Evan's Video

On Saturday mornings, when we don't have anything going on, my awesome hubby lets me sleep in! One Saturday, Evan, Doug, and Ainsley were playing and making videos with our camera. When Doug took Ainsley up for a nap, Evan decided to make a video all on his own.. so, here it is, Evan's video directing/acting debut..

My 6 Month Old Baby Girl...

My sweet little baby girl is now six months old! Unbelievable! The past few months have flown by - and all I know is that Doug and I both feel so blessed to have Ainsley in our lives. She is so happy and sweet and just goes with the flow. She has the biggest smile - so big that she actually "falls" over when she gets a really big grin. Her eyes light up all the time. She is also such a studier - watching everything that goes on.

She is still talkative, but loves to observe. She is pretty good at sitting - going for a minute or two before tumbling over. She still loves the exersaucer and she's really good at the jumparoo. She has started playing "shy" when she sees someone new. She loves her brother and tolerates all his love. She is a good sleeper, just waking up once a night. She rolls everywhere - forward and back and is able to roll/reach herself to whatever is interesting nearby. I love my little girl!!

Enjoy some pictures from the last month:

New trick - sticking out her tongue!

The whole family.
My little sweetheart!

Still smiling with Evan love :)

Don't start crawling yet!!

Every once in awhile she will still fall asleep in our arms.

First swing ride on the new swingset.

First cold :(

Ready to go!!

4 Year Appointment

I took Evan to his 4 year appointment today. First, his stats: 35.5 pounds and 39.5 inches.

I loved his 3 year appointment because he was so chatty with his doctor. I was looking forward to this year's appointment so he could show off his 4 year old "skills"... well, Evan didn't come to the doctor today - Scooby did. The whole appointment Evan would answer everything "roh" and "reah"... He was also jumping all over like a dog. Oh well! At least he showed off his imagination! I just had to laugh - life with a 4 year old is already definitely fun and I keep learning to expect the unexpected!!

Oh yeah - and the shots. I didn't tell him that he was getting them ahead of time, but he took the news better than I thought. He cried for about two minutes and then all was well with a Scooby sticker.

Evan is 4

Today my little boy turns 4. I can't believe it - 4 just seems so old. I remember the days when it was just the two of us all day - I would hold him and let him nap in my arms.

Evan has been so much fun to watch grow up. The last year has been even more enjoyable and more challenging than any other. He loves school! He has been acting older since he started 3 weeks ago. He loves his sister so much. (He tells me he loves Ainsley more than me :P.) He has been obsessed with Scooby Doo the last few months - books, videos, pretending to be Scooby. He makes us laugh all the time and is really starting to become his own person. He is very slow getting out the door. He likes to play Wii and wrestle with Doug and loves to play any type of games. He's really interested in how things work. He is super cautious about new things. I can tell he's really into other kids now - as opposed to just wanting to play with us. If he doesn't want to do something, it's really hard to convince him otherwise. He cracks us up with his vocabulary. He has been a blessing in our lives and has taught us so much. Happy Birthday to our sweet BIG boy!!

Water!

We learned a lesson while we were away in OBX... always have someone watch your house while you are away! Thankfully, my parents were watching our house. On Tuesday late afternoon, they discovered water all over our kitchen floor, leaking from the refrigerator. They cleaned it all up and tried to figure out where the leak was coming from. They checked back again on Wednesday and.. more water! My dad worked and worked on the fridge, and kept checking to make sure the water wasn't all over. After trying all kinds of things, going through the manual, etc, he figured out that it was the replaceable filter leaking. It was an easy fix once he figured it out, but had they not been checking, we would have come home to a very soggy house!

OBX Trip

At the end of August, we took a family vacation to the Outer Banks with our friends who have two boys Evan & Ainsley's age. We had a great time of relaxing and enjoying time with the kids and our friends. The first day (Sunday) we had hot, sunny weather, and went to the beach and the pool (which was at the house we were staying in). Evan was tentative about the ocean, but eventually got in, and Ainsley enjoyed a nap on the beach as well as watching the boys play.


The next few days were cooler (in the 70s), so no more swimming. But, we enjoyed going indoor glow bowling, eating at Five Guys Burgers and Fries, visiting the Kitty Hawk sand dunes...





We also enjoyed the local shopping center and the playground there..
The boys had fun hanging out..
doing arts and crafts (paper bag masks)...
and later in the week, walking the beach to find shells and build a sandcastle...


We couldn't let the boys only swim once, so they enjoyed the "warm tub" the last two days...

