Getting back in the swing of things.

I say this nervously, knowing that it may come back to kick me in a few days, but I think we're over the flu here.  Finally.  I had it for 5 days, then no one had it for a few days, then Evan got it for 5 days, then I got it back for 4 more days.  It was awful.  Not just for the 2 of us who were sick, but for poor Jacob who had to witness it all and take care of everything while I was down.  He did amazing of course, and now he is definitely Evan's favorite (I don't get asked to play vehicles or blocks right now unless I'm the only one home).  But I can deal.  

I finally got to help clean the house and cook meals (that I actually ate!) this weekend, and I think we're back on track.  Now if we can just hold it off.....

Otherwise Evan is doing great!  He continues to blow us away with silly things he comes up with, he's rockin the potty training (I was amazed by how much we were saving already having not purchased diapers in about 2 months!), and he's excited about his new sibling to come this summer.  When asked if he thinks it's a boy or a girl, he nearly always replies, "I think it's a baby."  He is still working to identify toys he will and will not share with the baby and frequently pulls out bins of baby toys and talks about how the baby will like each one.  And in a few weeks, we hope to move him to his new big boy room.  We're sad because he will be on a different floor from us for the first time, but we're having fun putting together a room that we know he'll love. Don't judge if I end up reporting that Jake and I slept in the family room on his first few nights just to be close to the little guy.  

Loving playdough play.

He built this tower by himself and it almost made it to his height....

Before he kicked it down....

And then had to pull out the pay loader to clean things up.  It's how he rolls.

"I Love Vehicles!"

Here's a VIDEO,

and a picture...

Snow!

Evan's been loving up the snow these past few weeks.  We had new snow to shovel almost every day last week and Evan would come home from daycare asking to shovel.  The productivity of his shoveling varies from drawing patterns in the driveway with his shovel, up to actually clearing the stairs or patio.  But if it's warm enough, he wants to be out there.  We're not going to argue.  We're also going to hang on to all of the photos of him shoveling and smiling while he's 2 so we can bring them out when he complains about it when he's 16.

Here's a cute VIDEO of Evan laughing at a game on the iPad. He's laughing at "Mr. Bubbles."

Evan got to go sledding this weekend.

He enjoys carrying around snowballs and threatening to chuck them at you.

"Can you cover me with some snow Daddy?"

Welcome to Twenty-Thirteen

I can't believe it's already the 3rd week of January and we're finally getting around to posting about the happenings since Christmas.  Evan's been busy as usual with a Christmas gathering with the Turzynski side, additional sleepovers with cousin Grayson, a visit from his Auntie, and just trying to stay away from all of this illness!  He's a trooper.  He continues to come up with crazy things to say every day.  This morning he heard a reminder sound on my phone and said, "mommy, who's texting."

Playing outside with Grayson.  Notice the sweet Packers hat!

Sharing a pillow and sharing a Thomas moment.

Being cheesy as only he can do it. 

I'm not even sure what Evan is doing (is he trying to sit in the bucket?), but generally they were racing each and every matchbox car Evan owns down the race track.  

Helping daddy remove a dusting of new snow.  He loves his new shovel!

Here's a VIDEO of Evan and his cousin Grayson dancing in the kitchen.

A VIDEO of Evan and Grayson singing "Jingle Bells."  We're not sure who taught him to give it an "ohh...." at the end so he can continue, but it's too cute!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone!  I know, we're a bit late, but we still wanted to send our best wishes to everyone reading our blog and share a bit of Evan's Christmas so far.  We were able to make it to Nebraska, despite the blizzard, for a few days to visit before Christmas day.  Then we traveled back home so Santa could visit Evan's house on Christmas Eve.  He'e enjoyed the holiday so much this year!  And it's not over yet:)  Grandma and Grandpa Turzynski roll in this weekend for another celebration.  We're happy we'll be able to see both sides of the family this holiday.  We hope everyone was able to be with family and had a safe and happy Christmas!

