Weekend Recap

Friday night our neighborhood had a block party down by our community pool.  We've lived in our neighborhood for over 5 years and we hardly know any of our neighbors.  This is the first time they have really advertised an event, so we decided to go.  It was a ton of fun.  We ate dinner and listened to some music.  They even had a fire truck, police car and ambulance come so the kids could climb inside them.  I think Shawn might have had just as much fun as the kids when checking out the fire truck. . haha.  Unfortunately, we didn't really meet any neighbors, but we did have a fun evening.  We stayed about an hour as both kids started to get tired and cranky!

Saturday morning Shawn and I split up with kids.  I took Em to get her soccer pics taken and Shawn took Evan to get his flu shot.  I think I got the better end of the deal there!  Shawn and Evan met us at the soccer fields for Em's 3rd soccer game.  It was overcast and we were really worried about it raining, but luckily it held off until just after Em's game.  Em played great and scored a goal!  Courtney and Grace were kind enough to come up and watch the end of Em's game.  After her game, we went out to lunch with the Gists at Scotty P's.  Our kids were getting a little fussy by then, so we had a quick meal before heading home.  I thought for sure both kids would take long naps after our busy morning, but that's not how it worked out.  :(  Neither of them took a nap.  Boo! 

 

 

We had hoped to make it to Oktoberfest in McKinney Saturday afternoon, but instead we got some rain and it was predicted to continue all night.  So instead we asked Courtney and Grant if they wanted to come over for dinner, assuming they weren't tired of us yet.  :)  They came over around 5:00 and we ate some BBQ and the kids enjoyed playing.  Evan seemed to really enjoy having a playmate that was his own size.   I think Evan might have even taught Grace a bad habit or 2 (ie. climbing on tables and chairs. . haha).

It ended up not raining at all Saturday night and we woke up to beautiful weather Sunday morning.  Shawn went grocery shopping and I took the kids to the park to burn some energy.  After lunch, Em and I headed out for yet another soccer game.  Her game last Saturday was rained out, so today was the makeup game.  After Em's game yesterday, she was a little burned out and not really wanting to play much.  However, after a quick promise of a cupcake if she went in and played, she was all smiles and even scored a goal.  She's now scored a goal in each of her 4 games.  So proud of her!  Even though she's pretty good at soccer, her love of the game is still questionable.  We haven't yet made a decision if we'll sign her up for spring soccer or will take some time off. 

Shawn stayed home so Evan could nap (Em's game was right in the middle of naptime) and we found them enjoying the Cowboys game together when we got home.  I dropped Em off and grabbed Evan and off we went to run a few errands before coming back home for good.  Me and Em spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning out her closet and hanging fall clothes up.  If you have ever seen Em's closet and the amount of clothes this girl has, you will realize that this is quite the chore!

Wordless Wednesday

Evan's New Tricks (Part 2)

Just when I thought Evan couldn't surprise us anymore with all his climbing, he did.  Saturday morning we woke up to a loud thud coming from Evan's room.  Shawn walked in and found Evan on his floor.  He had climbed out of his crib!  I recently wrote that I had seen him with his leg over his crib, but have never given him the time to really try and climb out.  He was sneaky this time and didn't make a peep before he climbed out, so I never had any reason to look at his monitor.  We're really not sure how we're going to handle this.  We've got his mattress down as low as it can go.  I'm not at all ready for him to move into a big bed.  I mean he's only 15 months old!

I obviously didn't catch any pictures of him climbing out of his crib, but these are a few pictures of him from 1 night last week.  This is all within a span of about 10-15 minutes.  Have I mentioned before how much this boy keeps us on our toes?!!

Family Pictures

A few weeks ago we had family pictures taken.  These are meant to be Evan's 1 year pics and Em's 4 year pics.  We had them taken at 9:00 am and even that early, it was so hot!!  We started with family pics since I knew those would be the hardest to get.  Evan just had no interest in sitting still for pics.  All he wanted to do was run around!  About 10-15 minutes in, I was sweating like crazy.  Between the heat, chasing Evan down and the stress of him not cooperating, it was a tough session.  I really left thinking we didn't get anything decent.  Luckily we did get a few good family pics, but didn't really get any good ones of both kids together.  All of Evan's shots were action ones, but they still turned out cute.  Emily did awesome as usual.  She could pose for the camera all day long.

Towards the end of our session, my parents and brother's family met up with us to get some pics of all of us.  We haven't had family pics with all us in about 3 years, so my mom wanted some updated ones.  It helped having so many people to distract Evan.  We were actually able to get a couple good group shots and several cute ones of all the cousins. 

Lauren (7), Nattie (5), Emily (3) and Evan (1)

Even though this was a tough session for pics, I'm glad we did them.  I think taking pics of any 1 year old is going to be difficult, but it was still worth it. 

Fifteen Months

Dear Evan,

You're already 15 months little guy.  Time continues to fly by!  You've started doing lots of new and fun things this month.

Your vocabulary continues to gow.  You point to things and will say "this."  You want us to tell you what it is.  Also, you're starting to learn animal sounds.  We have a plastic owl in your treehouse and you will point to it now and say "whoo whoo."  Also, you will point to the duck planter outside and say "duck" and you know ducks say "quack."  You know what a monkey says too.   You also say "bubble","book" and "uh oh".

