Evan's letter

I've been waiting for this moment for quite some time...

Evan has written his letter to santa... all. by. him. self.

Translation:
Dear Santa,
Would you like to bring me an Iron Man suit for Christmas.


Consider my heart melted.... and most likely his wish granted...  :)

The cuts...

I finally took the girls to get their first haircuts.  They have both been pushing hair out of their faces long enough...

In the end I went with bangs for both of them... I have a tiny bit of remorse in doing that, but at least their hair will grow back.  No more 'baby firsts'... and it's kind of sad. 

Duh, Dad... solar system style...

Evan has been much more conversational these days.  And of course, kids say the darnedest things...  But I've got to say, Evan had both me and Dan stumped with this recent conversation....

Dan was looking at a drawing that Evan made, which was of the planets.  [A little background first; last month in preschool they talked about earth (and I'm assuming they talked about other planets in our solar system?), and Evan has a Wall-E Leapster game that also talks about planets, and outer space... so I'm guessing that's where he picked up on this stuff ~ and the pre-drawn picture has nothing to do with what Evan was drawing... so try to ignore it in the background!]

Dan asks Evan: Wow, what is this big yellow circle?

Evan: That's the sun.

Dan: Is the brown one Earth?

Evan: Yep.

Dan: How about this big blue one?

Evan: That's Neptune.

Dan: Well, where is Pluto?  [attempting to trick Evan]

Evan: Pluto isn't a planet anymore, Dad.


uh... I think my jaw hit the floor at that point...

And out of total curiosity... and because I don't even know the order of our planets without looking it up... I looked it up...

The site I found was actually pretty neat ~ Evan and I looked through it together, and he got quite the kick out of it... and sure enough... he rattled off each planet, in the exact order!

10 on 2sday

1.  Nap times are going a little smoother these days... a lot of times I only make one (and even none) trips into the girls' room to get them to quiet down... although...

2.  Brynn still goes to sleep behind the door.  And it really bothers me.  I think there have only been 2 times she hasn't fallen asleep behind the door - once she actually stayed in her bed (or Dan moved her and I didn't realize it), and the other time she slept in Avery's bed.  I don't know what to do about it.  I'm not sure if she doesn't like her bed?  Or is scared of her bed?  Anyone out in cyber-land ever dealt with something like this?

3.  I've realized that I have not linked to my photography 'sneak peek' blog in a while, and I have done a few photo shoots in the cold months... so here you go, a link... :)

4.  I spent about 2 weeks going through all my pictures from 2010 (personal ones, not my business ones) and deleted THOUSANDS of HORRIBLE pictures.  But the neatest thing was seeing the improvement over the past year.  I took lots and lots and lots of really bad pictures... but as the year progressed, I was deleting far fewer of the blurry, out of focus, and poorly exposed pictures that I started the year taking.  I still have a LOOOONG way to go, and a LOT to learn, but it's been a pretty darn fun process!  (Disclaimer: I have a really hard time deleting pictures... crappy, or not... but I managed to delete about 6GB worth of true crap, and probably could have deleted another 6... it was hard.)

5.  A random developmental tid-bit... I just noticed yesterday that Brynn's 1st 2-year molar broke through... as much as she has been trying to eat things that aren't edible lately... it wasn't a surprise.

6.  Speaking of 2-year... it's coming up... the girls'. 2nd. birthday.  (I just let out a big sigh)  This is the exact age that Evan was when I felt ready for another child.  (I just let out a little chuckle... a child)  There is no more baby left at 2 years old.  When we moved the changing table out of Avery & Brynn's room, I was really sad.  A changing table is very "baby," and I wasn't ready to let it go yet, but I had no choice.  Now that Avery & Brynn are so close to 2... I'm excited for our family to grow...

7.  ...not in numbers... but as little people...  Evan and Brynn and Avery are such great little people, and I'm feeling pretty lucky that I get to have them as part of my family.

8.  Speaking of little people... as much as I love them, it's sometimes nice to go places without them!  And we lucked out and had Grandpa & Grandma K watch all the grandkids on New Year's Eve so we could go out and have fun!!  For the first time in many years, I actually stayed awake all the way up to and through midnight!  (I usually fall asleep on the couch and Dan wakes me up at midnight to say Happy New Year's, and then I go to bed... exciting, isn't it?



