Easter 2010

As promised...a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...here are Easter pictures!!  

 

Here are the boys, inspecting their goodies.  Hayden woke up first of course, and after seeing the baskets on the table he had to come wake me up to inform me that the Easter Bunny brought us jelly beans!  I was happy to see him so enthused about it all, but seeing as how I was the "Easter Bunny" and I didn't get to bed until almost 1AM the night before, I could have done without the early wake-up call:)  I love him to pieces, but he just does not understand that mommy is not the uber chipper "morning person" that he is!

We had family over that afternoon for an easter egg hunt and lunch.  Everyone had a great time!

Mr. Caleb in all his cuteness!!

Fun in the trampoline.

 

Hayden was making sure that everyone had the same number of eggs in their basket...

Hayden and Gabe having fun in the Jeep. 

Holy neglected blog, Batman!!

Wow...so, 11 months ago was my last post on here.  Hmm...I could give you any number of excuses but I'll spare everyone and we'll just say it has been a  long and trying 11 months.   Not much of it I want to talk (err...umm...blog) about.  So...forgive me?  Thank you!

I wanted to blog so that I could keep a record of day to day life with my family.  I failed miserably at that this past year, and I hope I don't fail again...part of the reason I neglected this blog was because I didn't want it to turn into a place for me to vent about all the bad stuff.  I started another blog to help with that...it's actually focused on minimizing the bad stuff, but if there is any major venting I expect it will take place there.  Simplicity is the name of it, and I'm hoping it will be a useful tool in making me stick to my goals...or figuring out what the heck they are at least.

So...this blog is still here, and hopefully will be more active from now on. 

I'll upload some pictures of Easter in the next couple of days.  We had a great time here yesterday with lots of family! 

Beautiful Baby contest(s)

Every mom thinks their babies are the most beautiful babies...I'm just silly enough to enter them both in a contest! Parents magazine is holding a contest for a cover "model", and since the boys fall into separate age groups I decided to enter them both. Click on the image to go to the site and vote:)


(if you can't click here are the links: Hayden - http://www.parents.com/photos/photo-contests-1/cover-kid-1/764700011/ , Brody - http://www.parents.com/photos/photo-contests-1/cover-kid/764700010/ )

Brody's b-day invite

I FINALLY got around to getting Brody's birthday invitation done. My trials for photoshop and photoshop elements ran out on my computer, so I had to download one to Ken's to get this done. I just need to buy the stinkin' program...but I REALLY want CS4 and its uber expensive! Oh well, enjoy!

Easter

Hayden with his easter basket. This is the first year we have done easter baskets. Until this year, he seemed too young to really even know what was going on. This year was a lot of fun for everyone!
Brody had fun on Easter too, but he was teething so there were quite a few fussy moments.





Hayden and Gabe had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard






Our family picture. They boys weren't too happy about the impromptu photo session, so this is the best we could manage.

Foto...ugh, I am so bad at this!

So, its Sunday and not Friday...AND I've missed 3 weeks in a row of pictures. Warning...I am going to make up for it today!

This week (and last) we had a garage sale. The boys all enjoyed being outside so much. Hayden and his cousin, Gabe, got to spend a lot of time together.



Brody discovering "flowers"

Hayden cuddling with Tinka. He even covered her up with his "bink"

Foto Friday

Foto Friday (on Saturday)

Only my second week for this and I'm a day late! Not good...

Foto Friday

Not a terribly original recurring theme, I know...

Spring!

What a slacker I am! It's been almost a month since my last blog...ugh! There has been a lot going on, and my mind has been obsessing over other things so I am using that as my excuse. Hopefully things will chill out this week sometime...let just hope the news is good!

I am so excited for Spring. Being cooped up in this house has made us all rather grumpy and crazy! Hayden REALLY wants to go outside to play, and I think the lack of good doses of natural sunlight is beginning to make me depressed. I've already started planning my garden (eek...yes, Candy is planting a garden complete with veggies!) as well as other landscaping that NEEDS to be done. This house will look so much better once it has nice pretty flowers all around!

Break time

Yesterday marked the day that we have been potty training non-stop for a month. Honestly, he did SO well in the first week that I was very hopeful...but its like we hit a wall after that first week. He's still pretty much in the same place he was at the end of that first week...so I am giving it a break. Its driving me crazy and making me cranky, and I am sick of not being able to leave the house. So...back in pull ups for a couple of days, maybe a week or two. We'll see. I just needed a break, and I want to be able to enjoy my little boy. I think he may still be a little too young to really understand what he needs to do, and hopefully a little more time and a break will be just what we both need. Its frustrating, because I feel like I am giving up...but I can't stand the thought of doing this for months on end. I've heard they will train when they are ready, so heres to hoping that he will be ready in a couple of weeks when we try again. If not, I'll just keep trying every couple of weeks until we get it right. But no more potty boot camp...I can't take it and little boys need to go out and have fun!

