I may as well.

Merry Christmas.

"It's got scallions!"

Well everyone, it's official: I'm a grown-up. (As though the husband and two children weren't enough of a tip-off.) This year I was forced to cook Thanksgiving dinner all by myself. And no, I don't mean that Jeremy told me "make a turkey or beat it!" We were unable to go to Texas for Thanksgiving, so the cooking duties fell upon me. Amy... the girl who's duties of Thanksgivings past include opening cans, writing names on plastic cups, putting ice in plastic cups, and of course-- "preparing" the cranberry sauce. (Speaking of which, I was very angry when I realized that of all the food I made for this year's feast, I forgot the cranberry sauce-- clearly the easiest thing of all.)

While the food certainly wasn't the best we've ever had, I was proud of myself and Jeremy was nice enough to act enthusiastic about the dry turkey and poorly made gravy.

Oh yeah, and kudos to Jeremy on his first adventure in turkey-carving.



Of course, Evie can't speak yet and Jack hasn't gotten very good at it yet, but if they could speak I would imagine these are the things they would say they are most thankful for.

Evie: My big brother.


Jack: Mr. Potato Head.


You can't imagine Jack's enthusiasm when we pointed out the Mr. Potato Head float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. After he gave the on-screen Mr. Potato Head a kiss, he went and grabbed his Mr. Potato Head's pieces and tried to attach them to the floating Mr. Potato Head.

The Vindictive State

Not counting the year and a half I spent in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, I lived in Texas my whole life. So it's not surprising to me that Texas is a little angry with me for moving to Wyoming. September marked an entire year of absence between me and the great state. When we journeyed back in October, I started feeling like some force was acting against me and Jeremy. I guess it all started with Jack getting ill-- which meant two fairly sleepless nights for me and Jeremy. The day before we flew back home we were to attend a wedding of one of my dearest friends. Well, because of a combination of problems (Sick/tired Jack, a pretty bad traffic jam, another but even more hellish traffic jam, a rainstorm, foul directions from googlemaps, a near wardrobe catastrophe) we ended up being TWO AND A HALF hours late for a wedding. Now, I know I'm not the most punctual duck in the pond, but this really takes the cake and throws it out the window.

Well, a week ago, I returned to Texas for a wedding of another dear friend. In addition to an extremely exhausting journey that I was making on three hours sleep, the airline lost my luggage, adding about an hour of waiting time in the baggage claim terminal. My mother then tries to take me home but because of traffic we didn't end up getting to her house until 9 o'clock, when I had originally figured we'd be there around 5. Well, I still hadn't gotten my luggage on Saturday, the day of the wedding, so I was on a mad hunt for clothes to wear to the wedding-- trying to make it to the church early so I could help. Well, the rest of the weekend was great until I rode back to Dallas with my sister. Traffic... unfortunately timed exit... franticly trying to make my flight... but it was too late. I whispered "OK, Texas, I'm sorry I moved to Wyoming!" The clouds parted and they put me on standby for the next flight back to Denver which was way underbooked.

Anyway, that was long and drawn out and I don't even think it fully conveys the frustration those two trips afforded, but the pleasure they afforded was far greater.


Well, significant milestones occurred today in the lives of my children.

1)For Jack's afternoon nap, he fell asleep on his own in his toddler bed. Then tonight after I read him his night-night book, he said "Car! Car!" and ran to his toddler bed and pulled the blanket up over himself. I said "all right, but if you get out you'll have to sleep in your crib." And that was it. He's now sleeping peacefully in his car-bed.

2) Evie began SCOOCHING today! Unreal. Just a little earlier than Jack, but I wasn't even thinking that crawling may be close for her. Anyhow, she effectively scooched at least two feet earlier today. I think she may have scooched further had the book she wanted been further from her. Anyhow, it was pretty neat.

Oh, dang.

My kids are growing up.

With that I'll say: Enjoy a few pictures and a video. Especially the pictures... but ESPECIALLY the video.



