Evan is Seven...months :)

Seven Month! Wow monkey! You're getting so big!! Every time I look at this little guy, I can't help but either tear up or crack up. He is such a ball of personality! He literally does not stop! Reminds me so much of Benny and Sam. Must be a second born thing. Come to think of it, Jack was a lot like Evan ,too at this age. I remember Amy and I built a huge barrier between her family room and kitchen, just to contain him. 

Lawrence gets so excited when Evan wakes up. He runs in there to get him, every time. 

Our sweet, sweet boy.Such an incredible Blessing in our family. We love you with all our hearts baby boy!!!

This face gets me every time!

"yep, I'll just go this way..."

Seven Month Happenings:

• super-duper fast crawler
• pulling up to stand
• sings
• kisses
• bites :(  (nipping this one in the bud quick..haha puns are great!)
• dances (rocks back and forth)
• "dada"
• foods; peas,avocado,apples,bananas, broccoli, spinach,pears,oatmeal,rice,squash, puffs..loves it all!

Family Fun

After sick babes, daddy being on travel, and some sleepless nights, we were well over due for some fun, fun, fun!! I got Larry a gift certificate for some indoor sky diving fun for his 30th, and this weekend was the perfect time to go cash it in. Sky Venture AZ is in between Phoenix & Tucson and the  appointment wasn't scheduled until later that night, so we decided to head up early and make a day of!!

~Time and Memories; it doesn't get any better than that~

We gave the van a little T.L.C. at the dealership in Phoenix, then headed to the Children's Museum. We love childrens' museums. They are the best! We have all been to the museum in Tucson. Lawrence and Evan have been to a similar museum in Normal, IL. Lawrence has also been to the awesome museum in Naperville, IL, too. But, this was all of our first time to the Phoenix version and Larry's first time ever to a big one. I think I was just as excited to show him how great they are as I was to share it with the boys.

The Phoenix museum didn't disappoint. It was spectacular and we had such a great time!!

Lawrence loved climbing up the giant tree house. It was similar to the suspended climber in Normal, but larger so parents could fit too. 

He was so sweet. He kept saying thank you and giving us kisses. 

 My favorite part was the variety of areas they provided for the little babies. Evan got to get out and explore too!

our little explorer

Whoah!! He played with this for a long time!

He wasn't too sure about these baby beds. They were so soft and squishy and moved around too. 

IT'S A BIRD, IT'S A PLANE, IT'S DADDY!!!

As soon as we got out of the car, Lawrence goes..."Wow, yook at that dad!"

What's Daddy doing?

Suiting up!

"Don't try this at home kids"

We had no idea what to expect when we got here. It had been a long day and we barely made it through dinner, so things could have gotten bad, fast . But, our boys never cease to amaze us on how awesome they are. They were thoroughly entertained the entire time. Lawrence caught the eyes of every one around him and was instantly excepted and loved by all. Evan hung out in his stroller checking everyone out and seemed calmed by the loud fan. Both boys were angels. I loved watching how excited Lawrence got every time someone went in to "fly"  Especially when it was his dad! "Yook at dada fye mom!" He would run around going up to a few other onlookers and tell them about it too!. What a neat experience  Larry loved it and I am positive he will be back there again!

It's Fall O'Clock Somewhere...

Hey, it might be pushing in the 100's over here, but we can't wait to celebrate Fall. Who doesn't love Fall? It gives such a warm and fuzzy vibe! So, off to the pumpkin patch we went with some of our "Mommy School" buddies. We had just finished our School/Apples theme and are getting into Fall/Pumpkins/Halloween. The orchards was a great field trip to show the little ones some hands on activities.

Lawrence picked out a "punkin" for his baby brother :) 

It was good entertainment for Evan!

mmm? which one?

 They have a HUGE pumpkin patch to pick from. He was apprehensive about going in there and Evan wanted to get out and move, so we decided to hang out by some that were already picked :)

Evan eating some dirt...good fiber ..I hear (so in reality , I freaked out after this pic was taken and spastically started wiping all the dirt out..prob overreacted, but that's pretty standard Katie :) 

Some mommies and friends hard at work picking their pumpkins...haha I have to laugh thinking back to how he did not want to get in there. He is so our child Larry!!