Lose it!

One of my new years resolutions is, by this summer, to get back down to the weight I was when I met Ken (yikes!). January slipped by without me noticing it, so its time to get crackin'! I've started a new blog to follow my journey (and to keep myself in check), here.

A foot of snow!!

We woke up to a foot of snow this morning! Hayden was very excited that he finally got to outside to build "Frost the Snowman" (his favorite christmas movie). We bundled up and went on out, only to find that the snow was not really snowman snow...too dry. Oh well, he had fun anyways. I taught him how to make a snow ball and he spent quite a while flinging handfuls of snow up in the air.
After naps we all went out to play again. Brody was not sure what to think of the cold, wet snow...but he didn't cry at least.

Hayden wanted to take Brody on the sled...Brody was none too happy about it, but I took a quick picture anyways.

Hayden was having so much fun he didn't want to come inside...even though his poor little hands were like ice when we took his gloves off! He really enjoyed the snow. Maybe we'll go back out again tomorrow!

Photography...

I have many hobbies...photography has been one of them since high school. I started out on a 35mm Nikon SLR camera that my sister let me borrow for a high school photography class. Then I moved on to digital point and shoot, and now I have a DSLR (Nikon D50). I recently started playing around with it in manual mode, and also trying to do a bit with Photoshop. I am far from experienced, in fact today is my first attempt at editing a picture taken in manual mode. I don't have the info on my camera settings, because I was honestly just messing around and learning what all the different things do. The first picture is unedited, and the second is after I "played" with it. I am not sure what I think of the edited one, or if I really even did anything right...but I'm excited to be learning so you all get to be subjected to it :)

Dry Night!!

Ok, so I promised no more potty updates until Hayden has his first dry week. I lied. This morning, he woke up dry!! As in, he slept all night in his bed with a pull-up on, and at 8:30 this morning when he went potty they pull up was still dry! Woo Hoo for Hayden!!

We've had 3 days in a row of no accidents, but we had several accidents yesterday during the day. He's also sick with a cold...so I am blaming him not feeling well on those accidents :)

1 full day!!!

Yesterday was Hayden's first full day in underwear with absolutely no accidents!! Yay!! He's even going about half the time all on his own, with no encouragement from us. My cutie pie is growing up!

In other news...WE ARE GOING TO THE ELTON JOHN/BILLY JOEL CONCERT!!!!! Fun times!! Aren't we such dorks? We logged on to ticketmaster so we could "be in line" right at 10AM when they went on sale. We even scored good seats!!! I'm so excited!!

1 full week in undies!!!

Today was day 7, and marks Haydens first full week in big boy underwear! I am so proud. He had 1 accident all day, seemingly on the way to the bathroom (can't say for sure), so we have not had a full day free of accidents yet, but I feel it is really close. We even went to visit my sister today (Hayden REALLY wanted to see his cousin Gabe) and he didn't have an accident on the way there or back (or while we were there!). I was nervous about the time in the car because I don't really think he can hold it for very long once he realizes he has to go, but he went just before we left both times and it was all good!

I won't bore everyone with daily updates from here on out...but I will update when he has his first accident free day/week/month.

In other news, our new toilet seat came! I know, silly thing to be excited over huh? Its a "family" toilet seat. Basically, it has the toddler adapter built right in so you don't have to take it out every time, just flip it up like you do the lid. Its pretty neat, and has decluttered our bathroom a bit. I'm all about the de-cluttering!

And the saga continues...

Day 6. 1 Accident....all day!!! Its a good day in the Evans' household!! I must go to sleep...but I just had to post my excitement!!!

On the 5th day of potty training my toddler gave to me...

a big MIGRANE.

It wasn't terrible, but this potty training thing is just such an emotional rollercoaster. Every other day seems like a great day, or half the day will be great and then all of a sudden he has forgotten (or refuses to practice) everything he has learned.

No accidents today until around 2PM. Then, we have our first pair of wet underwear. No biggie...its gonna happen. He sits on the potty while I go for fresh undies and pants. For the next 20 minutes he won't really sit on the potty, but he doesn't have any interest in putting pants back on...he only wants to play in the sink. Finally, after he has gotten a ton of water all over the countertop, I tell him that its time to leave the bathroom. "I have to potty". Ok. So I tell him he can get up on the potty whenever he wants and use it. "no". So I start to pick him up to help him up onto it. Screaming fit. Definitely nap time. On goes the pull-up, and he goes down for a nap.

