worms. Lots of them.

Hazel - 3 weeks old!

The First 10 Days

We had Hazel's check up with the midwives & with her pediatrician this week, and she's doing perfectly. I'd like to take credit for having amazingly yummy milk, but I think that it's more likely we've lucked out with 2 really good eaters - Hazel gained an entire pound in just 1 week! I wish we could go to the birth center for everything, I'm really going to miss going there, it's just so much more peaceful and enjoyable than Going To The Doctor. Hazel is changing daily, as newborns do, and we think getting cuter by the minute! She's really sweet & mellow, sleeps great, and even has had her waking hours only when the sun is up...so far. Evan's been an awesome big brother, he always wants to hold her and loves when she grips his finger. Of course, the change in the house has been a lot for him to adjust to, and that's manifesting itself how it usually does with Evan - with sleep issues. We're now armed with some varied advice from friends who have been there (thank you!), but we're thinking that maybe this is just something we need to accept until it passes. I'm just trying to remember how thankful I am for his age and relative maturity, this would have been much more difficult a few months ago. Also, Pete's been an enormous help - it's man on man around here. What in the world do people with tons of kids DO??

Here are some photos from the past week:

Happy family of 4!
Brother & sister - awwww....
A doe gave birth to 2 fawns right on the other side of our fence the other day! I think she chose our house because she knew what a wonderful entry to the world Hazel just had :)
Hazel's first of many poolside happy hours - she's just 4 days old!

Welcome, Baby Hazel!

We are so thrilled to welcome Hazel Mae to our family! She is just the most precious little thing, and looks so much like Evan did as a baby. She was born at the Mountain Midwifery Birth Center on Monday, June 1st and we were home just 4 hours later! It was a wonderful experience being there, exactly what we had hoped for - peaceful, calm and loving, without all of the unnecessary chaos that goes with a hospital birth. Hazel was born "in caul", and into water in the birthing tub, it was really amazing. The midwives were all really excited since being born in caul is so rare, and just added to the excitement of her birth. It's really nice to have this time to bond as a new family at home, and we're grateful to have both sets of parents here to help out. Evan's been really great so far - but I think all older siblings are, until they realize the baby isn't leaving! But he's really the perfect age to be welcoming her, accepting and curious, and easily distracted by playtime with the grandparents. He loves to touch her and talk about her, we just keep reminding him of all of the fun things he gets to do because he's the Big Brother. We had our home visit today and Hazel is doing perfectly, she's 6 lbs. 15 oz. and exactly as she should be. I feel great, so much better than I did the first time around - just excited to introduce her to everyone!

Evan:

Hazel:

Getting Closer...

We have less than a week until my due date, and we're still crossing our fingers that this little girl makes a slightly early appearance. Everything is going well, I've made some progress, and my midwife confirmed that she had dropped a couple of stations in the past week. Of course - "progress" in labor terms could mean anything, maybe she'll come tonight, and maybe I'll still be pregnant well into June! Except for extreme exhaustion and the usual aches & pains of being 39+ weeks pregnant, I'm feeling ok. Why is the anticipation and anxiety of The End so unbearable? Not that I'm a particularly patient person to begin with, but you'd think with all of my training in childbirth & labor, I'd be able to surrender to the unknown of this a bit better. Afterall, I'm the one who's been reminding my friends that "babies come when they're ready!" - I'm just really hoping every minute that OUR baby is ready now! We've been trying to keep busy with activities, as much as my energy level allows, and also get some little projects done around the house.
We had another awesome shower thrown by Pete's coworkers this past weekend - it was completely girly'd out, and I just loved it. Everyone was so generous, and we have a ton of new, adorable outfits to deck this little one out in! I never thought I'd be the kind of mom who dressed her daughter in frills & pink...but after having a boy first and struggling with how NOT cute most of the stuff is, I'm all in - bring on the ruffles!
This week I officially gave up working out, I hung in there as long as I could without being completely miserable, and I'm feeling pretty good about my fitness level throughout this pregnancy - which isn't actually that hard since I was pretty much INactive while pregnant with Evan! We have her room set up, although she'll be sleeping with us for a while - the wall decals are my favorite, easy to stick & removable when we're sick of them!
So - send us some good labor vibes, we're ready anytime now!

