Same, Same But Different

Guess what?  We have pen-pals!  Back in February, Sam and I had the opportunity through Clickin' Moms (the online photography forum I'm a member of) to get matched with another Clickin' Moms family and exchange pen pal letters.   The organizer tried to match up families who lived in very different parts of the country or world, but had children who were similar in age.  Our family lives in a small town in Minnesota that just got their first McDonalds!  I'd say that's pretty different from where we live!  There are two young boys in their family and we are having fun sending letters and little presents back and forth as we learn about each other and the places we live.

So far we've exchanged drawings, favorite books, pens, paper airplanes, crafts, stickers, and of course, photos.  Their mom and I write letters and email each other, too.  They are a super-sweet family and I'm so glad Sam was up for trying this.

The photos below are from our first pen-pal letter-writing session back in Februrary.  We decided our first letter should have a Texas theme.  We sent Texas coloring sheets, Texas stickers, and an "About Me" page that I helped Sam fill out.  He needs lots of help writing, obviously, and quite often he just dictates to me what he wants to say (which I also help him with) and then I write down what he says.  He loves to draw for them and whenever we're out running errands, he's always spotting little treats we could send our pen-pals.

Before we started, we read a book about two boys who are pen pals and live on opposite ends of the world.  It was a really neat book with a great message.  Being the visual person I am, I really

loved

the illustrations!

What have we noticed is the same about our two families?  Well, we're both families of four, and we both have little boys who like playing outside, reading books and doing crafts.  What's different about us?  Mostly where we live - a small town vs. a big suburb - and we live in different climates.  One letter we received said they were expecting more snow and we were well into spring weather here in Texas, with hot weather just around the corner.  I think we'll be jealous of their summer temperatures, but come next winter, we'll probably be glad we live in Texas!

I decided that I would take quick iPhone pics of everything we send our pen-pals.  That way we not only have everything they send us, we can remember all the things we mailed to the boys.  Below is the book about spring that Sam wrote, and a collage of some of our letters and drawings we've sent.

Another Year

This is a picture of Sam before leaving for his last day of preschool for the year.  It was a day much like the first; humid, cloudy weather and excited, wiggly boy.

As I was taking the photo I was thinking he probably wouldn't look any different from his first day of school photo.  Once I pulled it up though, I could see I was mistaken - - he's grown up a little bit this year!

Evie at Six Months

Evelyn Mae you are six months today!  You are full of personality and we love watching you grow.

Your official six month chair photo

Measurements - 

weight - 19.2 lbs - 92%

length - 27.5 in. - 97%

head - 17.5 in. - 96%

Clothes - You're wearing both your 6-9 month and 6-12 month outfits.  You look pretty cute in your sundresses!

Diapers - You're still in a size 3, but they're snug and Mommy's ripped a tab or two trying to get them on you straight.  There's not a lot of wiggle room and you are very wiggly now!

Feedings - You're now eating five or six times a day for a total of about forty-five / fifty minutes a day.  You eat around 4, 10, 2, 6, 8 and 11.  

Sleeping -  You're still not sleeping through the night, though you don't ever really wake up completely.  You just need your binkie or a quick snuggle and you fall back asleep fine.  Unfortunately for Mommy and Daddy, this happens many, many times throughout the night. :)

Dr. G. asked me

again,

"What's this baby eating?", thinking that I must be supplementing your meals with cereal, formula or other baby food.  I told him again, "Just milk!"  I'm not sure he believes me! You are a good eater and a fast eater, but each month you're more and more interested in the sights and sounds around you, so that distracts you a little.  He gave you an A+ on your check-up, though, and was very impressed with how you are doing.  Good job little girl!  He gave Mommy the go-ahead to start you on solid foods, beginning with cereal, then fruits and veggies.  Oh, boy!  We'll see how this goes.

We had a great time this month, doing fun things with you and enjoying the spring weather.  You attended all of Sam's t-ball games and loved watching the trees blow in the breeze while he played.  We took you to the park a couple of times to watch the baby ducks swim around their mama and lay under the big trees on your quilts.  You went with Sam and I to a couple of Lens Baby playdates and all the little girls, who were your size when our playgroup started, loved to stare at you and admire you.  I celebrated my first Mother's Day as a mommy of two (yay!) and we enjoyed both a tea party at Sam's school and a brunch at Gram and Pops' house.  We took you to the Denton Jazz Festival and even though it was hot, humid and crowded, you had were so go-with-the-flow and loved the music.  You went to the eye doctor with me twice and you were a BIG hit, as you are anywhere I take you.  People love your chubby cheeks and your contagious smile.