(In this picture, Jack was using Jeremy as a Mr. Potato Head substitute.)






(Notice after the first roll-over Jack's scamp battle cry: "Taaaaaa!!!!" )

Deliberately duplicated

I haven't had any time to blog lately, but I thought it was high-time I posted something. Here are some side-by-side pictures of Jack and Evie, in which they are both four months old.





*Jack's eyes are still blue in this picture, I think the darkness has to do with the fact that it was taken when I still used a film camera-- and also, it seems his eyes were a darker blue than Evie's are.

**It's interesting seeing how much the colors on the blanket have faded in two years.

It's not everyday that your young man turns 2, is it?

Jack's birthday was yesterday. I don't know if I'm supposed to think that is weird b/c "it seems like only yesterday that we brought him home from the hospital", but it doesn't. To me he seems exactly the age he should be. Anyhow, we had the good fortune of celebrating his birthday with our family and friends in Tyler last week. Yesterday we didn't do too much. We were going to have cake and let him open presents, but Jeremy actually didn't get home from work until after Jack went to bed (fortunately, Jack is still at the age where he doesn't understand the significance of birthdays.) So he opened several of his presents today. I feel I should mention his new favorite toy, a "trike" that Johnnie and Tammy bought him. He was very sad to part with it when he went to bed.


*Notice the little thing sticking out of Jack's right ear-- that's Mr. Potato Head's ear.

I haven't really had time to blog about it, but we had an amazing time visiting family and friends in Texas. For those of you who don't know, I hadn't been back to Texas for over a year-- and more significantly, hadn't seen either of my brothers in that time. Ridiculous, really. It's crazy how short a week feels when I'm there. I would have to stay at least a month to feel like I really got to see everyone enough. When I'm with you guys, it makes me ache to think that is what I'm missing, but it also makes me value that time so much more. Y'all are truly the salt of the earth.

As Andrew mentioned in the Allen Girls blog, the most significant part of the trip was several people meeting Evie for the first time, and us meeting Alexa for the first time. Also for the three elder cousins to be reunited! I really can't explain the intense cuteness when all of those kids are in the room. It's not healthy.









Gosh, I have so much more to mention-- seeing the Gunter Clan, our INSANE trip to Pidge's wedding... but I hear Evie needing me, so I must go.


All right Jack, send us off with a song.

Driving Ms. Evie

She laughs!

Today Evie had her first laugh! Oh man, there is nothing quite like that sound. I grabbed the camera and caught her laughing a little bit, but nothing ever compares to the first one.

Alphamabet

Jack sings the alphabet song... sort of.



Note: The very expensive universal remote that Jack is holding in this video, was thrown, by him, (the day after I filmed this) into our kitchen sink which was, regrettably, filled with water.

Jack can't admit he's getting old

Jack 15 months ago:



Jack yesterday:

A video that is both educational AND cute.

Well, I haven't put any pictures up in a while, so here are a few and also a little video of Jack and Evie.

Brothers and sisters gotta high-five!

Yesterday I saw Jack trying to pry Evie's little fist open. I wasn't sure why he was doing this-- then he held her little hand with his and hit it against his other hand, saying "eye fife, eye fife!" Here's a picture of them pre-high-five.

The H says "cars"?

The other day I was walking with Jack by the garages in our condo complex and he started saying all the letters that label the garages. Thank you, Leap Frog.

Forgive me, the audio isn't so great.

Things to get used to.

Jeremy and I were sitting on our couch last night and all of a sudden a DEER walked right by our patio! Jeremy saw him first and very casually said "Hey, look." I started freaking out and grabbed my camera. Sadly he didn't think our patio was interesting enough for a visit, so by the time I got out on the patio he wasn't very close. He did look back at me for this picture though. Nice of him. I looked to the left to see if there was another deer and I saw one! But actually it wasn't a deer. It was an old outdoor grill.








