A Few Things Worth Mentioning

*Preston had his 6 month doctors appointment today. He did great! The results are that he is 26 3/4 inches and 15 pounds 5 ounces. Which, according to his doctor, makes him a little taller than average and perfectly average on weight. He got 4 shots which he actually took pretty well. He's also just recently made a few new accomplishments. He can now sit up and he can briefly stand up holding onto something. This week we're going to be starting him on solids. I'm excited to see what reactions he'll make to all the new foods but at the same time I'm not so excited about the change in diapers (if you know what I mean).

*What is up with this? Last week on Valentines day I drove by this Sonic sign and I could not believe it. I turned the car around and went back to take a picture. The sad thing is that I drove by it again today and it was STILL up.



*Andy and I had our 5 year anniversary on Valentines Day. He was at a convention in Las Vegas so we didn't do anything together that day. Instead, the kids and I took a trip to Target where we ran into my cousins and then Evelyn and I stayed up late making Valentine cookies for Andy. It was so much fun getting to spend time with my girl and enjoy eating and making cookies together.

*Saturday night Andy and I celebrated Valentines Day and our anniversary by going out to eat at the Olive Garden and then going to the movies and watching Cloverfield. Cloverfield was a totally wicked movie. I loved it! If anyone hasn't seen it yet I definitely recommend watching it on the big screen. The graphics were amazing. It was probably the most realistic movie I have ever seen. For anyone that hasn't heard of it, it's kind of a modern day Godzilla movie. The story revolves around a monster attack in New York. One of the interesting points is that it's in the perspective of a hand held video camera shot by one of the main characters in the movie. One thing I would suggest however if you go and watch it is to sit in the back of the theater.

*Lastly, I just have to say that the new season of Lost is Awesome! Definitely the best thing on television EVER! Every week they continue to amaze me with all of their twists and turns. It's become an addiction for Andy and I. I don't think I could get through a week without my regular dose of Lost... (I'm getting super excited just thinking about the next one).

Tehachapi

Once again I apologize because this post is way delayed. I keep writing my blogs but then it takes me like another week to get a chance to add the pictures. So anyway, two weeks ago my family had a get together to celebrate Evelyn's birthday, my nephew Joshua's birthday and of course watch the super bowl. It ended up snowing really bad and we got snowed in so our 1 day of fun unexpectedly turned into 3. Here's what transpired.

Day 1: Sunday
After church we packed the kids in the car and headed up the mountain to my parents home in Tehachapi. We knew it had snowed the day before so we were somewhat expecting the roads to be bad but as we were driving up it started snowing again which made the roads even worse. So much so that about half way up we knew that if we were going to go then getting snowed in over night was inevitable. Andy had to work the next day but I was really looking forward to spending time with my family so through the icy roads and flooded streets we went. Andy dropped me off at my parents and unfortunately had to turn right back around and go home while the roads were still drivable. We sure missed him! When we got there we snacked on some yummy munchies and pretty soon after dinner was ready. My mom made a delicious lasagna dinner with her specialty homemade rolls. Afterwards we pulled out the cakes. My awesomely domestic big sister made a special cake for each one of the birthday kids. For Evelyn, she made an Elmo cake and for Joshua she made a Larry (from VeggieTales). The cakes looked awesome. Making cakes has become one of my sisters new hobbies. She's really starting to get the knack for it and her cakes look better and better every time. After the kids very messily enjoyed their cake we cleaned them up and sat down to watch the rest of the game (halftime had just started). Not long after the power went completely out and ended up staying out until about midnight. That didn't stop us from having fun however. We lit candles, let the kids open their gifts and just enjoyed each others company for a few hours longer before going to bed.

Day 2: Monday
The next morning all the kids were up bright and early. My mom made everyone pancakes for breakfast. The good kind too with chocolate chips and topped with whipped cream. Mmmm! my mouth is watering just thinking about them. We hung out for a little while until my Grandma made it over at which time we started to get the kids ready to go out in the snow. I have been so excited to take Evelyn out in the snow for the first time so although we didn't have quite the right clothes we decided to take the kids outside to play in the snow. Luckily my mom still had all of our old snow gear so we did what we could to piece together enough to keep the kids warm outside. I think I may have gone a little overboard on clothes. All together Evelyn had 4 pairs of pants with a plastic bag over each leg between layers, 1 pair of her socks, one pair of my mom's socks, her shoes, 3 sweaters, gloves, a hat and a scarf. Let's just say she could barely move but at least she was warm. Evelyn was excited to see the snow. The first thing she did though was try to pick it up and fell forward before I could put her gloves on. She recovered pretty quick though and after watching my little niece and nephew playing she was ready to join in. My little brother, Kory, gave the kids a ride around the yard on the sled and they all really liked that. After that my Grandma got the idea to make snow angels and was the first one to do it. She's the coolest! Evelyn wouldn't lay in the snow so I made one for her. Then we took the kids sledding down this little hill by the side of my parents house. My sister got Evelyn's very first sled ride on video. She had a great time sledding down the hill. She had a little bit of a hard time every time we got to the bottom of the hill, she didn't understand why the ride couldn't just keep going and why we had to get off the sled and walk back up. We took quite a few rides until eventually the kids started to get cold. Evelyn managed to stay completely dry thanks to the trash bags under her clothes but I didn't think about putting one over her butt so that was the only part of her that got wet. My sister left pretty soon after that and the rest of the day we spent hanging out and visiting.

