Happy Halloween and a sweater vest

First of all, Sunday it was finally cold enough to put on this sweat vest that Mom bought for Luke.  This has to be one of my favorite outfits ever of his.  Ever. 

Second, I had to just say a quick Happy Halloween.  Sunday we did the trunk or treat at church and tonight we went door to door with the Raymond's and the Wyatt's.  I have way more to say about the whole thing, but it will have to keep till later in the week.  Lets just say we had a good time

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He's a smart one

So this morning when I woke Luke up, he had some news for me.

"Mom.  I can't get up.  I'm sick.  I go back to bed."

Looking at him suspiciously, I asked him what hurt, what was sick.

"My boo boo.  My boo boo on my elbow."

Ah yes.  The good ole my-elbow-is-sick-so-I-need-to-sleep-in trick.

Wait, how does my three year old know that claiming to be sick is the oldest trick in the book to stay home?! 

Anyway, after being reminded that today is the day that he gets to go over to Dakota's house to play, he was suddenly not so sick any more.  Except he still didn't want to go potty.  I finally gave him the choice of getting in trouble or going potty.  He has ALWAYS chosen the "right" answer when giving that particular pair or choices.

Today?

He chose to get in trouble.  I didn't even know what "trouble" would be.  Time out?  A toy taken away?  I didn't have time for those.  So a light swat on his bottom and being forced down the hall was his "trouble" today.  I know better to give choices I can't follow through on, and today he finally called my bluff.

Eventually the kids and I made it out the door and over to Shae's.  To get there to their house I go straight through an intersection that I normally turn left at to get to Cindy's house.  Not thinking, I turned.  Immediately Luke shouted "Wait Mom!  Go back!  Aren't we going to Dakota's house?!" 

If there is one glaring trait that he got from his father instead of me, it's that uncanny sense of direction.  Ridiculous I tell you.  He wanted me to turn around and go the "right" way.  I told him there was more than one way to get to Dakota's house. 

When we got there, Luke immediately ran off with his friend and called over his shoulder "Go to work now Mom."

Thanks son. 

I love you too.

Situation Remedied

Just popping in to say that I finally got the Halloween costume situations resolved.  Last night after I picked the kids up we headed to Hobby Lobby and to Target.  Two stores shouldn't take that long, right? 

Wrong. 

It was 8:00 before we got home. 

But good news. 

I have a Superman and a 50's chick waiting to happen.

Oh, picking out the Superman costume was a little tedious.  I found three different outfits for Luke to choose from- a garden gnome, Harry Potter, or Superman.  Of course he originally said no to all three.  Finally I told him that to get candy he had to pick one and wear it on Sunday. To which he quickly chose the Superman, despite all my compelling "Are you sure you don't want to wear the Harry Potter" arguments. 

So Superman I will have.

Mom found a pink tutu at Dillard's for pretty cheap, so at Hobby Lobby I picked up a poodle iron on patch to pin to it, and things to make a headband.  Luckily I've already got the plain white onesie to complete the ensemble for my Evan girl.  I thought about just putting Luke in his white button down, rolling up a pair of jeans, and slicking back his hair to make him a 50's dude.  I even asked Mom if I could roll up a little box in his shirt sleeve to look like a pack of smokes, but I figured that would be slightly inappropriate on my three year old at a church event.

It would be funny though.

Pumpkin Patch

Last night I took the kids (with Mom and Dad, so that I could be in the pictures too) to the pumpkin patch.  Briefly.  We got there 30 minutes before it closed.  But I almost forgot to take them at all this year, so 30 minutes was way better than none at all.  Halloween has just snuck up on me this year (which is crazy, since I'm addicted to Pinterest and it has been covered in Halloween things for weeks) and I didn't realize the month was already half over. 

This also means I need to follow through with the dreaded task of thinking up and creating costumes.  *sigh* For as much as I make/create/sew, I really do not enjoy this aspect of it. At all.  I've asked Luke several times what he wants to dress up as and so far I've gotten a Christmas tree, Superman, a Halloween cookie, and blue. 

Just blue. 

Twice. 

What does that mean?  A blue character of some sort?  Just the color blue?  Does he mean Thomas the blue engine?  And don't think for a minute that I won't go to Walmart, buy some blue sweats and blue face paint, and be done with it.  I could get Evan an all red outfit and me a whole purple out fit, and we could be red+blue=purple or something.

I really shouldn't type the first thing that comes to my head and leave it for all the world to see.

Anyway, here's the whole point of the post.  The pictures. 

I can't believe how big this boy looks.  Remember when he looked like this?

And you thought Evan had cheeks and chins on her. 

I also inadvertently wore the same shirt.  Someone needs a new wardrobe.

It was a little scary letting Luke hold Evan without assistance, but the good news is he didn't drop her.

It's like she knows her life is on the line. But she didn't mind being propped in a bowl and leaned against a tree. 

This year they added a hay bale maze.  I was so afraid he would get lost, panic, and I'd have to ignore the millions of signs that said "no adults" and "no climbing on top of the hay" to go rescue him.  You know what a rule follower I am.