Today I took Jack and Evie to my favorite park here in Casper. Now, some of you will recall a post back in May of a bizarre park experience we had. Well, what happened today, wasn't quite as bizarre, but it may give you some insight as to why I'm not that fond of Casper, or rather, the vast majority of people in Casper. Jack was wandering around the play area when I heard these kids yelling at their Mom, "These kids keep throwing dirt at us!" The mom stands up, trying to figure out who threw dirt at her kids. I sort of expected a polite "Ma'am, your son is throwing dirt at my boys." Instead, what came out of her mouth was "Lady," (in a furious voice) "your kids are being a pain in the a**!" Then she yells at her boys to go play in a different area of the park because those other kids are being such (profane adjective expletive) idiots.

As Jeremy and I were driving around Casper the other day, I realized that it is a pretty town. I told Jeremy "you know, if I didn't hate Casper so much, I would really love living here." I think that my original hate for Casper was a direct result of none of our family living here. Moving to Casper= Moving away from family. Since then, I'd like to think that I've given it a fair chance, but I feel like every time I go to the mall or to a park, there are people there determined to make me hate Casper. Anyhow, I just wanted to share that little park story because I was really blown away by a mother talking like that in front of her kids and other kids, and really just talking like that at all. Women like that really make me feel like one classy broad.

And now, some pictures:

Dum Ditty, Dum Ditty, Dum, Dum, Dum.

This makes Jack laugh:


























This makes Jack cry:



























When we read "Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb" to Jack, he always laughs at that first picture. It cracks me up how amused he is by a picture of a monkey standing on top of another monkey's head.

Last night, Jeremy and I were watching The Soup, and this guy came on the screen and Jack start crying in terror. He was absolutely terrified and frantically reaching for Jeremy to save him. Only when we turned the TV off did he calm down.

Similar similarities

"We've never had a little girl, we've never had a little girl!"

Well, I'm finally getting to try my hand at being a mother of two. I have had people here helping me the whole time but now they're gone, and Jeremy's back at work and I've really been enjoying my kids. Evie sleeps a lot and is a precious little angel. I think her sleeping all the time is really making the transition easier for Jack. He's doing great. His vocabulary is exploding. I am absolutely baffled by him. It's amazing how toddlers can retain so many words. It seems that I can't remember anything, yet he remembers so much. It's just amazing to me how God engineers their little minds. Two of his more exciting new words: Evie and iPod. I will always remember that he learned the word iPod on the same day he learned his sister's name. Jeremy is so proud.

On a different note...

For a good while now, I have relied on Flickr to share photos with my friends and family. I have recently realized that many of you do not check Flickr, and therefor, have not seen a lot of my pictures. So I'm going to try to start putting more pictures on my blog. However, if you do not have a Flickr account, you should because Flickr is awesome! So go get a free account and add me as your friend. "That's not a request!"

Ok, so here are some pictures for you to enjoy:

Jack, meet Evie.

This video is from the very first time Jack met his baby sister. The first time he was somewhat timid. Now when he remembers that she is in the room, he runs over to her and lays his face on hers. Then after he decides he's been sweet for long enough, he steals her socks.

Eat it, Vigneri!!!

My day has been going a lot differently than originally planned. At 7:30 I was supposed to be getting hooked up to an IV filled with pitocin. Instead, I was happily snoozing next to my beautiful new daughter, Evelyn.

Two weeks ago I was at my obstetrician's office. She checked me and had said that even though the baby's head was very far down, that I was basically nowhere near ready to have this baby. She scheduled me to be induced today because I had told her I didn't want to go past the 25th. Well, after that appointment, I foolishly got my hopes up, thinking that since the baby had "dropped" that I would surely go into labor on my own in no time!

My doctor has been out of town this past week, so for my 40 week appointment, I had to go see a doctor I hadn't met before, Dr. Vigneri (vig-nary). When I got there, I was very anxious to find out if there had been any change, and I knew that if there wasn't that I would most definitely start crying. I had been getting less and less comfortable and carrying her past my due date was getting very annoying.