 9.  My parents moved away from Omaha last weekend.  Farther away.  From me.  It's the right move for them, but I'm bummed that I won't be making trips to Omaha anymore.  (well, hopefully not never, but certainly a lot less)

10.  Speaking of missing people... I miss my running partner... it's been too cold/windy/snowy/icy/you-name-it to run outside.  And it's been at least 2 months since we've ran together.  So I guess what I'm saying is it can warm up ANY TIME NOW and that would be alright by me!


PS ~ Sorry, Mom, for the lack of grandkid pictures... I know you are probably disappointed to only see me and Dan... I'll get right on it...  :)

Tumbler...

So, I spoke too soon yesterday. Maybe an hour after I posted my "yay-we-are-done-with-the-flu-I-should-really-have-kept-my-mouth-closed-blog-post", Evan woke up from his nap, and we went running for the bathroom. The good news was that we made it to the bathroom, the not-so-great news was the kids' bathroom needed a thorough cleaning after Evan was done (it could have been worse, and I'm thankful for that!).  I guess I feel like we have been over-due for the flu since last year we all skated through the winter season without getting sick (remember all the H1N1 hype?!?).  Anyway, hopefully it's only one round and we're done!

On to the fun stuff... I forgot to post this last week ~ I had put one of the videos into a blog post, but never got around to adding the 2nd one...

We are signing Avery up for gymnastics as soon as we can...

The Toddler Beds

Like I said on my 10on2sday post, we moved the girls into their toddler beds a couple weekends ago.

Let's just say I wasn't real happy about the move, mostly because it wasn't on our timing, it was on theirs... and I wasn't, and am still not ready for this move.

So... on to Day 1:

We got their beds set up in the morning so we could do a trial run at nap time, and it didn't go well... let me show you:

 

So we removed all their toys.

That night I think they were so exhausted from not taking a nap, it only took 2 trips into their room to get them to stay there and finally go to sleep.

Day 2:

Nap time wasn't any better than the previous day, minus all the toys scattered around since we had taken them out of their room.





...and we wound up pulling the changing table out when we found them both playing on top of it together!



Day 3, or 4 (I can't remember):

Probably the worst day.  They decided to yank everything out of the dresser drawers, and continued to use those drawers as a ladder to reach all the pretty breakable things that I was stupid enough to keep on top of their dresser....







...the dresser got turned around and the breakable things removed, and while we were at it, we figured a way to keep them out of their closet as well:

 



A week later:

Nap times are still challenging, but on top of that, Brynn started to lay down behind the door and fall asleep at night.  I don't know if she decided she doesn't like her bed, or if she's trying to peek under the door and listen to what's going on outside...



This was a day I forgot to clip the closet door closed and of course they figured it out and pulled their diaper bag out and started rifling through it...



We knew it would take some time, and eventually they'll get it, and I can go back to a less-stressful nap time and bed time routine (in my dream world) ~ but I will admit it was pretty cute to see them both peacefully sleeping together in the same bed one night, although not cute enough for me to leave them that way!



Two weeks in:

Today was the first day I didn't have to go into the girls room at nap time and tell them to get back in their beds.  It might be a fluke, or maybe they are just used to the new beds now?  Either way, I'll take it when I can get it!!

10 on 2sday

1.  It doesn't feel like Tuesday

2.  I'm not ready for fall, although judging by the long pants and light jackets I had to put on the kids this morning to go out, I'm not sure I have much of a choice...  chili & potato soup, yes - coats & jeans, not so much

3.  We went on a whirlwind trip over the extended weekend, and part of it included taking Evan to his 1st ISU game!!  We brought a backpack of goodies for him... just in case... and I'm not sure if the toys distracted him from watching the game, or if he really just didn't care - but he was quite amused with the toys we brought!

4.  Avery started saying "love you" - it sounds more like "uv oooh" - but it might be the sweetest thing I've heard/seen since the girls started hugging...

5.  Brynn has decided she wants to be a big girl now and wants to walk wherever we go.  Doesn't always work well for me when she flings herself away as I'm trying to carry two wiggly little girls, but we are working on it...