After he got up he once again did not want to take the pull up off. after about an hour he decides he wants to go on the potty...and does. Gets his praise and rewards, etc. He had 2 more accidents before bedtime and 2 successfull times on the potty. When I write this out, it really doesn't seem that bad. Sounds pretty successful. Ugh...I think I am just becoming emotionally drained with all of this. The happieness of the high points where he goes on the potty and we are all super excited and dancing around, coupled with the low times where he is just a terrible twos tantrum mess and screams about everything. Doesn't want to go on the potty, doesn't want to get off the potty, doesn't want underwear, doesn't want pull ups, doesn't want m&ms...just wants to say no and fuss because he's 2 and he can.

WE CAN DO THIS!! (right?)

If you give a toddler a flashlight...

he'll drop it in the toilet. Hayden has his very own flashlight, which he loves to "play" with Tinka with. He will shine it all over the floor and walls, and she will chase it. It's pretty cute, although sometimes annoying because Tinka becomes obsessive about such things. Anyways, he was playing, and then needed to go potty. I told him he could take the flashlight with him if he was careful not to get it in the toilet. He was good the whole time he was sitting there, until right before he got up. Then he looked at me, giggle, and dropped the thing in! Lil' Stinker!

Day 4 went ok. The first part of the day was half successful, with about 3 accidents and 2 trips to the potty. The middle was not succesful at all, and resulted in a pull-up as well as a much needed nap. The end of the day was much better. The pull-up was wet when he took it of, but he always made it to the potty after that (and by his own need...not our request!).

I seriously thought that we were going to end up giving up this afternoon. I don't want this to be a power struggle. I don't want to "make" him use the potty and wear underwear. I want him to be excited about it and WANT to do it. This afternoon, he definitely did not WANT to do any of it. Hence the accidents and eventually a nap (and consequently a pull-up). When he got up, he didn't want to take the pull-up off. I didn't fight him, I let him keep it on for 45 minutes or so...at which time he told us he needed to go potty. He went, and we then put him in undies. He went in once after that all on his own...before I made it in there to see if he needed help he had his pants and undies off and was sitting on the potty! He told me "I gotta hurry!". So once again, by bedtime I had renewed excitement. His grandpa and his "Uncle Paul" came by this evening, and I think that had a bit to do with his excitement tonight. New people to show off his new skill to. Wonder who we can get to come over tomorrow night.....

Day #3...

was a VERY successful day! We were accident free until 5:30 this evening...then had 2 accidents in a row. One of them was my fault though...he was in the bathroom, but I was too busy rearranging the track on his train table to realize he was gone. He had an accident right beside the toilet...so I should not really count that one. The other was right before bed. He was just too tired I think (we have cut out naps recently).

So...PTT Day #3:
Hit - 10!!!!! Miss - 2

He also got a new "Cars" car because he went in the potty 10 times in a row! Here he is with "Tex"

Adventures in potty training...day #2

Today was not nearly as good as yesterday. We started off badly...Hayden refused to get dressed this morning. He was kicking at me the whole time and it took forever just to get his underwear and pants on. Then he didn't want a shirt either..so I had to put it on him as he was running away. Oh the joys of the terrible twos!

I was getting very discouraged...he kept wetting his pants, and not even caring. I wouldn't even know he did it until he went to sit on the potty and his pants were wet as he pulled them down! He didn't seem uncomfortable, and I began to lose hope. Even getting him to sit on the potty was difficult. He just plain didn't want to. I got desperate and moved the potty into the living room so he could watch Diego while he sat. He sat on it but didn't potty in it (even though he sat there for 20 minutes!). He got up and less than a minute later he was wet! GRR!!

It was 2:30 this afternoon before he finally went on the potty! After that, things were more like yesterday. He still had 3 accidents throughout the evening...but all three times I knew right when they happened because he stopped what he was doing and grabbed at his pants. This was still a great improvement because he realized that he was peeing...while he was doing it!! The very last time he sat on the potty tonight he even managed to stop peeing for a moment to re-adjust because he was missing the potty and hitting the floor, so he's learning how to control it. My excitement was renewed by bedtime.

Brody even joined in on the encouragement. After Hayden went in the potty, we would dance around in the kitchen (while I was getting his reward...yes I bribe my son with M&M's to use the potty). Brody got very excited and started bouncing around too. I told Hayden "Look, Brody is proud of you too!!". After that when he was dancing Hayden would say "Brody, you proud of me?". Ahhh...I hope they remain this close and cute as they grow up!

