5 months

Well, we started the month with Evi's4th birthday party. (We celebrated her birthday on at least 6 different occasions, which goes with Scott's dad belief that a birthday should be celebrated all month- Evi sure tried!!) Pirate & pixies was the theme this year and Chacha came in full pirate regalia, and Marni Mali & I were pixies. Chacha was dubbed “Mr. Pirate” by one of the kids and it stuck. Instead of gifts, I robbed my sweet child of experiencing an on slot of gift opening by doing a book exchange. (Scott says I'm no fun!) We did a cake walk to get to open a wrapped book that each kid brought. They weren't sure what was going on at first, but once they got the hang of it, they really liked it. We also did the hokey pokey, which Evi loves. I was surprised how many of them didn't know it!! It was a fun party, but it didn't out do last year's barnyard theme!!

I can't believe how much she has changed since this time last year. When she cried everyday when I dropped her off at school, was afraid of other children on playgrounds...now she sometimes walks herself into school and will go up to unknown girls on playgrounds and ask if they want to play with her!! Granted, she's always attracted to the older girls, and I know one day one of them will say no when she asks (which will break my heart!). Now on the other hand, it took me and a nurse to hold her down while another nurse gave her shots at this last doctors visit. Eli didn't flinch for the first one, and barely whimpered for the second one. And sweet Evi was standing over him telling him it was ok, it would only hurt for little bit. This was after her blood curdling scream session.

Eli is the happiest baby! He smiles at everything that moves (I know 15+ years from now I'll be rephrasing that sentence!). Anything his hand grabs onto goes straight into the mouth. It's fun to watch him concentrate on something and get his little hands to cooperate in getting it. He's almost rolling over, and give that boy a mirror and he's content! He still has this blob of curly hair on top that is always doing it's own thing. He gets lots of compliments on it! Even though sometimes it just looks like a bad toupee. I would have given anything for Evi to have had hair like that as baby for bows, but no!! She was bald as could be!(but don't worry, my sisters have already put bows in Eli's hair and took pictures..sorry Scott!) He has started cereal, and had green beans and sweet peas. He doesn't seem particularly excited about any of them! Right now my poor baby is a snot factory. He also has a horrible cough, which his sister showed signs of as well...great, 2 sick babies!!

Last month I vowed to be a more patient mom. And so far, I've done pretty good, I think. Not perfect, but better! Not that I'm horrible, or mean. I mean, it's not like I beat my children (a lot.... just kidding I do NOT beat them!) I just felt myself loosing my patience easily, and I was always the patient one! Amazing how children and a husband can wear that trait out!

Evi had her first school performance called a “Tasting Feast”. The pre-schoolers sang some religious & thanksgiving themed songs, it was cute. Then they had plates of food ready for everyone with things the kids had cooked in class. It brought a tear to my eye to see her up there singing. It was so sweet!

On a funny religious note, she asked the other day, “How did God make cars?”

She is already asking questions about how to drive the car, like what I push to make it go. And why aren't my hands on the steering wheel, does that slow it down? (I was coming to a stop at a light and was opening something up when she asked this). She is full of questions, constantly. And a lot of the time my standard answer is, “that's just the way it is” or “those are the rules”. What's really funny is when I hear her say those responses to her daddy.

We ended the month with several Thanksgiving dinners, and yet still didn't find a way to fit one in with the Dude!! Sorry Dude! And a trip to the Renaissance Festibal, as Evi says it. It was entertaining as always, and it's amazing how much money I can spend on food there!! Love those ScotchEggs, yummy!

Vacation 2009

Well, we just got back from a week in Tampa/Disney with Scott's family. It was a blast. We celebrated Evi's birthday with 3 days at Disney. Mom joined us since she had wanted to take Evi to eat with the princess back in December, but she didn't know any of the princesses yet. Boy has that changed in the last 10 months! So we did lunch with the princesses on Evi's birthday and it was a huge success. She was a little standoffish at first. But mommy just pushed her right out there, and she got over her fear pretty quickly. She met Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty (her personal favorite), Belle, Snow White and Jasmine. It was worth every penny! (And the food was pretty good, not that you get a chance to enjoy it what with all the excitement of the princesses!) She also met Tinkerbelle, Silvermist & Rosetta, the fairies. (I paid $20 for a disposable camera for this meeting since I had left the camera in the car for our last 2 hours in Magic Kingdom. I thought we were done with photoes by then.) She was still afraid of the characters in the big costumes though.

She still LOVED Goffy's rollercoaster. We took her on the next size up roller coaster, Thunder Mountain, she liked it until the last 30 seconds (and there was nothing major then). But the goofy one we rode over and over and over.

This trip to Disney was the way it should be. We had 2 hour waits for rides at Christmas, and only 5 to 20 minutes this time. It was awesome! Because it stunk to wait 2 hours for flying dumbo! She got to watch the fireworks this time too. It was so much fun to watch her face react to the fireworks.(we seemed to be the only people moving at that time, we were high-tailing it to the exit to beat the crowd, so she watched over Scott's shoulder)

But this trip just solidified my thought that our children will just miss school to go to Disney in the off season. It's totally worth it! And Eli was the perfect baby. It was the "happiest place on earth" for him. Evi had a rough time in the evenings because she refuses to poop in public places (she gets this from her father) and was having pains from holding it so long. She was even refusing to go at the hotel, so we had to wait till she finally fell asleep and then get her to potty. I even took a potty seat into Magic Kingdom, but its "magic" didn't work on her!

Eli had his first trip(s) to the beach. It was fun to watch his little legs buckle when the cold water hit his toes! His mommy's so mean! Evi and Grace got along better than ever, it was so nice! And baby Mya looks like such a little girl now, she's so cute! (almost 2).

Evi is definitely a firey four! She and I have been butting heads a lot lately since she has started with this defiant "NO MOMMY" when I tell her to do something. And of course, bossy me just can't let it go. So we just go back and forth pushing each others' buttons. But today, I vowed to be a more patient mother. She's only 4, she's only 4, she's only 4...I'll let you know how I do : )

Eli will be 4 months later this week. At 3 months we bought him an exer-saucer since he always wants to stand (he's been this way since birth almost! trying to sit up and stand) It's amazing how much he's changed in a months time. His feet are now flat on the floor. He can bounce. He can purposely put something in his mouth...kind of. Sometimes he's even successful getting his "fire" back in there. And of course, he's always successful with his thumb. Which makes me cringe. I keep battling him because I'd rather him take a pacifier, because I can control when he stops getting it, his thumb is his forever, and I have no control. And we all know how much I like to have to control...So I'm sure he'll be a thumb sucker! Damn kids!

Evi has decided to "Picasso" things lately. Like her train table, bathroom counter top, and bed sheets. But luckily, all her markers are washable. Unlike when Marni picassoed the back of mom's van with a rock. teehee!

Here are a couple of videos too. Notice that in one of them, she is dancing with the characters on tv. It's her new favorite show, Fresh Beat Band. The other is her on the Goofy Roller Coaster, her favorite ride.

I love Halloween!

I Love Halloween!!!

Here are some pictures from Halloween. We just got back from Tampa on Halloween, so I had to hurry up and decorate, carve pumpkins, and finish Evi's costume! But I got it all finished, and am very proud of her costume & my jack-o-lanterns! Evi was her kitty, Flower. And Eli was a bear. I'll blog soon about our vacation this past week.