And she's off!!

In her attempts to keep up with her older cousins and friends, Evelyn has learned how to ride a bike!!  It all started this Saturday at her cousins' house, riding little circles around the driveway.  Then, Sunday, while at our friends' house, Evelyn spotted Miss Natalie's bike.  She was immediately drawn to it.  With barely even a little push from Daddy, she was off.  Looks like a big girl bike is in our (very) near future.  I can't believe my baby's riding a bike!  Sniff sniff.

http://youtu.be/EUpatwjwrkc

Tummy Time!

Evelyn and McKenna, watching The Princess and The Frog, March 2010. 

Evelyn and Jeanie, watching Annie, June 2012.

While Daddy's Away, The Girls Will Play!

This weekend, Ethan had some (well-deserved) time away from his girls and got to spend Saturday at the golf course and horse races with friends - some much-needed man time.  So, the girls and I took full advantage of Daddy's absence and beautiful weather!

Jeanie did Mommy a HUGE favor and slept ALL NIGHT!!!  Our day was off to a great start. :)  Shortly after Ethan left home, the girls had baths and we headed to the zoo.  Evelyn couldn't wait to "Go see animals, Mommy?"  We had a great morning getting up close and personal with the monkeys and giraffes.  The highlight, however, was Evelyn's first face painting!  My big girl chose a Panda and, amazingly, she sat still the entire time the gentleman painted!  When we got home, Evelyn was so excited, "I'm a teddy bear, Mommy!," that we just had to run across the street to show our wonderful neighbor, Georgia.  Oh, did she love seeing Evelyn's face... and boy, did Evelyn love showing off!

After naps, we headed outside and played in the water table, the sprinkler and the pool.  Evelyn asked for the sprinkler, but being 2, by the time I had it set up, she was more interested in her water table.  So, I turned off the sprinkler and a fit ensued.  So, after a promise to play in it, I turned it back on.  As soon as the water was on, Evelyn was back in to her water table (no, really - she was in it!)  Again, I turned off the sprinkler... again, another fit.  Oh, the joys of being 2.  Finally, we settled on the pool (which I had to dig out of the shed) and all was right with the world.  Jeanie napped peacefully inside then joined us outside briefly (under the shade of the willow tree) for some loves from, a very wet, big sissy.

Even though Daddy was gone, the three of us had a wonderful day together.  He would have loved it too, but not nearly as much as we did. :)

Evelyn was much more interested in the other parents trying to take their kids' pictures.  We were SO close to the giraffes - we could almost reach out and touch them! 

 Brave mommy - asking a 2 year old to sit still long enough to get her face painted. :)

Evelyn the Panda!  She sat like this, with her hands behind her head, then entire time.  Who knows where she gets these things.

All tuckered out after a fun morning!

Just some of the fun we had playing in the pool.  You may want to turn up the volume. :)

3 months!!!

I can hardly believe another month has passed.  Miss Jeanie was 3 months old yesterday and continues to keep us busy, busy, busy.  Well, not Jeanie so much as Evelyn, who we are constantly trying to keep away from Jeanie. :)

We don't have any stats from the doctor, but yesterday I stepped on the scale with and without Jeanie... she's somewhere between 18 and 19 lbs, but closer to 19 than 18 I think.  At the risk of jinxing myself, I am happy to report that she has slept through the night the last 3 nights.  She's slept from about 9:30 to 6:00-6:30.  This makes for very happy mom and dad!  She's becoming quite smiley too.  I used to only catch her sweet smile at 2:30 am, but she's smiling more and more, so we get to enjoy her smiles and laughs all day long.  I keep telling myself that she's "too smart" for tummy time - she doesn't like it very much, but when we do tummy time, she either falls asleep or turns her head to the side (smart girl!)  It seems like she's doing just a little bit more every day and it is so much fun to watch her grow!

March for Babies

On March 12, we joined a couple dozen friends/family in support of our friends the Fabers.  Their girls were born at approximately 23 weeks and 25 weeks gestation.  We have been blessed with 2 beautiful, healthy girls and this is the least we can do to support a cause that is so close to their hearts.

Family pic along the Raccoon River, with the Des Moines "skyline" in the background.

 As we were walking, Evelyn and her cousin Addie had run ahead of us.  The next thing we knew, the girls were taking a little break and discussing all of the world's problems.  Or maybe they were talking about the night's starting line-ups at the Iowa Cubs game (that's Principal Park, home of the Iowa Cubs, across the river.)  Who knows.  Whatever it was, it was quite the sight. :)

Evelyn, sporting her Team Wonder Chicks t-shirt!  So that all babies may be born healthy.

Post-walk lunch with cousins Eva, Addie, Uncle Rusty and Aunt Leanne!  It only took 4 attempts to get all 3 girls to look at the camera... and they were all smiling!!

Sunday Funday!!

This spring/summer, we have started an awesome "tradition" with our good friends, the Myers.  Every couple of weeks or so, we get together for Sunday Funday!  The best part is, everyone looks forward to it, and everyone has a great time!  Ethan and Ryan get to drink beer; Megan and I get to drink whatever we feel like drinking; and the girls get to be crazy and stay up WAY past their bed times!  This weekend was no exception.

Evelyn, Maggie and Gretchen (aka Chicken) pose for an impromptu photo shoot in the back yard.  These girls are the best of friends and have the most wonderful time together.  We love our Chicken and Maggie. :)

2 Months!

Holy cow!  I can't believe it's been 2 months since Miss Jeanie came in to our world!

The last month has definitely been more challenging than it was with Evelyn.  Jeanie is a finnicky sleeper - when she sleeps at night, she's sleeping about 5 hours at a time.  Key phrase "when she sleeps at night."  About once a week, we have a night where one of us is up with her every hour or so, and it's usually Sunday night.  Makes for a VERY long Monday!

If you are not sitting down to read this, you probably should.  Here are Jeanie's stats at 2 months:

Height: 24.5 inches

Weight: 16 lbs. 9 oz

Jeanie is starting to smile more and more... she was full of smiles from Grandma and Auntie Kylie today.  I tried my best to capture one here, but can't tell if it's a smile or gas. :)

We have a giant on our hands!  Look how much she's grown in the last month!