So there is progress...I just have to keep reminding myself (and him!) that even if the day seems to be a total failure, he CAN do this!!

So...Potty Training Tally (LOL):
Day 1:
Hit - 8 Miss - 3

Day 2:
Hit: 6 Miss - 6...but only 3 times after his first success of the day

Breathe...just breathe

I feel much better today. Still irked by the events of yesterday, but for the most part I am over it. I just have to remind myself to lock the van when I get, and for good measure I will hit the lock button once again before I go to bed...just to make sure.

Today has been very busy, but it a good way. Hayden is potty training!!! Yeah...no more diapers! He has been in underwear all day, and has gone in the potty 6 times already. There have been a couple accidents, but he's gone in the potty more than not so I'd say its a successful first day. I'm so proud of him. He gets so excited when he's done and has flushed. He keeps saying "and then mommy is SO proud of me!!". Its too cute, and he can totally tell how proud I really am of him. My plan is to continue in only underwear from here on out. I hope I can stick with it...but so far he's making it very easy for me to do so. I'd much rather wash a couple extra pair of pants and undies every day than change a smelly dirty toddler diaper :) I love my big boy!!

Brody has been keeping me busy too. He's an expert crawler now, so that means he wants to go everywhere and get into everything. I've babyproofed a bunch, but I still have such a long way to go. There are some projects around here that we HAVE to get finished that will help with that. He's pulling himself up on things too! Its pretty scary actually. Hayden didn't really crawl until around 9 months, and he started cruising around 10 months (Brody is almost 8 months)...so this is a bit early for me. I guess Brody didn't get the memo. He likes to keep mommy on her toes.

Why???

Yesterday I had a bunch of stuff to bring in from the van when I got home...including 2 tired boys. So I get everything inside and put away. Apparently I forgot to lock the doors after all of this.

This afternoon we are getting ready to make a run to the store, and someone has taken it upon themselves to decide that a few of the items in our van don't really belong to us. Haydens DVD player is gone (which had one of his current favorite movies still in it!!) and my cell phone charger is gone. This wonderful person was even nice enough to empty out the contents of our glove box onto the passenger seat too.

This is the SECOND time this has happened!! The first time was at our old house in our other car. All they took that time was my phone charger, but they rumaged through everything...including the diaper bag I keep stocked. Guess I am not worthy to have a charger in my car.

I was a wreck after it happened. Not so much over the loss of a portable DVD player, or the loss of my charger...those can be replaced easily. It was more the thought of someone heartless enough to steal from a child. The DVD player was obviously for a child. It was on the back of the drivers seat, directly in front of one of TWO car seats in the van. There were 3 Disney movies on the floorboards. There are cutesy blankets and toys all over back there. The thought of some horrible person actually coming that close to my little boys' things just nauseates me. Its also very disturbing to me that this happened in our own driveway. Sometime between the hours of midnight and 8AM. We have a motion sensor light that most definitely went off as the van sits right in the range for it. I don't like the feeling that at any moment while I am asleep here with my 2 boys that there could be some criminal just outside my windows. What if they looked in and saw some much more interesting stuff INSIDE the house? What will I do? Have I mentioned how much I want to move?

Ken says it could have happened anywhere and its not necessarily the neighborhood. I agree because it happened in our old neighborhood where I felt totally safe. Part of me fears it is actually someone we know. I mean, what are the chances that this would happen twice within 2 years? Is it really that common that people just cruise through neighborhoods checking every car until they find one unlocked? It seems like a very risky way to do things to me...not worth it for the occasional stack of CDs or car charger. So if it is someone we know...who could it be? I can't think of anyone we know that would do such a thing. Is it someone who is simply an acquaintance that has decided we are a good target for the occasional theft? See how much I overthink things. Ken wonders if I have an anxiety disorder...I am beginning to wonder myself.

Where I grew up, this wasn't an issue...at least not like this. You'd have the occasional hooligan do something stupid, but pretty much everyone knew who it was. I never locked my car door, and nothing was ever missing. I would get scared when I was alone at night, not because i feared being attacked or robbed by a person...but because I thought the storm might turn into a tornado, or that some crazy werewolf type thing would come running out of my garage (a bit of an overactive imagination, I know). I wonder if there is anyplace left anymore that can feel that safe?

And sweet little Hayden was trying to comfort me. He kept saying "mommy, don't cry". Which of course made me cry even harder. He didn't even notice or care that his "movie" was gone.

Happy New Year!