Well, I go into the doctor's office, receiving all of the annoying comments from the nurses that a 40+ week pregnant woman usually receives. The first nurse: "Are you still pregnant? " (that was my favorite!"); the second nurse: "you look miserable!"; and finally my fill-in doctor "you're still pregnant? (Jokingly:) Come on... get it together, Amy!" (Good one, doc!)

Well, he finally checks me and says that there have been no changes. I start crying. He very sympathetically looks at me and says "I'm sorry, Amy." Then continues to tell me that "I probably have one of those bodies that will always have to be induced." That seems like a nice thing to tell a crying pregnant woman who is three days past her due date. So, I come to the sad realization that I will have to be induced on Monday. As much as his comment about being induced upset me, it really helped me to just relax and accept my fate. So there I was, accepting my fate two days later when I had my first contraction. (Ooh-da-lolly, a contraction... how exciting!!) By the grace of God, less than 24 hours later, I gave birth to a completely healthy, 8 lb, 13 oz little girl. And boy, is she grand!



Soon to follow this post: a video of Jack meeting his baby sister!

Do the Stomp!

It's Jack's new dance move...

Saying goodbye, why is it fun?

Jack is really into saying goodbye these days. If we are at a restaurant, he'll say "bye" every time the waiter leaves our table. If we're in the car, he says "bye" when random cars drive by us. If he is watching TV he says "bye" when a character will leave the screen.

This is just a video of him rambling and saying "bye" a lot.

Yes, I've got milk. Stop asking me.

I was a little surprised when I purchased milk this morning and noticed the sell by date:



That is my due date! Do you realize what this means? This means that I could have a baby before the milk goes bad (if that were actually a possibility.) Crazy.


If for some reason you haven't heard yet, my little niece Alexa was born on Saturday! Oh goodness, she's cute-- and the fact that I haven't met her yet really tears me up inside.

Bask in her glory!




For more pictures, check out my sister's blog.

Keep them monkeys movin'...

Jeremy and I are pretty big fans of Taco John's, a fast food restaurant that we first discovered here in Casper. I'm not sure why, but they don't show commercials for Taco John's here. So, the first time I heard of Whiplash the Cowboy Monkey, it was from this paper bag that Jack's kid's meal came in. Jeremy and I were thoroughly amused. As I just sat down to blog about Whiplash, I googled the little guy to see what I could find. I'm a little sad but also a little delighted to find that Whiplash the Cowboy Monkey isn't just some random thought for a mascot, but an actual dog-riding cowboy monkey!





(You'd be surprised how depressing it is to see "West-Mex" where it would otherwise say "Tex-Mex.")

Significant date

I was about to get ready for bed when I realized I hadn't blogged about today's significance. Today marks mine and Jeremy's four year wedding anniversary! (See photo for reference.)




In countdown news, today is also exactly one month from our daughter's due date (which, I recently discovered, that in addition to being the day before my birthday, is Father's Day too)



This means that it's now only a matter of weeks until my little niece's due date! This is a picture of Charlotte from a week ago, so she was as far along as I am now! It's amazing how much more pregnant she looks, just from our height difference (I feel bad that the only profile picture I have of Charlotte at 36 weeks is one of her blinking-- so here's a pretty picture of her being pregnant.)

17 months later...

Jack used to sleep in this little rocker chair when he was a newborn. The other day, we laid him in it after he fell asleep on Jeremy's shoulder. I don't think it is as comfortable for him now as it once was.

Le-mon!

I just saw these pictures for the first time. Andrea found them on my mom's camera and sent them to me. They are from November-- my mom had given Jack a lemon wedge from her tea, and even though he seemed shocked by the taste, he contintued to eat the lemon wedge, and then ate another one. I am mainly posting these so you can see the last photo. I think you'll like it.