Day 3: Tuesday
Tuesday was a nice lazy day. It was great! Evelyn was sick so she just laid around watching movies. School was canceled so Kory got to stay home and the roads were too icy for the most part of the day for my mom to get to work. It was great just to hang out with everyone and not have to worry about house work or cooking. My dad, Kory and I played Settlers and Kory beat us. Afterwards my parents drove me back home just in time to go vote (for Mitt Romney). I'm still totally bummed that he didn't make it. I blame it on Huckabee. I think if he had dropped out Romney would have gotten a majority of his voters and he could have had a good chance at winning. Hopefully McCain is smart and will pick up Romney as his VP. Anyway, I digress, back to the trip. I had such a great time! It's always great to see my family and Evelyn and Preston got to spend some quality time with their Grandma and Grandpa Fitzgerald. For 3 days I didn't have to worry about cooking or cleaning my house. We were totally spoiled and I loved it!

Brawl on the Playground

Today will forever be known as that day Nichole and I almost got beat up on the playground. Here's why- The weather was so nice out today Nichole and I decided to take all 5 of our combined kids to the park for a picnic and a little cousin play date. To our dismay it turned into a little more than just that. We got there, had a wonderful time eating our sack lunches, the kids played on the swings and the slides. It was great until.... uh oh, my 4 year old nephew threw sand at some boy. Not a big deal. The situation was diffused, he was punished, the kid was just fine. A little while later a couple older brothers and the dad of the boy start (very loudly) talking about how they want to beat my nephews face in. Yeah, very inappropriate! A grown man and two teenage boys talking about beating up a 4 year old. Later on my sweet little niece wandered over to go play with that same boy and I guess (I didn't see it but I guess she threw sand at him too). Ok, still not a big deal. Two different kids who did a bad thing, both got punished for it and once again the boy (who was like 7 BTW and could totally take care of himself) was just fine and everything was good again, right..... wrong! In fact I've never been so wrong. The father of this kid who is probably about 3-4 times our combined weight comes over to us screaming every naughty word you can think of, and not just for us to hear but for every man, woman and child to hear within like 100 yards of the playground. I'll admit I was a little scared but more pissed. The guy obviously had a problem. A much better solution would have been just to calmly and rationally come over to us and explain his issues but no, instead he acted like the 4 year old and yelled and screamed. Anyway, by that point I was so fired up and full of adrenaline I think if I had to I could have lifted a car (a Geo Metro at the very least). I had no idea I had so much fighting power in me. Don't worry I didn't challenge the guy or anything but trust me when I say I was ready to. The guy, after totally cussing us out and not letting us get a single word in finally packed up his kids and left. It took me like an hour to finally calm my nerves down. What a jerk! I could not believe it. I have never been treated like that in my entire life. How could a grown man get so out of control that he would use such obscene language in front of young children and threaten 2 obviously innocent mothers. In my opinion what he did was far worse for his kid then what my 2 year old niece did to him. I can only image this kids home life. Anyway, I'm still just a little fired up. Tomorrow, Nichole and I will probably have a good laugh about the whole thing but I thought until then it might help to just get it off my chest.

Evelyn's Birthday Party

This post is a little delayed (by like 2 weeks) but here goes. This year Evelyn had two birthday parties; one with the Waite's and the other (which I'll talk about in my next post) with the Fitzgerald's. The first one we had at Andy's mom and dads. It was awesome to have so much family there to celebrate Evelyn's birthday and Anna just happened to be in town so it worked out perfect.

A few minutes into waiting for Evelyn to blow out the candles she decided she had had enough and decided to take a little taste of her cake.

I'm not sure what scared Evelyn the most; being the center of attention or the flame from the candles. After a few minutes of trying to get her to blow out the candles we finally had to do it for her.

She recovered pretty quick and was ready for her cake along with all the other kids.

My nephews, Riley & Micah, looking totally RAD as always.

Evelyn loved the cake and managed to get it all over the place.

She got some really great gifts. Thanks everyone!