You were a bit wiggly during your photoshoot this month.  I'm starting to wonder how the next few months' chair photos are going to look!  This was the first month you were really interested in the sticker on your onesie.  I had to snap these quickly because it wasn't going to last long!

You are such a laid-back baby.  You're so chill!  The best thing about you is your smile.  You smile at everyone and everything and rarely ever cry or fuss.  A dream baby!

Oh, my!  Half a year already.  Look at you - what a sweet beautiful baby!  Happy half-birthday, Evelyn!

Season Ender

Sam's first season of baseball is over.  What a great experience it was!  We're all a little sad it ended so quickly.

Sam's coaches were very patient with him and between games, practices and Daddy working with him, his hitting has improved quite a bit.  He's pretty good at bat - great hand-eye coordination.

Sam's running improved, also.  He's gone from a slow trot/walk combo to a moderate trot.  Seriously, this kid is not a fast runner yet.  Not so much because he can't, more because he was happy just strolling from base to base!  We would often shout, "Run Forest, RUN" as he progressed to his next base, but that never made much of a difference.  Good thing there are no "outs" at this stage.  We have yet to learn how to hussle!

Sam had lots of fans cheering him on for his last game.

And Sam made sure to give his fans a wave every chance he got!

The boys got trophies at the end of the game for a job well done!

Yay Royals!

Rock Climber

Sam's never been much of a climber.  He wasn't a typical toddler, always scaling the furniture, getting into things.  Instead, Sam was a talker.  Yap-yap-yap.

I was excited to see him try this rock wall at a playdate, all on his own.  He looks so old here, to me!

Every Morning

Every morning, sometime between four and six, Evie starts to cry.  I bring her to our bed and feed her.  Sometimes she goes right back to sleep; sometimes she kicks her legs and flaps her arm for a good half hour and then falls asleep.  Either way, this is the face I wake up to almost every morning.  How lucky am I?

So pretty, even as she sleeps.

Surprise Fan

Somebody came to Sam's t-ball game for a surprise visit...

No, it wasn't Gram or Pops.  He knew they would be there.

It was Uncle Andrew!  Tee-hee!

A former t-ball player himself, Uncle Andrew knows just how to cheer-on a group of four-year-old ball players.

We were so glad Andrew came to this game, because Sam won the game ball.  You can see him peeking over at us in one of the photos.  I'm sure he was wondering if Andrew was watching...

 After he got the game ball, Sam ran over to us and tossed the ball over by the dugout.  We told him it was his ball to keep.  He said "No fanks, I have a ball".  We insisted it was a special ball awarded to him for a job well done and he burst into tears.  He sobbed and sobbed and sobbed.  Loudly.  Poor Coach was a little uncomfortable, and probably confused as well.  We're thinking Sam was a little overwhelmed by all his visitors and trying to figure out this "game ball" business was a little much for him.

But it was nothing a trip to the donut shop and the playground couldn't cure!  Thanks for visiting, Uncle Andrew!

Muv-er's Day Tea

Sam and his classmates treated their moms to the nicest Mother's Day Tea this year.  When we arrived, we were escorted to our chair by our kiddos where we found presents, special place settings, a beautiful flower lei to wear, and handmade centerpieces.

Sam brought me some 7-Up that was in a pretty stemmed glass with raspberries.  We snacked on fancy bundt cakes, opened our presents (a handmade stepping stone for the garden), and listened to the kids recite Psalm 139, which they had worked on for a while.

Sam was so excited.  He'd been talking about it for weeks.  It was such a special day!

Her Things: Five Months

Now that we're pulling out some of Sam's old baby toys for Evelyn to use, we're starting to reminisce more about when he played with them as a baby.  They grow so fast their things don't stay their things for very long, yet they're a big part of each stage of their life.

Here are Evelyn's things at the moment - the items that are part of her everyday...

Black & White Beach

Sam and Evie and I took a picnic lunch to the beach Friday.  Just to be clear, by "picnic" I mean Sonic popcorn chicken, and by "beach" I mean the oversized sandbox that runs alongside a part of Lake Lewisville.  Nothing fancy, but still a fun outing.  I dressed him in this cute new shirt Granny gave him thinking I might get some colorful spring photos of him playing in the sand or climbing at the playground.   The blue in the shirt is so pretty, but for some reason, things just weren't jiving with the grass, the flowery-weed things he was picking and the sand he was jumping into once I pulled it all up on the computer to process.  Maybe it's because it was such a dark, cloudy day, these just lent themselves to moody black-and-whites.  Unexpected, but I like them.  We'll have to try cute kid in cute shirt photos again on a sunny day.  There will  plenty of those to come before we know it.

(by the way...this is my 400th post - oh my!)