Lately

I know I have been absent from the blogosphere lately, but things are a little crazy in our house these days.  I have really been enjoying my time with sweet Ford, but even though he is as sweet as a baby could be, he has somehow added a big dose of CRAZY to our household.  By the time Clint and I get all three kids to bed at night (which sometimes doesn't happen until 9:00!), we are pretty exhausted.  I have been spending my evenings cuddling/bouncing/feeding/rocking Ford, trying to stay on top of emails and phone calls, planning Charlie's birthday party (done and done!), folding laundry, cleaning up from a busy day, getting ready for another busy day...in short, doing everything except blogging [I am uploading pictures from my camera right now and realized that I haven't done so for a month--might be a record for me!].  Aside from the introduction of sweet Ford, we have enjoyed a little stay-cation in Dallas, traveled to Seguin for Easter, finished up spring soccer, started tee ball (huge obsession right now), celebrated Charlie's FOURTH birthday (seriously, how did that happen??), got rid of Evie's paci, painted and set up Evie's big girl bed (still sleeping in a crib, however :), potty trained Evie (woo hoo!), had our last day of school, visited baby Annie in Austin, learned to swim (well, Charlie is swimming; sweet Evie thinks she can swim; hopefully I can convince her to wear her floaties this summer!), and so much more.  I badly want a record of this fun, sweet, crazy time in our lives, so I am vowing to get back in blogging action, as long as Ford cooperates by nicely going to bed in the evenings. :)  I don't want to forget this time in my life--the good or the bad.  I know I will look back on these days with such nostalgia, so it is good for me to remember how exhausting it is.  But Ford's huge gummy smiles, deep chuckle, and wiggling eyebrows make all of his high-maintenance ways totally worth it. :)  I am going to try to play some catch-up and will be back-dating my posts, so check back in if you want to see what we've been up to!

Bye Bye Bobby

I thought I would get tougher as I grew as a mother, but I seem to be getting more wimpy.  Charlie gave up his pacifiers when her turned two, exactly on my schedule, but when two came around for Evie, I just couldn't bear to take her precious bobbies away (partly because I was terrified about the prospect of facing some bad nights/no nap days).  So I tried to take the easy way out and trim then down, cutting a little off the nipple every few nights.  That didn't phase her a bit--she held on to her beloved bobbies even when they just had little stubs coming out of them.  We continued on like that for quite a while, until I decided that they were probably filled with all kinds of nasty bacteria and we really had to do away with them.  I was so hoping that Evie would decide to get rid of them on her own, but it became clear that this was not going to happen.  Anytime we asked her whether she wanted to sleep without bobbies, she gave a very tragic "nooooo!"  So even though it broke my heart to take her bobbies away from my sweet girl, I figured her teeth would thank me later if we went ahead and did it.  So one day when we were feeling particularly brave/foolhardy, we headed to the toy store to pick a toy to "buy" with her bobbies, just like Charlie did.

The little shopper was not nearly as decisive as her brother had been.  We shopped for hours (literally), and ended up going to two different toy stores (much to her daddy's horror) before we finally found something worthy of her precious bobbies.  

 The pink ponies were tempting, but ultimately, did not make the cut.

 Mr. Decisive, meanwhile, found several things that he would very much like to have. :)

 Final decision made.

 Paying with her bobbies...I didn't trust myself, so I left them at the store this time. :)

 Buyers' remorse.

 Sweet girl was a little unsure about the whole thing, but quite pleased with her selection of Chelsea's clubhouse.  It definitely helped ease the pain.

 Shockingly, after all my worrying, Evie did great!  We didn't even have one bad night.  She has mentioned her bobbies a few times (more recently, but really not much), but other than that, has been totally fine.  Now that Ford is getting a little bigger and is using bobbies fairly frequently, Evie has decided that she would like to be a baby again so that she can "cry instead of talk and have bobbies."  But all in all, she really has done great, and we are SO proud of our little girl.  This one always surprises me with how gracefully she handles each transition--much better than her mama!

The bobby-free girl in her crib...happy as a clam!

Easter Sunday

Easter was so much fun this year.  Since Charlie was sick with a stomach virus last Easter, I felt like this was the first Easter where I had kids who were really into it and understood what was going on.  They were a little bewildered about it all, but so, so excited.  The neighborhood and school Easter egg hunts were good training exercises--Charlie and Evie were so excited about the real thing.  I think Evie talked about the egg hunt the whole way down to Seguin.

Here is Miss Priss getting ready Easter morning.  High maintenance?  She was pretty proud to use Mommy's hair dryer. :)

Here are Papa and Ahh with 4 of their grandchildren.

Our little big family.

These two have turned into such great little buddies lately.  I think my favorite thing in the world is just to watch them together.  I love the way Charlie takes care of Evie and she, in turn, worships him.  I don't think he minds (for the most part) having a little pink shadow. :)

Ford, in his Easter best, was not overly impressed.

Easter Sunday was extra special this year because little Elam was baptized at church that morning.  It was a beautiful service and so fun to have so many little cousins in attendance.  We somehow managed to get 15 in a picture!

The Reeds, with the little honoree.

Charlie and Evie love Jackson!

After church, we all got very excited about the Easter baskets and egg hunt.  Just like when we were little, we made the kids wait until everyone was there to go get the baskets.  It was torture for them, but so exciting.

Ford was just desperate to get to his basket.

As was Elam.

Finally, baskets!

Charlie's:

 

Evie's:

Don't forget Ford's!

Posing with his basket. :)

I have no words. :)

Sooooo anxious for the hunt.  He made sure to grab a bigger basket this time. :)

Lining up for the hunt...

And they're off!  Evie was getting into it a little more this time.  She finally began to make the connection that more eggs = more candy.  It was hard for her not to eat the candy right away, but she tried to stay focused on the bigger picture. ;) 

Man on a mission.

"Mom, I got the MOST eggs!"

Even Ford found one!

This picture cracks me up.  The kids were posing for a picture to send to Elec, but only the girls really seem to know how to pose...

It was such a fun Easter, and we loved getting to spend it with all the cousins.  The drive back was long and exhausting (note to self: do not drive on I-35 on Easter Sunday again), but so worth it for a fun holiday.