October was a busy one!

We just cant believe its November 1st but then again when we look at everything we packed into October its pretty amazing. Daddy hosted his biggest event of the year, The Walk to Cure Diabetes, and being the smartest daddy on the planet he had a ton of activities at The Walk that kids love- especially his Everett!

Ev had never had his face painted before, he wasnt sure about it, but it was his Daddy's one request- he ordered the skull & crossbones stencil with Everett in mind!

After Daddy's walk the month was all about
Halloween!
Pumpkin Carving, ZooBoo, AppleWorks & Trick or Treating! Ev went as Buzz Lightyear and he absolutely loved it. He was telling everyone he had a "Buzz Lightyear Costume" and that Buzz says "Infinity and Beyond!"


Oh that beloved Woobie!

The three of us at Appleworks :-)

Its breaks my heart when you consider what he looked like on the pony last year...

Too bad Papaw and Ev couldn't manage to smile at the same time!


Ev and his teachers at the School Halloween Party.

Everett with all the pumpkins! Notice he's touching the stem of his pumpkin which he refers to as, "the hat"

Trick or Treating was just a series of visits with...
Great Grandma Darene

Great Aunt Suzie, & Great Mamaw and PapawPapaw, Grandma & Uncle Dylan

Godmommy "Emy"Great Grandma C.
Grandma C, Aunt Pat, & Emy
Daddy, Everett & Mommy on Halloween.
Notice baby boy #2 is making himself known in this photo.

A tired Buzz with his pumpkins and Halloween Bear.

Next up on the blog will be our November adventures and the transformation of Little Brother's room. (yes he is still unnamed and yes we'll keep you posted if that changes)
Love you all!!

.

Hey baby!

I am 22 weeks pregnant today with bambino #2 and yesterday was the big ultrasound!

I wont lie I was beyond anxious. I wanted to see this baby so badly. Brian was his usual calm self topped off with a layer of "this ain't my first rodeo." But that's why we're a great match: I= super excitable, Brian= extra mellow. So anyway imagine the two of us sitting on a bench in the doctor's waiting room. I was bouncing off the walls whispering "Let's get this show on the road" and Brian was looking up movie times for our after lunch movie date plans. When we finally got back to the ultrasound room the tech was chatting with us and measuring the baby, she asked if we were wanting to know the sex and I said a little too excitedly, "Uh yeah!" It was so amazing seeing the little one on the big screen. Seeing the spine and arms and tiny toes. She admitted that the baby was "being stubborn" but she kept measuring and pointing things out and then I heard Brian gasp and she smiled, "There it is."

A boy!

And then I cried.


Two sons. I will still be able to say "my boys" and "my fellas" and every other dorky mommy thing. And all of the adorable clothes that I was sad to pack up will find new life on a new little man. Obviously this is something only I am excited about, but all the same.
Most importantly I will have another smiley, huggy, giggling boy to love more than anything!
We broke the news to Everett that, like everyone else,
his guess was just a guess and that he's not getting a "baby girl."
Now if you ask him what's in mommy's belly he will tell you, "Baby brother."
Oh I hope they'll be best buddies!

Now we tackle the name game. We have a few ideas with a pretty clear front runner but nothing we're ready to announce to the world yet. So much pressure!
In the mean time we'll be working on the nursery and a few other projects I have my sights set on before the little guy gets here.




stay tuned for an update about Daddy's big Walk Event and every other thing we've been up to!

Time to Play Catch Up!

Ok, ok I'll spare you the whole 'we've been so busy' bit because the lack of posting is just sad. Instead I will attempt to fill you in on what has ended up being one of the most eventful summers to date for this happy little family.

First things first Daddy got a job! No longer a 'stay at home' he is back in the work force in a job that he is great at- Brian is now event planning and fund raising for the Indiana chapter of JDRF, an organization dedicated to curing type 1 diabetes.

On Father's Day Brian got quite the Daddy's day surprise- news of bambino #2! What a great day to find out huh? We are both thrilled about making this a party of four, and very excited about making Everett a big brother. Everyone keeps asking if we want a boy or girl and I can say honestly we don't have a preference. It would be wonderful for Ev to have a little brother but it would also be great to get a girl! We will see in a few weeks (yes I will post that before the baby actually arrives!) Interestingly enough I will add that we have asked Everett numerous times if he thinks we're getting a baby boy or a baby girl and he has only ever answered that we are getting a "baby girl." We'll see if he's right....

With Daddy back at work Everett spent the summer running around with his godmother, Emy, whom he absolutely adores. They had all kinds of adventures! She graduated college in May and relaxed (and job hunted like a mad woman) before landing her big girl job in August. Insert embarrassing graduation picture here:


To celebrate my brother's 18th birthday we decided to join he and my parents for a couple days in French Lick as a surprise for Uncle Dylan. We had gone their as kids and taken this great train ride which we decided to do with Everett. We all loved it.... for the first half hour, the hour and a half after that, not so much. It was a great experience though and Everett thought it was pretty cool to be on a train, because being the all American boy that he is, all forms of transportation are amazing to him.