6.  I feel like I am playing catch up all the time right now.  I'm trying very hard not to let it overwhelm me at this point, but I'm just really praying for a time when I don't feel like I have a million things to do at once.  Fat chance, I'm guessing.

7.  During our whirlwind weekend we had no cable or internet for about 5 days - I must say, it was nice.  Although, I did just get a new {smart} phone recently *love*, so I was at least able to get some emails and some facebook stuff.  Although, I think that was contributing to my feeling "behind."  I love to read blogs, and I wasn't reading any while I was gone, so I came home to over 200 blog posts in Google Reader.  Totally ridiculous to feel "behind" on reading blogs... I dunno, I may need to start downsizing.

8.  We just took Avery back to the allergist last week to run more tests - mostly checking different varieties of fruit that we suspected were causing more eczema problems.  Just got the results today to find most came back negative, and pineapple came back borderline.  Doesn't explain why she had her eczema flare up recently, but at least we know the fruit we suspected wasn't it.  I can't even describe how frustrating it is to NOT KNOW WHAT IS WRONG WITH HER!!!!!  AGH!  (thanks for listening reading? allowing me to vent)

9.  I did another senior photo shoot last week, it got dark very quickly with a thunderstorm moving in so we got what we could and planned another date next week to try a couple more locations.  We had also planned to do some shots indoors, which was extremely nerve-wracking for me since I'm not real skilled at indoor lighting, but we had fun playing around in the auditorium!

10.  Our whirlwind weekend included a visit with my Dad's side of the family down in SW Missouri - it was just awesome.  The logistics to get us down there and how everything worked out, truly was perfect.  A HUGE thank you to Sharie for watching the girls while we went to the game Thursday night - it made the trip possible, and I could not be more grateful.  I got to meet all sorts of family I had not met yet - cousins, babies of cousins, spouses of cousins, friends - LOTS of photo ops - and it was a great weekend!

This man was one of the highlights of the trip... my Grandpa just turned 96 this summer, and he rocks!  Just thought I'd share that!

Preschool... Round 2

Evan started preschool this morning and he was beyond excited...

Although, not as excited to take so many pictures...

But we did manage to get a few good ones!

He brought his brand new toy... Boost... for show-and-tell...
(side note: it took me forever to find that toy, and we finally came across it yesterday!!)

And I just can't believe what a pipsqueak he was last year on his first day of preschool!

But at the end of the day, he had a great one!!

Big news of the Week!

Guess 

Who's

Riding

His

Bike!

All it took was a bribe incentive that he would get a Buzz Lightyear toy when he rode the bike around the block!

Ok, not quite. 

That gauntlet was thrown down a while ago, and Evan STILL wanted nothing to do with his bike.  Dan, who should get the Father-of-the-year-Award for this one, decided to work with him this week and told Evan he would be able to shoot more bad guys (like Emperor Zurg) if he was on his bike.  He took him around the block and worked on shooting the bad guys, took Evan's mind off the bike and just let him go. 

And the little man did it!!  All the way around the block by himself!!!

Talk about a proud momma!  (and wife!)

18 months

Well 18 months sure came and went quickly.  (broken record, I know...)

This was my favorite age with Evan.  The curiosity of an 18 month old is unmatched, they use (some) words so you can communicate (a little) with them, they can walk pretty good on their own (saves the back), they can navigate stairs pretty well, they love to play, they (for the most part) share the same schedules as everyone else, and they haven't quite gotten into the terrible 2's yet.

Without wanting to rush life forward, I have really been looking forward to this age with the girls.  I was ready for the fun, the walking, the talking.

Turns out I wasn't exactly ready for 18 months with twins.  I didn't think it was possible, but it seems this age is harder than the lack-of-sleep-with-2-newborns-stage.

Their curiosity takes them in different directions.

Not only do they walk well, but they are running well too - again, opposite directions.

It's been an interesting summer - we haven't gone to the park as much as I'd like - Brynn is fearless and will climb to the highest point on the playground equipment, and once Avery finally got over her fear of grass, she no longer would sit still in the stroller while I went down the slide with Brynn.  So we've stuck around the fenced-in-backyard quite a bit.  Although, you won't hear anyone complaining since all 3 kiddos love the water table and the sprinklers!

