Soccer

Today was Everett's first day playing a team sport.  His soccer team consists of ten children, ages 3-5 years old.  Everett's favorite part was running and getting to kick the ball.  

Practice was a train wreck but so fun to watch.

Bedtime was at 8:30 this evening - Everett was fast asleep within 5 minutes.  I love soccer!

Our team's first game is this Saturday. I'll post a few photos and highlights after the game .

Email me (for info), if you'd like to join our cheering section.

GO DINOS!

Emory Loves to Climb

What Matters Most

I love watching Everett play. Everett LOVES to play. Lately he's been using his imagination creating lots and lots of scenarios with his toys.  

Seen here, Everett asks his animals if they want to go to the birthday party.   The conversation goes something like this:  "What you doing puppy? Want to go to the hirthday party? Okay, lets go!"

Today, Everett found the boas and tiaras we bought for Ori's birthday party back in March.  Everett was really excited to find them.  The conversation with Mama went something like this:

Ev: "OH WOW! How bout peesh one?" (peesh = this,  in Everett lingo)

Deona: "Oh you want to put that tiara on your head?"

Ev: "uh-huh and how bout peesh one?"  (now talking about boas)

Deona: "Do you want pink or green?"

Emory: "Pink!"  As Deona places boas around neck Everett shouts out " How 'bout Green?!"

Everett had so much fun showing off and looking at himself in the mirror. 

I love this developmental stage.  Everett loves playing with whatever makes him happy.  He knows no difference between the stereotypical "boy" and "girl" toys, and I like that very much.  I've always felt that if I raised my children simply as young people and not in gender specific ways, then they would come to their own conclusions as to what traits they wanted to have. Their strengths would come from feeling self-confident and trusting their own feelings.  

I wish more parents felt the same way I do.  It saddens me to know there is a high probability our Everett will be in the same classrooms with children who have been brainwashed taught dolls are for girls and trucks are for boys. If you agree with this thinking, please teach your children never to tease because of the toys a child chooses to play with.   True story....One time while shopping in Target I overheard a mom telling her son he couldn't have the doll he had chosen because "it's a girl toy and  your daddy will whip your ass if i got it for you". I did everything in my power not to knock the living sh*t out of that woman.  I was so incredibly sad for the young boy.  Here's a newsflash people: Your son will not turn gay if he plays with dolls and your daughter will not become a lesbian because she played with G.I.Joes!!  Okay, getting off my soapbox now. :-) 

Well all that to say, Everett loves to play. "Boy" toys, "girl" toys, it doesn't matter.  At the end of the day his happiness is what matters most to me.

First Swim This Summer

Today was our first swim this year; exactly one year to the day, from our first swim last summer.  Lucky for us, Aunt Schneider joined in on the fun. again.  :-)  Loving this new tradition. 

Emory was so relaxed, floating on his back was effortless.  Love those sweet toes.

Everett absolutely LOVED jumping off the side and going under water. 

again and again and again. 

Emory didn't mind putting his face in the water.  Here Aunt Schneider teaches Emory how to blow bubbles.

Our beautiful waterbabies LOVED our time at the pool. 

I'm looking forward to spending many days in the water this summer.

Taking Cover

Severe weather brought tornadoes, rain and hail over North Texas yesterday forcing us to take cover in our bathtub:

Some of the highlights during this exciting event:

• Preparing our "shelter" and situating the boys by myself, as Deona was stuck at school during the storm
• Everett turning on the water and getting our blankets and his Chuck E. Cheese stuffed animal soaked
• Emory bopping his brother on the head with a toy train
• Discovering after moving Ev's twin mattress into the bathroom that it does not quite fit over the tub
• Hearing the sounds of emergency sirens 
• NOT hearing from Deona (in Euless, TX) all while knowing she was in the path of a terrible, terrible storm.

And to top it ALL off....missing the finale of the Biggest Loser due to our local news station's severe weather coverage.  Boo.

Other than that, my evening was perfect.   :-)  Thanking God we are well.

A couple of photos from the storm:

Funnel Cloud near Guyer High School in Denton



Softball-sized hail fell in Haslet. 
YES, everything IS bigger in Texas. :)



Check out more storm photos here.

And in case you're wondering where some of these places are, here are a couple of maps of the DFW metroplex:

Map 2:

Pirate Room

I've been google-ing "pirate room" in search of ideas for Emory's new bedroom.   Check out this over-the-top, YET AMAZING room!:

 
 

 DANNNNGGGGG!

"Designer Steve Kuhl made a 6-year-old boy’s dream come true when he designed a strikingly authentic pirate ship bedroom for a client in Minnesota. The room looks like it came straight out of Pirates of the Caribbean, including a huge floating pirate ship and connecting rope bridge.


