A Shower for Baby Rein

With the arrival of Baby Rein getting closer and closer (November 14!), we finally got to throw a shower for him or her (dang you Meg for not finding out the gender! :).  It was such a fun party and Meg was the cutest, sweetest mom-to-be ever.  We had the shower at Lake Breeze Ski Lodge in Seguin.  That place holds so many childhood/high school memories, so it was fun to spend some time out there again.  Now that the nursery is fully outfitted, I am so ready to meet this little person!

Here is the sign-in table.

 And the main table.  In keeping with the nursery and Graeme's South African heritage, we went with a safari theme.  I think it turned out really cute!

 I love this centerpiece that Dede and Addie made.  They also made the cutest wreaths to go with it, but my photographs of those didn't come out. :(

 Two of the hostesses, Amy and Addie.

 Love you, Kristin! :)

 Addie and Mary.

Meg opening gifts, and me weighing in with some insightful comment...

 Sweet mom-to-be. :)

 Meg, Kristin, and two of their high school friends (Maggie and Ashley).

 Meg with her hostesses (minus Megan, Addie, and Audra; not sure how we missed those 3).

And here are Audra and Addie... :)

Such a fun party.  Now I can't wait to meet this baby!

Evie: 11 Months Old!

I cannot believe my sweet girl is 11 months old...and only a couple weeks away from 1!  What a wonderful, wild, exciting month this has been.  Evie set her determined little mind to walking this month and after lots of hard work, took off.  She is now walking around everywhere.  She especially loves carrying things, and it looks so funny to see such a tiny little person carrying large (empty) boxes around the house.  She has got to be the least cuddly baby ever.  She doesn't like to be held or cuddled, and is always fighting me to get to the ground.  She'll let me hold her to feed her, but catapults off my lap the second she empties her bottle.  She is too busy for most books right now (unless she is in just the right mood), but may sit still for one interactive book (she loves Pat the Bunny).  Don't be fooled by her sweet little face--this girl will scream if someone other than me or Clint tries to pick her up.  She doesn't mind other people...but likes them to keep a safe distance. :)

Along with walking, Evie has come to love playgrounds this month.  She screeches in excitement when she sees one, and lunges from my arms to get down and play.  She climbs all over the equipment and shoots down the slides.  She loves swinging, but I think she really prefers climbing and sliding.  I have another fearless baby on my hands, which is fun, but exhausting--I cannot turn my back on Evie for a minute.  In addition to playground equipment, she is climbing all over our furniture.  We haven't had too many bad falls, but I have had several bad scares when I see her tottering on top of a couch or chair.  I'm not sure that I'll be able to get much done while she's awake for the next few months!

We are still working on talking, but Evie has a few favorite sounds.  She says "Dada" all the time, but it seems to be more purposeful lately (she yelled "Dada!" the other day when Clint came in the room).  She also loves to say "ta-da!" when we encourage her to.  And she said "bye!" to someone the other day.  So not too much talking so far, but she seems to understand quite a bit (she is following directions pretty well--her best is throwing her paci in the crib after a nap; it is done VERY emphatically, and followed by wild clapping :).  Evie learned to clap this month, and loves this new skill.  Her walking (and any achievements, hers or anyone else's) get enthusiastic applause.  She still loves to spit, and will do this back to anyone when prompted.

At 11 months, Evie is sweet, happy, giggly, and tough.  She somehow manages to keep up with her big brother, and those two laugh and play all day long.  They are so funny together, and keep each other so entertained.  As exhausting as the first few months of Evie's life were, it was SO worth it, as they are turning into the best little playmates.  I love seeing her personality (including a nasty little temper when you take away something that Evie wants) develop.  I could not love this little girl any more!

While we were in Seguin for Meg's baby shower, my mom and I took Charlie and Evie to the pumpkin patch at my old church.  The kids had a great time playing and exploring there.  Evie loved picking out and trying to carry the pumpkins.  It was pretty funny watching her work.

I love this little profile, especially the diaper-with-skinny-jeans look. :) 

No post on Evie would be complete without her partner in crime (who insisted on wearing his boots everywhere in Seguin, just in case he was required to rush out to La Vernia for a Ranger ride).

Love you sweet Evie!

Evie is Walking!

Evie took her first steps about a month and a half ago, and has been determined-ly (is that a word?) working on her walking (and climbing, but that's another story...) since then.  She has been doing really well, and this past week, just took off.  Today, she was walking everywhere she went.  I love watching her carefully stepping around--she looks a bit like a little old lady, but I think it's pretty adorable. :)  Although the walking makes her very happy and independent, it brings with it a whole host of issues: (1) it is almost impossible to hold her; (2) she is covered with bumps, bruises, and her first bloody lip (she climbs on all our chairs and couches and took a few tumbles off today), (3) she is getting into all of Charlie's stuff and stirring up a little more trouble than usual; and (4) she doesn't seem like a baby anymore. :(  Charlie even told me today that "Evie is a big girl now."  I said, "Oh yeah?"  "Yeah," he responded.  "We need to get a new baby.  Let's take this one back."  Sorry, Charlie--no plans to get rid of our little mouse!

We Love Our Visitors!

Returning from vacation is usually hard for me, but it was great this time because we came home to lots of fun visitors (we love visitors, if you haven't noticed :).  First, the Grays came into town and stayed with us for a night.  We have missed these guys so much since they moved to Austin and it was so nice to get some quality time with them.  George, Charlie, Evie, and Maggie had so much fun together.  I think Charlie may have invaded George's personal space a little more than George would have liked, but he was such a good sport about it. :)

Here's George posing with the ladies.  Evie looks mad here--maybe because George can't seem to remember her name (he refers to her as "little Charlie Burrus" :).

