This morning, we're getting ready to leave. I had to go to work & we were meeting my Dad & Karen so they could watch the kids today. Dad & Karen have a room upstairs (more for Andrew & Liam now, and eventually Evie) which has bunk beds, toys & a little TV. The boys LOVE to play up in 'their' room. So, this morning when we were leaving Andrew was asking if Liam was going with them, so he'd have someone to play with up there. Liam was not. Andrew thinks for a moment....
"Can Evie play up there with me?"
me: "not unless there's someone up there with her" (there are 2 sets of steep stairs)
Andrew: "I'll be up there!"
me: "an adult needs to be upstairs to keep her safe"
Andrew: (in the most sincere & loving tone) "I will try my hardest and do my best to keep her safe and protect her so she won't go down the stairs. I can do it, I know I can!"
Such a good & loving big brother!!!! :) :) :) I hope it stays that way!!
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Happy Birthday Evie!!
My dearest baby Evelyn Jean,
I can’t believe a year has gone by since the words ‘It’s a Girl’ brought tears of joy to my eyes and forever changed my world!
We brought you home and you cried all the time, but Three little birds (last play count 304), a tight swaddle and bouncing helped calm you down.
You loved laying with Andrew and being held close, except when you didn’t and you sure let us know! (We learned quickly to undress you & leave you alone!)
You have always loved baths – you’d fall asleep while I washed you! You hate tight clothes & shoes (though they’re yummy to eat!), so I keep you in dresses, tank tops, leggings and bare feet.
You are stubborn and strong and know what you want, and I promise to do EVERYTHING I can to protect those core traits to give you the tools you need to go far!
You are happy as long as the day goes your way, and you have a whole houseful of people trained to make sure that happens!
You love music and dancing – your current favorites are Itsy Bitsy Spider, Delilah, and Beautiful Girls – basically anything that has a consistent and predictable beat!
I love your laugh, your ‘look’, your hugs and snuggles, and I’m SO proud to know your recipe.
You are the most amazing little girl, you taught me the infinite capacity of my own heart, you taught me how to ask for advice (and how to listen!) and you are more than I ever could have asked for.
And now you’re my whole life, now you’re my whole world…we’ve come so far since that day…and I thought I loved you then!
I can’t believe a year has gone by since the words ‘It’s a Girl’ brought tears of joy to my eyes and forever changed my world!
We brought you home and you cried all the time, but Three little birds (last play count 304), a tight swaddle and bouncing helped calm you down.
You loved laying with Andrew and being held close, except when you didn’t and you sure let us know! (We learned quickly to undress you & leave you alone!)
You have always loved baths – you’d fall asleep while I washed you! You hate tight clothes & shoes (though they’re yummy to eat!), so I keep you in dresses, tank tops, leggings and bare feet.
You are stubborn and strong and know what you want, and I promise to do EVERYTHING I can to protect those core traits to give you the tools you need to go far!
You are happy as long as the day goes your way, and you have a whole houseful of people trained to make sure that happens!
You love music and dancing – your current favorites are Itsy Bitsy Spider, Delilah, and Beautiful Girls – basically anything that has a consistent and predictable beat!
I love your laugh, your ‘look’, your hugs and snuggles, and I’m SO proud to know your recipe.
You are the most amazing little girl, you taught me the infinite capacity of my own heart, you taught me how to ask for advice (and how to listen!) and you are more than I ever could have asked for.
And now you’re my whole life, now you’re my whole world…we’ve come so far since that day…and I thought I loved you then!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
and now, deep thoughts....
My brain has felt pretty fuzzy lately, but there are a few things that keep swirling around that keep me going...
1) My kids totally rock. They make me smile and laugh and feel love like I never knew existed every single day of the week. I always feel like they deserve more, and it pushes and drives me to be better.
2) At the end of the day, I have food on my table, a roof over my head, clothes on my back, and a bed to sleep in. Something I never valued nearly as much as I should have until recently watching "The Blind Side". If you haven't seen it, rent it. It will give you a whole new appreciation of life.
3) I love that Evie is such a diva that she only goes to bed 'nicely' when she has her princess, super soft chenille sheet on her bed that Laurie bought her from Pottery Barn. Any other sheet simply will not do and it ticks her off!
4) Andrew's current bedtime routine takes about 30 minutes & consists of reading books, playing shadow puppets, discussing our favorite thing about the day, cuddling and talking, and playing the "no go" game (a game where I say it's time to go & he tackles me with hugs and kisses begging me not to leave). I love this time we have together!
