Saturday, October 9, 2010

You Ain't Nothin' but a hound dog...

My Name is Evan. My birthday is October 14th but my parents gave me a Sock Hop party today with some of my friends. I'll let my mama tell you the rest. :)...


First of all, I love his hair, it reminds me of the way my Dad's hair was styled in the *real* 50's, so that's for you dad. Yes he has 'side burns' that I made with eyeliner for fun. I have mixed feelings about whether I should have taken them off but we kept them and there you go. He's adorable and they are funny sideburns.


Unfortunatly we were going soooo crazy this morning that this is as close as you get of his whole ensamble (minus the leather jacket! rrrr) photographed but he was totally 50's. :)


Ok, it was actually sweet here because as soon as Evan got over his initial jealousy that Cora gets to inherit his car walker (he seems to remember it?), he was actually really nice to her and pushed her gently all around the room. She loved it. Then again, she loves all her time with her big bro.



The Decor seen through 'rose colored glasses". he he he.







I made this one big cause you may not see us together in a picture alone for a very long time. It's been two years since we even considered taking a photo alone together. ha ha ha. I had to make a scene in order to get him to wear the super cool glasses and it was worth it cause it ALMOST looked like Michael dressed up. Thank you honey, you are the cutest in these glasses. xo


And the kids arrive and the fun begins. Malt shop channel was playing, balloons were chased, kicked and thrown and girls (us moms) started gabbing. Whoo hoo!


Let us not forget the cutest girl there! Cora Grace was adorable. "Scarf" around her neck, pale pink shirt with hand layed rhinestone "C" on her chest, pink tutu from her birth photo shoot under her hand made poodle skirt, bracelet from Henny Penny and Socks from Grandma Jennie to complete the outfit. The happiness and smile are natural, no money can buy that. :)
My friend Linda in her homemade "poodle skirt". ha ha ha I loved it soo much!
Linda's little bean


As usual, content baby C.G. She's checking her hair in the side mirror.


Stacey giving what will be come the greatest attraction at the party... the Wagon rides! ha ha ha.


Linda's little man on his favorite toy (and others), the quad.


Evan is actually looking at a plane and completely tuning me out but I think the boy has a future in GQ modeling right? He and the wagon have been attached at the hip lately.


Evan and his all time friend "H" on the wagon ride of doom, let by Evan's running mommy. Whew! It was making me very hot but they loved it.


Elizabeth is one of my good friends, former babysitter and mother to "H". We were not only wearing the exact same shirt but the same shoes (different colors)! :D It was really fun and funny. Wait till you see what we're wearing to church sunday! ha ha ha, j/k.


Linda taking a turn at being a slave to wagon pulling. :)



"H" circled her 2 or 3 times, I lost count. snicker snicker snicker ;).


Elizabeth, Stacey and her son "S" enjoying the shade from our warm weather today.


Jessie helped me with C.G. and her daughter "C" didn't even seem to mind. Thanks Jessie!


On to the "Drive-in". The kids each had a box to decorate with their choice of flames on the side and headlights so they could all have their own "Hot Rod" like my dad had in the 50's. We watched Blues Clues while eating popcorn (as Mike got lunch ready). The kids were sooOOOO good! I was really happy to see them understand sitting in the boxes too and was especially happy that they all love popcorn! whoo hoo!


I failed to photograph the food but it was yummy. Hot Dogs wraped in crissant rolls then baked in the oven, hamburger 'sliders' and Rootbeer floats. (I forgot to make the fries but we didn't need them anyway)


Here is the back story on these pics. "C" is a couple months older than Evan and although very femanin (sp?) is as active and mobile as any boy I've ever seen! Anyway, when Evan was smaller and not walking, "C" had once jumped on his back while he was crawling and tried to ride him like a horse! :D She also layed his first kiss on him when he was maybe 7 or 8 months old which is really funny that she is like this cause her mom is pretty reserved and her dad seems pretty even keeled, lol but this Miss "C" is a charachter she is. So here she has chased after Evan his whole life but in this picture, she's climbed up the chair and Evan is below, jumping laughing at her that she is the coolest for doing this then goes up to her and randomly says with outstretched arms and fingers... "HUG!?" A question and a statement all in one of which you see her reply in body language... until....



... She can resist her prince charming no longer! ;) eek! so cute! (p.s. there was a point where she did in fact push her bare foot in his face to keep him back. ha ha ha)


Every good Sock Hop has a Pinata (let's just get this out of the way... there was no "sock hop" but anyone could dance at any time. ha ha ha)

Smart girl Ema! Little bean, you'll rot your tooth out! :)


Proud parents watching their future rock star. Now me thinks I know where the lost sunglasses belong... hmmm....


