Five Years Ago Today...

Happy Anniversary!!

Fall is here

I'm not even going to try to make excuses for not updating our blog more frequently.  I just need to do it.  We're not really into baby books or even completing photo albums so we are counting on this blog to be a big part of tracking Evan and Alice's childhoods.  So no more excuses.  I just need to do it.

We've been enjoying fall so far.  I love this weather so it's easy for me to do.  Lots of outside time, Packers on Sunday, Gophers and Huskers on Saturday, although since canceling cable our viewing has decreased, and baking fall goodies.  I've made applesauce, apple muffins, apple cake.   You get the idea.  

Evan continues to be hilarious.  One night while we were playing with Alice on the floor, she was fussing because I was making her do tummy time and she was squawking quite a bit.  I said something like, "you're telling me how it is aren't you Alice?" and Evan quickly chimed in with, "yeah, and it's not good."   Empathy for his sister.  Too sweet.

Here are some shots of what we've been up to.

A picnic and trip to the big park at Lake Harriet.  I think that hole was there when we arrived at the park, but Evan wanted to make it bigger.  He had the right equipment:)

Alice was less excited about the park that day.

Alice geared up for Gopher football.  

Evan licking off the spatula while helping mommy make "kids cookies" - basically sugary bars with no eggs so licking the spatula isn't harmful.

Alice has been tearing up her play mat.  She kicks it down or pulls it down at least once a day.

Alice on a not-so-happy day.  Let's just say the pack was the only place she was quiet, although she doesn't look particularly happy in it.

Evan working in his construction site.  He needed water to make the dirt squishy.

Some catching up to do

So I started a post right after labor day, and now it's the 18th of September already.  What happened?  Time is going way to fast for us but we've been having a lot of fun here.  We had a great time at the State Fair, regardless of the heat.  We had a visit from Grandma and Grandpa T, some fun local festivals, and lots of outside play time.  It's been a great month so far!  Here are some photos and stories to catch us up.

Evan rode the bumper boats at the State Fair.

We postponed our trip to the State Fair because it was going to be too hot for Alice (and the rest of us but we'll put the blame on Alice) on the day we were planning.  And we definitely made the right choice.  The day we went, the temperatures stayed comfortable all morning and it really didn't get hot until we were ready to leave.  And we made it nearly 6 hours this year.  A new record.  The fair was even more fun than last year because Evan was able to enjoy more activities, though we did tour machinery hill twice (nothing is going to break him of his love of all things with wheels).  Here are some shots of our fair experience.

We also had a visit from Grandpa and Grandma T over labor day weekend.  They watched the kids so we could have a date night (thank you!) and mommy even got out of the house to run errands and maybe just shop a little.  It was much appreciated and Evan had a great time playing with Grandpa and Grandma.

Playing at a splash pad with daddy.

Evan trying out a new climbing structure at the park.

Evan's hair after playing in the dirt with his cousin - notice the bath was the next stop.

Alice "watching" her first Packers game with daddy.   She's wearing yellow and green!

Evan and daddy checking out some classic cars at our neighborhood block party.  Let's just say it was Evan's heaven.

And I'm not sure how Alice got left out of most of these photos (probably because I was wearing her in the pack), but here's a recent photo of our sweet girl.  Growing, smiling and talking.  

Feel the heat!

It is hot here.  Too hot.  Miserable hot.  I don't think we'll go back outside until it's dark hot.  But enough complaining.

I survived Jake's first out-of-town work trip last week with both kids.  And in classic fashion, Evan got sick the day before Jake left so he was home with Alice and I the entire time.  I can't complain because the kid didn't want to get off the couch the first day (I can't count how many Super Why episodes he watched) and I had friends over the 2nd day and several of them spent time just playing with him. So really, I have nothing to complain about.   Except the heat again.

Here are some shots from our week.

Of course we didn't think he would throw up and therefore didn't empty his bed of his gazillion stuffed animals.  They didn't all catch a direct hit, but I was still grossed out so they all received a thorough sanitizing and a morning in the sun.  Don't they look happy?

This is where he laid most of the first day.  Watching back-to-back episodes of a variety of kids shows.  

After we got back from the doctor to find out it wasn't strep throat.  

Luckily Alice and Evan napped at the same time that day so I could at least do the dishes.  Maybe take a shower....maybe not.

In other news, Alice is losing her hair.  She has a nice receding hair line going so I took some shots of it so we could prove she had adorable curls, in case they don't come back:(

And she's smiling folks!  This was the best I could do for a photo because every time I try to get one, she gets distracted by the phone and stops smiling.  

We tried a slip n slide - he's a little young for it so his fun included mommy pulling him on his knees or tummy down the slide and then just filling up his pool toys with the water.  We stayed cool though!

Summertime

We've had a great few weeks and I'm clearly slacking at updating the blog with our activities.  I'm on maternity leave, so I should have plenty of time to do this, right?  So why doesn't it seem to work out that way?  

We've been loving summer here - with temps in the 70s we've been able to be out and about all of the time.  I'm dreading the heat and humidity that is on its way.  We've had several weekend parties with friends, spent a day at the zoo, took in some new local restaurants, and of course some beach & pool time.  Alice has been a trooper and for the most part does well when we're out (she recently started to hate being in her carseat, which as an infant is a necessity not only in the car but also in her strollers, but she may (fingers crossed) be coming out of it).  And Evan has done awesome.  We're looking forward to squeezing in more activities while summer is still around!

We had a Saturday night cookout a few weeks ago.  Evan insisted on roasting hotdogs while mommy and daddy had pudgy pies.  I think we need to get longer roasting sticks:)

Beach play on a Sunday night - the little girl in the background joined Evan and he was very kind with his sharing.  He didn't talk to her of course, but no one is surprised by that, right?

