Longfellows!

Well, Mark and I had a wonderful and finally relaxing weekend. Saturday morning we headed to Longview so we could watch my beautiful sister be "presented to society!" We didn't really have much time to see Mare or mom before the big night, so we spent most of our time trying to relax around the house. Micki Maly was nice enough to come over and babysit sweet Evan. She was so gracious to watch Evan at the toughest time for him. Evan is a pretty happy-go-lucky kid most of the time, but if he has a bad time it is always bed time. Micki said that he did great, but I still worried that he would scream his poor little head off! None the less, he was sleeping peacefully when we got home and Micki didn't look to exhausted from her endeavour. Thank you so much Micki. We would not have had near as much fun without you!!

Meanwhile, at the ball Mark and I were having a great time. I might of been having too much fun, but how often am I baby less?! Mare did a perfect bow and looked so beautiful! I don't think she could have asked for a better night! The food was absolutely delicious and the decorations looked great. We had a wonderful but quick 3 hours out. Mark and I even got in a few dances!

Sunday, we just tried to relax. We managed to sleep late and somehow Evan sort of slept until 9. We were up a bit here and there, but still felt pretty rested for staying out so late. Nini and grandpa watch Evan while Mark and I went to The Hangover 2 (very funny, but quite the same as the first!!). Later that night Evan took a dip in the hot tub. Pictures will come if my mom sends them to me :) Evan loved the hot tub and even tried to swim. He loved to kick his little, or should I say FAT, legs in the water!

We woke up Monday and headed to Arlington. We went to pick up Troy, but were surprised by a cook out! We enjoyed a day with Grammy and Pops (and Matt too!). We had some wonderful grilled ribs, corn, and baked beans! It was nice to visit with everyone and let Evan spend the weekend with both sets of grandparents! He just loves them so much!!

My super beautiful sister, Marilyn!!

Me, Mare, and Bobby! Pretty family!
The family..mitch too!

Can you tell we are having fun??

Evan exhausted (but thankful!) on Memorial Day!

Haha Daddy...

OH yeah...can't forget my growing garden!

Houston, we have.....

a sitting boy!! Now it isn't a full on sit, but he can do it for a good 3 seconds. Long enough to snap a picture of it! I am so proud of him! He is really gaining some good control of his body. In some other great news, my boy finally seems back. My little guy that will sleep through the night and not scream all day long. He still has gas, but it isn't painful like it used to be for him. Maybe his insides have just finally matured a bit. Who knows? Either way I am glad for the past two days he has been my happy boy again!

4 months and bored with pictures!

Mr. Smiles!
My silly boys!

Laughing!

The forward sit!!

Sitting!!

Evan laughing everytime Lola moves!

I'm going to scream my head off!

Well, Evan had his 4 month check up today. Sure he is one day past 4 months, but that is when we scheduled it. The doctor said that Evan looks great. He is hitting all milestones on stride. He also said that Evan is ready for solids. Evan had doubled his birth weight and has been grabbing for food. Both signs that he is ready. The question is, is mom ready? I am not sure I am. I really wanted to exclusively breastfeed Evan until 6 months. Now, I know I will still get to feed him, but it just isn't the same. At the same time, I feel like Evan is ready and showing all the signs that he is ready to try solids. I just feel like I am at such a crossroad. I know the doctor wouldn't steer me wrong, but we don't see exactly eye to eye either. (He likes the schedule, cry it out method. I like the babyled, limited crying method). Mark and I are at least going to wait a week, then we will talk about it again. I am going to be making Evan's baby food, so I can at least get some food made for when we do start!

Otherwise, the doctor went great. Evan had to get FOUR shots. He did not do as well as the first time. He screamed all the way out of the office. Poor guy! Once we made it to the car he had calmed down and actually fell asleep on the car ride home. I hate to watch the shots, but I know it is needed. So, the title of this blog, goes to Evan who felt the need to scream his head off for 5 minutes! Who can blame him though?

And I know you want to know the measurements. Evan was 15 pounds 13 ounces, in the 80th percentile. What a surprise! He was 23.5 inches long. My little shorty that is only in the 9th percentile. What a shocker, right? The doctor says there is still plenty of time for him to be tall, but I think we all know that probably isn't going to happen! I love my little man. I feel so blessed that he is growing and thriving. Sure we have some rough times, but he is our little bundle of joy! I wouldn't change a thing!