I am going to post a whole blog about this cake I made cause I am so proud of it! I really appreciate all the great feedback too. I think my friend Liz really didn't believe me that I made it. What a compliment! :)



It was so fun that this year he actually was able to try to blow candles out! We blow his windchime every night before bed for practice. :)


In the end there were hugs for everyone. Thank you all for making our party so fun and happy!


Buddies for Life x2!


After party rebellion. He took NO nap today despite falling asleep practically while I was getting him out of his party clothes.
Up from her nap and still soooo cute!




C.G. is a very good stander. I am only keeping her from falling but she stands very well.


The End. Thank you! ( i will still try to post video but it has been taking WAY too long lately )

Too cool for school

Someone left their party favor supercool sunglasses so cora made the best of it. :)

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

Top of the Blog



Today we had Evan's 2nd Birthday Party. It was a 50's Sock Hop! We had so much fun dressing up and playing with some of our friends. I had to put this picture up, at the top of the blog, at least till I take a nap and post about the party, later. I gave you the second view with my super cool glasses as a bonus. You are welcome! :) he he he.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

FUN with kids, cars, toys, wagon, leaves and camera








(favoite above)












































































































































































































































































I'm not really sure why the pictures are all a jumble but it makes it hard for me to comment per picture and I'm too tired and exhausted (yes too different things) to worry about that now. First of all the picture of my chubby baby girl above, makes me really really happy (even though I used flash) cause she's so cottage cheeseish and innocent next to buff and tuff Evan. ha ha ha. Anyway... at the top of the page is part of today. I had no time to be outside cause I'm cleaning and getting ready for Evan's birthday party this Saturday (it will be blogged. also, cleaning now cause I work the next two day, long hours and can't do it later) but... Evan persuaded me with his longing for 'ousiiiiiide' laments. I decided to take my camera to see if I capture something special and I did! Let me also mention, the wagon pics are from the 2nd 'ousiiiide' trip of the day that he had 'talked' me into. So, we took C.G. and padded up the wagon for a smoother ride. I thought Evan would sit behind her so I could escort both kids but he would have NONE of that! He wanted to take her around (even though moments before had a tantrum that I wouldn't pull him around by himself AND did not like that I was putting her in there but once in, HE wanted to do it. so fine then. smirk) and there was really nothing I could do about it. :) It was very precious how attentive he was to her and also how hard he worked to get her over rocks and dips, grunting and only crying 'help' a few times to mom. melts your heart. There are some classics in this set for sure. The one against the fence is my favorite.
Next is where I captured some PRICELESS brother sister time this morning. I left c.g. on the floor to get a burp cloth from her room and my camera followed me so I could sneak a peek first but the doorway got in the way, the rest were taken during their tender exchange of happiness and love for each other. I mean look at how content she is with him sticking his dirty thumb in her eye! :D ah hahaha. It is just beautiful. I can't pick a favorite, they are all the best.
Out in the back yard I was again following Evan everywhere this afternoon (before the wagon pics that were taken in the early evening) and accidentally found something in our outdoor fireplace on the logs, that had to be there for a least a few days... I took a few close ups to hopefully stir a chuckle.. BOYS! It was hilarious that his car was in there and when I gave it back, he recreated what must have happened. He was driving it on the top/roof and let it fall through the opening.. on purpose. I also found that amusing. He's also very interested in what he announces enthusiastically as "CORN" meaning acorns. So they are featured on his stump seats I acquired from our neighbor. I just see c.g. having a tea party there on those stumps one day (yes I already bought her a set - of course! he he he). Also, go ahead and make fun of me for bundling him up so much but it's been really cold here lately although thankfully it will be in the mid-80"s for his party since our house isn't an 'indoor entertaining' sized house. Can we just look past that and mention how OLD he looks! :( bitter sweet. I am definitely not a mom that wants my child to stay young or little forever but look at my son who is very quickly not a baby much longer or anymore. wow.
Lastly... We have a jumble of popcorn eating and t.v. watching Evan, cute. 4 mo Cora Grace and the best, diaper babies. ugh! so cute. Ok, I'm out. (it's 315am, yes, I'm a dumb dumb) :)

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

top of the blog


I will post the whole series of this later but this is the picture I'm putting at the top of the blog for now (even though the recently posted and popular one of c.g. is so so cute, I needed both the babies at the top. :))

Mom's official 4 month shoot:


I'm slow to uploading pictures these days but here you go with my rushed and blurry 4 month picture of Cora Grace, taken October 1st.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

"cutie pie at the top of the page"