I. Love. Her.

The impossible picture.  Don't ever expect to have all three of us looking at the camera at the same time.

Why hello there.  Don't mind if I do peek in on you.

Rangers win and a tattoo

Friday night I took the kids over to Mom and Dad's for dinner since Dad made lasagna for scratch.  It was delicious.   Saturday morning I made cinnamon rolls before Luke's 10:00 soccer game.  The games are getting better and better!  He actually volunteered to go play this time!  He (mostly) stays with the pack when they are running and he was thisclose to thinking about kicking the ball when it came close to him.

After the game I took the kids grocery shopping, then we came home to do house work.  I put the baby down for a nap so that Luke and I could mow the yard.  Yep.  Luke mows with me.  He takes his little mower he got for his birthday and follows me so close that he runs over my heels sometimes.  Then it was lunch and time for his nap.  While everyone was out I got the rest of the house cleaned and made some cake batter truffles.

Are those amazing or what?!  Evan got a little tired while I was in the process of making them.

Oops.

I made them to take to Shae's.  We went over Saturday night to watch the Ranger's win the ALCS and move on to the World Series.  The kids and I had the best time!  Luke played with his bestie Dakota and the grown ups watched the game/visited.  At one point Luke had on a Hulk mask, which was too big making it tilt askew.  I SO WISH that my camera had been next to me, because the way it drooped off his head was the funnies thing ever.  Joby and I were CRYING we were laughing so hard at him.  Finally at 10, when the game still wasn't over, we just left to come home.

Sunday was a typical Sunday.  Church was good and then we went to lunch.  We went to El Fenix and apparently they hand out tattoos with the children's menu.  That lead to this.

Yep.  Luke got all tatted up in the middle of the restaurant.  He wasn't super thrilled with it.  After a quick picture....

it came off with rubbing alcohol.

I spent nap time organizing my closet, moving out the maternity and making way for coats and long sleeves.   I finished the laundry and made a couple of pairs of baby leg warmers.

Eh?!  Not bad, right? 

Look at her grab her toes.  Luke NEVER played with his feet when he was a baby, but she can't get enough of them.  I'm just waiting for the day I look over and she's chewing on them.

4 month well check

Lord have mercy.  Evan weighs 17 lbs (95%) and is 25 inches long (75-90%). 

Well.  She's sure not shrinking. 

The doctor also said that I had the green light to start her on solids.  When I told her that I just wasn't ready to take that step yet (not to mention I now know how annoying keep up with, especially with our busy schedule) she told me that it was perfectly fine.  Evan gained three pounds in two months.  Nursing exclusively doesn't seem to be a detriment to her.  Ha!

She also remarked at how advanced she was on her social skills.  My usually VERY happy and smiley baby studied Kim's face soooo intently and wouldn't even crack a grin.  She did not appreciate a stranger being so close and invading.  Another thing Kim was impressed with was Evan's muscle strength.  I tried to convince E that muscle weighs more than fat, and that's why the scale was so high, but I don't think she bought it.

At the end of the apointment, Kim and I were laughing at what a difference Evan and Luke were.  How if the two had been switched in birth order, I would have gone CRAZY with how far behind Luke was compared to Evan.  There is SUCH a difference between boys and girls.  For real.

Luke was such a patient boy while Sister Friend was getting poked and prodded (two shots for my girl.  Boo.)  He doesn't get to play on my phone at home, so when we do things like sit in the dr's office for an hour, he'll be totally entertained.  Yes, I am a parenting genius.  He sat there and played until it was time to go, and when we left he was dying for dinner.  Know what he asks for the most?  Sausage and mac and cheese.  He's a funny kid.  After that, the requests are cheeseburger or pizza, in that order.  Kid loves himself some cheeseburgers. 

He's my kinda kid. 

Two games, a ceremony, and being home

Hi.  Remember me?  That one girl that used to post almost every day and now is slacking at barely once a week.  So sorry.  I blame work.  I spend the entire day on the computer so by the time I get home the last thing I want to do is turn on the lap top. 

A lot of nice things have happened over the last couple of weeks.  Unfortunately my memory only extends over the last couple of days.  For real. 

This week has been fairly busy.  Monday night the kids and I had dinner at the Wyatt's.  Tuesday we were home, and Wednesday we skipped church because there is a terrible stomach bug going around.  I ended up going over to Shae's so we could walk the block and I didn't get home until 11:30.  Thursday night was soccer practice and Friday night was the homecoming game at my high school.  Considering this was my 10 year, I packed up the kids and Ashley and we headed over to the game. 

 (Do you know how hard it was to get a picture that was still this terrible?!  But I had to document his first sports event ever.)

(I really wanted a picture of the cheerleaders stunting, to bring back old memories, but they didn't ever do any in front of us.  I was so disappointed!)

The game was okay.  The football was terrible, but the company was nice.  I got to sit with 10 or so people I knew way back when and it was nice to catch up.  The only not nice part was everyone asking "Where is your husband?"  (and I was the only one who brought kids).  Having to talk about the divorce even on a shallow level wasn't pleasant.  There was only one other person there that wasn't married.  Yay me.  Luke was asking (very politely I might add, I'm SO THANKFUL both kids were on their very best behavior) to go by the middle of the third quarter.  Since the score was 0-30 I felt like I'd seen enough shame so we packed it up. 

