An overdue Update on the Trouble makers

Evie is now 10 months old.. This Picture cracks me up of her showing off her 2 teeth.. Not the best pic, but funny. Evie is now standing alone, furniture walking (almost walking) and crawls like a missle. She is trouble and moves way too fast.  Her favorite things are playing with Ben's duplos, eating table food (loves all most all food) and sneaking into the bathroom to unroll the TP. She is spunky and mischevious but not as dramatic as Ben.  She is also STRONG. You cannot hold on to her if she wants to get down, its crazy. Our pediatrician said her muscle tone is more like a 18 month old than 9 month old... no joke. She is referred to the baby bully for that reason as she bullies Ben who is dramatic.  I still like to call her Evie bean. She is spunky.

Pajama Picture.  Can't Believe Evie sat still..

My two trouble makers!   Love them to pieces. Ben is now 3 and 1/2 and working on writing his letters, remembering his letters and loves bible stories. We re-enact bible stories a lot. He talks and sings non stop still.   He likes to watch some shows (Dora, Paw Patrol, Super Why).  His favorite thing is to have a movie night and watch Planes, Peter Pan or Frozen and have popcorn which we do about once a week or so. He still is a super picky eater and just started enjoying some sweets, might eat a cookie, but that is it. Forgot chocolate candy or cake, he would rather have a slice of bread with butter.. dutch boy at heart.

Kids are soo much work, soo much money.. but bring Jon and I sooo much Joy.  I can't imagine our life without them even when they are a lot of work and trouble. Worth every penny, every minute spent. We are looking forward to a Waterpark trip soon!  Pictures to follow.. hopefully.

Oh Evie!

Evelyn Kay is 7 months old now. CRAZY!  She is a delight and such a happy fun baby girl.

Evie is growing and in 12-18 month clothes and sleepers. She is a pro at army crawling and goes fast but hasn't quite figured out the up on the knees crawling.  She loves to sing and babble all day. I thinks she might be a talker like Ben!   Her favorite things are her toys on yhe floor, stuffed animals, crawling under the table, getting ben's puzzles off the bottom of the shelf and then sucking on/clanging wooden puzzle pieces together. She also loves cords...not good.

She is sitting up like a pro and got to take her first big girl bath with brother Ben. She loved it. She would love swimming! She loves her morning with daddy.  She also enjoys daycare and has the nickname "Smiley" on her afternoons there. I think she might end up being a daddy's girl!

She also loves to eat and continues to eat lots of baby food. She is very interested in food (so unlike ben) and would eat my salad or burger if I let her.  She has been waking up once at night.. i think we just need to feed her more baby food during the day.

Her newest development is that if you wave at her she will wave back with the cheesiest grin you ever saw. .cracks me up!

Brother Ben continues to be the one to make her laugh the most.. she is always looking for him in the room.

We love our Evie Bean!

6 months already!

Evelyn is 6 months old already!  I lost her 6 month sticker so no special picture this month.  She is growing a ton. She is into mainly 9-12 month clothes, 12 month sleepers.  Her favorite things are Johnny jump up, her play center (circle of neglect as my friend emmy calls it) and getting up on all 4 and rocking. She doesn't quite crawl yet.  She is working on sitting but not quite balanced.   She loves to eat baby food and cereal. ( So unlike Ben! ) Her favorites are bananas in her oatmeal cereal, sweet potatoes, pears and green beans.  She has been refusing bottles because she would much rather just keep eating like a big girl with a spoon and she eats a lot.  She has been waking up once a night lately and i think she is just super hungry and going through a growth spurt. She also thinks its fun to party at 2 am.. and then wake Ben up and then Ben ends up in our bed! I can't wait til we can move someday and they have their own rooms.   Evie is quite a singer... She loves to just babble and sing constantly in that way she is just like Ben and I.  She is a daddy's girl for sure and will dive towards his arms when he comes home on a lunch break.
She also LOVES her brother.. no one can make her laugh so hard as Ben. Its the most adorable thing you ever see.  I love how Ben always wants to show her his lego projects and he just adores her.   She is moving all over, rolling and scooting and pretending she wants to crawl. If Ben is watching his show she will do whatever she can to get to see the TV... we have to watch that girl!

She did so well with Grandma and Grandpa, Auntie Kara and her friend Gabby watching her last week while we were away 5 days. So proud of her and Ben.  She was super excited to her my voice when we walked through the door.

We love her to pieces and cannot imagine our live without her laugh, smile and happy self. She is such a happy baby.  We love you Evie Bean!

Our 3 Year old and 5 month old

Ben is now 3 years old! How did that happen?! He is soo grown up. He loves his afternoons at "school" aka daycare. He was excited to start Sunday school and Children's worship at church and he is the best big brother.  He is fully potty trained (wears a diaper at night just in case for now). He talks continously and is constantly learning. He knows all his letters, shapes, colors. He got rid of his Nuk just after his 3rd birthday party and now on a week without it. That took us a while! He loves planes, tractors and being outside. He is pretty excited about his 2 wheel bike with training wheels (thank you garage sale, found for $5!). He wears 4T shirts, 3T bottoms and is pretty tall.  He is such a joy and thankful the terrible twos are behind us, even though I have heard the Sassy 3s can be just as tiring..

