Our babies are beautiful.

March 2014

Ev has us on our toes these days.  Whew, she's a handful.  Being on spring break this week has been tough on her.  The familiar structure of her school day is missing.  She's around the baby more, which brings out conflicted feelings in her.  And she doesn't quite get the mental workout that she needs.  We try our best to give her things to do and trips out in the great outdoors to fill her lungs with fresh air and exercise those amazing limbs of hers.  But it's never quite enough....and we feel as though we've been wrestling a crocodile by the end of the week. She is full of energy and spitfire.

The other night we took a fairly late trip to the pizza parlor and I was worried about what sort of meltdown we'd need to manage through...Well, we were happily rewarded with a friendly, generally happy and very funny Evelyn.  She packed a "picnic" dinner and had a cornucopia of snacks to choose from (all quite healthy), including a banana (she informed me ahead of time that she did NOT like the YUCKY pizza at the restaurant).  She announced that it was a banana phone, so naturally we had a banana phone conversation.  And then, to officially end the conversation, she peeled it and stated proudly, "I'm eating the phone now!"

Tag called Emerson "moonbeam" the other morning while he was beaming happy smiles at us.  I love it.  I'm going to keep calling him that.  Evey made up a new version of "you are my sunshine," and we sing "you are my moonbeam" to Emerson now.

A Girl in Control Taking Potter for a Walk. 

Milking a fake cow at the CMOM

Sleeping Angel

Fun with Poppa at the golf course

Princess Evelyn visits the hardware store...

Just another day in a ball gown

Talked me into a pink sparkle feather boa at Target.  How could I resist?? 

Off to school fashion

More school day fashion

Ice Day - March 2014

Otherwise known as a Snow Day in Memphis.  Roads too slick to drive buses to school.  They even closed my office today. So we stayed home, in our pjs most of the day, doing our best to juggle our work and a 16lb infant and a lively 4yr old.

Evelyn and I finished up her art book, a collection of her artwork going back to when she was just a tot in daycare.  Funny how she remembers her work -- she directed me to reorient a couple of them "this side is up mamma" -- and told me what they were so that I could include the titles.  I think she's part elephant honestly -- her brain is an incredible system of connections.

She is so great with Emerson now.  She has her moments, but I can pretty much let her do her thing. Emerson is tickled to have her company, following her every move and giggling with delight at her goofy antics.  He's getting pretty sturdy, so having her hold him is less nerve wracking.  Too bad he's less content to just sit there now and has to twist and kick and grab at her face and hair -- he's a handful at only 4 months of age.  She may have met her match...hee hee hee.

Emerson is such a joy.  He wakes up in the morning with a big old grin, grabbing at his toes happily.  I sure miss the mornings; today was a wonderful extra day bonus.  Gave him a bath, with Ev helping to get the supplies in order and gently pour water over him.  He just goes along with whatever we have on the agenda.  No fuss.  His legs are getting so chunky - and his skin is so baby smooth.  Can't get enough of this little guy.

He's decided that sitting up is more fun -- grabbing at everything -- he'll be sitting up on his own very very soon at this rate.  Magazines are a new obsession -- just try to flip through one with him in your lap.  Good Luck! Busy busy busy little man.

There was just enough snow on the ground by lunch time that Tag and Ev bundled up and took the sled over to the hill behind our house.  Only 9 degrees out there in the wind, but Ev trundled up that hill over and over again to slide down all by herself.  Even wiped out a few times (backwards flips !!) and got right back up and went at it again.  She's so big now!  Came back in the house with big red cheeks and a huge smile on her cold face.  Slurped down some cocoa with mini marshmallows in front of a movie to warm up and relax (she wanted to watch Elf).  Tag told me that when he was carrying her up the stairs to get her ready for bed she said to him, "This has been the best day. Poppa, I'm going to remember this day."  How perfect is that?

February 2014

Ev loves (loves) bacon.  Tag was making breakfast this morning and as Ev was running up the stairs she caught a whiff and stopped dead in her tracks, exclaiming "Mmmmmm that smells amazing!! I want some bacon poppa!"  She's quite a pretty little carnivore.