You are a "yes" man.  You can shake your head no and have done plenty of that, but this month you have learned to shake your head yes and now, no matter what we ask you, you shake your head yes.

You've really taken climbing to a whole new level this month.  You climb on practically everything. . toys, chairs, in the bathtub, tables, bathroom stools, etc.  We constantly have to tell you to sit on your bottom.  As a result of all your climbing, you always have bumps and bruises.  You love to explore!  You have figured out that you can push Em's little chairs over to the counter and climb up in order to reach the drawers in the kitchen.   Your sister does this all the time, so I know you learned by watching her.   You also constantly move all the chairs to our kitchen table over to the corner of the kitchen.  I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish, but you love to move them. All your rearranging of furniture keeps us on our toes.  You have also moved the play stools over to the couch in order to climb on it.  I've seen you starting to try and get your leg over your crib side, but once I see that I run into your room to get you out.  I don't want to give you any time to figure out how to climb out of your crib.  Your teachers at school tell us you have a ton of energy and are the only climber in the room.  Oh boy.  I was thinking all boys did this, but I guess not. . haha.

You LOVE to tackle and wrestle your sister.  I'm talking wrap your arms around her and bring her down to the floor and then lay on top of her.  Luckily for you, most of the time Em doesn't mind you wrestling with her.  However, I know it's only a matter of time before you are bigger and stronger than her.  She might not like it so much then.  Your teachers call you a little linebacker and say you just plow over things.  I just hope it's not other kids in your class!  You also love to antagonize your sister.  You will grab her favorite blanket, making sure she sees you, and then run off.  You totally know that are making her mad and yet you continue to do it over and over again.

Somehow it seems that your appetite continues to grow each month.  I really have no idea how you can consume so much food, yet I try and tell myself that you never sit still, so you work up a big appetite!  When we give you snacks, you always have to have something in each hand.  It's like you need to know you have a backup snack for when you are finished with the first one.  We've tried to get you to finish 1 item before we give you another, but that does not go over well and we usually just give in to you.  They said the same thing at school.  They said if they don't give you seconds, a lot of times you will just take your friends food.   :(  You've become interested in using a fork lately.  You know exactly what you are supposed to do, but most times you need us to help you get the food on the fork, then you feed it to yourself.

You've started to throw a little bit of tantrums this month.  When you get upset about something you cry/scream and stomp your feet.  Luckily it usually passes pretty quickly.

This month you have gotten really good at stacking blocks up.  You still love to read.  Usually at bedtime you get upset when I tell you we only can read 1 book before bed.  Often times, during the day I will find you just sitting on the floor looking through books.  You also love to listen to music and dance around.  Cars and trucks continue to be a favorite.  You love to push them around on the floor. 

You still use a paci when you're at home.  I haven't pushed to get rid of it just yet.   You are still very attached to your lovey as well.

We love you lots, little man! 

15 Month Stats
Weight: 22 lbs, 7 oz (46%)
Length: 31 in (44%)
Head: 18.6 in (62%)
Bedtime: 7:15-7:30
Awake: 6:30 - 7:00
Naps: 1 nap a day from 12-2:00
Diapers: We just finished up the last of the size 3 Pampers, now it will be size 4
Clothes: a mix of 6-12 month, 12 month, and 12-18 months
Favorites: reading books, wrestling, moving furniture, eating, being on the go, listening to music
Development: saying more words, trying to eat with a fork, climbing
Teeth: 11 - 8 on top (4 of them just broke through) and 3 on the bottom.
Shoe Size: 4 Extra Wide

Evan's Tricks

Lately, Evan has discovered some new tricks and loves showing them off.  He climbs everything!!   You name it, he climbs it. . . tables, stools, dishwasher, etc.  He also loves to move furniture.  This boy most definitely keeps us on our toes!

Evan moved all the chairs over in the corner. . .by himself.

Em's First Soccer Game

The Cowgirls had their very first soccer game this past Saturday morning.  I was pretty excited to see Em in action and it was even more special because Shawn coached.  Our regular coach was out of town, so Shawn volunteered as the assistant coach and took over for this game.  Emily was super excited about her game and even more excited about Daddy coaching.  She had a 10:00 game and it was HOT!!  I think the heat made it tough for all the girls.  Between this being the first game ever for all the girls and the heat, it was pretty rough for them.  It was tough keeping 4 girls out on the field wanting to play, but Shawn did a great job with what he had to work with.  Emily even scored 1 of the 2 goals for our team.  I was soo proud of her!

#2

Warming up before the game

The Cowgirls, minus the coaches daughter who missed the game.

Ready to start the game!

No idea what these 2 are doing. . haha.

Evan and I watched from the sidelines. Sitting for an hour was pretty tough for Evan. We ended up spending some time at the playground, walking around, eating lots of snacks, etc. I was just glad I was able to watch some of the game at least and especially that I got to see Em's goal. Mimi and Papa even came and watched some of Em's game.

After the game, we went out to lunch with the Terry's and being in the a/c seemed to help everyone's mood! Next week we have a 9:00 game, so I'm hoping it won't be quite so hot!

Also, just because I hadn't gotten around to posting them yet, here are a few more pictures from soccer practice over the last 2 weeks.