Evelyn at 8 months old

Evelyn turned another milestone last week and hit 8 months. Our sweet Evelyn - you are so active already, curious and very social. You love to have us in the room with you and will play just fine as long as there are others around you. Of course now that you can crawl, you are quick to come and find us if we leave you alone. You have lots of teeth (4 on top and 2 on bottom) and have really started enjoying solid food this past month. Although you are not that crazy about the fruit. Your sister loves to feed you "puppets" (puffs) in the evening and you now can pick them up on your own and feed yourself. You are already wearing your sister's clothes from last summer, which amazes me and makes me realize how fast time does fly because I can remember Josie wearing all of this so vividly. In fact, here you are in one of Josie's outfits from last year for you 8 month picture. And of course, your sister wanted a picture too so you "sat" in her lap for one more photo.

Our home is no longer safe

Folks, we have movement! Evelyn has been 'scooting' for some time, but this past week - she has taken off and is now crawling, and opening drawers, trying to pull up and wants to borrow the car this weekend. :) Maybe exaggerating on the last one, but everything else is true. I attempted to video her crawling last week. The video does not do her style justice, but use your imagination and you'll see a crawler at work.

Weekend Wrap-up

What a great weekend! We spent it relaxing near Canyon Lake in a beautiful lake house and enjoyed some much needed alone time and family time. I had to speak at a conference in New Braunfels on Friday and Kevin and I have been wanting to spend some time at my sister's family's lake house so we made a weekend of it. We arrived Thursday night, Kevin spent Friday with Josie and Evelyn at the lake house while I drove into New Braunfels for the meeting and then we had a great evening by the lake with family and even our friends, Derek and Nikki joined us. On Saturday, everybody except for Evelyn and I loaded up on the boat and went out to knee board, wake board, tube and have a good time on the water. Evelyn and I also had a wonderful day enjoying the house and some peace and quiet. After Wade made us some awesome steak and ribs that night, we visited til it was too late and before we knew it, it was Sunday and time to go home. What a great time we had and we especially appreciate Wade, Bonnie, Calvin, Ben and Matthew and their hospitality. Thanks for putting up with us. Although we did not get any pics of Evelyn, we got some great photos of Josie.

What is it about Puffs?

For those of you without babes, Puffs are little cereal-like morsels that with their melt in your mouth quality are designed for babies first learning how to eat. And perhaps its their mystery or their forbidden fruit status, but every toddler I know LOVES them and would gladly eat a puff over a cheerio or any other mundane cereal any day of the week. Case in point with our dear Josie. I hear her in the pantry, I think nothing of it (she is always in the pantry) but then she is very quiet (always a reason to wonder). So, I peak in to see this. She has opened up Evelyn's puffs, poured not one or even a handful of puffs, but rather the entire container into one of her play kitchen skillets and is having her own little puff picnic there on the pantry floor. I could not get angry, I laughed instead.

Weekend Wrap-up

Aside from Evelyn being under the weather, we had another great weekend at home! Josie and I went to a super fun birthday party for Elizabeth who turned the big 1! It was a fun party and Josie has been singing "Happy Birthday to Elizabeth" all weekend. Evelyn, unfortunately, has been battling that same ear infection that she has had for several weeks now. We are on a third antibiotic, but the doctor calls this particular antibiotic, the "big guns," so hopefully this will take care of it. She is such a trooper - she's had a rip roarin fever all weekend and yet, still gives us those amazing smiles. The fever is always at its peak during the nighttime and on Saturday night (or rather Sunday morning at 2 AM), when the medicine just would not do the trick, she and I took a cool bath to cool her little body off. She loved it and was kicking and playing - the fever broke after that and she slept much better. And then last night - around 3 AM - we were in the tub again. I hope she is not planning on making our middle of the night swims a habit. :) Evelyn was not the only one who got to swim this weekend though, Kevin and the girls enjoyed the pool in the backyard on Sunday. Here are some pictures of their fun in the sun and a few more. Have a great week!

