I Try {Picture Heavy}

I try so hard to get pictures of the kids together. Now that E is mobile it is even more impossible. Not only will he not sit still for me, but B follows (read: chases) him around, so neither one sits still for more than a nano second. But I digress. I try my hardest and with our crappy indoor lighting my pictures are where I'd like them to be...but that isn't going to stop me from sharing them. I also haven't been posting as much as I normally have on here because quiet frankly I'm still focusing on my health journey. I'm now officially 30 pounds lighter! And the journey continues, thanks to the love and support of my family. B is all about walking/running after dinner, and it's still a major lever when she won't eat dinner. It's been a very positive movement for our entire family. Now back to the pictures...

Just because you're a boy, doesn't mean you can't play dress up also. He didn't seem to mind the tutu and he LOVES twirling in circles. Arabella apparently showed him how much fun it is to spin until your dizzy and it is a MUST in a tutu. ;) He's also becoming more and more interested in reading books, or at least flipping pages and "reading" by sticking his nose all the way into the book and jabbering.

Bubba has discovered the joys of climbing in Sissy's bed and reading, or just bouncing and thrashing around as much as possible while giggling. Of course we have to get upset when Sissy takes our book and then Sissy apologizes & gives him kisses to make up for it.

And this was the closest I could come to getting pictures of them together. Sigh, I will keep trying. One day they will both be smiling and looking at the camera at the same time, while not contained in a crib.

Spencer {Happy Birthday}

Happy Birthday to our gorgeous new nephew Spencer Elijah! Mr. Spencer made is debut in the early hours of July 28th via an unscheduled c-section. Mommy, Daddy, and Baby are all doing fine. Welcome to the world little man. You have A LOT of family and friends to meet in your future. :) Don't worry about learning all their names immediately...I've been in the family for six years now and I'm still learning their names.

Of course I HAD to include pictures of the kiddos with their less than eight hour old cousin. ;)

Evan...yeah he just thought we put him on the chair to smack the pillows as hard as possible, but he soon found out that there was this tiny little baby in front of him. He really wasn't sure what he was supposed to do as the baby took his "drum" away. He wasn't even sure if he was allowed to touch Spencer. I'm sure in no time these two will be getting in all sorts of trouble with one another.

Arabella fell in love with Spencer. She just wanted to hog him from everyone. She loved on him, petted him, kissed him. It's all she has talked about all afternoon. She keeps talking about going back and seeing Aunt Erika, Brian and "Bencer." I have a feeling we have the makings of a little "Mommy" on our hands. No doubt she'll be assisting with Spencer anytime we see him.

Congratulations Erika and Brian, you made one gorgeous little boy. We are so thrilled for you. And welcome to the family Spencer.

My Little Pin Up

I bought Arabella a cute new bathing suit since she ruined her last one, and of course she had to try it on before bed...and model it. LOL.

Utensils

For a few weeks we've been giving Evan the opportunity to use utensils during meal time, geez is he old enough for that already? He does great for the first couple of bites, but usually reverts back to his fingers as it is easier (read: faster and messier) to eat that way.

Tonight was no exception, but it appears that he's giving a more vigorous effort to use the fork consistently. We may make a gentleman out of him someday.

Evanator

Just before naptime...so sleepy.

I have a few things I want to jot down for Evan before I forget. Evan has started signing more. I'm super excited because the grunting and growling is getting really, really old.

He can proficiently use bath, more, milk, and bite/food. We're still working on potty, please and thank you. Now if we can get him to use them consistently that would be awesome.

Verbally we still aren't getting much from him aside from syllables. He says "hey" while waving as well as buh-buh (bye-bye). He randomly throws Mama and Dada in, but really only uses them when he's tired or in distress.

We do get head shakes for no... A LOT. He is starting to shake his head yes occasionally. Back to bath time, he LOVES when he hears the word "bath" or when he is naked he feverishly signs for a bath. Just yesterday I was dressing him, fully clothed below the belt, but he was topless and he kept asking for a bath. When I said "No it's not bath time" he would just sit and shake his head no, like he was telling me, "I don't care if it's not bath time, I want a bath."

He's also taken to his mobile/projector. We haven't used the projector feature since he was an infant but now that he's figured out the buttons and switches to it, he jut won't leave the projector off.

He's even started to require it to be on after I've placed him in the crib for bed at night. He'll be dead asleep as I walk out of the room and minutes later he stands up and starts screaming until I return and turn the projector on. Hopefully he'll outgrow it, but given Arabella's history with the monkey show, it's unlikely.

Where did my baby boy go?

The Color Monster Struck Again

Just when you think she can be trusted again... Arabella goes long intervals in between doing this sort of thing. For the most part I can trust that when I sit her down with crayons and her coloring books that she'll still be sitting there when I return. We use this method a lot because I have to put two kids down by myself at night, which ultimately means she's left unattended for a brief period of time. Of course last night she got a wild hair and went on another coloring binge. I walked in and she was still sitting at her table coloring but when I turned to the dresser to get an overnight that's when I saw the carpet, followed by the dresser, followed by the frog.

I kept my cool, and proceeded to get her ready for bed. I skipped reading her books without so much as a word. She didn't even question me, I'm pretty sure she already knew the reasons why. This morning I shared with Adam her lovely art and then we proceeded to make her clean it before nap time. She was more than happy to pose for me with her art.

The problem is that she doesn't see the "punishment" in being made to clean her own mess. She enjoys it...too much. Seriously, does her face say remorse? No it says "hey this is fun."

I guess the good news is that crayons are cleanable...thank goodness it isn't like permanent marker. Maybe one day she'll understand that we just don't draw on furniture (or carpet) and that it's best to stick to paper...

Randon Evan Pics

Evan playing quietly while I delt with his sisters naptime issue...

Naptime Sucks Sometimes

In general we don't have too many problems getting boo boo to bed. She'll lay there and sing along with Tad, tell herself stories, or repeat various lines from cartoons she's watched. After a while she'll fall asleep. But sometimes we just have "one of those days." One where Mommy & Daddy put her to bed immediately after lunch and she will.not.go.to.sleep. It can be so frackin frustrating.

At one point Evan had already taken a two hour nap and was ready to go. Of course she howled because I wouldn't let her out of her room. She was crabby and I knew she needed some sleep, especially since she had gone to bed late the previous night. So I let the t.v. baby sit Evan so I could try and coax her to sleep. I made a make shift bed on the floor and laid down with her, not something I'd generally do. After ten or fifteen minutes, she wouldn't quit jacking around so I huffed and told her she had to get back in bed and sleep.

Of course the second she sees me going for the door she bolts out of bed. I close the door just in time for her to start banging a wailing about being awake and needing out of her room. I'm such a mean Mommy aren't I? Around ten minutes go by and finally...silence. I, of course, am curious as to what she's up to. I slowly open the door and found this...

She had pulled her comforter and pillow back to the floor; as well collecting several animals and blankets that you can't see in the pictures. I don't know what made her do it, but this is how she finally took her nap. Whatever it takes I suppose.

By the way...I'm still having issues trying to take pictures in her dark room.

Fourth of July ~ Part One

It's late and I wanted to share a few pics from our fun night. Tonight we'll be celebrating with Daddy so I'm hoping to get some more pictures. Here's Arabella's first time with sparklers.

Mimosa

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