May Miscellaneous

We've had a great month!  Evie seems to be liking her brother more and more, and enjoys playing with his toys.  She also asks now to hold Henry, which is immediately followed by "take a picture?".  We loved all of our fun times with our house guests.  And we've completed a lot of small house projects this month, and are really enjoying our new home.

Our Backyard Pool

When we were looking for a house to buy, Joe and I had a lot of conversations about whether or not we wanted a pool.  Joe grew up with a backyard pool, and fondly remembers spending every minute of every summer in the pool playing with his G.I. Joe toys.  I did not grow up with a pool, and the expense and maintenance scares me to no end.  We did look at a couple of homes with pools but they were usually in really bad shape and/or took up almost the entire backyard.  Ultimately, we decided that for our first home, we would forgo a pool in exchange for a backyard, especially since the kiddos are still really young and it's such a liability.  Maybe our next home will have a pool, when the kids are older.  But for now, we have purchased this nifty little inflatable pool, and the kids love it.  The only tough part is emptying the pool every time (and our desert landscaping doesn't really need the extra water).  The next morning, Evie will stand at the window and say "oh no, where water go, momma?!  We gotta fill it!"

Henry Turns 4 Months Old!

Our little Henry is growing up way too fast!  (Did I say that last month too?)  He is such a joy, always smiling, easy-going, and loves attention.  He also drools a lot, we think he may be teething.  And has started making those complaining noises when he's bored.  (Ah yes, I remember when Evie used to make those same annoying sounds).  Henry also loves interaction and wants to be part of the party all the time, even at 6 in the morning when Joe and I are desperately trying to get our last few minutes of sleep before the day begins.  He usually falls back asleep an hour later.  Henry is also still waking me up every 3 hours during the night to eat, so I'm a little short on sleep these days.  We plan to move him into his own room very soon, as soon as we can transition Evie into her big-girl bed.  Maybe then we'll get a little more sleep (fingers crossed).

He looks an awful lot like Evie did at this age, doesn't he?  Except he's fatter, hehe.. the boy likes to eat.  He's also very interested in what I'm eating at dinnertime, watching my every bite and trying to grab for my plate.  (Also, yes I do realize that little white daisies are not that boyish, but I didn't have time to make him a new shirt this month.  It could be worse).

Evie's End-of-Year School Festival

Evie's end-of-year festival at her school was this week.  It was so much fun!  They had lots of games, a slip-and-slide, and a pizza lunch.  She had a really good time and was sad to leave when it was time to go home.  It was another interesting opportunity for me to see what an "independent" little person she is.  This girl is not a follower, she does whatever she wants.  In this instance, she did not want to follow the actions of all of her classmates by waiting patiently in a line for her turn at the slip-and-slide.  I had to repeatedly pull her back into line to wait, and then when it was her turn, she would walk the length of it and lay down in the shallow pool of water at the end, where I would have to pull her off for the next kid to go.  And by repeatedly, I mean, like 7 times this happened.  (It was beyond annoying).  I hope that all of this translates into her becoming an independent thinker and a wildly creative and successful adult, but for now, it's just kind of annoying..  (ooooh, potty training is going to be so much fun).

A Backyard Fort

While Mom & Dad were visiting us, we took full advantage of Dad's construction knowledge and they helped us build this awesome fort for Evie & Henry.  We had found a kid's full-size loft bed on Craigslist, and had it delivered on Wednesday night.  The seller had built it for his daughter years ago, and helped us assemble it in the backyard.  Then Dad & Joe went to work, securing it to the ground, replacing the platform with exterior-grade plywood, adding a board for the swings, and building the sandbox base below.  Then I spent several evenings painting over the pink & purple paint (ewww).  And finally, Joe purchased the sand, hand-carrying each of the 25 bags, and filled the sandbox.  We are so happy with the way it turned out and Evie LOVES it!!  Thank you so much, Mom & Dad!!

Mom & Dad Came To Visit Us!

We are so thrilled to finally have a home where we can have our family come to visit and actually stay with us, it is awesome!!  This month, Mom & Dad (aka Nana & Papa) also came to stay with us for a few days.  We had so much fun with them!  We took them to the Children's Museum, and everyone had a blast.  Trish, Marshall, Jennifer & Kelsey came over for dinner one evening, which was so great.  Mom & I did lots of cooking together, and played with the kiddos.  Joe & Dad worked on a super cool backyard project.  It was such a great visit, we can't wait to have them back!