Saturday morning was Luke's game.   I have to say, he's getting a little better each week.  Yesterday I didn't have to bribe him with sugary cereal and fruit snacks just to get him on the field.  He actually went out willingly and each time stays a little bit longer out there before walking away.  And he's running with the kids!  I don't think he still has any concept of what the point of soccer is- kicking the ball and being a team and what not- but he's at least staying with the pack.  And not even at the back of the pack sometimes. 

 

Yay soccer!  Go Strikers!

Last night was Jenn's vowel renewal, which took place in Sara's back yard.  It was so sweet.  She and Derek got married at the courthouse, so I'm very glad I got to witness her finally getting a wedding.  And she looked beautiful!  Plus it gave me a solid, valid excuse to not go to the reunion last night.  I didn't have to correct any body about my "ex" husband and make superficial small talk.  Listening to vows about commitment and covenant and how God loves what they were doing was hard, but at least I was with my people.  People who love me.  People who hugged me and told me I was brave. 

Cause here's the thing.  I loved being married.  Having someone to come home to, eat dinner with, talk with before drifting off to sleep, curl up on the couch with, brush the hair away from my face when it needed it, and just someone to plain make memories with has been hard to let go of.  But believe me when I say that I'm doing WAY better than I was.  I'm actually okay.  God has been good to me. Maybe I'll have that again one day,  maybe I won't, but either way I'm fine with whatever He leads me through.

Someone found her puppy.  And we stayed in our p.j.'s all day.  Love.

Today has been a day unlike one I've had for a long time.  Luke threw up right before bible class this morning, so obviously we had to stay home.  It's rained the entire morning, so I parked it on the couch with a cup of coffee (okay.  It was two.) and got all caught up on my DVR.  Luke has played and been his normal self (although I didn't let him eat anything noon, and even then it was just a piece of dry toast) and I've got to hold my baby more today than I think I have in the past week combined.  My sweet Evan.  She's been a bit fussy the last few days and I'm not sure why.  If she's cutting a tooth, I'm gonna be mad.  I am NOT ready for that.  At all.  I mean, who has a baby that cuts a tooth a week after she's born?

What.  She's older than a week?  Totally could have fooled me.

Four Months

Evan Elaine, you are four months old today (okay, yesterday.  Sorry I slacked.)  This past month has brought some pretty big changes with it.  Two days after the three month post, I had to put away all of your 0-3 month clothes and switch solely to size 3-6 or just plain 6 months.  You have quite the belly to cover up, and dresses hit you mid diaper.  Speaking of diapers, you are still in a size 2 and hopefully you hold there for a few more weeks.  There is a box of 3's in the garage ready to go whenever you need them though!

Girlfriend, you have started DROOLING.  I need to get better about keeping a bib on you (which would cover up your darling outfits.  Boo.) because you are always drenched.  You slobber on yourself, on me, and anything else you can get your slimy little hands on.  And they are slimy all right....your very favorite thing to do is to chew on them.  Most of the time you spit out your paci and go right in with the fist.  Those sweet little hands have also started grabbing for things.  Dangle anything close to  you and you will stare at it intently and then reach out for it.  Grasping very well is still in the works, but you make an effort every time.

I am just loving how much you love people.  I don't think you have ever met a stranger.  You are the happiest baby in the world.  Everyone gets a big flash of your gummy smile.  You've also become the wiggliest baby.  It's getting harder and harder to keep you contained on my lap.  Especially since you are so heavy!  Not sure what you weigh- your well check is on the 10th- but Sister Friend you are a solid piece of work.

I know technically I could be starting you on cereal now, but I'm not in in nearly as big a hurry with you as I was your brother.  I think we are going to hold off for another month or so, just because.  You seem to be doing fine with just nursing (three to four times a day on me and two to three bottles while I work) and you are sleeping just fine at night.  Generally your last feed is at 8ish and you will sleep until 5 or 6 in the morning.  I am SO very thankful that you and your brother have always been such good sleepers!

(these thighs aren't screaming for the extra calories!)

Speaking of your brother, ya'll still love each other to death.  You just watch him all the time.  The other day he was blowing raspberries on his hand and arm and you thought it was HYSTERICAL.  All of your giggles, in turn, made him keep doing it while he laughed his head off too.  He's taken to calling you "my Evan" or "my sis-year" and every now and then he'll tell me that you are a princess.  It makes me so happy.

The next month or so should have some new big changes for us.  You are so close to rolling from your back to your tummy (you  have only gotten as far as your side right now) and you also kick so much that you end up shuffling backwards across the room.  Case in point.

 
You started at the bottom of your play mat in that picture. 

Evan, I don't know who let your turn 4 months old already.  I can't believe that we are already a third of the way through your first year.  I love you so much and am so proud to be your momma.  You (and your brother) are the reason I get out of bed every day and I wouldn't change it for anything.