TWO months!!!

Grace was two months old yesterday. I CANNOT believe how fast the past two months have gone by, and I can't believe how much Grace has changed. I guess I have changed too. Two months ago, I was terrified of having two kids and leaving the house was out of the question. Now, we get out at least once a day. Both kids come with me to the grocery, to Target, and wherever I need to go that day. We also try to get to the zoo during the week sometime too. I haven't done the zoo by myself, but I'm absolutely not scared to try! Yes, one of us has a meltdown at least once per day, and I have put Evan down for his nap WHILE nursing Grace multiple times, but, one day at a time, we are getting through, and I am absolutely having a blast with these two kids!

This is also a sneak peek at my onesie project! I need to have Grammy embroider the two for two months on this one though!

Today at her visit, Grace weighed in at 12.75 lbs and 23.75" long. She WAS not a fan of her shots..even less than the last time which is probably because she had to get two (one in each leg) today and last time she only got one. Evan was a little annoyed with all the attention that Grace was getting as I was trying to soothe her, so he pulled up his short leg, and said "I got a shot too Mommmmmy. I have a big boo boo. OWWWWW." and added some very fake whimpers too. Sometimes I surprise myself at my ability to not laugh at some of the things he says and does!

Lake Tippy Weekend

It was BEAUTIFUL at the lake last weekend. Just warm enough during the day and cool at night. It was also the first time I went out on the boat and got in the water all summer....kind of sad since it was the last weekend in August. Grace was worth sitting in the shad all summer though!

Evan loves his sister! He even managed to get out of the water for a few seconds to shower her with kissesEvan is crazy about the lake. SO crazy that he isn't that fond of naps and going to bed. When he was fighting his Sunday nap, we decided to try a trick my parents used on me when I was little....the boat! The kids start the ride like this...
and end the ride like this! Since it wasn't 150 degrees outside this weekend, Grace even got to enjoy the boat ride in the shade of her carrier. She also was fooled by the boat ride and took a nice long nap.

This last weekend I also started my some of my projects. The burp cloths and onesies are still in progress, but I finished Grace's tutu for Halloween. Evan really likes it ; ), and I found a golden opportunity to build my blackmail supply that I might have to use when he gets older. Earlier in the week, Evan, Grace and I spent the afternoon/evening with Grammy and Packaw since Bret was gone to St. Louis showing some of his customers a good time at a baseball game. Evan "helped" Grammy make cinnamon rolls for their catering job the next day.

Playtime with Evan

When Evan was around 3 months old, Bret and I wondered why he was a little bit fussy. We soon found out (after a trip to a friend's house that had two kids) that he was bored out of his mind!! I guess staring at my face all day long was no longer fun, and he needed more excitement. Well, one perk of being the 2nd child is that you don't have to be the trial run for certain things with your parents! Grace is definitely not bored, and she is really enjoying the toys...especially the ones with the lights! And, I FINALLY got a semi-smile on camera! I have been trying for the past two weeks, but she refuses to smile the second I pull the camera out. Evan is showing her all the bells and whistles of this toy. She appears to be absorbing everything he says!
Play time wore both of them out! And, I am loving that Grace is starting to work out somewhat of a schedule!! We aren't all the way through the night, but we have a 9pm bedtime, and she sleeps until 2am-4am! After a fresh diaper and topping off the tank, she generally will go back to bed for another 3 hours. Evan was on a schedule and sleeping through the night by 12 weeks, so that is the goal I'm hoping to achieve with Grace...almost there!

Potty Talk

Evan is doing great with potty training! He has started to go more and more on his own BEFORE I start hounding him about going pee and poop. For some time, I felt like a broken record constantly asking if he had to pee, and I was starting to wonder if he was actually learning to use the potty or just going when I asked. Today, he even got up and went on the potty after his nap without me having to ask him to.

Of course this transition has led to some great Evan quotes..
Evan to me when I walked into the bathroom "Hey, you get out of here. I'm pooping"
Evan ran to his bathroom to pee. I hear him go and flush the toilet..immediately after the toilet flushes "Oh NO! Now Mommy can't see it"
Nearly every time Evan has to go both pee and poop "Hey! I go pee and poop. That be fun!" (this is from me trying to get him excited about pooping on the potty, so I would get really excited and tell him it would be soooo much fun to pee AND poop on the potty

Best Buds

On Saturday my friend from Kentucky drove up with her two kids to spend the weekend with Evan, Grace and I while Bret was off on a guys weekend. The kids always have a blast hanging out. Olivia is almost 4 and Grant is 7 weeks older than Evan.

Day 1 - they created a water park on the back porch and had a blast

And it wouldn't be summer without watermelonWhich was clearly a favorite for Grant Not sure, but I don't think this is what the manufacturer of this toy had in mind

Day 2 - We took the whole gang to the Indy Zoo. I thought it was challenging leaving the house with two kids...4 kids took it to a whole new level! Our goal was to leave by 8...we left around 9:30We got to see the baby elephantOne great thing about hanging out with Kelly and her kids is that they are both potty trained. Evan didn't have one accident all weekend! He has been diaper free all week, but he still had one accident every other day or so. They all held hands on the way to the bathroom too...so cute!Grace started out in the Baby Bjorn, but when we sat down to eat lunch, I thought she might like to stretch out and feel the breeze a bit. She looks a bit toasty!Petting the sharks! And watching for the polar bear that never cameGrace thought the temp of the inside portion of our trip was MUCH better.