Emerson is so fun to watch.  His busy little hands are getting more accurate and sure every day.  He reaches for things all the time now -- makes things a bit more complicated. We went to the library today and he wouldn't stop grabbing at the pages as I sat with him on my lap reading to Evelyn. Glad he likes books.  We'll have to get him one that he can actually wrangle.

He does this funny little chirpy whine now when he gets sleepy.  It's new.  Made me laugh earlier today, which made him grin and giggle.  Such a happy boy.  Even when he's sleepy.  I'm so in love with this little man.  He's a charmer and a half.

My mini-me with me for a coffee stop ("warm cocoa" for her)

Oma has been our saving grace these past few weeks, since I've gone back to work.  She arrives early each morning after I leave for work, and watches over Emerson all day until I return home in the early evening.  It's a long day for her...but I couldn't imagine a more wonderful scenario for our little E man.  She dotes over him like only an Oma can.  And she helps so much at the house, doing laundry, cooking amazing meals -- it's incredible.  She has several more weeks with us - after which I imagine we won't see her for a while since she'll be so sick of our house (!).  But this is hopefully a very special time for her, getting to make memories with her only grandson at such a tender baby age.

February 2014 - Family of Four

We're feeling pretty great as a family of four.

Evelyn is really starting to relax into her role as big sister.  Emerson loves watching her -- his eyes track her movements when he can spot her in his sights.  And she never fails to make him giggle.

We are ready for spring -- suffering a bit of cabin fever with all this cold. It's a tougher winter than we've been accustomed to.  Took a nice walk today in the cold though, with both kids in strollers and the two bouviers.  Ev refused to wear her coat/hat so we packed them into a stroller to have them ready for when she realized that we weren't lying about the chilly wind.  She is so stubborn, she "showed us" and opted to run along in front of us for quite a ways -- no coat, no hat (yeah, bad parenting probably).  She has pretty amazing stamina actually.  By the end, she was huddled in her stroller, hoodie pulled up over her head with Tag's hat on, coat wrapped around her, whimpering about the cold. Stubborn goat.

A walk to Starbux is rewarded with a treat.

Emerson loves stroller rides.  Never complains when I pull him into a thick snowsuit and zipper him in.  Even when you pull a hat onto his head and strap him into the stroller, he's relaxed and content. He's usually asleep after 5 or 10 minutes into the walk.

Winter Olympics are on (Sochi) and Ev has been intrigued by the figure skaters.  She's quite the critic, actually.  "I don't like her hair.  Or her dress."
"What about her ice dancing?"
"No."
"Do you like her jumps?"
"No."
"Hmm.  How about her spins?"
"Yes. I like the twirling."

When the male skaters come on, she's curious about why they wear glittery outfits.  "Is that a boy or a girl mamma?"
"That's a boy."
"Well then why is he wearing sparkles?"

November 2013

Playing in the leaves with Oma !!

Look who we met at the playground!

Miss Evelyn has enjoyed being the recipient of "big sister" gifts.  We continue to receive amazingly generous gifts from friends and family for the baby, and they always sneak in a special something for Evelyn.  When her friends Haidyn and Ashtyn welcomed a baby brother in early October, I took Evelyn to the store to pick out "congratulations!" bags for them -- she had so much fun selecting little gifts and treats. When her own baby brother arrived, Evelyn was expectant when she arrived at the hospital.  "Where's my congratulations bag?!" she demanded.  Well I'm happy to report that she has been overly spoiled by all the thoughtful friends and family members who sent her a special big sister treat. And she loves opening all of Emerson's gifts for him -- "He doesn't even know what a present is!" she explains as she rips the wrapping off.