Happy Mom's Day!

Happy day to all of the wonderful, hard working moms out there!

Mommy & her monster - I mean...adorable, brilliant, idyllic son:

It says a lot about my current state of mind and energy level when my perfect day is as simple as lots of good food, sleep & having help running some errands. I'm actually grateful for the cloudy, cool day today...like many people that live in this perpetually sunny state, it's sometimes nice to have an excuse NOT to go out and be active!

We're down to the final couple of weeks, and OH MY GOODNESS (a favorite Evan saying), am I ready to have this baby! She is extremely low - this according to my midwives who can feel the base of her skull in my pelvis rather than the top of her head, and backed up by the she's-about-to-fall-out feeling I have down there. This gives me hope that a) she'll be early, and b) I'll have a miraculously short labor. I figure after my first birth experience, I pretty much earned that. Here's to hoping!

A pic of the beautiful henna painting on my ready to burst belly:

"Playgroup"

At this point, this word has come to have many meanings for us. Before we had Evan and I heard the word "playgroup", I envisioned (I know this is terrible) a group of dowdy moms sitting around scrapbooking about their babies and eating Doritos. Maybe I'm not the only one, and this is why so many women are waiting longer to become a mother? In any case, what we've searched for/found/created is a wonderful departure from what I used to envision! Our playgroups provide us with grounding, support, exercise & play buddies, friends, a sense of community - and on and on.

Here's what I mean:

Girls Playgroup - outdoor fun & hanging out. Doesn't it appear that our group breeds like rabbits? Neighborhood Playgroup - at "The Cave"

What a pleasant surprise from what I had feared of suburbia living. I never dreamt of hanging out in a setting like this, with a neighbor providing live entertainment, kegs, a chocolate fountain (the hosts must be catering to pregnant ladies), and a fire pit - all in the name of "playtime" for the kids! Pretty much doesn't get cooler than this.

Epitome of Childhood

Celebrating Baby

We were incredibly spoiled this week with baby celebrations! I know that I gush about what great friends we have a lot, but truly, we have the kindest, most generous, loving group of friends anyone could ever hope for.

(35.5 Weeks!)

The weekend kicked off with a gift that Pete gave me, a photo session at Body Photage, and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. It's no secret that I haven't felt the greatest this pregnancy - physically or mentally, and a couple of hours with Darrell was all it took to make me feel like the most beautiful pregnant woman alive! Who knew that it could be so much FUN to be nude for 2 hours in front of essentially a stranger? We viewed the proofs just a couple of days later, and we're really excited to have some of his gorgeous work to forever reflect our celebration of this new baby.

Saturday we had a couples shower thrown by Casey & Jevan, Natalie & Christa, and it was so much fun. Casey went all out making a huge spread of yummy Southern food, and we lingered for hours just enjoying the company of friends that we don't get to see very often. It meant so much to us that everyone made it a priority to celebrate this occasion with us, we are so thankful for everyone's time & generosity!

Sunday I had a girls shower with my amazing "mom friends". We spent the morning in Boulder at a yoga class and having brunch at one of my favorite spots, the Boulder Tea House. They put together the most thoughtful "blessingway" gift, which included a henna belly painting, a sitting for newborn photos with the photographer who did Evan's 1 yr. pix, and all kinds of things to use for labor & postpartum - such a cool idea, and so very me! Their support and friendship continues to be the rock of my existence as a mother.

It's hard to believe we're down to only 4 weeks (give or take) - it's gone really fast this time around, although I'm sure the next few weeks will drag in anticipation. I'm feeling pretty good, considering. Just anxious to not be pregnant, and to meet our little girl! She's rolling & pushing all the time like she's trying to escape the confines, and I just can't imagine that there's anywhere else for her to go but OUT - I feel huge, and like I have to put in some serious effort to keep from doing the pregnant waddle. I don't remember feeling like this with Evan until the last week or so, even though I was much bigger with him.