Kevin snapped a few pictures of us girls before Church on Saturday

I leave Kevin and Josie outside in the pool alone for 5 minutes and look outside to find this.
No wonder she likes to hang out with Daddy more than me.

Josie also used the bottle to "wash" Daddy's hair. Afterall, he does something similar to her almost nightly in the bath and turn about is fair play. You'll be glad to know we do not use a beer bottle in her bath tub to rinse her hair. :)

I love that wrinkled smile!

Big Sister

If I have not said it yet, Josie is the best big sister. Kevin was out of town tonight and as I was doing the night time routine alone (my hats off to you gals who's husbands travel often), I left the bottle on the floor with Josie and Evelyn as I went to get our other night time essentials (pacis, blankets, books, wine for Mommy (wink wink)). And I come back to find this. Pardon the picture quality - they were taken quickly as I did not want to miss the moment.

Weekend Wrap-up

We had a great July 4th with just the family here to celebrate it. We went to the park and played in the morning and after our nap (ok - who am I kidding - Josie's nap), we went to Sears to get Josie's 2 year old pictures taken. I have new parenting advice - if you are going to spend money, then spend it on the pictures when they are between the age of 0 to 12 months because after that, the little boogers get a mind of their own and you are lucky to get one pose for all that money. Fortunately, we did get a few pics, but it took a lot of coaxing and there was wailing and gnashing of teeth by both Kevin and me. :) We then went and had some super yummy bbq at the Harris' house. It was a fun day! How blessed we are to live in this great country and may God watch over all of those who are serving this country. Here are a few pics from our morning in the park!

Dancin' Queen

Evelyn is dancing...I could not believe it, but Josie was actually the one who pointed it out. She said, "Sisters' dancin," and sure enough, she was. I got her to actually do it for a video too so you can see the 'dancin queen' for yourself.

4th of July Parade at School

The girls had a 4th of July Parade at school on Thursday. The parade consists of each class walking a circle through the gym where all the parents are lined up to see what craft or item the kids made for the parade. We then get to go and have lunch with the girls. It was a fun way to start our long weekend. Here are a few pics from the parade.

First Picture Post

As I figure this blogging thing out - I thought I'd attempt to post a picture with a posting. I take monthly shots of my girls during their first year to track their growth and as I was taking Evelyn's 7 month pic last week, Josie, inevitably, wanted her picture taken too. So, on the couch she went. Daddy was there to bring out some good smiles.

Like Snowflakes

It has to be true that kids are like snowflakes and that no two are alike. Point proven with our girls.

Just yesterday, the day care director was telling me how they always love to play with Evelyn cause when you walk in that room, she is all smiles, loves the attention and will just go to anybody. The director, being new, did not have the pleasure of knowing Josie as an infant so the other ladies told her, "You know, Josie was not like that - she preferred people she knew and was always a little cautious about who she smiled at." Yes, our Josie has always been a bit reserved, but once she figures out you are ok - watch out!

And perhaps its foreshadowing of what is to come with one cautious child and then one outgoing child...Here is what I read recently in an article from Parents magazine, which was talking about different styles for different kids. Whats scary is the names even fit - just replace Edward with Evelyn and this could be about us in a year...lets hope not.

Richard Johnson, a father from Brooklyn, would agree. His 2-year-old son, Edward, consistently tests the boundaries in a way that his 4-year-old daughter, Josie, never has. "Time-outs with Edward only work if you sit with him and let him know you're angry by refusing to engage him," Johnson says. "Whereas Josie will sit as if she's glued to the chair until she's released by apologizing and getting a 'magic hug.' He and his wife, Karen, barely had to childproof their house for cautious Josie. But to keep their daredevil son out of harm's way, they've taken down picture frames above the couch and made their small kitchen completely off-limits to both kids.

They are different indeed, but each bring us such joy in their own way.