Evan and Aunt Bettye!

Sally and Evan at the doctor!
"I am hear for shots? NO way this place is fun!"

Mommy getting me ready for the doctor!

"How tall am I?"

"How much do I weigh?" 15.13

I love my doctor!

I had four shots and I am still happy!

Evan admiring himself!!

4 months!

Wow! Four months already! I can't believe it! Tomorrow Evan has his 4 month old well visit. I hope it all goes well. Will let you know tomorrow....

Well, last night was an eventful night. There were a lot of tornadoes around the area. We had one pass really close to us, but thankfully it did not hit us. I was scared. Evan, Mark, me, and the dogs were all stuffed in our closet under the stairs. The curse of an open floor plan is there is nowhere to hide from a tornado. Let’s just hope we don't have to worry about that. Poor Evan wanted to go to bed, but couldn't because of the TV being so loud and a frantic mommy. Finally, the storms passed and he went to sleep around 9...not his usual 7. He slept until 5, so that was nice.

In some sad news, I have put on 8 pounds! Goodness! The pregnancy weight just fell of me. I didn't have to do anything. Now, it is back. I think this is the heaviest I have weighed while not pregnant! I need to be more active, so hopefully I can get into the swing of things and get this weight, plus some, off. It was nice last summer to not worry about having a bikini body!

Which brings me to my next subject; it was exactly this time last year that I emailed Mark to tell him I was pregnant. I remember I only had one week of school left to teach once I found out. That is crazy to me to think a year ago that little guy was so tiny and just a little embryo and now well he is a baby and HUGE!

I put a video at the bottom of Evan staring at himself in his mirror. Boy, he has an ego! Just kidding. It is quite appropriate at this age to like to stare in mirrors, even though he has no idea it is actually him (Okay it is ridiculous how long it is taking to load this video, so you will have to wait until tomorrow. I know the suspense is killing you!!). I also put a video of him playing with his new toy. It is amazing how much he is discovering things these days. He is grabbing pages of the books when I read to him, grabbing toys, and trying to put just about everything in his mouth. He loves to play with his bib and clothes (when I put him in them, right mom?). He is just growing so fast. Today he had a giggle fit watching Troy run around the back yard. It was so funny to watch him squeal in glee as Troy would run up to him!

16 weeks and checking out Troy dog!

I love my bath time!

I am 4 months old and a big boy!
Evan playing!

Home, Sweet Home!

Well, we made a stop in Longview last night because at 7 we were ready to call it quits and three more hours sounded like a life time. It is a good thing we stopped because Evan decided to have a late night and didn't go to sleep until around nine. It was nice to have Nini and Grandpa there to helps us out after such a long day. I think I went to sleep at ten and Mark shortly after. It was a long day. Evan was still a good car rider, but not a content as he was on the way to Destin. We had about 2 meltdowns this time. He felt like we did, tired of being in the car! We left Longview at 8 this morning and were at our house by 10:30. It was a fast and easy trip. There are no words to express how happy I am to be home, with the dogs, and have nothing to do. Evan is taking a nap right now, the dogs are exhausted from doggy day camp, and Mark and I are watching the Preakness. Ahhhh! It feels so nice!

Hour one!

Hour 3 or so. He slept through both FL and AL!
One of the many on the go feedings!

Hour......

Hour 10...still had two more to go!

At home and playing with his toys!

His new toy from the grandparents!

He loves it!

So happy!!

Evan's half roll, yes again!

Day three in Destin

So we had our first mistaken identity. When we were at the Crab Trap last night and Evan was throwing his mini-fit, the couple next to us offered to shut their window thinking that was what was making Evan fussy.
"We can shut our window if you think it will help her," innocent bystander.
"That's ok. I think HE is just fussy and ready for bed," I replied emphasizing “he”.
"Are you sure? We don't want her to get cold," the idiot answered.
"No HE is ok, but thanks!" I said and walked out of the restaurant to try and calm Evan.
Oh well. I guess that is what I get for dressing our son in all white. He has to wear blue!