Happy Easter!

I didn't really remember how fun this holiday can be! I mean, most of the Easter's we've spent in Denver have been with friends & lots of cocktails, which is undeniably fun - but leave it to a toddler to remind you of being a kid and how days like this can be magical. We started the festivites bravely with Toddler Egg Dying 101 - and even survived without any major catastrophe, despite lots of kids with short attention spans and many cups of dye. Then Evan got to make and eat cookies with Nana - a huge hit, especially sneaking bits of the sugar sprinkles. This morning was like Christmas with all of the basket gifts (and candy), followed by brunch with the Easter bunny and an egg hunt. Evan was pretty frightened of the grown man in a bunny suit for about 10 minutes, then he warmed right up and was yelling, "Hi, Easter Bunny!" the rest of the time. He even willingly followed him outside for the egg hunt (and more candy)! We visited with good friends at a mid-day party where Evan was a little testy (I'm sure it had nothing to do with all of the excitement...and candy), then spent the afternoon napping and getting Evan's "big boy" bed all set up in his room for the inaugural night - hopefully the sugar crash will knock him right out and it will go smoothly!

They're being so careful!

Practicing his babysitting skills

Making cookies at Nana's

Hiding from the scary bunny, he'll never get me in here.

Oh wait, - he's not so bad!
(After we reminded him that the bunny brought him candy)

Egg Hunting!

2 Going on 20

You know it's NCAA tournament time when your 2 year old (after a few days of no games) asks: "Mommy, is anybody playing basketball tonight?". !?!

Followed by dinner time, in which he touches none of the rice, macaroni salad, or teriyaki that would usually interest a toddler - but instead asks for, "More sushi, please!!". These are going to be expensive tastes to keep up with...

One of his favorite foods lately is tofu, what a true Colorado boy :)

We had some friends over to watch the games and enjoyed 2 amazing MSU wins last weekend - wow! We also celebrated Gm. Lundgren's 65th bday - hard to tell if Evan liked saying "Happy Birthday, Grandma" or eating his mini cupcake more. He still wishes me a happy bday almost daily, and mine was 2 months ago!

He's been telling anyone who'll listen that he "has a baby sister in mommy's tummy", which is pretty adorable. And the other night while we were out to dinner we caught the beginning of this funny conversation between him and the older man next to him:

Evan: "Hi, I'm Evan!"

Man: "Well, hello Evan. How are you?"

Evan: "I'm doing good. I'm cute! You cute, too?"

Ah - the honesty of a toddler. Obviously, he's been told that a few times before! He's really into trying to figure out all of his friends mom's names lately - and getting straight all of the new babies in the group. He's doing pretty well, it's a lot for a little one to remember. I just love that he's growing up with such a great group of moms who watch out for and love him, and that he's so comfortable with!

I had my 32 week appointment with the midwives today and everything is going great. I'm still measuring small, but nothing concerning. I've definitely felt a huge energy drain in the past couple of weeks, and we're getting anxious to meet this little one! She's been doing some borderline painful gymnastics in there lately, but it's fun to pick out the body parts as they move around - such a cool & bizarre sensation. It's been so wonderful this time to have other pregnant friends to share the experience with, and I feel really confident about the support system we have to look forward to - for Evan and for us! I remember feeling pretty alone while pregnant & isolated from our friends the first time around, this is much better for the hormonal psyche :)

We attended a really fun class at the zoo, where the kids got to go on a "safari" finding different animals, make a photo book about their journey, and touch cool stuff like a rhino horn, a jaguar fur & a 7' boa constrictor:

Little Frog

Here's a clip of Evan reciting his favorite song from music class - about a little frog that gets put in the bathtub. We had a great time in class with our friends, but we've decided to move the kids onto other fun stuff. Music was just not active enough for our nearly 2.5 yr. olds - so, back to gym class! It was fun when he was younger, but he's getting so much more out of it now - and mom is really enjoying about the only activity that truly wears him out!