Taking the kids on the driveway for sidewalk chalk was the bravest I've gotten all summer:

I figured as soon as one of the girls started running towards the street, we'd be done.  Surprisingly they managed to stay by the garage for about 15 minutes!

Getting to know Avery & Brynn's personalities has been the most fun part of the past 18 months.  From the beginning so much of their personalities have been far more obvious since we can compare kids side-by-side.

Brynn - introverted, prefers playing by herself, and definitely prefers being by herself when she is upset (or just snuggling with Mommy) - she is absolutely fearless (which scares the crap out me) - she loves books...

Avery - extroverted, loves people - warms up rather quickly, much more reserved when it comes to risk-taking - she loves to be the center of attention (although, sometimes she likes to play shy) - she loves shoes...

I suppose it's pretty obvious they don't look a ton alike... even just by looking at their hair.  I think Avery might have a little hair envy... whenever she sees me putting Brynn's hair in a "ponytail" she asks for one too... and I can usually get a little tiny one on the top of her head!

It's been a fun and exciting 18 months around here - certainly not many dull moments...

it's the little things...

Oh, to have the excitement of a child. 


They have such unique ways of finding significance in seemingly insignificant things.

For example:
A few weeks ago we did our run-of-the-mill shopping and Evan picked out some Toy Story vitamins. 

Insignificant, right?

Well, he still had some of the "old" vitamins left to finish and was completely devastated when I told him he couldn't open them right away.  So he waited.  And waited.  And started the count down when there were 9 left. 

8...

7...

6...

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...

He finished them off this morning.

And wouldn't ya know it, he's been talking about it all day.  We just put him to bed and the last thing out of his mouth was... "I'm so excited to open my new vitamins in the morning." 

If only we could be so excited about the little things. 

Just one more reason this kid lights up my life....

...just so long as he doesn't wake up too early in his anticipation!

My little man is growing up...

My little man graduated preschool.  Well, sort of.  He still has another year before kindergarten, but there was still a really cute ceremony last week on his last day of school!

Evan was the only one that didn't want to sing...



...at first.

Around the time itsy bitsy spider was up, he was ready to sing along.

And when he got his diploma he was beaming.  (Hey, Mom - take note that he is NOT crying because he has to wear a hat... :)



And so were we...


Funny moment of the day, Evan was asked where his sisters were and he responded "in the van." (Only funny because they weren't actually in the van.) That's just the last place he remembered seeing them.  We took them to a daycare in town so we could have some much needed Mommy, Daddy and Evan time - which may also have included some ice cream and a trip to the park!

And lastly, I stumbled on this gift idea for Evan's teacher...

...bottled water with a packet of tea tied to it, and a bag with smores ingredients! So easy, SO cute! I love creative people who are willing to share!

Here are the links for the printables if you are interested:
S'more teachers
TEA-rrific teacher

As easy as riding a bike...

...or not.

Once again I am perplexed as to how to teach Evan.

Not sure if you remember my duck-tape-to-the-feet-to-teach-Evan-to-ride-a-tricycle or not?

But I'm considering doing it again with the bike we got him for his birthday.

He just doesn't get the pedals, and I have no idea how to teach him.

Any of you out there that might have advise on this, I'm all ears!

News flash!

I'm not sure if it's gonna be a trend...

but it seems as if Evan's favorite toy of all time has been replaced...

We left for the library this afternoon and he brought a different toy.

I stopped Evan to ask if he was sure that's what he wanted to bring.

He said yes.

I said I'd be writing this on the calendar...

so consider this the calendar!

Oh, buddy...

First off, I must forewarn you about the poor quality of the pictures, my shutter speed was too slow for my subjects... but I needed all these pictures to tell the story, so here goes:




Wow - look what Brynn's trying to do now!













Oh crap, look what Brynn just figured out how to do!
















Oh, wah ~ I want up there like my sister!



















Well fine then, I'll just do it myself!


















Oh crap, look what Avery just figured out how to do!


















Uh... sweetie...



















BRYNN!
Don't stand up on the ottoman...










...too late!
Guess you're gonna learn the hard way!

















Hmmm... this must be how I get over to the couch!



















Oh, buddy are we ever in trouble!