sibling love

Evyn adores her brother. After nearly two months, she still jumps at the chance to hold him, play with him, watch over him, or help with his bath. Only twice have I ever seen her display impatience with him - both times, she asked if she could turn the TV up because his fussing was drowning out Spongebob :)


What's more surprising is how much Andrew adores Evyn. She tends to get a little too- excited- when she's interacting with him. We're usually reminding her to talk a little quieter, or play a little more gently. But you know what? He eats it up.

If she's in the room, his eyes follow her everywhere. When she comes close, he smiles, even when he's tired. I've been trying to capture in pictures the special way he looks at his big sister, so far no luck, so you'll just have to take my word for it! Suffice it to say, it takes my breath away, to see this amazing bond already formed between the two of them.




Andrew is now almost exclusively a belly-sleeper. His pediatrician will not be pleased, but he is so much happier on his belly. And don't worry, he's not left in our bed like this unattended!

party weekend

Evyn's social calendar (ha) was full last weekend, she had birthday parties to attend both days.

On Saturday she went to Kayla's house (pictured below), and Sunday was Gabby's party at the dance studio. Side note, if you're in the Ephrata area, stop in at the Fun-est Toy Store. We almost always get our party gifts here - it's a great little shop!





Andrew's not quite the party animal yet - here he is displaying his two main pastimes, catnapping on my lap, and hanging out with me (I can play spider solitaire one-handed!!)





We're still guessing who Andrew (who is now 8 weeks old!) inherited his features from. Sometimes we're certain his eyes are Scott's, and other times they look just like mine. He looks a lot like Evyn did, and yet, very different! So far we know his nose is his fathers and his ears are mine, everything else is tbd.

here's the deal

some of you know, i am online daily. reading your blogs :)

99% of the time, i have andrew in my arms. little bugger sleeps great at night, but likes to catnap all day long. when he actually does sleep, i feel compelled to do more, um, productive things. like catching up on the piles of laundry, cooking dinner, or taking advantage of the small break in the weather to mow our foot-high lawn (that was yesterday's activity!).

so, pictures are coming.
i owe a lot of you an email- i'm sorry it's taking me so long!
i still haven't sent out (or assembled) andrew's birth announcements or photos.
and thank-you cards are overdue.
i will get there - eventually!

i can't say we are particularly 'busy,' in the truest sense of the word. just not able to keep up with things that require two hands!

*some family news while i am here*

-evyn has her kindergarten interviews tomorrow. keep your fingers crossed for me, that i don't cry ;)

-evyn's allergies haven't let up at all - despite the week of seemingly nonstop rain. i don't know if her allergies have gotten much worse, or, if pollen counts are way up this year. either way, she's on a steady stream of claritin, which doesn't work nearly as well as benadryl, but at least it doesn't turn her into a zombie child like benadryl does.

-evyn's second year of dance classes is almost over. her recital is in mid-june - it's HUGE. our school has use of hempfield high school's auditorium all weekend, and seats are expected to be filled for all shows.

-andrew is at 13.5 pounds! almost completely in 3-6 month outfits, and i'll be switching to sz 2 diapers soon.

-andrew has now had two bottles. his nursing habits are still a little rocky, so we won't be doing frequent bottles, but at least we know he'll take them - good to know, since we'll be needing a sitter next month when we go to evyn's dance recital!

-our neighborhood annual yard sale is this saturday. i've been looking forward to it for two months. looks like it will rain again this year - it does every year, without fail. not sure what i'm going to do yet, we might just skip it. bummer!

that's it - pictures soon!

sunny, sneezy days

Lots of beautiful spring weather this week! Unfortunately it meant allergies for Scott and Evyn. Evyn has had seasonal allergies the last two years, but we've never seen a reaction like this before.

Tuesday morning at dance class, the instructors took the girls outside to play with the parachute.


Within 20 minutes Evyn's teacher was carrying her back inside - her poor eyes had swollen so badly she couldn't see to walk.

I think the tree they were under was some type of oak... so from now on we are steering clear of oak trees in the springtime! She was out in Scott's parent's yard Thursday, and today is again paying the price for it.



Speaking of eyes, Andrew's have started to change color. This picture doesn't capture it well, his eyes look quite brown in bright light. I'm still holding out hope that he'll get my hazel eyes, just so ONE of my kids looks a LITTLE like me :)