My sweet Evie

Evie is growing up way too fast. Each day seems like she has learned or discovered something new. It is crazy to think how much she can develop from month to month. I look back at pictures from when she first turned 2 and she has changed so much in these past 5 months.

Evie can count up to about 20 and she knows all of her colors. She likes to sing her ABC's and knows that her name starts with an E. She LOVES to read and can read books to us. She can't actually "read" the words, but she listens to us read and will memorize the words. It really is the sweetest to listen to her read a book. Some of her favorites are Pete the Cat, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, any of her Minnie Mouse books, and If Jesus Lived Inside my Heart.

Evie LOVES music and dancing. Her daddy has started a tradition with her when they go to school each morning. One day he starting playing the song "Sweet Caroline" and now she is OBSESSED with the song. She knows most of the words and they even have hand motions. Talk about melting my heart! One other song they sing is "Can't take my Eyes off of You" so she is always singing the lyrics, "I love you baby..." Some other songs she loves are "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," Jesus Loves Me," "You are my Sunshine," and "Wheels on the Bus." One song she has recently started singing is the "Bumble Bee" song that she learned at school. I always ask her to sing, but of course she will only do it when she is in the mood. :)
Evie now loves the movie Frozen and LOVES the music from it. At least once a day we have to YouTube "Let it Go" and "Do you want to Build a Snowman?" on our Apple tv so she can watch it. She knows most of the words to both songs. The best is when she sings "Let it Go"...her version is "Yet it go, Yet it goooo." She hasn't mastered her L's yet. 

Evie plays very well by herself. Her favorite thing to do is play with her babies and blankets. I mean she plays with them ALL THE TIME! We have a lot of nap times at our house with babies and stuffed animals. She lays the babies face down and covers them completely with blankets. (Thankfully she hasn't tried this with her REAL baby) :). We aren't sure why she covers their entire face with the blanket, but we think she is trying to mimic what she sees at school. She loves to change her babies diapers and even puts cream on them! I honestly just sit and watch her play sometimes because it's just so sweet.

We had one huge milestone this past month. Evie threw away her beloved paci. Yes, she threw it away. One day Gray was cleaning them and he looked at Evie and said we should throw these away because these are for babies. She hesitated for a second and then said "ok." She walked to the trash can and threw them away. We were both shocked! She fussed a few nights wanting it, but then she was fine. It was an exciting day for us to be done with those things! The next milestone we will be working toward is the beloved potty training. Evie will use the big girl potty, but only if we ask her to or remind her to do it. She won't tell us when she has to go. We haven't pushed the issue because we are just so busy!:/ I know, not a good excuse, but we will get there soon! I do look forward to the day that I only have to buy diapers for one child and not both! Talk about a raise!!

Evie was in her first wedding this past month. She was the flower girl! She wouldn't walk down the aisle without her daddy or take any pictures with the bride, but she looked so precious!!!

Halloween was a lot more fun this year with both babies! Evie understood a little more about what she was doing and she loved all the candy!! She did not want Daddy or Mommy going in her bucket to look for candy. 

Evie is a great big sister! She loves Harrison so much and is so sweet to him (most of the time). Now that Harrison is more mobile he is going after her toys and that she is not ok with. We have to remind her that he is just a baby and he doesn't know any better. She loves to help him with his own toys...she will hand the toys to him or show him what to do with them. I love watching Evie and Harrison interact. Harrison think shes is the greatest thing ever! Evie is about the only one who can make Harrison laugh that good laugh!!

Evie brings so much joy to our lives. She is our little ray of sunshine! She always knows how to make us laugh! Evie gives the BEST hugs and kisses and always says I LOVE YOU! She truly is such a blessing!!

Growing boy

My little boy is growing so fast and I just don't know how to handle it. I can't believe that he is already 7 months old. He changes so much everyday and gets sweeter by the minute. Harrison is the happiest baby and just loves everyone! He seriously smiles ALL the time.We may or may not kiss him 100 times a day! 

Harrison is a a little butter ball! :) At his 6 month check up he weighed 18 pounds and was 27 1/4 inches long. He is wearing size 2 diapers and 6-9 month clothes. 

He loves, loves his bottles. We he sees us fixing it or bringing it close to him his feet go crazy! He is now on a breakfast, lunch, dinner schedule with bottles in between. He has baby oatmeal for breakfast and loves it!! He has tried squash, sweet potatoes, green beans, carrots, bananas, apples, and peaches. He definitely favors squash, sweet potatoes, and apples. 

First try at bananas :)

He is finally establishing a good sleep pattern. He goes to bed around 8 or so every night and then wakes up around 7 or a little after every morning. He does fuss one time after we put him down and we usually are able to go in and pat his bottom and he will go back to sleep. He takes two naps a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The best is when you go in to get him after he wakes up. He pops his head up to find you and will give the sweetest little grin. It will melt your heart! I have to soak up the weekend mornings because he isn't awake when I leave for work. 

Harrison was taking Prevacid for his reflux, but at his 6 month appointment the doctor told us we could probably stop giving it to him. We decided to try not giving it to him and he did just fine. The day we stopped giving it to him is when he starting sleeping so much better!! I am hoping the two aren't related because if so I would have stopped the medicine long before that! There was a time where Gray and I thought we would never get a full nights sleep again!! 