5) It melts my heart that Andrew calls all the baby dolls in the house his baby Evie & takes care of them in a way that I take care of Evie. He even makes his bear bear a bed in his bed, which is Evie sleeping in bed with him.
6) Evie is stubborn, and I love every inch of fight in her little body. I hope with all my might that she does not lose the drive an determination that is packed into her!
7) We have gone through a lot this year, and through it all Mike has been strong and steady and dependable and I will always love and appreciate that about him!
8) I think it's awesome that my sister lives across the street, and that we get to see her and Liam as often as we do!
9) I may hate my job with every ounce that is my being, but I love the people I work with and the flexibility it gives me. It pays the bills and doesn't kill me. And for that, I am grateful.
10) There are people in my life I wish would leave, and people I wish would come back. But, I am extremely grateful for the people in my life and the frienships that have grown!
1) My kids totally rock. They make me smile and laugh and feel love like I never knew existed every single day of the week. I always feel like they deserve more, and it pushes and drives me to be better.
2) At the end of the day, I have food on my table, a roof over my head, clothes on my back, and a bed to sleep in. Something I never valued nearly as much as I should have until recently watching "The Blind Side". If you haven't seen it, rent it. It will give you a whole new appreciation of life.
3) I love that Evie is such a diva that she only goes to bed 'nicely' when she has her princess, super soft chenille sheet on her bed that Laurie bought her from Pottery Barn. Any other sheet simply will not do and it ticks her off!
4) Andrew's current bedtime routine takes about 30 minutes & consists of reading books, playing shadow puppets, discussing our favorite thing about the day, cuddling and talking, and playing the "no go" game (a game where I say it's time to go & he tackles me with hugs and kisses begging me not to leave). I love this time we have together!
5) It melts my heart that Andrew calls all the baby dolls in the house his baby Evie & takes care of them in a way that I take care of Evie. He even makes his bear bear a bed in his bed, which is Evie sleeping in bed with him.
6) Evie is stubborn, and I love every inch of fight in her little body. I hope with all my might that she does not lose the drive an determination that is packed into her!
7) We have gone through a lot this year, and through it all Mike has been strong and steady and dependable and I will always love and appreciate that about him!
8) I think it's awesome that my sister lives across the street, and that we get to see her and Liam as often as we do!
9) I may hate my job with every ounce that is my being, but I love the people I work with and the flexibility it gives me. It pays the bills and doesn't kill me. And for that, I am grateful.
10) There are people in my life I wish would leave, and people I wish would come back. But, I am extremely grateful for the people in my life and the frienships that have grown!
Monday, May 24, 2010
Fun Monday!
It seems like we've been waiting forever for some nice weather. Well, today, it was finally here!! Ev went down for her morning nap & Andrew and I headed outside to put water in the baby pool, figuring it would warm up for them to play in this afternoon. We cleaned out the pool, and put the water in it...somewhere in the process Andrew got wet -- go figure right!? I remembered being a kid, and how fun it was to play in the sprinkler with our clothes on, so I just let him play. I set up the sprinkler, and he ran and laughed and played for at least an hour! He had his "obstacle course" where he would start back by the fence, run and jump in the pool, then hop out and run through the sprinkler.
This afternoon we filled water balloons, then went and got Liam from school. I thought the boys would have a water balloon fight -- nope...they just threw the balloons in the yard. Not a lot of fun for the amount of work that goes into filling those little things! Liam, Andrew & Evie played outside until dinner. The pool was nice and warm from the hot sun today. Ev loved the pool and the sprinkler, and was not ready to come inside.
We finished up our awesome day with Grahams ice cream downtown Geneva. The boys loved their chocolate chip & chocolate ice cream in "brown" cones (sugar cones), and Evie enjoyed her vanilla!
This afternoon we filled water balloons, then went and got Liam from school. I thought the boys would have a water balloon fight -- nope...they just threw the balloons in the yard. Not a lot of fun for the amount of work that goes into filling those little things! Liam, Andrew & Evie played outside until dinner. The pool was nice and warm from the hot sun today. Ev loved the pool and the sprinkler, and was not ready to come inside.
We finished up our awesome day with Grahams ice cream downtown Geneva. The boys loved their chocolate chip & chocolate ice cream in "brown" cones (sugar cones), and Evie enjoyed her vanilla!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
SOCCER!!