They had awesome areas to pick all kinds of fresh veggies too.

Lawrence picked some peppers for daddy all on his own. He even paid for them  too. It was really sweet. 

It was a hot, but I 'm happy for the teaching moment it provided for Lawrence. He keeps talking about the tall corn stalks and sunflowers and is still proud of the peppers he picked. I'm so excited to get going on more Fall activities!!

"Just Another Manic Monday..."

But, I don't wish it were Sunday because, Larry comes home on Tuesday!! Tomorrow!! Whoo HOOO!! Some days are easy and some are hard....heck sometimes one minute rocks and the next, everything falls apart. Today was a fall apart kinda day, but in it's defense I didn't really even give the day a chance.

We haven't been getting a lot of sleep over here and it just set me up for wanting to take a nap, and well, when that didn't happen, I ended up so overwhelmed and then on the phone with who else?? My mommy. She made me feel better in seconds, by just reminding me that all this is normal. I know that, but sometimes you just need your Mommy...   haha I'm just realizing that's the very thing that has been exhausting me...they just need their mommy. WOW. :)

Anyway, I continued my own pity party into the night, until I started looking at the pictures I have been taking of the boys all week. You see the good thing about pictures is that you usually only capture the good times (there's a couple hilarious ones of L not so happy) ...and well, those are the times that matter.

 No matter how hard a day is, or how yucky I might feel, I have these nuggets to look back on and say.."Ya know, it really wasn't THAT bad!"

Here are some of those "not so bad" moments! 

LOVE :)

Making "yetter E" of course..then quickly turning it back to "yetter F"
OOH best play dough making site here:http://www.kristanlynn.com/2011/09/best-play-dough-recipe.html

how he really felt

but then he was good

So exciting Evan!

Ladies & gentlemen this is the game "UP/DOWN" an  LVR4 original game he invented while I nurse Evan. Keeps him entertained and most importantly, out of trouble. 

...good leg workout for mom too.

I don't think I can say it enough..happiest baby alive. Doesn't sleep...but happiest baby alive!

sometimes curious...

and sometimes nervous too

peekaboo at the zoo

This tiger was super into Lawrence. Started making me a little nervous...

Single Mama Without the Drama

Larry's in Boston this week... and I'm a huge baby. I depend on him more and more every day. When he leaves I feel empowered for about two seconds. Like, I got this!! and then.....6pm comes and goes and he's not here. I miss him...every time. He's gone about a week out of every month and it never gets easier. Again, I think of others who have it far worse than I do, like single moms or military wives and again, I know they have to have far stronger genes or essence or whatever it is that makes them function more than I do, to be able to do what that do every day. Man, I'm a huge woose!

  (this is probably a good time to remind everyone that I make up words to mean things that they don't really mean all the time. Please keep that in mind at ALL times whenever reading my blog )

Bottom line, Larry and I are a team and we work really good together. Of course, we are both learning as we go along, but I wouldn't want anyone else raising these two little monkeys with me.

The loneliest time is at night, like right now. I swear 90 % of the time one of  us is watching something and the other is on the computer and we barely say two words together. But, just having my "person" here. Ya know??

I'm a lucky girl, with a great hubby, I call my friend.[ I've got an amazing family who calls all the time to check in and some great neighbors who I know I can count on too. So I know I'm never reeeeally alone!

But in my "woe is me moment" that is now... I've been  filling my nights with bad tv and my days with lots of activities to make the time pass by quickly and pleasantly.

Here are some of the things me and the noodles have been up to since dadas been gone:

We made Miss Gina's art from "Mommy School"..such a great project! He loved it!

and ate it....

We made muffins!! 

and ate the batter :)

We made a shapes matching game too :)

We went to Target..and had some Starbucks...ofcourse!

We've also been to the park a couple times, went on some walks, played with cars..alot and well, there's always dancing!! ;) 

Oh man, did I mention he has only been gone since Wednesday...  :)