And Evan picked up a souvenir too..
At the house there were a few boogie boards that Evan got to play with in the pool the first day. He loved that they had a string attached to them that he could hook up anywhere. So, on the last night, we let him get a mini-boogie board. It was so cute - he waited at the cash register and the cashier handed it to him. He asked, "did you buy it yet?" We said yes and he immediately ripped off the paper and put the strap on. He was so excited that he even asked to keep it in his bed that evening.

All in all, it was a great vacation in the Outer Banks with great friends!

First Day of Preschool

Evan started preschool this week. He went last year, but only for 1 day each week. This year, he's going 3 days a week, so it's a big change for us all. I was preparing myself for a rough time since Evan's not big on new things, but he did great! He has been talking about school every day (happily) and has had the "Days of the Week" song stuck in his head and has been singing it all the time.

Here are some pictures from his first day:

Portland Trip

In early August, Ainsley and I, along with my parents, went to visit my brother in Portland. We had an amazing time. Ainsley did awesome on the plane ride out (thanks to help from my parents). We got there on Friday night and my brother took us around his town, Lake Oswego.

On Saturday morning, we got up for a day of adventures. We checked out Multnomah Falls (see pic above). We then took a hike on another path up a super steep path. (Chad and my dad carried Ainsley the whole time.) At the top, there was a beautiful "punchbowl" water area where we dipped our feet into the cool glacier water. The scenery is absolutely beautiful. After our 3 hour hike, we took a scenic drive back to Portland. That evening, we were also so tired we just hung out at Chad's house and played cards.

On Sunday, we got up and went downtown. We first visited the Pittock Mansion overlooking the city. We made our way down to the Rose Gardens, which were absolutely beautiful! We then headed down to Saturday market, were we ate lunch and browsed through all the homemade items. It was such fun! We headed out to Cupcake Jane and enjoyed some delicious cupcakes. We came home and rested, and then headed out for dinner at The Farm for a wonderful birthday dinner with my dad.

On Monday and Tuesday, we headed down to Depoe Bay to visit my aunt and uncle. They have a beautiful condo looking over the bay. There were whales in the bay and you could just sit on their porch and watch the whales blow and then come up. We also visited the neighboring town, Newport, had yummy homemade lasagna (thanks Tricia!), watched the sun set over the ocean, visited Cape Fowlweather, and just got to hang out.

We came back on Tuesday and had dinner with Chad at Five Guys. On Wednesday morning, I got to meet up with Karen and her kids and catch up on their life in Oregon. I then headed home with Ainsley to see my guys. (Ainsley was great again on the plane, but we did manage to fly through a storm, which was not so fun.) Evan and Doug were at the airport waiting for us (at 10:30 at night) and it was so good to see them both. I had a wonderful trip and am so thankful to everyone who helped make it possible.








You can check out more pictures here

Labor Day Fireworks

Doug and I got to take Evan to the WEBN Fireworks again this year while Ainsley stayed home with my parents. We had an awesome time once again. (You can read about last year here.) We went down around 7:30 and parked in Broadway Commons. We found a nice place on the grass at the P&G Pavilion and had so much fun watching the fireworks and watching Evan :) (The people watching was very interesting too!!) We got out of there right away and even made it home by 10:30. Here is the only picture we got of the 3 of us:




And a video.. this is what Evan was like the whole time:

5 Months Old

Ainsley's 5 months already. What a fun summer it's been. This past month she has been quite the traveler! Ainsley traveled with me to Portland to visit my brother and then a few weeks later traveled with our whole family to the Outer Banks. We have learned that she's very flexible (great), but she likes the airplane way more than the car. (The road trip was a little rough... more about that later.)

Some other things about Ainsley this month:
- She loves her new Exersaucer (thanks to Evenflo and Uncle Dave)
- We haven't given her a bottle in awhile and when my parents tried while babysitting, she completely refused. (She refused breastmilk, formula, water..) Oh well, only a little longer until she starts food.
- We just started sleeping without her swaddle blanket. She is doing great! She loves to sleep on her belly just like her brother.
- She is still very vocal -her favorite noise is a loud screeching noise, probably to compete with Evan :) She also likes practicing raspberries.
- She has been drooling like crazy.

- She is a great napper, especially when she gets to sleep in her bed. You can just lay her down drowsy and she'll sleep for a good hour or two. She's always on the go with us though, so she doesn't always get to nap in her bed.

Ainsley at the Portland Rose Gardens.

Check out those thighs!!


After a hike

Loving the exersaucer!

Ainsley upgraded to the duck tub!! She loves it.



Hiking in Portland with Chad.

Daddy and his princess!