Today was Andrew's 2nd soccer practice and my first time getting to watch him! I've never been one for soccer, but really, it was FUN! Andrew tries SO hard with such determination and focus. At the same time he has a smile on his face the entire time! He is trying hard and having fun, and it is great for me to get to see that! :) Tonight he scored 3 goals during their little scrimmage. He actually played soccer during the game instead of screwing off on the field. He was the first one in line whenever the coaches asked them to do anything...you can tell he is so eager to please! He loves it when the coaches goof off with him (pretend to take his ball) and actually (pretty sure on accident) punched one of his coaches in the junk in a retaliation effort to get his ball back! He does goof off some while the coaches are talking...he was the only kid laying on his back kicking his feet in the air while all the other kids were sitting and listening! Perhaps he is going to be the guy who assembles without directions (so to speak!)! I have to say though, as silly as he was being, as soon as a direction was given he was on it! Tonight was our first Tuesday where we went straight from work / sitter out to practice with Evie, so I think I'm going to need to figure something out with her because she was not happy tonight! The fields are very windy & I think she got chilly (poor baby!)! I forgot my camera today, but I will definitely be adding some pictures!!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Evie - 7 months old!
Today my baby girl is 7 months old...she is closer to being 1 than a newborn, and I just can't believe it! I look at her while she's getting her bottle & I wonder when she got so big! I still remember her being the length of my arm! Now, she is sitting on her own (well...sort of...for the most part anyway!) We are slowly introducing food...she's got a pretty sensitive stomach & and is having some problems getting used to the different foods, so we're playing with the combinations to get everything just right for her! Right now she is getting fruit in the morning ang veggies at night & we'll be giving her lunch foods soon. Some days she eats really well, and other days you can't hardly get her to open her mouth! She's figured out all the tricks too & will clamp her lips together and blow out, so any hope of getting anything near her is just spit back at you! She seems to really like the sweet potatoes and pears the best so far. She is getting SO close to crawling! She is always getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth. It's so cute, because she gets SO frustrated that she can't do it yet & will keep trying and crying all at the same time! It's amazing how she's gone from such a crabby baby to this happy little thing! She still has her days...but that's just Ev being Ev! My little princess diva...she won't eat her bottle unless it's warm enough, won't eat her food unless it's the right consistency, and prefers you to rub her back so she'll go to sleep. She's recently been waking up at night & fussing, but she'll fuss herself awake, which is kind of backwards. She doesn't need anything..just a little reassurance...just a couple minutes worth of backrub is usually all she needs to go back to sleep, but I'd love to not have that interruption at night! She loves to rock herself from side to side, and no one gets her laughing quite like Andrew...it's SO adorable! It's funny...as I started to write this, I was thinking not much has changed with her in the last month, but looking back, I guess it has!
Spring Break 2010
This year for Spring Break, Laurie & I knew we wanted to take the kids to do something fun, but were both on budget & time constraints. After a lot of looking around, we finally settled on Grizzly Jacks Grand Bear Resort in Utica. Only 1 1/2 hours away, plenty of room for Me, Mike, Laurie & the 3 kids, plus they have an indoor water park!
We hauled out Saturday afternoon (after getting to see the Easter Bunny at the Geneva Easter Egg Hunt!), and arrived at the resort shortly after check in. They had overbooked the rooms, so we got an awesome room upgrade!! Upgrade might be selling it short...we had 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, a full kitchen & living room, and 3 fireplaces! The boys got to sleep in their own bunk bed room, and thought that was AWESOME!! Two of the bedrooms had whirlpool tubs, so the boys got to take a fun bath in one of them! They learned very quickly that the water has to be all the way over the jets before you turn them on, or you will spray water EVERYWHERE!
After we quickly unpacked Saturday, we went to the waterpark...all 3 kids LOVED it! Andrew had one smaller slide he could go down, but seemed to really enjoy the wave pool the best! He was loving jumping the waves. I was surprised by this, since he doesn't really like the waves at the beach in Florida! Maybe it's easier to be a little braver when the 'ocean' is way smaller scale! Liam was tall enough to go down the BIG BIG waterslides, and spent most of his time over on the other side of the park going down those ones! Evie and I hung out in the wave pool (when the waves were turned off). She LOVED being bounced around in circles in the water. We practiced floating on her back, but she wasn't a big fan! When the waves would turn on, I would sit her in the zero depth portion and let the water crash on her lap...she would sit and squeal and kick her legs, so I think she liked it! ;) We also took a couple laps around the lazy river, and she seemed to enjoy just floating around too.
For dinner, we got back to the room, and ordered pizza in. The boys crashed shortly after! We stayed out pretty late to take advantage of the water park.
The next morning, we got up & got breakfast then headed back to the water park. We spent an hour or so there, before going back to the room & packing up. They had an indoor amusement park that we planned on spending some time at, but by then the boys were WIPED! We went in, they rode the merry go round & dinosaur roller coaster, and then they wanted to go home. That was fine..we had the drive ahead of us, and I think the adults were more tired than the kids!
