Getting Caught Up

The pictures are starting to really pile up on my camera. The holidays are always a whirlwind, and although busy, I LOVE it! Here are a few pics from the last few weeks.

Chad & I on our way to his annual fancy schmancy work Christmas party. We went with a really fun group this year, and I opted for slacks and a warm sweater so that may have had something to do with it. Usually I'm freezing and totally uncomfortable in a dress that usually doesn't fit very well, so go figure. :)

We then celebrated Christmas with Chad's family last weekend. Evan looked so cute in his little sweater vest. :)

And is this girl cute or what? :)

I would say this is a picture of "the boys" but Mia (the dog) is a girl. :)

Lauren is in that stage where she purposely WON'T smile for the camera. Stinker....but it's still cute of her with Chad's parents!

And I LOVE this one of her and Kyle.

And guess what this little man did while we were there? He ROLLED over! From tummy to back. This big event happened 12/19/10. (I'm so far behind on his baby book that I need these references.) I seriously was starting to think he was never going to roll over (and honestly I was OK with that), but he decided it was finally time. Lauren didn't understand what all the fuss was about, and laid down on her tummy and rolled over, and then expected all of us to clap and carry on. Which we did, of course. :)

Among lots of other great gifts, Lauren got a little makeup bag with all sorts of hair stuff inside. She just HAD to curl Grandma's hair, over and over and over. :)

And then came the blow dryer. Which she tried out on Kyle, over and over and over. :) I think she liked that gift? Wow, were the kids spoiled. Thank you Terry, Lisa, & Kyle!

We had our own little family Christmas last night, just the 4 of us. It was really nice. I had another one of those moments where I stopped and wondered how the heck I have 2 kids, a dog, and a husband of my own? Where does time go?

Evan was more into eating his presents, rather than opening them. But I really think he liked his gifts, especially the comfy jammies, which by the way, are a size 12 months! It'll be awhile before they fit, but he's wearing 9 months jammies now, so it won't be long! The rest of his clothes are much smaller, but I hate tight pj's and they get washed so much I'm sure they shrink some.

One of the highlights of our little family Christmas was watching Lauren jump on her new mini-trampoline. I stole this idea from my Mom, and boy, am I glad I did! She has been jumping ever since she opened it, which serves 2 purposes - #1 - she has fun and #2 it wears her out which is a huge bonus around naptime and bedtime. :) Speaking of bedtime, she is having a hard time staying in bed these days. Last night I thought I heard Lauren talking to her babies (she does this a lot) and I was all set to go "yell" at her and tell her to go to sleep when I realized she was singing "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" to herself. It was adorable. I decided to let it slide, just this once. ;)

Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Kids' Pictures 2010

A little late, I know, but here are the kids' pictures I had taken this fall. This is Lauren at 25 months and Evan at 3 1/2 months.

I don't think I'll be having pics taken as often as I used to. Although totally worth it, I was seriously sweating while I pranced around like a fool trying to get them to smile, and I was exhausted when I got home. I don't know how you got 4 of us in pictures, Mom.

Christmas Spirit

Only 15 more days until Christmas! Today Lauren & Evan helped me wrap a few gifts, bake some cookies, and even agreed to wear semi-matching outfits for some pics. I have a whole 2.5 days off work and we are taking advantage! Santa even sent Lauren a message! Be prepared - it sort of brings tears to your eyes for some reason. View it here at

http://www.portablenorthpol.tv/watch/bV8xAJmyOaA3tJnldo42VA

I couldn't get one with both of them smiling. I can't get over how much they look alike in this one!

Lauren is really getting into Christmas this year. She knows it's Baby Jesus' birthday and loves to play with the Little People Nativity Set she received from my Mom. Yesterday, she put Baby Jesus in her stroller, and I heard her say "Let's go Baby Jesus. Let's go to the park."

The front of Evan's shirt says "100% Nice"

The pants say "Naughty" and if you turn them inside out, they say "Nice." So cute! Evan is definitely 100% nice, but I'm sure he'll show his naughty side at some point. ;)

5 Months Old

Evan turned 5 months old today - Happy 5 Month Bday! I know I say this all the time, but it is just going SO fast. I don't feel like he's been around for FIVE months already. He doesn't have a check-up this month, but I know he's gaining weight. He is outgrowing everything, and I think he's going to lose the "skinny" label from Dr. J at his 6 month check-up.

Adorable - We got this outfit from Chad's Mom and I agree that he looks so cute in red! :) Chad's parents were up for Thanksgiving, and although I would love to post some pics, I don't have any! (Chad was in charge of taking pics since I was at work.)

He likes tummy time.......for a few short minutes. I think he'd like to roll over, but hasn't quite figured it out yet. He LOVES to be held, cuddled, snuggled, sang too, danced with, etc, which is such the opposite of Lauren. I am trying really hard not to rock him to sleep b/c he's getting to that age where he needs to fall asleep on his own. But it's just so hard because he's so sweet right before bed, and I know I'll never get this time back. So, for now, I'm rocking him and I put him down about 30 seconds before his eyes shut, so technically he's still awake. :) Speaking of sleeping, he's doing much better. He's getting up about twice a night on average, but after a binki intervention and a quick snuggle, he goes right back to sleep.

This is how I know he's growing big and strong - Evan might like to think those are big biceps, but I think it's more chub....:)

This was Evan's first taste of rice cereal. We are doing better with it the last few days. I remember to give it to him almost every night (yay me) and he is starting to swallow some of it. I think I might wait a bit longer to start veggies, we'll see.

