One

On Halloween, our baby girl turned one! I really can hardly believe it. It seems like just yesterday she was hooked up to tubes and machinery to monitor her delicate state, being born 6 weeks premature. Now she is completely healthy and thriving, matching her brother developmentally in nearly every way.

It's funny how now that she's reached the milestone of turning one, she's doing so many new things, almost as if to live up to her new age. For example, just last week she took eight consecutive steps (Gma and Gpa got to witness this on Skype- unfortunately Daddy was out of the room :(), she said her first distinguishable word last night in the bathtub ('go') and today she pointed for the first time. She also plays peek-a-boo on her initiation, claps and makes her voice mimic a "yay," clicks her tongue, and crinkles up her nose with a big cheesy smile when she's trying to be cute. She has 4 teeth with 2 more pushing through and is a tiny girl (she wore Will's first Halloween costume as a one year old- he was 5 months old). I love her more than words can express.

We had a great time celebrating Eva's birthday with our good friends Jess and Evie, who turned two the same day. Thanks to Susan and Brent, I didn't have to clean like a mad woman before the party! Thanks for hosting, guys =).

Check It

Remember that one post a while back when I mentioned that I'd been staring at my calendar a lot? Well, a friend today wanted details thinking it was something more glamorous than the truth, so I've decided to explain lest anyone else out there is thinking that I'm pregnant or something.

I decided that a photo (albeit blurry) was the best way to explain. Basically I was bracing myself for this craziness:

Pink= voice lessons, Orange= Bach Society, and Yellow= Symphony Chorus. These past few days I've been able to come for air, just in time for Eva's birthday party and Halloween.

Novemeber will be a more "normal" month, even though I have a few Octoberlike bad-boys left before summer hits. Here's a shot of Turkey month:

December will got back to relative craziness, but nothing like October. October takes the cake, so to speak ;).

Sunday was the first day in almost a month that I got to spend time with my family with no agenda. Here's what we did with our time:

[Once again, sorry for the blurriness. I've discovered that the pictures show up on my computer fairly clear but then blur-up when posted on Blogger. Also, the last two photos were taken at dusk and I'm no expert photographer!]

Pumpkin Patch

Last year we didn't make it to the pumkin patch because our own little pumpkin, Eva was being born. So, this year we are happy that we made it because the day was absolutely beautiful. It was about 68 degrees and sunny, perfect weather to visit a little place called Stuckmeyer's Farm in Fenton. Nestled in the ozarks, it was a cute little place. There was a gigantic pumkin patch, picnic tables for lunch, hayrides, a petting zoo, a mini-corn maze, and a really cool wooden play-area. The best thing about it was the lack of people (I'm assuming because it was earlier in the day and a weekday).

They had a gigantic stash of Radio Flyer wagons for the patrons to cart children and pumkins. There was no charge for using these, as well as no charge for entrance. Score 2 for Stuckmeyer's.

The Great Pumkin Hunt

"How 'bout these?"

Dum Ditty Dum

She Ain't Heavy- She's got two pumkins...

So Fast

Yesterday, Will picked his nose and ate it. Last week, he held his blankie up to his body and declared "Mom, look at me. I'm a woman!" The other day, he picked up his fallen Little Tykes basektball goal and said to Eva, "I'll move it for you, sweetie pie." [parroting his father's pet name for Eva.] Today at the zoo he had full conversations with Caden Wayman (our godson and fellow 2 yr. old) about lunch and which animals were his favorites, and yesterday in the car he told me about a picture he had made on the computer with Mike and Kendra when they watched him the other day (he explained every detail and- I saw the picture, only he didn't know it- he explained it perfectly). How is it that he is growing up at breakneck speed? Can't I just slow things down a little bit?