It IS March Madness!

Toddler hiking that includes playing with sticks and looking for tadpoles - and trying not to fall off of bridges into the water in the process:

Sharing ice cream with mom after lunch on the patio:

I'm 31 weeks along now - AH! And Evan's got a new ride for those long hikes, since mom's carrying the "other one". This week, Evan thinks we should either name her "Agua", or "Evan-again" - taking a poll, feel free to vote!:

And of course, it's tourney time, one of the best times of the year! While Nat & mom watched the nail-biting MSU game, Evan played in the hose with dad. So much for thinking we'd be snowshoeing a lot this winter!

March?

As much as we love this awesome weather, we desperately need some snow around here! Evan's been having a great time exploring outside during hikes and walks in the park. I'm so thankful that we had all of last summer to really take advantage of hiking together when he was a little older and while we still could, he's too big for me to carry any distance comfortably now and there won't be any hiking with just me & 2 kids - it's a summer we'll never forget! I'm going to start leading Toddler Hikes for our group, and then back to leading some Baby Hikes once Evan starts preschool in the fall and I have a couple of free hours with just the baby.

He's gone from being slightly physically timid to having hardly any fear, he'll jump off of anything and is obsessed with skateboarding. Yesterday after our hike he spent some time "riding" with the help of dad, sooo cute. He's also fully into the "I can do it!" stage, which is great to watch, and just means we need to allow some extra time to get moving. That seminar we went to was really a great help to us - he's been SO much better this week, and our days are much more enjoyable without the frustrations we were both experiencing before! I'm pretty amazed at what a difference there's been with just a little more consistency and immediacy on our part.

He's started telling us that he "has a baby" in his belly, too, which is hilarious. It must be such a crazy concept for a 2 yr. old to grasp - he keeps asking to see his baby sister, and comes up with some really funny names for her. He's been feeling her kick when he has enough patience to stay still for more than 5 seconds, but he's much better at just talking to her. I can't believe how fast it's approaching!

Bye Bye Grandma!

After we dropped Grandma off today, Evan fake cried in the car and said, "I never get to see Grandma!". Awww...

We had a great week together, got out for some hiking & a fun dinner out, and doing our usual stuff with friends. I think it was fun for mom to see Evan interacting with the other kids now that they're all so much more into playing WITH each other, rather than the parallel play. We were both sad to see her go today.

Pete and I went to a seminar with a bunch of other couples on this parenting style we've been trying to use...trying being the key word here. I would say we haven't been extremely consistent, and it was really helpful to learn from the source (the father & son that developed it). We're excited for all of the "opportunities" to implement our new skills! It was also fun just to get out for a whole day of adult time.

I'm now in my final trimester, and still feeling pretty good and energetic. I've been getting lots of exercise with my wonderfully athletic and motivated friends - these girls are so inspiring, and keep me healthier than I would be on my own (thanks!!). It's pretty fun to come up with new ways every week to get in a workout AND let the kids get their playing in. We're looking forward to a great week playing in the sunshine & even more warm weather!

Sunshine Fun

Just a couple of cute pix from a fun day outside, catching bugs!

Energy!

We had an active week last week, checking out new things like the Denver Art Museum and doing some of our usual faves - mom's exercise followed by kid's play and time trying to burn energy in the nice weather. This kid is impossible to wear out! Have I mentioned that he has a lot of energy and totally exhausts me on a daily basis? Pete was on a snowboarding trip for 4 days, but we kept busy with help from friends and even got a girl's night out - the only problem being that Evan hasn't stopped asking for our babysitter since she was here.

My mom is in town right now, so we've been having a fun week in the warm temps & gorgeous sunshine. She agrees - it's not just that I'm tired and pregnant, Evan is challenging to keep up with!