I cannot tell a lie, I did not take this picture but it was made with my camera last week at the Zoo. My friend Meghan couldn't help herself so asked if she could take some pictures cause Cora was being so extra cute (and all she was doing was sitting there. you should see how cute she is when she moves around and 'talks'. ha ha ha). C.G, has been getting quite a few compliments in random places on the blog to address the header picture so I thought I should give Meghan the credit she deserves for capturing the "cutie pie at the top of the page" (thank you Lee and Lisa P and the others that have commented on the picture). While on the subject, I'll share some fun developing news. While our understanding through Evan's adoption was that we had to wait 6 months to finalize his adoption officially, we recently found out that may not be true. Currently we are communicating with our Attorney and Caseworker to find out how soon we can Finalize! When we do we will be having Cora Sealed to our family in the Nashville LDS Temple then Blessed in our Ward here. I am so excited and wanted to share the information sooner but we still don't know. Either way, the latest would be mid-December. No one in my family committed to being able to come at that time so hopefully a sooner date would at least produce my parents which would be wonderful. If they don't, we will be relying fully on our Church family to assist and accompany us to the temple for our special day and can't wait to see you there. I'm so excited! Cora Grace is so completely part of our physical/temporal family and I cannot wait to make her part of our Eternal one. :)

Friday, October 1, 2010

T.P. Poll

Only a couple hours left to get your votes in on the Toilet Paper Poll preference! ;)

C.G. 4 months

Ugh! Can you believe it? I was saying to a friend that in some ways it really feels like she was 4 months long ago and in others it's like she just got here. . . Regardless, I really want to tell you about my current reasons for loving my daughter currently:

* started cooing and sort of grunting recently, just to hear her voice I think
* cry's out when she wakes up but then hears the door opening and get's silent (she know's what she's doing, ha ha ha ha)
* once in the room after her crying for us, she grins ear to ear when she see's your face. :)
* is always happy.
* is always content.
* loves her brother and anything he says or does.
* laughs. easily, especially after eating.
* very good at grabbing for her toys and loves her book that crinkles (sp?).
* excellent at holding her head up always but especially when on her tummy.
* sleeps all night (this should be #1). Recently went to bed at 5pm and did not wake up until 7am! Thank you (but Daddy and I missed playing with you. boo)! he he he
* so many love her and gush over her as much as we do and it warms our heart cause she is so special.
* doesn't mind my bows I force her to wear.
* her leg rolls.
* curling her toes when she is drinking her bottle.
* clasping her hands so tight together as if praying when she feels a little insecure.
* cheeks. lips.

Cora Grace, You are a blessing to your mommy and daddy. We love you so much and do not know what life was like before your smiles and poopy diapers came along. :) Evan enjoys you more and more each day, holding your hand, bringing you pacifiers (that you still do not take or want) when you are fussing for your bottle to hurry up and get here, he climbs in your bed with you in the mornings to say "Hi! hi hi Hi hi hi hi hi hi" and smile at you so you will smile back (it works), he tolerates you sitting in his rocking chair and even recently willingly posed for a picture with you as he wrapped his arms around you (instead of saying "all done" as soon as I put you next to him). You always forgive him when his sister is cramping his style. You melt our hearts with your radiated love, cheeks and nasaly snickery laughs. Although we LOVE your sleeping lots cause it helps you be even happier, stronger and cuter but Daddy is sometimes sad when he's home from work and you already fell asleep so can you please work on waiting till he gets home to squeeze and kiss you? thanks. :). Thank you for being so happy and content all the time so we can attend to your crazy brother (who currently climbs out of his crib and bumped his head in the act recently). Mom predicts you will be loyal to him, following and mimicking him as much as you can. We will try to teach him manners so he is a good example to you and you can teach him to be sweet and kind when it's your turn to teach him a thing or two. God blessed us (so far) with 2 beautiful children and we will always try to teach you his ways so you can enjoy the blessings that are in store for you throughout your life. We will never take for granted that you deserve the best love we can give you. We love you C.G.!
Mommy and Daddy.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Clients

I just wanted to give a shout out to all my clients out there for being so great to me. I had a wonderful day at the Chop Shop today and it's all because of people like YOU. In May, I was scheming on how I could convince Michael to let me stay home... ASAP. I was heart broken to keep taking Evan to our babysitter (who I loved and she is still very helpful if I was ever to need her but she's not me and I want to hang with my kids, not someone else) when I feel it's possible to make it work with one persons income. So our surprise baby daughter came on June 1st and turned life upside down for the next few weeks. I was off for 5 weeks (wish is more baby girl) and thankfully I was with my California family for 2 of those weeks, which is "Chicken Soup for the Soul" but worried about feeling like quitting again when I went back. I was immediately blessed with the feeling of excitement to return to work. Not only so I could GUSH about our beautiful new baby surprise but to get my hands on some hair again. I do love being a hairstylist, what it does for some people and how happy I feel about how they look when I'm finished. I only work two week days and every other Saturday but I still miss being a mom in those few hours away. I appreciate my clients making it worth my while when I come to work and we exchange our stories and renew our friendships. What a unique job! Thank you for giving me a particularly happy day to blog about. ;) xoxo