Happy New Year!

We had a very Merry Christmas, but it went SO quickly! Seems like we just had Jason's holiday party, and now we are in 2013. 

Ev has started eating foods. So far I have made him carrots and pears. He is getting much better about swallowing and keeping it in his mouth vs the bib...and actually seems to like chomping down on that little rubber spoon. Wyatt likes to regale him with tales of  "when I was a baby, I ate...". Whatever he is saying cracks Ev up. He just smiles and laughs at Wyatt. I guess he likes those stories. 

W has started potty training. That's all we will say about that. Potty training and I HATE each other. 

Jason made partner at McKoolSmith. yay!! ...and then decided to live the American Dream and strike it out on his own. CassadyCurry will start up work on Monday, and we are all very excited about the prospects in the year to come. Wow!

We have had a lovely break, but I am looking forward to getting everyone back on a schedule. Jason to work, Wyatt to school, normal dinners, normal hours. It has been a topsy turvy holiday and we all lived in the Palace of Excess. Time to come home. 

I asked Jason what his new year's resolutions were and he told me (in a superior sounding tone) that he didn't make resolutions. I forgot that he was already perfect. :)

So I've been thinking about what I want to be resolute about. I'm not going to say: I'm going to lose weight because I ate 3 cherry cordial Hershey kisses in a row today after Wyatt pooped on the floor and Everett threw up on my sweater. But I am going to say these things:

1. I would like for the whole family to eat healthier meals. This requires a bit more preparation on my part...so I need to go ahead and do that. We could all stand to eat more fruit, veg, and dairy. And I would like to get Ev started out on the right foot. 

bacon is the right foot, right?

2. I would like to run a 5k every other month. Except in the summer. It's good to have a goal to keep you active. My first 5k is at the end of this month - the Doughnut Dash. Doughnuts are provided by the magnificent Hypnotic Doughnut, so my motivation is somewhat sketchy, but...whatever works. I am running this with my friend Erin, and that is the thing about running. I originally did it to get more involved with my friend JP and found myself entangled with Katie M, Playgroup ladies, my cousin Laura, and all sorts of surprising folks. Its the gift that keeps on giving. 

3. I am going to commit to seven random acts of kindness each month. Seven seems like a small number, I know, but I have to start somewhere and 7 is the number of perfection. I am hoping it will be like the butterfly effect - my deeds will start change in the world. I'll keep you posted.

4.  I am going to plan more learning activities with Wyatt. Truthfully, since I had Ev, my parenting has been a little less than stellar. Sometimes Team Umi Zoomi teaches W more than I do (although, it taught me what a dodecahedron was - and now I have mighty math powers. Mighty, mighty math powers). Mostly, however, my daily effort is sad. I have five teaching certifications and a whole lot of ability. I am going to see where I can plug in a little more pizazz, and then I'm going to make it happen. I planned lessons for other people's children for almost a decade. Surely I do it for my own, right? Right. 

making a fall leaf collage - back in November

And I'm going to stop there. Just reading this list makes me tired. That's quite a bit to accomplish and so little time to do it. :)

Cheers to you, 2013! I have a feeling we are going to get along swimmingly.

Thanksgiving+

We had a very nice Thanksgiving. We celebrated Thanksgiving Day with J's family. I made a ham and the mashed potatoes. I tried out green bean bundles from Pinterest...and they were a success. A cherry pie from Whole Foods with homemade whipped cream that Wyatt and I put together rounded out my plate. Delicious!

Saturday we had Griffiths family Thanksgiving. We couldn't have asked for nicer weather as we celebrated lake -side. Wyatt loved exploring the beach with his cousins, and Sue set up a scavenger hunt for the little ones. I was sad to have to leave Saturday night, but I'm already looking forward to Christmas at DJ's. 

 Wyatt and I read Gingerbread Pirates last week (we checked out a slew of holiday books from the library). Since reading it, Wyatt has been interested in gingerbread men. Tonight, he suited up in his Chef Wyatt gear and we baked and decorated cookies.  

 Jason helped me get the Christmas stuff down. The house is very Christmas-y. Bing is playing in my CD player and on Pandora.  It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!

Ev's Halloween Photo Shoot

Ev didn't do much on Halloween except take a ride in the stroller. 

He dressed up as a baby...because 3mo costumes seemed kind of crazy to me. 

So - here are some pictures of just Ev. It seems like he is still so tiny to me, but I was looking back through some photos of last month's activities, and it does appear that he has grown. :) Whew!