Here's a clip from an excursion last week, playing on this cool "bubble" installation at the DAM:

Perfect Weekend

It doesn't get much better than a long weekend that includes yoga, snowshoeing AND hiking! Oh, and a whole afternoon of girly pampering at the spa :) We spent a fun Valentine's Day at the Aquarium and having lunch out, then feasting on crab legs & chocolate fondue for dinner. Evan is much happier when there's other people than just me to play with, his energy is endless and he wants constant interaction - otherwise he gets pretty destructive, kind of like a new puppy. Parents of toddler boys can probably relate...I know that there are a whole different set of challenges with girls, but his "boy-ness" is so pronounced and difficult to deal with lately.

It was really great to get Natalie out and show her the best of a Colorado weekend - showshoe one day, and hike in 60 degree weather the next! We took her out on our neighborhood trails, which she had attempted to hike on when we were gone a few weeks ago, but didn't get very far. We had neglected to tell her about the slightly scary mountain lion warning signs (oops!), and decided a lion was not something she wanted to face alone.

I love this photo, Evan's expression just says, "Holy sh*t, did you see the size of that tiger?!" (and yes, it's totally bizarre that there are tigers at the aquarium). And I couldn't resist this "What Not to Wear" photo - seriously. There is just not much to say about that get-up:

And here's a couple from snowshoeing - the pregnant belly & layers of clothes don't make for a very flattering picture, oh well!:

Laying Low

My very good friend, Natalie, moved to town a couple of weeks ago and will be staying with us during her transition. Evan loves having the extra playmate in the house, if we could only keep him from tormenting her poor little dog... I love having her here, too - it's been so long since we've lived in the same city and been able to spend this much time together, and it's extra fun for those MSU basketball games!

Last week was my birthday, and although I don't get as excited to celebrate it as I used to, I had a great time. A few of my wonderful girlfriends and I went out to my new favorite restaurant in Denver and enjoyed one of the best meals I've ever had - what a treat to have a night out with such great food & friends! I was sick on my actual birthday, but Pete was kind enough to stay home so I could rest up and we still went out to dinner at "the club" for seafood night. The best was having Evan say "Happy Birthday, Mommy!" - and even wrapping up "gifts" for me in his menu (spoons, forks...) and presenting them to me.

We're not sure where he got it, but Evan's response to everything that we tell him "no" to lately is, "I don't get to (insert want) EVER!". Funny, but not exactly charming. The other day at the grocery store it was, "I don't get balloons EVER!". This age is constantly challenging and hilarious, as the kids learn so much every day. Just when I think I have the most difficult child on the planet, or I'm going to lose my mind, I'll have a grounding conversation with a friend who just reminds me that ALL of our kids are going through the same things right now and I'm not alone. They all have their days, they all have their specific challenges, and they all have so many wonderful wonderful things to love.

Winter Park

We had a very fun (and exhausting) getaway to the mountains with friends this weekend. It's really great for the kids to play 24/7, although I think it's challenging for them...or at least for Evan...to have to share & have that much stimulation all day! He didn't sleep much, which means that we didn't sleep much - but that's ok, he's never been what I'd call an "easy" traveler, and we still manage to do it often. It's great for us parents to have so many people to keep an eye on the roaming toddlers, and to be able to hang out together in the evenings after the kiddies go to bed. We got out for some snowshoeing and sledding in the beautiful sunshine, and enjoyed the gorgeous views of the Frasier valley from the house. Evan was obsessed with the air hockey table, we could barely tear him away from the thing! Our group has been really good about doing these weekends every few months, and we always look forward to it. The girls & kids spend a lot of time together on a weekly basis, but it's great to get the husbands in on the fun, and to hang out as families.

Changes

I've been thinking, that not so far off, Evan is going to have to start sharing with his new sibling. Our time, his toys, and this blog! Up until now, I've pretty much kept it to solely Evan pictures & doings - but we'll be changing it to a slightly broader look into our family as it grows. I hope you'll enjoy the transition!


So, a few thoughts from me about where we are...