We had brought his swim trunks along (we were going out to eat before the beach) but didn't think about a towel.  Thank goodness for baby sisters, and all of their baby blankets:)

Mommy and Alice hanging at the beach.

Checking out the Dinosaur exhibit at the zoo with our friends - twin girls his same age, Evan didn't know what to do with himself!

Evan loved the fish, but was clearly afraid when a big fish swam right up to him in the glass and kind of parked himself there (he's brought this up to me three or four times since that day).

Digging in the Mammoth bones park.  Thank goodness for the twins' older brother - Evan got plenty of boy time in that day too.

Evan took a swim with daddy over lunch on Friday.  It was a beautiful day!  Alice and I just lounged by the pool and then we were able to eat lunch on the pool deck before daddy had to go back to work.  Why haven't we been doing this every Friday all summer???

When they are 2 and you are 1...

The title refers to being alone with both kids, which for many people is not a big deal, but we haven't practiced it much.  Evan has continued to keep his daycare routine most days and when he hasn't, Jake has taken off work so far.  And while yesterday wasn't the first time I've had them both by myself all day, the last time was when Alice was still in her i-was-born-early-and-i-want-to-sleep-all-day phase.  She's no longer there.  She's officially an infant.  So I was concerned.  But we made it.  And I think we actually had a good day!  Here are some shots of our day and our strategies for survival.

Alice is a white noise kind of girl.  She's sleeping in her basinet, right next to the vent fan in the kitchen so mommy could be outside on the patio with Evan (windows open so we could hear her of course).

We set up a huge little people meets matchbox town on the patio table.  Hours of fun for everyone!

We spent almost all of our home time outside so this one inevitably took some snoozes on the patio.

And we had to get out.  We got Evan a haircut (hence the sticker on his shirt) and checked out a new park that was close by.  Evan even made a few new friends while we were there!

Who needs sleep?

Mommy and Daddy's sleep deprivation is coinciding nicely with Evan's desire to stay up later. He's quite good at negotiating and when one tactic no longer works, he thinks of a new one.  One night that he asked me to stay and cuddle way past the time that I should have left, I encouraged him to cuddle with all of his animals.  He countered with, "but I want to cuddle with someone who will talk to me."  How could I resist?  I think we've successfully avoided a later bedtime by encouraging him to look at books after we've left his room.  Last night he turned off his lamp on his own and was asleep relatively early so we'll see how that goes.  

Last weekend, Jake and Evan drew a massive road system on the driveway and rode their bikes on it for hours.  Lucky for Jake I didn't take video of both of them out there, but here's a video of Evan riding his trike on the road system: VIDEO.

Alice snoozes during a walk around the lake.  She loves the stroller rides!

Evan likes to play with Alice on the floor.  Here he's trying to calm her after mean mommy made her do tummy time.  

Still growing!

Yes, Alice is still growing and we are growing as a family, learning how to do things with 2 kids.  It's incredible how long it takes us to leave the house.  It's kind of ridiculous actually.  And besides Alice's needs, Evan is in a phase where he wants to know why everything happens and he wants to recall ridiculous facts about previous conversations that might be related to what we are about to do (I'm not sure how many different parks he described to me or the mode of transportation we took to get to said parks when we told him we were going to Lake Harriet park last weekend).  We do eventually make it out the door, and typically come home exhausted but happy.  We'll see how long that trend continues (the happy part).

I've written before about how Evan likes to make up songs about what he is doing.  We'll hear him singing the narration of his play when we're out of the room (he seems embarrassed when he gets "caught" so he'll typically stop singing if we step into the room).  Recently, he started singing a song when he's getting dressed - specifically when he has his shirt off.  We like to refer to it as the "big belly button" song.  This video doesn't do it justice (thought we'd use one with his shirt on), but it's still pretty cute!  (In case you can't hear his lyrics, he's singing, "big belly, belly button")

Awake little Alice.

Evan trying to play with Alice.  Sometimes the toys might end up right in her face during these interactions....

based on Alice's response, I think this was likely one of those interactions.

Evan on climbing structure at Lake Harriet Park.  Not going to lie, I was super nervous about him being up there but he wanted to and he handled it like a pro.  This part of the park is not recommended for children under the age of 5 - parents of the year.

Family of 4

I always think there will be more time to post pictures and little stories and then I find myself trying to catch up.  It's been a great few weeks as we adjust to being a family of 4.  We had more family in town visiting which is always nice and celebrated 4th of July with a few tame fireworks (we're talking poppers and sparklers - but given the neighbor's show, we might have to step it up next year).  Evan just liked staying up late I think:)

Alice is growing like crazy!  She looks different every day and is gradually increasing the time between her feedings at night which is to mommy and daddy's benefit. We're all loving her, even her big brother.  Evan always looks for her when he comes up from nap, or when he comes home from daycare.  He'll bring her a pacifier and looks for toys that she won't choke on - he brought me a huge bear the other day and told me, "see mommy, she can't choke on this."  If it helps keep his lego pieces away from her, I"ll take it.  

Roasting marshmallows for s'mores on 4th of July

Licking marshmallow off his hands - he didn't end up eating the whole thing.....

most likely b/c he wanted to get back to playing construction site - he's been moving dirt and landscaping rock around the premises for a while

Wouldn't be the 4th of July if we didn't let Evan stay up past his bedtime and walk around with lit fireworks.  He loved the sparklers!  And no one got burned.

Little miss Alice, awake!

Eating her hands

And in her favorite position - some nights Jake holds her like this for hours (can you blame him?)

Evan received his first new Lego set this week - he LOVED it!  He was so serious about following the plans with daddy.

End result - a super awesome fire truck.  You can tell he's doing his best fire truck wail here.