Happy Halloween!

As I write this, my little monsters are both asleep (but for how long is anyone's guess), the Halloween decorations have all been taken down (OCD alert), and I feel pretty pleased with how the last few days have gone. 

Crazy Halloween Glasses

Halloween? I LOVE candy!!

On Tuesday, I spent all day at W's school. We started the day with a Halloween costume parade. Then, I volunteered to read a story and do a craft. We read the Big Pumpkin and everything that I remember about teaching pre-k was revisited. They are so wiggly! As room mom, I also put together a party for W's class at school. We did some Halloween bowling and some pumpkin decorating. 

It was such a busy day, and I couldn't have done it without mom's help watching Ev. 

It was a great fun to see how Wyatt acts in his school setting. (Like a Boss.)

Steg at School

Clip Art Bowling that I made with cranberry juice containers - thanks, Pinterest!

Bowling at the Halloween Party

Halloween day - another whirl wind! Gabby and Pop Pop came over with some taco soup and corn bread. We had a great dinner, then we took our Stegosaurus trick-or-treating. Ok. He doesn't get manners yet. When he got candy that he didn't like (like Milky Way), he had a melt down. With stomping. It was very dinosaur-like behavior. I just stood on the sidewalk and asked folks "Hey - who's kid is that???". Katie and Brad dropped by for dinner, too - just in time to witness another candy induced flip out. 

Whew. I better go ahead and eat the rest of his trick-or-treat candy before he wakes up...

 

As fun and busy as things have been, I'm glad to see October draw to a close. 

With November at hand, W and I are going to spend some time focusing on being thankful. I am already looking forward to some time together with family and little Houston cousins.

Ev's Sip & See

Aunt Katie and Gabby were good enough to host a Sip & See for Everett last weekend, and it was a doozy! Sip & See is, I suppose, a southern tradition for folks to get a chance to meet the new baby after his immune system is a little stronger and the mom is no longer in the "have I showered today???" phase. 

Katie and Mom put together an awesome spread. We had a cheese tray, hummus served in a hollowed out pumpkin, a candy corn & peanut mix, bundtinis, a Pecan and Prailine bundt cake, a take on tea sandwiches, and plenty to drink. 

 

 

 

Katie had her house decorated with all of her fall goods plus lots of pictures of Everett. It was darling and since she had cider brewing, it smelled amazing. 

Ev made the rounds at the party. I think I only held him one time. Mom handled all of the diaper changes. I handled the Cabernet. ...Which means that I, of course, forgot to take pictures DURING the party. Here are a few, though! Thank you to everyone who came and helped make our day so special. 

 

 

 

 

 

Pumpkin Stuff

This is our third trip to the pumpkin patch with our friends, the Petersons, and each year it gets better. This year, Dub was really into everything. He loved the bounce houses, he loved running through the rows of pumpkins like a crazy man, and he even picked out his own pumpkin. He had a great Sunday, taking in our fall tradition.

We had a cold snap last weekend, so it actually felt like fall. Little Ev is smaller than Wyatt was at this same age, so we didn't have any jackets for him (has since been remedied). We bundled him up the best that we could. He spent most of the pumpkin patch time tucked into the stroller.

 

Reminds me of a picture of Aunt Sue sitting on the sea wall. Very similar faces!

Heeeeaaavvvvyyy!!

Snotty picks a pumpkin!

Riding the Train Car. Tight fit, Dad!

Loving Daddy time!

Jason is going to be gone on actual Halloween, so we wanted to carve our pumpkins together. It was Dub's first experience with gutting the pumpkin, and he was into scooping out the innards with his spoon. Just look at the concentration on his face. We scooped out and cleaned the seeds, then we toasted them and ate them. Jason carved the face on our pumpkin, and we showed Dub how you light a candle and put it inside the pumpkin and it makes a spoooooky glow. At that point, Wyatt started screaming like a girl - "it's scary, it's scary" and running around. The only scary thing was his behavior...

 

The next day, we went out and planted some pumpkin seeds in our pots.  Wyatt told me he was going to grow a pumpkin to make pumpkin pie. Where does he GET this stuff?  I wish there was some way that could work out for him...but we planted the toasted pumpkin seeds, so I'm positive that's not happening. Maybe next year.

 

 

Next week we have plans to go to the State Fair and we are celebrating Ev's birth with a little party. I love the fall season so much! Looking forward to what's next.