Being a mother to Evan is the most rewarding job I've ever had, and I'm over-the-moon excited about welcoming our daughter to the world in the spring! In hindsight it wasn't very long, but it seemed like eternity that I searched for something that I was passionate about - and it wasn't until I was gifted with the choice of leaving my career behind that I finally found clarity. It was extremely important to us that our children have a parent that is with them full time, and the journey has been as rewarding and as challenging as you'll hear from any parent. Being a mother has also led me to getting certified as a Labor Doula, which from the first birth I attended felt like what I was meant to do my whole life. I would consider myself a lucky person, but our lives today are beyond what even I would chalk up to as just luck. I am grateful for so many things - our family, friends and health at the top of the list, but also for this amazing place we call home (both our wonderful neighborhood & just CO in general), for the experiences we've been given, and for the people that love us and continue to join us for this ride.

Confused Seasons

How great is 70 degrees in January? We had a wonderful day enjoying the weather yeterday with a run in the park & visit to the zoo with friends, and today we plan to hit the trails! Evan is never going to understand seasons when we get 7" of snow one day and we're all bundled up, and it's 55 degrees the next. We're all still waiting for winter to hit, and taking advantage of the warm temps in the meantime. We took Evan to the Stock Show last weekend, which was mildly fun for us (livestock is only so interesting) - definitely more entertaining for Evan, or maybe it was just a high from his first taste of cotton candy. Mom got to enjoy a nice, long afternoon at the spa with a fellow pregnant friend - bliss! Other than that, we're just up to the usual playing & outings - below is a cute pic of Evan having a dinner date with his "ladies", and skateboarding with dad & friends. He's fully into the toddler questioning and "Me too!" stage - everything is "What's this do? What's that? What happened?", and he really thrives on predictability, no doing something different every time!

Adventures in Toddler-dom

It sure is exhausting keeping a 2 yr. old boy entertained! We had a fun week getting back into our usual swing of things - meaning lots of playing, playing and more playing! We went to this really awesome indoor play area, which the kiddos absolutely loved - and us mommies, too, since it seems way less germy than the Children's Museum (and they have a full-service coffee bar)! Evan is still talking about it.

He was especially excited to start back up with our music class after a holiday break, and to enjoy a beautiful 64 degree day outside! Our neighborhood has been doing "playgroup" since this summer. This used to be simply meeting at the playground, and morphed into a full-on party every week. Now that we're mostly indoors, it's absolute mayhem! We hosted before Xmas, and I thought the 15 or so kids we had was pretty crazy, but there must have been close to 30 kids this past week, plus all of the parents and 4x as many cocktails. It's great for the kids to have that sense of community, and such a good way to welcome the new families that are moving in and get to know everyone better. Almost all of the kids are under 5, we feel so lucky to live in such a great neighborhood!

Lately he likes to say, "That's ok, no worries", which cracks us up. We're still entertained everyday by his eating, he approaches meals with such gusto it's impossible not to watch him. We take him out to eat often, and always have comments from other diners about how good he is, and how he just devours anything! When we give him juice, he gets it with 50% water, so lately he's taken to asking for it and then doing a "No water...juice!" dance.

Somewhere in between all of that playing mom even got a morning off while Nana & Papa babysat, which was time for me to attend a meeting at the birth center and meet with the midwives. I'm feeling great now that I'm halfway through with the pregnancy, I've been feeling the baby move for over a month and we're getting really excited about our new spring arrival!

Happy New Year

May this year bring everyone fun times, good health and happiness!

Merry Christmas!

Well, this was definitely our best Christmas so far with Evan. It was really wonderful to have both sets of grandparents and Uncle Brian & Kayle in town to celebrate with, and the days surrounding the holiday with visits from special friends and cousin Veronica! Evan was treated to a live lobster dinner AND a seafood boil (both of which he devoured), and so many presents he was clearly overwhelmed by all of the new toys. It was incredibly fun to watch him get so excited about Santa and opening presents, and a riot when he joined in for some Wii action. We are so thankful for a wonderful year, and for our amazing family & friends who continue to fill our lives with love & laughter!

More Fun...