Harrison stays with Grayson and Cindy (Gray's dad and step-mom) and they absolutely adore him. Every day we go to pick him up he is sitting in Grayson's lap either sleeping or just taking it all in. Harrison may or may not be spoiled over there, but we are okay with that! It has been such a huge blessing that they are able to keep him! 

Harrison sits up on his own and he has become very mobile. He is trying so hard to figure out how to crawl. I know it won't be long before he begins that and Gray and I really will be in for some fun! He loves toys and tries to put EVERYTHING in his mouth. We are always washing toys because his little 2 year old sister loves to grab the ones Harrison can put in his mouth. 

Harrison drools A LOT!!! Every outfit he wears ends up soaked with drool, even when he has a bib on. The bib and shirt end up wet. I am hoping that this excess of drool is just because of teething!! He only has one tooth that has popped through and that has made him a little fussy at night. We can see where the others are coming in, but just having pushed through yet, but it is only a matter of time. We were blessed with Evie because she was never fussy when she had a tooth coming in...I guess Harrison will have to make up for that!:)

Harrison usually loves bath time and there really is nothing better than a freshly bathed baby. We have even tried giving Evie and Harrison a bath together and so far it's have been successful! You never know what you're going to get with a 2 year old toddler!;)

I absolutely love being this boy's mommy! He is such a good baby and just makes life so much better! 

We are continuously counting our blessings!! 

(All pictures are from the last couple of months.)

My Sweet Boy

It's hard to believe my little boy who I feel like was just born is now 4 months old! I feel so bad I haven't written much about him, but let's be honest when you have two children 2 and under and work full time there isn't much time for blogging. 

Here is Harrison during his first month of life. I can't believe how much he has grown since then.

One Month Old 

Two Months Old 

First Carolina Baseball game
(Of course the one game we go to (with a baby) a ball comes right at us. Harrison was in his car seat so Gray had to hold the car seat up with one hand and keep the ball from hitting my Grandma with his other hand!!!) 

 Harrison is such a sweet little boy! He has the most precious face that you can't help but smile at when you look at him. He loves to laugh especially when his daddy has him. His favorite thing to do is lay on his play mat. I think he enjoys the freedom to move around. He isn't the biggest fan of tummy time, but we are hoping he will eventually get used to it. He has rolled over from his stomach to his back and almost to his back from his stomach. 

Three months old

At his 4 month well visit Harrison weighed 15 pounds!He is a great eater and getting to be a good sleeper. He sleeps about 7-8 hours at night wakes up for a feeding between 5 and 6 and then will usually go back to sleep for about two more hours. He takes a couple naps a day, some longer than others. He still likes to be swaddled. We have tried a couple naps without the swaddle, but he doesn't sleep long at all. 

Four Months Old

Harrison loves his big sister. Although she can be quite loud at times he just loves to look at her. He always smiles when she comes around. Harrison has the sweetest personality. He loves to be held and cuddled. It is so hard not to kiss all over him because of how cute he is! He has the prettiest blue eyes. Every time he wears blue his eyes just make my heart melt!!!

Harrison has been such a blessing to our family. I can't imagine life without him. We are incredibly thankful for our sweet little angel!

TWO

How is it possible that my first born is 2 years old? Life sure does fly by! Evie has grown so much and learned so much in the past year.  I can just sit and watch her play and interact for hours. The things she says are just so precious! She is talking so well and picks up on EVERYTHING we say. She is incredibly lovable and sweet. She loves to give kisses and hugs and say I love you.

Evie is still a great eater! Her favorites are chicken nuggets, any fruit, green beans, corn, chips, apple sauce, apple juice, ham, cereal bars, and Popsicles(which she calls pockets). 

Evie is a great sleeper. She sleeps about 11 hours at night and takes a 2-3 hour nap most days. She is still sleeping in her crib, but we plan to move her to a big girl bed soon. Wish us luck when we make that transition!:) 

Evie loves books. Every night before bed we have to read at least 4 books before she will go to sleep. She is OBSESSED with Mickey Mouse and loves her baby dolls. She is always doing things with her babies that she sees us do with Harrison. She changes their diapers, nurses them (which is so funny to watch), feeds them a bottle and carries them in their car seat. Any time I am holding Harrison and rocking him she will grab her baby and do the same. It seriously is such a sweet moment. She loves to put her babies in the swing or bouncer when Harrison isn't in them. 

Evie knows all of her animal sounds and loves going to the zoo to see the animals.  She can count up to about 13 and can sing her ABC's. She loves music and will start singing songs randomly. Some of her favorites are Old MacDonald Had a Farm, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Jesus Loves Me, and You are My Sunshine.
Evie is a great big sister. She loves her brother and is always entertaining him. She gives him constant hugs and kisses. I can't wait to watch them grow up together!

On Evie's actual birthday we picked her up from school and headed to Build A Bear. My mom (Gam) wanted to get that for her birthday. Evie picked out a puppy to build and really enjoyed doing this! After that we went out to an early dinner and then picked up Harrison from Grandma's house. We decided to let him stay there so we could spend some one-on-one time with her. :)

  Evie makes our world go round. She lights up any room she is in and can make you smile instantly. She has the sweetest personality and the most infectious laugh. 

Feeding her baby. :)

 God, thank you for this sweet, sweet blessing. I am one blessed mommy that this little girl is my daughter!