A friend invited us to a Santa breakfast event at a local church. Evelyn has been shy about meeting Santa in past years.  I wasn't sure how this year would go.  We were enjoying our breakfast when Ev started pinging me about getting in line to see the Santa, who was up on the stage at the front of the room.  I told her we'd wait until we finished eating.  She got impatient and begged me to let her go stand in line. Curious, I said, "sure" and watched her prance over to the end of the line of families - all by herself.  She stood there, patiently waiting, until she got to the front of the line.  Before I knew it, she jumped up onto the stage and crawled onto Santa's lap.  I had to run over and give our info to the photographer.  Ev was happily chatting with Santa, posed for the photo with a huge toothy smile on her face, then gave him a big bear hug and hopped off his lap, accepted her candy cane (she LOVES candy canes) waving goodbye as she exited stage right.  The candy canes became part of her new invention:  peppermint milk (drink milk through a straw with a candy cane in your mouth). What a hoot.

kisses kisses kisses

innovation: peppermint milk

super cute Piggy Paint and decals from Aunt Claudia

Tag flew up to Chicago for a family wedding (Tyler got married!), arm cast and all, so I was on my own with the baby and Evey for a long weekend.  Thank goodness for play dates.  Ev had a good time with her buddy Skye one afternoon, and our friends the Feinstones were happy to have Ev visit for a bit, which really helped me out.  She's a bit of a bear with her baby brother...I feel like a defensive guard trying to keep everybody happy.  Exhausting. I'm ready for her to just relax about it already.

There was a critical workshop at my office that I wanted to show my support for, so I packed up little man for a day on the job.  It's not every workplace that would welcome an infant -- but mine was so thrilled to have Emerson there that they fought over who got to hold him (!).  He was a dreamboat, sleeping soundly through much of the day, waking only when he was hungry.  Wish I could just take him with me when I go back to work.  Dreading having to leave him at home while I spend 10+ hours a day away from him...

Emerson at the front of the room during a breakout session

Tag flew to Boston for a work thing so I had yet another weekend on my own (good practice).  That's when the heat decided to go out.  My parents were out of town, so I called our friend Tim (HVAC pro) and he walked me through the checks to see what the problem might be.  I had to leave Emerson in his bouncy seat in the room off the attic (didn't want to take him into the cold cold attic or anywhere near the broken furnace), and I locked Ev out of the room to keep her from mangling him (you can imagine how she felt about that).  So I had a cold house (62 degrees), a crying infant, a screaming 4 year old, and I'm trying to figure out how to trouble shoot a darn furnace over the phone. Wasn't pretty.

The beauty of playdates
Skye, Ev and Chloe burned up an afternoon with happy painting

Life with a new baby

Life for Evelyn as a newborn was quiet and simple. We rarely left the house except to see the doctor and to buy groceries. Emerson's life has been full of activity and outings from his first week on the planet.  He's been carted around - in a car seat, a sling, an ergo carrier - to parties, to a farm (!), trick-or-treating...keeping up with an active 4 year old means there's never a dull moment!

Tag had elbow surgery shortly after Emerson's arrival, which has made things more complicated as well. He's been in a lot of pain, and his elbow is stuck in a cast, so he's a bit handicapped for now.  We're doing our best to manage.  It feels like a lot...  

Emerson is the sweetest thing you can imagine.  Very patient.  Very calm.  He seems very laid-back.  And our dear, amazing Evelyn...  Well, she is balancing things out by heightening her energy levels.  

I wasn't sure how Ev would respond to having a real baby in the house.  I think it's disconcerting for her on many levels.  While she loves the fact that there is a baby (she floods him with kisses and wants to hug and squeeze the dickens out of him) she seems manic about everything and is likely nervous about how this impacts her role or position in the family.  We're trying to be patient and inviting, but I'm still physically recovering from the delivery and trying to establish regular breastfeeding while getting up several times a night to feed/diaper an infant, and Tag is locked up in a painful cast...so I feel for her and can see that this will be a struggle for all of us. Thank goodness for Oma who is helping out and also devoting special attention to Evelyn (Ev loves sleep-overs at Oma and Opa's house, where she is almost literally the center of the universe - they really dote on her, which is super fabulous).

Still loves baths - plays happily with a simple cup, bowl and spoon.
And some Mr. Bubble.

sleeping angel

spending some time with Poppa "at the office"

Halloween pumpkin carving

Ev (aka Minnie Mouse) took the baby out Trick-or-Treating with Oma and Opa

Birthday party for friend Chloe at a farm...baby in tow 

Elbow surgery victim.  Ugh.