Evan is loving to talk about Santa, the red nosed reindeer (and watching for the "reindeer" in our yard), the Christmas specials of his favorite cartoons, and eating out a lot since mommy doesn't want to cook! Here's pix of making brownies, meeting Evan's adorable new friend, and the Zoo Lights - very fun!

Christmas Season

This holiday season has been so much fun with Evan, and there's so much more to look forward to! We can't get enough of the pre-Xmas activities, and were enjoying the great weather...until this week - brrr!!

Making a gingerbread house:

Wrapping presents, playing outside, and snoozing on the way to visit Santa:

Still a "Big Boy"

We had Evan's 2 yr. check up today, and he's still topping out the charts for height! He's an even 3'-0" tall (90th %tile) and 29 lbs. (50th %tile). She sat observing and asking him questions for over 30 minutes, and kept saying, "Are you sure he's only 2?", and that she was "just in awe" of how advanced his communication and physical skills are for his age - especially considering he's a boy. She thought that he was so amazing (I think after he counted to 10 for her), that she even commented that if she were me, she'd be scared to have another child because Evan has set our standards so high and it's not typical to have such an advanced 2 year old! One of her first ?'s was if I thought he might have 50 words - I told her that a year ago, he had close to 50 signs (which they count as words) - and that he speaks in 3-4 words sentences now. Maybe we just have an easily impressed pediatrician, but we do think that he's pretty special. Ok - enough gushing? :)

On a Happier Note

Aside from being very sick, we got to go get our Xmas tree in warm, sunny weather! We also did one of Evan's favorite activities, he "walks" Lucy down to the pond and will spend all afternoon throwing rocks into the water if you let him.

Sick

Evan and I have been sick for a few days - we thought it was just a cold to start, so we hung around the house trying to keep occupied, we even made some Christmas cookies! But on Sat. night, Evan was pretty bad and we made our first trip to the emergency room. Of course, he thought it was great - they have popsicles, a fish tank, and cartoons, what's not to like? The doc was surprised to find that he had a pretty severe double ear infection, because he was being so well-mannered - and he had pink eye on top of that! The pic with the hat (where he is obviously not doing well) is on our way to the ER around midnight. Evan's usually pretty healthy, this is only the 2nd time he's been really sick, so it's pretty scary for us - he's doing much better now, back to his usual energetic self :)

It Takes a Village

I'm sure that anyone with kids can relate, but sometimes it really strikes me - like when we get together with friends and let the toddlers run wild. On Friday night we had 10 adults, 5 toddlers, 3 pregnant ladies, 1 baby, and a partridge in a pear tree! The kids loved the Trail of Lights at the Botanic Gardens, and it was pretty funny to see them literally run in every direction (the term "herding cats" comes to mind). There was a pretty cool treehouse that they hilariously all got up into, and then proceeded to have an impromptu dance party! It may not be your child's nose you're wiping, or your little one you're swooping up to keep from running into the trees/water/drop-off - but it doesn't matter, and you know that even if your kid isn't within immediate sight, they're in the group and someone's looking out for them! Good times, it was nearly like before we all had kids and used to go out on Friday nights...

Happy 2nd Birthday, Evan!!

TWO, already?! We didn't really have much planned for Evan's big day, because we hosted Thanksgiving the day before with a big group of friends. It was great this year to have the kids join us at the table for dinner, and we were so thankful to have such a wonderful group to celebrate with! It was a very late night, so we had a mellow morning on Evan's birthday and let the day take shape, which turned out absolutely perfect. We went for a hike in the morning at Red Rocks, spent the afternoon opening presents and eating cake (that mom baked from scratch!), and went out for pizza dinner with friends. Evan spent the day marveling over the present opening, and "returning" the Happy Birthday's to people. It started snowing in the evening, and we woke up today to a blanket of snow on the trees and a beautiful sunrise over the hills. All in all, it was really amazing to experience the past couple of days surrounded by people that mean so much to us, and have been such a big part of Evan's life. We are all so lucky to have so much support and love! Thank you all, for your good wishes, your time, your friendship and for spoiling Evan!