Driving the dump truck in the snow at Grandma and Grandpa's house. He later discovered it doesn't have snow tires and was quite frustrated by it's lack of traction.

Eating some Christmas dinner with his cousins.

Opening gifts at Grandma and Grandpa Stalder's house.

The adults needed some down time so insert an episode of Olivia.  They all 3 sat like that the whole time.

Helping Grandma Stalder fill the bird feeders.

Finding treats in his stocking.  Pretty sure it was 6 am at this point.

Excited about his peas from Toy Story 3.

Playing with some of his new art supplies while mom and dad cooked Christmas dinner.  

Real snow (finally!)

After a very limited snow season last year, we were excited to get some real snow this weekend. Of course we were expecting 3 maybe 6 inches based on the forecast, but ended up closer to a foot.  Evan didn't care.  He loved it!  He got to build a snowman (that he quickly asked to knock over), got to make footprints in the snow (until it was too deep for him to walk in) and finally got to use his new sled (new about 12 months ago).  Sunday was a great day!  No comments on the Monday morning commute.

Watching it snow in the morning.

Getting ready to go outside

Taking a ride on the sled - later in the day, 8 inches of snow later, we went to the park and hit the not-so-steep slopes....he LOVED it.

Pulling the sled is closer to what he enjoys doing with all of his trucks and trains

This is a bit happier than his face in the pictures from one of his first snows (see here)

Trying to build a snowman

Succeeding on a smaller scale - he even used a baby carrot for his nose!

Giving Thanks

Our November was a busy one; with a big final push on the basement Family Room and a Thanksgiving Feast to plan. We were able to have the Turzynski Family join us for Thanksgiving and a few other friends. Great Grandpa Ryan was even able to make the trip. Thanks to Adrienne and Jason for some the nice photos below.

Evan's waiting for Grandma, Grandpa & Great Grandpa to arrive

A little pre-dinner train time

Our 20lb bird

Our table

Everyone fit at the table... barely

Kid's Table



Kid's Table

 

This kiddos and their Moms



Buds

Evan enjoyed another sleepover with Cousin Grayson this weekend. They have so much fun together. Grayson is turning three this month and he's such a good boy. Very well-behaved and great manners -a great role model for Evan. The two had good times running around the house and playing in the new Family Room. It warms our hearts watching these two grow up together...

Eating dinner at the kid's table Friday Night

Good Times in the Family Room

We started Saturday Morning with Trains

Lots of Train Time

Since they were up at 5am, they needed a mid-morning cartoon break

"How much stuff can we fit in this bed?"

Sunday Morning: uber lounge mode

Happy Halloween

It was the first Halloween that we thought Evan would get into the festivities, and maybe he did, but a bit too early.  It's 8:07 pm on Halloween, and as I write this, he's been asleep for 20 minutes already.  The little guy wanted nothing to do with trick-or-treating and we ended up coming home after one attempt, 2 houses down.  Maybe next year.
He did celebrate with a Halloween parade at daycare today and immediately asked to eat his candy when he got home. He also wore his costume to the children's museum last week for a Halloween party.  So, maybe it was too much.  Either way, he was an adorable fire fighter and Jake was able to break out his mad costume skills in creating the fire truck from scraps of wood and cardboard with Evan's wagon.  Something tells me we will be crusing the neighborhood with the truck long after Halloween. 
Hope everyone had a happy and safe Halloween!

Firefighter Evan and his Fire Truck

Ted (the bear) had to come along.

Before leaving for trick-or-treating.  We should have known his cuddly shy mood was telling us something about how the evening was going to go...

Reading books with cousin Sophia.



Watching the garbage men.  Sophie with her arm around Evan.  Too cute!



At the Children's Museum Halloween Party.  We were much more interested in playing than trick-or-treating.



Building parking ramps for his match box cars with daddy.