Big Charlie Burrus joins the group...

Sweet Maggie.  This girl is adorable!

These two had so much fun together.  Charlie asked me "when's that boy coming back?"  (Apparently he and George both need to work on name recognition).

After the Grays left, Megan and Elec came in town from LA and stayed with us for two nights.  We had SO much fun.  Charlie and Elec played so well together, but they are going to be trouble in a few years.  We packed a lot of fun into their short stay, but our favorites were probably the zoo and a fun trip to the park/lake.  I think my favorite memory is the boys walking back from the lake with walking sticks, and then laying in the grass laughing hysterically when Elec accidentally broke his.  I loved getting this time alone with them, and so loved all the laughing and playing!

Here are our pics from the zoo...Charlie's favorite, of course, is the safari jeep (the "bakkie").

Elec helped Charlie navigate the wilderness...

Shockingly, Charlie even let Elec drive (I may have had something to do with that :).

Elephant rides are always a big hit.  Charlie doesn't seem to mind that they aren't real elephants. :)

We also sprung for the alligator ride.

Evie loved having Elec as well.  The extra distraction suited her just fine--gave her more opportunity to get into Charlie's toys without him noticing!

Elec is getting TWO babies at his house in the spring.  Looks like he will make a very sweet big brother!

Our highlight of the trip was feeding the giraffes.  They are so amazing to watch, and the boys thought their long, crazy tongues were hysterical.

Thanks to all of our awesome guests for making the trip.  We miss you guys already and want you to come again!!

Beaver Creek, Day 4

Our last day in Beaver Creek was bittersweet.  Bitter because it was sad to leave after so much wonderful time together as a family; sweet because it was so nice to get the kids back in their beds and back on a regular schedule.  Rested kids = better sleepers, fewer meltdowns, more energetic parents (amazing how that works :).

Our last day was Charlie's most anticipated, as it started with a Jeep Tour up in the mountains.  He was SO excited about this and asked every morning if it was our Jeep day.  The place where we met the Jeep was Charlie paradise.  It was a beautiful ranch in the mountains filled with Jeeps, Razors (like Rangers), 4-wheelers, and other fun vehicles.  I am afraid that we just introduced Charlie to his dream job. :)

Here is our Jeep (there was a lot of discussion on the way about what color the Jeep would be.  Charlie was hoping for yellow or red, but wasn't too upset when it turned out to be silver.).

SO excited.

Annoyed that she had to skip her morning nap for this foolishness...but a good sport nonetheless!

We headed up in the mountains and saw all kinds of stunning sights.  It quickly became apparent, however, that Charlie was much more excited about vehicle sightings (logging trucks, 4-wheelers, dirt bikes, campers, and other Jeeps) that anything else.  Big surprise!

There was a herd of sheep in one of the valleys we drove past.  Apparently this is where the shepherd lives.  Hard to imagine such a solitary existence!

More beautiful trees...

The view from the top of the summit.

It was FREEZING on the tour and Clint, Evie, and I were all wrapped up in blankets trying to stay warm.  Charlie refused to wear a jacket or be covered with a blanket.  We kept trying to convince him to cover up with something, but he stayed tough.  We finally noticed his lips turning blue and his teeth chattering and we tried one more time, and he finally relented.  He looked so relieved to be warm. :)

Evie got a pretty good nap during our tour.  It wasn't her ideal day, but she hung in there!

Bear claw marks on the tree--so cool!

We found this beaver dam...

...and then saw 2 beavers!  We stayed and watched them for a while and it was so cool watching them work.

The beavers were cool, but this logging truck?  Even better. :)

When we got back to the ranch, Charlie insisted on a photo in front of the Jeep he wished we had gotten to tour in (unfortunately, it belongs to the owner and doesn't get to tour :(.

Trailers are another of Charlie's random vehicle-related obsessions.  We spent some time watching the guys drive Razors and 4-wheelers up onto a trailer.  Charlie was in heaven!

After naps, we decided to try out the swimming pools at the hotel.  It was pretty cold, but the pool was heated, so it was tolerable (but still pretty chilly!).

Evie struck a pose in her suit...

Charlie LOVED swimming here.  He was getting pretty daring--makes me sad our summer of swimming is over!

More posing from the mouse... (she also swam, but not too long, as she was very chilly).

SO cold after the swim.

One last family picture...

After our swim, we had a wonderful dinner at a local cafe.  It was a perfect end to a perfect trip.  The flights home were a little trying, but it was fun seeing Evie playing on the plane (she loved the flight home) and hearing Charlie recount all of his favorite experiences.  He regaled our fellow passengers with tales of our trip (he was especially excited to tell about the Jeep Tour--he told them that "Evan drives a Jeep" (Evan was our tour guide), that we drove in the mountains, and that "it was called a Jeep tour").  I loved getting this time with my family.  It was really nice getting so much time with Clint and the kids loved getting him all to themselves for a few days.  Evie was walking up a storm on the trip (when she wasn't being carted along on a hike :), and Charlie was really into pretending and story-telling (we had pretend mice, raccoons, skunks, and fish that we took care of all week).  I am still amazed at how much these two are changing right now, and it was fun to experience these changes and developments as a family.  As fun as it was, it was also exhausting (thanks to Miss-I-Don't-Sleep-In-Hotel-Rooms), so we were glad to get home.  But I am already excited about our next get-away!