Evie Kay is now 5 months old!! She is smiling, babling, doing barrel rolls and scooting all over. She wants to crawl so bad and looks like she is swimming on her belly while trying to scoot. She adores her big brother Ben and loves looking around at new places and people. She enjoys 6 oz bottles of formula about 6-7 a day and we try cereal at night, but she doesn't like it so much, few more weeks and we will try baby food. She now loves laying on her belly and is found on her belly sucking her thumb at night.  She sleeps 8-12 hours a night. Which is heavenly!  She normally goes to bed around 8pm. She is growing a ton and in 9-12 month clothes.  She is working on sitting, but not quite there yet. She LOVES being outside just like her big brother.  Love her to pieces. I love this age... until they are a year is my absolute favorite!!

I just love this picture, my little chunky Evie. She looks like a cabbage patch doll!

27 of 54 days of someone working

Tomorrow August 11th marks day 27 out of a 54 day stretch were Jon and I do not have a day off together, either Jon works or I work all of the 54 days. (#realityofpolicelife#)

 Sure we have some weekend morning together and some weekday evening together which we cherish as family time but no full days or weekends.  I feel like this may be the longest stretch we have had in a long long time. I normally takes some time off work but since returning from maternity leave, I am trying to build up some time off. The hardest part is the things we do alone together like church with just me and the kids week after week, or last night I went to a wedding without Jon. Its just a reality that you can't get off for weekend stuff in his field of work. I am not looking for sympathy but just understanding. It can be a challenge with young kids and lead to exhaustion for both of us.   I always have had a heart for military families who have it much worse with a spouse away for months on end  and also for single parents. Parenting is so much easier when you have a partner around.

September is looking like a better month for more family time. Looking forward to a 3 day weekend together both off work for Ben's birthday party, Evie's baptism and Ben's actual birthday on a Monday where we hope to do something fun with him for the day.  We also have another 4 day weekend off later in the month. So looking forward to those times together.

So we made it halfway..27 more days to go......I think I can, I think I can...  

4 month EVIE

4 MONTH OLD EVIE
-14 lbs, 8 oz  and 26.5 inches long (yes she grew 5 inches since birth and 98% for height!! )
- all on formula, 6 oz bottles of the Target generic of Enfamil Gentlease, eats every 2-3 hours during her 12 awake hours  (glad we are smarter with Generic formula this time around, so much cheaper!)
- sleeps from 8/8:30pm-8 am not waking ( we are still in shock, so unlike Ben)
-loves to coo, laugh and smile at anyone, loves big brother Ben
- Rolls from back to front often, and is often found sleeping on her belly in the morning while sucking her thumb
-takes a nuk less and less becoming a thumb sucker
- working on sitting, still needs assistance
- love playing with rattle and her hanging toy on her carseat
-loves being outside, loves stroller rides ( we really should do camping again, she would love it)
- loves shopping with mommy :)
- loves it when you sing to her and laughs and laughs when you nuzzle your nose into her neck.
- is adjusted to daycare and seems to like the interaction on her afternoons there.
- loves to hold her toes.
- loves being in the baby bjorn out and about, she does not like any type of hold with the moby wrap anymore, she is too strong and its not supportive enough for her who wants to jump out.
- wears mainly 9 month clothes now, .. some 6 month summer dresses that will last for the summer, size 3 diapers already (switched to Luvs)
-loves her mornings with daddy and Ben
- is such a good baby girl:)

-looking forward to her baptism next month :)  She is such a joy!

What Matters...

Its 942 pm and I should throw in a load of laundry, or pick up a very messy scattered with toys and clothes, or wash 10 bottles.. I should have done something for my home tonight, but I didn't. I sat down for the first time tonight and am eating a snack... contemplated a glass of wine but decided to wait til the weekend...

What mattered to me tonight.. was picking up my kiddos from daycare after work and seeing them smile. Watching Ben go potty at daycare before we left (YEAH for potty training!) and then watching him very proudly go BACK into his classroom because he told me he had to tell all his friends he went pee on the potty again... He was so proud and even more so that daddy taught him to now go standing up today.. cracks me up. He is so social!

What mattered to me tonight was picking up Evie and hearing how she had such a great day at daycare, was all smiles and Ben was so excited to take sister home.

What mattered to me tonight was eating leftovers and making Ben dinner quickly and getting Evelyn a bottle so I could enjoy my evening hours with my kids.

What mattered to me was taking my kids to the park, pushing Evie in the stroller which she loves and pushing Ben on the swing. I also love watching Ben trying to make friends with everyone at the park including older kids trying to play hide and seek but Ben keeps talking to them while they are hiding so its not working.

What matters to me is keeping my kids up "late" per definition of most moms.. Ben is rarely in bed before 845-9 and Evie sometimes slightly earlier.  I can't imagine putting my kids to bed at 7pm, that is when my time after dinner just gets started to spend quality time with them. Sure it would be nice to have 3 hours of night to myself  to do things around here, read a book, watch a show but I want to spend time with my kids in the evening since I work all day.  Its my decision to make my time count.  I on average watch maybe 2 hours of TV a week (Bachelor after kids bedtime) and occasionally the news. Our TV is rarely in the evenings besides for one 30 min show for Ben while I get supper ready.

What mattered to me is bedtime stories, hugs and kisses and tucking my kids good night.

What matters is teaching Ben about prayer and learning bible stories.

What matters to me is the things that last and that is the relationship with my kids.. my memories and my time with my kids that are growing up way too fast.  I count down the days til Jon's evenings off so we can do this all as a family...

What matters to me is family....   and if my house and sanity might suffer occasionally, its still worth it every day.