Time is FLYING

And Grace is getting bigger and doing more things every time I blink

She is already wearing her 3 month clothes (this adorable outfit was a gift from my cousin Sarah), but thank goodness the 0-3 month sizes still work too!She is discovering what those crazy things are that kept floating around her headShe just had her first bottle which she took like she was a starving child...if you saw her thighs and cheeks, you would know she was not. But, instead of thawing some of the frozen milk I had, I decided to pump and have Bret immediately give her the bottle. She was a little more hungry than she would prefer when she got it ; ). Oh, and can you tell this is our 2nd child? Check out the multi-tasking by Daddy!And that head isn't quite as heavy as it used to be!

I don't have a picture of this one, but Evan went through the ENTIRE day with no diapers today!! We only had one accident, and we even went grocery store! My favorite thing about this process is that I am constantly asking him if he wants to try to pee or if he needs to pee, and his standard response is "I already did. I already peed." This used to make me think he was telling me he already peed in his underwear (sometimes it was true), but I have discovered he really means that he already peed in the potty today. As in, get off my back Mom, I already peed once today in the potty so that should be sufficient.

Pics from the last few days...

Nap time has been a STRUGGLE this week! On Monday he just wouldn't fall asleep, but I made him stay in his room for some quiet time. Mommy may have also needed some quiet time...maybe more than Evan. In the end, when I finally let him come out, he had taken off both his diaper and his pants, and he put on dress shoes and a pair of training underwear. He made a beeline to his mouse ears and put them on too. How can you be mad at that!

Another day, another super cute outfit!Today, the weather was ideal!! Evan, Grace and I went to the zoo with Kristen Clemens (friend of Bret and I's from DPU), and then after Evan (reluctantly) took a nap, we played outside. Even Grace got to enjoy some fresh air in the shade on our front porch!!Taking a hydration breakthen he decided it would be more fun to make a bed out of the chair cushions

The Little Girl Wardrobe

While my sister was visiting, she told me that Zoe had a morning and afternoon outfit. This made me feel better because as Grace gets older and can wear more and more of her clothes, I can't wait to try the next thing on her! It also helps that Grace is slowly "working her way to the big leagues" for spitting up as her Uncle Brian would say. On a day when she is on a roll and spitting up after every feeding, she can easily wear at least four outfits!I love baby yawns!Evan wore the same tshirt all day today, but he did go through four pairs of big boy underwear (all Thomas). We WILL be potty trained ASAP! He had four accidents, but he also had several successes!!

123 Jump Spider Monkey

More pics from the lake

I really thought these got into my last post on Monday from the lake, but I guess not! Here are a few more from the last visit at the lake!

Grammy's FAVORITE spot to spend time with her grandchildren. Each will get rocked to sleep here and read books here at some point in their lives. Life is rough at Lake Tippy
Seriously...it is a really hard life

Happy 1 Month!

Grace was 1 month old on July 30th!
At her 1 month check up, we found out she was 10lbs 8oz (almost 3lb gain!) and 22" (2" taller!)

She still is a very calm baby - only crying when she is super hungry or has pooped. Night is not her favorite time to sleep, but I have been getting better at making my way through the day with just a few hours (not consecutive) of sleep. My mom has also been awesome at coming over to distract Evan so that I can catch a nap every so often. The GREAT news is that Grace is doing much better at not eating every 1-2 hours during the day and night, and I have had a few nights when she slept 5 hours straight!

She also is staying awake a bit longer in the morning and the evening, so we now know that her eyes are looking like they will be blue! Each day the seem to get a bit more blue just like Evan's. I still think she looks a lot like Evan just with more petite features and more dark hair. At one month, Evan had red hair : ).

Remembering Cody

Yesterday, a big piece of my family passed away. Cody was a puppy when he wandered to my parent's lake cottage, and after days of going door to door trying to find his owners, we decided to make him a permanent member of our family. Over the next thirteen years, we loved watching his antics....knocking over beers to drink, jumping in the lake and climbing up the ladder like a seal, jumping in the lake to chase ducks swimming so far away that we would have to go get him, loving going on walks but hating it so much after a mile that he would sit and refuse to walk any more, eating all my dad's ripe tomatoes and spitting out the green ones, getting so excited when one of the kids came home from college that he woukd pee all over the floor. I could go on and on. I also know he was special because he is the only dog that Tillie has ever liked. I miss him so much, but I'm happy that he is no longer in pain.

Lake Tippy Mini Reunion

In no particular order, her are some pictures from our last trip to the Lake. It was chaos every step of the way, but it was a ton of fun because all of the great grandchildren (Evan-28 months, Elizabeth-24 months, William-18 months, Zoe-12months and Grace-1 month) and their parents were there. I love going to the lake and can't believe that we spent every summer with (at various times) around 17 people in the 3 bedroom cottage! At the time, there were 11 grandchildren (between 3 families), and Em, Anne, Kate and I had a small taste of what our mothers experienced back then! It was family style meals for the little ones, and keeping an eye on the child or children that were closest to you.
Evan still loves holding his baby sister!
The four "big" kids - L to R: William, Elizabeth, Evan and Zoe
William was quite interested in this little person that slept A LOT Evan took a lake bath with Uh Phil, Packaw and Daddy
It took some convincing, but he also enjoyed trying out William's car float Not sure why this picture insisted on being sideways, but this is how Grace spent most of her days with one exception...this was the rare time she was not being held by someone. She got TONS of love and attention the entire trip. Might be the reason why she hasn't been that interested in sleeping in her crib and not in my arms the last couple of nights.
Meal time! I was very impressed with the other children's ability to focus on dinner. I probably need to get some hints from Em, Kate and Anne because Evan commits no more than 5 minutes to sitting at the table and then Bret and I end up chasing him with his food.Evan's new favorite thing to do! I don't think Bret was allowed out of the water all day on Saturday.