Then the other day, when we were at the grocery store to get a few things for the condo a man slightly bumped into me. No big deal, but what he said was rather funny. "I am sorry. I was just so mesmerized by his eyes!" Creepy, but so true. Evan was blessed with beautiful eyes!

So onto today, sadly our last day. This vacation has gone by too fast. We spent the morning relaxing. Evan was up at about 6:30 and ready to go. We let him play in his gym and he had a blast. In fact, he almost rolled over. That boy is getting so close. I think it will happen sooner than later. We slowly got ready for the day and around 11 we went out for lunch. We were starving by 11, since we had eaten breakfast around 7, maybe earlier. We drove and drove and it felt like nothing was open. Twenty minutes in the car and we end up at the harbor and decide we better pick something. We see a place called "Gilligan's." They advertised affordable family dining. Sounds like a place for us. It was great. I got a burger because I don't like seafood and Mark had some shrimp. Evan was great as long as we were holding him and he could watch the dolphins swim by. So, needless to say, we spent the lunch passing him off while the other ate. We are getting pretty use to that life style. After lunch, Evan ate and calmed down, so we headed back to the outlet stores to get him so clothes. We got him 4 outfits for 20 bucks. I could have gone crazy in that store. I did get him a great elephant outfit! It is sad that we are now buying 6-9 and 12 month old clothing because Evan is just growing like a weed! We get to see next week how big he really is!

We went for our final walk on the beach. It was really nice. The beach was cleared because most people had spent their entire day out there. We walked a little in the water and a little on the sand. Evan was great the entire thirty minutes. We even put his foot in the sand. Evan seems to be very content any time I wear him which makes me more of an advocate for baby wearing as opposed to stroller driving.

We are really sad to leave tomorrow but I am also ready to get Evan back to his home. He has been on a crazy schedule here and I think that it is getting to him. I hope the drive home isn’t too bad!

For those of you thinking about traveling to the beach….do it! Just a few words of advice: I wish we would have gone out for lunch everyday instead of trying dinner. Evan was too fussy by that time at night. Instead, it was nice to lounge all morning and let Evan have a “normal” morning, then go out for lunch and fun, and be back for dinner at the condo! That brings me to my second point. Make sure and get a nice condo with an ocean view. I would be very sad if we had a bad condo and I did not get to look at the ocean every morning! It really helps!

Well off to pack….

Daddy and Evan at the harbor!

Evan at the harbor!
Evan's new move: The side roll!

Mommy and Evan!

Evan's foot!

Mommy and Evan on the beach!

Mommy and Evan in the Ocean!

Mommy showing off Evan!

Evan and his half roll!

First Beach and Pool time

Day two in Destin.

Well yesterday was our beach and pool day. We probably spent a total of 30 minutes combined at both if that tells you anything. We got out to the beach around 10 because we wanted to make sure and get an umbrella. We got down there and Evan was happy. We put his feet in the sand and he seemed to enjoy it. Then, we put his feet in the ocean. He didn't hate it, but it was pretty cold. Too cold for me. Mark didn't seem to mind. Then, Evan got upset. He was tired, but wouldn't fall asleep out there. He took a 5 minutes cat nap then we brought him upstairs to sleep in his packnplay. He was out for about 2 hours. Once he woke up we wanted to go try the pool. We went to the heated indoor pool. He seemed very happy. Then, we made the mistake of going to the outside pool. Too cold! He was not happy, so we came back to the room to get ready for dinner. We went to dinner about 5 hoping to beat crowds and get home before Evan's bedtime around 7. We went to the Crab Trap and it was a great place. Sitting basically right on the beach. So pretty. Evan was good through the appetizer, but once our food came he wouldn't stop crying. This was the first time we have left a place because of Evan. Usually we can console him, but he just did want any part of that restraunt. On the car ride home, Evan of course fell asleep. We put him down at about 5:30 thinking he was just taking a nap, but he was down for the night. He did have a pretty busy day!

Beach time!

Daddy and Evan at the beach!
Loving their beach time!

5 minute cat nap!

Too bad he didn't stay asleep!

Daddy and me in the pool!

I like the pool!Legs in the water!

Getting ready to go to the pool!

You like my cool sunglasses?Mommy and me getting ready for dinner!

The view from the Crab Trap!

Eating dinner at the Crab Trap!

Me in the beach!