It was a totally fun 24 hours, and I think the kids really enjoyed themselves!
We hauled out Saturday afternoon (after getting to see the Easter Bunny at the Geneva Easter Egg Hunt!), and arrived at the resort shortly after check in. They had overbooked the rooms, so we got an awesome room upgrade!! Upgrade might be selling it short...we had 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, a full kitchen & living room, and 3 fireplaces! The boys got to sleep in their own bunk bed room, and thought that was AWESOME!! Two of the bedrooms had whirlpool tubs, so the boys got to take a fun bath in one of them! They learned very quickly that the water has to be all the way over the jets before you turn them on, or you will spray water EVERYWHERE!
After we quickly unpacked Saturday, we went to the waterpark...all 3 kids LOVED it! Andrew had one smaller slide he could go down, but seemed to really enjoy the wave pool the best! He was loving jumping the waves. I was surprised by this, since he doesn't really like the waves at the beach in Florida! Maybe it's easier to be a little braver when the 'ocean' is way smaller scale! Liam was tall enough to go down the BIG BIG waterslides, and spent most of his time over on the other side of the park going down those ones! Evie and I hung out in the wave pool (when the waves were turned off). She LOVED being bounced around in circles in the water. We practiced floating on her back, but she wasn't a big fan! When the waves would turn on, I would sit her in the zero depth portion and let the water crash on her lap...she would sit and squeal and kick her legs, so I think she liked it! ;) We also took a couple laps around the lazy river, and she seemed to enjoy just floating around too.
For dinner, we got back to the room, and ordered pizza in. The boys crashed shortly after! We stayed out pretty late to take advantage of the water park.
The next morning, we got up & got breakfast then headed back to the water park. We spent an hour or so there, before going back to the room & packing up. They had an indoor amusement park that we planned on spending some time at, but by then the boys were WIPED! We went in, they rode the merry go round & dinosaur roller coaster, and then they wanted to go home. That was fine..we had the drive ahead of us, and I think the adults were more tired than the kids!
It was a totally fun 24 hours, and I think the kids really enjoyed themselves!
Friday, January 29, 2010
She's Mobile!
It is one day before she turns 5 months old & Evie is OFFICIALLY mobile! She first rolled back in mid-December, and then would only do it with us helping her over. Today, we were in the kitchen eating breakfast & she was chilling on her activity mat. All of a sudden, I look in the family room & she was ON HER TUMMY! Her little arms & legs were just flailing about! It was adorable! Almost like she was saying 'okay, now what do I do?' We all ran in and cheerd her, and I rolled her back over to her back -- she had never gone from her tummy to her back before. Before we know it, she rolled back over onto her tummy! A little later this morning, she went from her back to her tummy, then back to her back again! She was doing this all day today, so I think it's okay to officially say she is mobile!!! Yay Evie!!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Preschool
Today, I walked in my house & was greeted by two things on my fridge that instantly made me smile! (and no, MIke did not have the kids sitting on top of the refrigerator)
1) My first EVER note sent home from a teacher... it reads:
Andrew was caught being a good friend playing today. :)
(okay, so I get it that all preschool teachers probably send something like this home, but it still makes me smile!) (I asked him how he was a good friend -- apparently he 'shared toys and stuff with all the kids but Caitlyn.' I asked him why not Caitlyn... 'because she was sick today') :)
2) A picture that Andrew drew...it has 2 people on it, and some other scribbles and the narration of it is "Friends mommy & Andrew playing"
(when I asked Andrew what we were playing, he told me his fire truck)
Awww! We've been having a tough week this week and those two things made my day! It's like all the hard work I put in, all the frustration....and it's totally worth it! He loves me! He really really loves me! And, he behaves in a way that is appropriate when I'm not around to tell him to! This is a VERY proud mom moment!
1) My first EVER note sent home from a teacher... it reads:
Andrew was caught being a good friend playing today. :)
(okay, so I get it that all preschool teachers probably send something like this home, but it still makes me smile!) (I asked him how he was a good friend -- apparently he 'shared toys and stuff with all the kids but Caitlyn.' I asked him why not Caitlyn... 'because she was sick today') :)
2) A picture that Andrew drew...it has 2 people on it, and some other scribbles and the narration of it is "Friends mommy & Andrew playing"
(when I asked Andrew what we were playing, he told me his fire truck)
Awww! We've been having a tough week this week and those two things made my day! It's like all the hard work I put in, all the frustration....and it's totally worth it! He loves me! He really really loves me! And, he behaves in a way that is appropriate when I'm not around to tell him to! This is a VERY proud mom moment!
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