Andy and I got her a power wheel for her birthday which she totally loves. When we gave it to her, due to a lack of planning on my part, the batteries weren't charged but never fear, Jack jumped right in to her rescue and started pushing her around the house. What a sweet kid!

Blythe was really sweet to Evelyn and Preston. She really wanted me to take a picture of her with her two cousins.

One of the best parts of the night was later on when Sam decided to try to make a movie with the 4 kids; Micah, Blythe, Tucker, and Evelyn. It turned into chaos real quick but it was so much fun to watch. The kids all wanted to be in the spotlight so they did every crazy thing imaginable to get Sam's attention so that he would film them. Tucker was so cute. He thought he was being funny by hitting himself in the "peanuts" and then falling to the ground. He did get Evelyn's attention. She kept laughing at him and falling over too trying to copy him. At one point Tucker, Blythe, and Micah were making up the funniest jokes. Tucker just kept them coming, it was great! But Micah definitely told the most memorable one. I'm pretty sure he just made it up right there on the spot too! Here's the joke: Why are girls so hot? Because they spend too much time at the beach. Ha ha. What was hilarious about it is that after the joke he turned bright red and started giggling. Sam has all of this on tape so maybe one of these days he'll put it together and make a movie. Hanging out with the kids reminded me of the days when I used to be the favorite aunt. Over the past two years I've dropped a few places so it was fun to feel like the favorite again even if it was just for just a few hours. The kids were all so nice to Evelyn and without a doubt she had an awesome birthday.

Thanks everyone for coming to Evelyn's party and making it so memorable!

My Birthday's Coming!

When does everyone start to get excited about their birthdays? A week before, a month before or do you just look forward to it all year around? For me, I can never seem to get excited about my birthday until I physically see the date on something like for example an expiration date. It sounds strange I know and honestly I just can't figure it out but it happens every year. 2-3 weeks prior to my birthday I see the date and then start to get excited. Anyway, the reason I'm bringing this up today of all days is because... IT happened! Last night I bought a carton of eggs which just so happen to expire on MY birthday. Only 2 1/2 weeks to go!

Evelyn's First 2 Years

Newborn

2 Months

4 Months

5 Months

9 Months

10 Months

11 Months

1 Year

14 Months

15 Months

16 Months

20 Months

21 Months

22 Months

2 Years!

My Little Birthday Girl

Evelyn celebrated the BIG #2 birthday last Sunday on the 27th. It's hard to believe that she has been in our lives for 2 whole years already. Although we have now stepped into the realm of the terrible twos I'm proud to say that she has grown into such a beautiful and sweet little girl. I'm not saying that fits of outrage and screaming are rare in our home but they are always quickly matched with her sweet personality and big bear hugs.

Since the last time I wrote about Evelyn her vocabulary has grown so much. She's learned a bunch of animal names and all their sounds, she's starting to put 2-3 words together, her most popular of course being "I got you!" as she jumps around the corning attempting to scare you. Everyday she seems to pick up at least one new word, in fact yesterday her new word was "hurt" and today it was "star". She's moved up from saying "Yah" to a more polite "Yees" in the cutest little tone and sadly (but happy at the same time) she no longer calls Preston, "Fra Fra". He's now "Fresty" but at least it's a step in the right direction.

Speaking of Preston, Evelyn loves her little brother so much. Every night when she goes to bed she won't let me put her down until she gives Preston and her Daddy a good night kiss. She loves books and she loves being sang too and trying to sing along. If I had to guess I'd say her favorite song would have to be a toss up between "Popcorn Popping" and "The Wheels on the Bus".

Another thing I've noticed about Evelyn is that for a two year old she's very sympathetic. Anytime she sees another kid crying or upset she gets the sweetest look of concern on her face. Also, anytime she's doing something like taking a ride on her new power wheel she always makes sure that everyone in the room, Preston and all her baby dolls included, get a ride as well. She's usually the smallest but if she's not then she always seems to be alert to the needs of the smaller kids around her. She is always quick to bring Preston a blanket even when he doesn't need one, if Preston's crying she immediately gives up her baby to calm him down, and to my dismay not a day goes by that she doesn't at least offer him some food or a sippy.

She still loves Elmo and anything "Sesame Street" related. She's also gotten into the show "Yo Gabba Gabba". If you haven't seen it yet you really should. It's.... interesting. Between her two shows I figure she's getting a pretty good mix of things; Sesame Street teaches the ABC's and 123's and Yo Gabba teaches her all the other important aspects in life like beat boxing and NOT to bite your friends. All great things to know.

Evelyn is such a sweet girl. We are so blessed to have her in our family. I have had so much fun watching her grow and develop and I am so excited to see what new things she'll do this year as a big 2 year old. We love her so much!

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!