We frequented the Indy Zoo quite a bit this summer, making the most of our family pass. Everett absolutely loves it. The Sting Rays, the Lions and the Seals are his favorite. Oh and the Meerkats! He thinks those guys are hilarious. He's really into animals right now. He is obsessed with his Little People Farm, especially the "baby cow" so we had to make a trip to the state fair so that he could see the cows in person. He and I were both over the moon when he got the chance to visit with and pet a real live calf!







And the story you've all been waiting for (at least Grama and Grampa!)
Everett's 2nd Birthday!

We went with a Thomas the Tank Engine theme mostly because Everett is obsessed with him, although Percy Thomas' best friend is his favorite. It was a very small family party, cake and ice cream and presents and visiting. It was nice and not too much for Ev to handle. He got really excited when we put out the Thomas table cloth and birthday banner, he actually started singing the Happy Birthday song, which I didn't realize he knew until that moment. He loved blowing out the candles on his cake and he actually opened presents this year. Here are some highlights:



blowing out candles like a big boy!

He leaned in to get a closer look and practically put his hand through the cake! The entire room gasped and he thought it was hilarious :-)


The hand print!


Showing off his Thomas shirt. I think we could have just gotten him these balloons for his birthday and he would have been happy.

Everett's Papaw (my dad) had gotten him this pillow Buzz a while back. Coincidentally his Great Aunt Suzie got him the pillow Woody for his birthday. He was thrilled when he opened it! He kept hugging them and saying, "Buddies! Buddies!"


Could they look anymore alike?
Busy playing with all his new toys!



Here are a few random pictures that I thought you might enjoy:

That's all from us for now. In a few weeks we have Daddy's biggest event of the year (The Walk to Cure Diabetes) we will be sure to have photos from that in then four days later its ultrasound day! We will keep you all in the loop as we start into our favorite season- Fall!!!

A Birthday Letter

Dear Everett,

I cant believe it has been two years since I first saw your sweet chubby face. You are the center of my universe, you bring me sunshine on cloudy days and you make me laugh even when I feel like crying. Life can be challenging, but you are the one thing in Daddy and I's lives that is worth every moment.
There are so many things that I want to share with you today the most important is that your are my life's dream. Growing up some people knew they wanted to be a doctor or teacher- I wanted to be a mommy. Every time you request a hug or tell me you love me I think how lucky I am that you're mine. We have watched you grow into this curious, observant, funny boy and I know that in the next year you will continue to show Daddy and I exactly the kind of man you will one day be. For now I am happy to be a passenger along for the ride that will be your third year of life. This year you will be potty trained (and you don't even know it yet!) you will continue to express yourself in the most humorous and surprising of ways and perhaps most importantly, you will become a big brother. This year Daddy and I will bring someone into your life that I only hope to be one of your best friends and an ally against the world. I am very excited for you to take on this role, and I look forward to seeing you as my little helper and certainly as an affectionate sibling. This is one lucky baby!

I've also been imagining what it will be like 28 years from today. I picture us celebrating your 30th birthday- and myself looking at a man and seeing my baby in him. I imagine everything you will be and all the pride I will still feel when you call me 'mom.'

I love you in a way you may never understand.
Happy Birthday baby boy!
-Mommy

Happy Easter!

We hope everyone enjoyed a great Easter Sunday!
We had wonderful weather here so we spent the majority of the day playing outside. Earlier this week we had our annual egg dying party! Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Dylan and Great Aunt Suzie came over to help! Everett only loved dying eggs when he was trying to put his fingers in the dye!



Everett was really excited to investigate his Easter basket this morning. All kinds of goodies from the bunny: books, play doh, twist up crayons, coloring books, sidewalk chalk and his favorite, rain boots! In the afternoon we headed to my parents so Everett could could dig into his Easter basket there. Then we all went to Mamaw and Papaw's for lunch with Aunt Suzie, CT, Jennifer and Charlotte. We played in the yard and visited all afternoon. Suzie hid eggs for Everett & Charlotte to find. Everett absolutely loved it! He was a natural except that he really wanted to carry his basket but it was so big that he kept accidentally dropping his eggs. All and all we had a wonderful day with family. It made me really anxious to get our flowerbeds done and purchase Ev a playhouse for the backyard. We have a lot of grilling out and hanging out to look forward to.

My camera was acting up this morning (of course!) but I had to post this one- the perfect reaction to a basket of goodies!!

trying on his boots!


on his way to see the family!


my favorite of the day!




the only picture I could get of Everett & Charlotte, man he loves her!

When we got home we had the chance to Skype with Brian's family in Texas! It's always so nice to see Everett interacting with them that way. Since we don't see them very often it is pretty amazing that they still have the chance to see Everett growing up. We also got to see Sydney open her birthday present, we can't believe she turned two this week. Time flies! After a day of adventures Everett, daddy and I spent the last couple of hours wrestling and playing so....

the little man had a great Easter!
(and was no where near ready for bed five minutes after this photo)

love to you all :-)