So...good bye to 2008. The year my first "baby" began the terrible twos and my second baby joined us. The year I spent obsessing over finding a way to move out of this house. The year I really learned how to knit. The year we took our first "family" trip to Colorado. The year I finally started working on a degree I "think" I will actually use one day.

Hello to 2009. The year I will religiously stick to my budget. The year Hayden WILL be potty trained (I am determined!). The year Brody will turn 1, stand, walk, talk, and most likely run. The year I will make most (if not all) christmas (and birthday if I'm real ambitious) presents. The year I get to start making my own cloth diapers (Thank you hubby for the serger and snap press!) and therefore start my own online shop. The year I will try to strengthen my existing friendships and attempt to make new ones.

This year has so many possibilities! With just a little extra focus, hopefully great things are to come.

Bah Humbug...

I'm joking....mostly. I do love christmas...everything is so pretty, and sharing it with little ones makes it magical all over again! I must admit that I am ready for it to be over this year though. I want the tree down, I want all the tubs of christmas decor back up in the attic, and I want the christmas movies to be put away until next year. Poor Brody can't go 2 minutes without getting picked up and placed somewhere else because he is getting into something he shouldn't (cough, the tree, cough). The tubs have taken over my entryway and the playroom (totally my fault for never moving the empty tubs back out to the garage). And if I have to watch "Shrek the Halls" one more time I might contemplate ogre-cide!!

I tell myself that next year will be different. I will be more organized. I will have all the presents bought by Thanksgiving. I will have all the decorating done by the week after thanksgiving (and the tubs neatly stacked back out in the garage out of the way). Christmas cards will go out that same week. And the entire month of December will be dedicated to simply enjoying the holidays. Although, I believe I said something like this last year? Ahh...the joys of mommy brain. I have so many great ideas for next year, but I will probably forget about them until its too late again....why does that always happen? I need an assistant...

This life has been a test...

...if it had been an actual life, you would have been given instructions on where to go and what to do."

Yes, I am quoting a long gone TV show...but I just love that line! Seriously...why aren't we given some general instructions before we are just let out into the real world? I have made so many major mistakes it hurts my head to even admit them to myself. I try to research/ponder/overthink EVERYTHING, and yet it still seems that EVERYTHING goes wrong. And whats more, I feel completely at fault for all these things that go wrong. I am the one that does all the research, which really does put all the blame on me. Countless times a day I am reminded of how many things I have royally screwed up, only to find out about additional screw ups from time to time. Oh joy!

OK, vent over. We now return you to your previous programming already in progress...

Smoochy

There is just something insanely irresistible about sloppy wet baby kisses! Brody learned how to kiss this afternoon. When I say kiss, I mean he lean forward with his mouth wide open and drools all over my face. I know...sounds gross, but I can't even put into words how sweet it is! The look on his face as he does it is priceless...like he is totally in awe that he has figured out how to kiss back. I love babies...

Ugh!

Why is it that everytime I am sick, everyone else in the house is sick too? Is it some law of nature that a mother is not allowed to be sick all by herself so that she may simply wallow in her illness and not be expected to do anything more than curl up on the couch and sip a nice carmel apple cider from Starbucks?

I am so stinkin' tired I can't think straight...yet I still have to change 2 sets of diapers, feed 2 mouths (and my own if there's time), read the same book 50 times, watch the same movie for the gazillionth time, and get 2 little boys ready and in bed (the oldest of whom recently discovered what a fun game it is to get back out of bed every 2 minutes to ask for something he forgot he needed before bed). Once I am alone, I then have to play catch up on all the messiness that happened throughout the day.

Just once, I want to be sick all by myself. I know its childish, but I can't help it. If I have to be miserable and in a daze, I want pity and a bit of babying. Is that really too much to ask? Probably, but I doubt I will ever know...I have been blessed with an awesome immune system so I really shouldn't complain. This is probably the only time I will be sick all winter, but in the selfish part of my mind that makes it even worse. My one and only chance all year to get a little extra help and attention has been whisked away by the cries and sniffles of 2 of the cutest little boys on earth...oh woe is me.

Hello Cyberland!

I've tried the website thing....can't seem to keep it updated.

I've got Myspace and Facebooks accounts...weeks go by without me checking in on them.

I lurk on message boards...I'm afraid of being a post killer.

I have text messaging on my phone...it takes too long to hit the 3 key 3 times just to get to an F.

I have email...but who uses that anymore?

So...here I am. Will I follow through with it? Will I keep it up to date? Will I say enough interesting and off the wall things to pique the interest of my fellow Cyberians? Only time will tell...