Chad snapped a photo of us the other night, but wouldn't agree to one with him too. Party pooper. :) Other than the above mentioned, Evan is so much fun at 5 months! Although he is starting to show more interest in his toys, his real interest seems to be watching Lauren and whatever she's up to. I'm not just saying that either - if she's in the room, his eyes are locked on her. I need to post some pics of Lauren too, but that's for another day I guess. There are just not enough hours in the day!

Evan's 1st Thanksgiving - Part One

Evan's 1st Thanksgiving has started out wonderfully! We celebrated with my family last weekend in Humboldt, and had a great time. Laurie drove back with me and the kids, and Chad & Cody drove together, and although it was fun that way, I'm not sure we'll convince Laurie to do that ever again. When my Mom called to see what time we had left Omaha, Laurie replied, "Um....about 3 days ago." :) It was a long drive, but well worth it of course.

Lauren & Evan with Grandma & Grandpa J. Evan was so smiley all weekend, so I was bummed that he wouldn't smile for this picture. He was perfect all weekend (other than the car ride home that is!). He has started sleeping a little better, and other than his little giggles and squeals, we barely heard a peep out of him all weekend!

We took Lauren to the Apple Orchard on Saturday for their open house, which was a fun little trip! And Lauren did a pretty good job keeping her hands off all the pretties!

Lauren enjoying a piggyback ride from Erin

And of course, the boys watched football.......Evan included! Gotta love that look of pure delight on his face!

Uncle Cody & Evan

Grandma & Evan

Laurie & Evan - Are you starting to see my thought process here? I haven't taken any photos of Evan with the fam recently, so I thought Thanksgiving was a perfect opportunity!

Lauren truly seemed happy to see Uncle Scott again! He is loving ISU and we only wish we saw him more often.

Daddy & Evan seem to be getting lots of bonding time lately. Partly because I'm back to work, and partly because Evan is soooo much more agreeable these days! He has virtually no signs of colic anymore and as mentioned earlier, he is sleeping a little better. We're still up at night, but now it's usually 2-3 times/night, and sometimes only once! We did start rice cereal about a week ago, but honestly he hasn't learned how to swallow it very well yet, and more honestly, we only remember to give it to him about 50% of the time. Yes, we forget. Can you believe it? I am a terrible mom for forgetting to feed my son his cereal, but maybe after a few more nights of decent sleep, I will be thinking more clearly. Then we start actual baby food in about a month - I am going to need a master schedule, aren't I?

Lauren is such a mini-Laurie. Totally un-prompted, she put on Laurie's boots and danced around the kitchen. Adorable!



And one last photo of my favorite little boy for good measure! Hope you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving! Chad & I are spending the day at home with Lauren & Evan watching the parade and hopefully putting up the Christmas tree, and then Chad's parents are coming this weekend, so stay tuned for some more pics!

The OR trick

Lauren is big into "No" right now. Do you have to go potty? No. Do you want to put your jammies on? No. Let's get in your car seat. No. Eat your fruit. No. It has to be her idea if she's going to do anything (without a fight). I quickly realized you can't ask her if she wants to do something, b/c she never wants to do it. So now I've started saying "or." Do you want to put your jammies on or brush your teeth? Do you want to put your shoes on or your coat on? Do you want bananas or oranges? Which should we put on first - your shirt or your pants? How long do you think it'll take before she learns the word "neither?" :)

I haven't taken a picture of the two of us in months.

Lauren's hair is getting so long! Her bangs were getting pretty thick, so I'm growing some of them out, hence the crazy hair sticking up.

Wearing my shoes and holding my car keys. She is trying to grow up WAY too fast. I also catch her putting on my makeup pretty often too. I wish I had taken a picture of her with eyeliner and mascara all over her face. She has stolen all my lip gloss that I had stashed all over the house - the kitchen, my purse, the bathroom, etc. I thought I had a few years before she started stealing my stuff! Most of the time I find the stuff in her backpack, which is where she hides everything, including her diapers. I still put her in a diaper at bedtime, and she has started taking it off all by herself in the AM. Which was great until I couldn't find it - knowing full well it was probably soaked and stinky. It was in the backpack of course.
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Another cute Lauren story I want to document or else I'll forget (then I'll be quiet I promise!). A few nights ago, we decided on the way home to get take-out for dinner. Of course I said "Sure! I'll have the ussh" (I don't know how to spell this - ushe? youje? youj? as in short for usual). Lauren was sitting in the backseat and promptly said "I'll have the ushe too."

4 Month Check-Up

Evan is FOUR months old! He is so wonderful and such a charmer.......most of the time anyways! He has started giggling, which is just about the best sound ever. He eats well and is holding his head up really well. He still isn't sleeping well at night. I'm hoping this phase goes as fast as it came, because as Lauren puts it "we are walking in our sleep." Lol - she really does say that :)

Evan at 4 months:

Weight: 15 lbs 5 oz (54%)

Height: 26.25 inches (88%)

Head Circumference: 16.8 inches (59%)

Dr. J said his ears look good, as does the rest of him. He's a little on the skinny side, weighing in the 10th percentile when you plot his weight vs length. With his double chin and little leg rolls, he sure doesn't look that skinny to me! Dr. J recommended starting some rice cereal tonight to see if that will help him sleep better. Now, I am just the mom, but I really don't think hunger is his problem at night. But I will be happy to eat my words if the cereal does help!

Oh, and the other thing growing super fast on Evan - his HAIR! It's like it grew overnight.

Evan's vision is still all black/white, so I don't feel so bad putting him the pink Bumbo!

Evan's John Deere onesie and blankie

Have a great weekend!