Some of the other cool, playtime features include a jail cell (ideal for locking up rogue pirates), a climbing rope and a secret locker room door that conceals the entrance to a 55-foot-long tube slide.

Why such an incredible kid’s room? The boy’s father didn’t have the opportunity to really enjoy his childhood. He needed to accept adult responsibilities at an early age to help support the family, and due to what he missed out on, he wanted to make sure that his son really got to be a kid."  Source

CALLING UNCLE DODO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  :-)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMOM/MOM!!

Today is my mom's birthday!

We Love You! :o)

Wondering....

{This Moment} 5/20/11

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

This moment posts are inspired by SouleMama's Friday posts

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Everett Can!

When Everett wears our sneakers around the house, he repeats "I think I can, I think I can" over and over AND over again.

Proud to Announce....

Emory took his first steps today!

He wouldn't let me capture it on camera, but am delighted he's made several attempts.

Definitely the benefits (and one of the many blessings) of being a stay-at-home mom. :)

Sweet Corn

Had to share this photo of Emory enjoying his corn this evening. 

After cob #2 but before cob #3.

Would ya like a sweet corn kiss?

Finally Sleeping Through the Night & Transitions

Photo LullabyIsland

Emory is 13 months old and has maybe slept through the night 3 times.  There are several things we feel could have been contributing to this (over the past 13 months):

• Acid reflux
• Colic
• Eczema
• Transitions (pacifier free, formula to milk, bottle to sippy cup, shared room)  
• Noise (that comes with living in an apartment and not having a "real" bedroom)
• Habit & Routine.  (Wakes up every 3 hours for a bottle)

One of Emory's hardest transitions has been "no bottles" during the day. We finally recognized his bedtime bottle gradually turned into a make-shift pacifier for him.  The routine became a warm bottle of milk every time he'd wake up crying (every 3 hours or so).  Smart Boy.  

NO MORE smart boy, NO MORE!! This past week I decided this habit had to change; nights have been dreadful. Enough was enough.  

The Plan

• No more bottles throughout the night.
• Let him cry it out. 
• ONE bottle at bedtime.  Bottle to contain 8 ounce bottle of warm milk, with 2 ounces of baby oatmeal.
• DO NOT give in!

Guess what?  Emory's sleeping through the night!  8-10 hours a night!  It's been almost a week and I can not express how excited I am.  Like feeling so good I could do cartwheels, kind of excited. :-)

I don't intend to make this change (an oatmeal bottle) a permanent ritual to our bedtime routine, however I am really thankful it's helping us through this most difficult  transition.  Maybe soon he'll appreciate sleeping through the night, and maybe just maybe, no longer want a bedtime bottle.

Everett's train

Everett created a train all by himself tonight:

His passengers receive kisses because it's bedtime.



Love for Letters

I don't recall exactly when Everett started showing a love for letters (or the alphabet), but I do know he was incredibly young; way before saying many words.  Early early on, he would look up at store signs and recite letters.  It was a rare time he would say the correct letter and when he did it was a lucky guess.  Even so, we praised his efforts and joined in when he spotted letters.
At 27 months it was clear Everett knew the alphabet; even before learning the alphabet song.  He LOVES the alphabet, we're talking LOVE.  He can't get enough.  Well about the time I considered teaching him the spanish alphabet Ev approached me with some letters he could make using his fingers, hands and arms.  How clever is this child?  So in the past two weeks, I've been teaching him the true ASL alphabet.  Everett has taken a great interest in learning and he now knows about 6 signs and continues to learn more each day.

Thomas LIVE! on Stage

Everett was SUPER excited about going to see Thomas & Friends LIVE at the Verizon Theatre in Grand Prairie this afternoon.  We had great seats however the best part was getting to see Ev's excitement as we watched this cheesy,  one and a half hour show.  Definitely worth all the agony. :)

Everett & I getting our picture taken, under the Verizon Theatre sign.

One of our tickets.

Petunial Pickle Bottom pulls through again!  We've used the boys' diaper bag on numerous occassions as a booster seat. Good idea, right?   Well remember those great seats I spoke about earlier?.... 

About 15 minutes into the show and *BAM!* this dude shows up.  LOL!  Lucky for me, Ev was content moving to Mama's lap and I was able to see again. :-)

 The set was so colorful and quite beautiful.

After the show and in the car 5 minutes, Ev passes out....

...but not for long.  Here's why:

I decided to video this train as I knew he would enjoy getting to watch it at a later time.  About one minute in to the recording I panned in on Everett for about 30 seconds.  He tried sooo hard to stay awake.  :o) 
Here's proof today was wonderul, yet quite exhausting.  Good Night.

OH and I almost forgot...
A very special THANK YOU to Grammy for watching Emory today, so that both Deona and I could enjoy this special event with Everett. We VERY MUCH appreciate it!