Baby Boy Pics

I had the opportunity to take some pictures of this cute little boy this week.  It was so fun to hold a newborn again.  It has been a long time since I have done that.  We had a hard time getting this little one to sleep, but with such fun brothers who would want to :)  

Jude

When we moved to Utah we were so excited to live close to family for a change.  It was the driving factor in the decision to move here in the first place.  I had great hopes of spending quality time with immediate and extended family before the big move.  I never imagined though that I would get this close and fall so in love with the Romero family.  Kristen is Josh's cousin, and because of us living in TX we rarely got to see them.  When we first moved to SLC we found out that we were only 5 minutes away from each other.  Kristen invited us over for dinner and then asked if Evelyn and I would like to watch Jude 3 days a week while she worked.  We said yes and the rest is history.  I love this little boy as if he were my own.  Evelyn treats Jude as if he were a brother.  

When we first started watching Jude I was scared about getting around with 2 kids.  Luckily we learned how to get around and Evelyn learned how to be patient with me when I couldn't give her my full attention.  

Jude was not the best napper at the beginning, and many days were spent just like this.  Now he is the BEST napper and most times will sleep longer than Evelyn.  

Some days I miss my cuddles though.  

She gives him at least 20 hugs a day and thats not an exaggeration.  He definitely wins over me in the heart of Evelyn.  

He is such a boy.  He loves everything to do with cars, books, animals, dinosaurs and especially trains.  

Im heartbroken that our time together is coming to an end this month.  I am teary eyed thinking about  moving and leaving this little one and his parents behind.  I don't know how Evelyn is going to take it and it actually makes me really nervous.  

I love this family so much.  

A Day in the Life

Spending the day with Miss E is a lot of fun.  We both get cabin fever at about 10 in the morning so a mid morning outting is a must.  Usually we head to the park, but this day we went to the library for Wiggle Worms.  The librarians do a fantastic job teaching the children songs and dancing.  I love that they repeat the same songs every week so that the kids begin to learn the words.  Evelyn's favorite part of the morning are the scarf songs.  She usually will sing and dance with the teacher for about the first 10 seconds then breaks off and does her own dance.  This girl is a free spirit.  

After we get our morning wiggles out we eat lunch and play until our nap time.  Evelyn loves to take pictures of herself.  Today we apparently wanted to take pictures of our silly face.  

After our nap we usually have one more outing planned.  This day it was to see GG Sally.  We love that she lives across town and that we can go eat with her every week.  This particular day while we were eating she received a blue sucker.  Clearly she enjoyed it.  The trick was keeping the blue only on her teeth and mouth and not the clothes.  

My grandma is great at giving cards.  She writes so many that sometimes she forgets who she is writing to.  Today I apparently am married to Doug :)

At the end of the day we have dinner, usually watch a show, facetime/skype with family and have bath time (Her favorite part of the day).  

I  can't believe how similar yet vastly different each day is.  I wouldn't trade spending each and every moment with her for ANYTHING.  

Huntsville/Wheeler Farm

Whenever Josh has a day off we try to fill it with as many family fun times as possible.  This day we decided to explore Huntsville.  It was such a cute, quiet town.  Evelyn had a great time playing at the local park and walking around main street.  After we headed down to Wheeler Farm to play and see the animals.  Evelyn and I visit the farm at least once a week.  We love it there and wanted to show Josh just how fun it is.

And miracle of all miracles we actually got a picture with all 3 of us together :)

Evelyn loved the old truck parked outside.  We had to do a lot of bribing to get her out of it!

Evie-isms

1) She has become more and more stubborn.  She can really dig her heels in when she doesnt want to do something.

2) When I tell her "lets change your diaper" she comes over and lays down infront of me, but always at an angle.  Every time she does this.  It makes me smile and laugh and never gets old.

3) She is talking a lot more these days.  She says a lot of new words, today for example we added purse to her reprituar of words.  She said purse becuase she was conserned I was leaving mine behind.  She also jibber jabbers and then says one distinct word at the end of each sentence.  She looks at you like you should know exactly what she is talking about :)

4) She loves clothes.  We went to the mall yesterday and as soon as we walked into the shoe department at Nordstrom she sat down and took her shoes off in preparation to try on all the pretty heels.  

5) Her favorite food these days are spaghetti and cheese sandwiches.  

6) She insists on watching "baby" (home videos) before she goes to bed.  We don't think she understands that the baby is her!

7) She is getting really good at pretend play, especially in the kitchen and anything to do with her babies. 

8) She loves to go "Nigh Night" on anyones bed but hers.  She will lay down, and pretend to sleep and snore loudly.  When she wants someone to lay with her she points to the pillow next to hers and says "Nigh Night".  

We love this little fashionista.  

First Snow

This winter in SLC has been extremely mild, so mild in fact that there is NO snow.  Desperate to get her used to some sort of cold Josh and I took Jude and Evelyn to Park City to play.  We gathered all of the snow equipment, and makeshift snow equipment we had and hit the road.  I always used to laugh at the younger brother in The Christmas Story who is bundled up so tight that he cant put his arms down, but that is what happened to the poor kids.  Afraid of letting them get cold, and ruining their first experience, I overdid it with the layers.  Nonetheless they had a great day.  Evelyn loved building a big and little snowman with Josh and Jude enjoyed watching.  Both ate lots and lots of snow and ran until they were exhausted.  To warm up we walked across the street and had ourselves a train burger.  It was such a success that it gave me a lot of hope for our upcoming Minnesota winters. 

Taking a Toddler to Church

Taking a toddler to church is kind of like disarming a bomb.  You have 3 colors of cords red, blue and yellow cut the wrong one and the bomb explodes, cut the right one and you are safe.  This is how I feel when taking Evelyn to church.   Some days I cut the right cord and some days we blow up.  This particular Sunday was not a good day.  Sometimes when I have to take her out I feel glares from others.  Why cant I control her?  Why is she screaming?  Haven’t they taught her to behave any better?  Sometimes its hard to be positive and keep coming each week.  There really are some Sundays I want to cry, and have.  I remember once taking Evelyn and putting her back in the car so that I could just cry.  After composing myself I took her back in, but boy was it tempting just to go home.   It is comforting though to hear comforting words from more experienced moms.  They tell me to hang in there, or to keep trying and it does get better.  It is those comments that keep me coming back.  I want my daughter to love this gospel as much as Josh and I do and I know with time and patience she will.  We try to be better each Sunday.  We are going to get there right?

Before

After