To be honest, I don't really want to slow things down. It's fun seeing the developement take place. Also, it makes me laugh and laughing is good. But it sure is mind numbing to watch him turn into someone different (new and improved at times, other times, notsomuch) almost overnight. How did he pick up on that so fast? or Where in the world did he get that? are frequent thoughts jumbling around in my befuddled brain. And all my brain can say back is "C'mon, Gina. Keep up the pace. This is nothing- only the beginning." To which I reply "Alas brain, you are right." [note: I don't usually say 'alas' but I also don't really carry on complete dialogues with my brain, so just go with it.]

I have a feeling that this is going to be a recurring theme for some time to come. Maybe this is just what being a parent is like. The fact that something you made can become it's own independent creature, with it's own thoughts and feelings and personality is difficult to grapple with at times. But it's also one of the most exciting things I have yet to experience in my lifetime. And in the midst of dirty diapers, constant laundry, teething, and time-outs, that excitement is like a drug that I can't get enough of.

Fall Already

I really can't believe that yesterday was the first day of fall. This summer flew by, let me tell you. I've been spending quite a bit of time gazing at my calendar these days (I'll go more into that later) and am shocked that it is almost October. In just a month it will be ONE YEAR since our little Eva decided that it was time to be born! WHAT?!?

Eva is growing like crazy and learning new things all the time. Physically her new tricks are clapping (a few weeks now) and waving (newly acquired). She is a happy girl. This past Sunday in church she laughed through the whole last part of the service at seemingly nothing. As I've mentioned before, she loves her brother and one of the fun things they get to do together is "jump." Will gets on the futon (the only piece of furniture where jumping is allowed) and Eva stands on the floor holding the edge and they go crazy. Recently, Rodney said the word "jump" and Eva started bouncing up and down on his lap. She is a good sleeper, taking two naps a day but also she's able to skip it or catch a quick one while we're out and still sleep later in the day.

Will is still a sweet natured boy, but is definitely testing limits lately. He's decided to see what will happen if he hits Eva (sometimes when he thinks we're not looking) and "tackling" has become his favorite pastime. "Mom, tackle me!" is one of his favorite phrases along with "I fumbled the ball!" as he throws himself to the floor [today he tripped and fell pretty hard and through tears said "I fumbled the ball!" I had to laugh as I held him.] We're spending more time in time-out, but it's really still managable. We're pretty lucky. Now, sleeping and eating are two different stories, but you've heard enough about that!

Pic of the Week

I've been fruitlessly trying to post a super-cute video of Will and Eva playing and giggling together for the past 3 days now, so I'll just give up my dreams move on. Instead I will post a picture of sir William from last week.

The other day we were heading out for the morning and I let Will play in the back yard so I could finish getting us packed up. When I came outside I took a quick scan of the backyard expecting to see him playing with the ball he had when he first went out and was puzzled when I didn't see him. Then, I saw him.

Sitting in the chair. Reading a book that I didn't even realize he had brought outside with him. He even stayed a minute while I ran in to get the camera. Love it.

Her World...

Having a crawler in the house again reminds me of just how precarious this stage of development can be. Atleast with toddlers the world is less about discovering every single shiny and potentially dangerous thing in their line of sight (and putting it in their mouths), but about balls and playing with the dog and books and toys. Also, toddlers can avoid getting hands and legs covered in dirt and crumby stuff when you don't have time to vacuum and sweep every 2 hours.

So it seems we are back into baby-proofing mode. Due to the fact that we moved downstairs after Will was past this stage, everyday it seems I have to find new ways to make this apartment a good place for a crawler. Take the dog's water and food dishes for example. When we lived upstairs the dog dishes were conveniently locked behind a baby gate in the pantry. Downstairs there is no pantry, so I find myself continuously putting them up high when Che is not using them. And let me tell you, when I forget Eva sure does make the most of that oversight.

Aside from the challenge of having a crawler in the house once again, It's been so cute to watch Eva discover her environment. She's especially interested in what her brother is doing. The absolute best thing is when Will and Eva start to laugh at one another, the very first signs of playing together. We've been trying to catch this on video with little luck. For now I'll post a video of them sharing a good laugh as their dad reads a book.